He turned on the shower, reveling in the hot water as it washed away the blood and filth. As the dirty water began spiraling down the drain, Yunfan finally relaxed.
"Hopefully I can at least make it to the second stage tonight… then I can pass off my lower cultivation base as an injury."
"Ah, you're right. It would be suspicious if your cultivation suddenly dropped," the Emperor realized. "I didn't even think about that."
Yunfan waved his hands. "I should be fine; no one's expecting great things from me, so they won't be looking too closely. Now stop looking at me naked, it makes me feel weird."
Seemingly satisfied with his answer, the Alchemy Emperor floated to the other end of the bathroom by the toilet. "Believe me, I am just as uncomfortable as you are."
Chu Yunfan huffed a laugh. Turning back to the shower wall, he crossed his legs as the steaming hot water poured onto his back comfortably. As he began stimulating his Internal Energy, his trace injuries began stitching themselves together again. He sighed in satisfaction, but made sure to control himself; he had to keep enough Internal Energy for cultivation.
Once he felt reasonably safe, he turned the water off and began changing his Internal Energy's flow.
Immediately, his muscles began to tremble and ache. Chu Yunfan grit his teeth, still sensitive from resetting his cultivation base. Combined with his newly-heightened senses, he nearly bit his tongue from the pain that seemed to radiate from within every muscle fibre in his body.
***
The Alchemy Emperor was dozing off on the toilet, when a familiar aura appeared in Yunfan's mental space. He cracked an eye open curiously, before re-entering his inheritor's mental space and observing the endless white in every direction.
"Hm?"
His expression abruptly morphed into shock.
Suddenly, the watery ground rippled and the rolled up Mountain River Diagram slowly emerged. It shined with mysterious, profound light that was reminiscent of thousands of stars. Shimmering lines began connecting these star-like points of light, forming an incomprehensible object that emitted incomparable energy of heaven and earth.
"The Divine Idol?!"
The Alchemy Emperor gaped uncomprehendingly, but the shifting lines and stars were unmistakably the fragment of the Divine Idol that he had used to make the Mountain River Diagram. However, one of the corners of the geometric constellation seemed to be missing; sparks of starlight scattered outwards from the damaged area, like blood trickling from an open wound. Clearly, although the Divine Idol had been stabilized and must have been partly functional, it was no longer perfect.
Despite being damaged, the Divine Idol began emitting waves of light that caused the water beneath it to ripple.
***
Yunfan gasped, sweat trickling down his brow and mingling with the moisture clinging to his skin. His veins bulged slightly as his blood rushed through his body.
It hurts… so fucking bad!
His eyes snapped open as he realized that he was losing control over his Internal Energy. After destroying his cultivation base, he had not only reset his Physical Refinement cultivation— he had also erased all the physical conditioning from his first year. While someone who was physically fit had a larger margin of error and could withstand more minor damage from cultivation, his current state was effectively jumping into hyper-strenuous exercise with muscle atrophy.
Chu Yunfan's distraught only grew.
I could cripple myself…
Neither of us thought this through very well, did we? I wonder if the Alchemy Emperor will die if I do.
At the same time the Alchemy Emperor saw the Divine Idol materialize, Yunfan's mind became perfectly still— his panicked emotions became detached feelings that were unrelated to him. Waves of cool, soothing energy began rippling through his whole body from a point in the center of his forehead.
Suddenly, Alchemy Emperor materialized in a whorl of color next to him, his brow furrowed with worry. His mouth was open as if he was about to say something.
"Yunfan! Are you—"
He stopped, seeing his inheritor's eyes closed and a faint spark of starlight spilling out of the center of his forehead.
"…haaaaa…"
The Emperor slumped mid-air, relief washing over him.
Yunfan noticed the Alchemy Emperor's reappearance, though he wasn't sure when the Ancient Zenith cultivator had disappeared. However, he didn't pay the Emperor any mind; he was too focused on his Internal Energy, which he could control perfectly— the Energy flowed wherever he willed with scarily accurate precision. Immediately, his Internal Energy flow aligned itself with the path dictated by the Unshakeable Spirit Energy Formula. The effects were instantaneous: his Internal Energy control became even more refined and his mind seemed to accelerate.
Hm? This wasn't mentioned in the formula, he mused. However, he wasn't one to count his blessings and took the enhancement in stride.
By this point, his mental calculation speed and Internal Energy control had become frighteningly precise. Combined with his experience from reaching the fourth stage of Physical Refinement and some lingering déjà vu from the Alchemy Emperor's memories, he easily broke through the first stage, Muscle Shredding!
However, he didn't stop there. Only ten breaths of time after he had consolidated his first stage, he easily mastered the second stage, Bone Condensing!
The third stage, Skin Thickening!
At this point, his cognitive enhancement underwent a minor improvement.
This mental enhancement definitely wasn't described in the technique, he pondered, before theorizing, The Spirit Emperor devised the technique late into her cultivation journey, so she likely never knew about the effects this technique had on lower-level cultivators…
Within forty breaths, he broke through into the fourth stage, Tendon Stretching! Within forty breaths, he regained the half year of cultivation he had sacrificed!
"Huuu…"
He exhaled, hot steam gushing from his mouth. His whole body was heated and flushed as his metabolism worked overtime to heal the self-inflicted damage caused by cultivation. Although his skin felt feverish to the touch, his mind was tranquil and unaffected. It almost feels like my mind and body have separated completely, Yunfan mused.
Yunfan smiled to himself internally, before redoubling his efforts and beginning to cultivate again!
Without the guidance of personal experience, Yunfan had to rely on cultivation theory and the Alchemy Emperor's vague memories. However, Yunfan was one of the top five students in his class of fifty-something students, and top fifteen in his grade level— in total, nine classes! Combined with his new cognitive enhancements from both the strange, cool energy and practicing the Unshakeable Spirit Energy Formula, he could perfectly execute the theoreticals that had previously only existed in his mind.
In fact, his theoretical prowess only grew more profound as he gained practical experience.
Within one hundred breaths of time, he stepped into the Inner Strengthening stage!
Yunfan cackled internally while also simultaneously serenely focusing with complete calm. His cultivation speed was truly outrageous. If Tang Siyu was a cultivation monster, he had become a cultivation demon!
"Four consecutive breakthroughs… This is an unheard of achievement," he disbelievingly grinned. "The Divine Idol is definitely a heaven-defying artifact!"
He stabilized his cultivation within three breaths and smirked wickedly.
"Let's make that five."
Chu Yunfan began moving his Internal Energy again.
Once again, he was stepping into uncharted territory. Relying purely on technical skill and vague feelings, his progress was still moving at leaps and bounds!
After one hour, he had reached initial Inner Strengthening.
After three hours, he had reached intermediate Inner Strengthening.
After five hours, he had reached upper Inner Strengthening.
After eight hours, he had reached peak Inner Strengthening!
Just as the sun was about to crest over the buildings outside, Chu Yunfan made one final push. A surge of Internal Energy rushed through his veins and meridians. With that push, he finally stepped into…
The sixth minor stage, the Joint Popping stage!