Chapter 243: Accelerated Growth

The Swallow Flame Technique mainly starts with the introductory practice; after locating the Heaven‑and‑Earth Spiritual Fire, one simply devours and refines it. Yan Buji didn't spend long on this method—one month was enough for him to finish cultivating the Swallow Flame Technique.

After replacing the original Spiritual Fire Manual, Yan Buji felt his Five Elements Rotation had a slight issue: the fire element was too strong. Fortunately it wasn't fully cultivated, so it could be suppressed for the time being.

"But this won't do…," Yan Buji frowned; the Five Elements Rotation is the foundation of his cultivation, and even a tiny flaw could be magnified.

Thus, over the next two years, Yan Buji sequentially took the introductory practices of Dust‑and‑Sand Phase, Geng Metal Essence, and Tide‑born Manual. Now each has a tier of magical power, and the Five Elements Rotation has no major issues except for the weakest wood element.

However, precisely because the four techniques were substituted into the Five Elements Technique, Yan Buji now cannot achieve a normal convergence of his Five Elements magical power.

He sensed the technique's flow was extremely stagnant; the issue was that the generation of wood‑type magical power could not keep up with his current dantian circulation, making the Five Elements Rotation impossible.

"First, go to the Youming Jie and take a look."

Yan Buji thought to himself that although he himself does not experience discrepancies when traversing the two realms, could Spiritual Material be subject to such effects?

Moreover, this one‑leaf Ghost Orchid Spiritual Material does not require Spiritual Qi, but it does need time to grow.

If there is a temporal gap between a Spiritual Material's birthplace and its growth site, perhaps the cultivation speed of the one‑leaf Ghost Orchid could be shortened.

And even if he regrets now it's too late; the other four techniques have already been swapped. Only by risking it and obtaining a good wood‑type technique without confronting anyone could Yan Buji fill the gap.

Yet Yan Buji chose to trust himself; the symbiotic concept presented by the Treefolk Technique is indeed intriguing and fits his current sluggish cultivation growth.

There exists a symbiotic cultivation with a spiritual plant: by harnessing the plant's power, the plant itself can also perform a dantian circulation within the cultivator, effectively doubling the training.

The more exotic the Spiritual Material, the greater the benefit; some manifest in combat power, others in different aspects.

As for cultivation growth, the Treefolk Technique plainly states the advantage of "spiritual‑plant symbiosis, bidirectional enhancement." Whether he cultivates using a one‑leaf Ghost Orchid or the orchid accelerates its growth through him can only be known after formal practice.

Upon arriving in the Youming Jie, following the previously left mark, Yan Buji found the small cave residence he had opened.

"It truly is desolate, not even a ghost in sight."

Yan Buji smiled, stepped inside, and stared at the transplanted one‑leaf Ghost Orchid, unable not to pause in astonishment.

To his surprise, that one‑leaf Ghost Orchid regenerated another leaf in just two years, becoming a Twofold Transformation Spiritual Material two‑leaf Ghost Orchid!

"My hypothesis was correct!!"

Yan Buji couldn't contain his ecstatic joy; although a one‑leaf Ghost Orchid isn't inherently valuable, if it produces a leaf every two years, at this rate wouldn't he be able to cultivate a Six‑transform Immortal Material nine‑leaf Ghost Orchid in twenty years?!

This type of spiritual plant progresses: four‑leaf at Threefold Transformation, six‑leaf at Fourfold Transformation, eight‑leaf at Fivefold Transformation, and after the nine‑leaf blooms it becomes a Six‑transform Immortal Material.

"Since that's the case, I can certainly practice the Treefolk Technique in the Youming Jie by symbiotically using a one‑leaf Ghost Orchid. That way my Treefolk Technique might become the fastest‑progressing cultivation!"

Yan Buji thought excitedly.

Although the generating cycle of the Five Elements must still be considered, the faster the Treefolk Technique is cultivated, the greater the later benefits. The magical power obtained via the one‑leaf Ghost Orchid can be fully channeled into other techniques, thereby saving considerable resources and time.

And if he progresses in parallel, at most eight years should suffice to bring the Five Elements Rotation back to its former state.

"Start right away."

Yan Buji lifted the two‑leaf Ghost Orchid, placed it in his palm, and activated the Treefolk Technique. Magical power gradually enveloped the two‑leaf Ghost Orchid, continuously drawing it into his dantian.

Several months later.

While maintaining the two‑leaf Ghost Orchid's vitality, Yan Buji felt the orchid in his dantian finally resume growth, absorbing the void's power and steadily accumulating it!

Yan Buji opened his eyes, exhaled, "It's done, the Treefolk Technique is initiated."

The entry to the Treefolk Technique is simple: sustain the spiritual plant's vitality while integrating it into the body. Yet the rarer the spiritual plant, the harder it is to symbiotically refine; some even possess their own will, making a mind‑less one‑leaf Ghost Orchid, which only seeks basic growth, far preferable.

After the two‑leaf Ghost Orchid discovered it could grow normally inside Yan Buji, it continued to draw void energy and solidify itself, while Yan Buji once again activated the Treefolk Technique, commencing a new cycle of dantian circulation.

One year later.

Yan Buji, benefiting from the two‑leaf Ghost Orchid's stable growth, extracted its nutrients via the symbiotic Treefolk Technique and converted them into magical power, fully cultivating the new Five Elements Technique to its first tier and completing an initial Five Elements Rotation.

Because the four acquired techniques matched well with his foundational Five Elements practice, the speed of his replacement cultivation was also quite fast.

"But now I must find a kind of Spiritual Fire to incorporate into the Swallow Flame Technique to continue cultivation,"

Yan Buji wondered whether the Youming Jie harbored any unique Spiritual Fire.

He pondered for a moment, then recalled: "Ah, the Shaking Dragon Scripture! I remember a type of Spiritual Fire that is born within Earth Veins. Even without existing Spiritual Fire, one can locate an Earth Vein and, using a secret method, cultivate it into existence."

Naturally, Spiritual Fire that originates within an Earth Vein only does so because the vein is sufficiently powerful to spawn a variety of subterranean treasures; without such a strong vein, secret‑method cultivation would merely waste the vein's energy—a crooked, illicit path.

Of course, this is the Youming Jie; Yan Buji doesn't care.

One might say that in the Mortal Realm one must heed local cultivation factions and the Eight Dao Mystic Sects, but why would the Youming Jie concern itself with that?

"The Youming Jie is vast and abundant; it's fitting for a three‑good cultivator like me to take whatever I desire," Yan Buji mused.

He produced the Jiao‑Subduing Disk, summoned magical power, and searched for a while.

Following the disk's guidance, Yan Buji arrived at a forest, sensing numerous powerful beast‑like monsters, likely similar to the black panther he once killed.

However, his current goal is to cultivate Spiritual Fire, so he won't clash with these monsters.

During the Spiritual Fire cultivation, when idle, he'll later test a few of his successfully cultivated techniques on them.

He laughed, and with the Shaking Dragon Scripture's power he naturally sank, traversing the soil and, following the Jiao‑Subduing Disk, located an Earth Vein node.

Opening his Bee‑Edge Shield to block the intense hostile aura, Yan Buji glanced around, nodded, and said, "The Youming Jie's Earth Veins don't differ much from those in the Mortal Realm."

Yan Buji pondered briefly, then shook his head.

No difference is fine; it avoids creating chaos.

At that moment, Yan Buji followed the method described in the Shaking Dragon Scripture and began setting things up.