A moment later, a violent surge of Five Elements Spiritual Power rampaged through his Meridians.
Liu Yi let out a muffled groan as a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, staining his robes red.
"Damn it! I almost went to see my great-grandmother."
He quickly stopped his technique, opened his eyes, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with lingering fear.
Creating his own Cultivation Technique was truly like walking a tightrope; a slight misstep would lead to being shattered into pieces.
But time was pressing, and he could not afford to back down.
Liu Yi operated his spiritual power to repair his churning internal injuries while rapidly reviewing and deducing the process in his mind.
The rampaging spiritual power paths and the tearing pain in his Meridians during the technique's operation now turned into precious data replaying in his mind.
Over the next ten days, he fell into an endless Reincarnation.
He repeatedly modified the details of the technique while risking new attempts; after each time he spat blood, he would close his eyes to heal, and once he recovered slightly, he would continue his deductions.
His pale face and sunken eye sockets were signs of extreme physical exhaustion, yet the heat in the depths of his eyes grew more intense.
In this crazed Cultivation World, without madness, there is no life.
Liu Yi took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, and cautiously operated the newly modified Cultivation Technique.
In an instant, five-colored spiritual power slithered through his Meridians like spirit snakes, and everywhere it passed, a strand of Five Elements Spiritual Power was injected into every acupoint.
When the spiritual power reached 100,000 acupoints, his expression suddenly changed.
The spiritual power within his Dantian was nearly exhausted, and the speed at which he absorbed and converted external Spiritual Qi was far from keeping up with the consumption of the technique!
At the critical moment, he pulled out the five spirit fragmentation stones given by Qian Duoduo and gripped them tightly in his palm, as majestic Spiritual Qi flooded into his body like a tide.
With the Five Elements Spiritual Power replenished, it surged forward again along the path of the Five Elements Qi Refining Art 2.0.
"Boom!"
A muffled sound exploded within his body, and a blinding five-colored light erupted from all around Liu Yi.
The 129,600 acupoints covered his body like stars, as the Five Elements Spiritual Power rapidly tempered his body and Soul.
The Spiritual Qi within a radius of several dozen feet gathered frantically, pouring into his body like a tornado to be entirely refined into Five Elements Spiritual Power.
His clothes fluttered loudly in the spiritual power storm, every strand of his hair stood on end, and he became the center of a Spiritual Qi vortex.
An hour later, the five-colored light gradually dissipated.
Liu Yi slowly opened his eyes, Five-Colored Divine Light swirling within them, as he looked up and laughed: "Lord Dao, I've done it!"
A moment later, he reined in his agitated emotions and began to carefully sense the situation inside his body.
The 129,600 acupoints were spread across his body like stars, connected by Meridians, with Five Elements Spiritual Power darting through them at high speed.
Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth poured in continuously, being quickly refined as soon as it entered his body, and his cultivation continued to grow.
The space-time realm was even 1.2% under his control.
"I really am a Genius!"
He couldn't help but cheer in his heart: "The Five Elements Qi Refining Art can now operate automatically, and its efficiency has doubled. Although cultivating 129,600 acupoints requires more Spiritual Qi, even so, it's three times faster than before."
"Although I haven't broken through to the Eighth level of Qi Refining yet, at this cultivation speed, I'll have a complete chance to charge for the Foundation Establishment Realm in the remaining time."
"As long as I successfully break through, I can gain another 150 years of Lifespan and completely escape my current predicament."
Liu Yi checked the time, got up to have a casual breakfast at the cafeteria, and intended to go to work to operate the Formation.
As soon as he stepped out of the cafeteria doors, he saw Zhao Jiuxiao approaching with two lackeys; the man's face was grim, and he completely blocked Liu Yi's path.
He groaned inwardly; it was another creditor.
His predecessor had owed this man 50 spirit fragmentation stones, yet another mess left behind.
"When will you return the 50 spirit fragmentation stones you owe me? I don't want interest, just pay me back the principal!" Zhao Jiuxiao roared furiously.
Liu Yi braced himself and responded with a tone full of helplessness: "Once I earn some spirit fragmentation stones, I will definitely pay you back."
"Earn spirit fragmentation stones?" Zhao Jiuxiao shrieked, his face full of frustration. "You aren't even working overtime anymore, where would you get the chance to earn spirit fragmentation stones?"
"More importantly, if you don't break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm within 11 months, you'll be kicked out of the Tianqi Sect!"
"With your Aptitude, it would be a miracle if you could break through. Don't tell me I'll have to collect debt from a dead man?"
Hearing this, the corner of Liu Yi's mouth twitched uncontrollably, but he couldn't refute it because everything the man said was true.
He could only grit his teeth and squeeze out a sentence: "Trust me, I can definitely break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, and I'll surely return your spirit fragmentation stones then!"
"You think I can still trust you?" Zhao Jiuxiao's face was full of disdain. "I must have been out of my mind to lend you spirit fragmentation stones in the first place! Hurry up and go work overtime, and pay me back as soon as you earn some spirit fragmentation stones!"
"It's impossible for me to work overtime. When I have spirit fragmentation stones, I will naturally pay you back."
Liu Yi put on an indifferent front and tried to walk straight past him.
He wasn't panicked at all, as the Tianqi Sect strictly prohibited private dueling between Disciples, with severe punishments for any violations.
The Sect made such rules because they feared Disciples would get injured and waste time recovering instead of operating the Formation.
"Zhao Jiuxiao, what kind of person is Brother Yi? You still don't trust him? The Foundation Establishment Realm is a piece of cake for him!"
Qian Duoduo strolled over, his face full of gloating.
Hearing those words, Zhao Jiuxiao's face instantly turned dark enough to drip ink.
It was because he saw Qian Duoduo lend spirit fragmentation stones to Liu Yi without hesitation that he had let down his guard and followed suit.
Even as old rivals in the business world, he had to admit that Qian Duoduo was indeed better than him when it came to an eye for making money and methods.
He hadn't expected to suffer a setback with Liu Yi.
"Stop gloating here, didn't you lose out too?"
Zhao Jiuxiao's eyes widened in anger as he glared fiercely at Qian Duoduo, before turning his icy gaze toward Liu Yi:
"Do you dare to have a match on the Arena Stage? If you win, the previous 50 spirit fragmentation stones will be wiped clean, and I'll give you another 50!"
Liu Yi glanced helplessly at Qian Duoduo; if this kid hadn't suddenly interjected, Zhao Jiuxiao would have likely just left after some cursing.
However, the arena match Zhao Jiuxiao proposed was indeed tempting.
If there were any other way, he wouldn't want to owe others spirit fragmentation stones either.
Zhao Jiuxiao was a Three Spiritual Roots Cultivator who specialized in Fire-attribute cultivation techniques and had already reached the Eighth level of Qi Refining.
To keep the Outer Sect Disciples focused on their cultivation and working harder at operating the Formation, the Tianqi Sect had never taught them Spells.
However, Liu Yi had heard that Zhao Jiuxiao spent spirit fragmentation stones to enter the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion and learned the Fire Dragon Technique.
Looking at himself, he hadn't learned any Spells or Martial Skills to date; compared to Zhao Jiuxiao, the gap in strength was obvious.
But fortunately, the Five Elements Qi Refining Art 2.0 he had just mastered condensed all 129,600 acupoints in his body, bringing superior speed, physical strength, and spiritual power storage, narrowing the gap.
Take a gamble, turn a bicycle into a motorcycle; at worst, I'll just take a beating if I lose.
The benefits were so great even the Buddha would be tempted.
Thinking of this, Liu Yi's expression turned solemn as he said deeply, "Fine. After work, we'll see each other at the Arena Stage!"
Seeing Liu Yi agree, a smile instantly appeared on Zhao Jiuxiao's face. He gave a simple "Good" and turned to leave with his two lackeys.
"Brother Yi! Are you crazy?"
Qian Duoduo leaned in anxiously, his hand slapping Liu Yi's shoulder. "Zhao Jiuxiao doesn't really want a match; he's clearly just looking for an excuse to give you a beating!"
Liu Yi calmly slapped his hand away and said in a steady tone, "Don't panic, I have some confidence."
Qian Duoduo's eyes widened as he looked Liu Yi up and down, his face full of suspicion.
He really couldn't understand how Liu Yi, who was a level lower and had never learned Spells, dared to accept the challenge.
Fearing that Liu Yi would suffer a loss, Qian Duoduo hurriedly detailed Zhao Jiuxiao's cultivation level, Spells, and other information again.
Liu Yi nodded slightly after listening.
This information was no different from what he had heard before.