Chapter 48 - 48 Interested in Supplementary Cultivation?

Origin qi was tumultuously uncontainable, its destructive power astounding. For normal cultivators absorbing it was akin to swallowing something spicy; each strand required enduring a life-and-death struggle. Absorbing a dozen strands a day was commendable for those with decent talent, while several hundred strands definitely classified one as a top-tier genius.

Years ago, when City Lord Yu Longqing had finished his evaluation, he absorbed one hundred thirty-seven strands of origin qi and was celebrated as a once-in-a-century, unparalleled genius in Baiyan City.

That is to say… a person in the Accumulative Phase could absorb a hundred strands in a day and still be considered extraordinary.

And this person, he was absorbing origin qi in a way that formed tornados…

Devouring Origin Dragon, as the name implies, means absorbing origin qi so quickly that it forms stream-like dragons… Isn’t this phenomenon something that only exists in legends?

Even if someone were actually capable of doing it, they would most likely need to exceed the Ninefold Source Pool realm, yet this young man, who had just looked down upon, achieved it so effortlessly…

Most crucially, it wasn’t even through deliberate practice but occurred while reading a book, casually arriving at a sudden bout of inspiration…

From his posture, it was clear that this inspiration was as effortless as dozing off, not something done with intention!

Obtaining insight casually like this, what cultivation technique have you practiced? What grade of Furnace have you ignited?

Full of shock, Su Qiao knew that what enabled this young man to enter such a state so suddenly must definitely be due to the books he had been reading; no longer able to hold back, he rushed to examine the cover of the book closely.

“Supplementary Energy Storage Art… huh???”

Su Qiao was stunned.

Supplementary Energy Storage… was a fringe method. The so-called “Supplementary Cultivation” did not imply “Picking Flowers” or anything of the sort but referred to scavenging elements from the world, like ores and medicinal ingredients, by drawing out the Force of Origin contained within them to accumulate strength.

This was considered a rubbish secret manual, hardly practiced by anyone, and it was even rarely looked at by anyone…

And he had a sudden insight with this?

Are you joking?

Whirrrr!

While he was contemplating, he saw that the speed at which the other party absorbed the origin qi was too fast. The surrounding books could not withstand it and were lifted off the shelves, gathering up towards the sky.

A few of them were instantly torn into powder, scattering all over the ground.

“This is bad… If this continues, many books in the Book Collection Vault will be shredded!”

His expression changing, Su Qiao no longer paid heed to the books and dashed out immediately. Reaching the young man, he grabbed a nearby bookshelf and ran backward.

“You there, what are you still dazed for, hurry over here…”

Seeing that pulling the bookshelves away from the vortex did indeed remove the books from danger, Su Qiao breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but turn back and scold.

There wasn’t just him as a Miscellaneous Duties Teacher in the Book Collection Vault; there were several others, responsible for organizing and categorizing the books, and at that moment, all of them were stunned by the scene before them, each dazed and unsure what to do.

Upon hearing the command, they hurriedly came over and began to pull the bookshelves near Zhang Xuan further apart.

After doing this, they couldn’t help but turn their eyes toward the elder before them.

“Elder Su, what exactly is going on… How did this teacher suddenly start absorbing origin qi so frenziedly?”

“This…”

After a moment of silence, Su Qiao speculated, “It must be… he’s very interested in ‘Supplementary Cultivation’…”

“Supplementary Cultivation?”

All the Miscellaneous Duties Teachers were dumbfounded.

He had such a strong desire?

…

“This is the salary I’ve arranged for Teacher Zhang Xuan, what do you all think?”

In the office of the school head, Lu Mingrong looked at Wu Yunzhou and several other deputy school heads, along with the elders.

These were the most powerful elders of Baiyan Academy, who could set the tone directly for major events like recruitment and student admission whenever they gathered together.

Yet, a disagreement had arisen today.

“A newly recruited teacher who has just started practicing and knows nothing… Offering a monthly salary of 5000 Origin Currency right off the bat, isn’t that a bit too high?”

A female elder frowned, her eyes full of doubt.

The Third Elder, He Qin.

“Yes, he is indeed a genius, but the evaluation only shows that the Source Pool is solid and wide, not that his future practice will be smooth sailing. Not to mention other things, once the Furnace is activated poorly, the bigger the Source Pool, the slower the practice will progress and the lower his future achievements will be…”

The Fourth Elder, Chen Jinlin.

Comparing the Source Pool to a pond and the Furnace to a water pump, a large pond can raise more fish, but if the pump is too small and lacks power, it might dry up before any fish can be raised…

“Elder Chen is right, the Furnace is very important. Well then, if this genius can absorb more than 50 strands of Origin qi daily, I won’t oppose a salary of 5000 Origin Currency.”

After a moment of thought, The Second Elder, Wu Liuyun, spoke.

“I also agree with Elder Wu’s viewpoint. Just starting his Accumulative Phase and already being able to absorb fifty strands, although the Furnace is not too powerful, it is also not weak, surpassing the level of an ordinary teacher. A salary of 5000 Origin Currency is justified!”

Ran Qingxu stroked his beard, nodding in agreement.

“Absorb 50 strands a day?”

Lu Mingrong said, “Well then! I will personally find an item to ignite his Furnace, striving to make his Furnace even stronger than mine…”

“That’s nearly impossible!”

Wu Yunzhou shook his head with a wry smile: “School Head, you initially caught a Hundred-Leaf Cicada, though not considered a top-tier Primordial Beast, is extremely rare… Where would we find another artifact like that?”

“This…”

Lu Mingrong frowned: “But such a talent, if because the Furnace isn’t well ignited, and his achievements are limited, wouldn’t that be too much of a loss?”

“Once his strength increases, he could simply search for another artifact to replace it. That’s all Baiyan Academy can offer…”

Before Wu Yunzhou could finish speaking, hurried knocking sounded from outside the door.

Lu Mingrong: “Come in!”

Immediately, everyone saw Elder Su, Su Qiao, who was responsible for the Book Collection Vault, stride in.

“Greetings to School Head Lu and the elders!” Su Qiao quickly clasped his hands in greeting.

“Why has Elder Su come?” Lu Mingrong frowned.

This elder seldom leaves his post; his sudden appearance couldn’t be without incident, could it?

“Reporting to you, School Head, that newly recruited teacher, Zhang Xuan, just now… in the Book Collection Vault, ignited the Furnace and absorbed Origin qi to charge into the Accumulative Phase…”

Su Qiao explained.

“What? Ignited the Furnace?”

Lu Mingrong suddenly stood up, his face full of urgency: “This guy is too reckless!”

“Yes!”

Wu Yunzhou similarly expressed deep regret: “He’s just a coachman, lacking resources, and has never learned a cultivation method. Just reading a book and igniting the Furnace without even finding a primer… It’s a huge taboo!”

“It’s over. Using the strength of a Primordial Beast as a primer, his path might have extended further, but now, it’s almost equivalent to being cut off… Let alone 50 strands, being able to absorb 10 strands a day would be quite good…”

Ran Qingxu similarly wore a bitter smile.

“He must have just started absorbing Origin qi; hurry and stop him, there might still be time…”

Lu Mingrong quickly spoke, but before he could finish, he saw Su Qiao looking embarrassingly over: “School Head, don’t panic, let me finish… This Zhang Xuan, I don’t know what level of Furnace he ignited, but it triggered the phenomenon of the ‘Devouring Origin Dragon’! Now, the entire Book Collection Vault is in chaos, and I’m struggling to manage it…”

“???”

“Devouring Origin Dragon? Able to devour 50 strands of Origin qi in a single breath?”

The room fell silent, everyone perking up their ears, afraid they had heard wrong.