Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Eleven: The Powerful Effects of the Cultivation Technique [Please recommend and add to your collection]

If cultivation is the measure of a warrior’s strength, then talent determines the limits of their potential.

For martial artists, talent is an immutable fact—set from the moment of their birth, unchangeable for life. Cultivation, however, is a different matter. Even those of modest talent, as long as they work hard, can improve their cultivation; how far they progress depends on their own fortune.

At first, Wang Jue could not be sure, but after testing with the cultivation method, he could finally confirm it: his golden finger was truly extraordinary!

While others’ talent is fixed at birth, never to change for a lifetime, he could continue to improve his—so long as he possessed enough Star Source Points.

Before obtaining his golden finger, Wang Jue’s talent ranked at the very bottom among the gifted, nearly last. Because his talent was so poor, it took him more than nine years to break through from an ordinary person to a first-layer Body Tempering martial artist. This alone proved how deeply talent affected a warrior’s progress.

Now, although Wang Jue’s cultivation was only at the first layer of Body Tempering, his talent had already risen from lower grade to middle grade. It might seem only a small step, but it was enough for Wang Jue to stand out from the ranks of the most hopeless.

The hardship of cultivation for a lower-grade, red-tiered martial artist was written in Wang Jue’s experience. With his previous poor talent, it took him over nine years just to become a martial artist—placing him at the very bottom within the martial world.

But now, with middle-grade talent, Wang Jue believed his cultivation would progress much faster than before, and that was before he had even further improved his talent. As his talent continued to rise, his cultivation speed would soar accordingly. The higher his talent, the more he could catch up with his peers in cultivation.

Wang Jue still had confidence in this regard, but what troubled him was the issue of Star Source Points. Unless he found a way to obtain more crystals, dreaming of further improving his talent was futile.

Once, talent alone had nearly driven Wang Jue to despair; now, the addition of cultivation methods only made matters worse. It was like having a child—giving birth was easy, but raising one was the real challenge.

Turning his gaze to the box, he found that the milky-white bead containing the cultivation method had vanished; only the two crystals remained. Earlier, he had focused on the method and hadn’t noticed when the bead disappeared. Its loss pained him, but he quickly realized it was, in fact, a blessing in disguise.

A man’s wealth is his own ruin by attracting others’ greed. With his current strength, if anyone discovered he possessed a high-level cultivation method, he would face immense danger, possibly endangering his family as well.

Now that the bead was gone, as long as he wasn’t foolish enough to announce that he was cultivating an advanced method, no one could know what technique he practiced. In the martial world, it was taboo to probe into another’s cultivation method. Even among siblings, spouses, or close friends, only a few would share such secrets with loved ones—most would never reveal them lightly.

The main reason was that cultivation methods were prohibitively expensive. Basic methods were cheap, but black-iron methods cost hundreds of thousands; bronze methods ranged from a million to several million; silver-level methods started at ten million, and gold-level methods were even more unattainable—often worth over a hundred million. Platinum and diamond tier methods, should they appear, would inevitably bring a bloody storm.

The higher the level of the method, the faster those of great talent could learn; those with lesser talent found them harder to master. Yet, if one succeeded, their cultivation speed would increase dramatically. This was why, whenever a silver-level method or martial skill was discovered, countless martial artists would fight and kill for it—even knowing only one could ultimately claim it—driven by the hope of acquiring high-level techniques.

If Wang Jue had not obtained a cultivation method by chance and heard of a place to acquire one, he would have risked everything for it. Now, however, he no longer needed to. Although he did not know the grade of the technique he had acquired, it was obviously extraordinary just from considering the circumstances.

In this sense, Wang Jue was already far ahead of most people. He knew well that his talent and cultivation method could not be improved in the short term; what he needed most now was martial skills.

After verifying his cultivation method, Wang Jue was certain: if he wished to learn martial skills, he would inevitably have to rely on his golden finger. But using it required Star Source Points, and so far, he had discovered only one source—the crystals.

One crystal for one Star Source Point? Wang Jue was unsure. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the two crystals in his hand.

This time, unlike before, no information appeared on his interface, as if the golden finger already knew Wang Jue intended to absorb both crystals and did so directly without any prompt.

One crystal, one Star Source Point—it was no coincidence.

As expected, these two crystals, like the first, were each converted into one Star Source Point, raising Wang Jue’s total to two for the first time.

[Name: Wang Jue]
[Cultivation: Body Tempering First Layer]
[Talent: Red Tier (Middle Grade) 0/100]
[Method: Astral Soul Codex First Layer (Unknown) 0/1000]
[Star Source: 2]

Cultivation could not be improved with Star Source Points. Raising his talent required a hundred points, but improving his method required a thousand—a tenfold increase over talent. With only two points, Wang Jue could do nothing but wait.

Wang Jue found it hard to accept that improving his method cost ten times the Star Source Points as his talent, but it was out of his hands; he had no say in the matter.

Quickly, however, Wang Jue came to terms with it. The more Star Source Points required, the more advanced his cultivation method must be—even if he did not know its exact grade. The word “unknown” on his panel suggested either his cultivation was insufficient or his understanding too shallow. Either way, these were matters far beyond a novice at Body Tempering First Layer.

With his cultivation method in hand, Wang Jue’s heart itched with anticipation. He sat cross-legged on the ground and began, for the first time in real life, to practice the Astral Soul Codex, this mysterious method.

Following the path ingrained in his mind, Wang Jue activated the method and immediately sank into cultivation. Unlike his previous practice in the realm of consciousness, this time he clearly felt the difference—whereas the former was like a one-off irrigation, this was a gradual, thorough absorption, building up from nothing.

The sensation was far more tangible than before. He could easily sense that the Astral Soul Codex benefited not just his body but his mind as well. Physically, he felt himself close to breaking through to the second layer of Body Tempering, but the mental change was harder to describe—he simply felt a sudden clarity, as if his mind had been washed clean.

Moreover, his intuition seemed sharper than before, his judgments more precise. There was no question: the effects of an advanced method far exceeded any lower-level technique.

Immersed in cultivation, Wang Jue finally understood the vast gulf between practicing with a method and without one. Without a method, progress was like a leisurely stroll; with one, it was like driving a car.

At this moment, Wang Jue felt his cultivation speed accelerating as if he were indeed behind the wheel—countless streams of astral energy surged into his body without restraint. Yet, instead of following the Astral Soul Codex’s prescribed route to refine his skin, the energy—as when his talent was previously enhanced—seeped into his skin, flesh, blood, bones, and marrow, and now even into his internal organs.

The sight startled Wang Jue, nearly causing him to halt the method’s circulation. It was no trivial matter—every person’s internal organs are fragile; a single mistake could bring ruin. Even the strongest dared not tamper lightly with their own viscera, and if they did, it was with the utmost caution.

Wang Jue had prepared for the worst, but to his surprise, the astral energy, though wild at first, became gentle once it entered his skin, flesh, blood, bones, marrow, and organs, steadily fortifying them.

Realizing this, Wang Jue paused, then understood that the issue lay not with the cultivation method, but his own body. For the first time, he truly sensed that his body was not as healthy as it appeared. Perhaps due to low talent and lack of resources, his years of hard training had left him covered in invisible scars—like a vase riddled with fine cracks, seemingly whole but liable to shatter at a touch.

Now, the astral energy instinctively worked to fill these cracks. Once his body was mended, his future cultivation would become much smoother.

This time, the healing progressed even faster than before. While Wang Jue was still dazed, the astral energy had already re-tempered his skin—imperfectly refined during his previous breakthrough—now nearly perfect.

Seeing the benefits, Wang Jue quickly recovered and continued his cultivation, guiding the energy in earnest. Astonishingly, as endless star force poured in, instead of his cultivation surging as expected, his realm actually dropped from Body Tempering First Layer.

Fortunately, Wang Jue was too absorbed in cultivation to notice. Had he realized he’d lost all his progress, he might well have coughed up blood from sheer grief and rage.