The Journey of Projection Upgrading
Chapter 153: Cultivation and Qi

Chen An was not sure how the flow of time was determined in this projection, whether it was the same every time or different each time.

However, from his perspective, he was quite satisfied with the speed of time flow at the moment.

Of course, he was satisfied.

Over there, more than ten years had passed, while only one day had passed here.

With such an exaggerated speed of time flow, what was there to be dissatisfied about?

Compared to the legend of one day in heaven was one year on earth, this was nothing.

Chen An hoped that in the future, every projection encounter such a speed of time flow.

This way, he wouldn't have to worry about his safety anymore.

Otherwise, if he stayed in a projection world for a long time and returned to find his original body dead from starvation, what was the point of playing anymore!

Chen An was not sure if he could successfully return if his original body had died.

He probably couldn't.

So, death would truly be the end.

The thought of it was terrifying.

Chen An couldn't help but shiver.

Facing enemies on the battlefield and being killed in battle, or other forms of death, Chen An could accept.

But dying of starvation was a different matter.

This was unacceptable.

He would have to find a way to resolve this in the future.

Chen An gazed into the distance silently.

Outside the mansion, a bustling scene unfolded.

People hurriedly walked around, and when they passed by Chen An, they would respectfully bow.

Chen An smiled in response.

Occasionally, people would come to the mansion to report some matters to Chen An.

Most of them were from the Bai family.

As for Chen An's previous friends in the Bai family, they were mostly not around.

After careful consideration, Chen An finally understood the whereabouts of his former friends in the Bai family.

He had not been with the Bai family for long, and there were only a few people who could be considered friends.

Bai Changyue, Bai Changren, Bai Zhilan, Bai Qing, among these people, Bai Changyue was a businessman whose main business was not martial arts, but commerce. Naturally, he couldn't stay in the Bai family's residency for long and often traveled outside.

After all, one had to make a living.

As for Bai Changren, as the second son of the Bai family, he usually had nothing to do and didn't have to hustle like ordinary clan members for a living.

But because he had too much free time, he had been directly caught by Chen An to do some work before, and now he should be in Fengcheng County.

It was unknown whether he was happy or upset.

With his abilities, he was probably happy now.

After all, although his strength was not remarkable, he was still the second son of the Bai family. The heads of the Sanhe Gang in Fengcheng County would probably be happy to entertain this young master from the Bai family.

As for Bai Qing, she had gone on an archaeological expedition with a few elders of the Bai family a while ago, and there was still no news back, probably delayed by some matters along the way.

Thinking about it, most of Chen An's friends seemed to have their own affairs, and only he and Bai Zhilan were the most leisurely.

The reason for this was that they were both true geniuses within the Bai family and also newlyweds, so they were given some time to adjust.

Thinking about it, this seemed quite humane.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to an underestimation of Chen An's seclusion time, when he emerged from his seclusion, Bai Zhilan was already out handling matters instead of at the mansion.

It was unknown when she would return.

After calculating, Chen An realized that none of his friends were around. He couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

But it was fine this way.

At least there was an adaptation period, and he didn't have to deal with his friends immediately upon his return.

Otherwise, he might have found it a bit awkward.

Chen An thought to himself, then looked down at the familiar upgrade template in front of him.

Name: Chen An

Attributes: Strength (7.2), Physique (7.3), Spirit (3.4)

Source Force: 1371

Inheritance: Ice Sealing Technique (Intermediate), Profound Ice Force (First Level), Yin Body Technique (Fifth Level), Bright Body Decision (Fifth Level), Green Pine Force (Third Level).

Projection: Charging in progress

The familiar upgrade template appeared, looking very formal.

Chen An glanced over it briefly.

The data on it was not much different from before the projection, just slightly improved.

These improvements were probably due to the changes brought about by the return of the projection source, but it wasn't much.

Because after the projection was retrieved, most of the source was used to strengthen the body's source, rather than directly used to increase strength.

Of course, after retrieving a Supreme Awakening projection, theoretically speaking, there should have been much more improvement.

But Chen An's situation was special after all.

He estimated that the reason why the gains from this projection retrieval were not that great was because his projection's source had already been exhausted, leaving nothing behind.

Thinking back to his previous projection body, not only was it old, but it had also exhausted everything due to using martial arts techniques, making it almost like an empty shell.

With such an empty shell, how much gain could be obtained from retrieving it?

It was probably due to the fact that the projection was Supreme Awakening and had a decent foundation.

"In other words, I have to try to ensure the integrity of the projection body in the future, and not die easily?"

Thinking this, Chen An sighed silently.

Apart from the changes in data, the biggest change in this trip was the gain in Source Force.

Chen An summarized his gains from this trip, which were not only nearly two hundred years of experience and accumulation but also the Source Force accumulated over time.

With over a thousand three hundred Source Force points, most of it saved by Chen An's frugality.

Chen An really didn't dare to spend too much to save this little fortune.

Even in the final battle with the Law King, he didn't dare to directly breakthrough with money, instead choosing a simple and practical way of mutual destruction.

After all, adding points required money, but mutual destruction didn't.

In a way, he was an example of someone who valued money over his life.

Although he had more than one life.

At that time, this choice seemed reasonable.

After all, he didn't know that the death of the projection would have such a great effect.

But thinking about it now, it was a bit of a loss.

If he had known, he wouldn't have fought that battle.

Chen An sighed.

The battle with the Law King could have been avoided completely.

After all, he was Supreme Awakening at the time, so as long as he wanted, he could have hidden anywhere and the Law King wouldn't have been able to find him.

But out of his feelings for Da Hua and the excitement of engaging in a grand battle, he chose to take action in the end and ended up dying in battle.

He was satisfied at the time, but now he felt he had made a big mistake.

"I must be more careful next time."

He made this decision in his heart.

Some people might think it was a bit chilling that Chen An had spent nearly two hundred years in the Da Hua world and only gained a thousand Source Force.

In theory, it was true.

But in reality, Chen An had no choice.

After achieving Supreme Awakening in the Da Hua world, Chen An used his strength to explore various treasure lands.

But reality was cruel.

There were two intact treasure lands in the Da Hua realm, and the Xuan Ice Cave in the Great Song territory was another excellent treasure land.

But besides these places, what about other places?

There might be a few scattered places with some treasures, but there weren't many that could compare to these three places.

The fact was that in any world, cherished resources were limited.

Da Hua and Great Song were dominant in the central region and were powerful nations, so the treasure lands they occupied were top-notch. Many other countries didn't even have a single treasure land.

Even if they did, their effects were far from comparable to a treasure land like the Xuan Ice Cave.

So Chen An's choices were quite limited.

Moreover, the harvest period of the treasure lands was quite long.

After one harvest, it would take at least decades to recover, and it would take a hundred years or more to fully restore.

With this cycle, the amount of Source Force gained wasn't as large as one would imagine.

Add to this the occasional use of Source Force in daily life, and what was left in the end was just this much.

A thousand three hundred Source Force was considered the most comfortable Chen An had been since awakening his template.

In theory, with this amount of Source Force in hand, anything he did would be sufficient.

But Chen An pondered that when it came to progressing to the Qi realm, it was another matter. It was manageable with two or three hundred Source Force, but it would be difficult at the Supreme Awakening realm.

According to his previous estimates, after reaching the Supreme Awakening realm, each level of advancement would require at least a hundred Source Force, and each level would be more than the previous one.

This number might not sound like much.

But the problem was that there were nine levels in the Supreme Awakening realm.

If he truly relied on Source Force to advance one level at a time, Chen An felt that he would eventually go bankrupt.

So self-reliance was the only way.

He would have to work hard to cultivate, save Source Force consumption as much as possible, and actively expand his income to balance his expenses.

Just because of the retrieval of the projection, and his qualification had improved, it was the right time to try the effects in this period.

After all, he was staying in the Bai family's residence during this time, and there wasn't much going on.

What better way to spend time than on cultivation.

This was how Chen An thought and what he did.

For the next half month, he immersed himself in cultivation.

Perhaps due to the increased qualifications, Chen An could clearly feel his changes.

He was advancing almost twice as fast as before, and the effects were close to what he achieved in the Da Hua world.

With this progress, he should be considered a genius now.

The improvement of the Profound Ice Force was also rapid, surpassing the initial threshold and nurturing the first strand of profound ice inner qi.

At this rate, it seemed that advancing to the Qi realm was within reach.

After silently cultivating for half a month, Bai Changren returned.

It was about time by the calculations.

Chen An personally welcomed Bai Changren into the mansion.

This was the normal treatment, after all, no matter what, Bai Changren was working for him, so he had to be polite.

Otherwise, who would be willing to work for him in the future?

From the looks of it, Bai Changren seemed very satisfied with his trip. He had a smile on his face as he walked, looking excited.

It seemed that Song Wang and his group in Fengcheng County had taken good care of Bai Changren, as he seemed to have been reluctant to leave.

Chen An watched Bai Changren's contemplative appearance and couldn't help but be curious.

Although he had been a member of the Sanhe Gang before, Chen An had never really understood the methods of those who served in the gang.

After all, he had only been a low-level member of the Sanhe Gang before and then had been directly brought out of Fengcheng County by Bai Qing, so he hadn't had the opportunity to learn about those things.

Because he hadn't learned about it before, it was normal for him to be curious now.

But soon, his thoughts were dismissed.

Because Bai Zhilan had also returned.

It seemed that she had heard the news of Chen An coming out of isolation, so she hastily put down what she was doing and rushed back.

It was as if she was in a hurry, and she arrived before Bai Changren.

Chen An looked at Bai Zhilan's excited expression, feeling happy that she returned.

It seemed that Fengcheng County's side, under Song Wang's care, had also treated Bai Zhilan quite well, leaving her with some reluctance to part.

Chen An looked at Bai Zhilan's reminiscing expression and couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

"It seems like Zhilan cares a lot about you, Brother Chen. She immediately ran back as soon as she heard your news."

Bai Changren teased Chen An with a wink.

For some reason, his current appearance seemed a bit sleazy to Chen An.

Chen An glanced at him but didn't say anything, he just walked forward to greet them.

After all these years, Bai Zhilan's presence felt a bit unfamiliar to Chen An.

But obviously, it wasn't the same for Bai Zhilan.

As soon as they met, Chen An felt a weight in his arms, as there was now another girl in his embrace.

"Why didn't you tell me in advance when you came out?"

In his arms, Bai Zhilan complained while being held by Chen An.

The shy appearance of the girl made Chen An somewhat dazed, as if it had stirred up some memories and quickly dissolved the previous feeling of distance.

So he subconsciously reached out and held the girl in his arms.

A light cough came from the side.

Bai Zhilan only noticed Bai Changren beside them, but she had no intention of leaving Chen An's embrace; instead, she gave him a fierce glare.

Do you want to meddle in our affairs?

Bai Changren's mouth twitched, feeling a bit bitter and envious.

He was a son of the Bai family and naturally married early, his wife being the legitimate daughter of the Cao family.

Although life after marriage was satisfactory, wanting to be like the two in front of him now was impossible.

It was even impossible when they had just gotten married, let alone now.

Bai Zhilan's return seemed to signify the return to normalcy in the surroundings.

The following time was calm.

Chen An quietly lived in the mansion and silently passed the time.

Over three months passed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, on a bright morning, an indescribable aura emanated and spread everywhere.

The Profound Ice inner energy condensed, eventually sublimating and transforming into Qi.

The familiar Profound Ice Qi reappeared in his body.

The familiar feeling also returned.

"Finally, Qi."

Standing in place, feeling the familiar Profound Ice Qi in his body, Chen An felt emotional.

Since his return, he had been practicing for over four months, training his Profound Ice Qi to perfection.

This speed was already quite fast, even faster than what Chen An had expected.

A significant portion of this speed was due to the various supplies provided by the Bai family, especially Bai Qing's Profound Ice Bed.

The Profound Ice Bed was made from Profound Ice and had great benefits for Yin attribute cultivation techniques, especially the Profound Ice Force.

Compared to mediocre Yin Body Technique, the enhancement of Profound Ice to the Profound Ice Force was much higher.

With these enhancements, Chen An was able to reach this level smoothly.

And with his previous height, as long as the inner energy level was reached, advancing to Qi was just a matter of course.

Internal energy advancing to Qi was an extremely difficult task for others, requiring many obstacles to overcome.

But this was not a limitation for Chen An.

After all, he had already walked this path before, so the difficulties were nothing to him.

No need for treasure lands, no need for innate Qi awakenings, as long as the accumulation was there, everything fell into place.

If the many elders of the Bai family were to know that someone could advance to Qi so easily, they would probably be envious.

Unfortunately, envy was useless.

After the advancement, Chen An looked around, clearing away the traces left behind, then turned and left to go back to his residence.

In addition to cultivation, Chen An had also been working on collecting Yin and eerie items during these months.

Although the energy brought by these items wasn't abundant, every bit counted.

During this time, Chen An had also tried to use the projection feature again but couldn't.

It seemed that, like simulation, the projection function also required certain conditions to be activated.

If the conditions weren't met, it couldn't be initiated.

Chen An wasn't too sure of the specific conditions, but one thing was certain.

This thing probably had a cooldown period.

Why?

Because over these past few months, Chen An could clearly feel his weakness.

Even though there was no apparent problem with his body, he just felt weak for no reason, as if all his vigor had been drained away.

This feeling of weakness had only somewhat eased now and was barely normal.

This feeling made Chen An understand that the projection feature most likely had a heavy burden, but he wasn't sure where that burden was located.

To use this feature again, he had to wait for his body to fully recover.

This was basic.

Unable to use the projection directly, Chen An could only rely on simulation to get through each day.

Each time cost about ten to twenty Source Force points, not much, but it was alright.

After all, when you calculated it, advancing one level in the Supreme Awakening realm only required those few dozen points.

So, just a dozen simulations seemed like a cost-effective way to progress a level.

It sounded good.

But in practice?

It was indeed cost-effective.

But there was another problem for Chen An.

There weren't enough eerie items in Shangyuan County.

Eerie items were naturally occurring and were scarce in quantity, which was why they were also highly dangerous. Each noble family had special guards to eradicate eerie items.

In such circumstances, the number of eerie items left behind was even scarcer.

(End of the Chapter)

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