Half a minute later, Anna gave her response.

"Based on deductions from the principles of the Cultivation Technique and a search of historical cases, the dangers of cultivating [Heart Fire Concentrating Spirit] prematurely manifest in three main areas."

"First, low efficiency. If your Spiritual Strength is insufficient, you cannot effectively guide the Heart Fire to perform ’Concentrating Spirit’ and shape it. The vast majority of your Spiritual Power will dissipate during the attempt, yielding half the results for twice the effort."

"Second, immense consumption. Each attempt will consume a large amount of Spiritual Power, prolonging the recovery period and affecting the progress of your other cultivation."

"Third, the risk of backlash. If a forced attempt at concentration fails, your Spiritual Power may be damaged. In severe cases, it can lead to a spiritual shock, requiring a long period of rest to recover."

Xu Wuyi listened quietly, his expression unchanging, but he had already mostly dismissed the idea in his heart.

The inefficiency and backlash were manageable, but the increased consumption from cultivating it early was the real deal-breaker.

He wanted to cultivate the complete Visualization Method early to trigger the ’Hundred Chances of Enlightenment’. However, if a single cultivation session consumed too much Spiritual Power, that would be impossible.

It was just like when Xu Wuyi had previously cultivated the Eight-direction Soul Suppressing Spear and was now cultivating the Shocking God Spear.

He could perform that fully-focused thrust about thirty times a day at most before his Spirit began to deplete, forcing him to stop and rest.

Spiritual Cultivation was different from ordinary Martial Arts; you couldn’t just push through it with a little extra Willpower.

Physical exhaustion could always be recovered from, but repeatedly overdrawing one’s Spirit could easily leave irreversible damage.

’What a shame... Although my Spiritual Power is growing, the Level of the Cultivation Techniques I’m practicing is also increasing.’

Xu Wuyi shook his head slightly. He had already given up on the idea of taking a shortcut and decided to proceed steadily, planning to first raise his Spiritual Strength to Level 37.

However, another thought occurred to him.

’Now that I can easily complete one hundred repetitions a day for low-level Cultivation Techniques, what if... what if I do two hundred, or three hundred repetitions a day? Would the rewards be even greater?’

’Maybe... I should give it a try.’

Xu Wuyi took a deep breath and walked to the center of the Cultivation Room.

Without hesitation, he assumed the Starting Form of the Basic Body Refining Technique—Holding the Essence and Guarding the One.

Experimenting with his Spiritual Cultivation was too risky, but he had no such concerns about the Basic Body Refining Technique, which he knew best.

Sinking the shoulders, dropping the elbows, relaxing the waist, tucking the hips...

The key points of these movements were already ingrained in his very bones, a part of his body’s instincts.

Even though he hadn’t practiced it in a long time, the moment he settled into the stance, that familiar feeling immediately returned.

His Qi and Blood circulated naturally, and his Heart and Spirit grew calm.

First repetition, complete.

In his sea of consciousness, the panel for the [Martial Arts Diligence Record] appeared. Under the entry for the Basic Body Refining Technique, a small line of text quietly materialized:

[Standard repetitions completed today: 1]

Xu Wuyi didn’t pause, immediately beginning the second repetition.

Two repetitions, three, four...

His movements were steady and fluid, as natural as breathing.

His body control at the Martial Master Realm allowed him to perfectly replicate every detail without the slightest deviation.

Ten repetitions, twenty, thirty...

Time flowed by quietly.

Xu Wuyi was completely immersed in his cultivation, his Heart and Spirit focused, his Qi and Blood circulating slowly with his movements.

Although the Basic Body Refining Technique could no longer bring him significant growth in Qi and Blood, the solid feeling of the workout gradually brought his physical condition to its peak.

Fifty repetitions, sixty, seventy...

The moment he completed the one-hundredth repetition, the familiar clear stream descended once more in his sea of consciousness.

[Today’s effective repetitions have reached 100. You have gained one ’Enlightenment’.]

HUM!

A torrent of profound understanding swept through his consciousness.

Even though his Basic Body Refining Technique had already reached the Great Success Realm, this Enlightenment still gave Xu Wuyi a new, albeit minor, understanding of the Cultivation Technique.

The Enlightenment didn’t last long, only about ten seconds or so.

But for Xu Wuyi, the gains from those ten-odd seconds gave him a deeper understanding of the word "basic."

"Continue."

He didn’t stop, but immediately began the one hundred and first repetition.

One hundred and ten repetitions, one hundred and twenty, one hundred and thirty...

Xu Wuyi’s movements remained flawless, his Heart and Spirit still focused.

But gradually, he noticed a difference.

After the one-hundredth repetition, the panel triggered no further notifications.

There was no additional proficiency growth, no second Enlightenment.

Only the number next to [Standard repetitions completed today] continued to increase, slowly but surely.

One hundred and fifty repetitions, two hundred, two hundred and fifty...

Fine beads of sweat began to form on Xu Wuyi’s temples.

Although the stamina cost of each repetition of the Basic Body Refining Technique was negligible for a Martial Artist, the cumulative burden of performing it over two hundred times was considerable.

More importantly, mental fatigue began to set in.

Three hundred repetitions, three hundred and fifty, four hundred...

The tedious practice made Xu Wuyi’s mind go numb, but his movements didn’t falter in the slightest.

The powerful control granted by his Minor Achievement in Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace allowed him to utilize every ounce of his body’s strength with precision, wasting nothing.

Five hundred repetitions, five hundred and fifty, six hundred...

But Xu Wuyi’s eyes remained clear.

He felt that more than half of his stamina was gone, and the circulation of his Qi and Blood had begun to slow.

But strangely, within this exhaustion, there was a peculiar sense of "clarity."

It was as if, through these endless repetitions, his body was being stripped of impurities layer by layer, revealing its most fundamental state.

Seven hundred repetitions.

When this number surfaced in his mind, Xu Wuyi finally stopped.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t continue, but that he needed a break.

He walked to a corner of the Cultivation Room, picked up a prepared vial of Nutrient Liquid, and tilted his head back to drink the entire thing.

The cool liquid slid down his throat and quickly transformed into a gentle wave of Energy, replenishing his body’s reserves.

Xu Wuyi leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

The Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace technique activated silently, his Heart Fire flickering as it accelerated the absorption and conversion of the Energy.

About half an hour later, he opened his eyes again.

He had recovered sixty to seventy percent of his stamina, enough to continue.

’Seven hundred repetitions... took more than five hours.’

Xu Wuyi glanced at the time, calculating silently.

’But the only reward... was the single Enlightenment from the first hundred repetitions.’

He frowned.

The return on investment was pitifully low.

If he weren’t trying to verify the theory in his head, even he would have found this kind of tedious, repetitive cultivation almost unbearable.

"Let’s continue."

Xu Wuyi shook his head and walked back to the center of the Cultivation Room.

Since he had already started, there was no reason to give up halfway.

The eight hundredth repetition.

The nine hundredth repetition.

Xu Wuyi’s breathing grew heavy. Every lift of his hand, every turn of his body, now required more Willpower than before.

But he didn’t slow down or cut corners. Every movement was still executed to perfection, and his Heart and Spirit remained completely immersed.

Nine hundred and fifty repetitions.

Nine hundred and sixty repetitions.

Nine hundred and seventy repetitions...

More than seven hours had already passed.