The old cripple immediately sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing after consuming the candy.
Under Zhang Wei's electromagnetic induction, a faint blue light slowly emanated from his body...
Through electromagnetic induction, the entire cultivation world had this faint blue halo; it should be the so-called spiritual energy.
At this moment, the old cripple had actually generated spiritual energy within his body!
"Did he completely digest the Gourmet Cells..."
The old cripple later explained that he had developed this move himself.
No matter how much his companions economized their spiritual energy, a little would always dissipate with each breath.
After the spiritual energy was depleted, it would be regenerated from within the body; this was consuming the body to produce spiritual energy.
It was equivalent to sacrificing permanent mana and magic power to gain a small amount of mana. Many people could not endure this and had thoughts of ending their lives.
Only the old cripple had managed to develop this method, thus preserving the lives of the last few cultivators.
Leaving the Treasure Hall, his mind was filled with the image of the Ling Shuang Three Swords.
Elegant, so very elegant!
Unfathomably powerful, with a single sword swing, he could resist the simultaneous attacks of three opponents of the same level!
As his swordsmanship shifted, the opponents' attacks were always dissipated into nothingness!
The duel between Toronto and Shao Ying back then had too vast a difference in strength for Zhang Wei to have a direct feel. Now, Zhang Wei could only say one thing: the technique was truly awesome!
Combat power was a multiplicative relationship between attributes and skills.
In the Gourmet World, the inability to exert combat power, possessing physique but unable to use it, meant attributes multiplied by zero, resulting in no combat power.
Normal skill execution yielded a value of one, attributes multiplied by one, and attributes equaled combat power.
Exceptional performance doubled the attributes, yielding twice the combat power of the attributes.
And two was basically the limit in the Gourmet World.
But!
In the Cultivation World, a technique that only reached two would be considered idiotic, foolish, and worthless; casual practitioners could reach four or five, and a specialist could reach eight or nine.
Using one unit of strength as ten units – this was what the Cultivation World pursued: true technique!
"But... why hasn't the Gourmet World developed such miraculous techniques?"
"Could it be... the speed of strength growth?"
In the Gourmet World, strength was linked to appetite. The more delicacies consumed, the more combat power increased; progress was comfortable and rapid.
Practicing technique, however, was an extremely torturous and arduous undertaking, training in the bitter cold of winter and the sweltering heat of summer! Not a single day could be slackened!
Since one could achieve their goal through enjoyment, who would endure hardship?
Cultivators, however, were different. Resources were scarce here, and every step forward in strength required immense hardship, with each step taken leaving bloody footprints.
This demanded that they make the most of their limited strength, and practicing technique did not consume resources; it was an increase in combat power that could be earned through effort.
The difficulty of advancing technique was far lower than that of improving cultivation.
After all, realms and strength required a combination of talent, resources, luck, diligence, and everything else to achieve even a tiny bit of growth.
"Fighting against heaven, fighting against man... it's truly too difficult. Thankfully, I transmigrated to the Gourmet World!"
Zhang Wei felt quite fortunate.
Leaving the Treasure Hall, Zhang Wei gave Zhan Hua a portion of ingredient resources and instructed him to continue collecting.
He also discussed sword techniques and moves with Zhan Hua.
On the training ground, Toronto was seeking Shao Ying's guidance in swordsmanship. In just a few days, Toronto's attitude had completely changed. From initial disdain, viewing swordsmanship as flashy nonsense, he was now diligently learning and constantly practicing.
Upon seeing Zhang Wei, Toronto immediately exclaimed with excitement, "Principal, this sword technique... what's the word for it? Right, exquisite! It's truly exquisite. I feel like my combat power has skyrocketed these past two days. I even dare to spar with a level three fierce beast!"
"Very good. Diligence and a willingness to learn are good qualities. Practice swordsmanship well."
Toronto nodded, pointing at Shao Ying and saying, "It's thanks to Shao Ying's teaching that I'm improving so quickly."
Shao Ying blushed, "Don't mention it, don't mention it. These are just insignificant tricks, nothing compared to the Great Dao of cultivation."
Zhang Wei's interest was piqued, "This isn't the Great Dao of cultivation?"
"These are techniques I brought from the secular world. My master, Zhuo Bufan, once said that if one wishes to glimpse the Great Dao, they cannot focus their energy on these insignificant martial arts techniques; they must constantly hone their true qi and spirit."
"Secular world... you are?"
Shao Ying replied, "In the secular world, I am from the Northern Yue Sword Sect of Mount Jianghu in Chongzhou. We have some standing in the martial arts world!"
Upon saying this, Shao Ying's face always held extreme pride!
The martial arts world?
The martial arts world!
If, compared to the Gourmet World, cultivation had immense difficulty in progress, then compared to the Cultivation World, martial arts were even more difficult!
No matter how one cultivated, they were still mortal flesh, living no more than a hundred years, with extremely limited growth in strength. Decades of effort were not as effective as a wisp of true qi in cultivation!
If calculated this way, the techniques of the martial arts world would be pushed to even greater extremes!
Zhang Wei suppressed his excitement and gently asked, "Then, purely in terms of swordsmanship, which is stronger, your sword sect or the Tianmen Sect?"
Shao Ying stammered for a long time, not daring to utter a word.
Zhang Wei comforted him, "Just say it, speak the truth."
After a long period of thought, Shao Ying finally said, "Cultivation is the supreme Great Dao. Naturally, one would not delve into such inferior techniques. Flying with a sword, one can take a life from afar, truly surpassing mortal sword scriptures."
"I already said, purely in terms of swordsmanship, for example, the basic sword scripture of the Tianmen Sect, and the basic sword scripture of your sect."
"This... this is incomparable. Our kind of fringe sword sect naturally focuses on combat, while the Tianmen Sect's orthodox scripture is the foundation for the way of the immortal sword, so they cannot be compared."
"Purely in terms of swordsmanship combat, which one would win? No lying!"
Shao Ying broke out in a sweat from anxiety and could only grit his teeth and say, "The Tianmen Sect's swordsmanship might be slightly inferior..."
"How much is 'slightly'?"
"Three to five times!"
Pfft!
This exaggerated?
In terms of pure swordsmanship, the difference could be this much!
"If Toronto learned your sect's swordsmanship, what would his strength be? Or rather, how many people in your sect have a physique like Toronto's?"
"Toronto..." Shao Ying looked at Toronto and continued.
"If internal energy were pushed to its limit, it would require at least half a Jia Zi of arduous cultivation to be comparable to Toronto. In terms of normal internal energy... no one is a match for Toronto."
Internal energy was a supernatural power far inferior to true qi, unable to break through mortal shackles, and half a Jia Zi was thirty years.
A mortal's limit was one Jia Zi of internal energy, and it would decrease over time as the body aged and declined.
If one's internal energy was not learned from the age of three but was picked up halfway, they would never hope to achieve one Jia Zi of cultivation in their lifetime.
And this one Jia Zi referred to arduous cultivation, meditating for four hours a day, rain or shine, without a single day's pause.
Internal energy in martial arts was equivalent to meditation replacing sleep, while cultivation not only involved meditation but also required abstinence from grains. It was a challenge to human nature!
In the Gourmet World, tens of thousands of Capture Levels were needed to potentially confront one's desires. Here, upon entering, they had already conquered themselves.
Those who could enter were all individuals of great perseverance!
It could be said that in terms of effort, anyone here would crush dozens from the Gourmet World many times over.
If it weren't for this, they would not have been able to hold their ground in a world with such scarce resources!