"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
Ye Fan punched a few more times, but nothing changed.
"It seems my physical strength has reached the first level of Foundation Establishment..." Ye Fan muttered, stroking his chin. "It's just that there's still no trace of true energy in my body. What's going on..."
As he mused, an idea flashed through Ye Fan's mind.
Body cultivation!
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
Body cultivators, as they were called, were those who abandoned spell-based attacks and adopted a purely physical combat style.
Most of them were cultivators whose aptitude for spells was poor, and they were forced to switch paths.
Except for those with special physiques, most body cultivators didn't fare well.
Firstly, their physical attacks were far less powerful than true energy attacks. Secondly, there was the issue of attack range.
Before they could even touch their opponents, the opponents' ranged attacks would already be hitting them.
How could they possibly fight like that?
Therefore, generally speaking, body cultivators at the same level were no match for spell cultivators.
Although this situation improved in the late game, very few people could actually reach the late game...
After all, the path of cultivation for body cultivators was far more difficult than that for spell cultivators!!!
For body cultivators to become stronger, they needed to continuously temper their physical bodies with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
And this process was not just ordinary pain!
Many people could not continue past the Golden Core stage!
Their will would break, and many would go mad!
Let me put it this way!
If you asked a spell cultivator at the Integration stage to experience the pain of a Golden Core stage body cultivator, they might just end up in a mental asylum!
Ye Fan felt that the reason he didn't count as a body cultivator was precisely this.
Body cultivators used the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper their physical strength.
Even if they had no true energy in their dantian, they still had it within their bodies, just dispersed throughout.
But his own body still had no trace of true energy...
He couldn't find any trace of true energy in his meridians or muscle tissues.
So, what did this make him?
On the surface, he seemed like a body cultivator, but essentially, he had nothing to do with them.
Hmm...
Thinking about it carefully...
It didn't seem so bad???
If he didn't consider the essence, he was currently no different from a body cultivator.
But at the same time, he didn't have to endure the pain of body cultivators.
No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a bad thing!
So, only one question remained.
What was the reason for him becoming like this?
Ye Fan pondered and could only think of the two mineral stones he had eaten before!
It wasn't that the mineral stones themselves were that amazing, but the act of him eating them.
If that were the case, did it mean that if he wanted to get stronger, he just needed to keep eating?!
Ye Fan touched his stomach.
He had indeed felt full before.
But now, he seemed to be a little hungry again.
With this thought, Ye Fan opened his spatial ring once more.
Just as he was about to take out a few more to eat, his gaze caught something.
It was a seventh-tier treasured sword, which he had originally intended to auction off later.
Ye Fan casually took out the sword, then rolled up the sleeve of his left arm.
After a few gestures, Ye Fan lightly swiped at his left arm.
Now that the extent of his offensive power was confirmed, it was time to test his defense!
Since he couldn't use true energy to activate the sword's special properties, the sword now only possessed the sharpness of its material.
But that was enough!
With a light swipe of the treasured sword, a cut about two inches long appeared on Ye Fan's left arm.
Blood flowed from the wound, quickly dripping onto the ground.
"Drip, drip..."
Combining the sharpness of the sword with the force he had just used, Ye Fan had a rough estimate.
Defensive power, around the fifth level of Foundation Establishment!
Even stronger than his offense!
But...
He liked it!
A strange thing happened again!
Not long after the wound appeared, it began to heal!
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared!
His skin was no different from the surrounding areas, as if it had never been injured!
"Holy crap..."
Ye Fan couldn't help but exclaim.
Although the wound wasn't very deep, it was still a little over a centimeter.
For an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would have taken several days to recover, even with the aid of pills.
And that was with supplementary pills.
Damn it!
This was truly an unexpected joy!
Ye Fan held the sword and gestured a few more times.
In the end, he gave up.
Forget it...
Who knew if deeper wounds could still heal.
Although he still couldn't cultivate and didn't need to worry about meridians, it wouldn't be good if he accidentally crippled himself...
If he cut some tendons and they couldn't heal, the consequences would be dire...
After throwing the sword back into the ring, Ye Fan took out a few more mineral stones.
Chicken-flavored.
Potato chip flavored.
Roasted beef flavored.
...
After eating three or four in a row, Ye Fan finally stopped.
"Burp!"
Ye Fan patted his stomach.
He couldn't eat anymore; he was full.
Fortunately, he didn't experience the bloating sensation from before this time.
However, the aura enveloping him had become stronger than before.
He had reached the second level of Qi Refining!
Ye Fan swung his arms and turned to punch the testing stone!
"Bang!"
Second level of Foundation Establishment!
Seeing this result, a hint of joy flashed in Ye Fan's eyes!
He had guessed correctly before!
As long as he kept eating, he could continue to get stronger!
If other cultivators knew about this method of cultivation, they would probably be so jealous their eyeballs would bleed!
No need to tediously practice cultivation techniques repeatedly.
No need to worry about qi deviation.
No need to worry about bottlenecks...
Hmm...
That was still unclear at the moment...
But overall, it couldn't be described as anything less than exhilarating!
Perfect!
If it weren't for the feeling of fullness that hadn't subsided, Ye Fan would have been impatient to continue!
Ye Fan simply strolled around the room, digesting his meal...
A quarter of an hour later.
The feeling of fullness finally disappeared!
Ye Fan eagerly took out a few more mineral stones and popped them into his mouth like candy.
This time, he ate seven or eight third-tier mineral stones before he was full.
His aura also reached the third level of Qi Refining.
Ye Fan walked over and punched the testing stone!
"Bang!"
Third level of Foundation Establishment!
Solid!
And so, Ye Fan completely transformed into a glutton!
He would stroll after eating his fill, and level up after digesting.
And throughout the entire process, there was still no trace of true energy in his body, so he didn't need to worry about unstable realms!
It couldn't be more satisfying!
The only unsatisfactory part was that as his realm increased, the time it took to digest his meals grew longer...
At midnight, Ye Fan finally left the testing room.
At this moment, his surface aura had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, and his offensive power had reached the ninth level of Foundation Establishment!
His physical strength was estimated to have reached the second or third level of Golden Core!
In half a day, he had almost crossed a major realm!
If this were to get out, it would probably drive a lot of people insane!!!