I Cultivate Immortality With Scientific Thinking

Chapter 21: Spiritual Energy Levels

Spirit Stones, the crystallization of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, contain abundant spiritual energy within them!

As we all know, spiritual energy is something that cultivators rely on for cultivation and absorption. It can even be said that everything in cultivation and seeking the Dao is built upon the foundation of spiritual energy.

Spirit Stones are divided into four grades based on their quality: Low Grade, Middle Grade, High Grade, and the legendary Supreme Grade.

Originally, Lin Chen thought that the reason for the division of quality was because different grades of Spirit Stones contained different amounts of spiritual energy.

But later on, he discovered that it was not the case.

And through observation, Lin Chen found that the quality of Spirit Stones seemed to be related to the cultivator's realm.

For example, Qi Refining Stage cultivators only use Low Grade Spirit Stones for trading or cultivation. If there are large-scale transactions involved, they use artificial equivalents of Spirit Stones, such as the Azure Cloud Sect's Qingyun Spirit Leaves, the Wanshi Sect's Corpse Pill, or the East Sea Independent Cultivator Alliance's Bihai Spirit Pearls.

When it comes to the Foundation Building Stage, cultivators generally use Middle Grade Spirit Stones for trading and cultivation, occasionally using Low Grade Spirit Stones as well.

Although in the market, the exchange rate between the two is one hundred to one, only when one reaches the corresponding realm can they exchange for Spirit Stones of the corresponding quality in the market.

The use of different grades of Spirit Stones by cultivators of different realms seems to have formed an unspoken custom in this world.

"The formation of customs must have reasons behind them. I believe that someone must have thought of incorporating Middle Grade Spirit Stones into the Qi Refining Stage market for easier trading. But in the end, it was not done..."

"Is it because Middle Grade Spirit Stones are scarce? No, that's unlikely. Perhaps the quantity is indeed small, but it shouldn't be cherished to such an extent. Otherwise, the exchange ratio wouldn't be one hundred to one..."

Lin Chen pondered.

"Spirit Stones are not only used for trading, but also for cultivation. The reason why Middle Grade Spirit Stones are not used in the Qi Refining Stage market is probably not because they don't want to use them, but because most Qi Refining Stage cultivators cannot absorb the spiritual energy contained within them..."

With this thought, Lin Chen looked at the Middle Grade Spirit Stone on the experimental table.

It was a milky white jade stone, the size of a teacup, emitting a faint white light. When held in the hand, it gave off a gentle warmth, different from the ordinary jade-like Low Grade Spirit Stones, with an indescribable strangeness.

Lin Chen mobilized his True Qi and tried to draw a part of the spiritual energy from the Spirit Stone into his body, but he found that this operation was as difficult as lifting a huge stone.

"Indeed, just like in my previous life, primitive barbarians could only use fire, while modern people can harness electricity and nuclear energy. Different levels of energy require different realms, don't they?"

Lin Chen pondered.

With years of in-depth research, Lin Chen gradually discovered that in this world composed of spiritual energy, not only was there a difference in realms in cultivation itself, but everything in the world also had hierarchical differences.

This led to the division of heavenly treasures and earthly treasures that could only be used by cultivators of different realms.

If used by cultivators of a lower realm, unless specially processed, it would result in a waste of most of the effects, and in severe cases, it could lead to death.

And Lin Chen speculated that perhaps for ordinary people and low-level cultivators, the world was the same, but for high-level cultivators, the world they saw was probably different.

For example, phenomena like the purple aura at sunrise or the moonlight of the Taiyin, for ordinary people and Qi Refining Stage cultivators, they were just ordinary sunrise and moonlight. But for Foundation Building Stage cultivators, they were the moonlight filling the sky and the purple aura coming from the east.

And the reason for all these differences, Lin Chen felt, should be the spiritual energy of this world, just like particles in his previous life, it had different levels.

The differences in the levels of spiritual energy created the fundamental differences in this world.

"Of course, all of this is just speculation. I can't be sure whether the difficulty Qi Refining Stage cultivators face in mobilizing the spiritual energy of Middle Grade Spirit Stones is due to the existence of levels or some other reason. So I still need to conduct experiments..."

"But I can assume its existence first and then use existing phenomena to verify it. If there are no problems, it means that there are indeed levels of spiritual energy."

"But based on the current information, cultivators are divided into realms such as Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and Gold Core. It's not just a matter of changing the state of the already refined spiritual energy from gaseous to solid, it also involves a qualitative improvement..."

"This may prove the existence of levels of spiritual energy. Perhaps I can start from this aspect..."

"As long as I grasp the secrets of cultivator advancement, I can verify whether there are levels of spiritual energy in this world..."

Lin Chen pondered for a moment, then picked up the [Spirit Condensing Liquid] purchased from Moving Cloud Market.

The [Spirit Condensing Liquid] can promote the liquefaction of True Qi within cultivators' bodies and is one of the three treasures of the Foundation Building Stage.

However, Lin Chen discovered that simply liquefying spiritual energy only formed spiritual liquid and did not lead to an increase in cultivation level.

"So, does this mean that I still need a catalyst or a trigger?" he wondered.

With this thought in mind, Lin Chen pressed his hand on the table, immediately activating the array formation in the entire laboratory.

Brilliant rays of light emitted from the intricate array formation, and under its influence, a large amount of low-grade spiritual stones in the surroundings released their spiritual energy, forming a cyclone of spiritual Qi in the room.

Following the concept of the Qi Refining Stage's Qi Cyclone, Lin Chen intended to assist liquefaction by converting the spiritual Qi Cyclone.

Lin Chen took out a portion of the [Spirit Condensing Liquid] without hesitation and threw it into the spiritual Qi Cyclone.

This scene was enough to drive Independent Cultivators crazy. For them, the Foundation Building spiritual item that they might not obtain even with great effort was being carelessly wasted.

But for Lin Chen, these so-called Foundation Building spiritual items were merely supplements. The evolution of his essence of life still relied on himself.

If he couldn't have a clear understanding of his own path of evolution and only relied on pills and spiritual items to forcefully break through, what would be the difference between him and a brute with power but no brains?

He sought the Great Dao of the world, the path to becoming a True Immortal, not just becoming a cultivator who could break through with enough pills and spiritual items, like any pig could.

After coming into contact with the spiritual Qi Cyclone, the [Spirit Condensing Liquid] immediately dissipated and formed a milky white spiritual energy in Lin Chen's [Observation Array], emitting a faint glow.

The milky white spiritual energy swam within the pale white mist and gradually dimmed.

"Hmm?" Lin Chen furrowed his brow.

The liquefaction of spiritual energy had begun, but the high-level spiritual energy obtained from the [Spirit Condensing Liquid] seemed to be downgrading instead of undergoing a level transition.

"Not enough quantity? No, that's not it. It's not a matter of quantity, but rather a complete lack of level transition," Lin Chen observed. He glanced at the middle-grade spiritual stones beside him and waved his hand, causing a portion of his spiritual energy to flow into the array formation.

However, even so, there was still no sign of any level transition occurring within the spiritual energy in the array formation.

"The spiritual energy of middle-grade spiritual stones tends to be stable, but under the influence of the spiritual energy from the low-grade spiritual stones, it gradually downgrades. It seems that the decline in spiritual energy level is easier to occur than its enhancement..." Lin Chen contemplated.

"Moreover, not only is the decline in spiritual energy level easier than its enhancement, but the transition from active to dormant states is also the same. Although the two can be converted between each other, the difficulty is different..." he continued.

"But it's normal to think about it. Spiritual energy is meant to form all things and serve as the foundation of the world. Therefore, the conversion from active to dormant states must be several times easier than the reverse enhancement..." he concluded.

The characteristics of spiritual energy reminded Lin Chen of the theory of entropy increase and decrease from his previous life.

"Of course, these things are not the key right now. The key is why, even though I referred to the environment of the Foundation Building Stage breakthrough, there is still no sign of any level transition in the spiritual energy?" Lin Chen pondered.

"Could it be... that my speculation was wrong, and spiritual energy does not possess levels but rather other characteristics?" he questioned.

As he watched the milky white spiritual energy in the [Observation Array] gradually dimming, Lin Chen furrowed his brow deeply.

Where did he go wrong...

Suddenly, Lin Chen realized something. According to his understanding, the breakthrough of the Foundation Building Stage seemed to only occur between cultivators!

And all cultivators, whether they were human cultivators seeking immortality, Demonic Beasts reverting to their ancestral bloodlines, or those strange creatures cultivating, they all had one thing in common: they possessed self-awareness and wisdom!

After all, Lin Chen had never heard of a stone or an inanimate object being able to undergo the essence of life's evolution on its own!

"So, the breakthrough of the Foundation Building Stage, or rather the level transition of spiritual energy, still requires the consciousness or wisdom of living beings?" he speculated.

"So, should I conduct an experiment on cultivators?" Lin Chen sighed lightly under the bright lights, but his eyes grew deeper.

(End of this chapter)