Cannon Fodder Cultivation Guide

Chapter 51 - The Appearance of the Immortal Artifact

After absorbing a significant amount of the divine soul stone's spirit, Zhang Yiyi's spiritual consciousness, both in breadth and strength, had already reached the level of a Golden Core stage cultivator. She had even developed the initial form of a spiritual attack, a skill typically possessed by high-level cultivators.

In the end, she had reaped great benefits from this experience, turning misfortune into fortune.

Before she could think further, Zhang Tongtong suddenly woke up.

Fortunately, she had completed her advancement by this point, stabilizing her cultivation at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Her cousin waking up at this moment was quite timely.

"You... you've advanced?" Zhang Tongtong couldn't believe her eyes when she opened them.

 "You've reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment all at once? You're incredible!"

She calculated the time and realized that in just three days, not only had her cousin successfully established her foundation, but she had also advanced all the way to the mid-stage. Advancing one major realm and an additional minor level in such a short time!

Apart from her astonishing combat power, did her advancement speed have to be this overwhelming?

"Cousin, you've gained quite a lot too. Not only has your spiritual consciousness recovered, but it's also significantly strengthened. Your cultivation has also reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment," Zhang Yiyi said with a nod, clearly pleased with the situation. She quickly saw through Zhang Tongtong's current condition.

Her words were not intended to boast, but hearing them still made Zhang Tongtong feel somewhat disheartened. After all, being praised by someone who had gone from the peak of Qi Refining to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment made her own progress—moving from the peak of early-stage to mid-stage Foundation Establishment—seem trivial.

Sometimes, Zhang Tongtong even suspected that her cousin's spiritual roots had been misjudged. How could a cultivator with three spiritual roots advance at the same pace as those with heavenly spiritual roots like hers?

If her mindset were slightly weaker, she would have already been consumed by jealousy, perhaps doing something rash and foolish.

No, no. Jealousy makes people ugly, and she was too beautiful to become so twisted!

Besides, in terms of aptitude, luck, and other factors, she was not inferior to her cousin. As long as she cultivated steadily, her future accomplishments would not be any less than anyone else's.

Given that, there was no need to compete with others over short-term gains. It was better to focus on the long term and the future!

"Forget it, I'm not going to compare myself to a little monster like you."

Zhang Tongtong sighed, but quickly composed herself, deciding not to dwell on it. After all, no matter how shocking Zhang Yiyi's achievements were, she had grown accustomed to being surprised by her cousin.

Actually, her frustration didn't stem from Zhang Yiyi's rapid advancements, but from the fact that she had been forced to stop absorbing the divine soul stones, even though she had been making good progress.

Clearly, her spiritual consciousness could still grow stronger, and her cultivation could also advance further. Everything had been going smoothly, but suddenly something had gone wrong.

It felt as if the energy from the divine soul stones had diminished by more than half, abruptly preventing her from continuing.

Zhang Tongtong, of course, didn't think to blame Zhang Yiyi. After all, even though her cousin had advanced rapidly, the resources she consumed were spiritual energy, which had little to do with the divine soul stones.

The spiritual energy here was more than sufficient for Zhang Yiyi's needs.

"Yiyi, did you notice that the divine soul stones seem different from before?"

After a moment, Zhang Tongtong glanced at the numerous divine soul stones in the cave. She felt that they were dimmer than when she had first seen them, as if most of their essence had already been drained.

But how much could she have possibly used with her current cultivation?

Even a single large piece would be more than enough for her needs, so it couldn't be her doing.

Was it just her imagination?

"Uh, they do seem a bit different," Zhang Yiyi replied after looking around carefully and noticing the same thing.

With a strange expression, she asked, "Cousin, what have you been doing these past few days? How come these divine soul stones look like they're almost depleted?"

"What could I have done? Do you really think someone with my level of cultivation could drain all these precious stones?"

Zhang Tongtong rolled her eyes and shot back, "Maybe it's your doing?"

Her words were meant as a light-hearted retort, not to be taken seriously. However, they made Zhang Yiyi's heart skip a beat.

Remembering the strange force that had flowed into her body along with the spiritual energy earlier, Zhang Yiyi suddenly felt she might have stumbled upon the truth.

Could it really be related to her?

The problem was she was still quite confused and couldn't clearly recall what had happened at the time.

"Uh... related to me?"

After a pause, she said awkwardly, "It shouldn't be possible. I was just establishing my foundation, that's all."

She deliberately chose not to mention the strange force that had nearly overwhelmed her, preferring to keep it to herself. For one, she couldn't fully explain it, and for another, if it really was connected to her, there was no need to tell Zhang Tongtong everything.

After all, the divine soul stones didn't belong to Zhang Tongtong.

Seeing her cousin's expression, Zhang Tongtong lost interest in arguing. "Forget it. It doesn't matter who's responsible. We can't take any of these stones with us anyway, and my spiritual consciousness is fine now."

Thinking of the fact that they couldn't take any of the treasures with them, Zhang Tongtong no longer felt the slightest bit regretful.

After calculating the time, they realized they had been delayed in this place for three full days, and there were only about five days left until the secret realm closed.

"Since your cultivation is stabilized and there's nothing else to do, let's set off to continue searching for the Immortal Artifact."

She stood up, casting a concealment spell to suppress her cultivation back to the early-stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Just give me a moment!"

Seeing this, Zhang Yiyi immediately imitated her. Although she didn't know how to use spells to hide her cultivation, she had something better: the ancient jade her master had given her. She adjusted it slightly, and in no time, her visible cultivation returned to the peak of Qi Refining.

This item was truly remarkable, worthy of being gifted by a true saint of the Great Ascension stage.

From now on, unless she chose to reveal her true strength, not even high-level cultivators several stages above her would be able to see through her, making it even more effective than advanced concealment spells.

"Alright, let's go!"

Zhang Yiyi, pleased with the ancient jade, signaled that she was ready to leave.

"..."

Zhang Tongtong's lips twitched slightly, her expression complicated.

Her cousin's actions were flawless. After all, everyone knew she was only at the Qi Refining stage before entering the secret realm.

She just hoped that those who liked to bully the weak would open their eyes this time, or they might end up being unlucky after running into Zhang Yiyi's newfound strength.

As soon as they left the cave, both received a similar urgent communication: Half an hour ago, an Immortal Artifact had appeared!