From the previous system logs, it could be deduced that the system encountered this time was a novice.
Let alone peeking into his thoughts, it couldn't even force cultivation into him, a task at the beginner level.
Perhaps he could discover problems that it missed?
Since things had come to this, there was no harm in trying.
Ye Fan selected a cultivation technique from his memories and began to practice.
To his surprise, he discovered an unexpected joy!
His spiritual power, which had been completely unusable, could now be mobilized again!
Although he couldn't destroy targets directly with his terrifying spiritual power as before, it was more than enough for cultivation!
Moreover, the process of guiding spiritual energy into his body was exceptionally smooth!
It was as if he had never stopped for all these years, without any rustiness or discomfort.
And the meridians within his body that had been widened and modified before were still in their original state.
Both the hardware and software were maintained at peak condition!
As soon as the surrounding spiritual energy entered his body, it was transformed into the purest true qi by the cultivation technique!
Absolutely no impurities whatsoever!
The transformation process was practically negligible!
If other cultivators knew about this, they would probably be so jealous that their eyes would bleed!
Those cultivators who spent long periods in seclusion, the time was mainly wasted in this process of transformation and absorption.
The more powerful the cultivation technique, the greater the amount of true qi required, and the more terrifying the workload for transformation!
With Ye Fan's transformation efficiency, he was practically cheating!
In a short while, the cultivation technique had completed one cycle.
It was even faster than the last time he had run it!
Ye Fan stopped and blinked in confusion.
It seemed... there were no problems?
Was it really because this system was too weak, and simply couldn't detect his physical condition?
Just as Ye Fan was racking his brains, he discovered something was wrong!
The transformed true qi showed no intention of staying!
It left his body just like that!
Not even a single strand remained!!!
Ye Fan inwardly exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
What kind of demonic thing was this?
So, all his cultivation for half the day was for naught???
Not believing it, Ye Fan immediately activated the cultivation technique again, madly absorbing spiritual energy from his surroundings.
He turned the power up to maximum!
His entire being instantly transformed into a spiritual energy pump!
Due to the rapid and terrifying rate of absorption, large areas of spiritual energy vacuum appeared around him!
If viewed from afar, there were vacuum vortices all around him!
However, it was of no use.
After the spiritual energy was transformed into impurity-free true qi, it slipped away from his body again...
The areas that had been emptied around him instantly returned to their original state.
Ye Fan blinked in confusion again, beginning to doubt life itself...
Perhaps...
It was a problem with the cultivation technique?
With this thought, Ye Fan switched to another cultivation technique and began to experiment.
Spiritual energy came in!
Spiritual energy left!
Spiritual energy came in again!
Spiritual energy ran out again!
...
After trying over a dozen cultivation techniques in one go, Ye Fan had no choice but to believe...
No matter how he struggled, it was all in vain...
His body was now like a water pump, merely transferring spiritual energy from one side to the other...
No, no...
After a water pump finishes its work, some water droplets can still be left inside.
The material of his water pump was too good, not even a speck could be left behind...
He possessed an absorption efficiency of spiritual energy that would drive all cultivators insane, yet he couldn't retain even a trace of true qi...
It was a great irony...
Ye Fan lay on the ground dejectedly, feeling utterly frustrated...
Continuing to court disaster was meaningless.
He wanted to start cultivating, but found it impossible...
This situation couldn't even be described as frustrating anymore...
...
Gradually.
Ye Fan fell asleep in his dejection.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.
"Grumble—"
His stomach protested.
Ye Fan sat up helplessly and touched his belly.
If he couldn't cultivate, he was still a mortal, and he still had to eat.
Forget it, he wouldn't think about it anymore.
First, food!
Just as Ye Fan was pondering where to get some food, a few cultivators appeared in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, those people landed in front of Ye Fan.
Judging by the style of their robes, they were from the Yun Hua Sect.
And leading them was the Great Elder of the Yun Hua Sect!
"Excellent, we've finally found you!" The Great Elder cupped his fists. "Young friend Ye, please."
Ye Fan touched his nose.
Well.
It seemed he had to go with them.
It didn't matter.
He could solve the problem of eating first.
Thus, Ye Fan rode on the Great Elder's flying sword and headed towards the Yun Hua Sect.
His flying boat and previous flying bed had been scrapped along with the ring.
Now, he didn't even have a means of transportation...
Yun Hua Sect.
Upon returning to his residence, Ye Fan enjoyed a sumptuous feast.
After eating his fill, he took out a lounge chair from his storage bag and basked in the sun in the courtyard.
He had asked the Great Elder on the way back.
Previously, Yun Hua Zhenren had defeated Ling Tianhua and Feng Wushuang, but he had also sustained serious injuries and had no choice but to let the two escape.
The Great Elder's intention was for Ye Fan to wait a few more days for Yun Hua Zhenren to recover from his injuries before exploring that relic.
Although the Great Elder's words sounded casual,
the fact that he even used the phrase "sustained some injuries and had no choice but to let the two escape" indicated that the reality was far more serious than he let on.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would be at least a severe injury!
He would likely need a good period of recovery.
Oh well.
He might as well use this time to thoroughly consider what to do next.
Without a system or pets now, and with his complete inability to cultivate, he could forget about his combat strength.
However, even without combat strength, it didn't mean he couldn't do anything...
Yes, he couldn't retain spiritual energy at the moment.
But the process of guiding and transforming it was completely unaffected.
It was even more efficient and comfortable than before!
If this was the case, then he could probably dabble in alchemy and artifact forging!
Cultivators needed to use true qi to control the heat when refining pills, and he seemed to be able to meet this requirement now!
Although he couldn't retain spiritual energy within his body, he didn't need to retain it for alchemy!
All he needed was to provide a continuous and stable supply of true qi to the alchemy furnace!
His current situation was that he could not only provide it, but he could provide it endlessly!
After all, he was a super high-power water pump!
Whether it was the success rate or efficiency of alchemy, he would far surpass other alchemists by tens of thousands of streets!
As for other things like formations and arrays, the same logic applied!
Thinking about it this way, it didn't seem so bad...
At least it wouldn't leave him with nothing to do.
And with these methods, he might even be able to make a name for himself.
Professional practitioners in fields like alchemy, artifact forging, and formations occupied a very special status in the cultivation world.
A small pill could allow a cultivator to turn danger into safety.
It could even save a life at a critical moment!
A powerful formation could instantly annihilate an army of thousands!
A divine weapon could even allow a cultivator, in a certain sense, to possess the ability to challenge opponents of a higher level!
...
This led to alchemists and artifact refiners potentially having ordinary cultivation levels themselves, but they would definitely have many friends with extraordinary cultivation!
Because these powerful individuals had needs from them!
And by chance, Ye Fan understood a little bit about every profession, and was a little bit proficient.
He wouldn't dare to say he had reached the pinnacle,
but at least he was almost at full level.
...