The concept of Body Merging into the Void, it seemed, wasn't about literally dissolving one's entire self into the emptiness, but rather manipulating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to induce an effect akin to compression within the void itself.

It was much like a person walking: one step couldn't possibly cover a hundred meters, but if that hundred-meter distance could be compressed into a single meter, then a single stride could cross it with ease.

But was that compressed space real or illusory? If real, how could the tangible void be compressed? If illusory, how could it conceal one’s form so completely in that fleeting moment?

Suddenly, Nie Kong recalled his pet storage pack.

Was that thing real or illusory? If real, why couldn't it be touched or seen? If illusory, why could it store objects?

“Real, illusory…”

Nie Kong murmured these two words. A faint intuition stirred in his heart: there seemed to be some marvelous connection between his pet pack and the compressed space created by a Spirit Master employing the technique of Body Merging into the Void.

However, the exact nature of this connection was something he couldn't decipher yet.

Sensing a voice calling his name, Nie Kong snapped back to awareness. He looked up to see Sha Yan standing at the entrance of the Spirit Concealment Hall, beckoning him. Nie Kong swiftly suppressed the thoughts swirling in his mind, quickened his pace across the nine steps before the hall, and stepped inside...

Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art!

Spring signified vitality; Autumn represented harvest. Only with vitality could there be a harvest—this was the true meaning of the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art.

Seeing this spiritual art, Nie Kong couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

With over two hundred contribution points, and guided by Vice Hall Master Sha Yan, Nie Kong’s acquisition of the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art was remarkably smooth. However, according to the regulations of the Spirit Concealment Hall, no borrowed spiritual art could be taken out; Nie Kong had no choice but to memorize the entire text within the hall itself.

Back at his residence, Nie Kong eagerly began practicing in the courtyard.

The Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art was entirely different from the Wood Sun True Spirit Art and the Five Stars Shifting Art he had previously cultivated. This one focused squarely on the word: vitality!

This single aspect alone filled Nie Kong with admiration for the Spirit Master who created the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art.

Ever since he first fused the medicinal efficacy that revealed vitality using the Twin Dragon Ring Beads, and especially after grasping the method for generating vitality in the monthly aptitude test, Nie Kong had held a growing belief: perhaps vitality was merely the state manifested when the properties of the Wood spiritual energy element are pushed to their absolute extreme.

By that logic, the most abundant and massive spiritual energy element in the world was not any of the five—Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, or Earth—but the Wood spiritual energy element.

Because, everything in this world possesses vitality.

Plants and trees survive through vitality; humans grow because of vitality; even those medicinal herbs inherently contain vitality... Wherever vitality exists, the Wood spiritual energy element must be present.

The Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art allowed one to strengthen their own spiritual power by absorbing external vitality!

"Buzz!"

Verse after verse of incantations flashed through his mind. Nie Kong circulated the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art, and his Spiritual God Three Apertures began to vibrate in a marvelous, soothing rhythm.

It was similar to when Nie Kong employed the Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique: the resonance generated by the tip of the Heavenly Needle induced a sympathetic vibration in the other eight needles, thus binding the nine golden needles into one integrated whole. As the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art circulated, a similar intangible fluctuation spread out from the vibrating Spiritual God Three Apertures.

"Swish..."

The grass and trees in the courtyard suddenly swayed slightly.

Immediately, Nie Kong noticed that in addition to a large amount of scattered specks of Wood spiritual energy elements separating from the surrounding void, a wisp of faint emerald green began to drift out from between the leaves of the plants, mingling with the abundant Wood spiritual energy elements, and gathering toward him.

"It really is vitality!"

Nie Kong’s intent flickered slightly. The vibration of the Spiritual God Three Apertures remained gentle, but the amplitude increased slightly. The Wood spiritual energy elements and the vitality of the plants immediately surged into Nie Kong’s body like a tide. As the apertures continued to vibrate, the Wood spiritual energy elements rapidly transformed into pure Wood spiritual power.

What surprised Nie Kong was that this vitality required no refinement through the Spiritual God Three Apertures; upon entering his body, it merged directly into the spiritual power.

The infusion of plant vitality was like pouring a bucket of gasoline onto a raging fire, causing Nie Kong’s meridians to boil with excitement. At this moment, Nie Kong’s mutated Wood spiritual power seemed like a living thing imbued with the breath of life, surging tirelessly within his meridians.

The more vitality merged, the more intense the spiritual power fluctuations became. Soon, streams of flame-like splashes began to erupt intermittently within his meridians.

After a long while, Nie Kong ceased his cultivation and opened his eyes.

"The Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art is truly marvelous. Not only does it multiply the speed of spiritual power refinement, but it actually imbues the spiritual power with vibrant life force!"

Sensing the changes within his body, a smile touched Nie Kong’s cheeks.

Seeing Nie Kong awaken from his meditation, Long Ting, who had been sitting quietly beside him, could no longer suppress her astonishment: "Master, when you were cultivating, the speed at which I condensed spiritual energy also increased significantly."

"En."

Long Yu blinked her dark, liquid eyes, her delicate pink face filled with confusion: "Brother, it was almost twice as fast as before."

"Is that so?"

Nie Kong paused, startled. When he previously cultivated the Wood Sun True Spirit Art, these two little lasses often sat nearby watching, yet this acceleration in spiritual energy condensation had never occurred. Could the fluctuations produced by the apertures during the cultivation of the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art be stimulating their meridians? Or was it the vitality absorbed by the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art that caused this strange change in them?

"Master, look quickly, these grasses have all withered." "They were all alive just a moment ago!" The voices of the two little lasses sounded again, interrupting Nie Kong's train of thought. He lowered his gaze and indeed saw that the dozen or so blades of grass near his feet were withered and yellowed, their vitality completely extinguished. The grass further away had also begun to turn slightly yellow, though the large trees in the courtyard showed no obvious change.

"Did this all happen because of my cultivation just now?"

Nie Kong was shocked. He knew the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art absorbed vitality before practicing, and he felt it personally during cultivation, but he hadn't realized that cultivating this art could inadvertently suck the vitality out of plants, causing them to die.

If cultivation at this stage resulted in this, wouldn't prolonged use cause massive swathes of vegetation to perish? If that were all, it wouldn't be too worrying, but if his cultivation reached a level where he could absorb the vitality of humans, would circulating the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art cause life force in surrounding people to cease?

Nie Kong’s mind involuntarily conjured up the Star Sucking Great Technique from martial arts novels of his previous life. How similar this Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art was to it—one absorbed the true energy of martial artists, the other absorbed the vitality of all things. Undeniably, the latter was far more terrifying.

From this perspective, the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art absolutely should not be classified as a low-grade spiritual art; it was, at minimum, a mid-grade art, perhaps even a high-grade one!

When Nie Kong retrieved this art from a dusty corner of the first floor of the Spirit Virtue Hall, it was already covered in grime. Who knew how many years it had lain untouched?

Not only had the elders of the Spirit Concealment Hall ignored it, but even Sha Yan, who had inquired about Wood elemental arts for Nie Kong, hadn't looked through it, simply assuming that this spiritual art, which was rare for Wood element Spirit Masters, should be suitable for Nie Kong's current Spiritual Transformation Realm.

Otherwise, Nie Kong might have found it very difficult to obtain such an art so easily.

Thoughts swirling, Nie Kong suddenly asked, "Pingping, Tingting, besides noticing an acceleration in spiritual energy condensation, did you feel anything else?"

At this moment, Nie Kong was concerned whether his cultivation of the Spring and Autumn Life Generation Art might cause any harm to them. Although the initial stage only absorbed plant vitality, and he hadn't detected any vitality leaking from the two little lasses during cultivation, it was best to confirm such matters.

"No."

The two little lasses shook their heads simultaneously. Then Long Ting beamed with delight, "Master, in the future, when you cultivate, Sister and I will stay by your side. If we do that, we estimate we can reach our limit in about half a year, and then Master can absorb our spiritual energy again."

"Mm-hmm." Long Ping nodded repeatedly, looking at Nie Kong with expectation, her small face blushing faintly, tinged with shyness.

"You two..."

Nie Kong felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, yet he was deeply grateful for their intentions. "Let's go back to the room... I need to check why your spiritual energy condensation speed has increased."

Long Ping and Long Ting, both blushing, nodded, then scurried into the bedroom. The two lasses knew Nie Kong was about to use his golden needles again. Now, regarding this practice, they were no longer panicked or fearful like they were at first; instead, they felt a strange sense