NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 9: Expensive
It was already the next day when Itachi opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and brimming with energy. He stretched his arms and legs, feeling the faint soreness in his muscles—a sign that his body had been undergoing significant changes. As he sat up, he dispelled the 22 shadow clones he had summoned the night before.
The moment the clones vanished, a massive wave of spiritual energy flooded into him, crashing into his dantian like a tidal wave. It wasn't just a single surge; it was an unrelenting storm of energy, wild and chaotic as it filled every corner of his meridians.
Itachi gritted his teeth, quickly crossing his legs and entering a meditative state to channel the energy. He circulated it carefully, guiding it through his body. His dantian, which had previously been a fragile and small reservoir, now expanded at an astonishing rate, growing wider and denser to accommodate the influx of energy.
As the energy nourished his body, he felt his muscles strengthen further, his bones harden, and his senses sharpen to a degree he hadn't experienced before. It was as if his entire being was being reforged from the ground up.
"Breakthrough!" Itachi muttered, his voice trembling slightly with excitement as he felt the energy condense further.
The first breakthrough came swiftly: Body Tempering Realm – Middle Stage!
But it didn't stop there. The energy continued to churn within him, condensing and refining as it climbed toward the next threshold. His dantian pulsed with power, growing more stable and resilient as the raw spiritual energy was transformed into refined, high-quality qi.
"Body Tempering Realm – Late Stage!"
Itachi's breathing quickened as he pushed further. The spiritual energy was still pouring in, and his dantian, like a cup being filled to the brim, was reaching its limit. But instead of overflowing, it began to compress, growing denser and more potent.
"Peak Body Tempering Realm!"
(A/N: So peak is basically on the verge of break through to the next realm, it's not a real realm)
Itachi's eyes snapped open, glowing faintly with spiritual light. His body radiated power, his meridians buzzing with refined qi. But even at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, the energy still hadn't stopped pouring in.
And then it happened.
A loud crack echoed within him, inaudible to the outside world but deafening within his mind. His dantian trembled violently as it underwent a fundamental transformation, shifting from a simple reservoir into something far more advanced.
The qi within his body began to condense, forming the beginnings of a core at the center of his dantian. The process was slow but steady, the energy swirling and compressing into a solid, crystalline state.
Itachi's breathing steadied as he focused all his attention on this pivotal moment. The transition from the Body Tempering Realm to the Core Refinement Realm was a major milestone in any cultivator's journey.
Finally, with one last surge of energy, the process completed. A faint, golden glow emanated from his dantian as the core solidified, stable and radiant with power.
"Core Refinement Realm – Early Stage."
Itachi exhaled deeply, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He could feel the immense difference in his body and qi. The Core Refinement Realm wasn't just a simple step up from the Body Tempering Realm; it was a complete transformation.
He clenched his fist, feeling the power surging through him. "Core Refinement Realm," he said to himself, nodding in satisfaction.
Comparing his progress now to what it had taken before was almost laughable. Back then, reaching the Core Refinement Realm had taken him over five long years of painstaking effort, battles, and countless resources. And now, he had achieved it in just one day of cultivation using his shadow clones.
Itachi couldn't help but marvel at the sheer absurdity of it. But as the scroll had pointed out before, he knew this rapid progress wouldn't last.
The Body Tempering Realm had been relatively easy because his body had already been tempered from years of cultivation. The improvements needed were minimal compared to when he first started cultivating. But the Core Refinement Realm was an entirely different beast.
The Core Refinement Realm wasn't just about gathering energy; it was about refining that energy into a condensed core within the dantian. This core acted as the foundation for all future breakthroughs, meaning any imperfections now would have catastrophic consequences later on.
Unlike the Body Tempering Realm, where one could brute force their way through with sheer determination, the Core Refinement Realm required precision and patience. Every step had to be carefully calculated to avoid destabilizing the core.
Even though Itachi had reached this stage once before, he knew better than to underestimate it. The first time around, it had taken him months just to stabilize his core and years to progress beyond it. He sighed, realizing that his incredible speed up until now was likely at an end.
"Progress from here is going to slow down significantly," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
Shaking off his thoughts, Itachi opened the system shop, curious to see how much SEP he had accumulated.
A small counter appeared at the top of the screen, displaying the number: 2280 SEP.
Itachi raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Not bad," he said, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
The amount of SEP was nothing extraordinary by the system's standards, but for him—someone who had essentially started from zero—it felt like a massive step forward.
He began scrolling through the shop, his eyes darting between the various items. The prices were still absurdly high for most of the powerful techniques and bloodlines, but now that he understood how the system worked, he felt more confident about saving up.
The scroll had been right: the system's design revolved around equivalent exchange. Everything came at a cost, and while that cost was steep, the rewards were undoubtedly worth it.
Itachi leaned back, staring at the system interface as he considered his next steps. "So, I've got 2280 SEP now. That's a decent start… but what should I aim for next?"
The shop offered plenty of tempting options: low-level ninjutsu manuals, basic weaponry, chakra control techniques, and even physical enhancements. But he knew better than to waste his points on short-term gains. If he was going to progress further in this world, he needed something that would give him a lasting advantage.
"Maybe I should hold out for the bloodline reawakening that I just lost," he muttered, his eyes lingering on the Sharingan listed in the shop. But the cost made him grimace—50,000 SEP for a fully evolved three-tomoe Sharingan.
Itachi understood what the system meant at the time after all, it was going to far cheaper to just awaken his bloodline which cost him about a 25,000 SEP. Although annoying and painstaking efforts would be involved in moving his way up from one tomoe to a mangekyo but it would be far cheapear than buying a mangekyo from the start.
It was a choice between efforts and quick gains. And the choice was obvious, there was no way he could afford to lose all his cultivation again.
Itachi sighed, closing the shop for now. "No point drooling over things I can't afford at the moment."
Instead, he decided to focus on what he could do right now. His progress so far had been incredible, but there was still a long road ahead. But at the very least he shouldn't lose to his brother right now which would be more shameful than he could ever imagine.
"Spirit stones..." Itachi muttered to himself as he wondered to himself how he was going to get hold of them.
Spirit stones were a rarity to a certain degree in this world, the higher the value of the spirit stones the more rarer and expensive it became. In fact, even in all of the Evergreen city, there was only one spirit stone mine and even that only produced low grade spirit stones.
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I've updated the cultivation levels and their required SEP to break through in order to get a general idea of the systems working. You can check it out further to get more info.