paranoianovel Chapter 72 Cultivation
Chapter 72 Cultivation
Soon, Lu Chen returned to 501.
The red moon had fully risen, and its dark red light streamed into the living room through the glass doors of the balcony, bathing everything in a dark red hue.
Just like last night, he laid out the bedding in the brightest moonlight spot in the middle of the living room.
Before he began his cultivation, he used his possession ability to switch into each zombie and give them instructions one by one: Go to the covered bridge, go to the balcony, find a spot where the moonlight shines directly, and continue to absorb the red moon tonight.
The 28 zombies began to move in an orderly fashion from their respective positions, their footsteps echoing through the corridors and fire escape stairwells.
After arranging the zombies, he sat cross-legged on the prepared bedding, closed his eyes, and prepared to begin his cultivation. But before he could even formally enter a meditative state, just as he sat down, he noticed something unusual.
"Huh, I'm absorbing the Crimson Moon's energy faster!"
He reopened his eyes, carefully sensed the surroundings, and confirmed that he was right; the speed at which he was absorbing the red moon's energy was now about twice as fast as before.
But at the same time, he also vaguely sensed something else: it would be more difficult to break through his superpowers again. This "more difficult" was not linear, but rather leapfrog.
Therefore, even if the speed of energy absorption increases, the total time required for the next breakthrough will only increase, not decrease.
However, this situation was actually expected.
He was able to complete his first breakthrough on the fourth day of the apocalypse, which put him ahead of the vast majority of people. No matter how difficult the second breakthrough would be, he would have enough time to prepare.
Now he only has one thing on his mind: whether mental energy traction can still provide 10 times the cultivation speed as before.
He quickly released his mental energy and began to actively draw in the energy particles within the red moon.
Under the pull of his mental power, dark red light spots converged on him from all directions, forming an invisible energy vortex around his body.
He carefully sensed the rate at which energy was flowing in and compared it with the previous rate. As the test progressed, he quickly discovered both good news and bad news.
The good news is that his cultivation speed hasn't slowed down. Under the guidance of his mental power, the efficiency of energy absorption can still maintain a tenfold increase.
The bad news is that in order to maintain this 10 times cultivation speed, he needs to use more mental energy to draw upon the red moon energy.
Because after his breakthrough in superpowers, his body's "appetite" for absorbing energy increased, and to fill this appetite, he needed to draw in more energy particles.
However, the density of energy particles in the moonlight did not change. He had to spread his mental "net" wider and denser in order to capture more particles in the same amount of time.
Therefore, the rate at which his mental energy was consumed directly doubled.
Previously, his mental strength could sustain high-speed cultivation for one hour, but now it can only be maintained for half an hour.
Of course, even half an hour of cultivation at 10 times the speed is equivalent to 5 hours of cultivation under normal conditions.
Furthermore, after a good night's sleep to restore mental energy, one can do it again in the latter half of the night, thus completing two high-speed cultivation sessions in one night, which is equivalent to 10 hours of passive absorption.
The red moon lasts about 12 hours from sunrise to sunset, giving him almost twice as much cultivation time as others, far exceeding theirs.
"Overall, it's alright, but I still need to complete the second enhancement of my mental strength as soon as possible so that I can speed up my cultivation again." Lu Chen silently calculated in his mind.
He temporarily put aside these plans, closed his eyes, and focused his mental energy to begin guiding the energy particles within the red moon.
Under the pull of mental power, dark red energy particles surged from all directions, gathering into an invisible vortex around the body.
The supernatural power within my body is steadily increasing, and I can feel it becoming more abundant every minute.
Half an hour passed quickly!
The energy equivalent to five hours of normal training was compressed and poured into the body within this short half hour, resulting in a visible increase in the strength of the superpower.
But the price to pay was also very direct... His mental energy was almost exhausted, and he felt a dull pain on both sides of his temples. It felt like a wad of water-soaked cotton was stuffed into the back of his head, and his thinking became a bit sluggish.
"No, we can't push ourselves too hard in the later stages of training."
Lu Chen rubbed his temples. "I'd rather reduce my cultivation time a little than not conserve more of my mental energy."
This decision wasn't just made because of the discomfort. It was also because I considered that once my mental energy was completely drained, my alertness would be greatly reduced.
Last night, when the elite zombies came downstairs, his mental energy gave him a warning in advance; that silent alarm woke him up from his deep sleep.
Cultivation can be done slowly, but you only have one life, so it is very necessary to preserve some spiritual energy.
As for now, it's time to sleep.
He rearranged the bedding, lay down and fell asleep immediately. As soon as the back of his head touched the bedding, his consciousness began to sink.
While asleep, the body naturally absorbs the energy from the red moon. Although the efficiency is only one-tenth of that of active cultivation, it adds up over time.
Mental energy also slowly recovers during sleep, like a dried-up pond silently filling with water.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Chen woke up groggily.
He felt that the connection deep within his mind, the thread linking him to the zombies, had been stirred.
Lu Chen, who was still half asleep, instantly woke up. He opened his eyes and used his superpower, directly using the possession ability.
The message was relayed to Lu Chen by Tie Zhu, who was located on the 4th floor.
He arranged for the other party to sit on the connecting corridor on the 4th floor, a spot he had specifically chosen... The connecting corridor was an aerial walkway connecting two units, with its south-facing side directly facing the door of room 402, offering an unobstructed view.
As for why we're staring at this room?
The reason is simple: the seven people Shen Qingci believed to harbor evil intentions lived in room 402.
How could he be completely unprepared for these people? During the day, Gao Yuan and the other survivors were watching them, and their every move was exposed to the public eye.
But at night, when everyone is asleep, who can guarantee that they won't take the opportunity to do something sneaky? So the task of keeping watch at night is naturally handed over to the zombies who can stay up all night.
Of course, zombies cannot execute overly complex commands.
But Lu Chen's order to Tie Zhu was simpler: keep an eye on the door of room 402, and if the door opens, immediately send him a signal via the connection.
Opening the door is an extremely simple visual signal that requires no complicated judgment, and Tie Zhu is perfectly capable of doing so.
After Lu Chen possessed him, Tie Zhu's vision instantly lit up in his mind.
The crimson moonlight spilled across the corridor, and sure enough, the door to room 402 was open... A faint emergency light shone through the crack in the door.
A figure peeked out from the crack in the door, crouching low and cautiously sticking their head out of the corridor, scanning the area twice to make sure no one was there.
Of course, the other person's gaze also swept over Tie Zhu. However, Lu Chen had already controlled Tie Zhu to turn his head and look towards the fire escape at the other end of the corridor.
Tie Zhu's head-turning action was extremely natural. Zombies would occasionally turn their heads unconsciously, and with zombies standing guard on each floor, the other party's gaze only lingered on Tie Zhu for less than a second before shifting away without any suspicion.
After confirming that there was no one else in the corridor, the person crouched down and walked towards the supplies storage area next to the stairwell at the end of the corridor.