Brother Mountainwind really likes to blurt out harsh truths: “Of course it matters. Every time I see your greasy, chubby face and that oily double chin, it ruins my mood for drinking.”

　　“……”

　　Chubby couldn’t keep the conversation going, and his determination to lose weight was stronger than ever.

　　Cultivators have an extra way to lose weight compared to ordinary people: they can use their spiritual power to temper their bodies, which strengthens their health, delays aging, and helps maintain a good figure.

　　Simply put, increasing cultivation can also help with weight loss.

　　Currently, Chubby is at the first level of the Manifestation Realm, the very bottom rung of the cultivation world.

　　The energy from the Enlightening Spirit Fruit and that drop of Azure Water had been completely drained during the transformation of his body, and didn’t give him a sudden boost in cultivation.

　　He needed to use this meal to test how much his cultivation could improve by eating hotpot.

　　Soon, the waiter brought the dishes to the table, and Chubby began his experiment.

　　He blanched a piece of fatty beef, carefully savoring its mysteries.

　　Back when he was still an ordinary person, he only felt that spiritual meat was different from regular meat, but couldn’t quite say how.

　　Now, as a cultivator, he could clearly sense a surge of spiritual energy flowing through his body.

　　At times like this, cultivation techniques show their value.

　　When ordinary people eat spiritual meat or fruit, they absorb less than one-thousandth of the energy.

　　The vast majority of the energy is excreted and wasted.

　　Only a lucky few absorb enough spiritual energy to trigger genetic mutations and awaken a spiritual root.

　　Cultivators are on another level—even with a one-star technique, they absorb over ten times more energy than ordinary people.

　　The function of a cultivation technique isn’t just to absorb the world’s spiritual energy, but also to refine the energy from spiritual meat and fruit.

　　These days, even middle schoolers know that the concentration of energy absorbed is linked to the level of one’s cultivation technique. A one-star technique at the entry level can absorb 1% of the energy; at the minor achievement level, 3%; at major achievement, 6%; and at perfection, 10%.

　　For a two-star technique, entry level absorbs 5%, minor achievement 10%, major achievement 15%, and perfection 20%.

　　And so on: a perfected three-star technique absorbs 30%, a perfected four-star technique absorbs 40%.

　　Legend has it that the mythical nine-star divine technique, once perfected, can absorb 90% of the energy.

　　The four essentials of cultivation: technique, partner, wealth, and land.

　　“Technique” refers to both cultivation methods and spells, and it’s ranked first for a reason.

　　The grade of your technique determines your absorption speed, and thus your cultivation speed.

　　It’s long been agreed in the cultivation world that the level of one’s technique is the benchmark for distinguishing geniuses from mediocrities.

　　With the same nine years of cultivation education, the same level of technique, and the same teacher, some achieve major success in their technique, while others barely get started—this determines their different fates.

　　Currently, the first level of “Azure Water Divine Technique” absorbs energy about the same as a one-star technique; Chubby absorbed 10% of the food’s energy.

　　Compared to the less than one-thousandth he used to absorb, this was a huge improvement.

　　As Chubby ate, the Azure Water Divine Technique automatically operated, converting the food’s energy into spiritual energy, and through a mysterious process, compressed and purified the spiritual energy, condensing it into a vortex.

　　That vortex wrapped around his spiritual root, spinning rapidly, and compressed out two vivid lines of magical power.

　　Two lines of magical power signified the second level of the Manifestation Realm.

　　Leveling up comes at a price, though—the cost of this meal was… 8,500.

　　There’s a saying in the community: for low-level cultivators, the main way to level up quickly is by eating.

　　The Cultivation Star has five thousand years of cultivation civilization. After five hundred years of spiritual energy depletion, spiritual energy revived, causing many plants and animals to mutate and become rich in energy.

　　In this era, spiritual meat and fruit are as effective as ancient elixirs.

　　But buying spiritual meat and fruit requires financial resources.

　　This 8,500 hotpot meal wasn’t even the most expensive, but it was already equivalent to an ordinary person’s monthly salary.

　　Those high-end foods that start at tens of thousands are intimidating even for cultivators with million-yuan annual salaries.

　　Chubby was on a different path. With the support of the 2.0 system, if he took down one more monster, he could earn another hundred million—eating and drinking would be no problem.

　　Monster hunting brings rewards, rewards boost cultivation, spending boosts technique level—a perfect cycle.

Chapter 8: Haunted House, Treasure Land

　　After eating and drinking his fill, Chubby received a phone call—it was from Landlady.

　　“Little Fatty, what’s going on with you? You haven’t answered my calls for days. You were supposed to pay the rent three days ago!” Landlady sounded fierce as soon as she spoke.

　　“Auntie, I’m sorry, I’ve been in the hospital these past few days.” Chubby felt a bit embarrassed. If Aunt hadn’t reminded him, he would have forgotten about the rent.

　　“Don’t make excuses. Come and move your stuff out right now!” Landlady snapped.

　　“Auntie, I’ll pay the rent right away, please don’t kick me out.” Chubby pleaded.

　　“Not renting to you anymore. You keep bringing all sorts of shady women home, making so much noise in the middle of the night. Lots of neighbors have complained to me.”

　　Landlady was adamant: “Don’t say anything else, there’s no room for negotiation this time. If you don’t come move out before dark, I’ll throw your things out!”

　　“……”

　　Sure enough, Chubby said nothing more—anything else would just be tears.