Awakeners and martial artists seem to be on two extremes. A martial artist’s cultivation starts with strengthening the body, then nurturing qi within it, to refine the Spirit Energy from the air, nourishing the qi that circulates within the body. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

As this qi circulates within the body in the Grand Circulation, it not only expands the body’s meridians, allowing it to accommodate more qi, but also passively strengthens the cultivator’s flesh. Although the growth rate of the body’s physical condition is slower than the growth rate of the internal qi, as long as one continues to cultivate, their physical condition will still improve bit by bit.

On the other hand, Awakeners are different. After refining oddities within their bodies, Awakeners are more like soldiers before the catastrophe; after reaching a certain level of physical condition, they no longer improve it. At this point, if they wish to enhance their combat power, it will be necessary to replace their equipment with stronger weapons.

Awakeners are like soldiers from before the disaster. Even though they cannot switch oddities, they can use special methods to enhance the power of the oddities.

After all, according to Dong Tianyu’s understanding, oddities might be the embryonic forms of Magical Weapons, and for Awakeners who refine oddities, in his understanding, it’s like ordinary people using the "Blood Refinement" method described in novels to refine Magical Weapons.

When ordinary people use this method to refine Magical Weapons, even if they don’t have magical power, they can still command the Magical Weapons, but without magical power, what they consume is their own life force.

Through Zyaire’s explanation, Awakeners give Dong Tianyu the impression of ordinary people who have used "Blood Refinement" to refine Magical Weapons in novels.

Ordinary people who command Magical Weapons spend a large amount of life force and shorten their lifespan. Awakeners are pretty much the same, only that refining oddities requires the physical quality of the Body Tempering Realm.

Because their body strength has reached the usage standard, if Awakeners don’t overuse the oddities, at most it will be like participating in a triathlon. At most, it will only make the body feel tired, not shorten the lifespan.

Awakeners aren’t unable to cultivate, it’s just that the energy they gain from cultivation doesn’t circulate in the Grand Circulation within the body but is directly absorbed by the oddities they have refined.

Through continuous cultivation, Awakeners make the oddities within their bodies stronger and stronger. However, the more powerful the abilities of the oddities, the greater the toll on the body each time they are used.

When oddities are first refined, each use will at most cause some fatigue. As Awakeners continue to cultivate, while the power of the oddities becomes stronger, the cost of each use also increases. Typically, the more oddities Awakeners have and the more powerful they are, the shorter the lifespan of the Awakener.

Lacking the circulation of internal energy, Awakeners cannot passively improve their physical condition through meditation and cultivation, like martial artists can.

It is precisely because of this that, although Awakeners are using the same Cultivation Method as martial artists, Awakeners and martial artists have ended up on two entirely different paths.

Martial artists focus on the later stages; the further they progress, the longer they cultivate, both the qi circulating within and their physical condition will become unlimitedly stronger.

Whereas, Awakeners gain all sorts of varied abilities of oddities early on due to refining these oddities.

At this stage, in battles between those of the same realm,

Body Tempering Realm: Awakeners overwhelmingly surpass martial artists.

Inner Breath Realm: Awakeners and martial artists are evenly matched.

Energy Refining Realm: Awakeners and martial artists are evenly matched.

Path Entry Realm: Theoretically, no Awakener can live long enough to reach this realm.

In reality, when Awakeners have cultivated the abilities of their oddities to be comparable to martial artists in the Energy Refining Realm, they already dare not use the oddities they have refined lightly.

After all, to wield an attack with the strength of the Energy Refining Realm with the physical quality of the Body Tempering Realm, it’s clear to anyone that a steep price must be paid.

That’s why many Awakeners refine a second oddity, a third oddity.

The purpose of refining these oddities is not to enhance their combat power but to have a weapon that can be used at any time.

Just like the saying goes, using an anti-aircraft gun to shoot a mosquito isn’t overkill, it’s just not worth the cost to kill a mosquito.

Perhaps some might say that if Awakeners don’t cultivate, if they don’t let the refined oddities become stronger, couldn’t they use the oddities they have refined more frequently?

For such naive thoughts, one must remember the famous words once said: Others will have two different attitudes towards you depending on whether you hold a sword in your hand without using it, or if you have no sword at all.

As long as you have a sword in hand, even if you don’t use it, others will treat you with respect.

But if you have no sword in hand, then some may bully you at will.

If you’re afraid of your refined oddities becoming too powerful, then why did you even bother refining them at such a great cost in the first place?

No need to say more, once Awakeners have refined oddities, their physical condition is almost set in stone.

Although when cultivating, the Spirit Power that enters the body from the outside will slightly increase their physical condition, this kind of increase is at most just enough to maintain the original strength. It’s like athletes who, after the competition ends, still do some training every day to maintain their physical state; this training is not intensive, but it ensures their fitness doesn’t decline.

Zyaire, while busy with his daily work, never skips a day of cultivation. However, even so, his physical condition remains at the level it was when he first refined his oddities.