Capítulo 49: 21-30
Chapter 21: The Spirit Fire Formula
The development of events completely exceeded Long Xuan's expectations. Initially, he thought that as a novice, he would have to endure numerous failures before achieving success and had already prepared himself for the disappointment.
Who could have imagined that alchemy would be so simple for him, as easy as drinking water or eating food? It was so straightforward that he was momentarily stunned, wondering if he was dreaming.
A total of one hundred spiritual herbs were swiftly refined by him. The extracted essence of these herbs was individually stored in one hundred bottles, neatly arranged on the table.
The success rate was astonishing. Except for a few herbs that burned to ashes due to the intense heat before he could save them, there were almost no errors with the other herbs.
With the help of this "golden finger" he didn't dare to claim a 100% success rate in alchemy, but his success rate was certainly far higher than other alchemists, even surpassing Elder Long.
Long Xuan was extremely excited, feeling that this was a pleasant surprise. It seemed he was truly suited to be an alchemist, and not just any alchemist, but one with exceptional talent. He was naturally fit for this profession.
Since the materials were refined, the next step was to place the essence of all the spiritual herbs into the alchemy cauldron in the correct proportions, allowing them to fuse and solidify under high temperature, and to form pills under the influence of soul power.
This step highly tests one's soul power. Any mistake could ruin all the materials, making the previous time spent refining the herbs a wasted effort.
Failure at this step often drives many to collapse, especially when the herbs are extremely expensive.
However, Long Xuan was not nervous. He sequentially added the essence of various herbs into the alchemy cauldron according to the correct proportions, then ignited the fire and carefully observed the internal conditions of the cauldron with his soul power, ensuring that all the liquids fully fused.
As expected, once all the herb essences were added to the furnace, the alchemy process progressed smoothly again. When the progress reached 100%, the pills would be complete.
If instability occurred during this process, it might not just be a matter of flame temperature but also an issue of soul control or operational technique, requiring attention to more factors, making Long Xuan even more cautious.
As time passed, sweat gradually appeared on Long Xuan's forehead, and his expression became extremely tense. He was highly strung, not daring to relax for a moment.
Even though he was a completely inexperienced novice and this was his first time making pills, with progress cheats, he managed to complete it without any major issues.
When the progress indicator on the alchemy furnace finally reached 100%, Long Xuan was overjoyed. He quickly walked over and opened the cauldron.
Instantly, a rich aroma of pills wafted out, and wisps of white mist floated from the furnace. The pleasant scent filled the entire room, invigorating Long Xuan's spirit, making him take a long sniff.
Looking into the cauldron, he saw golden spirit pills, large and round, seemingly glowing, mesmerizing him.
Achieving such results on his first try at alchemy was something he could be proud of.
Due to the abundance of materials, the cauldron was naturally filled with an astonishing number of spirit pills, a total of eighty-one pills.
This was a perfect batch of Hundred Flowers Pills, indicating that the alchemy process was flawless, without a single defective pill.
It is challenging for many alchemists to achieve a batch of pills without any defective ones.
The only regret was that the flames were too ordinary, leading to imperfect quality in the pills, but Long Xuan was already satisfied.
With this success rate and yield, he could afford to consume the pills like food, eating dozens of them daily, allowing his cultivation to soar like a rocket.
Long Xuan immediately grabbed a few Hundred Flowers Pills and threw them into his mouth, then stored the rest in bottles.
Given his exceptional talent in alchemy, he became even more dedicated to researching the formula for the Divine Ice Flame. After putting away the alchemy furnace, he sat at the table and continued working on the Divine Ice Flame formula.
That night, he was too excited to sleep and decided to stay up all night to work.
...
With the Hundred Flowers Pills, Long Xuan's previously stagnant cultivation started progressing rapidly each day.
Long Xuan's daily routine remained simple: he either stayed home working on the spirit fire formula, eating Hundred Flowers Pills when hungry, and occasionally consuming spirit chicken eggs for nutrition.
Alternatively, he would visit the market, looking for hidden treasures among the stalls, or sometimes set up his stall to sell the useless items he had collected in exchange for spirit stones.
The spirit stones he earned were used to purchase the confirmed materials for the Divine Ice Flame formula.
As time passed, his alchemy skills became more proficient. He managed to decipher the pill formulas from the waste pills he bought and occasionally peeked at some formulas from Elder Long. Thus, he accumulated a considerable number of formulas.
Alchemy is a highly lucrative profession. After learning a few common formulas, Long Xuan disguised himself and set up a stall in the market, selling spirit pills.
Unsurprisingly, his stall became popular, with various spirit pills being quickly sold out every time, never needing him to wait long.
His success rate in alchemy was nearly 100%, rarely wasting materials, and often producing full batches, meaning his profits were far higher than other alchemists.
Each time he made a considerable profit, he couldn't help but smile.
However, after a few times, he decided to stop.
On one hand, alchemy was too time-consuming, delaying his research on the spirit fire formula.
On the other hand, although spirit pills were high-end products, they were ultimately less valuable than Gu.
After all, spirit pills are consumable, while Gu can provide lifetime benefits.
The formulas he mastered were all of the lowest grade, even making three batches of healing pills wouldn't earn as much as selling a Little Strong Gu.
Moreover, alchemy required constant attention, while refining Little Strong Gu did not, allowing him to do other things.
Comparing the two, it was not worth it, so Long Xuan decided to only make Hundred Flowers Pills for himself and no longer for others.
Thus, Long Xuan continued making Hundred Flowers Pills and researching the spirit fire formula. His progress was swift, and with the help of Hundred Flowers Pills, he finally broke through to the mid-stage of Spirit Gathering after a year.
Simultaneously, after a year of day and night research, he finally completed the Divine Ice Flame formula.
The Divine Ice Flame formula required a total of three hundred materials. Though it seemed not many, each material was rarer and more precious than the last.
The main ingredient, the thousand-year-old Ice Marrow, was exceptionally hard to obtain, as the name suggests.
Many items couldn't be bought with spirit stones and could only be obtained through bartering or frequent participation in treasure exchange meetings.
In this world without a clear market price, and without a reference standard of spirit stones, Long Xuan had a vague idea of the cost of the Divine Ice Flame formula.
But he was certain the cost far exceeded the Eye of Heavenly secret creation cost.
The cost was even much higher than Elder Long's creation of the Purple Demon Flame, surpassing it by more than ten times, which was outrageous.
With such a high cost, if his created spirit fire wasn't more powerful than the Purple Demon Flame, he wouldn't believe it.
However, gathering such a massive amount of resources was daunting. It would take an indefinite amount of time, leaving Long Xuan feeling overwhelmed.
Chapter 22: Delivering Medicine
Long Xuan sighed helplessly and ultimately decided to put the matter aside for now. Accumulating so many spirit stones is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it would likely require an alternative approach.
Long Xuan put away the formula for the Divine Ice Flame and walked out. As he opened the door, he was greeted by a fragrant medicinal garden, which, due to its variety of flowers, could be more accurately described as a flower garden.
Today was the day some of the spiritual herbs matured, and Long Xuan needed to pick them and deliver them to Elder Long's cottage.
As long as he delivered the prescribed amount of spiritual herbs, Elder Long rarely came here.
At this moment, the garden's fat hen was still scratching the soil, looking for fat worms to eat, clucking away.
Among the flowers, hundreds of spirit bees buzzed busily, flitting back and forth, occasionally diving into a flower bud, exposing their large behinds.
Over the years, the two spirit bees he initially bought online had multiplied into hundreds. Don't ask how they reproduced; he hadn't paid much attention.
Originally, he intended to cultivate a queen bee, as there are many methods in this world to evolve spirit bees into queen bees.
But now he realized it wasn't necessary. It seemed not all bee species in this world needed a queen to reproduce.
Since he bought those two spirit bees, they settled here upon finding ample nectar sources, built their nest, and refused to leave. With enough food, they started reproducing rapidly.
With this family settled, the medicinal garden thrived, with bees buzzing in the sky and spirit chickens running on the ground, creating a lively and vibrant scene that made Long Xuan's life far from dull.
Despite his desire for spirit honey, Long Xuan still feared the bees' aggression and didn't dare approach the hive lightly.
Getting pecked by a chicken while gathering eggs was tolerable, but being stung by these bees was far worse.
These were not ordinary bees from his previous life; spirit bees in this world could sting a person to death. Currently, they maintained a mutually non-aggressive relationship, like neighbors getting along well.
Long Xuan tended the herbs while they collected nectar from the flowers, maintaining a delicate balance.
He is afraid that stealing honey might make the bees hold a grudge, complicating his future visits to the garden.
After much thought, he concluded he had to cultivate a queen bee. With a queen bee bound by a blood contract, ordinary spirit bees under its control would pose no threat to him.
But for now, it wasn't feasible. Gu practitioners could only have a limited number of Gu insects, and he couldn't blood-bind every ordinary spirit bee.
At that moment, the spiritual herbs he was about to harvest reached 100% maturity. Flowers bloomed, exuding an intense fragrance.
The bees, with their keen sense of smell, immediately flew over to collect nectar and pollen.
Once they had gathered all the nectar and pollen, their legs heavy with their bounty, they flew back to their hive.
After the bees were done, Long Xuan harvested the spiritual herbs, replanted the area, and took the newly gathered herbs to Elder Long.
Elder Long needed this batch of herbs to research the Hundred Flowers Pill. Despite another year passing, he still hadn't succeeded.
Long Xuan felt anxious for him, having succeeded in just two days himself.
First-grade spiritual herbs mature quickly, and with the aid of maturation liquid, they can be harvested every six months. This allowed Long Xuan to see Elder Long every six months during herb delivery.
This meeting came just six months after the last one.
Long Xuan entered the cottage and, seeing that Elder Long wasn't refining pills, spoke up, "Elder Long, a batch of spiritual herbs has matured. I've harvested them."
Long Xuan untied the storage bag filled with herbs from his waist and looked at the burly old man lying on the chair.
Elder Long was reading a book on pill refining. Hearing the voice, he turned to look at Long Xuan and said, "Just put them on the table."
After speaking, he scrutinized Long Xuan, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"You've broken through to the mid-stage of Spirit Gathering?" Elder Long asked, puzzled.
"Your keen eyes, Elder Long, have noticed my breakthrough. It took junior over ten years to reach the mid-stage, much to your amusement," Long Xuan responded, without surprise that Elder Long could discern his level.
"No, no." Elder Long shook his head. "I'm not amused. I estimated you'd never reach the mid-stage of Spirit Gathering in your lifetime. Your quick breakthrough is surprising."
"Huh? Is my aptitude that poor?" Long Xuan felt a bit stung by Elder Long's words.
"Not exactly," Elder Long sighed. "You possess the rare Ten Absolute Body, the number one unique body in ancient times. With a vast spiritual sea, your spiritual power far exceeds your peers, excelling in prolonged battles and frequent powerful attacks without much depletion."
"The meridians of the Ten Absolute Body are exceptionally broad, far superior to others, making the power of the same spiritual technique much greater in your hands."
"In ancient times, those with the Ten Absolute Body were incredibly formidable, unmatched by their peers. So, you could be considered a rare genius."
"But today, the cultivation methods for the Ten Absolute Body have long been lost, and it cannot cultivate other techniques."
"The spiritual sea of the Ten Absolute Body is as solid as a rock, with the strongest foundation. But this also makes breakthroughs more difficult. While having an advantage in battles, its vast spiritual sea requires more spiritual power to fill, slowing cultivation speed."
"Thus, it needs specific techniques to address these issues, and it rejects other techniques."
"How fast can someone who can't cultivate techniques progress?"
"You likely reached the mid-stage through nutritional supplements, probably from eating too many spirit eggs." Elder Long stroked his beard, guessing.
Hearing this, Long Xuan realized why he couldn't cultivate other techniques except for health-preserving ones. The root cause was here.
Still puzzled, he asked, "Isn't it just a lost technique? Can't we create a new one?"
Long Xuan's casual remark showed his lack of understanding of the difficulty of creating techniques.
Elder Long glared at him, "You think it's easy? Creating a peak-level technique isn't something anyone can do. Even the strongest in the Gu world today wouldn't claim to create one."
Long Xuan's expression turned odd. He didn't know how hard it was for others, but he truly had the talent to create techniques. So, he tentatively asked, "Suppose, just suppose, I accidentally create a technique for the Ten Absolute Body. Would that make me the world's greatest genius?"
Elder Long looked at him with a strange mix of anger and amusement, "Such naivety! You really think that's possible? Even if there are geniuses who can create techniques, they are rare once in a century, and the Ten Absolute Body appears once in ten thousand years. Combining both talents is almost impossible. Even if such a person exists, they wouldn't grow up enough to create techniques. It's a vicious cycle. Rest assured, you are not that person. Give up on that idea!"
Chapter 23: Self-created Cultivation Method
After listening to Elder Long's words, Long Xuan felt a hidden excitement in his heart. Creating one's own cultivation method is as difficult as ascending to the heavens for others, but for him, it is entirely achievable. The method for cultivating the Gu also applies to cultivating techniques.
The Ten Absolute Body is a lethal condition for others, but for him, it has become an opportunity. In his hands, the Ten Absolute Body might shine brightly in this world, becoming his invincible capital. He clenched his fists tightly.
The urgent task now is to quickly create a cultivation method suitable for the Ten Absolute Body. With a method, the cultivation speed can be further enhanced.
Nothing is more important than this. Long Xuan immediately decided to make creating his own cultivation method his next project. He was determined to create an unparalleled method, making his journey to this world worthwhile.
Even though he thought this way, Long Xuan put on a very dejected appearance. After bidding farewell to Elder Long, he left in a daze.
Back at his residence, Long Xuan sat on a chair, spread a blank sheet of paper on the table, and began to ponder deeply, furrowing his brows.
Based on his understanding of this world's cultivation methods, a complete method consists of three parts: the route of spiritual energy circulation, the method's Divine abilities, and the accompanying spiritual technique. These three parts are also called the three elements of a cultivation method.
Of course, Long Xuan's "Eternal Life Sutra" is a health-preserving method, not a cultivation method, and does not belong to this system.
If one is creating a basic cultivation method, just considering the route of spiritual energy circulation is sufficient. The other two parts can be ignored.
But if you want to create a powerful method, all three elements are indispensable.
The route of spiritual energy circulation determines the speed of cultivation, the attribute of the spiritual energy, and its strength.
The same attribute can have varying strengths depending on the method.
Different attributes also have differences in strength. Mutated spiritual energy is always stronger than basic spiritual energy. There are also vast differences among different types of mutated spiritual energy.
Poison spiritual energy, star spiritual energy, dragon spiritual energy, earth spiritual energy... All attributes that differ from the basic seven elements of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and thunder are considered mutated spiritual energy.
The way to cultivate mutated spiritual energy is determined by the first part of the method.
Divine abilities are the unique features of a method. Some methods produce purer spiritual energy than others. Some methods create a larger spiritual sea, allowing for a far greater amount of spiritual energy than peers of the same level.
Some methods can cultivate five spiritual seas, making one invincible at the same level. These unique features are the method's Divine abilities.
Even the ability of the "Eternal Life Sutra" to extend lifespan is considered a divine ability.
Accompanying spiritual technique are the attack methods of a cultivation method. They differ from the universal spiritual arts that anyone can learn.
Each cultivation method produces unique spiritual energy. Even methods cultivating the same attribute can result in vastly different outcomes.
The diversity of spiritual energy naturally affects the compatibility of spiritual technique. The same spiritual technique, when used by practitioners of different methods, can have completely different power levels. Therefore, the compatibility between spiritual technique and methods varies.
Achieving a 100% compatibility is extremely rare unless the accompanying spiritual technique are tailor-made by the same creator for the method.
Because of this perfect compatibility, accompanying spiritual technique are always stronger than universal spiritual technique.
This is why creating accompanying spiritual technique is essential for a powerful method. Without them, no matter how strong the method is, it will be a paper tiger that cannot fully utilize its power.
Of course, the attack methods of spiritual technique and the abilities of Gu are vastly different.
Spiritual technique are attack abilities deployed by channeling spiritual energy, while the abilities of Gu are innate. Innate abilities cannot be mimicked by spiritual arts.
For example, the mind-reading ability of Gu, the spatial teleportation of Gu, the precognition of Gu, the time reversal Gu...
No matter how advanced, spiritual techniques cannot mimic these abilities through textual forms. These are beyond the scope of spiritual energy. Purely manipulating spiritual energy cannot achieve these abilities.
You can think of spiritual technique as martial arts moves, while the abilities of Gu are like fantasy abilities, one being low-tier and the other high-tier.
However, Gu cultivators have a limit on the number of Gu they can possess at the same time. Spiritual technique, though weaker, are a must-learn for Gu cultivators.
In this world, spiritual technique are quite rare. If a small Gu cultivator family possesses even one type of spiritual art, it is considered a treasure, a closely guarded secret.
In some sense, learning an additional spiritual technique is like having an additional slot for a Gu, with considerable strategic value.
Long Xuan already had many creative ideas for self-created spiritual technique and had a preliminary plan for designing mutated spiritual energy for his method.
For instance, in his past life, anime mentioned bloodline limits formed by the fusion of multiple attributes. So, could spiritual energy be mutated by merging multiple attributes?
He didn't know how mutated spiritual energy formed in this world, but he believed it was entirely possible to research mutated spiritual energy through the fusion of multiple attributes.
However, despite his creative explosion and countless magical ideas, he didn't know how to start. He had no clue about even the first word, completely at a loss.
Having ideas is not enough; one must know how to implement them. Daydreaming is easy, but knowing the specifics of what to do is the challenge.
Creating a cultivation method is different from creating a Gu formula. Creating a Gu formula involves a lot of luck and can be done through trial and error. With enough effort, it can eventually be figured out.
But a cultivation method cannot be created by luck alone. It requires reading countless books, understanding many concepts, and learning extensively.
As a small, casual cultivator who had never seen a proper cultivation method, Long Xuan didn't even grasp the basics. How could he have the skill to create a method?
To create a method, one must reference a vast number of existing methods. Working in isolation cannot yield a good method, no matter how hard one tries.
Thus, Long Xuan was stuck. The people in this world are highly secretive, and cultivation methods are not easily accessible.
It's not that there are no methods on the market for independent cultivators, but they are often flawed and lack proper progress.
This means these methods are riddled with errors and holes. The golden finger didn't even detect these as methods. How could he dare to reference such junk?
Therefore, Long Xuan was stumped in creating his method. He couldn't even start the first word and was so frustrated that he was about to turn gray.
Finally, a spark of inspiration struck him. He remembered the illusion technique he had never used, the Original Realm.
His first thought was to use the illusion technique on someone to trick them into revealing their method.
But then he remembered that the Original Realm perfectly replicates real-world scenes into illusions. Everything in the illusion is identical to reality. The person affected cannot detect any differences from the real world and therefore cannot realize they are under an illusion. With this in mind, Long Xuan had a different idea.
The more he thought about the features of this illusion technique, the more he realized it was extraordinary. How could such an expensive eye Gu produce a simple illusion?
Thinking about it, he had neglected to deeply explore the potential of the Original Realm. On the surface, it seemed like an illusion that prevented the affected person from finding flaws. But with some brainstorming, Long Xuan felt it could be developed further.
For example, could he break conventional thinking and apply the illusion to himself instead of an enemy?Long Xuan felt that he had opened the door to a new world.
What if he placed himself in the library of a powerful force? Since the illusion is 100% real, are the books inside also real? Can he get them for free in the illusion without the guardian of the library in the real world noticing anything?
Long Xuan gasped. He felt like he had discovered a bug. Could such a method, which allows easy theft of powerful secrets, truly exist?
Does the Heavenly Dao know this ability can be used in such a way?
Has it overlooked this possibility again?
Chapter 24: The Power of Illusions
This isn't the scariest part yet. If the illusionary realm is 100% real, then what about alchemy within the illusion?
If you're experimenting with a new pill recipe, would succeeding in the illusion mean you can replicate the steps in reality and succeed as well?
Consider that in the illusion, you can perform countless experiments without losing any real-world materials. This ability is truly extraordinary.
Of course, this ability is rather redundant for Long Xuan. He creates his own pill recipes without needing extensive experimentation. His methods are a hundred times more efficient, but for others, this ability is undoubtedly a top-tier skill.
Yet, alchemy isn't the only thing you can do in the illusion. Anything can be done within it. In a way, it's akin to foreseeing the future.
You can take actions in the illusion that you wouldn't dare attempt in reality. If successful in the illusion, you are guaranteed to succeed in reality. This illusion is equivalent to foreseeing the future.
You can even foresee what treasures are in any household. Want to know what treasures a great Clan hides? Simply replicate their treasury in the illusion and explore it yourself.
Long Xuan was utterly terrified by this inconceivable ability. Even the most ordinary abilities, when filtered through his imagination, produce frightening results.
But this isn't the scariest part. If the illusion is 100% real, what happens if you kill someone in it? The more Long Xuan thought about it, the more his scalp tingled.
He realized he couldn't develop this any further. If he pushed this illusion beyond its limits, it might be banned by the heavens.
After repeated experiments, Long Xuan finally understood the limitations of this illusion.
Although the original realm can replicate any scene, you must have seen the scene with your own eyes. Seeing the general outline is sufficient; there's no need for meticulous detail.
Additionally, the larger the scene, the longer it takes to replicate. If the scene contains high-level treasures, the replication time increases further.
Therefore, this technique is more useful for support than combat. In battle, it has significant limitations but is very useful against enemies who like to talk.
Moreover, the illusion can simulate any precious materials within the scene but does not include sentient beings or items carried by them, such as clothes and storage bags. The illusion hasn't developed artificial intelligence yet.
However, you can make the scene more realistic by pulling the consciousness of all living beings into the illusion.
In other words, the original realm can achieve 100% realism. Inanimate objects in the real world are unaffected, but the consciousness of living beings can be pulled into the illusion, leaving their bodies in a dazed state.
The scariest part is that the illusion perfectly replicates their real-world surroundings. The scene remains the same, with no abrupt transitions, so they won't realize they've fallen into an illusion and will continue to move within it, unaware they are trapped.
Long Xuan wasn't sure what would happen if he killed these beings within the illusion since he hadn't experimented with it yet.
He was eager to steal secrets from great families.
Long Xuan quickly packed his things and rushed to the market. After choosing a target, he rented a room on the second floor of an inn opposite his target, laughing sinisterly to himself in the quiet room.
His target was an old acquaintance, the Qian commerce Association, with whom he frequently dealt at the stone-gambling shop. He had already taken advantage of them numerous times, and now he wasn't going to let them go again.
After the Qian commerce Association moved into the Far Western Market, they didn't just open the stone-gambling shop. They have shops in almost every industry.
True to their name, the Qian Clan commerce Association is indeed wealthy. They live up to their name.
Opposite the inn was the Qian Clan's Treasure Pavilion, filled with countless treasures, including cultivation techniques. Although the top techniques were not for sale, this was already enough for Long Xuan.
He immediately opened the window. From the window, he could see the entire Treasure Pavilion, meeting the conditions to activate his illusion.
He laughed again, then lay on the bed, preparing to activate the illusion immediately.
This was the downside of the illusion. The effects on others would apply to himself as well.
Once his consciousness was pulled into the illusion, his body would appear in a dazed state, just like others.
If someone attacked his body at that moment, it would be disastrous.
His body would be completely defenseless, and any attack could kill him. This was a deadly weakness he had to prepare for in advance.
Fortunately, there was an inn across from the Treasure Pavilion, perfect for hiding his body. Otherwise, he wouldn't know what to do.
After closing his eyes, the Eye of Heavenly secret suddenly appeared on his forehead, emitting a bewitching light.
Under this eye, the opposite Treasure Pavilion was perfectly replicated into the illusion, with all its treasures. Of course, he couldn't take anything out of it, but he could know what was inside.
He didn't rush in but conducted a small experiment first, trying to see if pulling someone into the illusion would go unnoticed.
He mischievously chose Qian Jinjin, the eldest daughter of the Qian Clan commerce Association. With a thought, he pulled her consciousness into the illusion.
The illusion now had a living person, bringing some vitality to the otherwise lifeless scene.
Since the scene remained the same, Qian Jinjin didn't realize she was in an illusion and continued reading quietly.
If she walked outside and found no one, she would notice something was wrong.
But now, she didn't sense anything amiss. The illusion was perfect, even the book she was reading, a highly confidential manual, was perfectly replicated without any flaws.
Long Xuan nodded in satisfaction. If Qian Jinjin, a peerless genius, couldn't detect the illusion, ordinary cultivators would be even less likely to.
As the Eye of Heavenly secret grew stronger, the area it could replicate would expand, potentially encompassing an entire region. If it could trap everyone in that region within the illusion, it would be marvelous.
Pleased with himself, Long Xuan was about to end this prank and exit when Qian Jinjin stood up.
Then, right in front of Long Xuan, she began undressing, finally stepping into a bath, leaving Long Xuan dumbfounded.
At that moment, he finally saw the perfect, peerless face hidden behind her veil, and he was mesmerized.
As expected, people who wear veils hide their stunning beauty, not ugliness.
In other words, veiled women are always beauties.
He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
Being young and single for many years, Long Xuan couldn't handle such a sight. To avoid bleeding out from a nosebleed, he quickly ended the illusion, swearing it was an accident and not intentional.
Who would have thought she would bathe at that exact moment, allowing him to feast his eyes?
As Qian Jinjin's consciousness returned to her body, her vision switched from bathing to reading. How could she not realize something was wrong?
"Who's there?"
She immediately stood up, her face pale with shock.
"Damn it! What kind of illusion is this? It's so terrifying, I couldn't detect any flaws!"
Qian Jinjin slammed her book on the table, biting her lips in anger and embarrassment. Thinking about what she had just done, her eyes blazed with fury and her face turned red. She wanted to find and tear that scoundrel to pieces.
"Qian Shaoshao, immediately check which experts above the marrow cleansing stage have entered the market recently. I need it now!"
She angrily shouted toward the door, and a maid's voice responded, "Yes."
However, her choice of name was odd, "Qian Shaoshao." Who would dare use someone with such a name? The more they used her, the less money they'd have. Her parents, who gave her this name, were indeed quite talented.[1]
1. Qian shao shao (钱少少) which basically translates to money Few Few lol.
Chapter 25: Closed Door Cultivation
Time flies, and another year has passed.
During this year, whenever he had the chance, Long Xuan would stay at the inn opposite the Qian Clan's Treasure Pavilion.
Using the illusionary art of the Original Realm, he copied the entire Treasure Pavilion into an illusion, then used this illusion on himself, entering the illusion to learn all the techniques within the pavilion thoroughly.
Even the clan's most secret techniques were inadvertently learned by him, the process was so simple it seemed unbelievable.
Due to his special Ten Absolute Body, which prevented him from practicing other techniques, he could only gather the strengths of various schools to create his unique technique.
He spent a whole year creating it, only scratching the surface.
Creating one's technique is not simple, it takes a long time and cannot be completed quickly.
Fortunately, the progress he made on paper would disappear if he wrote it wrong, so he had no trial-and-error cost. If someone else tried, they might spend their whole life and not even scratch the surface, especially for a technique suitable for the Ten Absolute Body.
This limited Long Xuan's scope of creation to a specific topic. He named it the "Ten Absolute Scriptures" elevating the difficulty to an infinite level.
Luckily, his golden finger could point out mistakes, and he could conduct human experiments in the illusion realm. Even if he bled from seven orifices in the experiment, his real body would not be affected.
If something could not be done in the illusion, it certainly could not be done in reality. If it worked in the illusion, it would definitely work in reality.
Long Xuan relied on the dual roles of the illusion and the golden finger to create a technique suitable for the Ten Absolute Body. Otherwise, no matter how imaginative he was, he could not have succeeded.
Long Xuan had read many cultivation novels in his past life and believed in the theory of the five elements mutual generation and restriction. The five elements theory has three cycles:
Restriction Cycle: Fire melts metal, Earth blocks water, Metal cuts wood, Water extinguishes fire, Wood controls Earth.
Reinforcement Cycle: Fire burns wood, Wood absorbs water, Water corrodes metal, Metal moves earth, Earth controls fire.
Generation Cycle: Water generates wood, Wood generates fire, Fire generates earth, Earth generates metal, Metal generates water.
Based on this theory, he created a five-element technique.
His body just happened to have all five elements, so he believed that the cycle of the five elements was most suitable for his body.
This idea would be considered rebellious in this world.
This world, like the cultivation novels of his past life, emphasized purity.
The fewer attributes, the better. Having only one attribute is considered a genius of the highest grade, and single-attribute cultivation is extremely fast. The techniques in this world are all single-attribute.
However, Long Xuan went against the norm and created a mixed-attribute technique that was incompatible with this world.
The great cycle of the five elements is indeed powerful. Once the cycle is formed, its power is far greater than the sum of its parts.
The spiritual sea of the Ten Absolute Body is as solid as a rock, leading to the drawback of difficult breakthroughs. Long Xuan planned to use the powerful impact generated by the five-element cycle to break this rock, thus solving this drawback.
Therefore, the five-element concept was suitable for the Ten Absolute Body, and it was because of this concept that he successfully created a technique suitable for the Ten Absolute Body.
Although he had only scratched the surface, with a progress of only 3%, the hardest part was starting. Once the beginning was overcome, the rest would follow smoothly.
After making the concept, he needed to complete the three essential elements of a powerful technique, each indispensable.
The first step was the route of spiritual power operation, could be directly borrowed and perfected, which was doable but adding attributes to spiritual power added difficulty.
He wanted spiritual power attributes beyond the basic metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. If he was to create a technique, it had to be the best, or he wouldn't create it at all.
He had long thought about the idea of variant spiritual power. He constantly conducted various spiritual power fusion experiments in the illusion realm, often breaking his meridians, bleeding from seven orifices, and even facing near-death situations several times.
Almost every time he entered the illusion, he would end up crippled, but since the experiences in the illusion were illusory, his real body was not affected, so he wasn't afraid of the consequences of experimental failure.
With such crazy experimentation, how could he not research variant spiritual power? His success was inevitable.
Wood generates fire, more wood means stronger fire. Fire with wood becomes strong fire, which Long Xuan called flame, thus creating flame spiritual power from the fusion of fire and wood.
Similarly:
Fire generates earth, fire and earth together create strong earth, named Jade spiritual power.
Earth generates metal, earth and metal together create strong metal, named Gold spiritual power.
Metal generates water, metal and water together create strong water, named Lake spiritual power.
Water generates wood, water and wood together create strong wood, named Forest spiritual power.
Therefore, his five-element cycle was not metal, wood, water, fire, earth, but Gold, Forest, Lake, Flame, jade.
He didn't know how strong his variant spiritual power was compared to others, but it could be stronger.
This was only the fusion of two attributes, and he had already planned the outline of the technique.
The first layer of the technique involved two-attribute fusion, cultivating Forest Spirit energy, Water Spirit energy, Flame Spirit energy, Jade Spirit energy.
The second layer involved three-attribute fusion, cultivating Verdant Spirit energy , Aqua Spirit energy, Blaze Spirit energy, Mountain Spirit energy.
The third layer involved four-attribute fusion, cultivating spiritual power such as Mettalic Energy, Hydro Energy, Inferno Energy, Tremor Spirit Energy.
It's not that he didn't want to go all out from the start, but his current strength didn't allow it, and it was temporarily unfeasible.
Additionally, a novice cultivator couldn't start with the world's top technique for many reasons.
The biggest reason was that the spiritual sea couldn't be developed in the early stages.
In the Spirit Gathering Stage, the task is to accumulate spiritual power. In the Marrow Cleansing Stage, the task is to cleanse the marrow and bones to build a solid foundation. In the Spiritual Sea Stage, the task is to develop the spiritual sea.
As for the Soul projection Stage, the task is to strengthen the soul, enabling the soul to leave the body. The soul is an ethereal entity, immune to most attacks.
At the Soul projection Stage, a cultivator, even if their physical body is destroyed, can escape easily with their soul, making them extremely difficult to kill. Even if their physical body is destroyed, they have the possibility of reincarnating through possession, though each person only has one chance to reincarnate due to various reasons.
Therefore, Gu cultivators can only develop their spiritual sea at the third stage. Before the spiritual sea is developed, all spiritual power is stored in the body's meridians, which are too fragile to withstand overly violent spiritual power.
Even in the Spiritual Sea Stage, not all spiritual seas can easily accommodate top-tier variant spiritual power.
The most powerful techniques are destined not to be accessible to everyone, as the strongest techniques are always in the hands of a small number of people. This is the difference between genius and mediocrity.
Otherwise, what would be the advantage of Long Xuan's Ten Absolute Body? The strength of the Ten Absolute Body lies in its rock-solid spiritual sea, capable of bearing any violent power.
If someone else cultivates his five variant spiritual powers, their spiritual sea will burst, not to mention accommodating five kinds of spiritual powers at the same time.
Only the powerful Ten Absolute Body can contain all five spiritual powers.
Only a non-human could create such a suicidal technique.
TL Note: This was the most difficult chapter to write and Translate...there might be some mistakes regarding the names of the technique, but this is the best one for now XD.
Chapter 26: Visit from Li Laodao
With the routes of spiritual power and the attributes of spiritual power now resolved, the second crucial element of the cultivation method—divine abilities—remained a mystery to him.
While the cultivation methods in the Treasury Pavilion included divine abilities that he could copy, he found them too weak and unworthy of his attention.
Moreover, these divine abilities did not align with his unique "Ten Absolute Body."
Divine abilities are the most complex part of a cultivation method, and Long Xuan hit a writer's block, unable to proceed further.
So, he decided to skip this part for now and focus on the third element of the cultivation method.
The third element of a cultivation method is the accompanying spiritual techniques. These techniques can be one or many, with no limit on quantity, as long as they perfectly complement the cultivation method.
Long Xuan certainly wouldn't create just one accompanying spiritual technique for the "Ten Absolute Scriptures." However, given the limited time, he decided to create just one for now and leave the creation of the second and third for when he had more time in the future.
Long Xuan had plenty of inspiration for spiritual techniques from the countless anime and novels he had consumed in his previous life.
Creating a spiritual technique requires first ruling out impossible abilities, such as those involving space or time manipulation—abilities that can destroy the heavens and earth were out of the question.
Spiritual techniques must be limited to what can be accomplished through the transformation of spiritual power. The more terrifying the ability, the less likely it can be created through mere transformation of spiritual power.
Thus, when creating a spiritual technique, one must not aim for the most powerful ability, as this approach will lead to failure.
Abilities that can be performed through the transformation of spiritual power are very few and far between; they are not easily conceived.
Furthermore, the accompanying spiritual technique must perfectly complement the cultivation method, fully utilizing its characteristics and maximizing its power. It is not enough to come up with any usable ability.
Additionally, the first accompanying spiritual technique should ideally relate to offensive capabilities.
This narrows the range even further, leaving limited options for imagination. Precisely because of these few choices, Long Xuan quickly came up with an idea.
Since the cultivation method was based on the five elements, a concept never before seen in this world, the ideal accompanying spiritual technique should incorporate all five elements, in keeping with the method's characteristics.
A spiritual technique that utilizes all five types of spiritual power is a combination technique. Even if Long Xuan were not the first to create it, such techniques must be rare in this world, and a combination technique would likely be stronger than a single-attribute spiritual technique.
His idea was to gather spiritual power in his palm, make it spin rapidly, and continuously compress it into a high-speed spinning and compressed ball of spiritual power, which would then be hurled at the enemy, exploding upon impact.
If this were done with single-attribute spiritual power, the technique might not be very strong and could be learned by anyone as a common spiritual technique.
However, Long Xuan possessed the spiritual power of the five elements. By injecting five-element spiritual power into the ball, allowing the power to complete a full five-element cycle before spinning and compressing, the resulting explosion upon hitting the enemy would be immensely powerful.
Long Xuan couldn't precisely estimate the explosive power, but he was confident it would not be weak.
Moreover, this spiritual technique would perfectly complement the "Ten Absolute Scriptures," leveraging the unique five-element attributes, ensuring a 100% match and maximizing the method's power, as if tailor-made for it.
Satisfied, Long Xuan nodded, convinced of its formidable power.
The principle of this spiritual technique was very simple, even simple enough to describe in a few words.
The only difficulty was the high level of control over spiritual power required from the practitioner and the need for strong soul power.
As an alchemist, Long Xuan had strong soul power and required high control over spiritual power to manipulate fire, meeting these conditions fully.
Thus, it took him only a month to complete this spiritual technique.
Looking at the book named "Five Element Jade" in his hand, Long Xuan felt a sense of accomplishment.
His self-created "Five Element Jade" was divided into four styles based on the different cycles of the five-element theory.
*First Style: Generating Cycle.* It has the highest endurance, allowing continuous casting of the five-element jade with substantial sustained power.
*Second Style: Returning Cycle.* It has the highest attack power, making the five-element jade unstoppable with immense momentum.
*Third Style: Overcoming Cycle.* It has the highest burst power, causing explosive damage with the five-element jade.
*Final Style: Extreme Jade.*This style uses a single attribute to create the five-element jade. Though each has its own characteristics, its power is relatively weak.
This was the first spiritual technique he created from scratch, and despite its simplicity, its power was quite impressive.
He easily blasted the Qian clan's Treasury Pavilion into ruins in an illusion, proving its power.
And this was when his spiritual power was low and only two elements were combined. Once his spiritual power evolved into five major variants, who knows how powerful this move could become.
Long Xuan was thrilled, though still unsatisfied with his inability to design divine abilities for the "Ten Absolute Scriptures."
He did not want to borrow divine abilities from ordinary cultivation methods, and his imaginative divine abilities were hard to put into words. Sitting on a chair, he felt distressed, experiencing the agony of writer's block.
"Young friend Long? Are you there?"
A familiar elderly voice came from outside the inn.
This voice belonged to old man Li Laodao, who often set up a stall next to him.
If it weren't for Li Laodao difficult-to-defend Gu techniques, which forced Long Xuan to counteract with his microscopic abilities, he might not have created the Eye of Heavenly secret so early.
Without the Eye of Heavenly secret, who knows how long it would have taken him to create his cultivation method, so in a way, Long Xuan owed him gratitude.
"You can even find me at an inn. Your information network is impressive."
Helpless, Long Xuan opened the door and let him in before closing it again.
Li Laodao, familiar as ever, loved getting close to him. Long Xuan didn't expect to be disturbed even after hiding in the inn and wondered how he had been found.
"Don't say it like I went out of my way to find you."
"Everyone in the market knows the masked hero frequently visits here. Rumor has it you fancy Miss Qian. Otherwise, why would you keep coming to this inn instead of going home? Got too many spirit stones to spend?" Li Laodao teased.
"Nonsense! That's slander! Who made up such lies?"
"Who dares to tarnish my reputation!"
Long Xuan's expression changed instantly upon hearing the rumors, feeling utterly defenseless.
"Why so agitated? It's natural to appreciate beauty. I won't laugh at you."
"Ever since Qian Jinjin stopped wearing her veil, her stunning beauty has captivated all the young talents. You're not the only admirer. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Li Laodao grinned.
Long Xuan was exhausted. Let the world be destroyed; he was done explaining. Explaining was just covering up, and covering up meant it was true. So, he stopped explaining, knowing he couldn't clarify it anyway.
"Alright, you wouldn't visit without a reason. Just tell me why you're here. I'm busy and don't have time for gossip."
Long Xuan stopped him from saying more, getting straight to the point.
Chapter 27: Divine Abilities and Spiritual Insights
"Cough, cough," Li Laodao coughed dryly and finally assumed a serious demeanor. Solemnly, he said, "I'll keep it short. There is an ancient tomb nearby of astonishing size, and many rogue cultivators have already gone there."
"This ancient tomb is said to be extremely dangerous, with involvement from large clans. Oftentimes, the danger posed by people exceeds the perils within the tomb itself."
"I'm a solitary old man with limited strength, so today I've come to invite you to form a team with me so we can look out for each other."
Hearing this, Long Xuan frowned for a moment and pondered.
He felt that his current strength was still too weak. His mid-stage Spirit Gathering realm was nothing impressive, and without an external Gu for protection, his combat methods were very limited.
He thought he should develop further and not leave his comfort zone prematurely. Given his current strength, he couldn't protect himself and had to rely on the protagonist's halo.
No matter how good the treasures were, one needed to be alive to enjoy them. He decided to stay low for a while longer.
Long Xuan didn't follow the usual novel trope of rushing to opportunities at the first mention of them. No matter how valuable the treasures in the ancient tomb might be, he wouldn't risk his life for them.
After making up his mind, Long Xuan said, "No, since there are large clans involved, we rogue cultivators shouldn't join the fray. I still want to live a bit longer; you go ahead on your own."
Seeing that Long Xuan was unmoved, Li Laodao continued, "I know what you're worried about—your personal safety."
"Rest assured, I guarantee this trip will be 100% safe. We won't compete with the large clans for treasures; we'll just follow them and pick up whatever they leave behind."
"There will always be times when they overlook something, and that's our opportunity to pick up the leftovers. Moreover, the dangers in the tomb will all be faced by the large clans ahead of us. Following behind them, we won't encounter any danger."
"The only danger is from other rogue cultivators, but as long as we form a team with a few close friends, we can be worry-free."
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan inwardly sneered. Everyone thinks like that before an adventure, harboring a lucky mindset, but people always end up dying in droves.
"You don't need to persuade me anymore. I'm a man of my word. If I say I won't go, I won't go," Long Xuan said firmly.
Seeing that Long Xuan was adamant, Li Laodao didn't insist. He had sought out Long Xuan because he believed that the more people, the safer. Since Long Xuan wouldn't go, it didn't make much of a difference; he had plenty of close friends.
"Alright then, young people being this cautious—if young people don't take bold risks, are they still young?" Li Laodao shook his head and finally turned to leave.
Long Xuan didn't see him off. He sat there, continuing to ponder how to design miraculous abilities for the "Ten Absolutes Scripture."
A month passed in the blink of an eye. It started to rain lightly outside. Just as Long Xuan was about to close the window, Li Laodao suddenly jumped in through it, startling him.
"Cough, cough..." Old Li Dao coughed up a pool of blood. His clothes were in tatters, he was covered in blood, and his hair was a mess. He looked half-dead, clearly severely injured.
"Cough, cough... Damned it all, a miscalculation. We didn't want to compete with the large clans for treasures, just to follow them and pick up whatever they left behind."
"Who would have known those bastards, fearing the unknown dangers of the tomb, would force us rogue cultivators to scout ahead? Man proposes, God disposes!"
"And that tomb was indeed extraordinarily dangerous. Most of the rogue cultivators who went died, and all the ones in my team perished too..."
Old Li Dao complained with intense resentment, almost going mad until he coughed up another pool of blood and stopped his incessant cursing.
Long Xuan showed no surprise; this was expected. There was no such thing as 100% safety in this world. Even without the large clans forcing them to scout, internal strife over uneven distribution of treasures could lead to deaths. Survival was never guaranteed.
"So, what was the outcome? Did anyone retrieve the tomb's treasure? What was the most valuable item in the tomb?" Long Xuan asked curiously.
"No," Li Laodao shook his head. "That tomb was extremely eerie. Not only did most of the rogue cultivators die, but the large clans' Gu practitioners also suffered heavy casualties. Only a few escaped, and no one retrieved the tomb's most valuable treasure."
"However, many accompanying burial items were brought out, some of which were incredibly valuable. Unfortunately, those rich and stingy large clans didn't even leave us any decorations."
"I didn't find any treasures, just stumbled upon this incomplete technique by accident." Old Li Dao took out a blood-stained, tattered technique book and flaunted it in front of Long Xuan.
"The 'Sun and Moon Heart Sutra'?"
Seeing the four large characters on the cover, Long Xuan guessed this technique was extraordinary and eagerly snatched it to read.
Li Laodao was stunned. Doesn't he understand the principle of not sharing techniques lightly? How could this young man be so ignorant?
Though the technique was incomplete and couldn't be cultivated, it still had significant reference value. It wasn't something to be casually shown to outsiders.
Under normal circumstances, he would have snatched it back and scolded him, but now, severely injured, he didn't have the energy.
"My technique isn't for free viewing. Shouldn't you compensate me with a detox pill? Your Little Strong Gu can only resist ordinary poisons, not the strange poisons from the tomb," Li Laodao added.
Without looking up, Long Xuan tossed a bottle of detox pills over.
Under normal circumstances, he would have noticed something was amiss—Li Laodao knew he had detox pills, which meant he likely knew he was an alchemist. This explained why, despite being gravely injured, he came to him first.
But now, fully absorbed in reading the technique, he ignored this detail.
Li Laodao hurriedly caught the bottle, eagerly opened it, took out a pill, and swallowed it. Then, shamelessly pocketed the entire bottle, sat down, and began refining the pill's medicinal power.
After a while, the detox pill and the Little Strong Gu's combined efforts finally counteracted the strange poison from the tomb.
Meanwhile, Long Xuan entered a state of rapture.
This "Sun and Moon Heart Sutra" was indeed extraordinary, worthy of being brought out from an ancient tomb.
The "Sun and Moon Heart Sutra" harnesses the spiritual power of heaven and earth, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to achieve the supreme spiritual body.
Those who master it can cultivate unique Sun Spiritual Power, Moon Spiritual Power, and Star Spiritual Power.
These variant spiritual powers rank among the strongest of all.
The Divine ability it grants is the External Avatar.
Practitioners of this technique can cultivate three external avatars: the Sun Clone, the Moon Clone, and the Star Clone.
The Sun Clone's combat power doubles during the day, while the Star and Moon Clone' combat power doubles at night.
The combat power of these three Clone is not much weaker than the main body. Most astonishingly, the Clone can cultivate independently and transfer their cultivation results back to the main body.
This includes both knowledge and physical or soul cultivation outcomes.
With the main body's cultivation speed added, a practitioner of this technique can cultivate four times faster than normal.
This technique is absurdly powerful, almost like cheating. Even Long Xuan was astonished, especially by the Divine ability part, which made him breathe heavily with excitement and thoroughly captivated him.
This was exactly the Divine ability he had been looking for. The vast spiritual sea of the Ten Absolute Bodies led to the drawback of slow cultivation speed, a critical issue that had to be addressed.
Without a doubt, designing a Divine ability that could accelerate cultivation speed was the most compatible with the "Ten Absolutes scripture," finally solving the slow cultivation speed problem of the Ten Absolute Bodies.
He was immensely satisfied with this Divine ability.
Chapter 28: Achievement
Long Xuan couldn't help but marvel at the creativity of having his Clone assist his main body in cultivation. This idea was simply divine. He wondered what kind of mind could come up with such a revolutionary technique. Filled with admiration, he eagerly searched for the author's name on the book's cover.
Finally, he found a line of text in the bottom right corner:
*—Written by Empress Yaoguang*
"A woman?" Long Xuan racked his brains but realized he had no idea who this person was. As a minor rogue cultivator, his knowledge was quite limited.
He was certain that this individual must be a historical figure of great renown, and that he could probably find records of her in historical texts.
Long Xuan decided to stop pondering this and focus on his decision: he would incorporate this divine technique into his own "Ten Absolutes Scripture." Of course, it wasn't copying, merely borrowing.
The "Sun and Moon Heart Sutra" could condense Clones of the sun, moon, and stars. So, could his "Ten Absolutes Scripture" condense clones of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth?
With two more Clone than the original technique, his cultivation speed would double, potentially even surpassing the original. The Seven Immortals of Quanzhen could form the Heavenly Gang Big Dipper Array; perhaps his Five Elements avatars could form the Heavenly Gang Five Elements Array, surpassing the original was not impossible.
Then, each of the five Clone would specialize in one type of mutated spiritual power and return their cultivation results to him. Thus, he wouldn't need to cultivate at all. He could just focus on research and live a leisurely life.
He would invent and create, while all the hard work and intense cultivation would be done by the five Clone. Just thinking about such a life made Long Xuan smile contentedly.
He continued to read through the rest of the text. Unfortunately, the "Sun and Moon Heart Sutra" was severely incomplete, with missing sections in the beginning, middle, and end.
He found no corresponding spiritual techniques at all. However, the divine abilities section, though incomplete, was relatively intact, which was sufficient for him.
Next, Long Xuan embarked on a long period of intensive study. Condensing Clone was an extremely profound knowledge. Long Xuan found that with his current level of experience, he couldn't understand it at all. The texts seemed like celestial scripts to him, leaving him completely baffled.
He was thoroughly confused. However, in the realm of literature, it's often about copying from one another. Since he couldn't understand, he decided to copy and paste.
Of course, considering the compatibility with the "Ten Absolutes Scripture," many parts needed modification. Direct copying wouldn't work. Fortunately, his golden finger could indicate errors. If the progress of the technique disappeared, it meant that section was wrong and needed to be deleted and revised until the progress increased.
Thus, Long Xuan spent countless days and nights, taking a year to successfully research the divine abilities chapter of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture." This marked the complete success of the first layer of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture."
He was probably the only one who, without understanding the principle of condensing Clone, could create an Clone technique.
At this point, the progress of the technique had reached 12.5%, representing one-eighth, indicating that this technique had eight layers and could be cultivated to the eighth realm, making it a highly advanced technique. Long Xuan was quite satisfied.
The first layer of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture" was for spirit gathering stage, while the second layer was for the Marrow cleansing stage.
Long Xuan still had a long way to go before reaching the Marrow cleansing stage, so he didn't need to rush studying the second layer of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture." It was time for him to take a little break and relax.
Feeling lazy, Long Xuan stretched and yawned. He was no longer at the inn but in his home in Great Stone Village. He had already stripped the Qian Clan's Treasure Pavilion bare, so unless they restocked with a lot of new items, there was no need for him to go back.
Long Xuan lazily looked at the quintuplets who were meditating and cultivating in the room, feeling very satisfied.
These five people looked exactly the same, as if they were carved from the same mold—his mold. They gave him a sense of kinship, making his emotions complex.
These five were the five Clone condensed from the first layer of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture": the Gold Clone, Wood Clone, Water Clone, Fire Clone, and Earth Clone.
Each Clone specialized in a type of mutated spiritual power, diligently cultivating and returning the results to him, allowing him to upgrade effortlessly.
These were five clone after all. The spiritual power cultivated by five people was given to him simultaneously, allowing him to enjoy five times the cultivation speed and happiness.
He could make rapid progress every day while his main body did not cultivate, enjoying the benefits without any effort.
This was akin to cheating, using a hack—temporary joy from cheating, lasting joy from continuous cheating. Long Xuan was thoroughly delighted.
Of course, even with five times the happiness, due to the special nature of his Ten Absolutes Body, his cultivation speed, though fast compared to before, still lagged behind those geniuses with heavenly talent.
He was destined to follow the path of Immortality, being the last one standing as the victor.
However, with this divine technique and the assistance of the Hundred Flower Pill, his cultivation speed could match the average level of this world, which was already a great success for the Ten Absolutes Body.
Long Xuan was thrilled and wanted to laugh out loud. Regardless of the future, this achievement alone was enough to ensure his name would be remembered in history.
"Now that I have the technique, the next step is to enhance my combat power."
After his excitement subsided, Long Xuan's eyes gleamed as he started planning his next steps.
Creating the second layer of the "Ten Absolutes Scripture " could wait. After all, he didn't need it now, and his current level hadn't reached the Marrow cleansing stage. Studying techniques for a higher level would be extremely challenging and difficult.
Creating techniques also required appropriate cultivation levels and experience. With sufficient future accumulation, he would naturally succeed, so there was no rush for now.
The urgent task was to quickly improve his combat power, which was his current shortcoming. Aside from the Five Elements Jade and the Origin Realm, he had no means of attacking the enemy.
The Origin Realm had significant limitations. The idea of dragging an entire region of people into an illusion was just a fantasy for now.
Copying the world required time. Even with the Heavenly Eye as a supercomputer, it needed time to download. He couldn't instantly complete the copy of a vast world.
Unless the opponent talked too much, in sudden encounters, this ability might be unusable. In such cases, only the Five Elements Jade would be useful.
Of course, once given the opportunity to use the Origin Realm, no one could survive it—not even Jesus. He firmly believed this.
His Origin Realm was simply unbeatable.
Chapter 29: Di Xin
His combat abilities were insufficient, leaving him constrained in every action he took. If his strength were more formidable, he wouldn't hesitate to explore even an ancient tomb. Thus, his next objective was to enhance his combat power, preferably by refining a powerful external Gu. Having such an external Gu would greatly improve his one-on-one combat capability.
In the Gu world, there has been endless debate over whether external Gu or internal Gu is superior. The controversy is significant since one is used for external combat, and the other grants the Gu cultivator powerful abilities—two completely different systems that are indeed hard to compare.
However, it is unquestionable that during the Spirit Gathering stage, external Gu is far superior to internal Gu. This point is entirely undisputed. This is because Gu cultivators at the Gathering Spirit stage are just beginning their cultivation, and their internal spiritual power reserves are extremely scarce.
No matter how powerful the abilities of an internal Gu might be, without sufficient spiritual power, the internal Gu's abilities cannot be fully utilized. It might even deplete the spiritual power after just one use or may not even be usable once.
Due to the limitation of insufficient spiritual power in the early stages, the benefits of internal Gu are naturally far inferior to external Gu. Hence, most Gu cultivators in the Spirit Gathering or Marrow cleansing stages primarily focus on refining external Gu, and they can hide behind them during battles.
Thus, refining an external Gu is undoubtedly the best choice for quickly improving combat power. This is precisely why Long Xuan's sales of the Little Strong Gu plummeted early on.
Gu cultivators are a rare group, with just a few people in the entire market. Given that each type of Gu insect can only be owned once and that most Gu cultivators only refine external Gu, the market for Little Strong Gu has long been saturated.
The poor sales of Little Strong Gu severely impacted Long Xuan's economic resources, making the collection of materials for the Divine ice Flame an indefinite task.
Thinking of this, Long Xuan's good mood from creating a new technique vanished instantly. To refine an external Gu, one must first earn money. Reluctantly, Long Xuan had to leave his house to seek a fortune.
Sometimes, timing is everything. Long Xuan strolled around the market and happened to hear about a treasure exchange event being held that day, specifically for loose cultivators in the Spirit Gathering stage.
He was overjoyed and immediately followed the crowd to join in the excitement.
The treasure exchange event was not like the market's usual stall transactions; in terms of scale, stalls couldn't compare to the treasure exchange event. Who would dare display priceless items at a stall? It would be asking for trouble. Hence, the more concealed treasure exchange events emerged.
Of course, not every Gu cultivator in the market could attend. To participate in the treasure exchange event, one must have a certain level of wealth and a good reputation, with no rumors of killing for treasure. Loose cultivators with a penchant for robbery and murder were strictly excluded, as their presence would disrupt the event.
Additionally, after the event, it was strictly forbidden to spread information about who possessed what treasures. And those Big talkers were naturally excluded as well. Although the restrictions were somewhat loose, those who violated them wouldn't be allowed to participate in future events and would face collective resistance.
With these conditions in place, only a few people qualified to attend the treasure exchange event, and a small secret room could accommodate them.
This small group of people was of high quality, each possessing a certain level of wealth. Hence, the treasure exchange event was bound to feature various rare treasures, items rarely seen outside.
These treasures would be impossible to find at a stall. Attending such an event would broaden one's horizons, even if there were no gains. If one hoped to find a rare bargain, the treasure exchange event was the place to be.
Long Xuan harbored hopes of finding a rare bargain, aiming to discover a treasure worth millions that others failed to recognize, thus solving his financial problems instantly.
With these pleasant thoughts, Long Xuan eagerly followed a few female loose cultivators into a two-story building, Then he turned left and right and entered a hidden secret room. The gatekeeper did not stop him.
His name was well-known throughout the market as the creator of the Little Strong Gu.
Having amassed wealth through Little Strong Gu sales, Long Xuan was quite well-off among the financially-strapped loose cultivators and naturally qualified to participate in the treasure exchange event.
Upon entering the venue, Long Xuan's eyes lit up. Despite being held in an underground secret room, the venue was surprisingly bright and well-decorated. Many loose cultivators were already engaged in small-scale transactions.
Scanning the room, Long Xuan saw over ten round tables, each surrounded by people. Acquaintances sat together, eating snacks, fruits, and drinking tea, engaging in cheerful conversations. Some even displayed their treasures on the tables. There were about a hundred people present.
Not every wealthy loose cultivator could attend; only a small portion had the time. This kind of event was held periodically, so missing one wasn't a big deal.
As Long Xuan arrived, many eyes turned towards him.
"A rare guest indeed! I never expected my treasure exchange event to attract such a recluse like you. Is this your first time attending? Surely, you must have something good!"
A veiled beauty in a yellow dress teased from not far away.
Long Xuan, whether as an entomologist in his past life or as a Gu cultivator in this life, was a research fanatic, always staying at home, oblivious to outside matters, and solely focused on his research, making him quite out of touch with news.
It wasn't that he deliberately avoided such events; he simply never knew when they were held. Otherwise, he would have attended, as it was a great opportunity for him to strike it rich, which was necessary for his research.
Following the voice, Long Xuan saw a stunning veiled woman standing nearby. He didn't know what was wrong with the beauties in this world, they all liked to wear veils.
Despite being out of touch, Long Xuan recognized her. There were only three people in the market selling exclusive high-quality Gu insects, and she was one of them, making a fortune through these sales.
She was also a rare formation master. Loose cultivators were typically poor and homeless, rarely needing expensive formation disks to guard their homes, making this skill less lucrative for her. However, she often used her skills to access treasure troves and herb gardens of small Gu cultivation Clans, becoming a famous thief.
Those who frequently broke into large families to steal treasures using their formation-breaking skills were known as "formation infiltrator" in this world. These individuals, able to silently breach large family protection formations and steal treasures, were despised by all major families.
This woman, Di Xin, was such a formation infiltrator, known for targeting only Gu cultivation Clans and not loose cultivators. Long Xuan's most vivid memory of her was her fear of cockroaches, which was why she refused to buy his Little Strong Gu.
It was precisely because Long Xuan was the only one selling cockroach-type Gu insects in the market, she also remembered him well.
"Ah, it's Sister Xin. My apologies. I usually avoid treasure exchange events, but hearing that you're hosting one, I rushed over immediately. I must show respect to Sister Xin."
Though he previously missed these events due to lack of information, he knew the art of conversation, understanding how to bridge distances between people.
Hearing this, Di Xin laughed lightly, covering her mouth. "I didn't expect to have such a great influence, attracting you here despite your busy schedule. My treasure exchange event will surely not disappoint you."
Chapter 30: high-grade Gu Worm
"Since almost everyone is here, as the host, I'll start first."
After chatting with Long Xuan for a while, seeing that almost everyone had entered the venue, Di Xin walked to a table at the front of the venue.
She then placed all her treasured items from the bottom of the chest on the table and said to the people below: "I won't go over the rules of the treasure exchange meeting, everyone understands. As the host, I'll start first."
Saying that, Di Xin picked up three array flags on the table and introduced: "This is the soundproof formation plate. As the name suggests, it is an formation plate that can isolate sound."
"This secret room is set up with this kind of formation, so no matter how loudly we talk here, no sound will be heard outside. Everyone can rest assured. Now, who is interested in trading?"
Hearing this, many people below felt more at ease. No one wanted their treasures to be known by more people, and the fact that the secret room was set up with such an array reassured them even more.
A small murmur arose from the crowd below, but after all, it was just an auxiliary formation, and its effect was merely soundproofing, so it wasn't very useful in actual combat. Hence, not many people were interested.
Just when Long Xuan thought Di Xin's first treasure was going to pass without any bids, a female rogue cultivator stood up and asked, "Can your soundproof formation isolate the sounds of fighting?"
In the next moment, many people's expressions changed subtly.
With this question, everyone knew what this woman intended to do with the soundproof array.
Goodness, while others set up soundproof formation to prevent secrets from being leaked during conversations, she actually planned to use it to kill and rob without making any noise. How creative and bold of her.
Killing people naturally doesn't require isolating sound, unless she plans to kill someone in the market or near it, erasing someone within the no-kill zone without anyone noticing, so the people maintaining market order wouldn't detect it.
Everyone's expressions changed subtly.
The corners of Long Xuan's mouth lifted, revealing an inexplicable smile. He wondered who she was going to target; surely, some poor fellow was going to have bad luck.
Di Xin's face also changed slightly. Before hosting the treasure exchange meeting, she had tried her best to exclude those who liked to kill and rob, but nothing in this world can be perfectly prevented. There are always those who slip through the cracks, and there might be someone doing it for the first time, making it even harder to prevent.
However, the woman hadn't said she was going to use the soundproof formation for killing, so Di Xin couldn't just drive her away based on her suspicions. So she had to answer truthfully: "Of course, it can!"
The female rogue cultivator immediately smiled and walked to the table, having a secret soul communication with Di Xin.
In the end, the female rogue cultivator left with the three formation flags, and no one knew what she traded for them.
Next, Di Xin began to introduce her second treasure, which was her unique high-grade Gu worm, the twin-tailed flying scorpion.
This scorpion not only had a pair of sharp pincers but also two tails and two stingers, its appearance alone indicating its prowess in battle.
Being a rare high-grade Gu worm in the market, and an external Gu worm at that, its combat power was extremely terrifying, making it highly sought after in the market.
As soon as this treasure appeared, everyone below became excited, showing greedy and eager eyes, in stark contrast to the first treasure.
It should be known that Long Xuan's Little Strong Gu was merely an low-grade Gu worm, and in terms of popularity, it couldn't compare to a high-grade Gu worm. It's safe to say that there were very few rogue cultivators in the market who owned high-grade Gu worms.
But Long Xuan only glanced at it before looking away, having no interest in trading.
He had already made up his mind that all the Gu worms he used in the future would be self-created. He wanted to use his unique Gu worms to dominate the world; no matter how strong other people's Gu worms were, he had no interest.
At this moment, he was thinking about another matter. The medicine garden belonged to Elder Long, not him. He was restricted in planting any spiritual herbs and had to be careful.
Moreover, the spiritual bees needed nectar, and the spiritual chickens needed spiritual insects. To support them, he needed to build his own medicine garden. Otherwise, if elder long left, and he lost his job, the spiritual bees could starve to death.
To build a medicine garden, he first had to prevent others from stealing his herbs. Otherwise, if he planted high-grade spiritual herbs, others would surely come.
This required setting up an formation in the medicine garden, and the formation needed to be able to stop high-level Gu cultivators far stronger than him.
But he couldn't afford powerful defensive formation plates, and weak defensive formation plates were useless.
Thinking about formation, Long Xuan had an epiphany, coming up with a new ability for his Eye of Heavenly secret.
It was known that his Eye of Heavenly secret could see the microscopic world. Could it inscribe array formation patterns too small for the naked eye to see?
The same formation plate had limited space to inscribe formation patterns, but with the help of the Eye of Heavenly secret, he could inscribe hundreds or even thousands of formationq patterns without increasing the formation plate's size.
In this way, by overwhelming with the number of formation patterns, would the formation he set up be stronger?
If it was feasible, he might create a new formation style, becoming the founder of a new school. Long Xuan's eyes lit up.
He had never studied formation and knew nothing about them, so he didn't know if formation patterns could be infinitely shrunk without losing power.
But he thought it was worth trying. If it worked, he could use inferior array materials to create superior arrays, no longer worrying about not being able to afford high-level array plates.
Long Xuan became excited, and seeing that the superior Gu worm twin-tailed flying scorpion had been frantically traded away by the Gu cultivators, he immediately walked up.
Di Xin was stunned for a moment; she hadn't even introduced her third treasure yet.
Before she could ask, Long Xuan spoke first through soul communication: "I have no intention of trading for the items on your table. Do you have any books on array formation? I'm interested in learning the art of formation setup and am willing to pay a high price."
formation masters were special professions on par with alchemists, with rare inheritances and difficult to find learning paths.
In the Qian's Clan's Treasure Pavilion, you could find some cultivation methods and spiritual techniques, but never alchemy, artifact refining, talisman making, or formation setup.
These were absolutely not easily taught. Don't think you can learn them just by spending spirit stones.
Therefore, Long Xuan could only try his luck here, prepared for failure. After all, secrets are not easily shared, that's the principle of this world.
Unexpectedly, Di Xin smiled slightly and said: "In my place, there's nothing that can't be traded. As long as you offer a suitable price, I can even trade the Gu formula for the twin-tailed flying scorpion."
Saying this, she took out a thick stack of books from her storage bag and placed them on the table, without showing any reluctance.
Long Xuan was completely taken aback by her straightforwardness. Weren't these supposed to be closely guarded secrets?
" So Generous!"
Long Xuan was overjoyed and quickly picked up the books on the table to look through.
He checked the covers and flipped through a few pages to confirm their authenticity, then immediately decided to trade.
These books not only covered various basic array knowledge but also included many powerful array diagrams, sufficient to make him an array master.
To become an formation master required having both fire and earth attributes, and a strong soul, which he possessed.
It must be said that having multiple attributes could slow down cultivation speed, but it also had its advantages.
An artifact refiner needed both fire and metal attributes, a talisman maker needed both water and wood attributes, and all these special professions required a strong soul or mental power. It seemed he met all these requirements.
But after all, one's energy is limited, and being too distracted isn't good.
Long Xuan planned to focus on alchemy, while only having a basic understanding of the other special professions, so he wouldn't be clueless when encountering attacks from these fields.
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