章 7: Weapon Refiner and Attack on the Sect

Ling Tian reviewed the simulation record with a critical eye, noting the steps and achievements carefully. He was surprised that he could choose two rewards this time. Weighing his options, he considered the comprehension and experience of the Mystic Spirit Flame Technique and the Flame Sovereign Physique, which could be obtained in future paid simulations. However, the "Resilient Body" Talent had proven invaluable, allowing him to recover quickly from injuries during his cultivation and combat. Meanwhile, the comprehension of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement till the seventh layer could provide immediate help in enhancing and accelerating his cultivation.

After a few moments of consideration, he made his choice. "I choose [Resilient Body (white)] and [Comprehension and Experience of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique (till the seventh layer)]."

After choosing the rewards, Ling Tian, sitting cross-legged in his residence, first absorbed the comprehension and experience of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique from his life simulation. The knowledge flowed into his mind, and he could feel his understanding deepening with each passing moment. His consciousness was immersed in the intricacies of the technique, the profound movements and the breathing exercises that he had spent countless years repeating in the life simulation.

With newfound clarity, Ling Tian began practicing the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique. His qi flowed smoothly, guided by his enhanced comprehension. He felt the energy coursing through his meridians with increasing potency. One by one, he broke through the layers of the technique, his comprehension advancing at an unprecedented pace until he settled at the seventh layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique.

As the hours passed, the morning light of the next day settled on his room. Ling Tian emerged from his meditative state. He stretched, feeling very light and clear-headed. His senses were sharper, and his perception of the spiritual energy in his surroundings had become much better than ever before. A slight frown crossed his face as he detected a slight stench. As if not surprised, he glanced down and noticed a thin layer of discharged impurities covering his skin, the result of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique purging his body. This time the cleansing of his body discharged fewer impurities since he had already undergone one yesterday.

Rising, Ling Tian headed to wash up, scrubbing away the impurities until his skin was clean. He donned fresh clothes and felt a new sense of vigor. Moving to his training ground, he began his daily morning routine practice. His movements were fluid and precise, a testament to his improved control over his qi and refined body. He felt that the power he could exert now at the peak of the Blood Tempering Stage was 50% stronger than that of yesterday. After thinking for a moment, he attributed this change to the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique.

After resting for a moment, he began accepting the second reward, "Resilient Body." He began feeling a slight surge of energy coursing through his body, giving him an itchy feeling like millions of ants crawling on his skin. After a few moments, the process finished. He picked a sword from the weapon rack in the training grounds, sliced his arm, and observed it closely. After 2 minutes, the wound healed completely.

Then he started training, and his cultivation soared. Starting from the peak of the Blood Tempering Stage, he quickly reached the Marrow Tempering Stage. Each movement brought an increase in his cultivation until he finally settled at the peak of the Marrow Tempering Stage. Ling Tian marveled at the speed of his progress after reaching the seventh layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique.

He spoke inwardly, "System, I want to do a paid simulation." The simulator responded with a familiar chime:

[Ding, discovered two low-tier spiritual stones in the host's possession. The number of Spiritual Stones is insufficient; it requires four low-tier spiritual stones for one paid simulation].

As he had expected, the cost of the simulation had doubled. It seemed that from now on, he would have to find a way to obtain Spiritual Stones, or he would only be able to do the free daily simulation.

After that, he decided to break through to the Innate Realm. He sat cross-legged and cleared his head of all thoughts. Advancing to the Innate Realm is a critical step in a cultivator's journey, signifying the transition from basic physical and external energy manipulation to a deeper, internal cultivation of Spiritual Energy. Here, the cultivator focuses on awakening the Dantian, establishing a connection with the body's meridians. The first stage of the Innate Realm is the Awakening Stage. Its objective is to activate the Dantian, the core energy center within the lower abdomen, and gradually expand it until the limit.

He calmed his mind and focused inward to become aware of the Dantian's presence. He started visualizations of light or energy gathering at the lower abdomen and utilized specific breathing patterns to stimulate the Dantian. Deep, slow inhalations through the nose, directing the breath to the lower abdomen, followed by controlled exhalations. After four hours of rigorous inhalation and exhalations, he felt a warm, tingling sensation in the lower abdomen as the Dantian became active. His Dantian awakened and began to function as a reservoir for spiritual energy. The activated Dantian started to draw in ambient spiritual energy, albeit in small amounts. He had finally advanced to the Awakening Stage of the Innate Realm, extending his lifespan to 200 years. He could now be regarded as a master of his own in his city. After a few breaths, he suppressed his excitement as he was still regarded as an ant in this cultivation world; the Innate Realm was just the start of cultivation in this huge world.

As he got up from his cross-legged state, he began to test his newfound power. He punched a boulder lightly and obliterated it into specks of dust, something he couldn't do easily at the Body Tempering Realm. Then he remembered that he still had the free paid simulation of today. He decided to start the daily free simulation to find methods to acquire Spiritual Stones.

[Simulation Starting …]

[Year 1: At 16, you are at the Awakening Stage of the Innate Realm. Your clan hails you as a genius, and the entire city knows your name. The clan provides you with abundant resources. You approach your father and ask him about a way to acquire a steady source of Spiritual Stones. Hesitation flickers upon his face many times. Finally, after a few breaths, he goes into his room and hands you a book. He tells you that he was afraid of using it before because the situation of the clan was not stable with him being the only one in the Innate Realm, but now with your presence, the clan should have stabilized a lot.]

[After returning to your residence, you flip through the book. It turned out to be the notes and experiences left by an Expert Refiner. The weapon refiner profession, like the path of a cultivator, has distinct levels. As weapon refiners advance, they gain the ability to craft increasingly powerful and intricate weapons that correspond to the needs and strengths of cultivators at different stages. There exist seven levels of Weapon refiners; Novice Refiner, Apprentice Refiner, Intermediate Refiner, Advanced Refiner, Expert Refiner, Master Refiner, and Grandmaster Refiner. Meanwhile, weapons are classified into 7 tiers with Tier 7 Weapons being the highest and strongest weapons in the Azure Continent. Each tier corresponds to a specific cultivation realm. You purchase many materials and begin your weapon refining journey.]

[Year 2: At 17, with your talent "Resilient Body" and resources, you push yourself and your body harder and continue to expand your Dantian. You are studying the Weapon Refining book.]

[Year 3: At 18, you continue practicing the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique, steadily increasing your cultivation and expanding your Dantian.]

[Year 5: At 20, your cultivation increases steadily. You become a Novice Refiner. You find that your talent in weapon refining is quite good since, according to the Expert Refiner who was the owner of the book, many people spend decades and do not cross the threshold of the Novice Refiner Level.]

[Year 7: At 22, with the help of the talent "Resilient Body," you push yourself in cultivation beyond your limits and your Dantian reaches its limit. You advance to the peak of the Awakening Stage of the Innate Realm. Your younger brother reaches the Awakening Stage of the Innate Realm.]

[Year 9: At 24, you begin opening and clearing your first meridian, advancing to the Connection Stage of the Innate Realm.]

[Year 11: At 26, you continue improving your cultivation, advancing steadily in the seventh layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique.]

[Year 13: At 28, you clear all your body's meridians, establishing a stable connection between your Dantian and them. This allows for a smooth flow of spiritual energy throughout your body, and you advance to the Integration Stage of the Innate Realm.]

[Year 15: At 30, disciples from the Fiery Fire Sect arrive in the city to recruit new members. You qualify to enter the sect with your brother as outer disciples. You decide to go with him.]

[After days of travel, you reach the Fiery Fire Sect, a first-rate sect with powerhouses in the Divine Transformation Realm. You register as an outer disciple and choose a residence.]

[Year 17: At 32, you start selling weapons and accumulate resources. You reach the peak of the seventh layer of the technique, further enhancing your talent and accelerating your cultivation progress.]

[Year 19: At 35, your Dantian is filled with purified spiritual energy, and you reach the peak of the Innate Realm.]

[Year 22: At 38, you perfect your Innate Realm to the extreme. You stay in the sect and accumulate countless experiences in refining weapons and at the same time accumulate Spiritual Stones to purchase a cultivation technique. You inch towards the Apprentice Refiner Level.]

[Year 24: At 40, you advance to become an Apprentice Refiner gaining a little fame within the inner sect.]

[Year 27: At 43, you purchase the Mystic Spirit Flame Technique, capable of refining spiritual energy and harnessing spiritual flames instead of a liquid form for increased power. This technique can be cultivated till the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. You find that you have many remaining Spiritual Stones so after thinking for a moment, you choose to buy a body cultivation technique since the talent "Resilient Body" can facilitate the process of body refining. You use some of the remaining Spiritual Stones and choose the technique Flame Sovereign Physique, a body cultivation technique that imbues the cultivator with the power and attributes of a sovereign of flames. While practicing this technique, the practitioner will integrate fire into his body enduring immense pain and possibly forming injuries, this is the reason why most would not choose this technique as it could be self-harming. This cultivation technique emphasizes control and mastery over fire, transforming the body into a conduit of pure fire energy that when cultivated to the peak can make a cultivator capable of combating Purple Mansion Realm Experts. You read the Spiritual Realm chapter of the Mystic Spirit Flame Technique and begin the process of condensing spiritual energy into a spiritual fire.]

[Year 34: At 46, 1/3 of the spiritual energy in your Dantian turns into a red spiritual fire, increasing its potency, and you advance to the Initial Stage of the Spiritual Realm. You get promoted to the inner sect. You are accumulating progress in the Apprentice Refiner Level.]

[Year 35: At 47, you begin practicing the first stage of the Flame Sovereign Physique technique, Fire Veins Integration. You integrate fire elemental energy into your meridians, enhancing the flow of spiritual energy which increases agility and reaction speed, with a minor boost to fire resistance.]

[Year 37: At 49, your younger brother reaches the peak of the Innate Realm. You give him lots of spiritual stones to purchase a good technique. You are refining Tier 2 Weapons and selling them.]

[Year 39: At 51, you continue the liquefaction process, converting more spiritual energy into spiritual fire.]

[Year 42: At 54, with the help of your talent, you reach the peak of the Fire Veins Integration Stage. Your veins and meridians glow with a fiery hue, improving energy circulation and physical performance.] [Year 44: At 56, 2/3 of the spiritual energy in your Dantian is now converted into the spiritual fire, allowing for more powerful fire control, and you advance to the Intermediate Stage of the Spiritual Realm. You start with the second stage of the Flame Sovereign Physique, Blazing Muscles. You undergo intense training while enveloped in fire, strengthening your muscles and tendons. You feel immense and exhilarating pain during the process and accumulate many injuries but your talent "Resilient Body" alleviates them slowly. During the second stage of the technique, you substantially increase physical strength and fire resistance.]

[Year 48: At 60, you reach the eighth layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique enhancing your talent and cultivation.]

[Year 53: At 65, you fully convert all the spiritual energy within your Dantian into the spiritual fire. You break through to the Advanced Stage of the Spiritual Realm. The Dantian now contains a huge spiritual fire hovering in the middle, providing a vast reservoir of fire spiritual energy for you to draw upon. You also feel your connection with fire spiritual energy deepen, increasing your cultivation speed.]

[Year 57: At 69, you reach the peak of the Blazing Muscles Stage. Your muscles gain a robust, fiery texture, enabling them to withstand extreme heat and exert immense power. At the same time, you are advancing in the eighth layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique.]

[Year 60: At 72, your brother advances to the Initial Stage of the Spiritual Realm, gets promoted to the inner sect, and extends his lifespan to 500 years.]

[Year 63: At 75, you perfect your Spiritual Realm to the extreme. The spiritual fire in your Dantian becomes purer and more powerful, capable of refining spiritual energy at a high speed and higher quality. You start practicing the Scorching Bones Stage of the Sovereign Flames Physique. You refine your bones with concentrated fire energy, making them as strong as tempered steel which enhances the structural integrity and overall durability of the body. You advance to the Intermediate Refiner Level.]

[Year 66: At 78, the inner sect competition starts. You do not participate in the competition and focus on refining Tier 3 Weapons.]

[Year 68: At 80, you have reached the peak of the eighth layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique and you advance to the peak of the Scorching Bones Stage. Your bones emit a subtle, fiery glow, and your skeletal structure becomes nearly indestructible.]

[Year 70: At 82, you are ready to break through to the Purple Mansion Realm. You begin studying the Purple Mansion Chapter of the Mystic Spirit Flame Technique. The Purple Mansion Realm focuses on establishing a personal cultivation space within the Dantian, known as the Purple Mansion, where spiritual energy is stored and refined.]

[Year 73: At 85, with the help of the Mystic Spirit Flame Technique, you establish the initial foundation of the Fire Spiritual Purple Mansion within the Dantian, a stable space where more spiritual energy can be gathered, and advance to the Formation Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm, extending your lifespan to 1000 years. Your Spiritual Fire engraves many symbols on the Purple Mansion in the Dantian, forming a vermillion bird image on it, and then settles in the center of it. The spiritual fire starts absorbing the spiritual energy in your surroundings and creates a massive vortex above your head, absorbing vast amounts of spiritual energy. Once the spiritual fire is saturated, it separates a strand from its own body and begins pouring the remaining spiritual energy absorbed from the surroundings into it, causing it to increase slightly in size and form a second spiritual fire. Finally, the vortex above you dissipates. You feel your power increase many times, along with your flame control, the destructive power of your flames, and your control over spiritual energy, thus allowing for more precise and powerful techniques. Your Fire Spiritual Purple Mansion can now store vast amounts of spiritual energy within the Dantian, allowing for prolonged battles and extended cultivation sessions. The Fire Spiritual Purple Mansion slowly and constantly absorbs the spiritual energy in the surroundings and refines it, making it purer and more potent for use in techniques and spells, and also for the absorption of the spiritual energy by the spiritual fires. Your advancement alerts many disciples, and you get promoted to the core sect.]

[Year 76: At 88, you start practicing the Sovereign Flame Core Stage, the last stage of the technique. You start forming a second heart of pure fire energy within your body, serving as a source of a fire-based bloodline that courses through the body at all times and grants the ability to unleash devastating fire-based attacks and significantly boosts regeneration and stamina.]

[Year 78: At 90, you reach the peak of the Sovereign Flame Core Stage. You finish the formation of your second heart. At this moment, you have perfected the Flame Sovereign Physique Technique and your body alone is capable of withstanding attacks from Purple Mansion Realm Experts. Your body radiates an intense, sovereign flame aura, symbolizing your mastery over fire and your strong physical strength. Also, you are strengthening your initial Fire Spiritual Purple Mansion and advancing steadily in your cultivation. Your Dantian emits a faint purple light, and your spiritual energy becomes more concentrated and pure.]

[Year 86: At 98, you finish strengthening your Purple Mansion and obtain a stable, nascent Purple Mansion, allowing for the initial storage of spiritual energy and enhancing energy manipulation capabilities. You advance to the Expansion Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm. The second small Spiritual Fire starts absorbing the spiritual energy in your surroundings and creates a massive vortex above your head, absorbing vast amounts of spiritual energy. Once the spiritual fire is saturated, it separates a strand from its own body and begins pouring the remaining spiritual energy absorbed from the surroundings into it, causing it to increase slightly in size and form a third spiritual fire. Finally, the vortex above you dissipates. The Vermillion bird image becomes more pronounced and you feel your power increase many times.]

[Year 90: At 102, you reach the final ninth layer of the Nine Heavens Primordial Refinement Technique. Your body ushers in a destruction and rebirth process accompanied by immense bursts of pain. Your Dantian expands, your bones become denser, and your meridians widen greatly. You persist through the process and finally acquire the Nine Heavens Primordial Body increasing your strength by countless times. You estimate your strength and find that you can fight head-to-toe with Peak Purple Mansion Realm Experts. You began expanding the size and capacity of the Purple Mansion to store more spiritual energy.]

[Year 100: At 112, you have a flash of inspiration when you were refining a peak Tier 3 Weapon and you get promoted to an Advanced Refiner. Your name becomes renowned within the sect. At the same time, you begin refining Tier 4 Weapons.]

[Year 108: At 120, you continuously nourish the Fire Spiritual Purple Mansion with spiritual energy, causing it to grow larger and more stable.]

[Year 120: At 132, you are refining Tier 4 Weapons in large quantities and selling them accumulating huge amounts of resources. At the same time, you are advancing steadily in your cultivation, the purple light within the Dantian becomes more intense, and your spiritual energy reserves increase significantly.]

[Year 125: At 137, your Fire Spiritual Mansion was expanded to the extreme. You obtain an expanded Purple Mansion capable of storing larger quantities of spiritual energy, greatly increasing your prowess. You advance to the Perfection Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm. The third small Spiritual Fire starts absorbing the spiritual energy in your surroundings and creates a massive vortex above your head, absorbing vast amounts of spiritual energy. Once the spiritual fire is saturated, the vortex above you dissipates. The Vermillion bird image becomes more lifelike and you feel your power increase many times. Now, in your Purple Mansion, there exist three huge Red Spiritual Fires circling each other.]

[Year 126: At 138, the Blood Demon Sect and the Devil Fang Temple, two first-rate forces, team up and invade your sect. You get slapped to death by a newly promoted Nascent Soul Elder of the Blood Demon Sect. You are dead.]

[Simulation Complete.]

[Evaluation: You were able to become a glorious Advanced Refiner and acquired the Nine Heavens Primordial Body making you one of the most talented cultivators on the Azure Continent. However, an invasion from two first-rate forces led to your demise.]