ตอน 35: Chapter 35 The New Method to Cultivate
Meditation Garden
Shangguan Yi took only 40 minutes to absorb the wisps of white flame. The process was smooth, like drinking water, without any uncomfortable feelings. In contrast, his cultivation progressed by 4%.
As of now, his cultivation had progressed by 20%, which meant he needed to kill another 80 false Core Formation Cultivators and absorb their core essence to break through to the 2nd level Core Formation Realm.
Eighty false Core Formation Cultivators meant that he needed to visit around 70 mid-grade families at least to accomplish this, as there might be one or two in each mid-grade family. In fact, if he could absorb the genuine core essence of a Core Formation Cultivator, the benefits would be much greater. However, his current strength alone was not enough to dominate high-grade families yet, so he could only take things slowly.
The method of killing and absorbing core essence was thanks to the unique Everlasting Firmament Flame Technique, but it was definitely an evil technique. If it was exposed, both righteous and demonic cultivators would undoubtedly hunt him to the ends of the world. After all, this cultivation technique was truly heaven-defying. Countless Core Formation Cultivators had a hard time progressing each step, but someone actually could progress by directly absorbing the fruits of their years of cultivation. This was too freakish, and people fear and oppose the freakish.
Shangguan Yi marveled at the new method of cultivation for a while before consuming high-grade essence pills to replenish his core essence.
When his core essence was fully replenished, it was already morning. The Xia Family cultivators had already returned, and Shangguan Yi called for Xia Zu, Xia Fu, Xia Feng, and Xia Kun.
"Greetings to the Great Ancestor," the four greeted him respectfully.
Shangguan Yi nodded slightly before getting straight to the point. "Now that I have enough materials to build the level 3 protective array, the Grand Turtle Shell, I will provide the one million essence stones needed to construct it. However, it will require 10,000 essence stones every month to maintain it, which will be your responsibility. I also need a drop of blood from each member of the family to create the blood recognition core."
The four felt tongue-tied. The materials were one thing, but just the essence stones alone required a million. This was an amount they could never have imagined. The Xia Family had a foundation of 100 years, yet their accumulation was only around 10,000 essence stones. It was hard for them to grasp what a million essence stones looked like. Fortunately, Shangguan Yi was providing the essence stones to build it. Otherwise, even if they sold the entire Xia Family, they couldn't have dreamed of affording it.
As for the cost of maintaining it with 10,000 essence stones per month, it was a significant challenge. However, with Shangguan Yi's presence, they were confident they could obtain the required stones from the treasury vaults of other families.
"Yes, we understand. Leave the matter to us," Xia Zu said.
"Next, we need to increase the overall strength of the family. I see that many members have good talent but lack the resources to develop, including you four. To obtain more resources, we must visit other families," Shangguan Yi said, observing their expressions.
The Xia Family was a righteous family, and actions like stealing and killing were typical of demonic cultivators. As righteous people, they despised such actions. Now, they were being forced to act against their consciences.
Previously, they had slaughtered many lives in the Zhang and Guan Families due to the threats they posed, viewing it as a war because of their longstanding conflicts. However, their current actions couldn't be considered a war anymore; they were acts of evil.
Shangguan Yi, although from a righteous faction, had a different perspective due to his previous life experiences. He had learned through religion and science that nature takes its course, and there is no inherent good or bad—just the way things are. Thus, in this world, he acted according to its nature.
The four elders were silent for a long while before Xia Zu spoke. "Great Ancestor, chaos time is coming. For the sake of our survival, if we don't act now, others might act against us tomorrow. Therefore, we are willing to follow you and trample our enemies."
"The First Ancestor is right. We can't rely on anyone but ourselves in chaos times!" Xia Fu added.
"That's right. If we don't fight for our survival, we will just become part of history," Xia Feng said.
"Our Xia Family won't fall here. We are still looking forward to a great future," Xia Kun added.
Shangguan Yi's gaze fell on Xia Zu, and he nodded slightly. This old man had not lived 100 years in vain.
"Alright, I understand your feelings. I won't let our family take unnecessary risks. Only Xia Zu and Xia Fu will follow me to visit the other families. We won't waste time on minor threats. I'll handle their ancestors, and you both will locate their treasury vaults and kill if necessary," Shangguan Yi said. In truth, his primary goal was to absorb the core essence from their ancestors; other matters were secondary. Whether or not to slaughter the entire family would depend on the situation.
Hearing this, Xia Feng couldn't help but ask, "Great Ancestor, why only Ancestor Zu and Uncle Fu? We can participate in this operation too."
Shangguan Yi shook his head slightly. "Cultivators below level 10 aren't of much use. You'll qualify once you reach level 10."
Xia Feng and Xia Kun wanted to say more but held back. The Great Ancestor had made his decision, and they felt powerless to change it.
Shangguan Yi waved his hand, and two bottles of high-grade essence pills fell into the hands of Xia Zu and Xia Fu.
"This…" Xia Zu and Xia Fu scanned the bottles with their Divine Senses, their expressions freezing upon realizing the pills' quality.
"High-grade essence pills!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Despite being ancestors of a mid-grade family, high-grade essence pills were priceless treasures. Xia Fu had never tasted one before, and Xia Zu had only experienced it once. Such pills were usually snapped up by high-grade families immediately when they appeared.
"Thank you, Ancestor, for the precious gift," they both thanked him politely and respectfully.
Shangguan Yi nodded slightly and handed another seven bottles of mid-grade essence pills to Xia Feng. "These should be enough for everyone to recover their essence. Distribute them according to their performance in the previous fight."
Xia Feng accepted the bottles and scanned them, discovering 70 mid-grade essence pills. He couldn't help but feel excited. "Thank you, Great Ancestor, for your generous gift."
Normally, mid-grade essence pills were rare and highly valued in a mid-grade family. It could take years to acquire just a few, and they were usually reserved for rewarding those who made significant contributions to the family. Having 70 pills meant each member could receive one, a rare and precious boon.
In general, using mid-grade essence pills to replenish essence was seen as wasteful. Most would slowly replenish their essence by absorbing essence stones, a process that could take several days to a week. However, the pills would allow for much quicker recovery.
"Alright, the situation with the Zhang and Guan Families won't be known by others for a week or two. You can go back now. Once I finish building the Grand Turtle Shell Array, we will proceed with our next move." Shangguan Yi waved his hand, signaling them to leave.
The four of them bowed deeply before departing.
Shangguan Yi sat alone in the pavilion, his attention focused on the array function. He reviewed the details of the Grand Turtle Shell Array and the materials needed to build it.
——
Cultivation Realm:
-Body Refining Realm (mortals / practitioners)
-Foundation Establishment Realm ( genuine Cultivators)
-Core Formation Realm
Technique/Pill/Artifact/Array/Beast/Herb/Talisman Level
-Warrior (level 1)
-Elite (level 2)
-Master (level 3)
Each level divided to 4 grades: low, mid, high and supreme.
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