Born with immortal seed

Chapter 223 The Completion of the Treatise on Alchemy

"This talisman can be used three times, each time summoning the phantom of a celestial general from the upper realm, lasting for twelve hours."

Master Ge Cang blew a light breath, and countless fine, hair-like lightning bolts enveloped the earth-colored talisman, ensuring that not a single trace of spiritual power would leak out.

"This phantom of a divine general is equivalent to the strength of a fully formed core cultivator. Although it is limited by the lack of intelligence, is dull and slow, and can only act according to orders... its strength is still considerable. With the help of the great formation, it is enough to protect the sect when I am not around."

He exchanged this talisman for the sect, intending to send it to the secret hall; he wouldn't keep it on his person.

For Ge Cang, the Dingmao Rengao Divine General Talisman had limited effect.

In the eyes of a true Core Formation Perfection cultivator, General Ren Gao is nothing more than a sitting duck with strength but no matching cultivation level and no tactical acumen.

It is best to keep it within the sect and use it in conjunction with the Yin-Yang Illusion Moon Formation to maximize its effectiveness.

"A divine general from the upper realm?"

Qi Yue was very curious upon hearing this and pressed for an answer: "Only those at the Nascent Soul stage can ascend to the Upper Realm, yet this phantom of an Upper Realm general is only at the Core Formation stage?"

"The idea behind this kind of summoning talisman is that the phantom of a deity from the upper realm that is summoned is merely an unconscious projection of that deity. If you want to summon a more powerful avatar, you would need a higher-level summoning talisman... Many people scoff at this, but I think there is some truth to it."

Master Ge Cang then shared his understanding.

"It is extremely difficult for those talisman masters to conjure up so many images of gods out of thin air and endow them with powerful supernatural abilities... I believe more that the talisman masters of that school obtained the ancient talisman edict from the upper realm and created a series of talismans for invoking gods based on its contents."

"It's a pity that the entire sect of talisman masters suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace. The talismans for summoning gods that exist in the cultivation world are all stockpiles left behind."

Qi Yue listened with a strange look in his eyes, showing a strong interest in this kind of divine summoning talisman.

With a Heavenly Spiritual Root like Ge Cang Zhenren, there will be no bottlenecks before the Foundation Establishment stage is complete. He can focus on cultivation and will not have time to devote himself to various arts of immortal cultivation.

He only possessed two spiritual roots, and among the various arts of cultivation, he primarily practiced the art of talismans.

Of course, he can't compare to someone like Su Li who possesses a talismanic spirit body; over the years, he has only reached the peak of the first-tier talisman master realm.

There are also many factors involved here, such as the improvement in cultivation level, which in turn led to a corresponding increase in the level of talisman cultivation.

"Calm down and break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible... Don't waste your time establishing alchemy theory and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage while you're still stuck in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

Master Ge Cang gave his personal disciple a word of advice, then closed his eyes.

He has reached the peak of the mid-stage Core Formation, and is only a step away from the late-stage Core Formation.

Moreover, the path is clear, the theory is well-defined, and they have already embarked on their own path.

Both of Fang Tiansheng's predictions regarding the timeframe are conservative; the breakthrough will occur within these next few years.

"This can't be true... When Senior Brother Wei was the sect leader, it took him almost twenty years to establish his own theory of alchemy after comprehending the myriad aspects of the world."

Qi Yue's expression tightened, and he shook his head repeatedly, trying to comfort himself.

“Even though Junior Brother Bai possesses a sacred body, there are no shortcuts when it comes to alchemy. No matter how high your talent is, you can't be like Master, who can directly pursue the Great Dao of Wood because of his Heavenly Spiritual Root. No matter how powerful you are, it will always take more than ten years to hone and summarize your skills.”

On his way down from the cloud platform, Qi Yue decided to go into seclusion after returning home to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough.

To avoid being too far ahead of Bai Zichen and suffering another blow.

……

Time flies like an arrow, summer comes and winter goes, and seven years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom, there are small battles every few months and major battles every other year, with cultivators from both the righteous and demonic paths falling almost every moment.

The righteous path built fortifications on the front lines, connecting them with array formations to resist the overwhelming demonic alliance.

The disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect, leading their army of spirit beasts—a vast swarm of birds and land creatures—also charged into the battlefield.

The battle was fierce on both sides, and countless lives were lost on this front.

The following year, the plants on this grassland grew exceptionally lush.

Because so many cultivators and spirit beasts had died, the plants and trees irrigated with blood seemed to be imbued with an eerie, bloody glow.

The turning point came in the fourth year.

Blood God True Man single-handedly stormed into the territory of the Righteous Path Sect, using his supreme demonic arts to slaughter the Righteous Path Sect cultivators with extremely high efficiency. Naturally, Nine Harmony Daoist had to meet him and stop him.

A drop of blood exploded, dragging the two into a crimson barrier.

People from the outside cannot enter, and people inside cannot leave.

The crimson barrier disappeared three days later.

Only the Blood God True Man remained, holding in his hand the head of the Nine Harmonies Daoist, whose eyes were wide open in anger and who died with his eyes still open.

Even if Jiuhe Daoren, who was also at the peak of the Core Formation stage, was no match for Fang Tiansheng, he could have escaped or held out until Fang Tiansheng arrived and the two of them joined forces.

However, this time, Blood God Zhenren created a blood-colored barrier at the cost of self-destructing his blood essence core, which required a Core Formation Zhenren to attack with all his might for several hours to break through, forcing Jiuhe Daoren to fight him in a narrow space.

At the same time, Blood God True Man's strength improved again, and he actually killed a cultivator of the same level without suffering much injury.

It should be understood that every cultivator who has reached the Core Formation stage is an exceptionally talented individual; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to reach the realm where they are only one step away from the Nascent Soul stage.

While there may be differences in skill levels during a battle, everyone certainly has their own trump card.

Moreover, if it really comes down to a life-or-death situation, the power of a Core Formation Perfected cultivator self-destructing their Core Formation is something even a Nascent Soul True Monarch would have to take seriously.

Blood God Master clearly had a way of ensuring that Nine Harmony Daoist didn't even have the chance to self-destruct his golden core.

If Fang Tiansheng hadn't arrived in time and used the power of the Gold-Devouring Earth Dragon Beast to transform into a half-dragon, half-human state, possessing immense power capable of moving mountains and filling seas with every move.

He even broke through to the peak of the Core Formation realm during the battle, and fought to a draw with the Blood God True Man.

The Righteous Alliance may collapse on the spot due to the enormous impact of the fall of its leader.

Even with Fang Tiansheng's intervention to stabilize morale, the Righteous Alliance quickly disintegrated and fell into disarray.

It was originally a loose alliance of interests, which came together to fight against the demonic sects and defend their own interests, and with the call of Daoist Jiuhe, they gathered together based on his strength as the number one cultivator of the righteous path.

Within the alliance, there is much infighting and chaos, with many instances of people kicking someone when they're down.

With the death of Daoist Jiuhe, the Righteous Qi Sect, which had lost its pillar of support, was the first to collapse. Even with another Core Formation Real Person in the sect, it was impossible to maintain the situation.

Disciples within the sect fled, and various forms of collusion between insiders and outsiders emerged one after another.

Soon, the Righteous Qi Sect's army of cultivators withdrew from the front lines, returning to their own sects under the leadership of the remaining Core Formation cultivators to stabilize their rear.

Meanwhile, Ci'en Temple, which had long lost its territory and was now scattered in other places, abandoned the eighty-one fortifications it had built on the front line under the leadership of Abbot Ruyi and retreated tens of thousands of miles.

They were almost at the border of Liang Kingdom, and it was said that they had made contact with a Buddhist sect in the Northern Yuan Kingdom, preparing to send their entire sect to join them.

Only the Danxia Sect and the Shensha Sect remained, unable to hold out on their own. They could only rely on the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect for cover to preserve their remaining forces, while losing large swathes of territory to the Demonic Alliance.

In an instant, the flags of the cultivation world in Liang Kingdom changed hands, and a powerful force like the Righteous Alliance collapsed in a flash.

Fang Tiansheng, who had successfully broken through to the next realm and was now on par with the Blood God True Man, led the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect to the top, making them a rival to the demonic sects.

Inevitably, numerous conspiracies will emerge during this process.

The main point is that the Supreme Elder of the Myriad Beasts Sect already possessed the foundation to advance to the Perfect Core Formation stage, but he had been holding back from breaking through.

He watched as the Nine Harmonies Daoist died, and immediately broke through to the next realm in battle, demonstrating his formidable strength.

Meanwhile, the emergence of two new Core Formation cultivators in the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, who travel to various places to receive the legacy left by the Righteous Alliance, seems to confirm the conspiracy theory.

Against this backdrop, the news that Ge Cang Zhenren of Qingfeng Sect emerged from seclusion in the sixth year and became a late-stage Core Formation cultivator did not cause much of a stir.

It was only within the Qingfeng Sect that all the elders rejoiced and celebrated for Ancestor Ge Cang.

The stronger Ge Cang Zhenren is, the more stable Qingfeng Sect will be.

While all the disciples of the sects were focused on the ever-changing news from the outside world, the unchanging white jade pavilion in Jade Moon Lake was also undergoing changes.

"I've refined all twelve Golden Marrow Pills, and in the past two years I've even borrowed that top-grade spirit stone to cultivate. I'm finally not far from the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage..."

Seven years have passed, and the young man in the plain robe has lost some of his youthful vigor and gained a more mature and reserved demeanor.

But what remains unchanged is that pair of bright eyes, forever radiant with life.

Bai Zichen got up, dusted himself off, opened the door to the quiet room, and walked out to the top floor of Baiyu Tower to enjoy the long-awaited sunshine.

For some reason, he had a feeling today that he should stop cultivating and rest for a while.

"Perhaps this seclusion lasted too long, and I'm feeling a bit weary... Seven whole years, and with the help of Golden Marrow Pills and top-grade spirit stones, my cultivation has made great progress. In at most two more years, I will be able to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment."

Others would have to spend a lot of time and effort, plus taking breakthrough pills, to break through their bottlenecks.

For Bai Zichen, as long as he calculates the moment when his current level of magical power reaches its peak, it is equivalent to the time it takes for him to step into the next level.

Such a rapid advancement in cultivation speed was not only due to the unexpectedly potent effects of the Golden Marrow Pill, but also to the crucial role played by the top-grade fire-element spirit stone.

Even the direct descendants of a Nascent Soul True Monarch would not be so extravagant as to use top-grade spirit stones to aid in cultivation and refine magical power.

Such a wasteful act was enough to astonish Nascent Soul True Monarchs and make Core Formation True Immortals beat their chests in frustration.

But for Bai Zichen, as long as it can speed up his cultivation, he is willing to pay even the highest grade spirit stones.

In any case, this top-grade fire-element spirit stone wouldn't be allowed to appear in public for quite some time, so it was better to make the most of it than to let it sit in his storage bag and get moldy.

He leaned quietly against the pillar, the sun setting in the west, leaving only a sliver of its afterglow on his face.

"Stop when it's time to stop, and act when it's time to act."

Bai Zichen's inner thoughts surged forth, and he murmured the words.

"If one acts or remains silent at the right time, one's path will be illuminated."

(End of this chapter)