Immortality begins with becoming a master weapon refiner

Chapter 204 Seventh Rank, Upper Level: A Trip to the Yan Kingdom with Divine Transformation
"As for the conditions, the date for the Ascension Ceremony has been tentatively set for three years from now."

Three years? That long?

"Preparations, banquets, and some old friends who are not in the Southern Wilderness, as well as familiar immortal sects around, all require sending an invitation. It's not slow, especially since I need to visit the Ancestral Hall soon."

According to the Ninth Patriarch, there are still many things he needs to explain to me after my breakthrough, and these first few years are a crucial period for my cultivation to grow, so they shouldn't be wasted. He said it would take three years, but it could be delayed to five or even ten.

"I see."

Speaking of the Twelve Immortal Sects, Gu Qing has been wandering around the Southern Wilderness since he started cultivating, and has never left this place. The farthest place he has ever been is the Demon Realm.

He hasn't met any other cultivators yet.

The four seas and eight wastelands of the Cangwu cultivation world are named after the east, west, south and north, and each of the four wastelands has its own stories and origins.

The Desolate Realm, the Northern Realm, the Primordial Realm, and the Endless Realm.

These are the remaining four desolate lands, each with a celestial sect standing in it. The general environment is similar to that of the Southern Wilderness. Each of them has a cultivation kingdom, supplemented by fifty mortal kingdoms as backup.

The southern wilderness area is used as the central reference.

To the north lies the Desolate Heavenly Wasteland, where the Immortal Sect's Flaming Mountain reigns supreme.

To the east lies the Eastern Wilderness, where the Immortal Sect's Thunder Swamp Mountain reigns supreme.

To the south lies the South China Sea, with the Immortal Gate Purple Cloud Mountain stretching across the vast ocean.

To the west lies the uninhabited area, a vast expanse of barren land devoid of spiritual energy, which borders the Western Wilderness Region beyond.

Lian Chutiangong's Ascension Ceremony mainly invited outsiders from these three immortal sects. As for the Southern Yue Cultivation Kingdom, all those with names and surnames would attend.

After all, it is a rare and prosperous era.

"During the Ascension Ceremony, it is customary to exchange and discuss the Dao. In the past, this was done by disciples or relatives."

"understood."

Lian Chutiangong is in an awkward situation. He has not accepted any disciples, and he has also fallen out with his family because he promised to support Lian Chuqing to take the position. If you look closely, Gu Qing is the only one he can really rely on.

In a competition, there are winners and losers.

Moreover, Gu Qing is a weapon refiner and not good at fighting, so perhaps we could find a way to change it to a weapon refining competition.

Of course, it was too early to discuss this, and Gu Qing agreed without feeling any pressure.

After borrowing the [Purifying Soul Lotus], Gu Qing immediately returned to his cave to cultivate in seclusion.

Let's take this opportunity to analyze the methods used.

The Refining Spirit Technique should be mastered sooner rather than later. The Thunder Dao: Heavenly Demon Thunder Technique is still lacking. You can exchange it for a few more Thunder Dao Treasure Techniques and push it to the level of Dao Techniques in one go.

Another aspect is the improvement of the art of crafting plant-based artifacts. With the addition of seven-colored silkworm silk, the refining of the Heavenly Shuttle Treasure Gauze can be put on the agenda, although his technique is still lacking.

After some calculations and a brief trial, Gu Qing was very satisfied.

Three days later.

Red Fire Abode, a quiet underground chamber.

The Pure Soul Lotus appeared beneath Gu Qing's nascent soul in his Niwan Palace!
It was as if the Buddha was sitting cross-legged, with a thin layer of white light covering it like a film.

Once everything was ready, Gu Qing used his cultivation technique to forcefully break through to the next realm.

The so-called "divination of the mind" is to use the soul as a seed, split off a part the size of a fingernail, fill it with divine consciousness, and quickly obtain the talent of multitasking.

This is called "distracting the mind," what is meant by "transforming thoughts"?
The soul seed gives birth to the spirit, the divine consciousness gives birth to thoughts, and the spiritual body is thus born. Generally speaking, cultivators at this level can only create a maximum of two spiritual bodies, less is more.

But, still the same sentence.

The power gained during cultivation is a byproduct of the pursuit of immortality and enlightenment, not the ultimate goal.

Is the purpose of cultivating to this level the technique of creating clones?
No!

The so-called spiritual body, besides its function as a clone, has the greatest function of carrying the souls of heaven and earth! It is a necessary condition for continued progress, hence the existence of the spiritual body, not a state that exists solely for the sake of the spiritual body.

The celestial soul is ethereal, formless, and without appearance. It is also called the "true spirit" by those with great supernatural powers. It is the foundation of a cultivator's reincarnation. Once the celestial soul is destroyed, it completely dissipates into this world.

By attributing it to oneself, one gains control over the past and dominates the future. Those with great fortune may awaken memories of nine lifetimes, comprehending the methods and techniques of their past lives, thus greatly increasing their chances of success.

The earth's spirit is deficient in yin and easily dispersed by the yang energy of reality.

Therefore, they hide in the netherworld, leaving no trace, and are almost impossible to find except by the cultivator himself.

The purpose of cultivating this spiritual body technique is to use the spiritual body to enter the Nine Heavens and explore the Netherworld in the future, to gather the two souls of Heaven and Earth, and to obtain the fruit of the primordial spirit returning to its place. It is most appropriate to call it "gathering and dispersing to connect with the Netherworld".

Thoughts scattered.

The next instant, a raging inferno erupted from all the orifices, instantly burning Gu Qing's clothes and hair to ashes. His skin swelled into pink bubbles, bursting open to release large amounts of blood and bits of flesh.

More fiery black energy drifted out, like mortals being burned by flames, and the smell of roasted meat spread.

too fast!
The fire came too quickly, and the blood and qi sea and the lotus of essence in the lower dantian were also engulfed by the flames, burning ever more fiercely.

Gu Qing immediately began to deduce the method.

From the moment he began practicing the Refining Spirit Technique, his lifespan rapidly diminished, and his vital essence also declined swiftly. The physical body is the precious raft that cultivators rely on to cross the mortal world; with less vital essence, the strength of the physical body naturally weakens.

The power of the fire elemental energy decreased rapidly, and the damage to the physical body was not as severe as before.

However, it should be noted that if the physical body is too weak, even a low level of fire energy can cause the body to be burned.

Therefore, Gu Qing kept jumping back and forth.

When the fire element weakens, the deduction is stopped, and the loss is made up with the points of the artifact. When the fire element strengthens, the deduction is continued. When the essence is gone, it weakens again.

That's the shortcut he took.

Not only do they receive the necessary training, but they also increase their success rate by more than 70%, leading to a stalemate in the minor physical transformation.

The Niwan Palace and the Sea of ​​Consciousness were already raging with towering waves. Gu Qing's seven emotions and six desires, if not exceptionally strong, were still among the strongest of the rare individuals. The reason is not hard to guess: the more one sees, the more one desires—this is human nature.

Look at what Mo Xuan did; that's how Gu Qing released half of his desires.

The fire element, fueled by the seven emotions and six desires, tempers the Dao heart and strengthens the body's control over intense desires. The refinement of the nascent nascent soul by the fire element is actually the least beneficial thing.

Despite the turbulent waves outside, Gu Qing's nascent nascent soul sat calmly on the Pure Soul Lotus, unmoved.

When flames pass through the protective barrier of the lotus, they are blocked by the Flame Lord's Divine Robe. If they break through two layers of protection, they can still land on the demon infant, and the Undying Body will take care of quickly healing the injuries.

Three measures were taken to strictly guard against and prevent any breaches.

His thousand-year lifespan had almost run out, and the Refining Spirit Technique had been completely renewed.

Gu Qing then began to deduce the Heavenly Demon Thunder Technique. By multitasking, he precisely controlled the power of the Fire Fiend, and sometimes even added more Fire Fiend to temper the Demon Infant.

The Three Calamities and Soul Tribulations can be avoided, but not completely.

The necessary procedures still need to be followed.

One day, two days...

January, February...

At the end of the third month, Gu Qing accurately timed the event and emerged from seclusion on this day. The heat in her body vanished instantly, and she exuded a refreshing fragrance.

It's like washing away all the impurities and filth that have accumulated on you during this time.

"Seventh Rank, Upper Level: Dividing the Spirit and Transforming Thoughts".

"I see."

The next step in the cultivation is to perfect the two spiritual bodies, enabling them to fulfill their proper functions, one to ascend to the heavens and the other to enter the netherworld.

In the middle dantian, the Fiery Dragon's magical power has been completely crystallized and cannot be advanced further. The next step is to develop the hundred acupoints. This process will gradually be perfected during the cultivation of the spiritual body. There is no need to deliberately improve it; it will happen naturally.

Next is the new Dharma scripture of the sixth-rank supreme level.
The core of the Refining Spirit Technique [Crimson Sun God and Demon Diagram] is a diagram.

The sun, as red as blood, radiated boundless light. Beneath it, a blurry figure stood backlit, surrounded by chaos. Holding the Sun God's Halberd, a pair of crimson-gold wings spread behind him, exuding the power to swallow the universe.

The changes in this technique were far greater than Gu Qing had anticipated.

He had expected it to gravitate towards the direction of the Fire Star, but instead it turned out to be a crimson sun.

This method of practice also has six levels.

It greatly helped him cultivate his spiritual body. With the Chiwu Diagram as a foundation, he started at the third level, which shows that his upper limit has been greatly increased.

"No rush, we can gradually comprehend it in the future. The Undying Demon Soul Body also needs to be supplemented later."

In addition, there is a new Thunder Dao Secret Manual.

"Heavenly Demon Thunder Technique - Nine Absolute Techniques of Thunder".

His methods were on par with the Flame Lord's Secret Manual, but his foundation was ultimately lacking. The various extraordinary techniques derived from it amazed him.

Thunder magic and fire magic. Thunder magic is based on ancient demonic techniques, so it is suitable for him to use when he is using the identity of Demon Xuan. However, it also contains terrifying and terrifying divine powers of thunder magic, which is also suitable for Gu Qing's identity.

The deduction of the plant and wood artifacts hadn't even begun when the fire ended, which made Gu Qing somewhat unhappy.

But after looking at his remaining lifespan, he decided to wait.

The auxiliary techniques haven't even been developed yet, and the gap in weapon cultivation points is quite large; it needs to settle down for a while.

The lifespan of a ninth-grade Foundation Establishment cultivator is 120 to 240 years.

The lifespan of an eighth-rank true cultivator is 360 to 960 years.

A seventh-rank immortal's lifespan is 1200 to 2400 years.

Gu Qing's lifespan was still one-third higher than that, not even counting the lifespan extended by the auxiliary cultivation technique. Despite breaking through to the next realm, he only had 1500 years left to live.

The losses were substantial, and all the Qidao Points were spent, leaving not a single drop. It will take time to make up for the losses.

Paying these prices to break through to a higher level is not a loss; in fact, it's a huge gain.

The benefits of a significant increase in strength are worthwhile, especially since he plans to return to the Yan Kingdom, where there are many secrets hidden, not just about the Huilongguan Temple. Naturally, the stronger he is, the better.

As for Tian Shou's philosophy, Gu Qing had collected a lot of information, and there was one particular view that he found quite agreeable.

The book "Essence of Life and Longevity" states that human lifespan is divided into three elements: Heaven, Earth, and Man, each with a lifespan of sixty years.

If a person lives to sixty, they must abstain from lewdness and have no bad habits; otherwise, most will have very little left.

A lifespan of sixty years is attainable only if free from pollution and harm; most are worn away by illness.

The natural lifespan is sixty years, and most people only enjoy this much. Therefore, it is rare to live to seventy, as this is when life comes to an end.

This statement has its merits, but it can be summarized that the influence of environment, habits, birth, aging, illness and death, etc., can reduce a person's lifespan to the number given by heaven.

This can be changed, but human power is limited, and various reasons prevent it from reaching an absolutely perfect state, while the Way of the Tool makes up for this deficiency.

Perhaps there are more mysteries hidden about longevity.

There's no time for research right now; as long as it's usable and easy to use, that's enough. The development of the lifespan supernatural power, with this as a starting point, is ranked very low in the plan.

"Don't rush, don't rush..."

After leaving the pass, Gu Qing returned the Soul-Purifying Lotus and packed his things to return to the Yan Kingdom.

He needed to return before the Ascension Ceremony, so time was actually a bit tight. He wasn't sure how long he would be gone, so he didn't even bring the Guhuoniao (a mythical bird) with him and hurriedly left the mountain alone.

This move immediately delighted the two old foxes who had been secretly keeping watch on him.

(End of this chapter)