I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 50 The True Understanding of Daoist Methods
Wu Ming only read a few lines before his gaze suddenly froze. He carefully read on, having previously wanted to explore information about the cultivation of the Divine Soul lineage but had been unable to find it. Now, however, he had inadvertently stumbled upon it in the files of the Cautious Punishment Division.

"I see. To cultivate martial arts, one needs to condense blood and qi. To cultivate the Dao, one needs to condense the soul. However, cultivating the soul is much more difficult. Only one in ten thousand people have the aptitude for it. Moreover, the resources required to condense the soul are much rarer than those required to condense blood and qi."

"With my current primordial spirit strength, it should be the second refinement of the primordial spirit, corresponding to the second blood coagulation in martial arts?"

Looking at the contents of the Daoist True Explanation, Wu Ming seemed to be deep in thought.

No wonder he had hardly heard of any cultivation of the Divine Soul lineage in Jingye City. Even older masters like Hong Jiu, who had condensed their blood three times, regarded it as a heretical path and looked down on it. On the one hand, the requirements for aptitude and the difficulty of entering the Divine Soul lineage were far higher than those for martial arts. Moreover, the Divine Soul lineage had almost no practical power in the early stages.

The first two condensations of the primordial spirit merely enhanced some of the soul's perception abilities. Even if one wanted to use it against an enemy, one could only practice some 'confusing' techniques, which were often ineffective against those martial artists with strong willpower.

"The first two condensations of the primordial spirit did not involve any substantial means of killing. Even the 'Lin' technique evolved from the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram could only temporarily intimidate others' minds. It still required the use of martial arts techniques to attack and kill."

but,

Previously, Wu Ming knew very little about the cultivation of the Divine Soul lineage and lacked a point of reference. He only knew that the 'Lin' character technique evolved from the Black Emperor Subduing Demon Diagram must be an extremely profound method. Now he understands the power of this secret technique.

In the Daoist classics, there is even a secret technique called "bewitching the mind with demons." Its effect is to visualize a phantom demon through the mind, which can bewitch and frighten people at the level of mind and soul. However, this technique is difficult to be effective against martial artists with strong will and abundant blood and energy. Often, the opponent can ignore it directly with their strong will.

But the "Lin" technique is different!
Compared to feints that tend to confuse or intimidate, the "Lin" technique is a method that can truly unleash a shock to the soul. No matter how strong the opponent's will is or how abundant their blood and energy are, they will all suffer a real impact on the soul level.

The impact was quite significant. If someone with a weak will was weak during the first coagulation, they might even faint from the shock. Even during the second coagulation, someone like Liu Chuan from that night could be thrown into a state of mental confusion, experience a splitting headache, have their thoughts shattered, and expose many weaknesses in a short period of time.

After a brief moment of thought, Wu Ming quickly skipped over the 'bewitching' technique and continued reading.

The Three Refinements of the Primordial Spirit.

This step corresponds to the three stages of blood coagulation in martial arts. It is from this point that the Divine Soul Daoist lineage begins to possess true power. When the Divine Soul is refined here, it reaches a state between illusion and reality, vigorous and powerful, reaching the level of being able to drive objects with the soul's thoughts, that is, the ability to 'drive objects'!

With the addition of some meticulously crafted Taoist magical artifacts, one can easily kill someone from a hundred paces away at this level!

As for facing a martial arts master who has achieved three blood coagulations, it depends on the distance between them. If the distance is too close and the true body is exposed in front of the martial arts master, the opponent can withstand the attack of the magic weapon and kill the physical body in a short time.

When the physical body dies, the soul loses its vessel and will gradually decay.

However, if the distance is far enough that a martial arts master cannot get close to the real body and can only fight against the magic weapon controlled by a Taoist master from a distance, then the martial arts master will basically be either killed or injured. After all, controlling the magic weapon from a distance with one's soul means that there are no flaws and one can launch a continuous barrage of attacks.

While a martial arts master who has achieved three blood coagulations may possess great stamina and refined skills, allowing them to withstand attacks from magical weapons for a short period, they are still mortal beings after all. As time goes on, their stamina will decline, revealing weaknesses that will lead to their immediate death.

Generally speaking,
Within a hundred paces, martial arts reign supreme; beyond a hundred paces, the Dao is supreme!
"The Black Emperor Subduing Demon Diagram deep in my mind... no, to be precise, it should be the divine diagram that has been integrated into my soul. Its essence should be a 'magical artifact' of an extremely high level."

Wu Ming thought of the Black Emperor Demon Subduing Diagram he possessed.

According to the Daoist scriptures, matter belongs to Yang, while the spirit belongs to Yin. Therefore, it is very difficult for the spirit to control matter. It is necessary to inscribe special secret Daoist patterns on matter with soul power to transform it into a 'magical artifact' so that it can be controlled more easily. Magical artifacts are also clearly divided into upper and lower grades according to their own materials and the level of secret Daoist patterns.

Wu Ming sent a wisp of his consciousness into the depths of his soul to observe the Black Emperor Subduing Demon Diagram located there, attempting to probe the secret Dao patterns that constituted its essence in order to determine its grade. However, no matter how Wu Ming observed it, he could not observe any secret Dao patterns on its surface. The entire Subduing Demon Diagram seemed to be naturally formed, which did not match the description of magical artifacts in the True Explanation of Daoist Techniques.

Wu Ming deduced that the Black Emperor Subduing Demon Diagram might be a higher-level magic artifact, but this True Explanation of Daoist Magic only distinguishes magic artifacts into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. It does not elaborate on whether there are higher-level magic artifacts.

After a brief moment of thought.

Wu Ming did not delve into the matter further and continued reading the subsequent parts of the Daoist True Explanation.

"Lingfei Secret Pattern".

The Daoist Manual also records in detail a Daoist secret pattern called the 'Spirit Flying Secret Pattern'. By inscribing it inside certain materials, it can be refined into a magical artifact, which can then be used to fight enemies.

This Lingfei Secret Rune also looks quite mysterious, but without comparison there is no difference. Wu Ming compared it with the 'Lin' character technique in his mind, and it felt like the difference between clouds and mud. The two secret runes were simply incomparable.

Obviously,

This Daoist explanation is quite basic; the methods and secret patterns recorded in it are far from profound.

Wu Ming continued flipping through the pages, hoping to find more information about the fourth refinement of the primordial spirit, but there was none. The subsequent sections contained many common-sense facts about the Daoist lineage, such as how Daoist practices and martial arts can be described as yin and yang, essentially opposing each other in every aspect.

One of the sayings is: "Martial arts are manifest, Taoist methods are hidden."

It refers to the skills and techniques of martial arts cultivation, such as swordsmanship, spears, and other weapons. Basically, once they are used, you can tell what the move or method is. They are all displayed directly. However, the Daoist laws are introspective. Whether it is a bewitching technique or a magical artifact controlled by the soul after reaching the realm of manipulation, you cannot see the secret essence of the inner patterns from the surface.

This was actually a good thing for Wu Ming. He knew that the Black Emperor Subduing Demon Diagram was of extremely high quality, and the 'Lin' character technique evolved from it was also a supreme and wonderful method. He had always been worried that these things would be exposed, but according to the description in the True Explanation of Daoist Techniques, the execution of Daoist techniques was extremely concealed, and it was impossible to see through them directly.

Therefore, even when facing other masters of Taoist arts, it is difficult for them to know what specific technique he is using when he uses the "Lin" technique. Martial arts masters are even less likely to be able to tell.

Wu Ming stopped after turning to the last page of the Daoist True Explanation, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"It seems that whether it is martial arts or the soul, the third condensation is the most important threshold. Crossing it will lead to a qualitative change. Although my current soul level is ahead of my martial arts level, I am still far from the third condensation."

"Next, we need to condense the blood energy a second time as soon as possible."

He possesses the Black Emperor's Demon-Subduing Diagram, which allows him to suppress evil spirits and use their power to refine his blood and nourish his soul. Therefore, for him, the cultivation of the Daoist lineage is inseparable from the foundation of martial arts cultivation.

(End of this chapter)