Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Although the sect's courses put Lin Zhao under immense pressure, the sect provided considerable assistance in improving his cultivation.

The sect has opened up hundreds of training grounds with different characteristics to its disciples.

Among them, Lin Zhao saw the "Silent Soul Stone Forest" that he had experienced in the secret realm.

The sect's Silent Soul Stone Forest has been significantly improved, effectively tempering and enhancing divine sense!

These venues are specifically designed for cultivating and strengthening the three aspects of "essence," "qi," and "spirit," and their effects far surpass those of ordinary cultivation sites.

Clearly, the sect has a thorough understanding of its disciples' progress and bottlenecks, and the resources it provides are highly targeted.

Under such circumstances, Lin Zhao's cultivation of "Nine Revolutions of Rhyme Spirit" proceeded very smoothly.

-----

By the end of the second year, the total amount of mana in his dantian had successfully exceeded ten thousand!

This is already at the level of magical power of an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator.

With his divine sense already having broken through the divine barrier, he was now considered a cultivator at the eleventh level of Qi Refining!

There are few cultivators at the eleventh level of Qi Refining in the outside world because the Divine Barrier is difficult to break.

Without a sufficiently strong divine sense to wield, powerful magic can become a burden.

Typically, accumulating around a thousand strands of magical power equates to the tenth level of Qi Refining.

With the aid of certain spiritual and physical training, one can reach the Great Perfection of the Tenth Level of Qi Refining.

With this state of mind, the success rate of attempting to build a foundation is predictably low.

Even if successful, it will only be a low-grade Dao Foundation. A mid-grade Dao Foundation generally requires two to three thousand Dao power to successfully establish.

Lin Zhao is now completely unafraid to face a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator head-on.

However, his goal is not ordinary Foundation Establishment; the conditions for a superior Foundation Establishment are much more stringent.

This is not only about the total amount of spiritual energy, but also about the perfect coordination of essence, energy and spirit in the "Three Stages of Foundation Building".

This is the core course of the third year of the Daoist Temple.

In the second year's "mini-exam", Lin Zhao relied on her vast magical power comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage to overcome skill with force and advance all the way, eventually entering the top 200 and obtaining 500 points.

The Divine Gate is mysterious and difficult to pass; even the elite disciples of those sects were stopped.

The top 100 disciples on the leaderboard are mostly those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, or those who have already reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining in the outside world.

For them, rebuilding will only be faster.

Those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots possess exceptional talent, facing almost no bottlenecks in Foundation Establishment and having a considerable chance of Core Formation.

Their biggest goal in coming to the sect is to use the sect's unique resources to lay the foundation for a superior Dao foundation.

The resources that sects can provide are hard to find outside.

Take their instructor He as an example; he is a third-tier weapon-refining master who can craft magical artifacts!

Such a person would command the utmost respect from even a Core Formation Realm expert.

There are more than ten instructors who possess similar third-tier skills.

The Dao Inquiry Hall of a sect is not a place that just anyone can join; those who join are the best of the best in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Their instruction of Qi Refining disciples here demonstrates the sect's emphasis on its outer disciples.

-----

The third year's curriculum was no longer as complicated as the second year's, but returned to the most fundamental aspect of cultivation—harmonizing essence, energy, and spirit, and probing the foundation-building stage.

The course revolves around the essence of the "Three Stages of Foundation Building," the methods of coordination, and foundation building itself, explaining complex concepts in a simple and easy-to-understand way, giving Lin Zhao an unprecedentedly clear understanding of foundation building.

It was during this year's course that he learned the secrets of the twelfth level of Qi Refining.

The twelfth layer corresponds to the "essence gate," also known as the "body gate."

The physical body is the ocean of magical power, the vessel of divine consciousness, and the carrier of all Dao fruits.

Even a Nascent Soul True Monarch, if they lose their physical body, will face a very difficult and tortuous path to immortality. They will either have to find a way to rebuild their body or attempt to possess another's body.

Therefore, the first requirement for this stage is to train the body to the point of having the strength of ten thousand jin (approximately 5,000 kg) and solidify the foundation.

However, this is merely the foundation. The true essence of this stage lies in using rare and precious materials to nurture the nascent form of a spiritual entity within the body!

When the foundation is established and the level of life undergoes a fundamental sublimation, this nascent form has the opportunity to resonate with the origin of life and transform into an acquired spiritual body.

This is equivalent to giving a cultivator a "talent" that can accompany them throughout their life!

In the world of cultivation, one's spiritual root is predetermined and almost impossible to change.

But spirits have a slight chance of being born.

Each time a cultivator breaks through a major realm, their life essence is sublimated, and its influence is mysterious and unpredictable, even benefiting future generations.

Over generations, there is a certain chance that descendants will awaken special talents, and the best among them are the so-called "spirits".

For example, the "Blazing Sun Spirit Body" often originates from a powerful cultivator among their ancestors who practiced fire-based techniques.

"Of course, the world is full of wonders, and there are also ordinary people who accidentally 'revert to their ancestral ways' and suddenly awaken their spiritual bodies by chance."

The Cangyuan cultivation world has existed for tens of thousands of years, and the influence of cultivators has long been deeply ingrained in the blood of mortals.

Even if your ancestors for ten generations were all mortals, wasn't there a powerful cultivator ancestor ten thousand years ago?

"If the tenth level of Qi Refining was created by powerful cultivators to lower the threshold for Foundation Establishment, then..."

These twelve levels of Qi Refining are a path for cultivators to cultivate their innate talents!

The path to immortality is arduous. If one possesses both spiritual roots and a spiritual body, one can pursue both paths simultaneously and go even further.

Those born with innate spiritual bodies can use this opportunity to further elevate their existing spiritual bodies.

Or it could give birth to a second spirit, or it could use secret techniques to create new talents in other areas...

Those with weak talent compensate for their shortcomings, while those with strong talent enhance their abilities.

While learning the methods to harmonize his essence, energy, and spirit, he also began to specifically train his physique. The body-tempering secret realm provided by the sect was remarkably effective.

After more than half a year of hard work, he finally pushed his physical strength to the threshold of 10,000 jin, his qi and blood were full, and his every move contained great power.

In the third year, Lin Zhao gained 1,500 points, and her total points exceeded 5,000.

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On this day, Lin Zhao received a message from Instructor He and went to the villa where he lived.

This is a secluded courtyard located in a quiet valley, where there is also a three-tiered jade tree with green veins.

The courtyard contained only a clear spring and a rare bamboo stalk that resembled a piece of carved jade, its leaves moving undisturbed even without wind.

The air was filled with a Taoist atmosphere that brought peace of mind.

Upon entering the main hall, Instructor He was already waiting behind a simple tea table, on which there was nothing but a tea set.

"Sit down." Instructor He gestured for Lin Zhao to sit down and personally poured him a cup of fragrant tea.

"The path of immortality values ​​personal opinions. I have summoned you here today to offer my personal insights into your future path, based on your performance over the past three years."

Whether you listen or not, the choice is yours.

Lin Zhao sat up straight: "Please give me your guidance, Master."

Instructor He's gaze was like a deep pool. He silently observed Lin Zhao for a moment before speaking: "After three years of arduous training, your points have reached five thousand, and your physique is beginning to take shape."

The conditions for the preparation of a spirit body have been met, but only those with a superior Dao Foundation can transform the rudimentary spirit body into a true spirit body.

"A mid-to-low grade Foundation Establishment cultivator is already quite good if they can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage; there's no extra power to improve."