Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

"These items, one from the Yin Corpse Sect of the Yan Kingdom and the other from the Xuan Yin Sect of the far west. Although the two sects may have originated from the same source in ancient times, they each kept this item hidden. How could there be such a coincidence in the world? Moreover, this item is not from this era; it is at least several hundred years old, or even over a thousand years old. It seems that there must be some great secret hidden behind these items."

With this in mind, Wu Fan put all the items into the black storage ring he used as a pendant and continued to examine the rest.

Of the remaining items in their storage bags, nothing else appealed to him. Apart from the bronze-armored corpse with Foundation Establishment cultivation, the silver ring of unknown purpose, and the fragmented map, there was only one last item left in the storage bags.

When Wu Fan took this item out and examined it with his divine sense, he was instantly overjoyed. It was undoubtedly the most precious item among all his gains that day.

This item was a scroll of cultivation insights from Pan Feng'an's storage bag. It was not an ordinary annotation of cultivation techniques, but the essential points of the "Refining Spirit Technique," which recorded the insights and essence gained by several generations of leaders of the Xuan Yin Sect in cultivating this technique.

With this item, Wu Fan's cultivation of the "Refining God Technique" can be said to have gained an accelerator.

In the future, the problems and bottlenecks encountered in practicing this technique will be greatly reduced.

If he continues to cultivate the "Refining God Technique," his progress will be rapid, if not miraculous.

Having already experienced the many benefits of a powerful spiritual sense, Wu Fan naturally wouldn't easily give up this path of cultivation.

With that in mind, there was nothing more important to check in their storage bags, and he once again transformed into a short but extremely burly middle-aged man.

He then calmed his mind, lay on Zhaofu's back, closed his eyes, regulated his breathing, and quietly rested.

......

More than an hour later.

Wu Fan transformed into a middle-aged, burly early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, riding a fine spirit sword as he broke through the air.

Babaoshan Mountain was covered in snow, and the plains in front of it stretched as far as the eye could see, deserted and desolate.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his divine sense quietly spreading out as he cautiously observed the surrounding movements.

After a short while, having not discovered any useful information, Wu Fan took out a cyan jade tablet from his storage bag and probed it with his divine sense.

The cyan jade tablet immediately sensed something, and a cyan spiritual light appeared on it, shooting towards a lower snow mountain several hundred feet away.

After a moment's thought, he followed the azure light and flew up.

Before long, the azure light reached its destination, but it seemed to suddenly crash into an invisible void, disappearing without a trace without causing any ripples.

Wu Fan knew that this was the illusion array set up by the Nine Boats Chamber of Commerce.

What we see before us is merely an illusion created by the array; behind the array's core, there must be that giant spirit ship.

Sure enough, a few breaths later, the array light flickered, and a middle-aged cultivator dressed in fine clothes and with an elegant demeanor slowly flew out from the array.

He first gave Wu Fan a quick look, then spoke with a hint of arrogance:

"Fellow Daoist, could you allow me to examine the token you possess?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan readily agreed and slowly handed over the jade token.

The cultivator surnamed Su caught the jade token that flew from afar with one hand and immediately used his divine sense to examine it carefully.

After a moment, confirming that there was nothing wrong with the token, he handed it back to Wu Fan and said:

"Fellow Daoist, please come in with me."

Wu Fan had just received the jade token that flew back. Hearing this, he nodded slightly and was about to follow the cultivator surnamed Su into the illusion array when suddenly five streaks of light rushed in from the sky.

The cultivator surnamed Su suddenly stopped, turned his head sharply to look in the direction of the newcomer, and his expression was extremely solemn.

Seeing the other party's intense reaction, Wu Fan knew that the newcomer was no ordinary person.

He stared intently at the four cultivators behind him. Although their cultivation levels were not low, the lowest among them was the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The aura emanating from the leading streak of light revealed that it belonged to a Core Formation cultivator!

He secretly thought to himself that things were not going well. His current concealment techniques were unlikely to be able to hide from the divine sense of a Core Formation cultivator. He could only hope that this senior would not pay attention to him, an unknown nobody.

Just as Wu Fan's thoughts were wandering, the five streaks of light landed.

The cultivator surnamed Su immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully with his hands clasped.

"Junior Su Peiji greets Senior."

"No need for formalities, please quickly lead us onto the ship."

Upon hearing this, the Core Formation cultivator nodded slightly, then flicked his finger, and a purple-gold token, carrying a faint spiritual light, flew out and shot towards Su Peiji with a "whoosh".

Su Peiji caught the token, and his expression suddenly changed.

It was actually a purple-gold token, one of the highest-level tokens in the Nine Boats Chamber of Commerce!

The composure she had maintained vanished instantly, replaced by a touch of perfectly measured flattery.

He immediately bowed and lowered his head, speaking respectfully:

"Please forgive me, senior! I was unaware that you were a distinguished guest of our Merchant Alliance! I have failed to greet you properly! I will personally escort you to the superior guest room on the third floor. That room is the top-of-the-line in our Merchant Alliance. It is not only extremely quiet, but also equipped with a triple defensive array. The attendants have also been carefully selected. I am confident that you will be able to stay comfortably and at ease. Please, senior!"

The Core Formation cultivator remained indifferent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. With a slight flutter of his robes, he slowly flew into the formation.

As he passed by Wu Fan, he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his gaze carrying a scrutinizing quality.

Wu Fan felt a chill instantly rise to the top of his head, and his back was instantly covered in cold sweat. His heart was pounding wildly, and he hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to meet that gaze.

"Four fellow Daoists, please follow me."

Su Peiji's voice rang out again.

After the Core Formation cultivator and his four companions had all entered the formation, Wu Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Su Peiji turned to look at Wu Fan, who was still standing in the same spot. His fawning expression had returned to normal. He raised his hand in a gesture of invitation and said:

"Fellow Daoist, please come in."

Wu Fan was still shaken, but with things having come to this point, he had no choice but to suppress his panic, nod slowly, and follow Su Peiji into the formation.

After entering the formation, Su Peiji immediately led the Golden Core cultivator and his four accompanying disciples straight to the stairs on the third floor of the spirit ship.

Seeing this, Wu Fan no longer hesitated, gripped the jade token in his hand, and strode towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

The Nine Boats Merchant Guild's giant spirit ship truly lived up to its reputation; it must have been about sixty feet long and ten feet wide, a veritable behemoth.

This giant ship has three decks, each with its own regulations.

The first floor was mainly used for storing goods, but it also had many cultivators coming and going, so it could probably be used as a place for people to live.

The second floor is mainly for Foundation Establishment cultivators like Wu Fan, or those with connections to the Nine Boats Merchant Guild.

The third floor is the area accessible only to the Golden Core cultivator from earlier, and to those of high status within the Chamber of Commerce.

Although Wu Fan stayed on the second floor, the room he was in was quite nice and elegant.

Although the room was not spacious, it was divided into three rooms, which was a rare privilege on this airship that accommodated thousands of people and was extremely cramped.

After all, there are quite a few rooms on the first floor, but several people live in one room, so it seems that his eight thousand spirit stones were not wasted.

With this in mind, Wu Fan decided to spend the rest of his time on the spirit ship refining the two corpses left behind by Pan Feng'an.

After all, according to his own escape technique, it would only take a few days to fly to Xiang Kingdom, but this giant spirit ship would take more than two months.

Even with daily and monthly cultivation, he wouldn't improve his cultivation level much during this period. It would be better to refine two Foundation Establishment stage bronze armor corpses, which would directly double his combat power.

Therefore, Wu Fan immediately set up more than a dozen restrictions and then deployed three sets of protective formations before summoning Zhao Fu to protect him. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

He took such precautions for two reasons: firstly, he was naturally cautious, and secondly, the glance that the Golden Core cultivator had given him when he broke into the illusion array that concealed the spirit ship still sent chills down his spine.

That Golden Core cultivator must have seen through his disguise from the beginning, but why did he look at him with such a profound expression?

Wu Fan was completely baffled. After all, being noticed by an old monster in the Golden Core stage was not good news.

Moreover, this Golden Core cultivator traveled from the border between Falling Star Valley and Xiang Kingdom to Xiang Kingdom. This person is most likely a Golden Core cultivator within the territory of Falling Star Valley. He could be the patriarch of some Golden Core family, an elder who escaped from the Spirit Mirror Sect, or a Golden Core elder who was originally from Falling Star Valley.

Thinking of this place, his heart sank again.

If that's the case, then the Golden Core cultivator must have discovered his identity when he glanced at him back then, which makes sense.

After all, there are countless cultivators in the cultivation world who can change their appearance and hide their cultivation level. Why would he give me a second look?

If that's the case, after we get off the Nine Boats Merchant Guild's spirit ship, will this Golden Core cultivator just grab me and take me back to Falling Star Valley?

The other party had no idea that he was a disciple who had already escaped from the sect.

If he were to be taken back to the new Falling Star Valley territory, given the current drastic reduction in the number of disciples in the sect, he might still gain the sect's attention, and his chances of forming his core would be much greater.

Can a sect that can be abandoned without hesitation by half of its cultivators really be returned to?

I fear that if another crisis arises in the future, he will still be the first one to be pushed out and sacrificed.

After all, he had always been just an outer disciple with low spiritual root aptitude in the sect, which was why the Ice Profound Ancestor had so easily abandoned him.

Moreover, he already possesses a low-grade spiritual root in secret. If his true nature is exposed in the future, how will he explain it?

Therefore, it's best to avoid going back to Falling Star Valley if possible.

However, it's anyone's guess what that Golden Core cultivator will think at that time. After all, he doesn't even know what the Golden Core cultivator's intentions are, yet he's already making all sorts of guesses here.

That's ridiculous!

Extreme wisdom can lead to harm, and things will inevitably turn into their opposites. When everything is too perfect, it is easy to create regrets.

Often, a person's strengths are also their weaknesses.

Being overly cautious can breed a lot of anxiety, with all sorts of distracting thoughts arising, making it impossible for the mind to find peace.

Wu Fan gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly.

Forcibly suppressing these unfounded thoughts, he summoned a bronze-armored corpse in the early Foundation Establishment stage from the corpse puppet bag and began to refine the corpse according to the corpse refining techniques in the "Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique".

......

Meanwhile, in the living room of the Golden Core cultivator on the third floor.

Four Foundation Establishment cultivators stood respectfully on his left and right sides, their hands clasped at his sides.

"Uncle-Master Yu, is there something wrong with that Foundation Establishment stage kid?"

The young cultivator with the highest cultivation level, who had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, stepped forward with his hands clasped and looked at the Golden Core cultivator addressed as Uncle-Master Yu.

"Hmph, you've all misjudged him. That kid isn't at the early stage of Foundation Establishment; he's at the middle stage."

Uncle Yu glanced at the young cultivator and snorted coldly.

Upon hearing this, the four men's expressions changed simultaneously, and they all showed shock.

If it weren't for the fact that the speaker was none other than their Uncle-Master Yu, who was at the Core Formation stage, they would never have believed his words.

After all, even if that burly man had the cultivation of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, how could he possibly hide it from Senior Brother Dong's divine sense, who had the cultivation of the late-Foundation Establishment stage?

"This person has probably cultivated some extremely advanced concealment technique. Even with the cultivation of the early stage of Core Formation, it is unlikely that his true identity can be discovered without careful investigation."

Before Uncle Yu finished speaking, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and a powerful aura unique to mid-stage Core Formation cultivators emanated from him.

The four Foundation Establishment disciples around him felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads. They hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe.

They had followed this senior uncle all the way and escaped death on the battlefield of Lingjing Sect, so they were naturally aware of what had happened before.

At that time, the group was on the front line when a Golden Core cultivator deliberately concealed his cultivation level, disguised himself as a Foundation Establishment disciple, and launched a sneak attack while his Uncle Yu was engrossed in a fight, catching him off guard and causing him to suffer serious injuries.

Fortunately, the sect issued a timely order to retreat, and the group was able to escape from the front lines only thanks to the desperate protection of their senior uncle.

They were filled with awe for this highly skilled martial uncle who had saved their lives, and they remained silent, not daring to make the slightest move.

A moment later, as if realizing his loss of composure, Uncle Yu immediately withdrew his oppressive aura, looked at the young cultivator in front of him, and said in a calm tone:

"Nephew Dong, please make a trip in the next few days and bring that boy who deliberately concealed his cultivation level. This person is a disciple of our sect named Wu Fan. Judging from his appearance, he must have managed to escape from the people left behind in the valley. That's quite an achievement. Bring him back to the sect with you when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, the four people present, who had relaxed slightly due to the dissipation of the oppressive aura, suddenly tensed up again and became shocked once more.

Although the young man surnamed Dong was equally shocked, he did not doubt the truth of his uncle's words.

After all, although Foundation Establishment cultivators may not recognize the appearance and life of everyone in the sect, all fellow disciples above the Foundation Establishment stage are registered in the sect. In addition, cultivators have refined spiritual souls and can remember what they see. As long as they see the other party's true face, they can identify whether they are from the sect. How much more so for Uncle Yu, who is in the Golden Core stage?

The young man surnamed Dong immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute to his Uncle Yu and said:

"Yes, Uncle-Master."

"Okay, you may all leave."

At this moment, Uncle Yu waved his hand and said to the four of them.

"Yes, disciple takes his leave!"

Upon hearing this, the four men clasped their hands in a salute, took three steps back, and then turned and left the hall.

Watching the group leave, Uncle Yu finally couldn't hold back any longer. His face turned pale, and a dense aura of bloodlust emanated from his body.

He immediately set up an array, then swallowed a pill to suppress the bloodthirsty aura.

Several hours later, this Uncle-Master slowly opened his eyes.

"The Blood Fiend Sect's demonic arts are indeed extremely domineering. This fierce aura within my body cannot be expelled on its own in a short time. It seems that I can only return to the sect and ask my fellow disciples for their help to completely cleanse it. Although I have managed to suppress it temporarily, my cultivation level is also limited as a result. My strength can only be exerted at the level of the early Golden Core stage."

At this point, he let out a slow sigh.

"I just hope the journey ahead will be smooth and nothing else goes wrong..."