Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

When Kang Xuying stood before him, his limbs as thick as pillars, stepping in the air, he quietly created ripples of light golden earth energy. As the ripples dissipated, faint earth patterns remained on the spot, exuding a heavy and domineering earth attribute aura.

The most peculiar thing about it is its head, which has two rows of jagged white jade fangs inside its mouth. As the fangs open and close slightly, wisps of pale yellow earthy aura slowly emanate from it, intertwining with the aura of Dangkang Banner itself, lingering around its body, and exuding a powerful aura.

Wu Fan's chest heaving gradually subsided, and he could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within Kang Xuying's body.

That heavy earth force far exceeded the wind and soil energy he had previously activated; with a casual strike, he could condense several strands of wind and soil energy.

If he were to suddenly attack a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining at this moment, he probably wouldn't even need to step forward and tear at them with his fangs. The impact of the earth energy from his limbs stomping on the ground would be enough to shatter the opponent's internal organs, leaving them critically injured and without any fighting ability.

This power is enough for him to gain a foothold in the late stage of Qi Refining, and he will even be able to fight against a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining!

The joy in his heart gradually overcame his fatigue, and Wu Fan's tense mind finally relaxed a little. The stubbornness in his eyes was completely replaced by joy.

He did not forcefully use his remaining spiritual power to stabilize the illusory image, since most of the spiritual power in his dantian had already been consumed. So, with a thought, he decided to dispel the illusion.

As his thoughts settled, the Kang phantom ceased its struggle to maintain its form, transforming into a soft, dark golden light that slowly shrank back into the Kang Banner. The banner's halo gradually dimmed, eventually returning to its original rough and simple appearance, hovering in front of Wu Fan.

Wu Fan raised his hand and put the Dang Kang Banner back into his storage bag, but he still couldn't hide his excitement.

Not only did they successfully unleash the illusionary power of the Dangkang Banner, but they also witnessed its domineering might. This attempt was ultimately not in vain.

However, the spiritual energy consumption of this illusionary power was far greater than he had imagined.

Fortunately, this is only the first time to condense the phantom of Dang Kang, so it is normal for the spiritual energy consumption to be huge. After trying a few more times and mastering it, the consumption should be greatly reduced.

However, Wu Fan had no idea exactly how much spiritual energy it would consume.

In battles between cultivators, every bit of spiritual energy consumed is crucial to the outcome. If one cannot accurately control the consumption of spiritual energy for the power of illusion, and uses it rashly in battle, one may find oneself in dire straits due to the depletion of spiritual energy.

Thinking of this, Wu Fan didn't delay any longer. He closed his eyes again, flipped his fingertips, and swallowed several more pills to restore his spiritual power. Then he focused his mind and breathed, absorbing the medicinal power of the pills to restore the spiritual power in his dantian.

He planned to wait until his spiritual power was fully restored before using the illusionary power multiple times, precisely controlling its consumption to achieve complete control and truly turning this ability into his trump card.

Inside the room, spiritual energy gathered once more, and Wu Fan's aura was slowly recovering.

......

Three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

For the past three days, aside from replenishing his energy with pills and taking short breaks, Wu Fan spent the rest of his time repeatedly trying to use the illusionary power of the Dang Kang Banner, gradually exploring the pattern of spiritual energy consumption and refining the precision of his control.

From initially being able to maintain the phantom image for only a short time before exhausting most of his spiritual power, to later being able to easily maintain the phantom image for half a quarter of an hour, and even control the phantom image to unleash many attacks, Wu Fan's progress was rapid.

At this moment, he sat cross-legged on the futon, his expression calm. With a thought, the Dangkang Banner quietly floated in front of him. A flash of spiritual light appeared on the banner, and a half-zhang tall phantom of Dangkang instantly condensed. Its aura was steady, and its movements were agile, no longer showing the sluggishness and weakness of the initial condensation.

Wu Fan flicked his fingertips, and his spiritual energy was slightly transmitted. When Kang Xuying understood, he raised his thick forelimbs and stomped down hard on the fire cloud shield in front of him.

With a muffled "boom," a deep footprint instantly appeared on the crimson shield light transformed by the Fire Cloud Shield. Ripples of earth energy spread outwards. Although the Fire Cloud Shield was not completely shattered, it was shaken slightly by the heavy earth force, demonstrating its domineering power.

After all, this is just one of Kang Xuying's most basic attack methods.

"Not bad, I can now accurately control the phantom attacks, and the spiritual energy consumption is 30% less than the first time."

Wu Fan slowly opened his eyes, a hint of satisfaction flashing in them. With a thought, the illusory image of Dang Kang transformed into golden light and shrank back into the Dang Kang Banner.

He sensed that only about 20% of the spiritual energy in his dantian had been consumed, and he immediately felt reassured.

Such consumption is perfectly manageable in actual combat. Excluding the spiritual power consumed in summoning the phantom of Dang Kang, it should be able to be used more than ten times in a row without worrying about running out of spiritual power.

Just then, a slight noise came from the next room, followed by Zhaofu's soft whimpering, clearly the little guy had woken up.

Wu Fan smiled and got up to walk to the side room. He saw Zhao Fu lying on the plush cushion, rubbing its eyes with its little paws. There were still crumbs on its nose. When it saw Wu Fan come in, its eyes lit up immediately. It wagged its fluffy tail, pounced to his feet, and rubbed its little head against his trouser leg, looking very affectionate.

Wu Fan bent down, gently picked up Zhaofu, stroked its fur, and said with a smile:

"Are you awake? Are you hungry?"

As if she understood, Zhao Fu nodded at him, licked his fingertips with her little tongue, and made a soft, whimpering sound.

Wu Fan smiled helplessly, took out a piece of monster meat jerky from his storage bag, broke it into small pieces, and handed it to Zhao Fu's mouth.

Zhao Fu immediately began to wolf down the food, his little mouth bulging out, looking extremely cute.

Watching Zhao Fu eat, Wu Fan felt increasingly at peace.

He knew that his stay in the market was coming to an end.

Having stabilized his cultivation and mastered the transformative power of the Dangkang Banner, the next step was to stroll around the market again to see if he could find any fire-attribute materials. If he still couldn't find any, he would leave Falling Star Valley immediately.

Once the thought was made up, Wu Fan made a hand seal with his fingertips and began to activate the Qi Concealing Technique.

This technique clearly states that as long as one does not actively use their magical power, even if a cultivator of the same level probes at close range, it will be difficult to discern their true cultivation level.

With a slight thought, the spiritual energy around him quietly receded, and his cultivation aura was steadily suppressed at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Wu Fan nodded in satisfaction. The effectiveness of the Concealing Qi Technique, and whether it could conceal the spiritual senses of cultivators of the same level, would ultimately have to be tested to find out.

He gently rubbed Zhaofu's little head, and with a flick of his finger, he put it into his spirit beast pouch. Then he got up and pushed open the door.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere was completely different in a guest room on the other side of Fengxie Tower.

Fu Qianyu paced anxiously back and forth in the room, his brow furrowed.

"This Liu Xi has been staying indoors for days on end. What's he up to? Could it be that he's sensed something's amiss and is deliberately avoiding me? Or...?"

He wanted to get closer to the other person, but she refused to come out. He couldn't be too enthusiastic and arouse her suspicion, so he could only suffer in this anxious state.

Just as Fu Qianyu was pondering a solution, a soft knock came from outside the door.

Immediately afterwards, a gentle male voice came in:

"Fellow Daoist Fu, my name is Liu Xi. I was in seclusion for the past few days and was unable to thank you in time. Today I have come to express my gratitude for your kindness at the last exchange meeting."

Upon hearing this, Fu Qianyu's anxiety vanished instantly, replaced by a calm expression.

It's like finding a needle in a haystack, only to have it come to you effortlessly!