When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

The soul is a mystery, and it is rarely studied in the world of cultivation.

Generally speaking, the more paths a cultivator cultivates, the more thoroughly they will study them, and the more spells they will acquire accordingly.

They are complementary to each other.

For example, although Song Chen has never studied or practiced alchemy, it does not mean that its techniques are rare.

On the contrary, there are countless spells in alchemy, so many that it's impossible to choose them all, and most of them are related to alchemy and have almost no practical use in combat.

This is also one of the reasons why Song Chen does not practice alchemy or magic.

In addition, the main purpose of cultivating alchemy techniques is to increase the success rate of alchemy.

With the system's assistance, Song Chen's success rate in alchemy far exceeds that provided by spells, so there's no need to waste time on that.

If the Dao of alchemy is like this, then one can only imagine how the Dao of the sword and the other other paths are flourishing today.

The practice of Daoist alchemy requires a high level of qualifications.

These paths don't have such high requirements for aptitude, which allows a huge number of cultivators to practice them, naturally resulting in a far greater number of spells produced than those in alchemy.

As for the Soul Path?

Because there are not many cultivators practicing this art, there are naturally fewer related spells. Furthermore, due to insufficient research, the few spells that exist, such as Soul Imprint, are quite difficult to master. This also shows that the Soul Path is in decline.

Being weak does not mean being weak in one's Dao. Strictly speaking, the Dao itself is not divided into strong and weak; it is the cultivators who are.

Even among cultivators who practice alchemy, a path devoid of harm, there are many formidable individuals, such as Master Feng Sancai.

The Dao is merely a way to help cultivators improve themselves; it is related to the cultivator's own strength but not absolute.

Back to the topic.

If Song Chen wants to repair his soul, he must have the corresponding method, which requires the magic of the Soul Path.

As luck would have it, he possessed a spell related to the soul, and it was of superior quality.

Although the spell does not mention how to repair soul damage, this method can improve the soul's foundation, so perhaps it can also be used to repair it?

Thinking of this, Song Chen was no longer in such a hurry.

He roughly calculated the time and found that there were still ten days until the selection process.

Searching for cultivators now, planting soul seeds, and collecting their spiritual essence is clearly too hasty.

If Song Chen were to find a cultivator in the market to plant his soul seed, not to mention whether it would be easy to plant it, just the fact that he would want to retrieve the soul seed after he joined the sect would be a major problem.

Therefore, it is best to prioritize the preparation of the selection process.

Thinking of this, he suppressed his distracting thoughts, thanked Xiong Tian, ​​and went straight back to the cave to retrieve resources to prepare for cultivation.

It's the same old set.

A mid-grade spirit stone paired with a few Spirit Condensation Pills.

Theoretically, this combination provides abundant spiritual energy, and coupled with the fact that the blood spirit root has no bottleneck, cultivation should progress by leaps and bounds.

Strange things happen.

No matter how much spiritual energy Song Chen absorbed, he was unable to condense it into liquid and further expand his spiritual sea.

Whenever he condenses his qi into liquid and tries to integrate it into his spiritual sea, he encounters a huge obstacle. The spiritual liquid either overflows naturally or flows away naturally, just like... his dantian is full.

"Is there a difference between breaking through to the peak of Qi Refining and breaking through to the tenth level of Qi Refining?" Song Chen wondered to himself.

This represents a breakthrough from a major bottleneck, and it's understandable that it's different from before.

Song Chen put away his things and took out the alchemy furnace.

Since cultivation is impossible, then let's hone our alchemy skills!

Even though the Dao of Alchemy and the Dao of the Sword both require no progress, there are differences between not being able to make any progress at all.

While alchemy cannot produce fourth-grade pills, it can improve one's techniques and experience, much like an experienced driver.

Even if you can't break through to become a professional driver, there's still a difference between a driver who has been driving for ten years and one who has been driving for five years.

The longer you practice, the more skilled you become, and your understanding will improve, which will definitely be helpful for breaking through to higher levels in the future!

As for the art of the sword, Song Chen is currently out of ideas.

This thing is like it has reached its peak and can't go any further.

Song Chen speculated that if he wanted to further improve his swordsmanship, the only way to have a chance of breakthrough was to find a first-class swordsmanship teacher.

As his thoughts drifted, a few medicinal herbs fell into the alchemy furnace. The elixir to be refined today was an extremely practical Forget-Me-Not Pill!

When ingested, it can make one forget all recent events without being noticed. It dissolves directly in water and can be used as a hidden medicine. When in its pill form and subjected to a violent impact, it can also create a dense fog, which is also useful for concealing one's presence.

It can be used as a weapon or as a concealed medicine; it's an essential item for going out!

Before long, Song Chen was engrossed in the intense refining process.

......

Ten days later.

Song Chen stopped refining pills two days ago to recuperate, and is now in the best possible condition.

He summoned his flying boat and bid farewell to Xiong Tian. Under the latter's expectant gaze, he swiftly darted out of the cave and headed straight for Wanjing City.

Most of the islands are low-lying, and from the air, they appear as a seamless blend of water and sky.

However, Song Chen is not the same as before. He didn't have much time to appreciate the scenery before he arrived at his destination.

The main alley of Mangyong City was indeed bustling with activity and crowded with people.

The selection process has already begun.

The combat zone in the three test areas was ablaze with swords and shadows, a constant battleground.

Song Chen stowed the flying boat, looking leisurely and carefree, and silently blended into the crowd, observing from afar and listening intently.

"This year's puppets are even stronger than those of previous years, and they have added techniques that directly target the mind and spirit; I'm afraid no one can beat them!"

"Yes! I think Shen Yunge is just delusional. He actually tried to withstand the puppet's thunderous attack. I'm afraid his defeat is inevitable."

"You can't say that. It's just that the Xu family is too unethical. They offered such a treasure; if it were the Zhang family, they might not have..."

"Hey! Still bringing that up! They've all been wiped out!"

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, and even those few comments about the Zhang family were mostly lighthearted banter, demonstrating how much they had lost the people's support.

After listening to the explanation, Song Chen had a general understanding of the Zhang family's situation.

The Zhang family seems to be an unimportant entity in the eyes of the Lower Sword Sect.

The higher-ups just issued a casual order to investigate, and then nothing came of it. It wasn't even as big a commotion as Feng Sancai killing off a whole street!

On the contrary, the Xu family, the Zhang family's arch-rival, is enjoying great success and has become the center of everyone's discussion.

The cultivator currently battling the puppet on the dueling platform is none other than Shen Yunge, the most prominent member of the Xu family.

It is said that after experiencing great ups and downs four years ago, the young master of the Xu family underwent a complete change in his mind and spirit. Now he is the one in power and has considerable strength.

Shen Yunge is his strongest spear.

However, the rumors are mixed, with some saying that Shen Yunge has a bad relationship with the Xu family.

After a brief moment's thought, Song Chen dismissed all of it.

These are ultimately matters of the marketplace, and have little to do with him anymore.

Song Chen is definitely going to enter the Lower Sword Sect today!

His gaze fell on the battle arena not far away, where the winds and clouds were constantly shifting.

A young man, his body charred black, was struggling against the puppet. His gaze was resolute, but his body swayed as he approached his limit.

A cultivator from the Lower Sword Sect, at the tenth level of Qi Refining, asked, "Should we surrender?"

A drop of liquid, a mixture of sweat and blood, trickled down Shen Yunge's chin and landed on the dueling platform.

He shook his head, then simply raised his silver sword and swung it forward.

The puppet, which looked remarkably human, simply raised its right hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning at Shen Yunge.

Thunderous force!

The lightning flashed, its power clearly surpassing that of Shen Yunge's sword.

pat!

The sword in Shen Yun's hand fell out and flew away.

The on-duty cultivator immediately intervened, but the lightning was extremely fast, and there was a high probability that it would be too late. If this strike had hit Shen Yunge directly, he would likely have been crippled for half his life, or at best, mentally impaired, with no future achievements.

At this moment, a male cultivator in white robes darted out from the side with incredible speed and rescued Shen Yunge in a flash, shocking the on-duty cultivator in front of him.

"I've already told you, you can't make it. Are you going to leave me like Qingyao?"

Shen Yunge glanced at the person beside her, her face contorted with disgust. Ignoring her severely injured body, she struggled to crawl a few steps away, roaring angrily:

"Get out! Xu Guannan! Get out! Stay away from me! Get out!"

"Your Xu family has betrayed us! You seized my wealth and broke our contract. I have no trust left with your Xu family!"

His loud voice attracted countless eyes, instantly making him the focus of the crowd.

Everyone has a gossipy nature.

Song Chen was no exception.

But for him, there were things more important and more important than gossip.

His gaze was fixed on the puppet, constantly pondering the best way to attack and win, without stopping for a moment!