The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

A blood-red forbidden land, a blue palace, an underground swamp.

Yang Qingyuan sat upright in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, with several storage bags belonging to the Thousand Bamboo Sect protectors in front of him, and a jade slip containing the "Great Evolution Technique".

Yang Qingyuan picked up the jade slip and released his divine sense to investigate, wanting to see the difference between the "Great Evolution Technique" and the "Outer King Inner Saint Technique".

This "Great Evolution Technique" is also incomplete, with only the first four levels. Once fully mastered, it can make one's divine sense far exceed that of cultivators of the same level by about twice. In terms of the amplification of divine sense, it is slightly inferior to the "Outer King Inner Saint Technique".

However, the Great Evolution Technique is superior in splitting souls. Once the first level is mastered, one can split into more than a dozen soul fragments. Once the second level is mastered, one can split into nearly a hundred soul fragments. Once the third level is mastered, one can split into two hundred soul fragments and control more than two hundred puppets, just like Steward Lin.

Following the jade slip was a secret manual called "The Puppet Manual".

This "Puppet Manual" records four levels of puppets. Level 1 puppets are like the mechanical beast puppets at the Secret Shop Trade Fair, with strength equivalent to a cultivator at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining. Level 2 puppets are main combat puppets such as archers and broadsword soldiers, equivalent to a cultivator at the peak of weapon refining. Level 3 puppets are giant ape puppets, comparable to a cultivator at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Level 4 puppets are like the giant tiger puppet mentioned earlier, comparable to a cultivator at the Pseudo Core Formation stage.

As for puppets at the Core Formation stage, there is no record of them at all.

Yang Qingyuan quickly flipped through it and found that the "Great Evolution Technique" and the "Inner Saint Technique" did not conflict. In his spare time, he could study one or the other.

As for the puppets, there's no need to make them separately.

Yang Qingyuan opened the many storage bags and first counted the puppets one by one.

Although in the previous battle, the spirits of these puppets were destroyed by the music of the Chaotic Ancient Qin.

Fortunately, the Crimson Forbidden Land is not lacking in demonic beasts.

Yang Qingyuan could kill some of the demonic beasts at any time, extract their essence, and refine it into the puppet.

In this way, these puppets can be recycled and reused, and their power can be slightly increased, making them more flexible.

After a thorough inventory, there were a total of two hundred level-one beast-type puppets, more than one hundred level-two soldier puppets, and four level-four tiger-type puppets.

In addition, Yang Qingyuan also found some treasures unique to the far west in the storage bags of the three members of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, which just happened to bring together the materials needed to refine the Spring and Autumn Brush and the other four magical artifacts.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Qingyuan took out the Qi Condensation Grass and planted it in the herb garden on the shore of the swamp. He used the "Agriculture" mantra to accelerate its growth and began refining the True Essence Pill.

Spring comes and autumn goes, and four years have passed in the blink of an eye...

After consuming nearly a hundred True Essence Pills, Yang Qingyuan successfully cultivated the "Divine Sword Thunder Control True Scripture" to the peak of the fifth level.

However, at the same time, the medicinal effects of the True Essence Pill also became negligible.

Yang Qingyuan simply began cultivating the "Great Evolution Technique" and successfully reached the first level. His divine sense increased by more than 40%. Moreover, because he had previously cultivated the "Inner Saint Technique", he was able to split his soul into nearly a hundred parts in the first level of the "Great Evolution Technique".

Yang Qingyuan also specially killed over a hundred level-one demonic beasts, extracted their essence, and refined it into four tiger-shaped puppets and nearly a hundred soldier puppets.

Furthermore, with the blessing of the "Learning" mantra, he also comprehended the weapon-refining tradition of the Heavenly Soldiers Pavilion and used the materials at hand to refine many medium and high-grade magic weapons. He can try to refine the Four Treasures of the Study at any time.

However, given that he had not made much progress in painting, Yang Qingyuan was not in a hurry to refine the Four Treasures of the Study. Instead, he had the idea of ​​going out to a secular academy to study painting.

After all, according to the original plan, the Mo family mother and daughter should have been cultivating in seclusion at Fengming Academy in Linzhou. Now that seven years have passed, they must have achieved something.

Moreover, considering the timing, the six sects of the Demonic Path must already be preparing to invade Yue Kingdom, and it would be too dangerous to leave the Mo family mother and daughter outside any longer.

Yang Qingyuan also wanted to explore the mines near Yanjiabao to see if he could find a teleportation array leading to the Chaotic Star Sea.

Thinking of this, he ended his seclusion, left the underground swamp, and came to the blue hall, where he happened to meet Xin Ruyin and Xiao Mei, the mistress and servant.

"Young Master, you've emerged from seclusion?" Xin Ruyin was overjoyed to see Yang Qingyuan appear.

Yang Qingyuan glanced at the two women and saw that they had already mastered their basic cultivation techniques to perfection and were ready to establish their foundations at any time. He praised them, saying, "Very good. It seems that you have put in a lot of effort in your cultivation."

However, Xin Ruyin smiled bitterly and said, "Both Xiaomei and I have true spiritual roots, but our aptitudes are mediocre. The success rate of our Foundation Establishment is extremely low. I'm afraid we will disappoint you, young master."

Yang Qingyuan smiled nonchalantly, took out two white porcelain bottles and two jade slips from his storage bag, and introduced them, "These are Foundation Establishment Pills that I refined in my spare time using spiritual herbs such as Purple Monkey Flower and Jade Marrow Fungus from the Blood Forbidden Land. There are ten pills in total. You can keep them for yourselves."

"Even if you have mediocre talent, it's enough for you to reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

"In addition, the cultivation method recorded in the first jade slip is the divine sense cultivation method 'Great Evolution Technique'. You can start cultivating it after you have established your foundation."

"The cultivation technique in the second jade slip is a top-tier technique that I copied from a friend. It is called the 'Mysterious Maiden's Calamity-Crossing Technique,' which is very suitable for female cultivators and leads directly to the late Nascent Soul stage."

Back then, when Yang Qingyuan and Nie Ying fled to the Yuanwu Kingdom, they spent a full three months together.

During this time, Yang Qingyuan thought of the mother and daughter of the Mo family and mentioned to Nie Ying his idea of ​​copying "The Mysterious Woman's Guide to Overcoming Calamities".

Nie Ying initially wanted to refuse, but then she thought that Yang Qingyuan had saved her life, and the "Mysterious Maiden's Calamity-Changing Technique" was originally a technique bestowed upon Yang Qingyuan by his master, Lei Wanhe. Even if she didn't give it to him, Yang Qingyuan could borrow it from Lei Wanhe. So she simply did him a favor and let Yang Qingyuan copy a copy of the technique.

Xin Ruyin and Xiao Mei were deeply moved to see that Yang Qingyuan had prepared such a complete set of things for them.

"Please rest assured, young master, once I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, I will be able to begin studying the restrictions of this Crimson Forbidden Land."

Yang Qingyuan then explained his foundation-building experience from back then, before taking out the Divine Wind Token, activating it, leaving the Crimson Forbidden Land, riding the Ink Dragon, and heading straight for the Yellow Maple Valley Council Hall, intending to ask Sect Leader Zhong for a map of the distribution of spirit mines in Yue Kingdom.

But just as they arrived at the gate of Yellow Maple Valley, a sound transmission talisman flew in from the horizon.

Yang Qingyuan took the communication talisman and examined it, discovering that the sender was none other than his master, Lei Wanhe.

Lei Wanhe arranged to meet Yang Qingyuan inside Leiyin Cave, saying he had some great news to discuss, which left Yang Qingyuan completely bewildered.

Yang Qingyuan put away the communication talisman and could only head to Leiyin Cave first.

When he arrived at Leiyin Cave, Lei Wanhe was already sitting in the main hall.

Surprisingly, Nie Ying was also there.

When Nie Ying saw Yang Qingyuan enter, she suddenly blushed and lowered her head, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

Lei Wanhe smiled and looked Yang Qingyuan up and down, praising, "Good, good, good. I didn't expect that you would have reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in just three years. Your cultivation speed is even faster than mine was back then."

"Master, you flatter me," Yang Qingyuan replied, bowing with clasped hands. "I wonder what important matter Master has summoned me for?"