Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Whenever Lu Qian felt like he was about to faint from the pain, a surge of thoughts would come from his heart, bringing him back to his senses.

"Having that knack for it makes persevering much easier, but it also makes it much more painful!"

Lu Qian felt somewhat helpless, but he had nothing to complain about. He was determined to cultivate the Star Undying Body, and he would persevere no matter how painful it was.

It's not just about pain. You should know that most body-refining exercises consume a lot of qi and blood and can easily damage the body. That's why it's necessary to replenish qi and blood during body-refining exercises.

The Star Undying Body is powerful enough, but it also excels in consuming qi and blood and causing physical harm. Every time Lu Qian cultivates for a short while, his face turns pale, and if he is not careful, he loses control of the Star Power, and a large piece of muscle in his hand is torn apart, with blood flowing out wildly.

The depletion of qi and blood is manageable, as the essence of the Xuan Whale's flesh and blood within Lu Qian's body has not completely dissipated. Although it cannot last long, he can still persevere for the time being.

To avoid injury, one needs long-term practice and a certain amount of willpower. At the very least, one must be able to disregard the pain of bone-scraping surgery in order to smoothly control the progress of absorbing the power of the stars.

"It seems that I should cultivate in the mental world for now, and only try to cultivate in the real world after I have become completely proficient."

"In addition, I need to ask Elder Tao to send me some pills and elixirs that can replenish my qi and blood. Of course, I can refine them myself, but there are no pill formulas available right now, so I may have to inquire about them myself."

These are things that require long-term consideration, so there's no need to worry too much about them for now.

Feeling that the time was almost up, Lu Qian withdrew from the mental world and continued to cultivate the "Fire-Filling Furnace Technique," during which he also took a Qingling Pill.

Even though he wanted to cultivate the Star Undying Body, he didn't intend to delay his cultivation progress. This was different from when he was cultivating the Zhou Tian Star Aperture. Back then, he was grasping at a straw and naturally had to do whatever it took. Now, although the Zhou Tian Star Aperture was still very important, there was no need to rush.

As a new day dawned, Xie Xunzhen was already waiting outside. Lu Qian didn't bother with any pleasantries and said directly, "Instructor Xie, please pass on a message to Elder Tao for me, saying that I need some pills and elixirs to replenish my qi and blood."

Xie Xunzhen nodded, "I will!"

Neither of them were talkative people, and after a brief conversation, they didn't have much to say. They simply headed towards the classroom at Zhou Tian Academy.

Actually, according to convention, if Lu Qian had any questions about cultivation, he could ask Xie Xunzhen.

However, for Lu Qian, he could solve the problems with magic by trying them a few more times in his inner world. He did have some questions about the Star Immortal Body, but he couldn't reveal them to outsiders.

However, in this way, Xie Xunzhen, as the instructor, actually only acted as a mouthpiece, helping Lu Qian and Tao Pili pass on messages, which was enough.

When class resumed, Jin Changgeng came again, smiling. "In this lesson, I'm going to talk about witchcraft and ghost arts. Of course, I'm not going to teach you, but mainly to teach you how to prevent it..."

There aren't many cultivators in the East Sea who are proficient in witchcraft and ghost arts. Their main concern is the West Continent. The Canglan Holy Land has already sent many disciples to conquer cities and territories in the West Continent, and the West Continent has naturally retaliated in kind, mostly using witchcraft and ghost arts.

Lu Qian understood that if he continued to cultivate at Zhou Tian Academy, he would inevitably encounter witchcraft and ghost arts sooner or later, and his future training missions might be related to this.

The Holy Land cultivates geniuses with the hope that they can be put to good use; otherwise, what's the point of spending so much effort to cultivate these geniuses?

"Most common witchcraft and ghost magic uses Gu worms, secret incantations, and sometimes even requires setting up an altar to perform rituals. Although most of them cannot grant immortality, they are still very effective against cultivators. When you encounter these, the first thing you must do is to calm your mind and not panic..."

After the class ended, Mu Dong approached Lu Qian for another casual chat. "The friction between the Holy Land and the Heart Demon Sect is getting increasingly intense. I've heard their methods are impossible to defend against. Even within the Holy Land, we can't let our guard down!"

The Heart Demon Sect is the name given to the Canglan Holy Land. In reality, the Heart Demon Sect calls itself the Western Holy Sect. It holds a very high position in the Western Continent and can be considered the source of all schools of thought and the leader of the demonic path.

The Heart Demon Sect's direct lineage cultivation of the Heart Demon Secret Manual can silently plant a heart demon, turning cultivators into their puppets. Sometimes, it's just a fleeting encounter, and the person may not even know they've been tricked, yet they will rebelliously at a crucial moment, causing serious damage to the Holy Land.

It can be said that the biggest difficulty in opening up the Western Continent lies with the Heart Demon Sect, and even the Holy Land did not gain much advantage over them.

However, although the Heart Demon Manual is unpredictable, it is restrained by the overwhelming power of thunder magic. In the last lesson, Jin Changgeng focused on explaining the Thunderclap Spell, probably with this in mind.

However, the Thunderclap Spell is only one of the basic spells. The disciples of the Heart Demon Sect who can be countered by the Thunderclap Spell probably don't have much strength. To truly counter the Heart Demon Sect, one must have profound thunder magic.

"If you're really worried, just stay by my side. I cultivate the supreme inheritance of the Xuan Tian Palace, the Nine Heavens Thunder Punishment!"

Lei Yunxing interjected smugly, then looked at Lu Qian, "Brother Lu should also know, right? Elder Tao also cultivates this, so Brother Lu might have some understanding of it."

Lu Qian just smiled. He didn't understand at all, and Tao Pili hadn't told him any of this. They weren't really close.

Mu Xue suddenly interjected, "The Heart Demon Sect's methods only target the mind. As long as you, brother, have a strong will, what is there to be afraid of? Besides, you've been cultivating the Turbid Wave Bone-Eroding Curse recently. If you achieve something, your heart should be ice-cold, impervious to all evil, and instead capable of eroding everything. Why are you feeling uneasy now?"

"You're still young, what could you possibly know?"

Hearing Mu Xue's words, Mu Dong immediately lost face and scolded, "Don't pry into the affairs of adults in the future!"

Mu Xue curled her lip in disdain, but did not continue to retort.

Lu Qian and Lei Yunxing both watched with smiles. Mu Xue was very polite in front of others, but she was not afraid at all when facing her older brother Mu Dong, and often talked back.

They are siblings, and when siblings bicker, outsiders like Lu Qian shouldn't interfere, so they can only remain silent.

Coming to his senses, Mu Dong said with a hint of helplessness, "Water and fire techniques are the authentic and profound inheritance of our Canglan Holy Land. Anyone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a Second Spiritual Root can cultivate them at will, but cultivating them to a high level is not an easy thing."

Lu Qian had some understanding of water and fire techniques. To be more precise, water and fire techniques were actually the highest inheritance of the Canghai Palace, which was the direct line of the Canglan Holy Land. Therefore, water and fire techniques were naturally the orthodox Canglan techniques. Anyone in the Holy Land who did not know which cultivation method to choose and whose spiritual root was related to water and fire could cultivate water and fire techniques.

The full name of the Water and Fire Daoist Arts is the Secret Scripture of Water and Fire Fusion. Its biggest feature is that it does not pursue the harmony and balance of water and fire, but instead deliberately intensifies the conflict, opposition, and mutual repulsion between the two poles.

The coldness of water suppresses the intensity of fire, while the heat of fire scorches the condensed water. The two primal forces collide, tear, and clash violently, unleashing a destructive power far exceeding that of a single water or fire element through elemental backlash and explosive tension.

Such a technique is indeed powerful, and the cultivation speed is not slow. The only drawback is that it requires a high level of comprehension and is very easy to lose control of, easily leading to qi deviation and self-harm.