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Chapter 456: Essence Condensation! (Part 2)
Chapter 456: Essence Condensation! (Part 2)
When I reach Mastery in the Locking Pearl Curtain technique, the system might be able to derive a complete cultivation method."
This was akin to exploiting a loophole in the system.
After some contemplation, Luo Chen felt this method had a certain degree of feasibility.
The only issue was that this set of techniques was already complete!
It hadn't been truncated; it merely lacked another complementary divine soul technique.
The system was unlikely to fill in this gap.
Silence!
If that were the case, reaching Mastery might only lead to disappointment.
Instead, it might delay his Essence Condensation.
Amidst the prolonged silence, Luo Chen once again examined his Qi Sea.
The thirty-six spirit pearls, refined to the utmost purity, seemed to be solidifying as they continued to spin.
The devouring force they generated caused the Qi Sea to churn, and countless spiritual liquids were about to flow backward, surging towards each pearl.
But the current state was already at its limit.
If they devoured more spiritual liquid, the balance would undoubtedly break, and the thirty-six pearls might even collide with each other, causing unimaginable harm to Luo Chen.
As he watched.
Suddenly!
Luo Chen had a sudden realization.
"Existing together in the Qi Sea, they balance each other, forming the small heavenly cycles. But their individual absorption of spiritual power causes an imbalance."
"What if I separate and isolate these spirit pearls?"
"In that case, wouldn't they exist independently? With my powerful main soul, I could easily suppress them, waiting for the future major success stage."
This sudden thought wasn't merely a wild idea.
Because Luo Chen indeed had the environment to isolate the spirit pearls! Other cultivators might not be able to do this, but Luo Chen could!
Because he had opened his acupoints!
The human body has acupoints, seven hundred and twenty in total, forming the small and large heavenly cycles.
During the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, after perfecting his meridians, Luo Chen began to open his acupoints using body refinement techniques.
First, he opened them with spiritual energy, then with demonic energy, and finally, within the Divine Transformation Ruins, he opened all his acupoints with the power of thunder.
These acupoints were not useless; they could store a large amount of spiritual energy, even serving as a second Qi Sea for Luo Chen.
Otherwise, his spiritual power wouldn't be so much more robust than his peers.
"My orifices have been tempered by spiritual energy, refined by demonic energy, and even forged by thunderous power."
"A mere spirit pearl should be able to store it!"
"If I move each newly condensed spirit pearl into the orifices and store them separately, won't it prevent an imbalance from occurring?"
As soon as this idea popped into his head, Luo Chen could no longer hold back.
After continuous deduction and experimentation, he confirmed that it was indeed feasible! Without hesitation, he began to move the spirit pearls that very day.
When he moved a complete spirit pearl into the largest orifice and successfully sealed it with a spirit restriction, Luo Chen couldn't help but feel ecstatic.
Success! His idea was correct.
He didn't know how Luoyun Sect's supporting secret technique handled it, but this method directly solved the current problem.
"This way, I can continue to condense and link new spirit pearls."
"With the mastery of 'Locking Pearl Curtain', the 365 stars of the Grand Cycle will soon be within my grasp!"
...
Time passed slowly.
The fifty-year preparation period for the opening of the war was drawing closer.
As the forefront, Yu Ding Domain was becoming livelier day by day.
Every day, countless strange and wonderful events took place.
There were people advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage in small towns, while Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Great Immortal City were making a name for themselves on the Debate Platform.
The Jade Emperor Mountain Debate had concluded a few years ago.
The Jade Ding Sword Sect, which had been in decline after decades of internal strife with Luoyun Sect, showed its formidable strength during this debate.
The Jade Ding Sword Cultivators demonstrated their formidable combat prowess! Many cultivators who relied on the rankings of the Debate Platforms in the Ten Great Immortal Cities to obtain a spot in the Jade Emperor Debate were shocked by the results.
Only seven cultivators achieved good results in the debate.
Among those seven, five were true disciples from other Nascent Soul Supreme Sects.
Through this debate, the foreign cultivators had to take the Jade Ding Sword Sect, the local hegemon, seriously. Some rash provocations were slightly restrained.
The Jade Ding Sword Sect showed its strength, and Luoyun Sect was not to be outdone.
They completely disregarded their reputation and openly revealed their collaboration with Tianfan City.
Powerful puppets, crafted by the forging masters of Tianfan City, were sent to Luoyun Sect.
Among the previously renowned Luoyun Thirteen, some had also begun to form their Golden Cores.
Thus, the number of Golden Core Cultivators in Luoyun Sect started to increase.
On the contrary, the Ice Fortress, which had once gained fame due to Luo Chen, seemed quiet and unknown amidst the bustling war preparations.
People knew that only one of the five female cultivators in the Ice Fortress who had closed their doors to cultivate and break through to the Golden Core Stage had successfully formed their cores.
The remaining four had met different fates: one died, two were severely injured, and another had their foundation destroyed, completely losing the chance to form a core.
The outside world was in turmoil.
However, the Three Caves of the Heavenly Wave Peak remained as serene as ever.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
For the first time, Luo Chen left his cultivation room and entered the living room.
There was only one reason for him to do this.
He had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage! It took twice as long as the originally calculated five to six years.
The reason was that Luo Chen had spent a lot of effort on the secret technique of 'Locking Pearl Curtain'.
But the results were pleasing.
In ten years, he had collected 365 spirit pearls! As Luo Chen walked, his entire body seemed to be under immense pressure.
Even his third-tier physique seemed unable to bear the burden.
"The pressure brought by the number of spirit pearls corresponding to the stars of the Grand Cycle is truly extraordinary."
Luo Chen sighed.
Standing at the door, he looked down at the majestic immortal city below, shrouded in heavy clouds, as if observing the ants-like cultivators passing by.
After many years, Luo Chen, with his calm and undisturbed mind, opened the attribute panel.
A transparent light screen, resembling the waterfall of Heavenly Wave Peak, slowly appeared before him.
[Vitality: 90/200]
[Spirit Root: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Cultivation Realm: Peak of Foundation Establishment, Ancient Beast Stage 10/100]
[Cultivation Technique: Eternal Youth Scripture (Grand Completion), Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths (Perfect 301/500), Ten Thousand Beasts Scripture (15/100)]
[Spells: Third Tier: Mirror Flower Water Moon (Mastery 201/300), Life-Taking Finger (Beginner 15/100), Innate One Qi Great Imprint (Beginner 87/100), Locking Pearl Curtain (Master 999/1000), Calming the Wind (Master 950/1000)
Second Tier: Flower Fairy (Perfect 327/500), Spirit Confusion Technique (Master 527/1000), Grass Cutting Golden Sword Technique (Mastery 260/300), Five Elements Return to Organs Technique (Perfect 375/500)]
First Tier: Suppressing God Technique (Grand Completion), Bone Restoration Technique (Mastery 239/300), Limb Regeneration Technique (Beginner 15/100)
Grand Completion Spells (Click to view details)]
[Alchemy: Scale Transformation Hand (Perfect 400/500), Star-Picking Hand (Grand Completion). Grand Completion Alchemy (Click to view details)]
[Martial Arts: Cloud-Probing Divine Claw (Master 590/1000), Fiery Fire Calamity (Master 521/1000), Heavenly Maiden's Scatter Flowers (Grand Completion), Mountain-Cracking Palm (Grand Completion)]
[Profession: Third-Tier Pill Refiner, Second-Tier Physician
Third-Tier Pills: Dark Essence Pill (Beginner 6/100)
Second-Tier Pills: Passing Through Pill (Grand Completion), Imperial Flowing Paste (Beginner 12/100)
Grand Completion Pills (Click to view details)]
[Achievement Points: 52]
"It seems like it's been a long time since I've fully opened this panel."
Luo Chen muttered.
He realized that as his cultivation realm increased, the frequency of opening the panel decreased.
In the past, he would check it every time he broke through a realm, summarizing the past, assessing the present, and planning for the future.
But the last time he opened it was when he was at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment.
Now, he had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.
Even his age, which he had always considered young, had unknowingly reached ninety years.
"I'm getting old!"
Luo Chen joked to himself.
If outsiders heard this, they would probably want to kill him with a sword.
Ninety years old at the peak of Foundation Establishment—what an insane cultivation speed!
Perhaps only those with heavenly spirit roots, who boasted of forming a foundation in ten years and a core in a hundred years, could match this pace.
Luo Chen felt a bit proud, knowing the efforts he had put in to achieve this progress.
After a self-deprecating joke, Luo Chen checked his Vitality Limit.
Two hundred years! It was somewhat unexpected.
When he was at the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment, it was only around 170 years. After advancing two minor realms, it should have only added twenty years.
Perhaps it's related to the time when I was recovering and absorbed the vitality of a large number of low-level beasts?"
Luo Chen made a reasonable guess but didn't delve deeper.
As for the upper limit of lifespan, as long as it wasn't approaching the danger zone, he no longer paid much attention to it.
At least, as far as he knew, cultivators in the Mountain and Sea Realm, even those at the Divine Transformation Period, couldn't achieve immortality.
Keep cultivating, that's all!
His gaze moved down and stopped at the words 'Ancient Third Stage Body Tempering Realm' and 'Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths'.
Ever since returning from Jilei Mountain, his body tempering realm and this body tempering technique had made little progress.
The reason was simple.
He lacked the external force needed for body tempering.
Thunderous power was hard to find, and even when heavenly thunder appeared, it didn't last long.
This had led to the awkward situation he was in now.
However, Luo Chen already had a solution to this problem.
It was to use the Primordial True Fire for body tempering!
The core concept of Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths was to use true fire in place of thunder to temper the body.
Now that thunder was hard to come by, he could return to the essence of the technique and cultivate the Fire Phoenix True Body, using fire to temper his body.
Moreover, the withering and flourishing fire indeed had its mysteries, capable of burning away the vitality of living beings and consuming them.
However, there was no need to rush this.
The top priority was still Core Formation.
The body tempering could wait until after the success or failure of Core Formation.
After all, he had spent a lot of achievement points and used his accumulated insights to deduce this excellent cultivation technique. Luo Chen wouldn't let Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths go to waste.
In fact, he had already come up with many good ideas to improve the specific cultivation steps of this technique.
Although the previous effects were good, they were a bit rough.
Speaking of Core Formation, one couldn't help but mention those two secret techniques.
Ten years of main cultivation!
Both 'Locked Pearl Curtain' and 'Calming the Wind' had reached the end of the Mastery level, just one step away from Grand Completion.
But this one step was a hurdle he couldn't overcome.
Especially for 'Locked Pearl Curtain', which had been stuck at 999/1000 for some time.
Even when Luo Chen actively dispersed the spirit pearls and repeatedly cultivated, he still couldn't improve.
Luo Chen's guess was that this was related to Core Formation.
Only by completely merging the 365 spirit pearls into a Golden Core could the secret technique be considered complete.
After all, this technique had three steps, and Luo Chen had only mastered the first two steps.
The third step was fusion.
Luo Chen hadn't tried it yet.
He didn't dare to attempt it rashly, as it meant taking the final step.
Not only was it the final step of the secret technique, but it was also the final step of the Foundation Establishment Stage!
After reviewing these aspects, there wasn't much else to say.
They were all accumulations and improvements from the past few decades.
His proficiency in spells had increased, his pill techniques had reached perfection, and he had learned a new Tier Three spell.
Oh!
After successfully refining the Tier Three Dark Essence Pill, his pill refining level had increased to Tier Three Pill Master!
This was good news.
It was also expected good news.
Finally, there were the achievement points.
Previously, he had spent forty achievement points to learn the Dark Essence Pill.
But after years of replenishing, he had returned to the safe level of 52.
With a wealth of achievement points, Luo Chen felt confident.
After thoroughly browsing through his attribute panel, Luo Chen gained a clearer understanding of his current state.
"Whether it's my physique, soul spirit, or spiritual power reserves, I have comprehensively surpassed Foundation Establishment Cultivators and am infinitely close to the initial stage of the Core Formation Stage."
"In terms of secret technique cultivation for Core Formation, I've reached a point where there's no further progress to be made."
"All preparations are complete."
"Next..."
Luo Chen took a deep, greedy breath of the air outside the cave and then, without further hesitation, closed the cave mansion door.
...
"Another failure!"
"How could this be? I've already done my best!"
"I dare say that my preparations for Core Formation are such that even a Nascent Soul Period disciple from a superior sect could compete with me, and yet I still failed?"
In the cultivation room, Luo Chen's face turned as dark as ink, his expression as gloomy as water.
He held a bronze mirror, its surface covered in cracks, and disbelief filled his voice.
Core Formation had failed, and it had failed twice! Of course, this wasn't a real-world failure; he had simulated the Core Formation process using the Ghost God Heart-Asking Mirror.
As one of the three inherited treasures of the Ghost God Valley, this mirror's original purpose was to simulate Core Formation for Foundation Establishment Cultivators at the Grand Completion level.
Luo Chen, possessing this treasure, naturally wouldn't waste it.
Therefore, when he decided to enter closed-door cultivation to break through to the Core Formation Stage, he willingly activated this treasure.
With the protection of the Rotten-Branch Black Chess, and having cultivated the Tier Three illusion technique 'Mirror Flower Water Moon' for many years, he already had a certain resistance to illusions.
Thus, even without the protection of his sect's elders, Luo Chen dared to use the mirror alone.
However, both attempts were unsatisfactory.
The first time, he used the Locked Pearl Curtain secret technique at the Mastery level for Core Formation, but it failed.
The specific reason was unknown.
Luo Chen only remembered that in the final step, after the 365 spirit pearls merged, they suddenly exploded violently.
After the loud boom, he woke up in a daze.
After resting for a month, he activated the Ghost God Heart-Asking Mirror again.
This second time, he used the Dark Essence Pill for Core Formation, but it still failed.
The reason for this failure was even more obscure.
After swallowing the pill, he felt a great expansion within his body, and then... nothing happened.
It was as if a gust of wind had blown by, leaving nothing behind.
He naturally woke up, and even his soul spirit didn't feel any fatigue.
Despite his gloomy expression, Luo Chen forced himself to remain calm and tried to summarize the reasons for the two failures.
"Core Formation for cultivators is a natural transformation, and even without the assistance of secret techniques, pills, or other auxiliary resources, there is still a chance of success."
"However, this success rate is too small, so the sages of the past, from their high vantage point, summarized and created some methods to increase the chances of Core Formation, such as secret techniques, boundary-breaking pills, and some heavenly treasures."
"Locked Pearl Curtain is a Superior Technique for Core Formation, and I've cultivated it to the Mastery level, which, on top of my existing chances of successful Core Formation, has increased the probability by threefold."
"The Dark Essence Pill is derived from the Tier Three Dark Sea Pill of the Mingyuan Sect, which inherently increases the chances of successful Core Formation by twenty percent.
"Even though it was separated into two simulations, it shouldn't have failed both times."
"Why is that?"
Luo Chen asked himself.
In his mind, he searched for possible answers.
After a long while, he finally found an answer that seemed plausible.
Returning to the essence, it was still that old and familiar topic.
Talent!
His five Spirit Roots were holding him back.
However, unlike before, when his talent was lacking, this time he changed his perspective.
Using Cang Lang's evaluation, he began to view his talent in a different light.
"It's not bad, definitely not bad."
"In fact, with my cultivation, this talent can be considered excellent. It allows me to have a more expansive Sea of Qi, accommodating several times the spiritual power of the same stage, and my combat abilities far surpass those of the same level. Compared to this, the drawback of a slower cultivation speed can actually be compensated for with abundant resources."
"I, Luo Chen, am also an outstanding talent in a different sense!"
"But precisely because of this excellence, or even this terrifying talent, the assistance needed to break through the realm becomes even greater!"
If cultivation is like building a house, then talent is like the foundation.
The fewer Spirit Roots one has, the smaller the foundation, and naturally, the house can be built quickly and beautifully.
With just a little assistance, they can construct a decent-looking house.
But for those with more Spirit Roots, the foundation is larger, and more materials are required to build the house.
Naturally, when it comes to building the grand house of Core Formation, the assistance needed is even greater.
"Superior Techniques are not enough!"
"Dark Essence Pills are also insufficient!"
"I still have the Reverse Spiritual Vortex of the Clear Source Wonderful Elixir Technique!"
"No, next time, I want to use all the techniques together and see the effect."
Since a single technique can only increase the chances of Core Formation by a small margin, what if they were used together?
Unconsciously, a somewhat crazy idea filled Luo Chen's mind.
(End of Chapter)
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