https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-622-Alchemy-Artisan-Pavilion-Embryo-Completion-Blissful-Dilemma/12942438/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-624-Water-and-Fire-Harmonize-Yin-and-Yang-Intertwine-Penghu-Shakes/12942440/
Chapter 623: Inner Hesitation, True Meaning of the Divergent Path
Chapter 623: Inner Hesitation, True Meaning of the Divergent Path
Inside the Starlight Pavilion, the White-Robed Daoist sat cross-legged in silence.
Not a sound, not a breath, as if he had entered a state of extinction.
After a long while, he suddenly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
Such a long breathing rhythm, if it were anyone else, they would have felt suffocated, but on this Daoist, it seemed to have a rhythmic beat, like an ancient mythical turtle absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Suddenly, the Daoist slowly opened his eyes.
Feeling his own state, he revealed a relieved smile.
"As expected, prolonged focus on artifact forging greatly affects cultivation. Fortunately, my foundation is solid enough to stabilize my cultivation."
To forge the Demon Sovereign Remains, Luo Chen had spent an entire year.
Before that, he had just barely broken through the sixth level of the Golden Core.
It should have been a time to seize the momentum and forge ahead after a breakthrough, but he never expected that such a long period of artifact forging would greatly deplete his spirit and physique.
Moreover, because he had swallowed the Supreme True Flame Pills as if they were ordinary Qi recovery pills, a large amount of fire poison had accumulated in his Qi Sea.
He hadn't noticed it before, immersed in artifact forging.
It was only when he began nurturing the Sacred Fetus and returned to his normal cultivation rhythm that Luo Chen realized something was amiss.
His newly advanced sixth level Golden Core cultivation almost regressed.
To address this, Luo Chen first used the Dragon Severing Technique repeatedly to eliminate the fire poison in his body, then consumed a large amount of nourishing supplements, and finally rested for a month before restoring his body to normal.
After all this, Luo Chen practiced with restraint for two months, finally stabilizing his cultivation.
At this moment, the attribute panel displayed the calm and quiet words 'Sixth Level Golden Core 1/100', giving Luo Chen a great sense of security.
"The Sacred Fetus has been forged, leaving only the nurturing and inscription processes. My time has suddenly become more flexible."
"Three months of rest has restored my essence, energy, and spirit to their peak. But I can't slack off from now on."
Looking at the attribute panel, Luo Chen planned his next steps.
The time waiting for the Sacred Fetus to emerge couldn't be wasted; he had to find something to do.
The first thing, without a doubt, was cultivation.
For Luo Chen, his regular cultivation was divided into two parts: Qi cultivation and body tempering.
In terms of combat power, body tempering took priority, but when it came to the Great Dao of Longevity, Qi cultivation couldn't be neglected in the slightest.
Luo Chen estimated his previous cultivation speed and made a rough calculation.
With the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Sutra as his innate cultivation method, a large number of Supreme True Flame Pills as assistance, and the support of the third-rank superior-grade spirit land of the Starlight Pavilion, his cultivation speed was on par with that of a Heaven Spirit Root cultivator.
Finally, Luo Chen arrived at an approximate timeframe.
"Ten years!"
"If nothing external disturbs me, I can reach the seventh level of the Golden Core and become a true Great Cultivator in just ten years by secluding myself in the Starlight Pavilion on Penghu Star!"
Previously, he had estimated that it would take six or seven years to advance from the fifth to the sixth level of the Golden Core.
In the end, it took a full nine years.
The extra two or three years were partly due to his assignment to defend the Quyu Line, where the cave mansion only had a third-rank low-grade spiritual Qi environment, significantly slowing his cultivation speed.
Additionally, he had once focused on improving the Ten Thousand Paths Convergence, constantly adjusting his body-tempering cultivation method, which also affected his body.
Ultimately, this led to an additional three years before he could advance to the sixth level of the Golden Core.
This was the result of dual cultivation of the law and the body.
Cultivators may not prioritize their physique, but it undeniably affects cultivation efficiency.
When cultivating both, there are bound to be conflicts, and even with the system panel's assistance, Luo Chen had to pay a price.
Fortunately, the Ten Thousand Paths Convergence has been successfully adjusted, and it won't hinder his normal cultivation from now on.
Currently, he possesses combat power comparable to a Great Cultivator, and in ten years, he will attain the cultivation level of a true Great Cultivator, making his combat power even more formidable.
If the Sacred Fetus inscription is successful, and he can forge a defensive artifact from the Demon Sovereign Remains...
Luo Chen might then confidently declare, "With the Nascent Soul unformed, who dares to challenge me!"
Of course, such hopes remain in the realm of fantasy for now.
For now, he must take one step at a time.
After Qi cultivation comes body tempering.
Ancient Stage Three 81/100
Looking at the attribute panel, Luo Chen calculated the amount of Black Emperor Balm he had.
"It should be enough to reach the peak of body tempering at the third stage, right?"
He wasn't entirely sure.
The body tempering path he had created was initially smooth sailing, and later, he accelerated his cultivation by using fire in place of thunder. Recently, he had even applied the principles of artifact forging to both his inner and outer cultivation, achieving perfection.
At least, it was perfect within Luo Chen's current understanding.
However, overall, this path seemed rather rough and savage, and even the system didn't categorize it into levels like the Golden Core period, with its first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth levels, but instead used the broad Ancient Stage Three classification.
As a result, Luo Chen's overall perception of each level's advancement was somewhat vague.
Especially with any Great Dao cultivation, the later stages are always more challenging.
With the progress bar at eighty-one, how much resources would be needed to reach the perfect one hundred? Luo Chen had no idea.
"I'll just have to take it one step at a time!"
There were no rules to follow on this path, no precedents to learn from, so Luo Chen could only feel his way across the river.
After Qi and body cultivation, Luo Chen's attention turned to the Formation Array section of the panel.
Fourth Stage Array: Two Instruments Six Hexagrams Array
This was a combination array, with the Two Instruments Array as its core, supported by six third-rank defensive arrays.
He had already cultivated these six third-rank defensive arrays to the Grandmaster level and had forged six sets of Mystic Armor based on them.
But to forge the Sacred Fetus from the Demon Sovereign Remains, he couldn't afford any negligence with the core Two Instruments Array.
This array, despite being only third-rank, had virtually limitless power.
The power of a formation array lies in the materials used for its setup.
Previously, I mentioned the concept of Two Instruments. What are the Two Instruments?
Yin and Yang are the Two Instruments.
Heaven and Earth are also considered Two Instruments.
Odd and even, hard and soft, Xuanhuang and Qiankun can also be regarded as Two Instruments.
Even the clear and turbid, water and fire, and the young and old can imply the meaning of Two Instruments.
In summary, when setting up a formation array with opposite elements, the true essence of the Two Instruments is revealed.
Its power also depends on the relationship between the two elements.
In this regard, this third-stage Two Instruments Array is somewhat similar to the third-stage Heavenly Work Spirit Seizing Array of the Ghost God Valley, both claiming to have limitless power.
Back then, Han Zhan admired the Two Instruments Five Elements Sword Array as a means of killing and conquering. He also valued the potential of the Two Instruments Array.
After obtaining the set of forge master blueprints, Luo Chen learned the Two Instruments Array from Han Zhan and easily grasped its basics.
However, his progress slowed down significantly in subsequent practice.
Even now, he is still stuck at the perfect level, falling short of Luo Chen's minimum requirement for a grandmaster level.
As the core of the Two Instruments Six Hexagrams Array, how could it lag behind the Six Hexagrams?
"It seems I'll have to make time to visit Han Zhan and seek his guidance."
Luo Chen sighed, but his eyes revealed a hint of reluctance.
Perhaps outsiders, upon learning of their relationship, would find Luo Chen's reluctance strange.
After all, they had previously been friendly and helpful to each other, living in harmony. Why would he be unwilling to meet now? This brings us to the apprehension in Luo Chen's mind.
On the Langya Mountain merchant ship, Langya, Luo Chen helped Han Zhan remove the malicious qi from the Soul Nourishing Wood, but he encountered a malicious qi attack on his Sea of Consciousness.
That time, it was quite perilous.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, illusions reappeared, and even the soul defense artifact, Weilin Black Chess, couldn't resist them.
It was Han Zhan who personally intervened and resolved the illusion crisis for Luo Chen.
Due to this incident, Luo Chen turned misfortune into good fortune. He was about to reach Great Perfection in his Dragon Severing Technique and also took the opportunity to upgrade his Illusionary Technique Mirror Flower Moonlight, gaining a second layer of illusions. After Mirror Flower Moonlight, the Ghost Immortal Tower reappeared. The name "Ghost Immortal Tower" was inspired by the words "Ghost Immortal Tower" that the white-robed cultivator had blurted out during the demon hunter assessment task.
However, this incident also planted a hidden worry in Luo Chen's heart.
That was Han Zhan's ability to ignore the defense of Weilin Black Chess and invade his Sea of Consciousness!
Luo Chen didn't know if this was a common ability among Nascent Soul cultivators or a special secret technique that Han Zhan possessed in soul refining. In any case, for the first time, Luo Chen felt a sense of fear in his soul, completely defenseless in front of Han Zhan.
Throughout their journey, Luo Chen had never shown such apprehension, and he continued to get along well with Han Zhan.
But ever since they arrived at the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly and entered the Eight Hundred Mile Penghu, he deliberately lived separately from Han Zhan.
He gave a very reasonable excuse.
Han Zhan had obtained the Soul Nourishing Wood and needed to restore his cultivation and strength. Luo Chen had many tasks, and if they stayed together, he would be unable to resist disturbing Han Zhan.
Han Zhan was naturally pleased with this arrangement, or perhaps he had seen through Luo Chen's thoughts and took the initiative to avoid any misunderstandings.
In any case, the two had been "living apart" for many years.
Even when Luo Chen encountered difficulties in improving the Convergence of Ten Thousand Paths, he relied on his own exploration and didn't seek guidance from Han Zhan.
However, now, he had to take the initiative.
"It's about time we meet, to avoid any awkwardness."
Luo Chen muttered and sent a sound transmission talisman outside the pavilion.
...
On a solitary island within the Eight Hundred Mile Penghu, unlike other places, there were no flowers, birds, insects, or animals. The barren ecosystem of the small island gave off a sense of lifelessness.
Yet, this was Han Zhan's chosen place of solitude.
A few days ago, Luo Chen and Han Zhan had agreed on a meeting time.
Today, Han Zhan took time out to meet with Luo Chen.
"There's something I've always wanted to tell you. Your approach to learning formation arrays is a bit rigid, or you might be going down the wrong path."
"I used to believe you had a talent for formation arrays, easily grasping various low-level arrays and making rapid progress. Your arrangements were even better than mine, a Nascent Soul True Person, which was truly astonishing."
"But later, I realized you seemed to be fixated on meticulously copying and inscribing, focusing only on the form and neglecting the intent."
"This learning method might be suitable for low-level arrays, but it becomes insufficient when dealing with advanced arrays."
"You should know that formidable formation array masters never adhere strictly to conventions when setting up arrays. They adapt to the environment, but they also modify it to create the most suitable array according to their vision. Why can they do this? Because they understand the true essence of formation arrays!"
"Understanding leads to freedom from restrictions."
"Your lack of understanding leads to limitations."
"Every advanced formation array contains the creator's original design concept. You can only set up a perfect array in terms of appearance, but you can't touch the true core. It's merely an empty shell."
"It's like the Seal Sea Trigram Array; you can only set it up in a place with dense water vapor, but I can forcefully set it up during a volcanic eruption. Can you understand the difference?"
"Take this Two Instruments Array, for example. You grasped it quickly at the beginning, but now you're stuck at the small achievement level. The power you can unleash is only enough to make it challenging for early-stage Golden Core cultivators. Do you understand the essence of the Two Instruments Array?"
Luo Chen never expected that what he thought would be a simple consultation with Han Zhan would turn into a harsh lesson on the path of formation arrays.
His previous self-assuredness now seemed laughable in the face of Han Zhan's guidance.
He had thought that with the proficiency panel, he could learn various arrays without limits, but now it seemed he had taken a wrong turn.
As he reflected, he also found a similar issue in his alchemy.
Even after reaching Great Perfection, his success rate for superior-grade pills remained around fifty percent, indicating a fifty percent failure rate.
This probability is already quite high.
Having refined the Fourth Stage Shape Transformation Pill, Luo Chen could already be considered a Fourth Stage Pill Refinement Master.
There was just one thing amiss. Since refining the Fourth Stage Shape Transformation Pill, he had already become a Fourth Stage Pill Refinement Master.
Such an existence, not to mention a single pill, could even be called a Pill Refinement Grandmaster in the refinement of various pills. Compared to the Alchemy Sage, they were only a hair's breadth apart.
Similarly, when facing low-level pills, their success rate, even if not a hundred percent, should be almost guaranteed.
But he couldn't do it!
It wasn't that he couldn't; Luo Chen had already discovered that the longer he refined a certain pill, even after reaching Great Perfection, the success rate would still slowly increase, and the so-called almost guaranteed success was not far off.
At the time, he thought the reason was simply that "the more you practice, the better you become."
Now it seemed that "reading a book a hundred times reveals its true meaning"!
It was clear that he had subconsciously comprehended the essence of certain pills in the art of pill refinement.
At this moment, Han Zhan suddenly jolted him in the way of formations, which made him understand another layer of meaning beyond the Proficiency Panel.
That was, above proficiency, there was a deeper truth!
Looking back, Luo Chen reexamined his past experiences.
After achieving Great Perfection in the Fireball Technique, he gained the additional effect of the Blazing Sun Technique, which was the true essence of the Fireball Technique itself.
After reaching Great Perfection in the Spirit Eye Technique, it was rooted in his eyes, and this technique, from its creation, should have been designed to transform the cultivator's eyes, giving them excellent vision to perceive life and death and avoid dangerous places.
The same was true for the Illusionary Technique Mirror Flower Moonlight and the Dragon Severing Technique.
All of these techniques followed this principle.
Then, for those spells that didn't exhibit special effects, was it because their upper limit was not high, or was it because he hadn't understood their true essence, and that's why they stopped at Great Perfection?
For a moment, in Han Zhan's cave mansion, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
Han Zhan didn't disturb him.
It wasn't until Luo Chen came to his senses that Han Zhan returned to the topic and taught him the advanced cultivation method of the Two Instruments Array.
As Luo Chen walked out of the barren, lifeless island, he couldn't help but turn back to look in Han Zhan's direction.
"It seems I judged you with a petty mind."
"Such selfless guidance, even a kind teacher or close relative couldn't do more."
"That's right, with the grand Dao Oath he made back then, how could he possibly have any ill intentions towards me?"
Luo Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly, finally feeling a great relief in his heart.
It was because of Han Zhan's selfless guidance today, and also because he now knew how to cultivate the Two Instruments Array to a higher level.
...
Night fell.
A white jade plate slowly rippled in the water.
Deep within the lake, in a cave adorned with algae and colorful coral, a colossal dragon coiled, its eyes closed in deep slumber.
Beside it, a delicate figure sat cross-legged with a straight back, her hands forming intricate gestures in front of her, inhaling and exhaling the exceptionally pure spiritual energy of this place.
Upon closer inspection, the figure was a young girl.
She wore a water-green dress, embroidered with lifelike white lotuses.
White silk stockings peeked out from beneath her skirt, and her slender waist seemed as if it could be grasped with one hand.
Her face, with delicate eyebrows and snow-white skin, had a slightly raised nose bridge.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming spiritual energy made her too ethereal, lacking the baby fat typical of a young girl.
Suddenly, a deep voice reached the girl's ear.
"You should go back."
The girl opened her eyes, and a glint of cunning flashed in her gaze.
"Uncle Long, how did you know I was awake?"
Black King looked at the girl helplessly, "You're absorbing the pure spiritual energy that I refined and exhaled. How could I not know when it's time to stop?"
The girl pouted, "Tsk, boring."
Black King sighed, "Go back. Didn't you say that today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and you're not spending it with your family?"
The full moon was a time for reunion.
Zhang Jingqing stared blankly outside, momentarily speechless.
A rustling sound filled the air as Black King began to move his massive body.
The girl panicked, "Uncle Long, please let me stay here for one night, please, I beg you."
Black King was puzzled, "You don't want to see your mother or your father?"
"Father? He only has eyes for that younger brother of mine." The girl lowered her head, her mood sinking, "As for my mother, ever since she went to Quyang Island two years ago to deliver Spirit Stones to Lord Lushan and became his disciple, she quit her job on the Azure Sun and devoted herself to following Lord Lushan. I'll visit her in a while."
Her words still held some affection for her mother, but she was full of resentment towards her father.
As Black King listened, his body began to slowly slide out of the cave.
Seeing this, tears almost welled up in the girl's eyes.
"You don't like Qing anymore?"
Black King turned helplessly, using his magical power to lift her onto his back.
"What does my liking or disliking you have to do with the master's request? The little girl has many worries. Come with me, and with this good timing and festival, maybe the master will be in a good mood and accept you as a disciple."
Who was the master that Uncle Long spoke of? The girl sat on the dragon's back, her face filled with complex emotions.
There was both admiration and awe, and her eyes betrayed more anxiety than anything else.
It was unclear where such a young girl could have so many emotions.
The dragon swam with incredible speed, leaving the cave and diving into the water.
With a splash, the dragon emerged from the water, revealing itself on the surface of the Great Marsh Lake.
On the dragon's back, the girl looked up.
Under the bright jade plate, a man and a woman stood in the air.
The woman, positioned behind, was a familiar figure from the girl's childhood, known in the outside world as Heavenly Xuan Fairy, whom the girl affectionately called Heavenly Xuan Auntie.
The man in front, clad in a white robe, had skin like blazing fire and a body like a mountain. Even the clear moonlight on him seemed like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment.
The dragon bowed its head, "Master, what did you want to tell me?"
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
