Chapter 70: Chapter 65: Divine Fire
His rapid entry into the Spiritual Spring was inextricably linked to the foundation of Chu Zheng's physical body.
The practice of the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture does not place high demands on the Immortal Bone but still has its restrictions, giving more importance to physique and requiring assistance from Divine Fire.
If one could find a High-Quality Fire Seed, the speed of cultivation would naturally be extraordinarily fast, even with a Lower-Quality Immortal Bone, one could have a cultivation pace not inferior to that of a High-Quality level.
If it were the legendary Fire Spirit Body, cultivating this technique would be even faster than a Superior Immortal Bone.
There are some commonalities between the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline and the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture.
The Qi-refining Technique also aims for becoming an Immortal. The biggest difference is that after the mind Transforms into spirit and before stepping into the Immortal Sect, there is no such tribulation as the Immortal Tribulation.
The path of Qi Refining includes a hundred days of tempering, Spirit Transformation, Jade Bone, Dao Embryo, Golden Core, Refine Spirit, Returning to Void, and Dao Integration.
Above Dao Integration is the Human Immortal.
The descent of a great tribulation is to prevent beings from becoming Immortals—an earthly restraint and binding on powerful beings, as well as a form of self-protection.
The path of cultivation is essentially about drawing from the Heavenly Dao to supplement oneself. By consuming spiritual essence and Qi, one is continuously extracting the essence of heaven and earth.
Upon crossing the threshold of the Immortal Sect, a being's nature is completely reversed, life expectancy greatly prolonged. In a world of endless cycles and reincarnations, this can severely affect the energy cycle.
True Immortals never leave; an era with an excessive number of Immortals ultimately results in no successors.
The heart of heaven is impartial. All beings are treated equally, and facing tribulations is a necessary step.
It is the same for Qi Cultivators, only with a different approach.
The reason why Ancient Qi Refining Masters traveled across the oceans was to face tribulations. Before Dao Integration, regular Qi Cultivators would have already undergone numerous tribulations and be shrouded in Tribulation Qi; naturally, heaven and earth would not lower a great tribulation for further testing.
Not everyone can safely navigate the great tribulations sent by the heavens; subtly transforming a great tribulation into a lesser one—this is where the uniqueness of Qi Cultivators lies.
However, such a practice comes with drawbacks. If a Qi Cultivator were to seclude themselves completely, they would ultimately hit a bottleneck, making no progress in their cultivation. There is always a loss for every gain—such is the way of the universe.
Lacking an Immortal Bone to rely on, Chu Zheng's practice of the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture is somewhat slow. He has to forcibly absorb spiritual energy into the body with Yuan Qi and then transform it into Mana.
This process is too inefficient. The time wasted is somewhat counterproductive, not nearly as fast as direct Qi Refining.
To make significant achievements on the Immortal Path, he ultimately needs a piece of bone, even if it is just Lower Quality Immortal Bone.
He couldn't help but remember the Damaged Immortal Bone he found on the ancient battlefield. Immortal Path Cultivators have methods to refine Immortal Bones into their bodies; perhaps he could start there and make an attempt.
Coming back to his senses, Chu Zheng looked towards Fu Quanliang: "What cultivation technique are you practicing right now?"
"The Jade Transformation Scripture. It's the one most Outer Sect disciples practice."
Fu Quanliang's expression was somewhat numb; the exhilaration of stepping into the Spiritual Spring was gone.
He had joined the sect ten years ago and cultivated diligently to this day, the fruits of which Chu Zheng had matched in merely two hours.
This huge disparity nearly shattered his cultivation resolve.
"From now on, practice this."
Chu Zheng was not stingy and lifted his hand to press the jade token of the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture to Fu Quanliang's forehead.
The Qi-refining Technique should not be casually transmitted. The Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture, however, had no such restrictions.
No matter the Quality, in the end, it's just a cultivation technique—a replicable resource—and cannot be considered precious.
The repair panel was the foundation of his existence.
Now that the Condensing Space Bracelet was completely repaired, Chu Zheng had to consider what to repair next.
He already had an idea about this, putting the Heavenly Aura Sword and the Five Elements Shaping Pill at the top of the list.
[Heavenly Aura Sword (Sixth Order/Incomplete): Originates from the complete Heavenly Aura Sword Array set, one of the three hundred and sixty Assistant Swords, made of Phoenix Blood Wood. With your current abilities, you can only complete preliminary repairs. (Preliminary repair 0/100)]
[Five Elements Shaping Pill (Fourth Order): Made from the Qi of the Five Elements and supplemented with the White Tiger Claws, Azure Dragon Scales, Black Tortoise Armor, Vermilion Bird Feathers, and Qilin Blood of the Five Sacred Elements, it can mold a Five Elements Primordial Body.
Brewed for three years to achieve the pill, but due to the passage of time, the potency has almost completely dissipated. Repairable (0/500)]
After a basic repair of the Heavenly Aura Sword, Chu Zheng would be able to use it to cultivate the Qi Cultivator's Divine Skill 'Object Control'.
This differed from the way Immortal Path Cultivators manipulate Magic Artifacts. Magic Artifacts differ from Spiritual Treasures; they have no sentience and can be controlled by any cultivator.
And the magic treasures refined through Object Control cannot be used by anyone other than the Qi Cultivator themselves.
Moreover, with years of nurturing by Yuan Qi, the magic treasures themselves will continuously evolve and grow stronger, even crude iron can become spiritually awakened.
As for the Five Elements Shaping Pill, it is beneficial to Chu Zheng's cultivation, as it can help him accelerate the transformation of the Five Elements Qi in the world.
When entering the Dao Embryo phase, he can use it to condense a false pill in preparation for condensing the Golden Core.
Both are essential, the Heavenly Aura Sword can be repaired in twenty days, while the Five Elements Shaping Pill will take a hundred days.
"Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture..."
After a long while, Fu Quanliang finally opened his eyes, his gaze revealing unmistakable astonishment:
"What Quality is this cultivation technique? Does it actually contain the way to becoming an Immortal?"
"It's much stronger than the Phantom Spirit Technique."
Chu Zheng didn't elaborate further, he stood up and said, "Let's go."
"Where to?"
Fu Quanliang was taken aback and stood up as well.
"To find a safe place, seek Fire, do business."
Originally, Chu Zheng was worried about capital, but now he had plenty of it.
He had no intention of hiding in the Small World to engage in death-defying cultivation; without a source of income, everything would run out eventually.
The elixirs brought from the Phantom Spirit Sect would be exhausted one day.
Without elixirs to replenish, relying solely on his current pace of cultivation, Chu Zheng did not know how long it would take to achieve anything substantial.
The Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture is highly compatible with alchemy, but Chu Zheng lacks the patience to study the art of alchemy himself; cultivation is fundamental.
Now he didn't lack pill recipes or spiritual medicine; he intended to start from scratch, to search for suitable people and nurture a group of alchemists to work for him.
It didn't matter if their talent was lacking, for him, waste pill or successful elixirs were all the same.
Even if he had to use spiritual medicines excessively, he could still build a few alchemists who were suitable for use.
Thus, seeking the Fire Seed became the most urgent matter.
Whether for alchemy or for cultivating the Taixuan Divine Fire Scripture, Divine Fire was indispensable.
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Within several million li, the most powerful sects include Purple Blood Valley, Earth Dragon Sect, Night Light Pavilion, and the Phantom Spirit Sect.
These four powers have all been major schools with ten thousand years or even tens of thousands of years of heritage, some with the deterrence of their ancestor's legacy, and others are newly emerging giants.
Besides these four forces, there are also many loose cultivators and smaller sects.
These sects and loose cultivators can continue to exist also because it's tacitly acknowledged by the several big Immortal Sects.
The strength of a single sect is ultimately limited, unable to cover tens or hundreds of countries; many people with Immortal Bones are only found at an age of fifty to sixty, when they understand their destiny.
This is not a rare occurrence.
If a small sect cannot raise a Hidden Dragon, those cultivators with exceptional talents, even if they enter these small sects, will ultimately gravitate towards the larger sects once they understand the vastness of the heavens and the earth.
People always strive for higher places; this is an eternal truth.
Essentially, these small sects and loose cultivators serve as reserves of Immortal Seedlings for the big Immortal Sects.
Just as the Phantom Spirit Sect is to the Tai Xu Holy Land.
Chu Zheng's first target was these smaller sects.