Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The Choice of Body Refining Techniques

Disciples of the Qingfeng Sect had always looked down on Body Refining, viewing it as a second-rate choice for those with insufficient talent. Very few specialized in this path.

The primary reason was that in the entire Cultivation Realm of Liang Country, there were no true Body Refining Sects, nor were there any Great Cultivators who had made a name for themselves through sheer physical power. It was no wonder, then, that such an opinion had formed.

Since he had decided to find a Body Refining Technique to compensate for his weaknesses, Bai Zichen naturally had no interest in the basic techniques on the first and second floors of the Transmission Hall, which were only helpful to Qi Refining Cultivators.

As for Body Refining Techniques that were useful throughout the entire Foundation Establishment Stage and could even help Core Formation True Men, the Qingfeng Sect only had two in its collection.

’I see... It’s that Body Refining Technique from the Five Mountains Temple!’

Bai Zichen first picked up the inheritance Jade Scroll for the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture. He pretended to place the Jade Scroll against his forehead, but in truth, his Divine Sense had already slipped inside and read every last bit of its contents.

The inheritance Jade Scrolls on the third floor only contained the opening and a detailed introduction to each technique, not the complete text. Only the experiential notes and commentaries were complete.

Only after selecting one and submitting an application to the Transmission Hall would the complete technique be imparted.

Even True Disciples were limited in the number of techniques they could learn from the third floor of the Transmission Hall.

Of course, the main reason for this was to prevent True Disciples from biting off more than they could chew and dividing their focus.

The reason the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture only had a meager two volumes of notes was that the technique came from the Inheritance Stele in the Five Mountains Temple. It had only been in the Qingfeng Sect’s possession for a few years, and only a single Elder, Elder Ni, had been interested enough to cultivate it and leave behind his experiences.

The entire technique was divided into nine levels. Cultivating it to Perfection was equivalent to the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment realm. As long as one reached the third level, they could condense an Evil Body, which slightly increased their chances of achieving Foundation Establishment.

According to Elder Ni’s speculation, the Evil Body’s effect was likely similar to the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object produced by the Qingfeng Sect, the Pure Yang Gang Sha. Both performed a kind of Bone Marrow Cleansing, allowing a Qi Refining Cultivator to successfully overcome the trial of the physical body.

However, because it was similar to Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects like Pure Yang Gang Sha, their effects could not be stacked. On the other hand, it did not conflict with the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Beyond that, the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture offered no further benefits to one’s Cultivation progress; it only served to enhance one’s strength in Combat.

As the Nine Revolutions Evil Body was continuously upgraded, it could drastically increase the cultivator’s physical strength. Furthermore, one could expel the cultivated Evil Qi from their body and infuse it into a Spiritual Artifact, adding significant power.

Against opponents with weak willpower and fragile Divine Sense, it could have surprisingly miraculous effects.

After cultivating to the ninth level, which was equivalent to the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment, the Body Refining Technique reached its end. There were no subsequent levels.

As for the difficulty of cultivation, it required guiding various types of Evil Qi into the body, a process accompanied by intense pain. Those with weak willpower would find it difficult to persevere.

Bai Zichen clutched the Jade Scroll for the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture in his hand, hesitating for a long while before picking up the other scroll: the inheritance of the Five Crystal Glaze Body.

’The Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture seems suitable for me in every way. As long as I reach the third level, my physical weakness during Foundation Establishment will be shored up... I’ll check out the other one before making a final decision.’

In contrast, the Five Crystal Glaze Body was passed down from the Qingfeng Sect’s founding Ancestor. It had been handed down through generations, and every Foundation Establishment Elder in the Sect with an interest in Body Refining had attempted to cultivate it.

That was why so many volumes of experiential notes had been left behind.

Channeling the Essence of the Three Splendors and Five Qi, Washing the Bones and Shaving the Hair... Comprehend the mysteries of the Five Crystal Divine Iron and the Glazed Fire Jade. Refine the body thus, and it shall never bloat... At Great Success, one can merge the strengths of both to achieve the Five Crystal Glaze Body, akin to the Buddhist Vajra Unbreakable Body.

With every gesture, one could unleash Earth-Shattering power, and no magic could touch the body.

The Five Crystal Divine Iron and Glazed Fire Jade were both legendary Tier Five Spiritual Materials. The Five Crystal Divine Iron was hailed as the hardest substance in existence, making it the supreme choice for refining offensive Magical Treasures.

The Glazed Fire Jade, on the other hand, was a special type of soft jade with no fixed form that could absorb Magical Power. It was said that the entire Magical Power of a Core Formation True Man couldn’t even fill a piece of Glazed Fire Jade the size of a grain of rice. It was often used in the refining of Defensive Magical Treasures and Spiritual Puppets.

This Body Refining Technique was based on emulating the properties of these two Tier Five Spiritual Materials, continuously enhancing the cultivator’s physical body in two different ways before finally merging the strengths of both.

Based on the description, the Five Crystal Glaze Body at Great Success was clearly far superior to the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture, but its cultivation difficulty was in a different league entirely.

Generations of Qingfeng Sect cultivators had been stuck at the second or third level. Even the founding Ancestor only managed to reach the fourth level, failing to cultivate the five-level technique to Perfection.

The greatest obstacle was that cultivating the fifth level of the Five Crystal Glaze Body required using the two Spiritual Materials—Five Crystal Divine Iron and Glazed Fire Jade—and refining them into one’s own body.

Although only a piece the size of a grain of rice was needed, these Tier Five Spiritual Materials existed only in ancient texts; in reality, no one had ever seen them.

Perhaps the treasure vaults of Nascent Soul Major Sects with legacies stretching back tens of thousands of years might hold one or two such items, passed down as sect-defining treasures. But that was something far beyond the Qingfeng Sect’s power to covet.

Putting aside the nearly impossible fifth level, the seniors who had cultivated this technique all said the main difficulty of the Five Crystal Glaze Body lay in gaining initial mastery of each level.

Although it was called a Body Refining Technique, it didn’t follow the usual path of using Slaying Power to temper the physical body. Instead, it followed the profoundly mysterious path of ”emulation.”

To make matters worse, there was no logical progression between the levels. Upon completing the first level, the second was like an entirely different technique, forcing one to start over from scratch.

He flipped through several volumes of notes. The time it took those seniors to gain initial mastery of the first level was typically between eight and fifteen years.

But once they achieved that initial mastery and their emulation of the materials was correct, the rest of the cultivation for that level was extremely fast.

That was why the experiential notes all focused on how to gain initial mastery; the actual cultivation process, in contrast, was just glossed over.

Bai Zichen even found an annotation from Ancestor Ge Cang. It had taken Master Ge six years to achieve initial mastery of the first level, which he then completed in half a year. He then spent another twelve years to have a breakthrough for the second level, which he then perfected in a single year.

Qi Refining Disciples must not become engrossed in this! Heed this warning!

Ancestor Ge Cang’s annotation was clearly a warning; he felt that cultivating the Five Crystal Glaze Body was far too time-consuming. If a disciple were to choose this technique and waste their precious time in the Qi Refining Stage on it, they would very likely regret it for the rest of their lives.

’The Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture is easy to get started with, but the cultivation process is painful and its potential for later growth is limited... The Five Crystal Glaze Body is extremely difficult to begin, but cultivation is smooth once you do, and its power is immense. The final level of the technique, however, can be disregarded.’

The founding Ancestor of the Qingfeng Sect had dominated Liang Country with the fourth level of his Five Crystal Glaze Body and his Perfect Core Formation Realm cultivation. He was said to be undefeated below the Nascent Soul Realm and could even hold his own against a Nascent Soul True Monarch for a short while.

This alone was enough to show the power of the Five Crystal Glaze Body.

If one could cultivate it to the fifth level and achieve true Great Success, it would be a formidable technique that even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm could rely upon as a trump card.

Bai Zichen laughed heartily. He had been struggling with the choice, but after laying out the pros and cons of the Five Crystal Glaze Body, he realized something. ’Isn’t this technique practically tailor-made for me?’

’If my judgment is correct, the biggest difference between my Spirit Body and a Merit Golden Body Spiritual Body is that, in addition to providing immense help with breaking through cultivation bottlenecks, it also lowers the initial difficulty of learning any Cultivation Technique or Magic. I’ll never get stuck or find myself at a standstill.’

From the Wood God Skill to the Divine Casting Technique, Bai Zichen could think of several examples to support this conclusion.

This was especially true for the Divine Casting Technique. It was a Secret Technique for tempering one’s Divine Sense that very few Qi Refining Disciples, even from a Nascent Soul Sect like the Naihe Sect, could master. Yet he, without any guidance or instruction on its secrets, had managed to comprehend and master it all on his own.

And this was despite the fact that the Inheritance Stele had assessed his Comprehension as being merely Mid Grade.

His ability to turn the impossible into the possible was all thanks to his mysterious Spirit Body.