Chapter 141: Chapter 121: Boosting Merit with Spiritual Materials and Resources, The Dao Path of Golden Core and Heavenly Origin

True Master Xuanmiao buried its head low, rubbing its paws together vigorously. It looked hesitant, as if it had something difficult to say.

"Xiao Jiang, when I explain things later... you won’t blame me, will you?"

’Great. Just as I thought, it’s nothing good.’

The corner of Jiang Yi’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly, but his face broke into a warm smile.

"I have only ever felt respect and affection for you, Cat Master."

True Master Xuanmiao let out a small sigh of relief, but on second thought, it felt something was wrong.

’Xiao Jiang is a smooth talker; he might not really mean it.’

It nervously licked the fur on its paws and asked tentatively:

"Then... my jerky snacks... you won’t give me fewer of them in the future, will you?"

Jiang Yi raised a hand and gently stroked the Cat Master’s fur, from the base of its ears to its chin, and said softly:

"My current cultivation prospects are all thanks to your guidance and support, Cat Master. We’ve always gotten along so well. How could a trivial matter come between us? Just say what’s on your mind, Cat Master. Don’t worry!"

The stroking made True Master Xuanmiao’s whole body tingle. It remembered how Jiang Yi had always been so obedient, and how his filial piety ensured a never-ending supply of snacks. Its anxious heart finally settled completely.

"The Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer must pass the ’Divine Barrier,’ the Eighth and Ninth Layers must charge through the ’Qi Barrier.’ Only after passing these two barriers can one condense the Innate Qi."

Jiang Yi nodded in acknowledgment, but inwardly, he thought:

’Is this kind of basic cultivation knowledge really worth the Cat Master repeating over and over?’

True Master Xuanmiao’s tone suddenly shifted. It looked at him with its round eyes, its voice growing serious:

"Xiao Jiang, do you know about ’tribulations’?"

Jiang Yi’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm as he slowly replied:

"It is said that after ascending the Qi Cultivation Twelve-Story Floors and achieving Flying Foundation Establishment, tribulations will arise, nearly endless and immeasurable.

They mainly depend on one’s cultivation path. Those who use Ding Fire to entice profound thoughts will face the ’Heart Demon Tribulation’; those who use Kui Water to nourish their Primordial Essence will instead suffer the ’Body Burning Tribulation’; those who use Xin Metal to strengthen their Merit will encounter the ’Breaking Blade Tribulation’..."

His voice trailed off. Jiang Yi stared directly at True Master Xuanmiao, who was shrinking its neck back in guilt, his tone tinged with understanding: 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Cat Master, you’re not trying to tell me that I’ll have to face tribulations while still in the Qi Cultivation Realm, are you?"

True Master Xuanmiao quickly pounced, hugging Jiang Yi, who was sitting on a cattail cushion, and employed the wheedling tactics it had perfected with its former master.

It rubbed its round head incessantly against the Black Shadow Magical Robe, its voice soft.

"Xiao Jiang, it’s not that I intentionally hid this from you. The Celestial Lord is constant, but the Great Dao is not. Therefore, things born of heaven and earth, nurtured by the Great Dao, are rarely ’flawless.’ They are bound to have some defects."

Jiang Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. He didn’t speak, only raising his eyes to signal the Cat Master to continue.

"But when my former master deduced this Technique, it was by comprehending the mysteries of the Dao Fruit and the secrets of the Golden Position, and then summarizing it all.

The day the complete Dao Inheritance came into being, my former master sighed with great emotion, saying, ’This thing is perfectly whole and complete in itself, flawless and without defect. It is clearly the work of the Celestial Lord borrowing my hand, not something that could be born from my own Dao Wisdom.’"

Jiang Yi’s brow smoothed out. To be fair, based on his experience cultivating the Qi Cultivation General Outline, Nurturing the Dao Embryo, and refining Primordial Essence Treasure Blood...

This Dao Inheritance truly deserved the description "world-shattering."

Even if True Master Xuanmiao claimed that the heavens wept tears of blood when this technique was born, he would believe it to some extent.

"I thought it was some major disaster. So, it’s just some tribulations on the horizon."

Jiang Yi pondered for a moment. There was no need to be harsh with True Master Xuanmiao and ruin their master-disciple relationship.

"Since I have accepted this Dao Inheritance, it is only right that I bear its karma.

May I ask if the Cat Master knows which specific tribulations I will face?"

True Master Xuanmiao’s ears drooped flat against its head. It stammered for a long while before finally saying:

"All of them are possible."

’I schemed and planned for every possibility, but in the end, I couldn’t guard against the Cat Master setting me up!’

A look of helplessness crossed Jiang Yi’s face.

True Master Xuanmiao curled into a ball and said aggrievedly:

"The Qi Cultivation General Outline absorbs and refines the Spiritual Energy of the One Element, and Nurturing the Dao Embryo allows one to comprehend both the inside and outside of the Five Elements! It’s so perfect that it incurs heavenly envy, bringing down tribulations... You can only blame the Celestial Lord for being so petty!"

Jiang Yi picked up the Cat Master and ruffled its fur roughly a few times before he could calm down.

"Let the tribulations come then. You can’t let a full bladder kill you."

He thoroughly played with True Master Xuanmiao, teasing it until it was sprawled out on its back, a limp and floppy mess, as punishment for "failing to report."

Perhaps feeling guilty, the Cat Master actually played along, voluntarily exposing its soft, cotton-white belly to be ravaged.

After venting his stress, Jiang Yi collected his Heart Spirit and laid out the Spiritual Objects he had taken from the Observing Fate Peak treasury one by one.

Most of these items, worth a million talismans, contained the Essence of Ding Fire, which was perfect for increasing his Merit and Nurturing the Dao Embryo.

In truth, Spiritual Materials, Spiritual Resources, and Spiritual Objects each had different focuses.

Spiritual Materials were the "Main Materials" harvested by Inner Peak Disciples from perilous places like the Hundred Beasts Cave and Heart-Stealing Forest, completely unprocessed;

Spiritual Resources referred to Spirit Grass and Spirit Plants that could be consumed directly, or the elite essences condensed within ore veins;

And Spiritual Objects were the core provisions, specially refined by the Sect for cultivators’ daily Cultivation.

"My thanks to Elder Sui for his voluntary donation."

Jiang Yi didn’t forget to offer a polite greeting before using them. Then, he crushed the various Spiritual Objects with his bare hands.

They were Flint, Yang Sand, or Jade Marrow, all around the Sixth and Seventh Grades. In a rural clan, they would be considered heirlooms kept at the bottom of a chest.

Now, the brute strength generated by his Dao Embryo Prototype shattered them into dust, releasing wisps of the Essence of Ding Fire.

Jiang Yi’s eyelids drooped slightly. Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, he constantly huffed and puffed, absorbing all the scorching hot Essence of Ding Fire that had condensed into an airflow, slowly swallowing it into his Inner Mansion.

His Merit soared, and his Cultivation climbed!

A full three hours passed. Only when there were no intact Spiritual Objects left before him did Jiang Yi open his eyes.

Without needing to beg the Celestial Book, he could clearly perceive that his Merit had suddenly increased from the original "Seventy Percent" to "Nine Tens."

"The best part is, I’ve finally gotten rid of the ’prototype’ label on my Dao Embryo.

Although I’m still far from having an Innate Fire Virtue Body, calling it an Acquired Ding Fire Body is more than enough."

Jiang Yi reached into his robes and took out a square box of Jade Material. Inside was the "Mingtang Qi" that his Grandpa, Yang Xun, had treasured for many years.

This Spiritual Energy was originally of medium-high quality. Unfortunately, after being sealed for so many years, some of its pure qi had inevitably dissipated, downgrading it to medium quality.

With his previous absorption speed from Mixed Refining Origin, refining this Spiritual Energy would have taken at least five days.

This was already a terrifying efficiency that far surpassed others of his rank. A normal Cultivator wouldn’t be able to digest it in less than ten days.

But now that his Dao Embryo had just formed, taking in this "Mingtang Qi" could only be described in two words.

Instantly refined!

One must understand that this Mingtang Qi was refined from a thousand wisps of Spiritual Energy and was exceptionally potent.

No matter how gentle and abundant its nature, it could still fill a Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer Cultivator to the brim.

But when Jiang Yi activated his Dao Embryo, his entire frame trembled slightly, and the Mingtang Qi immediately disintegrated, as if devoured by a bottomless abyss.

Warm currents surged into his body, splitting into two streams that circled up and down. One nourished his Brain God, while the other condensed into Spiritual Liquid.

The last few slivers of Merit he lacked were filled to Perfection, with even a little to spare.

"Ninety-nine percent. I can break through to the Seventh Layer!"

Jiang Yi thought to himself that if he hadn’t needed to fill his Dao Embryo, that "Mingtang Qi" would have been enough to raise his Cultivation to the Middle Stage of the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

’It’s a veritable Taotie!’

"If there’s really no other way, worst-case scenario, I can just refine my Primordial Essence Treasure Blood and go challenge the Dragon Girl of the Beiju Continent."

Jiang Yi reckoned that with his newly formed Dao Embryo, he could handle a True Descendant of the Dragon Monarch in the Qi Cultivation Realm.

"Cat Master, do you have any methods for avoiding tribulations you can teach me?"

Standing on the threshold of the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, Jiang Yi pulled back the leg he was about to step forward with and looked at True Master Xuanmiao.

A perfect Dao Inheritance invites heavenly tribulations.

’There must be a solution!’

"My former master never mentioned it. After all, he had his Golden Position shattered and his soul scattered before he even had a chance to start his Cultivation."

True Master Xuanmiao scratched its whiskers, then added:

"But I think I remember Elder Wei saying something while he was cracking melon seeds. A world-shattering Dao Inheritance must be supported by a world-shattering foundation."

Jiang Yi mulled this over for a moment. He figured that "Elder Wei" meant he should accumulate more Cultivation, thicken his Merit, and resist the tribulations with absolute power.

It sounded crude, fitting the stereotype of a Demon Cultivator.

A golden glint flashed in his eyes. He begged the Celestial Book, asking if his guess was correct, requesting only a "yes" or "no" answer.

He didn’t have time for a detailed deduction right now.

[Yes.]

Seeing this small, tadpole-like character appear on the golden paper, Jiang Yi’s heart settled slightly. He looked up and saw the sky outside the main hall turning the pale white of a fish’s belly.

The dim light of dawn was breaking.

"I’m going down the mountain with Senior Brother Xu today. It’s my first time wiping out a clan and seizing its assets. I wonder if I’ll be able to stomach it."

Jiang Yi silently circulated the "Concealment" technique, gradually sealing his body and retracting his Qi Mechanism.

The roiling qi and blood from his newly formed Dao Embryo, and the faint, strange fragrance of his Primordial Essence Treasure Blood, were all sealed within his body without a single trace leaking out.

At first glance, he looked no different from an ordinary Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer cultivator.

"If some fool of a Seventh-Layer Cultivator wants to test my mettle, I’ll be sure to teach him a lesson."

Jiang Yi got up and finished packing. Even in the treasury of Sui Liushu, the esteemed Elder of Observing Fate Peak, there were no storage-type Magical Artifacts like a Qiankun Sleeve Pouch.

Jiang Yi could only stuff items like the Black Slaughter Lock and the Blood Soul Mirror into his Five Yin Pouch, then carefully hide his three insects in his sleeve.

He gave a final glance at the meager, two-to-three-foot-high flame in the cave.

From the looks of it, even if he were to leave the Merit Supervision Institute for seven or eight days, nothing would go wrong with it.

"Cat Master."

Jiang Yi scooped True Master Xuanmiao into his arms and let it settle into a comfortable, supine position:

"Besides the North and South Dipper Sword, are there any other famous events out there?"

True Master Xuanmiao was much more docile than usual. It didn’t put on the airs of a senior and answered honestly:

"That would be the Dan Yuan Dharma Assembly. The Elites of the Four Great Daoist Lineages gather, and Daoists from all over converge! It is the most anticipated grand event in the Yanfu Vast Land!"

Jiang Yi raised his brows, secretly committing the name to memory, and asked for more details:

"Is there any special meaning to this assembly’s name?"

Such a small question was no challenge for True Master Xuanmiao. It began to explain eloquently:

"’Dan’ refers to the ’Golden Core’ sought by Ancient Cultivators, implying that the participants’ Life Essence Cultivation is as whole and flawless as a Golden Core.

’Yuan’ refers to the ’nature of heavenly destiny’ and the ’quality of Primordial Essence’—eternal and true, with endless wonderful uses.

Therefore, all who make a name for themselves at the Dan Yuan Dharma Assembly are seeds with the potential to attain the Golden Position and rule over continents as a True Monarch."