Chapter 163: Chapter 140: The Dao of Nourishing Life and Cultivating Nature, Yin Spirit Travel to [Fengdu]

The golden paper trembled, its brilliant light flowing.

While Jiang Yi unhurriedly consumed and refined the medicinal paste, causing the gurgling Spiritual Liquid to increase by a small mouthful, his eyelids twitched. A buzzing sound seemed to ring in his ears.

Dense, tadpole-like characters manifested one after another.

[Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer: You have a one hundred percent chance of success. There are no obstacles. The tribulation may be ’Yin Spirit Emergence’ or ’Heart Demon Barrier’.]

Jiang Yi nodded slightly. The Celestial Book’s answer was within his expectations, not far from what he had guessed.

His Merit from the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer had long since reached one hundred percent. After several more days of accumulation, it had even stepped into the "one hundred and twenty percent" Perfection Realm, unable to advance any further.

’As long as I open my Primordial Gate and draw in Spiritual Energy, I could probably break through successfully with my eyes closed.’

Jiang Yi’s gaze shifted, landing on the words "Yin Spirit Emergence" and "Heart Demon Barrier" displayed on the golden paper.

’I Cultivate Ding Fire, so it’s not strange to face a Heart Demon Barrier. As for Yin Spirit Emergence, that’s probably the ’test’ one must undergo for Divine Thought Concentration, to illuminate the Primordial Gate.’

Jiang Yi pondered for a moment. With one hundred and twenty percent Merit, breaking through the barrier would be a breeze. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The only difficulty should lie in "Crossing the Tribulation."

"Cat Master, you are a Foundation Establishment True Master who has been through tribulations. Can you tell me what ’Crossing the Tribulation’ feels like?"

With a beckoning gesture, Jiang Yi summoned True Master Xuanmiao. The cat, who had been lying on the offering table, wobbled its round body and sent waves of flesh rippling as it leaped into his arms.

He was surprisingly heavy, having clearly gotten much fatter.

"During Flying Foundation Establishment and Body Transformation and Essence Refining, one’s entire Cultivation becomes entrusted to ’Life’ and ’Nature’."

Ever since entrusting the [Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven] to him, True Master Xuanmiao seemed to have a great weight lifted from his mind, and the entire cat had relaxed considerably.

The most direct manifestation of this was his voracious appetite. A hundred catties of Spirit Bird Jerky was only enough for him to have as Snacks.

"As they say, ’Life is the gathering of qi,’ also known as ’Supreme Essence.’ When you cultivate to the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer, all your Primordial Essence and boundless Spiritual Truth will be cleansed and transformed, condensing into ’One Qi.’ This breath of qi is the embryonic form of your life.

"Even if your hands and feet are severed, as long as the foundation of your True Qi is not completely scattered, you can grow them back."

Jiang Yi stroked the Cat Master’s soft body, listening with extreme concentration.

’No wonder Magical Combat becomes so frequent after Foundation Establishment.’

’It must be because once one’s Life Essence is formed, damage to the physical body is no longer fatal, allowing one to unleash Daoist Techniques without restraint.’

"As for the matter of ’Nature,’ a Daoist Scripture says, ’Primordial True Suchness, a single spirit burning bright,’ it is the Innate spirit one receives from the Dao.

"Xiao Jiang, when you break through to the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, you will have to cross the ’Divine Barrier.’ Your scattered thoughts will gather into a pill-like shape—this is Divine Sense.

"After condensing Innate Qi, you will generate Magical Profound Light. You’ll be able to grasp water and fire, manipulate wind and thunder, and command the myriad transformations and opportunities of the Great Dao."

True Master Xuanmiao had devoured several Fierce Fiends and was no longer an ordinary calico cat; he finally had some Cultivation of his own.

He gently exhaled a breath of air. Although it was extremely fine and floated as if weightless, it was exceptionally solid, like a beam of brilliant light about an inch long suspended in mid-air.

Jiang Yi frowned slightly. He could feel that this breath of Purifying Qi acted like a human’s Breathing and Cultivation, able to gather Spiritual Energy and persist for a long time.

’Is this the Magical Profound Light refined after cultivating ’Nature’? It truly is wondrous.

’Compared to it, True Qi is like a firefly next to the bright moon, completely eclipsed.’

True Master Xuanmiao’s round face flushed red. His Primordial Inner Mansion was sealed, and his Life Essence Cultivation was locked down so tightly he couldn’t move it. Forcing out this single wisp of Profound Light had already exhausted his strength.

"For someone at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer, their Profound Light Magical Power can leave the body and not disperse for a full sixty-year cycle! That is the Perfection of ’Xing’."

True Master Xuanmiao panted heavily, as if he had just run eight hundred li in one breath, and slowly dispersed the wisp of Magical Profound Light.

"Legend has it that in ancient times, All Cultivators only focused on absorbing qi to cultivate life, seeking the great path of longevity and to roam the cosmos freely.

"Later, various Dharma Gates for Refining Spirit and Cultivating Nature emerged. These focused on wielding Great Magical Power to form Great Divine Techniques, shattering the Three Calamities and nine hardships, and cutting through countless tribulations.

"After an unknown amount of time, the Daoist Lineages became established and spread throughout the world. Only then did the current orthodox path of ’Nourishing Life and Cultivating Nature, and Gathering the Five Elements’ come to be."

Jiang Yi nodded slightly. He feared that not even Elder Xu from the Guanlan Peak’s Skill Transmission Institute could have given such a lesson.

The difference in standing between the various Dharma Lineages wasn’t just due to reasons like abundant resources and numerous Spirit Veins; the depth of their Dao Inheritance was also one of the factors.

"So, the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer is about Nourishing Life and then Cultivating Nature. Then, during Flying Foundation Establishment, you achieve Unity Life Essence, they become indistinguishable, and thus you enter the Dao."

Jiang Yi summarized.

"Correct, correct. Xiao Jiang’s Dao Wisdom is quite reminiscent of this True Master in my youth."

True Master Xuanmiao’s whiskers twitched as he chuckled.

’Ugh, I’d rather not be like the Cat Master.’

Jiang Yi glanced at the increasingly spherical True Master Xuanmiao. The fat on his snow-white belly was folded into three layers; it was really hard to see even a hint of profound Dao Wisdom.

He even suspected that the Cat Master’s ability to achieve Flying Foundation Establishment back then was likely entirely due to him clinging to a True Monarch’s coattails.

’Otherwise, with such a gluttonous and lazy personality, how could he possibly have managed Nourishing Life and Cultivating Nature or eliminating tribulations?’

True Master Xuanmiao lay sprawled on his back and said:

"My former master once said that the human body is inherently flawed. Nourishing Life and Cultivating Nature is an act of reversing the Innate state, allowing a mortal body to be refined into an Immortal Spirit.

"It is precisely because of this Life Essence Integration that a Cultivator, much like that Dao Inheritance, goes from being incomplete to whole, thus becoming easily envied by the heavens."

Jiang Yi had a sudden realization, and then the corner of his mouth twitched. ’Does this mean that after I achieve Flying Foundation Establishment, I’ll have to face double the tribulations?’

’This position of [Shao Yang] seems to be full of nothing but hardships.’

"Although tribulations are terrifying, the Daoist Lineages have continued for countless ages and have corresponding methods to avoid them.

"The simplest is to escape into a grotto-heaven established by a True Monarch."

Speaking of this, True Master Xuanmiao puffed out his chest:

"That [Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven] is one of the very best supreme grotto-heavens in all the world.

"As long as you, Xiao Jiang, achieve Flying Foundation Establishment and find a way to open it, no tribulation will be able to find you—unless it’s the hardship of the Three Calamities that one faces when advancing to True Monarch!"

’He’s just making more grand promises.’

Jiang Yi grumbled silently.

He changed the subject, asking about "Yin Spirit Emergence" and "Heart Demon Barrier."

True Master Xuanmiao scratched his head, his amber eyes filled with confusion:

"What’s a ’Heart Demon Barrier’?"

Jiang Yi suppressed the urge to throttle the Cat Master and asked in a pleasant tone:

"Cat Master, when you achieved Flying Foundation Establishment, did you not go through these tribulations?"

True Master Xuanmiao said, embarrassed:

"This True Master stayed within [Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven] the whole time, so I only went through seven or eight tribulations, things like the ’Suffering Tribulation’ and the ’Foolishness Tribulation.’

"As for Heart Demons and the like, I really have never seen one."

Jiang Yi expressionlessly kneaded the round, rolling head. ’The Cat Master gets to enjoy all the blessings, while I’m the one who has to eat all the bitterness!’

"Forget it."

He shook his head.

"In the end, Cultivation still depends on oneself!"

Putting down the dazed True Master Xuanmiao, Jiang Yi lowered his eyes as if in thought, and a wisp of golden light rose from the depths of his gaze.

[I beg the Celestial Book, show me a way to safely pass the ’Yin Spirit Emergence’ and ’Heart Demon Barrier’ tribulations?]

[Subject: Cultivation]

[Deduction Time: One shichen]

...

...

「Inside Hanyang Prefecture, in the Duke’s Mansion.」

Huang Zishang sat cross-legged in the mansion’s main hall. The place was suffused with an air of death, yet he felt very much at ease here.

Although he had not successfully obtained the Foundation Establishment Opportunity, the Huang and Wang Families had been burned to ashes by the Ding Fire. All of their accumulated fate had been seized, further increasing his Life Essence Cultivation.

’Elder Kang instructed that [Fengdu] will be open for a hundred days. Opportunities and fate will depend entirely on one’s methods, and he told me to pay close attention.’

Huang Zishang narrowed his eyes and gradually entered a meditative state. He heard a tremor from his Primordial Gate, and his Divine Sense, condensed and brilliant, suddenly shot out from the top of his head.

Like a spinning jeweled pearl, its Magical Profound Light shone out for seventy or eighty feet.

’I shall ride my Yin Spirit to travel through [Fengdu] and seek the Opportunity that resonates with the ’Shang’ in my name.’