novelapdf Chapter 524 Comparison
Chapter 524 Comparison
"Oh? Then how do you cultivate?"
Fang Qing asked curiously.
If he were an ordinary person, he would have to be very careful if he wanted to integrate into this world.
Other high-level cultivators would start with soul searching.
However, for him now, he can simply ask directly. With his word being law, no one dares to deceive him, or rather... no one would even entertain the thought of deceiving him.
"Young Master Qi... Due to the struggle for supremacy among the myriad races of the Mountain and Sea Continent, our human race has few spiritual lands to occupy. Therefore, we have adopted the method of 'entering the Dao through martial arts,' establishing numerous mortal dynasties to raise mortals. They begin learning martial arts in their youth, which is divided into three major realms: Innate, Heartbeat, and Spiritual Realm. Upon entering the Innate realm, lifespan greatly increases, allowing one to live to one hundred and twenty years old without illness or disaster. During the Heartbeat stage, one can wield magical artifacts with true essence. As for the final 'Spiritual Realm,' one constructs 'Spiritual Realm' within the body, opening spiritual apertures and fostering spiritual roots. From this point on, one can leap over the dragon gate and enter the immortal sect for cultivation, which is known in the mortal world as 'leaping over the dragon gate'..."
Wen Ruyu said respectfully.
"Oh? Let me see your spirit scrolls..."
Fang Qing waved his hand, signaling the four people to come forward one by one so he could examine their meridians and dantian...
"So that's how it is. One enters the Dao through martial arts, and then builds a network of meridians and a dantian (energy center) within the body to absorb spiritual energy? Regardless of one's previous aptitude, anyone who can cultivate to the 'Spiritual Essence Stage' must be a highly talented and exceptionally virtuous cultivator..."
He thought for a moment, then asked, "How many of them succeeded?"
"Among mortals, only one in a hundred can reach the Innate Realm; only one in ten thousand can break through the Heart-Moving Realm... and only one in a hundred thousand can reach the Spirit Realm..."
A cultivator from the Azure Spirit Sect bowed and smiled bitterly: "Fortunately, our human race excels at reproduction, and our population has always been large. Each secular dynasty has tens of millions of people... This provides a continuous stream of talent for various immortal sects and aristocratic families. Besides the methods of entering the Dao through martial arts, there are also the bloodline methods of aristocratic families, as well as transplantation methods, and so on... But eventually, everyone will reach the 'Nascent Soul' stage, combining their own essence, qi, and spirit, and transforming their dantian into a Nascent Soul. I am a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, and my two junior brothers are in the early Nascent Soul stage... The one we are chasing is also in the early Nascent Soul stage... The lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator is roughly between 1,500 and 2,000 years, far exceeding the lifespan increase of the previous several realms. Therefore, the title 'Leaping the Dragon Gate' is truly well-deserved..."
"This Nascent Soul stage is similar to the Core Formation stage in the Qi Refining path, only the magical power is weaker, but the increase in lifespan is real..."
Fang Qing sighed inwardly, "What happens after the Nascent Soul stage?"
"After the Nascent Soul stage, one progresses to the Primordial Spirit stage... This stage allows for the creation of multiple avatars, hence the term 'Spiritual Spirit Stage'... However, if the original body perishes, the avatars will inevitably perish as well, unless one cultivates a life-saving technique such as a second Primordial Spirit."
Wen Ruyu said, "After the Nascent Soul stage comes the Void Refining stage... Such high-level cultivators are enough to roam the human race's territory. Breaking through is extremely difficult, requiring the Five Elements or the Three Powers to be united. It is said that after breaking through, although they will face a tribulation of lightning every now and then, they will no longer have to worry about their lifespan."
"After the Void Refining stage comes the Profound Cave stage! Any cultivator at the Profound Cave stage can establish a major sect and become famous among the human race... As for Mahayana cultivators? They are even more elusive, and it is said that only Mahayana cultivators can leave this mountain and sea continent and travel to other continents..."
"Is there another continent?"
Fang Qing became interested: "And... this spirit realm truly has abundant lifespans, it's truly enviable."
"Yes... Legend has it that in ancient times, our Spirit Realm was even called the 'Immortal Realm,' producing many immortals and establishing various celestial palaces... It was incredibly prosperous. However, later, the True Immortals were embroiled in internal strife, and a great war reduced the once vast Immortal Realm to just this small Spirit Realm, with all the remaining immortals perishing..."
The path of cultivators in the Biling Sect.
"This land beneath our feet should be under the jurisdiction of the 'Mountain and Sea Immortal Palace,' so after it was shattered and only this continent remained, it was called the 'Mountain and Sea Continent'!"
Wen Ruyu added.
"How do you know so much?"
Fang Qing was somewhat surprised. These lower-level cultivators—well, Nascent Soul cultivators can't be considered lower-level cultivators, but in the Spirit Realm they're at most mid-level—knew far too much.
"Although the Immortal Palace of Mountains and Seas has fallen, the Secret Realm of Mountains and Seas still exists... It opens once every thousand years, and high-level cultivators from various races enter to explore. Some have even brought out complete immortal artifacts... Everyone knows this."
A flicker of fear crossed Wen Ruyu's face: "To maintain the opening of the Immortal Palace Secret Realm, sufficient sacrifices and—'blood sacrifice power' are required! Therefore, on the Mountain and Sea Continent, various races wage war against each other to gather enough blood sacrifice power... And the powerful races often oppress the smaller races, wantonly plundering spiritual objects to meet the sacrifice requirements and shifting the cost onto themselves... We smaller races have no choice but to rise up in resistance for survival... For example, our human race has allied with two nearby races, and each of us possesses the foundation of the Mahayana stage... Even so, every few decades or centuries, we still engage in bloody battles with other races on the 'Battlefield of a Hundred Races,' resulting in the deaths of countless high-level cultivators..."
"I see. Tell me about the Celestial Palace."
Fang Qing was becoming increasingly interested in those immortals.
"Those who can establish a celestial palace are all considered great among true immortals, and are often the rulers of immortals, hence the title 'Celestial Lord'...and much more is unknown."
The Biling Sect cultivator said, "I also saw this sentence in the sect's ancient texts... As various immortal palaces fell, some landed on other continents, and some even disappeared completely... Since then, Mahayana divine beasts have been conceived in the Great Void. High-level cultivators suspect that this is related to a lost immortal palace—'The Palace of Ten Thousand Beasts.' The clue is that those naturally born Mahayana divine beasts often possess a certain immortal beast bloodline, but there is not enough evidence..."
"This was originally a celestial realm, with many immortals and celestial lords cultivating, comparable to Golden Core True Monarchs? But an ancient great war shattered the heavens and earth, wiping out all the immortals, leaving behind only a few celestial artifacts and numerous legacies?"
Fang Qing's understanding of this world began to emerge.
"True Immortals... they certainly have the makings of Golden Core cultivators, but I wonder how many there are, and what about 'Immortal Lords'..."
He said calmly, "Hand over the cultivation methods you practice."
"yes!"
Four Nascent Soul stage cultivators handed over several jade slips in unison.
Fang Qing examined them one by one and compared their physical conditions, thus gaining a better understanding of the cultivation system of the human race in the spirit world.
"Among these cultivation techniques, the most outstanding is the Azure Spirit Ocean Technique, a water-attribute cultivation manual that can be cultivated to the late Nascent Soul stage..."
"The first three stages of human cultivation are all about laying the foundation and nurturing the spiritual essence... Depending on the different properties of the spiritual essence, one can cultivate different attribute techniques... This Nascent Soul stage cultivator is indeed similar to the Core Formation stage cultivator, both around the fourth level... while the Spirit Division stage has some of the characteristics of the Deity Transformation stage..."
However, they don't correspond one-to-one. Even though Fang Qing is only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he feels that relying solely on the methods of Qi Refining, an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator could easily defeat a late-stage Divine Transformation cultivator.
"But refining to the Void is different. The Three Powers and Five Elements are united, and there is no longer any worry about lifespan... This is actually an illusion. It mainly relies on the richness of spiritual energy. Once this rich spiritual energy is lost, such as if one goes to the outer heavens, one will die of old age in no time..."
"Next comes the Cave Profound stage, which is considered high-ranking within the clan..."
"As for the Mahayana stage? It's comparable to a divine elixir..."
"The last immortal, comparable to a Golden Core True Monarch?"
He silently compared the options and suddenly realized that the path he would take after reaching the Divine Transformation stage was still viable.
"The Azure Spirit Ocean Technique?"
"Of all the cultivation techniques I've acquired so far, this one is the best, and it's water-based, but it's not that great..."
Fang Qing flipped through two pages and immediately realized that he couldn't instantly master it with the help of the "Dao Sheng Pearl".
At the very least, one must first cultivate one's own "spiritual essence" according to the methods of cultivating one's foundation in this world, then refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the first strand of magical power, and then it is a matter of the Dao-born Pearl.
"With my primordial spirit, and the fact that the physical body of a Purple Mansion True Person is merely a shell that can be created at will, creating a spirit is not a problem..."
"But this technique is really just average."
In his eyes, the so-called Seven Sects of Xuanhai and the Six Kingdoms of Zhentao were all small and medium-sized forces. They might have one or two Dongxuan cultivators, but compared to the big commotion of the Winged Clan before, they were still not enough.
Even if I want a cultivation technique, it should at least be able to reach the Mahayana stage, right? If I could find a method to become an immortal, that would be even better.
"The true immortals of this world seem to wield the power of the Great Dao by relying on immortal artifacts, which is quite profound and no less than the Golden Core stage..."
"There are even legendary immortal lords... If we can make it through this path, we won't need to worry about the [Yearly Duty] path."
Fang Qing stood up. Although the human cultivators were weak, there seemed to be at least one Mahayana cultivator named Ling Xuzi, who was just not in good condition.
If you want to find someone to ask about the situation, this person is the most suitable candidate, although you may not be able to find them for a while.
Now that Heaven has turned against us, it is no longer possible for us to ascend to the position of True Lord.
It's not that it's impossible, but the next divine retribution will be severe, and then we might not be able to live so freely anymore.
Moreover, when Fang Qing observed the heavens and earth with the True Lord's Dharma Form last time, he actually saw several old, immortal beings who harbored ill intentions towards him.
They were clearly planning to join forces to kill the immortal and then seize the benefits from him...
'I wonder how well they've prepared. Have they set up an inescapable trap? Hmm... logically, they should have prepared a whole bunch of treasures and formations to counter water...'
Little do they know what their expressions will be if I pull out a [Winged Fire] or [Mystic Thunder] for them next time...
"You all go about your own business and forget everything about me."
Fang Qing stood with his hands behind his back, then suddenly transformed into a streak of water and disappeared.
Wen Ruyu looked bewildered, then stared at the three Nascent Soul cultivators from the Azure Spirit Sect ahead, her expression changing drastically: "Why did I stop my escape light here?"
"Haha, you bitch, you can't escape now!"
The cultivators of the Azure Spirit Sect were overjoyed and quickly waved their flags. A simple array descended, enveloping the nearby islands and reefs, its interior filled with chilling malevolent energy...