Returning to the Appraiser Hall, Zhang Xuan immediately headed to his living quarters, secluded himself within a chamber, and immediately activated the Spirit Gathering Formation.
Having collected innumerable books, learned two dans of Heaven’s Path Formation Art, sapped dry his Sword Intent, Saber Intent, and Spear Intent, Zhang Xuan was already terribly exhausted. If not for an adamant will driving him, he would have long collapsed.
Sitting at the center of the Spirit Gathering Formation, he flicked his hands and a pile of spirit stones appeared around him.
Tzzzzzzzzzz!
As soon as the spirit stones were placed in the formation, the spiritual energy harnessed within was immediately extracted. As though vegetables being placed within an oiled wok, a sizzling sound could be heard. After which, the concentration of spiritual energy in the surrounding started rising swiftly.
Threefold!
Fourfold!
Fivefold!
…
In the blink of an eye, the concentration in the area had already reached sixfold of the surroundings.
Pili pala!
As spiritual energy was being drawn rapidly, some of the spirit stones started crumbling. Paying it no heed, Zhang Xuan continued adding in more spirit stones to fuel the formation.
Eventually, when the concentration finally reached tenfold, Zhang Xuan stopped.
At this concentration, it was already no different from the rate of absorbing spiritual energy from the spirit stones straight already.
“Begin!”
Since all preparations were done, Zhang Xuan immediately widened the pores across his entire body to absorb the thick spiritual energy in the surroundings rapidly. Then, converting them into Heaven’s Path zhenqi, he refilled the energy expenditure he had incurred before.
Two hours later, his fatigue disappeared without a trace and he felt revitalized. He had finally reached his peak condition.
“Breakthrough!”
Muttering softly, the overflowing Heaven’s Path zhenqi in his body began to strike at the barriers restraining his further progress.
Kacha!
After a seemingly long period of time, a crisp sound reminiscent of a small chick breaking out of its shell sounded. As though having knocked down a ceiling capping him, Zhang Xuan’s body underwent an astonishing metamorphosis.
Nourished, every single cell on his body and his soul were undergoing a rapid qualitative evolution.
His lifespan which was capped at 100 began rising at a speed visible to the eye.
110!
120!
130!
…
His muscles and skin seemed to have been reborn, and they became even more supple and powerful.
Of one’s entire life, the growth stage at which one had the best skin was infancy. During that period time, one’s body would be overflowing with vitality, allowing all injuries to heal swiftly.
But along with the rise in one’s age, as one consumed material food and the impurities in one’s body started to increase, one’s body would start to decline. As one’s regenerative function lost out to the decline, one’s bodily functions would gradually fail.
The Transcendent Mortal realm served to overcome this limit.
One who succeeded in the breakthrough would be brought back to their prime. Even a person who had a single foot in the grave would be overflowing with vitality.
Even though the Heaven’s Path zhenqi that Zhang Xuan cultivated was incomparably pure and was highly beneficial to both his body and his soul, it still wasn’t sufficient to grant him the strength and lifespan of a Transcendent Mortal. Thus, before this breakthrough, he was still constrained by the limits of a mortal.
This was the difference in the level of existence. Take an ant and an elephant for example, even the strongest ant could never defeat the weakest elephant.
Thus, having this step into new realms, his body seemed to have been nourished by the most concentrated energy of the world, making him feel incredibly energized and revitalized.
“Continue!”
After reaching the Prolonged Longevity realm, Zhang Xuan threw out another bunch of spirit stones and continued driving the Transcendent Mortal 1-dan Heaven’s Path Divine Art. Just like that, he gradually broke through the various bottlenecks in his cultivation.
Prolonged Longevity realm primary stage!
Prolonged Longevity realm intermediate stage!
Prolonged Longevity realm advanced stage!
…
Two hours later, Zhang Xuan finally reached Prolonged Longevity realm pinnacle.
And at that moment, his lifespan had been increased from 100 to 200 years!
At Prolonged Longevity realm pinnacle, one’s lifespan would be doubled.
When he exhaled deeply, unlike the usual turbid gas filled with impurities that were clogging up his meridians, it carried the light fragrance of nature.
Having reached the level of a Transcendent Mortal, one’s physical body would possess the quality similar to a newborn infant, untarnished by impurities or pollutants.
Due to the overwhelming vitality within a child, it was extremely rare for them to suffer from bad breath. The current Zhang Xuan was also the same.
“Hearing, sight, smell… My five senses have been significantly enhanced as well!”
Opening his eyes and looking at the distance, he could see the ants several dozen meters away clearly. In fact, even the singing of the canaries several hundred meters away were crystal clear to his ears.
The rise in his cultivation realm had enhanced his five senses significantly. His reaction speed had increased by twofold.
The enhanced senses made it easier for him to harmonize with the nature, thus facilitating the absorption of spiritual energy and increasing his rate of cultivation.
No wonder there was the saying ‘Beneath the Transcendent Mortals are all ants’! Only upon reaching this realm could one understand how fearsome it was.
“It seems like Ding Hong is one of the weaker cultivators at Prolonged Longevity realm. Otherwise, it would definitely be impossible for me to subdue him so easily!”
Upon reaching this level, Zhang Xuan realized how fortunate he was in his fight with Ding Hong back then.
Without proper guidance, that fellow had fumbled his way through the realms. Even though he had successfully made the breakthrough, he was one of the weakest ones of the tier. If Zhang Xuan had met with a Transcendent Mortal 1-dan cultivator from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance back then instead, he would definitely have been in for a hard fight.
“After reaching Transcendent Mortal 1-dan pinnacle, my strength, when totaled up, adds up to more than two hundred thousand ding!”
Clenching his fists tightly, Zhang Xuan chuckled in joy.
At Prolonged Longevity realm, only one’s lifespan would be enhanced. As such, before reaching Transcendent Mortal 2-dan, one’s strength would be capped at a hundred thousand. On the other hand, Zhang Xuan had already achieved that might at Half-Transcension realm.
At this moment, along with the rise in his cultivation realm, his strength had increased by two times, thus reaching two hundred thousand!
In terms of just strength, he was already comparable to a Transcendent Mortal 2-dan Origin Energy realm intermediate stage expert.
At Origin Energy realm primary stage, one would possess the strength of 150,000 ding, 200,000 ding at intermediate stage, 250,000 ding at advanced stage, and 300,000 ding at pinnacle.
And this was only in terms of zhenqi. If one were to factor in one’s comprehension of the nature, the strength at one’s disposal would be much greater.
“I can achieve breakthroughs swiftly via Heaven’s Path Divine Art, but… the expense is truly too great!”
Having gathered more than a thousand cultivation technique manuals, Zhang Xuan understood the rate of cultivation of ordinary Transcendent Mortal 1-dan cultivators. Even the most talented person would require several years of hard work to climb from primary stage to pinnacle. However, Zhang Xuan had done the same in just two hours…
Anyone who had witnessed the speed of his cultivation could definitely die of shock.
But while the speed was astounding, the expense was fearsome as well.
After the breakthrough, his Heaven’s Path zhenqi had undergone a qualitative change, becoming even purer and less viscous.
If the Heaven’s Path zhenqi were sand grains that could easily pass through small spaces previously, then at this moment… it was no different from flowing water. It could even slip through gaps that were indiscernible to the eye.
With the increase in the purity of his zhenqi, naturally, the requirements for Zhang Xuan’s spiritual energy rose proportionately as well. Even though he had earned several ten thousand spirit stones through various means, there wasn’t much of it that was sufficiently pure for him to absorb. Almost ninety percent of the spiritual energy contained within each spirit stone went to waste along with his cultivation.
He thought that the amount of spirit stones he had earned should be sufficient for him to reach Transcendent Mortal 3-dan or 4-dan but from the looks of it, he was being too naive.
The spirit stones that he had earned from the Appraiser Hall, the wager, guidance, and sale of the Soulless Metal Humanoid… had nearly dried out!
In other words… he used up nearly fifty thousand spirit stones just to advance from Prolonged Longevity realm primary stage to Prolonged Longevity realm pinnacle!
If it was anyone else, this amount of spirit stones would be more than sufficient for them to reach Transcendent Mortal 4-dan.
“I’m back to becoming a poor bloke again…”
Smiling bitterly, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.
Three days ago, he had to go through so much trouble just to make fifty thousand spirit stones. He thought that he had earned a huge wealth capable of rivaling several kingdoms already. Yet, to think that he would be back to square one after a cultivation session…
It was no wonder by people say cultivating was a money-burning business. From the looks of it, the description couldn’t be any more apt.
Without sufficient spirit stones, it would be difficult for him to raise his cultivation realm.
“This kind of low-tier spirit stone is no longer sufficient to fuel my cultivation…”
Smiling bitterly, Zhang Xuan contemplated over his future course of action.
Several ten thousand spirit stones were only sufficient to raise his cultivation by one realm. If he were to attempt to advance through Origin Energy or even higher realms, it was unimaginable, how many spirit stones would be required?
It felt as though even if he were to earn several hundred thousand or even a million spirit stones, it would still be far from sufficient to support his cultivation.
Furthermore, there would come a point that the quality he required for his cultivation would exceed the purity of the spirit stone. At that point, all of the spirit stones would lose their worth.
If Zhang Xuan wanted to raise his cultivation swiftly, he would have to find some way to obtain a middle-tier spirit stone.
This kind of spirit stone possessed spiritual energy of extremely high purity which was much easier and more convenient to absorb.
“Three days is up, Luo Zhu should be done by now. I should hurry over to the soul oracle tomb to find a way to save Lu Chong!”
Standing up, Zhang Xuan walked out of the chamber.
It was already the second day when Zhang Xuan went to the Formation Master Guild. After the hassle there and the four hours spent on cultivation after returning, it was already around the promised time they agreed on.
This trip to the soul oracle tomb would determine whether Lu Chong could be awoken from his coma or not. Zhang Xuan would not allow any hiccups to occur.
Heading to the lounge, he realized that Luo Zhu had already arrived.
Zhao Ya and the others were also done with their cultivation, and they were standing by the side of the room.
His students didn’t let down his expectations. In three days’ time, they had all reached Zhizun realm. This was especially so for Zhao Ya, who had reached Zhizun realm intermediate stage. From her aura, one could vaguely feel overwhelming power.
Sun Qiang hadn’t been slacking off the past three days as well. He had completely reinforced his cultivation as a Transcendent Mortal 1-dan. Even though he was still a far way off from matching up to Zhang Xuan, as compared to his cultivation of Zhenqi realm a few months ago, he had come quite a long way in this limited period of time.
“Zhang shi!”
Upon noticing his arrival, everyone turned their gazes over.
“Are you done with the preparations? If so, let’s set off,” Zhang Xuan said.
“I’m done with the preparations!” Luo Zhu nodded his head.
The items he needed for the trip to the soul oracle tomb were all ready.
“Do you all intend to accompany us to the soul oracle tomb or are you all returning to the Myriad Kingdom Alliance?”
Zhang Xuan turned to Zhao Feiwu and the others.
“The soul oracle tomb is dangerous so we’ll pass on the offer…”
Jin Conghai was just about to reject the request when Zhao Feiwu interrupted, “Of course we’ll be following as well. I’ve only read about the soul oracles from ancient texts. If their inheritance can really be found in the tomb, then it’ll be worth going through the danger!”
“Gong… Gongzi, your body…”
Alarmed, Jin Conghai hurriedly persuaded.
He wasn’t weak, and he was confident of protecting the gongzi under most circumstances… However, the soul oracle tomb was simply uncharted territories. It was a treacherous location even for him. Gongzi’s cultivation was as good as null, and if they were to head there like that, he wasn’t confident of ensuring the latter’s safety.
As the other party’s subordinate, he didn’t dare to take such risks.
“Don’t worry. Even though my fighting prowess is lacking, I am more than capable of protecting myself!” Zhao Feiwu chuckled lightly. “Besides, isn’t Zhang shi here? I am eagerly waiting to see how he will wreak havoc in the soul oracle tomb!”
“But…”
Hearing the other party’s resolute voice, Jin Conghai was conflicted. However, he still gave in eventually.
“Alright then, let’s set off!”
Since everyone had already made up their minds, they climbed onto the back of the spirit beast without any hesitation.
This mount was Zhao Feiwu’s spirit beast, and it had a wide back. Even though more than a dozen people were riding on it, it wasn’t cramped at all.
Spreading its wings, it soared into the vast skies.
Soul oracle tomb, here we come!
It is believed that the consumption of material sustenance is ‘inferior’ in practice as they contain impurities, and one would only be accumulating impurities in one’s body. These impurities limit one’s growth and caps one’s lifespan. As such, the first stage of cultivating tend to be ‘Body Tempering’ (In this novel, it’s probably Fighter 4-dan Pigu realm) to rid oneself of the impurities within one’s body.
