Chapter 86 – Closed Door Cultivation
Within the abode on Moon’s Embrace Mountain.
Chen Xi sat cross-legged on the meditation cus.h.i.+on, and beneath the meditation cus.h.i.+on was a segment of a top-grade spirit vein that contained dense spirit energy that cleared the heart and calmed the mind.
He took out the Ice Crane Technique’s jade slip and carefully read through it once more.
Swoos.h.!.+
A white jade bottle flew out to descend on the ground before him. The stopper opened up and dense spirit energy suffused out. There was 5,000kg of spirit liquid within. That day, Chen Xi had merely consumed 1,000 kg of spirit liquid and had broken through from the perfection-stage of the Congenital Realm to the 1st star of the Violet Palace Realm, moreover, his realm was solid and firm.
Chen Xi thought for a moment and withdrew another two jade bottles, one black and one green. They were respectively from the corpses of the Dark Wyrm King and Roc King, and contained respective amounts of almost 4,000kg and 65,000kg of spirit liquid!
“65,000kg? Looks like the Roc King didn’t just prepare to refine Bloodsoul Fortune Pills to break through to the Golden Hall Realm, he even prepared sufficient spirit liquid. But it has now benefited me…” Chen Xi roughly took a low breath and was extremely pleasantly surprised in his heart.
“Draw!” After arranging the three jade bottles in order, Chen Xi commanded in his heart, and a strand of spirit liquid instantly surged out from within the white jade bottle, then he opened his mouth and swallowed it.
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+
The rich spirit liquid was like a gurgling stream that washed through the meridians in his entire body, then transformed into a translucent True Essence that was like ice before completely pouring into his Dantian.
Within the vast and open s.p.a.ce within his violet palace.
Along with the influx of strand after strand of True Essence, the great lake that had dried up long ago was like a starving infant beast that started absorbing madly.
The surface of the lake rose up bit by bit.
After three hours, the great lake in the violet palace had arrived at a saturated condition. The dim star that hung above the great lake in the violet palace emitted a dazzling and resplendent brilliance as well. Its brilliance was chilly like ice and translucent like snow and was extremely beautiful.
Rumble!
Chen Xi didn’t stop circulating his cultivation technique and instead suddenly started circulating the second level of the Ice Crane Technique, and along with an enormous rumble that was like m.u.f.fled thunder, the entire great lake in the violet palace started to madly rotate.
It rotated like a turbine with a speed that became swifter and swifter, and the absorption force that surged out from it became more and more terrifying. The spirit liquid from within the white jade bottle had practically only just circulated in his meridians for an instant when it was swallowed and absorbed. As a consequence of this, the great lake in the violet palace became more and more wider, more and more deeper!
Bang!
An enormous bang sounded out, and in the sky above the great lake in the violet palace, another star had abruptly emerged. It was separated on the other side from the previous star, and they both faced each other from a distance. Accompanied by the surging spirit liquids that poured in and the expansion of the great lake in the violet palace, this newly emerged star started becoming gradually brighter from its dim state, then became dazzling, then sparkling!
I’m at the 2nd star of the Violet Palace Realm. Chen Xi continued absorbing the dense spirit liquid from within the white jade bottle without the slightest intention of stopping.
When he advanced to the 2nd star of the Violet Palace Realm, 3,000kg of spirit liquid from the 5,000kg within the white jade bottle was already consumed, and along with Chen Xi’s advancement, the absorption speed of the great lake in his violet palace became faster, causing the mere 2,000kg of spirit liquid that remained in the jade bottle to vanish at an extremely swift speed.
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+
The great lake in the violet palace continued expanding and deepening at a speed that was at least 10 or even perhaps 100 times faster than before, and this speed was still sustained.
Slus.h.!.+
After an unknown amount of time, the spirit liquid within the white jade bottle was completely absorbed. At practically the exact same instant, a spout of spirit liquid flew out from the black jade bottle beside it and poured into Chen Xi’s mouth without the slightest break.
Time slowly flowed by.
Yet Chen Xi’s eyes were still tightly closed with a peaceful expression on his face, and he still didn’t have the slightest intention of stopping the circulation of his cultivation technique.
This wasn’t reckless.
After he comprehended a complete Wind Dao Insight, Chen Xi’s soul had already broken through the Perception Force stage and attained the state of Spiritual Perception, and it was on par with cultivators at the Golden Hall Realm.
Most importantly, Chen Xi’s current comprehension of the Heaven Dao had long since surpa.s.sed cultivators of the same cultivation, and he’d even outdone ordinary Golden Hall Realm cultivators.
Relying on the strength of his soul that was at the Spiritual Perception stage and his superb comprehension in Dao Insight, Chen Xi was completely able to cultivate all the way to the Golden Hall Realm without stopping.
Of course, the precondition would be to possess sufficient spirit liquid to support his progression.
Some cultivators were unable to advance for a long time. On one hand, the reason was possessing insufficient spirit liquid, and on the other hand, it was because their souls weren’t strong enough. Without a strong soul to control it, the explosive increase in strength would only lead to exploding to death from the uncontrollable energy.
It was like a mortal commoner possessing the True Essence energy to raise a mountain, yet not possessing an equal soul. There would only be one outcome, and the commoner would be unable to control the True Essence and would instead cause himself to die under the bursting and chaotic flow of True Essence.
Moreover, the soul was also the central core for controlling Magic Treasures in battle, it was a control level. Even if one’s True Essence was powerful, possessing a weak soul would cause one to be unable to attain the proficient state of controlling a Magic Treasure like controlling one’s arms and finger, so the person’s combat strength would naturally be weak. Even if one’s True Essence was ordinary, possessing a powerful soul would allow one to utilize the full might of a Magic Treasure and the person’s combat strength would rise because of this.
All in all, the uses of the soul were extremely profound, and it possessed a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p that was inseparable with True Essence, one’s cultivation realm, the comprehension of the Grand Dao, and even crafting talismans, equipment refinement, and beast taming. But, the improvement of the soul was extremely difficult.
There were only three ways to cultivate the soul.
The first, relying on a visualization technique.
The second, relying on comprehending the Grand Dao.
The third, tempering the will and spirit through live combat.
However, in the cultivation world, visualization techniques were extremely precious and were something only great powers with deep reserves were able to possess. Whereas comprehending the Grand Dao was a fortune that could be encountered by luck but not sought after, and it was extremely difficult.
Only the method of using live combat to temper the will remained, yet it was the most ordinary method. However, it was also the most dangerous and slowest method of cultivating the soul.
Chen Xi possessed the f.u.xi Divine Statue so he naturally didn’t have to consider these questions.
When he was at the perfection-stage of the Congenital Realm, he’d already attained the stage of Perception Force, and in the time after that, his improvement in the comprehension of the Dao was extremely shocking as well. Now that he’d mastered a complete Wind Dao Insight, it was extremely beneficial to his soul, and coupled with his visualization of the f.u.xi Divine Statue day in and day out, his soul was even improving at every moment. It wasn’t the slightest bit like other cultivators that would encounter bottlenecks or were unable to advance!
Moreover, he’d practically spent this near half a year’s worth of time in battle. No matter if it was combat expertise or the will to fight, they had obtained repeated tempering. The solidness of his Dao Heart and the strength of his will similarly allowed his soul to become even more solid and refined.
Visualizing!
Comprehending the Dao!
Tempering the will via live combat!
All of these had placed a dense and powerful foundation for Chen Xi’s soul to strengthen, so it was naturally far from something other cultivators could compare to.
…
One month had already pa.s.sed by.
During this period of time, Chen Xi was constantly in closed door cultivation. Du Qingxi and the others were recovering from their injuries as well.
The Profound-vision Old Turtle King and the Nine-tailed Fox King seemed as if they’d settled down in Moon’s Embrace Mountain and stayed within the azure pine forest at the mountainside all day long, drinking tea and wine, merrily living a life of ease.
Mu Kui also seized this opportunity to repeatedly consult the two demon kings on questions he had in cultivating. Out of respect for Chen Xi, the two demon kings naturally pa.s.sed on their knowledge devotedly and guided Mu Kui time after time, causing Mu Kui to be delighted to the point he thought he was dreaming every day and even walking felt as if treading on air.
However, Mu Kui soon became troubled because the Moon’s Embrace Mountain had suddenly become bustling with activity.
“Eh, so it’s Fellow Daoist Azure Cow, you’ve come to pay a visit to Senior Chen Xi as well?”
“Haha, Old Toad, you’ve actually come as well. I remember that your Lone Jade Mountain is 40,000 km from here. With your cultivation, you ran for at least half a month, right?”
“Exactly! Aiya! You actually brought Nine-profounds Spiritblend Jade!”
“Cheh! This gift of mine is still considered to be shabby. Currently, on Moon’s Embrace Mountain, if you can’t produce a slightly rare treasure, then the loss of face is unendurable!”
Near Moon’s Embrace Mountain, numerous demons carried various gifts and were either in groups of two to five and were like numerous tides of water that were surging up Moon’s Embrace Mountain. The scene was extremely bustling with noise and excitement.
Since Chen Xi killed the Aqua Cavern’s Black Ape King, the Copper Mountain’s Thunderhawk King, the Moonlight Lake’s Dark Wyrm King and the Moonhowl Ridge’s Roc King, his reputation had become so resounding that he seemed to have become the number one influential figure in the area of 5,000km of the depths of the Southern Barbaric Mountain Range.
Especially when they heard that the Profound-vision Old Turtle King and the Nine-tailed Fox King had become Chen Xi’s best friends as well, Chen Xi’s reputation was like the sun during high noon, causing the myriad of demons to feel fear and reverence in their hearts.
The Moon’s Embrace Mountain that Chen Xi stayed at had naturally become the holy grounds within the hearts of the myriad of demons in the depths of the mountain range. It caused countless demons to trudge over to pay their respects, and the grandness of this occasion was unprecedented.
“Is Senior Chen Xi still in closed door cultivation?”
“Yeah, we’ve come here to firstly pay our respects to the two seniors, the Profound-Vision Old Turtle King and the Nine-tailed Fox King, and secondly for the sake of Senior Chen Xi. Fellow Daoist Mu Kui, you mustn’t let all of us down.”
Every day, practically every single demon that walked up Moon’s Embrace Mountain would put forward the request of paying their respects to Chen Xi. Mu Kui had been questioned by them to the point calluses were soon to form on his ears, and he repeated the same answer again and again. “Senior Chen Xi is in closed door cultivation.”
When he was truly forced into a corner, he would turn the spearhead to another place, like saying, “Even I don’t know when Senior Chen Xi will be coming out. Didn’t you see that even the King Xuan Jing and King Qing Qiu are waiting? Why don’t all of you go ask the two Kings?”
Even then, Mu Kui had still become extremely busy. He had to engage in social small talk with the various fellow daoists, then make a feast for them to eat and enjoy themselves. In the end, after he’d sent them off, he still had to carry the various gifts. He was running off his feet all day and it caused him to feel dizzy.
Mu Kui’s vexations were greatly relieved after the Nine-tailed Fox King arranged for over 100 beautiful fox demons under his command to become attendants.
I wonder exactly how long Senior will stay in closed door cultivation? If he still doesn’t come out, then these fellows would probably hang on in Moon’s Embrace Mountain and not leave. After Mu Kui sat cross-legged at the table at the mountainside azure pine forest, he drank fine wine as he muttered. The nearby open s.p.a.ce that was over 3km large was crowded with various demons since long ago. Some had just arrived, some had stayed here for many days, and they were all waiting to meet Chen Xi.
“I never expected that Chen Xi was so well received,” Duanmu Ze said in admiration.
“Haha, I think so too, he seems like a mountain king. But the monkey wine here is really delicious.” Song Lin’s sleepy eyes were half closed as he embraced the wine jug and spoke vaguely.
Du Qingxi didn’t speak, but she was extremely delighted in her heart. As for the reason, even she was unable to say. She was a woman after all, and they would always have delighted moments or worries that were inexplicable.
Rumble!
It was at this moment that the door of the abode that had been closed tightly for a month opened up slowly.
Swoos.h.!.+
At this moment, all the sounds vanished without a trace, and within this sudden silence, the gazes of everyone shot within the abode in unison.
Their expressions contained undisguisable excitement and antic.i.p.ation, and they seemed to be afraid to even breathe heavily.
It was under this attention of the mult.i.tude of demons that a tall figure slowly walked out from within the abode.