Chapter 172: Three Steps Of The Fleshly Body
Juze City lies south of Bing Zu Marsh. Qiu Zhou Prefecture City lies north of Bing Zu Marsh.
Along the official road by the marsh seaside, one must travel around two thousand li to arrive.
Of course, one could take a ship to cross Bing Zu Marsh directly.
But in the depths of Bing Zu Marsh, bizarre events and phenomena always occur that cannot be explained, with countless ships disappearing every year. Among the missing martial cultivators, there are no lack of strong practitioners with high cultivation.
The clash grounds of those young martial cultivators are also only two or three hundred li from the shore, not truly deep into Bing Zu Marsh.
Snow had already fallen continuously for five days.
The carriage raced along the official road, the snow-covered road crushed into wheel ruts, muddy and extremely bumpy. In the final hundred li to Qiu Zhou Prefecture City, the road widened, paved with giant stones, with millennium pine and cypress trees planted on both sides, and the carriage finally steadied inside.
Li Weiyi sat alone in the carriage, golden light flickering in his pupils, his five fingers clenched into a fist, crackling bone sounds resounding inside his body, golden light spraying from all his pores.
“My entire skeleton gilded on the surface, finally achieving minor accomplishment of golden bone. Relying solely on physical body power, my combat power can already match an ordinary Five Seas Realm fifth realm martial cultivator.”
Li Weiyi only felt as if his entire person had been reshaped, his body filled with power, as if he could smash into a city wall with his body.
Half a month on the fishing boat, five days traveling by road.
In just twenty days, if he encountered the Five Seas Realm fourth realm Nine Springs Supreme Person Huo Qiankun again, Li Weiyi believed that even without wearing the governor’s official robe, he could send him on his way within ten moves.
After all, he not only had physical body power, but also a body full of magic power.
As for the Five Seas Realm fifth realm Yuwen Chao, he could handle him within twenty moves.
This was still just his own combat power, not counting trump cards like the Evil Camel Bell, Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish, governor’s official robe, and so on. At this realm level, high-grade magic tools could no longer be called trump cards; almost everyone had them.
From within the Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish came a soul thought from Zen Sea Observing Mist.
“Splash!”
Li Weiyi brought her out from the Blood Mud Space.
The one appearing in the carriage was Li Ling. Zen Sea Observing Mist’s true body could only be separately exposed in the Yang Realm’s heaven and earth at night; currently, she still needed to reside in Li Ling’s body.
Li Weiyi smiled: “Secluded cultivation ended? Coming out at this time, I suppose your soul thought has recovered to a certain critical point?”
“Shaoyang Star is not simple; for us batch of participants back then, it was a sacred realm for healing and recuperation.”
She sat across from Li Weiyi, lifting the carriage curtain: “How far to Qiu Zhou Prefecture City?”
“We’ll arrive this afternoon,” Li Weiyi said.
Zen Sea Observing Mist nodded lightly, covering the carriage window again where cold wind kept pouring in: “You’re right; my soul thought has recovered a lot in these two months. Now, instead, the newly forged physical body has become the shortcoming. You’ve achieved minor accomplishment of golden bone?”
Li Weiyi nodded, asking in surprise: “Your bone body is Son of Heaven Bone; how could your physical body become the shortcoming? Isn’t physical body power your strongest aspect?”
Zen Sea Observing Mist said: “Our situations are very similar now: strong bone body, but weak flesh and blood, tendons and skin. I’m even more extreme than you. When striking out a punch, the bones might feel nothing, but the flesh and blood of the entire arm has already shattered. When receiving another’s palm, your bones can resist, but the internal organs might have already shattered under the palm force’s shock.”
“To advance the physical body further and make it even stronger, you must nourish blood with blood crystals and forge flesh with immortal soil.”
“When blood vitality flows like dragon’s roar, and organs and muscles generate immortal radiance, that is minor accomplishment of flesh and blood. At that time, your physical body combat power will naturally rise another level.”
Li Weiyi said: “Reaching that level, can it rival Seventh Sea martial cultivators? Mortal Seventh Sea!”
He knew well that even Nine Springs Supreme Persons cultivating the Seventh Sea had vastly different combat power.
Mortal Seventh Sea and Hundred Meridians Pure Silver Immortal Body Seventh Sea could differ by several tiers in combat power.
Zen Sea Observing Mist said: “First step, minor accomplishment of golden bone. Second step, minor accomplishment of flesh and blood. Third step is refining tendons and shaping skin. All three steps achieved can be called Dao Body, physical body able to rival Dao Seed Realm martial cultivators.”
“You’ve cultivated long-term on Shaoyang Star, absorbing quite a bit of the blood mist there; your blood vitality is already very strong and should soon achieve minor accomplishment.”
“Immortal soil is used to refine Longevity Pills and forge Longevity Body. If you can use immortal soil to shape organs and muscles, it will naturally be stronger than an ordinary Dao Body. So, I can’t give you an accurate power positioning; how strong it can reach, only you can verify by achieving it yourself.”
Physical body cultivation finally had a direction to continue advancing.
Li Weiyi asked: “First step requires golden spring. Second step requires immortal soil. Then for the third step, what rare resource is needed to cultivate minor accomplishment of tendons and skin?”
Zen Sea Observing Mist said: “This is the reason I left Shaoyang Star! Tendons and skin belong to wood; Divine Stove Wood must be harvested to rapidly refine them. Shenzao Diyuan, eight hundred li from Qiu Zhou Prefecture City, is like a heaven and earth stove, with lava erupting year-round; only there can Divine Stove Wood be found.”
“We’re going to Shenzao Diyuan now?”
Li Weiyi secretly calculated the time.
There were still over twenty days until the new year.
Over a month until the Lantern Festival, plenty of time.
Zen Sea Observing Mist shook her head: “With your cultivation, you can’t enter; I’ll go alone! I’ll try to return before the new year… to celebrate together.”
When she said the last sentence, a smile squeezed onto her face.
Li Weiyi leaned back, back against the carriage compartment, smiling: “Actually, you don’t need to force yourself like this; we’re not like lovers at all. Clearly so close, yet it feels like thousands of li apart, hearts calm as still water toward each other, no impulse emotion wanting intimate contact.”
Zen Sea Observing Mist did not deny it, but asked: “What about toward Jiang Ning then?”
Li Weiyi restrained his smile, fell into thought, and said: “She’s very beautiful; no man doesn’t want intimate contact with her. Honestly, half a month alone on the fishing boat, my mood had an unprecedented ease and pleasure. Even if we just sat at the bow without speaking, blowing evening wind, there was a leisurely and tranquil beauty… I really want it to continue forever.”
“Youth is truly wonderful!”
Zen Sea Observing Mist sighed.
“Don’t get the wrong idea! Toward Jiang Ning, at most it’s just appreciation, like toward any other beautiful thing in the world,” Li Weiyi said.
“Is that so? Zen Sea Observing Mist’s beauty actually doesn’t lose to anyone; it’s just her cultivation is too high, leading everyone to only recognize her as the Son of Heaven and not dare discuss her figure and appearance. Your impression of her can’t forever be that white bones corpse in the tomb.”
Zen Sea Observing Mist’s tone was sweet, her body radiating a confident and composed relaxed feeling.
Li Weiyi gazed at her for a moment, waved his hand with a smile: “I feel that as long as you’re still residing in Li Ling’s body, it’s hard for me to separate you from her.”
Zen Sea Observing Mist restrained her smile, nodded solemnly: “Give me some more time; for now, you and I will be dao companions supporting each other on the cultivation path! How much qi have you accumulated in your second sea of qi?”
“After taking the Qi Ascending Pills, accumulation speed greatly increased; it’s already fully cultivated. After nourishing lung leaves a bit longer, I can impact the third realm,” Li Weiyi said.
“Using immortal soil to shape organs and muscles can greatly shorten the time nourishing lung leaves.”
Zen Sea Observing Mist took out a pill bottle and handed it to him: “The last batch; medicinal herbs are used up, all Qi Ascending Pills are here. When I return from Shenzao Diyuan, I’ll refine more for you. Oh, right, I took ten jin of the immortal soil you had in the Blood Mud Space.”
She also needed to cultivate her physical body.
The carriage compartment quieted down.
The two seemed to have no common words besides cultivation matters; compared to that, he could still bicker with Li Ling.
Just before arriving at Qiu Zhou Prefecture City, Li Weiyi got out of the carriage and waved goodbye to her.
The carriage turned, heading north.
After the heavy snow, the weather cleared, boundless blue sky spotless.
Qiu Zhou Prefecture City was the largest city in the Southern Territory, also the number one cultivation sacred land in the Southern Territory, with magic energy thicker than anywhere else, more than one Heaven Earth Spring.
Jiang Ning told him not to come, but he insisted on coming.
All the young martial cultivators under heaven came; why couldn’t he?
Zuo Qiu Gatehouse clearly placed extreme importance on the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, management strict; entering the city gate, all had to verify identity.
Li Weiyi took out the Commoner’s Register and naturally passed easily, but was told that young generation martial cultivators of the Southern Territory could only reside in Southern City. They could go to Northern City, Eastern City, Western City to tour, but must return by nightfall.
When asking the reason, the other only said it was the higher-ups’ regulation.
Li Weiyi naturally didn’t care; after entering the city, he directly paid for a carriage and headed to Immortal Forest.
To Immortal Forest, to find Yin Ten.
Say a thousand or ten thousand words, he was just a newcomer to Jiu Li Hidden Sect for less than a year, unfamiliar with many things. Qiu Zhou Prefecture City was vast, nearly boundless; having him search house by house for the special marks of hidden sect strongholds was like finding a needle in a vast sea.
Yin Ten was easy to find!
As long as she came to Qiu Zhou Prefecture City, she definitely resided in Immortal Forest.
Thinking he would soon see Yao Yin, Yin Twenty-Four, and the others, Li Weiyi was very pleased, sitting in the carriage, lifting the carriage curtain to survey this prosperous mega-city that was among the best even in the entire Lingxiao Life Realm.
The Lantern Festival was still over a month away, but young prodigies from the twenty-eight prefectures had already gathered one after another.
Traveling with them were strong practitioners of the older generation.
For the young ones, what they valued was not just scheming for power and profit.
Many among them valued fame even more!
Who didn’t want to become famous under heaven in their youth?
With fame, wherever they went, countless people would look up to and respect them, seen as idols by young men and women, valued, favored, admired.
The Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, this feast specially prepared for the prodigies under heaven, was an excellent opportunity to become famous in one battle, moreover with the world’s topmost supreme treasures as rewards.
Such an opportunity was enough to make countless hot-blooded youths go all out.
Of course, there were also many self-aware young people really just coming to join in the fun, wanting to catch a glimpse of those famed young talents renowned under heaven.
As for the strong practitioners of the older generation coming from all directions, their purposes were far more complex!
Of course, they had their own circles and wouldn’t easily appear in public, not even wanting Zuo Qiu Gatehouse to know of their arrival.
The carriage traveled for over an hour, passing through the inner city gate, arriving at a dao domain area where magic energy was thick as clouds, and finally stopped.
The very center of Qiu Zhou Prefecture City was Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’s Ancestral Realm Taoli Mountain, the largest dao domain in the city, with the Southern Territory’s largest Heaven Earth Spring.
That Heaven Earth Spring was located above the clouds, like a rift torn in the sky, law’s energy pouring down continuously like a waterfall.
From any place in the city, one could see the spectacle of the heavenly descending radiant waterfall, enveloping Taoli Mountain like an immortal domain.
With Taoli Mountain at the center, it expanded outward in an Eight Trigrams formation, divided into eight inner city districts.
This Eight Trigrams formation was said to have been laid by the ancestral master of Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’s Daoism lineage, with formation scripts densely covering the underground.
Each of the eight districts had a small dao domain; Immortal Forest was built within one of these small dao domains.
Even a small dao domain covered ten thousand mu.
Li Weiyi got out of the carriage and, seeing the scene of Immortal Forest before him, couldn’t help but be stunned.
