Chapter 189: Visiting the Door

"Shijie, how is it?"

Looking at Shijie Zhang, who was slowly opening her eyes, Zheng Fa asked with a hint of concern.

"After the Five Elements Talisman Ring changed its shape, there are indeed some different changes." Shijie Zhang frowned, as if summarizing her own words: "After advancing to Nascent Soul, I had a vague feeling."

"What feeling?"

Shijie Yuan, standing nearby, asked urgently.

Zheng Fa was also a bit curious.

A True Person's realization at the Nascent Soul stage is very difficult for others to hear.

Even Uncle Pang would not tell his disciples—this is not stinginess, but because many disciples would gain nothing from hearing it, and it would hold no meaning for Uncle Pang either.

Although the cultivation gap between Zheng Fa and Shijie Zhang was huge, they were vaguely the only Dao friends each could open their hearts to, so Shijie Zhang had no intention of hiding anything.

"The step from Golden Core to Nascent Soul." Shijie Zhang said softly: "It is not the same as previous realms; it seems like a new birth."

"New birth?" Hearing this, Zheng Fa thought for a moment and summarized: "Shijie, your meaning is that the Nascent Soul is like a new body."

"Correct." Shijie Zhang looked at him gratified and said: "Moreover, I have a feeling that in the future, my physical body will become nourishment for the Nascent Soul, while the Nascent Soul will gradually turn from void to solid."

Zheng Fa nodded gently.

Regarding this matter, Shijie Zhang's feeling is probably correct.

Zheng Fa had previously heard Shijie Zhang speak about the relationship between cultivation and lifespan in the Xuanwei Realm.

The Golden Core Stage is only a thousand years.

But the Nascent Soul Stage suddenly leaps to ten thousand years.

If we follow Zheng Fa's conjecture about cultivation, that cultivation is a kind of evolution of life.

Then the massive increase in lifespan during the Nascent Soul Stage is likely because cultivators truly become a completely new form of life at this stage.

"Then does the change in the Five Elements Talisman Diagram have an effect on your Nascent Soul, Shijie?"

"Yes." Shijie Zhang's eyes sparkled, seeming to have a feeling of unexpected joy: "The Nascent Soul is like a child; no one knows exactly how it grows."

"Don't know?"

Zheng Fa was stunned.

"Yes, from Nascent Soul to Soul Transformation, there is no fixed path." Shijie Zhang explained: "This is something I confirmed after asking Uncle Pang. The difficulty of Soul Transformation lies in having no direction—according to Uncle Pang, every Soul Transformation is different; starting from Nascent Soul, there are no specific cultivation techniques in the Xuanwei Realm."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa also recalled his own "Divine Thunder True Art".

It indeed seems to only go up to Nascent Soul.

"And by condensing your Mobius Talisman Diagram, my Nascent Soul seems to have formed a connection with some existence." Zheng Fa listened quietly to Shijie Zhang's words: "She seems to have gained a little direction on her own and is changing spontaneously."

Speaking to this point, a small gratitude flashed in Shijie Zhang's eyes as she looked at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa couldn't help but smile.

Shijie Zhang had not even spoken of thanks; between the two of them, at some unknown time, such words were no longer needed.

"As for you, now that you have reached Foundation Establishment, have you seen the "Divine Thunder True Art"?"

"I have seen it."

Hearing these words, the smile on Zheng Fa's lips slowly turned bitter.

"Shijie..." he asked somewhat depressed: "The cost of this cultivation technique is too high; are there other techniques to choose from?"

He had just reached Foundation Establishment and couldn't wait to take out the "Divine Thunder True Art" to study.

After finishing it, he even wanted to change the name of this technique to: "Divine Thunder Burning Money True Art".

The "Divine Thunder True Art" is divided into four steps at the Foundation Establishment stage—

Open the Thunder Field.

Nurture the Thunder Seed.

Generate the Thunder Flower.

Harvest the Thunder Fruit.

Every step requires a vast amount of spiritual materials, and not just Thunder-element spiritual materials.

Zheng Fa is already considered wealthy.

But that long list of spiritual materials, which Zheng Fa didn't even have the patience to finish reading, truly made him hesitate.

"It's not just the "Divine Thunder True Art"; every advancement from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core requires numerous spiritual materials." Shijie Zhang explained: "Forming a Golden Core is actually very similar to the Art of Alchemy."

"The Art of Alchemy?"

"The human body is a furnace, gathering numerous spiritual materials to condense a perfect Golden Core." Shijie Zhang looked at Zheng Fa and said: "Cultivation techniques themselves differ, but the underlying logic is the same. Otherwise, tell me why everyone is unwilling to fight to the death? The cost of raising a Golden Core, or even a Nascent Soul, is extremely, extremely high."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa understood.

"Inferior techniques do not necessarily require fewer spiritual materials themselves, but the Golden Core condensed is weaker, and the power of the accompanying spells is also smaller..."

"Then I will still choose the "Divine Thunder True Art"."

Zheng Fa said immediately upon hearing this.

It turns out this technique's cost-performance ratio is actually quite high.

Shijie Zhang nodded with a smile in her eyes and said: "Tell me the spiritual materials you need; I will check if I have any stock."

"I have them!"

Uncle Pang's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

He walked into the room, holding a storage bag in his hand, and handed it to Zheng Fa.

"Uncle? This is..."

"I thought you were going to cultivate the "Divine Thunder True Art"." Uncle Pang said: "I specially sent people to collect them in the market."

"Uncle?"

Zheng Fa was somewhat surprised.

He glanced at Shijie Zhang, who wore an expression of surprise in her eyes.

Clearly, she had never enjoyed such treatment herself.

"This... Jiushan Sect has no such precedent?"

"Our Jiushan Sect has never produced a Tianhe Zunzhe either!" Uncle Pang stated with righteous confidence.

"..."

"You have contributed to the Lei Chi market! Shixiong Zhang, I will decide to allocate part of the market's profits to Shixiong Zheng for cultivation. Do you have any objections?"

Shijie Zhang smiled; clearly, she had absolutely no objections.

Uncle Pang's voice dropped lower, and he whispered:

"Your cultivation is currently too low; it is truly dangerous." Uncle Pang cautioned, "I am very uneasy."

Shijie Zhang, standing nearby, had a rather strange look on her face.

It seemed she felt, for the first time in her life, that she was not a genius.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa took the storage bag from Uncle Pang's hand.

"Oh, right, there is this too."

Uncle Pang pouted, then pulled another storage bag from his robes.

"This is..."

"That surnamed Yuan gave it to me before coming." Uncle Pang muttered, "He said it contains some spiritual materials you might need, along with some insights into the 'Shen Xiao Yulei Zhenfa', which should be somewhat useful to you."

"Before coming?"

"That surnamed Yuan said..." Uncle Pang reluctantly relayed the words of Shizun Zheng Fa, "He doesn't have much left, but what remains are all good things. He left them with me to prevent them from being snatched. He will give them to you once you reach Foundation Establishment."

"Oh, he also said that some things do not necessarily have to be cultivated."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa understood that these items were likely things his Shizun was reluctant to sell.

He gently grasped that storage bag.

But what did "do not necessarily have to be cultivated" mean?

"Shall we open it and see?"

Shijie Yuan, standing nearby, curiously leaned her head over.

Zheng Fa took everything out of the first storage bag.

Uncle Pang's storage bag contained many spiritual materials: Purple Lightning Lotus, Thunder-Resounding Grass, Thunderclap Vine...

All were relatively common lightning-type spiritual materials in the market.

But the prices were not cheap; if it were not for Lei Chi producing lightning-type spiritual materials, such a complete collection could not even be gathered elsewhere.

"I have also seen the 'Shen Xiao Yulei Zhenfa'."

Uncle Pang spoke up: "Most of the spiritual materials it requires are available in the market, so providing for your early cultivation is no problem. As for the missing materials, we can collect them slowly."

"What about the Sect Master's storage bag?"

Zheng Fa opened his own Shizun's storage bag.

It contained far fewer spiritual materials, including one jade slip.

Zheng Fa first took out the jade slip and began to read it.

After a long while, he set down the jade slip, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Zheng Fa?"

Seeing a look of difficulty on his expression, the others exchanged glances, unsure what had happened.

"My Shizun has given me a difficult problem." Zheng Fa thought for a long time, then sighed deeply.

"A difficult problem?" Upon hearing this, Uncle Pang flew into a rage: "That surnamed Yuan! Is he just out to trick his disciples?"

"No..." Zheng Fa shook his head, "What my Shizun gave me is a secret technique not found in the 'Shen Xiao Yulei Zhenfa'."

"A secret technique?"

"Yes. Apart from the three divine lightning techniques within, the most important thing is that this secret technique can ultimately improve the quality of the Jin Dan."

"'Shen Xiao Yulei Zhenfa'... can improve Jin Dan quality?" Uncle Pang asked in confusion, "How did I not know this?"

"My Shizun said this Zhenfa is a legacy from ancient times. This secret technique, scattered and lost, was obtained by him unintentionally and was not included in the Jiushan Sect's legacy."

Hearing this, Uncle Pang was also somewhat surprised; clearly, he did not know of this matter.

"Not exactly. My Shizun said that the spiritual materials required to cultivate this secret technique were already very hard to find in his time." Zheng Fa explained, "Nowadays, many of these spiritual materials are even rumored to be extinct."

"..."

At this moment, the three people present understood why Zheng Fa had called this a difficult problem.

The lightning techniques were secondary.

Improving the quality of the Jin Dan was no small matter.

It could even be said to concern one's Dao path.

Zheng Fa looked at the spiritual materials in the storage bag sent by his Shizun, calculated in his mind, and shook his head, saying, "These spiritual materials are for cultivating that secret technique. Even now, they are extremely precious—but incomplete. My Shizun could only gather one set of many of these items back then."

Shijie Zhang and the others, upon hearing this, were also helpless.

Spiritual materials that even the Sect Master could not fully collect ten thousand years ago.

Even now, it would be difficult to buy them even at the cost of great bloodshed.

"If it really cannot be done, it is fine not to cultivate this secret technique." Zheng Fa set down the jade slip and suddenly smiled, finally understanding why his Shizun said it did not necessarily have to be cultivated.

Shijie Zhang and the others nodded lightly upon hearing this, saying nothing.

Clearly, there was no other way.

"Yan Wushuang has come to visit?"

Zheng Fa was studying the "Divine Thunder Imperial True Art."

Suddenly hearing a disciple announce a visitor, he froze, then hurried out of his room and into the main hall.

As soon as he entered the hall.

Zheng Fa saw that Shijie Zhang and Uncle-Master Pang were already there, both wearing serious expressions as they looked at an old man opposite them.

This old man was short and slovenly dressed, yet his demeanor remained perfectly composed.

Zheng Fa recognized him immediately—wasn't this the Setting Sun Sword Immortal who had slain a Nascent Soul cultivator with a single strike?

No wonder Uncle-Master Pang and Shijie Zhang were being so solemn.

Their expressions even held a touch of reverence and gratitude.

In terms of cultivation, with Soul Transformation experts rarely leaving seclusion, this Setting Sun Sword Immortal was likely among the very top tier in the Xuanwei Realm.

As for bonds of friendship.

Whatever the reason, this man had saved Uncle-Master Pang's life and could be considered to have indirectly aided Shijie Zhang in achieving her Dao.

The expressions of Uncle-Master Pang and the other were entirely understandable.

The moment Zheng Fa walked through the door.

he saw the old man's eyes shining brightly, fixed squarely on him.

This gaze felt very familiar...

How to describe it?

"Han Qi, I seem to see your Han family elders before me."

"No, I seem to see your rival instead."