Chapter 244: Senior Sister Advances, Divine Transformation Relies on Possession

In the Lei Chi market, within Zheng Fa's small courtyard.

Spiritual materials filled the entire room, lush and verdant everywhere; the quiet chamber Zheng Fa used for cultivation had been decorated into a single room.

Zheng Fa sat on the bed, gazing at these spiritual materials, yet his mind still dwelt on the two senior sisters.

After these two senior sisters returned, they merely instructed him to cultivate diligently before departing on their own— even Yuan Shijie, the most delicious of them, did not so much as glance at these spiritual materials.

Oh, or perhaps she dared not look, fearing that if she did, she would be unable to move.

He shook his head, ceased further thought, and with a wave of his hand, a Thunder Vine flew into his fingers.

Zheng Fa channeled spiritual power in his hand, slowly absorbing the spiritual energy from the Purple Lightning Vine, while his divine sense followed this spiritual energy, plunging together into his dantian.

Within the dantian still lay a square field of thunder, and upon this Lei Tian stood a slightly thick Fusang tree.

The Fusang tree was crimson throughout, with a faint heat subtly overflowing from it.

This heat spread from the dantian to his four limbs, and over time seemed to be strengthening his physique.

But this was far from enough to dispel Zheng Fa's grievances regarding the Fusang tree...

Since this divine tree moved into his dantian, no one knew how much spiritual energy from spiritual materials it had consumed; yet it grew extremely slowly, instead hindering the progress of his cultivation.

Sure enough, as soon as the spiritual energy of this Purple Lightning Vine merged into the Lei Tian, it was directly swallowed whole by the Fusang tree.

This thing hadn't changed one bit!

Zheng Fa simply refused to believe it—exchanged for twenty thousand Heavenly Merit, an entire room full of spiritual materials, and yet this thing couldn't even stir a little?

The sun in the sky gradually set in the west, and more than eighty percent of the spiritual materials in the room had been used.

Even Zheng Fa felt somewhat exhausted, yet the Fusang tree within his dantian remained utterly unchanged.

Zheng Fa also knew this thing was a divine tree of extremely high quality, but being so difficult to raise was truly excessive!

Just as despair began to take hold in his heart, this Fusang tree suddenly trembled, and the red on its trunk gradually condensed into a thread of gold.

At the very top of the Fusang tree, a five-colored bud had now formed.

The petals of this bud were tightly embraced into a single cluster, as if nurturing some precious treasure.

The very moment this bud appeared, Zheng Fe felt his entire body's spiritual power tremble, gathering toward that bud.

His soul and spirit grew wildly at a rapid pace, just like mountain grass and trees encountering sweet rain.

Zheng Fa's divine sense had long ago reached the limit of the Foundation Establishment Stage—capable of covering a range of one hundred zhang.

Now, with this breakthrough, it plunged directly into the range of the Golden Core Stage.

Expanding from one hundred zhang to a radius of ten li.

Then from a radius of ten li to one hundred li.

Until approximately one hundred and ten li, the growth of his divine sense finally slowed to a stop.

Looking again within his body, that bud had already taken shape, its five-colored petals gently swaying at the branch's tip.

Generating Thunder Radiance...

This was the third realm of the "Divine Sky Thunder-Controlling True Method," also signifying that Zheng Fa had crossed the threshold into the late stage of Foundation Establishment; as long as he accumulated spiritual power and waited for the fruit within the Thunder Radiance—that is, the Jin Dan—to condense, he could form the Golden Core in one stroke.

He calculated that from Foundation Establishment to late-stage Foundation Establishment, it had actually been only about half a year—no slower than Qi Refining!

Of course, the most important factor among these was the existence of the Heavenly Stele Realm, which allowed Zheng Fa to possess spiritual material resources that others could hardly reach...

Just as he was calming the spiritual power within his body, a single drop of water suddenly seeped from that bud?

A drop of water?

Zheng Fa was stunned; his divine sense lightly touched that drop of water, and he immediately understood its origin—this object was named Fusang Spirit Dew, a byproduct of the Fusang tree absorbing the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon.

This thing was not of much use to Zheng Fa.

But for fire-attribute demonic beasts, particularly those leaning toward yang fire attributes, it was extremely useful—if those demonic beasts ingested this Fusang Spirit Dew, it would have the merit of purifying their bloodlines, and perhaps even allow them to advance in realm.

This Fusang Spirit Dew was not merely this single drop; in the future, roughly every month, this bud would condense one drop.

With a mere thought from Zheng Fa, this spirit dew appeared at his fingertip.

Sunlight from outside the window filtered in, illuminating this spirit dew until it shimmered with golden brilliance.

Along with this dazzling light, the little Jin Wu that flew into Zheng Fa's room from outside the window was also spellbound.

"Give it to me!"

"I want to drink it!"

"Just one sip!"

It was like a madman, stretching its neck toward Zheng Fa's fingertip, its beak extended far out.

But Zheng Fa ruthlessly held it by the neck with his hand, leaving it with a distinct feeling of a beak too long to reach.

Zheng Fa scrutinized the little Jin Wu from head to toe.

This bird... how to put it? Although it had not yet transformed into human form, its thoughts were by no means few.

When it first came to Zheng Fa's side, it had appeared to speak without reservation and reveal everything it knew.

It had even helped them capture that demonic beast.

But afterwards, it refused to utter a single word...

It only pretended to be an ordinary crow, mingling everywhere in the market.

Zheng Fa suspected that if it were not still craving his body, this Jin Wu would have long since fled—after all, the demonic beast with the Qiong Qi bloodline had said that the Qingyun Dasheng of Qingyun was coming.

This little Jin Wu probably did not have high hopes for the Jiushan Sect and harbored some other intentions.

Staying here was merely to freeload off his body!

Not a good bird at all!

Even so, it still wanted to drink the spirit dew?

I have other good birds too!

"Yuan Shijie!"

Zheng Fa stirred his spiritual sense and sent a voice message to the good bird playing in Zhang Shijie's courtyard.

……

Yuan Shijie had been eating snacks inside Zhang Shijie's courtyard.

Zhang Shijie sat on a chair beside her, reading the several books Zheng Fa had previously sent her; sometimes, halfway through, she seemed to gain sudden insight, closing the book and staring into deep thought.

When Zheng Fa sent his voice message, both of them assumed something had happened, their spiritual senses flickering instantly to the front of Zheng Fa's quiet chamber.

"Zheng Shidi, what's wrong?"

Yuan Shijie asked anxiously.

Zheng Fa used his hand to block the little Jin Wu, which was acting like a mad thing, relentlessly flapping toward the spiritual dew on Zheng Fa's fingertip.

It still knew it was a guest under someone else's roof and hadn't used any spiritual power.

Yet it was already at Foundation Establishment, its demonic body possessing tremendous strength.

Zheng Fa found it slightly difficult to protect the spiritual dew.

Seeing Yuan Shijie arrive, Zheng Fa was delighted and said, "Yuan Shijie, open your mouth!"

"Huh?"

The little Jin Wu seemed to understand Zheng Fa's idea and struggled even harder; Zheng Fa had no time to explain right away.

"I've got something good for you to eat!"

Saying this, Zheng Fa extended his finger toward Yuan Shijie.

"..." Yuan Shijie glanced behind her and whispered, "Zheng Shidi, isn't this rather inappropriate?"

"Huh?"

"Zhang Shijie is still here!"

"..."

……

It was Zhang Shijie who, face cold, flicked her finger—a spiritual talisman shot out, transforming into a net that wrapped around the little Jin Wu, rendering it utterly motionless.

Only then did Zheng Fa have a chance to explain the origin of the Fusang spiritual dew.

"You mean this spiritual dew is extremely beneficial to fire-affinity demonic beasts?"

Hearing this, Zhang Shijie's expression softened slightly, and she turned to Yuan Shijie: "So you want to give it to her?"

Hearing this, the little Jin Wu protested: "I have innate bloodline inheritance in my spiritual soul—Fusang tree and my Jin Wu clan have always coexisted. Giving me this Fusang spiritual dew, if I cultivate the Jin Wu True Flame, I can help the Fusang tree grow!"

Zheng Fa had truly never known this.

Yet in legend, Golden Crows did have some connection to the Fusang tree.

This little Jin Wu had probably concealed much.

On the other hand, this Fusang spiritual dew was likely most suitable for a Jin Wu indeed.

Hearing this, Yuan Shijie's face showed conflicted, reluctant emotion; she looked from Zheng Fa to the little Jin Wu and said, "Then give it to him..."

Clearly, she also understood that, considering only what benefit Zheng Fa could gain, the Jin Wu was probably the most suitable recipient of this dew.

After speaking, she turned her head away, as if unwilling to look at the spiritual dew anymore.

"Yuan Shijie."

"Huh?"

Zheng Fa flicked his finger—the spiritual dew flew into Yuan Shijie's slightly open mouth.

Gulp!

Yuan Shijie involuntarily swallowed.

Then she stared blankly at Zheng Fa.

"I... swallowed it?"

Zheng Fa nodded with a smile.

"I..." Yuan Shijie looked at her belly with a mournful face, complaining, "You should've told me!"

"I was afraid you'd refuse it."

"I didn't even taste anything..."

Beside them, Zhang Shijie shook her head, as if unsurprised by his choice.

But the little Jin Wu was indignant: "Emotions cloud judgment! Lust blinds reason!"

Zheng Fa glanced at it and said, "If Yuan Shijie only thought about improving her own cultivation or what benefited herself, she wouldn't have given me all these spiritual materials."

Yuan Shijie, as if understanding Zheng Fa was praising her, grinned foolishly and scratched her head.

"You say you can help the Fusang tree grow, but I only know that this Fusang tree's growth was made possible by the spiritual materials the two Senior Brothers gave me."

"Hehe..."

Yuan Shijie's eyes sparkled as she looked at Zheng Fa, then muttered, "Zheng Shidi, the more I look at you, the more handsome you seem..."

"..."

"But Shidi, don't sway—I'm getting dizzy!"

Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie turned together and saw Yuan Shijie's eyes barely able to stay open.

She seemed to struggle fiercely to widen them, her face set with stubborn determination, yet her eyes grew smaller and smaller, proving her efforts futile.

Finally, Yuan Shijie's body went limp and collapsed onto the ground.

Zhang Shijie seemed to understand something, waved her hand, and moved her to the courtyard.

Indeed, the next moment, Yuan Shijie revealed her true form—a massive Azure Phoenix, slumped on the ground, golden flames seeping from her wings, as if roasting herself...

At this point, the little Jin Wu likely realized it wouldn't get the spiritual dew after all; it fell silent, only gazing hungrily at the Phoenix and said, "Bloodline evolution... this mixed-blood Azure Phoenix may advance further."

Zhang Shijie's eyes also held a smile, as if she were happy for Yuan Shijie.

"Yuan Shimei was stuck at the early stage of Jin Dan for quite a while too; I never expected her opportunity would land on you."

Before Zheng Fa could speak, he saw the Jin Wu suddenly spit out a golden spiritual light, which fell before Zheng Fa.

"This is?"

"A spirit beast acknowledging its master?" It was Zhang Shijie who recognized it. She looked toward the little Jin Wu, only to see its face full of gloom.???? "This spirit dew… is really that important to you?"

How could Zheng Fa not know — this little Jin Wu had been holding back before, and now suddenly wanting to acknowledge a master — it was simply being tempted by this spirit dew.

"What can I do…" The Jin Wu let out a long sigh. "Advancing the Jin Wu bloodline is difficult nowadays, and this spirit dew is already the most suitable spiritual item for me."

"What's more… watching a mixed-blood Blue Luan eat the spiritual medicine most suited to it and blunder its way into advancement — do you know how much that hurts?"

"…"

"This really doesn't seem like your character…"

Zheng Fa was rather suspicious — this Jin Wu was clearly a relatively cautious sort; would it acknowledge a master just for the spirit dew?

"…What do you think I was doing in the market?"

He hadn't expected this Jin Wu to roll its eyes, looking rather proud of its own cleverness.

"Mm?"

"The market is full of your Jiushan Sect disciples. What sort of person you are, I could naturally find out…"

Zheng Fa twitched the corner of his mouth; he hadn't expected this Jin Wu to have such thoughts.

"Just look at that Lin Lin Bu Fan from the Zizaimo Sect — even after being captured by your Jiushan Sect, he lives quite comfortably." The Jin Wu continued.

"If even a prisoner like him is doing fine, what do I have to fear coming here of my own accord?"

In the Xuanwei Realm, even the birds aren't stupid…

No, that's not right — Yuan Shijie is!

"Then I can't give it all to you either…"

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said.

He had long since decided that in the future, the spirit dew would still be prioritized for Yuan Shijie, that silly bird.

"I know, this mixed-blood Blue Luan doesn't have such good digestion ability…" The little Jin Wu's words sounded so humble they were almost pitiable. "There must be extra."

Zheng Fa glanced at Zhang Shijie. Zhang Shijie nodded at him, and he extended his right hand to touch that ball of Jin Guang.

This Jin Guang seemed to have a spiritual intelligence; it swiftly merged into his palm, traveled along his meridians straight into his dantian, transformed into a tiny Jin Wu phantom, and stood upon the Fusang Wood.

The Fusang Wood trembled lightly, seemingly with a sense of joy — after all, the Jin Wu and the Fusang Wood complemented each other, and now that the Jin Wu had acknowledged a master, the benefits to the Fusang Wood were considerable.

It was just that the specifics couldn't be discerned in a short while.

He looked at the little Jin Wu beside him, feeling that its life and death rested entirely on a single thought of his.

After acknowledging its master, the Jin Wu's gaze toward Zheng Fa also changed slightly — now it was probably a mix of closeness and a hint of unease.

Zheng Fa beckoned, and the little Jin Wu understood at once, flying onto Zheng Fa's shoulder. From its beak came a long sigh, as if it were extremely comfortable.

"Master, you're even more bewitching to birds than that demonic sect witch!"

"…"

With just that one sentence, Zheng Fa felt regret.

Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie had originally been waiting for Yuan Shijie to advance, but this bloodline evolution didn't seem to be something that could be completed in a short while either.

Zhang Shijie simply waved her sleeve again, and Yuan Shijie was held aloft by her.

"Zhang Shijie?"

"She'll probably need some more time. Let her go to my courtyard."

Zhang Shijie explained.

The two had just stepped through the courtyard gate and set Yuan Shijie down when a transmission talisman flew over the courtyard wall, heading toward Zhang Shijie.

Zhang Shijie reached out a hand, and the transmission talisman fell into it.

"A letter from Uncle-Master Pang."

Zhang Shijie raised an eyebrow and said to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa's spirits lifted, and he looked at Zhang Shijie, who was reading the letter.

Uncle-Master Pang had previously gone to Tongming Shangren to seek aid. Tongming Shangren was a Soul Transformation cultivator in the Baixian Alliance, and his character was reportedly decent — at least Uncle-Master Pang still trusted him somewhat — and Zheng Fa also quite trusted Uncle-Master Pang's judgment.

After all, Uncle-Master Pang's judgment of those Nascent Soul cultivators from the Baixian Alliance earlier had been very accurate.

But Uncle-Master Pang had been gone for over a month, and only now was news coming back. Zheng Fa had been worried before.

After reading the letter, Zhang Shijie furrowed her brow, as if there were something she didn't understand.

"Zhang Senior Brother? How did it go?" Zheng Fa hurriedly asked. "Did Uncle-Master Pang get Tongming Shangren to come?"

"I suppose you could say he did."

Zhang Shijie hesitated before speaking.

Zheng Fa was even more confused: "You could say?"

At this moment, Zhang Shijie's master, Aunt-Master Huang, also walked in and said to the two of them: "You received the letter too?"

Zhang Shijie nodded.

"What this letter says is truly unheard of." Aunt-Master Huang let out a long sigh and furrowed her brow. "Our Jiushan Sect still lacks a Soul Transformation inheritance."

Zheng Fa, hearing the two of them speak in such vague and confusing terms, felt even more perplexed.

Zhang Senior Brother seemed to have read his confusion and explained: "Ever since Tongming Shangren entered Soul Transformation, he has rarely appeared in the Baixian Alliance. Even the Nascent Soul cultivators of Tongming Mountain can barely catch a glimpse of him."

"This time, Uncle-Master Pang went to visit in person and was turned away for several days. If not for Uncle-Master Pang's persistence, he probably wouldn't have met Tongming Shangren either — no, it should be said he wouldn't have met Tongming Shangren's spirit treasure."

"Spirit treasure?"

Zheng Fa was startled, growing more and more confused the more he listened.

"We only learned of this matter because Uncle Pang mentioned it," Sister Zhang continued. "According to Elder Tongming, after reaching Soul Transformation, it became inconvenient for him to act; he has been in seclusion for nearly all these years, and even to break out of his seclusion requires some time."

Zheng Fa nodded and spoke: "Just like the Qingyun Qingyun Dasheng of the Demon Clan."

"Yes. According to Elder Tongming, if he were to break out rashly, it would likely harm himself. However, since the Baixian Alliance has an urgent matter, he would not stand idly by. Therefore, he sent his own Lingbao to support our Jiushan Sect on his behalf."

"The goal is not to kill the enemy, but merely to block the Qingyun Qingyun Dasheng until he emerges from seclusion."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa still felt somewhat confused.

"What exactly is this Lingbao? How can it possibly block a Soul Transformation expert?"

The Xuanwei Realm has always distinguished between Faqi and magic treasure.

Broadly speaking, Faqi are roughly one tier lower and are mostly used by those below the Jin Dan realm.

magic treasure are far more precious; for most people, their magic treasure is their Life-Root magic treasure.

The difference between the two in terms of power, material, and value is enormous.

However, Zheng Fa had also heard of Lingbao, though he had never seen one.

"Lingbao... are treasures possessing their own spiritual intelligence. In common terms, they are magic treasure with a Weapon Spirit."

Sister Zhang explained.

"I had long heard that Lingbao possess spiritual intelligence, but this time, Uncle Pang mentioned another matter in his letter that caught my attention."

"What?"

"Uncle Pang said that Elder Tongming told him that the current Immortal Gate techniques, upon reaching the Soul Transformation stage, all require relying on a Lingbao as a Soul Transformation vessel—that is, a Life-Root magic treasure advancing into a Life-Root Lingbao, to the point where the Life-Root Lingbao can be viewed as another self."

"That is why Elder Tongming said to let Uncle Pang return with his own Lingbao to reinforce us, as it could block the Qingyun Qingyun Dasheng."

"Vessel?"

Zheng Fa was stunned. He looked at Sister Zhang and saw that she also appeared deep in thought; he knew she had arrived at the same conclusion as him—the oath signed by Jiuyou.

The oath had once stated: "All sentient beings are ignorant and insufficient to serve as a vessel."

At that time, the two of them had only felt this was merely a sigh of lament.

They never expected that Uncle Pang's letter would mention the word "vessel" again. More importantly, Uncle Pang specified it as a Soul Transformation vessel.

"You two are exchanging glances like that; what riddle are you playing?"

Uncle Huang, standing nearby, grew impatient. "I am at least a Nascent Soul expert; is it right that I often cannot understand what you two young people are saying?"

Zheng Fa glanced at Uncle Huang, made no attempt to hide anything, and spoke: "We once saw a passage in the Heavenly Stele Realm."

He recounted that oath.

"Jiuyou... Demon Ancestor?"

Uncle Huang was also stunned by the name Jiuyou.

She scrutinized Zheng Fa from head to toe and suddenly sighed: "How did a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you encounter such things... I feel you look more like a Nascent Soul than I do?"

Sister Zhang nearby shook her head and said: "Junior Brother, what are your thoughts?"

Zheng Fa pondered briefly, then suddenly spoke: "What the Residual Sun Sword Immortal said is probably problematic."

"Hmm? Are you saying he deceived us?" Sister Zhang frowned. "I saw no signs of concealment from him."

"He did not deceive us; rather, he himself does not know the true content of Tianhe Zunzhe's new method." Zheng Fa unconsciously began to pace slowly in the courtyard, organizing his thoughts as he walked.

"He knows the current Immortal Gate betrayed Tianhe Zunzhe and that there is no current talk of a 'Tianhe New Method,' so he assumes the techniques we cultivate now are the Demon Gate techniques of the previous era."

"You mean..." Sister Zhang's expression showed a hint of realization.

Uncle Huang's face turned even grumpier, clearly having not understood.

"But after we studied the remains of that senior, we discovered that the Tianhe New Method should encompass two aspects: one is forging artifacts into the body, and the other is the Zhu Xian Method."

Sister Zhang nodded.

"So?" Uncle Huang couldn't help but ask.

"Setting aside the Residual Sun Sword Immortal's description and looking at the Lingbao itself, I feel... perhaps the Immortal Gate has not completely abandoned the path of forging artifacts into the body, but rather transformed it into the so-called Soul Transformation vessel. What they abandoned should be the Zhu Xian Method."

"... It is not impossible..."

Zheng Fa held this thought mainly because of one doubt: Cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm might be selfish, but they are certainly not stupid.

The times are always progressing; although there are setbacks, good things are always gradually accepted.

Thinking of this, he added: "From what we witnessed in the Heavenly Stele Realm, the current Immortal Gate techniques, and the remains of that Tianhe disciple, I have formed some conjectures about the development of Immortal Techniques..."

"What conjectures?"

"The Divine Path civilization of the Heavenly Stele Realm represents a type of cultivation method—I shall tentatively call it the Divine Path Method."

"After that came the Demon Gate Method, founded by Demon Ancestor Jiuyou, and perhaps other Demon Ancestors as well."

"Then came the Tianhe Method, founded by Tianhe Zunzhe."

"We do not understand the Divine Path Method, so let us set that aside for now. The techniques currently cultivated by the Immortal Gate are probably neither purely the Demon Gate Method nor purely the Tianhe Method, but a combination of the two, likely dominated by the Demon Gate Method."

Sister Zhang was stunned, and only spoke after a long while: "This indeed fits the nature of Xuanwei Realm cultivators better... but using the Tianhe Method to improve the Demon Gate Method..."

Zheng Fa was also speechless...

He did not know whether Tianhe Zunzhe would be angry. To say he didn't inherit it, he did; to say he did inherit it, the core changed. Not only did the core change, but he also brought his own rations to defect to the enemy!

The group fell silent for a while, then Sister Zhang suddenly spoke again: "I actually remembered another matter."

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, you mentioned using a Qi Circuit to generate spiritual intelligence and even gave me a few books. Do you remember?" Sister Zhang asked Zheng Fa.

"Sister Zhang, are you saying..."

"I was wondering if the generation of spiritual intelligence in a magic treasure follows the same principle?"

Sister Zhang's words made Zheng Fa's eyes light up.

"No, as you two keep talking, it sounds like you have discussed a Soul Transformation inheritance!"

Uncle Huang, standing nearby, gaped and murmured.

(End of this chapter)