Chapter 82: Choosing Treasures

The two doors before him were vermilion, appearing to be made of an unknown, hard wood, standing three or four zhang tall, making Zheng Fa, who stood before them, feel somewhat small.

He stepped closer, and the door panels opened without wind, making no sound at all.

Inside the door, there were no traces of artificial decoration; instead, it was a stalactite cave, where strange rocks jutted out in a jumbled mess, making one feel as if they were in a somewhat magical rainforest while walking through it.

Dozens of stone formations resembling bamboo shoots rose from the ground, with colorful flowing lights floating at their tips, clearly the treasures left behind by that Jiushan Ancestor earlier.

The number of treasures was not large; compared to those two doors that were absurdly huge, they even looked a bit shabby.

Jiushan Ancestor also followed him into the door, looking at those flowing lights with some sighing: "These old things left by that old man, I haven't seen them in a long time either."

Zheng Fa heard this and felt a bit puzzled, unable to help but ask: "Ancestor, you yourself couldn't even come in?"

"Me?" Jiushan Ancestor pointed at himself: "I am not him. I am the spiritual vein, I am Jiushan, but I am not him. I only have all his memories..."

Zheng Fa finally understood.

He had previously found this Jiushan Ancestor very strange.

Clearly the founding ancestor, yet his temperament seemed like that of a child.

"If I must say who I am," Jiushan Ancestor smiled strangely: "I am merely a substitute who cannot leave Jiushan Sect, even like a treasure he created."

"He intended to fuse this True Form Talisman, but he could not let go of Jiushan Sect, so he created me..." Jiushan Ancestor's expression was complex when speaking of the original ancestor: "Sometimes, I don't know whether to view him as the father who gave me life, or the master who put a dog leash around my neck."

"Let's not talk about this." Jiushan Ancestor seemed to just sigh, then said to Zheng Fa: "With such talent, according to the words that old man left me, you can take two treasures from here."

"How do I take them?"

Zheng Fa tried to see the treasures inside those flowing lights, but the light obscured the shapes and appearances of those treasures.

"Leave it to fate!"

"Ah?" Zheng Fa was stunned; was this a bit too casual?

"Or rather, luck." Jiushan Ancestor rolled his Bai Yan: "That old man had no divine calculations; how could he know who would come, let alone what you need? His treasures might not suit you... but treasures have spirits and have their own resonance; go around, and if something gives you a special feeling, it is probably useful to you."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa walked into the cave, trying to find the special feeling Jiushan Ancestor spoke of.

But most treasures were very aloof; when he walked in front of these flowing lights, besides feeling the light was dazzling, he had no other feeling.

After walking through most of the cave and finding it was the same, Zheng Fa even began to suspect if Jiushan Ancestor was fooling him.

Until he arrived before a treasure with a cyan-golden light.

The qi energy in his body belonging to the Spirit Crane Body suddenly became excited, rushing wildly within him, as if venting an instinctive desire.

A phantom image of a Spirit Crane appeared behind him, its wings spreading, as if wanting to throw itself into that cyan-golden flowing light.

"Eh?" Jiushan Ancestor saw it and immediately understood what was happening: "You have practiced the Spirit Crane Body?"

"Yes."

"Wood and Fire dual spiritual roots, Spirit Crane Body... no wonder this Cyan Yang Qi would resonate with you." Jiushan Ancestor pointed a finger, and that cyan-golden light gradually dispersed, leaving only a wisp of air that was cyan with specks of golden flame, slowly flowing before Zheng Fa.

"Cyan Yang Qi?"

"Mm, back then, that old man transformed into nine mountains, and the vitality of all trees in the mountains erupted, resonating with the great sun spiritual energy, giving birth to this Cyan Yang Qi, which he collected as a treasure." Jiushan Ancestor explained: "I didn't expect to meet you; it suits you quite well."

"Suits me?"

"You have Fire and Wood dual spiritual roots; Cyan Yang Qi was born from the resonance of the great sun and vegetation, which perfectly matches your spiritual root talent, not to mention you have also cultivated the Spirit Crane Body."

Zheng Fa somewhat understood why Cyan Yang Qi corresponded to his spiritual roots, but the Spirit Crane Body?

He looked at Jiushan Ancestor in confusion.

"All things in heaven and earth correspond to the spiritual mechanisms of heaven and earth. Cranes are white, purest and most yang; some cultivators call them Yang Birds, and view them as symbols of longevity; the Spirit Crane Body was created based on the Pure Yang Dao Body."

Jiushan Ancestor moved his finger, and that Cyan Yang Qi fell before Zheng Fa: "This Cyan Yang Qi is extremely rare; otherwise, that old man would not have kept it in his hand until death. If you can cultivate a Pure Yang Body Refining cultivation technique before reaching Foundation Establishment and fuse this Cyan Yang Qi, you might achieve the Cyan Yang Dao Body posthumously, which would be of immense benefit to you in the future."

Zheng Fa reached out his hand, and that Cyan Yang Qi, like a young swallow diving into a forest, flew into Zheng Fa's palm, following his meridians and entering his dantian.

This Cyan Yang Qi was extremely domineering; after entering the dantian, it treated the place as its own home, squeezing the Spirit Crane Body qi energy that Zheng Fa had originally cultivated until it had nowhere to reside, forcing it to humbly wander along the edge of the dantian.

But Zheng Fa also vaguely felt that the qi energy in his body seemed to be slowly penetrated by this Cyan Yang Qi, undergoing some different changes, as if becoming a bit more lively.

After obtaining the Cyan Yang Qi, Zheng Fa had no such good luck again.

The other treasures ignored him; his body had no reaction, creating an awkward mutual understanding where neither party was interested in the other.

"Hmm..." Jiushan Ancestor frowned and said: "These treasures have no affinity with you; then you can only look at the cultivation techniques left by that old man."

He waved his hand, and a pile of jade slips appeared before Zheng Fa.

"Choose."

"?"

Zheng Fa was confused; wait, this was even more mysterious than the previous "follow your feeling" method; how should he choose?

"Actually, compared to treasures, cultivation techniques offer you less help—that old man was an outlier who achieved the Dao, and there are cultivation techniques very few people can practice; this is also why I let you choose treasures first."

Jiushan Ancestor explained.

Zheng Fa nodded; treasures were often ready to use immediately, but cultivation techniques chose their practitioners.

Especially with Jiushan Ancestor's outrageous origin, his cultivation path must be different from normal people.

"However, there are indeed some array methods or talisman methods here that should suit you quite well." Jiushan Ancestor pointed at that pile of jade slips: "The previous female disciple was quite clever; she picked an incomplete Foundation Establishment method, which might actually suit her cultivation."

"Incomplete?" Zheng Fa's spirit perked up, understanding Shijie Zhang's thought process—since it can't be cultivated anyway, why not take a half-finished product and modify it?

He wanted to continue learning from Shijie Zhang.

"Don't think about it; that old man didn't have that much spare time—that Foundation Establishment method was just casually created by that old man while contemplating the True Form Talisman." Jiushan Ancestor seemed to remember something: "Speaking of which, I was actually created at that time."

"?"

"That old man also created a Lingshan Method at that time; he originally achieved the Dao through the spiritual vein and transformed into a Dao Body. Later, he reversed his own cultivation process to create the Lingshan Method; the principle of the Lingshan Method is that the Dao Body is the Lingshan, and the meridians are the spiritual veins, using the human body to represent heaven and earth to supply cultivation for Jiushan Sect; this is how I came to be."

"This Lingshan Method is useless to you; it is a method entirely making a Shen Jiayi for others; you..."

"This disciple wants this Lingshan Method."

Zheng Fa suddenly said.

The Jiushan Patriarch gazed at him, his expression complex: "I misjudged you after all..."

"?"

Zheng Fa did not understand why the other man said this.

I originally thought your mind was complicated and that you harbored hidden malice. The atmosphere of our Jiushan Sect is already turbulent enough; if you were to join the Jiushan Sect, then our Jiushan Sect in the future...

... You are insulting quite a few people.

"But I was wrong. That old man said when he created the Lingshan Technique that it is a cultivation technique only a selfless person, a man of great virtue, would choose to cultivate. Indeed, it is possible that no one in this world would choose to cultivate this technique..." The Jiushan Patriarch's gaze toward Zheng Fa held a hint of admiration: "Now I feel that it is our Jiushan Sect that is unworthy of you!"

Zheng Fa felt there was a beautiful misunderstanding in all of this.

For him, there was only one reason for choosing the Lingshan Technique:

This cultivation technique solved a major problem for him—how to safely and controllably generate spiritual energy in the modern world.