Chapter 137

Yunhe, someone is waiting for you.

He returned to Qingzong Sect.

Yunhe first went to Huaxin, intending to tell Huaxin the news that Xiao Shanhe of the Spirit Beast Sect might be targeting him, but he came up empty.

As he was leaving, however, a disciple called out to stop him.

Huh?

That Qingzong Sect disciple wore an expression of respect, his eyes fixed on Yunhe without hiding his admiration.

Obviously, because the Hall of Transmission often used him as a 'model' in its lectures, many younger disciples in the sect admired Yunhe, this cultivator who had risen from a menial disciple to successful Foundation Establishment.

Seeing Yunhe's gaze, the disciple hurriedly said:

"They claim to be an old acquaintance of yours, Master Uncle, and have appeared many times outside the mountain gate."

Hearing this, Yunhe was somewhat surprised.

An old acquaintance?

He doesn't have many old acquaintances.

"I see."

After saying that, Yunhe tapped his foot and vanished instantly from the sight of that Qi Refining cultivator.

The mountain gate of Qingzong Sect.

Yunhe appeared, drifting into view.

"Disciple greets you, Uncle Yunhe!" The disciple guarding the mountain gate, seeing him appear, hurriedly performed a salute.

Yunhe merely nodded, his gaze sweeping toward the two people outside the mountain gate.

Upon seeing their appearance clearly, Yunhe froze for a moment.

"Hongyong?"

One of them had white hair, a slightly aged face, and possessed a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivation base.

This person was none other than Liu Hongyong, who had once guided him in the Talisman Way and later helped him sell talismans for a time in Qingshan City.

The other, a somewhat restrained young man, resembled a younger Liu Hongyong about sixty to seventy percent, and his cultivation base was fourth-layer Qi Refining.

Gazing at Yunhe, whose appearance had hardly changed over the years, Liu Hongyong's expression turned slightly complex, but quickly became extremely respectful.

"Greetings, Senior Yunhe!"

After not seeing an old friend for many years, Yunhe's mood was actually not bad.

But seeing Liu Hongyong wringing his hands, looking somewhat flustered, he secretly sighed.

"Hongyong, who is this?"

Liu Hongyong immediately reacted.

"This is my son, Liu Zhihong."

Saying this, he quickly patted the young cultivator's head and, lowering his voice, scolded:

"Why don't you hurry up and greet Senior Yunhe?!"

The young cultivator seemed never to have seen such a lofty Foundation Establishment cultivator before; he flustered for a moment, but after hearing his father's reprimand, he quickly reacted.

"La-late junior Liu, Liu Zhihong greets Senior Yunhe."

"You've grown this big already?"

Actually, after Yunhe entered Qingzong Sect and entrusted Liu Hongyong to help sell talismans, Liu Hongyong would almost every year come to visit him; later, because Yunhe went into seclusion and stopped going out, their meetings became fewer, but Liu Hongyong still sent gifts every year without fail.

Although not valuable, it was still a token of thought.

Even after Yunhe no longer asked him to help sell talismans, this gift never ceased, always delivered by disciples and placed before his cave dwelling.

"Time flies—before I knew it, I've been in Qingzong Sect for twenty or thirty years."

For cultivators, time really passes too quickly.

After some questioning, Liu Hongyong finally admitted, rather embarrassedly, the reason for his visit.

It turned out he wanted to ask whether he could rely on Yunhe's connections to get his son into Qingzong Sect.

Because the Demonic War has been ongoing, Qingzong Sect has lengthened the intervals between accepting disciples, and Liu Zhihong, due to his age, happened to fall just outside the limit.

In terms of talent and cultivation base, Liu Zhihong could meet the disciple's requirements, but the problem is the time limit.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea.

"Dad, I never expected you actually knew a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator!"

"That's right, you don't know; back then I even sold a talisman from Senior Yun."

"Real or fake?!"

"."

Watching the father and son gradually drift apart, Yunhe smiled.

For Liu Hongyong, matters that he could find no solution to were, before him, just a matter of moving his lips—he didn't need to exert any strength at all.

Just like that.

All previous contacts between him and Liu Hongyong, the gifts Liu Hongyong had sent over the decades, and their relationship were thus completely severed.

"In cultivation, what one cultivates is ultimately oneself."

He muttered softly.

Yunhe returned to his cave dwelling.

To him, Liu Hongyong's affair was merely a minor incident, causing no impact.

If one had to say there was an effect, it might be that his already firm Dao heart became a bit more steadfast.

Just as he had said before.

If the Great Dao is to be walked alone, then he will walk it alone!

After calmly regulating his breath for a day and adjusting his condition to its best, Yunhe took out the essence blood of the blunt‑horn folded yellow rhino.

He really felt something was off about this, but after scanning it dozens of times with his divine sense and checking it with various methods, he found nothing unusual.

Still, he decided to use it up as soon as possible to avoid any mishap.

After examining it once with the Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture, he confirmed that the essence blood's concentration met the standard for condensing an earth‑element spiritual body illusion.

Fortunately, he had already condensed water‑, wood‑, and fire‑element spiritual body illusions, and since fire produces earth, there was nothing to avoid.

Merely after condensing the three‑element spiritual body illusions, Yunhe could clearly sense it.

The more spiritual body illusions he condensed, the less they could form a perfect five‑element closed loop to achieve mutual generation, causing them to gradually become unstable.

After all, the five elements naturally generate one another, with all spiritual body illusions built on mutual aid; but since his five elements lack a closed loop, there is no such thing as five‑element mutual generation.

From the source, his current spiritual body illusions are all founded upon the water‑element spiritual body illusion.

Water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth.

Yet none of the spiritual body illusions can aid the water‑element one.

Over time, this will inevitably overload the water‑element spiritual body illusion.

Once the water‑element collapses, the remaining spiritual body illusions will inevitably collapse and scatter as well.

Therefore, if Yunhe condenses an earth‑element spiritual body illusion, it means he must replenish the final one within a limited time.

Otherwise, not to mention hoping for any benefit from condensing the five elements, his qi sea and dantian might even rupture from this, scattering all his cultivation—considering himself lucky if he survives.

That is, he originally possessed gold‑water dual spiritual roots, which to some extent compensated for this issue; otherwise the time limit would be even shorter.

But not condensing it is also impossible.

Leaving aside how the blunt‑horn folded yellow rhino's essence blood makes him uneasy, he must digest it quickly.

If he wishes to break through to Golden Core, condensing a complete five‑element spiritual body is practically necessary.

Because, according to his years of feeling, once he condenses a closed‑loop five‑element spiritual body, he will possess at least the talent of a superior spiritual root cultivator, which is far easier than using mediocre spiritual root talent to break through Golden Core, greatly increasing his success rate.

At least it can add twenty to thirty percent!

Greater than the aid of any Golden Core spiritual object.

Moreover, condensing more five‑element spiritual body illusions also speeds up his cultivation progress.

Higher cultivation yields more resources, and more resources enable faster cultivation growth.

"According to estimates, even if he condenses the earth‑element spiritual body illusion, the water‑element illusion will need at least five years before it can no longer hold up. As the water element matching his own spiritual roots, especially the illusion formed from demon‑beast‑body essence blood, it should last seven or eight years."

Five years.

Given his cultivation progress, even if he cannot reach late Foundation Establishment, he can simply let his demon‑beast body wildly slaughter second‑stage metal‑attribute demon beasts to make up the shortfall.

"If all else fails, sending the Heavenly Capital Gu Corpse over, combined with a formation, makes it possible to hunt third‑stage demon beasts."

Thinking this through, Yunhe no longer hesitated.

He pinched a seal to summon the essence blood and poured in the spell seal.

"Fire subdues, earth is born; fire wanes, earth grows; fire thrives, earth strengthens."

Roar——

A yellow dragon with a pair of wings lifted its head, faintly emitting a dragon's roar.

Three months later.

"The pill furnace that has reached the level of a superior spiritual artifact is indeed easy to use."

Opening the pill furnace, the drifting medicinal fragrance refreshed Yunhe's spirit.

He reached out and took the pill.

Fifteen ginger‑yellow pills, each the size of a pea, appeared in his hand.

Crack—crack——

Two of the pills developed cracks on their surfaces, their color suddenly dimming, but the remaining thirteen were perfectly intact.

Marrow Essence Elixir!

An elixir refined chiefly from demon‑beast inner pellets.

After completing the sacrificial refinement of the earth‑element spiritual body illusion, Yunhe began alchemy.

Since the formula does not precisely describe the grade of the resulting elixir, Yunhe still felt considerable difficulty when using a mid‑second‑stage demon‑beast inner pellet as the main ingredient.

He therefore estimated that the elixir's grade should reach the superior second‑stage level, but the difficulty of refining it lay between the medium and superior second‑stage tiers.

"Let's test its effect."

All speculation is less accurate than actual testing.

He separated the successful and failed pills, then took out a round, plump ginger‑yellow pill and swallowed it without hesitation.

Immediately sitting cross‑legged, he began to cultivate.

As the Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture circulated, black, blue, red, and yellow lights entwined around his body, with a faint hint of white, though it appeared somewhat "scrawny".

And within his dantian's qi sea, the illusions of a black tortoise, wood dragon, fire bird, and yellow dragon vied in long cries, "seizing" the spiritual liquid transformed from the pill.

Seven days later.

When Yunhe opened his eyes again, the four‑colored halo in his pupils flashed and vanished.

He exhaled deeply, feeling a noticeable increase in his magical power.

"What a domineering medicinal effect."

This Marrow Essence Elixir differs from all the elixirs he has taken before; its effect is extremely domineering—if not digested promptly, the escaping spiritual power will flood his meridians until they are overstretched or even ruptured.

Of course, if he can promptly absorb the spiritual power brought by the pill, the effect goes without saying.

The four‑element spiritual body illusions he had condensed played a major role this time, helping him absorb the medicinal effect at the fastest speed.

"Considering only the fully absorbed effect, this Marrow Essence Elixir absolutely matches a superior second‑stage elixir!"

"If I can long‑term take this elixir, together with the spiritual veins of this place and the four‑element spiritual bodies I have already condensed, I will be able to break through to late Foundation Establishment within five years!"

Moreover, I also somewhat underestimated the solidity of my foundation; even if I condense an Earth Spirit Body Illusion, the Water Spirit Body Illusion cannot support it—I still need at least ten more years.

Ten years, he doesn't believe he can't obtain the Metal Spirit Beast Essence Blood.

Very good. Very good.

Everything is developing in a good direction.

Just as Yunhe felt delighted and excited about this result, he suddenly froze.

He then showed a faint smile.

"When good things come, they come one after another, unstoppable."

The Demon Beast Body side is finally over!

The Demon Beast World.

Bang!

Yunhe, who had been stubbornly holding on for nearly two years without rest, constantly enduring intense pain, was suddenly flung out by a mysterious force from beneath the Demon-Washing Pool.

Exactly.

Just flung.

To be honest.

At first, he indeed felt the pain unbearable, but as time passed, he gradually got used to it.

Of course, diverting his attention was also an important reason.

Although his body was numb, he couldn't feel how much it had changed.

But he believed it was definitely changing for the better.

Therefore, as he sees it, as long as there is benefit, he can persist.

Either the unknown liquid inside the Demon-Washing Pool runs out, or he feels the Demon-Washing Pool can no longer bring him any benefit.

Anyway, the Cultivator Body still has at least ten years.

He's not in a hurry.

Who would have thought, today he was suddenly flung out by a force.

Most importantly, even if he wanted to go back, he couldn't.

It felt as if some force was blocking him.

Hum—

Just as he was considering whether to try violence to break the barrier, an ethereal voice sounded.

Immediately after.

Beneath the Demon-Washing Pool, a light cyan Luan Bird flew out.

Staring with its eyes, it fixed its gaze on Yunhe, who was preparing to swing his claws and smash the barrier.

That look seemed to say.

How long are you going to mooch?!

———

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(End of chapter)