Chapter 74: The Divine Turtle's Longevity! (Please follow and vote for monthly tickets!)

Let's do it here.

On the green mountain.

A thumb-sized pearl-like sphere floated before Yunhe as he gazed at a steep slope ahead, his expression satisfied.

Originally he had wanted to first go to the Technique Pavilion to pick a technique suitable for himself; after all, the Gold Water Element Classic he cultivates isn't terrible, but it's also a fairly common technique, and the vast majority of independent cultivators who also possess gold-water dual spiritual roots practice this technique.

He had also long entertained the idea of changing techniques.

First, changing techniques would require redoing part of one's power, which is quite troublesome; second, good techniques are hard to find.

Truly powerful techniques he cannot afford; those only slightly better than the Gold Water Element Classic offer limited improvement, and changing techniques is troublesome, so it's better not to change.

But before going to the Technique Pavilion, Yunhe thought that changing techniques must be done with great caution, and it's generally impossible to decide quickly; it would be better to first open up his cave dwelling, settle all trivial matters, then calmly choose a technique truly suited to himself.

For this selection, before breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, he likely won't change techniques, so he should give himself more ample time.

And the sphere floating before him now is the pearl of the Linghenclam.

Although it cannot search for spirit veins by tracing spirit aura like the Linghenclam can, within a vast spirit vein it is still possible to find a spot where the spirit aura is relatively dense.

The green mountain where the Qingzong Sect is located is not a solitary peak.

However, the Qingzong Sect occupies the highest, largest, and most spirit-dense peak, on which they have built many structures.

The green mountain is actually a mountain range stretching nearly a hundred li.

But it's unknown whether this is because the Qingzong Sect intercepted the spirit vein or because the vein itself is distributed thus; from the peak where the sect resides, the spirit aura decreases in stages.

And the mountain he is currently on is the second peak of the green mountain range; the spirit aura here is equally dense, even greater than where he previously placed his beekeeping bamboo hut.

Most importantly, by using the Linghenclam's pearl, he has locked onto a spot of condensed spirit aura in this mountain; as long as he opens his cave dwelling here, the spirit aura within will not be weaker than that of the place he rented when breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

Having confirmed the location, Yunhe slapped his storage bag, and the Azure Scale Sword flew out, whereupon he began digging the cave.

In less than half a day.

A cave dwelling not small in area, narrow outside but wide inside, soon took shape.

Immediately afterward he set up outside the dwelling the Concealing Formation and Soundproof Formation flags.

He stepped into the dwelling.

He planned to divide it into seven or eight different chambers, such as a reception hall, cultivation room, alchemy room, talisman room, spirit insect room, and so on.

Although the cave dwelling is still somewhat rough, for Yunhe he now has a place wholly his own where he can cultivate with peace of mind.

"Although the sect gave us formations, it's still best to buy a couple more sets, just in case."

Afterward he placed the Gathering Spirit Formation inside the cultivation room.

Only when the Gathering Spirit Formation was set down did Yunhe finally understand just how great the gap between this formation and the Gathering Spirit Pearl is.

"The Gathering Spirit Pearl can condense gathered spirit aura into spirit stones; although it takes not a short time, it is certainly not comparable to the Gathering Spirit Formation, which can only boost by half to at most one tier."

But having it is better than having none.

This place already has condensed spirit aura; adding the Gathering Spirit Formation, the spirit aura density in Yunhe's cultivation room is comparable to that of a middle-grade second-tier spirit vein.

It is sufficient to support his cultivation.

Afterward he gathered many stones and trees from the mountains, carved them into furniture, and made do with them for now.

Finally, he opened two spirit fields at the cave entrance, casually scattering some spirit grasses that are very common in the cultivation world, extremely easy to grow and capable of flowering, in preparation for his future beekeeping business.

After finishing these big and small tasks, when he sat in the cultivation room, it was already dark.

As soon as he entered meditation.

Yunhe's divine sense twitched, as if he sensed something.

"Finally, is it time to break through?"

It has been half a month since his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, his demon beast body has reached the ultimate of reciprocation, the time to break through.

"The cultivation link between the two bodies is growing ever tighter."

"Previously, as long as one body completed a breakthrough, the other body seemed to have no bottleneck; I don't know if this remains the case this time."

The biting cold wind lashed his shoulders, snowflakes swirling in the low air.

Rolling waves, successive thunderclaps.

Within Yunhe's body, demonic power surged like overturning rivers and seas.

His blood throughout his body surged under the demonic power's impetus, continually pounding his body like a heavy hammer striking a drum.

His carapace trembled; beneath it seemed something about to break free, as strands of viscous fluid flowed out along the winding grooves.

His body swelled; meridians appeared beneath the fine scales, specks of foul-smelling substance seeping out.

His head sank; black scales tore through layers of barriers, shedding the mundane transformation to reveal ferocity, icy light gleaming fiercely, the 'sha-sha' sound like a low rumble.

"Ang!!"

A prolonged, drawn-out call rang out, resembling a turtle and a dragon.

The breakthrough, at last, began.

Demonic power condensed to the extreme, beginning to drive changes in his body and demonic sense.

According to the 'Tuo Shan Jue' description, demon beast breakthrough and cultivator breakthrough are essentially the same in nature.

Flesh, demonic power, demonic sense!

However, a cultivator's body breakthrough emphasizes power; the liquefaction of power is the sign of a successful breakthrough.

Whereas a demon beast breakthrough emphasizes the body, demonic power instead acts as an aid to the body.

The sign of a breakthrough is the condensation of the purest essence blood from the entire body's blood.

Thereafter, the essence blood drives the metamorphosis of flesh, demonic power, and demonic sense.

Heaven and earth spirit aura poured into his body.

Xiong!!

In an instant, the infused spirit aura was like a match, and in a moment it 'ignited' his entire demonic power.

And the boiling demonic power, like internal true fire, began to fiercely burn the body.

Guide demonic power, hammer the demon body!

All previously eaten, swallowed, digested demon beast meat and Beast Blood, the "residue" that could not be fully refined, turned into specks of ash under the burning of demonic power and were expelled from the body.

If it were another demon beast, relying on the method of continuously devouring other demon beasts to increase the Cultivation Base, then at this moment everything swallowed whole would become an obstacle to breakthrough.

The more eaten, the more impurities, the harder it is to purify the body and demon blood.

Yunhe also ate, but he did not eat much, and all were digested via the Source Refining Method; the impurities in his body were surprisingly few!

After the boiling demonic power eliminated all eliminable impurities, it began to burn the blood and burn the demon body.

The intense pain almost made him faint.

The Cultivator Body successfully achieved Foundation Establishment; divine sense surged, far exceeding that of early Foundation Establishment cultivators, transforming into Demon Sense that fell upon the not-yet-breakthrough Demon Beast Body, making his consciousness extremely clear.

Although the pain tormented, after enduring it, Yunhe used Demon Sense to draw the boiling demonic power.

Gathered at the heart.

The heart is the foundation of blood circulation and also the origin where essence blood is refined.

At the same time.

Yunhe also discovered that the half strand of essence blood he had never refined before actually dissolved in the boiling demonic power.

Transforming into an extremely pure substance.

The next moment.

Thump—thump!

The heart violently beat once.

He felt a force originating from the heart, as if something was being drawn out from his surging blood.

Immediately after.

In the Demon Sense.

He "saw" a thin strand of golden blood like a wisp of hair.

It was that golden carp!

Afterwards, he again "saw" several strands of navy-blue blood.

It was the horned viper!

Finally, there was a strand of mysterious black blood.

All were gathered into the heart's chambers.

Hiss—

On his body rose clouds of blood-colored mist mixed with some dark qi.

That was his burned blood and impurities.

Yunhe's body withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Almost all the blood in his body was scorched away.

Only in the heart's apertures did a little remain.

Thump—thump, thump—thump. thump—thump—thump.

Amid the burning of demonic power, the heartbeat gradually calmed.

Yunhe's aura gradually faded.

Sensing this change, the demon beasts guarding around Huanhu Dao were suddenly startled.

King, gone?

No one knows how long this silence has lasted.

It might be just an instant, or several days, months, or even years!

Drip—drop!

Suddenly.

A clear sound rang out within the body.

Essence blood!

A drop of extremely vivid red blood fell, exhibiting a strange mysterious color.

Immediately after, more and more essence blood followed down.

The withered body also recovered like a dead tree meeting spring, and even after returning to its original form continued to expand.

Some features representing something appeared on its body.

Mysterious black scales, rugged carapace, short black horns.

As the essence blood fell, it was like a drop of water falling into hot oil, and Yunhe's entire body emitted a sound like frying beans.

New blood began to surge, a large amount of spiritual qi was infused again, and vitality quietly recovered.

And that drop of essence blood, circulating once through the body via the Mountain-bearing Technique, after awakening his body, remained in the qi sea.

A large amount of demonic power was attracted at this moment, swirling around the essence blood, gathering and condensing.

A round little ball emitting a faint light condensed into form.

Inner core!

Ong—

Faintly, a phantom appeared above the inner core.

Its form resembled a turtle, its movement like a dragon; black armor covered its body, dragon scales veiled its form, sharp horns gleamed with light, interlocking sharp teeth showed their edge.

With an inner resonance, the Demon Sense surged again!

Yunhe, with his eyes tightly closed, suddenly opened them at this moment.

"Ang!!!"

A ringing long cry rang out, echoing across Huanhu Dao.

Puff puff puff—

On the island and lakeside, the demon beasts' bodies lost all control, sprawling on the ground and floating on the lake.

Their whole bodies trembled, with delight and even more fear.

In this roar, it was not entirely a suppression of demonic power level; it seemed more like an instinct from the heart, an awe toward a higher bloodline existence.

'My divine sense seems to have increased a bit.'

'This is a second-tier demon beast!'

'It actually condensed into a demon beast's inner core!'

Having slaughtered so many second-tier demon beasts, he knows best how low the probability is for a second-tier demon beast to condense an inner core.

And with an inner core, it doesn't matter much at the second-tier level, but if one waits until the second-tier breaks through to third-tier, the advantage of having pre‑condensed an inner core becomes enormous.

'Besides, my current appearance'

is seventy‑to‑eighty percent similar to the phantom appearing on that inner core.

Overall, it has changed from a near‑dark‑green to the present dark black.

The carapace has become rugged, and the body has grown scales resembling those of a qilin and a dragon.

Who would still believe he was originally just an ordinary turtle?

What is he now?

A dragon turtle? Bixi? The mountain‑carrying giant ao? A xuanwu?

I don't know.

But anyway, it has nothing to do with Xuanwu.

Xuanwu is a binding game that requires one turtle and one snake.

Moreover.

'I understand the blood of the horned viper, and I get that the dark blood mainly comes from that strand of unknown blood, but the golden carp's blood is still there?'

Even now, after reading many Qingzong Sect classics, Yunhe still hasn't figured out what kind of demon beast that golden carp originally was.

'It looks like awakening the Source Refining Method back then might not have relied solely on a single Reverse‑Blood Lotus.'

A thought flashed by, and a wave of heavy drowsiness surged.

Yunhe was not surprised either.

The 'Mountain‑Carrying Art' states that this sleep lets demon beasts adapt to bodily changes at the fastest speed, a kind of instinctual self‑protection.

Of course, if danger arises or one refuses to sleep, it can be forcibly terminated.

However, doing so makes the later adaptation to bodily changes take a bit longer.

My demon sense spread out nearly a hundred zhang, informing the island's myriad demons that I was unharmed and had smoothly broken through to the second stage.

Immediately afterward I fell into sleep.

In that sleep, his body and cultivation base gradually became solid.

Consciousness returned to the cultivator's body.

'I feel that with my current divine sense, perhaps I can already let both bodies maintain cultivation simultaneously.'

Yunhe's eyes opened, his gaze flickering.

'My current lifespan.'

Eight hundred!

Four times that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator!

'And this is just after breaking into the early second stage; once my cultivation stabilizes and I later break through to mid‑ and late stage, my lifespan should increase even further!'

In other words, at the Foundation Establishment stage he could possibly possess a thousand‑year lifespan!

Extend lifespan by a thousand years!

A strong sense of joy filled his body and mind; he couldn't help but smile, the smile quickly grew larger, and finally he laughed out loud.

'Ah, with such a long life, how should I live?'

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(End of chapter)