Chapter 39

Brother Qian Chen rode the clouds to collect qi every day. Although he was careful to cover his tracks, he was eventually noticed by those with ulterior motives. At midnight, a blue cloud would rise from that little courtyard, and after the hour of Yin, it would fall back down. The clerk from the cloth shop took advantage of the time he came to deliver the Daoist robes to peek a few times, but Brother Qian Chen did not care.

The reason he did not change places was that when he was breaking through the sensing barrier, he accidentally discovered that there was a weak earth-evil yin vein under this desolate little courtyard.

This yin vein was hidden eighty feet below the ground, and the malevolent qi was relatively thin, making it unusable, with only a few bits of purity that were quite rare.

Because this malevolent qi was hidden secretly and its essence was thin, it was rarely discovered by cultivators in this remote county town. Brother Qian Chen had lived here for several days without noticing it; it was only when his spiritual sense was abnormally sharp during the breakthrough of the sensing barrier that he sensed this malevolent qi.

Brother Qian Chen thought it was also reasonable. Although this small county town was remote, such a large residence was also a valuable asset. If there was nothing strange, who would easily give it up? When he went to order the robes earlier, he had heard the clerk from the cloth shop mention rumors that this residence was haunted. He thought that every year during the Awakening of Insects, the Ghost Festival, and the Lantern Festival, the malevolent qi was stirred by the weather and dissipated to the ground.

Gang and Sha qi are both extremely violent heaven and earth primordial qi; cultivators dare not easily collect them, let alone a group of mortals.

It must be that the various strange phenomena when the malevolent qi rose frightened the owner here. In addition, after the malevolent qi rose every day, the people in the residence would inevitably fall ill, and those with weak constitutions might even die suddenly.

Over time, rumors spread, and no one dared to live there, leaving it abandoned.

This malevolent qi was too thin. Although it had some purity, it was still somewhat difficult to use. Even if Brother Qian Chen refined it into the Seven Killings Banner, it would not add a strand of malevolent qi to turn it into an Eight Killings Banner, and it would waste this somewhat rare purity. Brother Qian Chen did not think of how to use it, so he simply left it there and continued to focus on collecting and practicing qi.

His cultivation had improved day by day these past few days. The Nine Heavens Clear Spiritual Qi he collected every day was enough, his internal qi had long been refined into true qi, his cultivation base was several times richer than before, and he had refined seven or eight out of ten of the magic treasures he hadn't had time to fully refine before. Although his own cultivation in the Central Lands was only average, relying on these evil artifacts, Brother Qian Chen also had full confidence in fighting against those of the Core Formation realm from the side paths.

But this was only bullying those side-path Core Formation cultivators of the seventh, eighth, or ninth rank. If he encountered a Core Formation cultivator of the sixth rank, Brother Qian Chen would find it difficult to cope.

If he provoked a true disciple of the Daoist sect in the top three ranks of Core Formation, Brother Qian Chen would definitely be unable to withstand their edge and could only retreat.

Although he did not know what rank of pill Master Miaokong had formed, his combat power was definitely not below that of a first or second-rank Daoist Primordial Pill, and facing him with Brother Qian Chen's current cultivation was still a bit of a suicide mission.

And the guide permission that Master Miaokong possessed could track Brother Qian Chen's official missions. He hadn't encountered him before because the trial missions were protected by the Lord of Reincarnation and were not within the guide's permission; otherwise, if everyone's guide could help, what kind of trial mission would that be? It is ironic to say that the original tracking permission was a benefit of entering the land of reincarnation through the Reincarnation Guide. With the help of the guide, the first three missions would not have too much risk, ensuring the safety of the second generation of reincarnators.

The high price of the Reincarnation Guide was due to this, accounting for thirty percent of it.

But here with Brother Qian Chen, the original reincarnation benefit became a life-threatening calamity...

That is to say, by the next official mission, Brother Qian Chen would have a high probability of encountering Master Miaokong. If he could not possess a trump card equivalent to the Core Formation level to deal with Master Miaokong within a year, Brother Qian Chen's reincarnation journey would be over.

These days of focusing on cultivation, although somewhat dull and boring, were sweet to Brother Qian Chen as he watched his Daoist practice improve day by day.

It was just that following the steps like this, although the future was naturally bright, it was still difficult to deal with the calamity a year later.

On this day, Brother Qian Chen returned on the clouds and sensed that his true qi had gradually become perfect and pure. After passing the bottleneck of breaking through the sensing barrier, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, and any further progress would require slow polishing and hard work, so he could not be impatient.

He secretly thought: "I was focused on my own Daoist practice before and didn't have time to be distracted by other things. Now that a month has passed, I cannot be impatient with the progress of my Daoist practice, nor is it possible for me to deal with a great enemy like Master Miaokong in a year... Even if there were a way to make my Daoist practice advance by leaps and bounds, I wouldn't dare to try. Is cultivation something to joke about?"

"It's better to slow down the progress of my cultivation and stay in the Qi Refinement realm for a while longer!"

"After all, it is said that ancient cultivators focused on the Qi Refinement realm, known as ancient Qi Refinement practitioners, refining qi forty-nine layers to reach the Primordial Spirit. It was only after the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi created the Jin Dan Great Dao that later cultivators turned to the Core Formation path, which is a shortcut to the end, ten times simpler than achieving the Primordial Spirit before... It's a pity that the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi didn't create any method for the Nascent Soul, lacking a few classics!"

"The infants of today's Daoist sect are all people with dull aptitude and rough flesh. After Core Formation, they have to condense an infant body with primordial qi and transfer their own soul and spiritual sense into the infant body, abandoning their original unbearable flesh. It is a method of transferring the body and forming a tripod furnace. Some Daoist great powers, in order to cut off worldly ties and resolve karma, will also do this."

"Condensing an infant like this, although the cultivation aptitude is better, has a disadvantage: slow growth. Many great powers who have cultivated for a thousand years and achieved the Primordial Spirit still have the appearance of a child because they condensed an infant. It is said that the superior method of condensing an infant also has the miraculous power of extending life and avoiding calamities... It's just that our Supreme Dao, when abandoning the flesh, often prefers to seize a newly dead flesh rather than doing this."

"On the contrary, overseas loose cultivators, great powers of different kinds, and even the sword cultivators and true disciples of the Lingbao Dao of Biyou Palace like to do this."

Brother Qian Chen narrowed his eyes. As this thought moved, he thought of the four housekeeping skills of the three true transmissions of the Daoist sect...

Among the true transmissions of the three Dao Ancestors—the Supreme Dao loves alchemy; the Primordial Dao is unparalleled in refining artifacts, with many magic treasures, and is also quite proficient in spiritual talisman techniques; the Lingbao Dao is passionate about swords and is also good at formations, known as the best in sword formations.

These techniques of alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and formations are the four orthodox paths of cultivation, containing many wonderful aspects of cultivation, not purely external paths for self-protection.

After all, the Core Formation path that cultivators often take today was realized by the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi when he was refining pills, so the external pill technique is far older than the internal pill technique. Proficiency in alchemy is of great benefit to a cultivator's Core Formation. And the Penetrating Law realm is said to have some connection with talisman techniques; at least for the disciples of the Zhengyi Dao, entering the sect and receiving the register, Penetrating Law and Foundation Establishment are one, which must have some mystery.

Other people's Foundation Establishment, Sensing, Qi Refinement, Penetrating Law.

His sect's Penetrating Law, Foundation Establishment, Sensing, Qi Refinement.

Zhengyi Dao disciples often can practice magic techniques before breaking through the sensing barrier, so the Daoist academies are all over the world, with ten directions of forests and countless registered Daoist priests, laying a solid foundation for the Primordial Dao to lead the Daoist sect. In this way, the number of incoming disciples far exceeds that of the Supreme Dao by a hundred times. If the Supreme Louguan Dao had also had a strict system like the Zhengyi Dao, easy to enter but difficult to master, it would not have fallen to such a state and been exterminated.

Sword cultivators refine a life-bound flying sword, not to mention it. The Lingbao Dao's formation techniques are superb and related to the path after the Primordial Spirit. It is said that the Primordial Spirit cultivated by the Lingbao Dao itself has great power. If it weren't for the fact that the Primordial Dao's Primordial Spirit starts with a magic treasure in hand, and the Lingbao is not rare, the Supreme Dao has a deep foundation and the first Daoist practice, the Daoist sect would have to be led by the Lingbao Dao Primordial Spirit.

Therefore, among the true transmissions of the Daoist sect, if one practices puppet puppetry, odd-door calculation, star observation, mechanism, etc., they are often advised by their elders, and they will be encouraged to practice only after Core Formation.

But the Supreme Dao's alchemy, the Primordial Dao's talisman techniques, and the Lingbao Dao's sword techniques are taught from the moment they enter the sect.

The Daoist sect's true transmission of alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and formations is by no means the same thing as the side paths. They focus on drawing inferences about other cases. It is said that the ancestor of the Doushuai Palace was originally the fire-fanning boy of the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi. Because he realized the Great Dao when the Dao Xie Xie Zushi was refining the Nine-Turn Golden Pill. The golden pill in the Supreme furnace turned nine times, and he also collected various great medicines while fanning the fire, forming nine turns. By the day the Dao Xie Xie Zushi's pill was formed, the ancestor of the Doushuai Palace also completed the nine turns, refining a Nine-Turn Golden Pill and achieving the Primordial Spirit, immortal and undying.

The Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi bestowed that furnace of golden pills upon him, accepted him as a disciple, and gave him the fan he used to fan the fire as a token of the true transmission of the Supreme Dao.

Of course, these are all legends spread by the Doushuai Palace. The reason Brother Qian Chen knows this is because Supreme Louguan Dao disciples often say some joking little words, saying that among the three true transmissions of the Supreme Dao, only the Xiao Xie Xuan Du Dao Venerable of the Taiqing Sect and the Wen Shi Xie Xie Zushi of the Supreme Louguan Dao are the true disciples of the Supreme Dao.

Among them, Xiao Xie Xuan Du Dao Venerable is the closing disciple accepted by the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi after he achieved the Dao, and Wen Shi True Person accompanied him long before the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi achieved the Dao, so the three true transmissions of the Supreme Dao should be led by the Supreme Louguan Dao. As for the Doushuai Palace, it was only founded by the fire-fanning boy of the Dao Xie Xie Zushi. If it weren't for the luck of obtaining the Daoist field of the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi in the heavenly realm in the past, it could not be considered a true transmission.

After all, the ancestor of the Doushuai Palace refined pills for the Dao Xie Xie Zushi, but the Supreme Bagua Furnace is the treasure of the Taiqing Sect as a heritage of the Daoist lineage.

The Doushuai Palace only got a fan for fanning the fire... the meaning is quite profound.

However, although the Supreme Louguan Dao said so, Xiao Xie Xuan Du Dao Venerable is still the eldest disciple of the Supreme Dao Xie Xie Zushi, the senior brother of Wen Shi True Person, sitting in the Eight Views Palace of the Taiqing Heaven, as the head of the Daoist sect. They only dared to say these things within the Supreme Louguan Dao, and after the Supreme Louguan Dao declined later, they didn't even dare to mock the Doushuai Palace.

Brother Qian Chen had thought of many ways to temporarily increase his magic power. Of course, it would be best to use his own Supreme Dao Dust Bead, but for some reason, after Brother Qian Chen's spiritual sense left the Dao Dust Bead, he couldn't really command this master. Although this master is his own body, he is still very big-headed towards his second primordial spirit, and he doesn't move even if he pokes him twice.

Retiring to the second best, if he could obtain a spiritual treasure, relying on the power of the spiritual treasure itself, he would not be afraid of cultivators below the Primordial Spirit.

It's a pity that unless he sells his own body, anyone who hears that he wants to get a spiritual treasure within a year would say he is whimsical. Even if the Primordial Dao has the most secret treasures left by the past generations, and the Primordial Dao Xie Xie Zushi left the most opportunities for spiritual treasures, and even has nine Daoist fields and separate mansions, known as eight hundred spiritual treasures, there is no reason for a small cultivator who has not yet penetrated the law to obtain one.

The people who have responded to the calamity of the Primordial Dao in past generations also started their happy life of having many treasures and blessings after Core Formation, right?

Again, there are the four auxiliary paths of alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and formations. Not to mention the Heaven Mansion Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu, spiritual treasures, cave heaven formations, and Nine-Turn Golden Pills, what Brother Qian Chen can refine with his current means is the Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu Divine Register—the Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu can confer the title of Daoist, which is the talisman refined by the Zhengyi Dao when they represent the Daoist sect in conferring titles on Daoist priests who have made great contributions to the Daoist sect.

Once a Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu is bestowed, one immediately achieves Core Formation magic power. The Heaven Mansion Tianfu Tianfu Zhenfu bestowed by the Zhengyi Dao from the heavenly realm can even allow the conferred True Person to achieve Primordial Spirit magic power, standing on the ground, immortal and undying.

The Divine Register is the talisman edict for the Zhengyi Dao to confer titles on ghosts and gods. Nowadays, only the current Son of Heaven can order the Zhengyi Dao to refine one or two during the conferring of gods.

It is equivalent to a certificate for the ghost and god system of the Daoist sect.

This kind of talisman is wonderful, but only the Zhengyi Dao specializes in it, and Brother Qian Chen cannot refine it at all.

And the formation technique is too high-end. Even though Brother Qian Chen can now set up some basic formations like the Soul-Bewitching Formation and the Five Elements Formation, to go deep into high-end applications, the resources consumed and the Daoist practice required are terrifying. This is an auxiliary path that can only be called an introduction after the Primordial Spirit.

Brother Qian Chen calculated and calculated, and his own housekeeping skill—the art of alchemy—was the most certain.