Chapter 50: Chapter Fifty: Divine Talisman Fire

Question: What is the wondrous origin, naturally?

Answer: Transcending form and name, mysteriously profound and unfathomable—all things under heaven and earth arise from being, and being arises from nonbeing; all emerge from the Dao’s responsive law, and the wondrous origin reaches nonorigin!

…

When Chen Hang completed the refinement of Jin Chan according to the methods in the Tai Su Yu Shen scripture.

He felt as if he had grown far closer to the empty void and the cosmos; every gesture, every movement, faintly carried the Dao’s resonance of “pursuing simplicity, returning to the wondrous origin.”

But following this came an inexplicable, unbearable hunger.

Not merely his stomach—his five viscera, six bowels, even every inch of skin and surface—sent a clear thought piercing into his skull.

Hungry!

Hungry!!

Hungry!!!

Chen Hang took out a talisman coin; within mere breaths, all its spiritual energy was drained, yet his body, imperceptibly, generated a faint thread of jade light, slowly nourishing his flesh.

Had he not sensed it with his spiritual perception, even at arm’s length, the naked eye could not detect it.

“This method is like a glutton—it devours quite a lot.”

Chen Hang chuckled, assumed the Five Points Toward Heaven posture, and began drawing in the scattered spiritual energy of the void and heavens.

But after a stick of incense had burned, as expected, Chen Hang shook his head.

The scarcity of spiritual energy in the Southern Region was a settled fact—even sect mountain gates suffered thus, let alone the mortal world. Even if “Tai Shi Yuan Zhen” could draw the total essence of one yuan, the quantity remained fixed: only a few faint threads, and no amount of effort would yield more.

“It seems I must rely on talisman coins for cultivation—though wasteful, I have no choice.”

Chen Hang thought silently, eyes flashing.

In a few months, he would enter the Earth Abyss; whether he could survive its Zhenjue Yin realm remained uncertain.

Life and death hang in the balance.

Gaining even a fraction more strength is great fortune—how could he care for worldly wealth?

Moreover, he must gather as many spiritual herbs and treasures as possible within the Earth Abyss… for participating in the Flower Goddess Mansion’s “Xie Fang Ban” demands considerable expenditure.

Countless cultivators have sold wives and daughters yet still failed to raise the sum, left sighing at the horizon.

With his resolve settled, he hesitated no longer.

Chen Hang spilled all the talisman coins from his several Qiankun bags, did not hold them, but entangled them with his fetal breath and began inhaling and exhaling their energy.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed swiftly.

During Chen Hang’s secluded cultivation.

Beyond the endless starry void, the Long Hua Ancient Bell still rang loudly; the Long Bo Giant had pleaded with it for days, soft-spoken and beseeching, yet the bell refused to cease, stubbornly unmoved.

Finally, the Long Bo Giant flew into rage, leapt up, seized the ancient bell, and pounded it a hundred times, bruising its spirit until it whimpered and wept, finally falling silent.

…

Another day passed.

As the heavens slowly brightened, Chen Hang swept his wide sleeves, lips curved in a smile, and rose from his meditation cushion.

He exhaled slowly through nose and mouth—and instantly, fierce winds erupted within the quiet chamber, shaking the bookshelves violently; had he not halted at once, the roof tiles might have been ripped off, flooding the room with brilliant daylight.

Yet this was merely one exhalation—not any wind-summoning Dao technique.

Yet under Chen Hang’s current physical body, it possessed power rivaling an ordinary lower-grade Dao art!

Dao texts say: the physical body is the treasure raft of cultivation; the primordial spirit is the sail and mast; only when united can one cross the boundless sea of calamity and suffering, reaching the other shore of Immortal Dao.

In some treatises on Golden Core cultivation, there is even this assertion.

It states: if the limbs are damaged or incomplete, one cannot fully realize the spiritual root and fruit, hindering the Golden Core path—achieving a top-grade Golden Core becomes a fantasy.

Moreover, among the thirteen great herbs required for Golden Core formation, one is named “Shen Fu Huo.”

This herb can only be condensed by one whose physical blood and qi are boiling; at its peak, it reaches nine chi nine cun tall, flickering like stars shining.

True Qi has nine grades, thirty-six ranks; first-grade low-rank is the lowest, ninth-grade supreme-rank the highest.

But Golden Core grades are reversed.

Ninth-grade yellow-white Golden Core is the lowest; first-grade Long Hu Golden Core is the highest.

One who achieves a first-grade Golden Core—even within the Eight Sects and Six Clans—is an absolute true disciple; future attainment of Nascent Soul, even Return to Void, Pure Yang, or the lofty Dao Lord, remains a glimmer of hope.

To achieve a first-grade Golden Core, all thirteen great herbs are indispensable.

“Shen Fu Huo”—is one of the thirteen great herbs!

With Tai Su Yu Shen in hand.

Chen Hang was confident: condensing “Shen Fu Huo” was no great challenge; even reaching its peak height of nine chi nine cun held an eighty percent chance.

“At least, I’ve glimpsed a sliver of the path to immortality…”

Chen Hang sighed, glancing around, eyes gleaming with clarity.

Without concealment, his body, inside and out, was now entirely veiled in a faint jade glow, like wearing a dull, shimmering robe of rosy clouds.

His form was lithe as a long dragon, neither bulky nor bloated, as if carved from exquisite jade and colored stone, naturally graceful.

Merely by sight alone, he could see clearly in darkness, discerning birds soaring dozens of zhang above, every fine feather on their wings distinctly visible.

Similarly, his hearing had further transformed.

From the dozens of servants in the Tong household, their voices, footsteps, and rustling garments—he could now discern their general nature; if he focused his mind completely, he could even hear heartbeats and blood flow, though these were fainter.

This state was undeniably beyond mortal capacity.

In these days, he devoted all talisman coins to cultivating Tai Su Yu Shen, finally advancing it to Xuan Level Three.

Tai Su Yu Shen is divided into three grand realms: Xuan, Yuan, Shi; each realm has nine levels.

Yang Shan Daoist was likely at Xuan Level One; his body still retained vulnerable points, barely entering the threshold.

Tong Gaolu was stronger, yet only at Xuan Level Three or Four.

This reveals how immense the spiritual energy required for Tai Su Yu Shen cultivation is…

Both had possessed Tai Su Yu Shen for at least ten years, yet due to spiritual scarcity, their progress remained shallow.

Chen Hang’s ability to reach Xuan Level Three in mere days came from the resources in the Qiankun bags of Tong Xuantao, Tong Gaolu, and Zhou Chuyu.

Especially Zhou Chuyu.

No one knew what fortune she had encountered, yet she possessed eight or nine Qiankun bags, containing over six thousand talisman coins in total.

It was precisely this reckless expenditure that enabled his advancement.

Yet future cultivation remains a problem: each level of advancement in Qi refinement or Tai Su Yu Shen demands several times the spiritual energy of the previous level.

Thus, joining a sect with a spiritual vein became Chen Hang’s urgent necessity.

…

After sensing once more the changes Tai Su Yu Shen had wrought upon his body, Chen Hang exhaled gently and sat down again, spilling the contents of several Qiankun bags.

Only after another five days did he finally gather his qi.

A slight surge of fetal breath caused several items to glow with spiritual light, circling around him like schooling fish—beautiful to behold.

Seeing this, Chen Hang smiled faintly, then, through his magical pact, summoned Tu Shan Ge.

Not long after, the fox pushed open the door.

Seeing Chen Hang, he froze, then broke into a grin, stepping forward to bow.

“Congratulations, Master—your cultivation has advanced again!”

…

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