Chapter 257: Body Refinement is Irreversible

"The Sages' Holy Land has abundant spiritual energy and clear Heavenly Dao; even if the aptitude is poor, one should inevitably break through after entering; who would have thought he really came out just as he went in."

Inner Courtyard Purple Bamboo Zen Forest Tea Pavilion.

Shi Junhao, He Lingxiu, Yu Shiliu, Gu Zetao, and others gathered here.

The Heavenly Tian Shuyuan was not empty; disciples often walked around in the outer courtyard, so Ji You's return was quickly noticed, and thus it spread far and wide, drifting into the ears of many people.

The matter of this rustic private cultivator Ji You taking the top spot at the Heavenly Dao Assembly actually hadn't subsided, and now another wave arose.

He Lingxiu picked up her teacup: "Ji You's talent has always been extremely good; there must be some places that limited him, otherwise it wouldn't be like this."

Xiao Hanyan couldn't help but look up after hearing this: "You mean body refinement?"

"Correct; the Qingyun world has long had a conclusion: those who become immortals will have their spirits leave their bodies and form immortal bodies; the physical body originally cannot be too powerful, otherwise the human-heaven resonance will be limited; he already spent a lot of effort when he went from the Middle Realm of Profound Understanding to the Upper Realm of Profound Understanding, and this time entering the Holy Land, the human-heaven resonance is probably gone."

"This... doesn't that mean the immortal path is severed?"

The path of cultivating immortals relies on human-heaven resonance, thereby observing the rules of ten thousand Daos and condensing them into oneself.

And once the human-heaven resonance is gone, it means the immortal path has reached its end.

The Heavenly Tian Shuyuan has many disciples; their cultivation speed in the Lower Three Realms is not slow, but because their talent for enlightenment is not high, the human-heaven resonance is constantly obstructed, one step and one hurdle, ultimately becoming indistinguishable from the crowd.

But what made everyone silent was not this conclusion that everyone knew; in fact, Ji You clearly didn't belong to this situation.

His talent was extremely strong; it was because body refinement locked himself up.

Yu Shiliu couldn't help but turn her head at this time, looking at Gu Zetao and Wang Gaocen.

In the more than half a year since the Heavenly Dao Assembly ended, the scenes of being defeated by others always repeated in their minds, making their conversations fewer.

However, they often went to the Library Pavilion to flip through some classics regarding body refinement.

Actually, even if this wasn't said, they could understand each other; the shock Ji You gave them when he swept the entire realm back then was too great, making them unconsciously have thoughts too.

However, they were currently only staying at the level of understanding and hadn't truly started trying.

Now hearing the discussion of their senior brothers and sisters, they instantly gave up those thoughts.

"Can this restriction of the physical body on spiritual sense be eliminated?"

Several elders in the Elder Pavilion also heard the news of Ji You's return; standing in the pavilion at this time, they were also discussing among themselves.

Elder Fang laughed upon hearing this: "Body refinement is an irreversible process; naturally, it cannot be eliminated; it's not like no one walked this path a thousand years ago, otherwise there wouldn't be so many body refinement classics left behind; the decline of this path is enough to explain the problem."

Elder Ge couldn't help but frown slightly: "This Ji You, what exactly is he doing?"

"A limitation of origin."

"?"

Elder Fang picked up the teacup on the table and lightly scraped the floating foam with the lid: "He relied on talent to walk hard to this point, but compared to noble disciples, ultimately no one taught him what to do later."

The elders in the Elder Pavilion instantly understood his meaning after hearing this.

With talent like this, if he were in a noble family, he would definitely be cultivated as a seed.

The ancestors in the family would definitely use their experience as people who had been there to formulate a detailed cultivation plan for him: what to do when reaching which realm, what elixir to eat, precise to the point of not missing a bit.

The crooked path of Body Refinement is one that must absolutely not be entered.

But Ji You was born in the countryside, had no ancestors in the family, and perhaps had contracted this bad habit of body refinement before entering the academy as a private cultivator.

This indeed enhanced his combat power, letting him take the top spot at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, but the drawbacks had already been revealed without doubt.

Elder Fang fell into silence when speaking to this point.

Being able to walk to the Upper Realm of Profound Understanding under the restriction of the physical body also made him realize how strong Ji You's original talent must have been.

If this kind of person hadn't practiced body refinement, perhaps he wouldn't have taken the top spot at the Heavenly Dao Assembly, but the possibility of entering the top ten still existed; after coming out of the Sages' Holy Land, perhaps he would truly be limitless.

At this time, the four words "binding oneself in a cocoon" floated into their minds.

Also feeling complex were Cao Jingsong, Ban Yangshu, Wen Zhengxin, and the Lu sisters, who were sitting in the courtyard.

Since returning from the Heavenly Dao Assembly, they could also be considered to have been infinitely glorious because of Ji You.

Cao Jingsong went from an unknown instructor to a hot figure in the outer courtyard, and the Management Office even exchanged Ding Ang's courtyard for him to live in, letting him live in a larger one.

Actually, he didn't really want to change to a new courtyard; after all, a golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as a dog's nest.

But as the instructor of the Heavenly Dao Assembly top winner, the Management Office also didn't want him to live too shabbily.

As for the Second Miss of the Lu family, after entering the inner courtyard, she chose the Zizai Hall, belonging to the same hall as He Lingxiu; although she couldn't compare to a direct disciple, she could still come into contact with some basic techniques in the hall.

As for Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu, they were also cultivating the Dao in the courtyard all day, without too many worries.

It was just the sudden appearance of Heavenly phenomena and Evil Seeds that had provoked their heartstrings recently, during which they had returned to Fengzhou once with Xiang Cheng.

But just as Mu Jing said to Ji You, Fengzhou was now a place where the Zhenbei Army was stationed; although there were Evil Seeds appearing, no chaos had broken out.

But seeing Ji You return, this tranquility seemed to be suddenly broken.

The news that Ji You failed to break through had been spreading for half a month; Cao Jingsong had scoffed at it at the time, but no matter what, he never expected that this matter was actually true.

In the vast courtyard, everyone looked at Ji You who was sitting down, their eyes gradually freezing.

The first to speak was still Cao Jingsong.

"Wicked disciple, what exactly did you do in the Sages' Holy Land?"

"Cultivating."

Cao Jingsong's mouth couldn't help but twitch: "For more than half a year, why are you still in the Realm of Profound Understanding?"

Ji You rolled up his sleeves at this time: "It is cultivating, but I am refining my body."

"You ran into the Sages' Holy Land to refine your body?"

"A good man should have a good body."

Cao Jingsong stared at him for a long time, his eyes suddenly becoming serious: "Don't give me that nonsense; was your human-heaven resonance restricted by your physical body? I told you early on that body refinement is not the right path."

Ji You had expected to be questioned like this early on, and couldn't help but speak upon hearing this: "I never thought about becoming an immortal, so combat power is the most important thing to me; the body refinement path is the easiest for me to walk, and it is also the method to increase combat power the fastest."

Cao Jingsong frowned: "Where does this theory come from? You weren't deceived by someone, were you?"

"It's a conclusion I reached myself; does the instructor know that body refinement actually also has a division of realms?"

"?"

"I started body refinement at the beginning, indeed largely out of helplessness; but afterward, I discovered that this path might not be impossible to walk."

As Ji You spoke, he clenched his fists slightly, and then a spirit began to permeate out of his body.

Under the scorching heat rushing toward them, everyone held their breath slightly, discovering that their body hair instantly stood up, as if facing a huge beast.

Bang!

A muffled sound; all five people in the field reached out and supported themselves on the stone table, feeling the surging sense of oppression in front of them, a trace of incredulity flashing in their eyes.

Ji You had released his spirit once to Cao Jingsong when he was merging with the Dao; that time, although the pressure on Wang Jiaoxi Cao was not small, his expression could still be calm and composed.

But this time, that spirit made him feel difficult to resist.

After a long time, the scorching spirit in the field was gradually retracted, and the five people opposite instantly felt much more relaxed.

Cao Jingsong's eyes were filled with incredulity.

Because compared to the last time, he could feel that his wicked disciple's momentum was truly far beyond all current realms.

When he returned to the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, he was arrogant, daring to point fingers at the elders of the Elder Pavilion; during that time, some elders were secretly angry, but the pressure they released was not as suffocating as this.

Cao Jingsong calmed his mood and retracted the spiritual energy used to resist: "Body refinement actually also has a division of realms, and can be continuously broken through?"

"As of now, it is like this."

"You are now... what realm?"

Ji You shook his fists: "In a few days, find an elder to beat up, and it will be clear."

Ban Yangshu looked at Ji You at this time: "Junior brother, you want to give up Dao cultivation? Only walk this path?"

"I haven't given it up, just have some takes and some gives."

"But the restriction of a powerful physical body on human-heaven resonance is not empty words; can you still feel the Heavenly Dao now?"

Upon hearing Ban Yangshu's words, a surging gold gradually rose in the depths of Ji You's eyes; in no time, his pupils were like molten gold, and his swaying spiritual sense was like leaping flames, burning and inextinguishable.

Human-heaven resonance needs aptitude, but the reliance is spiritual sense. Theoretically speaking, no matter how powerful the physical body is, as long as the spiritual sense is always a step higher, the resonance with the Heavenly Dao will not be completely blocked.

Besides body refinement, Ji You had always been tempering his spiritual sense with the sword control technique while in the Sages' Holy Land.

He indeed decided to walk the body refinement path to the end, but he hadn't completely given up on Dao cultivation.

Just at this moment, Ji You discovered a white, onion-like hand reaching over, pinching his biceps.

Ji You turned his head and found Ding Shijie Wen's eyes were somewhat straight, as if trying the hardness.

Everyone says the Lingjian Mountain Little Master is powerful; how could she be able to handle this...

Wen Zhengxin could not help but recall the matter of his own fickle parents randomly playing matchmaker before the Heavenly Dao Assembly, thinking to himself that if it had succeeded back then, wouldn't he have been done in...

Ji You didn't know Wen Zhengxin's heart was yellow, otherwise he would definitely tell Ding Shijie that the tsundere ghost hadn't dared to try yet.

Lu Qingqiu's thoughts were similar to Wen Zhengxin's, so on the way back, her silver teeth bit lightly, her gaze containing water.

Thinking that if there was truly a chance in the future, wouldn't she be knocked apart...

And Second Miss Lu, Lu Hanyan, also had a little worry.

Thinking that whether she married or her sister married, wouldn't she be knocked flying...

Amidst the ups and downs in her heart, both sisters had restricted scenes in their minds, and they didn't know how they walked back to the courtyard.

After a long while, Lu Qingqing came back to her senses, looked at her younger sister with flushed cheeks, and discovered that her sister also had a hesitant look, immediately knowing that she was thinking the same sordid thoughts as herself.

Afterward, a letter on the table attracted their attention.

The letter came from Yunzhou, written by their father; the content was roughly asking how their cultivation was, and about the situation in the inner courtyard.

Besides these, he probably talked about the situation in Yunzhou.

Yunzhou also had Evil Seeds appearing, but fortunately, with the Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce, the handling was relatively quick, and people were sent to encircle and suppress the nearby spirit mine appearance sites.

They were also investigating the source of this batch of Evil Seeds, and there was still no news; they wanted Lu Qingqiu to pay attention to some news at the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan.

However, what Lu Qingqiu paid most attention to was that her father mentioned several young talents in the letter.

Some were from Qingzhou, some from Youzhou, saying they were noble disciples with decent cultivation, and so on, and also hinted that she had reached marriageable age.

Seeing this scene, Lu Qingqiu frowned slightly.

During the autumn battle, her father had hinted at her secretly, probably intending to let her find a way to marry Ji You.

But her father suddenly changed his mind at this time and told her about some other people, probably because the news that Ji You came out of the Sages' Holy Land but failed to break through had become known.

Back then, because the Elder Pavilion made concessions and allowed her sister to enter the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, what they considered was that Ji You, who came out of the Sages' Holy Land, would be immeasurable; this point was almost consistent in the cognition of the whole world.

And at this time, everyone probably felt that Ji You, who hadn't broken through even in the Sages' Holy Land, had reached the end of his cultivation path.

The Qingyun world was originally realistic to the point of cruelty; this point never made people feel surprised.

At the same time, Chunhua Lane.

Ji You left Cao Jingsong's courtyard, went down the Nishan divine path, and came to Xiang Cheng's residence.

Not having seen each other for a long time, Xiang Cheng, who saw Ji You again, was overjoyed: "Brother Ji is back?"

Ji You stepped into the door refreshed: "Where is my big fat nephew? Bring him out for the uncle to see."

"Brother Ji is truly dissolute..."

"I've been away for at least seven or eight months; don't tell me you and Wei Rui haven't done anything serious?"

Xiang Cheng turned and entered his bedroom, taking out two account books and placing them on the table.

"After the autumn harvest, I and several officials in Fengzhou discussed and established the Wulv Chamber of Commerce, using the remaining grain to relieve many common people in other eight provinces, and recruited some people to go to Fengzhou; the pasture Brother Ji mentioned earlier has been built, and the large markets in several counties have also been merged together, managed uniformly by the government."

Ji You took the account books and flipped through them.

Good fellow, all doing serious things.

He knew Xiang Cheng was always serious about such things, and giving it to him was not wrong.

The only regret was that he didn't have the guts to be fruitful with Wei Rui.

Unlike him, he had already asked the high-and-mighty Lingjian Mountain Little Master for advice on having a baby.

Xiang Cheng sat down at this time: "Outside, everyone is spreading that Brother Ji, you didn't break through; what's going on?"

Ji You looked up upon hearing this and answered in a simple way: "The path I walk is somewhat different from theirs; the realm indeed hasn't improved, but the body is better."

Xiang Cheng felt relieved after hearing this: "Then I am relieved; as long as the body is good."

After spring, the Barbarian army appeared outside the Ten Thousand Mountains again.

Xiang Cheng was worried that the war would restart, so he went to inquire and knew that the Barbarian race's emperor also had a daughter, only that she was a bit older and her body was relatively sturdy.

However, he believed in Ji You; he had always felt that his Brother Ji's charm could be eaten by both old and young.

Enduring humiliation to "bear the burden" for the common people, there was nothing to fear.

Ji You put down the account book in his hand: "I heard from your colleagues that after I entered the Sages' Holy Land, many things happened in the Qingyun world."

He had always been very concerned about the Heavenly phenomena and Evil Seeds appearing, but there was truth and falsehood in the rumors, making it hard for him to distinguish.

Coming to find Xiang Cheng this time was because as an official of the Immortal Supervision Bureau, the news he knew should be the most authentic.

Xiang Cheng had actually been waiting for him because of this matter; after hearing him mention it, he took out a map from the brownish-red small cabinet and placed it in front of Ji You.

This was a full map of the Nine Provinces that could be bought in shops, but it marked many remote areas, all places where Evil Seeds had been found to appear.

Xiang Cheng looked at Ji You at this time: "I feel this matter is very strange."

Ji You looked at the map and pondered for a long time before speaking: "You mean the Evil Seeds appeared suddenly but the source couldn't be found?"

"Brother Ji also noticed, right? This matter is somewhat similar to the Qiling incident."

"Doesn't look like a natural disaster; looks like a man-made calamity."

Xiang Cheng nodded slightly solemnly: "Everything in this world has a cause and effect; I feel someone must have done something to make so many Evil Seeds appear in the Qingyun world, just like that demon person of the Zheng family back then; it's just a pity that Dou Yuankong is mentally deranged and can't speak, otherwise there might be traces to follow."

Ji You had also come into close contact with the Evil Seeds that appeared this time and knew that if one investigated along these ghostly things, one definitely wouldn't find anything.

The only clue at present was actually Dou Yuankong, who was rescued.

Actually, Ji You had thought about going to see Dou Yuankong on the way back, but after thinking about it, he felt it was better to forget it.

Back then, Dou Yuankong was because he left the capital; although everything was self-inflicted, now that he had been made into this ghostly appearance, he thought the Dou family wouldn't be willing to see him.

Ji You looked up: "Mental derangement should be a problem with the spirit; do you think the Pill Sect might have a cure?"

Xiang Cheng shook his head very simply after hearing this: "Actually, the Pill Sect once sent an alchemist over, but after treating him for a long time, he was still in that ghostly appearance."

"The Dou family could actually invite an alchemist?"

"It was the other six major Immortal Sects who joined hands to invite him; they probably also knew this matter wasn't simple and wanted to find out something from Dou Yuankong's mouth."

Xiang Cheng pointed to the direction of Sanli County on the map at this time: "But there is one point that is very strange; Dou Yuankong is an official's son, can't carry or lift; there's no reason he would go to such a remote place as Sanli County; I always feel he shouldn't have gone voluntarily."

Ji You looked up after hearing this: "This is indeed a clue; can the Immortal Supervision Bureau send people to investigate?"

"My Immortal Supervision Bureau's manpower has all been sent to clear Evil Seeds and has no time to attend to it; however, the seven major Immortal Sects have sent people; counting the days, they should have arrived; I don't know if they can find anything."

After the Qiling incident happened, it was calm for two years, but Ji You had always suspected that the Zheng family ancestor's failed ascension was not the end of this matter.

Because he and Yuan Chen had been to that central immortal mountain in the ruins, and the traces found also showed that it wasn't just the Zheng family ancestor alone.

Then these people had been dormant for two years without movement; there must be a reason.

And there is an old saying in the Qingyun world: "Year after year, the flowers are similar; year after year, the people are the same."

This year, last year, and the previous years didn't have many differences; the only difference was the convening of the Heavenly Dao Assembly and the opening of the Sages' Holy Land.

Ji You couldn't help but think of the strange phenomena in the Sages' Holy Land, his brows slightly furrowed.

The omen of chaotic times that had been spreading in the Qingyun world before might be referring to this.

To tell the truth, many cultivators died at Qiling back then, to the point that the tax tribute of the following year decreased; if one really thought about it this way, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

But the problem was, under a collapsed nest, I'm afraid there wouldn't be any complete eggs.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 258 =====