Chapter 471: Three-Level Spiritual Field

The Guiyuan Secret Art is a technique for concealing one's cultivation level.

It has three layers. The first two are straightforward, but the third involves opening a small void to conceal spiritual power within the external world. This is akin to the Golden Core Domain of the Immortal Sects, though the Guiyuan Secret Art essentially creates a portable spiritual power pool, making its application relatively narrow.

Regardless, the Guiyuan Secret Art will certainly aid the Golden Core Domain. Therefore, Chen Mobai intends to send his junior disciple to find the source of this secret art and retrieve the specific cultivation method for its third layer.

For the sake of the Golden Core Domain, Chen Mobai also attempted to comprehend the mysteries of the void using the Void Law Body. However, this cultivation method is extremely obscure and challenging; cultivating it with only a partial understanding could easily lead to errors. Chen Mobai was stationed in Yan Kingdom for two years, during which he inquired with local cultivation families about the Void Law Body. Unfortunately, even within Mt. Hanshan, few could cultivate this body-refining method, much less outsiders. If anyone from the Ji family still survived, they might have been able to find relevant texts and annotations.

Fortunately, Chen Mobai had no strong attachment to the cultivation methods of the Tianhe Realm; he would cultivate the Void Law Body if he could comprehend it, and set it aside if he could not. He also consulted Fu Zongjue, and according to his advice, placed the chapters of the Void Law Body suitable for the Qi Refining stage in the sect's scripture pavilion. This way, if a supremely talented disciple successfully cultivates it in the future, the subsequent methods can then be imparted.

"Master, don't worry," Luo Yixuan said with confidence, "I will definitely take care of this for you." Having successfully established her foundation, she was in the most confident phase of her life, believing that there was nowhere in the vast world she could not go.

"Alright," Chen Mobai replied, "wait until after this year's sect competition before you leave. Your master will also prepare some life-saving items for you." However, Chen Mobai felt that the Eastern Desolation was fraught with dangers, and a Foundation Establishment cultivation was merely passable. Conveniently, after the sect's great war, he had refined all the Azurewood Malice into Azureflame Sword Malice. He could sacrifice one of them to forge an "Azureflame Sword Talisman" for Luo Yixuan. With this, as long as she didn't encounter a Golden Core cultivator, Luo Yixuan could essentially move unhindered across the Eastern Desolation.

Besides the sect competition, newly successful Foundation Establishment true disciples of the sect could also enter the Divine Tree Secret Realm to seek opportunities. Although Li Yixian had also successfully established his foundation, he had previously consumed a Foundation Establishment Pill, so only Luo Yixuan was eligible for this. Luo Yixuan was very much looking forward to this and kept asking Chen Mobai for various details.

"Regarding this secret realm," Chen Mobai said, "there have been some recent developments." Chen Mobai found it difficult to explain that he had used the Purple Lightning Sword to cleave the Grand Dao Tree. However, Luo Yixuan's words reminded him that the Divine Tree Secret Realm was crucial for both the Divine Wood Sect and himself, and could not simply be abandoned. If he were to use the Turtle Treasure to teleport in, only his true body could enter, and the danger would be too great.

However, the Divine Wood Sect held the key to open the secret realm. If Fu Zongjue intervened, he could have the Transmission Department open it, allowing Chen Mobai to send in his Formless Golem to investigate the current situation inside. If there was no danger, at least Luo Yixuan could enter and seek her opportunities at the Dharma Treasure Tree and Talent Tree. It so happened that Chen Mobai planned to cultivate the Longevity Dao Body, which required a significant amount of Longevity Tree sap. His junior disciple had a water-attribute spiritual root, and according to the Dharma Treasure Tree's patterns, she might be able to find a gourd full.

After hearing this, Luo Yixuan, though curious about what could possibly go wrong with the Divine Tree Secret Realm—a cornerstone of the sect—obediently nodded since Chen Mobai had said it, deciding not to think about it for the time being.

"Junior Sister, congratulations on your Foundation Establishment," Liu Wenbo and Zhuo Ming said. At this moment, Liu Wenbo and Zhuo Ming also came over to congratulate Luo Yixuan. She smiled demurely, pursing her lips, but still gracefully raised her wine cup next to Chen Mobai.

"Senior Brother and Senior Sister will definitely succeed too," Luo Yixuan said. Luo Yixuan knew that her current success was entirely due to becoming Chen Mobai's disciple, so she greatly valued the Xiaonanshan lineage. Watching the harmonious scene of his three disciples, Chen Mobai also happily drank a cup. The four of them, master and disciples, celebrated for a night.

The next morning, Chen Mobai took his three disciples to observe two mu of farmland at the foot of the mountain, where the soil was noticeably darker than that of ordinary spiritual fields.

"These two mu of spiritual fields have finally completely absorbed the buried Life-Breath Stones," Chen Mobai announced. Previously, Chen Mobai had slain Aituo from Mt. Hanshan and obtained two third-tier Life-Breath Stones from his storage bag. After returning to the sect, he carefully selected two mu of top-grade second-tier spiritual fields, buried the stones, and then invited experts from the Spiritual Vein Department to set up a transformation and upgrading array. Zhuo Ming would periodically check on them.

As fate would have it, Zhuo Ming's ability to begin cultivating the Nine-Ren Law Body stemmed from this very process. While these two mu of spiritual fields were upgrading, she felt the surging vitality of the spiritual land, which resonated deeply with her mind. She then meditated beside these fields for three days and three nights, completing the transformation of her physical body and mastering the body-refining technique. Zhuo Ming's Nine-Ren Law Body could easily enter its first stage, partly because there was no shortage of spiritual rice and similar resources at Xiaonanshan. Especially in the last five or six years, every meal had consisted of first or second-tier spiritual rice, along with meat like spiritual fish and chicken, which had greatly nourished her body, making her qi and blood abundant. If it were another cultivator, they might have failed during the breakthrough process due to insufficient vital essence in their physical body.

"My Earth Mother Art has already sensed the transformation of these two mu of spiritual fields," Zhuo Ming explained, "but they will still need nourishment from Xiaonanshan's spiritual veins. Otherwise, these third-tier spiritual fields could drop in rank during cultivation." After years of training, Zhuo Ming could be considered half a Geomancer when it came to spiritual fields. The Earth Mother Art was incredibly compatible with her; often, her cultivation progressed naturally through the spiritual field's earth veins, as if the earth itself was propelling her forward, with spiritual plants and herbs vying to bloom for her. However, she herself was quite oblivious to this, believing it was simply due to the abundant spiritual energy from the sect's earth veins, which allowed her to easily break through and progress each time.

"You should disperse the spiritual veins of Xiaonanshan and use it to cultivate the spiritual fields," Chen Mobai instructed Zhuo Ming. The sixty mu of spiritual fields at Xiaonanshan were originally experimental fields used by the Five Elements Sect to cultivate third-tier spiritual rice; theoretically, all of them could be upgraded to third-tier spiritual fields. Previously, however, Chen Mobai needed the spiritual energy from the mountaintop for his cultivation, and they also lacked third-tier spiritual rice to plant, so only a portion of the fields was cultivated to second-tier.

"Master, your cultivation is the most important thing," Zhuo Ming said, "How can we delay your spiritual energy usage for this?" Zhuo Ming, who was usually obedient, shook her head. She had originally only intended to borrow a small amount of third-tier spiritual energy to maintain the two mu of spiritual fields that had just completed their upgrade to third-tier. Liu Wenbo and Luo Yixuan also tried to persuade him in the same way, as in the Eastern Desolation, one's own cultivation level was, after all, paramount.

"The two Grand Elders have bestowed the Longevity Wood upon me as my cultivation ground," Chen Mobai explained, "so your master no longer needs the spiritual veins of Xiaonanshan." Chen Mobai's understated remark left all three disciples visibly shocked. That was a top-grade fourth-tier spiritual vein location that only Golden Core Grand Elders could occupy. It was unexpected that it would be bestowed upon their master, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even the guileless Zhuo Ming realized what this signified.

"Master, are you going to form your Golden Core?" Zhuo Ming asked.

"Sort of, yes," Chen Mobai replied, "but it still needs a bit more refinement." Chen Mobai didn't elaborate, so as not to get his three disciples overly excited. Nevertheless, the fact that he now possessed the Longevity Wood as his cultivation ground still greatly pleased Liu Wenbo and the other two disciples.

Once Zhuo Ming knew that Chen Mobai would no longer be cultivating at Xiaonanshan, she could confidently upgrade all the spiritual fields at the foot of Xiaonanshan to top-grade second-tier. There are two methods for spiritual fields to upgrade to third-tier: one is through long-term nourishment with earth vein spiritual energy, and the other is by using earth-attribute spiritual items like Life-Breath Stones.

"Later, your master will post a mission at the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion to acquire Life-Breath Stones," Chen Mobai said. Chen Mobai naturally preferred Life-Breath Stones; by upgrading the spiritual fields to third-tier sooner, he could cultivate third-tier spiritual rice more quickly. The price of these Life-Breath Stones was around three to four thousand spirit stones each. To upgrade all the remaining fifty-eight mu of spiritual fields to third-tier, it would require approximately two hundred thousand spirit stones. For Chen Mobai, this was an acceptable cost.

He took his three disciples to Divine Wood City and found the managing elder of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion. He learned that there were precisely five Life-Breath Stones remaining in the sect's treasury, and the exchange price was 3,500 contribution points. Chen Mobai naturally exchanged for all of them, and then, using the same contribution points or spirit stones, began a long-term acquisition of Life-Breath Stones.

As it turned out, the disciples of the Divine Wood Sect still possessed valuable items. As soon as this mission was posted, two Qi Refining disciples accepted it. Unfortunately, after Zhuo Ming appraised them, she discovered that only one was usable. The other's earth vein spiritual energy had been too depleted for some unknown reason, and if used to upgrade spiritual fields, it likely wouldn't succeed.

"Alas, at first I thought this was a special spirit stone," said the disciple. "And since I cultivate the Wutu Art, I absorbed some of the earth vein spiritual energy from the ore. Only later, after it was appraised, did I realize it was a precious Life-Breath Stone, so I stopped..." The Divine Wood Sect disciple who came to exchange it looked dejected. He had also participated in the battle to destroy Mt. Hanshan and had unexpectedly obtained this ore from a storage bag, but he mishandled it due to his inexperience. Because Life-Breath Stones contain gentle earth vein spiritual energy, they can also be absorbed like spirit stones. However, the spiritual energy contained in this particular stone was only equivalent to five or six mid-grade spirit stones. Direct absorption, compared to its selling price, was truly a great waste.

"It's fifty percent intact," Zhuo Ming said, her ear twitching as she received a telepathic message from Chen Mobai. "But an opening has been made. Although it was later sealed, the earth vein spiritual energy is still continuously and faintly leaking. If you want to sell it, I can buy it for 800 spirit stones." The Divine Wood Sect disciple wanted to sell it for more, but Zhuo Ming, coming from a poor rogue cultivator background, wouldn't let him profit easily. The two haggled for a while, finally settling on a price of 835 spirit stones.

After the transaction was completed, the Divine Wood Sect disciple, having received the spirit stones, hurriedly left. Zhuo Ming, meanwhile, took the two Life-Breath Stones upstairs, where Chen Mobai and Luo Yixuan were.

"Master, the earth vein spiritual energy in this Life-Breath Stone is insufficient," Zhuo Ming asked, "If it's buried in a spiritual field, I'm afraid it won't be able to complete the upgrading process?" Zhuo Ming was a bit confused. Chen Mobai, however, smiled slightly, took the used Life-Breath Stone into his palm, examined it, and then returned it to Zhuo Ming.

"Your master has a conjecture," Chen Mobai said. "This Life-Breath Stone should not be used to upgrade spiritual fields; you should absorb it with your Earth Mother Art."

"Master, isn't this too wasteful?" Zhuo Ming asked, feeling a pang of heartache. But under Chen Mobai's command, she could only reluctantly nod in agreement. However, the spiritual energy contained in this Life-Breath Stone was a bit much for her, a Qi Refining cultivator; it might take a full month for her to absorb it completely.

"During the sect competition, you can absorb it while fighting," Chen Mobai said. After Chen Mobai finished speaking, he first had Zhuo Ming transfer a stream of spiritual power to him to record her current spiritual root attribute.

"Take this Divine Wood Shield," Chen Mobai said. Finally, to ensure Zhuo Ming had no mishaps during the sect competition, Chen Mobai also gave her a top-grade second-tier defensive Dharma artifact. This way, even if she encountered a second-tier Dharma artifact, she would have the means to protect herself.

"Thank you, Master!" Zhuo Ming happily accepted it. As for Liu Wenbo, Chen Mobai had also lent him the Golden Jade Axe, though with his cultivation, he could probably only unleash a single axe light at most and was currently still trying to practice using the artifact.

"You take care of them," Chen Mobai instructed Luo Yixuan, "Your master will go to the Divine Tree Secret Realm first to scout it out for you." After arranging things for his two disciples, Chen Mobai then instructed Luo Yixuan. The latter naturally puffed out her chest and confidently stated that she would take good care of her senior brother and senior sister.

The Divine Tree Secret Realm was a core foundation of the Divine Wood Sect; if something were to happen to it, the two Grand Elders would also be greatly troubled. So as soon as Chen Mobai spoke, Fu Zongjue also came over in person. Lu Yi, the head of the Transmission Department, dared not appear weak before the Grand Elder. With a flushed face, he activated his wooden sword to open the portal to the Divine Tree Secret Realm.

"Let's both use puppets to go in and scout the way," Fu Zongjue said. After Fu Zongjue finished speaking, he used a very ordinary Azure Yang Golem to first step into the secret realm. Subsequently, Chen Mobai also used his newly made first-tier golem to follow him in. The Formless Golem was too high-end; he deeply feared that Fu Zongjue, a master of golems, would discern its true nature.

After the two entered the Divine Tree Secret Realm, they found that basically nothing had changed. Chen Mobai also led Fu Zongjue towards the Dharma Treasure Tree to avoid him discovering traces of himself raising snakes and cutting trees there. Both the Dharma Treasure Tree and the Talent Tree were as usual. Thus, the two flew towards the final Grand Dao Tree.

The marks left by the Purple Lightning Sword were clearly visible from a distance. The formerly majestic and towering Longevity Wood had a thick, long sword mark carved into it. One could fully imagine how huge the previous wound had been, but now the wound had completely healed. This terrifying regenerative ability deeply shocked Chen Mobai, who had personally witnessed the great purple sword piercing it.