Chapter 478: Gate Management Bureau

After Liu Wenbai left, Chen Mobai began to read the complete text of the Origin Reversion Secret Art that Luo Yixuan had given him.

The first two layers were identical, but the crucial third layer finally contained a detailed cultivation method.

“It uses Ethereal Stones!” Chen Mobai exclaimed softly in surprise after finishing his reading.

As he understood it, the difficulty of the third layer lay in how to create a small personal dimension without the aid of a world-gate, a supreme treasure capable of opening up the void. The method employed by the Origin Reversion Sect was to extract void power from Ethereal Stones.

This was unimaginable for the Immortal Sect. The Ethereal Stone veins on Terrene Star had been exhausted, and every remaining piece was a treasured artifact of the Immortal Sect. Even Nascent Soul Perfected Lords required special permission to use them for research. If they discovered someone was extracting void power from Ethereal Stones to cultivate a secret art, the Immortal Sect would immediately arrest them.

However, even in the Eastern Wilderness, Ethereal Stones were exceptionally precious minerals, and major sects acquired them at any cost.

The founder of the Origin Reversion Secret Art was inspired by storage bags and spirit beast bags. They reasoned that if Ethereal Stones could be refined to store items, or even living beings, perhaps they could also be used to create an item that stores spiritual power. After extensive research, the third layer of the Origin Reversion Secret Art was thus developed.

It involved using powerful divine sense to capture and extract the void power within Ethereal Stones, then condensing and expanding it to form a small dimension for storing spiritual power.

With a clattering sound, Chen Mobai poured out the bag of Ethereal Stones he had obtained during the Battle of Shaking Mountain Peak. All 38 silver-gray minerals covered the floor of his wooden house.

“Could it be that the Void Dharma Body from Shaking Mountain Peak also requires the void power from these Ethereal Stones to cultivate?” Chen Mobai muttered to himself, something occurring to him at that moment.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. After all, the Void Dharma Body was miraculous, capable of traversing the void. It would be impossible for Ji Dingjin to cultivate it to completion with only his Foundation Establishment cultivation, without the aid of rare treasures.

It was worth noting that Chen Mobai himself had spent considerable time studying and attempting to cultivate this powerful body-refining technique after acquiring it. With his intelligence, he had understood most of it and even tried the introductory step, “Guiding the Void, Testing with the Body,” but he immediately got stuck, completely unable to perceive the so-called void power. Now it seemed, he likely needed to use Ethereal Stones to even begin.

Although he had realized this, Chen Mobai had already cultivated the Longevity Dao Body and thus would not waste time cultivating the Void Dharma Body concurrently in the short term. His primary goal now was to master the third layer of the Origin Reversion Secret Art and see if he could use this method to perceive void power.

However, Chen Mobai was always cautious. Before cultivating, he specifically consulted Weng Chuanyou from the Spirit Vein Department, who was responsible for setting up most of the sect's teleportation arrays. Chen Mobai had also fought alongside him during the Battle of Shaking Mountain Peak.

Weng Chuanyou's knowledge of Ethereal Stones was considered top-tier within the Divine Wood Sect.

“Cultivating with void power from Ethereal Stones? There has been such a rumor,” Weng Chuanyou mused. “The Origin Reversion Sect once had a Core Formation ancestor and was considered a major sect in the Eastern Wilderness. They even occupied a portion of the Ethereal Stone mine in Ming State. Perhaps it was researched then…” Since Chen Mobai was asking for advice, he naturally didn't conceal anything and spoke about the Origin Reversion Secret Art. Many cultivators in the Eastern Wilderness would cultivate a spell to conceal their cultivation, as the world was dangerous, and many rogue cultivators used this to disguise themselves as low-level cultivators to ambush and rob others. Weng Chuanyou simply regarded Chen Mobai’s intention to cultivate such a spell as ordinary.

After confirming that cultivating with Ethereal Stones posed no danger, Chen Mobai began his preparations.

Returning to the wooden house in his cultivation ground, he reached into his storage bag and retrieved a fist-sized, silver-gray Ethereal Stone. Then, following the method described, he slowly extended a wisp of his divine sense into it.

In an instant, Chen Mobai felt as if he had fallen into a dark place full of unknowns. Here, he could see no light, only darkness and silence, with no sensation from his five senses.

An ordinary person would likely feel fear at this moment, wondering if unknown dangers and terrifying powers lurked in the darkness, or perhaps strange Daos and bizarre creatures unimaginable to cultivators. However, Chen Mobai knew that this was a characteristic of void power, which imbued divine sense with a vast and infinite sense of mystery.

The void power within the Ethereal Stone truly existed. Chen Mobai didn't need to understand what kind of power it was; he simply extracted it, wisp by wisp, following the method described in the Origin Reversion Secret Art.

Once this void power left the Ethereal Stone, it needed an object to attach itself to. The Origin Reversion Sect would choose small items like rings, bracelets, or earrings, as this allowed for very quick extraction of spiritual power.

Chen Mobai considered this, then activated his perfected Myriad Dharma Body. He had previously used Five Elements Sword Light as a foundation to form an arm, and now he intended to use void power to condense the mighty dragon-like spine!

However, the grade of void power seemed quite high. Even with Chen Mobai's ninth-level Foundation Establishment divine sense, he felt mentally fatigued after transferring only one-tenth from the Ethereal Stone. He did not force himself to continue, understanding that all cultivation should be done in moderation.

While his mind recovered, Chen Mobai took out a much smaller piece of gold essence crystal and began cultivating the Treasure Dropping Golden Light.

He had been cultivating this secret art, obtained from the Profound Gold Ganoderma, ever since he returned from Yan State. However, his Golden Spiritual Root was simply too ordinary, and he hadn't focused entirely on it, so his progress was extremely slow.

But six years passed, and through sheer persistence over time, he was finally about to master it. This was the third gold essence crystal he had absorbed and refined, a process even more troublesome than cultivating his Pure Yang Dharma Body, as it took an average of about two years to refine each piece.

After completely absorbing this last piece, which was now only fingernail-sized, a brilliant golden light shone on Chen Mobai's face. After a long while, he opened his mouth and spat out a stream of “Treasure Dropping Golden Light.”

This technique's attack was indiscriminate. Chen Mobai directed it at the Scarlet Cloud Smoke Silk he wore on his wrist, and instantly felt his mental connection with the magical artifact weaken significantly. If this move were used during a battle, it could instantly turn the tide.

This was the “Treasure Suppression” stage of the Treasure Dropping Golden Light. At this level, the opponent could still forcefully break through with their divine sense. If he cultivated to the next stage, “Treasure Sealing,” the opponent's mental connection with their magical artifact would be completely severed, though in reality, it merely used the Treasure Dropping Golden Light to block the mental link.

Only the subsequent “Treasure Dropping” stage could directly shatter the divine sense imprint within a magical artifact.

The cultivation of this Treasure Dropping Golden Light also exhibited a characteristic common in the Heavenly River Realm: it could be achieved purely by accumulating resources.

The 'Treasure Suppression' stage required one stream of Treasure Dropping Golden Light. The 'Treasure Sealing' stage was achieved by synthesizing nine streams of Treasure Dropping Golden Light. And the 'Treasure Dropping' stage required eighty-one streams.

The highest realm, the “Treasure Refining” secret art, did not specify how many streams were needed, because Profound Gold Ganoderma was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even she, within the Profound Exalt Dao Palace, believed that reaching the Treasure Dropping stage without forming a Core was already extremely formidable.

Chen Mobai calculated based on the numerical progression: it would require 729 streams. Calculating that one stream of Treasure Dropping Golden Light could be cultivated from three gold essence crystals, he would need 2,187 gold essence crystals to fully master this secret art.

Chen Mobai had also researched the market price of gold essence crystals in the Eastern Wilderness. Each piece cost roughly three to four hundred spirit stones, meaning he could acquire them for under a million spirit stones.

For the current Chen Mobai, anything that could be solved with spirit stones was no longer an issue. As time passed, the talismans produced by his puppet factory had already conquered over half of the Eastern Wilderness, bringing him nearly 100,000 spirit stones in income annually from that alone. Now, only amounts exceeding a million spirit stones could cause a ripple in his emotions.

If he could fully master the Treasure Dropping Golden Light, it would be equivalent to his artifact appraisal profession directly advancing to the fourth tier.

In the Immortal Sect, there was an ancient saying: good deeds cannot buy cultivation or knowledge. Chen Mobai felt this was very true; good deeds indeed could not, but spirit stones could.

He picked up the phone, using the Omnidirectional Transceiver to connect to Deacon Elder Chen Zhenwu of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, asking him to release another long-term mission for acquiring gold essence crystals.

After the call, Chen Mobai took out another gold essence crystal and began cultivating the second stream of Treasure Dropping Golden Light.

He had found 8 gold essence crystals in the storage bags of the senior and junior siblings from Profound Exalt Dao Palace. After mastering the first stream of Treasure Dropping Golden Light, Chen Mobai's cultivation speed for this secret art began to increase significantly.

Utilizing fragmented time while refining and absorbing void power, he managed to refine another gold essence crystal in just half a year.

However, what pleased him most was the progress of the Origin Reversion Secret Art.

After continuously draining the void power from five Ethereal Stones with his divine sense, the first vertebra of his Myriad Dharma Body's spine finally took shape.

This was a thoracic vertebra connected to the arm, with a long, slender spinous process. Although its appearance seemed quite formidable, Chen Mobai liked it more and more the longer he looked at it.

Because the moment this vertebra formed, he felt the sensation described in the third layer of the Origin Reversion Secret Art—that small void, unique to him and under the absolute control of his divine sense!

Chen Mobai immediately injected the Longevity Spiritual Power, which he had hidden within the Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror, into this vertebra. A full hundred drops of liquid spiritual power poured in, just barely filling it.

The sensation of condensing void quickly captivated Chen Mobai.

He once again took out a new Ethereal Stone, used his divine sense to absorb its void power, and began to condense the second vertebra of his Myriad Dharma Body's spine.

Time quickly passed until the end of the year.

“No news?” Chen Mobai asked, looking disappointed after listening to Liu Wenbai's report.

“Reporting, Master,” Liu Wenbai began. “After Little Junior Sister left the sect, she first visited the Luo family. After leaving a sum of spirit stones for her mother, she used the market's teleportation array to travel to Cloud Dream Lake. I asked Martial Uncle E Yun to help inquire, and I learned that Little Junior Sister went to Liuming Island Market, where the Five Elements Sect is located, and then used their teleportation array to go to Ming State. In Ming State, many talisman shops cooperate with our Little South Mountain shop. Little Junior Sister communicated with them, mainly to order the annual quantity of talismans and ink; she didn't discuss anything else. The previous few years were normal, but only this year, at the agreed time for the talisman handover, Little Junior Sister suddenly disappeared. Afterwards, that letter was delivered to me and then passed to you. I hired some rogue cultivators in Ming State to inquire about the Origin Reversion Sect. However, they have completely declined, with only an old Foundation Establishment cultivator barely managing to sustain them. If Little Junior Sister had confronted this sect, with the magical artifacts and talismans you bestowed upon her, there’s no way she could have disappeared so silently.”

Liu Wenbai recounted what he had investigated over the past year. He had also feigned interest in selling talismans, sending his business partners to find the Origin Reversion Sect. However, because he dared not expose his true intentions, although they established a partnership and became the Origin Reversion Sect's exclusive talisman supplier, the matter concerning Luo Yixuan remained mysterious.

“Master, Senior Brother is still only at Qi Cultivation. How about I make a trip to Ming State…” Zhuo Ming, standing nearby, couldn't help but interject. Over the years, she and Luo Yixuan had become closer than blood sisters, and knowing of her disappearance, she was extremely anxious.

“Forget it. It’s better for me to personally go to Ming State after I form my Core,” Chen Mobai said, shaking his head and rejecting Zhuo Ming’s request to go search for Luo Yixuan. After comprehending the Dao and forming her Foundation, this disciple of his was a precious gem, and he would absolutely not allow even the slightest mishap to befall her. Furthermore, if the enemy could silently take down Luo Yixuan, Zhuo Ming going would be no different. After all, he had even refined a streak of Azure Blazeflame Sword Fiend for his junior disciple; if even the sword fiend was powerless, then the opponent was most likely a Core Formation cultivator.

In the entire Eastern Wilderness, the Core Formation cultivators who would target Chen Mobai were few and far between.

It would either be Zhao Xuankang and Nan Xuanjing of the Southern Xuan Sect, or the one from Mount Liujia, or perhaps… a ghost cultivator!

With this thought, Chen Mobai was even more reluctant to let Zhuo Ming leave.

After his usual session of imparting knowledge and answering questions with his two disciples, Chen Mobai went to the Divine Wood Sect's hall where soul lamps were enshrined. He found Luo Yixuan's lamp and, after confirming she was still alive, let out a small sigh of relief.

If not for that, he wouldn't have been able to stay peacefully in Giant Wood Ridge.

Now, he could only hope that she, like Perfected Lord Yiyuan, had stumbled upon an ancient ruin due to immense good fortune, which explained her prolonged disappearance, rather than having been kidnapped.

However, this matter had dragged on for a year, and it was time to report it and see if Sect Master Fu had any good solutions.

“Regarding Ming State, I still have many fellow disciples there. I will find a way to inquire for you about this matter,” Fu Zongjue offered. He was formerly a disciple of the Five Elements Sect. Although he later broke away with Zhou Shengqing, and the two sides fought bloody battles, their previous relationship had since eased after reconciliation. The Divine Wood Sect, in fact, had the most moles placed within the Five Elements Sect across the entire Eastern Wilderness.

“Thank you, Ancestor.” Chen Mobai thanked Fu Zongjue, then sighed and returned to his Longevity Wood Cultivation Ground.

After sitting blankly for a while, he recalled Luo Yixuan serving him tea by his side. He used to find this junior disciple a bit clingy, but now that she had been gone for so long, he felt a certain nostalgia for those times.

After a long while, Chen Mobai snapped back to reality. With determined eyes, he took out an Ethereal Stone and continued cultivating the Origin Reversion Secret Art.

Seasons passed.

On this day, the Formless Golem Chen Mobai had left at Danzhu Academy suddenly received a text message.

It was from the Immortal Sect's official channels.

“Hello, Perfected Lord Qingping is about to open the world-gate. Please arrive at Wangwu Grotto-heaven within one month and seize this opportunity to attempt opening a Core Formation domain!” The message was signed: World-Gate Administration Bureau.