Chapter 262: Closed-Door Cultivation and Martial Art Advancement

After a period of contentment, Wang Yu stopped inquiring about the negotiations between Zhuyue Prefecture and the two hegemons. He knew well that such negotiations would not yield results for another five or six years. The previous negotiations regarding Gui Ling were a clear precedent; this time, involving the ransom and return of Nascent Soul cultivators, the duration would only be longer. Although the conflict in Zhuyue Prefecture had stabilized, no one knew if it would resume after the negotiations concluded.

Only eight years had elapsed since the twenty-year pact began. Yet, he had accomplished so much that he felt mentally exhausted and desperately needed a period of rest. Ancient Fang City in You Prefecture was ideal for his secluded cultivation; it wasn't far from Zhuyue Prefecture, ensuring he would know immediately if anything significant happened. Moreover, there were cultivation caves available for rent here.

A few days later, in a Tier 2 cultivation cave in Ancient Fang City, Wang Yu's objective for this secluded cultivation was quite clear. First and foremost was the Fiendish Dragon Armor, which was being nurtured by the Dragon Spine Marrow. This item was a bloodline artifact, connected to his essence and blood. Based on the "Black Fiend Armor" condensed by the Soul Devouring Evil Armor Art, it offered triple defense for spiritual consciousness, true essence, and physical body. It incorporated Bloodgold of Living Souls, ten-thousand-year-old Sophora bark, and Dragon Vein Orbs. Its potential was self-evident; according to the current nurturing progress, it would truly transform into a Tier 3 Low-grade artifact within five years at most.

By then, further advancement would be linked to the cultivation methods for Tier 3 Body Refiners, as recorded in the "Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art." After Tier 3, the method to enhance marrow, aside from consuming spiritual medicines, also required refining fiend energy (sha). Zombies refine fiend energy to achieve earthly fiend transformations. For cultivators, refining fiend energy, unless for specific divine abilities, is something only body refiners extensively engage in.

The Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art could refine Yin-aligned fiend energy and Dragon-aligned fiend energy. Lunar fiend energy, precisely, belonged to the Grand Yin attribute, the ultimate Yin among all Yin. With the Grand Yin Fiendish Corpse at hand, Wang Yu was very experienced in this regard and could simply draw it freely from the heavens and earth. If that wasn't enough, he could even absorb it from the Grand Yin Fiendish Corpse itself. This entity was almost advancing to Tier 3 Mid-stage, and Wang Yu couldn't entirely suppress it for now; artificially curbing it would also be excellent.

As for Dragon-aligned fiend energy, there was more to it. It could further transform Wang Yu's vital energy and blood into that of a dragon. True dragons were true spirit bloodlines, extinct in this realm. Flood dragons, however, were abundant; upon their death, the most basic dragon fiend energy would emerge. Since he was in secluded cultivation, it was inconvenient to seek them out, and flood dragons were hard to find anyway. Besides that, there were also "fiend formations" among the Feng Shui layouts in the world, a variation of earth formations. If Wang Yu could find one, his body refining cultivation would also skyrocket. For this, he would need to slowly improve his Earth Mother Scripture, then gather qi from the four directions and four seas, and only then refine a Feng Shui compass. For now, using only lunar fiend energy was sufficient. As long as he absorbed enough dragon fiend energy before breaking through to Tier 4, there wouldn't be any problems. He planned to search for it after dealing with Zhuo Shouqing's matter. This was the first objective.

Second, he would use the spiritual medicines he possessed to refine the Tier 3 Soul Dream Yuan Dan from the "Ancient Soul Art," thereby breaking through his spiritual consciousness to Tier 3 Mid-stage in one go, and fully mastering the power of the Three Corpses. This pill recipe could be perfected within five years. Conversely, the Cold Chi Alchemy Art contained too much information; restoring it to a complete Tier 3 state would require a full 120 years. This alchemy technique had extraordinary effects for Wang Yu, who cultivated ice-attributed techniques. He wouldn't give it up; he would even persevere in deducing it to Tier 4. Just the 50% bonus to ice-attributed spiritual pills, and the potential Tier 4 Ice Chi Pill Flame, were already excellent enough. It was a top-tier alchemy inheritance perfectly suited for him. He recalled placing it in the 16th year of his deacon career. It was now May of his 44th year; in just two more years, it would have been placed for nearly thirty years.

With his current alchemy proficiency, after the pill recipe was perfected, producing supreme-grade pills was unlikely. However, he could strive to refine high-grade pills, especially after his spiritual root aptitude issue was resolved. His obsession with supreme-grade spiritual pills had also significantly lessened. However, for cultivation spiritual pills, supreme-grade was still ideal. After the supreme-grade Ice Spirit Pill, the second type of cultivation spiritual pill he obtained upon leaving Gui Ling City was the Ice Lotus Pill! This was also one of the targets for refinement during this secluded cultivation. Only three more Ice Spirit Pills would cause a pill barrier; it was perfect to use the Ice Lotus Pill to bridge this. He wasn't far from reaching Foundation Establishment peak, or even forming his Golden Core.

Before officially entering seclusion, he specifically put on his Earth Net Demon Mask. He purchased two spiritual items at the Golden Full Tower in Huangsha City, You Prefecture, before returning to Ancient Fang City for secluded cultivation. It was meant as a small bait.

As the saying goes, "In the mountains, there's no sense of time; cold winters pass unnoticed." The higher the cultivation realm, the longer a cultivator's secluded cultivation would be each time. Aside from those who encountered bottlenecks, there were always gains. Wang Yu was currently in a period of rapid advancement. He received continuous insights daily, and his cultivation grew swiftly, steadily progressing towards Foundation Establishment Layer 9.

In the blink of an eye, seasons cycled by. As if in a flash, it was already the end of May in the 50th year of his deacon career. He had been in seclusion for six years. His original objectives were largely achieved, and there was also an additional, expected development.

Placement Slot 1: Heaven Cold Yin Blood Art (Tier 3)[Heaven Cold Yin Blood Art (100/100): No further derivation possible]

This was the Foundation Establishment cultivation method obtained from Cold Blood Peak. Besides increasing his true essence capacity, cultivating it to perfection would provide a significant boost to the quality of his Yin-cold true essence. Once the quality improved, the extreme cold energy contained within would naturally greatly increase, and Wang Yu's cultivation speed would surge. The placement slots derived these cultivation methods based on his own existence. He could receive feedback every time, meaning that advancement also signified perfection. It was no different from him deducing and creating them himself.

The effect of the perfected Tier 3 cultivation method caused his true essence to almost turn black. The black solid ice that previously required effort to condense could now be formed with a mere thought. This truly elevated his true essence to a higher level. This also greatly benefited his future breakthrough to Core Formation. At the very least, the difficulty of condensing magical power would be significantly reduced. Perhaps it wasn't as effective as the vast amount of profound essence he used during the Qi Refining stage, but it could still increase his chances by ten percent. Every bit added up, which was gratifying.

His cultivation, moreover, surged by a significant margin. His cultivation method advanced in the fourth year, increasing his true essence condensation rate from "100 strands/day" to "200 strands/day" (two placement slots). It effectively doubled. The benefits brought by the perfected Tier 3 cultivation method far surpassed those of the perfected Tier 2 method. This suggested that similar pleasant surprises awaited him later.

Over six years, he refined three Ice Spirit Pills. He officially took his first Ice Lotus Pill. In total, his true essence increased by 450 drops. His self-cultivation improvement reached a new high, yielding 240 drops. Besides the amplification from the Lake of True Essence, much of the gain came from frequent and intense combat. Under the combined blessings of his cultivation method and the Profound Ice Bed, his speed also significantly increased. The dual placement slots increased his true essence by 360 drops. Over six years of cultivation, his true essence capacity increased by a total of 1050 drops.

At 87 and a half years old, he was at Foundation Establishment Layer 8, with 5050 drops of true essence. Even without consuming pills, he could break through to Foundation Establishment Layer 9 in another eleven or twelve years. He might not be able to form a Golden Core before turning a hundred, but at most, around one hundred twenty to thirty years old, he would truly form his Golden Core and enjoy a lifespan of eight hundred years! If one accounted for pills and various bonuses, and additionally sought out spiritual medicines that could increase true essence along the way, achieving the cultivation speed of a Heavenly Spiritual Root was not a fantasy. Considering this rate of advancement, and then looking at the "Three Young Masters of Reverse Spirit," he was already content.

However—"The efficiency of the dual placement slots is getting worse. Should I move to three placement slots?"

Wang Yu merely pondered this question. He decided it was better to wait until after forming his Golden Core. To obtain Machine No. 7, one of his spiritual consciousness, magical power, or physique would need to break through to Tier 4. Spiritual consciousness had the most potential, but there was no light in sight in the short term.

Such were the gains in cultivation. One of the greatest benefits Wang Yu gained from this period of secluded cultivation was still the bloodline artifact — the Fiendish Dragon Armor! The Dragon Vein Orb originally embedded in it was completely absorbed. The Tier 3 Low-grade artifact had truly taken shape. With just a thought, this dragon armor, stored within his dragon spine, covered his entire body. Even his head was enveloped, forming a fearsome and ferocious fully armored figure. Slightly stirring his vital energy and blood would emit boundless coldness and the roar of a dragon. It perfectly complemented the Demonic Dragon Fist, and had excellent compatibility with the Minor Asura Killing Fist.

In its armored state, Wang Yu could feel his physical functions improve by at least over 60%. It was an entirely different concept from being unarmored. The Demonic Dragon Fist could also be utilized at 200% effectiveness due to this armor. Moreover, as an armor, its defensive enhancement was the most obvious. It could withstand spiritual consciousness, true essence, and physical impacts. The Fiendish Dragon Armor was one with him.

After a period of baptism by Grand Yin Lunar Fiend Energy, it gained many moon-shadow patterns, adding an unexpected touch of gentleness. The growth of his marrow, however, was not significant. It only increased by about the size of a fingernail, which truly stabilized his realm and moved him slightly forward. He was still far from Tier 3 Mid-stage.

The Starfall Cold Furnace, which had been significantly dented by the Blood Demon Ginseng earlier, was, after all, a mid-grade magical treasure and greatly aided his alchemy. After re-refinement with the Ice Chi Pill Flame, it slowly returned to its original state.

Now, it was time to refine the Soul Dream Yuan Dan. He had obtained some materials from the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect's medicinal garden, and after traveling through several cities in You Prefecture, he had gathered enough for two batches in total.

"Tier 3 spiritual pill materials are already this hard to gather," he lamented, "I wonder what level of difficulty Tier 4 spiritual pills will present. Cultivation is truly difficult~"

After a brief lament, Wang Yu formally began the refinement process. With experience from the perfected pill recipe, and the assistance of the Starfall Cold Furnace, even if his alchemy skills were slightly lacking, he could compensate with other methods. The extraction and purification step presented almost no difficulty. All of Wang Yu's preparations exceeded the standard. The difficult part was the pill condensation step; the number of successful pills depended on the mastery of his pill condensation seals. This step was limited by his alchemy skills.

In total, six pills were condensed. This indicated that supreme-grade pills were out of the question; high-grade was the best he could hope for. Even so, Wang Yu put in his utmost effort, spending more time on the final pill nurturing stage. The first batch took a full twelve days to refine. One low-grade, three mid-grade, and two high-grade pills were produced, barely meeting the standard. The second batch took thirteen days, yielding seven pills: three high-grade and four mid-grade. The variability in these two attempts stemmed from the Starfall Cold Furnace. After all, the "self" in the placement slot didn't have access to an advanced pill furnace, so the feedback was based on the most basic type. A slight deviation wasn't too bad.

Five high-grade Soul Dream Yuan Dans would be enough for him to refine and break through his spiritual consciousness to Tier 3 Mid-stage. After all, it was a Tier 3 spiritual pill, perfectly compatible with the Ancient Soul Art. There was no reason for it to fail.

"It begins."

(End of Chapter)