Chapter 450: Refining Body Stage Four Midterm, Immortal Dynasty Divine Skill

Recommended Item:

This Golden Body Sarira's owner must have possessed Body Refinement cultivation comparable to the Nascent Soul stage during their lifetime. The Buddhist Golden Body is, in fact, a physical divine ability. Its ability to rival pure Body Refiners demonstrates its extraordinary nature.

For Wang Yu, refining this sarira and harnessing its Golden Body power would allow him to largely complete the Immortal Spirit Bones within his body. At that point, breaking through to the mid-stage of Body Refinement Stage Four would be as easy as a thought. Sariras, by their very nature, are meant to be absorbed. Moreover, Wang Yu also cultivates Buddhist Heart Sutras, so using the Prajna Heart Method to isolate the influence of the Buddhist principles within it would not be difficult.

All in all, this Golden Body Sarira is very suitable for him to refine. It's as if the Tower Spirit, having observed his performance during this period and learned more about his situation, specifically provided this "specialized" choice after careful consideration.

Wang Yu didn't hesitate for long. He needed power to break through the current limitations of his realm, and it was only a matter of time. In the Dongji Capital ruins, the stronger one is, the more valuable items one can seize. This creates a snowball effect, where advantages gradually expand until they become unstoppable. The Yellow Spring Sect, a formidable enemy, also presented a concrete challenge that needed to be faced.

“Once the exploration of Dongji Capital concludes,” he mused, “I will return to the sect for secluded cultivation and only emerge after exhausting all my resources. By then, perhaps I can begin preparations for the Sacred Lord's Celestial Palace.”

Planning silently, Wang Yu no longer hesitated. He channeled the Golden Body Sarira into his Dragon Spine. A multitude of silver blood divine marrow instantly gathered around it, and the Underworld Demonic Dragon Art furiously circulated. Wang Yu immediately stood up and began practicing his boxing forms, using the dynamic exercises to complement the internal cultivation route of his art to accelerate the refining process.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Wang Yu resembled a steamed prawn, his entire body flushed crimson and steaming, with large beads of sweat pouring down like rain. Occasionally, golden spots would emerge on his skin, these being traces of the Buddhist Golden Body's power, showing a slight tendency to leak. The power contained within was truly immense. Silently reciting the Prajna Heart Sutra in his mind, he cast aside the Buddhist philosophies that the eminent monk had studied throughout his life within the sarira. Block them! Block them all!

Influenced by his previous life, Wang Yu generally had a neutral view of Buddhism. However, there was indeed a unique destiny between them, and the benefits he had gained from it were already countless.

As the Golden Body Sarira was digested, Wang Yu's arms were the first to complete the forging of the Immortal Spirit Bones, followed by the bones of his legs. Once the Immortal Spirit Bones were fully formed, it would signify Wang Yu's entry into the mid-stage of Body Refinement Stage Four. After that, he would fully integrate his silver blood divine marrow with the Immortal Spirit Bones. Using a vast amount of vital energy and blood, he would obtain an immortal physical body that permanently remained at its peak, without needing appearance-preserving pills to maintain eternal youth.

At that point, he would be considered to have reached the late-stage of Stage Four. To break through to Stage Five, he would need to elevate his silver blood to the realm of golden blood divine marrow. Then, he would possess the power of a celestial god, able to move mountains and overturn seas with bare hands, shake vast lands, and truly wield world-destroying brute force. Correspondingly, the intensity of his power field would also elevate to an unimaginable level. The higher the cultivation stage, the more terrifying a Body Refiner's brute force becomes, and their methods would also diversify.

At higher stages, the disadvantages of pure Body Refiners are essentially smoothed out. Instead, due to their outstanding combat power, they are revered as "battlefield gods of slaughter" and are sought-after talents by all major powers. Unfortunately, this path is extremely difficult, and the resources required are beyond what ordinary powers can afford to nurture. It's only because Wang Yu has his "placement slots" that he managed to advance at lower stages almost entirely through sheer grind.

As his cultivation stage increased, his methods of acquiring wealth also rose. Wang Yu's wealth accumulation ability significantly surpassed his combat methods. He also never shied away from risks, which allowed him to maintain a synchronous rate of advancement in his Body Refinement cultivation. Even so, after breaking through to Body Refinement Stage Four back then, his Body Refinement cultivation stagnated for a long time due to the limited space in his placement slots. It wasn't until he recently arrived in Dongji Capital that his cultivation began to surge uncontrollably. This was also thanks to his sufficiently deep foundation; otherwise, it would have been difficult to sustain this level of rapid advancement.

After this breakthrough aided by the Golden Body Sarira, he would essentially reach his limit. He would then need a longer period of grinding with malevolent energy to slowly accumulate a new round of foundation. This situation of Wang Yu's perfectly described "accumulating strength for a powerful burst."

As time passed, the golden light flickering on Wang Yu's body gradually faded, replaced by a harmoniously integrated silver marrow halo. His immortal spiritual essence also gradually became complete. He had reached a higher level of cultivation.

After an unknown period, Wang Yu abruptly stopped his dynamic exercises. His body emitted a series of crackling sounds as his body proportions and muscle distribution rapidly adjusted and transformed. He was adjusting towards a perfect physical body that was more suitable for exerting power, more aesthetically pleasing, and tougher—or rather, evolving! Even his height increased slightly, making him appear more imposing. The path of Body Refinement was inherently a method for forging a perfect physical body. Those who refined themselves into massive figures weren't necessarily wrong either. After all, more muscle mass meant greater strength and endurance. While Wang Yu pursued a more balanced and perfect path, the pursuit of extreme power was also a righteous path in Body Refinement.

The effect of the Golden Body Sarira greatly exceeded Wang Yu's imagination. Not only did it help him completely forge his Immortal Spirit Bones, but the powerful yet gentle Buddhist essence even helped him achieve a certain degree of nourishment. Seizing this excellent opportunity, Wang Yu broke through to the mid-stage of Body Refinement Stage Four in one go. His physical body surged significantly in all aspects. Combined with his mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, he truly gained a firm foothold among the numerous powerful cultivators at this stage. As for becoming a powerhouse among Nascent Soul cultivators, that would require more time and effort. The time required would also more than double. The increasing time required for cultivation breakthroughs was simply unavoidable. Such were the rules, and the difficulties in breaking them were immense.

After a period of adapting to his more perfect body, Wang Yu put on his clothes and continued to challenge the next floor of the Celestial Star Pagoda. He had already cleared one-third of the three hundred floors. According to the pattern, after surpassing the hundredth floor, there was a chance of encountering opponents at the mid-stage Nascent Soul. The time required to conquer them was also increasing. Wang Yu estimated that reaching around the 130th or 140th floor would meet his expectations. He could then consider exiting the Celestial Star Pagoda and directly acting against the people from the Yellow Spring Sect.

In any case, the chances of reaching the top were minuscule. Given the strength of the Sky-Tearing Eagle, if it advanced to the late-stage Nascent Soul, Wang Yu would definitely be no match. Since he knew he couldn't reach the top, it was better to give up earlier. He could also gain a preemptive advantage in the external conflicts. If he could seize the initiative early and set up traps at the entrance of the Celestial Star Pagoda, as long as the Yellow Spring Sect experts didn't emerge in a cluster, he could kill them one by one. He could inflict losses upon them to the point of madness.

However, his opponents weren't foolish either. Wang Yu could think of the benefits of leaving early, and so could the people from the Yellow Spring Sect. Therefore, exploiting this time difference would inevitably come at the cost of giving up some opportunities. The real competition was who was more willing to sacrifice. Wang Yu, judging by the habits of demonic cultivators, believed that abandoning one or two acquired benefits would be the absolute limit of what they would sacrifice for their sect. Completely abandoning the opportunity, merely entering for a quick look and then exiting to set traps immediately, was almost impossible. Even the most selfless wouldn't be so generous. Thus, this was a "layered" battle of wits, where each side tried to outthink the other by one more layer.

Time rewound to when the Celestial Star Ranking appeared with anomalies. After entering the Celestial Star Pagoda, Old Demon Scorching Sun did not choose to challenge the levels. Instead, he endured for an hour, unexpectedly abandoning the Celestial Star Pagoda's opportunities directly. One could enter this place once, but it was difficult to enter a second time. Exiting the pagoda meant abandoning this opportunity. Such a choice naturally stemmed from his own careful considerations, especially for someone of his seniority as an old demon. He had already attempted to find breakthroughs to the Soul Transformation stage countless times. Each time, he returned empty-handed. After repeated hopes and disappointments, it was inevitable that he would develop other ideas. How did the venerable ones of the Heaven Refining Demonic Sect and the Sword Sect actually break through? And where were their opportunities? Therefore, even though it concerned the opportunities of the ancient immortal dynasty, Old Demon Scorching Sun still chose to give up. He felt that the wealth accumulated by the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Yellow Spring Sect throughout their lives was more attractive. Moreover, he hadn't challenged the pagoda himself. It was enough that You Mingzi and the others challenged it; as long as they chose physical rewards, there would be a chance to seize them. The old demon's thoughts were this simple, yet they demonstrated great boldness.

You Mingzi was also a renowned old demon. Couldn't he think of this? He could! But individual boldness was unrelated to their intelligence. To gamble or not to gamble, that was the question. This layer of psychological gaming depended entirely on the psychological choices each made. Therefore, when Wang Yu ascended the Celestial Star Ranking, Old Demon Scorching Sun secretly deceived everyone. He quietly exited the pagoda, not bothering with the Foundation Establishment "ants" of the Yellow Spring Sect. Instead, he secretly took out the array flags he carried and began setting up deadly traps, waiting for the Yellow Spring Sect members to fall into them. This was quite cunning.

Meanwhile, inside the Celestial Star Pagoda, the trial intensity for those at the Great Perfection of Nascent Soul stage was actually the same as for Wang Yu, both falling within the broad category of the Nascent Soul stage. Compared to him, even though You Mingzi ascended to the two hundredth floor at an extremely fast pace, he still failed to make it onto the Celestial Star Ranking. This was the disadvantage brought by age, which could be said to be quite severe.

Across twenty selection opportunities, You Mingzi chose to accumulate his rewards. He continued until he reached his limit in passing trials, hoping that by accumulating rewards layer by layer, the final reward, when claimed, would reach the fifth-tier Soul Transformation level. It could be said he was very experienced.

At this moment, You Mingzi's expression was slightly excited. Even when facing multiple late-stage Nascent Soul opponents as trials, his emotional fluctuations weren't as significant as they were now. After a moment of deliberation, You Mingzi chose option six for both of his two opportunities: continue accumulating! An ordinary fifth-tier low-grade precious pill might not necessarily help him break through the bottleneck of a major cultivation stage. If he continued to accumulate a few more times, the Tower Spirit would surely be able to determine the most suitable precious pill for his situation. You Mingzi and Old Demon Scorching Sun were in similar situations, both having pursued opportunities for Soul Transformation multiple times without success. However, he was more resolute, believing in the uniqueness of Dongji Capital. This time, he might indeed receive the deserved rewards.

It couldn't be said who was right or wrong in their choices; they simply made different trade-offs. Old Demon Scorching Sun was more pragmatic, leaning more towards his sect. This might be related to his identity as the founding ancestor of the Zhuo clan. He had a large family behind him who needed him, so his way of thinking was naturally different from that of a solitary powerhouse like You Mingzi, who had no one else to worry about.

However, while pleased, You Mingzi also made arrangements for the Yellow Spring Sect members, considering all aspects of the situation. At that time, how events unfolded would depend on whose methods were superior. You Mingzi was oblivious to external affairs, his mind solely focused on challenging the pagoda and the opportunity for Soul Transformation. His long-dormant heart stirred with unprecedented agitation.

The trial of the 201st floor: "Realm of Ultimate Bliss"…

Another half month passed. It had been a month since everyone entered the Celestial Star Pagoda. More cultivators arrived from the inner city at the Palace City, entering the Celestial Star Pagoda one after another. Some cultivators also chose to go to the front gate of the Imperial Palace or wandered around the vicinity, attempting to find weaknesses in the restrictions or flaws caused by the decay of time. This line of thinking was very reasonable. After all, Wang Yu and Yin Gui were able to monopolize the Immortal Official's Medicine Vault precisely by exploiting a "dog hole." Otherwise, how could they have snatched opportunities from those great cultivators? The progress of each party varied, which will not be detailed here.

Wang Yu, however, had already reached the 150th floor, a much higher progress than his self-estimated floor. For this, he had paid a considerable price. The further he went, the higher the difficulty, especially when facing mid-stage Nascent Soul opponents. Both the strength of their divine abilities and the combat intelligence infused by the Tower Spirit far exceeded the normal level for this stage. To Wang Yu, it felt like fighting against prodigies of the same cultivation stage. In truth, anyone who could cultivate to this level was a prodigy. Who among them hadn't possessed extraordinary talent and been favored by countless elders and renowned figures? Therefore, fighting above one's stage became increasingly difficult the further one progressed. Even Wang Yu wasn't confident in fighting a Grand Cultivator, unless he possessed special advantages and could only succeed through cunning schemes. In a normal battle, not being completely overwhelmed by raw power was already considered good.

One or two life-and-death struggles were still within his acceptable limits. The difficulty lay in the continuous battles, with only twelve hours of rest time, making him inevitably feel fatigued. For a Nascent Soul cultivator, exhausting one's demonic essence, without the aid of a fourth-tier spiritual vein environment or consuming top-grade spirit stones for recovery, would require a very long time just to restore it. There were high demands on the purity of the spiritual energy environment. Absorbing ordinary spiritual energy could still lead to recovery, but it would be much slower, with recovery time measured in months. In this regard, the Tower Spirit didn't impede him; the spiritual energy environment provided was mediocre, just barely sufficient. However, mental fatigue was not so easily alleviated.

The battle on the 150th floor was between Wang Yu and a prodigy from an ancient immortal dynasty. The opponent was named Dongfang Liusu, also known as "Earl Pinghai," and was skilled in swordsmanship and talisman arts. His technique of ten thousand sword talismans nearly blasted Wang Yu into dust. Although he narrowly won in the end, he suffered extremely heavy injuries. This made Wang Yu realize that his combat talent, which he had always been proud of, might be insignificant to true prodigies. His cultivation period was too short, and his experience was indeed insufficient, making him somewhat lacking.

“The 150th floor, that’s enough,” he thought. “If I continue, my injuries will become even more severe, leading to an inability to deal with the external crisis from the Yellow Spring Sect.”

His thoughts shifted, and Wang Yu looked at the final reward for this floor. He hadn't claimed any rewards for the past fifty floors, choosing to continuously accumulate them. His goal was the same as You Mingzi's: to break the limits of Stage Four. He had originally thought he was still a bit short. But when he actually saw it, his expression froze.

1. Immortal Dynasty Divine Ability (Stage Five)2. Spiritual Elixir (Stage Five)3. True Magic Artifact (Stage Five - selectable form)4. Secret Art (Unknown)

This time, he could only choose one, and as if aware of his limit, the accumulation option had also disappeared. Wang Yu suppressed his inner excitement, completely unaware that You Mingzi had accumulated rewards for a full two hundred floors to break through to the ultimate reward, while he had only accumulated fifty floors' worth of rewards and had already received a Stage Five Soul Transformation-level reward. This showed that the age factor actually held a significant consideration in the Tower Spirit's judgment. Unfortunately, Wang Yu was currently unaware of this. Being able to obtain a Stage Five technique meant that this trip was not in vain for him. It was absolutely worth it.

After a moment of hesitation, he preferred a definite reward, and thus chose the first option. “I want the Immortal Dynasty Divine Ability!” Judging by the circumstances, the Tower Spirit would select the most suitable Stage Five divine ability to impart to him. The thought filled him with a little anticipation.

“—It's here!”

(End of this chapter)