Chapter 542: Sixth-Level Body Refining Technique Path, Returning to Chi Yuan

To someone unfamiliar with the situation, it might have seemed like they were deliberately courting death. In reality, it wasn't far from the truth.

The stronger Long Chan moved more swiftly, wielding a black purification vase. A gentle tap on the vase unleashed a boundless torrent of black water, its putrid odor assaulting the nostrils.

Wang Yu's brows furrowed deeply. Even a brief look at such a repulsive spiritual treasure was sickening. The crescent moon mark in Wang Yu's pupils flickered faintly. Although the spatial fluctuations were subtle, Long Chan still detected them.

"No good... Junior Brother Long Pan!"

Even as he shouted, he was a beat too late. Sect Master Long Pan, who was about to bring his golden alms bowl down on Wang Yu's head, found the surrounding air seemingly frozen. A tremendous force surged from all directions, his physical body creaked under the immense pressure. Wang Yu's figure ahead gradually vanished like an afterimage, and a deadly threat descended from above.

Then he felt a sudden numbness at the top of his head. Wang Yu's fair hand had, at some unknown moment, landed on Long Pan's bald head. With a whoosh, Long Pan's skin peeled away from his body, like peeling a grape. Pale yellow fat and blood-red muscle fibers were entirely exposed to the air. He had been literally flayed by Wang Yu.

Collecting the primary material for crafting the Myriad Demon Skin, Wang Yu ceased holding back. The Sun-Piercing Demon Bow suddenly extended a pair of massive ice phoenix wings from its limbs, and with an upward slash, he instantly cleaved Sect Master Long Pan in half. Extreme cold energy invaded his body through the wound. His life force rapidly diminished. His shivering nascent soul, disregarding the death of its physical form, escaped his body and sped towards Long Chan. But just as it started, it found the surrounding environment unchanged. Its nascent soul was gripped by a hand. Wang Yu's gentle smile appeared exceptionally terrifying in its eyes.

Long Pan screamed in utter terror. "—Brother, save me!"

However, Long Chan, on whom he had placed all his hopes, only now realized that Wang Yu's physical body had also reached the fifth-tier realm. It was no wonder his strength far surpassed that of a typical early Nascent Soul cultivator. His doubts were answered, but considering his own state, Long Chan felt his chances of victory were less than thirty percent. Continuing the fight would infinitely increase the likelihood of both of them being defeated simultaneously.

Thus, he decisively retreated. As if he hadn't heard his junior brother's plea, he reasoned that even if the Ancient Heavenly Sea Sect was destroyed, there were still disciples at other strongholds and those on external missions. They could potentially rise again elsewhere. He would remember this grudge for now. There would be ample retribution in due time.

Watching his senior brother flee further and further, Long Pan's despair reached its peak: "Wang... Fellow Daoist Wang... spare my life! I can give you everything from the Ancient Heavenly Sea Sect."

Wang Yu bared his teeth, revealing a chilling set of white teeth. "You'd use my things to save your life? How foolish~"

As his words fell, the Freezing Demon Energy rapidly spread across his fingers. Blue-black runes emerged on Long Pan's nascent soul, quickly shrinking it into a spherical ice crystal bead. After applying several layers of ice coffin seals, Wang Yu tossed it into his Glazed Pagoda. He currently didn't have a good method for utilizing the nascent soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator. He would wait for the pill formula for the Longevity Blood Infant Pill to be further refined and upgraded. Then he should be able to make perfect use of it. He also didn't waste Long Pan's body, which had been cleaved in half, collecting all of it for future use.

After this battle, Wang Yu had a rough standard for his own peak combat strength. It should be at the mid-Nascent Soul stage peak, but he was still no match for the Heaven-Refining Demon Lord. However, if the opponent was a weaker Nascent Soul cultivator, such as the Scarlet Sky Demon Lord or the Heavenly Fiend Poisonous Dragon, he should be able to defeat them easily.

On another note, after experiencing the combat capabilities of the Dharma Heaven and Earth Manifestation, Wang Yu's desire for artistic conception became more urgent. Although an artistic conception was standard for late Nascent Soul cultivators, the difference before acquiring one was vast. Especially his artistic conception, which was destined to merge four kinds of spiritual intents: Asura, Yellow Springs, Aurora, and Vast Cold. The Vast Cold spiritual intent itself was a blend of Taiyin and Extreme Cold. The difficulty of comprehending it was far greater than for ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. The most important thing was to find the common ground among these spiritual intents, a starting point for their fusion. Otherwise, no matter how high his comprehension, it wouldn't help him.

In this regard, Wang Yu had been making an attempt: continuing to place already perfected spiritual intents for further refinement. For example:Placement Slot 6: Asura Spiritual Intent (Slaughter Heart, Illusion, Killing Intent Manipulation)"Asura Spiritual Intent (100/100): Constantly comprehending, limit break in 120 years."Currently, about one to two years of progress had been made. Including the Yellow Springs and Aurora spiritual intents, the time to break their limits was also 120 years. Only the Vast Cold spiritual intent required more time, 150 years. His intuition told him this was a 'cheat-like' shortcut.

Once his thoughts were in order, Wang Yu naturally didn't forget the main purpose of his trip. He formed a hand seal with his right hand, and the spatial rift reopened. A puppet that had been out of action for several hundred years revealed its true form: the fourth-tier low-grade Yellow Springs Earth Resentment Puppet. Before he used the Taiyin Vast Cold Arrow to destroy the Heavenly Sea Floating Mountain, this puppet had been dispatched by him to steal the collections from the scripture repository. This contingency plan had been secretly laid out by him at the very beginning of his visit. While observing the entire Heavenly Sea Floating Mountain, he had already confirmed its proper placement. Subsequently, it had utilized the spatial properties of the Guixu Hidden Heaven Spell to avoid the arrow's terrifying power. Now, upon being summoned, it proactively tossed him a Cosmos Spirit Ring.

Wang Yu's consciousness sank into it for inspection and quickly found his target. He took out several ancient texts emanating faint Buddhist light. His divine sense scanned through them with incredible speed, quickly summarizing the valuable content:

The fifth-tier Body Tempering Cultivation Method, Eightfold Vajra Art!The fifth-tier Mental Cultivation Inheritance, The Buddha's Glazed Sacred Heart Sutra!The fifth-tier Cultivation Method Inheritance, The Twelve Precepts and Conduct Sutra!

Among these, there was not only the fifth-tier body tempering inheritance Wang Yu had yearned for, but also the mental secret technique he had long sought. He could continue using the Prajna Heart Sutra for cultivating mental power. What he needed were the secret techniques that could utilize the various wondrous applications of mental power. The miraculous nature of mental power went without saying; it was a force capable of triggering miracles. However, its development was too difficult. Even after cultivating to the fourth Glazed Realm, he could only use this power to protect his inner spiritual lake, ensuring it wouldn't be manipulated by external demons or enemy evil arts. As for orthodox Buddhist cultivation method inheritances, they held little significance.

However, Wang Yu still intended to learn about them. After a quick review, he immediately left the 'crime scene' and, using the Aurora Escape technique, reached Purple Bamboo Island in just a few days. He rented a fourth-tier cultivation chamber at the Golden Full Tower and began to sort through the contents of these three inheritances.

First was the Eightfold Vajra Art! As the main objective of this trip, it contained not only cultivation methods but also three Buddhist physical divine abilities: Immovable Wisdom King Seal, Eight-Armed Heavenly Dragon Demonic Subduing Art, and Indestructible Vajra Body!

These three physical inheritances could all be activated with Golden Blood Marrow, without requiring the unique Buddhist elemental power of Buddhist cultivation methods. The Wisdom King Seal, strictly speaking, was merely a hand seal. Once formed, it could make one as unmoving as a mountain, significantly boosting defensive power. Apart from its internal circulation routes, the core was 'immovability'! However, this kind of foolishly enduring attacks was unwise in cultivator duels. This Wisdom King Seal was optional to learn; it might be useful for dealing with inanimate objects or array restrictions.

The Eight-Armed Heavenly Dragon Demonic Subduing Art, on the other hand, was an extension and modification of a Dharma Manifestation divine ability. As its name suggested, it allowed one to grow eight powerful Heavenly Dragon Demonic Subduing Arms. Its most powerful aspect lay in its ability to merge with physical strength; its inherent effect was secondary. The violent combination of Dharma and body could unleash unimaginable power. Especially for cultivators like him, who had reached a certain height in both paths, this was an inheritance that could significantly raise their upper limit. After reviewing it, Wang Yu decided that he must cultivate it to perfection!

The Indestructible Vajra Body, meanwhile, pertained to the fifth-tier body tempering path. The core goal for body cultivators at this stage was to cultivate a new physical realm called the Immortal Golden Body. By refining the Golden Blood Marrow to its extreme, allowing flesh, bones, blood, meridians, skin, and hair to all evolve, the Indestructible Vajra Body was the method to accelerate this process. It was essentially the same type as the Immortal Spirit Body. Cultivating it was equivalent to accelerating the advancement of body tempering realms. As for the main cultivation method part, Wang Yu could not yet practice it. He needed to extract its essence. Then, he would merge it with the Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art to innovate and create his own new fifth-tier cultivation method. Only in this way could he once again utilize the effects of the placement slots, to obtain a sixth-tier body tempering inheritance that the Ice Prison Realm did not possess.

This action was tantamount to exploiting a bug in the placement slots. Therefore, the Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art had to be truly transformed, a process that would take no less time than breaking the limits of spiritual intent. After all, this relied on Wang Yu's own ability to modify it. However, with the cultivation method for the Indestructible Vajra Body, his body tempering cultivation wouldn't stagnate during the modification process. Placing this method could also promote the advancement of his body tempering realm.

The main objectives were largely achieved; what remained were the additional gains.

"The Buddha's Glazed Sacred Heart Sutra?"

After spending half a month diligently studying it several times, Wang Yu gained a completely new understanding of mental cultivation. Previously, he only knew of four mental realms: Pure Realm, Empty Self Realm, Immaculate Realm, Glazed Realm! Now, three more mental realms were added: Supreme Goodness Realm, Pure Nirvana Realm, Heavenly Heart Realm!

According to the Sacred Heart Sutra, mental cultivators in the Heavenly Heart Realm possessed abilities comparable to 'Immortals.' This did not refer to raw power but rather a characteristic of near omnipotence achieved through the profound mysteries of mental power. If mental power cultivation didn't involve immortal energy like spiritual qi, mental path cultivators wouldn't be so rare; it would have long become a mainstream path across various realms, much like the Immortal Dao.

It hadn't been long since Wang Yu entered the Glazed Realm. However, with the Seven-Heart Treasure Wheel Marvelous Tree in his inner spiritual lake, his mental power cultivation had been continuously increasing. Therefore, quantitative accumulation was not a concern; what mattered was 'comprehension'!

"The supreme good is like water; water benefits all things and does not contend..." Upon seeing the realm's name, this phrase naturally surfaced in Wang Yu's mind. "It is because it does not contend that no one in the world can contend with it." Not contending is the greatest contention. It seems he still needed to exert the demonic cultivator's plundering ability to the extreme to comprehend the secrets of the mental state. These hidden knowledge of realms were equivalent to illuminating his future path, making them very important.

On the other hand, the most valuable aspect of the Sacred Heart Sutra was its mental power secret techniques. There were seven recorded in total, but only two could be effective for the Nascent Soul realm. One was named Immaculate Heart, Auspicious Fortune Reaches the Heavens! Only those whose mental realm surpassed the Immaculate Realm could cultivate it. The uniqueness of mental power made the names of its secret techniques so special. The effects of this method were also very mysterious and difficult to verify. Its cultivation path involved condensing a 'Fortune Fruit' within the inner spiritual lake. As long as a cultivator's actions and conduct aligned with their true heart, they would accumulate good fortune, making the Fortune Fruit increasingly vibrant and translucent. It could enhance a cultivator's daily luck. Once accumulated to a certain extent, it would even grant a special state similar to 'Heavenly Luck Bestowal,' whose duration would gradually decrease with the consumption of mental power. After the burst period completely passed, a new round of luck accumulation would begin. The color and fullness of the Fortune Fruit served as a real-time indicator of one's fortune.

As the saying goes: "My heart and my actions are as clear as a bright mirror; all my deeds are righteous!" Conforming to one's true heart. This was a very subjective way of judgment, with very blurry boundaries. This mysterious yet powerful secret technique was somewhat similar to spellcraft in its cultivation. Especially in the initial stage, there were various taboos. For example: no hurtful words, no alcohol, no sexual activity, no killing, no meat... and so on. Each of these taboos had to be maintained for seven days. Once all taboo observance periods were completed and a wisp of innate good fortune was drawn in, it could merge with mental power to form a Fortune Fruit in the inner spiritual lake. If the taboos could be overcome by persistence, then the existence of this innate good fortune was completely outside Wang Yu's knowledge base. He had no idea what it looked like or what its function was. The probability of an ordinary person successfully cultivating this secret technique was minuscule. As for Wang Yu... he decided to assign it to the 'placement slot' for cultivation, which was equivalent to cultivating it himself.

Additionally, the second mental power secret technique was named: Glazed Heart, Boundless Mortal World! It involved broadly absorbing the myriad flavors of the mortal world, refining the eight emotions and eight sufferings into a Mortal World Boat within the inner spiritual lake. This boat could subdue outer heavenly demons and break through mental illusions. These were just its basic effects. Its most powerful aspect was its assistance in cultivation; the Mortal World Boat could allow cultivators to experience mortal world cycles, continuously enhancing their comprehension.

These two secret techniques were likely not at the level expected of fifth-tier inheritances but rather foundational parts of more advanced inheritances, related to the main Buddhist sect in the True Spirit Realm. Even just the basic effects were enough to excite Wang Yu. There was no need to cultivate them to perfection; merely initiating these two mental power secret techniques would allow them to take effect. Therefore, Wang Yu paused his comprehension of artistic conception and assigned these two secret techniques to all his placement slots, except for the fundamental cultivation method. He planned to return to the normal placement mode after gaining initial mastery on Purple Bamboo Island. By then, upon returning to Scarlet Kite, he would have greater confidence in whatever he undertook.

And so, when he truly entered the placement cultivation mode, the continuously flowing mortal world energy revealed a blind spot to Wang Yu. He recalled that the Tears of Seven Emotions and Six Desires were also condensed from the myriad flavors of the mortal world. What then was the difference between these eight emotions and eight sufferings? If he seized this opportune moment to condense the feedback mortal world energy into precious materials instead of forming the Mortal World Boat, it seemed feasible. After all, as his comprehension level increased, the speed of gathering mortal world energy would become faster and faster. Spending some initial time on crafting precious materials wouldn't be bad, but after consideration, Wang Yu still gave up on the idea. The fifth-tier Tears of Seven Emotions and Six Desires required too much mortal world energy. It was better to just seize it directly!

Three years later...