Chapter 419: Dispersing Cultivation and Recultivating

Lu Yang heard the term "resetting cultivation" for the first time. Its literal meaning was quite easy to understand.

"Exactly. Many cultivators lacked guidance at the beginning of their practice, leading to an unstable foundation and an uneven cultivation journey. While this didn't significantly impact them at lower realms, allowing someone with a solid foundation like you to challenge them across ranks, it became a major issue at higher realms. They would frequently hit bottlenecks, with their cultivation stagnating for centuries or even millennia."

"At this point, cultivators face a crucial decision: to reset their cultivation."

The Immortal Fairy spoke eloquently, her knowledge of cultivation unsurpassed.

"Resetting one's cultivation is akin to reincarnation. The cultivator sheds their entire cultivation base, transforms into an infant, and starts anew, retaining memories from their previous life. This allows them to avoid many detours, understand how to build a solid foundation, and seize opportunities they might have missed due to high cultivation or advanced age. Outsiders cannot discern whether someone has undergone this process; even bone age or other tests reveal nothing."

"However, resetting cultivation presents three challenges. First, there's a cultivation requirement: it must be performed at the peak of the Integration Stage. At this pinnacle, one's essence, qi, and spirit are unified, ensuring that a fragment of their true spirit remains indestructible after the reset. If attempted in old age, when essence, qi, and spirit are dispersed, the process will fail, leading to total annihilation of the soul, beyond any hope of recovery."

"Second, after resetting, you become as helpless as a newborn. You'll have no self-preservation abilities; even eating and crawling will be difficult. Even if you survive infancy and gradually grow, the cultivation world is dangerous. You might accidentally incur the wrath of an enemy during your growth and die prematurely."

"Third, there's no guarantee regarding your spiritual root quality after resetting. For instance, if you had a dual spiritual root before, you might end up with a triple or even a quadruple spiritual root after resetting. In such cases, even with your past cultivation experience, it would be extremely difficult to reach your former heights."

Lu Yang nodded. Resetting cultivation sounded similar to Li Haoran's situation, yet distinctly different. At the very least, Li Haoran was a completely new individual, and his talent in the next life was certainly stronger than in his previous one. Both methods had their own advantages and disadvantages.

It was no wonder Huang Ming was so formidable. This was akin to fighting a mighty Integration Stage cultivator who had suppressed their cultivation to match his own realm.

"By the way, were any of the Five Ancient Immortals cultivators who reset their cultivation?"

"No," the Immortal Fairy replied, counting on her fingers to Lu Yang. "I came from a small tribe, Immortal Ying Tian was a refugee, Immortal Jiuchong was the first heir of the Lianshan Clan, Immortal Qilin was born of nature, and Immortal Suiyue was a spirit born from the Jianmu tree."

"Can you tell who Huang Ming was before his reincarnation, Fairy?"

The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "I can't tell. If he hadn't just used a mental attack beyond his current realm, I wouldn't have been able to deduce that he had reset his cultivation."

Lu Yang pondered: Did the Corpse Herding Sect know about Huang Ming's reset cultivation? Why did Huang Ming choose to cultivate in the Corpse Herding Sect? His talent was surely enough to enter one of the Five Great Immortal Sects. Was he afraid of something, or did the Corpse Herding Sect hold a unique significance?

"Never mind, I'll think about it later." Lu Yang grinned excitedly, drawing his Azure Edge Sword. This was his first time encountering an opponent who had reset their cultivation, and it was time to get serious.

Huang Ming watched Lu Yang with a grave expression, as if facing a formidable enemy, not daring to relax in the slightest.

As a cultivator who had reset his cultivation, he could not tolerate losing to a junior. This was why he had exceptionally used the mental arrow.

A mental arrow was definitely not something a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator could withstand, not even one specializing in mental cultivation!

How did his opponent manage it? Could he also have reset his cultivation, just like him?

Little did he know that as early as the Foundation Establishment stage, when Lu Yang resurrected the Immortal Fairy, she had forcibly helped him open a spiritual space. This made his mental strength significantly stronger than his peers. Subsequently, the Immortal Fairy constantly honed it within the spiritual space, increasing its size and fortitude.

In terms of mental strength, no Golden Core cultivator could surpass Lu Yang.

"Strike!" Lu Yang roared, his essence, qi, and spirit unified. His sword qi, like a bolt of raw silk, was exceptionally ferocious. The blade danced through the air in a swift arc, cutting towards Huang Ming.

Zhao Po, observing from the side, felt his hair stand on end. Even from a distance, he could sense the terrifying power of that sword strike. Was this truly a sword technique a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator could unleash?

The Drowned Ghost was also visibly shaken. He now realized that Lu Yang had held back during their earlier fight; otherwise, this single sword strike would have been enough to severely injure him and bring him down!

The sword strike was too swift and fierce for Huang Ming to dodge. If he were to endure it head-on, he would undoubtedly lose. Gritting his teeth, Huang Ming's thought caused him to vanish from his spot, replaced by the living corpse.

He had instantly swapped places with the living corpse!

"Corpse Exchange?!" Zhao Po exclaimed in shock. He hadn't expected Senior Brother Huang Ming to have mastered such a secret technique, which should typically only be learnable at the Nascent Soul stage.

Huang Ming gasped for breath, taking a Qi Recovery Pill to replenish his spiritual energy. His forced activation of the secret technique had instantly drained his remaining spiritual power.

The living corpse bore the sword strike, splitting into two down the middle. From the severed edges, countless red threads extended, reconnecting and restoring the living corpse to its original state.

Huang Ming no longer held back, controlling the living corpse to attack Lu Yang alongside him.

The weakness of a corpse herder lay in their physical body, as they could only control living corpses to fight. However, Huang Ming possessed a strong physical body and abundant mental energy, allowing him to fight simultaneously while controlling the living corpse, thereby compensating for all the traditional weaknesses of a corpse herder.

His combat power surged!

Zhao Po stared blankly at the scene. Huang Ming's various techniques completely overturned his understanding. Was the gap between himself and Huang Ming truly so vast?

"Haha, now this is interesting." Lu Yang, fighting two against one, showed no intention of retreating. Like a god of war, he grew stronger with each exchange.

"No wonder you're a disciple of the Dao Inquiry Sect. You have some skill, but that's all it is!" Huang Ming's eyes, like a wolf's, gleamed with ferocity and determination.

"With your talent, you're probably unmatched among your peers and have never tasted defeat. Today, I'll let you experience it!" Huang Ming smirked disdainfully.

"The other shore flower blooms, reshaping the cosmos!"

This was his final and strongest trump card. If he lost again, there would be no point in pursuing "resetting cultivation" to vie for influence in the future great era; it would be better to end his life early.

A beautiful, vibrant red spider lily bloomed. Huang Ming and the living corpse's eyes turned bloodshot, their aura escalating dramatically. Their fingernails elongated into sharp, beast-like claws. Under the influence of this surging power, the ground trembled, as if a dragon beneath the earth had turned over, shaking the very foundations.

"Two against one, let's see how you win!" Huang Ming was confident of victory, his expression slightly twisted.

"Fighting like this will indeed be tough," Lu Yang muttered, shrinking into the ground. He then took out a twin-blooming lotus seed and performed the "Tree Planting Art."

As Huang Ming watched, slightly stunned, lotuses bloomed amidst the spider lilies. Two Lu Yangs appeared simultaneously, one holding the Azure Edge Sword and the other the Underworld Moon Sword.

A calm smile appeared on Lu Yang's lips.

"Now it's two against two."