Inside Azure Tide Pavilion, Elder Yang frowned deeply as he sipped his wine, anxiety filling his heart.

Wu Xuan walked over and asked softly, "Still no news of Little Yu?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

A space-time node had appeared outside Wuling City, and she had been transferred overnight to assist. It was not only her. Huang Baizhong, Jiang Jun, and Chen Ding had also returned.

"Not yet. I fear the worst. Has Baizhong returned?" Elder Yang asked with a frown as he looked at Wu Xuan.

"Senior Brother has already followed the experts of the Directorate of Celestial Observation into the demon god barrier to carry out a mission. I have not told him about Little Yu yet," Wu Xuan said as she sat beside Elder Yang.

Within the demon god barrier, the Baleful Yin force was extremely dense. Even weak immortal cultivators did not dare enter. Martial artists of the Grandmaster realm, the Force Transformation realm, and even the Martial Innate realm had taken the place of weaker immortal cultivators, following stronger figures inside to carry out missions.

"Didn't Little Yu make it onto the Hidden Dragon List? Can his movements be seen from the Hidden Dragon List?" Wu Xuan asked.

"We tried. It was useless. His Hidden Dragon Token has shattered. The light representing him on the Hidden Dragon List has turned gray," Elder Yang said with a frown.

That was precisely why he was so anxious. The Hidden Dragon Token was extremely important to martial artists. Under normal circumstances, they always carried it with them and protected it carefully.

"The Hidden Dragon Token has shattered?" Wu Xuan felt a sense of foreboding when she heard this.

"Perhaps he is trapped inside the demon god barrier and cannot come out. I have already sent Wenzi, Gu Ye, and the others into the demon god barrier to search. We should receive news soon," Elder Yang said with a sigh.

"That is all we can do..."

***

"Qi Refining realm... Foundation Establishment realm... Golden Core... so that's how it is?" Lin Zheyu murmured.

This manual could only help the user cultivate up to the Foundation Establishment realm. The latter portions of the cultivation technique were missing. Immortal cultivation placed extreme emphasis on aptitude and relied heavily on techniques, wealth, companions, and environment. If one lacked aptitude and sufficient resources, one would achieve little in an entire lifetime.

Lin Zheyu had just tried cultivating according to the Origin Returning Art and could only sense the faintest trace of qi sensation. Qi sensation meant the ability to perceive the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and draw it into one's body. With such poor aptitude as his, if he truly walked the path of the Immortal Dao, reaching the Foundation Establishment realm without some extraordinary opportunity would be a miracle.

"There is something wrong with this world. If one cultivates outside a blessed land and absorbs the spiritual qi of the outside world, sooner or later, one will turn themself into a yao or demon," Lin Zheyu muttered to himself while shaking his head.

He had just tested it. Even absorbing a small amount of spiritual qi made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Actively absorbing it was completely different from the body passively receiving it. When one actively absorbed the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, Baleful Yin force entered the body along with it. As the spiritual qi circulated within the body, the Baleful Yin force rapidly eroded the flesh.

Immortal cultivation... If Baleful Yin force alone were the cause, the once-glorious Immortal Dao would not have declined to this state. There must be other factors that have led the Immortal Dao to its present condition.

After martial artists advanced to the Martial Innate realm, even ordinary people without an immortal cultivation aptitude could qualify to cultivate immortality. Lin Zheyu longed deeply for the path of immortal cultivators, yet he was also filled with hesitation. Throughout the entire Great Wei, immortal cultivators were rarely seen walking openly.

Even martial artists who had advanced to the Martial Innate realm seemed to vanish from sight. According to Elder Yang, once a martial artist reached the Martial Innate realm, they had to enter a blessed land to cultivate. Staying outside for long periods not only prevented improvement but also caused one's strength to decline due to the erosion of Baleful Yin force.

Even if I do not follow the path of immortal cultivators, their method of condensing spiritual sense may still be worth studying, Lin Zheyu thought.

The use of storage pouches and the control of dharma artifacts both required spiritual sense. Although Lin Zheyu's spirit and spiritual soul were powerful, he still could not condense spiritual sense. Clearly, his method had been wrong. He flipped to the section of the manual describing spiritual sense and began reading carefully. Spiritual sense was essentially an extension of the spirit and spiritual soul. A living being's spirit and spiritual soul were elusive and intangible, a mass of energy existing within the body that was difficult to perceive.

Immortal cultivators used special methods to gather the intangible energy of the spirit and spiritual soul together and condense it into a stronger spiritual sense. Martial artists focused on tempering the body. Through martial cultivation, they strengthened their physique and refined their spirit and spiritual soul.

The Immortal Dao was the opposite. It emphasized comprehension, the refinement of the spirit and spiritual soul, and the cultivation of the mind. The physical body was secondary. Immortal cultivators primarily cultivated the spirit and spiritual soul, gathering more mana, wielding greater spirit power, and refining more powerful dharma artifacts.

Dharma artifacts could compensate for the weaknesses of immortal cultivators. They did not need to spend time and effort cultivating a powerful physique. As long as their magical power was strong enough, their realm was high enough, and they possessed sufficient wealth, they could purchase stronger defensive dharma artifacts or even portable formation restrictions.

In the eyes of immortal cultivators, spending time cultivating the body was foolish. Physical strength could not be eaten like food, nor was it the best way to extend one's lifespan. It was better to spend that time figuring out how to earn more silver and spirit stones and refine stronger dharma artifacts.

What a peculiar cultivation method. To condense spiritual sense, one must first nourish the soul with powerful spirit power until it becomes strong enough. I have no spirit power. My spirit and spiritual soul can only be nourished through the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art. I wonder whether my current spiritual strength is enough to condense spiritual sense.

Condensing spiritual sense was extremely difficult. After all, this was an immortal cultivation technique, part of an entirely different cultivation system from martial cultivation. Lin Zheyu would need considerable time to fully understand it. He did not begin cultivating immediately. Instead, he placed the items on the ground back into the storage pouch. Once a storage pouch was opened, the mouth would remain open unless someone closed it. After putting the items inside, he found a piece of rope and tied the opening shut to prevent anything from falling out.

Storage pouches truly are convenient. This is not a place for cultivation. Even without spiritual sense, the storage pouch can barely be used, so I will make do with it for now. Right now, the most important thing is to build my strength so I can protect myself. Only after that should I consider condensing spiritual sense.

He looked at the twelve spirit stones on the ground. These spirit stones felt extremely pure to Lin Zheyu. The Baleful Yin force contained within them was minimal, and their purity was comparable to second-grade spirit liquid. Clearly, these spirit stones had already been purified.

Using spirit stones like these feels a little wasteful. Once my strength improves, I'll venture into the demon god barrier and see if I can find something valuable.

An unpurified spirit stone contained energy equivalent to about three bottles of spirit liquid. Once purified, however, most of the Baleful Yin force and impure energy within it had been removed. Some of that removed energy could actually be absorbed by Lin Zheyu through the Origin Force's mysterious energy.

The last time he used 20 units of Origin Force to enhance himself, it consumed about thirty-five bottles of spirit. Lin Zheyu estimated that these twelve spirit stones contained energy roughly equivalent to thirty bottles of spirit liquid, which was still not enough for him to cultivate the Primordial Wuji True Technique to Perfection.

I will use 10 units of Origin Force first and keep the rest in reserve.

He held three spirit stones in each hand.

Use 10 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Primordial Wuji True Technique.

In an instant, Lin Zheyu's mind blurred and entered a mysterious consciousness space where endless cultivation began. A vast surge of mysterious energy erupted from deep within his body, sweeping up the energy from the spirit stones and channeling it into his body. It transformed into surging streams of true origin, circulating throughout him. With each cycle of true origin, Lin Zheyu's meridians expanded, becoming increasingly resilient.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 44]

[Skills: Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 0%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 59%)]

After several breaths, Lin Zheyu opened his eyes and looked at the data within his consciousness.

"It has not even reached 60% progress, yet the true origin within my body is already this abundant. It is incredible," Lin Zheyu said with amazement as he felt the thick true origin circulating inside him.

The foundation he had built during the Blood Qi realm and the Marrow Refining realm was simply terrifying. Lin Zheyu felt that many Grandmaster realm experts might not even possess true strength as abundant as his true origin. This did not even take into account that his true origin was liquid in form, making its quality far superior to true strength.

There are still six spirit stones left. They could increase my progress quite a bit, but there is no need for it. Raising progress only makes my true origin more abundant. The improvement in the quality of my true origin is minimal, and the increase in strength is not that significant. Using them to enhance my lightness and movement techniques would be the best choice.

He had not improved his lightness and movement techniques for a long time. His battle with the immortal cultivator had made him realize his own shortcomings. With powerful dharma artifacts assisting them, immortal cultivators could unleash strength far beyond their own cultivation. Once his lightness and movement techniques improved, he would have a reliable means of dealing with even powerful immortal cultivators. He could advance to attack or retreat to defend.

Lin Zheyu pondered for a moment as the technique Flying Cloud Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps passed through his mind. He had long since memorized this technique. The cultivation of Flying Cloud Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps involved true strength, and when he had only been in the Marrow Refining realm, he had been unable to cultivate it. This technique was the signature art of the Flying Cloud Pavilion and the Wuji Sect's strongest lightness and movement technique.

Lin Zheyu ran through the technique in his mind. Then he incorporated methods that suppressed other true intents while activating true intents that enhanced speed, such as Wind true intent, Swift Speed true intent, Thunder true intent, and Illusion true intent.

This new technique will be called Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps.

As the thought spread, the data of Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps appeared within his consciousness.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 44]

[Skills: Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps (First Stage: 0%), Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 0%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 59%)]

My earlier idea works after all. Cultivating Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps should not consume too many spirit stones. Let's see how much Origin Force is required to raise it to Perfection.

The original Flying Cloud Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps had three stages. The modified Phantom Flash Soul-Chasing Steps now had four stages. The first stage focused on flexibly controlling the transformation of the true origin, enhancing the supportive effect of true origin on speed and movement techniques.