Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 786 - 769: Late-Stage Nascent Soul!

Hearing that Zhouyang is about to break through to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, Master Cyan Yang’s emotions are indeed very complex.

Calculating it, he had successfully formed a Nascent Soul hundreds of years before Zhouyang, yet now his cultivation is still at the Fourth-Layer Nascent Soul, while Zhouyang is already beginning to break through to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul.

The feeling of watching oneself being surpassed by a junior who is several hundred years younger is indeed extremely unpleasant.

But on the other hand, the good friendship and close relationship between them make him feel quite happy about Zhouyang’s breakthrough to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul.

Even though it was a pity that Zhouyang declined his challenge to the Grand Elder of the Nine Yang Sect last time.

However, if he can break through to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, it would be a very important and beneficial thing for the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and the entire Profound Purity Dao Alliance.

"If Fellow Daoist Zhou wants to break through to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, our sect would be happy to offer assistance. However, if you want to use the Dome Heaven Immortal Realm to seclude yourself, it might not be possible at the moment."

Master Cyan Yang said this with a look of difficulty: "Currently, Master Situ of the Liuyun Commerce Alliance is secluded there trying to break through to the Tribulation Crossing Stage, and until the outcome of his seclusion is clear, neither of us can allow anyone to enter and disturb him."

After speaking, he paused and, after pondering for a moment, looked at Zhouyang and continued: "If Fellow Daoist Zhou is not in haste, the result should be out in twenty to thirty years. If you’re eager to break through, I can discuss with other sect brothers to let you seclude yourself here on the Profound Sun Peak to make your breakthrough."

Twenty to thirty years is not a long time for a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, so waiting is not necessarily impossible.

However, Zhouyang’s cultivation is currently stuck at the Sixth-Layer Nascent Soul, and if he waits for those twenty to thirty years, his cultivation would remain stagnant for this long.

Moreover, the Profound Sun Peak is a Tier Six Top-Grade Spirit Mountain, and its spiritual energy density is not much worse than the Dome Heaven Immortal Realm, making it more than sufficient for a breakthrough to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul.

Therefore, after slight hesitation, he cupped his hands toward Master Cyan Yang and said, "Then I’ll trouble Elder Qingyang to help discuss with other fellow Daoists in your sect to make some arrangements."

"It’s no trouble at all, I will immediately inform the other disciples and explain the situation."

Master Cyan Yang’s face lit up with a smile, and he immediately sent a message to other Nascent Soul cultivators of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect to explain this matter.

Currently, including Master Cyan Yang, there are four Nascent Soul cultivators in the Profound Sun Immortal Sect. Apart from him staying at the mountain gate, the others are either stationed at important spirit mountains and spiritual lands outside or traveling abroad, only returning to the mountain gate when they need to seclude themselves to refine their cultivation.

Therefore, after Master Cyan Yang sent the message, it wasn’t immediate that all the responses were received, it took about half a month to get replies from everyone.

As expected, all the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect agreed to let Zhouyang seclude himself for a breakthrough on the Profound Sun Peak.

Currently, the Profound Sun Immortal Sect is considered to be at its most declining period in five thousand years.

At such times, a great divine power cultivator like Zhouyang, who has a deep relationship with the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, is naturally worth their utmost efforts to forge a strong alliance, using external forces to help the sect tide over this period of decline.

Therefore, as long as it does not involve the sect’s foundational matters, the resources and power of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect can almost be at Zhouyang’s disposal.

After receiving approval from all the sect brothers, Master Cyan Yang directly led Zhouyang to the entrance of a cave mansion at the peak area of the Profound Sun Peak, used a special token in his hand to open the restriction of the cave mansion, and entered together with Zhouyang.

"Since Senior Brother Lu’s passing, no one has inhabited this cave mansion. For Fellow Daoist Zhou’s seclusion to break through to the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, this place should be the most suitable."

Inside the cave mansion, Zhouyang was observing and examining the situation when he heard Master Cyan Yang, in a low tone, speak of the cave mansion’s background.

Upon hearing Master Cyan Yang’s words, his eyes suddenly focused, and he couldn’t help but turn to say to the other, "Is this appropriate? Given that it’s the place where Elder Lu cultivated in his lifetime, how could an outsider junior like myself deserve to cultivate here?"

"There’s nothing inappropriate about it. This cave mansion is one of the ones with the most dense spiritual energy on the Profound Sun Peak. Senior Brother Lu was just one of its previous owners. Since Fellow Daoist Zhou needs a breakthrough on the Profound Sun Peak, this is naturally the most suitable choice."

Master Cyan Yang’s expression remained unchanged in response to Zhouyang’s words, then he looked deeply at Zhouyang and said, "Moreover, to our sect, Fellow Daoist Zhou is certainly no outsider!"

Seeing this, Zhouyang’s eyes flashed with a hint of contemplation.

After a while, he straightened his face, nodded solemnly, and said, "Alright, since Elder Qingyang says so, I’d be being discourteous if I refuse."

Upon hearing this, a satisfied smile immediately appeared on Master Cyan Yang’s face. He laughed and cupped his hands to Zhouyang, saying, "Then, I wish Fellow Daoist Zhou success in your endeavor and a successful breakthrough."

Then he handed the token controlling the cave mansion restriction to Zhouyang and left the cave mansion.

The inner sect of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect has various functional buildings, so the cave mansions on the Profound Sun Peak serve solely as cultivation areas. The space inside is not large; apart from seclusion cultivation rooms, there are only a few functional rooms like the bedroom, living room, study, and storage room.

After familiarizing himself slightly with the environment of the cave mansion, Zhouyang activated all protective restrictions of the cave mansion and entered the seclusion chamber.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, although I understand arrays, for the sake of absolute safety, I’ll still trouble you to set up the modified array personally. Additionally, during the process of running my practice, if there are any errors, I hope you can help correct them in time."

In the chamber, Zhouyang waved his hand to release Lan Daoist from the Dongxuan Pearl and earnestly made his request.

"I will definitely do my best," Lan Daoist nodded, his tone as calm as ever.

In the past, Zhouyang might have harbored some suspicion towards him.

However, after several critical moments were successfully managed thanks to him, Zhouyang no longer doubts his strength and intentions, trusting him to participate in such important matters.

Subsequently, with the assistance of Lan Daoist, Zhouyang and he worked together to set up the secret array described in the Five Elements Barrier-Breaking Technique on the floor of the seclusion chamber, and then Zhouyang sat cross-legged at the center of the array.

"You can start now!"

After meditating for a few days, Zhouyang felt his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were all in their best state, and he nodded slightly towards Lan Daoist guarding outside the array, indicating him to activate the secret array.

Upon receiving the permission, Lan Daoist waved his sleeve, throwing the six-tier Gold-eating Beast demon pill, Tier Six Tree Demon Heart, Six-tier Top Grade Demon King Profound Armor Demon King’s demon pill, Six-tier Middle-grade Demon King Chongming Demon King’s demon pill, Tier Six Spiritual Object Earth Essence Marrow Crystal and five other spiritual object substitutes into the five array nodes of the secret array.

Buzzing!

As the spiritual objects were placed in their respective positions within the array, it immediately activated, filling the entire chamber with dazzling five-colored spiritual light.

Upon seeing this, according to the secret technique recorded in the Five Elements Barrier-Breaking Technique, Zhouyang began to slowly absorb the five-colored spiritual light formed by the pure spiritual power.

Lan Daoist saw this and used his dharma seal to control the array, ensuring the release speed of spiritual power from the five spiritual objects at the array nodes was just within the absorption range of Zhouyang, to avoid any meaningless waste.

Time slowly passed, and Zhouyang, after absorbing a large amount of pure five-element spiritual power, gradually began to expand slightly, which was a result of accumulation of large amounts of external spiritual power within his body.

Because his cultivation was limited by a bottleneck and could not improve further, he could not refine this spiritual power to enhance his cultivation.

"It’s about time, Fellow Daoist Zhou, you can attempt a breakthrough now. The substitute spiritual objects prepared this time are of high quality, so fellow Daoist should have two to three attempts to try!"

Lan Daoist was observing Zhouyang’s condition closely, and upon seeing that the amount of five-element spiritual power Zhouyang had absorbed was nearly enough, he promptly reminded him.

Upon receiving the reminder, Zhouyang immediately widened his eyes, let out a low growl, and quickly formed a seal with his hands, activating another secret technique.

As the secret technique was activated, the Five Elements Spiritual Power accumulated within him was stimulated, causing his entire body to float off the ground, with five-colored spiritual light emanating from his skin and flesh.

After an unknown period, Zhouyang suddenly let out a sigh filled with regret, his floating body fell back to the ground.

Evidently, he had failed in breaking through the bottleneck this time.

But fortunately, the spiritual objects he prepared were of high quality, with enough spiritual power for him to make another attempt.

However, before attempting again, he needed to heal the damage caused by the previous bottleneck impact and reflect on the failure.

After approximately a year of rest, Zhouyang finally recovered from the internal injuries caused by the intense spiritual power, and he analyzed his previous failure multiple times to develop a counter-strategy.

Once he adjusted his mental state, he said to Lan Daoist, "Alright, Fellow Daoist Lan, we can start again."

The same scenario unfolded once more. However, this time, per Zhouyang’s request, Lan Daoist did not stop the flow of spiritual power when Zhouyang’s body was reaching its limit. Instead, he suddenly increased the output, completely draining the pure spiritual power from the substituted spiritual objects.

Bang, bang, bang!

The five substituted spiritual objects, when depleted of spiritual power, burst into dust with slight explosions.

Yet Lan Daoist paid no attention to these now useless remnants; his always indifferent face now showing an unusual hint of tension as he looked solemnly at Zhouyang.

At this moment, Zhouyang’s body seemed excessively inflated, like a balloon filled with water.

His height had reached one zhang and three chi, and his arms swelled thicker than a normal person’s thighs, with blood even seeping from the pores on his skin.

Thanks to his consummate body refining divine techniques, his physical body was comparable to a demon of the same tier. Otherwise, another Nascent Soul Stage cultivator might have exploded from the overwhelming spiritual power.

Ah!

Zhouyang suddenly let out a low growl, his swollen hands fluidly and swiftly formed a dharma seal that defied his bulky appearance, striving to refine the vast Five Elements Spiritual Power within him.

Crack!

After an unknown period, Zhouyang suddenly seemed to hear a sound like something breaking.

Then he joyfully discovered that his long-stalled magical power was finally increasing again.

I succeeded!

This thought flashed through his mind, then a violent pain assaulted his consciousness, causing him to simply pass out from the pain.

In the chamber, Lan Daoist, upon seeing Zhouyang lying unconscious in a pool of blood, relaxed his tense expression, showing a trace of relief.

He didn’t attempt to wake the unconscious Zhouyang but instead raised his hand to perform healing magic to stop Zhouyang’s bleeding, then casually cleaned Zhouyang’s body and the ground before quietly sitting cross-legged beside him, waiting.

"How long was I unconscious?"

Zhouyang, upon awakening from unconsciousness and seeing Lan Daoist nearby, asked this as his first question.

Being a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, fainting was a rare occurrence, so he cared more about this than checking his injuries and cultivation state.

Lan Daoist understood his concern and immediately replied, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, you forcibly broke through, bearing too much strain on both body and primordial spirit, and you’ve been unconscious for over half a month."

"Half a month? That’s not too long!"

Zhouyang muttered to himself, then checked his condition.

Thanks to Lan Daoist’s timely intervention, his internal injuries were not too severe, and based on his experience with injuries, it would only take two or three years to recover.

His cultivation level, due to breaking through the bottleneck, now classified him as a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Of course, to truly stabilize it, he’d need to spend some time absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to refine it into his own magical power.

Compared to successfully breaking through in cultivation, this was just a minor flaw.

Next, Zhouyang did not hurry to exit seclusion; he continued healing and cultivating within his cave dwelling.

After approximately seven more years, when his injuries were fully healed, and his cultivation was completely stabilized, he finally emerged from seclusion, announcing the results of his retreat.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, you succeeded so quickly!"

When Master Cyan Yang saw Zhouyang emerging from seclusion, his face immediately showed extreme shock.

Breaking through from mid-stage Nascent Soul to late-stage Nascent Soul was notoriously difficult. Although he hadn’t experienced it himself, he could tell from personal cultivation notes of past late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the sect and from the number of current late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the cultivation realm.

Honestly, when Zhouyang previously sought his place to impact the late-stage Nascent Soul, although he was eager to help, he didn’t hold much hope for Zhouyang’s success.

He kept an eye on Zhouyang’s cultivation progress, knowing full well that Zhouyang had only recently reached the sixth layer of the Nascent Soul, making this his first attempt at breaking through.

However, he never imagined that Zhouyang would succeed so easily on his very first seclusion attempt to break through!

Is this the gap between a genius and an average person?

Master Cyan Yang thought with a deep sense of bitterness.

"Though it was fraught with challenges, I eventually succeeded by sheer luck!"

Zhouyang looked at the utterly shocked Master Cyan Yang, speaking with his usual modesty.

But hearing Zhouyang’s modest words this time left Master Cyan Yang speechless.

He used to admire Zhouyang’s modesty and politeness as a wonderful trait.

This time, however, the more he listened, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Could it be that I’m just too old?

Or has the world changed too quickly?

Master Cyan Yang looked at Zhouyang with a complex expression, feeling extremely conflicted.