Chapter 777 - 609: Physical Relic?

In the Gourd World, a dark red square table was placed beneath the Gathering Essence Tree, crafted from Tier Two Top-grade Red Cloud Pine.

The wood is delicate with a unique fragrance, and its grain resembles flames, with evenly distributed stripes.

The Spirit Wood grown in the Little World has not been affected by various harsh weather conditions, resulting in very uniform streaks.

On the square table, there is a white porcelain teapot, with light blue lines depicting a lone fisherman on a cold river.

Steam rises from the spout, diffusing in the breeze, blurring the figure of a nearby puppet.

Cold mental realm, containing steaming tea, creates a unique flavor.

Not far away, Ji An manipulated the Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire, with blue, red, and white flames evenly distributed at the base of the Blazing Sun Furnace.

The wings of the fire crane carvings on the furnace shimmer with golden patterns, and the talismanic characters engraved inside the pill furnace flow like a swimming dragon.

He executed the Object Control Technique to lift the pill furnace lid, skillfully forming a Dharma Seal, and used the Pill Separation Technique, causing a mass of pill liquid to instantly divide into five equal parts.

Re-sealing the lid, several wisps of smoke rose inside the pill furnace, transforming into mini-dragons coiling around each portion of pill liquid.

Each rotation of the dragon-shaped smoke causes some impurities to precipitate from the pill, the ashes falling away, blown out from the vent at the furnace’s base.

Ji An reduced the output of the flame, rapidly lowering the temperature inside the pill furnace, causing the pills to begin solidifying.

Moments later, a crane’s cry echoed inside the furnace, and the dragon’s mouth on the furnace’s coiling dragon lid emitted faint golden Spiritual Qi.

He quickly formed a seal and lifted the lid. Five golden pills, each entwined with three lines, flew out one by one, accurately landing in the jade bottle he’d prepared.

Ji An released the Small Cloud Rain Technique, and crystalline rain droplets fell, cleansing the pill furnace.

He stored the pill furnace in his Dantian for nurturing; at this moment, this Magical Treasure solely dominates the Primordial Life Fire, while the other three treasures flew out to play.

The pill furnace’s spirituality is somewhat inferior to other Magical Treasures, and unlike other treasures, using Spiritual Fiend nurturing cannot significantly enhance the furnace’s spirituality; it requires refining higher-quality pills for nurturing.

"The accumulated work is finally done."

Ji An sighed, pacing to the sheltering Gathering Essence Tree.

The puppet instantly poured a cup of tea, the tea soup of Tier Three Middle Grade Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea appeared silvery, resembling the lake under a clear moon, tilting its head and offering the cup with both hands.

Ji An raised his eyebrows and said:

"I feel your spirituality is becoming stronger."

This feeling is quite wondrous, like a robot gaining thoughts.

A smile appeared on the puppet’s face, and its hollow eyes seemed to briefly flicker with spirit, but it was fleeting and unnoticed by the tea drinker.

Ji An threw back the Spirit Tea in one gulp, exhaling, "Refreshing, one more cup."

The hot tea went down his throat, and snowflakes fell in the Sea of Consciousness, spreading a refreshing coolness, and his weary Spirit Soul felt an instant comfort.

Today, he refined ten furnaces of Vajra Pills, two in the Grotto Mansion, and the rest in the Little World.

Alchemy requires focused attention. One must constantly use Divine Sense to perceive the temperature of the pill furnace and the state inside the pill liquid.

Only by maintaining real-time control can one improve both the pill formation success rate and the quality rate.

Every piece of material is hard to come by, so he spares no effort, whether in alchemy or talisman crafting, using all his Divine Sense.

Thus, he accumulated many Vajra Pills and Purifying Talismans.

These items he doesn’t need, since he has better ones, but they can be given to fellow sect members visiting from afar.

The news in the fortress isn’t entirely closed; he already knows who the visitor is, the former Law Enforcement Hall Master, Lin Jiuxiao.

He felt a bit surprised, yet understood.

When Senior Brother Zhengyang was still alive, they once discussed the successor to Senior Brother Yuxiao as the Sect Leader, and Lin Jiuxiao was the favored candidate.

Ji An intended to leave the Sect for a journey, with no set return date, while Lin Qiu Bai and Li Haoran were Sword Cultivators, their manner bold and aggressive, adhering to straightforward methods over roundabout ones.

Such cultivators are suitable as enforcers but not as sect leaders, unless no other choice existed, as neither wished to be bound by the Sect Leader’s position.

Lin Jiuxiao, from the Law Enforcement Hall, worked his way from an ordinary team member to the Hall Master, gaining "hands-on experience" and leadership experience.

Able to deal decisively with tasks, and to bow when faced with obstacles, he was almost the predetermined Sect Leader.

Memories flashed in his eyes, and Ji An’s face showed a faint smile.

"Time flies indeed."

He lamented the fleeting years, drinking the tea, and held the empty cup up to the puppet again.

Unknowingly, it’s been over thirty years since he left the Sect; he wondered how the grey-feathered sand geese on Red Flame Peak were faring now?

The Soul Nourishing Wood nurtured by Senior Brother Zhengyang’s ashes, what level has it reached now? Has the annual Pine Nuts yield from the Red Cloud Pine grove increased?

How are his three apprentices doing, and do they have potential to break through to the Golden Core?

After finishing a pot of Spirit Tea, Ji An reigned in his wandering thoughts, instructed:

"Go, bring me my medicinal mud."

The medicinal mud made from Vajra Bodhi Fruit is best stored in cold water; the pond in the black earth is also a Cold Pool, and the jar of medicinal mud has always been kept near the spring.

The puppet slightly bowed and turned to run through the forest.

Ji An stood up, removed his Daoist robe and inner garment, leaving only a pair of shorts. His muscles were not exaggerated in contour, but every inch was filled with explosive power.

He activated his qi and blood power, and within two seconds his body heated up, entering a state of readiness, warming up as easily as flipping a switch.

Qi and blood surged through his body, like a river washing over his flesh.

Other cultivators practicing body refining techniques needed to cautiously control the qi and blood power to avoid causing excessive impact that could harm their internal organs.

But Ji An himself was a Tier Three Golden Core Magic Cultivator, and the strength of the Five Elements Divine Mansion was not worried about the impact of qi and blood power.

The surging qi and blood, wave after wave, instead allowed the Five Elements Divine Mansion to achieve a mysterious state of resonance,

The puppet quickly returned holding a jar of medicine, and Ji An applied the medicinal mud on his hands, swiftly covering his entire body.

Over the years, he had consistently used Tier Three Lower Grade medicinal mud, providing abundant nourishment to his muscles and bones.

Upon applying the medicinal mud and activating the cultivation technique again, the feeling was different.

The qi and blood power began to heat up and, after a moment, formed a special force field in the body, compressing the bones and indirectly refining the bone marrow.

Wisps of blood qi overflowed from the Five Elements Divine Mansion, gathering at the chest acupoint, but not within the middle dantian.

It seemed like blood qi, yet somewhat different. Normally, blood qi appears crimson, but this ball of blood qi was a pale gold.

Unlike usual, but upon introspection, he found nothing amiss, so he continued cultivating without interruption.

The speed of the cultivation technique’s operation grew faster, and the sound of waves surging emanated from Ji An’s body, as if his body was a pill furnace heating up, with the temperature quickly rising.

Yet there was no discomfort, only a pleasant warmth.

Like the Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body, no one taught him the Acala Bodhisattva Skill; it was entirely self-explored.

As long as he felt no discomfort the next day after cultivating, Ji An considered his cultivation problem-free. After countless attempts, he formed a cultivation method suited to himself.

He had no idea how much medicinal mud he wasted during this period, but luckily he was affluent enough to afford the consumption.

As usual, Ji An cultivated the technique at his own pace, not in any hurry to break through the realm. Rushing wouldn’t help anyway.

As long as he was sure he was on the right path, the day would come when things fall into place.

His mindset was correct, perfectly aligning with Natural Daoist Law. Ji An suddenly felt the speed of qi and blood operation break through a threshold, suddenly increasing significantly.

The temperature of his body rose again, his skin turning crimson, as if all the qi and blood surged to the surface.

He felt his bone marrow boiling, a mix of heat, tingling, and itching, overwhelming his senses, almost losing his composure.

At first, Ji An suppressed this discomfort. He had never reached the bone marrow so directly during previous cultivation sessions, and today seemed different from the start.

The tingling sensation intensified, like countless ants crawling inside his bones; sheer endurance could no longer prevent the effect, severely impacting his cultivation state.

Finally, unable to bear it, Ji An stopped and began pondering what went wrong, even though everything seemed fine.

After a long and fruitless contemplation, he tried several times, but the same situation occurred.

"Does this cultivation technique require the contemplation visualization technique to practice?"

Ji An softly questioned, as the technique’s main doctrine stated both physical and mental methods must be practiced together.

He pondered with a concentrated gaze, considering whether there were alternative ways to bypass this "requirement."

What is the purpose of contemplation visualization? Frankly, it is about gathering the spirit, merging it with the God of Contemplation to guide the operation of qi and blood.

He thought the God of Contemplation was an external god, so he did not practice the visualization technique.

After an indefinite time, Ji An, deep in thought, vaguely felt the wind brushing past his ears, lifting a few strands of hair that lightly slapped his face.

Suddenly, he realized that the setup for simultaneous practice of contemplation and physical methods was well-calculated; bypassing it through normal means was impossible.

Thus, he decided not to waste any more effort, continuing the current method of cultivation, extracting perception from his body.

The "signals" from the bone marrow were no longer processed by the central nervous system—like a person who lost sensation, unable to feel pain, hence indifferent to it.

"There’s a way!"

Ji An felt he had grasped the thread, focusing his mind, calming himself, and resumed cultivation.

Qi and blood power surged from the Five Elements Divine Mansion, gathering at the chest acupoint, the speed of circulation increasing, the bone marrow began to boil, following the same steps as before.

Ji An immersed all his perception into the gathered golden blood qi, continuously adjusting his state, finally isolating the intense discomfort caused by the bone marrow.

The boiling marrow fluid slowly calmed, the bones transitioned from jade white to a faint gold, and a dragon and tiger’s roar echoed within his chest cavity.

His skin emitted radiant golden light, resembling the golden body of a Buddha statue in a temple.

The cluster of golden blood qi exuded a golden brilliance, suddenly appearing in the middle dantian.

Once it entered, the blood qi naturally merged into the Golden Core.

At this moment, Ji An’s bones emitted a deep and prolonged sound, like thunder to the ear.

Limitless strength surged upward from his feet, spreading throughout his body in an instant, with the qi and blood power suddenly soaring.

Ji An understood that his physical strength reached the realm of a Golden Core level body cultivator, but the physical relic was naturally not present.