Refining Qi starts from repairing the panel.

Chapter 186: Incense and Spirits

A broken statue?

Looking at the prompts given by the panel, Chu Zheng's eyes focused instantly and he looked around.

The layout of Zhao Tingxian's cave is quite simple, with only a jade couch and nothing else.

The cave has been uninhabited for many years, the magic circle has been stagnant, and a thin layer of dust has fallen.

During this period of time, many people entered and left the cave, but most of them were people with profound cultivation. They landed without leaving any trace and did not destroy any signs.

This is also to avoid destroying possible clues. This place is different from the outside world, and it is very likely that some clues about Zhao Tingxian are left here.

After looking around and confirming that nothing was left out, Chu Zheng reached out and took away some of the ashes, then turned and walked out of the cave.

He didn't know the full appearance of the statue, nor could he confirm whether any strange phenomena would occur after it was repaired.

Given the example of the Taoist golden body, repairing it directly here is obviously not a wise choice.

Ji Xiaojing stood at the foot of the mountain waiting, and was somewhat surprised to see Chu Zheng coming down the mountain:

"The Holy Lord is coming out so soon?"

She was ready to wait for two days.

Not far away, there were many monks looking around, paying attention to Chu Zheng's movements.

In the eyes of most Taixu disciples, Chu Zheng came here specifically to cause trouble.

Chu Zheng glanced at the Taixu disciples around him and asked casually:
"Besides the cave, does Zhao Tingxian have any other places he often goes to?"

"There is also a special spiritual place for true cultivation. There, he has a special secret room."

Ji Xiao thought for a moment, and then added, "After Zhao Tingxian, Taixu Holy Land has never produced a Holy Son. That secret room has never been used by anyone. Those who came here before have all seen it."

"lead the way."

During this trip, Chu Zheng has already had an unexpected gain. Just because others haven't discovered something doesn't mean he can't discover it.

The traces left by Zhao Tingxian are definitely more than just a broken statue.

Chu Zheng followed Ji Xiao and walked forward. Soon, they came to a lake that was over a hundred miles long and wide. The lake was filled with liquefied spiritual liquid.

Powerful streams of spiritual energy were drawn from the lake by the magic circle, rolling up into the sky, vast and mighty, spanning the entire Taixu Holy Land.

Chu Zheng glanced at the panel and saw that the number of daily refresh repairs had increased to thirty-seven times, which was twice as high as the Cang Yun Secret Realm that had not been unlocked.

This place is the source of the spiritual river in the sky, and the water essence is incredibly rich.

Zhao Tingxian was born with a fire spirit body. Practicing here should be a torture for him. However, judging from his movements in Taixu Holy Land, he practiced here most of the time.

There are many secret rooms built around the lake, on which are engraved spirit-gathering arrays. For disciples who practice the Taixu Sutra, this place is a rare blessed land.

The secret room that belongs exclusively to the Son of God is on a small island in the center of the lake.

As he went deeper into the lake, the number on Chu Zheng's repair panel kept rising. After he stepped onto the island, it finally stopped at fifty-eight times.

The door of the secret room was open, and it was empty inside. Chu Zheng opened his spiritual eyes and looked around, but found nothing.

He was not in a hurry to leave. He stood in the secret room, slowly closed his eyes, and practiced the Record of Eternal Tribulation, concentrating on sensing the fluctuations of the Yuan Qi around him.

Even if Zhao Tingxian was practicing the Taixu Sutra, practicing here would not help his cultivation at all, and might even have a counterproductive effect.

It is not so easy to comprehend the combination of water and fire. It requires many times of trial and error. This place is not a convenient place to try, at least not a convenient place for the Fire Spirit Body to heal.

Soon, Chu Zheng noticed something unusual. A faint trace of fire essence was coming out from the ground, so tiny that it was difficult to detect.

Without any hesitation, he used the earth escape technique and sank into the ground like a fish entering the water.

As he dived deeper, the temperature gradually increased. Soon, Chu Zheng had dived tens of thousands of feet and came to a molten purgatory. The fire of the Earthly Evil True Flame was floating everywhere, emitting an extremely scorching temperature.

This kind of scene can be seen everywhere in the blue sky, and there is nothing strange about it.

Chu Zheng did not stop and continued to dive. The temperature around him was getting higher and higher. With Chu Zheng's strong physique, he needed to start using his magic power to protect his body.

After diving tens of thousands of feet again, several pieces of information suddenly popped up in Chu Zheng's eyes.

[Water Spirit Jade (Level 3/Incomplete): This gem is filled with water spiritual energy. It was born in the center of a spiritual spring and has been baptized for thousands of years before it can take shape. It can absorb the water spiritual energy between heaven and earth on its own, greatly increasing the cultivation speed of water creatures of Level 3 and below (repairable).]

Chu Zheng's eyes lit up slightly. There was no way there could be such a spiritual object here. It was obviously brought here by someone.

After a moment, there was nothing in front of Chu Zheng, and he fell into a slightly dilapidated corridor.

After walking along the corridor for dozens of steps, his eyes brightened slightly and a cave that was obviously man-made appeared.

The dome is inlaid with luminous pearls, wooden frames, alchemy cauldrons, fire-gathering formations, spirit beds, and everything needed for spiritual practice.

There were some fragments of spiritual jade scattered on the ground, and they had lost all their luster.

Compared with the previous caves and secret rooms, this place is more like a cave.

There were several volumes of classics on the wooden shelf. Chu Zheng opened them one by one and read for a while.

Among them are several volumes of classics related to alchemy, which talk about the theory of mutual generation and restraint of medicinal properties, as well as some means and methods of neutralizing the cold and hot medicinal properties.

Apart from these, what remains are some insights from practice and some sloppy records.

From these records, we can see that Zhao Tingxian at that time must have been in great confusion, entangled in the incompatibility between his own skills and his physique, and tried his best to find the balance point, but always to no avail.

A dusty pattern caught Chu Zheng's attention.

[God-shaping Method (Level 0): According to a specific method, a statue of a god is shaped to establish a bridge of communication with a powerful god.]

Chu Zheng took a closer look, as if thinking about something. In order to find a balance, Zhao Tingxian had obviously gone crazy and even wanted to seek help from the illusory gods.

Chu Zheng put away the God-shaping Technique, turned around and opened the alchemy cauldron.

Inside the alchemy furnace, there were some blood scabs stuck to it, mixed with the remnants and broken stems of spiritual medicines. Judging from the information given by the panel, these blood scabs came from the innate fire spirit body.

From this, it is not difficult to guess that Zhao Tingxian tried to refine people using the method of alchemy. What the final result was, the current Chu Zheng had no idea.

After a sweep, Chu Zheng started his return journey and after a while, he returned to the secret room.

If Chu Zheng had not received the news earlier, there would be no way to investigate the underground cave. He just wanted to try it out, and fortunately he did not fail.

Ji Xiao and others were waiting on the shore, and were a little disappointed when they saw Chu Zheng coming out empty-handed.

Many profound cultivators and even immortals had come here before, but all returned empty-handed. It was normal that Chu Zheng could not find any clues.

Perhaps she had some inexplicable expectations of Chu Zheng, so she felt a little disappointed at this moment.

After a cup of tea, Ji Xiao escorted Chu Zheng all the way out of the Taixu Holy Land.

Watching the Star-Breaking Shuttle disappear into the sky in the blink of an eye, Ji Xiao silently pondered over the first words Chu Zheng had said to her.

Practicing cultivation is not easy, try to live longer... The many Taixu cultivators who followed along the way only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Chu Zheng leave the Taixu Holy Land. Chu Zheng did not take the opportunity to cause trouble, so they undoubtedly avoided a lot of trouble.

Not long after Chu Zheng left, Bai Zhixiao quietly came to the outside of Lingfeng and walked slowly along the route Chu Zheng had just taken.

Finally, he stood in the secret room, his eyes full of confusion.

"He came back and forth for only two hours and left without gaining anything. What on earth was he doing here?"

After walking along Chu Zheng's route, he still didn't find any clues, but Chu Zheng's sudden strange behavior made him think too much.

After all, the little cultivator who could be easily killed has now become the Holy Lord Taixuan.

After a long time, Bai Zhixiao sighed and left reluctantly.

Now, he is almost used to entering and leaving the major holy places as if he were in an empty place.

Even so, he still had to be grateful to the Immortal Alliance for not pursuing the matter to the end, otherwise the Taixu Holy Land would have ceased to exist.

In fact, Bai Zhixiao already felt a little regretful about this.

More than a thousand years ago, he knew that Zhao Tingxian was born with a fire spirit body, which was in conflict with the attributes of the Taixu Sutra and that his future was bleak. However, in order not to give Taixuan a chance to revive, he still took him into the holy land.

When he first joined the sect, Zhao Tingxian's performance was mediocre. After he entered the divine infant stage, Zhao Tingxian soared into the sky. Within a short period of time, he became an immortal and entered the Immortal Alliance.

His subsequent cultivation speed became faster and faster, and he even had the qualifications to control the Cang Yun Heavenly Dao.

No one could have imagined that such a big change would happen afterwards. Without Zhao Tingxian, the Taixuan Holy Land had an even more terrifying Chu Zheng.

No one could have predicted such an outcome.

…………

…………

Chu Zheng rushed all the way back to Taixuan, found a secret room, and began his retreat.

He first took out the ashes he found in Zhao Tingxian's cave and began to repair it.

As the panel moved, the ashes began to increase, and a seven-foot-tall statue gradually took shape in front of Chu Zheng's eyes.

Looking at the face of the statue, Chu Zheng narrowed his eyes instantly:

"really……"

Just a few feet away from him, a clay sculpture with a face exactly like his was clearly visible and lifelike, making Chu Zheng almost have the illusion of looking in a mirror for a moment.

[Statue (Level 3): Zhao Tingxian personally casts a statue according to the God-shaping Method. It can establish a connection with a powerful being.]

What Zhao Tingxian found was the method of shaping the golden body of the Taoist Ancestor, and he even got in touch with the Taoist Ancestor through this method.

According to this calculation, perhaps it was Daozu who made these arrangements in advance so that he could live safely until now.

However, Zhao Tingxian crushed Daozu's golden body into pieces with his own hands, which was undoubtedly a great disrespect, but Daozu did not care about it.

Thinking of this, Chu Zheng's heart suddenly condensed. More than a thousand years ago, Zhao Tingxian was just a divine infant cultivator, but now he has become an immortal.

This speed is a bit too exaggerated. The reason for this may be inseparable from the incense and golden body of Zhao Tingxian in the chaotic sea.

Zhao Tingxian also practiced the way of incense and fire gods, and had reached the realm of Heavenly Venerable. It was not known whether it was the enlightenment he gained from the god-shaping method or the guidance of the Taoist Ancestor.

Looking at the statue in front of him that looked exactly like himself, Chu Zheng couldn't help but understand Zhao Tingxian's thoughts. It was really weird to have her staring at his face all day long.

After a brief pause, Chu Zheng tried to contact the Taoist ancestor through this golden body.

However, after trying for several hours without success, Chu Zheng had no choice but to give up. He did not receive any response, as if the Taoist Ancestor did not exist in this world.

This was completely different from the result when he had gotten married and burned books to present a memorial to Daozu. He could confirm that Daozu did give him a hint of response at that time.

After coming back to his senses, Chu Zheng looked at the god-shaping method in his hand and had some vague thoughts. This incense god said that if Zhao Tingxian could practice it, he could do it too.

With such a vivid example before us, it would be hard not to give it a try.

After taking a glance at the golden body of Taoist not far away, Chu Zheng raised his finger and tapped lightly, the Yuan Qi in his body moved slightly, and he displayed the earth-based magical power.

In a flash, a clay figure gradually took shape in front of Chu Zheng and was soon carved into his face.

[Clay Sculpture (Level 0): An ordinary clay statue made by you, without any special features.]

Looking at the information given by the panel, Chu Zheng did not feel disappointed. If this path was so easy to follow, everyone in this world would have been cultivating gods long ago.

Chu Zheng put away the Taoist's golden body, stood up and left the secret room.

This method of god-shaping can definitely be used as a reference. As for the matter of believers, we will think about it later.

He had not had much contact with incense and gods, and the only living god he had seen was Zhao Tingxian. There was very little information to refer to, so he could only cross the river by feeling the stones and take one step at a time.

…………

…………

As soon as he came out of seclusion, Chu Zheng received two messages, one from Shang Zuling and one from the Immortal Alliance.

[After parting at the Wild Wind Nation, Daoyou's reputation has risen rapidly, and now he is already a Saint Lord. His cultivation has made great progress, ranking first on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, which makes the ancestors ashamed.]

[Your talent is hard to find in Cang Yun since ancient times. The ancestor spirit is afraid that there will be no such opportunity in the future. Therefore, I invite you to have a competition. It will only determine the winner, not life or death. I hope you will give me some advice.]

The words in Shang Zuling's letter were very concise. He just wanted to challenge her and ask for a fight.

Chu Zheng thought about it and did not refuse. He wrote a reply and set the time and place.

One month later, in front of Taixuan Holy Land.

The reason for waiting for a month is to inform all the major holy places. The Divine Infant is not allowed to act at will, and even if it is a private competition, it needs to be reported.

Can't break the rules.

The other message was an edict from the Immortal Alliance. The information conveyed in it made Chu Zheng's expression gradually turn solemn.

At this moment, the Immortal Alliance is still in the midst of a great war, and the battlefield in the universe is far from calming down.

On the front battlefield, the heavens have also begun to take action and join forces with all realms, and the battle is becoming increasingly fierce.

In this battle, the Martial Palace was also affected and was attacked by the heavens, unable to extricate itself.

Due to the tight battle line and severe shortage of combat power, the Immortal Alliance has issued a transfer order to draw cultivators from various realms to rush to the front battlefield to participate in this war.

The Divine Infant Monk is the bottom line for selection.

Because only by stepping into the divine infant stage can one have some ability to survive in the universe.

(End of this chapter)