Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

Zhang Yuanjing did not leave seclusion.

When one's cultivation reaches the Great Perfection realm, the conditions for a breakthrough are present. Generally speaking, the probability of breaking through is the same whether one has been at Great Perfection for a moment or for a hundred years. A breakthrough could happen at any time, or it might never happen.

Therefore, Great Perfection also implies being self-contained and having no path forward. A cultivator's entire life of cultivation, all experiences, and all insights reach a limit. Within this limit, they merge into one, encompassing the cultivator's understanding of the world, of themselves, and of cultivation.

At this time, no matter from which angle he considers a problem, he seems to have everything under control, seeing everything clearly, and being in a perfect and flawless state. This kind of completeness and perfection closes off all paths forward, as if he has reached the pinnacle of cultivation.

In other words, this is a kind of cognitive obstacle, a state that seems clear but is actually ignorant. However, breaking this state and removing the cognitive obstacle is extremely difficult, one in a hundred.

The foundation of a great sect lies not only in its techniques and elixirs but also in guidance and sparring. The reminders and guidance of seniors allow cultivators to follow the correct path; sparring with fellow disciples allows them to exchange perspectives, point out each other's flaws, and trigger deep self-reflection, thereby achieving self-transcendence and self-breakthrough.

Why did Ling Jianzi value Zhang Yuanjing so much, even preventing Ling Zhuzi from sending people to disturb his cultivation? It was because an opponent like Zhang Yuanjing was rare, allowing him to discover his shortcomings through life-and-death battles, thereby finding a path to breakthrough. Before meeting Zhang Yuanjing, he had been in the Great Perfection realm for decades, but because of a lack of guidance from teachers and sparring with fellow disciples, he had never found a breakthrough point.

As soon as Zhang Yuanjing entered the Great Perfection realm, he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and seek an opportunity to break through. For any Great Perfection realm, there are three methods of breakthrough: the superior method of comprehending the Dao of Heaven, the middle method of relying on techniques, and the inferior method of swallowing spiritual medicines. The superior method is vague and only used as a last resort; the middle method is pure and the first choice of all great sects. Most of the elite disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect who break through to Core Formation rely on this method; the inferior method is practical, but spiritual medicines are rare and the probability of success is low, relying more on the cultivator's luck.

The reason why Zhang Yuanjing was so impatient was that he had already thought of a method that might lead to a successful breakthrough. This method was the middle method, using the improvement of the Profound Earth Transformation Technique to drive the breakthrough in his realm.

His Profound Earth Technique was first developed by introducing wood force to transform the Profound Earth Qi Cultivation Art, resulting in the Profound Earth Nourishing Qi Art. Later, he cultivated the remnant root for Su Yuanxiao, obtaining pure wood force, which promoted the advancement of the technique. In the Illusionary Demon World, after entering the mustard seed space channel, he obtained inexplicable great power, which not only broke through his realm but also mutated his technique, resulting in the Profound Earth Transformation Technique.

These changes, whether large or small, all had qualitative changes and can be regarded as opportunities to trigger a related leap in the cultivation realm.

For the past twenty years, since upgrading the Profound Earth Nourishing Qi Art to the Profound Earth Transformation Technique, his fundamental technique has remained at the first level. Therefore, after careful consideration, he decided to adopt the method of cultivating the remnant root to promote the advancement of the Profound Earth Transformation Technique, thereby driving the breakthrough of his cultivation bottleneck.

This remnant root was naturally the purple remnant root that Su Yuanxiao had entrusted to him to cultivate. Over the years, he had occasionally cultivated this root with the Profound Earth Transformation Technique. After the Profound Earth force was input, the vitality of the remnant root continued to increase, but there had been no obvious changes in its appearance. It seemed that continuous cultivation was difficult to meet its huge demand for Profound Earth force.

Therefore, he took out the purple root and began to cultivate in a meditative posture. Previous accumulation had already generated some vitality inside this purple root.

This time, Zhang Yuanjing devoted himself wholeheartedly, and the signs of the purple root's revival became more obvious. In less than half a year, there seemed to be a gasping sound inside. By the eighth month, the surface became oily and shiny. By the tenth month, a small opening cracked in the remnant root, sprouting a bit of new green. By the eleventh month, a small bud finally emerged, with two oval-shaped green leaves on top, less than half an inch long. The leaves had slender, imperceptible dark purple stripes, and the surrounding spiritual energy was lush, making it clear that it was an extraordinary item.

At the moment when this bud emerged, a wood spiritual energy with a hint of purple flowed into his meridians along with the Profound Earth force, triggering a violent explosion of fire spiritual force.

Zhang Yuanjing's body shook violently, and dark red blood seeped from his mouth and nose. However, he didn't care, focusing solely on circulating the Profound Earth Transformation Technique, slowly guiding the Profound Earth force generated after the explosion towards his dantian.

This Profound Earth force, with a hint of purple in the dark gold, appeared somewhat strange, and its quality was obviously much higher than before. When it entered his dantian, the constantly rotating golden liquid suddenly stagnated, then trembled slightly, as if it had broken free from some kind of restraint, and then became brighter and continued to rotate.

At this time, his cultivation was already at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage, reaching a point where it could not be increased, but the improvement in the quality of his magical power was also a kind of enhancement. However, this kind of enhancement seemed to be a unique effect of the Profound Earth Transformation Technique, which ordinary cultivators could not achieve.

However, that was all. The long-awaited breakthrough of the technique did not come. The most direct criterion for judging whether a technique has improved is the color and quality of the Profound Earth force. The Profound Earth force with a hint of purple brought about changes, but it stopped at the local level and did not cause a qualitative change in the entire Profound Earth force.

He guessed that this was not because the grade of the purple remnant root was not high enough, but because the bottleneck of the pseudo-core was too strong, limiting the effect that the purple remnant root could bring.

Correspondingly, there was no change in the Niwan Palace either.

To break through from the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage to the Pseudo-Core stage, one needs to condense a bit of spiritual consciousness in the void of the Niwan Palace. With this spiritual consciousness, one can ignite the fire of the divine soul, forge the golden liquid, form a pseudo-core, and enter the Core Formation stage.

Humans are born with a divine soul, whether strong or weak, but it is all acquired. Cultivators cultivate, defying the heavens, using refining Qi to transform into the divine as the path, transforming from the acquired divine soul into a spiritual consciousness that is between the acquired and the innate, and then elevating it to the innate primordial spirit, so as to obtain the qualifications to become an immortal and attain the Dao.

This spiritual consciousness is the key to connecting the past and the future, and it is the foundation for cultivating the primordial spirit. The Golden Core Great Dao begins with this. Therefore, the difficulty of this step is no less than breaking the core to form an infant. According to the inheritance of the Profound Heaven Sect, only a few of the many elite disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage can take this step.

Zhang Yuanjing's failure was actually normal. It was just that his lifespan was coming to an end, and he had great hope for this method. Once he failed, he would inevitably feel depressed and greatly disappointed.

At this time, he had no other high-grade spiritual plant remnant roots or seeds that he could cultivate. If he wanted to start from the breakthrough of the technique, he had no conditions.

In his distress, he pinned his hopes on the益神丹 (Yi Shen Dan, Mind-Boosting Pill). This pill was used to strengthen the divine soul, and those with a strong divine soul have a greater chance of condensing the spiritual consciousness.

In this way, he spent nearly a year again, consuming and refining all the Mind-Boosting Pills he had refined last time. His divine soul became twice as strong again, and there were faint signs of mysterious things breaking out of their cocoons in the void of the Niwan Palace, but there was always a layer of tough film that prevented their appearance.

He sat in his cave, repeatedly questioning in his heart: Where is the road ahead?

Superior method? If he still had thirty to fifty years of lifespan, this path might have a chance.

Middle method? There was no hope of improving the Profound Earth Transformation Technique in the short term. As for switching to a secret technique to break through the realm, he had neither the technique nor the time.

Inferior method? Where would he get the spiritual medicine? The Mind-Boosting Pill could be considered one, but it needed the 彤云丹 (Tong Yun Dan, Scarlet Cloud Pill) as an auxiliary to refine it. Moreover, this medicine seemed useful, but it could not break through that line of obstruction, so it might not be successful. Of course, it could be used as a path.

In addition, what he could think of was the spiritual plant cultivated from the purple remnant root, which could also be considered one. That spiritual grass must be of the Profound grade, or even a high-grade existence among the Profound grade. If he could withstand death by directly swallowing this grass, there would also be a good chance of breaking through to the Pseudo-Core stage.

However, with the grade of this grass, the probability of exploding and dying by eating it directly is at least over 99%. Unless there is no way to go and his lifespan is about to end, he would never try it.

Five years of seclusion passed in a flash.

Coming out of the cave, looking at the vast river, the depression in his heart was difficult to relieve.

For the current plan, he could only settle the affairs of the Zhang siblings as soon as possible, find Ape Thirteen, and travel around, using the remaining six years or so of lifespan to find opportunities. If it really didn't work, he would go to the Six Peaks Immortal City mentioned by Lao Deren, spend everything he had, and exchange it for life-extending pills and spiritual medicines that would help him break through. If there was an opportunity, he could also get a Profound Yin Token and go to the Profound Yin Cave to gamble.

His extremely powerful divine sense swept across Zhangjiawan Village and was immediately shocked: The little girl Zhang Yu had actually broken through two realms in five years and entered the seventh level of Qi Refining.

The first four levels of Qi Refining are the low-level stage of Qi Refining, and breakthroughs are relatively easy. However, the fifth level of Qi Refining is a threshold. From then on, one enters the middle stage of Qi Refining, and the progress of cultivation will be greatly slowed down. He never expected that Zhang Yu's talent would be so high that after entering the middle stage of Qi Refining, her cultivation speed would not decrease but increase. If this continues, she might break through to the Foundation Establishment stage before the age of fifty, making her another Senior Brother Wu Yuankui.

As for Zhang Jun, there was no comparison. His cultivation had just broken through to the third level of Qi Refining and was still in the process of consolidation.

"Yu'er, come to my cave!" Zhang Yuanjing transmitted his voice.

Zhang Yu was already twenty years old, but she was still as innocent and lively as a little girl. She lost her father at a young age, but under the care of her elder sister Zhang Xuan, she lived a life of luxury and lacked nothing. She didn't have to worry about anything at home and focused solely on cultivation, so she had always maintained a childlike innocence, which Zhang Yuanjing liked very much.

When Zhang Yu heard her master's summons, she immediately flew lightly like a bird to the outside of Zhang Yuanjing's cave. Zhang Yuanjing was sitting on a stone bench, looking at her with a smile.

"Master, you're finally out of seclusion. It's been so many years, Yu'er almost doesn't recognize you!" Zhang Yu saw that her elder sister and fourth brother were not there, so she first respectfully performed a salute, and then wrinkled her pretty face and acted coquettishly.

"Hehe, cultivators are like this. Five years is short. Cough, let's not talk about this for now." Zhang Yuanjing waved his hand, signaling her to sit next to the stone table in front of him, and then said seriously, "Now that you have advanced to the middle stage of Qi Refining, you can master the tools and techniques for subduing demons and eliminating evil spirits in addition to your techniques."

"Oh, Yu'er has been waiting for this day for a long time! Master, can you give me a flying sword?" Zhang Yu had already made this request when she broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, but Zhang Yuanjing had rejected it mercilessly because she was young.

At this time, she saw her master taking the initiative to mention it, so she cheered and jumped up, reaching out and grabbing Zhang Yuanjing's wide sleeve, shaking it back and forth, opening her clear and beautiful eyes, and begging incessantly, "Please, please..."

Zhang Yuanjing laughed heartily, took out a storage bag from his waist, and threw it to Zhang Yu.

"Storage bag!" Zhang Yu asked with a surprised face, drooling, "Is it for me?"

"It's for you, and the things inside are also for you."

"Oh, Master is so good, I finally have a storage bag too!" Zhang Yu tightly grasped the storage bag with her two small hands, excitedly jumping up and doing several somersaults.

"Don't be naughty, sit down here. Let me tell you, there are some pills in this storage bag to restore magical power and treat internal and external injuries. There are also some mid-grade Hundred Spirit Pills. In addition, there are three pseudo-spiritual talismans and four magical artifacts. You should input magical power into the storage bag and take out these three talismans and four artifacts."

Zhang Yu's eyes lit up, her face flushed, and she cast a spell as instructed, quickly taking out the three talismans and four artifacts.

Zhang Yuanjing first pointed to the golden spiritual talisman and said, "This is a Pseudo-Diamond Talisman, also called a Small Diamond Talisman. Do you see the long and thick golden rune on top? When you want to use it, pinch the rune and activate it with a little magical power. This talisman is for defense. After activating it, stick it on your body, and it will form a layer of diamond force on your body to protect yourself. This is to save your life. With this talisman activated, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators cannot hurt you."

Then, he explained the Small Wind Control Talisman and the Small Invisibility Talisman separately.

Afterwards, he pointed to the four magical artifacts, two of which Zhang Yuanjing had used in the Qi Refining stage, and two of which he had obtained from the storage bags of Ling Yunzi and Ling Shu.

He pointed to a green vine and said, "This is a Demon Binding Rope, a top-grade magical artifact. Throw it at the enemy, and if it hits the opponent, it can trap them, preventing them from escaping within five breaths."

He pointed to a copper armor and said, "This is a Cyan Gold Armor, a high-grade magical artifact that can withstand a full blow from a thirteenth-level Qi Refining cultivator. This was specially refined for me by your Martial Uncle Wu back then."

He pointed to a fiery red flying sword and said, "This is a Fire Shadow Sword, also a high-grade magical artifact. It flies very fast, and once it hits an opponent, it will release a burning force, which is just right for your technique."

He pointed to another gray flying sword and said, "This is a flying sword artifact, which you can use to fly in the air. With your cultivation, you can only fly in the low air below ten feet."

Zhang Yuanjing didn't even look at Zhang Yu's silly smile and continued, "The use of magical artifacts is very simple. First, input magical power to refine them, inject your own aura into them, make them compatible with your magical power, and then you can use them smoothly. When fighting against enemies with attack magical artifacts, you also need to refine them slightly with magical power before you can launch them at the enemy. If you don't hit the enemy, use magical power to guide them back. Refine them again before you can attack again.

"You must remember that with your cultivation, you can only use such high-grade attack magical artifacts five or six times at most before your magical power is exhausted. Therefore, when fighting against enemies, don't attack casually. It's best to coordinate several attack methods and strive for a single hit."