Chapter 25: Boundary and Spiritual Root

  In another room, Shui Sheng put on a clean set of clothes, leaned against the cloud bed, and swung his small feet back and forth, thinking happily that if he could control the true energy in his body from his heart, should he learn "Fireball Technique" first or "Misty Technique" first. This time, he must wait until he has learned it before telling Da Niu and Wang Long, so as not to be ridiculed by them again.

  He naturally wouldn't know that Wu Mu Dao Ren was currently worried about the "true energy" in his body, and even more so, he wouldn't know that the true energy in his own body was the congenital true energy that countless cultivators dreamed of.

  For over a thousand years, countless cultivators have entered the Jade Cauldron Sect, yet not one has ever been heard to have seen or obtained the Primordial True Energy.

  Of course, the congenital true energy is so precious that it will naturally become the object of covetousness for all human cultivators as well as demons, beasts, and evil spirits. If someone possesses congenital true energy or treasures containing congenital true energy and leaks the news, they will definitely bring about great trouble for themselves and may lose their lives at any time.

  At that time, Yu Xū Dào Rén was at the Tiān Chí poolside of Yù Dǐng Shān, borrowing the Pre-Heaven True Qi to cultivate the Great Divine Ability. This attracted a vast and majestic heavenly phenomenon, countless demons and evil creatures heard the news and moved, rushing from all directions, all wanting to kill Yu Xū Zhēn Rén and seize his Law Body Yuányīng. After a fierce battle, Yu Xū Zhēn Rén relied on the Heavenly Mechanism sword in his hand and the defensive formation he had set up beforehand, slaying all the powerful enemies.

  After the war, the Jade Cauldron Heavenly Pool, which was tens of miles wide and long, was completely stained with blood. However, Yu Xū Dào Rén only suffered some minor injuries. It was precisely this one-sided slaughter that made Yu Xū Dào Rén and Yu Ding Men famous throughout the nine provinces from then on.

  Wumudao, although not particularly skilled in the mystic arts, had once stumbled upon a large collection of incomplete bamboo slips and jade fragments at an ancient ruin. Wumudao carefully transcribed and compiled these texts into books, and over the years, while he couldn't claim to have memorized all their contents, his breadth of knowledge was unparalleled among most cultivators.

  It was also because of this that Wu Mu Dao saw the black air floating on Shui Sheng's face when he saw the true energy condensed, and felt a sense of familiarity. He then forced the true energy into Shui Sheng's body and made a move to test him. As a result, after a round of testing, it was indeed found that Shui Sheng's body contained the extremely precious pre-heavenly true energy that had been rumored.

  Even if it were another cultivator, even if their magical powers were much higher than those of Wumeng Daoist, they would not be able to discern that the Water Birth body contained Innate True Qi just by this thin layer of almost imperceptible black energy.

  Of course, if Wu Mu Dao Ren was not moved by this at all, that would be impossible. Firstly, Wu Mu Dao Ren knew that before Shui Sheng condensed the Golden Elixir, that strand of Pre-Heaven True Qi could not solidify into form, even if he swallowed the entire person whole, he would still be unable to possess the Pre-Heaven True Qi. Moreover, after the Pre-Heaven True Qi left Shui Sheng's body, it would definitely cause a shockwave, and who knows, maybe before they even started refining it, countless dangers would arise. Secondly, Wu Mu Dao Ren was not a cruel and greedy person, and besides, the Pre-Heaven True Qi within Shui Sheng's body was the most ferocious "Tian Gang Sha Qi", even if he used all his cunning to obtain this object, in the end it might still be unpredictable whether it would bring good or bad fortune.

  After the briefest of mental struggles, Wumeng Road had thoroughly abandoned his greedy thoughts and devoted more of his mind to curiosity about the Innate True Essence and worries about Shui's future.

  If Shui Sheng were to live his entire life as an ordinary person, this innate true energy would be buried and unable to exert its proper effect, but it also wouldn't bring him any danger to his life. Unfortunately, he can now condense true energy and is advancing on the path of a cultivator. If he were to stop at this point and become an ordinary person again, it seems unlikely, not only would Shui Sheng be unwilling in his heart, but even Wu Mu Dao Ren, who wants to observe just how powerful this innate true energy is, has some reluctance.

  A sleepless night, watching the sky gradually turn white, Wu Mu Dao finally selected a book with a beast skin cover from a large pile of books, sighed and muttered to himself: "I hope this method can help you escape." After that, he put away the other books in the jade pot and sat down cross-legged on the cloud bed.

  Not even half an hour had passed, when a clear and bright voice came from outside the door: "Master Dao, disciple Zhou Shui seeks to see you!" Wu Mu Dao Ren heard the excitement in Shui's voice that couldn't be hidden, shook his head, and let out a soft sigh. It seemed that trying to make him give up on cultivating the Tao was simply an impossible task.

  Looking at the straight-standing Shuǐ Shēng in front of him, Wū Mù Dào Rén lightly coughed and said: "Since you can already condense your true energy, this shows that you have a spiritual root and possess the qualifications to cultivate immortality. You should also know some common knowledge about cultivators."

  For a whole hour, Shui Sheng listened very seriously. When Wu Mu Dao's voice stopped abruptly, Shui Sheng still felt unsatisfied and had many thoughts in his mind. He roughly understood some common knowledge that cultivators needed to know.

  Cultivators can be divided into four levels based on their level of magical power: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul.

  The lowest level of Qi-refining cultivators is also divided into seven levels, and the amount of true energy condensed can be used to cast various different spells for self-defense and killing enemies. In the mortal world, living to one hundred years old is considered longevity, but if a Qi-refining cultivator can cultivate to the fourth level or above, they can live up to two hundred years old. If they further advance, they can even condense golden elixirs with their internal true energy, which would be even more extraordinary.

  Only cultivators who have entered the Golden Elixir realm can be considered true cultivators. Not only can their lifespan increase to 500 years, but they can also manipulate the elixir fire in their body to refine elixirs and treasures, and even control objects to fly. The Golden Elixir period is divided into three realms: initial, middle, and late stages. If one cultivates to the late stage of Great Perfection, after the golden elixir breaks apart in the body, they can smoothly condense out a primordial infant, which means they have entered the Primordial Infant realm.

  In the Yuan Ying period, cultivators don't need to borrow external objects or treasures to ascend to the clouds and ride the mist. The cultivated Yuan Ying can also leave the body independently, roam the nine heavens, defend against enemies, and even if the physical body is destroyed, it can still be reborn through the Yuan Ying borrowing an object, which means having an extra life. The lifespan of a Yuan Ying period cultivator has reached an astonishing 1,000 years. The Yuan Ying period cultivators are also divided into three realms: early, middle, and late stages.

  If a practitioner in the Embryonic Breathing period can transform the physical body into emptiness, they can enter the Realm of Spirit Transformation. At this stage, one is already an active immortal in the human world, possessing semi-divine powers. It can be said that one has truly touched the origin of heaven and earth, and can borrow the power of heaven and earth to summon wind and rain, move mountains and seas. Even lifespan will be extended with the increase of spiritual power, lasting up to 2,000 years. Practitioners in the Realm of Spirit Transformation are also divided into initial, intermediate, advanced, and increased boundary stages.

  According to legend, if one cultivates to the later stage of the Great Perfection Realm after transforming into a divine being, they will have the initial ability to communicate with heaven and earth, and can borrow the power of some laws to break through the interface and ascend to the distant upper realm.

  Of course, to reach the stage of Immortal Transformation is even more difficult. To say nothing of the distant future, it's already extremely difficult for Qi Refining stage cultivators to form a Golden Elixir, and it's often the case that only one or two lucky individuals out of hundreds will succeed. Without good spiritual roots and opportunities, it's simply impossible to achieve. From the initial stages of Golden Elixir formation to the later stages of Embryonic Breathing, many cultivators lose their lives while trying to break through each difficult bottleneck.

  Later-stage Yuanying cultivators who want to enter the Huashen stage will find it even more difficult. Not only do they have to go through the nine-layered tribulation of thunder, but also the tribulation of heart demons. Among the later-stage Yuanying cultivators who can safely pass through the tribulations under the rolling heavenly thunder and the countless heart demons, there is hardly one in a hundred. If someone really has a deep fate and is lucky enough to enter the Huashen stage, another danger awaits him - that is, the lightning tribulation that occurs once every three hundred years! Moreover, this kind of lightning tribulation that only Huashen-stage cultivators will "enjoy" becomes more and more terrifying with each occurrence.

  As for why the cultivators of the Immortal Transformation stage can only "enjoy" the tribulation of thunder, it's very simple. Because their divine powers have posed a threat to the stability of the interface and the heavenly power within it, and the tribulation of thunder is precisely the judgment made by the power of the interface. It's also because of this that cultivators in the mortal world can cultivate to the Immortal Transformation stage, which is extremely rare. Whether or not there are any post-Immortal Transformation stage cultivators who defy the heavens is a topic of debate. At least within the Nine Provinces, after a great calamity occurred over 1,000 years ago, there have been no Immortal Transformation stage cultivators until now.

  From cultivating Qi to transforming the spirit, there are countless tribulations and dangers that must be experienced. When breaking through each major boundary, it is even more a matter of life and death, and one careless move can lead to downfall and death.

  As for "Linggen", Shuǐshēng had also heard a rough idea. People who are born with "Linggen" are extremely rare among ordinary people, and it's unlikely that even one person in ten thousand exists, let alone the fact that this person happens to be able to embark on the path of cultivating immortality.

  In general, "Linggen" is also divided into five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, as well as two variant attributes of wind and thunder. The vast majority of people's Linggen are one of the five elements, only a very small number of people will have two of the five elements at the same time, let alone three or more.

  Wind and Thunder, these two attribute single spirit roots are derived from the variation of dual-attribute five-element spirit roots. This variation is congenital, even cultivators with law power that can reach the sky find it difficult to artificially replicate, so people who possess these two single spirit roots are just as rare as those who possess dual-attribute spirit roots.

  Cultivators with dual attribute spiritual roots are also divided into two categories:

  The first type, the attributes of the two spiritual roots are mutually generative, such as wood and fire, where wood can generate fire. Practitioners with this attribute of dual spiritual roots can simultaneously absorb both wood and fire spiritual energy from heaven and earth, and these two energies complement each other. In their usual cultivation, they progress several times faster than single-root practitioners. Advancing to the Golden Elixir and Nascent Soul stages is almost a certainty, without any bottlenecks, unless something unexpected happens.

  This chapter is over, your support is my greatest motivation!