Chapter 29: Bestowing the Dharma Artifact

  As for Luo Xiuying, the innate true energy she obtained in her body was even more abundant than that of a great ox. Although she did not cultivate immortality or study the Tao, her physical strength and health were now beyond compare to ordinary people. Xiao Juan naturally benefited from this as well.

  Of course, these things were not something they could know about.

  That autumn and winter, the usual wolf disaster broke out in dozens of towns outside Longyang City. Fortunately, with the experience of the previous two wolf disasters, each village had stored a lot of firewood and grain beforehand, and organized a large number of people to set up various traps in advance. After this year's wolf disaster, not only did the villagers' casualties drop to their lowest level in three years, but they also captured and hunted countless ferocious wolves. Many villagers even dried the wolf meat into jerky or pickled it, making the tough and chewy wolf meat a common dish for winter.

  Of course, the ferocious wolves seem to have become more cunning, avoiding villages with tight defenses and roaming to the outskirts of Longyang City, which was not affected by the previous two wolf disasters, causing no small harm to the villagers living in the city. Even in the YunTai Mountains, there are often wolf shadows coming and going.

  Hearing the howling of evil wolves in the dark night, Shui Sheng and his five companions were eager to try out their newly learned spells on the wolves.

  Tie Xin Tang went to find Wu Mu Dao Ren, but unexpectedly, he was scolded severely. Moreover, Wu Mu Dao Ren called the five of them together and sternly warned that if anyone deliberately showed off their magic in front of others, they would definitely make their hard-earned magical powers disappear, and let them disperse their skills to become ordinary people.

  Seeing Wu Mu Dao Ren's icy face, the five people couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. The goodwill they had accumulated towards Wu Mu Dao Ren suddenly dissipated a lot. Shui Sheng asked discontentedly: "Isn't it that Daozhang said to let us learn magic to subdue demons and eliminate evil? Why can't we use magic to kill a few vicious wolves?"

  "Not bad, I've said that before, but do you think you've learned magic? With your two-handed and three-legged cat-like skills, can you even call it magic?" Wu Mu Dao Ren said coldly. As he spoke, his sleeve shook lightly, and a yellowish-brown mist flew out from his sleeve, enveloping the five people inside. In an instant, the five were like they were under a thousand-pound pressure, unable to move, their joints cracking with a "crackling" sound.

  A cold voice sounded in the ears of the five people: "You five now come to cast spells, talismans. If anyone can cast a spell, I will let you out." No matter how hard the five people tried, they couldn't even move their little fingers, let alone condense their true energy and cast spells.

  Wu Mu Dao Ren coldly smiled, pointing at the yellow mist, "Bang" a light sound, the yellow mist dispersed, but the five people fell to the ground with a thud, unable to get up for half a day.

  Wu Mu Dao Ren stood up from the wooden bed, clasped his hands behind his back and paced a few steps in the room before saying: "Do you think this evil wolf appeared outside Longyang City for no reason? The truth is that this evil wolf came from elsewhere. It's related to other heterodox cultivators, so even if it's just the five of you, or even me, we can't find and kill the cultivator behind the evil wolf. Remember, from now on until you successfully enter Yuding Gate, do not display your magical abilities in front of others unless it's a matter of life and death."

  "If you were ordinary mortals, even if you encountered those heterodox cultivators, there would be a thread of chance for survival. But if you recklessly display your magical powers in front of them and reveal your tracks, you will bring trouble upon yourselves! The Black Iron Army is guarding the outside, these few evil wolves are not enough for them to kill, no need for you to worry, now get out!" Wu Mu Dao Ren saw the five people crawl up from the ground and unceremoniously issued an order to drive them away.

  Five people walked out of the room, each with a difficult expression and a dejected look. They had thought they could show off their skills against the evil wolf, but who knew that behind the evil wolf was an even bigger trouble? And compared to Wumu Daoist's magical powers, the five people's abilities were simply insignificant, not worth mentioning. No wonder they were treated with such disdain.

  Shui Sheng took big strides towards the room he lived in, pushed open the door with force, and then closed it with force. He stepped onto the cloud bed, sat down cross-legged, concentrated his mind and gathered his energy, urging the true energy to flow inside his body. However, in his mind, Wang Mengfan's words kept flashing: "To defeat others, one must first be stronger than them!"

  Five young children seemed to be competing with Wu Mu Dao Ren, and from that day on, they intensified their cultivation.

  The first layer of the Qi Cultivation Period refers to being able to condense true energy from the Dan Tian, causing the true energy to flow smoothly in the body, opening up the Ren and Du meridians, expanding the channels and collaterals, and being able to use the true energy inside the body to perform corresponding techniques. The second layer of the Qi Cultivation Period is not fundamentally different from the first layer, but on the basis of the first layer, it can more effectively control the true energy, making the true energy in the body more abundant and agile, shortening the time for performing techniques, achieving instant technique release.

  From the first layer of Qi cultivation to the second layer, even if it's a waste of spiritual roots, it can be easily passed through, and there is no significant difference in cultivation speed compared to ordinary single-spirit root cultivators.

  As for the third layer of the Qi Refining stage, it is vastly different from the previous two layers. Upon entering the third layer, not only can one actively absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to strengthen their internal True Qi, but they can also convert True Qi into magical power and store it in the Dan Tian. Furthermore, based on the depth of their magical power, cultivators can cultivate another type of divine sense - "Divine Awareness". Through Divine Awareness, one can explore places that are beyond the reach of the naked eye, sensing potential dangers. It is said that if a Yuan Ying stage cultivator releases their Divine Awareness, they can even explore events happening tens or hundreds of miles away.

  The third layer of the Qi Refining stage is also the watershed between ordinary cultivators and crippled spiritual root cultivators. Crippled spiritual root cultivators not only condense their magical powers much slower than ordinary cultivators, but they also find it more difficult to cultivate their divine sense. It's precisely because of this that crippled spiritual root cultivators can't enter the fourth layer of Qi Refining without a heaven-defying opportunity.

  When it reaches the fourth layer of Qi cultivation, the difficulty of cultivation begins to rise sharply. Countless cultivators, even if they cultivate for decades, may not be able to climb higher than one more layer. As for those who die in old age at the peak of the seventh layer of Qi cultivation and are unable to condense the Golden Elixir, there are countless such cultivators.

  As the winter solstice approaches, except for Da Niu, Wang Long, Xiao Juan, and Tie Xin Tang have all easily entered the second layer of Qi cultivation. Shui Sheng has even reached the peak of the third layer of Qi cultivation, with the support of his magical powers, making his spells much stronger than the other three, and he can also go without food for seven or eight days at a time, causing the other four to be extremely envious.

  Wu Mù Dào Rén seemed to have grasped the temperament of Shuǐ Shēng, and every time he had a small sense of accomplishment and wanted to show off in front of his four little friends, he would not forget to strike out and make Shuǐ Shēng feel ashamed and angry, causing him to stay indoors and diligently cultivate himself.

  Five children were under the strict supervision of Wumudao, every day they seemed to have lost their childhood nature, forgetting to play and laugh. The little Taoist secretly cursed Wumudao for being inhumane. On the other hand, he was also envious of the five, sighing that he didn't have a spiritual root and couldn't cultivate immortality.

  As the year drew to a close, Luo Xiuying brought many mountain delicacies from Hanshui Village to Yuntai to watch her children. She heard that her three siblings had been punished by Wumuwu Daoist for being mischievous and hadn't left Songtao Residence in a long time, which made her heart ache. This time, Wumuwu Daoist was somewhat "humane" and let the three siblings out to meet their mother.

  Lu Xiuying saw that the three siblings were not as dispirited and dirty as she had imagined, but instead they all looked spirited and even a bit taller, with Dacow and Shuisheng looking much whiter than before, which didn't quite match their nickname "Black Charcoal Heads", and this made her let out a sigh of relief.

  The mother and four of them had just stayed for half a day, but unexpectedly the two sons had already urged Luo Xiuying to hurry back home three or five times, saying that they still had to go "face the wall and reflect"! Luo Xiuying couldn't help but scold the two sons for being heartless, until Xiaojun whispered a few words in Luo Xiuying's ear, and only then did she smile with joy, leaving some clothes and silver for the three of them, and happily returning to Hanshui Village.

  Just three days before the New Year, Shuǐ Shēng finally broke through to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining stage, and could now borrow the power of his internal energy to control his magic tools. Wū Mù Dào Rén was overjoyed. In just one short year, Shuǐ Shēng had traversed a path that ordinary cultivators would take seven or eight years to complete. Even among other dual-spirit-root cultivators with complementary attributes, it was impossible to achieve such rapid progress from the first layer of the Qi Refining stage to the fourth. Moreover, there were hardly any spiritual energy resources available in Yún Tái Guān. It could be seen that the "Primordial True Energy" within Shuǐ Shēng's body indeed provided great assistance to his cultivation progress.

  "Alright, you can have a good time and relax for a few days. Consider this magic tool as a gift from me." Waterborn had never seen Wumeng Daoren smile so happily before, his two triangular eyes narrowed into slits. Not only was he generously offering to give him the "magic tool", but also taking the initiative to let him have fun for a few days. Just as he was about to thank him, Wumeng Daoren raised his hand and a three-inch-long golden sword flew out of his sleeve, appearing in front of Waterborn's face in an instant.

  A chill ran through Shuǐshēng's heart, his mind racing with the urge to unleash his powers. A pale golden shield materialized in front of him, only to be shattered by a swift strike from the small sword. The blade flashed towards Shuǐshēng's brow, prompting him to instinctively close his eyes as his heart pounded wildly. However, the sword suddenly veered off course, grazing Shuǐshēng's cheek before rapidly circling around his body three times, finally coming to a stop in front of him.

  Shuǐ shēng zhī gǎn dào yì gǔ liáng yì cóng liǎn jiá fū guò, fēi kuài lí kāi. Dāi zhēng kāi shuāng mù, yī yǎn kàn dào wū mù dào rén sì xiào fēi xiào de wàng xiàng zì jǐ, miàn sè yī hóng. Wàng le wàng xuán xíng zài miàn qián bù yuǎn chù de jīn sè xiǎo jiàn. Níng shén jìng qì, quán shēn fǎ lì dōu xiàng yòu shǒu zhōng yǒng qù, yòu shǒu shàng dùn shí yǒng chū yī tuán dàn jīn sè guāng páng, shǎn nà jiān yī zhī xiǎo shǒu róu rú tóng zhù yì bān.

  He slowly reached out to grab the small sword, thinking that Wumeng Daoist would use his divine power on the flying sword as usual and make things difficult for him. But unexpectedly, the small sword didn't move at all, allowing Shuǐshēng to grasp it in his hand. Instead, Shuǐshēng's internal energy surged out of control due to excessive use of his magical powers, causing a wave of dizziness.

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