Chapter Forty-Three: Closed Door Meditation

  "Ah, so many, can't it be less?" Gu Yun let out a painful groan.

  "What's wrong with you, if it's not enough I can add more, I'm doing this for your own good, if you want to die that's up to you but don't drag others down." After saying that, he really took out another jade slip and tossed it into Gǔ Yún's hand, "Take a good look at the things inside, they're still very beneficial for you."

  He took the jade slip and was scolded by his master again. Gu Yun didn't dare to speak anymore, he could only nod his head in pain, afraid that if he opened his mouth, the bandit would throw something at him again. The requirements the bandit had already made were already enough to give him a headache, if he came up with more, he would really have nowhere to cry.

  The bandit chief didn't give him any more time to speak and said, "Alright, now you can go in. These two girls will stay here with me. Don't worry, I won't let them lose a single hair, but if you come out and don't meet my requirements, I'll make you shed your skin." Gu Yunlian didn't even have time to speak to the two women before he was chased into the practice room by the bandit chief, giving them a reassuring glance. He closed the door of the practice room and began his journey of seclusion.

  Sitting cross-legged on the warm jade bed in the cultivation room, Gu Yun closed his eyes and organized his thoughts before starting to cultivate. He also felt that his current cultivation was a bit weak and it was time to cultivate seriously. Of course, this was just his and his master's idea, in the Cultivation Realm, people of his age who could cultivate to the Golden Dan stage were already considered geniuses among geniuses. Those with power and backing, relying on dan medicine and spirit stones, were another concept altogether. Gu Yun had now condensed his primordial spirit, although this was not something he cultivated himself, but in the Cultivation Realm, he really did kill a cultivator at the merging stage. He still felt weak now, if other cultivators knew his current thoughts, they would probably die from laughter.

  The method of Lian Shen Jue was slowly flowing in his mind, and Gu Yun began to gradually comprehend this peerless method he had just obtained. He had already decided to start with Lian Shen Jue first; once his yuan shen became stronger, other cultivations would also become faster. Time passed like flowing water, and before he knew it, ten days had already gone by. Gu Yun's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened wide, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes. After ten days of comprehension, Lian Shen Jue was finally somewhat understood, and he could begin to cultivate.

  The deeper the understanding, the more one recognizes the power of the Cultivation of the Divine Technique. As it is said, having only grasped a little of its surface, one is already shocked by its content. The cultivation of the Cultivation of the Divine Technique relies entirely on the Primordial Spirit, with the physical body being discarded. The first step in cultivating the Cultivation of the Divine Technique is to create meridians for the Primordial Spirit. This idea alone left Gu Yun stunned for half a day. Because the Primordial Spirit is originally just the power of the Primordial Spirit, which is the spiritual willpower of cultivators condensed on the basis of their soul and spirit, it is the actualized soul and spirit, purely spiritual willpower that fundamentally does not have meridians. The Cultivation of the Divine Technique, however, takes a unique approach, creating meridians for it, meaning that the Primordial Spirit can also begin to cultivate like spiritual energy. In this way, the Primordial Spirit will no longer need time accumulation or various spiritual medicines and realm advancements to grow like other cultivators.

  In addition, the Primordial Spirit cultivates in the Spiritual Awareness Sea, absorbing the white mist that envelops it. As the mist disappears, the Spiritual Awareness Sea expands, and so does one's realm. This cycle of absorption and expansion is the continuous strengthening of the Primordial Spirit and the elevation of one's realm. No longer will one need to constantly comprehend the heavens and earth or have sudden enlightenment to elevate their realm like other cultivators. If the wonders of the Cultivating Spirit Technique were known, Ancient Cloud would be hunted down by the entire cultivation world - after all, who wouldn't want to keep such a good thing tightly in their own grasp?

  Of course, wanting to shape the spiritual veins of the yuan god is not a simple matter. The yuan god itself is condensed from spiritual energy, so it's impossible for the same source energy to condense into something within it, even if it does condense, it will be re-absorbed in a short time. Wu Jinquan, who created the Lian Shen Quan back then, was also able to do so by relying on the white mist around his spiritual sea, which he couldn't quite describe, to condense into yuan god veins. However, the pain and danger involved are not something that ordinary people can accept. It's like inserting steel pipes into your body to replace your bones, a kind of inhuman suffering that even cultivators may not be able to withstand. Those who cannot persist will only have one outcome: their soul will scatter. Because the yuan god is not like the physical body, it is the foundation of the cultivator, and making drastic changes to it can lead to severe consequences if problems arise. However, the benefits that come with success are also quite alluring, so some people will still choose to cultivate this method despite the danger, Gu Yun being one of them. In fact, except for those who are forced into a desperate situation like Wu Jinquan or have complete confidence in themselves like Gu Yun, others may not attempt such a crazy thing, after all, the success rate is quite low, and even achieving it once in ten thousand attempts would be impressive.

  Gǔ Yún took a deep breath, his mind fully focused on his primordial spirit. He controlled his primordial spirit to slowly absorb the white mist around him. As soon as the first strand of white mist was absorbed, a sharp pain immediately spread throughout his primordial spirit, causing Gǔ Yún's body to violently tremble. This was only the beginning. As more and more white mist was absorbed, Gǔ Yún's body shook even harder. Compared to the pain from the explosion of yin-yang energy before, this was on a completely different level. The previous pain was physical, but this was real spiritual agony. However, Gǔ Yún couldn't give up now. Giving up would mean complete failure, and he wouldn't get another chance. If he failed this time, the next attempt would be even harder because of the psychological shadow that would remain.

  Ancient Cloud can now only control the speed of inhaling white fog to slow down, in order to alleviate that suffering, but the longer the time, the more suffering he has to endure. Ancient Cloud's body is shaking with increasing intensity, his face is extremely distorted, his five senses are all gathered together, and blood threads have started flowing out from his seven orifices. The most serious thing is his primordial spirit, which is now facing the edge of collapse, some places have become illusory.

  Fortunately, Gu Yun still had an ace up his sleeve that he hadn't used yet. His Rejuvenating True Qi not only repaired his physical body but also had a certain effect on the damage to his primordial spirit. Although Gu Yun's current realm couldn't heal severe injuries, it could at least make things slightly better and alleviate some of his suffering. A large amount of Rejuvenating True Qi surged into Gu Yun's spiritual sea, enveloping his primordial spirit that was on the verge of collapse, and his pain immediately eased a lot. His facial expression finally relaxed a bit. So far, he had successfully cultivated half of his primordial spirit meridians, and it would be successful in just a little more time. Of course, what he was currently cultivating was only the simplest connection between his limbs, and as for other branches, he didn't have the ability or time to cultivate them now.

  Finally, after a whole two hours had passed, Gu Yun's face completely relaxed, his eyes opened wide, and he let out a long sigh of relief. He had successfully created the simplest meridian for his primordial spirit. From now on, he could cultivate his spiritual willpower just like he cultivated his spiritual energy. This made Gu Yun feel that the suffering he had endured earlier was worth it. The mantra from the Cultivating Spiritual Mantra circulated within the newly formed meridian of his primordial spirit. Two weeks later, a thread of golden primordial spiritual power finally appeared in his meridian, slowly growing as the Cultivating Spiritual Mantra circulated. A hint of a smile appeared on Gu Yun's lips; his future path to cultivation would become much smoother.

  The Heaven and Earth Furnace Scripture automatically rotated within his Yuan Shen, Gu Yun began another round of cultivation. He practiced alchemy, array techniques, the Dragon Transformation Scripture, and even the jade slip that his master had left him as a last resort. Just thinking about it made Gu Yun's head ache, but after the lovely faces of the two women flashed before his eyes, he was once again filled with determination and threw himself into the fray. This struggle lasted for an entire year, during which time Gu Yun finally emerged from that warm jade bed, stretching his long, lazy waist. Although his days were extremely arduous during this period, he had ultimately achieved the goal set by his master, increasing his strength by at least double. Supporting half a pillar of incense in his master's hands should no longer be a problem for him.

  Opening the door of the practice room, Gu Yun walked out with a smile on his face. It had been a year since he last saw them, and he was already deeply missing the two women. At this moment, his master was lying on a recliner, leisurely eating a green fruit in his hand. The two women were standing behind him, massaging his shoulders, while two small dolls shaped like babies were hitting his legs with their four small fists.

  Seeing Gu Yun come out, the bandit's eyes slanted towards him and said: "Youngster, not bad, you came out so quickly, all the targets I gave you have been completed".

  Gu Yun nodded and walked over to him. As soon as the two women saw Gu Yun come out, they revealed happy smiles on their faces. It had been more than a month since they last saw each other, and they missed Gu Yun dearly. Although Gu Yun had spent a year in the training room, it was only a month outside. The two women immediately ran from Zei Fengzi's back to Gu Yun's front, asking about his well-being. Gu Yun happily chatted with the two women, causing Zei Fengzi to shake his head.