Chapter Fifty-two: Xian Du City

  Having saved Qingquan Village, Meng Xuan felt a sense of accomplishment and his mood was naturally good as he set out on the road once again.

  Of course, what's more important is that he got the treasure basin. This pedantic scholar who was confused and killed by others in his previous life, and now became a zombie again, is a must-be-killed zombie in the eyes of the orthodox cultivators, but an invaluable treasure corpse in the eyes of the Corpse Refining Sect. However, in Meng Xuan's eyes, he is a patient to be saved, as well as a treasure basin that can continuously absorb aura.

  The concept of cultivation has many interpretations on the Tianyuan Continent, each with its own logic and can be explained.

  But there is a saying that Meng Xuan agrees with the most, which is: Cultivation cultivates the mind, and practice practices the breath!

  That is to say, heart and air are the two major foundations of Qigong practice.

  There are geniuses in the world who cultivate and are admired by people, but few people think about why they are geniuses.

  Whether someone is a genius or not is often judged from these two points.

  Whether the body is close to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

  People with good physical quality absorb the energy of heaven and earth, supplement their own energy, are born close to spiritual energy, and cultivate naturally much faster than ordinary people.

  The Fox Spirit Qingmu is precisely this kind of physique.

  The second is to see if one's mind is firm and determined.

  A person with a firm mind, cutting off miscellaneous thoughts, going forward without hesitation, has few distracting thoughts that can disturb their mind, and naturally makes progress in their practice.

  However, except for extremely good or evil people, few can avoid being disturbed by external things.

  Even Confucius, a sage, wasn't able to achieve his heart's desire without overstepping the bounds until he was over seventy years old; how much more so for ordinary people?

  Taoist practitioners cut off worldly desires, avoid the world and cultivate themselves. Confucian scholars read the books of sages, practice the principles of saints, cultivate their vital energy, while Buddhists shave their heads, guard the lamp in solitude, all for the sake of this inner peace, undisturbed by external things.

  Normally speaking, Meng Xuan doesn't have either of these two qualities.

  As for his physique, although he was somewhat better than ordinary people, compared to those freaks, he was far inferior, a difference of heaven and earth.

  As for his heart and spirit, he is neither a very good person nor a very bad one. There are many things that can affect his heart and spirit.

  But he has the Great Sickness Immortal Formula.

  The First Seal, a sickly seal, allowed him to absorb the aura of illness and cultivate it, not much different from those freaks born close to spiritual energy.

  The second seal, the Seal of Great Sorrow, can cleanse and refine his heart and spirit, making his heart and spirit firm and unshaken by emotions.

  In this way, his innate conditions are now no different from those of a genius.

  Especially with Bao Pan, a changing fetus by his side, he constantly absorbs the demonic energy from heaven and earth into his body, but it all benefits Meng Xuan. This demonic energy is equivalent to the spiritual energy prepared for Meng Xuan. It can be said that with Bao Pan by his side, no matter where Meng Xuan goes, it's like being in a blessed land. His cultivation will rapidly increase, even faster than Qing Mu.

  It was indeed the case that Meng Xuan drew out the demonic energy from the treasure basin every three days, and after accumulating it three times, he could refine a pellet of dan.

  At night, he found an inn in a small town and after resting, Meng Xuan refined the three evil energies.

  During this time, there was some trouble, after all, it was his first time refining such a strong demonic energy. In the end, he still managed to refine it into a single black pill that rotated with a smooth motion, emitting a fragrant aura and radiant light. If an outsider were to see it, they would probably think that it was refined using some kind of precious medicine. Of course, if an outsider were to ingest this pill, their vitality would immediately be extinguished, and they would die a miserable death on the spot.

  Refine the elixir of medicine with the energy of illness, and rectify the vital energy with the elixir of medicine. The wonderful secret to transcending the ordinary and seizing control of creation lies precisely here.

  The Hidden Immortal Art was activated, and a dragon-shaped vital energy appeared, swallowing the diseased dan in one gulp.

  In an instant, the rolling essence of Qi circulated through Meng Xuan's four limbs and hundred bones, making a round trip before returning to Meng Xuan's one mouth of true Qi.

  "Hmm..."

  Meng Xuan opened his mouth and a stream of air shot out.

  About forty or fifty feet away, on a wooden table, an oil lamp was placed, and the flame was blown out instantly by this breath.

  His breath didn't stop, and he went straight to the wall ten feet away, hitting it with a "thud", as if it were solid.

  Meng Xuan's face revealed a hint of a smile, extremely satisfied.

  This breath is just his casual spitting, if he condenses the air and spits it out, within four or five zhangs, its power can be compared to a knife.

  "Breath like a sword, true energy ninefold..."

  One pellet of Four Equals Dan, and in ten days' time, he had broken through the nine levels of True Qi that ordinary people would spend their entire lives trying to attain. How could he not be satisfied?

  "What's left is just the true energy being full and complete, trampling on the true spirit..."

  Meng Xuan let out a soft sigh, he knew in his heart that even though he had passed the ninth level of True Qi, it was only just crossing a threshold.

  The old man had once told him that true energy was only one path from one to nine, and as long as he didn't get old and die, he would eventually reach it.

  It is only from the ninth level of true energy to the tenth level of true energy that one can truly cultivate.

  The tenth layer of true energy is the threshold for entering the True Spirit Realm.

  Ninety-nine percent of the world's geniuses are blocked outside this doorway.

  Taking Leng Daoshi as an example, he cultivated true energy nine times at the age of 21, but now at the age of 83, he is still only at nine times.

  Shuǐ Yuè Niáng Niáng is a true energy of ninefold, Liú Dà Jiàng Jūn is a true energy of ninefold, Chéng Dēng Dà Shī is also a true energy of ninefold.

  Even Aoki is also true energy ninefold.

  The three elders of Lian Shi Sect were also at the ninth level of True Qi.

  Now Meng Xuan is just standing at the starting line with them.

  "Now that I've reached the ninth level, it's about time I properly trained with my sword... barely living up to the reputation of Cold Master..."

  Meng Xuan smiled wryly and made a silent decision in his heart.

  Leng Daishi passed on to him a sword technique, but he had only been practicing for a short time and hadn't yet grasped the essence.

  At first, when fighting against the three elders of the Corpse Refining Sect, if he had half of Cold Master's swordsmanship, he wouldn't have needed to use the power of faith from the Reversal Sword. He could have directly killed the three elders with his eightfold cultivation.

  When the true energy reaches nine layers, in the True Spirit Realm, no one can rely on cultivation to suppress Meng Xuan's head. Between each other, it is a matter of skill, whoever wins depends on their personal understanding and mastery of martial arts and techniques. To talk about how powerful these two are, just look at the difference between Qing Mu and Leng Daoshi - one man and one fox, although both have true energy nine layers, but Leng Daoshi's one sword can come and ten Qing Mus cannot withstand it.

  Afterwards, on his way to Donghai, Meng Xuan went all the way, practicing swordsmanship along the way, and his thoughts of pursuing fame and wealth had decreased.

  Because he was very clear that the true energy of nine to ten layers is not something that can be achieved by simply accumulating true energy.

  The reality was not far from his expectations. In the second ten-day period, he refined a second four-grade elixir using the demonic energy extracted from Bao Pan's body. After taking it, although he felt that his true energy had become more vast and stronger, there was still no significant progress. His true energy remained at nine levels, and it was already very difficult to make further breakthroughs at this height, as if he had reached the limit.

  Just like a person climbing a mountain, when at the waist of the mountain, everyone has to find ways to make themselves stronger in order to climb higher. However, after reaching the top of the mountain, although it is clear that going up one more level would allow them to break through the sky, even if they become stronger again, they still cannot break through the sky until they find a ladder to heaven. Of course, for those standing at the top of the mountain, becoming stronger by a little bit doesn't hurt either.

  Before finding the ladder to success, one may be kicked down the mountain by others who are already at the top.

  "Whatever, let's just practice swordsmanship..."

  A gourd of wine, a broken sword, a foolish scholar, and an uncertain future, he just went straight to the East China Sea.

  This road, walked for three months, barely saw the magnificent scenery on the East China Sea.

  The East Sea is finally in front of us now.

  This Eastern Sea is not the same as the Eastern Sea of the previous life. This place is vast and majestic, with islands and mountains rising up, and immortals coming and going, like a fairyland. Although it's said to be an island, the islands here often have territories of tens of thousands of miles, some larger ones even have hundreds of thousands or even millions of miles, far surpassing some small countries. And such islands, in the sacred place of the Eastern Sea, number in the hundreds and thousands.

  Among the islands, the seven major immortal sects stood shoulder to shoulder, and hundreds of small immortal sects were scattered across the islands, forming the famous Donghai Sacred Land in the Tianyuan Continent.

  Meng Xuan's destination this time was one of the seven major immortal sects, the Tianchi Immortal Sect.

  Chengdeng and Shang introduced him to a master, who was said to be a big shot in the Tianchi Xianmen.

  Although it has not been decided whether or not to join the Tianchi Xianmen, Meng Xuan has come, and naturally he also wants to visit first.

  To enter the sacred place of Donghai, one must first enter Xian Du City. The city's name means "Capital of Immortals", and it is a place where immortals and mortals coexist in Donghai.

  This city is a must-pass route through the East Sea Immortal Gate, and it is also a place for those who come to the East Sea Immortal Gate to pay homage.

  The prices in the city are astonishing, an ordinary inn costs one thousand two silver coins for a night's stay, and that doesn't even include dinner.

  If a poor scholar came, he might not even have a place to stay, let alone go to the immortal's gate to pay his respects.

  However, Meng Xuan was fine. After the destruction of Hei Mu Shan, he got 20% of the treasure, and there were countless spiritual pills and precious medicines. Gold and silver were counted in heaps, and now they are all piled up in his Dongtian Tiehuan, even he himself doesn't know how much there is, anyway, it's enough for him to live in Xian Du Cheng for a few years.

  After staying overnight, Meng Xuan went downstairs and asked his companions about the location of Tianchi Xianmen.

  "Heavenly Pool Fairy Gate?"

  The fellow originally seemed to be heading towards the Immortal Gate, and thought he was one of the countless cultivators who wanted to join the Immortal Gate. He felt a bit impatient, but after hearing the name Tianchi Immortal Gate, he suddenly smiled strangely, shook his head, and walked away.

  "Hmm..."

  His reaction left Meng Xuan somewhat perplexed, so he had no choice but to ask others again.

  "Heavenly Pool Fairy Gate?"

  A passerby heard Meng Xuan's name and burst out laughing, shaking his head as he walked away.

  "What...what's going on here?"

  After asking many people, upon hearing the name "Tianchi Xianmen", they all smiled strangely and turned to leave.

  Meng Xuan was confused: "What's wrong with these people in Xiandu City?"

  Thank you for God Horse Eggplant's big reward...