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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 3: [Qiu Prefecture Lantern Festival]
Chapter 27 (171): [Three Steps of the Physical Body]
(27th of Volume 3)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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Juze City lies south of the Bing Juze, while Qiu Prefecture City lies north of it.
The official road along the edge of the lake requires a detour of two thousand miles to reach the other side.
Of course, one could take a boat across the Bing Juze.
However, strange and inexplicable phenomena occur deep within the lake, and countless ships disappear each year.
Among the missing Martial-Mystic Cultivators are some with high cultivation levels.
The battleground for the young Martial-Mystic Cultivators was only two to three hundred miles from the shore, not truly deep within the Bing Juze.
Snow had been falling continuously for five days.
The carriage sped along the official road, its wheels leaving deep ruts in the snow-covered, muddy path.
The ride was incredibly bumpy.
In the final hundred miles to Qiu Prefecture City, the road widened and was paved with massive stones, lined with thousand-year-old pines and cypresses. Inside the carriage, the ride finally became smoother.
Li Weiyi sat alone inside, golden light flickering in his eyes. He clenched his fist, and a crackling sound echoed from within his body as his pores erupted with golden light.
"My entire skeletal structure has been gilded with gold. I've finally achieved minor Golden Bone cultivation. With just my physical strength, my combat power now rivals that of an ordinary Martial-Mystic Cultivator at the Fifth Stage of the Five Seas Realm."
Li Weiyi felt as though his entire body had been reforged. He was brimming with power, as if he could now smash through city walls with his bare body.
The Fishing Boat had sailed for half a month, and the journey on foot had taken five days.
In just twenty days, Li Weiyi was confident that if he encountered Nine Springs Supreme Huo Qiankun, a Fourth Stage cultivator of the Five Seas Realm, again, he could defeat him within ten moves, even without wearing his Official's Robe.
After all, he now possessed not only physical strength but also a full reservoir of spiritual power.
As for Yuwen Chao, a Fifth Stage cultivator of the Five Seas Realm, Li Weiyi was confident he could handle him within twenty moves.
And that was just his own combat strength, not including trump cards like the Evil Camel Bell, the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish, and the Official's Robe.
At this level of cultivation, High-Grade Spiritual Artifacts were no longer considered trump cards; almost everyone possessed them.
A soul thought from Zen Hai Guanwu echoed from within the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish.
"Whoosh!"
Li Weiyi pulled her out of the Blood Mud Space.
Li Ling appeared in the carriage.
Zen Hai Guanwu's true form could only exist independently in the Yang Realm's heavens and earth at night; for now, she still needed to reside within Li Ling's body.
Li Weiyi smiled: "Your seclusion is over? You've emerged now, so your soul must have recovered to a critical point, right?"
"Shaoyang Star is not a simple place. For those of us who participated in the war back then, it's a sacred ground for healing and recuperation."
She sat across from Li Weiyi and lifted the carriage curtain: "How far are we from Qiu Prefecture City?"
"We'll arrive this afternoon," Li Weiyi replied.
Zen Hai Guanwu nodded lightly, re-covering the carriage window that was letting in a constant stream of cold wind.
"You're right. My soul has recovered significantly in the past two months. Now, it's my newly forged physical body that has become the bottleneck. Have you achieved minor Golden Bone mastery?"
Li Weiyi nodded, then asked in surprise, "Your bone is the Bone of an emperor. How can your physical body be the weak point? Isn't physical strength your greatest strength?"
Zen Hai Guanwu replied, "Our situations are quite similar now. Our bones are strong, but our flesh, muscles, and skin are weak. In my case, it's even more extreme. When I throw a punch, my bones might not feel a thing, but the flesh of my entire arm could shatter. If someone strikes me with a palm strike, my bones might withstand the blow, but my internal organs could be crushed by the shockwave."
"To further enhance your physical body, you must nourish your blood with Blood Crystals and forge your flesh with Immortal Soil."
"When your Blood Qi flows like a dragon's roar and your internal organs and muscles radiate Immortal Haze, you will have achieved minor flesh mastery. At that point, your physical combat prowess will naturally reach a new level."
Li Weiyi asked, "Could reaching that level allow me to contend with a Seventh Sea Martial-Mystic Cultivator? A Mortal Seventh Sea Martial-Mystic Cultivator!"
He knew that even among the Nine Springs Supremes who had cultivated to the Seventh Sea, their combat strength varied greatly.
The Mortal Seventh Sea and the Seventh Sea of the Hundred Veins Full Silver Pure Immortal Physique can differ by several tiers in combat strength.
Zen Hai Guanwu explained, "The first step is to achieve minor success in Golden Bone. The second step is minor success in Flesh and Blood. The third step is to refine the tendons and sculpt the skin. Once all three steps are complete, one can be called a Dao Body, whose physical body can rival a Dao Seed Realm Martial-Mystic Cultivator."
"You've been cultivating on Shaoyang Star for a long time, absorbing its Blood Mist. Your Blood Qi is already quite powerful, so you should achieve minor success soon."
"Immortal Soil is used to refine Immortality Pills and forge a Immortal Body. If you can use Immortal Soil to sculpt your internal organs and muscles, your Dao Body will naturally be stronger than ordinary ones. Therefore, I can't give you a precise power level. How strong you become will depend on your own cultivation."
Li Weiyi finally had a clear path forward in his physical cultivation.
He asked, "The first step requires a Golden Spring, and the second step requires Immortal Soil. What rare resources are needed to cultivate the tendons and skin to minor success in the third step?"
Zen Hai Guanwu replied, "That's why I left Shaoyang Star! Tendons and skin belong to the wood element, and only by obtaining Divine Cauldron Wood can you refine them quickly. The Divine Cauldron Earth Abyss, eight hundred miles from Qiu Prefecture City, is like a celestial furnace, constantly erupting with magma. Only there can you find Divine Cauldron Wood."
"Are we going to the Divine Cauldron Earth Abyss now?"
Li Weiyi silently calculated the time.
There were still over twenty days until the Lunar New Year.
The Lantern Festival was still over a month away - plenty of time.
Zen Hai Guanwu shook her head: "With your cultivation, you wouldn't be able to get in. I'll go. I'll try to return before the New Year... so we can celebrate together."
As she said the last sentence, a strained smile appeared on her face.
Li Weiyi leaned back against the carriage wall, a smile playing on his lips: "Actually, you don't need to force yourself. We're not even like lovers. Though we're close, it feels like we're separated by a thousand miles. Our hearts remain as still as water, devoid of any desire for intimacy."
Zen Sea Mistwatcher didn't deny it, but she asked, "What about Jiang Ning?"
Li Weiyi's smile faded as he fell into thought: "She's beautiful. No man wouldn't want to be intimate with her. To be honest, during those two weeks alone on the Fishing Boat, I felt a sense of unprecedented ease and joy. Even just sitting on the bow, silent, as the evening breeze caressed us, there was a serene, peaceful beauty... I wished it could last forever."
"Ah, youth!" Zen Hai Guanwu sighed.
"Don't misunderstand! My feelings for Jiang Ning are no more than appreciation, like my appreciation for all the beautiful things in the world," Li Weiyi clarified.
"Really? Zen Hai Guanwu's beauty is unmatched by anyone else. It's just that her cultivation is so high that people only see her as the Emperor and dare not discuss her figure or appearance. You can't forever remember her as the white bones in the tomb."
Zen Sea Mistwatcher's voice was sweet, radiating a confident and relaxed composure.
Li Weiyi gazed at her for a moment, then waved his hand and chuckled: "As long as you're still inhabiting Li Ling's body, I'll find it hard to separate you from her."
Zen Hai Guanwu's smile faded as she nodded seriously: "Give me some time. For now, let's be Daoist companions, supporting each other on our cultivation journey! How much qi have you accumulated in your Second Qi Sea?"
"After taking the Qi Ascension Pill, my qi accumulation speed has increased dramatically. I've reached full cultivation and just need to nourish my lung lobes for a while before I can attempt the Third Realm," Li Weiyi replied.
"Using Immortal Soil to reshape your internal organs and muscles will significantly shorten the time needed to nourish your lung lobes."
Zen Hai Guanwu took out a pill bottle and handed it to him: "This is the last batch. I've used up all the medicinal ingredients, so all the Qi Ascension Pills are here. I'll make more for you when I return from the Divine Cauldron Earth Abyss. Oh, and I took ten pounds of the Immortal Soil you left in the Blood Mud Space."
She needed to cultivate her physical body as well.
Silence fell over the carriage.
The two of them seemed to have nothing to talk about besides cultivation.
In comparison, Li Ling was easier to bicker with.
As they approached Qiu Prefecture City, Li Weiyi dismounted and waved goodbye.
The carriage turned north.
After the heavy snowfall, the sky cleared, leaving a pristine azure expanse.
Qiu Prefecture City was the largest city in the Southern Territory and its foremost cultivation sanctuary. The spiritual Qi here was denser than anywhere else, and it boasted multiple Heaven-Law Earth Springs.
Jiang Ning had forbidden him from coming, but he had insisted.
If all the young Martial-Mystic Cultivators from across the land could come, why couldn't he?
The Zuoqiu Sect clearly took the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival extremely seriously, enforcing strict regulations. Everyone entering the city gates had to prove their identity.
Li Weiyi produced his Commoners' Register, allowing him to pass through with ease.
However, he was informed that young Martial-Mystic Cultivators from the Southern Territory were only permitted to reside in the South City.
They could visit the North, East, and West Cities during the day, but had to return to the South City by nightfall.
When he inquired about the reason, the guard simply replied that it was a rule from above.
Li Weiyi didn't mind.
After entering the city, he paid for a carriage to the Immortal Grove.
He was going to the Immortal Grove to find Yin Shi.
No matter how you looked at it, he was still a newcomer to the Jiu Li Hidden Sect, having joined less than a year ago. He was unfamiliar with many things.
Qiu Prefecture City was vast, almost boundless.
Searching for the hidden sect's special markings one by one would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Yin Shi would be easy to find!
If she came to Qiu Prefecture City, she was sure to stay in the Immortal Grove.
Li Weiyi was delighted at the thought of soon seeing Yaoyin, Yin Ershi Si, and the others.
Sitting in his carriage, he lifted the curtain and gazed at this bustling megacity, one of the few of its kind in the entire Lingxiao Realm.
The Lantern Festival was still over a month away, but young talents from the twenty-eight prefectures had already begun to converge.
Accompanying them were older, more experienced cultivators.
For these young men, it wasn't just about power and influence.
Many valued fame even more!
Who wouldn't want to become renowned throughout the world in their youth?
With fame, one would be admired and respected wherever they went, idolized by young men and women, valued, favored, and revered.
The Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, a grand spectacle specifically prepared for the world's young talents, offered the perfect opportunity to achieve instant fame.
Moreover, the rewards included the world's most precious treasures.
Such an opportunity was enough to drive countless passionate youths to fight with their lives on the line.
Of course, there were also many young men who knew their limits and had come simply to join the festivities and catch a glimpse of the renowned young prodigies.
As for the older generation of powerhouses who had come from all corners of the world, their motives were far more complex.
Of course, they had their own circles and rarely appeared in public, even wanting to keep their arrival secret from the Zuoqiu Sect.
After traveling for over an hour, the carriage passed through the inner city gate and entered a Dao Domain where spiritual Qi was as thick as clouds.
Finally, it came to a stop.
At the very center of Qiu Prefecture City stood the Zuoqiu Sect's Ancestral Realm Taoli (Peach and Plum) Mountain, the largest Dao Domain in the city and home to the Southern Territory's largest Heaven-Law Earth Spring.
This Heaven-Law Earth Spring was located above the clouds, as if a crack had opened in the sky, and the energy of the Law cascaded down like a waterfall.
From any point in the city, one could witness the spectacle of this celestial waterfall of light, enveloping Taoli (Peach and Plum) Mountain in an ethereal glow, making it resemble an Immortal Realm.
Taoli (Peach and Plum) Mountain served as the center, with the city expanding outward in an Eight Trigrams formation, divided into eight inner city districts.
This Eight Trigrams arrangement was said to have been laid out by the Daoist ancestor of the Zuoqiu Sect, with formation glyphs densely woven beneath the ground.
Each of the eight districts contained a smaller Dao Domain, and the Immortal Forest was built within one of these smaller Dao Domains.
Even a smaller Dao Domain spanned tens of thousands of acres.
When Li Weiyi dismounted and saw the scene before him, he was stunned.
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END OF CHAPTER
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