Wang Fanghua led Yang Jing to a private room upstairs, smiling radiantly.
"Our company has over a hundred Body Refining Techniques, but only five can be cultivated to the Golden Core Stage. Of those, only three can be considered Upper Grade."
Wang Fanghua introduced them one by one.
"The first is the Nine Thunder Body. It can be cultivated all the way to the Late Stage Golden Core. At its peak, the Ninth Transformation, activating it is like witnessing the Thunder God's descent, before which all Demon Fiends must flee. After reaching the Third Transformation, you can condense a layer of Thunder Armor over your body, giving you both offensive and defensive capabilities. The Qi Cultivation Stage manual costs 280 Spirit Stones. The Foundation Establishment Stage manual costs 8,500 Spirit Stones. As for the Golden Core Stage manual, you must complete a mission for the Taichang Trading Company just to earn the right to purchase it for an additional 50,000 Spirit Stones."
Yang Jing shook his head. 'The Nine Thunder Body is extremely difficult to begin, and its cultivation is incredibly dangerous. The slightest mistake while practicing would cause Thunder Force to detonate one's physical body. Back in the Nine Heavens World, it scammed plenty of players.'
Wang Fanghua didn't seem to mind and began introducing the second technique.
"This second one is the Great Ape Carrying Mountain Skill. It uses a Secret Technique to knead Earth Element Magical Power into all the Acupoints of the body, refining it into one thousand two hundred and ninety-six True Talismans. Upon mastering the technique, you will possess the Power of the Great Ape, able to chase the stars and grasp the moon above, and overturn the seas to capture dragons below."
Yang Jing's expression remained neutral. 'Even a real Great Ape doesn't possess such power, let alone a technique created to imitate its Divine Techniques. It takes about two years to condense a single True Talisman. Even if the speed increases with one's Cultivation, only someone with the lifespan of a Nascent Soul True Monarch could cultivate this white elephant of a technique to Perfection. Moreover, this technique clearly has extremely high requirements for an Earth Element Spirit Root. If it takes several years just to condense one True Talisman, he would never be able to master it.'
"The third technique is the True Yang Body. Through a Secret Technique, one's own Blood Qi is blended with the world's Yang Qi and condensed into True Yang. This True Yang is then used to temper the Acupoints for Body Refinement. Later, the True Yang can be transformed into Yang Fire. This Yang Fire has infinite uses; not only is it a Demon Refining True Fire, but you can also place yourself in a kiln and forge your body as if you were refining a pill."
Yang Jing was inwardly unimpressed. 'Transforming True Yang into Yang Fire is a method from the Foundation Establishment Stage of the True Yang Body, but the chapter on using Yang Fire to forge one's body has long been lost. What the Taichang Trading Company is selling is just a pale imitation, a far cry from the original's effectiveness. But this is still the best Body Refinement Technique he can get his hands on at this stage.'
The Chen Kingdom was a new Vassal State established by the Six Great Sects. Its territory originally belonged to Demons, so unlike other regions with tens of thousands of years of history, it didn't have a large number of ancient Cultivators' Cave Mansions waiting to be discovered.
The Qi Cultivation Stage manual for the True Yang Body cost a total of one thousand two hundred Spirit Stones. That price was enough to buy an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact and show off among Independent Cultivators.
The techniques sold by these great trading houses were all inscribed on Jade Scrolls. These scrolls were protected by a Restriction that prevented direct copying and only allowed them to be read thirty times before self-destructing. The techniques were complex, the method for measuring Acupoints was extremely intricate, and they came with various diagrams. Just managing to grasp the basics after thirty readings was already quite difficult. Some with poor comprehension might even have to buy three or four Jade Scrolls and spend several years studying before they dared to begin cultivating. Trying to replicate the technique from memory to sell for profit was practically impossible.
With all these restrictions, only Independent Cultivators who were truly dedicated to the Great Dao would spend their savings to purchase an Upper Grade technique.
Yang Jing left Taichang Tower. From the moment he had entered, he had used his Bright Qi Talent to monitor his surroundings. Only after confirming that no one had placed any tracking marks on him did he return to his Cave Mansion with peace of mind.
By this time, Iron Head had already finished refining two batches of elixirs for the day and had also cast the Spiritual Rain Technique on the Spirit Field.
Yang Jing took out the Jade Scroll.
"Iron Head, to completely purge the turbid, baleful qi from your body will take at least two to three years. During that time, it will be difficult for your Cultivation to advance. That's why I, your master, have found this True Yang Body for you. This is the Sect's Divine Skill from the ancient Nine Yang Sect. I will now perform the Empowerment for you."
Iron Head had already mastered the Jade Water Skill and the Mica Pill Book, and to a high degree. Very few Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage could match its level of proficiency.
Therefore, its understanding of cultivation techniques far surpassed that of an ordinary Independent Cultivator. After just a brief look at the True Yang Body, it knew this was an incredibly profound Body Refinement Technique, far superior to the Jade Water Skill.
[Affinity: 85]
[Consume Spirit Stones to have the Mingyi Dog (Iron Head) learn the technique True Yang Body?]
Yang Jing looked at the mere one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones left in his Storage Bag, hardened his heart, and spent them all in one go. The pile of Spirit Stones vanished quickly, exchanged for a rapid increase in Iron Head's proficiency.
[True Yang Body: Initiate (75%)]
As the Sect's Foundation Method of a major sect, the True Yang Body was profound and complex, even at the Qi Cultivation Stage. Back then, the Nine Yang Sect had a direct line of teaching from masters, and disciples could discuss and spar with their peers, yet even then, few were able to cultivate the Nine Yang Body.
Even though Yang Jing was prepared for this, he hadn't expected that just reaching the Initiate level would cost two hundred Spirit Stones, with each Spirit Stone only adding 0.5% to the proficiency.
Struggling to digest the knowledge poured into its brain, Iron Head felt dizzy and light-headed. It took two steps and nearly fainted.
Yang Jing wasn't disappointed. The more Spirit Stones it cost, the more it proved the power of the True Yang Body. 'If it only took ten Spirit Stones to master the basics, I'd have suspected I bought a fake.'
'It's just Spirit Stones. As long as I get the 'Iron Head Brand' alchemy machine up and running, I'll earn them back in no time.'
Iron Head's Blood Qi was already much stronger than a human's to begin with. Over the past few months, it hadn't lacked for Spirit Rice, Blood Circulation Pills, or Demon Beast Flesh. After starting its cultivation of the True Yang Body, this abundant Blood Qi finally had a use.
It only took a week for it to locate and open its first Acupoint—the Shenque Acupoint—using the Secret Technique from the True Yang Body.
The Shenque Acupoint is connected to the umbilical cord, which supplies nutrients to the fetus, hence its other name, "the stem." It is named "Shenque," or "Divine Palace Gate," because the fetus relies on this "palace" for the transport of nutrients that perfuse the entire body, allowing the embryo to develop in mysterious and unpredictable ways. Among all the body's Acupoints, it is the easiest to open.
Once the Shenque Acupoint was opened, Iron Head's maximum Blood Qi immediately increased by ten percent. As more Acupoints were continuously opened, its Blood Qi would become even more vigorous.
Up to this point, the True Yang Body was almost no different from how a Demon cultivates Demon Power. Most Demons cultivate their Demon Power by using their Blood Qi to open the Acupoints throughout their bodies. However, the True Yang Body fuses Blood Qi with the light and ethereal Yang Qi of the world, not with turbid, baleful qi.
This prevents practitioners of the True Yang Body from suffering the side effect of having their minds corrupted by the turbid, baleful qi and descending into madness.
A Cultivator's Magical Power, on the other hand, does not travel through Acupoints, nor is Spiritual Qi refined together with Blood Qi. Instead, a Cultivator directly absorbs nature's spiritual energy through their Spirit Root, combines it with their Divine Sense, and transforms it into Magical Power.
If it were merely a simple matter of refining Yang Qi, the True Yang Body would naturally not be considered a top-tier technique. There are several other Body Refining Techniques that also use Blood Qi to refine nature's spiritual energy and transform it into Gang Qi.
The most crucial step in the early stages of the True Yang Body is choosing the type of Yang Qi to refine. This choice will determine the cultivation speed of the Dharma Body and its future achievements.