Chapter 304: Enlightenment (Supplementary Update 7)
Chapter 304: Enlightenment (Supplementary Update 7)
Green Bamboo Forest.
Inside the immortal's cave.
Fang Xi put away the Mountain Sea Pearl. Feeling the abundant spiritual energy around him, he couldn't help but muse, "What a pity. . . The spiritual energy within the Mountain Sea Pearl is ultimately a bit inferior in quality, far from enough for my cultivation. . ."
But then he suddenly chuckled, "I suppose this counts as coveting what's beyond my grasp, doesn't it? A mobile immortal's cave, a void-type treasure. . . I'd never even heard of such treasures before."
Thinking of his gains this past month, a slight curve appeared at the corner of Fang Xi's mouth.
In the Saint Son's study, he also found several ancient texts on the art of corpse refining. After comparing them with the Situ family's inheritance and delving into their mysteries, he felt greatly enlightened.
This time, in refining the 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse', although he encountered a few difficult hurdles, after a few days of contemplation, he suddenly achieved enlightenment and successfully integrated the 'Nine Dragons Pearl' with the ox-horned demonic cultivator.
With a thought, he took out a refined corpse from his spirit beast bag.
Compared to before, aside from an added trace of corpse qi, the biggest change was the numerous flame-like patterns now covering its body, while faint strands of dark red light patterns flickered indistinctly on its ox horns.
"Although the 'Nine Dragons Pearl' possesses a bloodline spiritual restriction, zombies have no qi sea or Dantian, so it holds no fear for them. . . Furthermore, this pearl has completely dissolved and merged into this body, enhancing its physical strength. . ."
"Now, this 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse' is mostly complete. All that remains is to embed the restrictive spell formulas and take it to places with Yin veins and malevolent qi nodes to absorb the earth's Yin qi. . ."
Fang Xi muttered to himself. Just as he was about to put away the 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse', he suddenly smacked his forehead: "Spirit beast bags are best not used for refined corpses. . . their attributes don't match. While it might be fine for a short while, over the long term, the losses would outweigh the gains. . ."
He went to the storage room and rummaged through it, finding a pitch-black bag.
This was spoils Fang Xi had acquired from some unknown demonic sect disciple. It was a 'Yin Corpse Bag' specifically designed to hold refined corpses. It was said that zombies and refined corpses, if stored in such a bag, could slowly increase their power. . . Of course, this usually only applied to first or second-order refined corpses.
For a formidable third-order refined corpse like the 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse', even if it stayed for a hundred years, the increase in power wouldn't be very significant, but at the very least, it would guarantee no degradation. . .
After completing these tasks, Fang Xi entered his cultivation chamber and immersed himself in cultivation once more.
Any magical artifact or refined corpse was merely an external possession.
He would never overly rely on them; the most crucial thing was always his own cultivation!
...
Half a month later.
A pitch-black sharp claw hovered in mid-air, ancient patterns on its surface constantly flickering with light.
Fang Xi exhaled a wisp of pill fire, which coiled around the 'Poison Dragon Claw' artifact, constantly refining it.
Time passed, its duration unknown.
The artifact emitted a clear hum throughout its form, and astonishingly connected with Fang Xi's spiritual sense, beginning to transform into a streak of black light, dancing within the secret chamber, even manifesting various spiritual changes.
"Not bad, not bad. . . This artifact is brimming with power; it's sufficient for my use during the mid to late stages of Core Formation."
Fang Xi swiped his storage ring, storing the Poison Dragon Claw within it. He had no intention of nurturing it with his own true essence.
Now, when cultivating, he naturally prioritized advancing his magical power first, while most of his remaining Golden Core true essence was used to nurture the 'Life and Death Seal'. Even the 'Green Reaping Sword' was gradually abandoned.
As for that peak third-order 'Ten Thousand Souls Banner', Fang Xi found that his own magical power was still somewhat insufficient to control it.
Even if he forced himself to wield it, there was a risk of being devoured by the Core Formation-level ghost kings within it, so he temporarily set it aside, intending to revisit it once he reached the late stage of Core Formation.
The 'Star-Patterned Chessboard' was even less viable; he couldn't refine it at all right now.
"What a pity. . . Although there were some pills in the Mountain Sea Pearl, I don't recognize most of them. . ."
"As for the rest, I don't know if any demonic entities were secretly planted. . . To be safe, like the other demonic materials and artifacts, I'll dispose of them all, convert them into spirit herbs, and then refine them into spirit pills myself. . ."
"However, there are quite a few spirit herbs in the Mountain Sea Pearl's spirit herb garden. Once they mature, they can be quite anticipated. . ."
Fang Xi pondered for a moment. A grayish-white jade slip appeared in his hand, and he began to study the refining method for the 'External Avatar' once more.
After all, this method was somewhat incomplete, having been haphazardly pieced together by him.
Though it had seemed complete before, while refining the 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse', Fang Xi gradually discovered some minor issues.
After half a day of contemplation, he took out a 'Blood Dragon Fruit' and bit directly into it.
Crisp, sweet. . .
A fragrant aroma spread from his mouth, making his body shiver, as he felt waves of gentle power surge from his limbs and bones. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Truly a top-tier body cultivation resource. . . This fruit isn't suitable for making pills, only for eating raw. . . The taste is quite good, and it's filling, much better than fasting pills. . ."
After he obtained this fruit, he naturally consumed one occasionally, slowly strengthening his physique.
After a short rest, he took out a box covered with numerous talismans.
Upon opening it, a nine-eyed Bodhi seed, emitting a verdant green light, appeared.
A refreshing fragrance wafted out, invigorating his mind. Fang Xi immediately felt his divine consciousness become much sharper, as if his entire being had awakened.
"The Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed, the most top-tier treasure for enlightenment. . . I still have some difficulties regarding the refining of the 'External Avatar'. This is the perfect opportunity to rely on this item and try. . ."
Fang Xi held the Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed in his palm and pressed his hands together.
Suddenly, a faint heavenly melody resounded in his ears. Under this sound, his thoughts began to churn rapidly, and brilliant ideas surfaced one after another in his sea of consciousness.
Regarding his usual array formations, talismans. . . numerous new insights suddenly appeared, making him eager to continue his research, and even confident he could break through his current bottleneck!
Not only that, even the art of artifact refining, which he knew nothing about, felt much easier.
Some of the difficulties he encountered in cultivating the 'Withered Glory Chant' seemed to have answers automatically appear in his mind. . .
"So this is what it feels like to be an 'academic genius'? "
"No, I can't let my thoughts scatter. I must focus on the 'External Avatar'!"
Fang Xi took out the jade slip detailing the 'External Avatar' and began to comprehend it.
The next moment, more detailed insights emerged: "So there are so many considerations when splitting one's divine soul. . . This step in the refining method of the 'Six Desires Heaven Mixing Demon' should be able to be replaced by a certain technique from the corpse refining inheritance. . ."
"The required demonic materials. . . Most of them can be gathered from the storage bags of those demonic sect disciples. . . And I seem to have thought of substitutes for the rest."
"Merging the split soul with the demonic corpse to refine an External Avatar. . . There are still enormous risks. . . If the avatar leaves the main body for too long, it could completely develop its own consciousness and then begin to rebel. . . This is a hurdle that cannot be overcome no matter what. . . But I don't need to overcome it; I can ensure the avatar absolutely cannot leave the main body for too long."
...
A moment later, Fang Xi finally snapped out of his 'enlightenment' state and gazed at the Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed in his hand.
"Hmm?"
The next moment, he noticed that the luster of the Bodhi seed seemed to have dimmed somewhat, and a hint of surprise immediately appeared on his face.
After resealing the Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed, he had an epiphany: "This Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed has a limited number of uses. . ."
"From now on, each use must be used precisely when it counts. . ."
"But I have to say, that feeling just now, where no problem could stump me, was truly amazing. . ."
Fang Xi immediately took out a brand new jade slip and recorded the now complete External Avatar secret art, perfected after his enlightenment.
"This External Avatar should be a bit weaker than a true demonic sect's secret art. . ."
"After all, it's merely patched together, and mainly repaired using my own corpse refining inheritance. . ."
"But good enough is good enough. . ."
"In this land of three countries, I've never heard of any family possessing the secret art of an External Avatar!"
Even the corpse refining inheritance obtained by Situ Jiu only allowed the divine soul to possess a refined corpse for a short period, after which the divine soul had to return.
It could only be considered a clever 'possession art', and not the great divine ability of an External Avatar.
"Next. . . it's time to refine the Saint Son's corpse into an External Avatar."
...
Another month passed.
On this day.
The tightly shut gates of the immortal's cave in Green Bamboo Forest finally opened.
Fang Xi's figure emerged, and seeing the light outside, he seemed a bit unaccustomed to it, squinting slightly.
He raised his hand and caught a communication talisman.
A clear voice emanated from within it.
Fang Xi nodded, took out another communication talisman, spoke a few words into it, and injected his magical power.
With a flash of light, the communication talisman vanished.
Not long after, a brilliant yellow escape light descended, revealing a spirited female Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Uncle-Master Cao. . . you've finally emerged from seclusion?"
When Zheng Shan saw Fang Xi, her face was filled with pleasant surprise.
"Since you've already achieved Foundation Establishment, from now on, you can simply call me 'Senior Brother Cao'. . ."
Fang Xi grinned, but his smile was a little stiff.
For some reason, Zheng Shan, after exchanging a few words with this 'Senior Brother Cao' and looking at his eerily white teeth, felt a sudden chill in her heart.
Originally, she had wanted to share the joy of her Foundation Establishment with this close Foundation Establishment cultivator, but now, she didn't even enter the immortal's cave and hastily bade farewell, departing quickly.
Fang Xi watched this scene with a glint in his eyes.
After a long while, he suddenly let out another laugh and returned to the immortal's cave.
On a meditation cushion, another Fang Xi was seated.
He looked at the 'Cao Chong Yun' who walked in and smiled: "Although I've successfully refined the External Avatar. . . it's still a bit unresponsive. Indeed, it also needs to absorb some Yin vein qi and complete the last few steps before it can be perfectly controlled. . ."
'Cao Chong Yun' was expressionless, then suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a 'Blurring Pearl'.
The next moment, his figure flickered and changed, transforming into a refined corpse with grayish-black features.
It was none other than the previous Saint Son's appearance!
However, compared to before, the face seemed to have regained its youth, appearing quite handsome.
This was naturally Fang Xi's doing during the refining process, having slightly altered its skin to restore its youthful appearance.
Of course, this kind of modification was just like the effect of pills like 'Solidifying Face Pills', merely maintaining the outer appearance, with no changes whatsoever inside.
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