DiploNovel #119 - I want to cultivate immortality!
#119 - I want to cultivate immortality!
Chapter 119: I Want to Cultivate Immortality!
“However, there's no need to thank me. Why bother with thanks between you and me? If you really want to thank me, you might as well set me free. I'd thank your ancestors for eight generations.” The fox spirit looked at Zhang Chen, her eyes filled with sincerity.
“Cough, cough ~”
Zhang Chen suddenly coughed rapidly, his eyes meeting the sincere gaze of the fox spirit Nannan, leaving him speechless.
However, Zhang Chen suddenly thought of something. Cheng Yu had already mastered inner force at the age of five. Wouldn't that mean her realm is very high? Could her mental state have even reached the state of 'sitting in oblivion'?
So, Zhang Chen told the fox spirit Nannan his thoughts. Upon hearing this, the fox spirit Nannan's pupils shrank: “Are you sure she's really only five years old?”
Zhang Chen nodded firmly, saying: “Only five years old.”
“That shouldn't be! Although a baby's heart is innocent, wanting to 'sit in oblivion' is impossible. If babies could so easily 'sit in oblivion,' wouldn't experts be everywhere since babies are born every moment? Moreover, mental states like 'sitting in oblivion' and 'forgetting form' can assist and speed up cultivation, but they also require one's own relentless practice day and night. Theory is one thing; turning theory into reality is another. Your little senior sister is not simple.”
The fox spirit Nannan's voice was filled with seriousness.
“Could it be some old monster seizing her body for reincarnation?” Zhang Chen asked tentatively.
The fox spirit Nannan hesitated slightly and shook her head: “An infant's body cannot bear the weight of a powerful soul seizing it. If it really started seizing the body from the womb, it wouldn't awaken so early. Those who reincarnate are no different from ordinary people before they awaken. Your senior sister has piqued my curiosity. I'll go with you tomorrow to take a look and see if I can figure out her background.”
Zhang Chen didn't object upon hearing this but instead instructed the fox spirit: “I'm hungry. Go find me something to eat.”
Zhang Chen hadn't dared to summon the fox spirit for the past month because he hadn't figured out the details of the Taoist temple. Summoning the fox spirit today meant his days of enduring hunger were over.
The fox spirit rolled her eyes upon hearing this but could only leave. Before long, the fox spirit returned, actually carrying a basin of large bones, appearing in the room.
Looking at the large bones brought by the fox spirit, Zhang Chen couldn't help but twitch his lips: “Did you steal something from the kitchen?”
The fox spirit returned so quickly, and with cut bones, he couldn't imagine where else she could find food so quickly besides taking it from the kitchen.
The fox spirit Nannan's face showed a hint of displeasure upon hearing this: “What do you mean by 'steal'? Your use of the word 'steal' is too harsh. We're clearly just seeing that they can't finish it, and the weather is so hot. Wouldn't it be a waste of food if it went bad? We're kindly helping them share the burden! It's fine if we don't ask them for compensation. If they knew, they would even thank us.”
The fox spirit spoke plausibly, her voice full of pride, without realizing her mistake.
There was a pot in Zhang Chen's room. The fox spirit directly started a fire to stew the meat. Looking at the busy fox spirit, Zhang Chen suddenly thought of a saying from his previous life:
“People always resent rats for stealing human food and sparrows for eating rice in the fields, but in their eyes, they just want to be full. In their minds, there is no such thing as stealing!”
Zhang Chen looked at the fox spirit, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes. Perhaps in her worldview, there is no concept of stealing either?
Just as he saw the fox spirit about to use the Yellow Court Scripture to start the fire, Zhang Chen quickly stepped forward and snatched the Yellow Court Scripture away: “This thing can't be burned!”
“It's just a tattered book with gibberish on it. You can't read it anyway, so you might as well burn it to cook meat.” The fox spirit Nannan said unhappily.
Holding the crumpled book, Zhang Chen suddenly thought of something and turned to look at the fox spirit: “Have you heard of the Yellow Heaven Tao's 'Yellow Court Scripture'?”
“I've heard of it.” The fox spirit Nannan said.
Before Zhang Chen could ask, the fox spirit Nannan was already starting a fire, narrating the origin of the Yellow Court Scripture while busy: “That Yellow Court Scripture is just a piece of nonsense meant to deceive people.”
“How so?”
Zhang Chen held the Yellow Court Scripture, looking at the girl's busy and graceful figure, and couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement again. He kept admonishing himself in his heart that this was his skill, not to have any thoughts, absolutely not to have any thoughts.
“The fox spirit's essence and my spirit are now combined as one. Daily skill is daily myself! Daily skill is daily myself!” Zhang Chen looked at the fox spirit's upturned buttocks, constantly trying to cool himself down.
“As you know, the secret methods for exploring the spiritual world now are actually excavated from extremely ancient tombs.” The fox spirit said.
Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this. He was very clear about this point. The Heavenly Square Earth Circle Diagram he cultivated was excavated from the True Dragon's tomb.
“In fact, the secret texts excavated from the tombs, after being deciphered, are divided into two parts.”
The fox spirit said: “Those old guys extracted the cultivation methods of the soul system from the classics. From entering meditation to the Yang Spirit, it's all done in one go. The remaining part involves mysterious elixirs and methods of refining Qi, saying it's about collecting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon. Advancing martial fire, retreating yin talisman, deceptive and confusing words to fool the masses and mislead the people.”
“The cultivation method of the soul is the true cultivation method. The Qi refining method is just confusing nonsense. The ancients hid it in those chaotic words for inheritance, saying things like refining Qi to swallow the essence of the sun and moon, completely to mislead outsiders. If someone stole the secret book and actually practiced it, they would definitely refine themselves to death.” The fox spirit said casually while starting the fire.
“Because the ancients deliberately mystified things, our descendants, after excavating the secret books, didn't understand the key points and practiced accordingly, not knowing how many heroes and outstanding figures refined themselves to death. Either their minds were scattered and they went mad, or they were directly burned to ashes, or they directly turned into ice shards, dissipating into the world. Later, after decades of continuous experimentation and deduction, someone finally discovered the key, abandoned the Qi refining method, and then made rapid progress, finally opening a true path of cultivation for all beings.” The fox spirit said.
However, upon hearing the fox spirit's words, Zhang Chen's pupils rapidly constricted, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief: What did he hear? There was actually such a thing as Qi refining and cultivating immortality?
“That secret method of soul cultivation is the true transmission, but that Qi refining method also seems a bit interesting, so they simply used it as a classic for preaching, to preach to the people and to fool them.” The fox spirit said with a smile: “The Yellow Court Scripture in your hand must be the Qi refining part, which is nonsense meant to deceive people. What's so precious about it? I'd even dislike it for not being flammable enough to start a fire.”
Watching the chattering fox spirit, Zhang Chen's heart pounded rapidly, but he quickly suppressed it. Then, forcing down the agitation in his heart, he asked seemingly casually, "Since this Qi refining incantation is together with the soul cultivation incantation, the ancients shouldn't have been so bored, right? Could it be that the cultivation method is wrong? Is it possible that no one in the world has ever succeeded in cultivating it? Could someone have succeeded and hidden away?"
Upon hearing this, the fox spirit stopped stirring the stew and turned to look at Zhang Chen: "Boy, now that you've come into contact with the mysterious realm of cultivation, you must never have such thoughts! Such thoughts are very dangerous!"
"Those twelfth-level grand cultivators have long been able to harness the essence of the sun and moon, cultivating all sorts of incredible abilities. After their cultivation is complete and they can't advance further, they naturally returned to study the Qi refining incantation. Take absorbing moonlight, for example. Your human race had a twelfth-level grand cultivator named Tao Qian who directly manipulated moonlight to enter his body, practicing according to the Qi refining incantation. But who knew that he would refine away one of his souls and two of his spirits, completely crippling himself?"
The fox spirit's voice was full of solemnity:
"Twelfth-level grand cultivators have long been able to harness the essence of the sun and moon, constantly verifying through various experiments. It has long been proven that these parts about Qi refining are nothing more than gibberish, completely deceptive. It's like the martial arts passed down by you humans, isn't it also mixed with a lot of things to fool outsiders in the true teachings? If you practice according to it, I'm afraid you'll die without a burial place."
"If you achieve something in cultivation in the future, you must never try to court death yourself. What if you refine yourself away and implicate me?" the fox spirit instructed with a voice full of anxiety.
She wasn't afraid that Zhang Chen would get injured from reckless practice; she was afraid that Zhang Chen would refine himself to death, and she would be implicated.
Zhang Chen looked at the fox spirit who was afraid of death and couldn't help but feel a little speechless. He picked up some firewood and added it to the stove, increasing the heat. Then, he looked at the book in his hand and suddenly remembered the Heavenly Book that the mysterious person had opened in the cave that day, and the two runes he had forcibly recorded.
"Could it really be a talisman?" A thought flashed through Zhang Chen's mind.
"Do you recognize the words in this book?" Zhang Chen asked the fox spirit.
"I only recognize demon script, how would I recognize your human script?" the fox spirit said unhappily. Speaking of this, the fox spirit turned to look at Zhang Chen: "Haven't I explained it to you clearly? Why are you still thinking about this scripture?"
Zhang Chen didn't speak upon hearing this, but lowered his head to look at the book in his hand. However, a thought arose in his heart: I want to cultivate immortality!
He felt that the path of the Qi Refiner was not false. Perhaps it was just lacking some condition, or perhaps everyone had misunderstood the key to it.
"You must not court death," the fox spirit simply stopped stewing the meat at this time and approached Zhang Chen to instruct him.
Zhang Chen remained noncommittal upon hearing this. He was different from others. He had a stat point system. If he could get started, or even just generate a trace of Qi, he could directly add points on the correct path, avoiding all risks.
Regardless of whether this Qi refining technique succeeds or not, as long as he keeps adding points, he can always walk on the most correct path. As for the dangers of the cultivation process, all kinds of dangerous key points, he can ignore and avoid them all.
"Zhang Chen, you're actually eating alone behind my back!"
Just as Zhang Chen and the fox spirit were whispering, a knock on the door suddenly came from outside, and Cheng Yu's dissatisfied voice sounded outside the door: "What a fragrant smell of meat! You're not sleeping in the middle of the night and are actually stewing meat! The most important thing is that you didn't even call me. I've really doted on you for nothing."
Hearing the little bean sprout's words, Zhang Chen felt a strange feeling in his heart. Being told 'doted on for nothing' by a five-year-old child was really strange.
Zhang Chen was about to take the fox spirit away, but he saw the fox fairy Nannan hurriedly say: "Don't take me away. Mortals can't see me! That place is really lonely, please, just let me stay. And this little senior sister of yours is obviously a bit strange, I might as well help you see the details, I don't believe that a five-year-old child can cultivate Transformation Strength."
The fox spirit pleaded softly. Zhang Chen pondered slightly and finally chose to leave the fox spirit behind, after all, he also felt that this Yellow Sky Dao was a bit wrong.
"No acting up," Zhang Chen instructed the fox spirit, then came to the door and opened it. He saw Cheng Yu standing outside the door with a pout, glaring at Zhang Chen with resentment in her voice:
"Zhang Chen, you little brat, good for you! You're stewing meat in the middle of the night without calling me? I usually dote on you so much, I even share half of my rice porridge with you."
"Wasn't it because the meat wasn't ready yet? You're still young now, it's the time when you need sleep to grow, I might as well wait until the meat is stewed and call you down to eat meat, so you can sleep a little longer. Besides, we're upstairs and downstairs, with such a fragrant smell of meat, how could I hide stewing meat from you?" Zhang Chen hurriedly explained.
What he said was sincere.
Hearing this, the little bean sprout raised her head to look at Zhang Chen. Seeing Zhang Chen's sincere face, she snorted and said: "Hearing you say that, I'll forgive you for now, and temporarily believe your words."
Then she showed a greedy look: "Is the meat stewed yet?"
"It will take another hour," Zhang Chen opened the door and invited the little bean sprout to come in.
The little bean sprout walked into the house with her short legs, but who knew that the next moment the little bean sprout would actually look directly at the corner, her eyes falling on the fox fairy Nannan: "Good for you, Zhang Chen, you actually violated the rules of the sect and hid a beauty in your house?"
The fox fairy Nannan's eyes met the little bean sprout's, and seeing that the other party actually saw her, she couldn't help but be stunned, with a ghostly expression.
Hearing the little bean sprout's words, Zhang Chen's heart trembled: "Cheng Yu is just a mortal, yet she can see the fox spirit?"
The next moment, a rune flickered in his sleeve, and the fox spirit disappeared into thin air in the house.
"Hiding a beauty? What hiding a beauty?" Zhang Chen slowly closed the door, then turned to look at the little bean sprout, with a look of astonishment in his eyes, as if asking about something he didn't know at all.
"Impossible! Such a big living person, how could she just disappear?" The little bean sprout stared at the place where the fox fairy Nannan disappeared, her eyes full of disbelief, then she seemed to remember something, and suddenly retreated to Zhang Chen's side, hugging Zhang Chen's thigh: "Zhang Chen, there's something dirty in your house!"
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at the little bean sprout who was trembling with fear and whose face was pale, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, and touched the little bean sprout's head: "Could it be that you haven't woken up yet and are seeing things?"