Chapter 305: Chapter 303 Understanding the Dao (Supplement 7)_1
Emerald Bamboo Forest.
Inside the Dongfu.
Fang Xi put away the Mountain Sea Pearl and felt the abundant spiritual energy around him. He couldn’t help but ponder, "What a pity... The grade of the spiritual energy within the Mountain Sea Pearl is after all too inferior, far from sufficient for my cultivation..."
But then he suddenly let out a self-mocking laugh, "It seems I’m longing for even more despite already having such fortune... A portable Dongfu, a Treasure of Void... I had never even heard of such treasures before."
Thinking of the gains from the past month, Fang Xi’s lips curved into a smile.
In the Saint’s study, he had also found several books about the Corpse Refining Path. After comparing them with the Situ Family’s inheritance and reflecting on them, he felt greatly enlightened.
Although there were a few challenges in refining the ’Mysterious Fire Zombie,’ after pondering for several days, he had a breakthrough and successfully fused the Nine Dragon Balls with the bull-horned Demon Cultivator.
With a thought, he took a refined corpse out of the Spirit Beast Bag.
This refined corpse was two meters tall, with its upper body bare, showing strong muscles, and two thick bull horns on its head.
Compared to before, aside from an extra whiff of corpse qi, the biggest change was the many patterns on its body resembling burning flames. On the bull horns, there were strands of dark red light patterns flickering indeterminately.
"Although the Nine Dragon Balls have the Bloodline Spirit Ban, zombies don’t have a sea of dantian qi, and they certainly don’t fear it... And since the bead has completely dissolved and merged into this person’s body, it enhanced the strength of the flesh..."
"Now this ’Mysterious Fire Zombie’ is mostly complete, what remains is to infuse it with prohibition spells, and take it to places rich in the aura of Yin Veins and deadly cavities, to draw upon the earth vein Yin Qi..."
Fang Xi muttered to himself, preparing to store the ’Mysterious Fire Zombie’ away. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, "It’s better not to store refined corpses in a Spirit Beast Bag... The properties don’t match. Although it won’t be a problem in the short term, in the long run, the losses outweigh the gains..."
He rummaged through the storeroom and found a pitch-black bag.
This was an item Fang Xi had confiscated from a disciple of a Demon Sect, a ’Yin Corpse Bag’, specially meant for storing refined corpses. It was said that if corpses such as these were kept in such a bag, it could slowly add to their power of refining corpses... Of course, this usually meant corpses of the first or second order.
For a powerful third-order refined corpse like the ’Mysterious Fire Zombie’, even if it stayed there for a hundred years, the increase in power wouldn’t be significant. But at the very least, it could ensure there would be no degradation...
After completing these tasks, Fang Xi went to the closed-door cultivation room and immersed himself in cultivation once again.
Any magic treasures and refined corpses are only external aids.
He had never relied too much on external factors, for the most crucial thing was always one’s own cultivation level!
...
Half a month later.
A black, sharp claw hung suspended in mid-air, the ancient patterns etched upon it constantly shimmering with radiance.
Fang Xi exhaled a wisp of Core Fire, which twined around this ’Poisonous Dragon Claw’ magic treasure, continually refining it.
After an indeterminate amount of time.
The treasure emitted a clear ring and connected with Fang Xi’s mind, transforming into a black light that danced around the secret room, even continuously displaying sentient transformations.
"Not bad at all... This magic treasure is brimming with power, enough for me to use in the middle and late stages of Core Formation," Fang Xi said.
With a gesture towards his Storage Ring, he stored the Poisonous Dragon Claw in it, without intending to nurture it with his True Element.
These days, during his cultivation, he naturally focused on advancing his Magic Power. The remaining part of his Golden Core True Origin was mostly used to cultivate the ’Life-Death Seal’, while even the Green Barley Sword was gradually abandoned.
As for the third-order supreme ’Ten Thousand Souls Banner’, Fang Xi discovered that his Magic Power could barely control it.
Even if he managed to force it, there was a risk of being devoured by the Core Formation Ghost King inside, so he set it aside for the moment, planning to wait until the later stages of Core Formation to use it.
The ’Star Luo Chessboard’ was even out of the question, as he couldn’t refine it at all at present.
"It’s a pity... There are some pills in the Mountain Sea Pearl, but most of them I don’t recognize..."
"As for the rest, I don’t know if there are any Demon Sect tricks concealed within. To be safe, along with the materials and magic treasures from the Demon Path, I disposed of them, exchanging them for Spirit Medicines to refine into Spiritual Pills..."
"However, the Spiritual Medicine Garden in the Mountain Sea Pearl does have some spirit herbs. I can look forward to them when they reach maturity..."
Fang Xi thought for a moment and then took out the gray-white jade slip, beginning to ponder the refinement methods of ’Externalization’ once again.
After all, the method was somewhat incomplete, being a patchwork puzzle he had cobbled together himself.
It seemed complete before, but during the refining of the ’Mysterious Fire Zombie’, Fang Xi gradually discovered some minor issues.
After reflecting for half a day, he took out a ’Blood Dragon Fruit’ and bit into it directly.
Crisp, sweet...
A fragrant aura spread from his mouth, making his body jolt with a warm strength surging from his limbs and bones, leading him to praise, "As expected of a top-level Body Refining resource... This fruit is not suitable for alchemy, it’s only suitable for eating fresh... The taste isn’t bad, and it’s quite filling, much better than the Avoiding Grain Pill..."
He had taken to occasionally consuming one of these fruits after obtaining it, slowly enhancing the strength of his body.
After a short rest, he took out a box that was covered with talismans.
Upon opening it, a Bodhi seed that emitted a green glow and had nine eyes emerged.
A refreshing scent filled the air, stimulating the mind. Fang Xi immediately felt as if his Divine Consciousness sharpened, and his entire being seemed enlightened.
"Nine-Eyed Bodhi, the supreme treasure for enlightenment... I’m currently facing some difficulties in refining the ’Externalization’. This is a good time to test this..."
Fang Xi held the Nine-Eyed Bodhi in the palm of his hand and brought his hands together.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear a faint heavenly sound, under which his thoughts began to run at high speed, with a myriad of ingenious ideas emerging in his Sea of Consciousness.
Insights into arrays and talismans that he usually studied... Suddenly, many new understandings emerged, making him somewhat eager to continue his research and confident in breaking through his current bottlenecks!
Not only that, even the Talisman Forging, which had been completely alien to him, seemed much more approachable.
Amidst the cultivation of "Kuyong Skills," some perplexing difficulties seemed to automatically reveal their solutions in my mind...
"So this is what it feels like to be a prodigy?"
"No, I must not let my thoughts stray; my primary focus should be on ’Externalization’!"
Fang Xi took out the jade slip that contained the records of ’Externalization’ and began to comprehend its intricacies.
The next moment, more and yet finer insights emerged, "So when splitting the Divine Soul, there are so many matters to heed... The method of crafting a Six Desires Mixed Sky Demon can be altered at this step, substituting it with a certain knack from the Corpse Refining Inheritance..."
"The materials needed from the Demon Path... Most can be gathered from the storage bags of those Demon Path disciples... and I seem to have thought of substitutes for the rest."
"Melding the split soul with the Devil Corpse, refining it into an Externalization... There are enormous risks... If the clone strays too far from the original for too long, it could develop its own consciousness, then start to devour the original... This is an insurmountable hurdle by any means... but I don’t need to surmount it at all, as I can ensure the clone will absolutely not be away from the original for too long."
...
Moments later, Fang Xi returned from this state of ’insight’ and gazed at the Nine-Eyed Bodhi in his hand.
"Eh?"
The next instant, he noticed the radiance of the Bodhi Seed seemed somewhat dimmed, and his face suddenly revealed a trace of astonishment.
After re-sealing the Nine-Eyed Bodhi, he came to a realization, "This Nine-Eyed Bodhi has a limited number of uses..."
"In the future, I must use it only at critical moments..."
"But I must say, that feeling of no problem being able to confine me just now was truly amazing..."
Fang Xi promptly took out a brand new jade slip and recorded the completed Externalization secret technique that he had perfected through his comprehension.
"This Externalization is probably weaker than the genuine secrets of the Demon Sect..."
"After all, it’s only put together mainly with my own Corpse Refining Inheritance for repairs..."
"But it should suffice..."
"In the three kingdoms of this land, I have never heard of anyone possessing the secret technique of Externalization!"
Even the Corpse Refining Inheritance obtained by Situ Nine was just to allow the Divine Soul to momentarily inhabit a refined corpse, after which the soul must return.
It can only be considered as some sort of sophisticated ’Possession Skill,’ not the grand Divine Skill of Externalization.
"Next... I will refine the Saint’s corpse into an Externalization."
...
Another month passed.
On this day.
The sealed door of the Emerald Bamboo Forest’s Dongfu finally opened.
Fang Xi’s figure stepped out, and he seemed somewhat unaccustomed to the light of the outside world as he squinted his eyes.
He reached out to catch a Voice Transmission Talisman.
A crisp voice came from it.
Fang Xi nodded, took out a Voice Transmission Talisman, spoke a few words into it, and infused it with Magic Power.
With a flash of fire, the Voice Transmission Talisman vanished.
Before long, a bright yellow Escape Light fell; a spirited Foundation Establishment female cultivator stood within it.
"Master Cao... You’ve finally come out of retreat?"
Zheng Shan’s face lit up with joy upon seeing Fang Xi.
"Now that you have achieved Foundation Establishment, you can call me ’Cao’ from now on..."
Fang Xi cracked a smile, though it seemed somewhat stiff.
For some reason, after exchanging a few words with this ’Cao,’ Zheng Shan felt an inexplicable chill when looking at his pale teeth and hastily took her leave without even entering the Dongfu.
Watching this scene, Fang Xi’s eyes flickered with sharpness.
After a while, he chuckled and returned inside the Dongfu.
Sitting on a futon was another Fang Xi.
He looked at the ’Cao Chongyun’ who walked in and smiled, "Although the Externalization has been successfully refined... it’s still not very responsive. Indeed, it needs to absorb some Yin Pulse Air and complete the final steps to achieve perfect control..."
’Cao Chongyun’ was expressionless and suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out a Mirage Bead.
The next moment, his figure shifted, transforming into a corpse with ashen grey features.
It was indeed the previous appearance of the Saint!
However, compared to before, the person’s face seemed to have regained youth, looking very handsome.
Naturally, this was Fang Xi’s minor modification during the refining process, making slight adjustments to the skin to restore a more youthful appearance.
Of course, just like the effect of a Wrinkle-Resisting Pill, such a transformation only maintained the outer appearance, with no actual change within.