Chapter 205: Immortal Stones
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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He found a method to make Immortal Stones using supreme-grade spirit stones.
‘I am pleased, but… the problem is that four million supreme-grade spirit stones are needed.’
Even beyond the fact that a vast amount of supreme-grade spirit stones was needed, there was one more problem.
‘It is a method that can only be used in the Sacred City.’
To make Immortal Stones with this method, the power of the Divine Tree was required.
It meant that if he wanted to use this method outside the dream world, he had to go to the real Sacred City.
‘…No. Since I have the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability, does it not matter?’
The Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability could restore even non-living things. However, the materials composing the non-living thing would merely be additionally consumed.
For example, to restore a shattered steel sword, steel, which was the material of the sword, was needed.
If there was no steel, he had to consume a vast amount of Supreme Great Abilities, which he could not afford.
Returning to the main point,
What was important now was the fact itself that he could make Immortal Stones using supreme-grade spirit stones.
‘If I treat supreme-grade spirit stones as materials, I can duplicate Immortal Stones with the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability. There is no need to go to the Sacred City.’
If so, the problem now was how many supreme-grade spirit stones he could gather.
Actually, it was a problem that would be resolved as long as he had time, but for now, he calculated his current assets precisely.
First, scraping up all the storage pouches obtained in the dream, 500,000 supreme-grade spirit stones came out.
‘Why is it this few?’
While Hong Seol challenged the Soul Formation stage, he had dealt with well over a hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators, yet there were only 500,000.
While cultivation resources like medicinal pills and Rank 4 spiritual treasures were literally piled up like a mountain, it was strange that only spirit stones were few.
Rummaging through the storage pouches while pondering why this was, he realized.
‘The Sacred City cultivators do not use spirit stones.’
They each carried a nameplate with their own name written on it, and there was an item called contribution points.
Inside the Sacred City, they seemed to use contribution points like currency instead of spirit stones.
Although it was regrettable, it was something that could not be changed, so he did not pay attention to it anymore.
‘If I combine them with the 100,000 I originally possessed… it is a total of 600,000.’
Although it was a massive fortune, it was far short of the required quantity of four million.
Pondering for a moment, he decided to try making one Immortal Stone first.
‘Because I don’t know how many spirit stones will be needed when duplicating.’
Summarizing the method of making Immortal Stones briefly, it was to draw the power of the Divine Tree through a formation, then extract the minute Heaven and Earth Origin Qi contained in supreme-grade spirit stones to refine it into an Immortal Stone.
Although he wanted to start immediately, he first studied the jade slip over two months.
This was to learn the installation method of the Grand Formation of Essence Extraction and Immortal Condensation, which was the formation required when refining Immortal Stones.
【Skills】
Rank 4 Formation Art (Entry 1 / 300 million)
Although it was more difficult than expected, resulting in him consuming 300 million of the Supreme Great Abilities he was investing in the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art on the formation, it was resolved well anyway.
After about twenty failures, he was able to install the Grand Formation of Essence Extraction and Immortal Condensation.
The preparations were over.
After waiting for his Supreme Great Abilities to recover completely, he began refining the Immortal Stone as written in the jade slip.
*Oooooong!*
Light emitted from the formation installed at the location where the roots of the Divine Tree passed.
At the same time that the supreme-grade spirit stones piled like a mountain turned to dust, Heaven and Earth Origin Qi scattered explosively.
‘Now.’
The swirling Heaven and Earth Origin Qi converged into a single point, and a crystal-like structure began to condense along with a glittering halo of light.
How many seconds had passed.
As the raging energy quieted down, the 200,000 supreme-grade spirit stones piled like a mountain collapsed completely. They had turned to waste after having their essence extracted.
Although a massive fortune flew away in a single blow, he first inspected the center of the formation.
‘It is an Immortal Stone!’
A mysterious mineral created by the condensation of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. He carefully picked up the object floating loftily in the air.
Its size was roughly that of a thumb, and at a glance, it looked like an ordinary crystal, but upon looking closely inside, a gentle halo of light was swirling in a spiral.
For some reason, a thirst rose up, making it difficult to look away.
If one captured the aurora of the sky in a one-of-a-kind precious gem in the world, would it not look like this?
Although it was beautiful enough to stare at as if possessed, considering the vast energy contained inside, he could not handle it easily.
It felt as if a typhoon was compressed in a single finger-sized mineral.
‘···Let’s duplicate it.’
Piling up supreme-grade spirit stones like a mountain right next to him, he tightly held the Immortal Stone with both hands.
Although his stomach was sore at the thought of damaging it right after working hard to make it, he did not hesitate.
*Crack!*
The moment he split the Immortal Stone with his physical strength tempered through body tempering.
*Whooooosh!*
Dense Heaven and Earth Origin Qi poured out from the split Immortal Stone.
He hurriedly poured in his Supreme Great Abilities to cast the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability.
He restored the cracked area to block the leakage of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, and returned the crystals, which had shrunk as they split in two, to their original size.
In the moment the rapidly consumed Supreme Great Abilities broke through 150 million.
There were now two whole Immortal Stones.
‘It worked!’
Within the smile that formed naturally, he checked the spirit stones piled next to him. Counting the supreme-grade spirit stones that disappeared after being treated as materials, there were approximately 120,000.
Although 150 million Supreme Great Abilities were consumed, it cost much less than simply making the Immortal Stone.
‘Good!’
Holding the two Immortal Stones obtained after suffering for several months, he headed to the Secret Realm of the Mind.
Since he obtained the Immortal Stones, there was something he had to check immediately.
Ultimately, the most important thing was the initial purpose. Could he really upgrade the Secret Realm of the Mind with artificially created Immortal Stones?
If that was not possible, everything he had done up to now was merely in vain.
In the moment he consumed the Immortal Stone with a tense heart.
【Resource Production】 : 81 supreme-grade spirit stones / 1 day
‘Ah!’
He succeeded so cleanly that his worries were put to shame. The Secret Realm of the Mind, which had been blocked by a wall, grew by one step.
It was as thrilling as drinking soda.
What this success meant was not small. It felt as if he had taken a step closer to the Soul Formation stage, which had been his goal since long ago.
‘Whew…’
Now his mind was at ease.
Since he became able to duplicate Immortal Stones, the problem regarding the Rank 5 spiritual vein was as good as resolved.
In fact, it was only a problem because he tried to gather spirit stones inside the True Realm of Illusory Dreams; once he went outside, the methods to obtain spirit stones were limitless.
‘I will resolve the lacking spirit stones outside, and focus on cultivation now.’
Leaving the Secret Realm of the Mind, he returned to the place where Hong Seol had broken through to the Soul Formation stage.
He found out while searching the Sacred City thoroughly, but this place was the best for cultivation. Although the surroundings had been reduced to ashes by the Lightning Tribulation, the spiritual Qi was dense.
He sat cross-legged in the middle of the ruins and closed his eyes.
*Inhale…*
In the silent darkness, only the sound of gentle breathing continued.
The spiritual Qi flowing proudly through his meridians accumulated in his dantian bit by bit, and was refined by the Five Elements Divine Thunder in his mind to turn into spiritual power.
Just as he was observing the Five Elements Divine Thunder that naturally thickened in the process of cultivation.
A portion of the lightning Qi sleeping in his dantian moved on its own.
*Zzzzt!*
A bundle of purple lightning released from control struck the empty air. At the rapidly rising atmospheric temperature, the skin of his entire body, including his cheeks, burned.
‘Oh dear…’
Watching the purple lightning Qi running wild on its own, Jin So-myeong frowned.
The Five Elements Divine Thunder dyed in purple was twice as strong compared to before.
Did the Lightning Tribulation he absorbed when ascending to the Nascent Soul stage in the past finally awaken now? It felt as if its grade had changed.
If there was a problem…
‘It is difficult to control.’
It did not listen well. The lightning Qi, which used to follow like moving his limbs in the past, ran wild like an untamed wild horse.
‘It will be hard to use in battle like this.’
He worked hard to control it perfectly over the past few months, but it was not easy.
Pondering for a moment, he eventually thought of a temporary measure.
‘It is better to split it in two instead.’
The same Five Elements Divine Thunder as before, and the purple-dyed lightning Qi. He separated them completely like this.
Gathering only the purple lightning Qi separately made it listen even less, but it did not cause trouble such as attacking the surroundings after escaping control.
The power possessed by the lightning Qi also became stronger, which pleased him in its own way.
‘I should call it the Purple Divine Thunder.’
Nodding his head, Jin So-myeong stopped his cultivation and pulled out a jade slip.
[The greatest difference between the Soul Formation stage and the Nascent Soul stage is the control over spiritual Qi. A Soul Formation stage cultivator can handle even spiritual Qi in its natural state that has not been refined into spiritual power. Also…]
It was the content contained in the insights on Soul Formation given by Hong Seol, thanks to which he realized how the Soul Formation-grade Insect-Armor Race could handle such a vast energy.
If one could handle the spiritual Qi existing in the atmosphere as it was without processing it, it was no different from spiritual power becoming infinite in theory.
[…Therefore, the most important thing in the Soul Formation trial is not to lose one’s self even within the vast Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. To do that, above all, one must solidify their Dao Heart.]
Repeatedly reading the insights on Soul Formation, he stroked his chin.
‘Dao Heart…’
Honestly, it was a word that did not hit home.
Although numerous cultivators pursued the Dao while even risking their lives, there were not that many who truly realized what the Dao was.
In the first place, was the Dao even important?
For a long time.
Thinking silently, Jin So-myeong shook his head. It was a problem not easy to answer easily.
‘Ah, right.’
Come to think of it, he possessed a treasure just perfect to use in times like this.
The Soul Formation-grade spiritual object, the Red Dust Heart Lotus.
Taking out and quietly looking at the lotus enveloped in red dust, all kinds of distractions starting from small worries boiled up to become heart demons.
‘Once I leave here, I will clash with the Sacred City before long.’
He worked hard to maintain composure amidst his complexly tangled thoughts. If he meditated in such a cluttered state, would not his Dao Heart be tempered?
Observing the thoughts flashing past, he closed his eyes.
*
Time passed, and every time his Supreme Great Abilities recovered, he duplicated one Immortal Stone.
He obtained a total of four Immortal Stones, and except for the one kept for duplication, the remaining three were entirely invested in the Secret Realm of the Mind.
【Resource Production】 : 83 supreme-grade spirit stones / 1 day
Looking at how he was taking steps toward the Rank 5 spiritual vein one by one, he felt proud.
‘Now, after focusing on cultivation for the time being, I can just duplicate Immortal Stones every time spirit stones gather.’
Since that day.
He used his Supreme Great Abilities to accumulate proficiency in the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art, and devoted most of his time to cultivation.
From the moment he entered the late Nascent Soul stage, his cultivation speed slowed down drastically, but the top-grade cultivation resources left by the Sacred City cultivators and the Rank 5 spiritual vein were of great help.
While focusing on accumulating spiritual power, he did not forget to train his body tempering and practice handling spells freely.
Then, occasionally when he had leisure, he wandered around the empty Sacred City to find useful items.
Since it was regrettable to discard the spiritual herb fields discovered from time to time, he handed them over to Baek Dan-il and ordered him to make them into medicinal pills.
【Skills】
Rank 4 Elixir Refining Art (Entry 1 / 200 million)
At first, he failed in most, wasting only ingredients, but as he invested 200 million Supreme Great Abilities to raise his elixir refining proficiency, the success rate shot up.
Thanks to that, the medicinal pills, which had only been decreasing since the assaults of the Sacred City cultivators stopped, began to be replenished again.
*
One day after seven years had passed.
Amid steady cultivation, he reached the 8th layer of the Nascent Soul stage.
As his realm rose, the fact that his Supreme Great Abilities had become stronger than anything else was the most pleasing.
From 160 million to 190 million.
The maximum limit increased by thirty million. It meant that one million more Supreme Great Abilities were recovered every day.
Lately, he had been in trouble because there were many places to use Supreme Great Abilities, but he gained a bit of room.
‘Now I am almost there.’
The only remaining gateways to the Soul Formation stage were cultivating to the 9th layer of the Nascent Soul stage and then to the Great Circle.
If adding one more, perhaps pulling his body tempering realm up to Rank 4 highest-grade?
It was all something that could be resolved as long as he had time.
He felt it tangibly that his goal was close enough to grasp.
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