Chapter 1452: Inquiring for News
Li Yan carefully savored the strike he had just made.
“The ‘Saintly Soul Transformation’ cultivation method indeed broke through to the fifth layer automatically after sensing the ‘Soul Residence Star’. This also allowed my realm, in just that instant, to smoothly reach the Late-stage Nascent Soul…”
Feeling the solidity of his merged soul, Li Yan was already overjoyed.
The first to fourth layers of the “Saintly Soul Transformation” corresponded to the cultivation from Qi Condensation to Mid-stage Nascent Soul. Due to the special nature of understanding the laws of heaven and earth at the Late-stage Nascent Soul, which was a watershed for almost any type of cultivator in this realm, the fifth layer of the “Saintly Soul Transformation” corresponded solely to the Late-stage Nascent Soul.
When Li Yan was cultivating the first three layers, it took him almost only a day, because his previous cultivation of the “Soul-Condensing Art” had already reached this realm.
Within a day, Li Yan had opened up all the necessary acupoints and meridians for the first four layers of the “Saintly Soul Transformation.” Some of these places had already been opened due to Li Yan’s cultivation of other methods. Some acupoints and small meridian branches were in remote parts of the body and easily overlooked, but they were not major acupoints or main meridians, so opening them was quite easy.
The most crucial step here was to connect these acupoints through the cultivation method, allowing the Soul Power to circulate along different meridians in a specific route. This was the key role of the cultivation method.
Next, Li Yan’s body remained motionless, but the Soul Power within him was constantly changing quietly. He launched several more types of attacks. Although none of them were at full strength, the final results made Li Yan burst into hearty laughter.
After Li Yan calmed down, he finally let his soul return to its place. Then, he asked the “Tiger-Devouring Gu” and confirmed that this period of cultivation had only taken him thirty-three years. But in his own perception, it felt like it had been close to a sixty-year cycle.
“Hmm? It only took thirty-three years? Didn’t that Tang Feng say that cultivating this method is very difficult? Reaching the Late-stage Nascent Soul in this amount of time can’t be considered too difficult… Could it be because my other soul cultivation methods had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm before I switched to this method, plus my own realm was already Late-stage Nascent Soul, that this phenomenon occurred?”
After knowing the time, Li Yan thought of what the man named Tang Feng had said. He felt that the other party probably wouldn’t lie to him about such a thing; there was no point. This cultivation method was not some secret art; it was just sitting there.
He had completed and broken through to the Mid-stage Nascent Soul in a day; that was the natural result of the “Soul-Condensing Art.” But breaking through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul had taken him decades. Most of his time had been spent on condensing the “Nether Essence” body.
“Regarding some matters about this cultivation method, when I have time, I should ask others about it, or directly ask that Tang Feng about the situation of others who cultivate the ‘Saintly Soul Transformation,’ so I can have a comparison!”
After pondering for a while, Li Yan continued to sort through his cultivation process over the years, also identifying some problems in his cultivation, to be studied slowly later.
By the time he had finished these things, several days had passed. As the saying goes, there are no years in cultivation, and so it was.
On this day, Li Yan, who had been sitting in meditation for decades, stood up. After cultivating to a certain stage, even if he continued to cultivate arduously, he wouldn’t improve much.
As for his other dharma-body dual cultivation methods, whether it was the “Qiongqi Purgatory Art” or the “True Scripture of Gui Water,” Li Yan had not been able to cultivate them seriously over the years, let alone break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm.
Li Yan was also very troubled by these matters. He was certainly willing to cultivate soul cultivation methods, which would greatly enhance his strength. But with so many cultivation methods to practice, the drawbacks of dharma-body dual cultivation were revealed—he didn’t have enough time. He had cultivated two dharma cultivation methods, and both were extreme and unorthodox among dharma cultivation methods.
But he just couldn’t squeeze out the time to cultivate the “True Scripture of Gui Water.” In the “True Earth Domain,” the first thing he had to do was to stay alive. It was impossible for him to disregard everything and continue to cultivate other methods; then he would truly have to be an “Evil Spirit Cultivator.”
However, the cultivation of soul cultivation methods also had a great effect on his breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm, which was a benefit that could not be obtained through normal cultivation.
His soul cultivation realm broke through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul, and Li Yan gained a new understanding of the power of the Five Elements. The power of those stars contained complex wood and water Daos. This greatly improved his own Daoist arts.
For example, he had a further understanding of the self-healing ability of the Undead Nether Phoenix’s essence blood. The Undead Nether Phoenix itself was a variant species of heaven and earth. They relied on their powerful physical bodies to roam the world. Li Yan now believed that the Undead Nether Phoenix itself possessed top-level gold and wood element laws. The gold element law could make the Undead Nether Phoenix’s physical body like a heaven-splitting sword, tearing through all other law defenses. The wood element law, on the other hand, could give their physical bodies an extremely majestic and endless life force. This was a law of life.
The richness of this life force surpassed the normal laws of darkness and reincarnation, so it could override them, giving people a feeling of being almost immortal. Of course, this was only under normal circumstances. If they really suffered a fatal attack in an instant, then the wood element law in their bodies would not have time to be born before their life ended due to the instantaneous annihilation of their soul.
Li Yan thought that the Undead Nether Phoenix’s innate divine ability would probably only be integrated into its physical body in the early stages, and only after it had grown to a certain extent. For example, when it reached the Great Ascension stage, the wood element law, that is, the law of life, would be deeply integrated into their souls. At that time, it would become almost impossible to kill them.
And the power of those stars was mainly water and wood. Li Yan’s main spiritual root was water, which gave him a sense of familiarity with his natal “Soul Residence Star.” And after that majestic life force was injected into his body, Li Yan felt a membrane appear in front of him.
From that moment on, the essence blood in his body began to pulsate with a peculiar rhythm, as if responding to some law in the outside world. This had never happened before. In the past, Li Yan’s essence blood was activated mostly when he was severely injured, passively healing his physical body.
This was the first time Li Yan had sensed the appearance of an unknown membrane. Behind it was a vibrant life force, but when he tried to break through that membrane, he found that it “disappeared.” This “disappearance” was not a real disappearance. It was just that Li Yan couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t touch it, couldn’t find its location.
In fact, in his senses, that membrane was still there, but it was in a state of being erratic and elusive. At this point, Li Yan knew that he could no longer cultivate blindly. Moreover, he had now stepped into the threshold of the Late-stage Nascent Soul. Next, he needed to rest for a period of time to let his thoughts withdraw from cultivation.
This was like withdrawing from a blind alley, a dead end, and then re-examining everything around him, only then might a new understanding and new feelings arise. Although Li Yan would also go into long-term seclusion, he would never go into closed-door death seclusion. He valued his own feeling of cultivation more.
After Li Yan left the cultivation chamber, he immediately washed up, then went into the rest chamber and fell directly onto the bed. Not long after, he fell into a deep sleep.
He slept for four days before waking up from his dream. Li Yan, sitting up, only felt refreshed and invigorated. He stretched greatly, saw that it was almost noon outside the window, then got out of bed, pushed the door open, and flew outside…
In the following days, Li Yan’s figure, which had not been seen for decades, began to appear in the Soul Suppression Palace. Besides the Technique Transmission Pavilion, he also went to the Mission Hall to look at the various missions there.
After looking at the Nascent Soul-level missions, Li Yan felt that the difficulty for him should be in the upper-middle range. There was danger, but it was not yet a fatal threat to him. It seemed that he still needed to spend a lot of time to complete those five missions. After he had looked at all those missions, he planned to take on one mission after finishing some other things.
And next, Li Yan’s figure appeared even more frequently in various places in the sect. At this time, he had only one purpose: to inquire about news of a passage to the outside world. This was the first thing he urgently needed to deal with after gaining a firm foothold. The Soul Suppression Palace had been established for so many years; news of this kind was already ancient, and a lot of information must have leaked out.
On this day, in the living room of a Cave Residence, Li Yan was sitting opposite a handsome young man at a table. On the table were two cups of tea, from which a faint but lingering, clear fragrance wafted in wisps of light mist. This fragrance, upon entering the body, made one feel as if every pore from the inside out had opened up, extremely comfortable.
“Fellow Daoist Tang, it’s a bit abrupt to disturb you today! I’m new to the sect and know almost no one. I’ve only had dealings with you, Fellow Daoist Tang.”
Li Yan began.
“Hehehe… Fellow Daoist Li, why be so polite? We are both of the same sect, and we belong to the same hall. To have met you twice on your first day in the sect, even according to karma, we should be closer. To be honest, I’ve also stopped by your door a few times over the years, thinking of discussing the Dao and having a drink with you. But after knocking, there was no response, so I had to give up. It seems you are truly dedicated to the Dao, going into seclusion for more than thirty years!”
“Oh? Then I was rude…”
Next, with a topic of conversation, the two began to talk to each other.
Tang Feng was also a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. After just a short conversation, both of them felt that they got along quite well. It was just that Li Yan was now quite proficient in soul cultivation methods. He only showed his cultivation at the Mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm.
What surprised Tang Feng was that this Li Yan seemed to be very knowledgeable. Some of the things he said were things that he had never even heard of. This made him secretly sigh. He had been tied down in the sect for various reasons over the years. It seemed that rogue cultivators who traveled the world were indeed knowledgeable and well-informed, which was enviable.
Especially when the two of them discussed some techniques, it made Tang Feng feel that his horizons had been broadened. He felt that Li Yan must have fought with cultivators of different types. Often, just a single sentence from him could give Tang Feng a sense of sudden enlightenment, a flash of insight, making him sigh that techniques could be used in such a way.
How could he know that Li Yan was not like him? Li Yan had practically fought his way up. The variety of cultivators he had encountered was simply beyond his imagination. In addition, Li Yan’s cultivation path was very wild. After dividing it into major categories, among all the cultivation paths, perhaps only the ghost cultivator path was one he had not practiced.
So, once Li Yan discussed the Dao with him, although on the surface they were discussing the great Dao of soul cultivation, often for a single problem, he would instantly consider the countermeasures of various cultivation methods, how to attack, and so on. This greatly benefited Tang Feng, and he felt that meeting Li Yan was like meeting a long-lost friend.
While he had this feeling, Li Yan also gained a lot from him. How could someone as smart as Li Yan make a losing deal?
Tang Feng was just a Nascent Soul cultivator who specialized in the immortal Dao of the soul. His research on all aspects of the soul was profound, but how could he have ever seen a cultivator of this type? But Li Yan certainly only said what he could, choosing his words carefully. He didn’t want to arouse suspicion in others; that would truly be a case of joy turning to sorrow.
And Tang Feng’s experience in soul cultivation was simply not something that a fledgling like Li Yan, with only a few decades of experience, could compare to. Li Yan had only been able to cultivate to this level so quickly because of the strong foundation of his Soul Power. His experience in all aspects of soul cultivation was far inferior to Tang Feng’s.
So, in these exchanges, Li Yan also got answers to some of the problems he encountered in his cultivation, and even had a feeling of drawing parallels.
At the same time, Li Yan also indirectly inquired from Tang Feng about some news regarding cultivators who practiced the “Saintly Soul Transformation.” Most of the things were as he had guessed. Among those cultivators, besides the disciples who had grown up in the Soul Suppression Palace since they were young, there were also people with experiences similar to his. These people had mostly joined the sect with their own skills. They had also switched to cultivating the “Saintly Soul Transformation” from other cultivation methods. These people often cultivated very quickly in the early stages, and then slowed down later. In the end, they could not make any progress for decades or even centuries, and had to switch to other cultivation methods again.
But after Li Yan secretly compared, he found that compared to the people Tang Feng talked about, his cultivation speed in the later stages was still much faster than theirs. Take one of them, who had also switched to cultivating the “Saintly Soul Transformation” during the Nascent Soul stage. He had switched when he was at the Mid-stage Nascent Soul. But it took him seventy years to break through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul, which was more than twice the time he had spent. After that, that person had been firmly stuck at the Late-stage Nascent Soul. After several hundred years, he found that his progress in the Late-stage Nascent Soul realm was simply slower than a snail’s crawl. If he wanted to advance to Spirit Transformation, at that speed, he would probably have to die of old age in the Nascent Soul Realm. In the end, he had to switch to other cultivation methods again. After more than a hundred years, that person smoothly broke through to Spirit Transformation. This should also have been due to a thick accumulation of resources.
Li Yan’s soul cultivation realm had just broken through, so he didn’t know what would happen to him in the future, but he didn’t pay too much attention to it. In the future, unless there was a special reason, Li Yan would, with more than eighty percent certainty, not use a soul cultivation method to break through to the Spirit Transformation Realm. Among the three types of cultivation methods, the weakest was soul cultivation. His main cultivation method was the True Scripture of Gui Water. That method had always allowed him to advance relatively smoothly, so it would definitely still be his main cultivation method in the future.
After inquiring about such things, he just needed to remember them to be mentally prepared. However, he also knew that the affairs of the world could not be shifted by his will, and a plan was just a plan. Li Yan was not an inflexible person. On the contrary, he was more like a demonic beast that was good at changing colors. When a change was really needed, he would also choose the path of flexibility without hesitation.
In this way, after Li Yan had visited Tang Feng once, the two of them began to interact more and more.
In the midst of this, Li Yan also slowly began to intersperse his inquiries about news of a passage to the outside world. This was actually his main purpose.
After getting familiar with Tang Feng, the two of them spoke more casually, so Li Yan’s inquiries were also conducted in a seemingly very casual state, and Tang Feng would not have any suspicions.
But any cultivator living in the “True Earth Domain,” who wouldn’t want to go and see the outside world, or find the entrance and seal it up so that those “Evil Spirit Cultivators” would have no more opportunities?
So, among friends on a daily basis, they would also occasionally talk about such things, so it was not a big deal.
After some back and forth, what made Li Yan helpless was that he couldn’t make any breakthroughs from the information he heard from Tang Feng. The Soul Suppression Palace had also been searching for a way out, but there had never been any news of any clues being found. Otherwise, those two Body Integration Supreme Ancestors wouldn’t have thought of waiting until they broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage and then using their powerful strength to forcefully break the restriction.
After slowly confirming this news, Li Yan’s mood fell, but what could he do?
After some more time passed, Li Yan planned to go to the Mission Hall to accept a mission. After completing this mission, he would go into seclusion again for a period of time.
On this morning, just as Li Yan was about to go out, Tang Feng’s clear voice suddenly came from outside.
“Is Fellow Daoist Li there?”
Upon hearing this, Li Yan’s footsteps paused. With a smile on his face, he lightly waved his sleeve, and the courtyard gate opened.
“Fellow Daoist Tang, please come in!”
As the formation restriction opened, Tang Feng’s tall and straight figure had already stepped into the courtyard.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Li Yan standing there. A smile also appeared in Tang Feng’s eyes.
“Yo, is Fellow Daoist Li going out?”
“Hehehe, I was planning to go to the Mission Hall to have a look. After all, I haven’t completed a single one of the hundred-year missions yet.”
“It’s only been a little over thirty years for you. Others only start to worry after a sixty-year cycle!”
Tang Feng said casually.
“There’s no restriction on that. I’m not like you, Fellow Daoist Tang. I remember you saying you still have two hundred-year missions to complete. You’re just a full man who doesn’t know a hungry man’s hunger. By the way, since you’re here, let’s not discuss the Dao today. How about we go to the Mission Hall together to have a look? If there are suitable multi-person missions, we can discuss it.”
Li Yan looked at the sun that had just risen in the sky. Tang Feng was in a leisurely mood today, coming over so early in the morning.
“Excellent, excellent! The matter Fellow Daoist Li mentioned is indeed possible! However, we can talk about this later. I came to find you, Fellow Daoist, to ask if you are free. How about we go to a place in the sect to have a look?”