Chapter 98: First Encounter with the Dharma Body
How long had it been since he reached the sixth level of Qi Refining? Just over four months.
Based on his original cultivation speed, breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining would have taken at least another year and a half to two years.
But now, having obtained the assistance of a predecessor, that time had been greatly shortened.
If he could find a way to obtain a few Breakthrough Pills, Song Yan even wanted to attempt breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining within half a year!
With his current cultivation level, this was possible.
A flicker of self-satisfaction passed through his heart, but he quickly calmed his mind.
“If I were to recklessly accumulate spiritual energy and obtain another Breakthrough Pill, I could indeed break through quickly.”
“However, doing so might destabilize my foundation. It would be better to take it step by step and build a solid base.”
He composed his consciousness.
From the Twin Jade Pearl, he summoned the sword casket and refined it with sword qi.
Previously, the Yan clan disciple at the Sword Forging Manor had deemed this sword casket useless, mainly because Senior Yan Gui had forged the sword casket and the Lianli Flying Swords into a matching set of artifacts.
Using the flying swords alone was fine, but the sword casket alone was useless.
Adding to that, some unfilial descendant had removed the Lianli Flying Swords from within.
That was why the sword casket had gathered dust all this time.
The sword casket had no name. Even in Senior Yan Gui’s memories, no name had been given to it.
For now, he would just call it the Useless Sword Casket.
The Useless Sword Casket could only hold two flying swords.
Originally, it was probably meant to nurture the “Qingmei” and “Zhuma” swords.
As it happened, Song Yan currently only had the “Adrift” and “Lianli” swords.
“You two seniors, now that Lianli has returned to the sword casket, you and I share a destined connection.”
“In the future, if I can obtain superior sword-nurturing materials, I will give ‘Lianli’ its own casket.”
“For now, we’ll just have to squeeze in together.”
With a flash of spiritual light at his fingertips, the Lianli and Adrift swords entered the casket.
The sword casket was elegant and slender. After being refined, it could be worn on his back without any sense of weight.
In Song Yan’s current understanding, whether it was a sword casket, a sword gourd, or anything else, they were essentially just “specialized Cosmos Bags for artifacts.”
They merely had various special functions.
However, since this was his first time using one, he did find it somewhat novel.
Channeling his spiritual energy, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but summoning flying swords from the sword casket seemed to be just a fraction faster than summoning them from a Cosmos Bag.
He took the opportunity to practice some sword techniques, then retracted the flying swords.
Next, he took out an ancient lotus withered seed from his Cosmos Bag.
This was something Song Yan had asked Wu Duo for under the pretext of collecting it.
He wanted to try again, to see if he could use sword qi to stimulate another ancient lotus and produce a lotus seed.
If he could truly do that…
With the value of the Moon-Sustaining Ancient Lotus, he could make a fortune just by selling these spiritual materials.
Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished.
This time, the moment his wind-and-thunder-infused sword qi pierced into the withered seed, it quickly dissolved the decay within.
Along with it went that faint trace of vitality…
“…”
His previously excited and expectant mood cooled considerably.
“Hmm…”
It seemed that time really had been just good fortune.
But the reason behind it was something he, as a layperson, could not figure out.
Whether it was because that particular withered seed lacked sufficient vitality, or because the method of accelerating growth with wind-and-thunder sword qi inherently required luck…
As the saying goes, deliberate planting may yield no flowers, while casual dropping of willow branches may grow into shade. It was simply a matter of fate and destiny.
However, obtaining a single Moon-Sustaining Lotus Seed through fortunate coincidence was already a tremendous gain that could accomplish many things.
After tidying up his miscellaneous items, he picked up the jade slip that Sheng Nian had sent over.
“The Pure Heaven Great Brightness Dharma Form…”
A technique with such a grand name was something that even many seniors of righteous sects could not come up with.
It should be a Buddhist technique.
A Nian said it was looted from some demonic cultivator. “Once I return to the sect, I’ll go check the library. If it turns out to be some forbidden Buddhist secret, that could be troublesome…”
He scanned through it roughly. This was a technique for cultivating a “Dharma Form.”
The term “Dharma Form” was something Song Yan had heard of.
But he vaguely remembered it was related to the natal primordial spirit of great cultivators and the laws of heaven and earth.
What was merely a concrete manifestation condensed forcibly from spiritual energy or other means should technically only be called a “Dharma Body.”
He studied it carefully.
This technique was for cultivating a Dharma Body.
Song Yan speculated that the creator of this technique was probably some senior cultivator from ancient times.
Because in ancient times, spiritual energy was abundant and resources were plentiful. He had heard that cultivators who reached the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages were far more numerous than in the current cultivation world.
So at that time, there was generally no distinction between Dharma Form and Dharma Body.
But after studying it, Song Yan actually felt relieved.
This technique used pure spiritual energy as the bone structure, while demonic intent, ghost qi, yin energy, and other demonic powers formed the meridians and flesh, condensing into a concrete Dharma Body.
Regarding these evil and demonic substances, the technique only mentioned one sentence.
If you lack demonic power, you may slay demonic cultivators and seize their power for refinement.
“What a domineering predecessor…”
In his view, the creator of this technique was simply using the enemy’s own methods against them.
Slaying demons, seizing demonic techniques, refining a Dharma Body, then slaying more demonic cultivators.
“However…”
The wording in this technique was filled with fierce and violent intent.
“It seems this predecessor truly detested demonic cultivators to the extreme…”
After gaining a general understanding, Song Yan wanted to give it a casual try.
Although he lacked demonic power, he could still attempt to forge the Dharma Body’s skeletal framework with spiritual energy alone.
Threads of pure spiritual energy surged forth, following the method described in the technique, slowly condensing behind him.
“…”
Before it could form any substantial shape, he casually dispersed it.
“The spiritual energy consumed by cultivating a Dharma Body is truly immense.”
This stage in the technique was called Void Spirit Bone Shaping.
Setting aside the ghost qi and demonic energy that he had no access to for now, even just the spiritual shaping of the Dharma Body’s skeleton was beyond his current reach.
He estimated roughly that with his current spiritual energy reserves, he could barely complete about one-quarter of it.
This Void Spirit Bone Shaping was not like sculpting clay figures, where one could condense a portion today and another portion tomorrow.
It had to be completed in a single effort.
“At the very least…”
“I would need the spiritual energy level of the ninth or tenth level of Qi Refining…”
Song Yan made a rough estimate in his mind, then put away the jade slip technique.
He felt no discouragement. The path of cultivation was always a gradual progression.
Sitting alone in the courtyard, he slowly recovered his spiritual energy.
By evening.
Song Yan received a message from Yan Xun, roughly stating that the matter with Liang Feng had concluded.
Conspiring with demonic cultivators to seize the foundation of Spirit Flower Valley was originally a death sentence.
However, on one hand, Senior Cong Yuzhen had intervened, preventing a great disaster.
On the other hand, Liang Feng had worked diligently for over twenty years and had made countless indelible contributions to Spirit Flower Valley.
In the end, he had his spiritual assets confiscated, most of his cultivation crippled, and was expelled from Spirit Flower Valley.
The conclusion of Liang Feng’s affair also meant that the trip to North Watch Mountain would be coming to an end.
The group would be departing soon to return to the sect.