Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 285 Failure

Inside the cave, clear springs gush forth, and wherever they go, vegetation flourishes.

Unidentified exotic flowers bloomed, their fragrance filling the air...

One by one, green trees grew, their branches spreading out, seemingly trying to transform into a canopy to completely conceal the figure...

suddenly!

"puff!"

Fang Qing's expression changed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood essence.

The blood exploded as soon as it hit the ground, turning into a spring.

Bubbles kept rising from the spring, and several green stones fell to the edge of the spring, while a piece of withered vine floated on the surface.

"A Dao Foundation Spiritual Object—Spring-Emerging Stone? Azure Yuan Water Vine?"

He opened his eyes, watching his own essence blood fall to the ground and transform into a Dao Foundation Spiritual Object, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I still underestimated the difficulty of achieving supernatural powers..."

When he first mastered his supernatural powers, it wasn't entirely smooth sailing, but there were almost no difficulties.

Looking back now, it seems we were really fortunate to have had the help of that Purple Mansion Spiritual Object – the 'Lingxi Jade Wash'!

This time, however, he went directly to the "Hidden Forest" after he had reached the peak of his Dao Foundation!

The result was that the process of sublimating supernatural powers ended in failure!

"The foundation of my Dao has collapsed... All the primordial energy I invested has vanished, truly a complete loss..."

"But thinking about it carefully, I was actually quite lucky to have mastered these supernatural abilities back then, thanks to the help of the spiritual treasures in my Purple Mansion. Even if I were to attempt to break through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion with the 'Rank of Wind,' without the assistance of spiritual resources, I would probably still fail!"

After checking his physical condition, Fang Qing couldn't help but smile wryly. He raised his hand and took out a jade-green ring, which was the 'Water Dividing Ring'!

Splash!

A stream of hot spring water cascaded down, transforming into a springhead.

Fang Qing loosened his clothes, lay down in it, and enjoyed the miraculous nourishment of the [Healing Spring].

Not only that, with a wave of his hand, two beams of [Water Dividing Ring] light burst forth, and two beautiful mermaids dressed as maids flew out from the [Water Dividing Ring] to massage his shoulders...

It is truly the wonder of [Quan Ke]!

At the same time, Fang Qing's internal supernatural power transformed into "Long-lasting Sweet Rain," and streams of sweet rain at the Purple Mansion level poured into the hot spring. Amidst the rising steam, a trace of color finally returned to his face.

"Failed to break through to the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm, resulting in deficiency of both Qi and Blood..."

"Fortunately, I'm currently at the mid-stage of the third tier of body refinement, so I can still hold on!"

When refining the supernatural power, it also extracted his entire essence, blood, and vital energy. If he failed, there would be no way to get it back.

While soaking in the hot spring, Fang Qing recalled the process of cultivating his supernatural power, and then calculated with his fingers: "Because the catalysis of the supernatural power failed halfway, this closed-door cultivation to break through to the middle stage of the Purple Mansion has only lasted about a year... not too long."

"As for the losses, the body can be replenished by continuing to cultivate body-refining techniques... As for the primordial energy, the reserves of the 'Sea-Swallowing Technique' have been depleted, dropping from the mid-stage of Core Formation to just barely reaching Core Formation... Fortunately, the cultivation speed of this technique is astonishing, and by consuming a few more third-tier Essence Pills later, it can be made up for..."

Now, Fang Qing has gained a deeper understanding of the Dao-Born Pearl, realizing that it transforms into something even more mysterious than magical power.

It's less about magical power and more about the upper limit of magical power!

This time, he failed to convert part of his primordial energy and broke through again, which naturally damaged his cultivation in the Qi Refining Dao. Fortunately, he had already broken through to the mid-stage of Core Formation and had no bottleneck... He just needs to start over.

"This failed breakthrough not only caused physical damage but also shook the Purple Mansion... I'm afraid I'll need to recuperate for a few years before I can attempt another breakthrough."

Fang Qing calculated with his fingers and couldn't help but sigh: "If this is the case for me, then ordinary Purple Mansion cultivators really can't survive... No wonder they often need decades to cultivate a divine ability, or are forever trapped in their current realm."

For a cultivator in the Purple Mansion to cultivate supernatural powers, the first step is to gather Qi, then swallow True Qi, progressing from Qi absorption to the Dao Foundation, and then from the Dao Foundation to the Purple Mansion... This is equivalent to retracing the path of cultivation, but of course, with the status and rank of a Purple Mansion True Person, thus making the process faster.

Generally speaking, it takes about ten or twenty years to complete the cultivation of each foundational path.

However, without the assistance of corresponding spiritual objects in the Purple Mansion, the chances of failure in the subsequent sublimation of supernatural powers are very high!

If you fail, all your hard work over the decades will be for naught, along with physical damage, shocks to your dantian... and so on. Healing will take several years or even more than a decade!

"This defeat was due to my underestimation of the opponent, and also because I had already anticipated that defeat was highly probable; I just wanted to give it a try..."

Fang Qing sighed, "I never expected that I would fail before 'Hidden Forest' could transform into a divine power and ascend to the Purple Mansion realm..."

According to his cultivation level and the cultivation methods he had read, the difficulty for a Purple Mansion cultivator to master the second supernatural power is not only in the achievement of the supernatural power itself!

Once a supernatural power enters the Purple Mansion, will it cause a repulsion with the original supernatural power?

If rejection occurs, how to suppress it, how to regulate it... these are all questions that require knowledge.

As time goes on, the more supernatural powers one possesses, the stronger the rejection becomes, making things even more difficult!

"I was originally planning to try my luck... to transform 'Hidden Forest' into a divine power and ascend it to the Purple Mansion, to see if it would repel 'Positioning in the Wind'... and how strong the repulsion would be..."

"As long as they're not completely incompatible, it's considered a success, even if it's difficult to reconcile the two sides immediately, it's still a path..."

"But we have already failed before even reaching the Purple Mansion."

"I have to start all over again..."

Fang Qing sighed, "The key to this failure should be the insufficient cultivation of my 'Hidden Forest' technique... I need to further refine this supernatural power and experience its operation..."

For any True Person of the Purple Mansion, failing to elevate their Dao Foundation is a major, devastating event, often representing decades of hard work going down the drain.

But for Fang Qing, it was just a period of recuperation.

After he transforms into the "Heavenly Life" divine power, his healing ability becomes even more potent, capable of healing even when his dantian is in turmoil.

Damage to the body and vital energy can also be quickly repaired through external supplementation.

At that time, there will be no need to gather Qi again. The Dao Foundation will be fully formed directly, and then we can do it again!

"In other words, in terms of cultivating supernatural powers, my 'trial and error cost' is far, far lower than that of my fellow practitioners... I can probably make an attempt every few years, or even every one or two years!"

"Even without the spiritual treasures of the Purple Mansion, I'm confident I can master 'Hidden Forest Edge' with just a few more tries!"

After soaking in the hot spring, Fang Qing put on his robe with the help of two female merfolk, put away the "Water Dividing Ring," and sat cross-legged.

In an instant, his entire demeanor changed again.

A glimmer of light from the [Wall Water] appeared, and the [Long-lasting Sweet Rain] supernatural power within the Purple Mansion transformed into [Heavenly Life]!

Fang Qing activated his divine power, and a stream of water enveloped him, making him feel incredibly comfortable. It seemed that even his depleted physical strength had been significantly restored...

"Good... Jiu Ganlin's 'Ganlin Water' tends to repair the damage to the foundation in a subtle way... It focuses on the word 'healing'."

"But 'Tian Yi Sheng' doesn't have so many rules; it's all about 'healing'!"

"On the battlefield, the enemy might see me severely wounded, but after 'Heaven's Blessing' is activated, I'll immediately be fully healed..."

"If the power of supernatural abilities is so great, I wonder what kind of power the 'Heavenly Water' of the Purple Mansion spiritual object possesses?"

"But I definitely won't spend three cycles of sixty years to refine it."

Fang Qing waved his hand, capturing the water vapor in the void. Streams of [Wall Water] radiance converged and transformed into a point of essence.

This is certainly not "Heaven-born Water," but rather "Wall Water," a spiritual water that is probably only at the Qi-accepting level.

It must be refined countless times and various spiritual ingredients must be added before a "Heaven-Given Water" can be made.

Fang Qing stared at the single, glistening drop of liquid and fell silent.

Then, he silently activated his divine power, transforming into the "Linyuan" of the [Zhenshui], and also condensed a drop of [Zhenshui] spiritual essence.

Then, the essence of [Zhenshui] landed on the drop of crystal-clear liquid formed by [Bishui], and a shocking scene unfolded.

"[Wall water]...is it evaporating?"

Fang Qing gazed at the remaining [Zhenshui] spiritual essence in its original location and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It is said that the Dao of the Year has a profound influence on heaven and earth, even on True Lords.

"【Zhen Water】, as the proper position of Water Virtue, can govern all waters and is naturally stronger than 【Bi Water】... But this phenomenon is not right. It's not a matter of strength or weakness, but a matter of restraint! 【Zhen Water】 restrains 【Bi Water】! Therefore, the secret of 'Zhen Water deposing Bi Water' in ancient times is true. There really was a 【Zhen Water】 True Lord who murdered the 【Bi Water】 True Lord who once held the proper position... This is almost impossible, because at that time, 【Bi Water】 held the image of the 'proper position' and was generally stronger than ordinary Water Virtue True Lords at the same level, unless that 【Zhen Water】 True Lord's level was beyond that, or... someone secretly helped?"

"This also profoundly affects subsequent practitioners of the Water Virtue path... For example, if I had used the [Zhen Water] spiritual object to heal myself just now, and also activated the 'Heaven's Life' divine power... I'm afraid I would have vomited blood by now. The two would inevitably clash within my body, and in the end, 'Heaven's Life' would have won, but the healing effect would have been greatly reduced..."

Fang Qing glanced at it again before casually flicking his wrist, evaporating the portion of [Zhenshui] spiritual liquid.

"Now that I can follow various lineages... I should make more attempts in this area to understand the restraining relationships between different lineages, which will be of great help in deducing ancient secrets."

He then thought of Zhen Shui's few shining achievements, which were actually able to defeat Bi Yue!

Although it is still countered by [Dangerous Moon], it has already explained a lot.

"That ancient Zhen Shui Zhenjun was truly no ordinary person. Not only did he usurp the rightful position of the Water Virtue, but he also seems to have killed a Bi Yue Zhenjun? Although it may not be the same Zhen Shui Zhenjun, the possibility that they were the same person is quite high..."

"Wait, [Bi Yue]?"

Fang Qing suddenly realized.

If we talk about the lineage of Taiyin [Biyue], it is inseparable from the demon race. After all, one of the five sons of the phoenix was the 'Silver Crow', which was the ancient demon race's great sage 'Biyue Crow'!

A passage from a Daoist treatise from years ago instantly came to mind:

"The phoenix is ​​the master of the 'winged fire,' which occupies the proper position of the fire element, governing the balance of water and fire, and the wind's assistance in fueling the fire... Of its five offspring, the swan and the phoenix occupy the water position, the roc the wind position, the blue luan the fire position, and the silver crow the moon position. Therefore, the Sanskrit scriptures also say—'The blue luan obtains its purity, and the silver crow obtains its impurity'!"

"Every offspring of the Phoenix is ​​an extraordinary figure... the Azure Luan, the Silver Crow, the Roc are all like that... so what about the Swan and the Phoenix?"

Fang Qing immediately made a decision: "It's been a long time since I went to the Void Sparrow Tara to refine my body..."