Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 30 4 years

"Um?"

Inside Red Maple Valley.

Guo Tianhong's pretty face turned pale, and she suddenly coughed up a pitch-black beetle, a sign that she had been afflicted by the Gu technique.

Opposite her, a sinister-looking Black Gu Sect cultivator was about to curse her to death in one fell swoop.

Sudden.

A terrifying cloud of fire erupted outside the valley, and the powerful fire elemental energy caused almost all the fighting cultivators to stop what they were doing.

"Dao Foundation? No... it shouldn't be..."

"But how could such a master of Qi cultivation be?"

"Such powerful fire elemental energy! What lineage does it belong to? [Tail Fire], [Winged Fire]?"

"Could it be a master from the Yulin Pu family?"

In that moment of distraction, Li Rulong became one with his sword, and with a dazzling sword strike, all sorts of weapons on the ground suddenly rang out in unison.

call out!

A burst of golden light flashed, breaking through the Black Gu Sect female cultivator's defenses and grazing her swan-like neck.

"Senior sister?"

"Oh no, let's go!"

The Black Gu Sect cultivators immediately retreated, but were relentlessly pursued and suffered heavy casualties.

Li Rulong stood with his sword in his arms, gazing at the red clouds outside the valley, somewhat stunned: "No wonder my sword heart always felt that Brother Fang was in danger; he really is hiding his true strength..."

"Big brother..."

Guo Tianhong flew over, his expression one of deep shame: "I am incompetent... I misjudged Fellow Daoist Fang before, and almost brought a great enemy upon my brother..."

"It's alright. Brother Fang's willingness to help us speaks volumes."

Li Rulong smiled and said, "He's unwilling to join us, but he's willing to support our cause..."

"I never imagined that Fellow Daoist Fang Shui, besides being an alchemist, would also possess such magical power?"

When Lady Miaoyi and the other cultivators returned from chasing down the Black Gu Sect cultivators, they were also filled with emotion, wondering if they had not been respectful enough before.

"By the way, where is Fellow Daoist Fang Shui?"

Lady Miaoyi's eyes darted out of the valley.

"They must have... left, right?"

Li Rulong sighed with a touch of melancholy: "In the end... we are on different paths."

……

"The Black Qi Sect cultivators have only sent so few this time... Something's definitely not right."

After killing the triangular-eyed cultivator, Fang Qing didn't even bother to check the spoils of war and immediately steered his Azure Leaf Boat away.

The wind howled past his ears, but his expression remained very solemn.

"Judging from the attackers' strength, they were probably just within the range that Li Rulong's group could handle... If it weren't for me, it would have been a tough fight, but this is abnormal!"

As a disciple of a Core Formation sect, Fang Qing knew very well that when a sect issued a task, it would definitely take into account any margin of error.

Therefore, if we want to eliminate Li Rulong, we need at least a few late-stage Qi Masters, right?

But this time, the attackers were really not strong enough.

Even with the constraints of the previous agreement between Purple Mansion cultivators, it was still somewhat abnormal.

"So... it's a tacit agreement between the two major Purple Mansion forces?"

"Or... should we raise a treacherous spirit?"

Fang Qing's expression turned cold.

Hearing Li Rulong recount his own cultivation technique today, with such an air of self-righteousness, truly sent a chill down his spine: "Didn't that old blind man from Biluofang remind him that similar techniques can devour each other? Or... did he dare not remind him? Because he's already been targeted by someone, some force?"

"Tonight's banquet, at the feast, I wonder how many are watching the show, and how many are waiting... to devour him?"

"I originally wanted to get to know Li Rulong better and take over the treasures he destroyed one by one... but now it seems best to keep my distance."

……

Jade Island, Azure Sea Gate.

After escaping back into his cave and activating the great formation, Fang Qing finally felt a long-lost sense of security.

"That awful place, best to avoid it in the future..."

He came to the bedside, but instead of meditating, he fell asleep immediately.

The next day.

The sun rises in the east.

On the cliff, Fang Qing sat cross-legged and began to gather qi as the sun was about to rise.

Once he got his hands on the "Great Sun Purple Qi" Qi-gathering technique, he was bound to put it to good use.

"Gathering Qi here shouldn't be too much of a problem... The Great Sun Purple Qi is abundant, and it will probably take another three or four years to obtain this ninth-grade high-quality True Qi. It's just a pity that there's no corresponding cultivation method... The 'Great Sun Purple Qi' has been severed, and the cultivation method for the Great Sun Purple Qi should have become worthless. If you search patiently, the cost shouldn't be too high..."

After completing his daily Qi gathering as usual, Fang Qing returned to his cave and began body training again.

"call……"

He visualized the "Hayagriva Protector," whose face was both divine and demonic, and whose internal energy surged, transforming into a strange force that supported his skin, muscles, bones, and flesh...

After a period of cultivation, Fang Qing felt that his physical body and spirit had made further progress, and he was somewhat surprised: "This Secret Domain Technique is truly powerful. The key is that I feel like I'm making such rapid progress when I cultivate it?"

Although this body-strengthening technique was carefully selected by him, the speed of improvement was still somewhat beyond Fang Qing's expectations.

"According to the old blind man, although this skill can be improved through arduous practice, it is best to use it in conjunction with the secret medicines and essential oils from the Secret Realm... I don't have any of these resources, yet I feel that I will be able to break through to the middle level of the first rank in a short time..."

"Could it be that my Qi Refining cultivation isn't even at the late stage yet, but my Body Tempering has already surpassed it?"

Fang Qing was somewhat worried that there might still be hidden dangers in this cultivation technique, but thinking of the Dao-Generating Pearl, he immediately calmed down: "At worst, after I've mastered it, I can just discard it and completely convert it into Yuan Qi..."

After completing the body-tempering technique, he swallowed a few drops of ginseng green spirit water and began to refine his qi.

Time passed by unnoticed, and night fell.

Fang Qing cultivated for a whole day, only swallowing one Bigu Pill at noon. His only rest time was spent reading various miscellaneous books and pill formulas... and occasionally studying the "Plum Blossom Divination".

"Too weak... I am still too weak right now."

"In order to enjoy this better and for a longer time in the future... I should at least strive to reach the Foundation Establishment stage and obtain a lifespan of three Jiazi (60 years), right?"

As night fell, after transforming his power into the [Ji Shui] magic, he sensed the state of the spring water in the spirit pool before him, nodded, and began refining spirit water once more.

First, there's the Ginseng Green Spirit Water. Now, the success rate can be controlled to around 70-80%, and selling it can make a fortune.

"This water-based alchemy... although it is extremely difficult to get started and one can easily go bankrupt if one is not careful, once you truly master it, you can make a fortune every day... Although Gong Susu's recommendation back then was intended to trick me, I never expected that by some twist of fate... it would actually benefit me."

With Cha Zhu's several visits, Fang Qing roughly understood what Bai Susu was thinking.

I don't quite understand. Even if Cha Zhu advances to Foundation Establishment in the future, will it be a great benefit to Gong Susu and the others?

Could it be... that we can build a foundation first and then guide the subsequent foundation building?

"Forget it, it's none of my business anyway."

Fang Qing casually tossed a jade ginseng into the spirit pool.

With his current cultivation level, when he refines the Ginseng Green Spirit Water, he feels a sense of "unrestrained expression".

A true alchemist, in addition to following the alchemical formulas of his predecessors to refine elixirs, must also learn to adapt to the times and the place.

Especially water-based alchemists!

Each spiritual pool and spring has a different spiritual energy and water properties, so how could they all be the same?

Therefore, subtle adjustments must be made during the alchemy process. This is an experience that no formula can provide, and one must comprehend it through repeated refining!

"After refining this pool of ginseng-infused spiritual water, let's try making the Mind-Concentrating Powder..."

Fang Qing's eyes were deep and mysterious.

……

Four years later.

Dongfuzhong.

Fang Qing sat cross-legged, his body surging with black water magic power, having reached the perfect sixth level of Qi Refining!

He silently circulated the "Commentary on the Waterways Classic," purifying the black water within his body, and faintly sensed a barrier.

It seems like he's only one step away from the late stage of the seventh level of Qi Refining, but he just can't seem to cross that threshold.

"A bottleneck?"

Fang Qing was not surprised by this, nor did he force his way through. Instead, he went with the flow, dissipated his magical power, and slowly finished his practice.

"As someone with average aptitude, and whose cultivation power comes from consuming spiritual water, breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining was fine before, but now facing the bottleneck of the seventh level of Qi Refining, I'm afraid that forcing an attempt will inevitably lead to failure..."

"A mid-grade water spiritual root is still a bit lacking. If it were a high-grade water spiritual root like Cha Zhu's, I might have succeeded in breaking through on my first try..."

The more Fang Qing cultivated, the more he realized the importance of aptitude.

"Now that we've hit a bottleneck, the most reliable thing to do is to take a pill that can help us break through it... However, these kinds of pills that can help us break through to the late stage of Qi Refining are not only expensive, but also very rare... Ordinary disciples definitely can't afford them."

"The second method is to go out and fight, hoping for a lucky break... especially when facing life and death, it's the easiest way to overcome obstacles, but of course, it's also the fastest way to die..."

"The third way is to slowly hone one's magical power and wait for the right time. Some cultivators can do it in a few years or a dozen years, while others are trapped for decades or even their entire lives."

Fang Qing is wealthy and doesn't want to take any risks, so he will definitely consider the first method.

As for the third option? That would be too time-consuming.

"Wait a minute... I've hit a bottleneck with the 'Commentary on the Waterways Classic,' but I haven't with the 'Book of Viewing the Black Tomb'... If I wait until I've cultivated the 'Book of Viewing the Black Tomb' to the sixth level of Qi Absorption, and then convert it all... it might be comparable to half a pill that helps you break through a bottleneck, right?"

Fang Qing thought of a solution and felt much more at ease.

"And there's the Concentration Powder... I've already progressed to the final step of the Core Formation. If I can refine it, it will grant me divine sense at the Qi Refining stage. These mere late-stage hurdles will be a piece of cake!"

He straightened his clothes, got up, went to the alchemy room, and took out a Seven Star Grass.

"In recent years, Ba County has become increasingly chaotic... Li Rulong has truly done something great, making trade between our two worlds increasingly difficult."

Thinking of the chaos in Ba County, Fang Qing couldn't help but sigh.

The more chaotic the cultivation world becomes, the more tribulations there will be!

Although he had been cautious enough on several occasions, he had once inadvertently leaked information and was targeted by a group of cultivators.

If it weren't for the later addition of several high-grade Fire Cloud Talismans and Golden Blade Talismans, as well as the help of the Transformation Pearl, he might have performed a time-travel act on the spot, exposing his great secret.