"This matter is settled. Let's meet again in the future," said Qingci as he prepared to leave and digest the gains from their expedition.
This time, the treasures they acquired were worth eight to nine million spirit stones. Even after splitting them equally, it was enough for them to cultivate to the False Golden Core stage. Whether they could break through to the Golden Core stage would depend on their future opportunities and fortune.
As the trio departed, Elian carefully collected the remains of Senior Lin Daoyang, then turned and flew back into the Flame Abyss.
The Flame Abyss spanned a million miles, its environment so treacherous that even Foundation Establishment cultivators found it hard to enter. However, as long as Elian avoided penetrating more than 300,000 miles into its depths, it served as a relatively safe haven for him.
After flying approximately 100,000 miles into the Flame Abyss, Elian located a mountain peak where he settled down to inventory his spoils.
Upon opening the storage pouch, he meticulously examined its contents. He discovered dozens of ancient texts categorized into three types: cultivation methods, divine abilities, and a collection of miscellaneous yet valuable manuscripts.
This was one of the reasons he accepted the oath.
Among the cultivation methods, there were a total of seventeen books covering the five elements and even a few unique spiritual root techniques.
Most of these methods could be cultivated to the ninth level of the Golden Core stage, clearly prepared by the Azure Void Sect as a robust legacy before its demise.
The collection ensured that any practitioner could cultivate up to the Nascent Soul stage without needing to worry about switching cultivation techniques.
Moreover, many of these techniques came with one or two divine abilities and even instructions for crafting life-bound treasures, making them extraordinarily comprehensive.
This was the advantage of a great sect's legacy. Many cultivators in this world frequently switched techniques, but transitioning to a different method at higher cultivation stages became increasingly difficult.
For instance, Elian practiced the Solar Flame Sutra, and his spiritual energy and true essence were refined through years of practicing this technique. Switching to a different method would require first converting his accumulated spiritual energy.
Switching methods before reaching the Golden Core stage was manageable—it mainly involved converting spiritual energy. However, after forming a Golden Core, the core's attributes became intertwined with the practitioner's cultivation technique.
A Golden Core cultivator who wanted to transition to a superior method might need to spend a full sixty-year cycle just to transform their core.
Switching to a method with a different elemental attribute, like transitioning from fire to earth, would require even more effort—first purging all fire-attributed spiritual energy, neutralizing the Golden Core's attributes, and then cultivating the new method, a process that could take 180 years or more.
With these methods in hand, the Chen family cultivators would no longer need to repeatedly switch cultivation methods, allowing them to avoid unnecessary detours in their progression.
For Elian himself, these techniques would greatly enrich his knowledge and empower him to develop more advanced methods.
After reviewing the Golden Core methods, Elian already began contemplating creating new techniques.
Years ago, he had spent three years refining the Sovereign Earth Scripture to the ninth level of the Purple Mansion stage. With an additional ten years, he believed he could refine techniques for three other elemental attributes to the same level.
However, for now, he was in no rush. His attention shifted to the most significant manuscript of the collection—the Oceanic Tome, a Nascent Soul-level technique.
Elian studied it for a while, and for the first time, his calm demeanor showed signs of excitement. The Oceanic Tome, also known as the Ancient Oceanic Scroll, was created by the founding ancestor of the Azure Void Sect. It enabled cultivation to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage and was a rare, high-quality Nascent Soul-level technique.
This tome detailed every stage of cultivation from the Foundation Establishment stage to the late Nascent Soul stage, offering insights and secrets that significantly expanded Elian's understanding of cultivation.
Cultivating the Oceanic Tome would allow a practitioner's spiritual energy to become as vast as the sea, exceptionally powerful and abundant.
Additionally, the tome included four divine abilities and instructions for crafting a life-bound treasure of unparalleled quality.
Elian was particularly astonished by the mention of life-bound spiritual treasures, something he had never encountered before.
He learned from the tome that life-bound treasures varied in grade, classified as life-bound artifacts, life-bound spiritual treasures, and the legendary life-bound supreme treasures.
According to the tome, while life-bound artifacts were powerful, they had inherent limitations. To evolve into a weapon capable of facing demonic calamities, a life-bound artifact had to be refined into a life-bound spiritual treasure.
Failing to do so meant that even if the practitioner reached the Nascent Soul stage, the artifact's foundation would be insufficient. Its formations and material composition would ultimately fail under the tribulation required to ascend to greater stages.
To create a Pure Yang Supreme Treasure, a practitioner would need to refine their life-bound spiritual treasure to the level of a life-bound supreme treasure.
The Oceanic Scroll Painting, a treasure described in the tome, was one such life-bound spiritual treasure.
"The Oceanic Scroll Painting," Elian murmured, his eyes narrowing as his heart stirred with excitement.
The crafting method for the Oceanic Scroll Painting was so valuable that even Nascent Soul elders would covet it. Elian carefully stored the tome, knowing its value as a family heirloom or a personal resource for advancing his techniques.
He realized that this treasure might one day help him refine his life-bound spiritual treasures into weapons capable of withstanding tribulations, paving the way for his ascension.
Next, Elian turned his attention to the divine abilities.
There were only two, but their value was immeasurable.
Cultivation methods often included divine abilities, but Lin Daoyang had deliberately preserved these separately, emphasizing their importance.
The first was the Shadow Splitting Sword Manifestation, and the second was the Nirvana Tribulation Technique
The Shadow Splitting Sword Manifestation was an unparalleled offensive technique, allowing the practitioner to split millions of sword intents to sweep through the heavens.
Legends spoke of an invincible Dao Lord who used this technique to annihilate a realm spanning tens of thousands of miles, eradicating billions of fiends with a single strike.
However, cultivating this technique required exceptional conditions, including a fifth-grade demonic-refinement sword to begin practice.
The second divine ability, Nirvana Tribulation Technique, was even more extraordinary. Exclusively for Nascent Soul cultivators, it was a method of extending life and evading calamities, granting the practitioner the ability to be reborn in another life. (This is not a flag .-. )
Such a profound technique left Elian in awe, further affirming the immeasurable value of Lin Daoyang's inheritance.
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D