mtlumby2d Chapter 45 The Inside Story
Chapter 45 The Inside Story
There are also many cave dwellings on Zhongnan Mountain, which are much larger and more magnificent than those of ordinary inner disciples. They are specifically for use by those in the Quanzhen School who have strong cultivation or have made outstanding contributions.
The Ice Lotus Fairy's cave is located on the mountainside of Zhongnan Mountain. From here, one can overlook the entire Quanzhen Sect. Surrounded by continuous mountains, with numerous halls and pavilions, and behind the mountain lies a vast medicinal garden and the tombs of the Quanzhen Sect's patriarchs. All of these elements combine to form this powerful sect with a history spanning thousands of years.
Ice Lotus Fairy would often stand in front of her cave entrance, gazing at the scenery of the Quanzhen Sect, sometimes with a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.
But the spoils she had just gained from killing that burly disciple made her eager to go inside and check them out.
After closing the cave entrance, the Ice Lotus Fairy used her spiritual power to ignite the lamps on the stone wall. She slowly drew her sword, and a cold smile appeared on her lips as she looked at the ethereal blue halo gathered on it.
In the battle just now, she used a secret technique that allowed her to absorb the spiritual energy of her opponent by penetrating their dantian and accumulating it in her own weapon.
This was the third cultivator she had killed since arriving at the Quanzhen Sect, and the spiritual energy she obtained this time was clearly much purer than the previous two. The cultivation of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator was indeed powerful.
Ice Lotus Fairy had only been at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage for a month, but she continuously consumed various pills to stabilize her cultivation and withstand the ever-increasing spiritual power.
Under normal circumstances, if one were to progress from the early stage of the Golden Core realm to the peak of the Golden Core realm in just six months, one would inevitably suffer the backlash pain caused by unstable cultivation.
But the Ice Lotus Fairy is not only a cultivator, she is also a fifth-level alchemist, and can use her own strength to refine all kinds of pills she needs.
This time was no exception. Before absorbing the spiritual energy contained in the sword blade, she first needed to meditate to stabilize her blood and qi and recover the spiritual energy lost after the fierce battle. This process lasted for a whole day.
He then took out a fifth-grade pill from his storage bag, swallowed it in one gulp, and continued to circulate his cultivation to clear his meridians and fully release the medicinal effects.
After a day and a night of preparations, the Ice Lotus Fairy began to absorb the spiritual energy from the strong man's disciple on her sword.
She sat cross-legged, the sword resting horizontally on her thigh. Her spiritual root began to circulate rapidly. As the golden core in her abdomen absorbed the energy, powerful forces were continuously transported into her golden core through her meridians.
After a cultivator advances from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Golden Core stage, a golden inner core will condense on their Foundation Establishment platform, similar to the demon core of a demon beast. This is proof that the cultivator's strength has further improved.
Both the Golden Core and the Foundation Establishment Platform reside within the Dantian. If a cultivator's Dantian is shattered, then both the Foundation Establishment Platform and the Golden Core will collapse and dissipate.
However, as a cultivator's strength increases, even without deliberately refining their body, the toughness of their body will also increase, and the resilience of their dantian will become stronger as the foundation platform inside becomes more stable and the golden core is formed.
When a cultivator advances from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage, their dantian undergoes another transformation. The Golden Core, now brimming with essence, is ready to take form, and external forces are needed to facilitate this process.
The immense spiritual energy absorbed by the Ice Lotus Fairy was this external force. After entering her dantian, it flowed along the foundation-building platform and merged into the golden core, beginning its further transformation. The golden core was like an egg about to hatch, slowly forming the shape of an infant from within.
This process is not slow, but it is extremely painful. Cultivators need strong and unwavering endurance to withstand it all. Once they survive the transformation period and their nascent soul is formed, everything will be fine.
However, what the Ice Lotus Fairy pursued was not the ordinary Nascent Soul stage, because among the secret techniques she had learned, there was a series of special secret techniques for breakthroughs in cultivation.
Like Foundation Establishment and Golden Core, Nascent Soul is divided into various minor realms. Foundation Establishment is divided into Flawless Foundation Establishment and Perfect Foundation Establishment, while Golden Core is divided into Ordinary Golden Core and Profound Purple Core.
There are also different levels of Nascent Souls: the ordinary Nascent Soul and the Ghostly Nascent Soul, which is born from her secret technique.
A breakthrough requires the souls of a hundred cultivators as sacrifices, all of which are absorbed by the nascent soul in their dantian that is taking shape, thus undergoing further transformation and becoming a more powerful ghost nascent soul than an ordinary nascent soul.
The spiritual energy within a cultivator who has cultivated this nascent soul will be completely altered, transforming from normal spiritual energy of heaven and earth into a substance called "black energy".
Cultivators can freely switch between spiritual energy and dark energy, but their origin has changed after all. The spiritual energy they unleash will also carry the oppressive, dark, and malevolent aura of dark energy.
The Ice Lotus Fairy was in a similar situation. When she entered the Golden Core stage, she failed to transform her Golden Core into a Profound Purple Core, so she had to make up for it in the Nascent Soul stage.
Before she arrived at the Quanzhen Sect, she had already killed dozens of cultivators, the lowest of whom were in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The souls she had accumulated were numerous and of high quality.
The three Golden Core stage souls she obtained from the martial arts contests held by the Quanzhen Sect were like wings to a tiger, successfully bringing her soul reserves to one hundred, enough for her to refine a Netherworld Nascent Soul.
The wronged souls imprisoned by the Ice Lotus Fairy had just been released and hadn't even had a chance to escape when they were absorbed into her dantian and used as nourishment for her nascent soul.
At this moment, the Ice Lotus Fairy was drenched in sweat, her veins bulging, and her meridians were stretched open, as if they were about to be torn apart at any moment. This made her endure the extreme pain brought about by the transformation of her nascent soul.
But compared to becoming stronger, these were just stepping stones on the road. With her almost insane will, she still managed to survive this tribulation.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire cave became murky, and the potted plants and trees placed on both sides of the stone wall were also infected and quickly withered and died.
The spiritual energy emanating from the Ice Lotus Fairy was no longer the pure and immaculate ice blue, but a mysterious and eerie purplish-black.
"Finally... Hmph..." Fairy Ice Lotus wiped the sweat from her forehead, her beautiful blue eyes now faintly containing a purplish-black light.
She successfully broke through to the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm and refined the Ghostly Nascent Soul. Her combat power was far beyond that of the early Nascent Soul realm. Because the black energy would pollute the spiritual energy, all her killing moves included the ability to devour the opponent's spiritual energy. At this time, her combat power was comparable to that of the late Nascent Soul realm, and she no longer needed to rely on martial arts contests to acquire cultivation and souls. She could proceed with the next step of her plan.
The Ice Lotus Fairy emerged from her cave, took a step, and flew up, transforming into a long rainbow as she headed towards the Quanzhen Sect Elders' Pavilion.
Inside the Elders' Pavilion, in the spacious hall, only the First Elder, Ren Tianxiong, sat upright in a wooden chair; the other elders were all busy with something.
However, her purpose in coming here was not to advance to the Nascent Soul stage and apply to become an elder, but to seek an audience with the sect leader of Quanzhen Dao.
The sect leader only appears at the weekly meetings of the elders' council. He is rarely seen on other days. Only the Grand Elder knows the sect leader's whereabouts, and it is very difficult for others to see him.
Ice Lotus Fairy stepped forward, cupped her hands slightly in greeting, and said, "Greetings, Grand Elder."
Ren Tianxiong nodded, slowly put down his teacup, and looked up at Fairy Binglian. He knew that this woman was highly valued by the sect leader and needed to be treated seriously.
"Holy Maiden, it is already night. What brings you to me in such a hurry?"
Without wasting time on pleasantries, Fairy Ice Lotus went straight to the point and asked, "I wish to see the Sect Master. Is he available at the moment?"
Upon hearing that he wanted to see the sect leader, Ren Tianxiong frowned slightly, but considering the sect leader's special status, he did not press the matter further. He gave a soft "hmm" and then led Fairy Ice Lotus toward the top floor of the Elders' Pavilion.
The Elders' Pavilion has nine floors. The first eight floors are for the elders and deacons to live in, while the ninth floor is reserved for the sect leader alone.
Since flying was forbidden inside the Elders' Pavilion, the two could only slowly ascend the stairs.
Upon arriving at the ninth floor, a familiar oppressive aura descended, but upon sensing Ren Tianxiong's presence, the aura dissipated quietly. This was because Ren Tianxiong would not normally come to disturb them, and his arrival must have been for a meeting, so they allowed him to pass without hindrance.
Bringing the Ice Lotus Fairy to the sect leader's door, Ren Tianxiong knocked three times before bowing and saying, "Elder Ren Tianxiong has important business to discuss with the sect leader."
"Come in." The door slowly opened, and a man's voice came out.
Without hesitation, Ren Tianxiong stepped back, while Fairy Binglian stepped forward and said, "This disciple requests an audience with the Sect Master, as I have important matters to report."
Seeing this, Ren Tianxiong wisely closed the door and left the ninth floor alone. Although he was quite annoyed with the current sect leader, he ultimately had to consider the overall situation of the Quanzhen Sect, and all was well, which was the greatest fortune.
The sect leader was not old, appearing to be a young man in his early twenties. He was sitting cross-legged on a futon, with several incense burners around him, constantly emitting white smoke that filled the entire room.
"Your cultivation has actually broken through to the Nascent Soul stage? That's quite impressive." The Quanzhen Sect Master raised an eyebrow and smiled, beckoning Ice Lotus Fairy to come over.
Ice Lotus Fairy nodded slightly, walked to the sect leader's side and sat down, leaning naturally against him, and asked in a low voice, "How is it? How is your practice of the secret technique I taught you?"
Upon hearing this, the sect leader of Quanzhen Sect smiled even more broadly, raised his hand to stroke the Ice Lotus Fairy's hair, and murmured, "The Northern Plains Demon Arts are indeed well-deserved of their reputation. Now my cultivation has entered the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Compared to those old fogies, I am not much inferior."
The Ice Lotus Fairy continued, "Don't be arrogant, always stay vigilant. There was a lot of luck involved in seizing power back then. Compared to the factional struggles in the mortal world, your approach was still too reckless."
The sect leader nodded in agreement with a hint of impatience. He was actually quite wary of his past actions, but fortunately, he had secretly eliminated all those who had opposed his succession as sect leader. Now, he only needed to avoid making any mistakes to secure his position as sect leader.
"Stop reminding me of these things all the time. When will you do something with me that we should do?" The sect leader's lecherous hand slid down the Ice Lotus Fairy's arm to her chest, then went deeper, grabbing that soft mound, his face revealing undisguised greed and desire.
Ice Lotus Fairy frowned slightly, grabbed the sect leader's hand that had already reached his lower abdomen, and placed it back in front of his chest. She said in a deep voice, "Before I reach the Nascent Soul stage, you must remain a virgin. You will be rewarded then."
He'd said this countless times, and the sect leader was used to it. He casually said while playing with the object in his hand, "I know. You'll have plenty of cultivation resources. You can continue holding that martial arts contest to find a husband, no one will bother you."