Chapter 145: Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment, Golden Core Spiritual Sense!

"Phew..."

The difficulty of body refinement lies in the extreme scarcity of heavenly materials and earthly treasures related to it. During the ten years he spent residing in Nanya Immortal City, Shen Lian had only managed to acquire this single portion, and its quality was far from ideal.

Fortunately, this piece of Thousand-Flock Jade Muscle Vine was large enough to elevate his body refinement realm from the lower second tier to the upper second tier.

However, this had also completely exhausted all of his Thousand-Vein Powder. If he wished to continue advancing his body refinement realm, he would need to look elsewhere.

Sensing the strength of his physical body, Shen Lian nodded in satisfaction. At last, he could now proceed to advance to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment with peace of mind.

After ten years of consolidation, his realm had long since reached the peak of the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment. Yet, out of fear that his divine soul might detach itself from his body, he had been forced to silently temper his physical flesh.

As his spiritual sense grew stronger, Shen Lian had also begun to perceive the root of the problem.

He sensed that a barrier existed between his sea of spiritual sense and his physical body.

Compounding this, every breakthrough in spiritual sense intensity brought a massive surge, widening the fissure between his divine soul and his physical body, which was why he constantly felt as though his divine soul wanted to fly out of him.

Over the years, he had collected numerous scattered manuscripts and travelogues in Nanya Immortal City, and had also stumbled upon some records regarding the practice of soul possession.

Monks attempting soul possession had to undergo the trial of heavenly lightning; only after experiencing the baptism of the heavenly tribulation could the possession truly succeed.

There was also another theory: the trial of the heavenly and earthly lightning tribulation was both a test imposed by the rules of heaven and earth upon cultivators, and an opportunity for rebirth.

It helped the cultivator's soul and the newly possessed vessel rapidly fuse into one, enhancing their compatibility.

Given Shen Lian's current horizon, he was rather inclined to agree with this theory.

Emerging from one's own native, original body and entering an entirely new vessel—no matter how compatible the new body supposedly was—should never be a hundred percent perfect.

Yet, according to the laws of his origins, he had transmigrated, not possessed someone.

Besides, he lacked the capability to do so; only Core Formation cultivators possessed the qualification to execute soul possession.

Moreover, even for Core Formation cultivators, attempting soul possession was by no means a simple matter.

If it were easy, why wouldn't the countless Core Formation cultivators facing the end of their lifespans simply resort to soul possession?

If their spiritual roots were subpar, they could simply cultivate to the Core Formation stage and then carefully nurture a disciple to serve as a spare vessel.

Using this method, they might even stand a chance of advancing to the Soul Formation stage.

"Heavenly tribulation, heavenly tribulation."

He softly murmured to himself. The trial imposed by the laws of heaven and earth upon cultivators was simultaneously a calamity and a stroke of fortune.

For Shen Lian himself, the tribulation for advancing to the Core Formation stage was the closest heavenly tribulation to him.

Could this upcoming tribulation manage to strike his divine soul and physical body back into unity?

Unfortunately, regarding the soul possession tribulation, he had only heard rumors; rarely did cultivators who had undergone soul possession reveal themselves and publicize the process they went through.

The Core Formation tribulation and the soul possession tribulation were most likely different.

Shen Lian thrust both hands into his hair bun and gave it a messy scratch.

This problem was far too difficult; he didn't know how to solve it.

In the immortal cultivation world, losing one's physical body allowed one to switch to cultivating as a ghost cultivator, which formed yet another path of immortality for living beings.

However, ghost cultivators faced severe restrictions. Amidst the order of heaven and earth's rules, catastrophic tribulations were already frequent, and turning to ghost cultivation was practically acting in direct defiance of the heavenly rules and order.

If the survival rate of cultivators facing the heavenly tribulation was one in a hundred, then the survival rate for ghost cultivators undergoing tribulation was one in ten thousand.

Any cultivator who still dared to tread this path today possessed immense boldness and resolve.

"When soldiers come, block them with water; when water comes, earth-an embankment. As long as my realm is high enough, the day will eventually come when these mysteries are unraveled."

Exhaling a long breath, Shen Lian suppressed his wandering thoughts.

He walked down to the second floor to personally receive several cultivators who had come to purchase medicinal pills. After a round of business exchanges, he cast off the lingering vexation in his heart.

As evening approached.

Returning once more to the second floor, Shen Lian crossed his legs and circulated his spiritual power for several cycles, bringing his vital energy, essence, and spirit to a state of complete perfection.

Within his dantian, the babbling spiritual power, akin to crystal-lucent liquid mercury, formed rolling waves that beat against the surrounding boundaries.

It was time to advance to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

In ten years, going from the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment to the ninth layer—such a speed of cultivation could hardly be described as anything other than rapid.

For other cultivators within the Foundation Establishment stage, the higher the minor realm, the longer the required cultivation time.

Yet, ever since stepping into the Foundation Establishment stage, Shen Lian had averaged only three to four years for each minor realm.

Had he not been constantly traveling about and gathering spiritual herbs, this timeline could undoubtedly have been shortened even further.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on him: he was already nearly seventy years old.

When he first transmigrated, his original body was in his thirties. At the time, figuring he had entered the realm of immortality where lifespan was of little concern, he had never paid attention to his age.

Cough, cough... Primarily, since Shen Lian was living his second life, he could no longer keep track of how old he truly was.

Advancing to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment at just over seventy years of age placed him among the top-tier inner sect cultivators even within a Nascent Soul sect, making him someone the elders would fiercely compete to take as a disciple.

Before reaching the age of one hundred, he would be able to forge his golden core.

Once his core was formed, he would be treated as a prospective Nascent Soul seed of the sect, meaning he would have effectively placed one foot into the position of a sect patriarch.

Unfortunately, he possessed five spiritual roots...

...

On the second floor of the elixir shop.

Shen Lian circulated his Five Elements spiritual power over and over again, rapidly mobilizing the spiritual energy throughout his entire body.

Rushing forth from his meridians, the spiritual power transformed into a roaring dragon that charged straight into the ocean of his dantian in a single breath.

Under the scouring impact of the spiritual power, the bottleneck of the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment shattered as easily as a paper window.

Billowing spiritual power poured into the newly expanded dantian sea, consolidating the newly opened boundaries.

Following the completion of the breakthrough and advancement, Shen Lian did not immediately halt his cultivation.

With practiced efficiency, he swallowed two medicinal pills. The pills dissolved within his body into a rich medicinal potency that surged into his meridians, beginning to transform into his own spiritual power.

This replenished the areas of the dantian that had expanded during the recent advancement.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month passed.

The spiritual power within his dantian was restored to about one-third of its capacity; to completely fill the dantian hereafter would require gradual, step-by-step cultivation.

"Phew..."

The Five Elements spiritual power washed over his entire body in a complete circle, burning away the speck-like white impurities that had seeped out through his skin until nothing remained.

"Hum."

Not long after, once the spiritual power within Shen Lian's body had stabilized, waves of bizarre fluctuations began to emanate from between his flesh and blood and within his five viscera.

wisps of profound aura carrying a tingling sensation converged toward his sea of spiritual sense.

Upon advancing to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, the enhancement of his spiritual sense arrived as expected.

Previously, at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, his spiritual sense intensity was two thousand five hundred and twenty zhang.

At the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, two thousand nine hundred and sixty zhang.

At the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment, three thousand three hundred and ninety zhang.

At this moment, ripples stirred once more within the sea of spiritual sense, as wisps of transparent soul force intertwined and outlined shapes above the spiritual sense sea.

Vaguely, this soul force outlined the shape of an illusory, translucent divine soul figure.

The figure was devoid of clothing and shared Shen Lian's appearance.

This figure had only appeared when he advanced to the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment, back when his spiritual sense exceeded three thousand zhang.

When it first appeared, it had vanished like a flash in the pan, failing to truly manifest.

Three thousand four hundred zhang... Three thousand five hundred zhang... Three thousand six hundred zhang... Three thousand seven hundred zhang...

When his spiritual sense reached three thousand eight hundred and sixty zhang, the tingling sensation within Shen Lian's body finally ceased, slowly fading away.

A spiritual sense of three thousand eight hundred and sixty zhang—equivalent to two and a half True Person Qian Shi.

Inside the sea of spiritual sense.

The illusory divine soul figure sat cross-legged atop the sea of spiritual sense, surrounded by wisps of spiritual sense.

Back when the divine soul figure first flickered into existence, Shen Lian had suspected that the spiritual sense of a Core Formation True Person might be around three thousand zhang.

However, at that time, the divine soul figure had merely been a mirage, failing to fully materialize altogether.

Only now had the divine soul figure truly condensed out of the sea of spiritual sense, though it still remained as illusory as mist.

This perhaps indicated that upon breaking through to the Core Formation stage, a normal cultivator's spiritual sense lay somewhere between three thousand and four thousand zhang.

To put it more broadly, it was roughly equivalent to two to three True Person Qian Shi.

This conflicted somewhat with the external rumors claiming that the strength of a false-core True Person was at least half that of a genuine Core Formation True Person.

Yet, upon reflection, this was entirely normal; those who circulated such rumors were merely Foundation Establishment or Qi Condensation cultivators, whereas those who genuinely stepped into this realm understood the reality of the situation firsthand.

False-core cultivators would not speak of it, and Core Formation cultivators would only impart the truths of cultivation to those closest to them.

In this day and age, relying on others is never as good as relying on oneself.

A spiritual sense of three thousand eight hundred and sixty zhang!

He was fully capable of masquerading as a high-and-mighty Core Formation expert.

The *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique* slowly circulated within his body, and a jade slip detailing the technique materialized in Shen Lian's hand.

This Five Elements cultivation method, acquired from the hands of the refining-true old demon, could only be cultivated up to the early stage of Core Formation.

In other words, once he advanced to the Core Formation stage, he would either need to seek out a brand-new cultivation method or find the subsequent chapters of the *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique*.

Back then, after undergoing soul possession, the old demon had cultivated the *Five Viscera Refining True Demonic Art*, which was likewise a cultivation method centered around converging the five elements.

This presented a rather interesting phenomenon: both demonic arts and orthodox techniques were unexpectedly pursuing the five elements.

The old demon practiced the *Five Viscera Refining True Demonic Art*, yet he had kept several orthodox Five Elements cultivation methods in reserve. Pondering over this, there could only be one explanation.

The old demon had intended to draw inspiration from them.

The *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique* was indeed an exceptional Five Elements cultivation method, possessing the capability to enhance the probability of successful Foundation Establishment and core formation.

However, this method had one flaw: it lacked matching cultivation spells.

Yet, among the *Five Elements Daoist Precepts* acquired from Pei Huoyu, there were several subordinate, matching spells.

The Five Elements Interdiction and the Five Elements Serpent both belonged to the spells contained within the *Five Elements Daoist Precepts*.

Both being Five Elements spells, one technique came with matching spells while the other did not.

Shen Lian had carefully studied the *Five Elements Daoist Precepts* and discovered that his *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique* was by no means inferior to the Daoist Precepts.

Furthermore, there were numerous similarities between the two cultivation methods.

The *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique* could condense the Five Qi of Origin, while the *Five Elements Daoist Precepts* could likewise condense Five Elements Dao Seeds.

To this end, Shen Lian had even reviewed other Five Elements techniques in his possession, including the old demon's *Five Viscera Refining True Demonic Art*.

Interestingly, the *Five Viscera Refining True Demonic Art* practiced by the old demon could condense Five Elements True Blood at the Foundation Establishment level.

Among the remaining few Five Elements techniques, all contained similar references to the 'Five Elements'.

These Five Elements techniques most likely stemmed from the same origin.

Through prolonged transmission and evolution, they had branched out into a vast number of diverse Five Elements methods.

To Shen Lian, this situation was also completely normal; cultivation methods did not appear out of thin air and must have had a single source.

Later generations had inherited and carried them forward bit by bit, continuously pioneering and innovating to spawn various branches.

On the contrary, this phenomenon would grant him great convenience when searching for subsequent cultivation methods in the future.

As for his ability to practice the spells contained within the *Five Elements Daoist Precepts*, it was no big deal.

In the immortal cultivation world, standalone spells of various attributes were countless. Aside from certain secret techniques that required matching cultivation methods, the vast majority of cultivation spells did not strictly demand a paired technique.

It was likely that the *Five Qi Leading Origin Technique* was not entirely devoid of matching spells; the most probable explanation was simply that the original Refining-True Patriarch had failed to collect them in their entirety.

"Could this thing have originated from the Five Elements Immortal Palace?"

A glimmer flashed in Shen Lian's eyes. Regarding this ancient immortal palace that had suddenly surfaced in the immortal cultivation world, he truly held no great curiosity.

Having completed his advancement and tidied up, he quietly slipped out of Nanya Immortal City and appeared within a secluded immortal cave deep in the inland mountains.

Over the past ten years, he had constructed four external immortal caves on the islands outside Nanya Immortal City and within the inland mountain ranges.

"Master, the little ones reported that no flying cultivators have appeared nearby recently."

Not long after being sent out, Big Black came scampering back. Having advanced to the second tier, its degree of control over the ant colony had expanded significantly.

Shen Lian inspected the interior and exterior of the immortal cave, as well as the minor restrictions he had previously left scattered throughout the mountains; as expected, none of them had been triggered.

Primarily, this stretch of wilderness was far too barren, with spiritual energy as thin as a wisp of smoke. Any cultivator with even the slightest bit of ambition would find it impossible to remain here.

Methodically feeding the Myriad Poison Ants to nurture their ferocity and loosening Big Black's joints, he began sorting through the various spells he had practiced previously.

As his sole soul-attack spell for the time being, the Soul-Detention Seal would have to continue seeing use until a suitable replacement was found.

On the other hand, he had used the Blood-Refining Soul-Deriving Secret Art—the technique for boosting spiritual sense—less and less. As his realm grew increasingly higher, the effects of this soul technique were also diminishing.

Shen Lian surmised that this technique was likely incomplete and that subsequent chapters should exist, as the version acquired by the Refining-True Old Demon back then had been flawed.

Unwittingly, as he sat cross-legged within the immortal cave, he slipped into deep meditation, continuously deepening his experiential understanding of spellcasting within his sea of spiritual sense.

[Calm and composed, epiphany points +1]

[Calm and composed, epiphany points +1]

[... Divine epiphany points +1]

...

[Mind untethered by external things, divine epiphany points +1]

Inside the immortal cave, Shen Lian fell into a state of sudden enlightenment, and the aura surrounding him grew correspondingly serene.

[Mind untethered by external things, divine epiphany points +1]

Within his sea of spiritual sense, his comprehension of the Five Elements spells achieved a sense of profound clarity.

The incantations for executing spells grew increasingly effortless and compliant with his will.

Even simple executions of identical spells began to manifest all sorts of variations; clearly belonging to the Five Elements, they could now freely transform into various spiritual energy auras.

In some dim, indistinct way, Shen Lian felt that spellcasting ought to look just like this—it should never be mechanically rigid or strictly by the book.

[Mind untethered by external things, divine epiphany points +1]

The instant the ninth prompt for divine epiphany points sounded, Shen Lian snapped out of his trance and his vision refocused on the immortal cave before him.

This time, it was another nine divine epiphany points.

Closing his eyes once more, he reviewed the profound mysteries he had grasped in that state of trance, ensuring they had thoroughly converted into his own personal assets.

"Phew..."

Rising from the meditation mat, he exhaled a long breath and gave a comfortable stretch.

Ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Core Formation spiritual sense.

Accumulated over ten years, the gains he had reaped extended far beyond these alone.

As his eyelids opened and closed, a brilliant light flashed within his gaze.

[Shen Lian: Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment]

[Five Elements Spiritual Roots: Fire 100, Earth 100, Gold 31, Wood 31, Water 31]

[Divine Powers: Heavenly Derived Fire Domain, Heavenly Derived Earth Domain]

[Spiritual Sense: Three thousand eight hundred and sixty zhang]

——Expand——

[Epiphany Points: 121,478]

[Divine Epiphany Points: 144]

(End of this chapter)