Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 604 - 599: Covert Cultivation - Part 1

Chapter 604: Chapter 599: Covert Cultivation - Part 1

The sky outside the window had already turned to dusk.

His meditation had, unexpectedly, consumed several hours.

Unbeknownst to when, two people had already arrived at the door.

One was a gentle and elegant young man who seemed to have a good temper, emanating a very stable aura and standing at the pinnacle of the Human Immortal Realm, giving off a flawless and rounded impression.

The other was a young girl, pretty and looking quite youthful, dressed in a black bodice dress. Her legs were wrapped in long white stockings, and her shoulder-length hair spilled over, with her small mouth habitually biting her lower lip, exuding a stubborn and proud demeanor.

"They are the two core disciples of Elder Green Mountain."

The man in front of Lin Xin whispered to a friend beside him. They thought their whispered transmission was covert, but Lin Xin’s control over spiritual energy far exceeded theirs, and being so close, he instantly caught the content of their conversation.

"I know that man, Huan Ping, a Taoist, perfection in the Human Immortal Realm, and having Fifth Level Spirit Veins. As a disciple of Elder Green Mountain, he just about passes the mark.

But where did that little girl spring from?"

"That’s Qiao Yu, the daughter of a fallen disciple of Elder Green Mountain. It’s said she merged her own father’s Divine Soul into herself, forcibly raising her to the peak of Human Immortal. Heh, if not for her dad, her own aptitude wouldn’t even qualify as third level Spirit Veins."

"Divine Soul, huh... Isn’t that something only those at the peak of Human Immortal can condense?"

"Exactly! That’s why it’s a waste. A forcibly enhanced perfection in Human Immortal can only exert half its power, and is merely a pseudo-immortal. Originally, it was rumored that Elder Green Mountain spent half his fortune and gathered countless heavenly and earthly treasures just to help her withstand the heavy pressure of the Divine Soul."

"True waste. If the Divine Soul had been crafted into a Taoist weapon, it might have produced another expert at the Human Immortal perfection. Instead, it’s all restricted here and there."

"She’s just an ignorant little girl after all."

"True that."

These purebloods were ultimately just youngsters in their twenties, vibrant and not quite composed, directly discussing others in plain sight.

Lin Xin also narrowed his eyes, glancing towards the girl.

This was the first time he learned that such a thing as a Divine Soul existed, capable of breaking balance and directly becoming a Human Immortal.

But this had nothing to do with him; his purpose here was to become a disciple of Green Lake Mountain, and with the Basic Techniques, he could continuously improve, then become a core disciple and gain guidance towards a higher Dao path.

Refocusing his gaze, Lin Xin once again pondered upon the Green Yuan Decree he had just acquired.

He could faintly hear the two individuals asking about something and talking with several disciples in the lecture hall.

But he paid them no mind.

This was his first encounter with such a profound and grand Taoist Decree.

The Green Yuan Decree was entirely different from any Decrees he had encountered before. Even at the ordinary level of Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment, its depth and complexity far surpassed any Decree Lin Xin had previously known.

Moreover, this Decree wasn’t as he had imagined, where just perceptiveness was required, but it necessitated the continuous gathering of nine specific types of Elemental Energy, their special arrangement and combination to form a cauldron and then forge a trace of Innate Green Spirit.

And the goal of the Green Yuan Decree was to accumulate this Innate Green Spirit.

Simultaneously controlling nine different Elemental Energies to form a cauldron, he had to persist for a long time to use the mind fire to forge the Innate Green Spirit.

The difficulty and complexity involved in this process, just in the stage of Qi Cultivation alone, made Lin Xin feel as though it was more challenging than any Decree he had previously encountered.

"It seems that forming the Nine Qi Cauldron is fundamentally the basis of cultivation. Each session of cultivation requires recontrolling the Nine Qi to form the cauldron.

The sophistication of the cauldron also determines how pure and fast the Innate Green Spirit can be collected."

Lin Xin opened his eyes, already having a slight strategy in mind.

Unlike others, his ability to manifest skills allowed him to perfectly memorize the process after succeeding once, and then replicate it effortlessly. So, the most challenging aspect, the Star Cauldron, was actually the easiest part for him.

Therefore, the primary goal was to form the best cauldron possible.

With a plan set in his mind,

Lin Xin swiftly got up and headed for the lecture hall’s entrance.

He planned to first go back and try out the Decree he had acquired, during which even images and scenes of the teachings had transmitted into his mind.

Everything was nearly perfect, except for his own efforts.

By then, Elder Green Mountain’s two disciples had already left.

A few individuals were sparsely standing at the door chatting, and Lin Xin passed through them. His vision briefly blurred as he instantly arrived at the first layer.

Following the crowd, he walked toward the tower door.

Bang.

Suddenly, a young girl in a green robe bumped into him.

"Sorry, sorry!"

The girl quickly bowed and apologized in haste.

Lin Xin was slightly surprised.

He was a Human Immortal, and the other party also didn’t seem like someone without any Cultivation Practice, so how had there been no prior sense to avoid the collision?

Before he could speak, the other party lowered her head and quickly ran off.

Suddenly, Lin Xin’s expression shifted; he raised his right hand, and in it was an unexpectedly small piece of hard material, seemingly a Jade Talisman.

"When did this...?"

Lin Xin’s heart chilled slightly, vaguely sensing a familiar energy from the object in his hand.

Without attracting attention, he strode out of the tower door.

To the right, there was a stone monument just like the city gate.

He walked straight to it and threw two Spirit Jades into the stone mouth.

"Pasture of the Divine," he murmured softly.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he directly appeared on the slope where he resided. Not far ahead, the second row of stone houses, was his dwelling.

He quickly returned to his stone house.

There was a strong, set-up formation here, designed to automatically shield all internal auras and images completely.

Together with his own designed formation for concealment, unless a top-tier expert examined it, there was no need to worry about any privacy leaks.

Once he closed the room’s door, the white cubic stone house instantly lit up, with the walls, floor, and ceiling all simultaneously flashing with white patterns.

A translucent white rune hovered in the midair of the stone house, gently undulating up and down.

Only after seeing this rune did Lin Xin finally relax a bit.

Lifting his right hand, there, startlingly, was a black triangular jade talisman.

From it continuously emerged a very secretive aura from Xia.

He hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to release his spirit and touch the Jade Talisman.

Ding.

A crisp and clear sound followed.

A voice emanated from the jade talisman.

"This is a one-time space Talisman, it will automatically destroy itself once opened. You had better listen carefully to what follows."

Xia’s voice came from within.

"Do not think that entering Green Lake Mountain means you are safe; those from the Chrysalis have already set their sights on you. Moreover, the difficulty of the Green Yuan Decision is immense. Although I have a certain amount of confidence in you, I do not want to waste too much time. Inside here is a Phantom God Leaf that I personally refined, recording all the detailed insights of the Green Yuan Decision from its basic parts up to the Golden Core Stage, including tricks and cultivation methods.

Swallow it directly, and you will receive an opportunity for an unconditional breakthrough, naturally, only below the Yuan Jing.

Make full use of it, for it is yours now."

Huh...

The black jade talisman in his hand instantly turned into a jade green leaf with black patterns.

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes, a cold smile appearing on his face.

Just by looking at the leaf, he could feel his body’s instincts trembling constantly, wanting to avoid it.

His evasion, high at over eight thousand, was extremely sensitive to all threats and harm.

This was not something the Chanting Star Clan could possess, and even in legends, only certain Divine Beasts had such premonitions.

With a thought, he stored the leaf.

A miniature spatial formation was attached to the white belt of his Green Robe, capable of holding a few items—this was a perk of wearing this Green Robe Cultivator’s robe.

He directly stored the leaf into that small space, letting it be.

Then he sat down cross-legged and started to carefully try out the Green Yuan Decision.

"First step, determine the position. Second step, collect Nine Qi..."

Lin Xin began to sense carefully according to the decree.

Nine Qi: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Light, Darkness, Righteous, and Demonic.

The first five Qi were always present in the air. The last four were different.

Light Qi could only be collected at dawn when the sun was rising to ensure purity.

Dark Qi, however, could only be collected at the deepest part of midnight.

Righteous Qi was only possessed by scholars whose deeds and hearts were righteous, while Demonic Qi was a collective of desires and evil thoughts.

Lin Xin, having often practiced collecting the Five Qi in the Underworld, faced a significant increase in difficulty here due to the extremely violent Heaven and Earth’s Elemental Energy.

But because his realm was extremely high, corresponding to a Human Immortal Realm expert, unlike those who had the power level without the realm.

Thus, this hinderance was not much difficult for him.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, these five Elemental Energy were collected into his Dantian within half an hour.

As for Light and Dark Qi, they could not yet be collected due to the need for specific times.

As for Righteous and Demonic Qi, while Demonic Qi was fine since he was originally a Demon Path cultivator, with desires and evil thoughts turning into Demonic Qi being instinctive,

the only issue was this Righteous Qi...

In the days that followed, Lin Xin, like other returning Core Disciples, stayed indoors without exiting, squatting in the stone house, deeply pondering.

He continuously tried to cultivate Righteous Qi, reading various books on abundant Righteous Qi collected by several servants.

Gradually, he began to grasp the trick.

Righteous Qi and Demonic Qi were actually both powers of the mind.

Just that they were opposites; one represented a positive will while the other represented negative desires.

In the doctrine of instantly attaining Buddhahood upon abandoning the butcher’s knife, given Lin Xin’s cultivation in the Demon Path, switching to cultivating Righteous Qi turned out to be highly efficient as well.

Gradually, he also found the knack for collecting Righteous Qi, akin to self-hypnosis, gradually firming up positive thoughts, with Righteous Qi flourishing robustly.

The collection of Nine Qi also began properly.

Day by day, he was constantly cultivating and then refining the Qi, condensing it to a liquid-like concentration.

With the high density of Elemental Energy here, given his strong efficiency, after more than ten days of cultivation, he finally condensed the first drop of Nine Qi Essence.

Huh...

He took a long breath and carefully observed the drop of Nine Qi Essence inside his body.

A simple drop of liquid, suspended in his Dantian, continuously emitting a colorful halo.

With the changing colors, it was like a top-tier natural treasure produced between Heaven and Earth.