Innate Spirit Treasure

A treasured sword appeared inside Lu Changsheng's cave abode, its blade gleaming with a piercing chill. Yin lightning coiled around it, and the terrifying pressure it radiated made the whole of Azure Cloud Peak tremble.

The menial workers below Azure Cloud Peak could not help looking toward the summit, where dark clouds gathered thickly, pressing down like an army bearing down on a city.

The only person who could have caused such a commotion on Azure Cloud Peak was Elder Lu.

"As expected of an Innate Spirit Treasure!"

Lu Changsheng gripped the Nine Heavens Thunder-Controlling Sword and gave it a slight swing. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, stirring the whole of Azure Cloud Peak!

Law Treasures could be divided into Spirit Artifacts, Houtian Spirit Treasures, Innate Spirit Treasures, and immortal artifacts.

Immortal artifacts were the sect-protecting treasures of the six righteous sects and the four demonic sects. Even with hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated heritage, a sect might have only one or two.

Most Shushan disciples used Spirit Artifacts, while Shushan elders might have one or two Houtian Spirit Treasures.

As for Innate Spirit Treasures?

Only the Shushan sect leader or certain old monsters of Shushan possessed such Law Treasures!

Lu Changsheng had only tested the Nine Heavens Thunder-Controlling Sword's power slightly, without even unleashing Sword Qi. Otherwise, Azure Cloud Peak would have suffered a heavy blow.

Azure Cloud Peak was where Lu Changsheng's cave abode lay, and he had no desire to harm its flowers and grasses while testing a sword.

Besides, if word got out that he had obtained an Innate Spirit Treasure, the four demonic sects might set their sights on him.

Lu Changsheng sheathed the sword, and the Nine Heavens Thunder-Controlling Sword fell still again.

With this Innate Spirit Treasure, Lu Changsheng believed he was nearly invincible in the Nascent Soul Realm.

"With my current cultivation, I can step into the Dao Palace Realm at any time. To be safe, though, I should continue consolidating my realm before opening my Dao Palace."

The original owner of the body Lu Changsheng's soul had transmigrated into had died from Qi Deviation while opening his Dao Palace. Lu Changsheng did not want to follow in his footsteps.

The next day, Lu Changsheng summoned Lin Qingzhi and bestowed a Foundation Establishment Pill upon him.

It was a third-grade pill that could only be used in the Foundation Establishment Realm. It could help a cultivator consolidate his foundation and slightly improve his Root Bone, and was worth a fortune.

[Ding! You bestowed a third-grade pill upon your apprentice 'Lin Qingzhi' and received a five-hundredfold apprentice-teaching return reward: sixth-grade pill, 'Soul-Nourishing Pill'.]

[Ding! Bestowals available today -1.]

The Soul-Nourishing Pill could only be used in the Nascent Soul Realm. It nourished the soul, strengthened the Nascent Soul, and reduced the risk of breaking through to the Dao Palace Realm.

This pill was exactly what Lu Changsheng lacked!

With this top-quality pill, he could open his Dao Palace without worry.

But Lu Changsheng was cautious to an outrageous degree, and still did not make the breakthrough.

Over the following month, Lu Changsheng transferred cultivation to Lin Qingzhi four more times, receiving two thousand, fifteen hundred, thirty-five hundred, and five thousand days of cultivation respectively.

Besides that, Lu Changsheng found ways to bestow treasures useful in the Foundation Establishment Realm upon Lin Qingzhi every day.

He bestowed a first-grade pill, the "Qi-Restoring Pill," and received a fourth-grade pill, the "Earth Spirit Pill," in return.

He bestowed a first-grade pill, the "Blood-Qi Pill," and received a third-grade pill, the "Scarlet Blood Pill," in return.

He bestowed a third-grade pill, the "Scarlet Blood Pill," and received a fifth-grade pill, the "Crimson Blood Essence-Congealing Pill," in return.

He bestowed an upper-grade Spirit Artifact, the "Soft Hedgehog Armor," and received an upper-grade Houtian Spirit Treasure, the "Taiyi Daoist Robe," in return.

He bestowed an upper-grade Spirit Artifact, an "upper-grade alchemy pill furnace," and received a lower-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, the "Truefire Alchemy Pill Furnace," in return.

He bestowed an ordinary stone and received a Spirit Stone in return.

He bestowed a Spirit Stone and received Heaven Crystal Stone, a fifth-grade artifact-refining material, in return.

He bestowed a middle-grade Mystic Stage sword art, "Soaring Cloud Swordsmanship," and received an upper-grade Earth Stage sword art, "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect," in return.

Lu Changsheng tried bestowing all manner of things upon Lin Qingzhi, from pills to Law Treasures and Cultivation Methods, and even ordinary stones, to fleece the Apprentice-Teaching Simulator.

When Lin Qingzhi received the ordinary stone from Lu Changsheng, he seriously pondered whether his master had some deeper meaning. Unable to figure it out, he enshrined the stone and burned incense before it every day.

Besides fleecing the system as a daily routine, Lu Changsheng cultivated the Taiqing Wuji Art and his newly acquired upper-grade Earth Stage sword art, "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect," deepening his understanding of the Taiqing Wuji Art and the Sword Dao.

Halfway up Azure Cloud Peak, Lin Qingzhi sat in meditation, meticulously circulating Spiritual Qi according to the Grand Profound Art as he steadily practiced his breathing.

Immortal deer, spirit birds, and squirrels appeared around Lin Qingzhi from time to time, feeling a natural closeness to him because of his innocent heart and Innate Spirit Vein.

The Spiritual Qi on Shushan was denser than anywhere else in Xia Province. Even though Lin Qingzhi's aptitude was not particularly high, his advantage was his single-minded focus, and Lu Changsheng continually transferred cultivation to him, so his cultivation still advanced a thousand miles a day.

"The third layer of the Grand Profound Art."

Lin Qingzhi grasped its principles and cultivated the Grand Profound Art to the third layer. At that moment, the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian suddenly began to boil.

"It's only been a month, and I'm already about to enter the Qi Condensation Realm."

Lin Qingzhi had heard from his master that this was a sign that his Dantian was expanding and forming a Qi sea.

Even Lin Qingzhi found his cultivation progress hard to believe.

In the Liang Kingdom, where Lin Qingzhi had lived, experts in the Qi Condensation Realm were already important figures on the level of military generals, or Rogue Cultivators held in high esteem in the martial world.

Yet Lin Qingzhi had joined Shushan only a month ago and was already pushing toward the Qi Condensation Realm.

Because Lin Qingzhi would face a tribulation in four years, Lu Changsheng no longer taught him perfunctorily, but carefully instructed him on how to open his Qi sea during a breakthrough.

Lin Qingzhi's greatest strength was his single-minded focus, and he committed all of Lu Changsheng's instructions to memory.

"I did it!"

Lin Qingzhi followed his master's instructions to make his breakthrough, steadily opening his Qi sea and raising his cultivation to the first layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.

There had been no shocks or dangers; when the water arrived, the channel formed.

At that moment, inside his cave abode, Lu Changsheng swept his Divine Sense across Azure Cloud Peak and sensed a sharp rise in his apprentice Lin Qingzhi's presence. The speed at which Lin Qingzhi drew in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had also increased noticeably.

Lu Changsheng smiled with satisfaction. His apprentice's potential was indeed astonishing; he was an unpolished jade.

If Lu Changsheng had not discovered him, Lin Qingzhi might well have faded into the crowd.

Only when there was a Bole could a thousand-mile steed be found.

[Ding! Your first apprentice, 'Lin Qingzhi,' has advanced from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Qi Condensation Realm. You have received an apprentice realm advancement reward. As this is your first realm advancement reward, you have received a special physique: Innate Dao Body.]

[Ding! The Apprentice-Teaching Simulator is cleansing your marrow and purging your impurities, reshaping your physique.]

Lu Changsheng's body grew hot, and all his meridians and his Root Bone underwent earthshaking changes.

Unlike his eldest senior brother Li Changye, who possessed the Myriad Desolations Indestructible Body, Lu Changsheng had only an ordinary physique. But now he had obtained the Innate Dao Body!

Although Lu Changsheng did not yet know what was special about the Innate Dao Body, its name alone told him it was anything but simple!

"Arghhh..."

Pain showed on Lu Changsheng's face as the Apprentice-Teaching Simulator cleansed his marrow and purged his impurities, remaking him from the inside out. The pain pierced his very bones, and his sea of consciousness, Nascent Soul, Dantian, and Qi sea were all on the verge of collapse.

Previously, only Lu Changsheng's soul had changed, but this time his body was reborn as well.

"What's wrong with Master?"

Lin Qingzhi noticed that Lu Changsheng's presence inside the cave abode was fluctuating, and could not help worrying.