No one knew how many times this had happened in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect. Many geniuses had once started with this very notion: cultivate the "Moon Vortex Sun **" first, use it to charge through the early realms, and only cultivate other longevity arts once "Moon Vortex Sun **" could no longer support Foundation Establishment.
However, once many geniuses sank into it, they could never shake off the influence of "Moon Vortex Sun **," because its method of circulating blood energy through the heavenly cycle was unlike any other.
For this very reason, the Washing Yan Ancient Sect later ceased to endorse its disciples cultivating this art. Especially for disciples with good aptitude, the sect had issued an order: they were absolutely forbidden from cultivating it!
"I have my own plans." Li Qiye smiled and said nothing more. Naturally, he could not reveal the true secret. If someone who recognized its value learned that he possessed a flawless "Moon Vortex Sun **," the consequences would be unthinkable!
Nan Huairen knew that Li Qiye was neither ignorant nor arrogant, but he could not understand where Li Qiye's confidence came from!
"I heard Second Senior Brother will be arriving in the next few days." Nan Huairen had chiefly come today to bring Li Qiye this news.
Li Qiye nodded and did not ask further. In truth, he had never cared much about the Second Senior Brother Nan Huairen spoke of, the disciple of Sect Master Zhou Yonghuang.
After seeing Nan Huairen off, Li Qiye immersed himself in cultivation once more. Diligence could make up for clumsiness; the stupid bird flew first. Though he already possessed peerless arts such as "Moon Vortex Sun **" and the Kun Peng Six Transformations, he still could not afford the slightest bit of laziness!
The Territory Expansion Realm also had three levels, from low to high: first, Building Arts; second, Absorbing Essence; third, Expanding Territory!
Once the Palace Knocking Realm had reached completion, it meant that both the Foundation Establishment art of the longevity wheel and the Foundation Establishment art of the fate palace had become fixed. The Dao foundations of the longevity wheel and fate palace had already been forged.
At this point, one could continue choosing other arts to cultivate, whether fate arts, longevity arts, secret techniques for slaying enemies, or body techniques.
All later arts were cultivated upon the foundation of the Foundation Establishment arts. Thus, the first level was called "Building Arts."
Li Qiye was currently cultivating the martial technique known as the Mystic Gate Saber Technique. He was in no rush to cultivate other arts. What he needed now was to temper his physique; he had to strengthen his body.
For a cultivator, the strength of the longevity wheel and fate palace alone was far from enough. One also needed a powerful physique.
The longevity wheel and fate palace were innate and could not be changed, but one's physique could be changed. Through cultivation, a physique could become stronger.
Innate physiques also ranged from inferior to superior. The worst physique was called a Mortal Physique, while the best was called an Immortal Physique. From weakest to strongest, they were: Mortal Physique, Acquired Physique, Innate Physique, Emperor Physique, Saint Physique, and Immortal Physique!
Whether Mortal Physique, Acquired Physique, Innate Physique, Emperor Physique, or Saint Physique, all could be innate. But an Immortal Physique could not be innate. It was the ultimate limit of all physiques, so no one had ever heard of someone being born with an Immortal Physique!
For physiques, the Innate Physique was a watershed. If someone was born with an Innate Physique, it meant they had the chance to cultivate it into an Emperor Physique, a Saint Physique, or even an Immortal Physique.
In terms of physiques, an Innate Physique could be cultivated and advanced step by step into an Emperor Physique, Saint Physique, or even an Immortal Physique!
But an Acquired Physique could not. For instance, Xu Hui's Golden Sculpture Physique was an Acquired Physique. It belonged to the raptor branch of Acquired Physiques and could be considered quite an excellent physique among them.
With a Golden Sculpture Physique like Xu Hui's, he could use powerful body techniques to cultivate it into a Heavenly Sculpture Physique, even a Divine Sculpture Physique. Though the ultimate state of such a physique might not necessarily be weaker than an Emperor Physique, this sort of Acquired Physique could never be cultivated into the ultimate state of all physiques—an Immortal Physique!
When a Golden Sculpture Physique was cultivated into a Heavenly Sculpture Physique, it was called enhancement. But when an Innate Physique was cultivated into an Emperor Physique, that was called advancement!
Innate Physiques and Saint Physiques alike had all kinds of restrictions. For example, the Golden Barbarian Bull Physique among Innate Physiques could, through cultivation, advance into the Tyrant Physique among Emperor Physiques! But it could not be cultivated into any other physique, not even one of the same rank.
Whatever physique one was born with was the physique one had to cultivate. This was not something arts or body ointments could change.
Yet the creations of heaven were just that miraculous! Whether it was a Golden Sculpture Physique or a Golden Barbarian Bull Physique, no matter how heaven-defying the cultivation, neither could escape the boundaries of its own physique.
However, there was one physique that could: the Mortal Physique that countless people disdained!
A Mortal Physique could be cultivated into a Heavenly Sculpture Physique, or into a Golden Barbarian Bull Physique. It could even be cultivated into the legendary Immortal Physique! Before cultivation, a Mortal Physique was subject to no restrictions whatsoever! Therefore, when cultivating one's physique, those with Mortal Physiques faced no restrictions in their choice of body techniques.
For example, if an Acquired Physique leaned toward the fire attribute, one had to cultivate fire-attributed body techniques. If one instead cultivated water-attributed body techniques, it would create a fatal flaw in one's physique.
A Mortal Physique had no such requirement. Before starting, one could choose any body technique!
Of course, for a Mortal Physique to cultivate into an Acquired Physique, or an Innate Physique, was no easy matter. First, one needed sufficiently powerful body techniques. Second, one needed unwavering perseverance, working ten times harder than others! Third, one needed a vast quantity of body ointment—the more the better, and the higher its grade, the better!
For a Mortal Physique to cultivate into an Innate Physique was an exceedingly difficult matter, one that required countless drops of blood and sweat!
For someone like Li Qiye, with a Mortal Physique, Mortal Fate, and Mortal Meridians, likely no one would be willing to pour effort into him. For a person with such aptitude, whether teaching him body techniques or tempering his body with body ointment, it was all a waste.
Li Qiye also knew that cultivating a Mortal Physique into another physique was incomparably arduous, but his Dao Heart had never wavered. In his hands was the Body Scripture, one of the Nine Great Heavenly Books, coveted even by Immortal Emperors since time immemorial!
Moreover, Li Qiye's Dao Heart was as firm as iron. Since others had succeeded, so could he. Immortal Emperor Mingren of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect had been said by many later generations to possess an innate Immortal Physique. Many claimed that Immortal Emperor Mingren's Daytime Sky Physique had been inborn.
Li Qiye naturally knew that this was utter nonsense! He had personally raised Immortal Emperor Mingren, so how could he not know the truth? Immortal Emperor Mingren, who possessed the Daytime Sky Physique, had been neither an Innate Physique nor a Saint Physique or Emperor Physique. He had been a Mortal Physique!
This truth was likely difficult even for the Washing Yan Ancient Sect to accept, but it was indeed the truth. In his youth, Immortal Emperor Mingren had possessed a Mortal Physique. Yet Li Qiye, after becoming a Shadow Crow, possessed the Body Scripture, one of the Nine Great Heavenly Books. He taught Mingren the character "Yang," and in the end, Immortal Emperor Mingren cultivated one of the Twelve Immortal Physiques—the "Daytime Sky Physique."
Today, the Body Scripture opened once more within Li Qiye's mind, and all of its profound mysteries surfaced. Since time immemorial, no one had grasped more secrets of the Body Scripture than he had. The mysteries within the Body Scripture had allowed him to create countless legends!
Furthermore, from the savage age until now, he had studied the Body Scripture. Especially by the era of the Black Dragon King, he had researched the Body Scripture with incomparable thoroughness. Only later, when problems arose with his condition, did he have the Black Dragon King erase every secret related to the Body Scripture from his mind!
The original Body Scripture contained only six characters. These six characters were born within chaos, and only after Li Qiye's enlightenment over countless ages did he finally unravel all the mysteries of this scripture.
The six characters of the Body Scripture were: yin and yang, hardness and softness, clarity and muddledness! Though the Body Scripture had only six characters, it encompassed the ultimate mysteries of all living beings' physiques!
In the distant ages, there had already been talk of the Twelve Immortal Physiques. In truth, few throughout the ages knew that the concept of the Twelve Immortal Physiques originated from the Body Scripture!
If any of the six characters of the Body Scripture was cultivated to its ultimate limit, each character could produce two Immortal Physiques! Yet of the two different Immortal Physiques, any one person could only cultivate one.
Take Immortal Emperor Mingren, for example. Back then, Li Qiye taught him the character "Yang." At the limit of "Yang" lay two Immortal Physiques: one was the Daytime Sky Physique, while the other was the Solar Physique! Immortal Emperor Mingren had cultivated the Daytime Sky Physique, one of the Twelve Immortal Physiques, the supreme yang mystery—the Daytime Sky Physique!
After the deductions of generation after generation and enlightenment over countless years, Li Qiye understood that the Body Scripture could cultivate any physique. But in the end, the strongest were still the Twelve Immortal Physiques.
Back then, Li Qiye had taught Immortal Emperor Mingren the character "Yang." Now, Li Qiye held the ultimate mysteries of all six characters. Yet this time, the character he chose to cultivate was not "Yang," but "Muddled"!
Moreover, Li Qiye had fixed his target. He would cultivate the character "Muddled," and cultivate it to supreme muddledness, ultimate muddledness! From the character "Muddled," he would cultivate one of the Twelve Immortal Physiques—the Prison Suppressing Divine Physique!
Li Qiye knew that cultivating the Prison Suppressing Divine Physique to great completion would be an exceedingly long process. None of the Twelve Immortal Physiques could be cultivated overnight; at the least, they required several centuries, and often thousands or tens of thousands of years.
Yet Li Qiye's Dao Heart was like iron. Even though he had been born with a Mortal Physique, he still had confidence that as long as he persevered, one day he would cultivate the Prison Suppressing Divine Physique!
The mysteries of the Body Scripture surfaced in Li Qiye's mind. Guiding the mysteries of the character "Muddled," he had its runic truths pour into his fate palace like a river.
At this moment, Li Qiye's true fate breathed out and drew in blood energy, also swallowing the mysteries of the character "Muddled." Tempered by the true fate, the secrets of "Muddled" fused into the blood energy.
Li Qiye's entire body shuddered. In an instant, everything seemed to slow, as though the speed of all things had diminished!
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