She cast the distracting thoughts from her mind, and Li Zhi began seriously reading the book Jiang Shuwen had given him.
Meanwhile,
In the mountain forests two thousand li away, Jiang Shuwen and Jiang Caihong had finally finished recuperating. After taking some pills, their injuries had completely healed.
Although the battle with Nangong Wentian had caused quite a commotion, it had not lasted long.
It had ended with Nangong Wentian fleeing in panic.
Nangong Wentian's Wheel Sea had been injured by the Jiang Family Great Power's Eight Gods Savage Force, making it impossible for him to fight a prolonged battle.
After ten moves, his internal injuries erupted, and Nangong Wentian immediately fled.
The "Longevity Sutra" he cultivated placed the greatest importance on cultivating the Sea of Wheels Realm. In particular, the Wheel of Life absolutely could not be injured.
When he left, Nangong Wentian's original face—that of a boy of fifteen or sixteen—had already become the face of an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old young man.
It seemed that his features had merely matured a little, but to Nangong Wentian, this was a sign that his Life Origin had been damaged.
Otherwise, no matter how severe his external injuries were, his appearance would not have matured within a few breaths.
After finishing their recuperation, Jiang Shuwen held his treasured Demon Refining Pot in his hands and examined it with a pained expression. The pot, which had originally shone with golden light, was now covered in rust, as if its origin had been damaged.
Seeing this, Jiang Caihong consoled him, "Brother Shuwen, don't be too upset. This time, we encountered a child with a Longevity Immortal Body. After we take him back, the clan may reward us handsomely. It should be enough for you to reforge your treasure."
"Forget it. Since that little brother had a way to break free of Nangong Wentian's seal, he clearly has some life-saving means we don't know about. He probably wasn't telling us the truth earlier." Jiang Shuwen shook his head, having no intention of searching for Li Zhi.
Jiang Caihong said, "That's a Longevity Immortal Body. Are we really going to leave him alone?"
Jiang Shuwen said, "That battle allowed me to touch the threshold of the Four Extremes Realm. Tomorrow morning, I plan to ask the clan elder to release me from my duties and immediately return to the clan to enter seclusion. Caihong, I have a feeling that something major is about to happen in Yan State. If we don't withdraw soon, our lives may be in danger."
Jiang Caihong frowned and asked, "Is it really that dangerous?"
Jiang Shuwen said, "It's only a premonition of mine. It's possible that the entire Southern Domain will suffer a major bloodbath because of this little Yan State."
In the end, Jiang Caihong said, "Then I'll return with you."
He stayed at Lingxu Inn for more than ten days.
Li Zhi thoroughly studied the cultivation knowledge Jiang Shuwen had given him three times.
He had also focused on learning and comprehending the various precautions involved in cultivating the Sea of Wheels Realm.
Only after committing all that knowledge thoroughly to memory did Li Zhi realize how absurd it had been to cultivate rashly without understanding basic cultivation knowledge.
Cultivation truly wasn't as simple as having a scripture and being able to cultivate.
It was like building an airplane. Having blueprints alone was not enough to build one. If one did not understand the various manufacturing details, the airplane might not even be able to fly.
Cultivation was similar. With resources and scriptures but no experience or guidance, relying on oneself to grope around blindly could easily lead one astray.
The Jiang Family Great Power's annotations on the Sea of Wheels Realm were profound yet easy to understand. Even someone like Li Zhi, who had never undergone systematic study and had only just crossed the threshold of cultivation, could understand them.
At the same time, they made him realize how fortunate it had been that he had opened his Bitter Sea on his own and successfully created such a vast one.
If, at the beginning of opening the Bitter Sea, one single-mindedly pursued size, it was easy to harm one's own origin because of insufficient energy.
That was what people commonly called cultivating a Dao Injury.
After learning this basic fact, Li Zhi broke out in a cold sweat.
Li Zhi also learned another piece of cultivation knowledge: during the early stages of cultivation, the Bitter Sea was not better simply because it was larger.
The larger the Bitter Sea, the more Life Essence one needed to absorb from the outside world. The harder it was to awaken the Life Spring, and afterward, the harder it was to establish the Divine Bridge and cross the Bitter Sea.
It was even possible that, lacking sufficient cultivation resources, one would be unable to make the Divine Bridge above the Bitter Sea reach the Other Shore throughout one's entire life.
After reading that knowledge, Li Zhi discovered another blind spot he had previously overlooked.
The Five Secret Realms Method was vastly different from other cultivation systems.
There was no situation where, after one's realm improved, one could no longer start over and cultivate the previous realm.
In the Secret Realm Method, the individual Secret Realms were not actually related by a ladder-like progression.
Cultivators could make up for deficiencies in an already-opened Secret Realm at any time and re-cultivate the aspects they had previously neglected.
Take the Sea of Wheels Realm as an example. The Bitter Sea, Life Spring, Divine Bridge, and Other Shore—after completing these four stages, one had merely fully opened the Sea of Wheels Realm. It did not mean one had completed cultivating the Sea of Wheels Realm.
According to the Ancient Mighty One's method of cultivating a single Secret Realm, the Sea of Wheels Realm could still undergo nine transformations at this point.
Only after experiencing nine transformations between life and death could one say that the Sea of Wheels Realm had been cultivated to perfection and that its cultivation was complete.
Moreover, among the Five Great Secret Realms, one could ascend to the Sage Realm by cultivating just one Secret Realm to perfection.
The Bitter Sea Li Zhi had opened, which was as large as a sports field, could already rival the Bitter Seas of quite a few Dragon Transformation Realm cultivators.
If he wanted to use it as a foundation to awaken the Life Spring, establish the Divine Bridge, reach the Other Shore, and open the entire Sea of Wheels Realm, the difficulty would increase exponentially compared with cultivating to the Dragon Transformation Realm through the normal steps.
In such a vast Bitter Sea, opening the Life Spring and connecting with the Wheel of Life would require an astronomical amount of Life Essence.
According to Li Zhi's estimate, merely awakening the Life Spring would require him to absorb Life Essence equivalent to what was contained in a thousand jin of Source Stones.
If he relied solely on daily meditation and Qi Refining to accumulate Life Essence, it would probably take decades.
Only now did Li Zhi realize what a massive pit he had dug for himself with his earlier reckless move.
Given the current area of his Bitter Sea, he would need to consume a hundred or even a thousand times the resources of a cultivator at the same level to fully open the Sea of Wheels Realm.
Of course, if he truly managed to finish cultivating the Sea of Wheels Realm,
then his cultivation and combat power would no longer be something an ordinary Sea of Wheels Realm cultivator could match.
Perhaps it would be equivalent to the strength of an Ancient Mighty One who walked the path of cultivating a single Secret Realm and had undergone three or four transformations.
In other words, once Li Zhi initially completed his Sea of Wheels Realm, his combat power might even rival a Four Extremes Realm cultivator or an ordinary cultivator who had just entered the Dragon Transformation Realm.
This was the result of cultivating recklessly without understanding basic cultivation knowledge.
Because of this, Li Zhi had let out bitter laughter more than once.
Originally, the Life Essence stored within his body had been enough to open his entire Sea of Wheels Realm. It would have been more than enough for him to complete the nine physical transformations at the Other Shore level and might even have pushed him into the Dao Palace Realm.
But now, he had used all his Life Essence to open the Bitter Sea.
He had practically placed an obstacle in his own cultivation path.
He had only enjoyed a few years of a wealthy life free from worries over food and clothing.
Yet he had never expected that, less than a year after entering the cultivation world, he would unintentionally empty his entire fortune.
It was forcing him to struggle to earn money all over again.
What was this supposed to be?
After learning the truth, Li Zhi was practically on the verge of tears.
Originally, he could have breezed through the novice period and walked out of the "novice village" directly as a Dao Palace Realm cultivator.
Now, he had to struggle in the "novice village."
Even Ye Fan had only needed vast amounts of Source Stones to cultivate after breaking through to the Dao Palace Realm.
But as for him, he had only just opened his Bitter Sea and could not even fly yet, yet he already had to run around everywhere to earn money.
A thousand jin of Source Stones—that was a thousand jin of Source Stones.
Even the six Blessed Grotto-Heavens of Yan State might not have a thousand jin of Source Stones in their combined reserves.
Where was a lowly Bitter Sea cultivator like him supposed to find a thousand jin of Source Stones?
Soon, Li Zhi realized that this was not quite right either.
Ye Fan did not seem to have fared much better than him. It was only by eating two Saint Fruits from the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone that he had rapidly completed his cultivation of the Sea of Wheels Realm.
However, when he thought of Ye Fan's experiences, Li Zhi became somewhat depressed.
He did not possess Ye Fan's "terrifying talent" that allowed him to freely enter and leave the Barren Ancient Forbidden Zone.
It seemed he had to head to the Northern Domain as soon as possible to resolve his lack of cultivation resources.
Originally, he had not planned to go to the Northern Domain too soon.
At the very least, he had wanted to raise his cultivation to the Dragon Transformation Realm before going there. Only then would he have sufficient protection for his life while moving through the Northern Domain.
Now, it seemed he had no choice but to go.
After paying his lodging fees with Fierce Beast materials, Li Zhi immediately left the Small Town and headed toward the Spirit Void Grotto-Heaven.
The Green Emperor's tomb in the Primordial Ruins was about to be opened. Perhaps he would have a chance to make a fortune.
Otherwise, he could not even scrape together his travel expenses.
Taking out the Luoyang Shovel, Li Zhi gently stroked its probe rod and said to the spade, "Brother Shovel, whether we'll drink wine and eat meat or drink the northwest wind in the future will depend entirely on you."
After arriving in the cultivation world, Li Zhi had not wanted to return to his old profession.
But the reality was that he truly had no better choice.
He could not create something from nothing, did not know how to locate dragon veins, could not refine pills or medicines, and was not a direct descendant being specially nurtured by an aristocratic family or Holy Land.
No one would take the initiative to provide him with cultivation resources.
Thinking of alchemy and medicine refinement, Li Zhi suddenly remembered the Medicine Gardens in the Hundred Herbs Diagram.
Before you continue