Great Luo Dharma Body

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Before dawn, there was already activity in the fields.

Li Yan was seen swinging his sickle, gathering a large armful of wheat with his left hand and sweeping it with his right. The stalks fell with a crisp sound, neatly arranged behind him, awaiting binding later.

After a while, as the eastern sky began to show a pale white, Li Yan, who had been diligently working, slowly straightened up. He performed a few movements to ease his back and then turned to look around.

In the distant wheat fields, there was also a scene of bustling activity.

The wheat at Li Family Fortress had also reached the time for harvest.

There was a specific timing for harvesting wheat, as the saying goes, "Nine parts ripe, ten parts harvested; ten parts ripe, one part lost." They couldn't wait for the wheat to be completely ripe.

Even the time of day was important, with harvests often taking place in the morning and evening. This was because the stalks were tougher at these times, less prone to breaking, and the grains less likely to fall off.

After toiling for a whole year, every bit of waste was painful.

It had been four or five days since he returned. During these days, he had been meditating and visualizing his spirit, and although he hadn't succeeded yet, he had made considerable progress.

Now that he could start harvesting, he could attend to both the harvest and his cultivation without delay.

A strong laborer could harvest about one mu of wheat per day.

Li Yan, however, was already a practitioner of martial arts. His foundational skills were solid, and he had learned the sickle techniques popular in the countryside. He worked swiftly, managing to harvest one and a half mu a day.

His family's few mu of land would be harvested in just a few days.

Every day involved cutting wheat, threshing, drying, and storing. He often left early and returned late. Even for a skilled practitioner, he was exhausted, his back and waist aching.

Yet, he found joy in it.

His spiritual powers often went out of control, causing his emotions to be extremely unstable. However, after a day of strenuous work, when his mind was clear and empty, he found it easier to enter a meditative state.

Unknowingly, several more days passed.

In the wheat fields surrounding Li Family Fortress, the golden waves of wheat had vanished, leaving behind only vast stretches of yellow earth and dense stubble.

When the wind blew, dust and sand would rise.

Under the setting sun, the land of Guanzhong appeared even more vast and majestic.

Although the beautiful sight of golden waves was gone, the villagers were all beaming with joy.

Scholars and poets often thought that a field full of golden wheat represented a bountiful harvest. But only those who worked the land knew that hail, rain, and strong winds were all calamities. Only when every grain was safely stored could it be considered a good harvest year.

And on this very night, Li Yan finally achieved a breakthrough.

In the deep of the night, he sat cross-legged on his bed.

At this moment, his mind was detached from external matters. His breathing was almost imperceptible, and his consciousness was entirely focused on the space between his eyebrows. In the darkness, a glowing human figure floated silently.

This was the spirit he had visualized.

According to the cultivation method in the True Scripture of the Western Xuan Cave of Darkness, he meditated on his internal organs and various parts of his body daily, gathering that faint spark of spiritual light into the space between his eyebrows before preserving his spirit.

The sign of success was the preservation of the spirit without dissipation.

Even when he awoke, as long as he willed it, the preserved spirit would immediately manifest in his sea of consciousness.

Of course, this method was gradual.

As his cultivation increased, the visualized spirit would gradually become clearer.

Cultivators from other major sects and lineages had their own ancestral masters or immortal figures as templates. However, Li Yan was experiencing an anomaly.

His visualization template was the divine statue in his dantian.

This object resided in his dantian, and he had a deep connection with it. He only needed to concentrate his attention, unlike other Xuan Gate cultivators who had to gather their scattered thoughts.

This was also the reason for his rapid progress.

The moment he successfully visualized, the glowing figure between his eyebrows unexpectedly resonated with the Substitute Divine Statue, rapidly descending and enveloping it.

This sudden development caught Li Yan off guard.

Before he could react, the divine statue underwent another change.

Combined with the light of his preserved spirit, the originally blurry face of the Substitute Divine Statue began to twist continuously. Then, its features took shape, becoming identical to his own.

At the same time, various pieces of information flooded his mind.

Li Yan's eyes widened in shock, followed by joy.

Before, his connection with the divine statue had been very vague, so he could only infer its function from incomplete information.

Only after preserving his spirit was the divine statue truly refined by him.

This treasure was called the "Great Luo Dharma Body."

Besides exchanging injuries and substituting for life, it could also guard the spirit.

The divine being he had visualized had merged with the Great Luo Dharma Body.

There were two benefits.

The first was the protection of the preserved spirit, equivalent to the function of a Two-Story Taoist Temple. Even without performing rituals to build a "building" for his preserved spirit, it would not dissipate arbitrarily.

The second was that, like his physical body, it could exchange injuries.

If targeted by soul-attacking curses, the Substitute Divine Statue can bear the brunt, preventing damage to Preserving the Spirit.

Of course, the Two-Story Taoist Temple still needs to be built.

After all, this Great Luo Dharma Body can only heal injuries, not enhance cultivation.

More importantly, this Great Luo Dharma Body can continue to be upgraded.

By simply devouring Heavenly Spiritual Treasures, the Dharma Body's strength can be enhanced, and if enough Heavenly Spiritual Treasures are obtained, a ritual can be performed to reignite the Life Fire.

It's equivalent to having an extra life!

I didn't expect this Great Luo Dharma Body to also require Divine Refining.

Li Yan's face broke into a smile. With a thought, Preserving the Spirit returned to his brow. Even with a chaotic mind, the shadowy figure would not dissipate.

He suppressed his excitement and, following the incantations taught in the True Scripture of the Western Xuan Cave of Darkness, adjusted his breathing. Then, concentrating his mind, his Spiritual Power underwent a change.

Originally, this Olfactory Mystical Power was out of control. Most of the time it was faint, occasionally erupting suddenly. But after an eruption, he would be dizzy, his vision would black out, and it would take a long time to recover.

Now, that astonishing sense of smell began to disappear.

Finally, it was no different from an ordinary person.

Li Yan didn't panic. He pressed the tip of his left thumb onto the second segment of his index finger.

This was the Yang Seal, representing the Solar Star Lord.

He formed the hand seal, took a deep breath, and the Nose Mystical Power was immediately activated. Various scents flooded his nasal cavity, growing stronger with his thoughts.

Then, he pressed his left thumb onto the fourth segment of his index finger.

This was the Yin Incantation, representing the Lunar Star Lord. The mystical power was shut down again.

According to the manual, mystical powers originate from the Yang Six Roots, not merely physical strength. Using them consumes mental energy and the soul.

After Preserving the Spirit, by controlling the Yin and Yang Seals, mystical powers can be freely controlled.

If they are closed off normally, one won't be targeted by those Yin and evil entities.

The dark clouds hanging over his head finally dissipated at this moment.

Clack!

Just as Li Yan was feeling happy, a stone was suddenly thrown into the courtyard.

In the silent, dark night, it was impossible to hide from Li Yan's ears.

Someone!

His brows furrowed. He flipped out of bed, grabbed the Guanshan Knife hanging on the wall, and tiptoed out the door.

Clack!

Another stone landed on the ground.

Li Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, his right hand resting on the hilt of the knife.

This was a probing tactic, a method only understood by those in the Jianghu.

If there was a fellow practitioner, one would call out "Spring Code," and the other would leave, avoiding uninvited entry and conflict, which could lead to blood feuds.

If there was no response, then one could enter and exit freely.

He was about to speak and drive the person away, but a thought struck him. He formed a hand seal, took a deep breath, and could clearly distinguish the scents within a hundred-meter radius.

Sha LiFei?!

Smelling the approaching person's scent, Li Yan was surprised.

He looked to the other side and sensed that his grandfather, Li Gui, was still sound asleep. He suddenly charged forward, reached the corner of the wall, pushed off with his left foot and stepped with his right, launching himself into the air. Then, with a clean side somersault, he cleared the courtyard wall.

Standing outside the courtyard wall was indeed Sha LiFei.

He was clearly in a sorry state, his clothes tattered, covered in dust, hiding in the shadow of a date tree, peeking around.

"What happened?"

Li Yan frowned and asked in a low voice.

Sha LiFei scratched his bald head and said bitterly, "We left the village. Daoist Wang has also arrived and is currently in the dilapidated temple on the back mountain."

"Also, can you get me some water and food?"

"I've been hungry all day..."

On the back mountain of Li Family Fortress, there is a Mountain God Temple.

Temples like this are found all over the Divine Land. Farmers and hunters who go into the mountains, or travelers passing through, often light an incense stick before entering, praying for safety and protection from Demons and Monsters.

When the old soldiers of Li Family Fortress were still around, the incense offerings were quite abundant. After all, those old soldiers were all skilled archers and often hunted wild game in the mountains.

Now, fewer and fewer people go into the mountains. Moreover, there's nothing of value on this barren mountain, so the Mountain God Temple has lost its incense offerings. It has fallen into disrepair, and even a corner of the roof beam has collapsed.

At this moment, a bonfire was crackling inside the temple.

Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan picked up flatbreads, heated them over the fire, and wolfed them down with cold water, like starving ghosts reincarnated.

"Bandits raided the village?"

Li Yan sat to the side, somewhat surprised.

No wonder, during the time he was cultivating, Hei Dan and the other Wheat Harvesters who had gone out had returned, but the two Daoist Wangs were nowhere to be seen.

He had originally thought that Madam Lu had held out longer and the funeral hadn't finished yet.

He hadn't expected they'd encountered bandits entering the village.

"Yeah, isn't that right!"

Sha LiFei mumbled while eating, "The Wheat Harvesters had just left when bandits raided the village that night. Fortunately, the Daoist and I went to get the burial materials, so we weren't surrounded."

Li Yan frowned, "The Lu Family has quite a few guards, were there many bandits?"

Sha LiFei forcefully swallowed the biscuit in his mouth and cursed, "There were tons of them, a black mass too many to count, but at least three to four hundred."

"I also saw someone, the Qi-Lu Highwaymen Leader we met on the road that day, gathered with some of the big bandit leaders from Guanzhong."

"Damn it, the entire village was massacred, they were truly ruthless!"

"Qi-Lu Highwaymen?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yan immediately fell into thought.

This matter was probably not that simple