Breakthrough

Actually, going out for a day didn't take up much time, but realizing that the cultivation world was full of detours that could tempt people astray, Li Fan also understood the importance of quality over quantity and striving for excellence. So this time, upon returning to Qingyue Creek for seclusion, Li Fan decided to unleash the momentum he had cultivated in the sea of test questions during his years of exam-oriented education to grind through the questions. Once his mood was full, he would Moon Worship and grind monsters; once his Five Mountain Gods Body was full, he would break through. If any other messy things disturbed his progress, he would not leave the ravine until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

So Li Fan checked on Asha's progress in sword qi and sword techniques, and instructed her not to open the stone box in the storeroom under any circumstances. If Yao Xuanzhou came, he should take him to see it in person. Jiang's Firm would send over the ordered flying boat. He also told her not to always be practicing swordsmanship and refining medicine. Recently, there was a winter long-distance running competition at Ink Bamboo Mountain, so she could go and join in the fun. In addition, she should watch Kun gain muscle and watch Leopard lose weight. If anyone bullies her, she should write it down in her little notebook and tell her senior brother later. After completing her divine skill and coming out of seclusion, she would kill them all. After taking care of these trivial matters, Li Fan went into seclusion in the meditation room.

Once he calms down and focuses on his work, his efficiency is naturally very high. Moreover, Li Fan is not the same as before. He now has a photographic memory, sharp hearing and eyesight, and is knowledgeable. He can even work without sleep. In addition, he specially found a simple set of test questions this time, so his progress is extremely fast.

Last time, he wandered around, taking frequent trips to the seclusion area, and it took him three months to max out his mood and cultivate the Dao body of Moon Worship. This time, he was serious and maxed out his mood in less than a month. So he went to the Tai Su Realm and broke through to the Golden Core realm with his Crimson Fiend attribute human body with Dragon Head and the Dao body of the Southern Mountain God.

After that, Li Fan stopped wandering around. His Human-Headed Bird-Body Zhongshan Mountain God Dao Body with the Return to Dust attribute and his Human-Headed Ox-Body West Mountain God Dao Body with the Divine Hardness attribute were both cultivated to the Golden Core realm.

Starting from his return from the South China Sea, after half a year of cultivation, Li Fan finally broke through to the Golden Core realm with all Five Mountain Gods Body techniques, and his mood limit also increased to 3350 points.

Of course, I also tried the lottery six times, but still didn't get any weapons or equipment. And the things the system gave me, well, they didn't come with any instructions, I had to figure it all out myself.

The first item is a scepter, eight inches long and three inches wide, round at the top and square at the bottom, made of what appears to be topaz, and it feels heavy in the hand. I don't know what it's for.

The second item is a jade ring, six inches in diameter, with white jade patterns, but it doesn't seem to be a magical artifact like Storage Jade. I don't know what its purpose is.

The third item is a white porcelain bowl slightly larger than a teacup. It looks like a rice bowl, and it really is. When you fill the bowl with rice to taste, each grain of rice automatically creates a duplicate, but the duplication only works once per bowl. It probably saves you about half the money on rice...

The fourth item is an oval ruby the size of a duck egg, but its texture doesn't seem like a gemstone; it's rather soft, somewhat like pine resin. I don't know what it's for.

The fifth item is a jade flute; it can be played horizontally like a flute and vertically like a xiao—those who know, know. Playing a tune can lift one's spirits a little, but for Li Fan, it's mostly just a little bit...

The sixth item was a lantern, made of bamboo and covered with silk, decorated with lotus flowers, and with a dragon patterned on the lantern pole. This lantern didn't cast a shadow, so Li Fan used it to read at night. He felt it helped increase his concentration and make it easier to focus, but it was hard to say whether it was just a placebo effect.

In short, Li Fan is now focused on cultivation and has just solidified his Dao heart. He has no time to be distracted by studying the things the system gave him. He will keep those whose uses he doesn't understand for now and is not in a hurry to explore them.

Why were the three adventures in the Tai Su Realm of Moon Worship so easily omitted?

Because there was actually no 'adventure' involved.

The locations where the three Revered Heavenly Demons of Nanshan, Zhongshan, and West Mountain were teleported were all sealed stone chambers inside mountain caves. They were exactly the same as the stone chambers containing the Revered Heavenly Demon and Mountain God statues that Li Fan had Oldest One discovered on the Five Sons Peak. However, the chambers were filled with malevolent energy, clearly indicating that they were not in the Taiji Realm. Moreover, instead of having three Celestial Demons to choose from, there was only one corresponding Mountain God's Dao body. Furthermore, on the stone walls inside the chambers, there were clearly diagrams of Dao body meridians and cultivation Cultivation Method left by predecessors.

Thus, Li Fan understood that although Mo Shan was not large in number, it had been studying the Great Dao of Tai Su Transformation for many years. Naturally, it had long ago opened up a special training ground for new disciples in their early stages of cultivation. There was no danger at all, and they could refer to the guidance of their predecessors, calmly cultivate, visualize the Venerable Revered Heavenly Demon, and use the evil energy to construct their Dao body.

Compared to the "left-click to attack, right-click to move, figure out the rest yourself" teaching method, this is what you call proper inheritance!

Therefore, by analogy, the two Revered Heavenly Demons from North Mountain and East Mountain should theoretically have also been teleported to the stone chamber for cultivation.

However, Li Fan's Dark Underworld Serpent Body Dao Physique was not cultivated by Moon Worship, but rather forged in the Gonggong Temple. Therefore, he actually never went to the Northern Mountain Tai Su Realm to cultivate. But if he went to Baiyue and was teleported to the stone chamber, that would probably prove it.

The problem likely lies with the Tai Su Realm, which corresponds to the Dongshan Revered Heavenly Demon Body. Instead of entering the stone chamber where the Moshan disciples cultivate, it has wandered off to a plain covered with strange black epiphyllum flowers.

Thinking back to the side quests he encountered that day, Li Fan couldn't help but suspect that the karma he carried from Qingting Peak had affected Moon Worship, leading her astray. But these were just his guesses, and he couldn't be sure. Besides, Li Fan wasn't too concerned. After all, he had already refined his Dao Body and had a hearty meal, so it wouldn't affect the overall situation.

Regardless, Li Fan's Five Mountain Mountain God Dao Body have all broken through to the Golden Core realm, and he can now begin preparing to cultivate his Gui Xu Nascent Soul.

In fact, when Li Fan refined the Gonggong Dao Body in Lei Marsh, Li Fan had already vaguely sensed that his Golden Core cultivation level far exceeded that of ordinary Golden Core cultivators from Ink Bamboo Mountain, and he should have been able to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage. However, his frequent use of the Gui Xu Dao Yi in Lei Marsh and the South Sea consumed his true essence, which forcibly delayed his progress.

Moreover, when Li Fan cultivated the Dongshan Dao Body that day, he was also vaguely moved and felt that he was only one step away from the threshold. However, he was disturbed by the side events involving Qingting Peak and Yan Ruyu, so he suppressed his Dao heart for a while.

It wasn't until he personally entered the stone chamber and saw the many notes and instructions left by the seniors of Moshan that Li Fan was certain that he had misunderstood Moshan's method of cultivating the Dao Body.

These Five Mountain Mountain God Dao Body don't all need to be cultivated to the Golden Core realm. Instead, it's enough to cultivate only the mountain god body corresponding to the refined Dao Qi. After all, theoretically, those who have become disciples of the Mo Mountain Master are all Nascent Soul Stage level cultivators. Even if they start receiving special training from the Golden Core level, their Cultivation Method path has already been initially determined and planned.

Therefore, for Divine Hardness Return to Dust, Crimson Fiend, Purple Radiance, Profound Dark Underworld, you should cultivate whichever of your foundational Cultivation Method you possess, and then specialize in cultivating that particular path as a mountain god. Naturally, you can achieve the Nascent Soul Realm. Just like Fairy Wangshu, who directly transformed her Dark Underworld Dao Body through a series of dragon and snake transformations, achieving the Nascent Soul Stage entirely through Xuanming Zhenqi. Why would she need to undergo all five transformations?

As a result of a series of unfortunate events, Fairy Wangshu was in seclusion all day long, and her senior brothers from Moshan were far away working for the sect and could not be by Li Fan's side to give him guidance. So it wasn't until the third Mountain God Dao Body that he properly saw the cheat sheets and inheritance of Senior Moshan, which left him speechless.

But thinking about it, since I've already started cultivating, the Five Mountain Gods Divine Body should be more solid than the One Mountains Divine Body, right?

Moreover, according to the key points in the notes of the seniors of Moshan, the time that normal people spend the most is on constructing the Dao body and stabilizing the Dao heart. Those with duller aptitude simply cannot learn the method of transformation and are easily deformed and their flesh and blood disintegrate. Those with slightly weaker temperaments cannot change back to their original state. According to Moshan's general experience, it takes three to five years of study for a Dao body to be able to transform, and five to ten years to get used to it before one can start cultivating. This is considered a relatively safe approach.

Li Fan could only shrug. Well, it seems he's a prodigy.

Since cultivation doesn't take much time, and with each additional Dao body, the speed at which baleful energy is absorbed and the amount of True Essence of Returning to Emptiness refined also increases significantly, and the Five Mountain Gods can also circulate the Inner Five Elements, cultivating in sequence according to the order of mutual generation starting from Dark Underworld, it's twice as effective with half the effort, so why not just finish cultivating them all?

So even though Li Fan saw the notes, he still seized the time to cultivate them one by one. Now that he had mastered the Five Mountain Gods, Li Fan began to work on shaping his Gui Xu Nascent Soul.

According to Real Person Liang's experience, one can first create a replica of a Revered Heavenly Demon as a reference for shaping the Nascent Soul Stage.

Li Fan had already figured out what the Revered Heavenly Demon looked like. One should not forget one's roots. Since it had only been a little over a year since he transmigrated and he still remembered what he looked like in his previous life, he would just create a 'Li Fan'.

So Li Fan first recalled his own appearance and drew a portrait, then added some beauty filters. Next, he tried to carve a cooler shape with firewood. He first carved a figure with his hand on Black Sword, but after looking at it from left to right, he still felt it wasn't flashy enough, so he prepared to change it to a more flamboyant pose like "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One".

Just as he was having a great time, suddenly, "Crack!" A thunderclap rang out, smashing the roof beam. A bolt of lightning struck Li Fan on the forehead, knocking him over. He was dizzy and lightheaded, with smoke billowing from his head.

"Ouch! What, what happened...?"

Li Fan looked up and saw that the sky was covered with thunderclouds. In the blink of an eye, lightning snakes surged and thunder dragons danced wildly. Thunderbolts crashed down on his head!

"Holy crap, you ambushed me?!!"

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM--!!"

Nine consecutive thunderclaps resounded throughout the universe, shaking the mountains and fields.

Asha, who was cultivating with her natal Gu snake in the poisonous clouds in the bamboo house, was startled and jumped up. When she rushed out of the house, the thunderclouds in the sky had already dispersed, and the courtyard where Li Fan lived not far away had been reduced to ruins by lightning, with broken tiles everywhere.

"Senior brother... Senior brother, are you alright?!"

Asha rushed to the ruins to rescue people, and Kun and Leopard also caught up to see what was going on.

"No, it's nothing... I'm just a little dizzy..." Li Fan, covered in smoke from the beating, scrambled to his feet, still feeling groggy.

He used his internal vision to check the Inner Landscape and the system's alerts.

'Li Fan survived the tribulation and refined his Nascent Gui Xu Nascent Soul.'

'Li Fan broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, and his emotional potential has increased.'

Li Fan's current mood: 233/4550

That's a whopping 1200-point increase in mood cap... and the lightning tribulation is over already?!

"Senior brother, you're completely disfigured and you still say you're fine? Weren't you doing arithmetic? Why were you struck by lightning...?" Asha and Kunbao didn't dare to approach for a moment.

"Huh? Oh, it's just... a minor tribulation. That damn heavenly lightning actually ambushed me... I should go back and rest; I have work tomorrow..."

Li Fan then realized that his original face had been split into 'Li Fan', so he rubbed it and it turned back into Qingyue.

Although it's still a bit hard to believe, the system has already verified it, so it probably really is a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm.

To be honest, it really took Li Fan by surprise; he was completely unprepared to undergo the tribulation.

He probably unconsciously shaped the Gui Xu Nascent Soul while thinking about the appearance of the Revered Heavenly Demon. As a result, nine bolts of heavenly lightning suddenly arrived, passing through the Tianchi acupoint on his head and smashing into his Divine Court, instantly striking the Gui Xu Nascent Soul in the shape of 'Li Fan' nine times.

Although in the end, nothing serious happened, and the Gui Xu Nascent Soul was tempered by the heavenly lightning and successfully passed the tribulation, it was actually quite dangerous. This was because it was Li Fan's first time undergoing a tribulation, and he had no experience. He hadn't set up any formations or prepared any magic treasures or pills beforehand. As a result, the Gui Xu Nascent Soul directly absorbed all the energy of the heavenly lightning.

If he hadn't cultivated the Five Mountain Gods Body and had solid cultivation, he might have been completely annihilated, turning into ashes!

But at least it withstood the attack, and not much energy leaked out to harm its physical body; it just ended up looking a bit disheveled.

To be honest, the fact that he didn't sense any danger beforehand suggests that the lightning tribulation posed no threat to Li Fan at all.

"Just getting through a minor tribulation... Senior brother, you, you wouldn't be..." Asha had become numb to many things during her six months in Qingyue Creek, but she was still shocked.

"Oh, I'm already Nascent Soul Stage cultivator." Li Fan brushed the dust off his clothes and tidied his disheveled hair.

"... Congratulations, Senior Brother." After all, when Asha met Li Fan, he was already at the Golden Core level, and no one had told her how long Li Fan had been cultivating, so she wasn't astonished as she thought.

But seeing someone break through their cultivation level so suddenly still left Asha a little bewildered. It felt somewhat different from common sense. She figured it was probably because she was just a country bumpkin from the mountains who had never seen the world, and that Nascent Soul cultivators in the Central Plains broke through their Nascent Soul Stage levels so casually...

Li Fan felt it was a bit of a pity. The Gui Xu Nascent Soul absorbed baleful energy, but there was no naturally generated baleful energy in the Taiji Realm. Therefore, when he achieved the Nascent Soul Stage, there were no colorful auspicious clouds, hanging pearl necklaces, or other special light and shadow effects.

However, he could still feel that as soon as he achieved the Nascent Soul Realm, with each breath he took, the attributes of his entire body were rapidly improving. To put it metaphorically, the bottle of the Golden Core had become the cauldron of the Nascent Soul Stage, increasing the upper limit of the container. But the cauldron wasn't full right away; at first, there was only the little water in the bottle. Meanwhile, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was pouring into his body as if it were being poured out. His physical qualities and the strength of his bones were also breaking through the shackles of his genes, growing stronger and stronger!

So that's how it is. Simply passing the tribulation doesn't count as achieving the Nascent Soul Stage; it only means breaking through a barrier. In reality, you haven't reached the maximum level yet.

No wonder the Mountain Lord and Fairy Wangshu had to go into seclusion for a long time. This is because breaking through to a new realm for the first time is not an instantaneous super evolution. Instead, it requires the body to adapt to the improvement in cultivation, absorb spiritual energy to infuse the meridians, undergo the Yi Jing and marrow cleansing, and consolidate the foundation before it can safely and steadily grow to a higher realm.

Li Fan estimated that this first time stabilizing his realm would require carefully sorting out his meridians to avoid leaving any hidden dangers. His attributes, having just broken through to the early stage of the Nascent Soul Stage, couldn't be much worse than those of the Golden Core realm. He would have to spend a lot of effort stabilizing his realm and re-familiarizing himself with his Dao body and various Cultivation Method and arts.

Inside the stone chamber, Senior Mo Shan had already instructed on the methods of cultivation at this stage. Even the earth veins and spiritual caves beneath the Five Sons Peak had been opened up, and the earth veins had been artificially made into an array. As long as one cultivates by diving down the earth veins from the Fuzi Peak to emerge from the Shenzi Peak, it would take about fifty years of secluded cultivation to stabilize one's realm. Fairy Wangshu probably cultivated in this way back then, otherwise how could she have disappeared after diving to the bottom of the pool?

But Li Fan actually had an even more convenient shortcut he could take: Moon Worship.

Since the system has already determined that he has achieved the Gui Xu Nascent Soul, the special effects have been activated, right?

' The Gui Xu Nascent Soul Nascent Soul Stage, can directly absorb the Primordial Evil Qi to repair itself after its refinement. The decline in mood caused by the Tai Su Realm Evil Qi's corruption of the primordial spirit will transform into an increase.'

He specifically chose this Nascent Soul Stage Cultivation Method because of its special effects. From then on, the Tai Su World felt as warm as home. Every night, he could go directly to the Tai Su Realm to absorb malevolent energy and spiritual energy at a hundred times the speed to solidify his foundation. Wasn't that fast and stable? Why would he need to go into seclusion for three months, agonizing over math problems to improve his mood?

After enduring so much hardship, the good times are finally over!

It's a pity he just returned from cultivating in the stone chamber of the West Mountain Tai Su Realm. It was barely dawn, and he would have to wait until night to Moon Worship and stabilize his realm. But he could Moon Worship every day, which was much better than Moon Worship.

Li Fan was in high spirits and cheerfully asked Asha, "Has anyone come looking for me during my seclusion?"

Asha shook her head. "Not a single one."

"..." Li Fan's smile froze for a moment, a hint of reluctance in his eyes. "Not a single visitor? Think about it again?"

Asha thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Really not. Is Senior Brother in a hurry to order the flying boat? I heard that Heavenly Craft Peak is busy producing military equipment for the north and assisting in the resettlement of refugees. I'm afraid the order might be delayed. Perhaps I should go and ask?"

Li Fan couldn't help but shake his head. He had already cultivated his Nascent Soul Stage in three months; these natives were really slow in getting things done...

"Alright then, I'll go stretch my legs and test my skills. Don't go near the training ground these days, lest I lose control and blow up the mountain, hurting you all."

So Li Fan tentatively exerted his strength, and I jumped...

Wow---! That's a high jump--! I--am--strong--!!

Asha, Kun, Leopard "..."