Divine Treasure and Mysterious Snake

Deep within the sea of consciousness, the Bronze Ancient Bell, covered in the verdigris of ages, trembled violently.

The scarlet characters upon the bell's surface flowed and reorganized like molten lava, radiating an aura that was both primordial and profound.

After evolving for an unknown duration, the Bronze Ancient Bell finally emitted a deep, resonant hum.

The previously chaotic characters instantly solidified, transforming into three large words—[Divine Treasury Chapter].

Xia Dong's divine sense plunged into them instantly, and a vast, profound stream of information surged into his mind like a tidal wave.

As he delved deeper into the secret technique, a look of shock gradually appeared in his eyes.

So this... this is the true path of the Eternal Evergreen!

The cultivation logic of the Divine Treasury Chapter completely subverted conventional wisdom.

Ordinary techniques focus on "expelling the old and absorbing the new," relying on a constant exchange of energy with the outside world.

But the Divine Treasury Chapter does the exact opposite; it views the human body as an innate divine treasury, with the core of its cultivation centered on the word "store."

This is a form of extreme cultivation that "only enters and never exits."

It can take all the essence Xia Dong consumes—whether it be the vital energy from food, or the Mysterious Yin Mana and martial blood-qi gained through bitter practice—and convert it all into the purest Innate Qi, locking it endlessly within the divine treasury of the human body.

Essence does not leak; qi does not dissipate.

Once the practice of the Divine Treasury Chapter begins, Xia Dong's life origin enters a state of steady, continuous improvement. His foundation grows thicker as time passes, and his potential accumulates like a snowball.

It can be said that as long as the cultivation of the Divine Treasury Chapter has not reached its peak, the accumulation of Xia Dong's life origin will continue.

What surprised him even more was that this Divine Treasury Chapter perfectly complemented his existing cultivation.

In daily life, the Innate Qi acts like a king patrolling his territory, automatically absorbing the life essence overflowing within his body.

This means that even if Xia Dong encounters a bottleneck in the Internal Strengthening Realm of martial arts or the qi-refining level of the Profound Yin Scripture, his hard work will not be in vain.

The mana and blood-qi that cannot increase due to bottlenecks are naturally captured by the Divine Treasury Chapter and converted into Innate Qi to raise the ceiling of his aptitude and broaden his future path.

For others, it is like rowing against the current—if you don't advance, you retreat. For me, it is like gathering sand into a tower; as long as I put in the effort, there will be a harvest.

However, he also gained a deeper understanding of the characteristics of Innate Qi.

This qi is essentially a "nutrient" used to elevate the dimension of life, not a weapon of slaughter.

It does not possess powerful explosive output capabilities; its only defensive means is the ability to dissolve foreign mana or blood-qi that invades his body, melting it away like ice and snow into the purest primordial energy.

But this also consumes his own Innate Qi.

It does, however, possess a quality of being "impervious to all methods."

Therefore, in direct combat, he must still rely on Mysterious Yin Mana, divine sense, and martial blood-qi as his primary means of attack.

Xia Dong was also very clear about the value of the Divine Treasury Chapter.

In this world of cultivation where ranks are strict and talent determines fate, for those great cultivators trapped at bottlenecks or nearing the end of their lifespans, or for martial artists yearning to break through their aptitude limits, this is a reality.

A technique capable of forcibly elevating one's life origin and changing one's cultivation ceiling is enough to trigger a catastrophe. It is like the Nine Yin Manual in the novels of his past life, capable of stirring up the winds and clouds of the world.

Or rather, the immortal arts and divine techniques Xia Dong knows now are merely "skills," while the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art cultivates "life."

Even at the most desperate moment, I must never easily use the Innate Qi, lest others catch a glimpse of its characteristics.

He knew very well that once he exposed a method capable of continuously accumulating life origin and refining foreign energy, his situation would become extremely dangerous.

He slowly opened his eyes, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed into his body without end.

With the divine treasury opened, that faint trace of cyan Innate Qi flickered within the depths of his flesh and blood, silently accumulating his life origin and imperceptibly elevating his level of life.

The Bronze Ancient Bell deep within his sea of consciousness gradually returned to calm, and the blood-red text of the Divine Treasury Chapter had been deeply branded into Xia Dong's soul.

Xia Dong carefully observed the subtle changes in his body and discovered that once the Divine Treasury Chapter of the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art was mastered, it could "operate spontaneously."

As long as Xia Dong's physical body did not die, and as long as he continued to eat, consume postnatal essence, or have excess blood-qi and mana overflowing within him, this technique would act like a tireless millstone, running silently in the background, continuously crushing and purifying these energies, converting them into wisps of Innate Qi to be locked into the divine treasury, feeding back into his life origin.

In this way, I don't actually need to spend too much time and energy on the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art.

Xia Dong's heart was clear.

He also understood clearly that although the Evergreen Qi-Circulation Art could elevate his life level, extend his lifespan, and even allow him to be a late bloomer with a higher aptitude ceiling, this was ultimately only the cultivation of "life."

In a world of cultivation where the strong prey on the weak and danger lurks everywhere, if one only possesses a long lifespan and a deep foundation without the protective divine abilities to kill enemies and save one's life, one would eventually only end up as a "human pill" for high-level cultivators or demons.

Living long does not mean one cannot die.

Therefore, Xia Dong quickly adjusted his mindset.

In the years to come, he would still pour the vast majority of his energy and resources into the immortal arts and martial arts used for slaughter and protection.

For his upcoming cultivation, he set two extremely clear goals:

First, to steadily push the mana of the Profound Yin Scripture to the fourth level of qi-refining. According to the records of the Peaceful Yin Talisman Scripture, only when his mana crosses the threshold into the mid-stage of qi-refining will he be qualified to attempt condensing a "Talisman Seed" within his body. Once the Talisman Seed is successfully condensed, it will be of great benefit to his talisman-making.

Second, the martial path of Organ Strengthening. He would use his blood-qi and Mysterious Yin Mana to cleanse his kidneys daily, striving to nurture the "Profound Yin Divine Water"—the most yin and softest of substances—within the Divine Palace of his kidneys as soon as possible.

These two goals, whether it be condensing the Talisman Seed or nurturing the divine water, were matters that required step-by-step accumulation to reach fruition.

"Haste makes waste."

Xia Dong smiled faintly, completely shedding the tense emotions brought on by his recent cultivation and deductions. He tidied up the secret chamber, changed into a clean green robe, and then swam out of the cave dwelling through the cold underwater passage, intending to clear his mind in the deep valley.

Splash.

As soon as Xia Dong poked his head out of the pool in the deep valley, his keen divine sense detected an extremely unusual aura.

He first reached a high vantage point, only to see a massive snakeskin lying horizontally outside the lair where the giant snake usually coiled! The skin shimmered with a lustrous glow under the sunlight, and a trace of violent spiritual energy still lingered on its surface.

"It molted?"

Xia Dong was startled. He immediately restrained his aura and approached with light footsteps.

Behind a giant boulder deep within the cliff, he saw the giant snake that had just completed its transformation.

The giant snake was currently lazily coiled into a mountain of flesh, plunged into a deep slumber.

Yet, the aura emanating from its body was several times more formidable than before.

That deep, heavy, and intensely frigid pressure even caused a slight stinging sensation in Xia Dong's fifth-level Qi Refining divine sense.

Such a terrifying aura... After devouring that Black Eagle, it actually succeeded in advancing by leveraging the insights gained between life and death along with the immense essence of flesh and blood.

Xia Dong clicked his tongue in secret. The cultivation of demonic beasts differs from that of humans; every successful molting and advancement is a massive leap in their life level, providing a terrifying boost to their physical bodies and strength. Based on the giant snake's current might, Xia Dong conservatively estimated that its strength had definitely entered the realm comparable to a human cultivator at the "late stage of Qi Refining."

Xia Dong gathered his courage and observed the giant snake's transformed physique carefully from a distance.

Having shed its original, somewhat mottled dark green scales, the giant snake was now draped in a layer of deep, smooth, pure black scales resembling obsidian. Its head had become sharper, with faint, bulging protrusions, and most strikingly, near the seven-inch mark on its belly, it had grown an extremely dense, water-ripple-like dark blue pattern.

Looking at these features, a flash of inspiration struck Xia Dong's mind, and he suddenly recalled an ancient record in the opening of the Profound Yin Scripture regarding the totem of the Profound Yin Sect.

"Jet black body, water patterns on the belly, extremely yin and cold, capable of controlling all waters... How does this giant snake's current appearance vaguely resemble the characteristics of the town-sect sacred beast recorded in the Profound Yin Scripture—the Black Water Profound Snake?"

The Black Water Profound Snake was a "True Spirit" level existence from ancient legends capable of overturning rivers and seas, swallowing clouds and spitting mist!

Xia Dong's heart skipped a beat: Could it be that this giant snake guarding the door in these desolate mountains actually possesses a trace of the thin bloodline of the ancient sacred beast, the Black Water Profound Snake?

However, among the demonic beast clan, while bloodline is paramount.

It is by no means rare for beasts in this world to possess a thin trace of True Spirit blood.

Yet, those who can truly evolve and revert to their ancestors to become pure-blooded "True Spirits" are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. It is even more difficult than a low-level rogue cultivator with mixed spiritual roots cultivating all the way to the Spirit Transformation stage.

Even if this giant snake has that infinitesimal trace of Profound Snake blood, dreaming of becoming a True Spirit is practically delusional.

Xia Dong watched the giant snake, which flicked its cold tongue from time to time in its sleep, lost in thought.

He did not approach, lest he disturb the beast. After strolling through the mountain stream and watching the fish swimming in the pool, he relaxed his state of mind and then retreated silently back into the water.

With such a demonic beast comparable to the late stage of Qi Refining—and perhaps even possessing an exotic bloodline—"passively" guarding the Tiger Hill cave dwelling, he would have even greater security for his future closed-door cultivation here.