Inside the temporary cave abode.
Fang Qing suppressed his excitement and first divined his own fortune and misfortune.
"Even?! Looks like there won't be any problem with this transaction."
After receiving the revelation, he looked at the three manuals again. "The fortune and misfortune of cultivating these techniques..."
With Plum Blossom Divination in motion, the result came quickly.
"Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art—mixed fortune and misfortune? Great Sun True Interpretation—great fortune? As for Rhapsody of Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Union and Great Bliss... great misfortune?"
Fang Qing was somewhat startled. Though he greatly yearned for the contents of Rhapsody of Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Union and Great Bliss, he did not even look at it. He directly sealed it inside a jade box, pasted a sealing talisman over it, and prepared to leave it buried at the bottom of his storage pouch forever.
He then immediately picked up the Great Sun True Interpretation, whose hexagram had been "great fortune."
After a long while, Fang Qing put down the secret manual in his hand. His eyes were incomparably clear, as though they held a trace of foolishness...
Even with the aid of Spiritual Sense, there were still many obscure and incomprehensible parts when he read this Great Sun True Interpretation. He did not even understand how to begin learning it. He felt like a complete idiot!
"Some of the Hundred Arts of Immortality still ultimately depend on talent, even with Spiritual Sense to assist... formations, for instance. And this Great Sun True Interpretation too!"
Fang Qing was certain now. This technique had definitely been written by an ancient cultivator. To leave him this utterly bewildered, its author might not even have been a High Antiquity cultivator—perhaps it had come from Primordial Antiquity!
He sighed and opened Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.
With his prior experience cultivating Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art, Fang Qing could barely be considered to have entered the gate of Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.
"Sure enough... with Spiritual Sense helping me, I'm still a genius!"
"My inability to cultivate Great Sun True Interpretation is entirely because this technique was never meant for geniuses!"
He immersed himself in it, continuously analyzing Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art. "This Secret Treasury Domain technique is an exceptionally profound method of Great Snow Mountain. It involves the secrets of the Great Sun and likewise possesses 'Three Secrets Cultivation'... the Body Secret is the Unsurpassed Yoga Secret Vehicle, the Mouth Secret is the Great Sun Tathagata Esoteric Mantra, while the Mind Secret is somewhat more special. It has no visualization diagram, only a set of hand seals: the Great Sun Empowerment Perfected Mahamudra Method!"
"This technique of the Great Sun Tradition, at least I can enter its gate and know how to cultivate it... The Great Sun True Interpretation, which I don't even know how to begin, absolutely isn't a problem with my comprehension!"
In truth, Fang Qing wanted even more to cultivate Great Sun True Interpretation. Unfortunately... he genuinely could not understand a single word of it.
Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art, on the other hand, had much lower entry requirements.
"Mixed fortune and misfortune? I'll cultivate it for now. At worst, if I discover something wrong in the future, I'll immediately use the Dao-Born Pearl to dissolve it..."
Fang Qing made his decision, but that did not mean he intended to give up on Great Sun True Interpretation.
Gathering Great Sun Violet Qi was a dead end here in Ancient Shu, but on Jade Island, it was nothing at all.
Over these past few years, he had already obtained two strands of Great Sun Violet Qi.
He could completely wait until he entered the gate of Great Sun True Interpretation in the future, then swallow the other strand of Great Sun Violet Qi and enter the Dao!
With his golden finger in hand, he could be this extravagant!
Having made up his mind, Fang Qing twisted his body like a snake and assumed the posture of the Unsurpassed Yoga Secret Vehicle.
Had he not painstakingly cultivated Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art, refining his flesh, skin, and bones once over, he definitely would not have found it this easy at the start.
He silently recited the Great Sun Tathagata Secret Mantra in his heart. "Om, ma, ni, bei, mei, hum!"
Within his sea of consciousness, his Spiritual Sense assisted him as he visualized one Mahamudra after another.
Half a day passed, yet nothing happened...
"Sure enough... without an empowerment from a master or Great Sun Violet Qi, it is impossible for the Breath-Nourishing Dao to enter the Dao in a single step."
With a thought from Fang Qing, a jade bottle beside him automatically opened. A dense layer of purple qi emerged from within, which he inhaled through his mouth and nose.
Rumble!
In an instant, the previously motionless Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art began circulating madly. Great Sun Violet Qi flowed through the Three Wheels and Seven Meridians before finally settling at the crown of his head, where it transformed into a blazing Great Sun.
Fang Qing opened his mind and felt as though he had seen a... blazing sun?
A Sun-Wheel Seal emerged on his forehead, then swiftly faded away.
"This Dharma Power's quality..."
After a long while, Fang Qing let out a long breath and silently experienced the difference in this Ninth Rank upper-grade Dharma Power.
"Within the Breath-Nourishing Dao, only Dharma Power of Seventh-Order and above has the possibility of advancing to the Purple Mansion... As for after the Purple Mansion? That is beyond the reach of human power. Therefore... Ninth Rank upper-grade is known as 'Eastern Extreme Jade Clarity'!"
"The highest True Qi of the Great Sun Tradition is only Ninth Rank upper-grade? Then what kind of True Qi is Ninth Rank supreme-grade?"
"This strand of Dharma Power can at least match several times the power of Winnowing Basket Water Dharma Power. If converted into Black Water Dharma Power... it would only be even more!"
"The gap is already so great at the start. What about later?"
He was somewhat excited, but after carefully sensing his cultivation speed, he was left speechless. "After all, I do not possess a Great Sun Physique. Even after entering the Dao through Qi Ingestion and changing my constitution, I can only barely cultivate this Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art... If I rely on bitter cultivation alone, my progress will be far slower than with Black Ridge Contemplation Scripture—far slower, even..."
"If I cultivated Black Ridge Observation Book, even without Dharma Power converted from Origin Qi, I would still be confident of reaching Qi Ingestion Perfection in this lifetime. But with Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art... I fear I would not even break through Late Qi Ingestion in an entire lifetime!"
This was also why one had to be extraordinarily cautious when choosing a Breath-Nourishing Dao technique.
Not only could one not change it, but once one had entered its gate, there was no turning back.
"Fortunately... I still have my golden finger."
Fang Qing knew that it was almost impossible for him to advance through cultivating Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art on his own. At once, a thought stirred.
The Dao-Born Pearl spun round and round. A vast amount of Origin Qi emerged and poured directly into the sun wheel, passing through the Three Wheels and Seven Meridians to become the purest Great Sun Dharma Power.
With its aid, crackling sounds rang out from his entire body. The Sun-Wheel Seal appeared atop his head, while countless crimson threads spread from it like blood vessels, covering his whole body.
Qi Ingestion Second Layer!
Third Layer!
Fourth Layer!
Fang Qing's cultivation rose steadily, stopping only around the Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer.
"Only the Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer?"
He looked at his hands, somewhat unable to believe it. "My Black Water Dharma Power was at the perfection of the seventh layer. It could convert into more than Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer of Winnowing Basket Water Dharma Power. Yet after converting all of it into Great Sun Dharma Power, I only reached the mere Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer? And it does not even seem fully perfected?"
The difference in quality between these various Dharma Powers was simply too enormous.
Fang Qing exhaled deeply. The Dao-Born Pearl continued converting, dissolving all the cultivation of Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art and sending it into the sun wheel.
He had likewise cultivated this body-protecting divine art bit by bit.
He had also tried adding it to Winnowing Basket Water Dharma Power before, but perhaps because his Dao practice was insufficient, mere strength of Dharma Power had made it difficult to break through Late Qi Ingestion.
Crackle!
A phantom of a blazing sun emerged from Fang Qing's body, and his cultivation climbed all the way to the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion.
"Sure enough... techniques from the same Secret Treasury Domain convert into each other most perfectly. The consumption is lowest, and the effect is greatest."
He opened his eyes and suddenly looked at his palm.
With the slightest movement of his mind, he scratched with a fingernail, and a drop of blood emerged.
This blood drop differed from an ordinary person's, carrying specks of gold.
Fang Qing casually flicked it.
Pa!
The blood drop landed on the ground and turned into a golden bead, making a dull sound.
"After cultivators of the Breath-Nourishing Dao ingest qi into their bodies, do they undergo such inhuman changes?"
He put away the golden bead and sensed this peak Great Sun Dharma Power.
"The Great Sun is the emperor of the mid-heavens, the greatest among abundance... It may be Solar Yang, primordial yang, lesser yang... close to Li Fire..."
These were insights carried within the Dharma Power itself, and they immediately gave Fang Qing a solemn feeling.
"The Great Sun True Intent of this Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art... does possess something of a grand and majestic bearing. How did it end up belonging to a tradition like Great Snow Mountain?"
"Wait... now that my Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art has reached minor accomplishment, if I cut my hair short and impersonate a monk from the Secret Treasury Domain, there seems to be no great problem? Hmm, here in Ancient Shu, such Esoteric Treasury Monks are also called red-robed monks, Esoteric Sect followers..."
"It is said that Esoteric Sect followers may likewise keep long hair, eat meat and drink wine, and even enjoy Wisdom Consorts... they can be said to have no taboos at all."
"Though I am merely at the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion now, if I am given more time to familiarize myself with this Dharma Power and practice several yang-attribute and fire-attribute Dao arts... ordinary Late Qi Ingestion cultivators likely would not be my match!"
"In this present age, metal and fire are flourishing. Among the twelve Year Guardians, my Great Sun Tradition stands even above metal and fire!"
Fang Qing's heart surged like the tides.
At last, he understood how a heaven's chosen like Li Rulong could defeat Late Qi Ingestion cultivators while in Mid Qi Ingestion.
"But such dangerous matters should be forgotten."
"If I fight, I will definitely use Mid Qi Ingestion to suppress Early Qi Ingestion..."
Fang Qing slowly suppressed that flicker of restlessness in his heart and carefully experienced Great Sun Dharma Power.
Its extraordinarily high quality was only one aspect.
When it was wielded, it further carried the imagery of Great Sun Li Fire, making it highly extraordinary.
"This Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art can likewise only be cultivated to the Dao Foundation. For the subsequent Purple Mansion section, I will probably still have to seek it in the Secret Treasury Domain..."
"My karmic entanglement with Great Snow Mountain has not only failed to be severed—it has grown ever deeper..."
He flipped through Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art in his hand and silently contemplated it. "The Great Dao Foundation cultivated by this technique at the Dao Foundation stage is called 'Yaolingxuan.' It seems much stronger than the 'Longlasting Sweet Rain' of Black Ridge Observation Book... but I have never reached the Dao Foundation, so I still cannot distinguish them."
Fang Qing thought for a moment and dispersed the Dharma Power of Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.
Rumble, rumble!
This vast Origin Qi divided into three portions. The greater part propelled Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art to its first stage, nearing perfection.
The second portion entered Black Ridge Observation Book, becoming cultivation at around the Qi Ingestion Third Layer.
The last entered Water Classic Commentary, reaching Qi Refinement Seventh Layer!
"If I cannot break through to Late Qi Ingestion for a long time on the Breath-Nourishing Dao, I might even cultivate Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer to perfection myself..."
"And my Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art has returned to the stage of just entering Qi Ingestion First Layer... Still, this technique does not seem to possess the strange evilness of that body-protecting divine art? Could it be because I consumed Great Sun Violet Qi?"
Before you continue