Yaolingxuan

Inside the temporary cave dwelling.

Fang Qing suppressed his excitement and first divined his own fortune and misfortune.

"Neutral?! Looks like there was no problem with this transaction."

Having received the revelation, he looked at the three cultivation manuals again. "The fortune and misfortune of cultivating these techniques..."

With the Plum Blossom Divination in operation, the result soon emerged.

"Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art: mixed fortune and misfortune? Great Sun True Interpretation: great fortune? As for the 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 the Rhapsody of Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Union and Great Bliss, he did not even read it. He directly sealed it inside a jade box, pasted a sealing talisman over it, and prepared to let it gather dust forever at the bottom of his storage pouch.

He immediately picked up the Great Sun True Interpretation, whose divination had read "great fortune."

After a long while, Fang Qing set down the secret manual in his hands. His eyes were incomparably clear, as though they held a trace of foolishness...

Even with his spiritual sense assisting him, much of the Great Sun True Interpretation remained obscure and incomprehensible to him. He did not even know how to begin, and felt like a complete idiot!

"Some of the Hundred Arts of Immortality still depend on talent in the end, even with spiritual sense to help... Arrays, for instance. And this Great Sun True Interpretation too!"

Fang Qing was certain that this technique had to have been written by an ancient cultivator. If it could leave him utterly dumbfounded, its author might not even have been an High Antiquity cultivator—it might well have come from Primordial Antiquity!

He sighed and opened the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.

With his prior experience cultivating the Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art, Fang Qing could barely be considered to have entered the doorway of the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.

"Sure enough... with spiritual sense aiding me, I'm still a genius!"

"My inability to cultivate the Great Sun True Interpretation is entirely because that technique was never meant for geniuses!"

He immersed his mind and continuously analyzed the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art. "This Secret Treasury Domain technique is an exceedingly extraordinary method of Great Snow Mountain. It concerns 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 even more special. It has no visualization diagram, only a set of hand seals—the Great Sun Empowerment Perfected Mahamudra Method!"

"This Great Sun Tradition technique, at least I can enter its doorway and know how to cultivate it... The Great Sun True Interpretation, which I don't even know how to begin cultivating, absolutely isn't a problem with my comprehension!"

In truth, Fang Qing wanted to cultivate the Great Sun True Interpretation even more, but... he genuinely could not understand a single thing in it.

The Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art, on the other hand, had much lower entry requirements.

"Mixed fortune and misfortune? I'll cultivate it first. At worst, if I discover anything 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 the Great Sun True Interpretation.

Collecting Great Sun Violet Qi was a dead end in Ancient Shu, but on Jade Island, it was nothing remarkable.

Over these past few years, he had already obtained two strands of Great Sun Violet Qi.

He could wait until he entered the doorway of the Great Sun True Interpretation, then swallow the other strand of Great Sun Violet Qi to enter the Dao!

With a cheat in hand, he could be this overbearing!

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 the Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art and tempered his flesh, skin, and bones once over, it would never have been so easy at the start.

He silently chanted the Great Sun Tathagata Secret Mantra in his heart. "Om, ma, ni, bei, mei, hum!"

Within his Consciousness Sea, his spiritual sense assisted him further as he visualized one great hand seal 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 one step."

At a thought from Fang Qing, a jade bottle placed beside him automatically opened. A layer of dense purple qi immediately rose from within and was drawn into his mouth and nose.

Rumble!

In an instant, the previously still Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art began operating madly. Great Sun Violet Qi flowed through the three wheels and seven channels, finally settling at the crown of his head and transforming into a resplendent Great Sun.

Fang Qing opened his mind and felt as though he had seen a... blazing sun?

A Sun-Wheel Seal surfaced upon his forehead, then swiftly vanished again.

"The quality of this Dharma power..."

After a long while, Fang Qing let out a long breath and silently experienced the difference in this ninth-rank superior-grade Dharma power.

"Within the Breath-Nourishing Dao, only Dharma powers of seventh rank or above have the possibility of advancing to the Purple Mansion... As for after the Purple Mansion? That lies beyond human ability. Therefore... ninth-rank superior-grade is known as Eastern Extreme Jade Clarity!"

"The highest True Qi of the Great Sun Tradition is only ninth-rank superior-grade? Then what kind of True Qi is ninth-rank supreme-grade?"

"This strand of Dharma power is at least worth several times the Ji Water Dharma power. Compared to Black Water Dharma Power... the gap would only be greater!"

"The difference is already this vast at the beginning. What about later on?"

He was somewhat excited, but after carefully sensing his cultivation speed, he was left speechless. "After all, I'm not some 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 relied on my own painstaking cultivation, my progress would be far slower than with the Black Ridge Contemplation Scripture—much slower, even..."

"If I cultivated the Black Ridge Observation Book, even without Dharma power converted from Origin Qi, I would be confident of reaching Qi Ingestion Perfection in this lifetime. But with the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art... I might not even break through Late Qi Ingestion in an entire lifetime!"

This was also why Breath-Nourishing Dao techniques had to be chosen with the utmost caution.

Not only could they not be changed, but once one entered the doorway, there was no turning back.

"Fortunately... I still have my cheat."

Fang Qing knew that it was nearly impossible to advance through the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art by cultivating it himself, and immediately stirred his thoughts.

The Dao-Born Pearl spun round and round. A great quantity of Origin Qi emerged and directly poured into the sun wheel, passing through the three wheels and seven channels to transform into the purest Great Sun Dharma power.

With this aid, crackling sounds erupted from his entire body. The sun-wheel mark appeared above his head and countless crimson blood threads spread out from it, like veins covering his whole body.

Qi Ingestion Second Layer!

Third Layer!

Fourth Layer!

Fang Qing's cultivation rose steadily, only stopping at around the Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer.

"Only the Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer?"

He stared at his hands in disbelief. "My Black Water Dharma Power is at the seventh layer and perfect completion. It can convert into more than Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer Ji Water Dharma power, yet converting all of it into Great Sun Dharma power only gave me the mere Qi Ingestion Fourth Layer? And it doesn't even look fully perfected?"

The difference in quality between these various Dharma powers was simply too immense.

Fang Qing exhaled a long breath. The Dao-Born Pearl continued converting, dissolving all the cultivation of the Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art and sending it into the sun wheel.

This body-protecting divine art had likewise been cultivated by him bit by bit.

He had also tried adding it to Ji Water Dharma power before, but seemingly because his Dao practice had been insufficient, sheer strength of Dharma power alone had made it difficult to break through Late Qi Ingestion.

Crackle! Crackle!

A phantom of a blazing sun emerged around Fang Qing, and his cultivation climbed all the way to the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion.

"Sure enough... techniques from the same Secret Treasury Domain convert between one another most perfectly. The expenditure is lowest, while the effect is greatest."

He opened his eyes and suddenly looked at his palm.

With the slightest movement of intent, he scratched with a fingernail, and a drop of blood surfaced.

Unlike an ordinary person's blood, this drop bore specks of gold.

Fang Qing casually flicked it away.

Smack!

The blood drop hit the ground, transformed into a golden bead, and gave off a dull thud.

"Do Breath-Nourishing Dao cultivators undergo such inhuman changes after drawing qi into their bodies?"

He put away the golden bead and sensed the Great Sun Dharma power at its peak.

"The Great Sun is the emperor of the central heavens, flourishing among flourishings... It may be Solar Yang, primordial yang, lesser yang... It is close to Li Fire..."

These insights came naturally with the Dharma power, immediately filling Fang Qing with a solemn feeling.

"The Great Sun True Intent of this Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art... does carry something of a grand and majestic air. How did it become the tradition of a place like Great Snow Mountain?"

"Wait... now that I have achieved minor success in the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art, if I cut my hair short and pretended to be a monk from the Secret Treasury Domain, there probably wouldn't be much of a problem? Mm, here in Ancient Shu, such Esoteric Treasury Monks are also called red-robed monks—followers of the Esoteric Sect..."

"It is said that followers of the Esoteric Sect may also keep long hair, eat meat and drink wine, even enjoy Wisdom Consorts... They are truly bound by no taboos."

"Though I am only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion, if 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 would likely be no match for me!"

"In this present age, metal and fire flourish greatly. Among the twelve Year Guardians, my Great Sun Tradition stands even above metal and fire!"

Fang Qing's heart surged like a raging tide.

He finally understood how geniuses like Li Rulong could defeat Late Qi Ingestion cultivators while still at Mid Qi Ingestion.

"But something this dangerous is better forgotten."

"If I'm going to fight, I'll definitely use Mid Qi Ingestion to suppress Early Qi Ingestion..."

Fang Qing slowly suppressed that trace of restlessness in his heart and carefully experienced the Great Sun Dharma power.

The exceedingly high quality of this Dharma power was only one aspect.

When used, it also carried the image of Great Sun Li Fire, making it exceptionally extraordinary.

"This Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art can likewise only be cultivated to the Dao Foundation. For the later Purple Mansion portion, I will likely 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 only grown deeper and deeper..."

He flipped through the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art in his hands and silently contemplated it. "The Dao Foundation cultivated by this technique at the Dao Foundation stage is called Yaolingxuan. It seems much stronger than the Longlasting Sweet Rain of the Black Ridge Observation Book... But since I have yet to reach the Dao Foundation, I still cannot tell."

After considering it, Fang Qing dispersed the Dharma power of the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art.

Rumble rumble!

This immense stream of Origin Qi divided into three. The greater portion pushed the Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art to its first stage, nearing perfection.

The second portion entered the Black Ridge Observation Book, becoming cultivation around the Qi Ingestion Third Layer.

The last portion went into the Water Classic Commentary, becoming Qi Refinement Seventh Layer!

"If I remain unable to break through Late Qi Ingestion in the Breath-Nourishing Dao for a long time, I might even cultivate to Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer perfection myself..."

"And my Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art has returned to the realm of newly entering Qi Ingestion First Layer... Still, this technique seems to lack the strange evil of the previous body-protecting divine art? Could it be because I consumed Great Sun Violet Qi?"