Immaculate Body

News of the Zhang family being attacked by bandits that night, and of the imperial-bestowed plaque being damaged, quickly spread throughout the next day.

With an imperial-bestowed plaque damaged by bandits, even Yang Qing, the magistrate of Fengxi County, had no choice but to personally enter the Zhang family estate and investigate.

Yet when Yang Qing emerged from the Zhang family, his old face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water.

"Patriarch Zhang, please stay!"

"Brother Yang, your righteousness is greatly appreciated. The Zhang family thanks you in advance!"

Behind him, Zhang Yi smiled like a spring breeze.

From the pavilion of Fanglin Residence, Zhang Jian watched Yang Qing fling his sleeve and leave, while Zhang Yi and Zhang Kui emerged from the main hall.

Capturing all five of the Northern Five Heroes alive was tantamount to seizing Yang Qing by the throat.

Yang Zhonghuai's collusion with bandits was irrefutable proof. If it came to light, not only would Yang Zhonghuai be stripped of his scholarly honors and thrown into prison for judgment, but even Yang Qing's official cap would not remain on his head.

Naturally, the Zhang family would not let such an opportunity slip away.

Zhang Yi was an exceedingly shrewd man.

This time, however, he was not planning to use the matter as an excuse to drive Yang Qing away.

They would certainly make trouble over it.

But they would not drive Yang Qing away.

If Yang Qing were driven away, the court would certainly send another official. Then there would simply be a new "Yang Qing." Rather than that, the best choice was undoubtedly to grasp this weakness and control "Yang Qing," using the chance to further stabilize the Zhang family's overall position.

Of course, given Yang Qing's temperament, he certainly would not resign himself to being controlled for long and would surely seek to strike back. But once this period had passed, the Zhang family's power would certainly rise another step. By then, a mere Yang Qing would amount to nothing.

"Then how should the Gu family be dealt with?"

Zhang Jian's gaze flickered as he pondered. Great clan families like the Gu family were adept at reading the winds and judging the hour.

Zhang Jian guessed that the two people who had acted last night were likely connected to either the Gu family or the Upper Origin Sect.

Now that their existence was known, only two choices remained: either continue acting, or make peace.

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered. He had never dealt with the Gu family patriarch and could not make an accurate judgment, but for now, that was a matter for Zhang Yi to worry about.

He had no intention of interfering.

Intervening rashly might instead affect the unity of the Zhang family.

Since ancient times, descendants of such great families had to see their own place clearly. Besides, Zhang Yi was still in the prime of his life.

Inside the ancestral shrine

Zhang Jian and Zhang Yi stood before the stone mirror. Earlier, this treasured clan artifact had suddenly blazed with golden light and suppressed those paper figures, leaving both men itching with curiosity.

Naturally, they had to study it.

Yet no matter how they studied it, even channeling the spiritual power within their bodies into it could not stir the stone mirror in the ancestral shrine.

"Treasure has spirit. It seems we have no affinity with it for the time being!"

Regret showed on Zhang Yi's face.

"Perhaps once the two of us cultivate magical power, we may be able to claim it for our own use."

Zhang Jian did not particularly mind. It was no matter if they could not use this treasure; it belonged to the Zhang family in the end. Once their spiritual power rose in the future, there would always be an opportunity.

What he needed now was to truly enter the Dao and condense his own magical power.

Forging magical power was the beginning of longevity.

Magical power was linked to one's life and lifespan. No matter how abundant one's spiritual power was, it could not allow a cultivator to surpass the limits of their natural lifespan.

Magical power, however, seized the creations of heaven and earth. It could extend one's lifespan and possessed countless wondrous uses, making it the very foundation of cultivation.

Moreover, with troubled times looming, the Zhang family also needed a true powerhouse who had cultivated magical power to hold the fort if they wished to claim a share of the feast.

Based on the information the two had summarized from Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity,

cultivators of the orthodox Great Dao were also divided into stages. The first stage was Qi Refinement, the second was Spirit Nourishment, and the third was Fate Measuring.

Qi Refinement chiefly involved finding ways to transform inner breath into spiritual power, thereby continuously strengthening one's vital essence and nourishing oneself.

This directly corresponded to the cultivation of internal martial artists below the innate stage.

Immortal cultivation methods, however, took a single step to connect the bridge to heaven and earth, borrowing the power of heaven and earth to nourish oneself, while also possessing superior means to form all manner of spells.

The second step was Spirit Nourishment: transforming spiritual power into an essence that nourished the soul, continuously strengthening the soul and breaking through the barrier between spirit and reality in preparation for the third step.

The third step required the Three Treasures to become one: finding one's own fate pattern, then merging fate pattern, fortune, and lifespan to condense a supreme Dao foundation and form magical power. These were the three Foundation Establishment steps at the beginning of longevity.

Yet not everyone could complete them smoothly.

On the contrary, cultivators who condensed magical power were exceedingly rare.

Furthermore, the forging of a supreme Dao foundation had concrete distinctions of superiority and inferiority.

As for more specific information, the two did not know, because Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity contained no detailed explanation. It merely mentioned that the more fortune one gathered, the greater the help it might provide for Foundation Establishment.

After encouraging each other for a while, they turned their attention to their current cultivation.

For now, they naturally needed to first strengthen their spiritual power and bolster their vital essence. Borrowing the power of heaven and earth, they had to thoroughly wash away the acquired impurities within their bodies, ensuring that not a trace of impurity remained to contaminate their souls. Only then could they ensure their cultivation during the Spirit Nourishment stage.

This was, in fact, much the same in principle as an internal martial artist advancing from the innate stage to grandmaster.

However, internal martial artists relied more on tempering their martial will. Through extreme ordeals, they completed the refinement of both inner and outer self, ascending to the grandmaster realm.

But such advancement was somewhat extreme. It achieved more of a leap in "spirit" than a simultaneous transformation of essence, qi, and spirit.

Even if they became grandmasters in the future, becoming Celestials capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Fate Spirit cultivators would be far more difficult.

Inside the ancestral shrine, after cultivating for some time, Zhang Yi turned his gaze toward Zhang Jian.

The icy spiritual power within his body circulated continuously, drawing the spiritual workings of heaven and earth from the void through the twin bridges of heaven and earth, steadily strengthening the spiritual power within him. Yet he felt that the rate of absorption was not fast.

To completely replace the turbid qi within his body, who knew how much bitter effort would be required.

In contrast, Zhang Jian's cultivation displayed a rather astonishing phenomenon.

Within Zhang Yi's faint spiritual perception, Zhang Jian seemed shrouded in a hazy layer of the power of heaven and earth, and the speed of his breathing and absorption far surpassed Zhang Yi's.

A trace of envy appeared in Zhang Yi's eyes.

This must be a matter of aptitude. Zhang Jian possessed an exceptionally special constitution, so his speed in refining spiritual power was much faster.

"It seems that in the future, I may have to rely greatly on this nephew of mine!"

In truth, Zhang Yi had guessed wrong. Zhang Jian's aptitude had not initially been particularly high. The reason his cultivation speed far surpassed that of ordinary people was because two rare treasures of the Heavenly Palace resided within his body. Both treasures had the effect of consolidating one's foundation and nourishing one's origin, capable of altering one's roots.

By now, the acquired turbid qi within his physique had already been tempered away for the most part by those two rare treasures. With only a slight guidance from his cultivation method, he could force all of it out. Naturally, his cultivation proceeded extremely quickly.

At the same time, Zhang Jian discovered that he should possess spiritual roots.

And their purity was not poor.