Dao-Demon Battle Diagram

What they sought was: "Cultivate until the three thousand practices were complete, receive the summons and ascend in an instant, roam beyond all things, and live as long as Heaven."

Those masters of Spirit Refinement who had attained their level through pill refinement, artifact forging, and the like were, rather than Spirit Refinement cultivators, masters of the arts of alchemy and artifact forging.

Those who could use spirit to command spirit, borrow the power of Heaven and Earth, kill with a laugh, and let their spirits roam ten thousand miles—that was the realm pursued by the path of Spirit Refinement.

Predicting the enemy's moves before they came, seeing through secret arts—this was the essence of Spirit Refinement.

With an idea already formed in his heart, Chen Wu immediately began cultivating.

Following the words of the Contemplative Visualization Method, he calmed his mind and quieted his breath, subdued the monkey of the heart and the horse of the mind, until no stray thoughts remained. He focused wholly on visualizing the scene in his mind. Every pore across his body opened, rapidly absorbing the essence of the mountains and abyss to nourish his divine sense.

The powerful divine soul bestowed by the three souls connected with truth and reached the spirit.

Half an hour later, a visualization scroll depicting a great battle between Dao and demons unfolded within his sea of consciousness.

At the head of the Dao faction stood a Daoist in crimson robes, with unusual peak-like Daoist brows. The Daoist divine weapon "Purple Cloud Waves" rested on his back as he faced the demon army with boundless righteous qi.

Behind him, on either side, stood two Daoists. On the left was one dressed in ink-wash Daoist robes, holding a whisk and carrying the "Ink Melody Zither" on his back. He stood behind the crimson-robed Daoist, gentle yet resolute.

The one on the right wore robes of flowing gold, held the "Coiled Dragon Pearl" in his palm, and bore awe-inspiring Daoist majesty between his brows.

Behind the three Daoists stood another Daoist dressed in purple bramble robes, a feather fan in hand, carrying himself with leisurely ease.

The demon camp opposing the Dao in the painting was led by a red-haired figure dressed in white battle robes, holding the "Zhu Yan Spear." His face was unfathomable.

Of the demons standing at the leader's sides, one had both eyes covered by strange seals, held the "Wolf-Smoke Halberd," and rode an enormous wolf beast. The other had wild, arrogant red hair and wielded the "Inverted-Fork Evil Razor."

The demon general behind the three demons had a vivid crimson python-dragon tattoo over half his face. He held the "Silver Evil Spear," seemed to be crippled in one leg, and wore an indifferent expression.

Within the visualization painting, the figures of four Daoists and four demons flickered in and out of sight. Each occupied their battle formation upon the wilderness, on the verge of unleashing a brutal war between Dao and demons.

"So it worked?"

Chen Wu looked inward with his spirit and saw a scroll floating within his sea of consciousness. Stamped at its head in gilded golden characters was its name: "Dao-Demon Battle Diagram."

He had chosen this as his visualization precisely because of the Holy Demon Embryo's past origins.

He simply had not expected it to succeed on his very first attempt.

He then continued cultivating. The essences of the cosmos were absorbed, nourishing both the Dao and demon factions in the visualization painting. They actually condensed into forms like True People and began moving slowly within the painting.

"Could this be what the visualization method meant by turning the unreal into the real, refining the false into truth?"

Seeing the Daoists and demons in the painting move even more slowly than at 0.1x speed, Chen Wu was not dissatisfied.

Once the visualization painting had taken shape, he could clearly sense its benefits.

Not only had his control over himself risen to another level, but his perception of the outside world had also become much sharper.

Hostility, killing intent, hatred—he could sense them all.

Before, he could only perceive the slightest movement within three inches around him.

After the visualization painting condensed, that range extended to six inches.

Chen Wu believed that as long as he continued nourishing the visualization painting, he would eventually achieve the solidification of a physical form described in the technique.

After watching for a while longer and discovering that the visualization painting could absorb the essence of Heaven and Earth on its own without needing his attention, he withdrew from his inner vision.

The strengthening of his divine sense allowed Chen Wu to feel the flow of spiritual qi through the air more clearly, while his use of true qi had reached an entirely new level.

For this, he deliberately made a vow.

A true qi dragon coiled and rolled in his palm. Such a feat could not be achieved without control over one's true qi at the microscopic level.

Feeling the true qi rapidly draining from the source seed, Chen Wu waved his hand and dispersed the true qi dragon.

Without true qi sustaining it, the dragon flipped a few times before vanishing like smoke.

Making it so flashy consumed several times more true qi than before. It was not as convenient as simply throwing a punch.

With his current abilities, he still could not sustain this kind of operation. He could only try it again after opening his qi sea.

Thinking of it now, that Grandmaster Tianling had been able to defeat a ninth-rank expert while only in the Essence Tempering realm precisely because he had cultivated all three paths in advance.

After replenishing the source seed's true qi, Chen Wu played around a while longer. "Battle Qi Taking Form as a Horse" and "Condensed Qi Taking Form as Beasts" appeared one after another in his palm.

Afterward, he began cultivating the path of body refinement.

Chen Wu read through the Iron Cloth Shirt manual once, committing every key point to memory before immediately beginning a new round of deduction.

Chen Wu had long begun researching body refinement.

He had merely been unable to proceed because he had yet to grasp its crucial key.

The path of body refinement used true qi as fuel to strengthen the flesh, thereby achieving the effects of "an adamantine body that could not be destroyed," "impervious to ten thousand evils," and "unchanged by ten thousand techniques."

After obtaining a body-refinement technique, Chen Wu used it as his foundation to break through the perilous barrier. The rest came as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

As the deduction of the technique was completed, the essence of mountains and rivers was drawn in, purified through the Profound Origin Art, and poured into the source seed. It was then transformed, flowing from within to without and from without to within, spreading through his limbs, bones, and organs as it forged his body.

"It worked."

This process lasted about an hour. Chen Wu, whose body shone with waves of golden light, suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam shot forth.

"Hah... At last, I've crossed the threshold into the path of body refinement."

Chen Wu slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling the changes in his body after body refinement.

Tempered by the spiritual essence of mountains and rivers, the strength of his flesh had greatly increased. His internal organs, tendons, bones, and skin had all been tempered as well, becoming stronger than before.

True qi now flowed freely through the meridians in his body. Once he was struck, it would automatically offset the attack.

Even the sixth transformation realm, which he had long been unable to break through due to the limitations of his body, now showed signs of a breakthrough.

Seeing this, Chen Wu said joyfully, "Just as I thought. The method I envisioned was indeed correct.

Back when his damaged body had caused him to stagnate at the sixth transformation of the Essence Tempering realm, Chen Wu had considered whether he could begin with the path of body refinement. By creating a technique that cultivated both internal and external aspects, he could strengthen his physique, fortify his organs, and break through the shackles of martial cultivation.

That idea had now been proven true.

Chen Wu immediately circulated the Profound Origin Art, and a vortex formed from the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth appeared above his dantian once more.

The true qi purified by the vortex nourished the source seed.

However, just as the true qi source seed was about to transform and step into a higher level, an intense tearing sensation came from his dantian.

With the three souls warning him, Chen Wu immediately withdrew from his cultivation state. Frowning, he said, "It seems merely entering the path is still not enough for my body to adapt to the seventh transformation of Essence Tempering. I must continue working on the path of body refinement."

Chen Wu immediately began cultivating the second layer of the body-refinement technique.

At this layer, internal force and protective qi gradually formed. As his physique strengthened, his internal organs became less susceptible to injury.

About half an hour later, the second layer was complete.