The Cultivation Path That Won Everyone Over

Feng Xu's words immediately stirred up quite a commotion.

Everyone present picked up the small jade slips in their hands and began reading them with rapt attention.

Before long, cries of astonishment rang out across the square.

"This is incredible! It was directly imprinted into my mind and became my knowledge!"

"No, no! We took the wrong path with magic cultivation before! Developing the Human Body's Great Treasury is the true path!"

"This is too profound! The... Sect Master actually came up with such a cultivation method. Is he a god?"

Every mage who saw the cultivation method of the Longevity Formula was completely captivated.

Even if the Book of Vishanti, the sacred tome of white magic, had been placed before them now, they would have chosen the Longevity Formula without hesitation.

After all, no one liked borrowing things from others.

Only what belonged to them was truly theirs and under their control. What belonged to others would always remain someone else's—and could be taken back at any time!

Amid the chorus of amazement, Hamir was the first to regain his senses. He quickly turned to Feng Xu, his face carrying a hint of fervor.

"Sect Master, what exactly is the spiritual energy required by this cultivation method? And the accompanying techniques you mentioned..."

"Spiritual energy is the energy we draw from, steal from, or borrow from the Multiverse and other dimensions."

Before Feng Xu could speak, Ancient One, who had already begun trying to cultivate, explained it to everyone first.

"As for the techniques, there are many sets of them. The Sect Master placed them all in the Scripture Pavilion yesterday."

When everyone looked over, Feng Xu gave a slight nod. "That is correct."

"The Longevity Formula is our sect's foundational cultivation method, as well as its most supreme one. It can be used with any technique without conflict, and it can support your cultivation all the way to the Immortal Emperor Stage."

"Immortal Emperor?" Feng Xu's words left everyone with bewildered expressions.

The jade slips had only explained how to cultivate and circulate spiritual power; they had not described the corresponding stages of cultivation.

"An Immortal Emperor is an emperor among immortals—the highest realm of cultivation."

Feng Xu first explained the meaning of the title before continuing.

"Cultivation contains many realms, which can be divided into two warrior realms and seven immortal realms."

"Mortals who have embarked on the path of cultivation but have not yet become immortals are warriors. They must pass through Tenfold Body Tempering and Three Stages of Qi Refinement before shedding mortality and ascending to immortality."

"Tenfold Body Tempering is exactly what it sounds like. You must draw spiritual energy into the body to temper the flesh, strengthen your blood and vitality, and open the acupoints throughout your body, thereby increasing your strength, speed, endurance, and explosive power."

"The Three Stages of Qi Refinement are divided into the Qi Intake Stage, where spiritual energy is drawn into the acupoints; the Qi Sea Stage, where the acupoints are connected to form a sea of qi; and the Astral Tempering Stage, where true qi is condensed and transformed into astral qi."

"Then, when astral qi is sublimated and transformed into immortal essence, you attain the Dao and become an immortal, entering the first of the seven immortal realms: the Immortal Essence Stage."

"The Immortal Essence Stage is the Human Immortal realm, also known as the Half-Immortal realm. It is a transitional period in which true qi becomes immortal essence. Once all true qi has been converted into immortal essence, you will reach the peak of the Human Immortal realm."

"You can then shed your mortal flesh and become an immortal body, while your soul ascends into a Primordial Spirit capable of leaving the body at will, just like Ancient One's out-of-body soul."

At this point, Feng Xu finally paused briefly and looked at the crowd, feeling that he had spoken a little too quickly.

"That is enough for a preliminary introduction. The greatest taboo in cultivation is aiming too high. Taking things one step at a time with your feet firmly on the ground is the foundation."

"As for the realms beyond that, I will only give you a rough overview. A basic understanding will suffice."

Without waiting for anyone to respond, Feng Xu continued his introduction at a slightly faster pace.

"After the Immortal Essence Stage comes the Essence Liquefaction Stage, which is the Mysterious Immortal realm. After that, the Golden Core Stage is the Golden Immortal realm, the Nascent Soul Stage is the Immortal Venerable realm, the Dao Integration Stage is the Immortal King realm, and finally, the Great Dao Stage is the Immortal Emperor realm."

Once Feng Xu finished, everyone present let out a long breath.

The flood of unfamiliar terms and explanations had left them all feeling dizzy.

Natasha, the youngest among them, was especially absent-minded, her gaze drifting as though her soul had wandered elsewhere.

After everything Feng Xu had said, she had remembered only one thing: immortals.

She then asked somewhat blankly, "Teacher, just how powerful are immortals? Can they be like omnipotent gods?"

Natasha's question once again drew everyone's attention, and they all turned to Feng Xu.

"Immortals can indeed do anything, even create life and worlds out of thin air. However, to reach that level, one must at least become a Golden Immortal, which is the Golden Core Stage."

"If you are merely an ordinary immortal who has just entered the immortal realms, then you can only command the winds and rain, and live forever without dying."

"Command the winds and rain, and live forever without dying!"

Everyone cried out in disbelief.

So humanity's ultimate goal was merely to become an ordinary immortal!

But Mordo, who valued the balance of nature, quickly spotted the issue.

"If becoming an immortal means living forever, then wouldn't generations of immortals eventually fill the entire universe?"

"Besides, cultivation itself plunders the universe's energy to strengthen oneself. If immortals never die, wouldn't the universe eventually be completely devoured, and then..."

"Wrong!"

Before Mordo could finish, Feng Xu rapped him hard on his dark forehead.

"First, becoming an immortal is nowhere near as easy as you imagine. Furthermore, once your cultivation reaches the Golden Immortal level, you can create small worlds for people to live in. There is no such thing as the universe becoming full."

"Second, cultivation does indeed require external energy in its early stages to develop oneself. But once the body has developed to a certain degree, it forms a self-sustaining cycle."

"At that point, you no longer need external energy. Instead, you can continuously generate energy and give it back to the outside world."

"Otherwise, it would not be called cultivating immortality. It would be called cultivating demons or evil arts."

Feng Xu's original Cultivation World had relied on the contributions of countless senior cultivators to possess so many Major Worlds, even the Ninety-Nine Heavens.

Yet creation was long and difficult, while destruction was exceedingly easy.

That Extinction War had caused a catastrophic disaster, directly destroying the Cultivation World in one stroke.

If he had not been blasted out of the Cultivation World by that self-destruction, then after recovering from his injuries, he might have repaired or created new worlds and restored life to the Cultivation World.

Unfortunately...

Thinking of this, Feng Xu could not help but sigh deeply.

"I see!" Mordo suddenly understood after hearing the explanation.

Compared to magic, this path of cultivation was where humanity and nature truly achieved balance. This was cultivation that conformed to the laws of nature!

Beside him, Kaecilius clutched the jade slip in his hand, his eyes brimming with tears.

"If one can create things and worlds from nothing, then perhaps my wife and child can also..."

Kaecilius had come to Kamar-Taj to study in hopes of using magic to revive his deceased wife and child.

Magic now offered little hope, but cultivation had given him tremendous hope!

Watching the mages whisper among themselves and share their shock, Feng Xu felt that he had said nearly everything that should and should not have been said.

After looking around, he asked, "All right, does anyone have any more questions?"

"If not, then today's lesson will end here. Go and cultivate on your own."

The moment he finished speaking, Ancient One beside him impatiently took over.

"No more questions! Hurry up and dismiss us! We need to cultivate—we'll only know what questions we have after cultivating!"

Ignoring Ancient One's clamor, Feng Xu waited for a while. Only when he saw that no one else had any questions did he announce the dismissal.

"All right, everyone, go and cultivate."

"Fellow Daoist Ancient One, and Natasha, you two stay behind."