Cultivating the Primordial Spirit

At dawn, Feng Xu began practicing his punches.

He had inexplicably fallen asleep last night. It seemed he had even dreamed, but he had already forgotten what happened in it.

That should not have been possible.

With his current memory, let alone last night, he should have remembered it vividly even after several months.

In the end, it had only been a dream. Feng Xu did not dwell on it and carefully examined the Heaven-Hanging Ruler in his hand.

In the Primordial World, Dharma Treasures could be divided into Dharma Artifacts, Dharma Treasures, Spirit Treasures, and Supreme Treasures. Aside from Supreme Treasures, each category had four further grades: lower, middle, upper, and supreme.

Supreme Treasures were Supreme Treasures, with no further distinctions.

Dharma Treasures were further divided into three types: Houtian, Primordial, and Chaos.

Chaos Dharma Treasures had existed alongside the Dao and possessed the greatest power among treasures of the same grade. However, when the heavens and earth were created, the Three Thousand Great Daos merged with heaven and earth, leaving behind no single, pure laws. The Chaos Dharma Treasures were also broken apart and transformed into Primordial Treasures.

Primordial Treasures absorbed the fortune of creation, so under normal circumstances, they were more powerful than Houtian Treasures of the same grade.

Primordial and Chaos Treasures were both fixed in number, and their quantity and functions were predetermined.

Houtian Treasures, on the other hand, could be forged after the fact. Their functions depended on the refiner's skill and materials, allowing them to be tailored to specific needs.

Houtian Treasures could also rival Primordial Treasures, provided one used Merit Treasure Refinement to forge a Houtian Merit Dharma Treasure. Its power would not be inferior to a Primordial Treasure of the same grade, but it lacked the self-repairing ability of a Primordial Treasure.

If a Merit Dharma Treasure was damaged, repairing it required the expenditure of Merit.

Thus, Feng Xu's middle-grade Houtian Merit Spirit Treasure was not low-grade at all. If immortals below the level of Great Luo learned of it, they might even come to seize it.

"One must not flaunt one's wealth."

Feng Xu muttered softly and put away the wooden ruler.

The Heaven-Hanging Ruler did not have many functions. Its size and weight could be changed at will, and it could even turn into a flexible ruler, though that consumed mana.

It could also nourish the soul, greatly benefiting Primordial Spirit cultivation.

It counted as an auxiliary Dharma Treasure with a certain degree of offensive power.

Boom!

A tremendous sound suddenly came from the distance.

"From the Blood Pool!"

Feng Xu hurried over.

Feng Xi had been a level weaker than Feng Sui before his breakthrough. Had he finally broken through after so many days?

When Feng Xu arrived at the Blood Pool, Feng Xi had already changed into a fur coat. Feng Ling had made it not long ago, and it had been left beside the Blood Pool.

Seeing Feng Xu arrive, Feng Xi laughed and walked around Feng Sui.

"Xu, I broke through."

"That's good news. With two Earth Immortal experts in the tribe, life will be much easier from now on."

Feng Xu nodded, asked about the details of the breakthrough, and continued improving the Blood Pool.

The essence blood in the Blood Pool mainly served to stimulate the bloodline power within cultivators, so it was not consumed in great quantities.

Feng Xu spent several more days gathering medicinal herbs. He placed the processed herbs into the Blood Pool again, but did not let anyone enter to cultivate.

The tribe's other warriors were still some distance from their breakthrough bottlenecks.

If they could find a place rich in spiritual energy and use the blood of more powerful ferocious beasts to refine the Blood Pool, perhaps they could quickly raise the warriors' strength.

In fact, if they knew how to cultivate, they could also speed up their cultivation by practicing beside the Blood Pool.

The Eight-Nine Mystical Art could not be passed on. The karmic consequences of this cultivation method were too great. Besides, the tribespeople could not even recognize all the characters. Even if it were written into a book, they would not be able to learn it.

Next, they only needed to slowly nurture the Blood Pool. Aside from Feng Xu, who often cultivated within it, few others entered.

Feng Xu began attempting Second-Turn Primordial Spirit cultivation.

This time, he was still seeking quick results.

All circuits could be cultivated simultaneously. The earlier one opened new circuits, the faster one's strength would increase.

The temptation was too great. No wonder it was more suited to a Primordial Dao Embryo with a clear Dao heart.

In their view, as long as they cultivated steadily, they would eventually attain fruition. Thus, they took every step firmly and carefully.

Feng Xu could not do that. Whether for his goal of becoming the Human Ancestor or for the tribe's survival in the Great Wilderness, he needed to increase his strength quickly.

Moreover, the tribe already had two Earth Immortals. He did not want to fall too far behind.

This was the mindset of a gambler—always chasing speed. But if he failed even once, all his previous efforts would go to waste.

But this time, he had the capital to gamble.

The Heaven-Hanging Ruler's soul-nourishing effect could not only increase the success rate and speed of Primordial Spirit cultivation, but also reduce the consequences of failure.

This time, Feng Xu did not cultivate in the Blood Pool. Instead, he chose a secluded place.

The Primordial World was unlike his previous life. Many things that had seemed mysterious in his previous life were not so mysterious here.

Primordial Spirit cultivation was like that. It was not particularly difficult, but it was extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake could cause one to suffer cultivation deviation.

At best, one would become a madman. At worst, one would suffer brain death.

No matter how impatient one was before cultivating, once one entered a cultivation state, one became exceptionally patient.

Feng Xu had already informed the others.

He would be in secluded cultivation for a time. The process was dangerous, and no one was to disturb him.

The weather grew colder, and the ground froze hard. Fortunately, the basic construction work was nearly complete.

According to the previous arrangements, everyone moved into the new houses.

House construction came to a halt, and no more mud bricks were made. The next task was to finish firing the prepared mud bricks. The men and children tanned wolf hides, while the women, elderly, and a few children made clothes.

Many days had passed since Feng Xu entered secluded cultivation. Some people wanted to check on him, but Feng Sui stopped them. During this time, Feng Sui and Feng Xi took turns watching from afar to prevent any accidents.

They were also making sure Feng Xu was still alive.

Feng Xu woke from cultivation and saw Feng Xi in the distance. He wanted to call out, but had no strength.

Feng Xi noticed the change in Feng Xu's aura and hurriedly carried him back to the tribe.

After drinking a bowl of hot soup, Feng Xu regained his vitality and began eating ravenously.

This secluded cultivation had been very successful. Not only had he successfully cultivated a Primordial Spirit, he had also completed the Primordial Spirit Circuit.

It had simply taken too long. Even with his cultivation allowing him to go without food or water for a long time, he had still exhausted his vitality.

Seeing Feng Xu wolf down food, everyone finally relaxed.

With such a good appetite, he was surely fine.

After eating and drinking his fill, Feng Xu planned to move around a little.

After sitting cross-legged for so long, his movements felt somewhat stiff.

This year's work was basically finished. They had fired quite a few pottery pieces, including over twenty large ceramic vessels.

Not only could they give some to the Red Iron Tribe, but they could also keep some for trade with other tribes.

The houses had also been roughly completed. The first floor had been built, and one side would have a second floor, though that would have to wait until next year.

For now, there was enough room for the entire tribe, with space for another forty people without issue.

Feng Xu found Little White to inspect the results of the recent taming.

"They've all been quite obedient. They won't actively attack people anymore. There aren't any problems."

Little White followed behind Feng Xu, wagging her tail.

The twenty-six wolf pups were confined in ten cages. Only Little White was relatively free, and the rope around her neck had been removed.

"Is that so?"

Feng Xu approached the cages, his cold gaze sweeping across the wolf pups inside.

Sensing the hostility in Feng Xu's eyes, many wolf pups began baring their fangs. One even suddenly lunged at Feng Xu, only to be blocked by the cage.

Feng Xu took a wooden stick, thrust it into the cage, and struck down viciously. The wolf pups howled miserably from the beating.

He pulled out the wolf pups that had opened their mouths to howl, bound their limbs, and placed them aside.

Feng Xu inspected every cage.

Most of the wolf pups bared their fangs and were beaten for it.

In total, five wolf pups had tried to ambush Feng Xu. All of them were pulled out.

Feng Xu force-fed them each a bowl of Mafei Decoction, prepared from a medicinal herb recorded in the Ginseng Compendium of a Hundred Medicines that could numb the senses.

It could cause anyone who drank it to lose consciousness after a quarter of an hour.

Feng Xu took out a wolf-fang dagger and, before Little White and the other wolf pups, swiftly castrated all the male wolves before quickly stitching them up.

The female wolves took much longer. The process was too cruel for Little White, and she turned her face away after only one glance.

Feng Xu put shame collars woven from thin vines around their necks and explained several precautions.

"This isn't a particularly risky operation. If they're cared for properly, they'll recover in a few days."

Little White agreed and watched Feng Xu isolate the sterilized wolf pups.