Dabao's Cultivation

Fei Nanying has rarely appeared in recent years, but whenever he emerges from seclusion, he will take the time to summon Sect Leader Kang Da. Therefore, Kang Dabao is not in a hurry to ask him about Jiang Qing.

After listening to He Chang's report on the current situation of the various families in Cold Crow Mountain with Ye Zhengwen, and confirming that nothing major had happened, Kang Dabao went to the Jade Toad cave abode alone.

The Second-Tier Supreme-Grade mountain-protecting formation covers a much larger area, even encompassing the Jade Toad cave abode in the Zither Leaf Forest. This water mansion has now become a secluded retreat exclusively for Sect Leader Kang Da, and is difficult for anyone other than his trusted disciples to enter.

Five years is neither a long nor a short time, enough for Kang Dabao to undergo several changes.

In these five years, Sect Leader Kang Da has not only been thinking about human pleasures. In fact, compared with most of his peers, Kang Dabao can be considered a diligent cultivator.

With the help of the three jade pendants, his "Northern Night Palace Full Moon Visualization Method" has reached a minor level of success, and with the investment of a large amount of Spirit Stone, the Lion Insect swarm, which had suffered many casualties, has also recovered its size.

Even though the Star Frost Soil in the hands of Sect Leader Kang Da remained unchanged after being gnawed by Lion Insect for decades, it was still difficult for the swarm to continue to multiply and grow stronger.

Logically speaking, the Lion Insect was only a Second Tier spirit insect, and its growth could be considered perfect. However, Kang Dabao did not believe that the Star Frost Soil, a spirit creature that had once earned the respect of someone like Kang Yilong, had only this one extraordinary quality.

In his opinion, once he finds a certain opportunity in the future, he should be able to break through the bloodline Lion Insect and become a useful weapon again.

While the Lion Insect swarm may not be of much use to Sect Leader Kang Da now, distributing it to his disciples for protection would be quite good. The "Northern Night Palace Full Moon Visualization Method" is a rare method of Divine Sense cultivation, and cultivation must not be stopped.

The wonders of Divine Sense are not limited to controlling spirit insects.

As for the cultivation of "The True Explanation of the Primordial Ancient Body of the Northern Night Palace", with the help of a box of Jiaolong Blood Crabapple brought by Fei Nanying, there was also progress. Kang Dabao's talent in this path was not bad after all, and with the jade pendant to deduce the key points, his cultivation was also quite smooth.

However, due to the inability to focus on cultivating this path, it is not as pure as ordinary physical cultivation, and it lacks a lot of hard work, so it is unlikely that it will achieve great success in a short period of time.

However, regardless of whether he is pure or not, if we only consider the path of body refinement, then Kang Dabao can be considered a figure in the vicinity of Cloud Horn Prefecture.

Three years ago, Yan Qingwei from Wuwei Fearless Tower invited him to visit her cave abode. Sect Leader Kang Da, who was heavily indebted to others and had accumulated a lot of Merit Points, happened to be coming out of seclusion and couldn't refuse. So he borrowed a bamboo hat, a magical Spirit Artifact for stealth, from Yan Qingwei and they went together.

Unexpectedly, although the False Core relic's mansion contained few treasures, it was full of trouble. As soon as Kang Dabao and Yan Qingwei entered the cave abode, they encountered three or four groups of Foundation Establishment, totaling eleven or twelve True Cultivator.

Unwilling to reveal his identity, Sect Leader Kang Da naturally did not use his signature skills, the Slaughter and Extermination and the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes of Truth-Seeking. He simply relied on his bare fists to kill most of his opponents, including a late-stage True Cultivator, on the spot.

After all, the path of body refinement has always been desolate in Cloud Horn Prefecture, so unless one has exceptional knowledge, one would not be able to see the difference between Kang Dabao's "Eight Wastelands Suppress the Mountain" and other fist techniques.

Afterwards, when Sect Leader Kang Da and Yan Qingwei took stock, they found that the False Core and treasures left in the cave abode were not even as valuable as the spiritual items on the bodies of these True Cultivators, which was quite a pity.

After this incident, Yan Qingwei tried to find Kang Dabao several more times. However, either he was in seclusion or had important matters to attend to and could not get away, so the timing was never good, and she could only disappoint the beauty's good intentions.

It is worth mentioning that during Yan Qingwei's several visits, her clothing became increasingly daring.

The last time this female Daoist priest came was half a year ago. That night there was no moon, Yan Qingwei seemed to be wearing a black veil as usual, but Kang Dabao could only see a ball of white jade, burning hot and shining brightly, walking towards him.

However, the beautiful woman was not able to get what she wanted that night. Even though she was so aroused that her mouth was dry, Sect Leader Kang Da remained composed and did not show any lewdness.

Yan Qingwei had clearly made many preparations before coming, and was not discouraged. After smiling charmingly for a while, she heard Kang Dabao still making excuses, so she generously turned around and left.

She seemed completely oblivious to the two halves of her peach-like figure behind her, which had already been fully exposed to the tall, imposing man behind her.

Seeing that the beautiful woman was gradually disappearing, the Sect Leader Kang Da, who had played the role of a rough man, truly had no regrets.

Although Kang Dabao's reputation soared after his lucky victory over Funeng, his reputation for "being fond of women and good at deceiving women" also spread far and wide; but to be fair, this Sect Leader Kang Da was not very serious about women.

If you count on your fingers, you'll find that he hasn't touched many women. What's even more remarkable is that he has taken all of these few female cultivators into his fold.

This is quite remarkable. Not to mention being far inferior to nobles and princes, he is even far inferior to his own junior brother Zhou Yixiu and Kang Dabao. The latter's thirty-second son, Zhou Kun, was just discovered to have Spirit Root last year, born to his thirty-first concubine.

Even though she had no way to give birth to the Spirit Root of Zhou Yixiu, Lady Shan could only swallow her tears. No matter how unwilling she was, she could only adopt the generous demeanor of a stepmother and raise the child well.

The Sect Leader Kang Da doesn't have many offspring, but his eldest and legitimate sons have already been identified as having Spirit Root, so he doesn't need to work as hard as Zhou Yixiu. Besides, it's obvious that Yan Qingwei is a good piece of meat, but there's a catch hidden inside. If you really take a bite...

Furthermore, while Fei Shuhe may not be considered particularly jealous, she must have harbored some resentment about such matters.

Having regained the Yue Household, Kang Dabao had no intention of upsetting his wife for the time being, especially after he went to Xuanwei City two years ago and obtained the "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual," a Zhou Grade Upper-Grade Cultivation Method of the Universe Rank, from Fei Nanying.

According to the head of the She Mountain Hall, this was Merit Points specially selected from the Fei Household's library by Patriarch Ye Shui after hearing about the battle with the Khenpo, and bestowed upon Sect Leader Kang Da.

This demonstrates his magnanimity, his tolerance, and his favor.

It differs from the "Green Goat Pine Scripture Treatise," which also originated from the Green Goat Palace, a sect of Nascent Soul cultivators, and was used as a foundational method for its elite disciples.

The "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual" is one of the sect's signature Cultivation Method of the Green Goat Palace. It is a first-class and wonderful method written by several top practitioners of wood magic who were summoned by the sect's founder ten thousand years True Person to observe the changes of withering and flourishing, deduce the evolution of heaven and earth, and attempt to explain the life and death of all things.

It is certainly much more difficult to cultivate, but it is far superior to the previous method. If Kang Dabao had cultivated this method in the past, even if he were to face Funeng in the first battle, he would have had a good chance of winning.

It should be noted that before Green Goat Palace offended the founding prime minister of the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty, which led to the collapse of its mountain gate, this method was considered an unattainable treasure in the hearts of all cultivators who studied wood magic within the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty.

In short, the core meaning of this method is to "observe the transformation of plants such as spirit trees and skillful bamboo from seedlings to mature plants, from flourishing to withering, and to understand the wonder of this transformation."

The energy of decay and prosperity has the benefits of restoring vitality and prolonging life, but it also has the killing power of absorbing the life force of others and causing them to wither. Moreover, the wonders of "Changsheng and avoiding death, and the smooth formation of the Golden Core" described in the "Green Goat Pine Scripture Treatise" are not only preserved in the "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual", but their effects are even enhanced.

According to the idea of the founder of the Green Goat Palace, if this method is practiced to a high level, the energy of prosperity and decline can Ruyi at will, and the operation of all things can be reversed, even matters of life and death can be manipulated to some extent.

But that would be nothing but wild fantasy, something even Daluo Golden Immortal would find difficult to accomplish, let alone something a mere Green Goat Palace Patriarch who hasn't even reached the Nascent Spirit Transformation stage could even dream of.

Although the Green Goat Palace's lineage collapsed, and the "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual," which was restored and repaired by dedicated individuals, has fallen from the Yu Grade to the Zhou Grade, it is still more than enough to match the Cultivation Method of Sect Leader Kang Da.

This method involves using a Spirit Plant to perceive its changes in growth and decay, thereby increasing the plant's spiritual energy. In addition to its enduring Law Power and ease of healing, it also has the clever use of concealing one's breath like a tree in daily life.

It is said that after mastering the original "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual and Flourishing," one can use a large number of precious treasures to transform the cultivator into Profound Clear Spirit Wood Body during the hundred cycles of withering and flourishing, thereby attracting heavenly tribulation and attaining the Great Dao of Spirit Transformation.

However, according to Sect Leader Kang Da, this legend is probably a misconception spread by idle people. This is because the Green Goat Palace has never produced a True Lord since its founding.

Changing Cultivation Method always requires cultivators to make a firm decision, but the old ancestor Ye Shui, far away in Ying Prefecture, had thought of this very thoughtfully. He obtained it from Fei Nanying along with the "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual and Flourishing," as well as all the resources Kang Dabao needed during his cultivation transition.

After confirming that Elder Ye Shui had absolutely no grudge against Sect Leader Kang Da, Fei Nanying, as his Boyue, became much more relaxed.

Not only did he hand over all the things entrusted to him by Ancestor Ye Shui to Kang Dabao, but he also brought the latter to Fei Tianqin and listened to this old bird explain the "Profound Clear Withering and Flourishing Secret Manual" in detail for more than a month.

Unlike ordinary, unenlightened spirit beasts, this old bird is not only wise, but has also served three masters in the Ying Prefecture Fei Household alone. Therefore, in terms of vision and experience, it is probably no less than most Nascent Soul True Person in this world.

After listening to the teachings, Sect Leader Kang Da returned to his sect and went into seclusion to cultivate his Cultivation Method.

Two years is nothing for Foundation Establishment cultivator, but Kang Dabao managed to successfully switch to Foundation Establishment within those two years and even managed to have three children.

While the jade pendant certainly played a part, it was also inseparable from the generous generosity of Patriarch Ye Shui.

It can only be said that the head of the Fei Household, who is known as the most powerful family in the world, is completely different from the head of a small family like Kuai En, who only knows how to exploit his son-in-law and is short-sighted. The principle of Zhou Gong spitting out his food to welcome guests applies everywhere.

Having received a large sum of benefits, Sect Leader Kang Da now clearly feels much closer to the name "Ying Prefecture Fei Household." His honest and pragmatic nature has indeed been taken by that old cultivator who lives far away in the capital and whom he has never met.

This time, Kang Dabao's seclusion was short, lasting only a little over a month.

This is because the Core Fire inherited from Lord Shan has remained burning in the heart of the Jade Leaf Dao Lotus for a long time, making the large amount of spiritual power that Sect Leader Kang Da had just cultivated extremely pure, which is a good thing, but it has also greatly slowed down his already very slow cultivation speed.

Fortunately, this greatly reduced Kang Dabao's concerns about taking the pills. Apart from a very small number of severe pill poisons, most of the pill poisons that were immersed in his Dantian could not withstand the heat of the Core Fire for too long. They would burn away the impurities, turn into spiritual energy, and merge into his meridians.

Therefore, Sect Leader Kang Da is now taking pills much more often than before. As long as the resources can keep up, his cultivation speed is actually much faster than before.

If he continues cultivating like this, it seems that after consuming the next round of spiritual liquid, Kang Dabao's cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage will come to an end, and he will be able to advance to the late stage.

As for potential bottlenecks, the outlook is still relatively optimistic. After all, Sect Leader Kang Da still has a "Pine Creek Pill" that he obtained from the Cloud Horn Prefecture Treasury years ago, which he has not yet used. Perhaps he can achieve success in one fell swoop.

This is much shorter than the time it took to speculate back then.

Of course, the pills used by Foundation Establishment True Cultivator cultivators can only be bought with spirit Spirit Stone. Although Chongming Sect has made a lot of money, it is not the private property of Sect Leader Kang Da alone.

Even if he were highly respected, and could freely borrow and misappropriate funds, no one in the sect would dare to utter a word against it. However, such behavior would certainly corrupt the sect's atmosphere and would indeed go against Kang Dabao's intentions.

As for the sect leader's private funds? It seems that the Sect Leader Kang Da has accumulated quite a lot of wealth over the years by killing his peers and through his annual salary and Merit Points. However, the Chongming Sect is ultimately not well-founded. The large amount of revenue obtained each year from Pingjin County, Cold Crow Mountain Range, and various sect properties also needs to be reinvested in order to ensure the future.

Therefore, even though Kang Dabao, as the leader of the alliance and the sect leader, earns enough each year to make ordinary True Cultivator speechless, he still finds himself somewhat strapped for cash.

You must understand, he can't just abandon everything else and focus solely on his own cultivation.

In addition to this, Sect Leader Kang Da also needs to raise spirit insects, tame spirit beasts, nurture Spirit Artifact, cultivate spirit bodies, educate disciples, raise offspring, and generously support concubines. Such cultivation naturally requires a massive amount of resources to sustain.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Kang Dabao's substantial savings, accumulated through years of frugality, were depleted in just a few years.

After all, any major power would need to spend no less resources than Kang Dabao to cultivate a descendant who is not yet a hundred years old, can fight against a False Core Formation cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

However, simply relying on his Yue Household for financial assistance is not a solution. Now that he's out here, he naturally wants to find some other ways.

Recently, Chongming Sect has been enjoying a rare period of peace and tranquility, and the cultivators have had a rare moment of leisure. Therefore, when Sect Leader Kang Da came out, his junior brothers were all in seclusion. Duan Anle, on the other hand, did not cultivate, but he led Duan Yunzhou and a group of disciples to Double Brightness Trade Market to send out the Cloud-Treading Colt.

This spirit beast has an impressive appearance, and it has gained some fame in the battle to open up the spirit land in the Double Brightness Alliance. The price is also reasonable, and for a time, it was in short supply in the vicinity.

Even now, if Double Brightness disciples who have been assigned to the Merit Points Hall want to rent a mount to go out, they can only choose from two kinds of spirit beasts, the gray goose and the Grass Deer, which have fallen out of favor and are hard to regain their former prestige.

Kang Dabao swept over the Beast Garden array for a while, and without even looking closely, he knew that Duan Anle, this honest kid, must have put in a lot of hard work over the years.

Once upon a time, this place was nothing more than a barren hillside. The only creatures that inhabited it, besides the castrated golden-haired old donkey and the Black Blood Colt snatched from Zhao Gu, the Ghost Horse Owls, were a few clumsy and old Desolate Ox.

But what does the Chongming Sect's Beast Garden look like now? Looking up, one sees Desolate Ox filling the valleys, herds of Fire Boar, Grass Deer roaming the fields, and flocks of gray geese.

Besides these spirit beast species that have become a stable source of income, there are also more than ten types of Demon Beast that were captured from the Cold Crow Mountain Range, most of which were selected by Duan Anle for breeding purposes.

If the trip can be completed, then what Sect Leader Kang Da can see now are once again pieces of gleaming Spirit Stone covered in scales and horns, which makes people look forward to it very much.

Kang Dabao was lost in thought while gazing at the Beast Garden when Jin Shilun arrived.

The latter is now over sixty years old and even has grandchildren, yet he only Qi Refinement Ninth Layer of Qi Refining and hasn't even reached the threshold of Foundation Establishment. This seems somewhat incongruous with his status as a direct disciple of the Double Brightness Sect Leader, and is quite different from the spirited young man who once stood up to a group of bandits and questioned them with his sword drawn.

However, Sect Leader Kang Da was well aware of how difficult it was to cultivate with Four Spirit Roots. After all, Jin Shilun did not have the outstanding comprehension of Duan Anle. At his age, his cultivation level was already enough to satisfy Kang Dabao. Calculated, he was still nearly thirty years away from the ninety-year limit for Foundation Establishment, which was quite optimistic.

"Just now, I came to the Merit Points Hall to hand over my duties, and upon hearing from Junior Brother Han that Master had emerged from seclusion, I hurried over to pay my respects."

How much Merit Points is needed to obtain the Heavenly Net Wood Heart?

"More than three thousand."

"It's not much, why don't you borrow some from your fellow disciples?"

Jin Shilun gave a wry smile and said softly, "The other junior brothers aren't well-off either. Second Senior Brother, Senior Brother Kang, and Junior Brother Ming haven't even finished repaying the Merit Points they owed when they Foundation Establishment. How can they possibly help me?"

Kang Dabao chuckled upon hearing this and said softly, "It's alright, you can do what they do and buy it on credit first."

Double Brightness Treasury naturally shows some leniency towards disciples with good credit, outstanding talent, deep experience, and great merit. Lending out Merit Points is also a common practice, as long as a written agreement is made and interest is paid on time.

After all, there are always those who lack resources at crucial moments in their cultivation. Even if Sect Leader Kang Da cannot find a way to earn Spirit Stone temporarily, he will not stop cultivating for a long time and will have to borrow Merit Points from the treasury.

As Chongming Sect's power grew, the amount of grain he received each year only increased, so for the time being, he didn't need to worry too much.

Of course, when it comes to rare resources like Foundation Establishment spiritual objects, things are not so easy to discuss.

However, the spiritual items that Sect Leader Kang Da obtained from the state treasury back then were not yet used up, and some had also been collected from various families during the years of conquest. Therefore, compared with other families, Chongming Sect's Foundation Establishment spiritual items were still sufficient. Otherwise, Kang Dabao would not have felt comfortable lending them to the Shan Household and Ma Household.

Therefore, as a disciple of the Yuan Cong Sect and the sect leader, Jin Shilun naturally receives some preferential treatment. However, once these Foundation Establishment spiritual items become scarce in the Chongming Sect, it will be quite difficult for later disciples to use personal connections to make deals.

Although Jin Shilun had known his master would be lenient, he was still somewhat excited when he heard Kang Dabao actually agree. His eyes reddened, and he bowed deeply, saying, "Disciple thanks Master!"

Sect Leader Kang Da and smiled, "Don't stand on ceremony, it makes us seem distant. If you're really worried, you might as well cook me a braised pork knuckle, that would be more practical."

"It was prepared before we arrived and is currently being kept warm over a low flame in the dining hall."

Upon hearing this, Sect Leader Kang Da suddenly found the thriving scene before him utterly tasteless.

He turned his back with his hands behind his back, his tone somewhat languid. "Alright, let's go. It's been a long time since I've had meat. After we've eaten our fill, let's go to Green Lotus Courtyard to see if your master's wife has come out of seclusion."

"Yes,"

"Hey, did Brother Xi and Brother Chang take orders from Chongming City? Did you see these two junior brothers before you came?"

"Of course I've seen it,"

"Tell me about it."

"Reporting to Master, Brother Xi and Brother Chang arrived in Chongming City a month ago and, without resting, went straight there."