Chapter 4: Cultivating Spiritual Power, Mysterious Heaven Eight Sceneries

  Song Shifu replied, "Unless life is in danger, I won't intervene. This is the rule of a guide. It also aligns with your intention to take the path of bitter practice, tempering yourself, seeking breakthroughs in adversity, and laying the foundation for advancing to Xuan Shi. You've been beaten up by them many times, but it's also one of the reasons you've become stronger... Without these days of being bullied, how would you have become stronger, with your physical strength increasing explosively?"

  Xu Yang was beaten and scolded, can he become stronger? The original Xu Yang had long since lost his soul! If it wasn't for him crossing over, the waste of the Xu family who was cultivating would have really died, becoming a withered skeleton on the path of bitter cultivation.

  Xu Yang combined the memories in his mind and clearly knew that Master Song was telling the truth. This small team of ascetic cultivators had fifteen young people when they set out, but along the way, they encountered fierce beasts and poisonous insects, and four died, leaving eleven. And a mentor's passing line is to have ten ascetic cultivators survive, Master Song is now close to being unqualified, he will not sit back and watch because of internal strife leading to reduced personnel.

  "If anyone dares to provoke me again, I absolutely won't hold back." Xǔ Yáng scanned the circle, his eyes flashing with a cold warning. The boys who met his gaze all lowered their heads, including Liú Zǐ Shān, who had been shouting the loudest at first.

  Just kidding, even Lu Song was severely injured after just one encounter, who would still dare to provoke Xu Yang?

  Xu Yang walked alone to the deepest part of the valley, sat cross-legged, slowly inhaling and exhaling, absorbing the mysterious energy from heaven and earth into his body, transforming it into mystical energy. Suddenly arriving at this place filled with abundant mysterious energy for thousands of years, he felt that everything seemed unreal, always wanting to grasp every minute and every second to absorb the mysterious energy.

  He didn't use the "Dynamic and Static Unity Breathing Technique", it was Xu Yang's private mind, he didn't want others to see through. This is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Xuan Zhen practitioners for thousands of years, invaluable, Xu Yang certainly couldn't reveal it easily.

  While cultivating, Xu Yang also divided his mind to be vigilant of others' movements. He wasn't without the thought of leaving this small group of ascetic practitioners, but he wasn't familiar with the road. It was said that some areas in the Giant Python Mountain Range had strange beasts roaming about, and with his current strength, if he encountered one, it would be certain death, and he wouldn't even be able to run away. Therefore, he decided to follow the ascetic group honestly and return to Lin Yuan City first.

  Xing Yang was shocked when he calmed down and absorbed the mysterious energy.

  This body has all sorts of attributes' meridians extremely balanced, without a single bit of deviation, as if measured with a ruler!

  The Tianxuan Continent, the mysterious energy is divided into eight extremes, representing eight kinds of mysterious air properties, which are: light, darkness, thunder, ice, earth, water, fire, and wind. The first four attributes often have a stronger combat power, so they are called "Upper Four Extremes"; the latter four attributes are called "Lower Four Extremes".

  Most people have these eight attributes in their bodies, but they are relatively even, so they are not suitable for cultivating Xuan energy. Only those with a physique where one extreme Xuan pulse far exceeds the other Xuan pulses are qualified to cultivate Xuan energy. There are also prodigies who are born with only single-pole Xuan pulses and no impurities at all. This kind of extreme physique will cause a sensation as soon as it appears, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a divine body or sacred body.

  But on the mainland, there is a great power called "Tian Zu", in which everyone is a mysterious person, and many people are extremely skilled, making it even more difficult to understand.

  It wasn't until thousands of years later, after the exhaustion of the Xuan energy and the decline of the Tian tribe, that this secret was finally unraveled.

  Originally within the Tian Zu, there was an ancient scripture passed down called "Xuan Tian Ba Jing Jing" that allowed ordinary people with balanced attributes to cultivate and merge into one.

  When the vital energy was full and strong, this precious scripture was naturally a treasure of the clan, and there was absolutely no possibility of it being leaked out. However, after the vital energy dried up, the Heavenly Clan declined, and at that time, Xu Yang's sect, the Xuanmen Sect, only used half a stalk of high-grade spiritual medicine as the price to exchange for this scripture.

  "The eight extremes are balanced, and it's absolutely the most suitable physique for cultivating the 'Mystic Heaven Eight Scenic Classics'!" Xǔ Yáng was suddenly enlightened, no wonder his deceased father Xǔ Yáng Shī had such a low cultivation level. It turned out that he wasn't suited for general cultivation methods from the start. This was probably also one of the reasons why the Lín Yuān Xǔ family clan looked down on him.

  "I'll use the Xuan energy to temper my body in the Starry Sea, and now that my cultivation has retreated back to the level of just opening up the Starry Sea, I can directly cultivate the 'Xuantian Eight Scenic Views Scripture', and practice the eight extremes together!" Xu Yang began to recall the key points of the Xuantian Eight Scenic Views Scripture in his mind, as well as the flow of Qi and blood vessels, and immediately opened his mouth to take a deep breath.

  The Eight Poles of Mystical Energy, in this one inhalation, surged into the body through the eight mystical meridians of Xu Yang's body, refining along the way, and arrived at the Star Sea, where it had already transformed into a refined Mystical Energy, divided into eight colors, corresponding to the eight attributes.

  Xu Yang slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, then opened his mouth again to inhale the mysterious energy.

  Breathe in——breathe out——

  Looking at Xuyang practicing on the side, Liu Zishan's face turned green with anger. He glanced at the giant shrimp that was curled up beside him, and Lu Song, who was coughing from time to time, his heart feeling anxious and uneasy.

  The original waste young master, the object of everyone's ridicule and entertainment, actually turned over and reversed! The unlucky Lu Song lying on the ground, is it his future image as Liu Zishan?

  Song Daoshi had already lit the bonfire, and the young men sat around the blazing flames, taking out dried rations from their leather bags, applying oil to them, and roasting them over the fire.

  Someone wanted to send a piece over to Xu Yang, who was meditating not far away, as a kind gesture, but after glancing at Lu Song lying on the ground, they hesitated and didn't dare approach.

  After eating dry rations, the young men did not frolic as usual, but instead found a position on their own initiative, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to spit out air, improve their cultivation.

  Today, Xu Yang's display of strength and dominance deeply shocked them. Everyone had a sense of urgency to be overtaken, and they were eager to improve their own strength.

  The night passed like this, and at dawn, a faint morning light came from the east.

  Xu Yang slowly stood up, a mouthful of turbid air gushing out from the Star Sea, passing through the major meridians before spewing out.

  "The Xuantian Eight Scenic Sutra is absolutely a super powerful technique, the speed of cultivating Qi is astonishing! Just one night's cultivation and I've recovered my previous cultivation level, solidifying my initial strength as a Xuantian disciple. Now my physical strength should be close to ten kilograms of force, even if I were to clash head-on with Lu Song, a late-stage Xuantian disciple, I wouldn't be afraid in the slightest."

  "Now I have eight kinds of mysterious energy in my star sea, each with its own division, without interfering with each other." Xu Yang looked inward at the state of his star sea and saw eight colors of mysterious energy mist, clearly separated.

  One of the advantages of "Xuantian Eight Scenic Sutra" is that the eight extremes are cultivated together, and the energy is quickly absorbed. Under the same boundary, the Xuan Qi is the thickest. However, there are many difficulties to overcome when cultivating this precious sutra.

  The first hurdle is to break through the Xuantu, when in the Star Sea, turning virtual into reality, condensing the Xuanli vortex. In later generations, many people of that ancient Tianzu stopped at this stage and had no chance to reach a higher realm.

  Xu Yang withdrew his chaotic thoughts and now he must be brave and make rapid progress. The more profound the accumulation in the Xuantu stage, the greater the potential.

  "Master Song, how many more days of travel before we reach Linwan City?" Xu Yang asked.

  Master Song replied, "The journey of ascetic practice is generally two months. Our route is also the same. Now we have walked more than half way, and it will take us about ten days to return to Lin Yuan City if we hurry, or twenty days if we go slowly."

  Xu Yang nodded, this time the bitter journey, both starting and ending points were Lin Yuan City. Xu Yang and his party had circled around the giant python mountain range, undergoing training.

  Some lucky ones on the path of bitter cultivation may unexpectedly discover some high-quality spiritual medicines, thus laying the foundation for advancing to a higher level of Xuan Shi. When condensing the Xuan Li vortex, they can increase their chances of partial success. This is what is meant by good fortune and opportunity, which cannot be forced.

  The team led by Song Dashi had bad luck and no one had ever discovered any spiritual medicine or herbs. Of course, last night Xu Yang's strength surged, and the other young men all thought that Xu Yang had obtained a lucky chance and eaten spiritual herbs, so they were naturally jealous and envious.

  A group of people continued to move forward, and the unlucky Lu Song was seriously injured and could only walk with difficulty. His follower, Du Ming, seeing that Lu Song had lost his prestige, no longer went to fawn on him, and even refused to lend a hand to help Lu Song. This behavior made Xu Yang feel contemptuous again. If Du Ming had been willing to risk offending Xu Yang by helping Lu Song, Xu Yang might have still had some respect for Du Ming. But in reality, this was a world where strength was revered, and once you lost power, it meant being abandoned.

  Everyone on the road was in high spirits, checking along the way, hoping to find one or two rare and precious herbs like Xu Yang did, and stumble upon their own good fortune. But even in a world where spiritual energy is abundant, rare herbs are not something you can easily pick up by the side of the road. The group of young people walked for half a day without finding a single sprig of spirit grass, and were left with nothing but disappointment.

  "This is actually a pretty good campsite, but it's still noon now, not worth wasting an afternoon staying here." The leading Song Shifu, who had some experience with ascetic roads, said to Xu Yang beside him.

  Xu Yang nodded, and through their conversation along the way, he had already learned a lot of information about Lin Yuan City that was not in his memories.

  Linyuan City, a coastal city belonging to Donglai State, is backed by the giant python mountain range and borders the East Sea. Apart from the Lin Yuan Jun family, which was conferred by the Lord of Donglai State, the three most powerful families are: Xu Family, Yu Family, and Ge Family, and Xu Yang is from the Xu Family.

  Apart from the three major families, there are also medium and small forces. The disciples of this ascetic team basically all come from Lin Yuan City, a place called "Qimen Daochang" (a Taoist temple), and Song Daoshi is also one of the guides of this temple. Every year, he will lead the way for the three times of ascetic journey, which makes him an experienced guide.

  "How much salary is offered monthly for the cultivators guiding the Qimen Daochang's ascetic path?" Xu Yang asked, he was somewhat interested in the currency of this era.

  Master Song thought Xuyang was just chatting and replied casually: "Ten Qinglang coins per month, enough for living... Alas, if I could advance to the realm of a Xuan Master, I would become a Taoist teacher, no need to run around outside, and still get ten Xunbao coins every month. Unfortunately, this life is probably just the fate of a Xuan Master."

  Canglang coin, Xunbao coin, are mainland currencies, ten Canglang coins can be exchanged for one Xunbao coin.

  Xu Yang said faintly: "Becoming a Xuan Shi is already a realm that many people can't reach... Hmm, it seems like there's something over there?"