Born with immortal seed

Chapter 280 Tracing the Origins
"My aptitude for various spells, supernatural powers, and secret arts is only average, so how could I suddenly change my ways when it comes to this secret art..."

Bai Zichen was not pleased but alarmed. He stopped cultivating and began to dissect and analyze the Cosmic Light Treasure Sun Finger in greater detail.

I'm long past the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage; I've outgrown the period when I'd cheer with joy at any unexpected gain.

Such an inexplicable phenomenon happening to him was absolutely unacceptable to a Core Formation cultivator like him.

A mid-stage Core Formation cultivator under a hundred years old is quite astonishing, not only in Liang Kingdom, but also in the entire Northern Region, or even going back ten thousand years.

According to the descriptions in the ancient texts, only those super sects could possibly cultivate such cultivators.

The jade slips passed down through the Chiming lineage record a story of a super-powerful sect's holy son, who was over 150 years old and had reached the peak of Core Formation, whom the previous True Monarch encountered during his travels in the inland regions.

It is said that with the Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude and a special Holy Body, the talent and aptitude he displays are enough to make any cultivator feel ashamed.

Although none of them had yet reached the Nascent Soul stage, all the Nascent Soul True Monarchs regarded them as fellow practitioners and treated them as equals.

Bai Zichen dared not say that his mysterious sacred body could definitely surpass those of his predecessors, but at least for now, in the cultivation world, if we were to compare the chances of a Core Formation True Person with a Nascent Soul True Person, he would certainly be second to none.

The fact that he quickly mastered the Zhou Guang Bao Ri Finger technique was not important to him; what mattered was the reason behind it.

"Everything is normal, but there's a strange sense of familiarity, yet I can assure you I've never practiced this secret technique before; everything is completely new to me..."

We might as well dissect and analyze the Zhou Guang Bao Ri Zhi, and even trace it back to its source, to figure out exactly where this rule-based secret technique comes from, so that it can seemingly sever the connection between the magic weapon and its master's mind with just a light touch.

Bai Zichen became obsessed with this secret technique, seeking its essence and understanding. Finally, after countless attempts at cultivation without ever taking the final step, he gained some insight.

"This finger not only struck the magic weapon at hand, but also mysteriously landed on the moment when the magic weapon was first forged and connected with its master's mind... It involves the power of time, no wonder I was able to master it so quickly and achieve success in one fell swoop!"

A sudden flash of inspiration allowed him to understand the profound mysteries of the "Sun and Moon Finger Technique," thus truly grasping the principles behind this secret art.

Using the power of time as a conduit, the magic weapon is simultaneously bestowed upon both the present and the past.

Coincidentally, when it comes to understanding the power of time, there is no Core Formation cultivator in the entire world who can surpass Bai Zichen.

After all, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch can only touch the true meaning of time through countless barriers.

It is vastly different from other Great Dao True Meanings, both because of the limitations of one's own comprehension of the True Meaning, and because one fears directly touching the True Meaning of Time and being washed away by the long river of time.

Whether it's the physical body or the soul, both will age in an instant.

A lifespan of a thousand years may be just a tiny fraction in the long river of time.

Bai Zichen borrowed the supreme divine power of the Azure Emperor's Longevity Sword to indirectly understand and touch the true meaning of time.

On the other hand, the principles of self-cultivation and the way of conduct are somewhat related to the great path of time.

It is absolutely true that he has the greatest understanding of the power of time, surpassing even many Nascent Soul cultivators.

Under these circumstances, the Zhou Guang Bao Ri Zhi technique was able to skip the previous arduous training and directly approach the state of mastery of the secret technique as soon as it was mastered.

"The Divine Sun Finger, complete!"

This tracing back to the source took Bai Zichen more than half a year, but he had no regrets and did not feel that he had wasted his time.

Even among those who have reached the Core Formation stage, over 90% of cultivators follow the established methods and methods of their predecessors in their cultivation.

They never bother to study or think about why they did it this way or why such miraculous things happened.

Not to mention building upon the work of predecessors, innovating and making changes.

This change is not about making the techniques and secret arts more powerful, but about making them more suitable for oneself.

Knowing that his mysterious spiritual body would be safe and sound once he survived the Heavenly Tribulation, Bai Zichen naturally developed ambitions.

I want to embark on a path that truly belongs to me and strive towards the legendary realm.

Having thoroughly understood the principles of the Zhou Guang Bao Ri Zhi technique, and having already mastered this secret art during this analysis period, he instantly succeeded in its cultivation.

Furthermore, they deduced the upper limit of this secret technique.

“Refining a natal magic weapon for over a hundred years is basically ineffective, but it can loosen and shake the wisp of divine consciousness that the opponent has entrusted to it. As for spiritual treasures, it depends on the situation. A sword like the Moon Spin Sword is equivalent to a top-grade spiritual treasure and is a sword of killing, so there’s no need to think about hitting it... For other high-grade spiritual treasures, the chance of hitting it should be about 50/50.”

Although the upper limit of the Cosmic Light Treasure Sun Finger is not as high as previously imagined, it must be said that this secret technique is still quite remarkable.

This image of someone lightly flicking their index finger to drop magical artifacts, without a trace of worldly concern, was exactly the demeanor of a celestial being he had imagined in his childhood.

The key is that it can be combined with the sword light to deliver a full-force attack.

Imagine pointing a finger out from the moonlit sword light, knocking down the enemy's protective magic weapon, and then cleaving it in two with a single sword strike—it sounds pretty awesome.

"There's only one problem: I can only use mid-grade magic treasures right now. What kind of mid-grade magic treasure can block Yuexuan's sword? It seems that a better choice is to use it to deal with special secret treasures that are used to imprison or confine people."

After mastering the Zhouguang Bao Ri Finger technique, Bai Zichen consumed the remaining two Guangling Pills.

Having become accustomed to the rapid increase in cultivation through taking medicine and pills, they simply couldn't accept the snail-paced pace once they stopped.

He could only find joy in hardship, going to the weapon-refining room every year or two to burn a few spiritual weapons in order to relieve his mood and change his cultivation mode.

He was reluctant to use the Sacred Sound Bamboo, mainly focusing on refining the simplest high-grade spiritual artifacts.

That fourth-tier weapon-refining inheritance contained no fewer than a hundred methods for refining spiritual weapons, far surpassing the original weapon-refining secrets of the Qingfeng Sect.

The only drawback for Bai Zichen was that he hadn't copied down the method for forging a flying sword.

Even if the Naihe Sect is not a sword cultivation sect, such a mysterious and powerful force with a lineage spanning countless generations, capable of leaving behind an unconventional sword technique manual like the Wuzhen Sword Manual, would be hard to believe without a secret sword-forging manual.

The only explanation is that the Naihe Sect categorized all the secrets of sword forging into a separate category and did not include them in this weapon forging inheritance.

"Ah, if only a disciple had inherited a scroll of sword-forging secrets from the stone tablet back then, at least they would have had many more options when forging swords..."

The ancestral tablets have long since been shattered into countless fragments; no amount of remembrance or regret will change that.

It can only be blamed on the fact that none of the disciples after Bai Zichen were particularly outstanding.

If we can wait a little longer, the next wave of even more outstanding disciples might take over, potentially triggering extraordinary phenomena and leading to a better inheritance.

Bai Zichen chose spiritual weapons with simple attack methods and the easiest crafting techniques, such as small mountains and flying bricks. The strength of these weapons lay in their material rather than their crafting methods.

These types of magical artifacts, which rely on overwhelming power and piling up spiritual materials, have gradually been phased out.

Imagine, with the same spiritual materials you can only forge one high-grade spiritual weapon, but with the new forging method, you can forge two or even three high-grade spiritual weapons.

It's obvious what the weapon refiner will choose.

Bai Zichen specializes in refining these kinds of spiritual artifacts, and on average, he can maintain a success rate of over 30% in refining them.

Meanwhile, Zhou Suqing somehow heard that he was refining a weapon and needed to use elite white iron, so she had someone bring over a piece weighing twenty catties.

Bai Zichen specially wrote a letter and handed it to Zhou Suqing's newly accepted female disciple.

Besides expressing his gratitude, he also reminded her that she didn't need to spend time on this and that focusing on refining the magic weapon and getting familiar with the true essence was the right thing to do.

Twenty catties of elite white iron is not worth many spirit stones, but it requires a Core Formation cultivator to refine it with alchemical fire for six years.

Although you don't need to be 100% focused, it will definitely affect other things in the process.

These twenty catties of white iron essence were enough to forge the Tianxin Sword twice, but unfortunately both attempts ended in failure.

"Back then, after Dai Hui obtained the second-tier sword-forging secret, he forged a sword in one go after a little familiarization and never made a mistake... It seems that my weapon-forging skills are still far behind his."

Bai Zichen stared at the two piles of metal crumpled together in front of him, a mixture of several kinds of metal essences and rare minerals, making it difficult to discern their original form.

However, his two failed attempts at sword forging greatly improved his experience in sword forging.

When they went back to refining high-grade spiritual weapons, they found that the success rate had increased significantly.

"At this rate, if we use all the Sacred Sound Bamboo currently on Thunderclap Cliff for practice, we should be able to forge a Sound Bamboo Sword!"

Bai Zichen considered it for a moment and decided to wait a little longer; there was no need to be in such a hurry.

Compared to successfully forging a second-tier flying sword, waiting for the first Thunder Sound Bamboo to be born is more important.

However, it seems that the leap from Sacred Sound Bamboo to Thunder Sound Bamboo is quite large, and there has been no sign of further mutation among the Spirit Bamboo that has successfully mutated over the years.

He devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the sacred bamboo.

In addition to continuously applying secret techniques, ensure that the effect of the Yi Mu Qing Shen Technique is always kept at its peak.

They also spent a lot of money to hire a third-level spiritual plant master from the Shennong Sect to take special care of the Sacred Sound Bamboo.

The plant master then moved all the Sacred Sound Bamboo to the location of the Heavenly Thunder Wall.

They are more susceptible to being struck by lightning, so try to increase the chances of Thunder Bamboo appearing.

If this invitation hadn't been personally written by Bai Zichen and delivered to the Shennong Sect, they really wouldn't have been able to invite this third-tier spiritual plant master.

They are senior elders in the Shennong Sect with their words carrying great weight, and more importantly, they have relevant experience in caring for bamboo and other spiritual plants, making them honored guests of all major sects.

This employment will last for a full ten years. If it weren't for the fact that Master Bai of the Qingfeng Sect is now renowned in the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom and is regarded as the most promising candidate to become a Nascent Soul True Monarch among the young Core Formation True Immortals after Qu Yang of the Holy Lotus Sect, this would have been possible.

The elders of Shennong Sect would most likely be unwilling to accept such an offer.

"According to Elder Shen of Shennong Sect, the Sacred Sound Bamboo itself has not been mutated and advanced for long enough to accumulate enough... In this case, even if I use the Taiyi Azure Spirit Technique to force its growth, it will be useless. I can only wait patiently."

Bai Zichen was strolling on the jade bridge in his courtyard when a letter suddenly flew in. He opened it and his face turned ashen.

(End of this chapter)