Born with immortal seed

Chapter 433 The True Heart of Seeking the Way

Reaching the peak of Core Formation signifies that you have reached the point where there is no room for further improvement in your current realm, and you can begin to consider advancing to the next level.

However, the process of breaking through the elixir to form an infant is not the same as the previous stages of foundation building and core formation.

There is no turning back; the danger is immense.

It's perfectly normal to stay at this stage for a hundred years, deepen one's understanding of the Great Dao, and prepare secret treasures for transcending tribulations.

Even many Core Formation cultivators, fearing the power of the Heavenly Tribulation, have never dared to take this step.

For Bai Zichen, everything fell into place naturally.

If you wish, you can begin the path to becoming an infant right now.

"Unbeknownst to me, I have been practicing the Dao for almost two hundred years... In a daze, I am still a novice on Fufeng Ridge, studying the Yi Wood Azure God Technique."

A pale white sword light flew up from the Flaming Mountain and quickly entered a special sword control state.

To the naked eye, the sword light appeared to advance and retreat intermittently, as if it were playing and teasing.

But when he closed his eyes and looked again, the sword light was already a hundred miles away; everything before was just an illusion.

This is merely an outward manifestation of youth, an illusion created by the power of time.

On Fufeng Ridge, wild grasses covered the ground. The blazing sun grass, neglected by its owner, grew all over the mountain, reaching the height of a person.

"Unfortunately, these Blazing Sun Grasses are too old; they're no longer even qualified to be used as first-tier talismans, and they're also taking away nutrients from the ground..."

At that time, Bai Jiu'an relied on planting these spiritual plants to obtain cultivation resources.

Today, apart from a branch of the Bai clan remaining in the Hanxiufeng clan territory, some members of the Bai clan have moved to Tianlei Cliff and changed their identities to become disciples of the Qingfeng Sect.

Another branch went to a second-tier top-grade spiritual vein near Lengcuo Lake, where they irrigated dozens of acres of spiritual fields amidst the crisscrossing waterways. It was the perfect place for an immortal cultivation family to settle down.

The Bai family accumulated decades of contributions to acquire this land from the Qingfeng Sect.

Whether this was due to the influence of the Old Ancestor or the fact that the elders of the General Affairs Hall gave him special treatment is unknown.

But one thing is clear: for many years, Mo Zhu Bai Shi has never been harassed or shirked when carrying out Qingfeng Sect missions and receiving rewards.

Even the smallest acts of kindness will lead to favoritism, whether intentional or unintentional, from the sect leader down to the disciples in charge.

With fewer members left, peripheral first-tier spiritual lands like Fufeng Ridge were naturally overlooked and thus fell into disrepair.

The Bai family of Mozhu is renowned as the premier immortal cultivation family in Black Mountain. Even if the Bai family members openly abandon spiritual lands, no rogue cultivator would dare to occupy them at will.

Of course, this is also related to Bai Zichen's large-scale slaughter of third-tier demon kings and his occupation of many third-tier spiritual veins.

The main objective of the several pioneering wars was to wipe out the monster hordes along the way, sweeping back and forth.

Originally, the final battle was unnecessary, as the third-tier demon king had already been killed. The part with the highest casualty rate for the pioneering army directly became the site for receiving the spiritual vein.

This has resulted in the Qingfeng Sect not lacking in spiritual lands at present.

Otherwise, even a hundred years ago, some people would still have taken the risk and occupied Fufeng Ridge to make a living.

After pacing around once, Bai Zichen landed on Hanxiu Peak again.

The Bai family's formation seemed to vanish before him; the warning and restriction mechanisms were completely unaware of the entry of such a cultivator.

Hanxiu Peak was where he grew up during his childhood.

I also visited my uncle Bai Jiu'an's grave. It was clear that it was regularly inspected and cleaned, with offerings always present, incense burning constantly, and red candles never going out.

Bai Zichen took three sticks of incense, bowed several times, and placed them in the incense burner in front of the tombstone.

After leaving the Bai clan's territory, the next stop was Feiyue Lake.

Throughout the entire Foundation Establishment stage, he basically lived and cultivated here, and it can be said that he understood every plant and tree.

As a Core Formation Ancestor, he has access to all areas within the sect.

Passing through the familiar 3,600-ring water mist array, Feiyue Lake was not much different from when he left.

Baiyulou still stands in the same place, facing the surging waters of the mudflats.

The water area has been widened considerably, and the surrounding spiritual fields have been completely cultivated, providing the sect with a large amount of spiritual rice every year.

Originally, they were to be sold externally through Wanbaoge, but with the rapid increase in the number of disciples in the sect, they can now be easily absorbed internally.

Bai Zichen walked slowly forward on the small island in the middle of the lake, beneath the Baiyu Tower.

After circling around once, he finally left with a smile on his face.

Beside the small island in the middle of the lake behind them, another island rose up, which was a third-tier dragon turtle.

It stretched its neck, its two eyes darting around, as if sensing something unusual.

Thunder Cliff.

This place truly belongs to Bai Zichen's training ground; all the planning and arrangements are made according to his wishes.

The disciples on Thunderclap Cliff are mainly members of the Bai clan and four disciples, while the rest are also closely related to Ancestor Bai.

Like Lu Song before him, and several other senior disciples and descendants of the sect who had shown kindness to Bai Laozu.

They all enjoyed the treatment of a third-tier spiritual land on Thunder Cliff.

In terms of personnel arrangements, the General Affairs Hall, including the Five Halls, rarely intervenes.

I inspected the bamboo forest in front of the Thunder Wall and found that a total of four Thunder Sound Bamboo plants had mutated and emerged. However, there was no time to worry about that now, so I could only keep them for the future.

Upon arriving at Gun Gun's private hut, Gun Gun, who was tearing at a piece of third-tier monster meat, suddenly became alert, hopping out on its short limbs and howling towards the sky.

"A peak second-tier spirit beast. The little guy has grown quite a bit while I was away..."

Bai Zichen glanced greedily at Thunder Cliff one last time before returning to Flame Mountain.

His path to advancement was relatively simple, mainly consisting of activities within the cultivation world of Liang Kingdom; it wouldn't take him long to complete a full journey through all of them.

In the Star Gazing Pavilion, he recalled all that he had learned, savoring it slowly in his heart.

He informed Wei Dao that he was about to shatter his core and transform into a nascent soul, and then waited for Wei Dao to arrive with two newly promoted Core Formation cultivators.

At the same time, several disciples arrived one after another.

The benefits of witnessing firsthand the journey of a Core Formation cultivator through the process of breaking through the Core and transforming into an Infant are immeasurable.

This is far more authentic and effective than reading previous people's insights or experience notes.

"Activate the formation and notify the cultivators on Flaming Mountain that from today onwards, they should cease all cultivation and Qi refining to avoid being harmed by the drastically changed spiritual energy of heaven and earth..."

Wei Dao instructed his disciples that he had missed witnessing Ge Cang's transformation into a Nascent Soul last time, which he had always regretted.

Today, Bai Zichen is breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, finally fulfilling one of his wishes.

"After today, Uncle Bai will become the sect's second Nascent Soul True Monarch, and the burden on our shoulders will be much lighter."

Even when their cultivation levels were the same, Lu Song always treated him with the respect due to a junior.

He seemed to have more confidence than others in Bai Zichen's ability to transform into a Nascent Soul.

"That's how it should be."

Wei Dao was filled with mixed emotions and slowly turned his gaze to the summit of Flaming Mountain.

……

"The path to Nascent Soul begins at this moment!"

Bai Zichen felt everything was perfect. He circulated his true energy, following the final ninth level of the Fire Dragon Returning to Origin Scripture to complete a full cycle.

The fire dragon reappeared behind them, but it was more ferocious and agile than before.

Having detached itself from the cultivator's body for the first time, it resembled a real fire dragon, exuding a chilling aura.

Above and below Flaming Mountain, streams of spiritual energy, like dragons, spiraled down from him.

As the true essence within the body rose steadily, a crisp sound was heard, and upon internal observation with divine sense, a crack could be seen on the golden core.

The process of shattering the core and transforming into an infant has officially begun, and there is no turning back.

With his background, understanding of the path to enlightenment, and years of preparation, the first step was not difficult at all.

True essence continuously sublimates, and divine consciousness gradually transforms.

During this process, more and more cracks appeared on Bai Zichen's golden core.

The baby will only manifest when the ninth crack appears.

Suddenly, the red clouds in the sky lowered, as if you could reach out and touch them.

The oppressive atmosphere startled the nearby monsters, who then fled in terror.

If it weren't for his attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, no one would have imagined that hundreds of various demonic beasts lived beneath the Flaming Mountain.

A crimson cloud descended, within which lay a wisp of black smoke; the two mingled together, filling the sky with a mixture of red and black.

Bai Zichen's eyes glazed over as he faced the test of his inner demons.

……

"Zichen, why waste those spirit stones... For us, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is already the limit."

Su Li, with a dark expression, earnestly tried to persuade him.

"We're brothers, that's why I'm willing to remind you. Life is short. We Foundation Establishment cultivators only live for about two hundred years. Instead of spending most of our time in the tedious cycle of closed-door cultivation and studying spells, why not find something more exciting for ourselves?"

"The cost of continuously taking the Great Breakthrough Pill is far beyond what you can afford. Besides, how old are you? Still dreaming of forming your core? You might as well place your hopes on the next generation."

Bai Zichen just smiled and didn't say anything.

He and his best companion agreed to buy breakthrough pills, but Su Li once again raised strong objections before the transaction.

"You should act according to your abilities. You're almost 140 years old and only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Do you want to follow in the footsteps of a senior in the sect's history and create a record for the age of Core Formation?"

"If one gives up when the future seems bleak and the path seems hopeless, how can one maintain a firm resolve to follow the Way?"

Bai Zichen smiled faintly, ignoring his friend's sarcastic remarks.

"All I know is that cultivating immortality is for oneself, to bring great power into oneself, rather than pinning one's hopes on the next life or placing heavy burdens on future generations... Even if I only have one breath left tomorrow, I must seize the day to cultivate and not delay."

"At your age, you might not even reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment. You could spend your whole life toiling like an ascetic monk and end up penniless!"

"So what? My heart for the Dao remains unchanged. I will strive to cultivate until the day my lifespan is exhausted."

Bai Zichen's expression was resolute, and he was not swayed in the slightest by his friend's words.

At this point, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and he actually reached the peak of Foundation Establishment within twenty years.

Later, his friend met with misfortune and died at the hands of a cultivator who had just been killed. A great war broke out among the Nascent Soul sects in the outside world, and the entire cultivation world was thrown into chaos.

Bai Zichen became a lone wolf on the path of cultivation, while his peers had long since given up and settled in mortal cities to enjoy life.

Or perhaps they are accumulating resources and placing their hopes on the next generation.

The younger disciples were too much older than him, and they had nothing in common to talk about.

Only cultivation can accompany him throughout his life.

"Go back. You've been poisoned by the Seven Deadly Poisons. You'll surely die if you try to break through to the next realm... Disperse your power to recuperate and you can live for another twenty years."

An elder with a blurred face gave his evaluation of Bai Zichen, who had come to exchange for a Core Formation spiritual item.

(End of this chapter)