Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 212 Third-Order Inscription and Joining the Demon-Slaying Division
Inside the study of Xuan Yuan Taoist Academy.

"I never imagined that earning military merit would be so difficult!"

Sitting cross-legged on the futon, Zhou Ling sipped his tea and murmured to himself.

After having lunch with Wang Qingshang and the others, Zhou Ling returned to the Taoist temple.

He then sent a telepathic message to Lu Yunxi, inquiring about her military achievements.

Lu Yunxi quickly gave him a reply.

Military merits are different from points earned in peacetime.

You need to participate in the Dao Alliance Opening War to have a chance of obtaining it.

As for the points earned in ordinary times, they cannot be converted into military merits.

"Compared to participating in the boundary-opening war, joining the Demon-Slaying Tribe seems to be safer!"

Zhou Ling pondered this in his heart.

No wonder people are so keen to participate in the territorial expansion war; it turns out there's the incentive of military merit rewards.

His current spiritual cultivation is no less than that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he also has two spiritual talents to assist him.

In addition, there are five spiritual flames, all of which are methods to restrain Blood Soul Cult cultivators.

"And the Xuan Robe that has been refined now is enough to block the soul attack of a Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator."

"So as long as I don't encounter a Blood Soul Cult cultivator with Golden Core cultivation, I'm still safe."

"And Blood Soul Cult cultivators with Golden Core cultivation generally do not dare to show their faces in various immortal cities easily."

Zhou Ling was secretly making plans.

After some thought, he decided to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Let's earn some military merits first.

Only with military merit can one establish a foundation for building a family later.

After making his decision, he took out his communication jade and sent a message to Wang Qingshang, "Sister Qingshang, I want to join the Demon Slayer Department."

Then, he took the teacup, drank the spiritual tea, and waited for the other party's reply.

"Alright, go to the Xuan Ting Division tomorrow to complete the formalities!"

Wang Qingshang replied shortly after.

After finalizing the matter of joining the Demon Slayer Clan, Zhou Ling took out the jade slip that Qin Zhizheng had given him that day and began to examine it.

After reading the jade slip, Zhou Ling couldn't help but show a look of joy.

This so-called method of controlling the seal is also extremely ingenious.

The main advantage lies in leveraging the sheer number of inscriptions and seals to enhance their power.

Moreover, the power of the drawn inscriptions will not be affected, and if the quantity and quality are sufficient, the power can even be improved.

This method of controlling the seal, by using the seal control technique, condenses a similar virtual seal, which can replicate and enhance various aspects of the seal.

In other words, with Zhou Ling's current cultivation level, he was originally unable to draw a third-order inscription.

However, one can use the seal control technique to condense a virtual seal, thereby reducing the difficulty of refining a third-order seal.

This is also a unique cultivation method for enhancing inscriptions.

However, after reading it, Zhou Ling also knew that mastering this seal control technique was not easy.

Because condensing a illusory seal requires extremely high spiritual power, cultivators whose spiritual cultivation is insufficient simply cannot complete it.

A second-tier high-grade illusory seal cannot be condensed if one's spiritual cultivation is not at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Moreover, this is only the first layer of the control seal.

There are two more layers and three more layers, which means that two or three control seals need to be condensed, which requires even more divine soul.

Similarly, once formed, the power of the inscription will also be correspondingly enhanced.

Zhou Ling then took out the third-order inscription recorded in Qin Zhizheng's jade slip and began to examine it.

This book contains a total of sixty-four commonly used third-tier inscriptions, mainly of lower and middle grade, with a few of them being of higher grade.

Each inscription is accompanied by a corresponding technique for controlling the inscription.

He first selected a low-grade third-tier sword imprint to examine.

He now has no problem refining mid-grade second-tier inscriptions, but for high-grade inscriptions, he needs to use methods such as spirit flames.

As for the sword seal, it has a relative advantage because it condenses the sword soul.

Therefore, he chose to start with the sword seal.

This is a Thousand Flame Sword Seal with fire attribute.

It contains three separate seals, consisting of a total of seventy-eight inscriptions.

Each inscription is a five-fold inscription.

Let alone inscription nodes, structures, etc.

Drawing these seventy-eight inscriptions alone would drain the soul and spiritual power of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Beside the sword seal, there is also a virtual seal controlling the seal.

Zhou Lingxuan immediately began to examine it carefully.

As [Intermediate Observation] and [Intermediate Analysis] emerged, the strokes of the real and virtual seals began to clearly appear in his sea of ​​consciousness.

It's as if a person is multitasking, writing with both hands simultaneously.

Zhou Ling felt something was off.

But this did not prevent him from comprehending the sword seal.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but his eyes narrowed slightly.

In his sea of ​​consciousness, two Thousand Fire Sword Seals, one real and one illusory, had already taken shape.

It resembled a flaming sword, its surface shimmering with sword energy.

This is a sword imprint formed from the soul seed within his sea of ​​consciousness.

After reflecting for a while longer, Zhou Ling felt he had grasped the basics.

He then took out the spirit paper and spirit brush, arranged them properly, and began to attempt to refine this third-grade low-rank Thousand Fire Sword Seal.

Because of the presence of the illusory seal, the difficulty of this Thousand Fire Sword Seal is roughly equivalent to a second-tier top-grade inscription.

But after a short while, faint black smoke began to rise from the spirit paper.

Failed!
Of course, this was an effect that Zhou Ling could have predicted.

Then I activated my talent and began to observe and analyze.

[You are observing the Thousand Fire Sword Seal. Intermediate Observation +1, Thousand Fire Sword Seal Proficiency +1]

[You are analyzing the Thousand Fire Sword Seal. Intermediate Analysis +1, Thousand Fire Sword Seal Proficiency +1]

Unable to master it immediately, Zhou Ling could only return to his old methods, relying on hints to improve his proficiency and slowly work his way up.

At the same time, his proficiency in the art of controlling seals also improved.

······.

Before we knew it, the first rays of dawn were rising outside.

"The third-tier Thousand Fire Sword Seal is really quite difficult!"

Looking at the small pile of discarded spirit paper in front of him, Zhou Ling shook his head with a hint of helplessness.

However, as his proficiency improved, his progress was quite fast. He felt that he would be able to draw the Thousand Fire Sword Seal in another two or three days.

Zhou Ling was very satisfied with the result!

It's important to understand that the gap between second-tier and third-tier inscriptions is similar to the gap between Foundation Establishment cultivators and Golden Core cultivators—a huge divide.

For an average second-grade weapon refiner, it would take ten years of hard work to create such a design.

However, Zhou Ling had only cultivated the Seal Control Technique, yet he was already able to touch the threshold of the third-order Dao Seal, and his seal refining skills had also improved by leaps and bounds.

That's the benefit of having a renowned teacher.

Moreover, this kind of seal control technique is generally not easily passed on to others.

It is clear that Qin Zhizheng thinks highly of Zhou Ling.

Of course, if it's an ordinary cultivator, without the aid of talent and a powerful divine soul, plus the spiritual flame...

Mastering this seal-controlling technique is not so easy.

This is also Zhou Ling's unparalleled advantage.

As long as Zhou Ling masters the Seal Control Technique, he can refine a third-tier Seal with his early Foundation Establishment cultivation.

It's not impossible.

This is something that other Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone those in the early or late stages of Foundation Establishment, might not be able to achieve.

But Zhou Ling is different; he has that foundation.

With his Five Elements Heavenly Grade Foundation Establishment, his spiritual power was already comparable to that of a typical mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In addition, with the help of talents such as [meticulous attention to detail], the understanding of inscriptions and the energy consumption during the drawing process are far lower than those of ordinary second-grade weapon refiners.

Now, with the addition of the seal control technique, he was like a fish in water. After resting for a while, Zhou Ling got up and left the cultivation room.

Today I promised Wang Qingshang that I would join the Demon Slayer Corps.

He needed to settle his identity first; as for whether there would be any missions, he didn't know.

However, based on the conversation between Wang Qingshang and He Zijian during dinner yesterday, he was able to guess that there were still two or three Blood Soul Sect disciples lurking in Qingyun Immortal City.

One of them was even at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

······.

"Zhou Ling, these are the current personnel of our Demon Slayer Division."

"Besides me, there are He Zijian, Han Qingyi, and another person, Mu Jianshi, who is away."

Inside a side hall of the Xuan Ting Division, Wang Qingshang, dressed in a lake-blue dress, tall and composed, was explaining the current situation of the Demon Slayer Division to Zhou Ling.

"I won't go into He Zijian's name. Han Qingyi is an inner disciple of the Tianxia Dao Academy. He is currently at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and is also a rune master with a very high level of spiritual cultivation."

"Mu Jianshi is an inner disciple of the Nine Heavens Sword Academy and also the personal disciple of the academy's dean. He has a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level and comprehended the Sword Soul three years ago."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han!" Zhou Ling greeted a sweet-looking girl dressed in a light green dress with a cupped-hand salute.

"You're Zhou Ling, the genius youth from Xuan Yuan Dao Academy who reached the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment stage this year?"

Han Qingyi greeted Zhou Ling with a smile.

"I wouldn't call myself a genius, I'm just a bit lucky!"

Zhou Ling said modestly.

Upon arriving at the Xuanting Division and meeting Wang Qingshang, Wang Qingshang helped him complete the formalities for becoming a member of the Demon-Slaying Department.

After a brief review, it was approved.

Zhou Ling also received his identity jade token, and from then on, he became a member of the Demon Slayer Division.

Then he and Wang Qingshang arrived at the office of the Demon Slayer Department.

They met He Zijian and Han Qingyi.

I also learned some information about the Demon Slayer Clan.

As it is a newly established department, everything is still in the preparation stage.

Currently, including Zhou Ling, there are only five people in the team.

The others, except for He Zijian, were all at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

He Zijian was able to enter the Demon Slayer Division because his strength was recognized by Wang Qingshang during the pursuit of Blood Soul Sect disciples.

As for the situation of the other two, Zhou Ling had no idea.

Of course, the most impressive one has to be Wang Qingshang, who was able to independently take charge of the establishment of such a crucial department at such a young age.

This shows the trust that the higher-ups in the Xuan Ting Division had in her.

No, it's also possible that the higher-ups in the Xuan Ting Division are from her Wang family.

Zhou Ling couldn't help but wonder.

Zhou Ling was unaware of the situation elsewhere.

But he also worked at the Tiangong Division for a few years.

Zhou Ling also knew that most of the key positions in various departments of the Dao Alliance were still held by aristocratic cultivators.

He was also under the care of Qin Zhizheng at the Tiangong Division.

Otherwise, without powerful backers, it wouldn't be so easy to get by.

"Zhou Ling, a rogue cultivator from Lingxia Immortal City, is eleven years old. He defeated Jin Sheng, a sword cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining, at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and entered Xuan Yuan Dao Academy."

"The entrance foundation test was not passed."

"Winner of the Foundation Establishment Seed Competition!"

······
"Winner of the Inner Court Combat Strength Competition!"

"You are undoubtedly the number one genius of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy, yet you are so modest!"

Han Qingyi recited Zhou Ling's achievements over the years in one go, without missing a single one.

Zhou Ling was stunned. It turned out that he was the peerless genius!
He had always thought of himself as someone who had achieved success through arduous training, but now the records of the Demon Slayer Department show that he was a genius with outstanding combat power and skills.

I never imagined I had this genius persona.

Moreover, it's official information from the Dao Alliance.

"Zhou Ling, Senior Sister Han is mainly in charge of intelligence matters!"

At this moment, He Zijian reminded him.

Zhou Ling then suddenly realized what was happening.

When it comes to intelligence gathering, someone as clever as Sun Dajie is probably more suitable.

It seems a bit of a waste for Han Qingyi to have such cultivation.

"If you need any information in the future, just ask me!"

Han Qingyi said with a smile.

"Okay, Senior Sister Han!"

Zhou Ling cupped his hands in greeting.

Afterwards, Wang Qingchang gave Zhou Ling a brief introduction to the various benefits and treatments offered by the Demon Slayer Department.

You can usually receive two mid-grade spirit stones each month.

Additionally, killing a remnant of the Blood Soul Cult, who is at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, will earn forty military merits.

The late Foundation Establishment stage has a score of 120, while the peak Foundation Establishment stage has a score of 300.

And so on, the higher the cultivation level of the Blood Soul Cult cultivators killed, the more military merits one would receive.

In addition, there are other benefits and perks, which are similar to those of Tiangongsi.

There are some differences in terms of military merit.

"In recent years, the Blood Soul Cult has resurfaced and reappeared in various places, making it difficult to guard against."

"The Xuan Ting Division has too many duties and cannot spare the time to deal with the remnants of the Blood Soul Cult, which is why the Demon Slayer Division was established."

"It also reflects the determination of the Dao Alliance leadership to eradicate the Blood Soul Cult."

Wang Qingshang continued to introduce Zhou Ling.

Zhou Ling nodded and listened patiently.

"Currently, our Qingyun Immortal City has only five people, including you, which is not many people."

"Therefore, during this period, we must pursue the remnants of the Blood Soul Cult. Everyone must be on standby at any time and ready to strike at any moment!"

"understand!"

The three of them bowed in unison and said.

Next, Wang Qingshang took out the image-recording jade.

After being activated, some scenes of battle were captured.

The images all depict scenes of besieging and suppressing Blood Soul Cult cultivators.

These remnants of the Blood Soul Cult are difficult to deal with.

Their main methods are extremely bizarre, and they are all highly skilled in attacking the soul, making them impossible to defend against.

However, there are not many cultivators who are skilled in cultivating their spiritual soul.

Therefore, only cultivators with lightning and fire attributes can avoid being at a disadvantage when facing the remnants of the Blood Soul Cult.

This is also why Wang Qingshang tried every means to recruit Zhou Ling into the Demon Slayer Division after seeing Zhou Ling's amazing performance with three spiritual flames in the inner court competition of Xuan Yuan Dao Academy.

With three Grade 3 Spirit Flames, Zhou Ling wouldn't be at a disadvantage even against a Blood Soul Cult cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

In addition to their bizarre attack methods, Blood Soul Cult cultivators can also absorb the essence and blood of other cultivators to restore and enhance their cultivation.

They recover much faster than ordinary cultivators.

Therefore, once the remnants of the Blood Soul Cult are hunted down, they must be killed in one fell swoop.

If it escapes, it will be a big problem.

Like this time, he was escaped by that late-stage Foundation Establishment Blood Soul Cult remnant.

He will definitely kill other cultivators and absorb their essence and blood to restore his cultivation.

Therefore, we must find its whereabouts and kill it as soon as possible.

To avoid causing unnecessary casualties.

Before leaving, Zhou Ling asked Wang Qingshang for a memory jade, which would be of great help to him.

With [Intermediate Observation] and [Intermediate Analysis], he can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Blood Soul Cult cultivators' techniques based on the images.

In the future, if we encounter any remnants of the Blood Soul Cult, we will be able to deal with them with ease.

(End of this chapter)