Mysterious mirror hanging high

Zhong Hedao was unaware that this was a path that Jing Yu had painstakingly explored after expending a massive amount of consciousness and going through countless trials and errors. He thought that Jing Yu had truly only spent an hour constructing this Dao theory.

But even Zhong Yuanyi soon realized the flaw in this theory:

"Wait, Xuanjing, I have a question... If a flesh and blood clone forms an infant or a deity within a grotto-heaven, due to the incomplete laws of the grotto-heaven within its body, it can only cultivate to a [pseudo-deity], right? How can it then open up grotto-heavens and complete endless cycles of nesting?"

Jing Yu shrugged: "So this is just a concept. If this key issue isn't resolved, your [Flesh and Blood Clone] will only exist as a simple, stable cave-heaven object, and its cultivation will at most reach the Golden Core realm."

"Only when you can resolve the issue of properly forming an infant spirit and transforming into a spirit within your internal grotto-heaven will this path be truly open."

"But at least the method of sealing the cave with a flesh and blood clone is fine, and there shouldn't be any problems with opening up the cave."

"If you simply use it as a ballast, the cultivation level of your flesh and blood clone will not prevent you from advancing to the Mahayana stage, or even transcending the mortal realm to become an immortal."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuanyi exclaimed excitedly:

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Xuanjing, you...you are truly..."

Jing Yu said with some regret, "It's a pity. If you were an Eight-Aperture Nascent Soul cultivator... If you had a Qi Law among your foundational laws, you could have gathered the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and the flesh and blood clone you created would have been even more perfect."

"Otherwise, if the flesh and blood clone lacks Qi, it will be more difficult to follow the Qi cultivation system."

"Therefore, after you open up your cave, you must also cultivate the Law of Qi, and at least you cannot fall too far behind in the progress of the other foundational laws."

"But if it's not the foundational laws, comprehending other laws is extremely slow... In short, this path is not easy to walk."

There was actually one more thing Jing Yu didn't say.

Zhong Yuanyi's [Destiny] is [Stabilizing the Essence and Guarding the Essence], meaning he is born with an inexhaustible body, which ensures that he can condense a flesh and blood clone within his body, and that not a single trace of essence or spirit can escape, keeping it locked within his body.

It can be said that this is the most suitable path for practitioners.

If Zhong Yuanyi's aptitude and comprehension were even higher, and he truly achieved the Eight Apertures stage, refined the three laws of [Essence, Qi, and Spirit] to construct his true self, and then refined the [Five Elements] laws to construct the foundation of his celestial realm, then [Heaven and Earth] and [True Self] would resonate with each other...

Then the Great Way can be achieved.

Just then, the Xuan Mirror within Jing Yu's body flickered erratically. The purple light cluster representing the seed of destiny in the mirror world suddenly blazed brightly, and a purple life pearl split off from it and fell into the Heart Lake.

The four purple seal characters within the life pearl were faintly visible—

[Strengthen the essence and protect the vitality].

Jing Yu thought to herself, "The grace of imparting knowledge? It actually directly took away Zhong Yuanyi's own destiny."

"Xuanjing!"

At this moment, Zhong Hedao, being an immortal, actually stood up and bowed to Jing Yu, saying, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Xuanjing, for paving the way for my son's cultivation..."

Upon seeing this, Jing Yu was greatly alarmed: "This is unacceptable! Immortal Master He Dao is a venerable immortal, how can you bow and pay homage to a junior like me? This would be too much for me... Moreover, how can a junior like me be worthy of being addressed as 'fellow Daoist' by an immortal master?"

Zhong Hedao, however, said solemnly: "You deserve it... I am devoted to the sword path, and my insights into other paths may not be as strong as yours. But after this discourse on the Dao, even the many Golden Immortal lineages that are high and mighty in the Three Heavens will have to look at you with more respect."

At this moment, a sharp glint flashed in the eyes of this great sword cultivator at the Celestial Immortal realm. His incomparably powerful divine sense instantly condensed into sword intent and spread out in all directions. The many servants and maids serving at the banquet fainted and lost consciousness without warning.

"This matter must not be leaked under any circumstances..." A flash of killing intent crossed Zhong Hedao's eyes, but he ultimately sighed.

"I just used my soul to condense into a sword and severed all these people's memories of this banquet... In fact, in principle, I should have killed them all."

Jing Yu quickly said, "It's just a rudimentary theory of Dao, and we don't even know if it will work. Immortal Master, there's no need to take it to heart."

Zhong Hedao shook his head: "The tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind. In the world of cultivation, it is always good to be careful. Many prodigies may fall because of a little bit of compassion."

He suddenly said, “Xuanjing, the kindness of passing on the Dao is greater than heaven. Yuanyi has no way to repay it this time. As his father, I will naturally repay it on his behalf... What reward do you need?”

Jing Yu didn't stand on ceremony with Zhong Hedao and went straight to the point: "Senior, the Xuanjing path is the unity of spirit and flesh, and the dual cultivation of body and spirit. Therefore, it requires a large amount of body-refining medicine. Due to the special nature of the body-refining technique, if you want to cultivate your physical body to the Cave Heaven level... you may need an extremely large amount of medicine, and the cost will be extremely high."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Hedao laughed and waved his hand, "I thought it was something important. My Zhong family is a Celestial Immortal power, after all. How much would it cost to support a Nascent Soul cultivator to cultivate their physical body to the Cave Heaven level?"

"Primordial Spirit, transmit my order: all rare and precious materials related to body refinement in the Zhong family's secret treasury are to be opened to the Profound Mirror, with an unlimited supply!"

Jing Yu said quietly, "That's not necessarily true..."

If Zhong Hedao knew that the [Bitter Crossing Scripture] directly consumed a [Dragon Bone Relic] at the Nascent Soul stage, he might not have dared to make such a bold statement!

At this moment, the servants and maids who had just fainted slowly woke up, their faces blank.

Zhong Yuanqi coughed lightly and said, "Just now, when we were discussing the Dao, we got so excited that we demonstrated our supernatural powers, which affected you... Go and rest."

Seeing that several rounds of drinks had been consumed, Jing Yu decided not to bother him any longer and also took his leave.

However, instead of heading directly to the Zhong family's secret vault to search for rare and precious materials for body refinement, he returned to his own cave dwelling first.

He has something he needs to verify.

He sat cross-legged on a futon, and with a flick of his left hand, a small white mouse appeared in his palm, squeaking incessantly.

This little mouse is an extremely common low-level demon beast. Its cultivation level may not even have reached the Qi Refining level in the strict sense. It may at most be considered to have just entered the Qi into the body. It is extremely common in the entire Immortal Realm.

Jing Yu stared at the mouse before her, silently mourned for it, then activated her life-saving technique, silently saying in her heart:

"Blessed by the Mysterious Lord—[Nine Lives of a Tanuki]!"

In an instant, a stream of purple light entered the mouse's body.

Then, Jing Yu simply glared at the mouse.

With a loud "bang," the little mouse in Jing Yu's palm instantly exploded into a pile of minced meat, dead beyond any doubt.

At this moment, Jing Yu stared intently at the pile of minced meat, not missing a single detail.

A full hour passed, and then a strange scene unfolded—

The minced meat in front of them began to rapidly gather together, eventually reforming into the shape of the white mouse. The mouse was not dead; instead, it was still jumping around and squeaking.

However, one of the mouse's ears had inexplicably disappeared, making it look rather comical.