Rebirth of a Quasi-Immortal Spirit

Ah Zhong nodded and replied, "Yes."

"Now I understand why the Gao family didn't reveal the information about Yongcheng to encourage their members to come." Gao Zhun's face lit up with excitement. "Yongcheng is simply the best shortcut to entering the direct line! If this news gets out, with the Gao family's talent and comprehension, how could they not break through to the Nascent Soul stage in these efficient three years? Many might even break through in less than a year! Tsk tsk tsk, so I'm not at a loss after all. If I can achieve the Nascent Soul stage in a short time..."

"Cough cough..." Seeing Ah Zhong's increasingly strange expression, Gao Zhun finally stopped muttering to herself. She had actually forgotten that she wasn't alone at this moment, and had just started muttering to herself. It was truly embarrassing, but she was genuinely excited. She had been thinking about how to resume normal cultivation, but as soon as she arrived in Yongcheng, not only did she solve her cultivation problem, but she also solved the problem of achieving the Nascent Soul stage. How could she not be overjoyed?!

Moreover, she absolutely refused to believe that the high-speed circulation of true qi here for an extended period wouldn't affect her cultivation speed after leaving. Think about it: the true qi in the meridians is used to high-speed circulation, how could it possibly slow down immediately after leaving Yongcheng due to the change in the laws? She was confident that at least one or two tenths of the effects of this rapid cultivation would be retained. That one or two tenths was equivalent to ten or even twenty times the speed of true qi circulation. When she returned to the Gao family and advanced to the direct lineage with her Nascent Soul cultivation, and then absorbed that rich spiritual energy so quickly in the inner courtyard, Gao Zhun could almost imagine the threshold of becoming a core direct lineage disciple beckoning to her. Thinking of this, she even felt that the mystery that had made the letter writer so unwilling was nothing.

She had initially thought Yongcheng was a barren land, but it turned out to be a rare and blessed place. *Ahem*, it seems she needs to devise a proper cultivation plan. She needs to focus on three things: cultivation level, swordsmanship, and mental cultivation, and do all three firmly. If there's any time left, she could help that person investigate the mystery, but she doesn't need to worry too much. Under Yongcheng's 'harsh' laws, it wouldn't be easy for other sects or families to uncover the mystery, and it's the same for her. Perhaps leaving it for future generations is a good idea. For example, after returning to the Gao family, she could find one or two collateral descendants with exceptional reasoning abilities but average cultivation talent, and secretly tell them to come to Yongcheng for training!

While Gao Zhun was lost in her daydreams, Ah Zhong waved his hand, and the entire manor instantly returned to its former vitality from its desolate state. When Gao Zhun came to her senses, she saw an ancient-style manor that was more picturesque than a garden and more magnificent than a palace. For some reason, she remembered a classical Chinese text that she had memorized in her student days, and unconsciously recited a few lines.

“A building every five steps, a pavilion every ten. Winding corridors, soaring eaves. Each building embraces its own terrain, interlocking and vying for prominence. Layer upon layer, cluster upon cluster, like honeycomb and whirlpool, countless buildings rise up.” Ah, could the designer of this manor have also read “The Rhapsody on the Epang Palace”? Gao Zhun didn’t say this aloud.

Upon hearing this, Ah Zhong, standing behind Gao Zhun, also brightened up. He looked closely at his new master's back. How could a child of only ten years old recite such words that perfectly captured the atmosphere of the place? As far as he knew, no one had ever written such classical Chinese before. Could it be that his master had spontaneously composed these words? Indeed, the Gao family, to which his former master belonged, possessed a depth of knowledge and influence beyond his imagination. However, he guessed that there were few outstanding individuals like his master in the entire Gao family, just like his former master. Both of them were unique.

Under Ah Zhong's guidance, Gao Zhun had seen most of the scenery of the manor that was now under her name. While sighing, she did not forget her business and instructed, "Ah Zhong, lead the way, I'm going to the study."

"Yes Master."

One is at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, and the other is at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. Naturally, they no longer need to stroll along the road and enjoy the scenery like ordinary people. The two explained that they can travel by sword. Now, if they want to go to the study, it will only be a matter of a blink of an eye under Ah Zhong's guidance.

Upon seeing that the study contained a bed and a spirit-gathering array, Gao Zhun knew that this must have been the place where the letter writer had cultivated before. Their thoughts were exactly the same.

“Ah Zhong, you may leave now. I will probably need to go into seclusion for a while. Since your former master guessed that my cultivation is only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment and I may not be able to succeed, then I will break through to the Golden Core stage and then go with you to find the answer to that mystery. I think the chances of success will be much higher.”

Hearing Gao Zhun say this, Ah Zhong respectfully left.

"This Ah Zhong..." Gao Zhun sighed for a moment, then went into the study, closed the door, formulated a cultivation plan for advancing to the Golden Core stage, and then went into the Spirit Gathering Array to inhale and exhale spiritual energy.

Contrary to her initial expectations, Gao Zhun discovered how difficult it was to simultaneously advance her cultivation level, mental cultivation method, and swordsmanship once she entered a certain phase of cultivation. The speed at which her cultivation level rose was simply too fast. She had been practicing the early Foundation Establishment mental cultivation method, intending to properly shape her Jade Palace, but after only a few days, she found that her cultivation was about to break through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, just one step away. However, her initial Jade Palace shaping was not yet complete.

Left with no other choice, Gao Zhun had to abandon his idea of ​​cultivating in the Spirit Gathering Array. It would be foolish to ruin his future if he didn't properly develop the Jade Palace and instead blindly pursued cultivation speed. Gao Zhun, who considered himself a smart man, would naturally not do that.

Fortunately, although her cultivation speed slowed down after leaving the Spirit Gathering Array, it still increased several times over. With this balance of increase and decrease, Gao Zhun had ample time to complete the initial forging of her Jade Palace, preventing her cultivation from rising too quickly and causing instability in her cultivation realm.

Half a month later, Gao Zhun's cultivation reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, a special period where she could break through to the middle Foundation Establishment stage at any time. However, her understanding of the "Azure Glazed Sword Technique" had not kept up. For that little bit of understanding, Gao Zhun suppressed her desire to break through again and again until she could no longer suppress it. Finally, at the last moment, her understanding of swordsmanship also broke through the limit and reached the half-step minor completion level.

That's half a step into the Lesser Completion level! You can imagine how excited Gao Zhun was at this moment. When her cultivation reaches the peak of Foundation Establishment, her swordsmanship will also break through to the Lesser Completion level. The Lesser Completion level and the Beginner level are two completely different concepts. At the Beginner level, she can master flying with her sword, but at the Lesser Completion level, she can already fly her sword to fight enemies and achieve the effect of hitting a target from a hundred meters away. That is to say, enemies within a hundred meters are all within her attack range. This is much more advanced than when she was at the Beginner level, where she could only hold a sword in her hand and fight people at close range. Naturally, the power is also much greater.

Having learned her lesson, Gao Zhun completely distanced herself from the Spirit Gathering Array. After the baptism of that pill, she vaguely discovered that the compatibility between her soul and body had increased significantly. In addition, the effect of removing impurities was evident, and her cultivation speed seemed to have more than doubled compared to the speed of true qi circulation and spiritual qi absorption that she should have been able to achieve during the Foundation Establishment stage. Now, with an additional hundredfold increase, if it weren't for this special law, she thought she would have died again long ago, well, suffocated by spiritual qi and true qi.

Just as Gao Zhun had predicted, the rapid circulation of true qi and spiritual energy brought her immense benefits. The resilience and strength of her meridians increased more than tenfold, and the width of her meridians also expanded by at least five times. She carefully studied the quality of her meridians now and found that it was comparable to her expectations for herself at the peak of the early Golden Core stage before she came here. She had to give a thumbs up to the laws of Yongcheng once again.

Yongcheng is truly a treasure trove for geniuses! She's confident that she's now almost on par with those geniuses who entered the Gao family's direct line early on. She wonders how many outsiders are currently enjoying such opportunities—it's certainly not few, but definitely not many either. She firmly believes that Yongcheng's laws are considered secrets even within circles like the Gao family. Even if Yongcheng harbors some great secret, those sects and families wouldn't send people here relentlessly. No, she needs to come up with a fake name, at least one with a family surname. After all, given her age and cultivation level, plus the surname Gao, if she encounters outsiders, wouldn't it be blatantly telling them she's a member of the Gao family?

If the secrets involved in Yongcheng aren't too tempting, that's fine. But if those secrets are enough to affect the overall strength of a faction, well, her identity as a member of the strongest family will be a death warrant. Those from other factions will definitely spare no effort to eliminate her, destroy the evidence, and take the benefits home. Even if the truth comes out then, perhaps they will have the strength to challenge the Gao family...

Alas, that's how the cultivation world is. No wonder others are ruthless and heartless. That's just how the rules are. If she dies because of insufficient strength, what good is it if her family avenges her for the sake of face?

The weak are destined for death. Since she is already dead, what does revenge have to do with her, a dead person?

As she pondered these thoughts, Gao Zhun entered a profound and mysterious state. With a "boom," she was so excited that she almost fainted. Her random thoughts had actually led to a state of enlightenment?!

You know, Gao Zhun had cultivated for many years without ever achieving enlightenment, but she actually had an enlightenment because of random thoughts? Did she step in dog poop on the way out?! You know, even with the extraordinary conditions like the Marrow Cleansing Pillar, she still couldn't achieve enlightenment, but now she's had one in a single day?