Chapter 23

He did not forget that Yu Mingfu was likely lurking nearby, ready to appear at any moment.

In fact, when Ma Zhike attacked Hua Xiajiu, Yu Mingfu, who was above the deep ravine, had already sensed it and almost lost control, almost descending into the ravine.

But the unfamiliar muffled gunshots that followed made him shudder, and the faint sensation of Ma Zhike's soul dissipating startled him. He cautiously hid in the dense treetops again, not daring to make any rash moves.

Hua Xiajiu ran for more than a mile before finding a natural stone cave over a meter high and crawled inside. He then moved stones from inside the cave to completely seal it, only then did he relax and sit quietly in the cave, motionless. He began to sort through and read Ma Zhike's memories in his mind.

The cave was filled with poisonous mists, and an ordinary person would have been poisoned and rotted long ago in such an environment. After Hua Xiajiu sealed the cave, it became pitch black, with a faint oppressive and maddening aura that would affect ordinary humans.

But for Hua Xiajiu, such an environment was no different from a cloudy day in Hedam City.

...

Above the deep ravine, after about an incense stick's time, Yu Mingfu, seeing no further disturbances in the ravine, became somewhat indecisive again.

Whether it was discovering the location of a legendary hidden sect or obtaining treasures from a hidden sect, both were irresistible temptations for Yu Mingfu. Even though Ma Zhike, who was on par with him in strength, had died because of this, it did not make him retreat.

Therefore, after not much time, Yu Mingfu gritted his teeth and made a decision. After swallowing a fragrant pill, he收敛住气息，神色凝重，一脸警惕地缓缓向深涧中飘去。

Hua Xiajiu, after skimming through Ma Zhike's memories like watching a movie, was extremely delighted and began to focus on carefully studying the memories related to the cultivation world and cultivation methods.

It turned out that the continent he was now on was called Dao Soul Continent, and the Great Wu Empire was just a medium-sized country in the southwestern part of the continent, occupying less than one percent of the entire Dao Soul Continent...

The cultivation world, also known as the Immortal Cultivation World, had an astonishing number of cultivation sects on the entire Dao Soul Continent, with no fewer than hundreds of cultivation sects. However, the most powerful were twelve sects, and there was a saying of "Three Sects and Nine Schools."

The Three Sects were the three most powerful sects on the entire continent: Tianxuan Sect, Shengxian Sect, and Shenwu Sect. It was said that these three sects always maintained a record of at least one person ascending to the Immortal Realm in each generation. The Nine Schools referred to the nine first-class sects just below the Three Sects: Ziyu Sect, Wuling Sect, Mohun Palace, Lingbeishan, Danshen Mountain, Xuelian Sect, Wenda Manor, Xianjian Sect, and Daohun Immortal Island.

Behind the Great Wu Empire was the Wuling Sect, one of the Nine Schools. Eight years ago, the internal turmoil occurred because three successive elders of the Wuling Sect failed to pass the heavenly tribulation and were struck dead by lightning, leading to a significant decline in their high-level strength. They were almost wiped out by their enemy, the Xuelian Sect, and thus became a second-rate sect. Their strength was no longer sufficient to control the Great Wu Empire, and other sects took the opportunity to carve it up. Behind the Great Shun Empire, it was said, was a very powerful second-rate sect. The same was true for other counties, such as the three southwestern counties, which were controlled by the Tianyi Sect and the Bingxue Sect, each controlling one county. The remaining Cangnan County was jointly controlled by these two sects due to their equal strength...

The strength in the cultivation world could be divided into five major realms: Condensing Spirit, Forming Core, Soul Departure, Seeking Dao, and Ascension. Each realm could be further divided into four stages: early, middle, advanced, and perfect. These five realms were generally divided based on the form of energy in the dantian and the strength of the soul.

For example, the Condensing Spirit Realm involved absorbing the spiritual energy from the heavens and earth into the dantian to form a true essence lake. The eight young cultivators who followed Ma Zhike and Yu Mingfu were at this realm.

The Forming Core Realm referred to the increase in energy density and purity, condensing the liquid into a solid and forming a true essence core using special cultivation techniques. Ma Zhike, Yu Mingfu, and the斑斓虎妖王 were at this realm.

As for the next three realms, due to Ma Zhike's insufficient realm, the specific details were unknown. However, it was vaguely known that the Soul Departure Realm involved further strengthening the soul on the basis of the Forming Core Realm, allowing it to exist independently of the body. The Seeking Dao stage was the most difficult and dangerous of the five realms, requiring the soul and body to be fused into one, with every part of the body, even every cell, containing the soul. Additionally, one must comprehend at least one of the fundamental energies of the world and transform it into their own cultivation path. Ninety-nine percent of cultivators would stop at this stage for their entire lives, but those who crossed this stage would experience a dramatic change in strength.

The Ascension Realm was the most mysterious stage. It was said that after reaching the perfect stage of Seeking Dao, one would undergo the heavenly tribulation, which would transform their soul and body. After crossing into the Ascension Realm, they would be summoned by the Immortal Realm and rejected by the mortal world. The time of being summoned and rejected was unpredictable, and the cultivation world had yet to summarize a pattern or explore the deeper reasons.

According to thousands of years of experience, it could take as little as a few years or as long as several thousand years to be summoned and rejected. According to records, the shortest time in the current cultivation world was when someone immediately received the summons and rejection from the Immortal Realm upon crossing into the Ascension Realm, leading to their immediate ascension. The longest time was over three thousand years before they felt the summons and rejection from the Immortal Realm.

...

The information about the cultivation world and this world flowed through Hua Xiajiu's mind, giving him a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the cultivation world and the Dao Soul Continent.

Although it seemed like a long story, with Hua Xiajiu's ability to process information and memories, it only took a few minutes.

"From this, it seems that with my current soul strength, I should not be weaker than Ma Zhike and Yu Mingfu, who are at the Forming Core Realm. However, it's a pity that I have never cultivated, so I don't have any spiritual energy stored in my body, nor have I practiced any cultivation techniques. Hmm! Or rather, I don't have a human-like body, without meridians and a dantian, so I can't cultivate at all." Hua Xiajiu made this judgment and couldn't help but feel a sense of despair for the first time.

But it didn't take long for his despair to dissipate, and he began to think and calculate, seeking a solution.

"It seems I still need to find a way from the corpse of the divine beast that Ma Zhike called a dragon, which had transformed into a human form. This might be the only way to solve my physical problem." Hua Xiajiu muttered to himself.

"This small bag is a storage bag used by cultivators to store and carry items. It looks palm-sized but can hold things hundreds or even thousands of times its size. The human-shaped dragon corpse was likely stored inside it. Hmm! I should learn how to use the storage bag first." Hua Xiajiu held the small bag he had obtained from Ma Zhike, his eyes gleaming as he spoke to himself.

In the next moment, Hua Xiajiu closed his eyes and quietly sensed the storage bag.

The method of using a storage bag was very simple and did not even require spiritual energy. As long as one's soul reached the Forming Core Realm, they could leave a soul imprint on the storage bag using soul power, allowing them to freely store and retrieve objects.

Ma Zhike's soul imprint on the storage bag had already dissipated with his death. Therefore, Hua Xiajiu only needed to touch the storage bag with his soul power in the form of electromagnetic waves, allowing it to be imbued with his soul's aura, thus leaving a soul imprint. Of course, the term "electromagnetic waves" was Hua Xiajiu's own understanding.

Buzz——

An invisible soul power, in the form of electromagnetic waves, emitted from Hua Xiajiu's eyes, enveloping and wrapping around the storage bag.

After a few breaths, the soul power returned to the soul.

A thought crossed Hua Xiajiu's mind.

Swish!

A two-meter-tall human-shaped corpse suddenly appeared before Hua Xiajiu, precisely the human-shaped dragon corpse that Ma Zhike had stored inside the bag just before his death.

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