Chapter 37

Yang Chen smiled but remained silent, while Chen Shidong and the others looked excited, their eyes filled with fervor as they gazed at Yang Chen. If not for the fear of disturbing Yang Chen's spellcasting, they would have rushed forward to worship him!

A Fourth Stage True Cultivator!

In today's Chinese metaphysical world, they are truly considered high-level experts.

The metaphysical world has long had the saying of First Stage being the entry level, Second Stage being the body cultivation, Third Stage being the mind cultivation, and Fourth Stage being the Spirit Realm.

After reaching the Fourth Stage, cultivators not only have a protective aura, but the energy in their dantian will also become much more abundant. While enhancing their cultivation, the overflowing energy will automatically cleanse and strengthen their muscles and bones, greatly extending their lifespan and making them more agile!

With the addition of higher-level Dao techniques, it can be said that a Fourth Stage cultivator already possesses the ability to defeat ten ordinary people with one strike. Ordinary strong men can hardly get close to them, and the spiritual energy they stir up with their every move is beyond the imagination of Third Stage cultivators!

Therefore, while there are over a thousand Third Stage cultivators in today's metaphysical world, Fourth Stage cultivators are few and far between. Any Fourth Stage cultivator is equivalent to having a pass to enter high society. As long as they nod, top-notch aristocratic families will welcome them with open arms!

Thus, the Fourth Stage is a threshold. Once crossed, the world is vast and free for exploration.

If not crossed, one can only end up like Yu Qing in the past, taking money to solve others' problems, living a wealthy but awkward life, with no one willing to waste money on a Third Stage cultivator!

This is a Fourth Stage True Cultivator!

Although they didn't understand why Yang Chen referred to it as 'Third Stage of the Falling Star,' they clearly heard that Yu Qing had the hope of breaking through to the Fourth Stage!

The Supreme Immortal Palace's leader was on his deathbed, barely hanging on by a thread.

Among his disciples, only the eldest disciple had Fourth Stage strength, while the rest were mostly at the Third Stage.

After being suppressed by the Supreme Immortal Palace for so many years, they never thought they would see the day when the Five Peaks Temple would rise again in their lifetime!

Patriarch Chen Shidong clenched his rough hands into fists, his eyes fixed on Yu Qing, who was now sitting cross-legged, with a mix of tension, anticipation, and unease.

Everyone's attention was focused on Yu Qing, but no one noticed that Yang Chen's body was also undergoing changes under the impact of the energy particles he had forcibly gathered.

A sesame-sized white light appeared on his forehead, and his skin instantly became as smooth and translucent as jade...

The surging spiritual power, which had been suppressed deep within his soul, found an outlet and surged out, carrying the energy particles in the air, repeatedly cleansing every muscle, bone, and inch of skin in Yang Chen's body!

The strength of his physical body began to rapidly increase...

Fortunately, the people present were either ordinary people or Daoist cultivators who hadn't even reached the Third Stage, so they didn't notice the earth-shattering changes happening to Yang Chen under the golden light.

If a qigong master who practiced breathing and energy absorption techniques were present, they would have been speechless at the changes happening to Yang Chen!

Daoist cultivators primarily use the method of condensing energy to cultivate, and the energy particles incorporated into their dantian are not many. The main function of these energy particles is to complement Dao techniques, gathering the power of heaven and earth for attack or defense.

Their physical strength, without the protective aura, is not much stronger than that of ordinary people.

Qigong masters who practice breathing and energy absorption techniques, on the other hand, focus more on using energy particles to transform and strengthen their bodies. With each inhalation and exhalation, they incorporate all the free-floating energy particles in the air into their dantian, strengthening their bodies while using the energy in their dantian to defend or attack, without relying on external energy from the world.

Some people in the past had tried to cultivate both Dao and qigong, but the inherent differences between the two made it an insurmountable barrier, and no one had ever succeeded!

Yet, at this moment, Yang Chen's body was undergoing a transformation similar to what qigong masters experience when advancing from the Third Stage to the Fourth Stage, a transformation akin to rebirth!

It should be noted that Fourth Stage qigong masters are almost extinct, and over 95% of the Fourth Stage experts in the metaphysical world come from Daoism or Buddhism! Even the descendants of feng shui traditions are quite rare.

Now, Yang Chen, as a Daoist cultivator, was experiencing the transformation that qigong masters undergo when advancing from the Third Stage to the Fourth Stage... Once the cleansing and strengthening were complete, Yang Chen's physical strength would be so great that he could withstand a collision with a rock without any damage!

This was something that should have been impossible, but it was happening to Yang Chen...

Yu Qing sat cross-legged, his hands forming seals, his appearance solemn, with wisps of white mist rising from his head, and a strange fragrance filling the air!

Yu Qing, with his stable Dao heart, was experiencing a continuous elevation of his dantian, spirit palace, and soul.

A subtle and imperceptible aura of authority began to emanate from him, a change that only occurs when the spirit palace is upgraded!

He sat there for a full two hours.

Yang Chen also maintained his seal-forming posture, standing there for two hours!

As the last surge of energy particles came, Yang Chen, who had been smiling with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.

Two beams of condensed light flashed in his eyes, and his body trembled, shaking off a layer of black dust!

His originally fair skin became smooth and fine, and his previously loose muscles became taut.

If one were to lift his shirt at this moment, they would find that he had developed eight-pack abs in just two hours!

His body moved slightly, and his bones crackled like popcorn, making a series of dense sounds.

It was as if... celebrating a new birth!

After the light subsided, Yang Chen's smile became even more joyful.

Feeling the energy within him... he finally regained a bit of the sensation from his previous life!

Yes, this surging and powerful feeling! The primal energy extracted from the core of the energy particles, stripped of its superficial layer, was the true energy that spiritual martial cultivators needed to utilize, not the outer shell of the energy particles!

His physical strength, comparable to that of a peak Fourth Stage cultivator, made him feel as if he could punch through a wall with one strike.

With the increase in physical strength, the spiritual power released from deep within his soul instantly pushed his strength to the peak of the Fourth Stage of the Falling Star!

This was the true, universally recognized realm standard, not the ambiguous realm divisions on Earth!

The universally recognized strength of a Fourth Stage of the Falling Star... if Yang Chen's perception was correct, it was at least equivalent to the strength of the so-called Fifth Stage cultivators who were sitting comfortably in the metaphysical world! If it came to a life-or-death battle, Yang Chen believed he could take on two or three of them without much trouble!

And for someone like Yu Qing, a Daoist cultivator who had just broken through to the Fourth Stage, Yang Chen felt... he could take on dozens of them without any problem, and if given the opportunity, he could even slaughter a hundred of them!

Clasping his fists, Yang Chen took a deep breath and slowly calmed his somewhat agitated heart.

This was power! The greatest reliance for turning the tide in this life!

Not long after Yang Chen completed his breakthrough, Yu Qing, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, also slowly opened his eyes.

He looked down at his hands, at the skin that had become taut again after being somewhat slack... a nearly obsessive smile appeared on his face...

This... is the feeling of the Fourth Stage?!

"How do you feel?" Seeing Yu Qing wake up, Yang Chen asked with a smile.

"Feels great!" Yu Qing couldn't find more words to describe his current feelings, so he simply used the simple and direct word "great" to express his mood.

"Did it... succeed?" Patriarch Chen Shidong, with trembling hands and eyes full of anticipation, walked forward and asked.

Yu Qing took a deep breath, stood up from the ground, and nodded heavily, "Yes, it succeeded!"

"Great!!!" Upon receiving Yu Qing's confirmation, Chen Shidong, who was already extremely excited, suddenly took a step forward and hugged Yu Qing, who was also smiling, laughing and crying at the same time, "More than a hundred years! Our Five Peaks Temple finally has a Fourth Stage True Cultivator! Our master can finally rest in peace!"

Including the few young people who had no energy in their bodies, the dozen or so people in the guest room hugged each other and wept.

Only those who have truly suffered can appreciate the value of what they have, and only those who have truly lost something can understand how hard it is to regain it!

The Five Peaks Temple had been in decline for a hundred years, and the only Fourth Stage True Cultivator they had, Yu Qing's master, had survived from the late Qing Dynasty but had many hidden illnesses and could not fully utilize the strength of a Fourth Stage True Cultivator.

The dozen or so people hugged each other in celebration for a long time before Yu Qing wiped the tears from his face and suddenly knelt down in front of Chen Shidong: "Brother, I have done too many wrong things in the past few decades. Please punish me, Brother!"

"Even our ancestor has forgiven you, what can I, an old man, do to you?" Chen Shidong quickly helped Yu Qing up and said, "Our ancestor was right. Your ability to turn back from the brink is a great act of kindness!"

Yu Qing then turned to Yang Chen and bowed, with sincerity and respect, saying, "I have done too many foolish things in the past. If not for our ancestor's timely enlightenment, I would have wasted my life at the Third Stage... Please accept my bow!"

He then knelt down and bowed three times to Yang Chen with utmost respect.

Yang Chen smiled and accepted it calmly.

After everyone's excitement gradually subsided, Yang Chen said, "Since the time of our master, the Five Peaks Immortal, the Five Peaks Temple has been the ancestral temple of our lineage. The Supreme Immortal Palace's bullying and plundering is unjust... Yu Qing."

"Disciple is here..." After truly accepting Yang Chen's seniority, Yu Qing also referred to himself as a disciple, no longer calling himself a junior as before.

Yang Chen said, "I will teach you some Fourth Stage True Cultivator techniques later. I believe they will be enough to deal with the Supreme Immortal Palace. I have other matters to attend to, so I will leave this matter to you. Remember, do not harm anyone unless absolutely necessary. Although they were the first to be disrespectful, we must still act with propriety and not give them a reason to criticize us."

"Disciple understands." Yu Qing nodded, knowing what Yang Chen meant.

"Also, I see that Yu Ming is seriously injured, and his spirit palace may have been shaken by the Dao technique... When you return, remember to stabilize his spirit palace every morning and evening. I will be going to the Longmeng Marsh in Nanhe Province soon, and I will look for some spirit medicines to stabilize the spirit palace and bring them back to heal Yu Ming."

The Yu Ming Yang Chen mentioned was the Third Elder who had been injured by the Supreme Immortal Palace's Dao technique.

Hearing Yang Chen's words, Yu Qing nodded in agreement but hesitated for a moment before asking, "However, Ancestor... the Longmeng Marsh trading fair... was it invited by the Zhu family from Beijing?"

"Yes, it's the Zhu family." Yang Chen nodded and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"It's not a big problem..." Yu Qing smiled awkwardly and then said, "I heard that the Chen family from Jiangsu Province has a grudge against the Zhu family and has announced that they will make the Zhu family look bad at the Longmeng Marsh trading fair... As far as I know, the Chen family has asked the Lingyin Temple in Hanghu City, Jiangsu Province, to intervene, and the abbot of Dongzheng Mountain's Yunlong Temple, Venerable Kongwen, has agreed to help. Venerable Kongwen is not easy to deal with..."

Yang Chen was taken aback for a moment, then a strange smile appeared on his face...

Venerable Kongwen, the old bald monk? If it were another Fifth Stage Buddhist monk, Yang Chen might be concerned.

But this Venerable Kongwen of Yunlong Temple... Yang Chen wasn't afraid of anyone, let alone him!

This crazy monk, a few years later, burned down Yunlong Temple to avoid debt and fled to Zhongnan Mountain to pretend to be a hermit.

His secrets... Yang Chen knew them all!

Thinking of this, Yang Chen smiled and said, "Venerable Kongwen, the old bald monk? I was planning to visit him soon..."

"Do you know him, Ancestor?"

"Yes." Yang Chen nodded seriously and smiled meaningfully, "I have known him for a long time!"

Yu Qing: "..."

I'm not joking!