Chapter 73

Sitting cross-legged in a pavilion enveloped by spiritual energy, Ye Zhong slowly drew a deep breath. Instantly, the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed into his lungs with his breath, and then slowly circulated throughout his body.

Clearly, this pavilion was the best place for cultivation in the courtyard. The rich spiritual energy emitted from the spring in front gathered on this pavilion, supplying cultivators with the freedom to cultivate as they pleased.

Although Ye Zhong’s cultivation of the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique did not require much of this spiritual energy, having it was always better than not, right?

With a casual flip, two purple wood spirit roots emitting a strong medicinal fragrance appeared in Ye Zhong’s palm. However, after staring at the purple wood spirit roots for a moment, Ye Zhong did not directly refine them. Instead, he took out a jade box and placed them inside, then placed it not far in front of him. Only then did he gently rotate his palm, and the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique in his body slowly began to circulate.

As the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique circulated, Ye Zhong’s body seemed to become the center of a whirlwind. The threads of spiritual energy from heaven and earth slowly entwined around Ye Zhong’s body. With the gentle rotation of his palm, all of it flowed into Ye Zhong’s body.

From being a useless person who knew nothing to cultivating the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique and reaching this level, it had only taken Ye Zhong a mere three months. In these three months, Ye Zhong had reached a height that ordinary people might not achieve even after years of hard cultivation. Such speed could not be said to be slow.

However, even though Ye Zhong was cultivating an ancient body-forging divine technique, such a cultivation speed still caused hidden ailments or some internal injuries to appear in his body.

Therefore, before officially breaking through to the fifth level of body-forging, the Meridian Passage stage, what Ye Zhong needed to do now was to resolve all these hidden injuries.

As Ye Zhong’s palm slowly rotated, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed into his body like the densest water columns, cleansing every inch of his skin.

Time slowly passed.

In another pavilion, Wang Mo suddenly paused in his cultivation. He noticed that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the entire courtyard was surging like a strong wind, all converging towards where Ye Zhong was cultivating. This scene left Wang Mo speechless, and after a moment, he shook his head. He did not know what his brother was cultivating, but from his appearance, it seemed he was at a critical stage of cultivation.

With this thought, Wang Mo immediately abandoned his cultivation. He moved and landed in front of the pavilion where Ye Zhong was cultivating, standing with his hands behind his back. He would not allow anyone to disturb Ye Zhong at this critical moment.

...

In the pavilion, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth circulated in his body, Ye Zhong felt a rather pleasant sensation. Generally, a ninth-level body-forging expert could not retain the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in their body. However, Ye Zhong had long formed a spiritual energy cycle in his body. So, although he was only using the spiritual energy to cleanse his physical body, the self-rotation of the spiritual energy cycle retained the purest part of the spiritual energy in his body. This might not benefit his current cultivation, but it could be immensely beneficial in the future, especially when facing enemies or breaking through to the innate stage of martial arts.

"Spit—"

After a long time, Ye Zhong opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of dark black blood. However, his entire person became radiant. This mouthful of dark black blood was the result of his forced cultivation, and expelling this stagnant blood would greatly benefit his future cultivation.

At the same time, a feeling of impending breakthrough to the fifth level of body-forging, the Meridian Passage stage, emerged in Ye Zhong’s heart. This was an extremely subtle change, making Ye Zhong clearly aware that at this moment, he should be able to start breaking through to the fifth level of body-forging!

"Bang—"

Ye Zhong slapped his palm, and the first purple wood spirit root jumped up, then fell into his hand and was swallowed by him.

As the purple wood spirit root entered his mouth, it instantly transformed into pure spiritual liquid, all entering his body.

Ye Zhong’s hand seals began to slowly change. As he moved, the medicinal liquid began to flow into his body, causing green meridians to faintly appear on his skin. An extremely profound fluctuation also quietly rippled through Ye Zhong’s body.

"What exactly is this Six Paths Burial Sword Technique? What are the Six Paths?"

This profound fluctuation was something even Ye Zhong could not immediately discern, but he knew that this fluctuation should be immensely beneficial for his body-forging.

Then, Ye Zhong threw the other purple wood spirit root into his mouth. With a slight rotation of his hands, the spiritual liquid from the purple wood spirit root also flowed into his body.

"Bang bang bang—"

The meridians that had already stabilized at the fourth level of body-forging, the Meridian Transformation stage, seemed to be flushed by an invisible force, instantly expanding several times. A piercing pain filled Ye Zhong’s entire body, causing his blood and qi to flow wildly.

"Ugh—"

Ye Zhong gritted his teeth and endured the pain, his hand seals continuously changing. Ye Zhong knew that as long as he passed this stage, he would officially enter the fifth level of body-forging.

...

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by. During this half month, Wang Mo’s initial calmness turned into a bit of worry. Looking at the pavilion where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had solidified, his eyes were filled with endless concern.

Although he guessed that Ye Zhong was at a critical stage of cultivation, was it really a good thing to cultivate for so long?

"Crack—"

Just as Wang Mo was about to check, a low, muffled cracking sound suddenly came from the pavilion. Wang Mo’s eyes twitched, and he could no longer hold back. He leaped onto the pavilion.

In the pavilion, Ye Zhong had just opened his eyes. Seeing Wang Mo, he smiled and said, "Wang Mo, thank you for these days."

"Did you succeed?" Wang Mo looked at the dark black blood on the ground and the increasingly profound aura around Ye Zhong, and couldn’t help but ask.

"I succeeded. I am now at the fifth level of body-forging, the Meridian Passage stage. However, this might not be enough, but I can only go this far for now," Ye Zhong sighed and said with a touch of regret.

During these days of cultivation, he felt quite good. If he had enough cultivation resources, he would have easily broken through to the sixth level of body-forging.

However, the most troublesome part of the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique was now revealed.

To break through to the sixth level of body-forging, he needed the Yin-Yang Flower! The Yin-Yang Flower, born at the intersection of yin and yang spiritual energy, absorbs the essence of the sun during the day and the moon at night, taking a hundred years to produce a leaf and a thousand years to produce a flower.

Ye Zhong was quite familiar with this plant, as he had once seized a Yin-Yang Flower, but it had cost him a lot. Now, to break through to the sixth level of body-forging, he needed the Yin-Yang Flower, which made him quite frustrated. He wondered if the spirit points he had just obtained from Lu Fan would be enough.

"Body-forging... fifth level!?" Ye Zhong sighed and felt frustrated, but Wang Mo was shocked. Although he knew his brother had recently risen to prominence, he never expected him to be so powerful. After a half-month of seclusion, he had actually advanced to the fifth level of body-forging! If the other inner disciples knew this, many would probably buy a block of tofu and smash their heads against it. After all, who could reach this level without years of hard work?

Seeing Wang Mo’s expression, Ye Zhong smiled and said, "Alright, Wang Mo, the Innate Cleansing Meridian Technique should have been returned, right? That thing is the foundation of the Innate Holy Temple. If you cultivate it, I think you can reach the fourth level of body-forging in a month at most."

Ye Zhong could see Wang Mo’s strength. Clearly, he had worked hard in the past month, but the body-forging spirit technique he had been cultivating was of too low a grade, so the effect was not significant.

"The thing has been returned," Wang Mo casually took out the inheritance golden book and handed it to Ye Zhong. "But since you didn’t say anything, I didn’t start cultivating it. Also, a few girls came to see you these days, but I turned them away."

"Girls?" Ye Zhong frowned, not recalling any trouble he had caused. After shaking his head, he carefully examined the Innate Cleansing Meridian Technique for a moment, confirmed its cultivation method, and then threw the inheritance golden book to Wang Mo. Ye Zhong, of course, would not switch to cultivating the Innate Cleansing Meridian Technique, but knowing its cultivation method would allow him to use it as a reference to conceal his Six Paths Burial Sword Technique to some extent.

"What do we do next?" Wang Mo asked, taking the Innate Cleansing Meridian Technique.

"You should go into seclusion and cultivate. This place is good, so cultivate well. After I finish cultivating the spirit technique I obtained from the Spirit Technique Hall, I will go out for a trip. Take care of yourself." Ye Zhong smiled. He had to cultivate the Scarlet Dawn Star Formation Technique and then find the Yin-Yang Flower, which made him feel a bit of a headache.

Wang Mo nodded and left. Ye Zhong did not say any more, but took out the spirit technique of the Scarlet Dawn Star Formation Technique and began to study it carefully.

At the same time, in a rather cold courtyard, a cold and fierce voice suddenly echoed, "A mere Ye Zhong, to dare such a thing! He is courting death!"