Chapter 72

Cultivating the nature, the divine consciousness enters the Golden Elixir, observing all things through the Golden Elixir, immersing oneself in it.

Cultivating the life, taking the Golden Elixir as the foundation, the true qi circulates endlessly.

What about cultivating both nature and life equally? This seems to be the choice of most cultivators, but over thousands of years, those who have passed the Lesser Ascension Celestial Tribulation have all primarily cultivated life, with nature as a secondary focus. Their realm breakthroughs rely on enlightenment. The concept of realm is quite elusive; some can achieve it in a day, while others never succeed in their entire lives. If one cannot achieve enlightenment, then primarily cultivating life and secondarily cultivating nature will make reaching the Nascent Soul stage a distant dream. If one does not reach the Nascent Soul stage by the age of fifty, they will never reach it.

Some exceptional talents primarily cultivate nature and secondarily cultivate life, quickly reaching the Nascent Soul stage. The righteous path of cultivation emphasizes that haste makes waste. If one follows the righteous path, even if they reach the Nascent Soul stage, their cultivation will not match that of a mid-stage Golden Elixir. If one follows the evil path, there are evil methods. After primarily cultivating nature to reach the Nascent Soul stage, they still possess the cultivation of those who primarily cultivate life to reach the Nascent Soul stage. However, the Nascent Soul formed through evil methods is flawed and cannot be perfected.

For someone like Lin Fan, who reached the Golden Elixir stage before the age of twenty, the sect will usually offer some advice. The Yunqing Sect divides it as three parts nature and seven parts life, the Demon Sect as two parts nature and eight parts life, and the Penglai Mountain as six parts nature and four parts life, while the Zixiao Hall divides it as four parts nature and six parts life. The Three Three True Person does not offer any advice. When Lin Fan came out of seclusion and asked, the Three Three True Person replied, "Whether it's nine parts nature and one part life or one part nature and nine parts life, there are gains and losses. Many people, when making choices, only worry about the losses and only see what they lose, without seeing what they gain. Unless you want to cultivate ten parts nature, I'll beat you to death first. Otherwise, how you cultivate is up to you."

Lin Fan asked, "Master, any suggestions?"

The Three Three True Person smiled, "The Yunqing Sect's division of three parts nature and seven parts life for outstanding disciples is quite reasonable. Cultivating qi at the age of nine, building the foundation at sixteen, completing the foundation in a hundred days, and reaching the perfect foundation at eighteen. Entering the Golden Elixir stage within four years, then three parts nature and seven parts life, one can reach the perfect Golden Elixir stage around the age of thirty. If one can enter the Nascent Soul stage before the age of fifty, that would lay a solid foundation for a great cultivator."

Lin Fan asked, "What about me, who entered the Golden Elixir stage at eighteen?"

"Lin Fan, this is fate. No one knows the outcome of cultivating three parts nature and seven parts life. Two thousand years ago, the founding ancestor of the Zixiao Hall primarily cultivated life and secondarily cultivated nature, reaching the Nascent Soul stage at the age of twenty-four. He regretted it greatly, saying he should not have been too hasty with four parts nature and six parts life, which led to his cultivation being too low even after reaching the Nascent Soul stage. One of his disciples remembered this and cultivated nine parts life and one part nature during the Golden Elixir stage. His Golden Elixir cultivation was strong, but he still did not reach the Nascent Soul stage by the age of fifty and could not achieve enlightenment through the mind, remaining at the Golden Elixir stage for the rest of his life. Another disciple, the second-generation ancestor of the Zixiao Hall, cultivated nine parts life and one part nature to reach the Golden Elixir stage and achieved enlightenment at the age of forty-five. He eventually passed the Lesser Ascension Celestial Tribulation and the Greater Ascension Celestial Tribulation, becoming the only person in the Zixiao Hall to ascend to immortality."

Lin Fan nodded, "This is fate!" In other words, it's sheer luck.

The Three Three True Person nodded, "You already have your answer, so I won't say anything more."

Lin Fan smiled, "But Master, you raised me to be spontaneous, so why are you saying nothing?" Since he is spontaneous, he naturally chose nine parts life and one part nature. Reaching the Nascent Soul stage is fate, and not reaching it is also fate. The way of heaven is unpredictable. Although cultivating against heaven does not align with the way of heaven, it can align with the way of people. Lin Fan asked again, "Master, have you reached the perfect Nascent Soul stage?"

"Go play on your own, why do you need to ask?" The Three Three True Person added, "I cultivate my way, and you cultivating my way may not necessarily succeed. Understand?"

"Understood."

"Also, practice the Heavenly Radiance Heart Method diligently, don't be lazy."

Since the Three Three True Person did not care about the division of life and nature in the Golden Elixir stage, Lin Fan was even more puzzled. Since Lin Fan came to the mountain, the Three Three True Person had taught him to be spontaneous and almost never inquired about Lin Fan's affairs. Except for the Heavenly Radiance Heart Method, which he constantly urged Lin Fan to practice. Lin Fan asked, "Master, do you know my parents?"

"This question has been answered. Go away, play on your own, and don't disturb me." The Three Three True Person impatiently waved his hand to dismiss him.

Once Lin Fan decided on nine parts life and one part nature, his cultivation rapidly improved. The Three Three True Person watched from the top of the mountain as Lin Fan was setting up a needle array to kill a little rabbit, and he was quite satisfied. As he said, there are gains and losses. The Golden Elixir stage is most afraid of an unstable mind, worrying about gains and losses. First, nine parts life and one part nature, then worrying about the realm, and switching to nine parts nature and one part life would be like carrying water in a bamboo basket.

What the Three Three True Person did not tell Lin Fan was that Lin Fan's perfect foundation was achieved through life-and-death trials, which is a rare foundation of strong attack and strong defense. Entering the Golden Elixir stage through the Celestial Tribulation, even with nine parts life and one part nature, his realm progression would not be slower than the common seven parts life and three parts nature. This is fate. The Celestial Tribulation, how many can witness it? The Celestial Tribulation of a dragon transforming from a crocodile can rival the Greater Ascension Celestial Tribulation.

...

In the mountains, several months passed. Some people could sense that the Yunqing Sect had undergone some changes. The sect leader selected groups of four or five people to go out for trials. Some were hunting beasts that injured people, some were searching for the source of a plague, and others were subduing malevolent ghosts. Those selected were young disciples between the ages of twenty-five and those who had completed their foundation in a hundred days.

The current generation of young disciples in the Yunqing Sect included many outstanding talents. Apart from the closed disciples of the Immortal Sect's patrons, the personal disciples of each sect's leader were also quite remarkable. However, their numbers were still relatively small. Even the largest sect, the Tianxing Sect, had only ten. The leader of the Tianxing Sect, Gu Yan, was naturally the best among the group, with his realm already at the mid-stage Golden Elixir.

The Qingyuan Sect practiced formations and strange techniques. Bai Mu, who had completed his foundation, could also rank in the top three.

As for Ye Wushuang, he was already a protector of the Purple Bamboo Grove, but the Extinction True Person was somewhat concerned that Ye Wushuang was too focused on studying the spell scrolls and overly dependent on them.

And then there was Lin Fan. The Three Three True Person did not report him and did not have Lin Fan register. Lin Fan still hung around the hall with the perfect foundation realm.

In a few more days, it would be the day of the Zixiao Hall's invitation to the righteous and demon sects. The official reason was the completion of the main hall's renovation, but everyone knew the real purpose was for the Zixiao Hall to remove the evil sect label from the Li Huo Sect. Ye Wushuang, as a protector of the sect, would represent the Yunqing Sect at this banquet.

Qian Yu True Person handed a personal letter to Ye Wushuang. In fact, she and the Ziyun True Person of the Zixiao Hall had already exchanged several letters. The Yunqing Sect's stance was simple: they did not oppose the Li Huo Sect removing the evil sect label and becoming the tenth sect of the Zixiao Hall. The matter was settled, and they just needed to send someone to attend the event.

The four people received the letter and prepared to set out. Qian Yu True Person instructed, "This is an interaction between righteous sects. Be a guest and follow the host's arrangements, and be polite. If anything happens, you can ask Lin Fan first."

The other three looked at Lin Fan together, and Lin Fan smiled, "I have dealt with the Zixiao Hall before."

"Go!"

The four people came out, and another group went in. This group was known as the Four Beauties of Yunqing, consisting of two men and two women, all with the character 'Xiu' in their names. They were heading to the demon sect, where a heavily sentenced disciple had escaped from the Heavenly Prison and entered the Western Pass. Since the demon sect rarely left the Western Pass and was unfamiliar with some righteous sects, they would accompany the demon sect in pursuing the escaped disciple.

Lin Fan said, "This is most likely a task set up by the demon sect and the sect leader together."

Ye Wushuang asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Entering the Western Pass, one either has the ability to conceal their presence or cannot enter. And the demon sect also sent four young disciples, clearly setting up a scenario for the Four Beauties to gain experience."

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