Chapter 3: Obtaining Forty-Seven Years of Cultivation, the Immortal Transfers Power

Power slowly infused Luo Zhou’s body—the very power transmitted to him by the dead spirits he had just touched.

It came gradually, divided into three distinct types.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit!

Every time he killed a *Du* demon, he gained such rewards.

As for Essence, the vital energy entered his body, and Luo Zhou’s entire being began to evolve silently.

His flesh, bones, five senses, meridians, limbs, internal organs, mind, and soul were all being strengthened and elevated bit by bit with the infusion of Essence.

As for Qi, he received strands of true energy from the void, each possessing its own unique characteristic: Geomagnetic Qi.

One strand of Geomagnetic Qi represented one year of cultivation. There were forty-seven strands in total, representing forty-seven years of cultivation.

This was the true energy cultivated by the *Du* demon Gu Shanhe!

In truth, Gu Shanhe’s own cultivation was far beyond forty-seven years; sacrificing a youth by the bridge could yield five years of cultivation.

However, Luo Zhou was only at the fifth level of Body Tempering and could not absorb the true energy, so he could only store it in his *dantian*.

It was merely stored, not Luo Zhou’s true cultivation. He would have to wait until he advanced to the Qi Refining stage to transform this energy into his own genuine cultivation.

In fact, for a Qi Refining cultivator, the maximum cultivation was one hundred years. Because no matter how healthy a Qi Refining cultivator’s body was or how early they began, they could live at most one hundred and twenty years—two sixty-year cycles. Such was the limit of their natural lifespan; it was hard to resist.

Of course, this applied to normal cultivators; a small number of geniuses and elites were not included in this category.

As for Spirit, it consisted of Gu Shanhe’s various life experiences, cultivation insights, and specialized skills, which transformed into strands of divine sense and injected themselves into Luo Zhou’s mind, becoming his own life experience.

Luo Zhou absorbed them silently, feeling himself grow stronger bit by bit as a reward for punishing evil.

After a long while, Gu Shanhe’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit were all absorbed, and Luo Zhou’s entire body suddenly shuddered.

He had advanced to the sixth level of Body Tempering!

Impurities were expelled from his body, his spirit was elevated, his bones became sturdier, his flesh grew stronger, his five senses expanded—everything, absolutely everything, was enhanced!

This was not only due to the Essence-based body tempering gained from killing Gu Shanhe, but also the accumulation from previously killing Jiang Ziyou and Yu Jun.

The cultivation realms taught at the Dao Academy were: Body Tempering, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, and Void Return. Luo Zhou did not know what came after that.

Luo Zhou let out a long breath, first taking a bath to wash away the black, foul-smelling filth expelled from his body.

Then, he practiced to adapt to the changes brought by his elevated realm.

Once everything was adjusted, he quietly disguised himself, returning to the third level of Body Tempering.

Disguising one's cultivation realm was a skill all five *Du* demons excelled at. By combining the strengths of all five, Luo Zhou’s disguise was masterful.

Beyond the ability to disguise his cultivation, Gu Shanhe also brought social charisma—how to judge a person’s mindset and strength based on their face, physique, and clothing; how to stand; how to smile; how to build rapport and elicit agreement from others, and so on.

There was also the ability to appraise items, techniques for haggling and trading, and finally, the fishing skills of an old angler.

Luo Zhou had mastered more than just these. He also possessed the disguise techniques, physiognomy, scent-based identification of women, the "Plain Maiden" cultivation method, and horsemanship brought by the Eye Demon Qiu Jun; the mineral-seeking methods, porcelain-making techniques, and ceramic appraisal knowledge brought by the Loess Demon Li Feng; the slave-control, personnel management, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, calligraphy, and chess skills brought by Jiang Ziyou; and the memory of a thousand ancient poems and thirteen types of theatrical singing techniques brought by Yu Jun...

As for cultivation methods, the five of them had all practiced the three basic cultivation methods taught by the Dao Academy during their Body Tempering stage: the White Sun Body Tempering Art, the Azure Profound Body Tempering Art, and the Purple Firmament Body Tempering Art.

To be honest, they were not as good as Luo Zhou in this regard, but "stones from other hills can serve to polish the jade of this one," and they had also brought many cultivation experiences.

The experience brought by their Qi Refining realms consisted of the advanced White Sun Qi Refining Art, Azure Profound Qi Refining Art, and Purple Firmament Qi Refining Art.

Luo Zhou had obtained their cultivation insights, but his current realm was too low to practice them.

However, Luo Zhou had obtained Gu Shanhe’s Geomagnetic Qi, Qiu Jun’s Three-Eye Qi, and Li Feng’s Heavy Dust Qi. Once he advanced to the Qi Refining stage, he would be fully capable of mastering these three types of characteristic true energy.

It was a pity that Jiang Ziyou and Yu Jun had not mastered any unique characteristic true energy.

But besides these benefits, there were also drawbacks.

Absorbing Gu Shanhe’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit meant that, to a certain extent, he would be influenced by Gu Shanhe.

For example, a penchant for torturing youths, a desire to crush people underfoot, stinginess, and a love for sitting and fishing all day...

He had to face everything calmly; absorbing the essence and discarding the dross was the only way to achieve true gain.

This was the benefit brought by Luo Zhou’s supernatural ability: Reward for Good, Punishment for Evil.

He activated his ability once more to feel it silently!

"Soul..."

"Listen, move, absolute, nature, good, response, Dao, evil, law, fate, seize, reward, punish..."

It seemed to be composed of countless noises, but gradually, they merged into a single, complete voice!

"Crossing the Underworld rewards the Law, saving lives rewards the Dao, protecting the clan rewards Fortune, saving the world rewards Fate!"

"Punishing the spiritual evil brings execution, punishing the divine filth brings decay, punishing the earthly disaster brings rupture, punishing the heavenly tilt brings extinction!"

"Reward Good, Punish Evil!"

Law, Dao, Fortune, Fate!

Spirit, Divine, Earth, Heaven!

It seemed incredibly powerful!

And indeed, it was powerful!

The next day, when Luo Zhou woke up early, his first sensation was as if someone were reminding him: there were thirty-two days left!

Today was the first day of the sixth lunar month, and he had to go to the Dao Academy early; he could not be late.

Because on the first of every month, the Immortal Elders at the academy would impart teachings and techniques, which was of great significance.

Luo Zhou finished washing, ate breakfast on the street, and arrived at the Dao Academy early.

Along the way, every intersection was haunted by dead spirits killed by the Full Moon Demon. When they saw Luo Zhou, they cried out to him desperately, seeking justice.

By the rivers and lakes, there were dead spirits killed by the Rainy Night Demon, doing the same.

Especially near the Wharf Gang, where countless children were weeping; Luo Zhou could not even get close!

Only Luo Zhou could see these things; if ordinary people experienced this every day, they would go insane.

Luo Zhou gradually adapted, remaining unaffected, and arrived at the Dao Academy.

Today, the students who usually studied at home had all come.

Basically, the entire class was present—thirty-three people in total.

In the classroom, everyone was chatting with their close friends, and the topic was mostly the "Head-Exploding Demon" that had been identified yesterday.

However, the students from the wealthiest families, such as Yuan Zhen and Liu Yueqing, were chatting about the Pear Blossom merchant ship that had just arrived today, bringing fine goods from Fuyu.

Finally, the bell rang!

"Stand up!"

Cui Jian, the head student of the third class of the Immortal Sprout Hall, shouted loudly.

An Immortal Elder of the Dao Academy drifted into the classroom.

Immediately, all the Immortal Sprouts stood up and shouted in unison: "Greetings, Immortal Elder!"

Immortal Elder Wang, dressed like a middle-aged scholar, nodded.

Everyone sat down, and Immortal Elder Wang began his lecture.

"As you all know, in ancient times, mortals who wished to cultivate immortality had to possess spiritual roots.

Time passes, things change, and the civilization of the Immortal Dao continues to develop, changing with each passing day and flourishing. The scope of spiritual roots has constantly broken through.

First, the thirteen variant spiritual roots were discovered, and then the sixty combinations of Dao bodies.

Now, as long as a mortal possesses spiritual roots, Dao bodies, divine abilities, talents, characteristics, or supernatural powers—collectively known as 'spirituality'—they can cultivate immortality.

Moreover, even if one lacks innate spirituality, acquired spirituality can be obtained through cultivation. Many of you stepped onto the path of immortality in this very way!

Among acquired spiritualities, divine abilities are the strongest, followed by talents, then characteristics, and the weakest are supernatural powers.

If one truly has no way to stimulate acquired spirituality, one can only remain an ordinary mortal, unable to participate in the Ascension Assembly of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect, spending one's life as a commoner among the masses."

As he spoke, Immortal Elder Wang was silently casting a spell.

As a Qi Refining cultivator, he controlled Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy.

An invisible aura emanated from him, passing through the classroom podium and other magical artifacts, spreading throughout the entire room.

Everyone present silently endured the Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy.

Under the assault of the Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy, Luo Zhou felt goosebumps rise on his skin, and his flesh and blood felt inexplicably itchy and sore.

Under the stimulation of this teaching, his blood and *qi* boiled, his strength increased, and his physique was enhanced!

Immortal Elder Wang was using his own spiritual energy to stimulate the students, imparting techniques to temper their bodies!

"Students, there is one and a half years left until the Ascension Ceremony of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect's main branch in the Liang Kingdom. You must seize the time to cultivate.

Only by receiving my Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy to temper your bodies and increase your strength in the Body Tempering realm will you be qualified to participate in the main branch's Ascension Ceremony.

Even if you fail to ascend to the main branch of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect, you will return as Immortal Citizens.

Only with the status of an Immortal Citizen can you work for the sect's affiliated forces, government offices, and the like, qualifying you to be among the elite, living a life free from worry about food and clothing.

We cultivators of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect basically all possess innate or acquired spirituality and specialize in spiritual divine abilities, which is different from other sects, which is why we are called 'Spirit Cultivators' by the cultivators of the world!"

Under the stimulation of the Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy, people in the classroom gradually could not take it anymore and had to stand up and leave.

Immortal Elder Wang continued

"The cultivation world has been passed down for millions of years, changing with each passing day, discarding the old for the new.

In the past, the true energy refined by Qi Refining cultivators lacked characteristics and was completely useless.

Now, the true energy of a Qi Refining cultivator generates characteristics; one can defeat ten old 'trash' who lack true energy characteristics.

The energy I am imparting is Blood Fiend Spiritual Energy. While it tempers your bodies, it may also cause fatigue, nausea, red spots, blisters, dryness, peeling, and fluid discharge.

If it becomes severe, such as vomiting or pain, exit immediately if you cannot persist!

If you insist on not leaving, it may trigger 'Death Tumor Disease,' leading to loss of life. Remember, never force yourself..."

Half an hour later, eleven people remained in the classroom: Cui Jian, Yuan Zhen, Liu Yueqing, Lu Jie, Zhang Quan, Zuo Sanguang, Wang Heyu, Meng Junzheng...

Luo Zhou was among them.

Immortal Elder Wang let out a long breath and slowly withdrew his energy.

He was extremely exhausted, covered in sweat.

"Very well, the transmission for the third class this month is over.

Remember, there is only one such opportunity every month. Seize the opportunity and cultivate well.

Class dismissed. I will continue the transmission next month."

All the remaining disciples said in unison: "Thank you, Immortal Elder, for the transmission!"

Immortal Elder Wang smiled slightly and said slowly

"Heaven and Earth, wind and clouds, sun, moon, mountains, and rivers; all laws merge into one, may our Dao flourish forever!"

This was the sect motto of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect!

After he finished speaking, he turned and left. Only the Immortal Elders of the Dao Academy were qualified to recite the sect motto in such a manner.

The many disciples bowed respectfully; they were not yet qualified to recite the sect motto themselves.

After the transmission, everyone headed to the training grounds and began to practice.

Some practiced martial arts, some lifted stone locks, some ran and jumped, and some sat in meditation to refine their energy.

They did this to consolidate the benefits brought by the Immortal Elder’s teaching.

Students from other ordinary classes nearby watched them with envy.

It was not that students in ordinary classes had no chance to join the Immortal Sprout Hall.

The Dao Academy possessed the three basic cultivation methods of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect: the White Sun Body Tempering Art, the Azure Profound Body Tempering Art, and the Purple Firmament Body Tempering Art, which were taught to many students respectively.

Each of the three Body Tempering Arts had seventy-two forms. Anyone who mastered forty-nine forms of any one art was considered to have succeeded in their cultivation and might stimulate their own spirituality!

It was two months ago that Luo Zhou had stimulated his spiritual supernatural ability: Reward for Good, Punishment for Evil.

During the practice, a student named Lu Jie suddenly let out a proud cry; she had advanced to the fourth level of Body Tempering.

Immediately, three or five of her close friends came over to congratulate her.

Not long after, another student, Yuan Zhen, used the energy imparted by Immortal Elder Wang to advance to the fifth level of Body Tempering.

Luo Zhou felt it was about time. Having already advanced to the sixth level of Body Tempering yesterday, he also put on a show of breaking through, announcing that he had advanced to the fourth level.

Immediately, almost all twenty-plus students in the class came over to congratulate him!

His popularity was exploding!

(End of chapter)