Chapter 51: Su Nu's Profound Art

There he was, Nie Caixia, wielding a Ground-Shaking Spirit Hoe, her leg muscles thick and robust like those of an ox.

Though she wielded the hoe like a common martial art, the tip was razor-sharp and possessed immense strength. Despite being the [Spirit-Casting Ground-Shaking Art] of the spiritual plant spells, every strike caused the opponent's dharma treasure to vibrate, shudder, and experience sluggish operation.

The other disciple was also at the third level of Qi Refinement, yet he could not perform two spells. The dharma treasure he held was a blacksmith's hammer, clearly from the Artifact Refining Hall.

Lin Donglai looked left and right but could not find Huang Yue; instead, he found Liu Jinyang watching the duel.

Lin Donglai immediately stepped forward to inquire, "Senior Brother Liu? Can spiritual plant spells also be used for combat?"

He had previously seen Ning Feng perform the Golden Wind Saber Technique augmented by the Golden Sickle Severing Art, and it had felt rather mediocre—it just seemed to make harvesting rice faster.

"Naturally they can. Many spiritual plant spells used for combat are even considered quite sinister."

"For example, your Sprouting Gestation Art. You could prepare tiny parasitic seeds or poisonous mushroom spores in advance. The moment you trigger them to sprout, you can scatter them to parasitize another's flesh, or even have them inhaled into the body to parasitize internal organs or block the mouth and nose, suffocating the person to death."

"It is the same with the Sweet Dew Rain Curse. If you prepare toxic water or spicy water beforehand, an unsuspecting person can easily be ambushed."

"The Spirit-Casting Ground-Shaking Art goes without saying; it is best paired with body cultivation methods. One swing of the hoe can shovel a person to death, or even shatter their corpse into a pulp of meat and bone dust!"

"The Golden Sickle Severing Art can be paired with Hiding Qi techniques and movement arts to become ghost-like, allowing you to slit a person's throat."

"The Blazing Light Solar Gathering Art, when mastered, can emit an extremely dazzling light in an instant. If one is caught off guard, it can even blind them."

"However, spiritual plant spells are not professional combat spells after all. Spiritual plant farmers rarely engage in combat, so once a fight breaks out, they are mostly prone to panic and confusion."

"What? Do you regret not preparing some seeds to take onto the stage and fight?"

Lin Donglai shook his head. "I am only at the second level of Qi Refinement. Why would I fight? I was just surprised to see Nie Caixia fighting like that."

"You're just afraid of dying," Liu Jinyang laughed. "You just blocked him earlier; if you had actually faced him, he would probably want to shovel your head off with a single hoe strike."

How could Lin Donglai be afraid of him? At the very least, with his Rat-Walking Technique, this fellow wouldn't be able to hit him.

"Eh?" Liu Jinyang exclaimed in surprise. "Yin Xuexian's Maiden Mystical Art has already reached a certain level of proficiency!"

Lin Donglai had not seen this cultivation method on Immortal Sprout Peak; in fact, he had not seen the cultivation methods of many combat disciples on the peak.

Yin Xuexian was the one among the women who was as beautiful as an immortal consort, possessing a cold and aloof temperament.

Her dharma treasure was a three-inch needle-shaped tool that radiated a chill, hovering around her body. The disciple she was resisting was actually a sword cultivator, with a cultivation level as high as the fifth level of Qi Refinement.

The flying needle met the flying sword without showing any sign of weakness.

This was because she was also playing with an ice-colored flying needle in her hand, ready to launch it against an enemy at any moment.

"Why do you say that?" Lin Donglai wanted Liu Jinyang to provide a free lecture, as his own experience and knowledge regarding cultivation methods and spells were still insufficient.

"The Maiden Mystical Art excels at using two types of dharma treasures: one is the Rosy Cloud Silk, and the other is the flying needle. Especially with the flying needle—it is usually a set of Mother-and-Son needles. While others can only focus on one treasure at a time, the Mother-and-Son needles allow one to control many. The needle techniques are also tricky, attacking from all directions, making them very difficult for ordinary people to defend against."

"Furthermore, Yin Xuexian has top-tier talent with both Gold and Water spiritual roots. Her constitution is extremely compatible with the 'soft exterior, hard interior' nature of the Maiden Mystical Art. The Maiden Mystical Art merges Gold and Water spiritual energy into Ice spiritual energy. Once one reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, they can even practice a secret technique to directly transform the dual Gold and Water roots into a single Ice root. Although it takes longer, the future potential is boundless, far beyond our reach."

Lin Donglai memorized this and asked a few more questions, only to learn that the cultivation methods used by these combat disciples were actually the outer sect portions extracted from the unique cultivation methods of the nine inner sect peaks.

Disciples with suitable aptitude would be earmarked for cultivation as soon as they entered the sect, but whether they could become inner sect disciples depended on whether they could prove their own worth.

Those who ended up honestly choosing cultivation methods at Lingxi Peak were those who had not been scouted by the nine peaks.

Even so, the cultivation methods of Lingxi Peak were not actually bad; there were at least three Purple Mansion True Arts and seven or eight Foundation Establishment methods in their Qi Refinement stages.

"By the way, Senior Brother, I am practicing the Five Elements Qi Gathering Method. Does the sect not have the Foundation Establishment follow-up for this method?"

"No. The Five Elements Qi Gathering Method is merely a foundational method. It is balanced and neutral, the first choice for those with low-grade five-element spiritual roots. However, the Foundation Establishment methods vanished long ago along with the destruction of the Primordial Five Elements Sect."

"But rumors say the Primordial Five Elements Sect was destroyed by the Nature Alliance; perhaps the Nature Alliance possesses such methods."

"For a sect like the Primordial Five Elements Sect, the core inheritance requires specialized decryption methods. Even if the sect is destroyed and the inheritance is obtained, practicing it forcibly will only lead to cultivation deviation."

"One does not know how many traps are set within those methods. They look perfectly normal and the deductions seem flawless, but once you actually practice them, you will feel the danger."

"Junior Brother Lin, you are practicing the Five Elements Qi Gathering Method precisely to build a foundation. If you hope to reach Foundation Establishment, you will need to transform your spiritual energy into a new method before that stage. The Five Elements Qi Gathering Method is missing a crucial part!"

"Is it the Qi gathering methods for the Wei and Xu hours?"

Liu Jinyang replied, "Yes and no. The Nature Alliance has already released the two missing Qi gathering methods from the Five Elements Qi Gathering Art."

"It is still gathering Earth Qi—gathering Ji Earth during the Wei hour and Wu Earth during the Xu hour. But by doing so, the Five Elements become unbalanced. Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, one would easily suffer from 'Earth Stagnation' of the physical body, turning the entire body into yellow jade before dying."

"Therefore, only the Yang Five Elements and Yin Five Elements methods were retained. Even if one cannot reach Foundation Establishment, they can still be considered excellent methods, allowing one to master Five Elements spells with ease. For Foundation Establishment, one can directly switch to other cultivation methods and use their respective Foundation Establishment paths."

Lin Donglai fell into thought, thinking to himself: *The methods of this Primordial Five Elements Sect... why do they seem so similar to the logic stored in the Earth Immortal lineage within the Jianmu Spiritual Root Dao Seed? Things like the Earth Mother Yellow Hag, the Wood Lord and Gold Mother, or the Fire Father and Water Son.*

In the Earth Immortal lineage, there was also great emphasis on "Primordial Unity" and the "Five Elements."

When cultivating to the Spirit Mansion realm, one emphasized "The Five Emperors Facing the Origin, Turning into Sages and Honoring the Truth."

That is, the five Spirit Mansions within the five palaces on the Dao Platform serve as the residences of the Five Gods.

Ultimately, the five gods work together to refine a supreme treasure, the Primordial Unity Bead, which serves as the core of the Blessed Land.

Once the Primordial Unity Bead is refined, the Five Sages suppress the five directions, and the five Spirit Mansions become the Five Directional Mountain Gods—the Central Divine Mountain and the Four Pole Divine Mountains.

The original practitioner, after refining the Primordial Unity Bead, can anchor their soul within it. Under the creation evolved by the Blessed Land, the soul ascends to the Innate Yin Spirit, gaining control over everything in the Blessed Land, becoming its Lord.

But in reality, that so-called "Primordial Unity Bead" was a metaphor for the Golden Core.

*Could it be that the Primordial Five Elements Sect was actually the master of the Jianmu Spiritual Root from an even earlier era?*

The more Lin Donglai thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Recalling the dream formed by the obsession left behind by the previous owner of this spiritual root, he felt an increasing sense of dread.

"Why does everyone die? And they all die right after achieving the Golden Core! They die right after proving the Blessed Land..."

(End of Chapter)