Chapter 6 The Path of Immortal Cultivation

"I don't know. Please enlighten me, Father," Ji Ning said respectfully.

In truth, having read many books, he already knew, but as a four-year-old child, there was no need to be so prodigious.

"Let me explain, so you understand," Ji Yichuan said coldly. "First, let me talk about the seven major stages on this path of cultivation."

"The first stage, Houtian, lifespan a hundred years."

"The second stage, Xiantian, lifespan two hundred years."

"The third stage, Zifu, called 'Zifu cultivators,' lifespan five hundred years."

"The fourth stage, Wanxiang, called 'Wanxiang True Immortals,' lifespan eight hundred years."

"The fifth stage, Yuanshen, called Yuanshen Daoists."

"The sixth stage, Fanxu, called Land Immortals, also 'Earth Immortals.' In the final phase of Fanxu, one must undergo the tribulation of heavenly punishment. If one fails, death and annihilation are the end; if one is fortunate enough to escape with the Yuanshen and survive, one becomes a Sanxian. Sanxian and Earth Immortals are mostly equal in power."

"The seventh stage, Heavenly Immortal, only then can one be said to have leaped out of the Three Realms and be beyond the Five Elements!"

Ji Yichuan finished speaking and looked at Ji Ning, expecting to see shock on his son's face, but Ji Ning merely listened attentively with his ears perked up.

"You say you want to cultivate immortality, so let me make you understand the difficulty," Ji Yichuan said in a low voice. "The first hurdle on the path of immortality—from Houtian to Xiantian!"

"What is Xiantian? Beings born from heaven and earth are called Xiantian creatures. For example, in the distant age of gods and demons, some gods and demons were born from heaven and earth, possessing great divine powers from birth. Also, those reincarnated through the Six Paths of Reincarnation into the Heavenly Realm as 'Celestials' or 'Asuras'—these Celestials and Asuras are also born from heaven and earth, and they are Xiantian creatures from birth. They cultivate very quickly. Only Xiantian creatures can cultivate immortality!"

"Mortals cannot cultivate immortality. However, heaven always leaves a sliver of hope, so ancient sages created cultivation techniques that allow mortals to train their bodies to be like 'Xiantian creatures,' thus making immortality possible."

"But for a mortal to become a Xiantian creature is already against the way of heaven. Among those who attempt it, less than one in ten thousand succeed. Tell me, is it difficult or not?"

Ji Ning listened.

Xiantian creature? If not for the great upheaval in the underworld, he would have been reincarnated into the Heavenly Realm as a Celestial, a Xiantian creature. But now he was a mortal... Indeed, the path from mortal to Xiantian was extremely difficult.

"The second hurdle on the path of immortality—from Xiantian to Zifu!"

"One must open the Zifu to cultivate immortality. Opening the Zifu is like 'laying the foundation' for building a house, like 'reclaiming fields' for planting crops. The Zifu is the field, the source of immortality, the foundation of the Dao! Only by truly opening the Zifu within the body can one step onto the path of immortality and be worthy of the title Zifu cultivator! Among Xiantian experts, perhaps only one in a thousand can open the Zifu. Tell me, is it difficult or not?"

Ji Ning nodded.

Yes, it was very difficult.

At the same time, he listened carefully. In the books of the Ji clan's West Prefecture library, the descriptions of cultivation realms only covered the difficulty of these first two stages; there was nothing beyond.

"Once you open the Zifu and become a cultivator, you naturally possess tremendous power."

"But cultivating to become an immortal goes against the Heavenly Dao. Therefore, from the day you step onto the immortal path—that is, from the moment you open the Zifu—every three hundred years there is a trial, and every nine hundred years a great calamity. As the saying goes, 'Every three years a disaster, every nine years a calamity; disasters are easy to avoid, calamities are hard to escape.' Every three hundred years comes this trial, every nine hundred years a major one, and as long as you walk the path of immortality, it continues forever... Unless you become a Heavenly Immortal, the 'Three Disasters and Nine Calamities' are the eternal tribulations of every cultivator."

Three Disasters and Nine Calamities?

Every three years a disaster, every nine years a calamity; disasters are easy to avoid, calamities are hard to escape?

Ji Ning was indeed shocked. Unless one became a Heavenly Immortal, cultivators faced a wave of tribulations every three hundred years.

...

"Crackle!" "Crackle!" The arm-thick candles made sounds as they burned, echoing in the hall.

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue both looked at their son. At this moment, Ji Ning's face could not hide his shock. Seeing his son's shocked expression, Ji Yichuan nodded slightly, finally having subdued the little fellow.

"How old is the child? Why say so much?" Yuchi Xue said discontentedly.

"Mother," Ji Ning looked up, grinning, "It's fine."

Ji Yichuan looked over in surprise.

"Father," Ji Ning smiled, "From mortal to Xiantian, from Xiantian to Zifu—just these two hurdles are unimaginably difficult. The Three Disasters and Nine Calamities are too far away for me; I don't need to think about them."

"Mm." Ji Yichuan nodded. "Your temperament is acceptable. You're right—there's no need for you to think about becoming a Zifu cultivator now; that's too far off. On this vast land of Yanshan, including the Ji clan and all the major powers and countless tribes, the strongest are only Zifu cultivators. The path of immortality is so difficult... Even in the endless expanse of our Great Xia dynasty, not a single Celestial Immortal has emerged in a million years."

Ji Ning nodded gently.

When Lord Cui in the underworld had spoken to him, he had said that the "Nuwa Painting" would only give him a bit more of a chance; to become a Celestial Immortal, there would still be countless tribulations. That was even under the premise that he was a celestial being and had become a heavenly soldier or general... It was clear how difficult it was to become a Celestial Immortal. To leap out of the Three Realms and be beyond the Five Elements was not something just anyone could achieve.

"Do you still want to cultivate immortality now?" Ji Yichuan looked at Ji Ning.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded.

Ji Yichuan nodded slightly. If he had been scared off by mere danger, he would have been disappointed. But he didn't know... how could Ji Ning be frightened by such things? What endeavor had no risk? Walking could get you killed by a falling stone from the sky; eating could choke you to death. The path of immortality was such an incredible road; it would be strange if there were no danger.

"However..." Ji Yichuan frowned. "You are too young, and cultivation techniques are very complex. If I pass on a profound immortal technique to you and you practice it incorrectly, it could harm your body. Yet ordinary immortal techniques are not worth it..."

"Father." Ji Ning said, "I want a divine body-tempering technique!"

"Oh? You know about body-tempering?" Ji Yichuan was very surprised. Beside him, Yuchi Xue also smiled: "It seems our son has read many books and knows that immortal cultivation is divided into two types."

The path of immortality was mainly divided into two types.

One was Qi Refining! Over ninety percent of cultivators took this path. It allowed the use of many wondrous magical treasures, the crafting of complex puppets, the control of numerous venomous insects and demonic beasts, the setting up of grand formations, and various evil cultivation methods... In short, it was an incredibly intricate and profound path.

The other was Body-Tempering.

Legend has it that at the dawn of the Three Realms, many gods and demons were born, all conceived by heaven and earth, with powerful bodies from birth! And Pangu, who split heaven and earth, was the most powerful Chaos God, also possessing a mighty body... Thus, some ancient sages contemplated the bodies of gods and demons and created body-tempering techniques, enabling cultivators to have bodies like gods and demons—indestructible, immensely strong, capable of expanding to heaven and earth, growing three heads and six arms, regenerating from a drop of blood, and achieving immortality... all of which belonged to the divine body-tempering school.

The body-tempering school claimed that at the same stage, body-tempering completely overwhelmed Qi Refining!

"Body-tempering is a hundred times harder than Qi Refining." Ji Yichuan said solemnly. "Divine body-tempering techniques grant one the power of gods and demons—how heaven-defying! It is extremely difficult..."

"Father, I'll start with body-tempering and later practice Qi Refining." Ji Ning said. "After all, these two methods can be practiced simultaneously. Then, whichever path I have talent for, I'll focus on that... And aren't you worried that I'm too young and might harm my meridians if I practice Qi Refining incorrectly? Divine body-tempering techniques don't have that danger."

Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue exchanged glances.

It seemed their son had thought things through carefully. Indeed, divine body-tempering techniques mainly trained the bones, muscles, skin, and internal organs; as for the meridians? They had nothing to do with divine body-tempering. One must know that the innate gods and demons came in various forms, with meridians completely different from humans. When the ancient sages contemplated the bodies of gods and demons and created "divine body-tempering techniques," they naturally had no need to consider meridians.

"Good!" Ji Yichuan nodded. "Divine body-tempering techniques are extremely precious. Our Ji clan's five prefectures have a total of nineteen divine body-tempering techniques. I'll let you choose which one to cultivate!"

"Yes." Ji Ning was excited and surging with emotion.

"Brother Black." Ji Yichuan called out.

Soon, a middle-aged man with black hair appeared outside the hall. His eyes faintly glowed red, and his eye corners were narrow—it was the transformation of the large black serpent.

"Uncle Black." Ji Ning quickly called out. After living in this world for two years, he knew that this black-haired middle-aged man was a great demon who had cultivated to become a "Xiantian lifeform." Ordinary beasts could only be called demonic beasts after gaining intelligence; they began to absorb the world's energy to cultivate. Without cultivation techniques, they cultivated even harder than humans. Only by breaking through to become a Xiantian lifeform could they gain the ability to transform!

The black-haired middle-aged man smiled and nodded: "Yichuan, what do you need?"

"Trouble you to go to the Scripture Library." Ji Yichuan said. "Bring all the 'abridged versions' of the nineteen divine body-tempering techniques. Ji Ning wants to use them."

"Ji Ning wants to use them?" The black-haired middle-aged man smiled and glanced at Ji Ning. "Once you practice divine body-tempering, you'll become like a god or demon. It seems Ji Ning has great ambitions."

Whoosh!

The black-haired middle-aged man vanished into thin air.

Ji Ning took a deep breath and waited. Uncle Black was right; he did have ambitions. First, he knew that because he was too young, his father probably wouldn't easily teach him Qi Refining. As for self-study? Ji Ning wasn't that confident. Second, he also knew some of the strengths of the divine body-tempering school. Killing a divine body-tempering cultivator was a thousand times harder than killing a Qi Refining cultivator! At the same stage, divine body-tempering cultivators completely overwhelmed Qi Refining cultivators!

Strong survivability and strong combat power—these two points alone made Ji Ning prefer divine body-tempering techniques.

"Whoosh." A gentle breeze arose, and the black-haired middle-aged man appeared in the hall, smiling. "The abridged versions of the nineteen divine body-tempering techniques."

"Ji Ning." Ji Yichuan looked at his son. "The abridged versions contain only the beginning parts of the immortal techniques, along with a description of each technique. Look carefully and choose which one you want."

The black-haired middle-aged man placed all nineteen abridged versions before Ji Ning.

Each abridged version was very thin, containing only the initial parts. Even if stolen, it wouldn't affect the Ji clan. They wouldn't place precious immortal techniques directly in the Scripture Library or such places. However, even these abridged versions of divine body-tempering techniques weren't accessible to just anyone; Ji Yichuan had sent the black-haired middle-aged man to fetch them.

"Nineteen volumes."

Ji Ning lowered his head and began to read carefully.