LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 310: Nascent Soul Methods
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Inside the alchemy chamber, a refined middle-aged man dressed in scholarly green robes was carefully forming hand seals to control the true flame. Below the alchemy furnace, a lotus-shaped plume of cyan-golden flames danced and bloomed.
“A servant of the Azure Dragon Society, ‘Pink Butterfly,’ is honored to serve the master.”
A delicate and charming female voice came from behind.
It was a woman clad in a pink dress, her cheeks flush like peach blossoms. She possessed a snake-like alluring face, and beneath the knee-length skirt, her slender legs curled like tender lotus roots as she knelt, massaging Lan Chang'an’s shoulders and back.
“Hmm, with the integration of the skin-sensing and temperature-control materials, along with repeated fine-tuning, its tactile sensation is now almost indistinguishable from that of a real female cultivator.”
Lan Chang'an nodded in satisfaction, his expression serene and filled with enjoyment.
All thanks to the sponsorship of Old Brother Fang Zhen!
This was Lan Chang'an’s third mid-grade third-rank puppet, successfully crafted a year ago. After repeated adjustments to the technique, it had reached near perfection.
The female cultivator puppet, “Pink Butterfly,” was rather unique, specializing in illusions and charm techniques.If it were to integrate the soul of his second life’s peak Core Formation self, its abilities would be elevated to their utmost, rendering it irresistible to anyone below the level of a Core Formation Great Cultivator.
Furthermore, with the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s advanced flesh-sculpting technique, the lifelike detail of “Pink Butterfly” surpassed even that of Lan Chang'an’s earlier straw hat assassin puppet.
Lan Chang'an had designated “Pink Butterfly” as his second puppet clone.
Since advancing to the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm, the cooldown period for Lan Chang'an to awaken the soul imprint of his second life had further reduced.
Now, he required only six months.
Thus, he could inscribe two instances of his second life’s soul imprint, infusing them into two separate puppet clones.
Lan Chang'an’s unique puppet clones had two major advantages:
One, it did not consume Lan Chang'an's spiritual sense. Even puppet masters with strong spiritual sense could only control a limited number of puppets of their own cultivation realm due to the consumption of mental energy during combat. Whether controlling magical treasures or puppets, this strain had an upper limit. However, Lan Chang'an’s puppet clones didn’t require any additional burden on his spiritual sense.
Two, extremely long control range, his puppet clones functioned like extensions of his own body, granting him seamless and distant control over them.
The critical components of his puppets—such as weapons and armor—were all of magical treasure-level quality.
As a result, Lan Chang'an’s puppet clones broke conventional norms, with their combat strength rivaling or even surpassing that of ordinary Core Formation cultivators of the same level.
With his current wealth, Lan Chang'an had no shortage of spirit stones to craft puppets. The primary factor influencing his progress was the collection of rare materials.
Currently, the materials for his fourth mid-grade third-rank puppet were still being gathered.
As for low-grade third-rank puppets, they were relatively easier to craft. Lan Chang'an was currently assembling a squad of archer puppets.
Seven days later.
Inside the alchemy chamber, heat waves surged, and multicolored light swirled in the air.
Buzz!
The alchemy furnace opened, releasing a radiant glow. Three crystalline pills, resembling jade-green grapes, flew out, exuding a strange medicinal fragrance full of vitality.
“Two genuine and one inferior.”
Lan Chang'an smiled as he examined the three third-rank Life Extension Pills in his hand. Two of them had complete seven-stripe Dao patterns.
This round of alchemy wasn’t an extraordinary success, but it was above average.
Freshly refined Life Extension Pills had minimal medicinal power loss.
If stored for long periods, restrictive seals would need to be applied to preserve their potency.
Without hesitation, Lan Chang'an swallowed the two genuine-quality Life Extension Pills in succession.
The first pill extended his lifespan by fifty years.
The second pill extended it by forty years.
Typically, a third-rank Life Extension Pill extended lifespan by around thirty years, but ordinary cultivators couldn’t stack the effects.
The first pill Lan Chang'an had taken in the past had granted him an extension of sixty years.
Today, these two pills had somewhat degraded effects but still provided a total of ninety years of additional lifespan.
Even after deducting the twenty years lost earlier due to his life-burning use of divination techniques, his lifespan still increased by seventy years.
“1,185 years of total lifespan.”
With an even longer lifespan, Lan Chang'an felt significantly more at ease.
After all, he had far too many techniques that burned life force.
The Xuanmu Vine Gourd, divination calculations, the Crimson Sun Blood-Escape Technique…
Theoretically, Lan Chang'an could invoke his fourth life’s imprint, and once his cultivation base advanced to the late stage of Core Formation, he could barely manage to utilize the fourth level of the Crimson Sun Blood-Escape Technique.
That corresponded to the early Nascent Soul stage—the highest level achieved by Master Lihuo during his lifetime.
However, that level of escape technique consumed life force at an alarming rate, with each use starting at a cost of over ten years of lifespan. Even Nascent Soul cultivators found it unsustainable.
When it came to burning lifespan, even Nascent Soul True Monarchs couldn’t compete with Lan Chang'an.
Why?
Because many old Nascent Soul True Monarchs had been cultivating for hundreds of years and their remaining lifespan was far less than Lan Chang'an.
...
The remaining inferior third-rank Life Extension Pill was carefully stored and sealed by Lan Chang'an. He had no intention of consuming it.
An inferior Life Extension Pill had weaker effects, increased resistance to future consumption, and took up one of the limited slots for pill consumption.
Lan Chang'an estimated that if consumed by an ordinary cultivator, it could extend their lifespan by about 10 to 20 years.
Such a pill could be used for auctioning as rare resources, trading for hard-to-find materials, or as a favor to repay someone in the future.
Lan Chang'an stepped out of the alchemy chamber and spotted Yun Ling and the Profound Water Turtle playing by the pond.
As the chief guest elder, Lan Chang'an’s residence in the Xuan Yin Pavilion spacious and well-equipped, with mountains and streams within its bounds.
Yun Ling sat on the turtle’s back, lifting the hem of her skirt. Her fair and smooth feet lightly stepped on the Profound Water Turtle’s head.
Pop! Pop!
The Profound Water Turtle puffed out transparent bubbles that landed on Yun Ling, drenching her entirely. Her skin glistened with moisture, turning rosy and soft, while her drenched dress clung tightly to her body, outlining her graceful and delicate curves.
Lan Chang'an was not surprised by this scene.
Yun Ling referred to this as her “Bubble Bath,” saying it nourished the skin and rejuvenated her complexion.
From Lan Chang'an’s observations, Yun Ling’s skin had indeed become more radiant and supple, with an almost ethereal glow. Her constitution and bone structure had also shown slow but noticeable improvement over time.
Although this enhancement was gradual, given enough years, the results would be remarkable.
Such abilities exceeded those of an ordinary Profound Water Turtle.
The Profound Water Turtle Lan Chang'an had hatched with his Evergreen secret spell back then differed slightly in appearance from its kin.
The patterns on its shell resembled leaf-like veins.
This turtle was more adept at wood-element techniques and possessed stronger vitality compared to its peers.
Other than that, there weren’t many differences. For now, it could only be considered an individual anomaly rather than a true mutation.
“Mister Xu.”
Yun Ling rose to greet him, her damp hair cascading like a freshly bathed beauty.
Her starry eyes glanced at him shyly, not deliberately avoiding Lan Chang'an’s gaze.
She had keenly noticed that Mister Xu had once shown a fleeting trace of admiration for her in this state.
As a maid and housekeeper of the residence, Yun Ling was well aware of the close relationship between Fairy Ni Yue and Lan Chang'an.
Ni Yue’s unparalleled beauty had left her in awe—so much so that she couldn’t even muster jealousy. Instead, she diligently fulfilled her role as a maid.
Splash!
Lan Chang'an stepped onto the water, walking effortlessly across it, and then seated himself cross-legged on the wide back of the Profound Water Turtle.
He began instructing Yun Ling in her cultivation and talismanic arts.
Under Lan Chang'an’s guidance, Yun Ling’s progress in both cultivation and talismanic skills had far exceeded her previous rate of improvement.
In the outside world, she would be considered a genius talisman master, with a cultivation speed rivaling that of someone with high-grade spiritual roots.
This wasn’t just due to the guidance of a skilled teacher or the influence of a better environment.
Lan Chang'an had discovered that the nurturing effects of the Profound Water Turtle, along with the affinity of reincarnation, provided additional benefits.
Through Yun Ling, Lan Chang'an had been researching the secrets of reincarnation, although his discoveries were minimal.
Yun Ling occasionally experienced dreams of vague, past-life scenes.
Unfortunately, there was no progress in unraveling the mystery of the womb tied to her reincarnation.
These dreams of past lives, though fragmented, were easier for Yun Ling to comprehend.
Lan Chang'an couldn’t help but think of the third method for activating reincarnation inscribed on the Nine Seals Stele:
Turning a foreign cultivation life into one’s own fleeting dream.
Life is but a dream, and a dream is but life. Who can truly discern the difference?
...
Whoosh!
A sound transmission talisman flew into the cave dwelling.
Lan Chang'an caught it and swept it with his spiritual sense.
“All right, Old Turtle, you go cultivate now,” he instructed.
After completing Yun Ling’s lesson, Lan Chang'an sent the Profound Water Turtle to the underground chamber to watch over the Xuanmu Vine Gourd.
He then flew out of the cave-dwelling, heading toward the main hall of the Xuan Yin Pavilion, where he met Pavilion Master Ni Yue.
“Mister Xu, the materials for reinforcing the grand formation have been gathered.”
Fairy Ni Yue waved her sleeve, and a pile of materials appeared on the table.
Lan Chang'an inspected the materials and nodded.
“I’ll refine the array tools. You and your team will handle the setup.”
“Rest assured, Mister Xu. I’ve kept this matter highly confidential. Even Ruotong and Senior Sister Shu know nothing about it.”
Fairy Ni Yue, draped in soft silk ribbons, was poised and graceful, her clear eyes brimming with joy. She even deliberately displayed a hint of youthful admiration, as if infatuated.
Two years ago, Lan Chang'an had suggested patching up the mid-grade third-rank formation protecting the oasis.
The previous formation master had been bribed and disappeared, leaking the formation’s weaknesses to Fang Zhen and his allies.
Finding a trustworthy formation master in a short time had proven difficult.
Who would have thought that Mister Xu was also a mid-grade third-rank formation master?
Ni Yue sighed in her heart. Mister Xu was truly an extraordinary individual, erudite and so knowledgeable that what she had seen was only the tip of the iceberg.
This further strengthened her determination to keep Lan Chang'an in the pavilion. She planned to win his favor through her tea ceremony skills and ethereal musical performances.
Two months later.
The Xuan Yin Pavilion’s grand protective formation had been fully reinforced.
Such sect-protecting formations were far larger in scope and far more powerful than ordinary formations.
Lan Chang'an, inherited mid-grade third-rank formation techniques from the fourth life, his attainments and insight in formations far exceeded that of the formation master Ni Yue once relied on.
Reinforcing the Xuan Yin Pavilion’s formation also bolstered Lan Chang'an’s personal safety, providing him with a potential fallback in the future.
Unaware of his true motives, Ni Yue believed that Lan Chang'an had integrated into the sect and was merely lending a helping hand.
She was grateful and very pleased, and she became even more attentive toward him.
After the formation’s reinforcement, Ni Yue visited Lan Chang'an on several nights, serving him with utmost gentleness.
She cast aside the dignity of a sect master and the pride of being the top-ranked female Core Formation cultivator in the Outer Sect Alliance.
She even abandoned positions she once considered shameful, letting Lan Chang'an fiddle with her as he pleased.
Yet for Lan Chang'an, simple physical pleasure had become tedious.
He sought loftier, more spiritual pursuits.
He proposed to enter the deeper state of spiritual communion with Fairy Ni Yue, to which she readily agreed.
Unfortunately, such communion no longer provided the profound insights into the mind and the Dao that Thousand Years Divine Dream once did.
In the meantime, Lan Chang'an was quietly repairing the quasi-fourth-rank illusion array he had acquired in the past.
The formation was originally a genuine fourth-rank array.
To fully restore it, several fourth-rank materials were still missing—materials that were extremely difficult to obtain.
Fortunately, the formation’s main framework was intact, and the missing components were auxiliary materials, which were not many in number.
...
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Lan Chang'an was now 247 years old, marking ten years since he had advanced to the mid-stage of the Core Formation.
On this particular day, Lan Chang'an was in his secluded chamber, refining and nurturing his life-bound magical treasure.
Three Barbed Arrows floated around his Golden Dan, being refined with the Evergreen True Fire and nourished by the Golden Dan's essence.
After years of tempering, the three Barbed Arrows had been elevated to the rank of a superior-grade magical treasure.
They were hidden within Lan Chang'an’s body, their aura deeply restrained, resembling sealed and lifeless sword marbles.
“Thirty-five years of nurturing…”
Only Lan Chang'an, as their master, could perceive the terrifying power contained within these seemingly dormant Barbed Arrows.
The primary material for the Barbed Arrows was fourth-rank Soul-Nurturing Wood, a Nascent Soul-level resource.
From the moment Lan Chang'an first obtained the Soul-Nurturing Wood, he had been cultivating its spirituality with his Evergreen mana, gradually establishing a connection.
Even after refining it into a magical treasure, this habit of nurturing continued.
With decades of nurturing and energy accumulation, the first strike of the Barbed Arrows, when “drawn from the sheath,” would far surpass ordinary attacks.
Lan Chang'an had calculated: with the spiritual sense and magical power of a Core Formation Great Cultivator, the first strike of a Barbed Arrow could reach the threshold of Nascent Soul-level power.
As a life-bound magical treasure and a relatively small one at that, the Barbed Arrows consumed far less magical energy compared to heavy treasures like “Flaming Mountain.”
The Barbed Arrows also contained soul attack capability, the effectiveness of which largely depended on the strength of one’s spiritual sense.
“If the fourth life's descends and I wield the arrows with Nascent Soul-level spiritual sense, I could unleash nearly their full power. That would be equivalent to a single strike from a Nascent Soul-level magical treasure!”
Even Lan Chang'an himself was astonished by the results of his analysis.
A strike from a Nascent Soul-level magical treasure was more potent than the average fourth-rank spirit talisman.
Moreover, the Barbed Arrows were insidious in nature, combining speed, penetration, and soul attacks. Such attacks were difficult to defend against.
Forget ordinary Core Formation Great Cultivators—
Even a Nascent Soul True Monarch, if caught off guard, might suffer significant losses, or worse, meet an untimely end.
“In this lifetime, I’ve finally mastered a true Nascent Soul-level trump card!”
Each time Lan Chang'an refined his arrows, a sense of grandeur surged in his heart. His sense of security increased greatly.
The fourth life's soul imprint only brought his soul strength to the Nascent Soul stage.
At most, it allowed him to unleash spiritual sense techniques comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators, which worked well against weaker opponents but had limited use against those of equal rank.
However, when combining his fourth life's soul imprint, Core Formation Great Cultivator-level magical power, and the Barbed Arrows nurtured for decades, Lan Chang'an now had the means to threaten even Nascent Soul True Monarchs.
That said, achieving these three conditions simultaneously was exceedingly difficult.
Even after reaching the mid-stage Core Formation realm, invoking his fourth life’s soul imprint required ten years to recharge.
The Barbed Arrows, on the other hand, demanded decades of nurturing and accumulation.
Back when Lan Chang'an clashed with the Peacock Saintess, he had only used one Barbed Arrow—the one with the shortest nurturing period of thirty-five years.
The other two arrows had been nurtured for over fifty years.
The power of these long-nurtured arrows, to some extent, compensated for the immense gap in magical power between him and his opponent.
Lan Chang'an had also noticed that after thirty years of nurturing, the power of the superior-grade Barbed Arrows grew at a significantly slower rate.
...
After completing his refining session of the treasure talismans and Barbed Arrows, Lan Chang'an looked toward the skies above the Xuan Yin Pavilion's mountain gate.
There, spiritual energy from the heavens and earth gathered into a swirling cloud of radiant mist.
At this moment, a Foundation Establishment female cultivator was attempting to break through to the Core Formation realm—a process that had already lasted several days.
Two days later, the radiant mist dissipated smoothly over a radius of three li.
The Xuan Yin Pavilion erupted in celebration; a new Core Formation cultivator had been born.
The newly ascended female cultivator had the surname Qiu. Her beauty and temperament rivaled the Fairy Bai of years past, though her personality was even more aloof and reserved.
From this day forward, the Xuan Yin Pavilion had gained a new True Dan elder: Fairy Qiu.
Lan Chang'an paid only slight attention to this development and didn’t dwell on it.
That evening, Fairy Ni Yue came to express her gratitude to Lan Chang'an.
“Xu Darling, it’s all thanks to the Crystal Condensation Pill you provided that Junior Sister Qiu was able to achieve True Dan before reaching 120. Who knows how long it would’ve taken otherwise?”
Fairy Ni Yue’s mood was radiant, her smile captivating. She took out her ancient zither and played a beautiful melody for Lan Chang'an.
It turned out that the Crystal Condensation Pill Lan Chang'an had obtained as stolen loot from Fang Zhen had been traded to the Xuan Yin Pavilion.
In exchange, he received the superior-grade spiritual bamboo he needed, as well as some materials for Life Extension Pills.
Additionally, by leveraging the Xuan Yin Pavilion’s extensive network, Lan Chang'an acquired rare materials for his puppets and array formations.
With a Core Formation Great Cultivator in residence and the newly ascended Fairy Qiu, the Xuan Yin Pavilion had reached its peak strength in the Feng Yuan Kingdom.
If one included the “hidden master” Lan Chang'an, its strength even surpassed the Xuan Yin Pavilion of Liang Kingdom’s golden era.
After consolidating her cultivation, Fairy Qiu came to visit Lan Chang'an.
She wasn’t certain of the Crystal Condensation Pill’s origins; her visit was merely a gesture of respect toward a senior True Dan elder.
When Fairy Qiu paid her respects, Fairy Ni Yue personally accompanied her, leaving no opportunity for the two to speak privately.
Lan Chang'an faintly sensed that Fairy Ni Yue was deliberately preventing deeper contact between him and Fairy Qiu.
Fairy Qiu was the youngest Core Formation elder in the Xuan Yin Pavilion, and Fairy Ni Yue seemed to have a protective, almost maternal instinct toward her.
Lan Chang'an found the situation amusing. He and Fairy Qiu had no intention of getting to know each other on a deeper level.
This was entirely different from his interactions with Fairy Jiang.
Lan Chang'an could only sigh at the sorry state of the world—such a deep bond, yet not even a shred of basic trust.
Then again, he couldn’t really blame them. His charisma was simply too overwhelming—no matter how much he disguised himself with his past life's visage and aura, his brilliance still shone through like a beacon of gold and jade
...
Half a year later.
Lan Chang'an sat cross-legged, ancient coins, divination sticks, tortoise shells, chess pieces, and other mystical divination tools floating before him.
An intangible force of destiny swirled around him, brewing until it broke through a certain barrier, connecting with the broader currents of fate within the heavens and earth.
“Superior-grade divination art, finally broke through.”
The cost was not insignificant. Lan Chang'an’s lifespan had diminished by another five or six years compared to three years ago.
With this breakthrough, Lan Chang'an had now reached superior-grade mastery in three fields of cultivation arts in this lifetime.
The first two were artifact refining and talisman crafting.
Since reaching the mid-stage of Core Formation, Lan Chang'an only needed to invoke the soul imprint of his second life to achieve the peak-level talisman crafting proficiency of that life.
“Hmm?”
Upon reaching superior-grade divination mastery, Lan Chang'an vaguely sensed the presence of an invisible, massive hand of fate that seemed to encompass and shield the Feng Yuan Kingdom.
This mysterious force of destiny was weaker in the Outer Sect Alliance regions but concentrated primarily in the native tribal territories of the Feng Yuan Kingdom.
Lan Chang'an speculated that this invisible force of destiny originated from the Heavenly Master of Feng Yuan Kingdom.
It was likely being used to safeguard the Feng Yuan Kingdom and the Ice and Snow Sacred Mountain’s heavenly secrets, protecting them from being tampered with or calculated by other major cultivation forces.
“Fourth-rank mastery, a true divination grandmaster!”
Lan Chang'an carefully avoided coming into direct contact with this mysterious force of destiny.
He had no grievances or entanglements with the Heavenly Master. As long as he didn’t actively try to pry into the Heavenly Master’s secrets or those of the Ice and Snow Sacred Mountain, there would be no risk of the other party detecting his presence.
Ten days later.
After stabilizing his newly advanced divination realm, Lan Chang'an gathered the various divination artifacts and began an intense divination session, focusing on the impending war with the demonic factions.
Using all the information he currently had, he sought to predict the trajectory of the war.
The result was deeply unsettling.
It revealed that the Beast King Valley and the Righteous Dao Alliance were on the verge of reaching a peace agreement.
Four months later.
Through the network of his puppet clone, Lan Chang'an received major intelligence from the Yellow Sand Organization operating in a nearby immortal city.
“The Beast King Valley and the Righteous Dao Alliance have reached an agreement: a thirty-year truce, with both sides pledging non-aggression.”
Lan Chang'an’s heart sank.
The outcome he had been dreading had finally come to pass.
The Yellow Sand Organization’s intelligence was generally reliable, though slightly delayed.
This meant that the Beast King Valley and the Righteous Dao Alliance had likely signed the truce two or three months ago.
(End of chapter)