Chapter 268
"What's going on?"
The Jiushan Patriarch asked, looking a bit confused.
"This matter... I'm afraid the odds are not in our favor," Uncle Pang replied, his voice heavy with disappointment.
The sect leader nodded in agreement and explained softly, "Since ancient times, cultivation methods have been refined by generations of practitioners. While the ideas of these two may be correct, to improve upon the Patriarch's method of transforming the spirit is incredibly difficult."
"It’s also because our Jiushan Sect has a shallow legacy; we have no cases of spirit transformation..." Hearing this, the Jiushan Patriarch understood.
"So what are you two planning to do?"
"Now that Zhang Shizhi has returned, what can we say?" the sect leader sighed.
Uncle Pang fell silent for a moment before speaking again, "In recent days, my junior brother has tried a few things. It seems our Jiushan Sect is more about keeping people in than letting them out... Thankfully, you had already sent those disciples away."
"Ha... That Blood River Ancestor would love for us to send more people to their deaths..." The sect leader gazed out at the mountains.
"What are your plans, brother?"
"I only have a hundred years left to live; death doesn’t concern me... But for Zhang Shizhi, I still want to protect her."
Uncle Pang nodded gently.
"She has always been the most talented among us, and now she has even touched the threshold of spirit transformation..." The sect leader continued, "But the Blood River Ancestor is, after all, a master of spirit transformation..."
Uncle Pang fell silent for a while, then suddenly took out a jade tube.
"What’s this?"
"This was given to me by Sister Huang when I came here—her method of 'Momentary Glory'." Uncle Pang spoke in a low voice, "Brother, you have comprehended the formation method from the Mountain River True Form Talisman, while I have grasped the technique of linking talismans. It seems that Sister Huang has inexplicably touched upon the essence of this Mountain River True Form Talisman..."
The sect leader was taken aback, looking down at the jade tube. After a long pause, he raised his head and said, "This is... the body transformation talisman?"
"Yes... I didn’t quite understand before why this body transformation talisman was so powerful yet inevitably fatal. Now, hearing what Zhang Shizhi said, it seems this is a method of forcibly transforming the spirit... But Sister Huang didn’t grasp its essence, and her cultivation isn’t sufficient, so using it would lead to her death."
The sect leader nodded and held the jade tube tightly in his palm.
He understood Uncle Pang's intention in giving him this item—if things went awry, he would use this method desperately to ensure Zhang Shizhi's safety.
...
"Uncle, your Momentary Glory... coincidentally aligns with our thoughts." Zheng Fa was also examining the Momentary Glory method, and when he looked up again, his gaze towards Sister Huang was no longer ordinary.
"I have no particular thoughts..." Sister Huang replied candidly, "At that time, filled with resentment, I gained some insights from the Mountain River True Form Talisman, which led to this method—now, hearing you speak of the secrets of spirit transformation, I finally understand the essence of this thing."
Zheng Fa sighed inwardly.
Sister Huang had truly surprised him—her Momentary Glory method was, at its core, a way to use the meridians within her body to replace the spiritual energy circuit, simulating part of the Jiushan Patriarch's current state.
However, she herself understood the concept but not the underlying reasons, and on the other hand, her strength was far from spirit transformation, and she didn’t possess a life-bound spiritual treasure.
Using this method would undoubtedly lead to her death.
At this moment, Zheng Fa recalled how his master had once described Sister Huang in just three words—"reckless."
Sister Huang nodded and said, "You know... I didn’t even pass this Momentary Glory method to Wu Yi."
"..."
"I thought she should be different from me... She should be carefree, proud, and happy." Sister Huang looked at Zheng Fa and said, "She shouldn’t have to use this method."
"I never expected that I would lose my partner, and now I might lose my disciple..."
Zheng Fa fell silent.
Sister Huang gazed into the distance and spoke, "Back then, I was impulsive and reckless, thinking the world was vast and I could go anywhere, until I fell into a trap and watched my partner die without being able to save him."
"I told myself I couldn’t be impulsive anymore... For that reason, I confined myself to the Seventh Peak, rarely leaving the mountain gate, and I didn’t want to pass this Momentary Glory method to Wu Yi, fearing it would harm her..."
"But I was just thinking, if I had passed this method to Wu Yi earlier, would she have had a better chance today?"
"Uncle..."
"Is it that whatever I do is wrong?" Sister Huang looked at Zheng Fa and asked.
"Don't use that tone." Sister Huang smiled, "My disciple is on the brink of death, and as her master, I can’t help in any other way. Can’t I at least ask for help?"
"..."
"I can disregard my face, but I just wish I had the connections of your Uncle Pang... Who knows who still remembers me?"
Zheng Fa shook his head; he didn’t think Uncle Pang would be much better than Sister Huang in this regard... He still remembered the events of last time.
Once they entered the Tianbei Realm, the three of them wasted no time. Aside from trying to cultivate a few spiritual plants in Half-Mountain City using spiritual wood lightning, Zheng Fa was almost constantly running around his own sealed land.
Sister Yuan and Sister Huang were even busier. After a month of hard work, they had earned over twenty thousand points of heavenly merit.
"Based on the points required for the previous seal upgrade, the next upgrade should require a hundred thousand points of heavenly merit. I’ve earned about eighty thousand points so far," Zheng Fa calculated and said to the two, "But I’m not sure how many more upgrades are needed to control the Tianbei..."
Sister Yuan and Sister Huang didn’t respond, their faces showing signs of fatigue.
"Sister, you two should go rest first."
He urged them.
"Zheng Shidi... Our cultivation is higher than yours, you should take a look at your current state," Sister Yuan suddenly said.
Zheng Fa fell silent; in the Tianbei Realm, he had exhausted nearly every drop of spiritual power to use more lightning techniques—his mental fatigue was evident.
Xiao Yuying was startled by the three of them:
"What’s going on with you all..."
"Please don’t laugh at us, Miss Xiao..."
Xiao Yuying nodded, her eyes seeming to understand, and then she asked Zheng Fa, "You said to wait for you here, what’s the reason?"
"This is where I need your help, Miss Xiao."
Zheng Fa was extremely tired at this point and didn’t want to delay. He simply tapped the golden seal in front of him, and a gentle breeze lifted the four of them toward the medicinal garden.
The medicinal garden looked the same as before.
But Xiao Yuying seemed a bit dazed; she gazed at the buzzing golden bell in the sky, watching the rotating sun, moon, and stars around it, her eyes filled with longing.
"Miss Xiao?"
Zheng Fa was puzzled.
"Dongtian spiritual treasure..." Xiao Yuying murmured.
"Huh?"
"I had always known there should be such a spiritual treasure in the Tianbei Realm..." Xiao Yuying withdrew her gaze and looked at Zheng Fa, "I heard my master say that possessing a Dongtian spiritual treasure allows one to escape the depletion of spiritual energy—it's just that I’ve never encountered such a treasure before."
Zheng Fa was taken aback and turned to look at the golden bell—was this thing really that valuable?
"Do you think I came to the Tianbei for no reason?"
"If this Thunder Pool didn’t have such a treasure supporting it, how could it possibly hold back the Great Freedom Demon Sect?"
Seeing his puzzled expression, Xiao Yuying spoke up.
But Zheng Fa wasn’t happy—
The more precious this thing was, the harder it seemed for him to truly control the Tianbei Realm.
Seemingly understanding his thoughts, Xiao Yuying also withdrew her gaze and looked at Zheng Fa, asking, "What do you want me to do?"
Zheng Fa set aside his worries; there was no use in thinking too much now, he just needed to get things done.
"Between the cycles of day and night, there are twenty-four nodes that may have some special changes."
"Special changes?"
Zheng Fa wasn’t sure how strong Xiao Yuying’s sensitivity to electromagnetic fields was. After thinking for a moment, he unleashed a bolt of spiritual wood lightning.
"What is this..."
"Miss, do you sense anything from this lightning technique?"
Xiao Yuying furrowed her brows, seemingly understanding Zheng Fa’s intention, and suddenly extended her right hand.
That fair hand slowly turned a light blue, with faint purple veins beneath the skin, and there were hints of electric light flickering within.
"Can you try again?"
Another bolt of spiritual wood lightning was unleashed.
A weak current formed within the veins of Xiao Yuying's right hand.
Zheng Fa’s expression brightened, but he didn’t say much, just switched to another frequency of spiritual wood lightning.
Another weak current emerged.
Zheng Fa asked, "Miss Xiao, can you sense the difference between these two lightning techniques?"
His tone was slightly anxious.
This was crucial for the precision of Xiao Yuying’s electromagnetic laboratory.
Both of these spiritual wood lightning techniques required high precision in modern measurements.
"I can," Xiao Yuying nodded, "Though it’s subtle, the difference in strength between the two is quite clear..."
Hearing this, Zheng Fa turned to look at Uncle Pang and Sister Yuan.
Their faces were written with confusion, or rather, they seemed to be saying: Where’s the clarity in that...
The Yuan Magnetic Dao Body truly cheats!
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