Chapter 137: The Cultivation Method of Deity Transformation

Jiuyou rubbed the black disc in his hands, his mind churning with the contents of the yellowed ancient records from the Scripture Pavilion of the Azure Sun Sect. He flipped open the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art, his gaze roaming slowly between the lines as he pondered.

According to the ancient records, the founder of the Azure Sun Sect, the Heavenly Sun Supreme One, was not a native cultivator of Lingchuan, but came from the other side of the Blood-Demon Valley—that is, from Ganzhou.

He had brought two supreme treasures with him: the Golden Sun True Flame and this Heavenly Spirit Ring.

The Golden Sun True Flame had been taken with him, while the Heavenly Spirit Ring was left behind in the sect. The ring rapidly absorbed ambient spiritual energy to nourish its owner; by leaving it behind, the Azure Sun Sect could rely on it to quickly cultivate more high-level cultivators even after his departure.

It seemed he had cared deeply about the legacy he left behind. Since that was the case, why had he left? Perhaps he feared that staying in the sect would invite disaster, so he chose to travel far away. In the end, he had passed away in the Heavenly Abyss Sea, where Gu Qing inherited his legacy by a stroke of luck.

But why was there no record of his name in the history of the Heavenly Abyss Sea? Such a powerful figure shouldn't have been completely unknown. Could it be that he had been forced to leave after suffering severe injuries and, lacking much time to live, passed away shortly after arriving in the Heavenly Abyss Sea?

Jiuyou pulled his thoughts back, his gaze falling once more onto the ancient record in his hands.

The Daoyang Ten Palaces Art was divided into ten layers. The first layer corresponded to Qi Refining, the second through fourth to Foundation Establishment, the fifth through seventh to Golden Core, and the eighth through tenth to Nascent Soul.

Breaking through each layer opened a new palace within the body. With each additional palace, a practitioner's mana became more condensed, rendering their spiritual energy several times purer than that of cultivators at the same tier and allowing their dantian to hold a total capacity far exceeding the norm.

This alone was astonishing.

But what truly shook him was the very last sentence: once the tenth palace was opened, one could vastly increase their chances of breaking through to Deity Transformation without relying on any external aids...

Deity Transformation.

Deity Transformation again.

Jiuyou's fingertip paused on the page. His gaze fixed on that line of text, unmoving for a long time.

The Blood Soul Art contained the Blood Soul Restriction, and the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art spoke of the Ten Halls Breakthrough. Ganzhou's foundation was simply too profound. And these paths leading toward Deity Transformation were now falling into his hands, one manual at a time.

He turned to the final page, his hand suddenly stalling.

The page was torn off here, as if intentionally ripped away. The jagged edges and yellowed paper clearly showed it had happened quite some years ago. He flipped back and forth several times, confirming that there was indeed more content meant to follow, but a few pages were missing.

Just a few pages.

And they just had to be the most crucial ones.

Jiuyou slowly closed the ancient record, his thumb rubbing the torn edge of the spine. His face remained as calm as ever, but his heartbeat had quickened a fraction.

If the tenth palace alone could increase the odds of reaching Deity Transformation, then the missing pages most likely recorded the cultivation method for the Deity Transformation stage and beyond.

A complete manual that could be cultivated all the way to the Deity Transformation Realm.

He took a deep breath and set the book back on the stone table, his fingers lightly tapping the cover twice. Remembering the hundreds of years he had spent deducing the Nether Capital Art, he had no desire to do that again. Now that this shortcut was laid out right in front of him, he couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to it.

He had to get the complete manual.

And the most likely place hiding it was Southern Frost.

The Daoyang Sect.

Jiuyou raised his eyes to the gray rock walls of his cave dwelling. His gaze seemed to pierce the layers of stone, as if he could already see that distant land.

The Golden Sun True Flame, the Heavenly Spirit Ring, the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art... the source of all these things lay there. The Heavenly Sun Supreme One had brought the legacy out from that region, and now, Jiuyou was going back to retrieve the rest.

He gently grasped the Heavenly Spirit Ring around his wrist. It felt slightly cool against his skin. A moment later, he let go, his expression returning to normal.

"It seems I'll have to find a chance... to take a trip to Southern Frost," he muttered softly. His tone was as flat as if he were discussing a trivial matter, yet something was clearly churning within those deep cyan eyes.

Whether by theft or by force, he was determined to get that complete manual.

Several more years passed beneath the sinkhole.

Jiuyou did not squander his time.

He successively refined several souls and two early-stage Nascent Souls. However, he didn't rush to fully devour the resulting soul power. Instead, he sealed it all deep within the Nether Capital Gate, saving it for later use.

The reason was simple. Although the Hundred-Mile Inch Hairpin no longer consumed his essence blood, the mana it required was still massive, and not something he could easily sustain on his own. Furthermore, his Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Milk was nearly depleted—only two and a half bottles remained, forcing him to budget carefully.

In comparison, the Blood Soul Evasion was the most cost-effective escape art. It only required soul power to activate, neither harming his foundation nor draining his mana. Storing the refined soul power was equivalent to stocking up fuel for countless uses of the escape art in advance.

This was the effortless mastery of his deepening cultivation; when water flows, a canal is formed. In the past, he would have had to hastily devour and refine those same souls. Now, he could calmly seal them away, carefully allocating them to be used where they fit best.

Over these few years, Jiuyou also took the time to inventory the ancient treasures he had acquired from various "good Samaritans" in recent times.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them possessed mediocre might. Though they had a few highlights, they were far inferior to the items he already held, such as the Golden Sun Mountain and the Golden Li Ember Moon Swords.

He knew that biting off more than one can chew was a true danger; juggling too many miscellaneous magical treasures in combat would only drain his mental focus and give his opponents an opening. Therefore, he piled the vast majority of the ancient treasures deep within his storage pouch to be dealt with later.

There were, however, exceptions.

The Dark Cyan Cloak boasted impressive defensive capabilities and could be used for both offense and defense, so he kept it close at hand.

Another ancient treasure warranted a few extra glances from him: a thumb-sized, silvery-white little bell. It was the Heavenly Clarity Bell, a rare defensive magical treasure meant for divine sense. When the bell rang faintly, the mind would become clear and one's thoughts lucid, protecting the divine soul from external demonic interference.

Jiuyou tied it to his waist. With a gentle sway, the bell let out a fine, chiming sound, like a clear spring striking stone. In the midst of a fierce battle, a single moment of distraction meant facing ten thousand calamities and never recovering. Though this item didn't look like much, it could constantly refresh his mind and keep him alert, which was exactly what he wanted.

With his preparations complete, Jiuyou didn't linger. He left the sinkhole, concealed his aura, and headed toward the entrance of the Blood-Demon Valley.

With his previous experience and a cultivation base far beyond what it used to be, crossing the Blood-Demon Valley this time was much easier than before.

The territories of the great demons he once had to detour around could now be calmly traversed simply by hiding his aura. The beastly roars that had once filled him with dread were now nothing more than a passing breeze.

The bloody mist continued to churn, and the path remained as perilous as ever, but the footsteps treading through it no longer carried their past panic.

Stepping across the scorched earth, Jiuyou's silhouette flickered in and out of the bloody mist. The crimson wasteland stretched out beneath his feet, and a howling wind brushed his face, carrying a sweet, metallic stench.

He raised his eyes to the gray, hazy horizon in the distance. His gaze pierced the layers of fog, as if he could already see that infinitely vaster world beyond.

His return to Ganzhou this time wasn't solely because the cultivation resources there were more abundant, nor was it just to obtain that complete manual.

More importantly, he still had some old scores to settle there...