Chapter 143 - 138: No! I Can Still Be Saved

Chapter 143: Chapter 138: No! I Can Still Be Saved

"The Spiritual Qi here is average. Don’t you need to go somewhere with denser Spiritual Qi to break through and increase your chances of success?"

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but ask, his curiosity piqued.

The Spiritual Qi in this valley was barely enough for Cultivation. For a realm breakthrough, it should be far from sufficient.

"Breaking through somewhere with abundant Spiritual Qi would naturally be best. But breaking through from the Dao Foundation to the Divine Body involves refining a Five Elements Spirit Seed into the Dao Foundation within one’s Qi Sea."

"When refining a Five Elements Spirit Seed, the most crucial elements are the Refining Technique and the Spirit Seed itself. The ambient Spiritual Qi, by contrast, is not as important."

Xu Xiuyun shook her head and explained.

Breaking through to the Divine Body Realm meant a Cultivator had to refine a Spirit Seed into their Dao Foundation.

As long as the Spirit Seed was successfully refined into the Dao Foundation and showed signs of sprouting, the breakthrough was considered a success.

"I see. In that case, it’s similar to breaking through from Qi Cultivation to the Dao Foundation."

Back when he was still in the Xu Family Marketplace, Jiang Zuo had learned how one broke through from Qi Cultivation to the Dao Foundation.

A Cultivator at the peak of Qi Cultivation only needed to refine Five Elements Spiritual Soil into their Qi Sea to forge a Dao Foundation.

"That’s right. Whether it’s from Qi Cultivation to Dao Foundation or from Dao Foundation to Divine Body, the environment isn’t the most important factor. However, once you reach the Divine Body Realm, Spiritual Qi becomes increasingly crucial."

Xu Xiuyun sighed.

"Then what are your chances of successfully breaking through to the Divine Body Realm? What happens if you fail?"

Jiang Zuo asked bluntly, his curiosity unabated.

"I don’t know. I always feel like there’s something off about this Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture from the Yin Yang Sect. If the breakthrough fails and I’m lucky, my body and Cultivation will just be damaged, and I’ll recover after a long period of rest."

"If I’m unlucky, I could perish completely."

"However, I have Water and Wood Dual Spirit Roots, and I’m refining a Wood Element Spirit Seed. Even if I fail, my chances of survival should be pretty high."

"But if I’m unfortunate enough to die, I ask you, Blacksmith Li, to bury me on Black Mountain."

Xu Xiuyun spoke softly after a moment of silence.

She had told Jiang Zuo about her breakthrough precisely to make this final arrangement.

Xu Xiuyun had acquired the hardest-to-obtain Five Elements Spirit Seed through her family long ago.

Originally, Xu Xiuyun had been very confident about breaking through to the Divine Body Realm.

But as her Cultivation reached its peak, she developed a faint, ominous premonition about this attempt.

She didn’t know why, but she understood it was likely due to the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture she practiced.

It was a Furnace Tripod Technique. Although Mo Tianxing, the one who wanted to use her as a furnace tripod, was already dead, she still knew too little about the technique itself.

But Xu Xiuyun couldn’t bring herself to just give up on the breakthrough.

She would rather take the risk than waste her years away.

Jiang Zuo understood her determination and didn’t try to persuade her otherwise.

Breaking through from the Dao Foundation to the Divine Body required a relatively long time to refine the Spirit Seed. For most Cultivators, this process took anywhere from six months to a year.

After returning to her place, Xu Xiuyun began to operate the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture’s method for breaking through to the Divine Body Realm.

Everything went smoothly for over ten days, but when Xu Xiuyun was about to start refining the Spirit Seed, she suddenly felt the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture begin to operate erratically.

The Spiritual Qi in her body began to rampage, completely out of her control.

’Those bastards from the Yin Yang Sect! They really did tamper with the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture!’

’Without their guidance, there’s no way to discover the hidden trap!’

’Trying to break through with this Cultivation Technique is simply impossible!’

Xu Xiuyun thought bitterly before losing consciousness.

BANG!

Half of Xu Xiuyun’s wooden cabin was blown apart by a palm strike from her.

Jiang Zuo rushed out at the sound and saw Xu Xiuyun writhing in agony.

But it was merely her body’s instinctive reaction; she had already lost consciousness completely.

Jiang Zuo took one look and shook his head.

Xu Xiuyun’s meridians were cracking and shattering under the impact of the rampaging Spiritual Power.

Jiang Zuo could repair these meridians with his Power of Life.

But that was useless. The root of the problem was the Cultivation Technique she practiced. As long as it didn’t stop operating, Jiang Zuo couldn’t save her even if he exhausted his entire lifespan.

At most, he could only delay her death.

"Rest!"

After a moment of thought, Jiang Zuo let out a soft shout at Xu Xiuyun.

Jiang Zuo didn’t know if it would work, but the "Rest" command had the effect of forcibly calming one’s mind, thereby reducing their aura and presence.

Now that he had opened his Sea of Consciousness and birthed his Divine Sense, the effect of the "Rest" command was much more powerful than when he had used it before.

For a moment, the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture inside Xu Xiuyun’s body was actually suppressed and calmed down.

Because of this, Xu Xiuyun regained consciousness.

"If you want to live, cripple your Cultivation," Jiang Zuo said.

The Breath Rune Technique was effective, but the effect would only last for a short while.

Once the effect of the Breath Rune Technique wore off, Xu Xiuyun would immediately revert to her previous state.

But as long as Xu Xiuyun crippled her own Cultivation, no matter how potent the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture was, it would be useless. You can’t make bricks without straw.

"No!" Xu Xiuyun shook her head violently.

Crippling her Cultivation meant detonating her own Qi Sea.

If she did that, she would become just like a normal person.

She would rather die than let that happen!

"Then if you have any other last words, you should say them now."

Jiang Zuo sighed, though he understood her choice.

Crippling her Cultivation would not only make revenge impossible, but she might even end up worse off than an ordinary person.

It was normal for her to be unable to accept it.

"No! There’s still a chance to save me!"

"As long as you... perform Dual Cultivation with me!"

Xu Xiuyun blurted out, no longer caring about anything else.

She now understood what had gone wrong.

It was a trap intentionally set by the Yin Yang Sect to control their female furnace tripods. If a female cultivator tried to secretly break through to the Divine Body Realm and escape their control, the hidden trap in the Cultivation Technique would be triggered.

At this point, one of them would need to intervene and use Dual Cultivation to calm the furnace tripod.

Jiang Zuo was a mortal, so Xu Xiuyun didn’t know if asking him would be of any use. But she had no other choice; it was a desperate, last-ditch effort.

’Dual Cultivation?’

’I’m a mere mortal. What’s the use of performing Dual Cultivation with me?’

’Besides, I don’t even know what kind of technique it is. What if I’m the one who gets the short end of the stick in this Dual Cultivation?’

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo hesitated.

"Hurry! We’re running out of time!"

Xu Xiuyun hadn’t expected Jiang Zuo to react this way. She could feel the Cultivation Technique within her starting to stir again.

Without waiting for Jiang Zuo’s consent, Xu Xiuyun gritted her teeth and lunged at him.

’Fuck!’

’Am I about to be forced?’

Jiang Zuo thought in a daze.

However, as he and Xu Xiuyun assumed the posture for Dual Cultivation, Spiritual Power began to flow from her body into his. Jiang Zuo had no idea what to do.

But at that moment, the Mysterious Stele in his Sea of Consciousness began to slowly rotate.

That Spiritual Power started to circulate through Jiang Zuo’s body on its own, following a specific Cultivation Technique’s path.

Jiang Zuo had not yet opened a Qi Sea, so the Spiritual Power couldn’t be stored in his body.

The Spiritual Power merely completed a single circuit inside him before returning to Xu Xiuyun.

But Jiang Zuo could feel his physical body being continuously cleansed by this Spiritual Qi.

Xu Xiuyun cultivated Wood Attribute Spiritual Power. Jiang Zuo could sense that if they continued this Dual Cultivation, when he used the Life Essence Returning Skill to break through, he would definitely awaken a Wood Spirit Root without needing a Wood Attribute Spiritual Object.

Not only that, but Jiang Zuo realized he could now practice the Spiritual Power Body Tempering Method from the Body Freedom Technique.

He could use this Spiritual Qi to temper his own body.

Jiang Zuo immediately began to do so.

After he began circulating the Body Freedom Technique, the amount of Spiritual Power flowing back to Xu Xiuyun decreased significantly.

However, after passing through the self-rotating technique of the Mysterious Stele and the circulation of the Body Freedom Technique, that Spiritual Power had become much purer.

An unknown amount of time passed before Xu Xiuyun fully regained her senses.

Thinking about what she had just done, she looked at Jiang Zuo shyly.

Seeing Jiang Zuo looking back at her with a half-smile, Xu Xiuyun forgot all about her composure and fled in embarrassment, her face beet red.

Her wooden cabin had been mostly destroyed when she lost control.

Just as Xu Xiuyun was planning to make do with it, Jiang Zuo came over and fixed the cabin for her in a few quick moves.

Only after Jiang Zuo left did Xu Xiuyun calm down enough to inspect her condition.

’Is the Dual Cultivation Technique of the Charming Woman Yin Heart Scripture this effective? But that doesn’t seem right. I’m practicing a Furnace Tripod Technique. I should be the one at a disadvantage during Dual Cultivation, so how could just one session have such a good effect?’

Xu Xiuyun was completely baffled.

Her meridians had been severely damaged when her Cultivation Technique went berserk.

But she could sense that her current condition was much better than when she had briefly regained consciousness in the middle of it all.

This was undoubtedly the effect of the Dual Cultivation with Jiang Zuo.

Furthermore, she also noticed that a portion of the Spiritual Power in her body had become much purer.

If all the Spiritual Power in her body was in this state, her success rate for breaking through to the Divine Body Realm would skyrocket.

This was a complete contradiction to what she had expected.

She had originally thought that Dual Cultivation with Jiang Zuo would be a good outcome if it simply allowed her to survive without crippling her Cultivation.

If it were according to the Yin Yang Sect’s intended method, Xu Xiuyun’s thinking would have been correct.

But the Cultivation Technique operated by the Mysterious Stele had completely changed the effects of the Dual Cultivation.

Xu Xiuyun, of course, was unaware of this and could only guess.

For the next few days, Xu Xiuyun quietly cultivated to heal her injuries.

Then she discovered that on her own, without any Divine Elixirs, it would take at least two or three years to fully repair her meridians.

As for that pure Spiritual Power, she was completely unable to produce it through her own Cultivation.

Gritting her teeth, Xu Xiuyun went to find Jiang Zuo again that night.

"I... want to continue Dual Cultivation with you!"

Xu Xiuyun said, her face flushing red.

If she hadn’t already performed Dual Cultivation with Jiang Zuo once and broken through that major psychological barrier, she would never have been able to say such a thing.

"Alright."

Jiang Zuo thought for a moment and agreed.

Over the past few days, he had also discovered that the Dual Cultivation session had brought him immense benefits.

Not to mention being able to awaken a Spirit Root, the benefits from practicing the Body Freedom Technique alone were very tangible.

Jiang Zuo felt that after a few more sessions, he would be able to beat down a Qi Cultivation cultivator with just his physical body, without even using a Martial Arts Technique.

If he continued for even longer, his physical body would be able to clash head-on with a Dao Foundation expert.

One time led to another. From then on, the two would perform Dual Cultivation together every so often.

Xu Xiuyun’s injuries healed rapidly, and the Spiritual Power in her body gradually became purer.

Jiang Zuo’s progress was also incredibly fast, his physical body growing stronger and stronger.

Naturally, their relationship also became much more intimate.

However, Jiang Zuo didn’t develop any special feelings for Xu Xiuyun. He treated it completely as a mutually beneficial transaction.