books44 Chapter 46 Improvement
Chapter 46 Improvement
Breakthrough! Foundation Establishment Perfection!
A loud shout came from a cave in Zhongnan Mountain. As the stone door slowly opened, a spirited young man emerged from it—Zhang Yunling.
Having advanced to the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage with a perfect Dao Foundation, Zhang Yunling can be considered the strongest being in the Foundation Establishment realm. Moreover, he also cultivates his physical body. While circulating his dantian to absorb spiritual energy, he also uses his own spiritual power to impact the meridians throughout his body, causing them to expand and lengthen under the influence of external forces.
This is a painful process, but it will also bring Zhang Yunling physical cultivation that progresses in tandem with his spiritual cultivation. At this time, his physical body and dantian have reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, and his overall strength is enough to contend with cultivators in the mid-stage of Golden Core.
His originally thin and weak body has become muscular and even somewhat robust due to long-term physical training.
Eagerly finding Ren Jixing's cave, I first used my divine sense to briefly investigate. After learning that he was meditating, I didn't disturb him and sat cross-legged in front of the stone gate, waiting patiently.
Although his cultivation has improved, he lacks the means to attack and defend himself. Relying solely on True Yang Finger and Divine Ghost Step is far from enough.
The immortal techniques are endless and ever-changing, requiring different responses to different situations in battle. If he had mastered the True Yang Finger, it would be understandable, but now his Ninefold True Yang Finger has only reached the second level. Against opponents slightly stronger than him, he is utterly powerless.
Originally, he thought he could rely on the immortal artifact as his main means of attack, but after meeting Sun Jie, this approach became unstable. Sun Jie seemed to have established a spiritual connection with him. Once he sensed the fluctuations from the immortal artifact, Sun Jie would definitely know as well. At that time, whether Zhang Yunling wanted to take the immortal artifact or not was not something he could decide.
With a multitude of thoughts running through his mind, Zhang Yunling began to consider his future development path. Right now, he needed to learn how to use the magical treasures commonly used by cultivators, such as swords, spears, and halberds.
Alternatively, one could learn a variety of immortal techniques, ideally one that prevents the opponent from easily finding a weakness.
......
The eastern part of the Daotian Continent, the Qiankun Dao.
Shen Xiaonan had returned to the territory of Qiankun Dao. After showing her identity token, she was allowed to enter by the disciples on guard outside the mountain gate.
Upon returning, Shen Xiaonan, without even taking a break, flew straight to the distant tower, where the new sect leader of Qiankun Dao resided.
"Disciple Shen Xiaonan requests an audience with the Sect Master."
"Please come in," a woman's voice came from inside the door.
Shen Xiaonan pushed open the door and entered, seeing the newly appointed sect leader, Dong Wan, busy handling sect affairs. She hurriedly bowed and said, "Reporting to the sect leader, during this trip into the Xuanxu Ancient Realm, both of my disciples who accompanied me have died, and the Banana Leaf Fan has been seized by other sects..."
"Sigh...Alright, this isn't your fault. I originally thought that since it was a rare opportunity to witness the opening of the Mysterious Void Ancient Realm, I'd send you there to try your luck. But what doesn't belong to us, even if we obtain it, will eventually be lost for various reasons." Dong Wan sighed helplessly, put down her brush, and asked, "Any other situations?"
As if she had finished telling bad news and was about to tell good news, Shen Xiaonan's resentful expression had also dissipated a lot, and she replied, "Yes, yes! I met our former number one alchemist in the outer sect, Xu Tianli, in the Flaming Mountain cave!"
"What? Xu Tianli? He actually entered the Xuanxu Ancient Realm this time?" Dong Wan was suddenly shocked. Recalling the scene where Zhang Yunling and she joined hands to launch a rebellion, seize power and leave triumphantly, it still felt like a dream to her.
All of this wasn't actually that difficult to do; it just required the courage to do it. Dong Wan hadn't had that courage until Zhang Yunling pulled her back, and then everything was fine.
She also successfully obtained the rare and precious herb that could repair her fire spirit root, which made Dong Wan feel a deep sense of admiration for Zhang Yunling.
"And then what? What happened to Xu Tianli?" Dong Wan asked excitedly. Shen Xiaonan scratched her head awkwardly. "Sect Master, this is what happened. I had already obtained the Banana Leaf Fan, but after encountering Xu Tianli at Flaming Mountain, I mistook him for an enemy of another sect, which led to a big fight. That's when we realized who he was."
Dong Wan leaned forward and listened attentively. Seeing her serious expression, Shen Xiaonan continued, "Later, several cultivators from Wudang Mountain came to attack. Xu Tianli was covered by the Quanzhen Sect and escaped. It was only then that I learned that Xu Tianli was his false identity and his real name was Zhang Yunling."
In order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, Shen Xiaonan gave a slightly different account of Zhang Yunling's identity, but even so, it still greatly shocked Dong Wan.
"What? Zhang Yunling? Why doesn't he show his true face? Could it be... that he's been plotting a rebellion since the day he joined the Qiankun Sect?!"
As her thoughts continued to expand, more and more terrifying speculations made Dong Wan feel terrified, and she began to think deeply about Zhang Yunling.
Shen Xiaonan didn't know how to respond, so she could only nod in agreement. But this made Dong Wan even more suspicious, and she began to carefully consider how she should face Zhang Yunling in the future.
"Xu Tianli, Zhang Yunling, hmph...you're really cunning." But after pondering for a while, Dong Wan's tense expression suddenly broke into a smile, her brown eyes gleaming with a strange light. "When I see you again, I'll definitely ask you everything clearly, otherwise, escaping won't be as easy as it was before...hmph..."
Quanzhen Taoism, Wudang Mountain.
After waiting for several hours, the stone gate finally opened, but the first person to walk out was a woman with disheveled hair and rumpled clothes.
When the woman saw Zhang Yunling crouching in front of the stone gate, her already flushed face turned even redder, and she took a step and flew away into the distance.
Frowning, Zhang Yunling slowly walked into the cave and saw Ren Jixing, shirtless, leaning against a large bed eating a fruit platter.
"No, how come you have a bed to sleep in? And who was the woman who ran out of your cave just now?" Zhang Yunling asked directly, but Ren Jixing calmly handed over the apples on the plate: "Why do you care so much? Here, have one, it's very sweet."
Zhang Yunling waved the apple Ren Jixing offered aside and asked seriously, "Senior Brother Ren, nothing else matters. I want to ask you something."
Since the apple wasn't given away, Ren Jixing had no choice but to eat it himself, saying between chews, "Speak, what is it? Senior brother has connections everywhere. Whatever you want to do, senior brother can get it done with just a word."
Seeing the young master's confident demeanor, Zhang Yunling felt a little relieved and replied, "As you know, I have very few cultivation techniques. I'd like to ask where in the Quanzhen Sect I can improve my strength?"
"It's no big deal, hahaha!" Before he finished speaking, Ren Jixing took out a jade slip from the storage bag beside the bed and handed it to Zhang Yunling, saying, "Here, take this token and go to the Scripture Pavilion in the north of the sect. You can learn all the techniques except for the Elders' Pavilion's secret arts. There's also a martial arts training ground for disciples about ten miles away from the Scripture Pavilion. It has all kinds of weapons, including swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks. With your ambition, you could probably stay there for months without coming out, hahaha!"
Upon receiving the jade slip, Zhang Yunling was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude. Ren Jixing then helped him up and smiled, saying, "Junior Brother Yunling, there's no need to be so polite. I'll need your help in the future."
"If you need anything, Senior Brother, I will do my best to help you!"