Chapter 290 The Changes of the Stone Turtle

Yue Yunlong stretched out his hands and saw that his once withered arms had become full again, and strands of black hair fell down beside his ears, his physical condition had returned to its prime.

"Haha," he laughed, his voice tinged with the joy of surviving a disaster, tears streaming down his face.

The breakthrough was not smooth. By the time I reached the last step, I was too weak to continue. I only managed to get through it because of my unwavering determination.

At that time, his consciousness was already hazy, and he felt that he found the spark just before he was about to faint, thus igniting the flame of his life.

Yue Yunlong was very glad that he had persevered. He knew that if he had fainted at that time, everything would have been over.

After a few moments of cathartic sobbing, he strode out of the cave with an air of utter disregard for family and friends, full of high spirits.

Having broken through the Chaoyuan stage in his old age, extending his life by another three hundred years, what more could he ask for!

A gentle breeze was blowing, and the sunlight was shining on my face, making me feel completely enveloped in warmth.

Unwittingly, Yue Yunlong noticed a vortex of spiritual energy rapidly spinning above the distant cave, and he was suddenly startled.

"Such a soaring aura, could it be that there is a hidden Heavenly-grade cultivator in the sect?!"

His mind raced as he pondered who had made the breakthrough.

He wouldn't say he knew all the veteran Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect well, but he did have a general impression of them. Those who were able to break through to the Chaoyuan stage had all done so before him.

Just as he was pondering, the vortex of spiritual energy in the distance changed again and was suddenly swallowed into the cave.

Yue Yunlong's eyebrows shot up suddenly. "So fierce?"

The way it inhaled and exhaled spiritual energy was like a whale sucking in water, indicating that it had definitely succeeded in breaking through. But the speed was too fast. How much accumulated spiritual energy must one have to be able to do that?

Besides Li Haoran's sect, who is this incredibly powerful person? We must go and ask!

Yue Yunlong channeled his magical power and swiftly flew towards the treasure pavilion.

"Uncle-Master Jia!"

Seeing the cultivator enter, Jia Yu took another sip of wine, cupped his hands, and smiled:

"Junior Brother Yue, congratulations on embarking on your new path to immortality! We can address each other as equals."

"Haha," Yue Yunlong scratched his head, it just came out so naturally after calling him 'Uncle-Master' for decades.

"Senior brother, I saw a cultivator in another cave successfully break through, with a powerful aura. May I ask which senior brother it is?"

Jia Yu gave a puzzled "hmm" and asked:

"They've already succeeded in breaking through?"

As he spoke, he leaped out of the main hall like a large, plump but agile bird.

Looking around from the open space outside the hall, they found that the vortex of spiritual energy had disappeared.

He turned his head and asked:

"Did you witness the successful breakthrough with your own eyes? When did it happen?"

Jia Yu wondered to himself, "Others would shout to announce their breakthrough, and Li Haoran was no exception. Why is Ji the kid making no sound?"

He felt uneasy if he didn't ask that question.

Yue Yunlong walked out of the main hall and smiled:

"Of course, I wouldn't just make up something like that."

About half an hour ago, when I came out of the cave, I witnessed the magnificent vortex of spiritual energy being swallowed up by a whale.

My senior brother hasn't told me yet who's breaking through in the cave.

"Has anyone heard of Ji An from Crimson Flame Peak?"

Yue Yunlong nodded slightly, then frowned and said:

I've heard of them, but I've never had any dealings with them.

My senior sister Li Minghui mentioned him a few years ago; he had only recently broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage!

He quickly recalled the time he spoke, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Your information is outdated."

Jia Yu chuckled. He also felt that Ji An's breakthrough speed was unbelievably fast, not at all like a disciple whose initial aptitude was only mid-grade.

'His breakthrough was only five or six hours later than Li Haoran's, and he's not even seventy years old yet; he can be designated a Golden Core seed! I'll report this to the Ancestor later.'

He was greatly pleased, for the two ancestors were about the same age as Ji An when they broke through to the Chaoyuan stage.

A faint joy rose in Ji An's heart. Years of accumulation and hard work had finally come to fruition, and he had taken another solid step on the path to immortality.

He looked inward at his body and saw that his magic power, which had been as liquid as clear water, had now been compressed into a viscous semi-fluid.

Only a shallow layer of magical power remained in his sea of ​​energy, and his dantian appeared completely empty.

The azure primordial fire was only the size of a bean sprout, but its flames were bright and it took root vigorously in the sea of ​​magical power.

It appears to be a flame, but it does not actually burn any matter; it is a manifestation of his own essence.

The primordial fire itself has no temperature, yet it exudes warmth, making the dantian feel warm and cozy.

At the same time, it exudes a vibrant life force, nourishing the body from the inside out, with wisps of energy rising and irrigating the immortal veins.

Perhaps because it was a new flame, the flame was not stable, like a candle flame occasionally flickering in the breeze.

Flame is the embodiment of life, inseparable from oneself. Ji An has a special affinity for it, as if his own life has been extended.

The stone turtle's eyes seemed to brighten a little, and it swam happily to the side of the flames.

A moment later, Ji An saw the stone tortoise's head sway slightly.

The tortoise opened its mouth slightly, and a breath of pure spiritual energy gushed out. The primordial fire of life suddenly leaped, and after the light and shadow flickered, the tortoise appeared to have "grown" a size larger.

Ji An felt a surge of new energy flowing into his body, his spirit felt refreshed, and the flames of his life force became much more stable.

"Holy crap, there's this kind of perk?"

The stone turtle had already helped him a great deal, but he never expected it would bring him an even bigger surprise.

If we count carefully, this should be the second time the stone tortoise has done this.

Not long after he joined the sect, he experienced his first unusual behavior. At that time, in order to borrow some start-up capital from Lao Huang, he used his Lesser Cloud Rain Technique at a minor level to its fullest extent.

Unfortunately, his cultivation level was too low at the time. He exerted all his strength to cast the spell, but the gap in his magical power was too large, and he almost drained himself dry.

Fortunately, the stone tortoise helped them, preventing an accident from happening.

However, after that incident, Ji An never allowed himself to fall into a state of utter exhaustion again.

If last time was a timely help, today is the icing on the cake, but he likes it both very much.

The stone turtle began to swim again, and its limbs, tail, neck, and head could now move slightly, making it look more and more like a living creature.

'Could this thing be using my body as a furnace to eventually give birth to a stone demon?'

Ji An grinned and shook his head abruptly.

The stone tortoise is extremely mysterious. If it really is a trap, wouldn't it be better to choose those Golden Core cultivators, or at the very least, cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage?

There's no need to go through all the trouble of choosing him, a minor monk, to 'start a business,' only to swallow him whole in the end.

For a powerful figure capable of taking him across the world, accumulating initial capital is incredibly easy.

Even if we take a step back and assume this is the case, he is currently powerless to do anything about it.

Aside from using his spiritual powers to enhance his own magical abilities, he couldn't interfere with any of the stone turtle's actions.

Ji An immediately adjusted his mindset. Even if he was a fish and Shi Gui was a fisherman, there was only one path he could take.

It devours the bait, fattens itself up, and finally pulls the angler into the water and swallows him whole.

He gathered his scattered thoughts and continued to focus his attention on introspecting his body.

The immortal veins shimmered with an almost imperceptible light, like tunnels of light crisscrossing and densely covering the entire body.

Compared to before the breakthrough, the immortal meridians have truly formed a network connecting about 60% of the acupoints in the body.

The most important place for a cultivator's magical power to be stored is the dantian, but a small amount will also remain in the immortal veins and many acupoints.

These acupoints are equivalent to nodes of magical power, and the magical power stored inside them accounts for about one-tenth of the total amount in the dantian.

If the immortal veins can connect to more acupoints, the body can hold more magical power.

Ji An secretly guessed that his immortal vein main framework should be able to reach the standard of earth-grade aptitude.

The more mana nodes a cultivator has, the faster they can refine spiritual energy and absorb spiritual power.

The great success is achieved when all the acupoints in the body are connected. Of course, many cultivators cannot achieve this even after breaking through to the Golden Core realm.

This is also what makes the Heavenly Grade talent so precious; when such a cultivator is born, their immortal veins can connect 90% of their acupoints.

Once they break through to the Golden Core stage, all the acupoints in their bodies will generally be opened up.

Ji An's next step is to use his magic to nourish the immortal veins, making them more flexible, and at the same time, to open up more branches and connect more acupoints.

He focused his mind and calmed himself, then began to circulate the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique again.

This technique can no longer meet his needs for absorbing spiritual energy, but it is still sufficient for stabilizing his cultivation level.

A variety of spiritual lights—cyan, light black, orange-red, light gold, and yellow—swirled around him, appearing in numbers more than half again as many as when he was in the Foundation Establishment stage.

The spiritual energy of the Five Elements was absorbed into his abdomen along with the spiritual energy, and the ten Dao Seeds shone brightly in turn.

The luster on the surface of the five internal organs—liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—ebbs and flows, and the power of the five elements is constantly generated.

The spiritual energy was refined into a vibrant green magical power, resembling viscous magma, which finally flowed into the dantian.

About ten percent of his magical power was automatically poured into the Yuanming Fire, and Ji An could feel a joyful emotion emanating from it.

The stone tortoise also joined the fray, joyfully devouring the magical power descending from the sky. Its carapace was warm and lustrous, and the Bagua patterns became even more profound, as black as an abyss.

Ji An carefully sensed the proportion of magical power absorbed by the stone turtle, and a sense of pleasure welled up in his heart.

During the Qi Refining stage, the stone tortoise will devour 50% of the mana he has refined.

He purchased a large number of pills, but his cultivation progressed at a mediocre rate, which overwhelmed him at the time.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the stone tortoise absorbed 30% of the mana, making him feel much more relaxed. However, it was only through his understanding of the cultivation technique and the ample supply of elixirs that he was able to maintain his rapid progress in cultivation.

Now that it has broken through to the Chaoyuan stage, the amount of magical power absorbed by the stone turtle has decreased to 10%.

He had this idea before, and now his dream has come true.

Compared to other cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage, his sense of happiness is much higher, which is equivalent to the fact that the Yuanming Fire does not consume any extra energy, and the mana refined from it is 10% more out of thin air.

By the evening of the second day, Ji An felt that his realm had stabilized and his life force fire had also completely stabilized.

The color is bright and vibrant, full of life.

He slowly finished his practice, opened his eyes, and saw a shimmering green light in his pupils, as if reflecting a forest.

Ji An broke the spell and strode out of the cave.

The sunset was magnificent, the evening glow like fire, forging colors of crimson gold, furnace red, and blue-purple, illuminating the eyes.

On the earth, the mountains resembled golden Buddha statues, solemn and majestic.

He suddenly felt a sense of vastness and boundless freedom, and couldn't help but look up at the sky and roar with intense emotion.

The howling sound that pierced through the clouds and split the rocks echoed across Chaoyang Peak, like thunder, drawing repeated echoes.

Ji An swooped down, stepped into the main hall, cupped his hands, and smiled:

"Senior Brother Jia, thank you for waiting so long."

He felt a little smug; he had said he would call the other person "Uncle-Master" one last time, and he kept his word.

Jia Yu contentedly swallowed the wine, put down the gourd, and said:

"I knew it was you when you were howling like a ghost!"

In the past few years, he has distributed seven Qi-cultivating pills, and four disciples have successfully broken through to the Chaoyuan stage. This proportion is much higher than the previous average, which is a sign of the sect's prosperity.

After speaking, he stood up, solemnly cupped his hands in greeting, and continued:

"Junior Brother Ji, congratulations!"

Today we enter the Chaoyuan stage, and the Golden Elixir is within reach in the future.

Perhaps hundreds of years from now, your disciples will call you Ancestor Ji!

If the other party can maintain their vigorous progress during the Chaoyuan stage, the probability of breaking through to the Golden Core stage is still very high.

The sect's patriarch, Zheng Yang, is over eight hundred years old, but he has been able to oversee the sect for less than two hundred years.

Among the existing cultivators at the Chaoyuan stage, only the two Lins, Lin Qiubai and Lin Jiuxiao, have the hope of achieving the Golden Core stage.

With two hundred years, it shouldn't be a problem for Li Haoran to break through to the Golden Core stage.

If Junior Brother Ji works hard, the sect might one day have four or five Golden Core cultivators in charge.

Ji An nodded vigorously and said in a joking tone:

"I'll try to get my senior to call me that."

Although he spoke in a casual tone, he was very serious at heart.

The cheat code is online; I'll go exchange for cultivation techniques and spells to upgrade myself later.

Having accumulated nearly ten years of spiritual energy within the stone tortoise, it possesses a strong desire to 'consume'.

With the improvement of his magical abilities, Crimson Flame Peak will be able to cultivate more high-level spiritual plants. He will not lack resources, so his cultivation level should improve rapidly.

Startled by this, Jia Yu raised her eyebrows and chuckled:

"Haha, I'm looking forward to that day coming soon, don't keep me waiting impatiently."

He sighed inwardly, realizing that his lifespan was only about 140 years and he probably wouldn't live to see it.

Besides, breaking through to the Golden Core stage is no easy feat. In thousands of years of accumulation by the sect, only two Golden Core Ancestors have emerged.

Even in the Nascent Soul sects of Central Continent, Golden Core cultivators are an absolute backbone of the force.

As the sun set outside the palace, Jia Yu raised his wine gourd and said:

"It's getting late. Why don't we, fellow disciples, drink and sing, and talk by candlelight?"

"Respect is not as good as obedience."

After moving out tables and chairs, Ji An took out spirit wine, pine nuts, dried meat, and dried fruit from his storage bag and arranged them on the table in a dazzling array.

Under the bright moon, the two talked all night long, and before they knew it, the night had passed.

As dawn broke, Jia Yu laughed:

"Junior brother, under normal circumstances, one month after a disciple breaks through to the Chaoyuan stage, the ancestor will summon you and explain the cultivation of the Chaoyuan stage. At that time, the ancestor will personally give you a new identity jade token."

I will inform you of the specific time for the meeting separately.

Ji An nodded slightly and said:

"I understand, thank you for your trouble, senior brother."

Goodbye, I'm going to the Transmission Hall to exchange for cultivation techniques and spells.

If he hadn't been invited, he would have gone to Lingxiao Mountain last night to learn the basics of magic.

Cultivation techniques require a long time to study and comprehend, but mastering magic doesn't take long.

"Go, I look forward to seeing the Azure Dragon Awakening Technique shine in your hands!"

(End of this chapter)