Chapter 493 – The Strongest Cultivation Talent, Red Talent Philosopher’s Stone!
by spirapiraChapter 493 – The Strongest Cultivation Talent, Red Talent Philosopher’s Stone!
“Alas, but without all that scheming… the human race might not have survived to this day!”
“The Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master… was merely carrying out what she believed was for the greater good!”
Su Xing shook his head and sighed.
“But… that sword strike from White Emperor! It truly was breathtaking! Pointing straight at the essence of the sword itself!”
Su Xing replayed the scene of that strike in his mind and felt his own Sword Dao undergo a transformation.
Looking at his attribute panel, Su Xing froze.
【Sword Dao (sixth realm Minor Mastery)】
Yes!
Merely from observing that single sword strike, Su Xing’s epiphany had elevated his Sword Dao from sixth realm entry level straight to sixth realm Minor Mastery!
He could even sense that sixth realm Major Mastery wasn’t far off!
“Hiss… the epiphany from just that one strike alone—how many tens of thousands of years of bitter cultivation would that be equivalent to?”
Su Xing smacked his lips. The rewards from this time reversal were absolutely enormous!
And there were still the rare treasures—the Bewilderment Branch!
Su Xing eagerly looked at the rewards from this simulation.
【Myriad Buddha Divine Physique】: gold talent, priced at 10 origin energy.
【Bewilderment Branch (Tree)】: A rare treasure capable of beguiling all living beings through the five senses. Legend has it that even Saints cannot escape its effects. A small Bewilderment Branch sapling on the verge of death, priced at 10,000,000 origin energy.
【Celestial Evolution Wood (Six Branches)】: A rare treasure consisting of branches from the Celestial Evolution Wood. A supreme treasure for comprehending the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny and for refining karmic artifacts, priced at 6,000,000 origin energy.
Although Su Xing’s cultivation realm hadn’t advanced during this time reversal, the improvement in his Great Dao of the Sword was immense!
Moreover, both the Bewilderment Branch and the Celestial Evolution Wood were supreme treasures coveted even by Great Firmament Golden Immortals!
Without hesitation, Su Xing chose to bring both treasures out.
【Ding, you have successfully brought out the Bewilderment Branch (Tree), spending 10,000,000 origin energy. Remaining origin energy: 2,427,620,000…】
【Ding… remaining origin energy: 2,421,620,000…】
As two consecutive Chimes sounded, several thumb-thick branches appeared in Su Xing’s hands, radiating a mysterious Dao essence.
Su Xing carefully stored the branches away, then looked toward the small sapling planted in the Five Elements Soil nearby.
“A Bewilderment Branch, huh… I wonder if it can be revived?”
“But even if it can’t be saved… these branches alone are enough to refine the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill!”
The corners of Su Xing’s mouth curled upward in an irrepressible smile.
Over the past year and a half, after several time reversals, he had finally obtained the Bewilderment Branch!
That meant only one final spiritual herb remained before the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill could be fully refined.
Soulsever Grass!
“Soulsever Grass… it’s in the Eighth Heaven, and I know the exact location!”
“With my current strength, I’m more than capable of wiping out the foreign race in that Secret Realm and obtaining the Soulsever Grass!”
With that thought, Su Xing glanced at his remaining simulation attempts.
The new week’s simulation cooldown had just refreshed, bringing Su Xing’s remaining simulation attempts back to five!
“Then let’s begin a new round of simulation!”
Su Xing didn’t hesitate, and the Chime sounded in his ears once more.
【Simulation #301 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 2,421,620,000… Remaining simulation attempts: 4.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a talent costs 1 origin energy. Draw?】
“Yes!”
【Ding, congratulations on obtaining the red talent “Philosopher’s Stone”…】
【Philosopher’s Stone】: Red talent. A legendary treasure said to enhance any ability… Can elevate one talent to red grade. May only be used once per simulation.
“Philosopher’s Stone… this talent!”
A gleam of brilliance flashed through Su Xing’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“This Philosopher’s Stone is clearly the superior version of the Plus One talent!”
“Before, Plus One could only enhance a talent to gold grade… but now this Philosopher’s Stone can enhance one all the way to red grade!”
The first thing Su Xing thought of, naturally, were the talents Late Bloomer and Wisdom in Foolishness!
These two talents, when previously combined with Plus One, could multiply Su Xing’s cultivation and comprehension aptitude several times over!
And now, what kind of surprise would a red-grade Plus One bring?
With that thought, Su Xing eagerly looked at the simulation panel.
【Ding, please select the talent for “Philosopher’s Stone” to enhance…】
“I choose to enhance Late Bloomer…”
【Late Bloomer】: Purple talent. Automatically takes effect when your age exceeds one hundred years old, doubling cultivation speed from its current base. (Note: The prerequisite is… that you can actually live to one hundred.)
This was Late Bloomer’s original effect—an unremarkable purple talent that nevertheless provided an absolute doubling of cultivation aptitude!
It was also Su Xing’s most frequently used talent with the best results!
After enhancement from Plus One, Late Bloomer’s cultivation speed bonus was fourfold!
And now, after enhancement from the Philosopher’s Stone, how many times would it be?
【Ding, talent enhancement in progress…】
【Late Bloomer (Enhanced)】: Red talent. Takes effect when your age exceeds one hundred years old. Cultivation speed becomes ten times the original!
“A full tenfold increase!”
Su Xing clenched both fists, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Late Bloomer, tenfold bonus.
This bonus wasn’t limited to just cultivation alone!
All actions classified as cultivation could benefit from the bonus!
Including Dao comprehension, Body Tempering, pill refinement, and more!
“Incredible! This is absolutely the strongest cultivation-type talent I’ve ever had!”
“Innate bodies, holy physiques, Ethereal Roots… none of them compare to this Late Bloomer!”
Su Xing did some quick mental calculations.
Previously, after Plus One’s enhancement, Late Bloomer provided a fourfold bonus… now it had become tenfold!
This meant Su Xing’s cultivation speed had become 2.5 times what it was before!
“I spent a year and a half raising my cultivation to Peak Supreme Unity Golden Immortal Seventh Stage… if I’d gotten this talent earlier, just over half a year would have been enough!”
“And the Great Shaman Body Forging Art—the Celestial Primordial Tree is currently at seven thousand zhang (23.31 km)… still some distance from ten thousand zhang (33.3 km)!”
“It’s a bit late, but it’s still more than sufficient!”
Su Xing did some rough calculations. At his original cultivation speed, reaching Peak Supreme Unity Golden Immortal would take at least another year or so.
That would be roughly sixty simulations.
But with this talent, in just over twenty simulations—half a year at most—Su Xing could advance to Peak Supreme Unity Golden Immortal!
“And the progress on the Great Shaman Body Forging Art will be even faster!”
“With this talent, fifteen simulations at most will be enough to raise the Celestial Primordial Tree to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine zhang (33.3 km)!”
“How terrifying will my vital energy be then?”
Beyond cultivation, Su Xing also thought of—Dao comprehension!
Previously, it had taken Su Xing nearly two and a half years to advance his Great Dao of Space to sixth realm Peak!
But with the Innate Dao Embryo and other talent bonuses, and now with the red-grade Late Bloomer!
In at most one year of real time—just over fifty simulations—Su Xing could advance any Great Dao to sixth realm Peak.
And if Su Xing enhanced the Wisdom in Foolishness talent, his comprehension speed would become even more terrifying!
Of course, a more terrifying cultivation speed meant consuming even more resources.
But Su Xing wasn’t really short on resources right now.
Over the past year and a half, Su Xing had planted three hundred million Spirit-Gathering Flowers in his spirit field grotto-heaven!
The immortal liquid produced each day amounted to a full hundred thousand drops!
And supreme-grade spirit liquid reached three million drops!
Through trading in the Eighth Heaven and hunting foreign races, Su Xing could also obtain vast quantities of blood essence.
This kept the cultivation speed of his Great Shaman Body Forging Art blazing fast as well.
Thinking of all this, Su Xing was already itching to test out his current cultivation speed.
“And the Soulsever Grass… I need to obtain it as soon as possible!”
Su Xing murmured, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.
【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realize you are in a simulation.】
【After leaving the Void Realm, you contemplate your plans for the future.】
【You realize that with your current strength, you can already alter the future on a small scale, so you attempt to make changes.】
【You travel to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, which is currently under assault by foreign races. The addition of the Red Moon in particular has made it nearly impossible for the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm’s cultivators to resist.】
【At this moment, you make your move.】
【With your current combat power comparable to a Supreme Unity True Sovereign, the foreign army in the mere Lesser Azure Cloud Realm is no different from ants to you.】
【And so, over the course of half a year, you slaughter every last one of the countless foreign races and hundreds of foreign deities within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.】
【But you know that the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm’s crisis has not been resolved—as long as the Red Moon exists, red-eyed aliens will continue to spawn endlessly.】
【You travel to the Thousand Isles Realm from before and spend three days slaying Blood Four!】
【After this battle, your fame begins to spread across the Three Thousand Worlds. You ascend the Prodigy List, ranking forty-seventh on the Heaven Ranking!】
【Returning to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, you begin rebuilding the Heavenly Abyss Army. Cultivators flock to your banner in droves.】
【Using your reputation and the foundation of the Heavenly Abyss Army, you quickly establish the Human Alliance.】
【The establishment of the Human Alliance occurred roughly two hundred years earlier than it had in history.】
【But you knew this could only delay the time before the foreign races annihilated humanity.】
【In your second year in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, you were ambushed by Blood Three!】
【Attacking alongside him were two first-tier deities!】
【Clearly, your appearance had already made them sense tremendous danger.】
【But they still underestimated your strength…】
【You fought one against three without the slightest disadvantage, and ultimately slew Blood Three along with one of the first-tier deities… Only a Shadow Deity managed to escape by the skin of its teeth.】
【Having slain two Advent Cult officers in succession, you had already drastically altered the future.】
【But for some unknown reason, after killing Blood Two, an ominous premonition lingered in your heart, and occasionally a stinging pain pulsed between your brows.】
【You knew that some dangerous existence had set its sights on you.】
【So you acted decisively, no longer remaining in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, and instead headed for the Azure Cloud Sect!】
In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.
“My current strength… compared to the likes of Blood Three and Blood Four, I’m truly far too powerful!”
“Among Supreme Unity Golden Immortals, they could only be considered ordinary…”
“But, that existence that has its eyes on me…”
Su Xing narrowed his eyes, and several possibilities surfaced in his mind.
The two chief gods of the Azure Origin Domain… or perhaps even the Blood Immortal he had never met!
“So… which one is it exactly?”
Su Xing murmured.
But regardless of which one it was, combat power above the Great Firmament Golden Immortal level was not something the current Su Xing could contend with.
“So… I still need to keep improving my strength!”
“For now, I should be cautious. First I’ll refine the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill and find a way to help Qingyunzi recover!”
Su Xing thought this, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.
【You stayed within the Azure Cloud Sect for several years, completing your transaction with Qingyunzi and offering guidance to Fairy Ziling.】
【Afterward, you searched for the Luo Tian legacy, traveled to the Heavenly Secrets Domain to collect vital blood treasures, and obtained the Luotian Black Pearl from the Celestial Demon General.】
【After obtaining the Luotian Black Pearl, you headed for the Nine Heavens Domain.】
【In the thirtieth year, you arrived at the Eighth Heaven.】
【You hurried toward the Secret Realm that contained the Soulsever Grass…】
【Though the Secret Realm housed many powerful foreign race deities, including first-tier deities among them, they were no longer a match for you.】
【You spent three months slaughtering every last foreign race deity and every foreign race member within the stronghold.】
【You successfully found three stalks of Soulsever Grass…】
【You had gathered all the ingredients for the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill… but you were in no rush to begin refining it.】
【Over the next fifty years, you continued hunting foreign race members, slaying over ten first-tier deities and more than a hundred second-tier deities, harvesting massive quantities of blood essence.】
【As your decades of hunting continued, the foreign races grew increasingly cautious, and the foreign race strongholds in the western region of the Eighth Heaven began merging together.】
【Under these circumstances, hunting became difficult.】
【You even discovered that foreign race chief gods had taken action, beginning to track your whereabouts.】
【And so, you had no choice but to leave the western region and head for the central region.】
【Following your memories, you found a safe secluded Secret Realm for closed-door cultivation and began your training.】
In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.
“My current strength — below the Great Firmament level, virtually no one can defeat me!”
“And below the Supreme Unity True Master level, killing them takes only a matter of days.”
“This is what true power is!”
Su Xing sighed with deep emotion. When it came down to it, absolute strength was everything.
Enemies that Su Xing had previously struggled desperately against could now be slain with a casual flick of the hand after his strength had risen.
This exhilarating feeling was beyond words.
“If my strength advances further… if both Qi Refinement and Body Tempering reach their current limits, then even against a Great Firmament Golden Immortal, I could preserve my life!”
“However, the prerequisite is that my comprehension of one of the Great Daos must first step into the seventh realm!”
At this, Su Xing silently intoned:
“Activate immersive simulation… duration: 274 years!”
【Ding… remaining origin energy: 2,421,520,000 points…】
As the Chime fell, Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulated world.
…
The Eighth Heaven, within a certain Secret Realm.
Su Xing took a sip of Dao-Enlightenment Tea and began contemplating the Great Dao of Space.
In the blink of an eye, over two hundred and seventy years passed.
Su Xing slowly opened his eyes, a trace of regret upon his face.
“What a pity… the Great Dao of Space has reached the sixth realm Peak, but breaking through successfully… seems to still require a stroke of fortune.”
“Even my earlier contact with the Mirror of the Void doesn’t seem to have produced much of an effect…”
“It seems only when the right opportunity arrives can I step into the seventh realm.”
Su Xing shook his head, then continued:
“Since the Great Dao of Space can’t break through for now, the next few simulations should prioritize advancing the Great Dao of the Sword!”
“The Great Dao of the Sword isn’t far from the sixth realm Major Mastery either…”
Su Xing murmured.
Currently, Su Xing’s Great Dao of Space at the sixth realm Peak, combined with his Spirit Domain, could temporarily elevate him to the seventh realm — which was sufficient for now.
At the very least, against any enemy below the Great Firmament level, Su Xing had the means to preserve his life.
“As for what comes next, let me try refining the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill!”
Su Xing produced several medicinal herbs and began his attempt at refinement.
Over the past two years of simulations, Su Xing had devoted considerable effort to improving his pill-refining skills.
By now, Su Xing had already become a Supreme Paragon of the pill-refining Dao. In the entire Three Thousand Worlds, those who could surpass Su Xing in pill refinement could probably be counted on one hand.
“The Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill is extremely difficult to refine… and my materials are limited. Mastering this pill will likely require a bit more time!”
With that said, Su Xing produced a Dao-Hearing Pill.
With the aid of the Dao-Hearing Pill’s effects, Su Xing’s comprehension surged dramatically.
What followed were years of continuous pill refinement.
Su Xing had enough materials for only six attempts.
Each refinement attempt required one month.
Su Xing refined once every six months, spending the remaining five months summarizing his experiences.
This process made Su Xing feel as though he had returned to his Foundation Establishment and Golden Core days, constantly learning new pill-refining knowledge.
Three years passed before Su Xing had completed all six refinement attempts, and only then did the simulation finally end.
…
After the immersive simulation concluded, Su Xing’s consciousness returned.
Rubbing the space between his brows, Su Xing looked somewhat fatigued.
“Even a Supreme Paragon can’t achieve a hundred percent success rate in pill refinement… especially with a pill encountered for the first time.”
“Six attempts, and unsurprisingly, all ended in failure.”
“However, I did accumulate quite a bit of experience.”
“The last attempt was already very close to success.”
“I expect the next simulation should be about enough to successfully refine it…”
Su Xing thought to himself.
But merely succeeding at refinement was clearly not enough.
A pill’s quality directly determined its effectiveness, and Su Xing’s goal was to refine a perfect-quality Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill.
And that would likely require dozens, perhaps even a hundred attempts.
“Hmph, well, I’ve already waited several years… I don’t mind a few more simulations!”
Su Xing murmured.
“My immediate goal remains improving my strength!”
“Let’s see just how fast my cultivation speed is now.”
Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【In the three hundred and eightieth year, you emerged from closed-door cultivation. The Great Dao of Space had yet to progress.】
【But your mastery of refining the Celestial Sun Soul-Forging Pill had improved enormously.】
【Next, you began seeking out powerful figures in the central region to trade with.】
【A full three hundred million Spirit-Gathering Flowers allowed you to accumulate over ten billion drops of immortal liquid and well over a hundred billion drops of supreme-grade spirit liquid across several centuries.】
【The amassed immortal liquid was enough to fill a pond, while the spirit liquid flowed like an unending stream.】
【With such wealth, you suspected that even Great Firmament Golden Immortals couldn’t match you…】
【In spirit liquid wealth alone, you could rival half of the Azure Cloud Sect.】
【And such quantities of spirit liquid also allowed you to easily trade for massive amounts of blood essence.】
【You knew that the next five hundred years would be the golden period for trading — the further it went, the greater the chance of being targeted by traitors.】
【Over the course of five hundred years, you successively traded for nearly five thousand catties of first-tier deity blood essence, with second-tier deity blood essence too numerous to count.】
【With sufficient cultivation resources in hand, you never appeared again, simply remaining within the Secret Realm to cultivate in peace.】
【Until the nine hundredth year…】
【One day, inspiration struck like divine revelation. With all your accumulated power erupting forth, your cultivation finally broke through its bottleneck!】
【Congratulations, you have broken through to Golden Immortal Eighth Stage!】