Chapter 253 – The Power of a Hundred Mountains, Prerequisites for Cultivating the Great Shaman Body Forging Art!
by spirapiraSu Xing frowned slightly at what he saw, unable to suppress the worry in his heart.
“Last simulation, the catastrophe struck at the fifty-year mark, and Tiger Immortal Fortress was destroyed…”
“But this time, the Tiger Immortal wasn’t injured, and he’s allied with the Gold Coin Demon King. Surely nothing should go wrong?”
Su Xing couldn’t help but worry.
It wasn’t that he had any emotional attachment to Tiger Immortal Fortress — rather, the fortress’s destruction essentially meant his simulation was over.
“Also, as my cultivation rises… breakthroughs in realm become increasingly difficult.”
“Even with Heaven Devourer’s boost, I barely managed to break through to mid Grand Accomplishment…”
“Without that gold talent, these few decades would have only been enough for me to cultivate to Grand Accomplishment Third Layer!”
Su Xing sighed.
And even that speed was only achievable with an abundant supply of high-grade Demon King Blood Essence.
Without that blood essence, breakthroughs would have been even harder!
“It seems… it’s time to increase the gold talent draw probability.”
Su Xing sighed softly. His current gold talent draw probability was ten percent, increasing incrementally with each attempt.
But Su Xing could spend energy to raise the probability up to a maximum of fifty percent.
That required four billion energy to make up the difference.
Yet Su Xing’s energy reserves were tight, and pulling out that extra amount simply wasn’t realistic.
“Fortunately, Lu Yuanwu will soon be delivering a large sum of energy…”
“In two to three weeks at most, I’ll have enough surplus energy to increase the draw probability.”
Su Xing consoled himself and turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.
【After learning of the two Demon Kings’ scheme, you felt some concern and offered counsel.】
【But this was the two Demon Kings’ first collaboration since becoming allies, and they naturally wouldn’t heed your advice.】
【Thus the Tiger Immortal led several Human Immortal realm demon generals and hundreds of Tribulation Crossing stage greater demons to seize resources…】
【You remained behind at Tiger Immortal Fortress, trembling with anxiety, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.】
【Fortunately, a month later, the two Demon Kings returned victorious.】
【The Tiger Immortal had seized a medium-grade mineral vein, and Tiger Immortal Fortress’s territory expanded several thousand li northward.】
【Your heart settled somewhat. With the Tiger Immortal holding the fortress, its security would be greatly improved.】
【And so, another two years passed.】
【In the fifty-second year, of the original thirty-six Demon Kings, only sixteen remained.】
【Over the past two years, nearly every year saw a Demon King’s forces annihilated…】
【This put both Demon Kings on guard, and they prepared to band together for mutual protection.】
【Your cultivation also progressed somewhat during these two years.】
【In the fifty-fourth year, you presented the Tiger Immortal with a new batch of Spirit-Gathering Flowers, and the Tiger Immortal rewarded you with considerable blood essence.】
【In the fifty-fifth year, disaster struck without warning!】
【The Bear Demon King and the Ground Rat Demon King attacked Tiger Immortal Fortress. Unable to resist, the Tiger Immortal watched as the fortress fell.】
【The Tiger Immortal fought to the death to cover the retreat of a group of core subordinates and his offspring.】
【In the end, the Tiger Immortal perished in battle, and you fled with the retreating subordinates toward Gold Coin Fortress.】
【The Gold Coin Demon King treated you well, but most of his demon generals despised the human race.】
【Left with no choice, you kept a low profile, seeking an opportunity to escape.】
【But with the Tiger Immortal dead, Gold Coin Fortress could no longer stand alone.】
【In the fifty-seventh year, Gold Coin Fortress also fell, and the Gold Coin Demon King perished in battle…】
【In the chaos of war, you fought your way out alone, carving a bloody path deeper into the Hundred Thousand Mountains.】
【Over three days and three nights, you fled over a million kilometers.】
【One day, a sinister, cold aura suddenly appeared behind you.】
【You spun around to find Blood Ninety-Nine bearing down on you in pursuit.】
【All these years, he had never given up hunting you.】
【You drew a deep breath, prepared for a fight to the death.】
【But to your horror, you discovered that Blood Ninety-Nine’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Human Immortal realm, not far from Earthly Immortal.】
【Against him, you had absolutely no power to resist…】
【You died!】
【Ding — this simulation has ended!】
After the simulation ended, Su Xing let out a long breath and sighed inwardly.
“Sigh, I never expected that after surviving the last crisis, only seven years later… Tiger Immortal Fortress would fall again.”
“And Blood Ninety-Nine actually managed to track me down and kill me — which means he probably knew about all of this well in advance!”
“The internal strife in the Hundred Thousand Mountains — the Advent Cult really is behind it all!”
Su Xing frowned slightly.
This meant the Advent Cult’s infiltration of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm ran very deep.
And the struggle between the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and the foreign races had consistently been on the losing side.
Could one only survive longer by fleeing to a Greater World?
At this thought, Su Xing’s desire to join the Azure Cloud Sect grew even stronger.
He didn’t expect to obtain limitless cultivation resources — he simply wanted to simulate longer and cultivate a few more realm layers.
“However… if I could persuade Tiger Immortal Fortress and the Gold Coin Demon King to merge their forces, perhaps the simulation could last a bit longer…”
Su Xing murmured to himself.
At this stage, Su Xing had only two goals for his simulations.
First, raise his cultivation as much as possible.
Second, simulate as long as possible to explore more secrets of the Three Thousand Worlds beyond Earth.
Going to the Azure Cloud Sect served both these objectives.
“Well, let me check this simulation’s rewards first…”
Su Xing turned his gaze to the reward list.
【Heaven Devourer】: Gold talent, priced at 10 million energy.
【Fifty Years of Alchemy Experience】: After redemption, existing alchemy insights increase by a small margin. Priced at 50 million energy.
【Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer】: The ultimate realm for mortal body tempering cultivators. At Grand Accomplishment in body tempering, one can briefly traverse the void, with physical strength beyond imagination. Priced at 6 billion energy.
【Spirit-Gathering Flowers x5,000】: Priced at 500 million energy.
This simulation’s goals had been clear, so the variety of rewards was limited.
“But Body Tempering Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer… plus the gold talent, that’s over 6 billion simulation energy… This time I’m really going to bleed dry!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly. His current energy reserves were just over two hundred million.
Even adding the exotic metal Lu Yuanwu would provide, the total would barely exceed two billion.
“It seems I’ll have to pin my hopes on Jin Congxue being able to purify more exotic metal…”
“If that’s not enough, I’ll have no choice but to sell off more of Perfected One Myriad Wood’s treasures to barely cover the cost.”
Su Xing sighed softly.
Many of the treasures in Perfected One Myriad Wood’s storage ring were useful to Su Xing.
Even those with limited use were still better to keep than to purely exchange for energy.
“Also, my talent slots are already full. If I want to redeem the Heaven Devourer talent, I’ll need to do a talent swap… Otherwise, purely expanding the talent slots at ten billion energy is simply too expensive!”
Su Xing turned his gaze to his attribute panel.
【Name: Su Xing】
【Age: 22】
【Class: Immortal Cultivator】
【Cultivation: Body Integration Perfection, Grand Accomplishment First Layer】
【Techniques: Ruyi Visualization Diagram, Eternal Spring Art, Myriad Blazing Flame Art】
【Talents: Gift of Roses, Wisdom in Foolishness, Innate Sword Physique, Spontaneous Epiphany, Formation Dao Prodigy, Alchemy Prodigy, Talisman Expert, Lightning-Wood-Fire Triple Heavenly Spirit Root, Strength to Uproot Mountains, Fortune in Commerce, Descendant of Shennong, Blessed by Fortune, Blessed by Fortune, Self-Help Guru, Unkillable Cockroach】
【Skills: Separation Fire Technique (Major Mastery-level), Alchemy Art (Minor Mastery), Supernatural Art Spirit Burst (Beginner), Shennong Spirit Cultivation Technique (Beginner-level), 200,000-zhang Divine Sense (Subtle Realm), Primordial Energy (Projection-level Perfection), Three Talents Sword Art (Heaven Sword Grand Accomplishment), Protective Sword Aura (360 layers), Myriad-Mile Tracking Art (Beginner), Eight Trigrams Divination Art (Perfection), Ruyi Golden Cauldron (Grand Accomplishment), Formation Dao (Minor Mastery), Sword-Controlling Technique (Perfection), Dao of Puppetry (Minor Mastery), Lifespan-Burning Art (Perfection), various immortal cultivation spells…】
【Origin Comprehension: Essence of Lightning (Minor Mastery), Essence of Wood (Minor Mastery), Origin of the Sword (Grand Accomplishment), Essence of Speed (Grand Accomplishment), Essence of Strength (Grand Accomplishment)】
【Special Physique: Heavenly Thunder Physique (Stage 2)】
Over recent months, Su Xing’s strength had grown at a tremendous pace.
Beyond the explosive growth in cultivation, his mastery of skills and talents had also undergone upgrades.
In addition, a new category — Origin Comprehension — had appeared on Su Xing’s panel.
“After origin comprehension comes the Great Dao laws… those are the powerful rules that only those in the Immortal realm can touch!”
“And all my current talents seem really important!”
Su Xing fell into a dilemma. The gold talent was absolutely necessary to redeem.
But which talent to replace was the question…
“Hmm? Wait… the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation talents — I don’t actually need them in every simulation!”
Su Xing’s eyes lit up.
Beyond alchemy, the other Hundred Arts — talismans, formations, artifact refining, and so on — Su Xing could dedicate specific simulations to training those individually.
When the time came, he’d just need to temporarily draw the talent from the pool to use it.
Normally they could sit in the draw pool, and when needed, spending a few million to draw one out was incomparably more cost-effective than expanding the talent slots for ten billion!
“Right… Talisman Expert is useless for now. This time I can swap it out for the gold talent Heaven Devourer!”
Su Xing had made up his mind.
Checking the time, Lu Yuanwu should be waiting by now.
So Su Xing applied his disguise and concealed his aura, then headed into the mountains.
…
“Senior!”
At the agreed-upon location, Lu Yuanwu had been waiting for some time and greeted Su Xing respectfully.
Su Xing gave a slight nod, adopting the manner of a reclusive master, and asked flatly:
“Did you bring the goods?”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuanwu hurriedly produced the new week’s shipment — one thousand tons of exotic metal — while Su Xing took out ten thousand pills.
Just as Lu Yuanwu expected Su Xing to depart immediately as usual, Su Xing suddenly asked:
“By the way, that ten thousand tons of exotic metal you mentioned last time — when can you get it?”
Lu Yuanwu’s weathered face flushed as he replied, “Three weeks at the earliest, a month at the latest…”
Su Xing frowned slightly, showing displeasure:
“Too slow! I’m giving you half a month. Make sure you bring ten thousand tons of exotic metal!”
Hearing Su Xing’s words, Lu Yuanwu immediately grew serious.
When it came to this “reclusive master” Su Xing, Lu Yuanwu didn’t dare offend him in the slightest — in fact, he went out of his way to curry Su Xing’s favor.
So Lu Yuanwu quickly nodded:
“Yes, within half a month, I will definitely get it for you!”
Only then did Su Xing give a reluctant nod before turning to leave.
After Su Xing departed, Lu Yuanwu stored the pills in his storage ring and murmured to himself:
“A reclusive master like the senior… if we just offer a few benefits, the strength of Great Xia and the entire human race would grow enormously!”
“I must do everything I can to fulfill the senior’s requests!”
Lu Yuanwu steeled his resolve to satisfy Su Xing’s needs by any means necessary.
Meanwhile, Su Xing didn’t rush back to the spirit field grotto-heaven. Instead, he summoned his nine puppets.
Perfected One Myriad Wood, the puppet Little White, and seven other puppets at the peak of Nascent Soul.
Afterward, Su Xing gave each puppet several sixth-rank talismans for self-defense.
He also took out a portion of Longevity Pills and low-grade treasured weapons for these puppets.
“The Celestial Secrets Pavilion plan — it’s time to put it into action… Otherwise, as my cultivation rises in the future, my demand for energy will only grow higher and higher…”
Su Xing murmured.
After several previous simulations, Su Xing had basically confirmed that the Advent Cult didn’t dare openly oppose or investigate his puppets.
And as long as the puppets were careful, there shouldn’t be any accidents.
Su Xing then issued commands to these puppets.
Each puppet donned a cloak, and upon receiving Su Xing’s orders, they headed to three locations — Jinling City, Magic Capital, and Guang Province — to conduct trades when opportunities arose.
Su Xing had only one requirement for them.
Without exposing their identities or endangering their safety, they were to trade for as many items on “the list” as possible.
As for the items on the list, they were naturally various exotic metals, low-rank equipment, dungeon materials, and so on…
After finishing all of this, Su Xing didn’t rush to return. Instead, he headed to the Age of Immortals and Martial Arts dungeon.
Over the next week, Su Xing spent his time mining in the Age of Immortals and Martial Arts dungeon.
Only this time, Su Xing chose to mine that spirit vein.
In one week, Su Xing had completely excavated nearly three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Seeing that the day to meet Jin Congxue was approaching, Su Xing once again flew by sword, returning to Earth.
After carefully disguising himself and concealing his aura, confirming he hadn’t left the slightest flaw, Su Xing headed to the Villa to meet with Jin Congxue.
Jin Congxue was wearing a black-and-white long dress today, paired with fishnet stockings, giving off quite a pure-yet-alluring style.
After finishing a meal, the two began discussing business.
Jin Congxue first handed over a storage ring and said:
“Su Xing, this is the week’s goods, along with exotic metal…”
“But time was tight. In just one week, even though I gathered as many people as possible, we still only refined less than half of the Third Rank exotic metal ore…”
“The fourth-order exotic metal here has been fully refined, weighing approximately one hundred and twenty tons…”
“However, I’ve already begun recruiting more Class Users. The plan is to hire another three thousand Silver and Bronze-stage Class Users specifically for refining exotic metal. The speed will be much faster then!”
Su Xing nodded slightly after hearing this and said:
“You’ve worked hard, Sister Xue… Oh right, here’s this week’s raw exotic metal ore. I’ll trouble you to refine it as well…”
Su Xing casually handed over two thousand cubic meters of fourth-order exotic metal ore, estimated to yield 4 billion simulation energy after refinement.
Jin Congxue nodded slightly and didn’t refuse. She was willing to share Su Xing’s burdens.
After the two parted ways, Su Xing cautiously made his way back to the spirit field grotto-heaven.
Once back in the spirit field grotto-heaven, Su Xing converted the exotic metal that Jin Congxue had refined into simulation energy.
Combined with the week’s goods, it provided Su Xing with nearly 2.7 billion simulation energy.
Adding the 2.3 billion Su Xing already had on hand, there was still a gap of one billion before reaching 6 billion simulation energy…
“Phew, looks like I’ll have to convert some items I can’t use into energy…”
Su Xing then rummaged through his storage ring, picking and choosing. Low-quality ores, low-rank magical tools, and unusable materials were all converted by Su Xing.
After scraping together everything he could, Su Xing barely managed to gather 1.1 billion energy.
With enough energy, Su Xing silently recited:
“Exchange for Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer cultivation, and the talent Heaven Devourer!”
【Ding, detected that your talent slots are full. Would you like to replace an existing talent?】
“Replace the Talisman Expert talent with the gold talent Heaven Devourer!”
【Ding, talent replacement in progress…】
【You have successfully brought out the gold talent Heaven Devourer. Energy cost: 10 million points. Remaining energy: 6,112,330,000 points.】
【You have successfully brought out Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer cultivation. Energy cost: 6 billion points. Remaining energy: 112,330,000 points.】
As the simulator’s notification faded, two streams of mysterious power surged into Su Xing’s body.
The influence of the gold talent was subtle and gradual. Su Xing merely felt his appetite had improved significantly — he seemed able to eat anything and digest anything.
But the biggest change came from the Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer cultivation!
In just a few breaths, Su Xing’s aura and physical strength surged explosively.
Grand Accomplishment Second Layer… Grand Accomplishment Third Layer…
Finally, Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer!
The gap of three minor realms, which also included the enormous leap from early Grand Accomplishment to mid Grand Accomplishment.
This caused Su Xing’s strength to skyrocket from the power of thirty mountains to the power of a hundred mountains!
Measured in tens of thousands of tons, it was beyond count…
A full threefold increase in power!
“Phew… The power of a hundred mountains. With my current pure physical strength alone, I can probably rival late-stage or even Perfection-level Grand Accomplishment cultivators, right!?”
Su Xing had once heard that cultivators at Grand Accomplishment Perfection level could wield the power of a hundred mountains, causing mountain ranges to collapse and the earth to cave in with a wave of their hand.
A single punch could sever great rivers and shatter landscapes…
If one used spiritual energy to accomplish such feats, an ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivator could manage it too.
But this was pure physical strength — naturally, they couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath…
And now, Su Xing had finally obtained such tremendous power.
“Phew… Even though I have the power of a hundred mountains, I can’t get cocky!”
“Those mighty beings of the Three Thousand Worlds are all Immortal realm powerhouses… At the very least, I need to achieve an Immortal-level physique!”
Su Xing murmured.
Now he had obtained that supreme body-tempering art, the Great Shaman Body Forging Art.
If he cultivated it to the first layer, he could rival a Human Immortal Realm cultivator!
But this body forging art had extremely harsh requirements — one needed to possess the power of a Great Shaman, meaning one could only cultivate it after reaching the Qi Refinement Human Immortal Realm.
So what Su Xing could do for now was merely raise his body tempering to Grand Accomplishment Peak, then switch to the Great Shaman Body Forging Art.
“There’s also my Qi Refinement cultivation. My comprehension of the Essence of Fire needs to be improved as soon as possible too — then I can attempt to break through to the Mahayana stage!”
Su Xing glanced at the time. There was still a while before the simulation cooldown ended, so he set his goals for this simulation.
“First, Essence of Fire comprehension. Using immersive simulation, push it as far as possible to Major Mastery or even Perfection level…”
“Second, raise my body tempering cultivation as much as possible to late-stage Grand Accomplishment. At that point, my strength will increase even further!”
“Finally, Protective Sword Aura also needs further comprehension. Mastering more sword auras — that’s currently my strongest offensive method!”
Su Xing thought to himself.
Soon the simulation cooldown ended.
On March 31st, 2024 of the New Era, Su Xing began a new round of simulation.
“Begin simulation!”
【Ding! This simulation costs 8,100 energy points. Remaining energy: 112,330,000 points. Remaining simulation attempts: unlimited.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a purple talent costs 100,000 energy points. Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1,000,000 energy points. Would you like to draw?】
“Draw a gold talent!”
【Ding, congratulations! You have obtained the purple talent Lord of a Hundred Faces. Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 20%…】
【Lord of a Hundred Faces】: Purple talent. Skin-Changing Art among the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation. You have an extremely high aptitude for the art of disguise, able to effortlessly alter your own appearance and aura without being easily detected by others.
“This talent seems like it could enhance my disguise and aura-concealing abilities… But I don’t need it right now!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.
【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realized you are in a simulation!】
【You disguised yourself and concealed your aura, then traded with Lu Yuanwu. Nothing unexpected occurred.】
【Ten days later, you entered the Luo Tian dungeon as usual to study the art of puppetry…】
【…After the immersive simulation ended, your puppetry skills had improved.】
【Under Luo Shuying’s introduction, you joined the Advent Cult…】
【During the first two years after joining the Advent Cult, you refined pills daily while accumulating the Great Wisdom state enhancement.】
【In the third year, you gave the pills to Lu Yuanwu, strengthening humanity’s forces.】
【Afterward, you began focusing entirely on comprehending Protective Sword Aura!】
【And so, another two years passed…】
【In the fifth year, you comprehended ten more sword auras, bringing the total to three hundred and seventy!】
【In the seventh year, you schemed to eliminate the Transhuman Faction’s leader and took their place!】
【In the eighth year, you killed Old Dog Dragon and prepared to refine the Nine Revolutions Pill.】
【You used dragon meat to refine a Rebirth Pill, and your cultivation improved slightly.】
【Unfortunately, when you consumed the Nine Revolutions Pill, although its medicinal power was potent, Old Dog Dragon was merely a Void Shattering realm cultivator, and the Dragon Pearl’s power was limited.】
【Your cultivation rose from early Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer to mid Grand Accomplishment Fourth Layer…】
【And so, another three years passed.】
【In the eleventh year, the total number of Protective Sword Auras you had comprehended reached three hundred and ninety!】
【That year, Blood Three descended. You offered the spirit vein dragon and obtained a passage permit.】
【After Blood Three left, you traveled to the Flame-Commanding Sect ruins and saw that Vermilion Bird tail feather…】
In the real world, Su Xing’s heart stirred when he saw this, and he silently recited:
“Use immersive…”
【Ding, you have successfully activated immersive simulation. Energy cost: 72,000,000 points. Remaining energy: 34,530,000 points…】
As the notification faded, the scene before Su Xing’s eyes shifted.
The next second, Su Xing appeared at the core of the Flame-Commanding Sect ruins.
After skillfully paying his respects to the Fire-Controlling True Master, Su Xing pried open the True Master’s mouth and retrieved the Vermilion Bird tail feather.
The Vermilion Bird tail feather merged into Su Xing’s body, and his Separation Fire Technique underwent a subtle transformation.
Su Xing then consumed a Spirit Awakening Pill, took out the innate Fusang Divine Tree branch, and began comprehending the Essence of Fire…
Su Xing’s current comprehension of the Essence of Fire had already reached Minor Mastery level.
For an ordinary cultivator wanting to comprehend an essence, not only would they need the aid of rare treasures, they might even need to spend several hundred years…
But at this moment, Su Xing was under the Great Wisdom state enhancement, combined with the Spirit Awakening Pill, plus the Vermilion Bird tail feather and the Fusang Divine Tree branch — both supreme treasures that contained the Great Dao of Fire!
In close contact with the essence of the Great Dao, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Essence of Fire improved rapidly…
On the twenty-third day of immersive simulation, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Essence of Fire reached Major Mastery level!
Over the following seven days, Su Xing didn’t waste any time and continued deepening his comprehension of the Essence of Fire!
It wasn’t until the final hour of immersive simulation that Su Xing emerged from his state of comprehension and buried the Fire-Controlling True Master in a spot with excellent feng shui.
Soon the immersive simulation ended…
Su Xing returned to the real world, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
“Not bad. One month of comprehension, and the Essence of Fire has reached Major Mastery level!”
“Next simulation, reaching Perfection shouldn’t be difficult… If word of this speed got out, it would probably scare Immortals to death!”
The corner of Su Xing’s mouth curved slightly upward.
For the immersive simulation, Su Xing had only spent 72 million energy, yet he had gained Major Mastery-level comprehension of the Essence of Fire!
If he had tried to bring this out through the simulation directly, it would have cost at least one or two billion energy!
“Once I comprehend the Essence of Fire, with Perfection-level essence as my foundation, next simulation… I should be able to smoothly break through to the Mahayana stage!”
Su Xing murmured.
“Then for this simulation, I’ll work even harder on cultivating Protective Sword Aura!”
“And I’ll make another trip to the Hundred Thousand Mountains to try merging the two Demon Kings’ forces into one. It might just work!”
Su Xing’s gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【After consuming the Spirit Awakening Pill, your comprehension of the Essence of Fire has reached Major Mastery level!】
【At this point, remaining on Earth would yield extremely slow cultivation progress.】
【So you prepared to travel once more to the Three Thousand Worlds…】
(Two chapters served up. I’ll repay last month’s debt as soon as possible~)