Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

Zhang Yuanjing activated the imitation Yin-Yang Creation Furnace (low-grade). A beam of white light emerged, gradually enveloping his body, transforming into a tiny white dot. It floated upwards, flying out through a small hole behind the glass lamp on the ceiling of the chamber.

Within the original cavern, a beam of white light shot out from the furnace, illuminating the surrounding emptiness and darkness, and also lighting up the bored Golden-backed Giant Ape. It widened its eyes, watching the gradually enlarging white dot with mingled surprise and joy, and couldn't help but wave its arms and stamp its feet.

The white dot quickly grew to the size of a person, revealing Zhang Yuanjing's figure, and then dissipated, plunging the surroundings back into darkness.

“Squeak, squeak!” The giant ape cried out excitedly, pulling a cyan bead from under its arm. A patch of cyan light shone on Zhang Yuanjing, hazy and dreamlike.

The Golden-backed Giant Ape keenly noticed the Soul Ring in Zhang Yuanjing's hand. Its two pupils instantly dilated, staring fixedly at it, its expression stiff, its scarlet lips trembling uncontrollably.

“Ape, Ape… Brother, do you recognize this object?” Zhang Yuanjing was taken aback by its gaze. He stammered for a moment before finally uttering the title “Ape Brother,” slightly raising his right hand and offering the Soul Ring forward.

This thing had to be guided by a cultivator's divine sense to be sealed into a demon beast's brain, so he wasn't afraid of the beast suddenly snatching it.

The giant ape paid no attention, simply staring intently at the Soul Ring, its eyes flashing with fervent light.

Zhang Yuanjing swallowed a mouthful of saliva, waving his hand in front of its eyes, finally attracting its attention. “Ape Brother, do you know what this is?”

The giant ape looked at him blankly, unsure whether it didn't understand or was genuinely clueless.

“This thing, you know what it is, right?” Zhang Yuanjing raised his voice, asking loudly.

This time, the giant ape understood clearly, immediately nodding vigorously, then continuously making “squeak, squeak” sounds, for a long time, until the echoes resounded throughout the cave, before stopping.

Zhang Yuanjing smiled wryly, saying, “Ape Brother, I don't understand your words. If you can understand mine, please nod.”

The giant ape immediately nodded, but its gaze kept darting towards the Soul Ring in Zhang Yuanjing's hand.

“This thing is called a Soul Ring, and it's of great benefit to you. You know this, right?”

The giant ape nodded, muttering a few sounds, but not yelling as it had before.

“Now, I will seal this thing into your brain, are you willing?”

Upon hearing this, the giant ape's eyes instantly emitted a scorching light. A look of wild joy appeared on its ugly face, its huge head bobbing up and down like a chicken pecking at rice.

“Ape Brother, there's one thing I need to make clear. Sealing this thing into your brain requires my divine sense as a guide, so it will establish a connection between our minds, but it's not a master-servant mark. Do you understand this?”

The giant ape first shook its head, then nodded.

Zhang Yuanjing was stunned, then asked, “Are you unwilling to have me seal this thing in?” He had made up his mind: Regardless of any partnership, if the giant ape was unwilling, he would just hand over the Soul Ring directly, in exchange for a way out.

As a result, the giant ape shook its head. It pointed at the Soul Ring, then at Zhang Yuanjing, and finally at its own head, meaning for Zhang Yuanjing to quickly seal in the Soul Ring.

Zhang Yuanjing figured he had said everything he needed to say, and that the mountain-like fellow in front of him wasn't a complete idiot, so he stopped dawdling. He quickly imprinted the Soul Ring with his divine sense, then manipulated it to gently bump against the giant ape's head, where it drilled into it, entering a dark, cramped space.

The originally pure black ring suddenly burst into a ball of white light, impacting and squeezing in all directions, instantly expanding the space by more than double, and generating a faint Xuanming aura within it.

Looking at the giant ape, a clear and intelligent light flashed in its eyes. Like someone with amnesia regaining their memory, it had insight and awareness of where it came from, where it was going, and what it was. It suddenly opened up a whole new world. The aura on its body also suddenly surged. Centered on its fifteen-foot body, the surrounding spiritual energy surged wildly, quickly forming a huge vortex. Zhang Yuanjing was knocked off balance and had to cling tightly to one side of the cave wall, struggling to hold on.

After about half an hour, a series of thunderous sounds rang out, and waves of spiritual energy crashed in all directions. The cavern, fifty or sixty feet deep, shook from side to side.

“Awoo-- Ooooo-- Awoo, awoo, awoo!” The giant ape roared, filled with joy.

“This… the effect is too obvious, it actually broke through immediately.” Zhang Yuanjing was both envious and surprised, then sighed wistfully.

“Congratulations, Ape Brother, for advancing to the middle stage of the Core Formation realm!” Zhang Yuanjing clasped his fist, congratulating the giant ape.

The giant ape grinned, also imitating Zhang Yuanjing's gesture, clasping its fist in return. At the same time, it transmitted a thought into Zhang Yuanjing's mind: “Thank, thank you, Daoist friend, for giving me this opportunity. I will definitely abide by the ancestral agreement, and follow you to battle to the ends of the earth. Whoever you want me to beat, I will beat!”

“Ancestral agreement?” Zhang Yuanjing was stunned. This statement seemed inconsistent with the information on the Soul Ring. He quickly asked, “What agreement?”

“I also gained the Soul Ring, activating my bloodline memory, and only then did I learn about the past.” The giant ape reached out and scratched its head, narrating haltingly, “It is said that the ancestor had an agreement with the owner of this furnace, that any Golden-backed Ape who can provide a Soul Ring to their descendants, the Golden-backed Ape will enter into a partnership agreement with them, following them in battle, forever without betrayal.”

“Are there no other conditions?” Zhang Yuanjing asked in surprise.

“No, that's just this ancient agreement, passed down through the bloodline.”

“What about for cultivators? Are there no requirements? If a cultivator violates the agreement, what kind of punishment will there be?” Zhang Yuanjing asked impatiently.

The giant ape had obtained the Soul Ring, its spirit soul had grown more than doubled, and its intelligence had been greatly improved, but it was still somewhat clueless about this question: “Violate the agreement? This is the rule left by my Golden-backed Giant Ape ancestors, it doesn't seem to be used to restrict cultivators.”

Zhang Yuanjing was immediately dumbfounded. According to the giant ape, the cultivator's only obligation was to provide the Soul Ring, while the Golden-backed Giant Ape's obligation was to follow in battle and never regret it. This looked like an unequal treaty, with a hundred benefits and no harm to the cultivator. He couldn't help but think, what exactly does the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace mean by continuously providing elixirs?

He took out a low-grade Spirit Enhancement Pill and asked, “Do you recognize this thing?”

The giant ape's eyes lit up, immediately nodding: “I recognize it, I recognize it. There is a bloodline memory of this thing, um, it's called a Spirit Enhancement Pill, it can enhance the spirit soul.”

“That's right, it's a Spirit Enhancement Pill. Is this thing useful to you?”

“Useful, very useful! My Golden-backed Giant Ape clan excels in strength, but our spirit souls are weak, so we need elixirs that enhance the spirit soul the most. As long as the spirit soul continues to grow stronger, we can constantly break through realms and gain super strength!”

Zhang Yuanjing heard this and thought: Could it just be a conspiracy, that the “candidates” can't resist the temptation, and actively break through the levels to obtain more pill formulas and medicinal materials, thereby becoming more and more deeply trapped in the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace's scheme?

He shook his head secretly again, feeling that it couldn't be that simple. But there was no point in thinking too much, he should just take things one step at a time.

“How many years has your clan been breeding here?” Zhang Yuanjing changed the question.

“I don't know, I only know that from my ancestor onwards, until now, there have been a total of thirteen clan leaders. I am the current clan leader. My name is Ape Thirteen.”

“Oh, so you are Brother Ape Thirteen, my name is Zhang Yuanjing, Brother Ape can just call me Yuanjing!” Zhang Yuanjing laughed. This giant ape, although high in cultivation and fierce in appearance, was very easy to talk to.

Ape Thirteen nodded, bowing very solemnly, transmitting his thoughts: “Brother Yuanjing, nice to meet you! Ape Thirteen swears to follow you to the death, never betraying the promise!”

Zhang Yuanjing didn't expect Ape Thirteen to value this agreement so much. After knowing his name, he even specifically called out his name to declare his oath. His expression immediately became serious. He wanted to say a few intimate words to show his closeness, but he couldn't find the right words for a moment, so he could only nod somewhat awkwardly, laugh dryly, and ask: “I see that Brother Ape's body has a profound spiritual aura, as if he has cultivated some kind of pure technique, I wonder what its name is, and how many years have you cultivated it?”

“This is a technique passed down from my ancestors, it has already merged into the bloodline, it's called the Vajra Subduing Demon Technique, created by the owner of the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace specifically for our ancestors. I opened my meridians at a young age, reached the Core Formation realm at eight hundred years old, comprehended this technique, and have cultivated it for more than two hundred years now. Without the Soul Ring you gave me, Yuanjing, I would probably have stopped at the early stage of the Core Formation realm in this life. My Golden-backed Giant Ape clan has a long lifespan, as long as ten thousand years. Many predecessors, because they can't stand the loneliness, will leave this place around five thousand years old to find opportunities elsewhere.”

“Oh, among Brother Ape's predecessors, have there been any who have obtained the Soul Ring like you?”

“In the legends of the ancestors, tens of thousands of years ago, there was a predecessor clan leader who obtained the Soul Ring, and later left with the cultivator who gave him the opportunity, and never returned.”

Zhang Yuanjing thought of the four skeletons in the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace's clone, and couldn't help but ask with some doubts: “In such a long time, how many cultivators have you found to come here?”

“My grandfather, the previous clan leader, seemed to have found two, but neither of them came out from inside. The clan leader before that seemed to have found one. As for the more distant ones, the specific number is unknown, but there must have been quite a few. The rule set by the ancestors is that only if they enter this valley themselves, can our clansmen invite them into the place where the furnace is.”

Zhang Yuanjing nodded and said: “So that's how it is! It's an opportunity for both sides. If the incoming cultivator is unwilling to enter the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace, can they leave?”

The giant ape reached out and scratched its head again, thought for a while, and finally shook its head: “I don't know about that. Anyway, none of the cultivators who have seen the furnace have refused to enter it. Only a few cultivators suddenly left when entering this cave. As long as they haven't harmed us, we let them go on their own.”

Zhang Yuanjing laughed mockingly in his heart, thinking that he had previously judged this ape with a petty mind. If he dared to fly away, he would have escaped long ago. However, although this time was delayed for half a year, it was still a great opportunity. It was unknown whether he could even break through to the Core Formation realm, so why bother caring about what the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace was plotting. Thinking of this, his distracting thoughts cleared, and he immediately felt relaxed. He smiled and said: “Brother Ape, let's go out of the cave!”

The man and the ape walked quickly, and soon came out of the long and dark cave. Outside, the sky was clear and the wind was blowing through the forest, and large golden fruits rustled on the giant trees.

“Is this a Golden Elephant Fruit?”

“Yes. It has existed since ancient times, and it is the body refining fruit of our Golden-backed Ape clan. As for other demon beasts, um, anyway, the demon beasts in this Mist Spirit Mountain don't like to eat it. It is said that it can be used to refine medicine, but I don't know what the pill formula is.” Ape Thirteen looked at Zhang Yuanjing with some expectation.

Zhang Yuanjing was startled when he heard this, and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the golden fruit. A thought suddenly occurred to him, perhaps the second level test of the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace was to refine a pill related to this fruit. Spirit Enhancement Pills were certainly needed by the giant ape, but the Yin-Yang Creation Furnace only gave one set of medicinal materials, obviously not to let the “candidates” refine this kind of pill for the giant ape.

After the “candidate” becomes a partner with the giant ape, if they want to improve its strength, they have to enter the furnace again to accept the second level test, and if this level test is passed, the pill formula obtained is likely to be the pill formula with this Golden Elephant Fruit as the main ingredient.

Then, he remembered what Ape Thirteen said, that compared to the improvement of strength, the Golden-backed Giant Ape clan needed to strengthen their spirit souls even more. As long as the spirit soul grew stronger, they could constantly break through realms. The Yin-Yang Creation Furnace clearly knew that the Golden-backed Giant Ape was weak in spirit and strong in body, so why did it still help it strengthen its body instead of strengthening its soul?

However, it was just speculation. What the second level test was, he would only know after entering. Anyway, before reaching the Core Formation stage, he was not going to enter it again.