Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

"You actually used ten years, and almost went berserk! You really worried this old man! Fortunately, I was meticulous and kept an eye on you, otherwise, hmph!"

It was still the Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron's voice, still as proud and annoyed as ever.

"Has it already been ten years?"

Zhang Yuanjing opened his eyes and saw the Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron had landed on the ground nearby. His body was surrounded by dry, gray-black grass roots, and the giant grass lying in the soil was only a thin layer of hard skin.

Beside his hand were more than a dozen mature Purple Dragon Ginseng, Silver-Veined Fruit, and Azure Sky Grass, their fragrance assailing his nostrils and spiritual energy lingering around them. These were the three main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

"Hmph, going straight from Foundation Establishment Great Perfection to Core Formation, it couldn't be any faster! This old man thought you would take five or six years, but I didn't expect it to be ten. Alas, what a waste of time, and utterly boring!" The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron complained incessantly, unlike its previous quiet self.

It seemed that its vital energy had been greatly restored, and it no longer needed to sleep. Being stuck in this underground cave was very boring, hence all the grievances.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanjing saw Zhong Bixing to his side. This iron-tower-like strong man was sitting cross-legged, his eyes tightly closed, his aura deep and profound. A cloud of white mist floated around him, contracting and expanding with his breathing. His cultivation was constantly rising, and it was estimated that it would not be long before he could enter the early stage of Core Formation like himself.

Core Formation cultivators were the backbone of the cultivation world, the core strength of various sects. Whether it was a great sect in a region or a super sect that shook the world, the status and role of Core Formation cultivators were extremely prominent. Although there were countless cultivators in the cultivation world, only one in ten thousand could advance to Core Formation.

If Foundation Establishment was the beginning of a cultivator truly embarking on the path of immortality, then Core Formation was the first leap in cultivation.

Compared to the Foundation Establishment stage, the biggest improvement for Core Formation cultivators was the condensation of the spiritual soul. It was with the spiritual soul as the fire that the golden liquid could be calcined into a core, transforming one's mana and elevating it to a higher level.

"This old man is feeling generous and will guide you one last time. In the Mustard Seed Space, didn't you receive the treatment of a true disciple? There was a bag of seeds, do you remember?" The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron suddenly said strangely.

Without much thought, Zhang Yuanjing immediately replied, "There was a bag of seeds, but only a dozen or so were alive."

The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron said, "Alive is good, those are the seeds. What they're called, this old man doesn't remember, but they're specifically for feeding the Source Stone."

"Feeding the Source Stone!"

Since receiving a Source Stone in the Mustard Seed Space, he had simply thrown it into his dantian and had not seen any movement since.

After arriving at Meng Mountain, in the first few years, he would still look inside his dantian during meditation, searching carefully, but he could never find any trace of its existence. Later, he became busy with cultivation and completely forgot about the stone.

"That's right, feeding the Source Stone. The Source Stone is a spiritual object born from heaven and earth, and it can continuously grow by devouring spiritual objects. These seeds are the rare medicines that the Hou Tu Sect sought for their true disciples to nurture the Source Stone. Their vitality is extremely tenacious. Not to mention tens of thousands of years, even after hundreds of thousands of years, they may not die. Now that you have broken through to Core Formation, the Hou Tu Art is enough to stimulate these seeds. Once the seeds are stimulated, the Source Stone will reveal its true form and be used by you!" The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron said with an envious tone.

Zhang Yuanjing was stunned upon hearing this. With his knowledge, he had never heard of feeding a stone with spiritual medicine!

"Don't be dazed, while that kid is still circulating his energy, quickly cultivate the seeds and lure out the Source Stone. This way, in the Core Formation stage, you will have a means of self-preservation." The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron urged impatiently.

Zhang Yuanjing sincerely bowed to the Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior!"

Then, he sat cross-legged and first took out the dozen or so seeds, which were roughly of three types: cyan-black, reddish-yellow, and dark red.

He casually chose a reddish-yellow, soybean-sized seed, and with a flick of his finger, he feigned a grip, and circulated the Hou Tu Transformation Art, sending dark-golden mana into the seed.

The seed, which had shown no movement no matter how he cultivated it during the Foundation Establishment stage, immediately trembled upon receiving the Hou Tu power after Core Formation. He did not expect it to be so smooth and was very happy in his heart, so he immediately increased the input of mana.

Suddenly, after half a day, the reddish-yellow seed cracked open with a click, and a pale-white sprout emerged.

At the same time, a wisp of golden spiritual energy entered his meridians and entered his dantian. After only moving for half a breath, a small black stone drilled out from an unknown place, swallowed the golden spiritual energy, and then followed the abdominal and chest meridians, entering his throat.

He subconsciously opened his mouth, and the small black stone flew out, then swelled to the size of two zhang, its entire body black and shiny, emitting a thick, restrained aura.

This was the Source Stone.

With a thought from Zhang Yuanjing, the Source Stone moved according to his will, circling around him, sometimes far away, sometimes near, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes shrinking, sometimes growing, sometimes silent, sometimes making a sound, extremely flexible, without the need for incantations, and consuming very little mana.

According to the records in the Hou Tu Sect's inheritance, the greatest function of this stone was not to be used as a magic weapon against enemies, but as an auxiliary object for performing various earth-type minor spells.

With a thought, the incantation for the minor spell Earth Guard slowly appeared in his mind. The previously incomprehensible technique was now understood at a glance, and even some vague and general words were inexplicably understood, and he knew the method of operation.

He immediately realized that this must be because the Source Stone had the wonderful use of inheritance; otherwise, even if he obtained the Hou Tu Spell Chapter, it would not be easy to practice.

Zhang Yuanjing repeatedly turned the incantation over in his sea of consciousness until it was smooth and unrestrained. Then, he circulated his energy according to the incantation. Immediately, a thick earth power surged out and swirled around his body, and a large group of soil from under his feet was rolled up, turning into a large shield in front of him.

He examined it with his divine sense and felt that the defensive power of this shield, even if it was not as good as the defensive robe on his body, was not far off. This was only the initial learning of the technique, and only a soil shield condensed in an instant. If the time was longer, he could undoubtedly create a stronger soil shield.

He glanced at the Source Stone floating in mid-air and moved it in front of him. He cast the Earth Guard incantation on it, and the Source Stone instantly turned into a stone shell, completely enclosing him in it.

He reached out and knocked on the stone shell, which emitted a dull thud. His hand felt very smooth on it. When he circulated his mana and bumped into it, it was like a stone sinking into the sea.

If he was willing to consume mana, he could also draw mud and stone from the ground and cover it on the stone shell, in which case the defensive power would be even stronger.

The Source Stone, coupled with the Hou Tu Sect's minor spells, was definitely powerful in defense, far surpassing ordinary inheritances.

His divine sense flickered, and he called out the incantation of the Earth Escape Technique to study it. As a minor spell, the Earth Escape Technique was vastly different from what he had learned during the Foundation Establishment stage.

This Earth Escape Technique was based on the Earth Splitting Art, with special extensions and deepening in terms of the depth of penetration, the speed of escape, the effect of concealment, and the ability of defense.

With the foundation of previously practicing the Earth Escape Technique and the Earth Splitting Art, he quickly understood the technique of this minor spell, and in just a few breaths, he was able to master it.

On a whim, he used the technique and drilled into the ground, easily sinking to a depth of more than fifty zhang. This was because the pressure from both sides in the underground cave was too great, hindering his diving depth. If it was on the ground, this distance should be able to increase by about 50%.

The results of this experiment made Zhang Yuanjing overjoyed. At a depth of seventy or eighty zhang, unless Core Formation cultivators concentrated their divine sense and deliberately probed downwards, it would generally be difficult to find his existence on the ground.

With this technique, if he encountered a Core Formation opponent, his ability to hide and protect himself would undoubtedly be very powerful.

After drilling out of the ground, he began to study the incantations of the three minor spells: Earth Prison, Flying Stone, and Sandstorm.

Unlike the Earth Escape Technique and the Earth Guard Technique, these three techniques were more difficult to learn because they all had multiple effects of attack, defense, and trapping enemies. The conditions for conversion and the methods of manipulation were much more complex.

However, with the help of the Source Stone, his understanding of the incantations gradually deepened. At the same time, he often debated with the incantations of the Earth Escape Technique and the Earth Guard Technique. After seven days, he finally made inferences and mastered the three incantations.

He jumped up excitedly and ran to the other side of the cave to begin casting the three techniques of Earth Prison, Flying Stone, and Sandstorm. At first, he was still unfamiliar, either using the wrong incantation, stopping halfway, or having a technique that was estranged and without substance. After several days of practice, he finally began to get the hang of it.

In the following month, he practiced the four minor spells except for the Earth Escape Technique back and forth, gradually becoming skilled. The principles of these minor spells were all interconnected, and the understanding of one minor spell often led to the progress of other minor spells.

The harvest of minor spells, in turn, could deepen the understanding of the Eight Earth Techniques, especially the most familiar Earth Splitting Technique, which soon had new understandings. This undoubtedly further enhanced his mastery of the Earth Escape Technique. At this time, he could cast the Earth Escape Technique with ease and comfort.

When Zhang Yuanjing practiced the minor spells, the Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron had been watching from the side. At first, it was silent.

After a few days, it couldn't bear it anymore and said in an old-fashioned tone: "What's the use of practicing like this! No matter how well you practice, the power is only equivalent to a low-grade magic weapon. This old man will teach you another trick. The key to using minor spells well is to improve the grade of the Source Stone as soon as possible. Your current Source Stone is only an embryo. If it is nurtured to maturity, let's say it's first-grade, the power of the minor spells will immediately increase by 50%. It will be the same for every grade increase in the future!"

"Increase by 50% on the basis of the previous power?" Zhang Yuanjing asked in shock.

"Of course!" The Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron said sarcastically, "However, relying on the spiritual medicines cultivated from those seeds will be relatively slow to nurture. The first two grades are fine, but if you want to improve later, you will have to look for rare treasures of heaven and earth, such as Yang Yuan Stones and Yang Yuan Crystals, and the required quantity is very large! Otherwise, by the time your lifespan is exhausted, you may not be able to reach the third grade. Hmph!"

Zhang Yuanjing was stunned upon hearing this, then shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior! This junior will cultivate those seeds first."

However, he also thought that his Hou Tu Transformation Art was much more effective in cultivating spiritual plants than the Hou Tu Sect's techniques. Perhaps he could raise the Source Stone to a higher grade just by cultivating the seeds, but of course, it would take a very long time.

After being told by the Hou Tu Transformation Cauldron, Zhang Yuanjing's interest in minor spells greatly diminished, and he turned to focusing on cultivating the seeds. When he had free time, he would seize the time to refine the magic weapons he carried.

The first was naturally the two earth-attribute magic swords given as a true disciple's treatment, both of which were mid-grade magic weapons. With his current cultivation, refining mid-grade magic weapons was somewhat difficult, but it was still relatively smooth.

The second was the Orientation Disk obtained from Feng Wujiu. This object was a high-grade defensive magic weapon, and it was very difficult to refine. It took a very long time, and Zhang Yuanjing spent more than a month to initially refine it successfully. However, the effect of this object was very powerful and could play a huge role in battle.

As for the top-grade defensive magic weapon Gengjin Vitality Slip, he could only wait until his realm improved in the future.

Finally, there was a mid-grade magic weapon-level flying sword, which was also used by Feng Wujiu.