Carrying the *Mud Pill Hidden Scenery Longevity Art*, Xu Ying returned to Mount Wuwang. He entered the ascension site, cultivating while quietly studying this technique that had led Zhou Qiyun to both glory and death.
When cultivated, this technique mobilized the power of the Mud Pill secret depository and harvested qi from the Sea of Chaos, making it an unconventional method of qi refining.
However, refining Mud Pill vitality into one's physical body and soul, elevating the body to an immortal's physique and the soul to an immortal's spirit, was truly eye-opening.
The most glaring flaw left behind in the technique by the master of the Mud Pill Palace lay precisely in the immortal's soul.
A soul refined with Mud Pill vitality was incomparably powerful, yet flashy without substance.
Moreover, with a soul crammed full of so much vitality, it was like raising oneself into a plump white piglet—fed so fat, was it not just waiting for someone to slaughter and eat it?
"Almost all Nuo Masters have rather weak souls," Xu Ying pondered. "They fare well enough against fellow Nuo Masters, but when facing ghosts and deities of the Netherworld, their hands and feet are tied. Many powerful Great Nuos cannot take even a single blow from the Niu brothers' bone soul-thrashing whips. After discovering this trap, Zhou Qiyun immediately turned in other directions, attempting to refine his soul until it was unimaginably potent."
Xu Ying flipped through Zhou Qiyun's notes, which were filled with insights from his cultivation.
Among them were his reflections on refining the soul.
He had only formed his Primordial Spirit after Xu Ying passed him Granny Tuo's Immortal Scripture and the Nine Heavens Yang Spirit Mysterious Altar Technique. Before that, he had found fragments of qi refining manuals, and relying on his comprehension of those fragments alone, he had managed to cultivate his soul to a level rivaling a Primordial Spirit!
"To reach such a height with incomplete, half-baked fragments—he was truly a genius." Xu Ying couldn't help shaking his head.
In his notes, Zhou Qiyun recorded the fragment he had obtained. It contained only a few tricks regarding Primordial Spirit cultivation, leaving many things unexplained, even explaining what a Primordial Spirit was in an ambiguous, specious manner!
Clearly, this had been an incomplete theory written by a Qi Refiner who had never formed a Primordial Spirit himself, not an orthodox Primordial Spirit cultivation method.
Yet merely through this dubious fragment, Zhou Qiyun had achieved such success; one could not help but admire him.
The most outstanding part of Zhou Qiyun's notes was his blending of the Mud Pill cave-heaven and the qi refining system.
Whether it was Granny Tuo's Immortal Scripture or Nine Heavens Yang Spirit, both represented the highest insights into qi refining from ancient Qi Refiners. Merging these two manuals was difficult enough, let alone adding a technique from an entirely different cultivation system!
The approach Zhou Qiyun took was not, as Xu Ying had guessed, taking Nuo methods as the foundation and qi refining techniques as auxiliary. He reversed it, taking qi refining techniques as the foundation and Nuo methods as auxiliary.
As a Nuo Immortal, doing this meant overturning and repudiating the achievements of the first half of his life. This was extraordinarily rare, demanding immense wisdom and courage.
"His Divine Majesty opened the Crimson Palace and Jade Capital secret depositories, yet the powers of the two secret depositories conflicted. The divine Emperor was helpless, and I too mocked him for taking the wrong path. But was this path truly wrong?"
Zhou Qiyun wrote in his notes, "Not so. The world believes the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body conflict with one another, and practicing them together leads to certain death. But that is because their techniques lack a trunk to unify the six secret depositories, hence the conflict. If one can take the Realm of Xiyi as the trunk to unify every realm, the six secret depositories will be like flowers and fruit upon that trunk, free from troubles and invasion."
Xu Ying finished reading Zhou Qiyun's notes, slammed the book shut, and pondered for a long time before suddenly calling out, "Seventh Master! Seventh Master!"
Qi was breathing and cultivating the Dragon Snake Awakening Technique in the ascension site. Hearing the call, he slithered over hurriedly and said, "Ah Ying, what is it?"
Xu Ying said, "Put these volumes away. These books are a treasure trove; nothing must happen to them."
Qi opened his mouth and swallowed the volumes.
Below his neck, he was all stomach. His stomach was as long as his body, and could even stretch longer. Therefore, when Xu Ying found things inconvenient to carry, he stored them in Qi's stomach.
Qi had long refined his intestines and stomach into a magic artifact to store precious items. In the past, his ancestral Great Sun Guiding Technique had also been hidden in his stomach.
Xu Ying said to Qi, "Seventh Master, Zhou Qiyun said qi refining is like a tree, and the human body's six secret depositories are six flowers and fruits on the tree; only in this way can the six secret depositories not conflict. But this metaphor is wrong. The six secret depositories of the human body correspond to six power sources for a Qi Refiner, feeding the tree of qi refining. That is the correct way!"
Qi didn't understand, his large eyes staring blankly. He asked with a guilty conscience, "Then... what's the difference?"
Xu Ying looked him in the eyes and said earnestly, "The difference is that Zhou Qiyun used qi refining as nourishment to feed the human body's six secret depositories and strengthen the power of the secret depositories. My method is to use the human body's six secret depositories as nourishment to strengthen qi refining."
Qi understood, yet didn't completely understand. Following Xu Ying's words, he asked, "Then how do we achieve this?"
"Seventh Master, brilliant!"
Xu Ying clapped enthusiastically and paced back and forth in excitement. "Zhou Qiyun solved the problem of connecting his technique with qi refining, but because he was a Nuo Immortal himself, even though he broke past the limits of ordinary vision, his judgment was still biased! I should take the first half of the Mud Pill Hidden Scenery Longevity Art and connect it to my Taiyi Guiding Technique!"
Hearing Xu Ying praise his intelligence, Qi grew even more nervous and asked tremulously, "Ah Ying, how will you connect them?"
"Connecting two different cultivation systems—doesn't that sound incredibly complex?"
Xu Ying laughed aloud. "But as long as we treat the vitality fished from the Sea of Chaos through the Mud Pill cave-heaven as the solar essence we guide in during our cultivation, as the yuan qi of heaven and earth, don't we avoid needing to worry about how to connect them at all? Seventh Master, isn't that right?"
Qi could only widen his eyes until they were completely round, his mind completely adrift.
The giant snake extended the tip of his tail, patted Xu Ying's head, smiled with deep gratification, and encouraged, "Ah Ying, since you've found the solution, go ahead and do it boldly!"
"Mm!"
Xu Ying nodded heavily and went to attempt unifying the Mud Pill secret depository.
Niu Zhen and Niu Gan watched this, filled with utter reverence for Qi. Niu Gan said, "Our teacher's knowledge spans heaven and earth, yet even a man of such great learning must consult Seventh Master when faced with an unresolved matter."
Niu Zhen sighed with feeling. "Seventh Master is truly unfathomable."
Inwardly, Qi was murmuring anxiously, 'I was only following Ah Ying's train of thought and speaking a few polite platitudes. Ah Ying wouldn't really cultivate using that method, right? What if something goes wrong during cultivation...'
He blinked. 'Seems that would be Ah Ying's own problem anyway. He's so clever, he'll naturally resolve it. By the way, shouldn't I also open my own Mud Pill secret depository?'
His heart pounded wildly. Ever since searching for the Mud Pill secret depository in Qinyan Cave and being attacked by the gigantic subterranean creature, he hadn't thought about how to open his Mud Pill secret depository.
'Now that Xu Ying is about to solve unifying the secret depositories and qi refining, my mind can't help getting active,' he thought. 'My demon race also possesses the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body, so naturally we can also unify qi refining and secret depositories. Opening the Mud Pill now is the perfect timing! This is the great moment for the revival of my demon race!'
Full of excitement, he immediately mobilized his divine sense and entered his Realm of Xiyi. His divine sense traveled straight up, and in mere moments, he arrived at the Sea of Chaos in his brain and found his chaotic Mud Pill.
Qi was stunned. Next to his chaotic Mud Pill, a large bronze bell floated there, bobbing up and down.
"Wretched bell, when did you get here?!"
Qi was furious. He pounced forward, his divine sense tangling in a scuffle with the bronze bell. "I was wondering why I always felt like I was being drained dry these days—turns out you were up to mischief! You've been stealing my vital blood!"
"You're slandering me! I only take a sip or two each time, never more than twenty percent!"
"You sucked Ah Ying dry and then came to suck me! Wretched bell, are you planning on carrying two grandpas around with you?!"
"Pot, meet kettle! Aren't you also carrying a grandpa around, clinging to Ah Ying and gnawing on him nonstop?!"
The bronze bell was knocked out of Qi's mind, but the giant snake refused to let it go. His massive serpentine body coiled around the bronze bell and slammed it into the ground, producing loud clangs.
Having awakened his primordial bloodline and cultivated Ba Snake True Cultivation and Dragon Snake Awakening, he already possessed the image of the Great Dao. His raw strength was incomparably formidable!
Even the bronze bell felt a bit bruised from the pounding. Refusing to endure it any longer, it whistled and expanded in size, forcing open the coils. Pinning down Qi's massive head, it hammered him into the ground—once, twice—with thudding crashes!
The two brothers, Niu Zhen and Niu Gan, huddled trembling in a corner of the ascension site.
"Is Seventh Master going to get killed?" The two bulls exchanged a telepathic look. "Why isn't Teacher stopping them?"
"Lord Bell, have mercy!" Qi yelled, his head covered in swollen lumps.
"Seventh Master is truly magnanimous!" The two bulls breathed a sigh of relief, praising him in unison.
The snake and bell soon made peace.
Qi asked the bronze bell how to open the Mud Pill secret depository. The bronze bell did not withhold anything and said, "There are two ways to open the Mud Pill. First, ask an expert to open it for you, but this leaves hidden dangers; your Mud Pill cave-heaven can easily be controlled by others. Second, gather the power of your Dao images to form a divine ability, blast open the Mud Pill, and unleash the cave-heaven."
It recounted Xu Ying's process of opening the Mud Pill. Qi immediately wanted to try, saying, "I have cultivated the Dragon Snake Dao image, and my very body is an image of the Great Dao. I can open the Mud Pill on my own!"
The bronze bell said, "An exotic beast like you who has awakened a primordial bloodline has no need to cultivate Qi Refiner methods or Nuo arts. You only need to continually develop your bloodline power, elevate your bloodline purity, and unleash your species' racial traits to grow into an invincible primordial divine beast! Why work so hard?"
Qi laughed aloud. "How would that be any different from waiting around to die? Can't I have some ambition? Lord Bell, have you ever seen a primordial beast that can fly by sword control?"
The bronze bell shook its body, praising, "Originally I didn't think much of you either, but who knew you'd actually master the Sword Control Formula. Fine. Ah Ying is pondering how to unify the two cultivation systems and can't help you, so I'll protect you and help you open the Mud Pill secret depository! In the future, you, Niu Qi, will be an indomitable grandmaster of the demon race!"
Qi's beast blood surged at its words. He wished he could twist his tongue into eighteen bends and let out a mighty roar to vent his excitement. Yet a sudden thought struck him: 'If I truly become an illustrious grandmaster in demon history who carries forward the past and ushers in a new era for our demon race, and later generations of little demons hear my name, give a thumbs-up, and praise the bull demon ancestor as incredible... wouldn't I die of anger?'
He hesitated. Should he take advantage of not yet being famous to change his surname Niu?
Urged on by the bronze bell, Qi put the matter aside for now. Both of them were audacious; without Xu Ying's guidance, they began forcibly cracking open the Mud Pill secret depository.
Xu Ying organized the operational methods of the Taiyi Guiding Technique, then combed through the Mud Pill Hidden Scenery Longevity Art, cutting out the cave-heaven section and combining the two techniques into one. After verifying the deduction several times to ensure there were no major flaws, he finally attempted to run the technique.
As he circulated the Taiyi Guiding Technique, the Heavenly River within his Realm of Xiyi surged, scouring mountains and rivers. Faint thunder rumbled inside him, and a great sun rotated.
Instantly, spiritual energy from the ascension site rushed in from outside, nourishing his flesh and soul. Concurrently, longevity qi flowed in from the Mud Pill cave-heaven, blending with worldly spiritual energy to seep into his five viscera, six bowels, hair, skin, bones, marrow, and even his three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls—every part thoroughly nourished and permeated!
"So this is the true Longevity Art!"
Xu Ying sighed with emotion in his heart, two clear tears sliding down from the corners of his eyes. He murmured softly, "If Old Ancestor Zhou had comprehended this, he wouldn't have had to rush to undergo his tribulation, and wouldn't have been ambushed by the master of the Mud Pill Palace."
His physical body and soul steadily advanced. With longevity qi refining into flesh and soul, he felt the five elements balanced, yin and yang harmonized, and life and death fully illuminated; his lifespan continually climbed.
Just then, the bronze bell's panicked cry rang out: "Ah Ying! Ah Ying! Something happened to Seventh Master!"
Xu Ying abruptly stopped. The bronze bell's voice echoed from Qi's mind: "Seventh Master opened his Mud Pill, but the power behind his strike was insufficient, and his aim was off—he struck crookedly! The cave-heaven opened halfway and is showing signs of collapsing. I'm helping him suppress the backlash of chaotic qi!"
Xu Ying swiftly tapped his own forehead. His soul departed his body, darted into the back of the giant snake's head, and entered Qi's mind.
Inside, all was chaos. The Sea of Chaos churned with violent waves, and chaotic qi drifted like clouds above the sea surface.
A cave-heaven stretched like a dragon, plunging into the Sea of Chaos, thrashing wildly, impossible to stabilize.
That was precisely the cave-heaven Qi had forcibly opened!
This cave-heaven was significantly smaller than an ordinary Mud Pill cave-heaven.
It was on the verge of being assimilated by the chaos at any moment, unable to stabilize. If assimilated and the Mud Pill destroyed, the lightest outcome would be a scrambled brain, turning him into an idiot!
If severe, his head might directly vanish!
Xu Ying composed himself and surveyed the surroundings. He saw the bronze bell suppressing the cave-heaven's violent fluctuations, resisting the Sea of Chaos to prevent the cave-heaven from being assimilated.
However, even as an incomparably mighty magic artifact, it could not contest the power of the Sea of Chaos for long. Before long, it too would likely be destroyed by the Sea of Chaos!
Beside the bronze bell, half of the chaotic Mud Pill still remained upon the Sea of Chaos. It was likely because Qi's divine ability was lacking in strength that he had only cracked half of the chaotic Mud Pill, creating half a cave-heaven, which led to this catastrophe.
"Qi! Listen to me, gather your divine sense!" Xu Ying shouted. "I'll lend you a hand to open the remaining half of the Mud Pill!"
Because of the failed breakthrough, Qi's divine sense had already scattered; dazed and muddled, he couldn't hear Xu Ying's words clearly.
Xu Ying frowned, made an immediate decision, and flew his soul out, returning to his body.
Rousing all of his yuan qi, he let out a thundering shout: "Rise!"
Qi rose into the air; with tremendous magic power, Xu Ying forcibly lifted the giant snake, suspending him in midair!
Xu Ying circulated the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing. Dao sounds vibrated within his body, and the Dao sounds within Qi's body vibrated as well, involuntarily following along to execute the Eight Sounds of Primordial Nurturing!
Xu Ying channeled the Dragon Snake Awakening Technique, and Qi's body channeled it too!
Xu Ying pointed a finger toward the giant snake's brow, and Qi's tail likewise tapped against his own brow!
The man and snake's divine abilities surged, descending from beyond the heavens of the Sea of Chaos. Dragon and snake joined as one, striking heavily upon that half of the chaotic Mud Pill!
*Rumble!*
A violent tremor erupted. A second cave-heaven opened with a roar, like a giant snake churning the Sea of Chaos, plunging into the depths and stirring up storm and wave!
This cave-heaven soon resonated with the first, intertwining and merging into one—a single cave-heaven shaped like intertwined dragons and snakes, continuously drawing longevity qi from the Sea of Chaos!
The bronze bell froze in disbelief: "The stupid snake turned a disaster into a blessing..."
Chapter 90