"Hello, Mr. Chen. If it is convenient for you, the items you redeemed will be delivered to your residence in two days."
Chen Chuan said, "Deliver them to me in two days, then."
"Understood. The items will arrive in two days. Thank you for choosing the Wansong Platform. As always, we are committed to providing you with premium service to meet your every need."
Chen Chuan tapped his boundary credential and ended the call.
Cultivating the Longevity View required certain auxiliary items. Because some of them were exceedingly rare and could not simply be bought whenever desired, he had taken advantage of the time before his breath was fully mastered—knowing it would not take long—to place an advance reservation to redeem them.
He had thought he would have to wait a while longer, or perhaps search through other channels entirely. He had not expected the platform to have them in stock so soon. This allowed his original cultivation plan to proceed without a hitch.
Rising from his seat, he took the elevator down to the basement of the villa and stepped into his private meditation room. He sat cross-legged on the floor, quickly running through the method for condensing the external visage in his mind.
The external visage was the "spiritual visage." According to the technique, the spiritual visage was the visualization of the self, a visible manifestation projected from the spirit.
The scale of an external visage was largely determined by the reach of a martial artist's own field, and the external visage was ultimately formed and manifested from it. The field was the substantive realization of all of one's information and willpower. Everything nurtured within it naturally belonged to the self, making the external visage an extension of the self as well.
Yet the external visage could neither encompass nor replace the self.
The essence of the Fourth Limit lay in "Preserve the True Form, Gather the Spiritual Visage." One had to maintain a crystal-clear understanding of both: the spiritual visage was merely a tool, an avatar that could bear one's power, but it could never become the true self. Otherwise, one's very self would undergo a mutation alongside it.
Regardless of which of the three visages one pursued, this distinction between inner and outer was essential. That resolve had to be maintained from start to finish. Remaining steadfast in anchoring one's true self was the prerequisite of everything; the difference between the three visages lay solely in how they defined that "true self."
With this principle understood, the next step was the concrete method of condensing the external visage.
First, one needed to cultivate a unique organ of mutated tissue between the brows and fix the intent of a complete self within it, after which it could be projected outward from the biological field.
The point between the brows was precisely what was known as the "Heavenly Eye." He had previously used it to perceive ethereal entities and unseen realms. Later on, as his mental strength grew and enabled him to sense many unfathomable things directly, he had rarely needed to rely on it.
This Heavenly Eye was in truth a gateway connecting the virtual and the real, and the gathering of the spiritual visage began right there. Consequently, one first had to train and strengthen the mutated tissue in this location to form an independent mutated organ before anything else could follow.
For him, this step was hardly difficult at all—one might even call it effortless.
When ordinary fighters began their cultivation, they typically trained mutated tissue only in specific parts of their bodies. Chen Chuan, however, had practiced the Zhouyuan Jin technique from the very outset, which emphasized balanced development of mutated tissue throughout the entire body. As a result, his Heavenly Eye had opened long ago.
In reality, aside from fighters who specialized in this area or those born with innate mental talents, very few could possess this ability at the third limit. Many could only bring forth this particular mutated tissue after becoming martial artists.
If one fell into the latter category, embarking on the path of the Longevity View meant using specific methods to restimulate the mutated tissue, prompting it to grow and strengthen rapidly. Fortunately, for anyone capable of cultivating to the realm of a martial artist, this step posed little obstacle. Even so, if the mutated organ had existed from the beginning, growing alongside the cultivator over time, its foundation was far sturdier than anything brought about through rapid stimulation later on.
Once this foundation was established, one could consciously use the technique to guide the visualization of the self.
With that in mind...
Chen Chuan lit the relic censer beside him, closed his eyes, and gathered his intent between his brows as instructed by the technique.
The moment his intent focused there, the space between his brows gave a faint pulse.
Under his inner vision, the mutated tissue there resembled billowing clouds of mist. In truth, it was a dense cluster of microscopic mutated tissue fibers, combined with a vast concentration of mental strength gathering there to bridge the internal and external, producing shifting, indeterminate variations between substance and void.
Yet this was merely the internal state. On the outside, all that appeared was a faint red mark between his brows, virtually undetectable unless one looked closely. In the Old State Religion, this was known as the sign of "hidden spirit unrevealed." Under the focus of his concentrated intent, however, a soft, subtle radiance gradually began to emanate from it.
Thanks to his solid foundation, this stage required minimal effort. After about a day of adjustment, he had virtually completed the preliminary preparations.
Next came the formal practice of contemplation. Here, the three visages differed considerably. The Visage of the Aberrant relied on contemplation diagrams, gradually shaping the external visage to resemble the subject until inner and outer resonated, bringing forth the celestial or god depicted in the painting.
The Visage of the Divine offered the clearest distinction between the true self and the outer self. To practitioners of the Divine Visage, the external visage was merely a shell that could be replaced at any time—a temporary dwelling at best, never one with themselves. However, if their cultivation lacked depth, every change of shell incurred immense exhaustion. Only those who had truly mastered the art were free from such constraints, and at the deepest levels, condensing a tangible physical form purely through oneself was hardly difficult.
The Visage of the Human, on the other hand, typically manifested as oneself. Notably, this self was not fixed; it depended entirely on one's own perception—whatever form one believed oneself should take, that was the form it assumed.
Once mastered to an advanced realm, the manifestation of the Visage of the Human was perhaps the least constrained of all. Unlike the Visage of the Aberrant, where each distinct visage corresponded to different abilities, and unlike the Visage of the Divine, which relied on the traits of an occupied shell, the Human Visage held that through myriad shifts and transformations, I remain myself.
Though the three visages ultimately diverged in their paths, the underlying principles were interconnected, and the essence of the external visage was fundamentally identical. If one had to draw a comparison, an external visage resting within contemplation was like the insubstantial side of an entity from the other side; once projected outward, it shifted from void into reality, nothing more.
The manual purchased from the platform expounded these concepts in plain, direct language that was immediately clear. The author had clearly possessed extraordinary mastery, likely an eminent figure who had reached profound heights in cultivation.
Beyond the prerequisites mentioned above, condensing the external visage required a considerable amount of energy during cultivation to construct that external self. Once fully formed, however, utilizing it would no longer demand such massive consumption.
Chen Chuan was well prepared for this. No matter what kind of cultivation a martial artist undertook, the intake of nutrition and energy was indispensable. Although the Municipal Council was gone, the gifts from the three martial artists remained; even if he consumed them freely, they were more than enough to sustain him for over a month, to say nothing of the easily preserved foodstuffs he had brought back from the Confluence.
The energy accumulated in his body was currently sufficient. However, to increase the likelihood of success during this process, certain special medicines and substances were needed to assist the training. Some were not strictly essential, but they would certainly aid progress and shorten the time required.
Yet there was one item that was absolutely indispensable: the special substance he had reserved from the platform, known as "Six-Yang Gold." Like pure substance, this material originated from the world on the other side. According to the technique, an ordinary martial artist usually needed only one or two pieces to complete the cultivation of the Longevity View.
A single piece cost two platform coins, but there was a restriction: a customer could redeem at most two portions through the platform.
Chen Chuan was not worried that the platform would deduce his cultivation progress from this purchase. Based on precedent, these materials were simply first come, first served. If stock ran out, one had to wait, so securing them early was always advantageous—a choice many martial artists made. Since he had already redeemed the cultivation method for the Longevity View, acquiring this material alongside it was entirely natural.
Even so, he suspected two portions might not be enough for him. Since he had no clear measure of how potent it would be, his only option was to test its effects first and see how large the deficit remained.
Because the delivery was not scheduled until the following day, he paused his cultivation for the time being to attend to other matters.
By noon the next day, the platform's delivery finally arrived. After signing for it, Chen Chuan returned to the meditation room and opened the parcel. Inside lay an exquisite jade box, accompanied by complementary incense and medicinal herbs designed to calm the mind during cultivation.
He opened the box to reveal an amber-like crystal shimmering with a golden-yellow luster. Tapping it lightly with a finger produced a crisp chime. He held it in his hand and applied pressure, finding that it showed no deformation or cracking whatsoever.
The substance was extraordinarily sturdy—practically indestructible. Yet it possessed a distinct trait: mental strength could easily erode it. Before cultivating, he had to use his mental strength to melt and refine it, absorbing it between his brows, and then follow the guidance of the technique to construct his spiritual visage bit by bit.
Not wishing to waste any time, he settled into his seat, lit the censer, and fixed his gaze upon the object.
As his mental strength enveloped it, the seemingly unyielding mineral instantly began to dissolve into wisps of golden vapor that drifted upward, blending into his mental energy before drawing back between his brows.
In that moment, an impression washed over him: it felt as though the material itself was condensed from the purest form of spirit. Given that it hailed from the other side, such a conjecture was far from impossible.
He spent over an hour fully refining this first piece of Six-Yang Gold before moving on to the second.
Yet the outcome he had anticipated soon materialized. For him, these two pieces alone were a drop in the ocean, nowhere near enough to construct a complete spiritual visage.
After all, the standards set in the manual were tailored to ordinary martial artists. He was different from them, and the materials he required would inevitably far exceed what was normal.
Where, then, was he to find more of this substance?
Chapter 934