The Secret of the Immortal Race's Longevity

Back at the research institute, Su Yu had no idea what Zhu Tiandao was planning. At that moment, Su Yu was occupied verifying the primordial spirit aperture while also testing other cultivation methods. When dead silence fell over the night, he drew upon vast amounts of Heaven Yuan Qi to continuously cast his physical body. To keep the Heaven Yuan Qi from leaking, he layered shadow barriers one over another until they completely blanketed the private chamber. He had essentially turned the chamber into a miniature sacred land of Heaven Yuan Qi. By now, Su Yu already possessed several tier-three divine characters. His "Blood," "Thunder," and "Shadow" characters had all reached tier three, while his willpower was at the advanced second tier. Su Yu still had to keep absorbing willpower to raise his cultivation and expand his divine apertures... He had far too much on his plate. Even if he didn't work twenty-four hours straight, he caught three or four hours of sleep in an entire day at most. It was exhausting, but deeply fulfilling. Researching by day, cultivating by night, and sleeping for a short spell around dawn. Such was Su Yu's daily routine. *** While Su Yu kept busy, everyone else had their hands full as well. There were no idlers in the research institute. Even Wu Lan, over the past few days, spent her time assisting the elderly researchers whenever she wasn't gathering materials. When it came to acquiring knowledge, self-study was never as easy as learning from a teacher. Inside the laboratory. The only female teacher, Kong Yuxian, was currently instructing Wu Lan on how to extract willpower. As fragment after fragment of texts of will were extracted by her hands, Kong Yuxian guided her with a smile. "Yuan Qi can be refined into Yuan Qi liquid, which is why physical cultivation is far simpler for warriors than it is for us. Willpower, on the other hand, is exceedingly difficult to cultivate. "Long ago, people tried to extract a condensed essence liquid from willpower, but none ever succeeded. Only later, after Heavenly River Sand was discovered in Xingyu Mansion, did we acquire the technical means to do so. Yet Heavenly River Sand is simply too scarce!" Wu Lan nodded. "I know. Back in Great Xia Prefecture, our academy consumed a vast quantity of Heavenly River Sand just to open the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm once. Ordinary people can't do anything even if they have money, because there's simply no Heavenly River Sand available for extraction." "Exactly!" Kong Yuxian nodded, then smiled. "Aside from Heavenly River Sand, are there any other means to purify willpower?" Wu Lan pondered for a moment. "Divine characters?" "Correct!" Kong Yuxian chuckled. "Many people forget the fundamental truth. Whether it's the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm or the Hundred Dao Pavilion, why can they provide such vast quantities of pure willpower? Because at their core, they are both linked to divine characters! The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm was left behind by Great Xia's first head, Xia Chen. In truth, it is a mystic realm constructed from multiple divine characters—his divine character battle technique from years past... "Xia Chen was most famous for his profound, immensely formidable willpower. In the multiple divine character faction, aside from Su Yu, everyone else consumes massive amounts of willpower. They are formidable in combat, but lack endurance. Yet Xia Chen could battle powerful enemies for an entire day back in his prime..." Kong Yuxian smiled and added, "Xia Chen also took part in constructing the Hundred Dao Pavilion. Inside it, he established a system of divine characters specifically dedicated to extracting and purifying willpower." She continued, "These days, everyone else has their own tasks, while the two of us don't have much to do. Merging divine apertures and deducing cultivation arts are specialties of Wen Zhong and the others. As for us... we don't have much technical expertise in those areas. My specialty is extracting willpower..." Wu Lan nodded repeatedly. "You were the very founder in the Human Realm who discovered the purpose of Heavenly River Sand, Senior Sister. Even the pure willpower laboratories established by certain clans today are based on concepts you put forward..." "Don't call me Teacher, call me Senior Sister. Don't you call Wen Zhong and the others Senior Brother?" Kong Yuxian laughed, then quickly said, "You traveled thousands of li to come to Great Ming Prefecture. I doubt you came just to be a vase. If your role is limited to simple data collection, then the day Su Yu builds a complete database, you will lose all value and purpose!" Wu Lan puffed out her cheeks and remained silent. Kong Yuxian smiled. "Having stepped onto the path of cultivation and chosen the way of the Civilization Master, even if our combat strength isn't enough, we must make people realize that our value is irreplaceable! There are so many Soaring and Lingyun experts in the academy, yet why did Su Yu invite only us into the laboratory and not anyone else? The Warrior College has so many powerhouses; why didn't he seek out warriors? Because Civilization Masters have unique traits and specialties. "Is combat strength the sole criterion? "If it were, Civilization Masters would have been phased out long ago. Nurturing a Civilization Master is vastly more difficult than nurturing a warrior." Wu Lan nodded. Kong Yuxian continued, "Since there isn't much to do lately, let me share my primary research projects from the past several decades: the extraction and purification of willpower, the origins of willpower, the fragmentation processing of texts of will... "Furthermore, the restoration of divine characters, and even... the destruction and simulation of the sea of will!" Wu Lan's eyes went wide. She had researched that much? Kong Yuxian chuckled. "I've lived a long time and conducted extensive research in these areas. In my younger days, I visited the Quest Realm, Great Zhou Prefecture, and Great Han Prefecture for academic exchanges. "Today, I mainly want to discuss willpower extraction with you..." Kong Yuxian took a deep breath. "Things were fine before, but following the spread of Su Yu's Primordial Spirit Cultural Art, what is the greatest bottleneck everyone faces right now?" Wu Lan answered without hesitation, "Insufficient willpower. People can't open apertures. Relying on absorbing texts of will is far too expensive, and the willpower isn't pure enough." She knew this from personal experience. She was one of the victims! Even as a scion of a prominent clan, she was finding it difficult to sustain her cultivation and couldn't open divine apertures rapidly. One could easily imagine that everyone else was currently facing the exact same problem. A massive bottleneck! A lack of willpower, specifically pure willpower! Extracting willpower required Heavenly River Sand, which was extraordinarily rare. Kong Yuxian nodded. "Therefore, in this era, whoever solves this problem will have no trouble making a fortune, winning renown, and strengthening themselves!" Wu Lan nodded vigorously. "I understand, but... Senior Sister, I haven't done much research in this area, and I don't really know how. Are you saying I should work on this research with you?" "Yes!" Kong Yuxian smiled. "In truth, I already have some ideas, but I need your help." "Me?" Wu Lan was surprised. What could she possibly help with? She didn't know the first thing about it! "Go to Su Yu!" Kong Yuxian said with a smile, "There are certain things that aren't proper for me to ask him directly, but you can approach him for help. I need him to provide a complete divine character battle technique that possesses filtering properties. You haven't reached the Soaring Realm yet, so I want you to outline it." Kong Yuxian said seriously, "The Multiple Divine Characters Battle Technique Steles in other academies don't contain many complete battle techniques. But the one from Great Xia Academy possesses a vast array of battle technique templates. Right now, I want you to outline this template—the exact template I need." She added with absolute solemnity, "Of course, this will come at a considerable cost! Many Civilization Masters pursue the multiple divine character path for sheer combat prowess. They prefer to outline battle techniques with immense offensive power—swords, blades, and various weapons. Su Yu is no exception. "However, I want you to outline a divine character battle technique possessing purifying, extracting, and filtering properties. If you can outline the battle technique that Xia Chen used back then, that would be ideal! "Yet doing so may come at the expense of your future combat strength! "Xia Chen, the founder of the multiple divine character faction, was a peer of King Daxia who also received an ancient ruin's inheritance. If he hadn't walked the multiple divine character path, or if he hadn't focused on enhancing the sea of consciousness, he might still be alive today as an Invincible expert, or have achieved even more than the fifth head! "Xia Chen possessed astonishing talent, but he sacrificed far too much for the multiple divine character faction and ultimately perished on the All-Heavens Battlefield. And now, I want you to outline that very template..." Wu Lan blinked. "A divine character battle technique? Learn it from Su Yu?" "Yes. The Multiple Divine Characters Battle Technique Stele should be in his hands." Kong Yuxian smiled. "Everyone has guessed as much, though no one says it aloud. You can go give it a try. If you outline such a battle technique, your future path will be largely set. You will essentially become a support-type practitioner within the multiple divine character faction." A multiple divine character practitioner whose focus was not offensive combat was typically looked down upon within the faction. This was a major decision that would define her entire future! "Senior Sister, even if I outline such a battle technique, I won't be able to make that big of an impact on the entire human race, will I?" "Silly girl!" Kong Yuxian laughed. "If you can become a mobile Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm just like the first head, everyone will need you in the days to come as the cultural art spreads. The entire Civilization Master domain will depend on you!" Kong Yuxian's eyes grew deep. "Child, the future may be an age of turmoil! In times of chaos, if you lack sufficient strength to protect yourself, you can only become cannon fodder or a burden. But if you can provide sufficient, pure willpower for others, you will be an honored guest to countless powerhouses." Wu Lan nodded, then murmured after a pause, "I could also become a prisoner—captured and forced to work for them!" Kong Yuxian chuckled. "That is a possibility, provided the situation deteriorates to an extreme degree. Even then, you would have the ability to preserve your life; no one would be willing to kill you. You wouldn't be a burden. If you're fortunate, you might win the loyalty of a group of experts, or have powerful cultivators willing to escort and protect you. The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm is actually more precious than a Yuan Qi mystic realm. You were at Great Xia Civilization Academy; you should understand that if the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm could be opened year-round, which one would people prefer to visit?" "The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm!" "Exactly!" Kong Yuxian nodded. "Besides, being on the weaker side among the multiple divine character faction doesn't mean you will truly be weak. This is your chance. Xia Chen climbed all ninety-nine floors of the Hundred Dao Pavilion—was he weak? Not in the slightest. It's only because he was the founder and wasn't quite as dazzling as the fifth head that he seemed weaker by comparison. In reality, he was terrifyingly powerful, on par with someone like Zhou Polong today. "If you keep going as you are, advancing will be difficult. You have hope of reaching Lingyun or even Shanhai, but taking another step beyond that will be nearly impossible! "Only by seizing this opportunity can you change that. If you can extract willpower for others, you will receive massive quantities of texts of will and abundant resources. As the extractor, if you return fifty percent out of every hundred, people will be thrilled. The rest will become resources to strengthen yourself!" Kong Yuxian said gently, "Child, I missed such an opportunity in my youth, and I drifted further and further apart from certain people. Now, I hope you won't miss yours. Even if your strength isn't top-tier, you can play a vital role, making them understand that they need you, that he needs you, that everyone needs you." Wu Lan fell into deep thought. After a long while, she nodded and said with utter seriousness, "I understand! Senior Sister, what you mean is that the bastard Su Yu is getting ready to kick me aside and burn the bridge after crossing, right?" "..." Kong Yuxian felt a wave of exhaustion. Was that really what she meant? Fine! If you want to think that way, so be it. I was thinking you chased him all the way to Great Ming Prefecture—could it really just be for research? Didn't you come here chasing after Su Yu? Did you completely miss the underlying point? If Su Yu doesn't die, he is destined to become a powerhouse, and not just any powerhouse, but a legendary figure. What about you? A minor genius at the Character Nurturing stage. As for research talent... you were decent back in Great Xia, but here in Great Ming, you are truly ordinary. How could someone like you avoid being phased out and forgotten? You have to make yourself indispensable! You can't match Su Yu in combat strength, but even if Su Yu seems omnipotent, can he extract willpower right now? Does he have enough willpower to burn through? How does he nurture divine characters and raise his willpower? By slaying Sun-Moon Realm experts and shattering their divine characters! By freeloading off the Hundred Dao Pavilion and the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm! None of those are long-term solutions. Once Wu Lan possessed the ability to extract and purify willpower, her importance would become irreplaceable. Even if Su Yu became an Invincible expert, he would still need willpower to advance. Wu Lan asked curiously, "Senior Sister, can't you extract willpower yourself?" "I cannot. I must rely on Heavenly River Sand, and I don't belong to the multiple divine character faction. Individual divine characters combined together cannot accomplish this task." Kong Yuxian explained, "Furthermore, this requires Su Yu's cooperation. A divine character battle technique isn't something you can pick at whim, especially powerful templates, which are extraordinarily rare! They were all imprinted by top powerhouses in the past. Today, Su Yu is probably the only one who holds that template left behind by Xia Chen. Once a template is imprinted, it disappears; another powerhouse must cultivate it to a certain stage and imprint it anew for it to be passed down. "The Multiple Divine Characters Battle Technique Stele is in Su Yu's hands. He might have a way to let you inherit Xia Chen's template. I have some understanding of Su Yu's character; if you go ask him, your chances of receiving it aren't small." As for anyone else... they were dreaming. Su Yu hadn't even mentioned the battle technique stele. Evidently, Su Yu had no interest in propagating the multiple divine character faction here right now. The stele was a precious treasure, but also a consumable. As the experts of the faction gradually withered away and died, many hadn't had the time to imprint their battle techniques, leaving shockingly few templates in the steles across the various academies. In some places, the steles were practically spent. Only Great Xia Prefecture, the cradle of the faction, had produced so many multiple divine character experts in the past, allowing countless templates to be preserved. Without such a stele, one had to rely entirely on innate talent, strength, and fortune to outline a battle technique independently. The difficulty was immense! Even Xia Chen and the other pioneers had outlined theirs back then because of the ancient ruins. The battle technique stele of Great Xia Prefecture had originally been retrieved from a ruin, already containing pre-existing structures. It was a relic of ancient ruins, whereas those in other academies had been forged later. During the struggle for the head of the Library Pavilion in Great Xia Civilization Academy, no one openly mentioned this item, but in truth, many eyes had been fixed on it! Certain powerhouses had likely nurtured multiple divine character cultivators in secret and desperately needed the stele. Chen Yong had guarded the Library Pavilion for decades primarily to protect that very treasure. Now Chen Yong had departed, claiming the item had been lost decades ago—a story no one truly believed. If it wasn't in Chen Yong's hands, it was in Su Yu's. And most likely, it was with Su Yu! With Hong Tan exiting seclusion to establish the Divine Character Academy, rumors had spread over the past few days that Hong Tan had gone to Jiutian Academy to borrow their battle technique stele. That alone confirmed to everyone that the original stele was no longer in Great Xia! Without a battle technique stele, Hong Tan had no way to properly establish the Multiple Divine Characters Academy. Kong Yuxian had only suggested Wu Lan try her luck after hearing this news and confirming the stele was in Su Yu's possession. *** Mid-March. The long-awaited immortal race blood essence was secretly transported into Great Ming Prefecture. Delivered directly from a mystic realm, Great Qin Prefecture's actions against the immortal race were carried out strictly in the shadows rather than in the open. If exposed, this would cause even more trouble than slaying members of neutral races, potentially handing the immortal race an excuse to act against humanity. As the immortal race grew in power while the gods, demons, and humans suffered heavy losses from constant warfare, the immortals had emerged as the preeminent force on the All-Heavens Battlefield. The gods and demons had ceased their relentless assaults on humanity partly to guard against the expanding immortal race. One could not recklessly slay immortals; even if one did, it had to remain an absolute secret. The delivery was personally brought by a Sun-Moon Realm powerhouse from Great Qin Prefecture and handed to Zhu Tiandao. Zhu Tiandao then delivered it to the academy himself, keeping it away from any intermediaries. Such an item could not be made known to too many people. At the research institute, Su Yu had just seen Zhu Tiandao off and was preparing to head into the private chamber to test it out with great excitement when Wu Lan approached him and said earnestly, "I want to learn a divine character battle technique—the kind the first head had. Can I learn it?" "A divine character battle technique?" Su Yu was slightly taken aback. You really want to learn a divine character battle technique? That was exceptionally difficult! Besides, he knew a fair bit about the first head. In the multiple divine character faction, the strongest was the fifth head, who had outlined twenty-two divine characters. Next was the first head, who had outlined twenty divine characters. Then came Liu Wenyan with eighteen divine characters. As for the third head, who had left behind the Battle Demon Field, he seemed to have outlined sixteen, or perhaps eighteen divine characters—the third head had been relatively low-key, unlike the flamboyant fifth head. "Why do you want to learn the first head's technique? If you really want to learn one, pick something suitable for you, like one with ten divine characters..." "Are you looking down on me?" Wu Lan was displeased! Su Yu thought about it and nodded. Yes, I am looking down on you. If you want to learn the first head's battle technique, I really do look down on you. Honestly speaking, with twenty divine characters, you might never enter the Soaring Realm in your entire life without the disassembly art. Even with the disassembly art, outlining twenty divine characters would take years of study and effort. By the time you finish your battle technique, you'll be old. Besides, it wasn't as if you could learn whatever you wanted just because you wished to. Su Yu hadn't spent much time studying that battle technique stele, but he had outlined one from it before. Choosing a powerful battle technique was extremely difficult. You had to search for it within that illusory void; even if you found it, the technique might not acknowledge or match you. The difficulty was astronomical! Wu Lan sulked, looking as though she wanted to hit someone. After a long pause, she muttered, "I want to learn it. If I master it, I might be able to extract willpower. When that happens, I'll be a grandmaster revered by tens of thousands!" "Extract willpower..." Su Yu paused, having momentarily forgotten about that. To be fair, extracting willpower was indeed a major hurdle. Su Yu had practically given up on it! His current plan was either to freeload off the Hundred Dao Pavilion, head to Xingyu Mansion on the All-Heavens Battlefield to bring back heaps of Heavenly River Sand and extract willpower using text fragments, or simply borrow the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm in Great Xia Prefecture. The Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm was essentially a complete system of divine characters capable of filtering, storing, and gathering willpower. Otherwise, relying solely on burning that tiny bit of Heavenly River Sand would make it nearly impossible to extract enough willpower to sustain dozens of people's cultivation. Su Yu rubbed his chin. "What made you think of this?" "Senior Sister Kong said you're planning to kick me out. Isn't that right? I need to build some leverage so you can't get rid of me! The aperture-merging method hasn't been researched yet, and you promised to name it after me. Are you trying to back out of your word?" Kick you out? Su Yu was speechless. When had he ever thought of that? You dreamed that up all on your own! No, Senior Sister Kong dreamed it up! Women, indeed—no matter how old they got, they loved to let their imaginations run wild. When had he ever shown any such intention? Still busy with extracting the immortal race blood essence, Su Yu didn't have time to waste on chatter. He quickly said, "How about this: once I'm done with my business, I'll look into it. But frankly speaking, the difficulty is enormous. First, you might not even be able to capture that template! "Second, even if you capture it, outlining twenty divine characters when you only have a few right now will be even harder! "Third, I'm not even sure if that template is still in the stele. When I outlined mine back then, I didn't notice any technique with that many base points. Even with my talent, I didn't attract it... so for you, it'll be immensely difficult!" It was the honest truth, but women never liked hearing the truth. Wu Lan glared at him furiously, her nose pointed high in the air! "I am very talented!" Making one final struggle, she insisted that her talent was formidable. Su Yu chuckled. "Fine, you're very talented. Honestly, if you truly can inherit the first head's battle technique and accomplish willpower extraction, you'll be incredible. That would be even more sought-after than alchemists, formation masters, beast tamers, or divine talisman masters. In my eyes, you could be called a Catalyst Master..." "A Catalyst Master?" "Yeah! You'd catalyze the growth and development of Civilization Masters, helping them mature much faster. Paired with my cultural art, it would be extraordinary. Rapidly opening seventy-two divine apertures and advancing to the Soaring and Lingyun Realms—wouldn't that be insane? What used to take years to open seventy-two divine apertures could take just a few months. People would go wild!" It really could be done in months! Back then, how many divine apertures had Su Yu opened inside the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm? What about others? Xia Huyou, for example, had opened plenty of divine apertures in there. Opening apertures during Character Nurturing was inherently easier; even Zhang Hao had opened several after Su Yu gave him the methods. With sufficient willpower, opening divine apertures wasn't particularly difficult—it just cost an enormous amount of money. "Catalyst Master?" Wu Lan murmured the title. It sounded a bit odd, but Su Yu was right. Unlike the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm, whose master was dead and could no longer actively extract willpower, she was alive! Wouldn't that make her the very first Catalyst Master in the Human Realm? "I still want to try..." Su Yu smiled. "Fine, I'll look into it later and see if there's a solution. But... don't hold your hopes too high. The only reason the first head isn't revered as a saint today is that he died too early! Otherwise, living in this era, he would be a living saint! Countless prominent clans would come begging at his doorstep to continuously produce Lingyun Civilization Masters. What a pity. Still, the Sea of Consciousness Mystic Realm he left behind has become a supreme treasure. During the next trip to Xingyu Mansion, Great Xia Prefecture will probably spare no effort to secure Heavenly River Sand." With that item, it became a super-accelerator. Great Xia Prefecture would likely deploy a vast number of geniuses and experts for the next journey to Xingyu Mansion—Huang Teng, Xia Yuwen, Wu Qi, Liu Hong, Hu Wensheng, and the like would all probably participate. At that thought, Su Yu felt a tinge of regret; Great Xia Prefecture truly possessed an abundance of geniuses. As for Great Ming Prefecture... Su Yu had met several of the so-called Eight Steeds of Tiandu, and even a fellow like Bai Junsheng was counted among them. Su Yu felt he could slap him to death with a single strike, and Xia Yuwen and his peers could do the same without breaking a sweat! With that standard, how could they compete against Great Xia Prefecture? No wonder Great Ming Prefecture showed little enthusiasm whenever the journey to Xingyu Mansion was mentioned; hardly anyone in the academy brought it up, whereas in Great Xia, the contest for slots had begun long ago. Going there would most likely mean courting death anyway. By then, geniuses from all races across the heavens would gather. Wu Lan declared spiritedly, "Then I will be the next saint!" "..." You certainly don't lack confidence! Su Yu was also reminded of his own battle technique. It contained a staggering ninety-nine divine characters; did that include filtering and extracting properties? Right now, he lacked neither Yuan Qi nor Heaven Yuan Qi. The only thing he truly lacked was willpower. He lacked it, the little fur ball lacked it—everyone lacked it. Advancing as a Civilization Master was genuinely difficult. It seemed simple—just open seventy-two divine apertures and nurture your divine characters—yet Civilization Masters were starved of these vital cultivation resources! Wu Lan's words reminded Su Yu that he might want to give it a try himself. He still had ten Invincible manuscripts he hadn't read yet. Later on, he would see if he could outline the divine characters he needed to achieve willpower extraction. Divine characters outlined from Invincible manuscripts should quickly reach tier two or tier three, right? At present, he possessed only seventeen divine characters. To stay ahead of others and fight above his realm on the path of a Civilization Master, he still had to rely on his divine character battle technique. If he truly outlined a battle technique with ninety-nine divine characters, beating Civilization Masters of the same tier would be as easy as disciplining children! Bai Feng had used only a dozen divine characters to slay Hu Wensheng with a single sword strike. While Su Yu's mind wandered, Wu Lan didn't care about his thoughts and said excitedly, "Once you're done, let me try! I know I can do it! When I succeed, you'll be begging me too, pleading for me to supply you with willpower! Let's see if you can still act so arrogant!" When was I ever arrogant? Su Yu felt deeply exasperated. I'm not arrogant at all, all right? Women, humph! Utterly unreasonable! *** Paying Wu Lan no further mind, Su Yu quickly entered the private chamber. He took out a vial. Immortal Qi swirled around it, faintly laced with lingering resentment. This time, it wasn't a corpse, but blood essence. Slaying an immortal required destroying the corpse to erase all traces; carrying a body around would invite immense trouble if discovered. Ten drops of blood essence! All from the Soaring Realm, and seemingly from the exact same immortal. "Did he kill an immortal fairy?" Su Yu grinned. Qin Zhen, the Manor Lord of Great Qin Prefecture, seemed to have a penchant for slaying immortal fairies. He wondered if this one had been a fairy. For a young fairy to be killed like that—the people of Great Qin Prefecture were truly ruthless. Su Yu could practically imagine a whole drama unfolding! Pushing the thought aside, it was merely Soaring Realm blood essence; no matter how potent, Su Yu could absorb it. He took out a drop and swallowed it! The next instant, the album in his mind flashed with radiant light. The pages flipped rapidly! Sure enough, he had been killed by an immortal fairy in his dreams before, so there was no need for sympathy. Moments later, the album settled on a page. The page unlocked! The Immortal language was a fundamental required language, which Su Yu already knew, so reading it presented no difficulty whatsoever. "Immortal Race (Soaring Ninth Layer): Racial Skills: Immortal Power Vesting (Activated by Blood Essence), Vitality Stimulation (Activated by Blood Essence), Flesh Regeneration (Activated by Blood Essence) Basic Yuan Art: Immortal Yuan Art (Activated by Blood Essence) Basic Body Tempering Method: Thirty-Six Heavenly Immortal Casts (Activated by Blood Essence)" This time, Su Yu didn't look at anything else. Instead, he pondered a question: he hadn't paid much attention to "basic Yuan art" and "basic body tempering method" before, but now he wondered—if these were "basic," did that mean non-basic versions existed? Moreover, the immortal race's racial skills were rather peculiar. Immortal Power Vesting seemed to be an offensive skill. As for the other two, why did both feel like life-saving abilities? Did the immortal race possess extraordinarily powerful survival capabilities? "Vitality Stimulation and Flesh Regeneration... can these two be considered longevity-extending arts?" Su Yu tapped his thigh lightly. Whatever, he would know once he tried! Flesh Regeneration seemed more suited for healing injuries. Could Vitality Stimulation be for extending lifespan? How did it stimulate the body's latent vitality? Furthermore, regarding the immortal race's Immortal Yuan Art, Su Yu wondered: could it open the Sky-Piercing Aperture? If so, when an immortal fairy fought... tsk tsk, spewing Yuan Qi from her rear! Surely not? He had never heard of such a thing. Did they not use that aperture during battle? He couldn't think about it; the moment he did, all mystique surrounding immortal fairies evaporated completely. Amusing himself with these thoughts, Su Yu began testing the racial skills, the body tempering method, and the basic Yuan art. Another question crossed his mind: the arts he had obtained from several races were all basic Yuan arts. Aside from the Five Elements races, he had never obtained a basic cultural art. "Is it because they walk different paths, so the imprints contained in their blood essence differ? Does that mean I have to kill several Civilization Masters to obtain their basic cultural arts?" He suspected that all the blood essence he had acquired so far belonged to warriors. Across the various races, Civilization Masters were mostly stationed in the rear. They were extremely difficult to kill! If he killed a Civilization Master, would the reward change, granting their basic cultural art instead of a basic Yuan art? Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Su Yu quickly suppressed them all. He activated Vitality Stimulation. The next instant, several apertures linked together. In the blink of an eye, a vast wave of vitality spilled from those apertures. It was difficult to describe the sensation; he simply felt clear-headed, refreshed, and brimming with vitality, as though he were floating on air! "The immortal race... truly lives up to its name!" Su Yu marveled. At this moment, he felt as though he were about to ascend to immortality! Floating upward! Pure bliss! Drawing the Heaven Yuan Qi from the chamber to provide himself with vitality... Heaven Yuan Qi... vitality? Su Yu froze slightly. When the immortal race used this racial skill, did they have to draw upon Heaven Yuan Qi? Or would any Yuan Qi do? If it required Heaven Yuan Qi for conversion, then this cultivation method wouldn't be very widely applicable! "Wait, I can extract Heaven Yuan Qi. If it can only use Heaven Yuan Qi... then... my leverage will be even greater..." Su Yu's eyes gleamed. If it could only convert Heaven Yuan Qi into vitality, then unless those people cultivated in places rich with Heaven Yuan Qi, they would have to rely on Heaven Yuan Fruits—or on Su Yu to provide it all. That would deepen their dependence on him even further. "It's not that I want to hoard this. If vitality can only be converted through Heaven Yuan Qi... that's just fate." He muttered to himself. Besides, I'm not the only one who has Heaven Yuan Qi; people can just buy more Heaven Yuan Fruits. They don't necessarily have to beg me, right? With these thoughts, Su Yu continued to test and experience the effect. Did Vitality Stimulation only have this effect? Nothing else? What was the point of merely stimulating vitality? Young people didn't lack vitality in the first place. Gradually, Su Yu noticed something different. As his vitality surged, his physical body seemed far more vibrant. Su Yu had a sudden realization and began absorbing Heaven Yuan Qi to cast his body. The moment he began, he felt another difference! His body casting speed had accelerated! His physical body felt as though it had returned to childhood—back to the pristine, untainted state inside his mother's womb. Now, in contact with Heaven Yuan Qi, it absorbed it with vastly greater ease! Su Yu's gaze shifted. This racial skill wasn't meant merely for stimulating vitality. It was an extraordinarily potent ability that returned a person to their nascent, fetal state, bursting with vitality and achieving far greater affinity with Heaven Yuan Qi! "So that's how it is!" "In other words, members of the immortal race who possess this skill might be able to complete their body casting at a very young age—all thirty-six casts! Does that mean... the immortal race might have even more geniuses than the gods and demons?" "No, wait... this situation means that the old fogies of the immortal race might be able to convert Heaven Yuan Qi to rejuvenate themselves, stave off aging, and preserve their combat strength! "Even at an advanced age, they could still retain terrifying combat power!" Su Yu felt a jolt of shock. Many implications unfolded from this. The crucial point was that the immortal race... might possess a whole host of ancient monsters, not just one or two, so long as their Immortal Realm had enough Heaven Yuan Qi! Su Yu licked his lips. It was highly likely! Did the human powerhouses know? Did the gods and demons know? They probably did! Centuries ago, when King Daqin and the others infiltrated the Immortal Realm to investigate, it had likely been because they discovered something. The reason the gods and demons refrained from launching large-scale assaults on humanity was probably to keep the immortal race in check. "Immortals, gods, demons, humans..." The four major races occupied the four main war zones of the All-Heavens Battlefield. Humanity was likely the weakest; the gods and demons were evenly matched; and the immortals might truly be the strongest! Yet the immortal race probably couldn't withstand an alliance between the gods and demons. Therefore, they needed to pull humanity toward them. An alliance between humans and immortals could roughly suppress the gods and demons... Su Yu licked his lips. Sometimes, a single cultivation art or racial skill could reveal and confirm a wealth of information! King Daqin and the other venerables likely knew a great deal, which was why they remained exceedingly vigilant and wary toward the immortal race. "King Daqin and the others seized Heaven Yuan Fruit Trees. Heaven Yuan Fruit Trees must grow in sacred lands of Heaven Yuan Qi, and the immortal race's Vitality Stimulation requires Heaven Yuan Qi to convert into vitality. That means... there must be ancient monsters stationed in those sacred lands. "Seizing the Heaven Yuan Fruit Trees was incidental. More importantly, they were scouting out the truth, assessing the strength and numbers of those ancient monsters, and merely dug up a few trees on their way back!" Su Yu had previously wondered why several peerless powerhouses would venture deep into the Immortal Realm just to dig up a few trees. It had seemed excessive! Now, deducing in reverse, he instantly understood King Daqin and his companions' true intent. They had been probing! "Sure enough, they already knew." Su Yu felt somewhat relieved. Invincible experts were Invincible experts after all; it seemed they knew what they were doing, so there was no need for him to warn them. The gods and demons were slicing with a dull blade probably for the exact same reason—they didn't want to suffer heavy losses fighting humanity only to let the immortals reap the benefits. The more he learned and uncovered, the more precise Su Yu's grasp of the grand landscape became. At that moment, Su Yu realized an awkward truth! Damn it, he finally understood the purpose of the Sky-Piercing Aperture! It expelled impurities, waste, stagnant gas, and residual blood from the human body... "So that's how it's used! Combined with the racial skill, it's specifically designed to purge unwanted waste and prolong life. No wonder it isn't used in combat—it's meant strictly for closed-door cultivation!" The secret of the immortal race's longevity had been laid bare before Su Yu. He envisioned the immortal race's sacred lands of Heaven Yuan Qi, where crowds of ancient monsters probably sat every day, continuously puffing and releasing gas to purge impurities! Su Yu grimaced. It was probably best not to consume the immortal race's Heaven Yuan Fruits... they might carry an odor. Right now, he was also puffing and expelling impurities, his physical body growing increasingly formidable and refined.