Chapter 879
The Path of Trials Begins
The two choices facing Song Changshou each had their own advantages and disadvantages.
Although Song Changsheng said that as long as the integration is done well, it will be no different from the one he reconstructed, the appearance will inevitably show signs of rejection as the realm improves, although it will not be as severe as possession.
The most crucial point is that the upper limit of this spiritual body is almost fixed. No matter how hard he tries in the future, he will never be able to surpass the achievements of the Reincarnation True Monarch in his lifetime.
In contrast, a body reconstructed by oneself would not have these problems.
The body reshaped by the [Shangqing Body Shaping Pill] will draw in the pure energy of heaven and earth during the shaping process, resulting in a body that is inherently pure with all meridians open.
Normal people, except for those with exceptional talent, all have a lot of "impurities" and turbidity in their bodies, which increases with the air they breathe, food they eat, and water they drink. This is the main reason why it is increasingly difficult to embark on the path to immortality as one gets older.
During cultivation, each leap in life level will expel a large amount of impurities from the body. In addition, by fasting or consuming spiritual food, the impurities in a cultivator's body will become less and less.
After breaking through the Purple Mansion stage, one is already infinitely close to the Immaculate Body. When the level of life leaps again, the impurities discharged are so subtle that they are imperceptible.
Once a cultivator reaches this stage, their body has transcended the "mortal body" stage and can be called a "spiritual body." Even a single hair has value, let alone flesh and bones.
The realm that usually requires breaking through to the Golden Core stage can be reached directly with the [Shangqing Body Shaping Pill].
Of course, it's not like you can instantly transform your body just by consuming this pill. The process requires a large amount of rare and precious materials, including the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The consumption is no less than that of cultivating a Golden Core cultivator, and in some aspects, it is even more.
Its upper limit is naturally incomparable to the spiritual body of the Reincarnation True Lord.
The downside is that the starting point is relatively low. At the beginning, the realm is only at the Purple Mansion level, and it is empty realm without cultivation. You need to start cultivating from scratch. Although it is much faster than conventional cultivation, the time cost is still visible to the naked eye.
Breaking through to the Golden Core stage is an unknown.
If he were to merge with the spirit body of the Reincarnation True Monarch and be "reborn" using the extreme yin-yang technique, the day of complete fusion would be the day he breaks through to the Golden Core stage.
The advantages are obvious, but the disadvantages are equally obvious.
There is actually an even more practical problem: rebuilding a physical body from scratch is different from Xu Yunhe rebuilding his own arm.
The resources required for this are enormous. Everything else is manageable, but finding rare and precious items from nature is a major challenge.
If he and Wu Jie both choose to reshape, then they will need two sets of spiritual treasures of the Yang element of the Five Elements. This is enough to satisfy two or even more cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Purple Mansion to complete the Five Elements Dao Rhyme. Even with the current resources of the Song family, it would take a considerable amount of time to gather them.
Time cost is also a cost.
Therefore, Song Changshou said without any hesitation, "I choose to fuse with the spirit body."
If he were some exceptionally talented individual with lofty ambitions, he might choose the [Shangqing Body Shaping Pill] to pursue a realm beyond the Nascent Soul stage and experience the scenery from the mountaintop.
However, he was merely an incarnation of Song Changsheng's soul. He was a part of Song Changsheng, and they would eventually become one, their souls merging into one. This was his destiny and inevitability, and he had a very clear understanding of it.
Song Changsheng would naturally go and see the scenery above the Nascent Soul stage for him.
What he needs to do now is to grow up as quickly as possible, share the pressure with him, protect him at critical moments, and even act as his substitute.
To achieve this, the [Shangqing Body Shaping Pill] is ultimately too slow, while the spirit body of the Reincarnation True Monarch is just right.
Upon hearing his decision, Song Changsheng didn't say much, but simply nodded. They were originally one, so they naturally knew each other's thoughts.
“Since you have chosen to borrow the body of the Reincarnation True Lord, you should also bear the corresponding responsibilities. This is the agreement I made with the Haoyang True Lord.”
Song Changshou nodded and said, "That's natural. If I can truly merge with this spiritual body, then I will be the ancestor of the Chen clan, and the Chen clan of the Eastern Heaven will be under my personal protection."
"Good. Let's not delay. Next, let's prepare for the soul transfer. After a while, the spiritual energy of the spirit body will dissipate."
"During this time, Fellow Daoist Wujie, you should also prepare yourself properly. I will have someone prepare spiritual items to enhance your soul."
Finally, Song Changsheng added with some concern, "There's no rush for the [Minor Creation Pill]. Put it aside for now. Anyway, the family doesn't have any alchemists capable of refining that pill right now. It's not too late to start refining it after you've recovered to the fourth-level alchemist level."
It's not that he's being long-winded; Wu Jie is so obsessed with that [Minor Creation Pill] that he's practically invisible all year round.
The failure rate of reshaping the physical body is also very high, and one must always ensure that one's condition is at its peak.
Moreover, compared to others, Wu Jie faces even greater difficulties. He is currently still a spirit of the artifact, and before reshaping his physical body, he must be separated from the artifact itself and a reversal technique must be used to transform him back into the soul of a "human".
To achieve this, his own strength alone is not enough; perhaps Mu Guibai will need to come in person.
“I am not someone who cannot distinguish between what is important and what is not. If I did not refine the Lesser Creation Pill myself, it would be meaningless.”
Wu Jie knew that the two of them had important business to attend to, so he didn't linger and turned to leave.
But after flying a short distance, he couldn't help but turn back to look at Song Changsheng and said solemnly, "Thank you."
Wu Jie was an arrogant person with an arrogant heart, so it was quite a surprise to hear those two words from his mouth.
However, he was never an ungrateful person, and Song Changsheng's actions were undoubtedly a second life for him.
This kindness is incredibly profound.
Hearing his thanks, Song Changsheng smiled and said calmly, "There's no need for thanks. Everyone has seen your efforts over the years."
"I should be thanking you. Without your protection and guidance, Qingxing wouldn't have achieved what he has today."
These words were not just polite formalities, but came from the bottom of my heart.
The three people who had the greatest influence on Song Qingxing's growth path are Song Changsheng, Song Qingxi, and Wu Jie.
Wu Jie was the last person to appear in his life, but also the first.
It was the demonic energy he was infected with that caused Song Qingxing's personality to change drastically, but it was also he who had planned Song Qingxing's future early on, laid a solid foundation for him, and repeatedly burned himself to protect him from danger.
If it weren't for him, Song Qingxing might have achieved something in the future, but he would never have reached his current level; at most, he would have been at the Purple Mansion or Golden Core realm.
To put it more bluntly, if it weren't for him, Song Qingxing would have died long ago in the siege by the cultivation world of Lu.
For Song Qingxing, Wu Jie played the role of both father and teacher. Although their first meeting was not pleasant, Song Qingxing had long been convinced of his abilities over the years.
However, he is not good at expressing his emotions.
In this situation, Song Changsheng, as an elder, naturally had to worry more about him.
Wu Jie met Song Changsheng's deep eyes. He had no physical body, but he clearly felt a warm current flowing through the depths of his soul. All these years, he had devoted himself to cultivating Song Qingxing, only to complete his own body, but Song Changsheng had generously given him much more in return.
At that moment, he was completely certain of the destiny of his new life.
He, who had wandered in a cage for countless years, finally found his own free harbor!
After seeing Wu Jie off, Song Changsheng led Song Changshou to the Ruyun Palace at the top of the mountain.
"Heaven and earth shift, yin and yang move, swiftly!"
Song Changsheng made a hand seal, then pointed a finger towards the center of the main hall. Yin and Yang energies swept down, giving rise to the Four Symbols, which in turn gave rise to the Eight Trigrams, forming a Tai Chi Bagua diagram.
He instructed Song Changshou to sit cross-legged at the anode position, and then placed the spirit body of the Reincarnation True Lord at the cathode position.
The two sat facing each other. Song Changsheng came to the center, stepped on the Yin-Yang dividing line, and placed his hands on their foreheads. His magical power surged out and reached their sea of consciousness.
"out!"
Song Changsheng enveloped Song Changshou's soul completely, then slowly separated it from the puppet's body. The Bagua diagram beneath their feet began to spin rapidly, and the resulting Yin and Yang energies completely enveloped them.
During this process, Song Changshou's soul was transferred into his spirit body.
At this point, the rejection reaction was quite severe. The Soul-Locking Copper Coffin that he had previously obtained from the Corpse Raiser came in handy and could significantly reduce the rejection reaction.
Next, all that's needed is to send the bronze coffin to an extremely yin place, completely transform the spirit body into a pure yin body, and then the Extreme Yin Rejuvenation Technique can be performed.
The Song family lacks resources in such an extremely yin place. Fortunately, they had previously asked Mu Guibai and learned that Luoxia City has a nearly ten-thousand-year-old piece of land that they could borrow.
After sending his soul clone over, Song Changsheng began to use the [Deep Sea Crystal] in his possession to activate the fourth-tier puppet.
However, he needs to perform a comprehensive repair on these puppets before he can do that.
They have existed for far too long, and even if they were forged using top-quality spiritual materials, damage and decay are still unavoidable.
He didn't have a deep understanding of puppets, but repairing them based on the existing ones wasn't a problem. He could also take this opportunity to learn about the general structure of fourth-order puppets, which would not only improve his understanding but also allow him to deal with puppets more easily in the future.
He assigned a number to each of the four puppets he obtained, in a very simple and straightforward manner: Puppet One, Puppet Two, Puppet Three, and Puppet Four. These were both their names and the order in which they would be activated in the future.
After spending some time refining the [Deep Sea Crystal] into a driving core, he then opened the puppet's "vital point" and took out the "energy core" that had lost all its spiritual energy.
The device used by the Chen family to drive the puppet was not the Deep Sea Crystal, but a man-made energy device, which is currently a technological blind spot for the Song family.
Therefore, Song Changsheng also showed great interest. If they could also refine a similar energy device, the remaining three puppets would not need to spend a huge amount of money to acquire the [Deep Sea Crystal], and they would have a stable source of energy after it was depleted.
Moreover, since it can be used on fourth-tier puppets, it should be fine to use it on celestial ships as well, and there are many other areas where it can be expanded.
The Chen family of Dongtian had already mastered this technology thousands of years ago, and their application of it must have been very mature, enough to be classified as a core inheritance.
He almost completely seized the inheritance of the Chen family of Dongtian, which must include this part as well. Oh, and the method of making fourth-order puppets, which is also very important for the Song family now.
"It seems we need to arrange for someone to sort out all these inheritances as soon as possible," Song Changsheng thought to himself as he looked at the pitch-black energy core in front of him.
The legacy left by the Chen family of Dongtian is far too vast, exceeding the weight of the Song family's library. It would take several years to sort it all out, unless he personally intervenes, in which case it might be possible to compress it into a few months.
But his time is equally precious, and he has many things to deal with. Obviously, he can't waste time on these things. So let him go slowly; it won't hurt.
In any case, even if he obtains the specific refining method, he cannot refine it in a short time. The Song family does not have the technical expertise in this area, and there are still many difficulties waiting for him to overcome.
The energy core, refined using the [Deep Sea Crystal], was placed into the puppet's vital point. The moment it entered, the puppet's previously lifeless body emitted a violent roar, and its surface lit up with winding patterns. The copper rust covering its surface began to peel off layer by layer, revealing its original bronze color.
"boom……"
A pair of eyes glowed crimson, and driven by energy, the puppet slowly stood up, its tall body giving people an extreme sense of oppression.
A glint of light flashed in Song Changsheng's eyes. With this fourth-order puppet, the defense of Cangmang Peak had been raised to a new level, and he could relax more during his seclusion.
He took out the pre-forged token and said in a deep voice to the puppet, "Squat down."
Fourth-tier puppets possess basic intelligence, can understand basic commands, and will act according to the operator's instructions.
However, these puppets had been asleep for too long, and their intelligence had been eroded by the passage of time. They had just awakened and had not yet fully recovered, so they did not respond to Song Changsheng's orders.
This was also within Song Changsheng's expectations. He separated a wisp of his divine sense and attached it to Kuiyi, temporarily taking over its control.
The first thing to do after successfully taking control was to control the puppet to unleash a full-force punch at him.
"boom……"
In an instant, dust flew up. Although Song Changsheng did not move, several cracks appeared on the floor beneath his feet, and they were spreading rapidly into the distance.
If the foundation hadn't been solid enough, he might have sunk in.
Song Changsheng nodded slightly and said, "In terms of strength, he is not inferior to body cultivators of the same realm. After his intelligence is restored, he should not be too badly defeated when fighting against ordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivators."
A puppet is ultimately just a puppet; unless there is a significant difference in strength, it has almost no chance of winning.
Let alone facing cultivators of the same realm, even a mid-grade fourth-order puppet would find it difficult to kill a Golden Core cultivator in the early stage. At most, it could only suppress the opponent, and if the opponent was focused on escaping, it would be impossible to catch up.
Fortunately, Song Changsheng did not have high expectations for Kuiyi; he only brought it back to defend Cangmang Peak.
With the mountain-protecting array of Cangmang Peak having been strengthened several times, and with Song Xianming presiding over the array's core, it can at least withstand the attacks of three Golden Core cultivators simultaneously.
This is already the limit, but with this puppet, we can resist one more early-stage Golden Core cultivator.
How many Golden Core cultivators are there in the entire Great Qi cultivation world?
Such defensive capabilities are quite formidable.
Of course, this is assuming that Song Changsheng is not present or cannot get away in a short time. If he were to personally oversee the formation, ordinary Golden Core cultivators would be no match for him. At least cultivators of Su Ding and You Lianyue's level would be needed to be his opponents.
The energy consumption of a fourth-tier puppet is astonishing. A single [Deep Sea Crystal] can only supply it with enough energy for a few major battles. Therefore, it needs to be put into a dormant state during normal times to minimize energy consumption.
Song Changsheng had already ordered a cave to be dug out halfway up the mountain. The puppet usually slept inside, where it would gradually develop its intelligence. Only by waking it up with a token could it break free from its slumber.
It took him more than three months to complete all of this.
On this day, he arrived at the location of the Cangmang Peak Spirit Plant Garden, accompanied by two people, Song Qingxing and Song Qingxi.
Besides inspecting the development of the family's spiritual plant garden over the years, he also came here today to find a suitable place for the willow branch that Xu Miaoyin obtained from the Great Zhen Immortal Dynasty to grow.
Liu Zu has grown from an ordinary willow tree to its current fifth level, accumulating countless essences of heaven and earth. Even a single branch is a top-tier spiritual object.
Song Changsheng even felt that it could serve as a wood-attribute spiritual object to complement a cultivator's own Daoist essence.
It would be a shame to use such a treasure directly. If it can be nurtured, it might not grow to the level of Liu Zu, but it could still reach the fourth rank.
Its branches contain the laws of space and can be used to refine magical artifacts; its sap contains abundant life essence and can be used to refine healing elixirs.
In short, every part of it is valuable.
“Uncle, this place is quite good. It is very close to the spiritual vein spring, so it can take root directly on the spiritual vein and greatly accelerate its growth. The space is spacious enough and will not affect the growth of other spiritual plants in the herb garden.”
"This was originally the place I planned to use for planting the three main ingredients for refining the Golden Elixir. I never expected you to have such an unexpected gain on this trip." Song Qingxi pointed to an open space in front of Song Changsheng and introduced it to him.
Song Changsheng looked around and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Not bad, this spot is just right."
Reaching into his storage bag, he took out the golden willow branch, which, despite the passage of time, still retained its vibrant life.
Looking at the willow branches in front of her, Song Qingxi couldn't help but exclaim, "Such rich life essence! It's hard to imagine that it was just an ordinary willow tree at the beginning."
"This world is always full of infinite possibilities. Even the most ordinary flowers, grasses and stubborn rocks may be favored by the heavens and live a wonderful life."
Song Qingxing, unusually, took the initiative to speak, saying, "Besides the favor of Heaven, one must also maintain a tenacious heart that constantly strives for improvement; otherwise, it's all just empty talk."
"That's right, so we can't be complacent. We must constantly improve ourselves and climb to higher peaks."
"Xi'er, plant it." Song Changsheng wrapped the golden willow branch in his magic and handed it to Song Qingxi.
After Song Qingxi took it, she directly inserted it next to the spiritual vein spring.
Ordinary spiritual plant transplantation might involve a whole host of precautions, but it doesn't. Its vitality far surpasses that of any other spiritual plant in this spiritual plant garden. It can thrive with just the simplest and most direct method of cutting. Taking too much care of it might actually have the opposite effect.
The moment the golden willow branch was inserted into the spiritual soil, many white roots sprouted from its base and continued to extend downwards, firmly taking root in this spiritual soil.
A gentle breeze blows, and the golden willow branches sway in the wind, adding a touch of color to the entire medicinal garden.
Compared to the towering, all-encompassing willow ancestor, this branch, only three feet long, can only be described as insignificant. It would take at least several hundred years for it to grow, and Song Changsheng did not have the patience to wait that long.
After thinking for a moment, he reached down and took the Yin-Yang Spirit-Slaying Gourd from his waist. Then, to the puzzled looks of the two, he opened the stopper and dripped a few drops of blue liquid onto the golden willow branch.
In an instant, a current of electricity flowed from top to bottom through the entire branch, and an overwhelming vitality burst forth from the willow branch.
The three of them seemed to hear a clear "gulping" sound, as if someone was swallowing something in large gulps.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded: the buds that had just sprouted on the willow branches began to grow at a visible speed, transforming into inconspicuous side branches with tender, pale golden leaves.
"That's... the [Thunder Essence] you collected back then?" Song Qingxi asked, her beautiful eyes wide.
"Great! I just wanted to give it a try, but the results were unexpected."
The [Thunder Essence] in Song Changsheng's hands is the highest-grade essence of laws. Even a single drop can fetch an astronomical price. Using several drops in a row is no small price to pay.
However, this willow twig was worth it; these few drops of [Thunder Essence] shortened its growth time by at least a hundred years.
Of course, not all spiritual plants can be treated this way. The vast majority, even fifth-tier spiritual plants, may be reduced to ashes by the infusion of lightning power.
Liu Zu was born from the destruction of thunder, and his branches possessed a powerful thunderous Daoist essence, which is why he was able to withstand the infusion of [Thunder Essence].
Looking at the thriving willow branches, Song Changsheng's face showed little joy. He turned to Song Qingxing and said seriously, "Yesterday, news came from Luoxia City that the next trial of the Boundless Sword Sect is about to begin. Are you ready?"
……
P.S.: Today's chapter is a long one of 6,000 words; I still owe 10,000 words. (End of Chapter)