! The Changes in the Natal Magic Treasure!

Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like a shuttle.

The years in the cultivation world seem to pass much faster than those in the mortal world.

The "ten years of hard study" or "ten years of honing one's skills" that ordinary people talk about already account for one-seventh or one-eighth of a mortal's life, but in the eyes of a cultivator who has reached the Nascent Soul stage, it is nothing more than a fleeting moment.

A single retreat, a moment of deep meditation, a single attempt to refine a treasure—often decades can slip by unnoticed.

The night of the transaction at Laifu Inn ten years ago seems like it was just yesterday.

Has Fairy Ziling of the Miaoyin Sect completely broken free from the shadow of the Extreme Yin Ancestor? To what extent has Han Li refined his Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword? And has the Extreme Yin Ancestor's wrath affected more innocent people?

All of this, with the passage of time, has been shut out outside a heavy stone door.

Deep within a highly secluded cave in Tianxing City.

In a spacious, quiet room, the light was dim, with only a single lamp burning dimly in the corner.

The empty, quiet room was devoid of any unnecessary furnishings. The floor was covered with dense array patterns that extended from the four walls to the center, forming an extremely complex spirit-gathering array.

At each node of the magic array, there are high-grade spirit stones embedded in them. The spiritual power in the spirit stones is guided by the magic array and continuously gathers into the figure sitting cross-legged in the center of the quiet room.

The figure was enveloped in a faint golden light, which was not dazzling but had a profound and solid texture.

That was the natural aura emanating from spiritual energy that had become sufficiently concentrated. The spiritual energy rose and fell slowly with his breath, like the tide, and with each rise and fall, one could feel the solidity and weight of his aura.

After an unknown amount of time, the golden light surrounding the figure suddenly contracted rapidly, rushing into his body as if the tide were receding.

The illuminated array patterns in the quiet room lit up one by one as if they had completed their mission, and then dimmed one by one, plunging the entire space into a long silence.

Zhou Ding slowly opened his eyes.

In the darkness, his eyes shone like two deep pools, radiating a profound and clear light. Ten years of seclusion, without a single day's break. His face remained as young as ever, time leaving no trace on his features. Yet, the composure and restraint in his gaze were even more unfathomable than they had been ten years ago.

Feeling the abundant spiritual energy flowing through his body like a surging river, Zhou Ding couldn't help but exhale a breath of turbid air.

This breath condensed into a pale golden sword of energy in the dimly lit room, shooting out several feet before slowly dissipating.

He clenched his fist slightly, feeling the spiritual energy surging through his meridians, and a satisfied look appeared on his lips.

Peak of the early stage of Nascent Soul.

Over the past decade, he has devoted almost all his energy to cultivation.

Zhou Ding prepared a large number of pills to break through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Long before he went into seclusion, he searched for spiritual herbs from various channels to refine pills that could improve his cultivation. Combined with the few rare spiritual herbs that Han Li occasionally sent, plus his own savings, the amount of spirit stones and pills he had accumulated was enough to make several ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators spend decades of their efforts.

These pills have now transformed into spiritual energy within Zhou Ding's body, flowing into his nascent soul and forcibly pushing his cultivation to the limit achievable in the early stage of the nascent soul realm.

He could clearly sense that he was only a thin barrier away from the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. That barrier was like a windowpane, seemingly easy to break through with a gentle poke, yet it always carried an inexplicable and mysterious resistance.

He also remembered that once, when he was cultivating to a critical point, the nascent soul in his body seemed to show signs of transformation, as if it might usher in a breakthrough opportunity at any moment.

Just as that profound insight was about to take shape, an invisible barrier firmly kept him outside the door, like a mirage, seemingly within reach yet always separated by a membrane.

After that, he tried several more times, but each time he got stuck on the same level and could not break through.

If Zhou Ding hadn't possessed such a resolute character, an ordinary cultivator would probably have already felt anxious and restless, or even tried to forcefully break through that barrier.

But Zhou Ding didn't. He knew all too well that in the path of cultivation, the more eager one is to achieve quick results, the easier it is to generate inner demons. Forcibly breaking through bottlenecks can, at best, damage one's foundation, and at worst, lead to qi deviation and demonic possession.

His current cultivation level is at the peak of the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and his combat strength far surpasses that of other cultivators of the same level. This achievement would make him a top-tier genius in any era or sect.

How many years did it take him to go from the Nascent Soul stage to the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage?

Less than 150 years.

This speed is something that many Nascent Soul cultivators would never even dare to dream of.

Many cultivators are stuck in the early Nascent Soul stage for thousands of years, and may never be able to reach the threshold of the mid-Nascent Soul stage in their entire lives.

For Zhou Ding to have reached this point at such a young age is already an incredible stroke of luck.

The path of cultivation emphasizes letting things unfold naturally. When the time is right, the bottleneck will naturally dissipate. He can afford to wait.

Zhou Ding withdrew his gaze from his own cultivation level and instead focused on the depths of his dantian.

There, a tiny golden figure sat cross-legged in the center of his dantian, his countenance dignified and radiating a warm glow. Before the nascent soul, a small golden tree, only a few inches tall, floated silently. The tree's branches and leaves twirled slightly, as if possessing their own life.

The Golden Tree.

Zhou Ding's natal magic weapon.

In the ten years following his transaction with Han Li, Zhou Ding devoted a great deal of energy, besides rigorous cultivation, to nurturing his natal magic weapon.

He knew that the Golden Tree needed a massive amount of spiritual energy to grow, so over the past ten years, he had poured almost all of his accumulated spirit stones into it without hesitation.

Millions of spirit stones were transformed into pure spiritual energy, which was slowly absorbed and refined by the Golden Divine Tree.

Like drops of sweet rain, it seeped into that little golden tree.

The Golden Tree also gave him extremely generous rewards.

Zhou Ding closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his dantian, carefully sensing the state of the Golden Divine Tree.

When he saw that tree, even with his calm and collected nature, a slight ripple of emotion stirred within him.

Compared to the golden tree of ten years ago, this tree has undergone a complete transformation.

Ten years ago, the Golden Tree's branches were somewhat slender, with only a dozen or so leaves, and its trunk was only about an inch tall, resembling a meticulously carved jade bonsai. Now, the Golden Tree has grown to several inches tall, and although its trunk is still only as thick as a thumb, it exudes a rugged feeling of having weathered the passage of time. The patterns on it are like dragon scales, layered upon layered, gleaming with an ancient metallic luster.

Dozens of golden leaves have now grown on the once bare branches, each with distinct veins, swaying gently without wind in the dantian.

But what Zhou Ding cared about most was the power contained within the Golden Divine Tree.

The power of space.

Nourished by spirit stones and spiritual energy for ten years, the spatial power of the Golden Divine Tree has surged to a level that even Zhou Ding himself finds alarming.

He didn't even need to consciously activate it to clearly feel the spatial power contained within the sapling, which was like a bottomless abyss.

Once he activates this power, he can create a spatial storm within a radius of several miles!

Space cutting.

This is the Golden Divine Tree's most powerful divine ability. Ten years ago, he was able to use it to cut through the protective black clouds of the Extreme Yin Ancestor and injure his divided spirit.

However, at that time, with his cultivation level, the power and range of spatial cutting were still extremely limited. Each use would consume a large amount of spiritual power, and he could only use it a few times in a row before he ran out of energy.

Now, his spatial cutting technique has not only become several times more refined in power, but it can also cover an area of ​​tens of feet in radius.

With just a thought, he could silently shatter everything in that area into countless fragments.

Anyone who doesn't have the means to resist the power of space is like a paper doll in his presence, and will be beheaded in an instant.

Zhou Ding's mind stirred once more, and he probed the space inside the Golden Divine Tree with his senses.

Ten years ago, a separate space several meters in diameter was opened up inside that golden tree.

After ten years of nourishment from spirit stones, that space has now expanded to an astonishing extent, more than ten times larger than before.

That space was still a chaotic golden world, with the sky and ground gradually taking shape. The space was filled with a thick spatial power, like a wild and untamed secret realm that had not yet been opened up.

Although it is far from forming a true world, given time, when this space expands to a large enough extent, it may well be able to support living beings and become a true paradise.

This gave Zhou Ding an absolutely secret and safe place to store his belongings, in addition to his other storage items.

Important supplies and things that can't be seen in the light can be stored in that space. Even if a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator comes, he might not be able to discover the existence of that space.

Zhou Ding slowly opened his eyes. He slowly stood up, stretched his somewhat stiff limbs, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Ten years of sharpening a sword.

His sword is already sharpened.

The spatial power contained within the Golden Tree has now become his most threatening trump card.