Chapter 380: Advanced Body Refining Concepts

At the very moment Lu Yang successfully ascended to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, a five-colored rainbow materialized overhead. The spiritual energy drifting through the air behaved like lively fish, swimming joyfully and blowing bubbles, while the wild grass and tree leaves swayed without a breeze, rustling softly. Dew condensed from spiritual energy gathered on the leaf surfaces, rolling and dripping onto the ground, rising into bursts of water mist.

An omen of heaven and earth appeared, celebrating Lu Yang's successful advancement to the mid-stage of the Golden Core.

"Congratulations, congratulations, you're at the mid-stage of the Golden Core now!" The Immortal Fairy clapped her hands vigorously.

Feeling somewhat helpless, Lu Yang spoke up to remind her, "Fairy, I merely advanced to the mid-stage of the Golden Core, I didn't become an immortal. There's no need for an omen of heaven and earth. Put it away."

"Oh." The Immortal Fairy clapped away the spell in her hands.

The omen of heaven and earth vanished.

Lu Yang had not expected to advance to the mid-stage of the Golden Core so quickly. He had not even felt the slightest hint of a bottleneck, which he estimated was related to having eaten the meals cooked by the Immortal Fairy.

An immortal's trial was bound to yield some rewards after all.

Lu Yang felt a warm sensation against his chest, coming from a wooden plaque inscribed with the words "Nine Netherworlds."

A line of text slowly emerged upon the wooden plaque: The sparks and grills are running low, see you at the main shop.

This was the magical treasure Vice Leader Shi used to contact Lu Yang. Both sides could only convey a single sentence, followed by a prolonged cooling period.

Lu Yang replied with a single sentence.

"Oh."

The issue of the grills was easy to resolve; the Fifth Elder had long since refined a massive batch of automated barbecue grills, ready to be taken whenever needed.

The sparks required the cooperation of Meng Jingzhou.

Time to see what Old Meng was up to.

Just as he approached the Body Refining Peak, Lu Yang sensed an astonishing surge of yang energy. If an ordinary ghost were to wander nearby, its soul would be scorched to a crisp.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, Lu Yang could hear the Third Elder's booming, resonant voice.

"The so-called refining of the body means that every single part of the physique must be cultivated, without a single flaw!

"You must understand that our greatest reliance as body cultivators is a powerful physical body. If an issue arises within your physical form, then what merits do you have left to speak of!

"Recently, I have discovered that some disciples have grown slack in their cultivation. To evade cultivating their hair, they shaved their heads completely bald. This is mere self-deception!

"And there are other disciples who focus solely on cultivating their hair while neglecting to cultivate their shadows. What do you intend to achieve by leaving such a massive vulnerability for your opponents!

"We body cultivators fear no hardship or challenge, yet we must not allow ourselves to grow complacent!

The Third Elder possessed abundant combat experience, knowing full well that when facing unpredictable attacks, strengthening oneself was the finest defense.

Lu Yang: "...

Does body refining also include training one's shadow?

Is this how body cultivators in the outside world train?

Lu Yang had heard that certain spells could execute attacks through shadows, so being able to train one's shadow would indeed be a benefit.

The question was, how exactly does one train a shadow?

"What an advanced concept of body cultivation!" The Immortal Fairy marveled in admiration; even during the ancient era when thoughts were highly vibrant, no one had proposed such a philosophy.

"Alright, off to your cultivation, all of you!" The Third Elder waved his hand, dismissing the crowd of disciples.

"Senior Brother Zhao Zhao, was Master talking about you? Shaving your head completely bald, just like entering a monastery." Meng Jingzhou teased with a laugh. Senior Brother Zhao Zhao's head was gleaming brightly, resembling how one looked after being struck by Lu Yang's Arhat Fist.

Senior Brother Zhao Zhao rolled his eyes. "I didn't shave my head because cultivating hair is troublesome. This was done out of profound consideration.

"What consideration?

"Think about it, Junior Brother Meng. If an opponent grabs your hair during a battle, wouldn't that restrict your movements? Hair is a weakness! To overcome this weakness, what is wrong with me shaving it off?"

Lu Yang secretly noted this point. In the future, after delivering an Arhat Fist, he would explain it this way to the victim, and the other party should be able to understand his well-intentioned efforts.

Meng Jingzhou shook his head, devising a more effective method. "Then wouldn't it be better if you kept a buzz cut, Senior Brother Zhao? That way, opponents can't grab you, and your hair would be like a hedgehog's, serving as a means of attack!"

Senior Brother Zhao Zhao's eyes lit up, finding Meng Jingzhou's words exceedingly reasonable. He slapped Meng Jingzhou heavily on the shoulder, causing him to grimace in pain.

"Good brother, I'll grow it into short hair right away. I'm going to the Scripture Library to see if there are any spells that promote hair growth!" Senior Brother Zhao Zhao ran off immediately after speaking, in a desperate rush.

"Old Meng, over here!" Lu Yang waved his hand.

Meng Jingzhou walked over quickly. "What are you doing, sneaking over to our Body Refining Peak to spy on our lessons?"

"Get out of here, it's the people from the Nine Netherworlds Sect contacting me."

Lu Yang produced the wooden plaque, and Meng Jingzhou came to a sudden realization. The Nine Netherworlds Sect had opened too many barbecue shops, and they were running low on both sparks and grills.

"Borrow a fire.

"Easy to arrange.

Lu Yang retrieved a large stack of small bottles from his identity jade plaque. These were specialized jade bottles created by the Hundred Refining Peak capable of storing sparks.

One person breathed out the Samadhi True Fire, while the other breathed out the Pure Yang True Fire. The two flames merged, a spark was born, fell into the bottle, and the bottle mouth was sealed—the task was accomplished.

The two of them produced two hundred sparks in one breath, until smoke drifted from their mouths, only recovering after gulping down several mouthfuls of water.

"These should probably suffice for the Nine Netherworlds Sect to use for a while."

Laughing and chatting, the two of them stored the jade bottles and first paid a visit to the Hundred Refining Peak to collect the completed automated barbecue grills. Lu Yang had intended to inform the Fifth Elder, but unfortunately, the Fifth Elder was still applying for a patent and had not returned.

Submitting a patent application was easy, but getting it approved took a significant amount of time. Knowing the value of the Phantom Bubble, the Fifth Elder remained in the Imperial City, intending to leave only when the patent was issued.

The two of them set off toward Yanjiang Prefecture, first to deliver the goods to the Nine Netherworlds Sect, and second because the barbecue shops had been operating for so long that it was time to collect the earnings.

Their Heavenly Court Sect was not running a charity, after all.

"Should we inform Eldest Senior Sister about our trip to Yanjiang Prefecture?"

Lu Yang sighed. "I certainly want to, but Eldest Senior Sister entered the Prisoner Peak and hasn't come out. It might be that Venerable Natural Disaster is tight-lipped and won't confess anything, so Eldest Senior Sister is considering whether or not to search his soul."

Meng Jingzhou nodded, deeply agreeing.

To cultivate to the Tribulation Transmutation stage, one must have endured thousands of tribulations and hardships before reaching the peak; how could such a person open their mouth so easily.

Even with Eldest Senior Sister's interrogation, it probably wouldn't have much effect.

"I was wrong, I shouldn't have coveted my master's wife when I was in the Golden Core stage, but I couldn't help it, she was truly beautiful, I couldn't control myself...

Venerable Natural Disaster poured out the wrongs he had committed throughout his life like beans from a sack.

Half a month had passed, and from peeping at the village widow bathing during his childhood, to passing off inferior items as quality goods during the Qi Refinement stage to sell defective pills and earn his first pot of spiritual stones, to exploring secret realms during the Foundation Establishment stage and killing his companions to monopolize treasures, to joining a sect and coveting his master's wife during the Golden Core stage, to the Nascent Soul stage... everything down to the smallest detail was confessed. He didn't even need Yun Zhi to ask; he confessed it all on his own.

Yun Zhi sat opposite him, her legs crossed, expressionless, contemplating whether she should simply refine the Heavenly Prisoner Peak.

Searching Venerable Natural Disaster's soul would save time and effort.

A complete soul of the Tribulation Transmutation stage could be refined into a high-quality magical treasure with independent consciousness, which happened to be suitable for her grandmaster's use.

Destroying it like this was somewhat of a pity.

It was quite a dilemma.

Venerable Natural Disaster stole a glance at the expressionless Yun Zhi. Recalling the interrogation methods Yun Zhi had utilized at the beginning, he was gripped by terror; if he still possessed a physical body, sweat would have soaked his entire frame long ago.

He continued to confess, not daring to conceal the slightest thing.

"After my master's wife enticed me into her bed...