Chapter 428: Dispersing Cultivation to Recultivate

"Dispersing cultivation to start anew?" This was the first time Lu Yang had heard the term, though its literal meaning was straightforward enough.

"Indeed. Many cultivators lack guidance at the beginning of their journey. Their cultivation process is fraught with difficulties and their foundations are shaky. In the lower realms, it matters little; at most, they are challenged and bested across realms by someone with a solid foundation like yours. But once they reach the higher realms, the problems become severe. They easily hit bottlenecks, and their cultivation stagnant for centuries or millennia without an inch of progress."

"When they reach that point, a cultivator faces a choice—to disperse their cultivation and start anew."

The Immortal Fairy spoke eloquently, her knowledge of cultivation matters unsurpassed by anyone.

"Dispersing one's entire cultivation is akin to reincarnation. Retaining one's memories, one becomes an infant and begins from scratch. Possessing the memories of a previous lifetime of cultivation allows one to avoid many detours, knowing exactly how to solidify the foundation. Opportunistic fortunes once missed because of high cultivation or advanced age will not be missed again. Outsiders cannot discern whether someone has reincarnated to cultivate anew; even testing bone age or anything else yields no results."

"However, dispersing cultivation to start anew faces three major challenges. First, there is a requirement for cultivation level: it must be done at the Body Integration Stage, and moreover, at its absolute peak. At the absolute peak, essence, qi, and spirit fuse into one, guaranteeing that a speck of the true soul remains unextinguished after the cultivation is dispersed. If one disperses cultivation in old age when essence, qi, and spirit are dissipated, the result will only be a failed dispersal, causing the soul to scatter, beyond any hope of rescue."

"Second, after starting anew, you are just like a newborn infant, entirely without self-defense capabilities. Eating and crawling pose difficulties. Even after passing infancy and gradually growing up, the cultivation world is perilous. There is no telling if you might provoke some enemy while growing up and meet an untimely death."

"Third, the root bone after starting anew cannot be guaranteed. For instance, if your root bone was a dual spiritual root before, after dispersing cultivation and starting anew, it might become a triple or even quadruple spiritual root. Under such circumstances, even with cultivation experience, it remains difficult to return to your previous height."

Lu Yang nodded. Dispersing cultivation to start anew sounded quite similar to Li Haoran's situation, yet it was also different. At the very least, Li Haoran was a completely new individual, and his talent in the next life was bound to be stronger than the last, each approach having its own merits and flaws.

It was no wonder Huang Ming was so difficult to deal with. This was equivalent to fighting a grand master who had started at the Body Integration Stage, with the opponent suppressing their realm to match his own.

"By the way, did anyone among the five ancient immortals disperse their cultivation to start anew?"

"No." The Immortal Fairy counted on her fingers for Lu Yang. "I came from a small tribe, the Sky-Succeeding Immortal was a displaced vagrant, the Nine-Layered Immortal was the first heir of the Lianshan Clan, the Qilin Immortal was born of heaven and earth, and the Age Immortal was a divine tree that attained spirituality."

"Can Fairy discern who Huang Ming was before his reincarnation?"

The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "I cannot tell. If he hadn't just used a spiritual attack that does not belong to this realm, I wouldn't have been able to judge that he was a reincarnated cultivator either."

Lu Yang pondered. Did the Corpse-Driving Sect know that Huang Ming was a reincarnated cultivator? Why did Huang Ming choose to cultivate in the Corpse-Driving Sect? With this kind of talent, he could easily enter the five great immortal sects. Was he afraid of something, or did the Corpse-Driving Sect possess something special?

"Never mind, let's not think so much for now." Lu Yang revealed an excited smile and drew his Green Peak Sword. This was his first time encountering a reincarnated opponent, and it was time to take things seriously.

Huang Ming watched Lu Yang with a solemn expression, as if facing a formidable enemy, not daring to relax in the slightest.

As a cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation to start anew, he could not tolerate losing to a junior cultivator. Only because of this had he broken the rules to utilize the Spiritual Arrow.

A Spiritual Arrow was absolutely not something a mid-Core Formation cultivator could withstand, not even one who specialized in cultivating spiritual power!

How did the opponent achieve this? Could it be that, just like himself, the boy was also a reincarnated cultivator?

How could he know that back when Lu Yang was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and revived the Immortal Fairy, she had forcibly made him open a spiritual space? This made his spiritual strength significantly greater than that of his peers. Subsequently, the Immortal Fairy caused commotions in the spiritual space every day, making its area and sturdiness grow larger and stronger.

In terms of spiritual strength, no one in the Core Formation Stage could surpass Lu Yang.

"Slash!" Lu Yang shouted fiercely, his essence, qi, and spirit fusing into one. The sword qi was like a bolt of white silk, exceptionally violent, the blade dancing a swift and fierce arc in the air as it slashed toward Huang Ming.

Watching from the side, Zhao Po's hairs stood on end. Even observing this sword strike from the flank, he could feel its terror. Was this truly a sword technique a mid-Core Formation cultivator could execute?

The Drowned Ghost was also frightened out of his wits. Only now did he realize that Lu Yang had held back in their previous fight. Otherwise, this single sword strike would have been enough to leave him heavily injured and grounded!

This strike was too sudden and too fast for Huang Ming to dodge. If he took this move head-on, he would undoubtedly lose. Gnashing his teeth, Huang Ming shifted his intent and vanished from the spot, replaced by the living corpse.

In an instant, he had swapped positions with the living corpse!

"Corpse Substitution?!" Zhao Po was greatly shocked. He hadn't expected Senior Brother Huang Ming to have mastered even this kind of secret technique. Logically speaking, it could only be learned at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Huang Ming panted heavily, consuming a Qi-Replenishing Pill to restore his spiritual power. He had forced the execution of the secret technique, and his remaining spiritual power was instantaneously drained.

The living corpse endured the sword strike and was split into two from the middle. Countless red threads grew from the severed edges, connecting with each other, and the living corpse restored itself to its original state.

Huang Ming no longer held back, controlling the living corpse to attack Lu Yang together.

The weakness of a corpse-driver lay in the physical body, as they could only control living corpses to fight. But Huang Ming possessed a powerful physical body and abundant spiritual power, allowing him to fight while controlling the living corpse, making up for all the weaknesses of a corpse-driver.

His combat power soared!

Zhao Po stared blankly at this scene. Huang Ming's various methods completely overturned his understanding. Had the gap between himself and Huang Ming always been this vast?

"Ha, now it's getting interesting." Fighting two against one, Lu Yang showed no hint of retreat. Like a god of war, the more he fought, the braver he became.

"No wonder you could become a disciple of the Daoist Inquiry Sect. You do have some skill, but that is all!" Huang Ming's eyes were like those of a wolf, revealing fierceness and determination.

"With your talent, you must be invincible among your peers and probably haven't tasted defeat yet. Today, I shall let you taste it!" Huang Ming revealed a contemptuous smile.

"Equinox flowers bloom, reshaping the universe!"

This was his final and strongest trump card. If he lost again, there would be no need for him to talk about dispersing cultivation to fight for the discourse power of the future grand era; it would be better to end his own life early.

Beautiful, bright red equinox flowers bloomed. The eyes of Huang Ming and the living corpse turned blood-red, their auras climbing steadily. Their fingernails lengthened, resembling the sharp claws of wild beasts, incredibly piercing. Under the influence of this aura, the ground shook, like an earthen dragon turning over, causing the earth to tremble and mountains to rock!

"Two against one, let's see how you win!" Huang Ming held victory in his grasp, his expression slightly twisted.

"Fighting like this is indeed quite demanding," Lu Yang muttered to himself. He shrank into the ground, took out the twin lotus seed, and executed the Tree Planting Art.

Before Huang Ming's slightly dazed eyes, amid the thicket of equinox flowers, a lotus bloomed. Two Lu Yangs appeared simultaneously, one holding the Green Peak Sword and the other holding the Dark Moon Sword.

A calm smile appeared at the corner of Lu Yang's mouth.

"Now it's two against two."

The second update is at eleven o'clock

(End of chapter)