Returning to White Jade Island.
Chen Jichuan, as always, while treating Mr. Pei and Mrs. Pei’s illnesses, devoted himself to rigorous cultivation.
He also acquired Flying Bird Island and six surrounding small islands, renaming them ’Seven Immortal Islands,’ serving as his base for cultivation along with his disciples.
He planned to relocate elsewhere after meeting Wuk Yuan Immortal Master.
"White Jade Island prohibits fighting, but after I moved to Seven Immortal Islands, evildoers may act without restraint."
"Xu Tianfang covets the Secret Treasure; it’s only a matter of time before he comes."
"Still, caution is needed to avoid being caught off guard."
Chen Jichuan pondered silently.
At once, he arranged the Dharma Platform, bathed, and burned incense.
Chen Jichuan ascended the Dharma Platform, stepped into Gang Step, wielded the Yellow Talisman with his sword, and chanted a spell:
"Heavenly Jade Emperor Venerable, first cuts off the path of heavenly plague, second cuts off the gate of earthly plague, third cuts off the path of humans, fourth cuts off the gate for ghosts, fifth cuts off the path of teaching plagues, sixth cuts off thieving ghosts, seventh cuts off the path of evil mages, eighth cuts off calamities mistakenly worshipped at five shrines, ninth cuts off mages practicing evil techniques, tenth cuts my master’s path, and since the master has cut it, humans arrive with a path, while all techniques of evil mages and ghost gates vanish. Should a blue-faced, red-faced figure arrive casting techniques, stepping into the Heaven and Earth Net, no mercy will be granted. I solemnly invoke Southern Dipper Six Stars, Beidou Seven Stars. I follow Pharaoh Immortal Master’s decree!"
This was the ’Heaven and Earth Net Method.’
No matter who intruded, calling for help would be futile—unable to invoke heavens or earth—and all evil techniques would fail, leaving them trapped within the net, at his mercy.
For seven consecutive days, Chen Jichuan performed spells and rituals, strengthening the Heaven and Earth Net.
The spell was completed.
Chen Jichuan then performed the ’Cooking Rice and Meat Spell,’ planting hearth fires within Xu Tianfang’s body.
The strength of Daoist Skills lies precisely in such subtleties.
If engaged in a sudden battle, without preparation, should the opponent close in, even a Soul Emergence Great Mage would succumb to practitioners of dark strength.
But when acting covertly, offering rituals upon the Dharma Platform and performing spells for days on end, such methods are virtually impossible to defend against within the same level.
Even cultivation far beyond others holds no guarantee of survival if countermeasures are unavailable.
As with Zhang Zhihe in the past, a respectable Qi Refining Immortal Master, who was cursed to death by Chen Jichuan.
The ’Cooking Rice and Meat Spell,’ while not as sinister and ruthless as the ’Plow Head Curse,’ progresses like heating a frog in warm water—someone like Xu Tianfang at Innate Extreme faces inevitable demise.
Furthermore, with the ’Heaven and Earth Net Method’ awaiting him, once he steps in, his life will no longer be under his control.
"I’m waiting for you."
Chen Jichuan continued casting spells and performing rituals, sitting back for Xu Tianfang to come to him.
In the blink of an eye, over ten days passed.
On this particular day.
Chen Jichuan sat cross-legged in his meditation chamber, cultivating a strand of Sword Qi.
One divided into two, two into four, four into eight.
Eight strands of Sword Qi soared within his Dantian, four unfolding ’Splashed Ink and Striped Cloth Sword Technique,’ while the other four performed ’Seven-stringed Immortal Surprising Sword Technique.’
Faintly, the sound of clashing weapons resonated.
Sword Qi intertwined, tearing apart the True Yuan in his Dantian, causing it to surge and be refined continuously.
Circulating True Yuan, traveling through meridians, traversing the eight extraordinary meridians. The True Yuan in the eight meridians subtly resonated and harmonized, flowing ceaselessly. Then, swelling to an unstoppable force, it streamed eastward like rivers pouring into the ocean—all converging into his Dantian.
A single stone can stir thousands of ripples.
The Eight Meridian True Essence surged like eight grand rivers into the sea, magnifying its force by hundreds or thousands of times, battering the Dantian with overwhelming intensity. For original chapters go to novęlfire.net
Sword Qi danced wildly, True Yuan ran rampant.
Chen Jichuan silently operated his technique, focused and unwavering, enduring this tempest as though a lone canoe tossed by waves, yet always remaining steadfast atop the ocean.
Chen Jichuan finally withdrew the technique, exhaling turbid air from his chest, a hint of joy appearing between his brows: "After countless attempts, I’ve finally perfected the integration of the ’Eight Rivers Pulse Method’ from the Water Classics, accelerating the refinement process of True Yuan to an entirely new level!"
Chen Jichuan felt elated.
Cultivating is no easy feat.
Daoist Skills and external techniques need no elaboration; Inner Strength cultivation alone presents countless challenges.
Such as increasing ’quantity.’
Such as improving ’quality.’
Such as breaking through ’bottlenecks.’
Each demands tremendous effort, energy, and even financial resources to edge closer or gain significant advantages, reaching higher realms.
Of these, the first two involve painstaking labor.
The better one’s natural talent and financial backing, the easier it is to accumulate and refine Inner Strength or True Yuan—it’s simply a matter of time.
Yet ’quantity’ and ’quality’ still pose marked differences for Chen Jichuan.
’Quantity’ is undoubtedly manageable.
In the Dao Fruit World, time is abundant; in the real world, Source Power provides assistance—accumulating True Yuan is effortless, presenting no problems.
But ’quality’ is another matter.
"In refining True Yuan, Source Power cannot help; it relies entirely on gradual progression."
This was the pressing concern in Chen Jichuan’s current reality cultivation.
Previously, his real-world progress leaned heavily on Source Power, yet as his cultivation advanced to the current stage, it went beyond mere accumulation.
These are the true difficulties of cultivation.
Even with Chen Jichuan’s extensive experience, when resetting his cultivation in the real world, these processes cannot be skipped.
Take the current stage, for example.
The Ninth Layer of Inner Strength, Innate Three Realms. Constantly refining Innate True Qi, transforming it into Innate True Yuan, and steadily accumulating it. Once all True Qi is converted into True Yuan and completely fills the Dantian, advanced refinement and compression can begin, eventually liquefying the True Yuan.
These processes, while Source Power can expedite accumulation.
This is also the aspect that consumes the most energy and time.
But for Chen Jichuan, matters resolvable through Source Power are no longer considered problems, and processes accelerated by Source Power are no longer considered obstacles.
"The ’Ten Thousand Sword Map’ includes the ’Sword Rising Clouds Skill,’ where sharp Sword Qi embodies unfolding swordsmanship, significantly surpassing ordinary magic skills in refining True Yuan. The ’Eight Rivers Pulse Method’ in the Water Classics embodies the concept of ’eight rivers flowing into the sea,’ channeling True Yuan through the extraordinary eight meridians, mutually resonating to refine while converging in the Dantian, colliding and surging, thereby achieving refinement of True Yuan."