Chapter 243: Practice and the Sign of National Destruction
On top of the solitary peak.

Under the big willow tree, a desk was placed with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone spread out on it.

Chu Zhou sat cross-legged, holding a brush in his hand, which was covered with ink. When it was about to fall on the paper, it was suspended in the air, his eyes full of contemplation.

After a long, long time, Chu Zhou finally moved and wrote down six words – cultivation, martial arts, and immortality.

There is no doubt that he divided his practice into three parts. The main purpose of practice was to improve his own realm and magic power, and to continuously improve the “Tianhe Upside-Down Method”.

As the immortal method provided by Langhuanyuan, the power of “The Inverted Sky River Method” is beyond doubt. Chu Zhou doesn’t even need to think too much about it, just keep moving forward.

Of course, you don’t have to worry about the method, but the environment for practice can still be improved.

Before, Chu Zhou dug an underwater cave in the Baisha River under the solitary peak and practiced with the help of the abundant power of water.

It is certainly enough for the stages of drawing in Qi and building the foundation, but it is a bit insufficient for the huge spiritual power required for the great improvement of the Golden Core.

Of course, Chu Zhou now has a better choice, which is to retreat into a quiet room.

This is a place where spiritual ideas gather, especially after the mountain protection formation has been adjusted, it is even more abundant.

However, if one cultivates here, the number of spiritual energy will be much greater, but as for the dual spiritual energy of ‘water shock’ that Chu Zhou needs, it is not much different from that in the underwater cave.

Chu Zhou’s solution was to adjust the mountain protection formation again and introduce some spiritual energy into the Baisha River under the isolated peak.

In this way, the power of water and the effect of the formation are all utilized, which is the best of both worlds and can also support Chu Zhou’s cultivation needs.

However, if this is the case, the underwater cave will not be very useful.

Chu Zhou was planning to expand it, preferably with the help of the power of the formation to build an underwater palace for practice.

However, he had to do this alone, with at most four fellow apprentices accompanying him, and he also had to prepare some tools and techniques for underwater work.

Of course it was fine for him, but his four fellow apprentices had to learn how to breathe underwater, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to work at all.

Unconsciously, the word below the item “cultivation” was already filled in, all of which were things Chu Zhou could think of and things that needed attention.

Then, he shifted his gaze and looked at the item of “Martial Arts”, but after just a brief thought, he crossed out “Martial Arts” and replaced it with the word “Physical Training”.

There is no doubt that the ultimate form of Xuanzhen Temple’s secret martial arts is to sanctify the physical body. According to the classification of the Jieying Hall, it belongs to the method of body refining.

This is a relatively rare category. Even in heaven, there are very few immortals who take this path.

There is no way. A group of immortals can basically move mountains and seas with a wave of their hands, and when they stop, the world will be turned upside down.

You’re so strong, but you still have to run up and fight with others?

That’s really too much of a pity!
But Chu Zhou was not ready to give up. On the one hand, he started out as a martial artist and had completed the marrow cleansing and blood transfusion once, so he had already achieved success in body refining.

It would be such a pity to give up at this time!
On the other hand, he had attended many courses in the Jieying Hall and knew clearly that there were not many body cultivators in the Heavenly Court, but the few who had names were all powerful among the immortals.

Just for this reason, Chu Zhou felt that he could not give up.

Of course, the path of martial arts is rugged, and the path of immortality is vast, and he knows which is more important.

Therefore, body refining is only auxiliary. From now on, you only need to spend one or two hours every day to use the “Tianhe Body Refining Technique” to temper your body.

As for the final path to immortality, it is naturally the one that Chu Zhou cares about.

His plan was simple, which was to continue to work hard and make further progress in the direction in which he had already laid the foundation.

The simplest one is magic and supernatural powers. This is what he invested the most in, not only time, but also energy, merit points, and courses.

And this time, he is ready to invest even more!

The last course, “An Introduction to Water-based Magical Powers,” was certainly good, but overall it was too general, like an overview of a book. Although it indicated the content of the book, it was too broad.

The first advanced course Chu Zhou was going to take was “In-depth Study of One Yuan Heavy Water”.

It talks about the cultivation, key points, precautions, improvement methods, and even the methods of using and fighting this ‘One Yuan Heavy Water’ magical power.

Chu Zhou only had one drop of one-yuan heavy water as his trump card. If he really cultivated his magical powers and had a hundred drops to protect himself, wouldn’t he be able to kill people indiscriminately? !
In addition, Chu Zhou also decided on a magical power called “Forgotten River Water”.

Legend has it that it originates from the river between Huangquan and Hades, and is used to guide the souls of the dead. It can make people forget all the troubles and painful experiences in their past and present lives in a moment.

In another thought, it can transform into an illusion of the underworld, with lonely souls everywhere, wild ghosts running rampant, snakes and insects everywhere, and horror and fear.

Chu Zhou had been drooling over this magical power for a long time. Compared with the extreme gravity of one-yuan heavy water, this kind of method is even more difficult to guard against!
It’s a pity that for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage, it’s already very strenuous to bear the cost of a magical power seed. Now that he has achieved the Golden Elixir stage, he should learn something new.

The next item is the sword technique, which he plans to exchange for the sword magic power, “The Art of Sword Qi and Thunder Sound”!
Chu Zhou was not a pure swordsman, nor could he rely on a sword for his entire life, but the power of the sword and its killing power were beyond imagination, so he was unwilling to give up.

He also used the “Sun-piercing Sword Art” to forcefully promote the sword energy and thunder sound technique, but it could only be said that nine out of ten techniques were enabled and one was not.

These three courses are not cheap. They are all advanced courses, and each costs up to one thousand merit points.

Besides this, Chu Zhou hesitated for a long time and finally changed to a course called “Detailed Explanation of Formation”.

Its content can be regarded as an extension of “The Fundamentals of Formations”, which talks about the existing common types of formations, how to arrange the formations, how to control them, and how to take advantage of the situation of heaven and earth to maximize the power of the formations.

Frankly speaking, Chu Zhou actually didn’t want to divide his attention, and the course of a spiritual plant husband was enough for him to study.

But the deeper he went, the more he discovered that the environment of Xuanzhen Temple forced you to know a little bit of everything.

Moreover, there are so many arts in cultivating immortals, but only the four items of ‘alchemy, weapons, talismans and arrays’ have been separated out to become the four major auxiliary cultivations, and they naturally have their irreplaceable role.

Chu Zhou didn’t think he would go far in the formation, but he had to understand this mountain protection formation, otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to build the underwater palace.

That night.

In the reception hall,

“This, this, and that, that, I want these four courses. As for the merit points, you can deduct them as you see fit, Great Immortal!”

“Oh my, are you feeling guilty today?

I thought that after you achieved the Golden Elixir, you lost the motivation to move forward. If that is the case, I will be disappointed!”

The immortal Jie Yin still had the same immortal demeanor, but his words were spoken with a hint of irony.

“Lost motivation to move forward?”

Chu Zhou blinked and said in confusion: “I am only a golden elixir, and I am still a long way from becoming an immortal. How come I have no motivation to move forward?

What does this have to do with anything???”

After a pause, he seemed to understand something and said, “You have seen many cases of people not making progress, haven’t you?”

“Not everyone can stick to their own heart, and not all immortals have the courage to reach the peak. I hope you can make it to the end.”

“I wish I could too!”

“Then I’ll wait and see. The courses have been exchanged. Which one do you want to learn first?”

“The magical power of the Forgotten River? I want to see if the netherworld really exists.
Is there really reincarnation after death?”

“Of course there is, but I’m afraid it’s not quite what you think. Reincarnation is both natural and man-made!”

“not understand!”

“You will understand after you learn it! So, let’s start the course…”

When the sound of the Tao resounded through heaven and earth, everything within Chu Zhou’s sight changed. Although it was an illusion, he was still brought into the underworld and saw the world after death.

Chu Zhou knew that people have souls after death, but what he didn’t know was that whether there is an underworld or not does not hinder reincarnation.

In the knowledge system of heaven, this universe emphasizes balance and reincarnation.

Therefore, after a person dies, there will be a downgrading phenomenon, from three dimensions to two dimensions, and then to one dimension. Eventually, the soul will be cleansed of all impurities and only a bit of true spirit will remain to reincarnate.

From this perspective, the essence of cultivating immortals is to avoid this kind of demotion and to strive to complete the upgrade of one’s own dimension.

From three dimensions to four dimensions, and even to five and six dimensions, we can completely break free from the constraints of the long river of time, control life and death, and thus achieve transcendence.

As for the underworld?
In fact, it is man-made, created by a powerful being in the two-dimensional world as a settlement where souls can reside.

Although most souls will eventually return to nothingness and re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, some ghost cultivators can seize the opportunity and struggle to create a new world in the netherworld. The water of the Forgotten River is a phenomenon that flows in this “gathering place” and has a great effect on ghosts.

That was another evolution of the magical power of water. Although Chu Zhou only took one lesson, it was an eye-opener. He felt that the world was so vast.

The night passed just like this, but on the second night, Chu Zhou entered the Jieying Hall again.

This time, he did not study “The Water of the Forgotten River”, but chose the course “One Yuan Heavy Water”.

Achieving the Golden Elixir not only increases mana, but also the transformation of life. Chu Zhou’s current soul strength and mental resilience are far beyond ordinary.

Therefore, he could quickly digest what he learned from the courses, instead of having to stop for many days to study a lesson as before.

Chu Zhou didn’t know if he was a tough person, but he definitely had strong execution ability. Once he made a plan, he would complete it step by step according to the plan, never making any compromises and not being lazy.

He would wake up when the sun rose every day and spend an hour practicing the Tianhe Body Refining Technique, which would not only strengthen his body and strengthen his blood, but also keep himself in the best condition.

Then before lunch, he would study the knowledge of formations, or take care of his spiritual fields, or deal with some trivial matters, or just stroll around to see the progress of the construction of Xuanzhen Temple.

After lunch, he would spend another hour answering questions and resolving doubts for Xu Cheng and the other three, and guiding them on their problems in cultivation.

Or he would gather some inner disciples and give them a lesson, explaining the key points of practice or the precautions when using magic.

After finishing this matter, Chu Zhou will return to his retreat room, and use the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth to condense the “one yuan heavy water”, or practice the magical power of “Forget River Water”.

From time to time, he would fly out with his sword, deep in the Red Dragon Mountains, and practice sword techniques.

The “Sun-piercing Sword Art” is not considered profound, but it is extremely suitable for the art of sword energy and thunder sound. Chu Zhou can feel that he has made great progress every time he studies and practices.

Sword Qi and Thunder Sound, at the beginning the sword light naturally runs faster than sound, but this is only the beginning, there will be double, triple, quadruple, quintuple times, or even faster speed later.

When it is really fast to a certain degree, it is the sword technique in the world. Only speed can be broken, and the killing power is naturally terrifying.

Chu Zhou also discovered that he had no talent in martial arts swordsmanship, and it was difficult for him to learn the simplest swordsmanship. However, he seemed to have a good aptitude in immortal sword cultivation and did not find it difficult.

As evening approached, Chu Zhou still had the habit of having dinner with everyone. He didn’t need it, but this ritual could not be missed.

Then, he would take advantage of darkness to carve the rock wall under the isolated peak and expand the cave.

This is not an easy job. Although Chu Zhou has an unparalleled physique, can breathe normally underwater, and can use sword techniques to cut through rock walls, he is not good at construction!
There was no order in its construction, which led to several accidents. He could ignore the damage, but he was helpless when he saw the cave he had expanded collapse.

Finally, they contacted the Construction Department, which produced a blueprint of an underwater palace. With the help of a master craftsman from the Construction Department, they were finally on the right track.

As long as things are on the right track, things will proceed very quickly. After all, he is a Jindan cultivator, and with four foundation-building cultivators to help, it is not a difficult task for him to open up an underground cave.

By the time the underwater palace was completed, Chu Zhou had already adjusted the mountain protection formation, combining the power of water with the formation to create a holy place for cultivation for himself.

Before going to the Jieying Hall to study, he would breathe in and out here for several hours, completing the daily practice of “The Upside-Down Sky River Method” before entering the Jieying Hall for class.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the four courses, he also exchanged for a course called “The Essentials of Golden Elixir Cultivation”.

Different from the cultivation in the Qi Induction Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm, he felt the cultivation in the Golden Core Realm was obscure and restrictive, as if some parts were not smooth, making it very difficult for him to cultivate.

Therefore, he changed this course in order to find a powerful person who could teach him step by step what he needs to pay attention to when practicing in the Jindan realm.

I have to say, the effect is remarkable!
Well, to be precise, although the courses in the Jieying Hall seem to be numerous, each one is full of practical knowledge and never empty talk.

Then, he exchanged a copy of “Puppetry Mechanics” for the Thousand Machine Guest.

When Qianjike got it, he was shaking with excitement, but after opening the contents, his eyes became dull.

Because, unlike what he imagined, this “Puppetry Art” is not about making wooden birds, puppet Taoist soldiers or the like, but is entirely about how to refine various mechanical creations.

From small items like clocks, fans, rice cookers, and washing machines to large items like rail cars, drilling vehicles, excavators, ships, floating iron ships, and even puppet robots that are up to ten meters tall.

Of course, the driving energy is either one’s own mana or a complete formation combined with spirit stones.

God knows how excited Chu Zhou was when he saw such a category. Although these were nothing and the fairyland could produce far more magical things than these, this was the only category open to mortals.

Many of these parts can be manufactured by any mortal, and can form an alternative immortal industrial system.

Chu Zhou didn’t want to replicate the so-called industrial civilization here, but he always felt that they were very familiar!

……

When you become more focused, time seems to go by faster and faster as it accelerates.

Chu Zhou followed his own plan, studying, practicing, accumulating, and growing every day. He felt that he seemed to have entered a period of rapid growth again. He could feel the changes in himself every day, and every day was fulfilling and satisfying.

Of course, bad news comes from time to time!
That was the news about the war that came from the four major sects. To sum it up, it can be said in one sentence: The Dayun Dynasty was losing ground and requested Xuanzhen Temple to take action.

In fact, at the beginning of the war, the Dayun Dynasty did not show any signs of decline. The Golden Horde was the strongest, but the Sanqing Gate was even stronger. Together with the Longcheng Cavalry, they managed to keep them out of the border.

On the other hand, although Wu Miao was losing ground in Youyan Prefecture, they could not resist the endless flow of reinforcements.

With the intervention of masters from Ba Zong and Gu Sha Zong, the advantage of Dayan Dynasty was almost gone. Then, the battle situation became more and more stable, and the two sides entered a stalemate stage.

During this period of time, when Chu Zhou had been immersed in training for about three months, warriors all over the world were excited.

After all, the spread of Xuanzhen Temple’s secret martial arts has been going on for some time, and the domineering form is extremely powerful on the battlefield.

Let’s not talk about the level of martial arts grandmaster. Below the grandmaster level, on the ground battlefield, once the dominance is activated, you can become a fierce general who charges into battle.

For a time, the Dayun Dynasty even had the intention of counterattacking, and the secret martial arts of Xuanzhen Temple were also recognized by people all over the world.

However, this good momentum was destroyed by the Pure World Red Lotus Society and the Xuan Yue Sect.

I don’t know how the Xuan Yue Sect did it, but they actually instigated the general stationed in Longcheng to rebel, allowing the army of the Golden Horde to march straight in.

Although the Sanqing Sect had many masters, they were powerless in the face of such a losing battle.

And when the Golden Horde invaded inland, they could no longer be stopped.

The Pure World Red Lotus Society mobilized its traditional abilities, launched an uprising in the rear, organized rebel armies, and attacked cities and caused destruction everywhere!

Once the war broke out, the additional war taxes, corvee labor, and military service forced countless families to fall apart, and also enriched countless gentry and wealthy families.

Of course, when people can no longer survive, Honglian will make a slight move and cause chaos.

At the beginning, everyone was confused, because the Pure World Red Lotus Society and the Xuanyue Demon Sect should have suffered heavy losses in strength, so how come they still had so many disciples and so many masters?
Later, some Red Lotus messengers and Xuan Yue disciples were arrested. During the first trial, it was discovered that this group of people were actually from Dayan’s Pure World Red Lotus Society and Xuan Yue Sect.

This is a stone falling, which creates a thousand waves!

It’s a pity that no matter how angry the martial arts sects of the Dayun Dynasty were, they could not resolve the chaotic situation both inside and outside.

By now, it had been the ninth month that Chu Zhou had been immersing himself in cultivation. Just as he was getting better and better, the Dayun Dynasty was showing signs of decline.

The Wu Temple had completely lost Youyan Prefecture and retreated to Danshan Prefecture of the Gusha Sect; the Sanqing Sect had also lost Yunchen Prefecture and was concentrating its forces to fight against the Golden Horde in Shangrao Prefecture.

As for Ba Zong, it seemed to be hiding in the rear and safe and sound, but the Qihuo Army revived again in Tianyuan Prefecture which had just stabilized.

Even in Chishui Prefecture, only Tianquan County is stable. Other places are plagued by problems of one kind or another, which have never ceased.

Nine months, or just a few months, the once powerful Dayun Dynasty showed signs of its demise.

It was at this time that a man came to the door!
Xuanzhen looks outside,

The fog gradually thinned, and the mountain gate could be vaguely seen with a bronze bell hanging on it.

At some point, a man with a strong body and a domineering and majestic face had already stood here. He snapped his fingers and rang the bronze bell.

咣 咣 咣!
The sound of the great bells and the great drums resounded between heaven and earth. A slightly anxious voice came from the clouds and mist: “Who is it? Who is it? Didn’t I say that Xuanzhen Temple does not accept visits or visitors?”

As he was speaking, a young disciple walked out from the mist. He was wearing a green robe and a jade belt, had a sturdy physique, and there were stains of sweat on his forehead. It was obvious that he had just been practicing boxing.

However, when he looked up and saw the person coming, his expression froze.

The visitor was not angry, but just said: “The contemporary Overlord of the Overlord Sect, Xiong Kuohai, has come to ask to see the Master of Xuanzhen Temple, Taoist Master Chu. Please help me pass the message.”

“Oh, ahaha, the Overlord is coming to visit, I’ll go and inform him right away, right away!”

　Here is today’s update. Isn’t it a lot early?

　
(End of this chapter)