As Wu Tao entered his master Shangguan Yujie's cave dwelling, a faint aroma of wine mingled with her own natural fragrance.
This caused Wu Tao to instinctively pause his steps.
...
On a green jade table in front of the cave dwelling, Shangguan Yujie was drinking Ming Gan Green Bamboo wine alone, a hint of laziness in her demeanor.
Ming Gan Green Bamboo wine was brewed from bamboo shoots unique to the Ming Gan Green Bamboo Forest, harvested after the rain and buried underground for fifty years before being brought out. It was mellow, clear, and contained inherent spiritual energy. Long-term consumption could aid cultivation.
However, at this point, for Shangguan Yujie, who was in the late stage of the Core Formation realm, it merely satisfied her palate and served no other purpose.
Shangguan Yujie turned her head, her eyes flashing as she saw Wu Tao. She raised her gourd and called out loudly, "Good disciple, you're here! Come quickly... drink with me, it's boring drinking alone."
On the other side.
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao made no ceremony, pulled out a chair, and sat down, joining his master Shangguan Yujie for a drink.
...
After a day and a night, Wu Tao let out a belch, his body swaying precariously as he walked directly back to the Ming Gan Green Bamboo Forest.
He left behind Shangguan Yujie at the green jade table, her face ashen.
Shangguan Yujie was now muttering complaints, showing none of the demeanor expected of a master.
"My cheap disciple is truly impolite, I asked him to drink and he really drank. Hundreds of pounds of spiritual wine went down in one go, it's a wonder he could stomach it."
...
Seated cross-legged in the Ming Gan Green Bamboo Forest, spiritual energy circulated through his body. Within his dantian, strands of pale golden sword qi dispersed throughout him.
The large amount of spiritual wine stored in Wu Tao's stomach gradually transformed into spiritual energy, which was absorbed by the constantly circulating spiritual power in his body.
Then, this surge of spiritual power made another circuit through the meridians before returning to the dantian, nourishing and tempering it.
...
It turned out that during their drinking session, Shangguan Yujie had imparted a set of sword tempering and spirit control incantations, which she had spent nearly a century researching, to Wu Tao without reservation.
The incantation was simple, only over a hundred characters, but it was extremely profound and of great benefit to Wu Tao.
Wu Tao sat cross-legged before the bamboo forest, his eyes closed in meditation, concentrating his qi in his dantian. His hands were placed in a cross above his head, and he silently recited the twenty-four keywords: "Man and sword as one, spirit tempers the sword body, fire of the cauldron, forged into steel, spiritual energy circulates, condensing into substance."
...
At this moment, several hours had passed, and the sun was already setting in the west. Wu Tao's spiritual energy flowed ceaselessly through his meridians like an eternal river.
Subsequently, Wu Tao's body began to gradually heat up. The sword spirit and Buddhist power circulated end-to-end, becoming increasingly integrated, and finally blending together, pouring into the sea of his dantian without distinction.
Although there were splashes and turbulent waves in this process, it ultimately transformed into a vast ocean.
...
Wu Tao's clothes billowed, his entire body flushed red, and the qi and blood within him gradually reached the peak of what his body could bear.
Suddenly, Wu Tao let out a thunderous shout, his voice deafening, like thunder on a rainy day.
It shook the bamboo leaves on the surrounding bamboo trees, causing them to fall like rain, and even startled several birds in the air into unconsciousness.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Wu Tao finally ceased his cultivation and slowly opened his eyes.
The bright moonlight now bathed the earth, shining upon Wu Tao as if he were draped in a layer of silver frost.
Wu Tao sat on the ground, looking at his hands, then at the Chuxi sword beside him, a mix of emotions surging within him.
No wonder everyone liked to take on disciples; as soon as they met the conditions, they would rush to find a master.
They would spare no expense to find an excellent master.
Now, it seemed that having a master guiding him indeed brought immense benefits to a disciple's future cultivation path.
After receiving this set of secret techniques, Wu Tao felt as if his mind had been enlightened, and his cultivation had advanced greatly.
After a day and a night, Wu Tao felt smooth and unimpeded, acting at his will, and was more than twice as strong as usual, making a thousand-mile progress in a single day.
Wu Tao was ecstatic, knowing that his combat strength had reached a new level within these one or two days.
The Chuxi sword behind him was unsheathed, and Wu Tao gripped it at his back. His entire demeanor changed abruptly.
If before, Wu Tao exuded an extremely sharp aura, easily recognizable wherever he went,
then now, Wu Tao possessed an air of detachment, a hint of a ethereal sword immortal's presence.
The Chuxi sword gleamed, its body seeming to shimmer with flowing light, its edge sharp and radiant. Pale golden sword qi flickered around Wu Tao.
It was dazzling and bright, as if an immortal flame burned within the sword, transforming the entire immortal sword in his hand into a radiant golden hue.
A gust of wind began to rise, rustling the bamboo leaves on the ground.
Following the movement of the sword, Wu Tao's toes touched the ground, his upright figure resembling a flying sword shadow, leaving a straight rainbow in its wake.
Immediately after, Wu Tao leaped into the air, his figure moving with incredible speed, appearing in mid-air. The Chuxi sword silently unsheathed, its point aimed at the sky.
In an instant, an aura of sharp ferocity appeared on the Chuxi sword. The sword's edge suddenly erupted with dazzling light.
This light appeared so suddenly, as if it were the first light after the creation of heaven and earth, giving one a sense of unreality, as if it had flown from beyond the heavens and suddenly descended upon the mortal realm.
With a flash of light, nothing else remained in the world but this cold, aloof, yet seemingly omnipresent brilliance.
There was only one kind of light in the world so blinding.
That was sword light!
"A sword light, chilling the heavens, its might presses upon the Nine Provinces."
...
He exhaled gently, releasing faint white mist with his breath. The sword qi around him dispersed, and the immortal flames in Wu Tao's eyes burned.
In the void, two pale golden divine swords materialized and shot towards a rock the size of a human head.
*Puff——*
The sword qi slashed, and the rock was instantly split into four...
Cultivation, the pursuit of the Dao, and the path to immortality had occupied nearly all of Wu Tao's energy for over forty years.
As time passed, another two years went by. Wu Tao, in his thirties, had reached the peak perfection of the Foundation Establishment realm.
However, now in his forties, Wu Tao still hadn't felt the opportunity for a perfect breakthrough to the Core Formation realm.
...
It was important to know that a perfect breakthrough to Core Formation and a very reluctant breakthrough were two different concepts.
This directly affected how easy or difficult a cultivator's path would be after breaking through from the Foundation Establishment realm to the Core Formation realm.
For ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, breaking through to Core Formation was already difficult enough; they dared not hope for more.
However, after his body had been reforged in that sea of ten thousand swords, Wu Tao's talent had transformed into an Innate Sword Body, and he could be considered a prodigy.
Since he was already a prodigy, his aspirations naturally differed from those of others.
Furthermore, Wu Tao's ambition was exceptionally great.
...
In the depths of his being, Wu Tao always felt he was missing something. Although he had indeed made significant progress in recent years,
he still felt as if some crucial element was lacking for a perfect breakthrough to Core Formation.
For this reason, Wu Tao had spent the past few years poring over many ancient texts in the Taiyi Immortal Sect's Scripture Pavilion and had also consulted his master, Shangguan Yujie. Only then did he understand the reason.
It was not as simple as imagined for a cultivator to break through from the Foundation Establishment realm to the Core Formation realm.
The nine Holy Sons of the Taiyi Immortal Sect were all exceptionally talented, powerful in combat, resolute in mind, and were paragons among ten thousand.
Yet, even they had been trapped in the peak perfection of the Foundation Establishment realm for over a decade, striving for a perfect breakthrough to Core Formation.
...
Truly powerful cultivators were not achieved overnight; they required a long process of accumulation and refinement.
A cultivator's cultivation was inseparable from the physical body, spiritual energy, and mental strength; none could be lacking.
The physical body was the foundation of a cultivator, their entirety.
Without a physical body, cultivators unable to have their primordial spirit leave their bodies would surely perish.
The strength of a cultivator's spiritual energy almost directly determined the level of their cultivation.
However, spiritual energy was also bound by realm. If the realm was insufficient, no matter how powerful the spiritual energy, it could not break free from the constraints and reach a higher realm.
Mental strength, on the other hand, was the domain of the human soul and primordial spirit, also understood as the realm of mental power. If the realm of mental strength could not command the physical body and soul, the most terrifying consequence would be qi deviation and a self-detonation of the body.
Following that, it could lead to mental chaos, and a life of madness. Furthermore, it would cause cultivation to stagnate or prevent breakthroughs to higher realms.
...
Wu Tao's physical body and spiritual energy had both reached the standard for breaking through to Core Formation, but only his mental strength was slightly lacking.
The solution was neither extremely difficult nor simple.
One could find spiritual herbs and medicines that enhanced mental strength, or cultivation techniques and secret arts that increased mental strength, or failing that, obtain treasures that aided mental strength.
However, the rarity and difficulty of finding these items were astounding.
...
Thinking this, Wu Tao finally left his cave dwelling one day and flew on his artifact towards the largest market in Qingzhou.
If he were to search for spiritual herbs and medicines that enhanced mental strength, cultivation techniques and secret arts that increased mental strength, or treasures that aided mental strength, he would naturally need to look in the major markets.
Everything he needed should be found in the largest market in Qingzhou, the Ten Thousand Treasures Market.
The Ten Thousand Treasures Market was also one of the largest establishments under the Yi Bao Chamber of Commerce.
...
After flying for half a month, Wu Tao finally arrived at the Ten Thousand Treasures Market.
Upon reaching the Ten Thousand Treasures Market, Wu Tao discovered that its scale and prosperity far surpassed any market he had seen before.