Starting Cultivation During a Trip

”I’m just joking.”

Zhang Fan chuckled lightly. ”Why do you all look like that? No one has a sense of humor anymore.”

”Heh... hehehe... I’ll go make you guys some fruit salad.”

Su Shiyu broke the awkward silence and turned to walk into the kitchen.

”Sit down.”

Zhang Fan took out his phone and, without lifting his eyelids, patted the sofa.

Shi Shougong stared at Zhang Fan with considerable wariness. After a brief hesitation, he decided to sit down.

”Your Fire Technique has reached Great Success!?”

”Great Success...”

Zhang Fan’s hands paused slightly, but in his heart he sighed.

How could Daoist Fire Technique be so easily mastered?

In the Daoist Sect, one only cultivates the Primordial Spirit and not the body—that is like building a pavilion in the air; if one only cultivates the body and not the Primordial Spirit, they are fated to guard a corpse like a Corpse Guardian.

To nourish the spirit and refine the body, the secret lies in the Inner Core Technique.

The Inner Core Technique cultivated by Zhang Fan is the [North and South Sect Origin], an orthodox Daoist method, using the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi as ”medicine”—what is called Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Ancestor Master Chunyang labeled it ”Celestial Light” in the [Taiyi Jinhua Principle].

To gather Great Medicine requires refining with fire!!!

The so-called True Flame manifests as heat energy, which is also the source of life.

Before a person dies, a single breath is held in their throat; that is the body’s last bit of Yang Qi, the final wisp of life’s energy source. After death, once that breath is gone, body temperature drops rapidly.

True Flame is to ignite that last bit of Yang Qi dispersed throughout the body, and from it, all follows naturally.

In the cultivation of the Inner Core Technique, Fire Time is crucial—it is a secret of the Daoist Family never taught lightly.

The ancients said: ”The medicine is taught but not the fire”—meaning without fire there is no medicine, and without medicine, fire does not arise. In cultivating the Inner Core Technique, ”When the medicine is ripe, fire transforms it; when fire is sufficient, medicine is naturally achieved.”

Only by using fire to refine the medicine can one train the body, nourish the Primordial Spirit, burn away the dregs in the spirit, and achieve Pure Yang Wuji.

Ordinary Daoists find even grasping this Fire Time incredibly difficult—a lifetime of exploration seldom yields the technique, let alone ”forming a technique through fire.” Moreover, the [Fire Dragon Pill Sword] that Zhang Fan cultivates is no ordinary Great Skill; it can rival the profundity of the [Five Thunders Righteous Method].

Now, Zhang Fan is still making headway; if he could truly master the [Fire Dragon Pill Sword], he could truly step into the [Spirit Department] rank, and next, aim for the [High Skill] rank.

That’s the realm he’s dreamed of reaching in his sleep.

Once he accomplishes [High Skill], Zhang Fan might be able to extract the Zhenwu Jade Scroll from his body and, at the same time, make a trip to Shangjing City to seek out the Evil Gods.

”You think it’s that easy?” Zhang Fan said coolly.

”Since ancient times, thunder and fire have been the hardest to cultivate...” Shi Shougong, being a demon, naturally knew how terrifying these two techniques were.

Thunder and fire are like tribulation and punishment—vast and hiding Heaven’s might. They can refine Golden Cores and also take lives or grant them.

Because of this, in all the Daoist sects worldwide, few master Thunder Skill or Fire Technique; those who achieve Great Success are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Looking back thirty years, those notorious for their mastery in Fire Refining Technique...

”I did hear about one...”

Shi Shougong remembered—he’d once heard Yun Jianyue, aka Bai Yujing, talk about it.

Though Daoist True Flame is hard to cultivate, more than twenty years ago, there was one in the Seven Eastern and Southern Provinces, known for his mastery of a hundred Fire Dao techniques. With a mere thought, he could create nameless flames and turn a hundred miles into scorched earth—hence the name...

”The Scorched Earth Flame Monarch!”

”Scorched Earth Flame Monarch!?” This was the first time Zhang Fan had heard of that name.

”It’s said that his mastery of fire went beyond rigid forms and Dharma Seals; a thought could spark fire into being.”

Shi Shougong spoke in a low, focused voice: ”Let me put it to you this way...”

”If you had skills like his, you wouldn’t need to refill the gas canisters at home.”

”...”

”It’s hard...” Zhang Fan sighed inwardly.

This step is incredibly, impossibly difficult.

The fact that he had glimpsed the mysteries of True Flame and comprehended the [Fire Dragon Pill Sword] was, odds are, connected to that night with the [Thousand-Year-Old Demon].

But after that night, the [Thousand-Year-Old Demon] seemed to have vanished and never logged on again.

Zhang Fan opened the ”Little Yellow Book” app and clicked on his follow list. The Thousand-Year-Old Demon’s avatar was still gray.

”If you’re not dead, could you reply at least?”

Zhang Fan, feeling a little irritated, casually sent a message to the [Thousand-Year-Old Demon].

”Sorry, you’ve been blacklisted by the other party...”

Staring at the system prompt that popped up, Zhang Fan was flabbergasted. He’d been blocked again by the [Thousand-Year-Old Demon], and this time without warning.

”What the fuck, this is pure insanity...blocking with the slightest provocation...”

”Aquarius!?”

Zhang Fan was so exasperated his Consciousness grew agitated.

”Here you go.”

Just then, Su Shiyu walked over, a crystal bowl filled with mango, watermelon, banana, and orange... all smothered in thick yogurt.

”You guys sure work fast, already found a new place to stay.” Zhang Fan picked up a metal fork, skewered a piece of watermelon, chatting while eating.

”We looked at a lot of places; this is closest to where you live...” Su Shiyu gazed softly at Zhang Fan, as if watching him eat was a pleasure in itself.

”Not cheap, I bet,” Zhang Fan remarked casually.

”Twelve thousand,” Shi Shougong said coolly. ”A month...”

”What? Twelve thousand?”

Upon hearing the number, Zhang Fan nearly jumped out of his seat. Twelve thousand—a sum almost equal to three months of his salary.

Even with the rent from that courtyard house in Gusu City, it’s still too wasteful.

”You are supporting two demons after all...” Shi Shougong glanced at Zhang Fan’s expression and curled his lip.

”Do you know what our treatment is like in the Wuwei Sect?”

In ancient times, demons and ghosts were already rare, let alone nowadays.

The rarity of a single demon isn’t beneath a High Skill—immense potential, myriad tricks. Especially a great demon over three hundred years old, capable of summoning wind and rain, terrifying beyond limits.

Always a coveted target for the Wuwei Sect, but also a great menace for the Daoist Sect.

”You guys actually get paid in the Wuwei Sect?” Zhang Fan blinked, then showed a strange look.