181: So-called genius

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that Chen Cuo returned to his Immortal Cave from Yuanyuan True Man's Immortal Cave, with a look of three parts fatigue and seven parts excitement. Chen Cuo recalled the appearance of those two.

As expected of the Sect's True Disciple, Feng Wuchen was taken in by Yuanyuan True Man from outside and became an official Disciple from the start because he was a rare Genius with an unusual Spiritual Root, a Wind Spiritual Root.

Moreover, his Comprehension Ability was exceptional. When Yuanyuan True Man taught him the Method of Collecting Hues and Weaving Brocade, he quickly understood it!

The clouds and mist within Yuanyuan True Man's Immortal Cave were not identical to the purple Qi and colorful clouds in reality; they were a weakened version of Secret Realm haze Light, yet still exceptionally precious, used to refine Magical Artifacts with considerable power.

As for Lei Zhen, he was the champion taken in by Yuanyuan True Man at the previous True Disciple Grand Ceremony, possessing innate Divine Power and skilled in forging.

Normally, when the two weren't out training, they were repairing Butian Pavilion. It was rare that they had free time recently and met Chen Cuo.

Most of the space within Butian Pavilion was unstable and not a suitable place for training. As for resources, no resources capable of allowing a Foundation Establishment cultivator to Break through to Core Formation had been discovered inside; it should be said that they hadn't evolved yet.

Therefore, several Elders in the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, including another official Disciple of Yuanyuan True Man who was also in the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, were searching for Core Formation Opportunity in the outside world.

In terms of Cultivation, ever since Chen Cuo entered Lingbao Mountain, his Cultivation had become increasingly casual and unrestrained, with a sense of freedom.

Although he had never slacked off, he felt no urgency, even when using Hua Jian Trading Company to collect resources; it was because he wanted to do so, not because he was desperate to Breakthrough.

In short, he was not in a hurry.

These so-called Genius Disciples all had to leave the Sect to find resources for Breakthrough, fighting to the death for Core Formation Opportunity, and risking their lives for eternal longevity.

What about him?

He didn't possess such powerful Cultivation talent, yet he had the freedom of Indestructible and Eternal, along with the support of a cheat.

After meeting these Geniuses, Chen Cuo no longer felt any envy; instead, he chose to follow his own Cultivation rhythm.

As long as he didn't slack off, there was no need to rush!

For example, the issue of his Lifebound Treasure, which he had been contemplating, had become urgent, such as the idea of using Five Elements Rings.

Instead, after this lecture, he discovered that the Chain Blade he had been nurturing had already taken on the semblance of a Lifebound Treasure, showing up in the System as a Life Immortal Artifact.

This term clearly meant Lifebound Treasure.

Chen Cuo's heart stirred. He recalled his experience when reforging the Chain Blade. At that time, he had used the Soul Refining Method, integrating his essence blood into the blade to connect it with his own aura.

After completing the refinement, he then nurtured it within his body, keeping it by his side day and night, constantly communicating with his Divine Soul, allowing the Chain Blade to gradually adapt to his aura and power.

Through the ingenious ideas of his Artifact Refining talent, combined with the Fusion of the Killing Heart talent of the Killing Heart Sword, and adding its miraculous effect of directly attacking the Divine Soul, it was named the God Slaying Chain Blade.

Now, looking back, this process was astonishingly consistent with the steps Yuanyuan True Man described for nurturing a Lifebound Treasure. Yuanyuan True Man had previously stated that a Foundation Establishment cultivator nurturing a Lifebound Treasure required the Cultivator to use their own essence blood as a guide, closely connecting the Magic Treasure with their aura, and then through long-term nurturing and communication, allowing the Magic Treasure to gradually develop spirituality.

"Is this considered pre-refining a Lifebound Treasure?"

A strange excitement surged in Chen Cuo's heart. He realized that his Chain Blade was likely no longer just an ordinary Magical Artifact, but was progressing towards becoming a Lifebound Treasure.

"It's just that these refining Materials aren't top-notch. It would be best to re-refine it once more. After getting the Soul Refining Method from Zhang Zhao, I'll start working on it."

"Since that's the case, I should still look at the details of the Five Elements Spiritual Fire Sky Flame Lantern provided by Zhang Zhao to avoid any omissions."

Chen Cuo was about to re-enter a state of contemplation when he heard a soft, delicate voice from outside the Immortal Cave.

"Young Master, the hot spring water you ordered has been heated!" It was Ning Jinxiu, waiting outside.

Although Chen Cuo was already seventy years old, an elderly man among Mortals, he was still handsome and full of heroic spirit, even if not conventionally attractive.

It was probably due to the influence of his Indestructible and Eternal talent that his appearance had stabilized at around twenty years of age.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator in his middle years, yet with the appearance of a youth, and his heart still bright, he allowed the two Ning sisters to call him Young Master.

Outwardly, he claimed to have stumbled upon an Opportunity and consumed a precious medicine that preserved his appearance.

"Mm, you've worked hard!" Chen Cuo walked out and saw the two women he had woken up in the middle of the night. Cultivators were different from Mortals; most did not sleep at night, but rather Cultivated through meditation. This was especially true for the inner servants who specifically served the True Disciples.

Chen Cuo suddenly seemed to remember something and revealed a charming, evil smile.

Looking at Ning Jinxiu in front of him, "You come with me, and call Wushuang as well."

Ning Jinxiu timidly agreed, a blush suddenly appearing on her cheeks: "Yes, Young Master!"

Isn't Cultivation for this very day?

Brocade blooming in water, flowers blooming in unparalleled beauty.

After a period of joy, Chen Cuo poured himself a cup of Spirit Wine. He still remembered that when he first learned to brew wine, he directly replicated the white liquor from his previous life, earning him a large sum of money.

And now, this top-grade Spirit Wine in his hand, Spirit Wine processed with his Hundred Arts Proficiency, Spirit Wine with an exquisite taste, for some reason, always tasted a bit bitter when drunk.

Perhaps his old friends were all gone!

The night passed!

Chen Cuo was fully revived and began his research on the Five Elements Spiritual Fire Sky Flame Lantern again.

The refining process of this Magical Artifact was extremely complex, requiring careful adjustment of the Five Elements Spiritual Fire, using Tianyan Stone as the outer shell, and taking forty-nine days to form.

In fact, Chen Cuo was quite moved when he read the introduction to this flame Magical Artifact. If he could also have one by his side, he would never encounter issues with insufficient firepower when refining any Magical Artifact in the future.

If it could be paired with a Puppet Craftsman for an upgrade, it might even be possible to mass-produce Magic Treasures.

Of course, this was somewhat wishful thinking, but it was a direction nonetheless.

The problem was the fire seeds, which were difficult to obtain. Zhang Zhao probably didn't have any spare fire seeds.

Each of the Five Elements Spiritual Fire was extremely precious.

Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai had traveled extensively for years, searching for powerful Five Elements Spiritual Fire, collecting them for many years, fearing any slight error, and had not yet succeeded, which suggested it was quite difficult.

Chen Cuo estimated that this treasure was what Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai intended to refine as his Lifebound Treasure.

Zhang Zhao was merely the intermediary who contacted him.

Although Pavilion Lord Duan Canghai was a Disciple of Lingbao Mountain, he was the Pavilion Master of Fire Phoenix Pavilion, in charge of Dao soldiers. However, he was not as proficient in Artifact Refining as other True Disciples.

The refining method for this treasure was probably obtained by him through a fortuitous Opportunity. The Fusion of five fires possessed immense Divine Might.

Although Chen Cuo didn't know exactly how powerful it was, he speculated that one of its effects was to enhance magical power, providing great assistance in breaking through to Core Formation.

Therefore, Chen Cuo was also tempted and wondered if he could also create one for himself.

The outer shell, Tianyan Stone, was not that precious; it was a relatively rare Material, found only in extreme volcanic environments. In short, the Sect still had some.

The most troublesome part was the fire seeds. For the Five Elements attribute Spiritual Fire, he could only see if Zhang Zhao had any left and then figure out a way.

Chapter 181 (Part 2) Plans

The waiting time wasn't long. In recent days, Chen Cuo had been pondering the issue of refining Puppet Craftsman.

Chen Cuo had thoroughly understood the refining method of the Tianyan Lamp. He planned to refine a Tianyan Lamp himself to serve as the core of a Puppet, used to refine Magic Treasure-level Five Elements Rings.

Considering Material loss, time cost, and various other reasons, Chen Cuo still chose to refine the Five Elements Rings Magic Treasure using the combination set Magical Artifact method, as provided by Yuanyuan True Man's two ideas. The Materials could be slightly more common ones, so that they could be mass-produced by Puppet Craftsman.

For his own use, he would use the best Materials to refine five types of Spirit Ring Magical Artifacts, combined into a set.

He just had to wait a while!

Soon, another year passed.

Chen Cuo was comprehending the "Myriad Laws Primordial Chaos Cultivation Technique" and experiencing the power of Law. Now, within Butian Pavilion, Mirage Pool had entered a stage of self-evolution, and Longitudinal Chess World, as the formation's eye, was temporarily unable to be moved.

Yuanyuan True Man had seen Chen Cuo's contribution, praised him, and bestowed upon him a fire seed named Golden Lotus Fire, which was the Spirit of Earth Fire, formed by a golden lotus growing within fire.

A top-grade second-rank Spiritual Fire, infinitely close to third-rank.

He also occasionally visited Butian Pavilion to Cultivate the Lingbao Butian Method, and he was Cultivating with the Time Blade. This blade was kept in his scabbard and considered him its master.

Because of his Blade God talent, it felt even more intimate than comprehending the Law on the Longitudinal Chess World.

It's just that the Law traces on it were too powerful to reveal their true form, let alone observe and comprehend them.

After all, it was the Law of Time, and even a trace of it was far beyond what Chen Cuo, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, could directly perceive.

It wasn't that there would be any consequences from looking, but rather that he simply wasn't qualified to see it.

Of course, it wasn't entirely without gain. His Indestructible and Eternal talent already bore traces of time, coupled with the uniqueness of his own martial intent, and his affinity with blades, which deepened their bond, also brought about a different kind of comprehension.

He had gained insights, and they were very powerful and highly compatible with him.

It didn't explicitly point to the essence of the Time Dao traces, but rather seemed to be comprehending the Divine Ability on the blade, or perhaps the Time Blade was intentionally imparting a method.

Treasures have spirits!

This Divine Ability was related to the effect of the Time Blade. Chen Cuo hadn't fully comprehended it yet, but he generally knew it was a Divine Ability related to time and lifespan.

His Cultivation had also approached the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment after multiple Cultivation sessions, and he would soon reach Perfection. Golden Core was not far off either.

Such a Cultivation speed made Yuanyuan True Man even more enthusiastic, but he also knew what Cultivation method Chen Cuo had obtained, so there was no surprise.

Furthermore, Chen Cuo intentionally inquired and finally learned the Sect's true hidden strength: a Puppet with extremely high intelligence and a Cultivation of Soul Transformation.

This was a guardian left behind by Lingbao Mountain's founding Ancestral Master, Butian True Man. This Puppet was within the mountain gate, yet no one knew its exact location, silently guarding the Sect.

Not only that, he also learned the reason why Yuanyuan True Man had been cultivating in seclusion: it turned out that the other party had cultivated a profound Divine Ability and could not leave Butian Pavilion too far. This Divine Ability, even when he used it at his current Realm, would instantly give him the combat power of a Middle Stage Nascent Soul.

Moreover, this Divine Cultivation Technique could greatly increase his chances of passing the Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation. With such a promising Sect, naturally, no one would be willing to provoke Lingbao Mountain, this great financial backer.

Furthermore, the various Sects in the Eastern Holy Continent also had connections with the Upper Realm. Lingbao Mountain's founding Ancestral Master, after his Ascension, was still living well and thriving in the Upper Realm.

"Puppets gaining sentience seems much harder than Magical Artifacts. Is it because the core is not unified?"

Chen Cuo Cultivated a Cultivation Technique for a while, and his progress in Spells also reached a certain stage. Due to his Myriad Laws Thoroughness talent, he could cast various elemental Spells with almost no flaws.

However, it was difficult to advance further. Another step forward should no longer be called a technique, but rather a comprehension of Law, which is what he was doing now using the Mending Heaven Art.

Since that was the case, all that was left was to research the Hundred Arts of Cultivation. The research of Puppet Art was related to his progress in gathering resources, so he couldn't be careless at all. A Puppet Craftsman capable of refining Magic Treasures must possess intelligence to better control the formation of Magic Treasures.

"The Puppet Art in Tianbo City is not of a high enough level, and it lacks true core elements."

He murmured, and then thought of a person, Mu Erhun. The Mu family's ancestors had once been prominent, and their Puppet Art Legacy was quite different from the Puppet Art within Lingbao Mountain. Perhaps there was a way.

"Bai Tang, come see me tomorrow!"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Cuo decided to contact Bai Tang and have her sound them out first.

"Oh, it's a communication talisman from Zhang Zhao. Has he gathered his Spiritual Fire?"

Chen Cuo retrieved a cluster of light and shadow from the talisman and infused it with his magical power.

He heard: "Senior Brother Chen, my uncle has gathered all five types of Spiritual Fire. He will return to Fire Phoenix Pavilion the day after tomorrow. When will you have time to come to Fire Phoenix Pavilion?"

Chen Cuo cast a Spell to reply: "I will definitely arrive the day after tomorrow!"

The next day, Bai Tang came to receive instructions.

Upon seeing her, Chen Cuo assigned her several tasks: to contact the Mu family and see if they could be brought on board, then to accelerate business progress, open up more trade routes, and so on.

Finally, Chen Cuo said: "Bai *Shimei*, please help me collect more Heaven And Earth Treasure with Five Elements attributes, as well as Spiritual Fire with Metal, Wood, Water, and Earth attributes. Even just information would be helpful."

"Yes, Senior Brother."

After hearing this, Bai Tang remained standing, her gaze fixed on Chen Cuo.

"Alas, *Shimei*, would you allow this Senior Brother to examine your Cultivation, to see if you've been slacking off recently in your Cultivation?"

"Mm, thank you, Senior Brother."

Ever since he had planted that Life-Death Talisman on her, Bai Tang had fallen into an inescapable situation. Coupled with the fact that Chen Cuo had once detonated it during her Foundation Establishment, and then guided her Foundation Establishment with his Cultivation.

Such a surrender of body and mind was natural. Thus, during one report of Spirit Stone gains, the two also became intimate in substance.

After the third watch, a beautiful spring night.

"Is White Egret's Cultivation progressing smoothly?"

Chen Cuo also asked naturally.

"With your support, Young Master, and Father's care, White Egret *Meimei*'s Cultivation is naturally progressing smoothly. She has now reached Qi Refining twelfth layer and will soon become one of us!"

"When you go back, ask her. If she's willing, bring her over. I'm still short a suitable steward here!"

Many trivial matters could not be handled by others, and the two Ning sisters were busy taking care of the entire mountain peak, the Immortal Cave, and even the spiritual fields, almost unable to cope.

As inner attendants, Chen Cuo had no intention of involving them in the Hua Jian Trading Company, and it wasn't ideal for Bai Tang, who held external duties, to always be doing private work for him.

Coupled with their past friendship, it was natural to promote her now. After all, circumstances were different from when he had rejected the marriage proposal.

"Mm," Bai Tang softly agreed.