83: Back to the starting point

Returning to the Immortal Cave, Su Ling found the Formation core located at the top of the main hall.

[Golden Sun Heavenly Aura Array, Peak Grade Formation Plate. Relying on the number of the Heavenly Aura, it condenses metal-element spiritual energy to form a Heavenly Aura Golden Wall. Primarily for defense, it requires Mid-Grade Spirit Stones or metal-attribute spirit crystals as the Formation's energy source.]

"This..."

Su Ling was speechless; it was just an Immortal Cave Formation, yet it required Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to activate.

On second thought, he decided against it; the Immortal Cave was already protected by two major Formations outside.

He had only managed to trade for a few dozen Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from Loose Cultivators with great difficulty, so it was better to keep them as spares.

The Artifact Refining Room was empty, so Su Ling redeployed the Nine Palaces Lightning Descent Array here and released the azure roc wings to continue absorbing the power of thunder.

By this point, there was nothing left to excavate in the entire Immortal Cave.

Su Ling went to the stone platform, sat cross-legged, and first checked his spoils.

Goatee and his two companions were indeed loose cultivators; aside from a [Thunder Accumulation Mantra] that could only be cultivated to the Early Core Formation Stage, their Medicinal Pills, Talismans, and Spirit Stones were few and far between.

Only the two Low Grade Magic Treasures, the cloud sparrow boat and the thunderclap pearl, as well as the Peak Grade Magical Artifacts used by Little Lotus—the Profound Light Mirror and the Five Poison Needles—were quite useful to Su Ling.

Su Ling currently possessed the scarlet gold bow and the as-yet-unawakened Medium Grade Spirit Treasure, the azure roc wings.

This could be considered as nurturing two Magic Treasures at the same time.

Adding the thunderclap pearl and cloud sparrow boat at most, his capacity would already be saturated.

Unlike Magic Treasures, Magical Artifacts only needed to be refined to be used and did not need to be taken into the Dantian for nurturing.

However, the cloud sparrow boat was a flying Magic Treasure; it didn't require much effort or mana to nurture, and its flight capability was inherently outstanding.

As for the Profound Light Mirror and the Five Poison Needles, Su Ling could keep them as backups.

The High Grade thunderbolt sword and damaged High Grade Silver Light Shield used by Chen Feng, as well as Goatee's Peak Grade Blue-Gold Shield, were all just items for trade in Su Ling's eyes.

Normally, a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator can nurture one Magic Treasure and two or three Magical Artifacts.

With the support of special Cultivation Techniques, one can nurture an additional Magic Treasure or Magical Artifact.

Just like Wu Tiehun back then, who used two Magic Treasures while at the Peak Foundation Establishment.

Even if it was difficult to exert the full power of the Magic Treasures, they were still much more powerful than Peak Grade Magical Artifacts.

Early Stage and Middle Stage Core Formation Cultivators can nurture two to three Magic Treasures.

Late-stage Core Formation and Peak Core Formation Cultivators can nurture four to five Magic Treasures.

The power of a Magic Treasure is related to the degree of the Cultivator's nurturing, and the mana consumed when using it will also be lower.

Su Ling, at the Peak Foundation Establishment, could simultaneously nurture four Magic Treasures, which showed how powerful the Nine Nether Secret Record was.

From Little Lotus's Storage Pouch, Su Ling found a jade bottle containing half a bottle of the poison powder that had tricked Goatee.

[Spirit Dissolving Powder, a cultivation-dissipating poison. It can dissipate the Divine Soul and mana, taking effect as soon as it enters the body.]

"The old guy didn't lose for nothing!"

Su Ling chuckled; such a Sharp Weapon for backstabbing naturally had to be put away carefully.

He casually labeled the jade bottle and placed it in his storage bracelet along with other useful Magic Treasures and Magical Artifacts, while the rest of the miscellaneous items were packed into a single Storage Pouch.

Only then did Su Ling pick up that Jade Slip and carefully press it against his forehead.

[Azure Heaven Wood Thunder, endowed with the vitality of the East;]

[Yin Qi as the root, Yang Thunder as the surface, Yin and Yang complementing each other.]

[Withered wood meets thunder and grows new green, dead ashes meet Yang and regain the spark of life;]

[The Five Elements generate each other, Wood and Water moisten Thunder, Protective Aura guards the Foundation.]

This was the general outline of the Azure Heaven Thunder Method.

According to Su Ling's understanding, the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman used wood-element vitality as its Foundation, merging Yin Qi to harmonize Yang Thunder, and using 'Water generates Wood, Wood generates Thunder' to achieve Yin-Yang balance, which was different from pure Yang thunder methods.

"Yin Qi... the mana refined by the Nine Nether Secret Record seems to fall within the category of Yin Qi!"

Su Ling thought for a moment, and his eyes gradually lit up.

The first chapter of the "Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman," the 'Qi Gathering Chapter,' was based on Water and Wood Spiritual Roots, gathering Yin Qi and drawing Azure Thunder to temper the body.

The second chapter, the 'Foundation Establishment Chapter,' involved nine cycles of refining thunder liquid, turning the Dantian into a sea of thunder to nourish the Meridians.

When breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, azure heaven thunder marks would appear on the body's surface, marking the ability to initially trigger the Azure Heaven Wood Thunder.

One could then perform Spells such as the Startling Thunder Sword Art, Azure Pattern Armor, and Azure Sky Thunder Finger.

The third chapter, the 'Core Formation Chapter,' involved the thunder liquid turning into a core, and the mastery of the thunder method would be initially achieved.

One could then Cultivate powerful Spells like the Heavenly Aura Evil-Breaking Thunder, Thunder Meridian Shield, and Azure Heaven Thunder Escape.

Furthermore, the power of Foundation Establishment Stage Spells would be greatly enhanced.

As for the subsequent 'Nascent Soul Chapter' and 'Soul Transformation Chapter,' the mantras were too difficult, and Su Ling could not comprehend them for the time being.

In summary, this "Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman" was a top-tier Cultivation Technique that combined both offense and defense.

However, it had certain requirements for Spiritual Root attributes.

A triple Spiritual Root of Water, Wood, and Thunder was best; double Spiritual Roots of Water-Wood, Wood-Thunder, or Water-Thunder were next, followed by a single attribute Spiritual Root.

A mixed Spiritual Root possessing one of them was the worst.

Without at least one of the Water, Wood, or Thunder attributes, one could not Cultivate this technique.

Su Ling had a triple Spiritual Root of Metal, Wood, and Thunder, possessing two of the required ones.

According to the Five Elements theory of Metal generating Water, Water generating Wood, and Wood generating Thunder, the "Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman" was also extremely compatible with him.

More importantly, the mana condensed by the Nine Nether Secret Record already belonged to the category of Yin Qi.

It perfectly fit the description in the general outline of this technique.

"Let's try it!"

Su Ling immediately decided to attempt cultivating the "Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman."

Adjusting his state, Su Ling began to gather Yin Qi to draw Azure Thunder according to the treasure Talisman's description... There are no days or months in the mountains, and in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

Using the Nine Nether Secret Record as a Foundation, Su Ling took only three years to Cultivate the "Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman" to the Peak Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, the speed of mana condensation for the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman was very fast.

In the following seven years, all the Azure Heaven mana in his body had condensed into crystals.

A month ago, Su Ling attempted Core Formation.

But a sudden change occurred; just as all the mana crystals gathered in the sea eye and were compressed to the final moment,

they actually liquefied and dispersed again.

Refusing to believe it, Su Ling condensed the mana crystals again, only to find that the re-condensed mana crystals were actually compressed a bit more than the previous time.

Carefully comparing the Nine Nether Secret Record and the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman, a sense of realization suddenly rose in Su Ling's heart.

According to what was recorded in the Azure Heaven Thunder Treasure Talisman, this kind of anomaly shouldn't occur other than trying to compress mana as much as possible to condense a Golden Core.

The root cause likely lay in the fact that the Azure Heaven mana he cultivated was based on Nine Nether Mana.

To truly achieve Core Formation, he might need to go through several more rounds of compression.

Bitterly cultivating behind closed doors would take decades.

Su Ling couldn't wait that long.

Everything seemed to have returned to the starting point.

The best plan now was to go out and find Spirit Pills and medicines to assist in Core Formation and shorten the time required.

He packed up the Golden Sun Heavenly Aura Formation Plate and the Nine Palaces Lightning Descent Array plate that was nurturing the azure roc wings.

Su Ling walked out of the cave, withdrew the Illusory Mist Five Elements Array, gave a big stretch, and then tossed out that cloud sparrow boat.

Flying Magic Treasures were different from other Magic Treasures; even though Su Ling was only at the Peak Foundation Establishment, the speed at which he operated it was much faster than the startling swan boat.

Su Ling also deployed the Illusory Mist Five Elements Array on the cloud sparrow boat to increase its stealth.

Referring to a crude sea chart, the cloud sparrow boat sped toward a medium-sized island three thousand miles away.