Chapter 85: Tempering the Body

Xiang Qing, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun entered the Origin Spirit Vein. After some hesitation, they gathered together and then proceeded deeper into the cave.

The cave was over a hundred meters wide, with its walls glowing with a faint blue luminescence, creating a hazy, illuminated space. Within, the essence of the five elements was not only pure but also surged like strong winds, hitting them wave after wave. The stronger they went, the greater the wind resistance.

All ten thousand disciples were at least at the Human Soul Immortal level. Those at the lower Human Soul Immortal stage began to struggle after entering about a hundred meters into the cave. The violent gusts of origin energy made it impossible to move forward, leaving them on the verge of falling. Naturally, some of them sat down and began cultivating in that area.

When these disciples sat down, arrays on the cave walls emitted cylindrical transparent shields that covered them, protecting them from the fierce winds.

Disciples at the middle Human Soul Immortal stage encountered even greater wind resistance around five hundred meters in. The storms inside the cave roared loudly, with winds like cutting blades blowing relentlessly. Their inner immortal essence could hardly sustain them any longer.

“I’ll cultivate here,” some of these disciples said before sitting down immediately. Instantly, arrays on the cave walls sent out shields to protect them.

Disciples at the higher Human Soul Immortal stage continued forward despite the tangible wind blades. By the time they reached a depth of a thousand meters, they too found it impossible to move further and chose to sit down. Arrays on the cave walls frequently emitted shields to protect them.

Xiang Qing, Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun walked together. Even after all the other higher Human Soul Immortal disciples had stopped, these five were still able to move forward. As members of the Sky Curtain Organization, they had received special training, giving them exceptional physical strength and perseverance.

It wasn’t until they reached a depth of one thousand five hundred meters that the five slowed down. They held hands, merging their inner immortal essences, and continued onward.

After advancing another two hundred meters, they finally could no longer withstand the attacks of the fierce winds.

“Let’s sit together,” Xiang Qing suddenly called out.

“Okay,” replied Xiang Xing, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Zheng, and Xiang Chun immediately.

The five sat in a circle.

In an instant, a large light shield emerged from the nearby cave wall, enveloping all five of them at once and shielding them from the fierce winds surrounding them. Inside the light shield, the five of them did not rush to cultivate but began discussing things. “As we’ve progressed deeper into the cave, we must have seen it by now—the primal energy storms inside are suppressed by the array system on the cave walls. These storms can only rage within the cave and cannot reach the walls,” Xiang Qing said calmly. “It’s like a wind tunnel; the stronger the wind the further inside we go.” “That’s right. Our leader told us that there are at least five spirit beings in this primal energy vein. The strength of these spirit beings is comparable to that of celestial immortals. With the power of celestial immortals, the storms in this wind tunnel couldn’t possibly be that intense. So, due to the restrictions imposed by the array, the storms emitted by this primal energy vein gradually intensify, making it suitable for disciples of various strengths to cultivate here,” Xiang Xing added calmly. The primal energy vein also has its own controllers—namely the spirit beings born within it. Generally, there are at least five such spirit beings in one primal energy vein, one for each of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Of course, some primal energy veins may have ten or more spirit beings. “It doesn’t matter. We have ten years in total for cultivation this time. When we leave in ten years, we’ll set up the Five Elements Retaliation Array we brought. In just one year, once the energy accumulated by this array reaches a sufficient level, it will unleash its power and surely break through the array on these cave walls,” Xiang Zhong said coldly. The other four immediately nodded. The reason the five of them were confident in completing the task assigned by the Sky Curtain Organization was that the organization had given them a powerful array—the Five Elements Retaliation Array. Once successfully set up, this array would gradually absorb the surrounding primal energy. Once it reached a certain amount, it would suddenly go into violent activity, frantically absorbing the primal energy around it like a voracious beast, before exploding with a force capable of destroying the entire Youfa Continent where the Punishment Institute was located. After that, the five of them began to cultivate in silence. ※※※ While the five of them were cultivating inside the light shield, Xiang Qing and the others could no longer observe anything outside. Suddenly, outside their light shield, Qu Yi appeared. Qu Yi activated the Boundless Stars and had already traveled into the primal energy vein cave. As soon as he landed inside, an energy vortex formed around his body. All the fierce winds instantly shattered and turned into streams of primal energy from the five elements, flowing into Qu Yi’s body.

Qu Yi’s body was a chaotic energy entity capable of absorbing the primal energies of the five elements and transforming them into chaotic energy. Just after landing, he immediately began practicing his cultivation techniques, actively drawing in the surrounding primal energies of the five elements and converting them into chaotic energy.

At this moment, Qu Yi actually wanted to use these fierce gale winds to temper his body and strengthen it further.

Glancing at the five people inside the light barrier, Qu Yi smiled and headed straight deeper into the cave.

The gale winds grew stronger, and the wind blades became more solid and larger, their force strong enough to cut down a giant mountain. However, as these wind blades approached Qu Yi’s body, their speed slowed down, turning directly into primal energy that entered the vortex and was refined by his body.

As the gale winds struck, Qu Yi absorbed them into his body to refine them, then quickly released them from behind, creating a perfect energy flow.

The stronger the gale winds, the larger the vortex formed, and naturally, the faster Qu Yi’s body could be refined. His ability to release chaotic energy also accelerated accordingly. Through this process, his body grew stronger and more solid.

When he reached a depth of 3,000 meters, Qu Yi felt that his body could no longer withstand further flow of primal energy. Even with all his efforts in practicing his cultivation techniques, he couldn’t refine the overwhelming amount of primal energy pouring into his body.

Seeing the situation, Qu Yi didn’t sit down. He remained standing, continuously practicing his techniques to allow more primal energy of the five elements to flow into his body.

Unlike the ten thousand disciples of the Yinhan Sect, Qu Yi aimed to use this primal energy vein to strengthen his body, not to comprehend mystical laws or the mysteries of speed.

The energy vortex around his body persisted, with intense energy constantly surging within him, rapidly enhancing the strength of his physique.

After a while, when he noticed a slight improvement in his body’s strength, he immediately took another step forward, continuing to use the gale winds from this primal energy vein to temper his body.

The vortex of primal energy of the five elements continued to expand.

At that moment, the Artifact God inside the Dimensional Sphere transmitted a message: “Qu Yi, just use this cave of primal energy to temper your body. I don’t think the five spirit beings in this primal energy vein will come out for now, so there’s no need to deal with them.”

Qu Yi smiled and said, “Artifact God, you’re telling me that these spirit beings here are not as dangerous as those in the cultivation world, right? The spirit beings in the cultivation world are soul entities. These ones here are primal energy entities, essentially the core of this energy vein. Once those five spirit beings disappear, this energy vein will also vanish.”

There are ore essences in mineral veins, and spiritual essences in spiritual veins—similar to a mother body that can absorb various primordial energies and gather them together.
“That’s right. The energy you’re absorbing now isn’t enough to draw the attention of those five spiritual essences. Go ahead and focus on tempering your body. Once those five appear, we’ll deal with them,” said the Artifact God calmly.
Qu Yu nodded and continued to practice the internal techniques.
※※※
Qu Yu was cultivating his physical body inside the Primordial Spiritual Vein Cave, while the Five Lords—Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, Fire Lord, and Earth Lord—were still practicing in their own cultivation caves.
Time passed swiftly. Before long, three years had gone by.
The eighteen Crafting Peaks of Tongzhou Hall had been steadily producing immortal artifacts at the level of Three-Star Human Soul Immortals, and the number of artifacts completed was nearly at the target amount.
Three hundred million!
Zhen Nantian, who had been in seclusion in his own cave, finally came out at this time, looking extremely excited.
As soon as he emerged, Zhen Nantian didn’t head to Tongzhou Hall’s headquarters or his own Juehuo Peak. Instead, he went straight to the cultivation cave of the Fire Lord.
“Fire Lord, may I come in?” Zhen Nantian called out as soon as he landed outside the Fire Lord’s cave.
“Fat idiot, stop disturbing me. Go and hand in Tongzhou Hall’s crafting task,” the Fire Lord replied indifferently before falling silent again.
Zhen Nantian was stunned for a moment before immediately flying to Tongzhou Hall’s headquarters. He still didn’t know about the bet between Tongzhou Hall and other crafting factions during this time.
In the air, Zhen Nantian encountered Hua Hai.
“Executive Hua Hai, are you heading to the Fire Lord’s cultivation cave?” Zhen Nantian stopped Hua Hai and asked with a smile.
“Yes, Tongzhou Hall has already produced three hundred million immortal artifacts. We can go and hand in the task now to win the bet,” Hua Hai exclaimed excitedly.
Zhen Nantian was taken aback and immediately asked for details, finally learning about the bet between Tongzhou Hall and the other crafting factions.
After a while, Zhen Nantian realized that the Fire Lord wanted him to go and hand in the task so that he could gain attention and build his reputation within the crafting community.
“Executive Hua Hai, you don’t need to go. I just came out of the Fire Lord’s cave. He said we should go hand in the task first and then meet with him,” Zhen Nantian said happily.
Hua Hai was surprised but nodded immediately, then they flew back to Tongzhou Hall’s headquarters together.
Inside the Teleportation Hall, Yun Zhouzi, Zhen Nantian, and Hua Hai entered the spatial teleportation array together.