Chapter 48: The Appearance of a Strange Treasure
In the hollow center of the mountain’s belly, the stone platform seemed to be suspended above the deep space, surrounded on all sides, above and below. Except for the ’starlight’ projected at her feet from above, it seemed altogether pitch-black, with not a hint of light visible.
Only Shi Ji knew that within this excavated mountain’s belly, on the stone walls made invisible by darkness, were densely packed Taoist scriptures carved by her over the centuries with a sword.
With a wave of her hand, the seemingly boundless mountain belly was instantly rid of its former moist vapor, replaced fleetingly with a scorching, scorching sensation. At this moment, the mountain belly became incredibly arid, as if the entire world had dried up.
Shi Ji continued, "All things have their spirit. Cultivators use the Golden Core to achieve longevity, but the flesh decays even faster than the Core. If one cannot surpass the Golden Core Realm, the body’s decay means the annihilation of both form and spirit."
When she mentioned the phrase ’annihilation of form and spirit’, the severe tone in Shi Ji’s voice sent chills through Nezha, who asked, "This spirit, is it the spirit of the Primordial Spirit?"
"Precisely."
Shi Ji nodded, "As mentioned earlier, cultivators pursue immortality, and the cultivation of the physical body with the power of the Golden Core is not for mere arm wrestling, for you have seen, even Ao Bing’s body tempered through countless cycles of the sixth-grade Golden Core couldn’t withstand a single strike from a magic treasure. Cultivators temper their bodies simply to house the Primordial Spirit they cultivate.
After cultivating the Primordial Spirit, even if the body decays, the spirit remains, achieving the destruction of form while the spirit stays, allowing for spirit possession to obtain a new life. This is the Loose Immortal Realm.
As for the skills of the Loose Immortal, they directly strike at the Primordial Spirit. A cultivator yet to enter the Loose Immortal realm cannot defend, so weak is the spirit, that a single blow results in death. This is the insurmountable barrier between the Golden Core Realm and the Loose Immortal Realm. Beyond this, there are many more profound mysteries."
Nezha listened silently, he was not afraid, for the matter had passed, and though it was luck, he had won.