Chapter 516: A New Path
Shen Changchuan was, for the most part, a very cautious person.
Even though this time, he used himself as a test subject to pioneer a new Technique, which seemed a bit like courting death.
But he had only proceeded after weighing the consequences and confirming he could bear them.
Shen Changchuan had considered the possibility of failure.
The worst-case scenario,
was merely that the ordeal would damage his body’s meridians and leave him severely injured.
But that wasn’t a major problem.
With the power of the Spirit Transformation Pool, he could recover quickly.
So he had decided to take the gamble.
Fortunately,
Shen Changchuan was extremely pleased with the final result.
This time,
he hadn’t just achieved his goal of fusing and refining the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu into his body,
but had forcibly carved out an entirely new path from the Gu Dao!
That’s right,
he had pioneered a new path!
This path of Refinement and fusion,
was a new road that Shen Changchuan had forged through countless experiments on himself, integrating the Gu Dao Secret Techniques, Alchemy, Arrays, and other Cultivation Techniques he had mastered, all with the help of the Spirit Transformation Pool’s power!
And this kind of Technique,
was something never before seen among all the Gu Dao Secret Techniques Shen Changchuan had collected!
Even the closest equivalents,
were merely those Abnormal Techniques that used Gu Insects to replace parts of the body.
But honestly,
comparing those Abnormal Techniques to the Daoist Technique Shen Changchuan pioneered, the gap might not have been a hundred thousand li, but it was at least five or six thousand.
If the Technique Shen Changchuan pioneered was like Captain America fused with the Superman Serum,
then the Abnormal Techniques for replacing limbs were merely Cybernetic Bodies.
‘The Circulation of my Magical Power is normal—in fact, both its speed and the quality of the refined Magical Power have improved. My body feels fine, and my blood and qi flow even more smoothly… It’s certain. Fusing and refining this Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu didn’t cause any problems. On the contrary, it has enhanced my aptitude!’
‘This payoff was well worth the immense risk I took!’
Calming his heart,
he carefully inspected his body.
After confirming there were no issues,
Shen Changchuan’s heart finally settled down a bit.
And at that moment,
in his mind,
a thought arose:
‘Since the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu could be fused and refined into my spine to drastically improve my aptitude, should I also refine the Void Escape Gu into my hands to give me better control over the Power of Space?’
Once this thought emerged,
it burned like a wildfire.
But after some careful consideration,
Shen Changchuan immediately extinguished the thought.
‘If I could fuse the Void Escape Gu into my palms, it might lower the threshold for mastering its power, just like with the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu. But this is, after all, a modification and Refinement of the body. I still need to be careful.’
‘It might not affect my Cultivation Realm now, but it could have an impact at higher Realms.’
‘If a problem arises in the future from just refining the one Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu into my spine, the worst-case scenario is I prepare a few bottles of Bone-Birth Pills and top-tier Healing Elixirs, dig out my spine piece by piece, use the elixirs to regrow it for a replacement, and then temper and strengthen the new spine with a Body Refining Technique.’
‘But if I become dependent on this path and fuse and refine too many Gu Insects, modifying my entire body, and then a problem occurs, could I really tear down my whole body and regenerate it?’
‘I’d probably need the kind of blood-drop regeneration you only see in fantasy novels to pull that off. I’m afraid that’s a feat even the legendary ancestors of the Profound Pill Realm couldn’t achieve.’
‘Forget it! The Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu is tied to my Cultivation speed and is immensely useful on the path of Immortal Cultivation, so it was worth taking a small risk for it.’
‘But as for the Void Escape Gu… I’ll pass.’
The thoughts flashed through Shen Changchuan’s mind,
and he had already made his decision,
completely suppressing the idea of the Void Escape Gu.
Although he was the first person to fuse and refine a Gu Insect into his body, pioneering a new path, what the future of this path held, and whether it would affect his Cultivation in the long run, was all unknown.
He would have to observe it over time.
Therefore,
being a bit more prudent was very important.
Besides,
the Void Escape Gu only allowed a Cultivator to grasp a certain ability to travel through space while in the Soul Emergence Realm.
Other than that, it had no other special uses.
Its effect was too singular,
and not worth the risk for Shen Changchuan.
Because as long as his Cultivation reached the Profound Pill Realm, he would automatically grasp authority over space.
In fact, even before reaching the Profound Pill Realm,
it was possible to grasp the Power of Space.
After all, before he came here,
his master had taken out a Flying Ship capable of traversing space and let him feel it out, and he really had comprehended a few things from it.
Someone with heaven-defying Comprehension might even be able to grasp a bit of the power of space while in the Divine Travel Realm.
To risk potentially damaging his future cultivation potential just to grasp the Power of Space a little bit sooner—a power he was bound to master in the future anyway—had a terrible cost-benefit ratio.
It was not a path he would take.
Re-centering his mind,
Shen Changchuan turned his focus to his own body.
‘The side effects of using the Overclocking State with the fused and refined Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu have been reduced by dozens of times, but they still exist…’
‘That’s to be expected. The sudden surge of Magical Power is bound to have an impact on the Dantian Meridians, as well as my muscles and bones.’
‘Hmm, if I want to sustain this Overclocking State for long enough, I’ll probably need to further improve my Physique in the future! Only a sufficiently powerful Physique can withstand the impact of that surging Magical Power!’
‘Body Refining Techniques…’
Shen Changchuan hesitated.
Speaking of which,
when he had asked his master for Tier Two Top Level Skills, his master had given him two Tier Two Top Level Sword Magic skills, and also a Body Refining Secret Technique called the Golden Body Dominating Technique.
It was just that in his subsequent Cultivation,
due to a lack of accumulated Perfection Trait Experience in Body Refining Secret Techniques, Shen Changchuan’s progress was rather slow.
To this day,
his progress on the Golden Body Dominating Technique’s progress bar was still only at ten percent.
It could only be said that he had barely reached the Entry Level.
Such slow progress was frankly a bit embarrassing for Shen Changchuan.
‘A Cultivator’s Physique is also very important. According to legend, Body Cultivators can even train their bodies to the point where they are comparable to Spiritual Artifacts, giving them a huge advantage in combat.’
‘Perhaps I should put some effort into this as well.’
A glint appeared in Shen Changchuan’s eyes.
He was currently in the Yuqing Immortal Sect,
and he wondered if he could enter the Immortal Sect’s Scripture Pavilion to collect some Body Refining Techniques.