Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

"Thank you all for your kind intentions. Elder Zhang doesn’t have the time, but we will certainly be there. We hope we can count on your support in the future..."

The Shang Family members all breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began chatting happily with the other cultivators.

They wouldn’t have had the courage to do this before, but Zhang Chi and the Half Moon Oasis had undoubtedly given them some confidence.

"Damn it, the Shang Family are just a bunch of upstarts who got lucky!"

"Exactly! They just got incredibly lucky, running into an Honored Guest Elder as powerful as Zhang Chi!"

Many of the cultivators watching were envious, and among them, the cultivators from the Feng and Kou Families were especially jealous, yet utterly helpless to do anything about it.

After all, Zhang Chi was far more powerful than any of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators in their families.

When Zhang Chi had previously defeated the female Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator from the Feng Family, the Feng Family had considered finding an opportunity for revenge.

But after Zhang Chi went on to win consecutive victories, especially after he easily defeated two Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators in a row, they immediately abandoned that idea.

They even began to fear that Zhang Chi would make a move against their Feng Family.

Fortunately, Zhang Chi’s strength didn’t mean the Shang Family was strong.

The Shang Family was probably just a puppet and a tool right now; they had heard of similar situations before.

This gave them some small measure of comfort.

They all believed that Zhang Chi would leave sooner or later. Moreover, as long as he was around, it was impossible for a new Foundation Establishment Cultivator to emerge from the Shang Family.

Because that would certainly threaten Zhang Chi’s position, and he would never allow such a thing to happen.

That very night, news of the Shang Family’s rise due to an Honored Guest Elder spread throughout the regions surrounding Black Origin City, sparking endless astonishment and discussion among countless cultivators and drawing the attention of many different powers.

When the news reached Yanxia Mountain, the whole place erupted in celebration. The city was immediately decorated with lanterns and streamers, brimming with a joyous atmosphere.

In the period that followed, the Shang Family began the enormous task of relocation.

But Zhang Chi didn’t need to worry about any of this. That very night, he moved into the Spirit Vein Cave Mansion in the Half Moon Oasis.

This Spirit Vein Cave Mansion was built atop a Tier Two Peak Spiritual Vein, located in a secluded valley at the center of the oasis.

The cave mansion covered a large area and came with amenities like a Medicinal Garden. It could house over a hundred cultivators plus numerous servants.

Now, however, the entire place belonged to Zhang Chi alone.

Around the cave mansion, he set up a Tier Three Peak Formation using an Array Flag and Array Disc he had refined himself.

Next, he placed the Eye of the Spirit Spring inside and tried cultivating. He found that his recovery speed was indeed much faster than it had been at Yanxia Mountain.

Furthermore, it was much quieter here. Due to its relatively secluded location, coupled with the concealment from his own array, he could even break through to any realm below Nascent Soul without being discovered by cultivators outside the oasis.

However, the people on the oasis itself would inevitably still notice.

That’s right, the Half Moon Oasis already had quite a few inhabitants. But now, all of them were under the Shang Family’s jurisdiction—or rather, his jurisdiction.

’There’s no hurry. I don’t need to use the Corpse Puppet and the Eye of the Spirit Spring for now, so it won’t be too late to have them break through after my cultivation recovers.’

’But if I get the chance, I should visit a medium- or even large-sized oasis to see if I can buy a Tier Four Array. That way, no matter where I break through in the future, I won’t attract too much attention!’

Zhang Chi thought to himself.

He could have the Corpse Puppet and the Eye of the Spirit Spring break through directly, but that would obviously expose many things.

If news of this ever reached the two Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Golden Wind Sect, they might become interested in his Corpse Puppet No.1 and Eye of the Spirit Spring.

After all, both items were extremely precious. A Nascent Soul Cultivator might not need them personally, but they could be given to a junior as a guardian treasure to accelerate their cultivation.

And so, Zhang Chi once again began his cultivation in seclusion.

A mere ten days later, he had recovered to Foundation Establishment Peak. After another twenty days, he successfully cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Limit.

BOOM!

At this moment, he sat cross-legged in his cave mansion. With a slight shift of his will, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi instantly gathered toward him. Then, the Spiritual Power in his Dantian began to spin violently, and a point of light quickly appeared in the center of the vortex.

The light grew larger and larger, quickly reforming into a brilliant, perfectly round Golden Core.

Everything happened naturally, without causing any heavenly phenomena.

The number of Dao Patterns on the Golden Core was still four—no more, no less.

However, Zhang Chi could feel that compared to when he had first solidified his Core, this Golden Core was clearly more solid and powerful.

Evidently, although his cultivation had fallen due to using the Spirit Sword, his foundation had become even more solid now that he had cultivated his way back.

This could be considered an unexpected gain.

However, the degree of improvement was limited, and the time it took to recover was too long, so it wasn’t worth deliberately repeating the process.

The re-condensation of his Golden Core marked the return of Zhang Chi’s cultivation to the Golden Core Early Stage.

However, it would still take some time to reach the Golden Core Late Stage.

Therefore, Zhang Chi continued his arduous daily cultivation.

Six months passed by in a flash. One morning, a massive amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi once again surged toward him like a tide, nearly draining the Spiritual Vein dry. Zhang Chi’s cultivation had finally returned to the Golden Core Late Stage.

’PHEW. That wasn’t easy. After I reached the Golden Core Early Stage, this Spiritual Vein was clearly not enough. Thankfully, I had the Eye of the Spirit Spring and the Earth Milk Spirit Liquid to help. Otherwise, I’m afraid it would have taken several years, or even more than a decade, to recover.’

Feeling his cultivation completely restored—and even slightly more solid than before—Zhang Chi couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.

All in all, recovering his cultivation had taken over a year and consumed a considerable amount of Cultivation Materials.

And this was the price of using the Spirit Sword.

It was all thanks to his Jade Pendant that he avoided any lingering side effects. Otherwise, any other cultivator would have been crippled, let alone able to recover.

Of course, other cultivators wouldn’t have been able to refine the Spirit Sword in the first place, much less successfully activate it without dying.

Back then, he had also relied on his Top Grade Golden Core, supplemented by the power of the Divine Whale Devouring Sea Technique.

He had long since cultivated the Divine Whale Devouring Sea Technique to the Perfection realm, allowing it to provide a truly massive amount of Spiritual Qi.

Without the aid of this cultivation technique, an ordinary Top Grade Golden Core would have been instantly drained dry by the Spirit Sword, turning its user into a withered husk. Even a Celestial Grade Golden Core wouldn’t have been enough.

According to Zhang Chi’s estimation, one would need at least a six- or even Seven-Pattern Golden Core to withstand such a terrifying, instantaneous consumption of power on their own.

’Thankfully, I have a long lifespan, so losing a year or so isn’t a big deal. Besides, over this past year, only my cultivation was halted. My Body Refining and Refining God haven’t stopped, and I’ve even continued to practice my swordsmanship, alchemy, and artifact refining in my dreams.’

’But now, it’s time to proceed with the next phase of the plan. The timing is just as I expected—it’s about right!’

With his cultivation restored, Zhang Chi could once again use the Spirit Sword—his trump card—and he couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of security.

After that, he immediately took out a Communication Talisman, spoke a few words into it, and crushed it.

SWOOSH!

A streak of golden light immediately flew out of the cave mansion and the Grand Array, disappearing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

After a long while, Shang Deyi finally arrived outside the cave mansion, riding a cyan magical artifact flying boat.

This wasn’t because he wasn’t trying his best; it was simply that the Half Moon Oasis was already quite large for a Qi Cultivation Cultivator like him.

Upon receiving the communication, he had immediately traveled at full speed, yet it still took him the better part of a day to get here.

And that was only because his own cave mansion was relatively close; otherwise, it would have taken even longer.

"Elder, this junior has arrived. What are your instructions?" Shang Deyi asked nervously, standing outside the cave mansion with his head bowed.