Script of Reincarnation

Over the years, Lu Qingxue had also become increasingly famous within the True Martial Sect.

Whenever she returned to the Lu Family, Lu Yang could clearly feel the changes in her.

The little girl from years ago had become a supreme genius of the True Martial Sect, having long since reached the Ninth Stage Body Tempering Realm and now preparing to enter the Spirit Awakening Realm.

Whenever Lu Qingxue returned, the Lu Family would naturally become lively.

She had also witnessed several major events, the greatest of which was probably Lu Yuanfeng becoming the Family Head.

Lu Tianhe had already passed down his position and had now become the Old Family Head.

Lu Yuanfeng had successfully entered the middle stages of Spirit Awakening Realm and had become the new leader of the Lu Family’s current generation.

Later on, with his mother’s connections, he even married the daughter of a high ranking official in the capital, taking a path similar to his father, but he had no intention of taking any concubines or secondary wives, so his wedding was quite grandiose.

It could be said that he was somewhat influenced by Lu Yang in that aspect, as Lu Yang had also not taken any concubines or secondary wives.

Lu Qingxue had also returned for the wedding back then.

Each time she came back, Lu Yang couldn’t help feeling proud.

Sometimes, he would hear other cultivators praising her.

"The True Martial Sect’s Alchemy Hall actually has such a genius."

"She is Hall Master Su’s disciple, with a limitless future."

"Another Essence Gathering powerhouse is about to emerge from the True Martial Sect soon."

Whenever Lu Yang heard these words, he would remain calm on the surface, but deep inside, he would feel a surge of pride.

That was his daughter, his only daughter and bloodline in this world.

He was once the Rising Sun of the Lu Family, and the little girl he had once personally taught how to circulate Blood Qi had now become the rising star of one of the strongest sects in Wuyuan Province.

It was something he had never experienced before.

He had cultivated, struggled, and failed for two lifetimes, even dying twice and reincarnating to change his fate against heaven.

Yet when it came to Lu Qingxue, he suddenly felt that perhaps all those years of cultivation had been worth it.

He didn’t need her to repay him or even become a supreme powerhouse suppressing a region; as long as she could safely walk further than he had ever been able to walk, that was enough.

Lu Yang slowly walked out of the cultivation chamber.

The sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling, causing him to narrow his eyes slightly.

His hair and beard had already mostly turned white, and there were also visible wrinkles on his face.

At ninety years old, his appearance had naturally changed considerably.

If a mortal saw him, they would undoubtedly consider him an old man approaching the end of his life.

Even a Body Tempering cultivator would have already entered the twilight of their life at this age.

But Spirit Awakening cultivators were different.

Their bodies had already undergone a fundamental transformation, having come into contact with Spirit Qi.

For a Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator like Lu Yang, ninety years old could only be considered old age, nowhere near his twilight years.

If nothing unexpected happened, even without breaking through to the Essence Gathering Realm, he could still live another twenty or thirty years at the very least.

This was one of the advantages of family cultivators.

They rarely fought genuine life or death battles, so their bodies did not accumulate countless hidden injuries like Rogue Cultivators.

They also did not frequently participate in dangerous missions like sect cultivators.

Most of their lives were spent cultivating within their clans.

Because of that, unless they encountered an unexpected disaster, they could usually live until they reached the natural limit of their lifespan.

Lu Yang slowly touched his white beard, suddenly remembering something.

Two years ago, Fang Chen had also broken through to the Ninth Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm.

He had officially surpassed Lu Yang in cultivation speed.

Thinking about this, Lu Yang couldn’t help but sigh helplessly.

That fellow had actually surpassed him.

Fang Chen was originally a Rogue Cultivator from a remote village, but after marrying the youngest daughter of Wuyuan King and obtaining the resources of the royal family, his cultivation speed became increasingly terrifying.

Now, he had reached the Ninth Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm before Lu Yang.

Lu Yang couldn’t help but wonder whether this was fate mocking him.

Naturally, he was not jealous of Fang Chen; in fact, he felt quite happy for his sworn brother.

He just felt absurd in his heart, after all, he had the Script of Reincarnation, three lifetimes of memories, two in the cultivation world and one in the modern world, yet Fang Chen had still overtaken him.

However, after thinking about it carefully, Lu Yang wasn’t particularly dissatisfied.

His talent had already reached its limits.

Fifteen Reincarnation Points in Talent and Comprehension each were probably enough to allow someone to normally reach the peak of Spirit Awakening Realm.

Perhaps that was the upper limit of his current aptitude.

The reason he had a chance of entering the Essence Gathering Realm was not because his talent alone was sufficient, but because of his previous life experiences.

It was because had blazed through the Body Tempering Realm far faster than what his talent would normally allow as he had knowledge of the Body Tempering Realm path, having already experienced cultivation once.

Without all of that, Lu Yang estimated that he would probably have stopped at the peak of Spirit Awakening Realm just like countless other cultivators.

And even if he successfully achieved Essence Gathering, he would probably remain at the First Stage of Essence Gathering Realm for the rest of his life, with no possibility of advancing further.

That was because the gap between realms would only become larger from this point onward.

Acquired effort, resources, and opportunities could allow one to walk further, cultivate faster, and break through bottlenecks, but one’s innate limits still existed.

Lu Yang had never considered himself someone with peerless talent.

His true advantage had always been something else: experience, knowledge, accumulation, and the Script of Reincarnation.

At the same time, Essence Gathering Realm was different.

This breakthrough could not simply be repeated until it succeeded.

Unlike the breakthrough from Body Tempering Realm to the Spirit Awakening Realm, this one was far more dangerous.

Lu Yang’s expression gradually became solemn at this thought.

The breakthrough to Spirit Awakening Realm was comparatively simple, as one only needed to sense the ethereal Spirit Qi and use it to stimulate the spiritual transformation of the body, eventually giving birth to Divine Sense.

Even if one failed, the consequences were generally not severe. At most, the cultivator would suffer some mental exhaustion.

After resting for several days, they could try again.

Unless something unexpected happened, injuries were almost impossible.

The breakthrough to the Essence Gathering Realm was completely different.

From this point onward, every major realm breakthrough would carry varying degrees of danger.

Essence Gathering was the first truly dangerous transformation.

Lu Yang had already studied the process carefully over the years from the Azure Moon Spirit Water Technique, having collected relevant information from the outside world as well.

The first step in the breakthrough was to open the dantian.

A Spirit Awakening cultivator’s Blood Qi had already reached an extremely terrifying level, and at the Ninth Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm, their Blood Qi could flow through all the meridians alongside the blood vessels, forming an almost complete cycle.

However, the dantian itself was still sealed.

To enter the Essence Gathering Realm, the cultivator had to use their terrifying Blood Qi and connected meridians to forcibly break through that final barrier.

It was essentially using one’s own power to destroy the shackles sealing the dantian.

The danger was also just as obvious.

If the cultivator poured in too little power, the seal wouldn’t budge even after decades of effort, and if they poured in too much power, the dantian could burst open.

Every person had different talent, bone structure, dantian size, meridian capacity, Blood Qi density, and control over Blood Qi, hence it was basically impossible to accurately determine how much power was enough power to open the dantian, as it varied from person to person.

And once the dantian was destroyed, the consequences were almost irreversible.

Without some extremely precious auxiliary medicinal pill or heaven defying opportunity, the cultivator would essentially become crippled, never having the chance to step into the Essence Gathering Realm again.

But this was only the first step; the second step was even more dangerous.

After successfully opening the dantian, the cultivator had to absorb Spirit Qi in large quantities and then refine that Spirit Qi into Blood Qi again and again.

The process required extreme concentration, testing one’s comprehension ability and composure. There could be no distraction, none at all.

The cultivator had to maintain absolute control over every single strand of Blood Qi within their body as the purpose of this process was not merely to increase the quantity of Blood Qi but to shatter the shackles of Blood Qi, to compress, condense, and transform it.

At one point, the enormous amount of Blood Qi accumulated within a Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator would be compressed to an almost unbelievable degree.

All of it would eventually condense into a single wisp, but that single wisp would no longer be Blood Qi, but Essence Qi!

A single wisp of a First Stage Essence Gathering cultivator’s Essence Qi is several times stronger, purer, and more condensed than all the Blood Qi possessed by the Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening Realm version of that cultivator.

It could even be directly externalized, which is considered one of the hallmarks of a Essence Gathering cultivator alongside the ability to step upon still air and fly through the heavens.

And it was stored within the dantian.

Once that transformation was completed, the cultivator would officially enter the Essence Gathering Realm.

From then onward, the cultivator no longer needed to rely upon Blood Qi as their primary form of power or nourish it with Spirit Qi.

They could directly absorb Spirit Qi from the surrounding world, merge it with Blood Qi, and then refine it into Essence Qi before storing it within the dantian.

The gathering of essence and the transformation of life, that was the true meaning of Essence Gathering.

But the process was extremely dangerous.

If a cultivator failed or lost control during the second step, the Blood Qi within their entire body could suddenly riot.

Once a single mistake was made, their blood vessels could burst, meridians could crack, and internal organs could be severely damaged.

Even their physical body could directly collapse under this violent reaction.

Without sufficient protective and healing medicinal pills, it was practically a situation of nine deaths and one life.

The best outcome would be severe injuries, where the cultivator might survive, but be unable to get out of bed for the rest of their life.

The worst outcome was obvious: death.

The distance between Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening and Essence Gathering might only be one step, but that one step was like a heavenly chasm, trapping countless cultivators.

Many cultivators reached the peak of Spirit Awakening Realm, spending decades preparing, and some even possessed sufficient talent and resources.

Yet in the end, many still failed, getting crippled or dying.

Many cultivators simply lacked the courage to try and reached the end of their lifespan while still standing at the same place.

After all, once one stepped onto the path to Essence Gathering, there was only one outcome; either breakthrough, or lose basically everything you currently have.