Ascension Day

Chapter 256: Chapter 121: The Truth of the Nuo Technique

The woman spat a few times, extremely flustered and afraid Da Zhong would expose her thoughts.

Da Zhong ruthlessly exposed her. “Woman, look up at your Golden Core. See what it’s become? And you still have the gall to say those weren’t your thoughts?”

Hua Xianchen quickly looked up and saw that her Golden Core had indeed become utterly tarnished. It was originally a brilliant gold, radiating ten thousand paths of divine light, capable of illuminating the finest dust in the air and even peering into the void of the Netherworld!

But now, this polluted Golden Core didn’t even have a glimmer of light!

Da Zhong said in a grave and earnest tone, “Your Golden Core has been polluted by your own thoughts. You should try to cultivate a bit more Dao Heart and stop thinking about all this nonsense. Ying, even if this girl receives your true teachings, she’ll never achieve Ascension to Immortality. Her Nature is insufficient.”

Xu Ying gripped the Stone Axe and placed its blade on the Golden Core. The polluted core immediately began to clear. Xu Ying smiled. “Lord Zhong, what is this ‘Nature’ you speak of? People are naturally a mix of all sorts of thoughts. If one could achieve Ascension to Immortality just by having a pure mind and good Nature, then what would be the point of Cultivation?”

Hearing this, Hua Xianchen was touched. ‘Brother Ying really knows what to say. He’s nothing like this Bell, which obviously came from a monk’s temple and has long since been assimilated by them.’

She said with a sweet smile, “Brother Ying, why haven’t you been polluted by the demonic nature within the Stone Axe?”

Xu Ying couldn’t hide his pride, smiling as he said, “My Nature is good.”

Hua Xianchen’s face darkened. ‘They’re cut from the same cloth! Both of them belong in a monastery!’

Xu Ying said, “Miss Hua, you should go cultivate for now. Your Nature isn’t good, so you’ll probably need to meditate for some time to comprehend and master the Sanmei True Fire. As for this Golden Core, you’ll likely also need to master the Samadhi Divine Water. You’ll have to combine the powers of water and fire, using a slow and steady effort to gradually wear down and cleanse all the impurities from your Golden Core. If you can’t refine it completely, it will be very difficult to cultivate a Primordial Spirit.”

Hearing this, Hua Xianchen frowned. “Do I have to cultivate the Samadhi Divine Water as well? Water and fire are incompatible. How can they coexist?”

She was vexed. ‘Cultivating the Sanmei True Fire is already difficult enough. Adding the Samadhi Divine Water, with its conflicting attribute, who knows how long it will take to master them!’

Xu Ying was puzzled. “How did you form your Golden Core? The Water and Fire Inter-refining of the Cross-Refining Stage is precisely about using Samadhi Divine Water and Sanmei True Fire to forge the Furnace Cauldron, which is how you refine a Golden Core.”

Hua Xianchen said in a low voice, “But… the Cross-Refining Stage already has water and fire. A sea of fire appears, along with the Celestial River Water, which is perfect for Water and Fire Inter-refining. Everyone refines their Golden Core that way…”

Xu Ying was speechless for a long moment before he finally asked, “All of you refine it that way?”

Hua Xianchen nodded.

“It’s no wonder Qi Refiners were replaced by Nuo Masters then! You people can’t even get your own Cultivation Techniques right, and your understanding of your own Realms is riddled with errors. It’s a miracle you haven’t cultivated yourselves to death!” Xu Ying was so exasperated he laughed.

Hua Xianchen opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and remained silent. ‘There are quite a few Qi Refiners who cultivate themselves to death every year. Many of them die after succumbing to demonic deviation. Could it be… that we really have been cultivating the wrong way?’

She summoned her courage and asked, “Why can we still form a Golden Core even without Samadhi Divine Water and Sanmei True Fire?”

“How would I know?”

Xu Ying said irritably, “I’m only at the Fourth Heaven of the Gate-Opening Stage; I haven’t even reached the Cross-Refining Stage yet. I don’t have a Cultivation Method for Samadhi Divine Water, so I can’t tell you the secrets behind it.”

Hua Xianchen’s eyes lit up. She quickly started to walk out, smiling. “I know someone who is arduously cultivating Samadhi Divine Water. He must have the True Technique!”

She noticed the Little Phoenix, Feng Xian’Er, to the side. After a moment’s hesitation, her eyes flickered as she asked, “Should I come back to visit after some time? How long will Elder Xu need?”

Xu Ying waved his hand. “The sooner, the better.”

Hua Xianchen gave him a surprised look. ‘I suppose it makes sense,’ she thought. ‘After all, he’s a figure from the same era as Elder Xu Fu. It’s only natural for his physical functions to have declined.’

She hurried away and returned shortly after with another person. This man was the Qi Refiner from the Eastern Han Emperor Wu’s Period. His name was Dong Meiqing, and he was tall and powerfully built.

Aside from Xu Fu, he was the eldest and had the most profound and robust Cultivation. He had already formed his Primordial Spirit and raised his Realm to the level of the Ascension Stage!

Dong Meiqing’s strength was unfathomable, and he was also proficient in Samadhi Divine Water. He immediately took out his ancestral copy of the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide*. Holding it with both hands, he presented it to Xu Ying with the utmost respect and said, “Elder Xu, the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide* was left by my ancestors, and my father passed it down to me. Although my talents are meager, I’ve relied on this Ultimate Skill to cleanse my Flesh Body, Golden Core, and Primordial Spirit, granting me a long life. To this day, my Flesh Body remains unaged. However, in recent years, I feel my lifespan is gradually reaching its end.”

Xu Ying opened the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide* and saw that the pages of the Scriptures were covered in dense annotations, likely the insights of Dong Meiqing’s ancestors from generations of cultivating this technique.

He read through it all. The annotations in the book did indeed have some flaws, but what was rare was that there weren’t many. It could even be compared to the *Tuo Yu Immortal Book*!

The *Tuo Yu Immortal Book* was the Ancient Qi Refiner Tuo Yu’s commentary on the *Yuan Yu Eight Sounds*. It was already extremely rare and considered a Cultivation Technique that pointed directly to Ascension.

The *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide* also pointed directly to Ascension, though it was slightly weaker.

Xu Ying closed the *Five Lamps Divine Water Guide*. “You’ve only cultivated the Divine Water, not the True Fire?”

Dong Meiqing shook his head. “I have not.”

Xu Ying paced around him, then suddenly stopped. “You live inside a volcano?”

Dong Meiqing was astonished. “How did Elder Xu know?”

“If you didn’t live in a volcano, you would have died long ago.”

Xu Ying said, “While the Samadhi Divine Water can indeed wash away the impurities in your Flesh Body, Primordial Spirit, and Golden Core, it also hollows you out. Since you have no Sanmei True Fire in your body to enhance your fire nature, you can only live in a volcano. But that alone isn’t enough. You must have also consumed some kind of Elixir of Life. It would take a Spirit Medicine worthy of an Immortal to resist being hollowed out by the Samadhi Divine Water! What did you take?”