Chapter 44: A Hundred Years in a Hurry

At this time, the Qiankun Water Sutra had broken through to the fifth stage, and the characteristics of the five elements were becoming more and more obvious, and the absorption speed of the wood spirit stone was already significantly faster when cultivating. From time to time along the way, he could encounter some places where the vitality of heaven and earth was strong, so he stopped to cultivate for a while. But each place didn't dare to stay too long, and it was inevitable that there would be high-level fierce beasts or Jiedan monks coming to this kind of place, and it would be troublesome to be discovered.

Along the way, the level of the fierce beasts encountered has gradually increased, and the number of fourth-level fierce beasts has gradually increased. It turned out that the third-level fierce beast could no longer play the role of refining his muscles and bones, and the fourth-level fierce beast was equivalent to the initial cultivation of a monk in the foundation building, which could not only hurt his muscles and bones, but also could not cause him fatal injuries, and was just used as a target for cultivation. Some fierce beasts that are not very strong are often consumed by him, but he has also harvested a lot of beast cores, furs, muscles and bones and other materials, and some of the beast furs with suitable character have been made into rune paper talismans by him. By mixing the blood and bones of an "iron-winged swift" into the rune liquid, you can refine the flying talisman and so on, which are all covered in Sima's "Rune Theory". In addition to practicing, he also looked through the seized books from time to time, in addition to the increasingly sophisticated talismans, the "refining tips" and "gold tips" were also familiar, although he did not cultivate, but he knew a lot of refining knowledge, and found that the refining materials he got from Zhao Yuhao and Chun Yu's storage bags, some of which were quite precious, was a surprise.

Some fourth-level fierce beasts are also difficult to deal with, especially some large fierce beasts with strong muscles and bones, such as the Earth Storm Bear, the Bronze Tooth Pig, the Golden Horn, etc., which have rough skin and thick flesh and cannot be killed, and their combat effectiveness is amazing, and they even have to use talismans to knock it away or kill it. It has also gone through danger several times, once it was entangled by a golden tree python, and finally had to use Sima's magic weapon, the golden "Xunyang Sword" to kill it;

As the road continued to advance, Su Aotian felt more and more the benefits of training in the wild. It is not only the improvement of cultivation, but also the test between life and death, which greatly increases his combat skills, divine reaction and acuity, as well as his sense of smell of danger, etc., and the tempering of his body has also been continuously enhanced, and when facing the moment of life and death, the divine soul often becomes extremely keen, and can clearly perceive all the changes in the field, whenever he experiences this change, the condensation of the divine soul will be greatly improved.

Finally one day, the water attribute spirit stone was absorbed, and Su Aotian counted it on his fingers, and twenty years had passed before he knew it. In this way, the cultivation speed of the water soul slowed down, which correspondingly also affected the cultivation of the wood soul. Su Aotian couldn't help but smile bitterly, although the field experience can be improved in all aspects, but the cultivation resources are a big problem, if you want to get a large amount of resources, you must also go to the city to trade.

In the days that followed, Su Aotian lived the days of an ascetic, spending every day in a hurry and cultivating. Along the way, he deliberately avoided the monks and only dealt with ferocious beasts. Another twenty years passed, and the last medium-grade wood spirit stone was also absorbed, and finally felt the signs of a breakthrough again. Now that he has cultivated the Qiankun Water Sutra to the middle stage, his symbiotic effect on the Hundred Herbs Divine Wood Recipe has been relatively obvious, so his cultivation speed is still one line faster than that of ordinary casual cultivation. In addition to cultivation, there is also a problem, that is, the level of fierce beasts encountered is getting higher and higher, fifth-level fierce beasts are already often encountered, and sixth-level fierce beasts are also infested from time to time. For the fifth-level fierce beast, he still has the strength to fight, and the sixth-level fierce beast can dodge and hide, but he can't avoid it, so he can only rely on the talisman and the magic weapon "Xunyang Sword" to fight with it. Finally, after fighting six or seven times, the last magic weapon "Xunyang Sword" also burst, and the talisman was also consumed. The days that followed were even more difficult, but with it, the body, soul, and cultivation were all gradually improving. After another ten years like this, the Hundred Herbs Divine Wood Jue finally broke through to the eighth stage of qi refining.

Su Aotian's loot resources were exhausted in the battles again and again, and in the end, he couldn't even get the flying of the imperial relics, and sometimes he barely escaped with the help of a tree trunk and sacrificed the "flying charm". Now that he has entered the eighth stage of qi refining, he has obtained a means of escaping for his life, and if he fights with the fierce beast again, he can run away if he can't beat it. It's just that sometimes when you encounter birds and beasts, you can't help but be a little embarrassed, so you can only fight and escape, and finally get into the woods to save the day. At this time, the strategy changed, not only to avoid people, but also to avoid fierce beasts, and to take time to stop cultivating. Fortunately, I can fly at any time, and my foot travel is much faster than before.

Although the days were hard, the passage of time was still fast, and thirty years passed in a blink of an eye. The current Su Aotian is already a savage, covered with body hair, long hair fluttering, a large beard, a piece of bark around his waist, and a wooden stick made of thousand-year-old ironwood in his hand. He had come across this by chance in a dense forest, and this kind of tree was hard, especially fine iron, and it was also a good material for refining, and he picked some of them and put them in a storage bag, and with great effort, he finally sharpened them into a wooden stick, which was used for self-defense on the road, and it was also very handy. Because I haven't had contact with humans for a long time, I don't pay attention to my appearance or anything. The Qiankun Water Sutra has cultivated to the sixth stage of qi refining, which is much faster than his cultivation of the Hundred Herbs Divine Wood Technique, after all, his current cultivation is all based on absorbing the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, which is much inferior to the effect of the Spirit Stone. And with the improvement of the water soul's cultivation, the cultivation effect of the wood soul is also becoming more and more obvious, and the speed of cultivation improvement is getting faster and faster, and it seems that the day is not far from breaking through to the ninth stage of qi refining.

In the past few days, the number of encounters with monks has gradually increased compared to before, and the frequent activities of human beings indicate that it is close to the gathering place of monks, so it should not be too far from Tianwu City. Su Aotian didn't want to contact the monk, so he simply didn't clean up his appearance, thinking that it was better for a monk to see him and think that it was a fierce beast. After some time, I actually picked up a storage bag in the depths of a forest, although the exterior was very shabby, but the internal space did not collapse, and most of the items were intact. In addition to some pills, materials, etc., there were actually two wood attribute spirit stones, which couldn't help but make him overjoyed.

Su Aotian analyzed it and felt that since he was about to arrive at Tianwu City, there was no need to rush away, firstly, the level of the fierce beasts was getting higher and higher, and secondly, the richness of the vitality of heaven and earth on the road was also increasing, and walking slower on the road could not only effectively avoid the fierce beasts, but also further temper the body and divine soul, and seek a good opportunity to break through. So he stopped and stopped along the way, and increased the intensity of his cultivation. After another thirty years, the Hundred Herbs Divine Wood Jue finally broke through to the ninth stage of Qi refining.

Counting on his fingers, starting from Yuanwu City, it has been a full hundred years, this hundred years of cultivation has gained greatly, and both the body and the soul have been greatly improved, and I feel that the strength of the physical body now, the monks in the early and middle stages of foundation building should be difficult to shake, I don't know how powerful the monks at the end of foundation building and the Great Perfection stage are, whether they can compete with one or two. As for the Divine Soul, it was originally so powerful that it was not inferior to the Monk Yudan, but now it may be comparable to the Dollar Infant Monk. The only thing to worry about is that his lifespan is also one hundred and fifty or sixty years old, and there is not much time left for him to break through to the foundation.

After that, more than ten years passed, during which Su Aotian had discovered some villages and market towns, he cleaned up his appearance, sorted out the hair on his body, traded some clothes and other goods in these places, and tasted the long-lost wine and food. He hadn't dealt with humans for many years, and at first he didn't even feel like his own voice, and he had to think about it for a while. There were Qi refining cultivators among the villagers here, and Su Aotian was also secretly surprised, which was very different from Zhenguan Village. Looking at his face in the mirror, although he is still very young, his appearance has a faint appearance of a middle-aged person, and he knows in his heart that this is the end of his life, and his appearance is getting older irrepressibly. From these places, it was known that Tianwu City was still far away, but for high-level cultivators, it only took dozens of days to fly to reach it.

On this day, Su Aotian walked to the foot of a high mountain, and saw that the mountain peak was steep, towering into the clouds, magnificent, and had the potential to break through the clouds, and he couldn't help but feel something. In addition, this place is full of vitality and is rarely visited, and suddenly I have a feeling in my heart and decide to retreat here. This time he decided to close the life and death barrier, either break through the foundation or fail to fall. He climbed halfway up the mountain and found a cave, which seemed to have been a beast's den in the past, but it had been abandoned for a long time, and the smell of the beast was not so obvious. He cleaned the cave, found a large stone to block the entrance to the cave, placed a ban on the entrance of the cave, and began to retreat.

Thirty years have passed in a hurry, and Su Aotian has been concentrating on retreat, not knowing the passage of time, but he can feel the increasing aging of his body. At this time, if anyone can witness it with their own eyes, they will find that he has gradually changed from a young man in his prime to a middle-aged and old man. He knew that time was running out, and his heart did not fluctuate too much, he was peaceful and peaceful, but he silently experienced the operation of aura in his body, and the subtle transformation of his body, and realized the truth of the changes of heaven and earth, the growth and destruction of all things in this transformation.

Finally, one day, the fluctuations of the vitality on the top of the mountain slowly changed, from imperceptible to beginning to flow slowly, and the fluctuations gradually became violent, and finally formed a cyan vitality funnel, pouring into the halfway up the mountain. Su Aotian began to break through, he personally experienced the scene when Mo Da and Wu Yuemei broke through the foundation, and his comprehension at this time was different from that day, he only felt that his body seemed to change according to the supreme principle between heaven and earth, and he went with the flow, and there was no sense of stagnation when he broke through, just like a ripe melon, it came naturally, and everything seemed so reasonable. He clearly felt the earth-shaking changes in himself, and he was even more unmistakably aware that it was not only the body that had changed, but also the soul. The consciousness increases in a geometric hierarchy, as if one can feel the endless end of the sky. The feeling only lasted for a moment before disappearing, but he knew that he would get to this point one day. In the process of recovering his divine consciousness, he felt the countless creatures in this land, some of which were terrifyingly powerful, and felt all kinds of emotions such as surprise, curiosity, and disdain for his divine consciousness, and some sent him a tentative message, he knew that now was not the time, and he ignored it. When his divine consciousness regained to the vicinity of the mountain peak, he felt that not only were there demon beasts around him, but there was also a monk who seemed to have sensed his breakthrough and was watching around.

Su Aotian was completely immersed in this wonderful and indescribable perception, according to the indescribable understanding in the underworld, his divine consciousness looked inward, and found that his dantian was playing a wonderful change, and the endless wisps of aura were compressed and condensed little by little, and finally turned into a small droplet. The aura is constantly transformed, one drop, two drops... Slowly a small bowl was formed. The small bowl changed from small to large, and the droplets stored in it gradually increased, and finally formed a small cyan spirit pool, and a pool of cyan spiritual liquid rippled in the blue waves. At this time, outside the mountain peak, the vitality funnel had dissipated.

Su Aotian involuntarily let out a long roar, like a tiger entering the mountains and forests, and a dragon returning to the sea, unspeakably free. With the whistling sound, the prohibition was extinguished, and he pushed away the large stone at the entrance of the cave and walked out of the cave. More than ten zhang in front of him, an old man was already standing at this time, and when he saw him coming out of the hole, he immediately arched his hand, and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to Daoyou for breaking through the foundation, and the immortal path is immeasurable from now on, congratulations!"

Su Aotian looked at it carefully, and saw that the old man was of medium stature, slightly thin, his complexion was ruddy with a little gray yellow, and his eyes also seemed to lack some brilliance. Carefully inspect his cultivation, he is also a foundation building monk, and the aura on his body is far more powerful than himself, and he secretly thinks that this person's cultivation should be in the late stage of foundation building. Without waiting for him to speak, the old man continued: "The day before yesterday, I passed by this mountain and noticed that Daoist friends had broken through here, and I was afraid that something would go wrong, or attract demon beasts to disturb and destroy the important affairs of Daoist friends, so I didn't take the liberty to stay here to protect them. Sure enough, Daoyou Jiren Tianxiang broke through smoothly, but it seems that I am redundant, hehe. ”

Su Aotian saw that he took the initiative to show goodwill, although he didn't believe his words, but when he broke through, this person really didn't have any abnormal behavior, just secretly watched from the side, and then said: "Daoyou is kind, I can't repay it, I'm ashamed." "I thought that this person had nothing to do, maybe he had bad intentions.

The old man continued: "Daoyou's face is extraordinary, this breakthrough actually caused a strange sound in the heavens and the earth, and it lasted for more than half a month, it is really talented, the dragon and phoenix among the people, it seems that my Tianwu City is going to produce a great man again!" There was a burst of flattery in his mouth, and Su Aotian was numb, and he secretly slandered himself: "I am a natural standard waste material, and I have become a dragon and phoenix among people in your mouth, if the monks of Hongwu City know about it, I am afraid that I will laugh off my big teeth." ”

After a few perfunctory words with this old man, seeing that he never said the right thing, Su Aotian didn't want to spend so much time with him, so he said: "I intend to go to Tianwu City, consolidate the realm, and exchange for some materials by the way, I don't know where you are going? The old man groaned, thought for a while, seemed to have made up his mind, and said: "Don't hide it from Taoist friends, I protect the Dharma for Taoist friends this time, firstly, in the spirit of friendship with fellow Daoists, and I can't bear to ignore them, and secondly, I also have a matter that I want to discuss with Taoist friends." Su Aotian said secretly: "Here, listen to what he has to say first." He said, "Oh, I don't know what is wrong with you, but if I can, I can help." ”

The old man paused again, and seemed to think for a while before saying: "This matter is a long story, and after you ask Daoyou to learn about it, even if you don't allow it, don't make a noise." In fact, this matter is of great benefit to you and me. Su Aotian said secretly: "Benefits? If there is a benefit, can you still send it to irrelevant people?" The vigilance in his heart was higher, but he said indifferently: "Yes? If there is any inconvenience, you don't need to tell me." ”

The old man smiled bitterly and said, "Don't panic, fellow Daoist, listen to what I have to say." I know that Daoist friends and I have never known each other in my life, of course, you can't believe what I say, so I will explain the matter to Daoist friends and Panhe. The stakes are very high, why don't we go to the cave and talk about it in detail?" Su Aotian has now broken through to the foundation building, full of confidence in his own combat power, when he was in the Qi refining period, he was able to fight with the monks in the early stage of foundation building, and now he has entered the foundation building period, it is expected that the monks in the middle stage of foundation building should not be his opponent, and the monks in the late stage of foundation building, even if they can't win, they will never hurt their lives, and said in his heart: "I want to see what the hell you are doing, if you don't have good intentions, don't blame me for being ruthless." Although I disdain to do the kind of thing that takes people's property and harms people's lives, if someone takes the initiative to send it to the door, there is no reason to refuse it, and I have some faint expectations in my heart for the wealth of a monk in the late stage of foundation building. On the surface, he pretended to be suspicious and vigilant, and said, "Well, is there anything you can't say outside? It's not good to go into the cave?"

The old man said solemnly: "Today, when you and I first met, it is normal for Taoist friends to be wary of me, and it is normal for me to be different. In order to dispel the doubts of the Taoist friends, the old man is willing to make an oath here, if I have bad intentions towards the Taoist friends, I will not be able to break through the knot for the rest of my life. Su Aotian saw that he said solemnly, and his doubts about him were dispelled a little.

The old man said again: "In this way, I will enter the cave first, and the Taoist friends will enter later, and stay at the entrance of the cave, and the Taoist friends will set a ban, so you and I can think about it in the long run." If you find something wrong, you can easily get out. Su Aotian had already become interested in this old man at this time, and thought, "Let's listen to what you say, maybe it's really a good thing." Even if you have bad intentions, I am not afraid of you. But there was still a look of hesitation on his face, and it was only after the old man's repeated assurances that he followed him into the cave.