Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

"Immortal Master, you've arrived! Fourth Brother, Eighth Sister, what are you all doing here?" Zhang Xuan was both surprised and delighted to see Zhang Yuanjing descending on his sword, along with Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu by his side. However, her gaunt face and high cheekbones made her smile appear somewhat frightening.

"Elder Sister, how have you become so thin!" Zhang Jun exclaimed in shock.

"Elder Sister, are you sick, or have you been poisoned? Did that big monkey bully you?" Zhang Yu asked anxiously.

"Yu'er, don't make wild guesses!" Zhang Xuan chided Zhang Yu, but her emaciated appearance made her anger lack its usual sharpness.

"Alright, you two, don't make such a fuss!" Zhang Yuanjing glared at them, then said to Zhang Xuan, "When did you successfully open your meridians?"

"Reporting to Immortal Master, it was half a year ago," Zhang Xuan replied as respectfully as before.

"Half a year! Your cultivation progress is too fast. Advancing to the second layer of the Blood Refining Realm in half a year is too much of a drain on your body. This can't continue!" Zhang Yuanjing said, shaking his head.

Only then did Zhang Jun and Zhang Xuan realize that their elder sister had already become a cultivator. Zhang Yuanjing had told them both about Zhang Xuan's demonic cultivation, and Zhang Yu had even come to see it. However, neither of them had expected Zhang Xuan to successfully open her meridians so quickly, and even break through to the second layer. Hearing their master's words, they were both delighted and worried.

"But I can't stop. Once I stop, the blood energy in my meridians will burn, causing unbearable pain, and even hallucinations. There's an impulse to kill all living things, eat their flesh raw, and drink their blood. Only constant cultivation can restrain it!" Zhang Xuan had clearly been tormented greatly. As soon as Zhang Yuanjing asked, she poured out the suffering in her heart, and a look of misery appeared on her face.

"Master, don't let Elder Sister continue cultivating demonic arts!" Zhang Yu was on the verge of tears, tugging at Zhang Yuanjing's Taoist robe from behind and pleading.

"No!" Zhang Xuan said decisively, "I firmly believe that this is my path, Zhang Xuan's path!"

Her tone was resolute, her eyes were sharp, and her aura was grim, immediately frightening Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu into silence.

Zhang Yuanjing pondered for a moment before saying, "I will ask Brother Ape to instruct his clansmen to hunt and kill fresh demon beasts for you every day to ensure you have enough meat. You must also put aside your concerns and eat fully. Otherwise, it won't be enough to maintain the operation of the cultivation technique. Do you understand?"

Zhang Xuan nodded. In recent months, she had actually understood the crux of the problem, but she couldn't change her mindset for a while and couldn't accept the act of swallowing large amounts of demon beast blood and flesh raw, delaying it until now, resulting in her becoming as thin as firewood.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanjing took out a jade bottle, took out a pill with a strong bloody smell from it, cut off one-tenth of it with his hand as a sword, and then handed it to Zhang Xuan: "Try taking this and see if it can help you restore your blood energy!"

Zhang Xuan swallowed the small piece of medicine as instructed, and immediately felt a huge surge of blood energy rising from her lower abdomen and spreading throughout her body. Immediately, her face was as red as dripping blood, her flesh bulged in places, and her whole body seemed to have an explosive force, about to break through all obstacles and burst her open.

Her face changed drastically, and she quickly apologized and ran towards the Turbid Qi Cave where she cultivated. When Zhang Yuanjing left, considering that Zhang Xuan couldn't go down into the cave by herself, he used some tough spiritual materials to make several hundred-foot-long ropes for her to go up and down the Turbid Qi Cave.

Zhang Xuan arrived at the edge of a cave about a hundred feet deep, grabbed the rope fixed in the ground, and jumped down.

Zhang Yuanjing observed from afar with his divine sense and found that Zhang Xuan had placed a polished stone slab at the bottom of the cave. After she landed, she sat on the stone slab and meditated and cultivated. After an hour, the blood energy in her body stabilized, the blood power in her meridians continued to increase, and at the same time, the flesh and blood on her body were growing at a visible rate.

After four hours, Zhang Xuan finally refined the fragment of the pill, not only increasing her cultivation by a large margin, but also restoring about 20% of the blood energy in her body, finally looking a bit like a living person.

When Zhang Xuan returned, Zhang Yuanjing handed her the jade bottle in his hand: "Since it's useful to you, then take it. However, there are only eight pills, so you must use them sparingly. Focus on dietary supplements, supplemented by medicinal supplements. This medicine is very difficult to obtain."

"Zhang Xuan understands, thank you, Immortal Master, for bestowing the medicine!" Zhang Xuan bowed gracefully, her eyes full of gratitude.

"Thank you, Master! Master, what kind of medicine is that? Where can I get it?" Zhang Yu also bowed, gave her own master a big gift, and then stood up and asked.

"I can't tell you now, lest you cause trouble!" Zhang Yuanjing glanced at her and said unceremoniously.

"Yu'er, don't be naughty."

Zhang Xuan stood up, first said a word to Zhang Yu, and then asked Zhang Yuanjing: "Is Immortal Master leaving?"

"That's right, calculating with my fingers, this poor Taoist only has about five years of life left. If I don't seize the last opportunity and gamble on that glimmer of hope, there will be no possibility of breaking through," Zhang Yuanjing said calmly, but the three of them could hear the desolation and sorrow in his tone.

Before coming, Zhang Yuanjing had already briefly told Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu about the exhaustion of his lifespan and the fact that he was about to go to the Xuanyin Mountain soon. The two of them were struck by lightning and didn't know what to do. Zhang Yu even grabbed Zhang Yuanjing's clothes and wept bitterly, thinking that she would never see her master again. Under Zhang Yuanjing's repeated persuasion, she finally turned the corner, endured the sadness and reluctance, and wished her master good luck. Now, hearing these words again, the two of them inevitably showed some sadness again.

Zhang Xuan, however, was prepared, just nodded silently, and then asked: "When will you set off?"

"In two days," Zhang Yuanjing sighed softly and said, "My trip to Xuanyin Mountain will inevitably involve some open and secret struggles between sects. For safety's sake, Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu, along with you, will all cultivate in seclusion here. If I die, you can hide here for a few years, and the danger will be resolved. If I don't die, I will naturally return. In these two days, after arranging you properly, I will leave with that fellow Taoist Ape!"

"Thank you, Immortal Master, for your kindness! Our siblings have repeatedly received great favors, and we can hardly repay one in ten thousand in this life. We can only pray in our hearts and wish Immortal Master peace!" Zhang Xuan took Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu together and bowed down to Zhang Yuanjing again.

Zhang Yuanjing reached out to help them up and said with emotion: "There is no need to be like this. Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu are my disciples, and it is only right to take care of them. You are also a cultivator now. I am at most your senior, and there is no need to call me Immortal Master anymore. It's really inconvenient, just call me Taoist Priest!"

The next day, Zhang Yuanjing opened up cave dwellings for Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu. Looking around, he felt that this rift valley was really not suitable. Zhang Xuan's demonic cultivation was convenient here. However, Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu were both Taoist Qi refiners, and staying here would inevitably cause their Qi to clash. After thinking about it, he felt that the deep valley where the Golden-Backed Giant Ape lived was a good place, with secret passages and giant apes guarding it, which was very safe.

So, he discussed it with Zhang Xuan and simply decided that all three of them would go there to take refuge. Zhang Xuan could be taken there by Zhang Yu every day when she practiced her exercises. The distance between the two places was very close, and it only took an hour to go back and forth, which would not delay her studies. Zhang Xuan lived in the Great Rift Valley just for convenience. She didn't like the gloomy and desolate place, so she readily agreed.

Zhang Yuanjing then took the three of them and flew into the valley behind the mountain, first found Ape Thirteen to explain his intentions. Ape Thirteen naturally agreed and asked several Spirit Awakening Realm giant apes to help him find the boulders to build the house. Several people and several apes worked together, and in a few days, they built three large stone rooms by the deep pool in the valley,靠着另一侧崖壁的地方.

Afterwards, he took Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu and went back up from the underground waterway he had entered the valley that day and entered the stone cave, instructing them to take refuge in it to escape if there was danger.

After everything was dealt with, it was time to set off. Cultivators don't care about life and death. However, these three people, two were disciples he had accepted, and one was introduced into the demonic path by himself. There was a feeling in his heart that was not easy to let go of.

He first called Zhang Jun and Zhang Yu and gave each of them a Foundation Establishment Pill and five Low-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills. He also distributed all the Hundred Spirit Pills, Spirit Gathering Powder, and Beast King Pills on his body to the two of them.

Because Zhang Jun practiced earth techniques, he prepared a copy of the alchemy secrets and pill formulas for him and gave him two Middle-Grade and Upper-Grade earth attribute spiritual weapons each.

Zhang Yu was a single fire spiritual root and cultivated extremely quickly, so he gave her all the Fire Spirit Pills he had obtained from the Guo family cultivators, except for one bottle for emergencies. He also chose two defensive spiritual weapons and one Upper-Grade and one Top-Grade fire attribute attack spiritual weapon for her. After thinking it over and over again, he gave her the Top-Grade spiritual weapon Yan Guang Shield he had obtained from Guo Yuqing.

Then, he repeatedly instructed them when to take what pills, when and how the spiritual weapons could be used, and that precious items such as the Spirit Enhancement Pills could not be exposed casually. Zhang Yu's Yan Guang Shield could not be used unless it was in a crisis, and so on, nagging for half a day.

The two of them listened carefully with sorrowful feelings of parting. Finally, they thanked their master and said goodbye before retreating.

He then called Zhang Xuan over and first gave her the golden horn he had obtained from the Demon Core Realm Flame Beast. This was also because he had no demonic weapons for demonic cultivators to use. Only this item had not been refined and was extremely sharp, so it could be given to Zhang Xuan for self-defense.

Then, he took out two jade bottles, which contained the remaining fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pills and one Middle-Grade Spirit Enhancement Pill, and said: "Demonic cultivators are always weaker in their divine soul due to the nature of their cultivation methods, and they are prone to Qi deviation and entering a demonic state. This is a pill to nourish the divine soul and can only be taken after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. Demonic cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm cannot use Foundation Establishment Pills and rely purely on whether their blood power is pure and whether their accumulation is deep. If you encounter a bottleneck and cannot advance for a long time, you can also break through by taking Spirit Enhancement Pills. However, this is only a last resort and a backup plan. Never treat it as a shortcut."

"Thank you, Taoist Priest." Zhang Xuan calmly took these items, a gentle look on her face, and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "May I ask, Taoist Priest, what are your chances of success on this trip?"

"Nine deaths and one life," Zhang Yuanjing said indifferently, but the sadness in his eyes was hard to hide.

"So dangerous?" Zhang Xuan's face turned pale, and her eyes were filled with sadness, "Even with the Taoist Priest's skills, it's difficult to survive?"

Zhang Yuanjing shook his head: "Human power is sometimes exhausted. Besides, this poor Taoist's skills are only average, how dare I say I can protect myself!"

"For twenty years, Taoist Priest has been Zhang Xuan's strongest backer. Back then, if Taoist Priest hadn't helped, Zhang Xuan would have been long gone in this world. From that time on, Zhang Xuan made up her mind to serve Taoist Priest for life to repay this kindness! Unfortunately, I only hate that Zhang Xuan's aptitude is not good and her strength is low, so she can't go to the difficulties with the Taoist Priest!"

Without knowing when, Zhang Xuan was already weeping, her words choked with sobs.

A complex look flashed in Zhang Yuanjing's eyes, and he waved his hand and said: "It's just a transaction, there's no kindness to speak of, you don't have to be like this! It was I who led you into the demonic path, which is ultimately not the right path. I hope you won't blame me in the future!"

A hint of disappointment flashed in Zhang Xuan's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a sense of determination. She shook her head vigorously, her tone calm but firm, and said: "I only hate that I started cultivating too late and progressed too slowly to keep up with the Taoist Priest's pace, how can I blame the Taoist Priest for teaching me the way of cultivation!"

Zhang Yuanjing sighed upon hearing this, but he didn't know what to say.

Zhang Xuan asked with tearful eyes: "Whether Taoist Priest succeeds or fails, where can I get news from?"

Zhang Yuanjing pondered for a moment and said: "If I die, Fellow Taoist Ape will naturally bring back my belongings. It should be in three to five years. Of course, if there are any accidents, it may take longer."

Zhang Xuan nodded, lowered her head and muttered a few words, as if to memorize something in her heart.

Then, she took out a three or four-inch-long wooden box from her arms and offered it with both hands: "Taoist Priest, Zhang Xuan has nothing of value and nothing that can catch your eye, so I carved a pendant with the stone from this mountain, hoping for peace. Please don't dislike it!"

Zhang Yuanjing reached out and took it, opened it and saw that it was a red-finned fire-patterned fish carved from the red cloud stone in this Mist Spirit Mountain. It was only the size of a finger, the carving was exquisite, lifelike, and the expression at the corner of its mouth was vivid, as if it was playing in the water.

He felt her affection and couldn't help but be moved. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.

Zhang Xuan was already in tears and turned to leave.

(End of Volume 2: Fishing Village Years)