Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 690: Chapter 441: Black Coffin

Fulong Mountain is similar to Tan Mountain, which I had visited before. Although it is called a mountain, it is not just a single towering peak but a vast mountainous region with many gardens, temples, halls, and Cave Mansion residences.

Xu Yang first used a Qiankun Sleeve technique to capture the dozen or so Fulong Mountain disciples who had been stunned by the electric shock. They were a rare human resource, perfect candidates to work as beasts of burden. Their Cultivation varied from Golden Core to Qi Refinement, making them ideal for managing Fulong Mountain as a “second base” to develop.

After taking the captives away, I re-entered the mountain gate and saw terraced fields rising around the mountain. Inside were patches of rice and Spirit Plants. Although they had also been affected by the tribulation of lightning, many were destroyed in an instant and were scorched black, but a good number were preserved—excellent Spirit Rice and Spirit Material, just enough to alleviate my food supply problem.

Although the farming plan in Qianding Village had already started, what could possibly be achieved in just a short one or two years? Furthermore, given the thin Spiritual Energy there, nothing would grow without my Skill Characteristics to support it.

Even with Skill Characteristics, I could currently only cultivate better milled rice and medicinal herbs, nowhere near the standard of Spirit Rice and Spiritual Medicine. It would take time and investment to achieve results. I could refine common pills like Qi Supplement Pills, but spirit pills and marvelous medicines like Foundation Building Pills and Golden Core Formation Pills were beyond my capabilities right now.

Now, having secured Fulong Mountain as the second base and having acquired a batch of cultivator captives, I could put them to good use planting Spirit Rice and Spiritual Medicine. Whether for meeting my immediate needs or for stockpiling resources for future power development, it was a good choice.

Since these were my own things, there was no reason to destroy them. I let them continue to grow and even used a Great Cloud Rain Skill to gather the lingering Spiritual Rain, moistening these yet-unripe rice and medicinal plants.

Walking past the terraced fields and going upward, I could see the mountain body split open, covered in terrifying traces. Various Formation Restrictions were destroyed by the tribulation lightning, and even the disciples’ dwellings were turned into ruins, severely damaged, which was quite heartbreaking.

There was nothing that could be done, and Xu Yang didn’t say anything. He just started picking through the rubble.

Picking and choosing, clearing away the debris, I found quite a few finished goods—Spirit Rice, pills, as well as Magic Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts, along with some Cultivation materials required for practice and Refining Treasures.

Fulong Mountain, as an Artifact Refining Sect, had mediocre means of cultivating Spirit Plants, and their other skills were also nothing extraordinary. The Sect relied mainly on the “Fulong Vein” for sustenance, refining the Essence of the Five Elements from the Earth Vein to use as Artifact Refining materials or to be transformed into Spirit Stones to satisfy their own Cultivation needs.

However, this “Fulong Vein” was not naturally formed but had been forcibly aggregated through Blessed Land techniques by Fulong Mountain cultivators, an act of seizing the creation of Heaven and Earth. After the tribulation lightning, it had long since collapsed and returned to the earth and sky.

So, Xu Yang could only pick up some garbage to use.

Though it’s called garbage, it wasn’t entirely so. After sweeping through the residences of low-ranking disciples and coming to the Cave Mansions of Nascent Soul Elders and even Deity Transformation Supreme Elders, Xu Yang found many Magical Treasures, Spiritual Materials, pills, and the most basic Cultivation essentials—Spirit Stones—that were either slightly damaged or completely intact.

The quantity was significant, after all, it was a Blessed Land, accumulated over countless years.

With these Spirit Stones and materials, for the time being, Xu Yang wouldn’t have to worry about personal Cultivation needs or the development of his power base.

The collection of materials came to an end, and they were all basically Third-Rank materials, with just a few Fourth-Rank items that were not too badly damaged. With his Artifact Refining skills, it shouldn’t be a problem to create a Spiritual Treasure.

As for the original Spiritual Treasures of Fulong Mountain…

Although Fulong Mountain was an Artifact Refining Sect, Spiritual Treasures were not cabbages; even high-standing Deity Transformation cultivators who were Supreme Elders couldn’t all use Immortal Artifacts. Most used Spiritual Treasures, and only the top few individuals along with the Three Ancestors of Fulong had Life-bound Immortal Instruments on them.

These Life-bound instruments were all shattered during their tribulation, annihilated under the Heavenly Punishment Thunder, without even the chance to pick up scraps for remake.

But no matter, Xu Yang didn’t care much. Compared to ready-made Spiritual Treasures and Immortal Artifacts, he was more concerned about the inheritance of Fulong Mountain’s Taoism.

A stone from another mountain can be used to polish jade. The development of Wandao School requires the support of laws and teachings from all worlds and all Sects. By taking the essence and discarding the dross, merging all Daos, the true law emerges.

Thus, for any world, any system of teachings, Xu Yang always maintained respect, never belittling them or ignoring them because of his high position.

Every system, every path of teachings has its virtues, it all depends on how one utilizes them.

As Xu Yang turned the rubble over, he found quite a few intact Cultivation Technique Jade Slips in the Cave Mansions of the Supreme Elders and the Three Ancestors of Fulong. Upon review, there were indeed some nice surprises.

I won’t mention the basic Cultivation Techniques and Hundred Arts Skills; they were unique but not particularly dazzling.

What was important was a Secret Technique!

Black Coffin Secret Technique!

The decay of Yuan Spirits in this world can be divided into three stages. The first is the self-sealing of the Ancient Immortal Realms, the second is the establishment of Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, and the third is the formation of the mortal world.

Each stage had transitions and was not accomplished overnight. There’s no saying that right after the self-sealing of the Ancient Immortal Realms, everyone noticed something was wrong and immediately set up Cave Heaven Blessed Lands to thin the mortal world’s Yuan Spirits.

There was a transitional phase in between. During this transitional phase, to solve the problems of sealed Immortal Realms, thin Yuan Spirits, and difficult Cultivation, cultivators either created or excavated and came up with numerous Secret Techniques.

This Black Coffin Secret Technique was one of them. It required mining Mysterious Ice of ten thousand years or more and using a Secret Technique to make a Black Coffin. Encasing a Cultivator within could greatly slow down their lifespan, with the highest rate slowing down to one thousandth.