Thirteen days ago, Author: Pig Heart Shrimp
Chapter 56: Eleven Years of Heavenly Essence, Fellow Daoist Strikes it Rich
On the river surface, a treasure ship docked, with officials urging laborers to load goods onto the ship.
Old Donkey lay bored, his ears trembling slightly.
As he raised his head, he saw Yu Hua stepping lightly through the air, landing gracefully at the bow of the ship.
Some common folks who had never seen the world before knelt down like they were seeing a heavenly deity, bowing their heads in prayer, treating Yu Hua as if she were a divine being.
However, their wishes were limited to the spot, showing a slight reverence but not much more.
It was just a bow today; if tomorrow's prayers went unanswered, they would stop.
The old donkey was taken aback for a moment, then widened his eyes slightly and said, "My little ancestor, how... how can you fly?"
Flying and light body technique were two different concepts.
The latter only appeared to be flying, but the principle was to throw oneself out and then use body techniques to make the body as light as a feather to float further.
However, to cultivate immortality, one needed to nurture various immortal opportunities.
The earth's energy was as heavy as lead and iron, absorbing all the clear energy, resulting in the convergence of spiritual energy that could be considered a marvel of the world, yet it was exceptionally thin.
This also meant that once one used flying techniques, it felt like being sucked into the earth, as if the earth's energy would truly pull a person into the ground.
That's why even the old donkey didn't dare to fly, fearing that if he exhausted his mana carelessly, he would fall to his death.
But Yu Hua seemed unaffected at all, landing extremely lightly, without causing any disturbance to the earth's energy.
Yu Hua nodded slightly and said, "I have gained some insights, a new understanding of the inheritance of the Qiong Cang Ancestor."
The old donkey's eyes widened even more as he circled around Yu Hua a few times, incredulously asking, "Have you achieved perfection in the Dao Foundation?"
In the scriptures, it was recorded that one who achieved perfection in the Dao Foundation was half a step beyond transcendence.
Achieving perfection in the Dao Foundation could to some extent transcend the constraints of fate.
Was Yu Hua's ability to fly not just transcending fate?!
"Little ancestor, you have truly become an ancestor."
The old donkey was completely convinced.
He knew very well what achieving perfection in the Dao Foundation meant.
Those at the seventh level of the Dao Foundation had the potential to reach the third realm, those at the ninth level of the Dao Foundation could become the top figures of their time, and beyond the ninth level was perfection, making them invincible figures who dominated the world.
Perfection and the Dao Foundation were fundamentally different; only perfection could lead to immortality.
Yu Hua didn't even bother to look at the old donkey, glanced at the laborers and officials around, and said, "Do we need so many things for a trip to Linchuan?"
The old donkey explained, "Zhao Feng was supposed to accompany us, and these goods were prepared for him, but it seems he won't be able to make it now."
"So delicate, throw everything off the ship and set sail immediately."
Yu Hua's command was like a divine decree.
There was no need for orders from the officials; the invisible pressure made many laborers subconsciously obey and start unloading the goods.
As the officials approached, they were about to say something when they heard the next command.
"You all get off too."
All the laborers and officials disembarked, and the old donkey also jumped into the water, not to escape but to push the ship as commanded by Yu Hua.
Originally, as a divine beast, the old donkey would never do such laborious work.
But now, it followed the orders of Yu Hua without hesitation.
If she were just a vase of the Dao Sect, the sect would interfere with her preferences.
If she were a genuine heavenly maiden, the sect would serve her preferences.
Strength was the foundation of everything.
The old donkey did not resist Yu Hua being stronger than itself, nor would the Sanqing Dao Sect.
In the competition among all beings in the world, the strong were respected in cultivation.
For a sect to develop, there could only be one leading voice, and the leaders could listen to opinions but must not obey them.
The leaders of the sect and the disciples, due to their different positions, needed different codes of conduct.
The morning river breeze pushed the ship forward, as if an underwater dragon was lifting the treasure ship.
As the Dao Sect's heavenly maiden departed, for the strong individuals in Bianjing, the lingering haze in their hearts gradually dissipated.
- Gu Residence.
Gu Wen lay on the bed, his mind unable to calm down for a long time.
Roaming the Nine Heavens, tearing through the sky, observing the world beyond the world!
He had already understood that besides protecting oneself, another goal of cultivation was to witness the vastness of this world.
He wanted to ascend the towering Three Clear Mountains, larger than his hometown in his previous life, he wanted to see the Eight Million Sword Peaks of Zhejian Mountain, and witness the hanging paradises of Jianmu.
This world was fascinating, not limited to just the Great Gan region.
"Cultivation, only cultivation!"
Gu Wen rolled out of bed like a carp, opened the sack in the corner, grabbed a handful of fruits, and stuffed them into his mouth.
"Fifty catties of medicinal fruits, need to eat until the Year of the Monkey and Horse! What a happy dilemma."
Fifty catties of medicinal fruits, roughly sixteen hundred fruits.
Based on his previous experience, fifty fruits could yield one year of Heavenly Essence, so roughly thirty-three years of Heavenly Essence in total.
If he were to buy so many fruits, even at the black market price of fifty fruits for a thousand taels, it would cost thirty thousand taels.
Robbing and killing, the golden belt of crime! Truly, the means to wealth were written in the law.
In the future, he would have to rob the Great Gan government more.
Gu Wen ate two hundred fruits in one go, feeling a bit bloated.
He felt he should learn alchemy in the future; otherwise, it would take him ages to consume all the Heavenly Essence.
The Heavenly Essence swirled in his Qi Sea like a meteor shower, continuously increasing at a frantic pace.
Five years of Heavenly Essence.
Five years?
Gu Wen was stunned.
Fifty fruits for one year of Heavenly Essence, why was there an extra year of Heavenly Essence?
He looked down at the plump fruits in his hand and suddenly realized that the ones he had eaten before were inferior fruits, while the ones in his hand were the good fruits meant to be offered to the Daoist Emperor.
Naturally, the efficacy was much stronger, roughly thirty percent more Heavenly Essence.
So, in the end, he would obtain at least forty years of Heavenly Essence.
The Emperor enjoyed such lavish meals every day; it was truly unfair!
The sun rose in the east and set in the west.
Gu Wen stayed in his room, diligently consuming the fruits, then refining their properties, and consuming them again in a cycle.
From morning till night, he had only eaten four hundred fruits, gaining a total of ten years of Heavenly Essence.
Adding the Heavenly Essence he had obtained from the materials and ginseng from the Tai Fu Pharmacy earlier, he had suddenly restored eleven years of Heavenly Essence.
He didn't continue eating because he was too full, and there was an excessive amount of medicinal power remaining in his body.
Previously, he would consume a maximum of a hundred fruits at a time, but this time, he had increased it fourfold, with the potency being much stronger.
This made Gu Wen's body extremely hot, forcing him to meditate and refine the medicinal properties, converting all the medicinal power of the fruits into mana.
The mana in his Qi Sea quickly replenished from the depletion caused by the robbery at Longqiao, returning to the size of a basketball and then a bucket.
Four hundred fruits only slightly surpassed a nourishing Qi Pill in terms of mana replenishment.
However, this did not mean that a nourishing Qi Pill was worth so many fruits; it was the subtlety of alchemy.
Unfortunately, I don't know alchemy, nor do I have the conditions for it.
It was midnight again, the night watchman's drum sounded, and faintly, the cry of a baby being awakened could be heard.
Gu Wen slowly opened his eyes.
Eleven years of Heavenly Essence.
What a wonderful number!
He calmed his mind and pondered over his current cultivation techniques.
"Dao Foundation, Perfection Law, Healing Arts..."
These were what Gu Wen needed to comprehend the most at the moment.
Firstly, the fundamental Jade Clear Dao Foundation, which he had not improved before because it didn't contribute much to his strength enhancement.
But that was only in comparison to his spear technique; now, his spear technique was only one step away from the final realm of perfection.
For the Spear of Zeal to reach perfection, one needed to nurture a body with a hundred zhang in height, requiring an incalculable amount of Heavenly Essence.
Gu Wen speculated that it was probably because the gap between himself and perfection was too vast.
This step purely relied on Heavenly Essence for consumption, making it difficult to estimate, much like trying to make an ordinary person become an immortal in one step.
Next in line was the Mind Technique, which was the primary goal, and Healing Arts were also necessary.
In the past, Gu Wen would have chosen Healing Arts first, but now things were different.
Dao Lord has struck it rich, I want it all!