"Currently, I possess eleven years of Heavenly Essence, while the Jade Clear Dao Foundation only requires five years to break through or achieve perfection, leaving six years of Heavenly Essence to be allocated."
Previously, the third level of the Jade Clear Dao Foundation required ten years of Heavenly Essence.
After observing the vastness of the world, Gu Wen's comprehension of the Dao Foundation reached a higher level.
Hence, with only five years of Heavenly Essence, he could reach the threshold of the "Perfection Law" or directly break through.
The Xuan Yu Free Healing Art, besides its healing abilities, is unique in that it originates from the same sect as the Spirit Jade Bodyguard Technique.
In the military realm, there is the Earthly Origin Gate, which, based on the formation method, integrates formations with military techniques, condensing military spirit and forming a mobile formation where one person can form an army, resembling a moving formation.
Gu Wen internally observes the Illusory Sea Technique's virtual image and concludes that only one year of Heavenly Essence is needed to achieve perfection.
Perhaps due to his elevated cultivation level, the consumption is half of what it was for the previous Falling Moon Steps and Spirit Jade Bodyguard Technique.
"In this case, I can practice another technique. Considering my previous inability to deal with illusions, I shall practice the Jade Clear Sword Art."
The Heart Sword can cut through illusions, but his Jade Clear Sword Art is only at the first level, with a short incubation time for sword intent, making it ineffective.
By enhancing his comprehension of the Jade Clear Sword Art, the speed of incubating sword intent will naturally increase.
Heavenly Essence is not bestowed from above, yet it can still grow rapidly.
Deciding on the cultivation technique, Gu Wen enters a meditative state to nurture his spirit, then activates his Fate Pattern after a moment.
The Heavenly Essence flows like molten fire, giving birth to myriad techniques.
In an instant, one year of Heavenly Essence melts into the Xuan Yu Free Healing Art, advancing to the first level and breaking through to the second level.
At the first level, external breath meditation rapidly heals wounds, while at the second level, internal breath slowly autonomously restores injuries.
After five years of Heavenly Essence, the Jade Sword is incubated, with the sword intent humming, the sword light extending for thousands of zhang, and countless sword shadows evolving within the residual light, stepping into the second level and controlling the sword with intent.
By consuming only three years of Heavenly Essence, the remaining two years push him a third of the way into the third level, requiring another four years of Heavenly Essence to reach it.
His talent in swordsmanship is not as exceptional as in Dao Foundation and spear techniques, hence the considerable consumption.
Injecting the five years of Heavenly Essence into the five viscera, a faint golden light emanates from the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
At the second level of the Dao Foundation, the body is tempered externally, the five viscera are refined internally, and above the five viscera lies the Divine Repository.
Standing on the mountain transformed by the Jade Clear Dao Foundation, Gu Wen faces two paths: one leading to the higher third level of the Dao Foundation, and the other to the more challenging Perfection Law.
Peeking into the palace, five divine statues stand tall.
Entering the grand hall, Gu Wen naturally seeks the most perfect Dao Foundation and the ultimate technique to become unparalleled.
He does not need to consider whether he can cultivate the Perfection Law; as long as it does not require time to polish, which is similar to sword intent and mana, this kind of test of comprehension is the simplest for Gu Wen.
The Fate Pattern allows him to comprehend techniques effortlessly, and his personal talent occasionally reduces the consumption of Heavenly Essence.
Within the grand hall, the five deities coexist, and strands of Dao rhyme descend, enlightening Gu Wen.
At the third level of the Dao Foundation, the Perfection Law allows the five Divine Repositories to observe the Divine Manifestations, condensing five Divine Manifestations.
The Divine Manifestation is the embryo of the Divine Form.
Ordinary geniuses can condense one Divine Manifestation, while sect prodigies can condense two, like Lu Chan, who can condense three.
This is not only the limit of the Dao techniques they cultivate but also their personal limits.
The Jade Clear Dao techniques are not kept secret.
The Dao Sect's gates are wide open.
Who wouldn't want to learn the top-tier Immortal techniques?
Yun Hua tells Gu Wen that besides the possible hidden prodigies, the only one currently condensing five Divine Manifestations is the Sanqing Daozi.
He practices the Taiqing Law, which can also condense five Divine Manifestations.
To condense five Divine Manifestations, twenty-five years of Heavenly Essence are required.
Gu Wen exhales a breath, then opens his eyes again, a glint of gold flashing in them, causing the curtains in the room to sway slightly.
He then takes a deep breath, causing the curtains to flutter wildly, and the tea cup on the table to move with the airflow.
With another exhale, the tea cup flies and hits the wall, but before it shatters, Gu Wen reaches out and uses the Sword Control Technique to bring it back to his hand.
Inhaling forms a vortex, exhaling creates a wind, transcending the ordinary physique!
"I will visit the Dragon Bridge again. I will not fear the Fox Immortal; she won't withstand three moves from me."
Gu Wen makes this decision.
There are two reasons for this: firstly, the Dao Foundation provides a higher mana and strength limit, serving as the fundamental support for the suppression of Heavenly Essence.
Secondly, the second level of the Jade Clear Sword Art has doubled in power, with the speed of condensing sword intent doubled, enough to dispel illusions.
This is why Gu Wen spent five years of Heavenly Essence to enhance the Heart Sword, as not every situation can be resolved with brute force.
At the peak of the second level of the Dao Foundation, the Xuan Yu Free Healing Art is perfected, and the Jade Clear Sword Art is controlled with intent at the second level.
In just one night, his strength has skyrocketed!
A hint of killing intent flashes in Gu Wen's eyes, and ripples gradually surface in his heart.
"If it's that eunuch, we might be evenly matched, but I still have about thirty years of Heavenly Essence. Condensing five Divine Manifestations, breaking through to the third level of the Dao Foundation, he is no longer my match."
He remembers Yun Hua mentioning that the Dao Sovereign Emperor will not leave the palace without guarding his alchemy furnace.
Combining this with the rumors of the emperor seeking longevity through alchemy and the Tai Fu Bureau collecting treasures from all over, it is not difficult to infer that the emperor is indeed pursuing immortality.
Armed with a sharp weapon, murderous intent arises.
Many times, people's tolerance stems from their lack of ability to resist.
Once they have power, the desire to resort to violence becomes uncontrollable.
However, Gu Wen is aware that it is not yet the time, at least not to unleash without proper preparation.
The saying concludes with a reminder to be cautious and prudent.
Glancing at the sack of medicinal fruits, he closes his eyes to refine their properties.
Being able to consume four hundred medicinal fruits in a day does not mean he can fully digest them in a day.
He estimates it will take about ten days to completely convert the resources into strength, which is of utmost importance.
With my third level of the Dao Foundation perfected, enveloped by the illustrious Divine Manifestation, where in the vast world can I not go, and which noble scion of the heavenly family can I not defeat?
-
In the small heat of July, the weather is scorching, with steam rising and heat simmering.
The servants of the Gu Family purchase crushed ice and cut seasonal fruits like waxberries and peaches, placing them in ice to make cold drinks.
Originally, there was a waterwheel cooling room in the mansion, where water was pumped up to the roof by the waterwheel, flowing along channels to the corners of the eaves, where silver streams cascaded down.
The rotation of the waterwheel also drove a "fan cart," similar to a modern electric fan, providing a breeze.
However, due to the high maintenance costs, amounting to over a thousand taels a year, it was more economical to munch on ice every day.
So Gu Wen dismantled and sold the contraption left by the previous mansion owner, making a profit of a few hundred taels.
This was an inheritance from the previous mansion owner, and Gu Wen felt no attachment to it.
At noon, several merchant 'friends' came to visit, all from the Longqiao area, but now borrowing money everywhere due to the window tax.
In the sky, there are palaces of jade, while on earth, there is Longqiao, where a thousand taels are spent like water, but it is difficult to fill the void with a thousand gold pieces.
These wealthy merchants who control Longqiao do not realize that in the city of Bianjing with millions of people, and even beyond a thousand miles, countless commoners are struggling.
Outsiders spread the saying 'a thousand taels a day at Longqiao,' thinking that all this money goes into their pockets.
If it were true, they would indeed not lack this thousand taels.
Even if the officials asked for ten thousand taels, who doesn't have hundreds of thousands of taels flowing in and out of their account?
But at this moment, the true colors of the Longqiao merchants are revealed, as they do not possess much wealth.
Gu Wen lent out three thousand taels, to the head of the Wanbao Money House, one of the jade sellers at the Jade Hall, and a medicine vendor at the large pharmacy.
Jiang Fugui looked pained and said, "Master, in such turbulent times, aren't you afraid you won't get it back?"
"I am not after the money, but the favors. The money house, jade hall, and pharmacy each control vast resource channels."
Gu Wen took out his account book, made a few small additions, generated three thousand taels through the water house's bills, and included the wages for the 'temporary workers' he had hired earlier to balance the accounts.
Thus, he did not spend any money, and like himself, they only needed to exert a little effort to leverage a large amount of resources.
It's just a matter of the size of the risk.
Moreover, in these turbulent times, gold and silver may not depreciate as much as copper coins, but the items that can be purchased and their effectiveness inevitably decline.
In times of chaos, the fist holds the greatest value.
Qin Mian walked in from outside and whispered a few words in Gu Wen's ear.
Gu Wen's eyes slightly narrowed, and he turned to say, "Fugui, didn't you want to go to the south?"
"Hehehe, I've changed my mind, I've changed my mind. With you being ennobled, why would I need to go to the south?" Jiang Fugui shook his head repeatedly, but Gu Wen firmly stated, "You must go because Ze Prefecture might be lost."
The loss of Ze Prefecture means that the heartland of Da Qian will be exposed to the iron hooves of the barbarians, and it also means that Da Qian will lose its largest granary.
In such a precarious state, Da Qian, which has been teetering on the edge for so long, is finally beginning to slide into the abyss.
Many books are now hard to find, so cherish them while you can.