Chapter 18 I am Long Aotian_1

BeiChen Ying finished a whole fish feast and didn't bother with more pleasantries. He rose to his feet and flew straight to the Immortal Palace to apply for a token that would grant him leave from the sect.

Cao Zhen also stood up and proceeded to the 'Heaven-Separation Cave,' intending to meditate and stabilize his realm, practice several spells. The old Cao Zhen was too orthodox to progress in cultivation and had no time to study spells. If not for the "Human Chapter" of the "Powers Section" in the Great Hollow Scripture's third volume, which provided the first level of the Five-thunder Righteous Method after practicing the Dragon and Tiger Breathing Technique, he would have had to resort to fisticuffs against Bai Mutian.

"Master, what are you planning to do?" Ling Xi asked cautiously, standing at the entrance of the cave.

"To meditate," Cao Zhen pointed towards the nearby Heaven-Separation Cave and replied, "your teacher needs to stabilize his realm."

Ling Xi looked increasingly worried about Cao Zhen, hesitated several times as if wanting to say something, but eventually just stared down at the ground, idly kicking at the pebbles.

"Don't start kneeling!" Cao Zhen reached out preemptively and grabbed Ling Xi's shoulders, "Speak your mind."

"Master, you almost died the last time you secluded yourself for meditation..." Ling Xi said with difficulty and concern, "Now that you've finally achieved this level of cultivation, if you overexert yourself in training again..."

Cao Zhen couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time—what a deep psychological shadow he, the previous Cao Zhen, had left on his disciples.

"Don't worry, your teacher is different from before."

Cao Zhen stroked the head of the curvaceous junior Ling Xi and turned around to enter the Heaven-Separation Cave, the place within Four Treasures Peak most abundant in spiritual energy.

On the first day, Cao Zhen sat cross-legged, casting open ten Dragon and Tiger Dao Platforms, stabilizing his cultivation base while using the force within the platforms to nourish his body and cultivate the Dragon and Tiger Golden Body.

The physical body is fundamental! This was especially mentioned in the Great Hollow Scripture; nourishing the body with Dragon and Tiger Dao Platforms could temper it bit by bit into a Dragon and Tiger Golden Body.

At first, Cao Zhen thought he was the only one aware of the secret that the physical body is the foundation, but he later realized when sorting through his predecessor's memories that this was no secret at all.

Although not every era would witness the birth of an exceptional prodigy, throughout the long history of the cultivation world, quite a few prodigies had emerged, and they all knew that body cultivation was the basis of everything.

Learning this, Cao Zhen wasn't too disheartened but rather found it normal. After all, with so many geniuses in every era, it would have been truly unbelievable if no one had discovered it.

On the second day, Cao Zhen's cultivation began to stabilize bit by bit, and the shapes of dragons and tigers within the Dragon and Tiger Dao Platforms became increasingly distinct.

On the third day, Cao Zhen's cultivation became well-rounded and stable, and as the mana circulated within him, there were faint sounds of dragon roars and tiger howls. He then started to study the spells inside the Great Hollow Scripture.

The previous Cao Zhen had been constantly striving to increase his cultivation base and had no time to practice spells. Apart from the Spirit Rain Technique used for irrigating, the only one he was skilled at was the second layer of the Hundred Peaks Sect's basic Little Heavenly Star Sword Technique.

Soon, Cao Zhen found that, though he was theoretically a Great Grandmaster and his pace of cultivation was already fast, it still wasn't as quick as achieving effortless success.

At this moment, Cao Zhen remembered China Cloud.

Back when he'd just become a Level 2 administrator, his cultivation was interrupted by the disciples of Starshine Peak. Now, he could check what differences there were since then.

A voice came from the sea of clouds, "Please choose to randomly connect with a user or select a specific user to connect."

"Okay, let's randomly connect with a user." Cao Zhen was curious about what kind of master he'd connect with this time. The Jade Emperor? Taishang Laojun? Monkey King? It surely couldn't be Zhan Tan Merit Buddha, right? Not everyone has a golden hoop on their head to chant the headband spell against.

As China Cloud signaled the completion of a random user connection, Cao Zhen saw a document much smaller than Zhang Daoling's appear within the clouds and clicked to open it, eager to see who it was.

User: Zhao Ji

Cao Zhen: "That's it? Never heard of such an immortal by this name."

Gender: Male

Cultivation Base: Mortal

Cao Zhen: "Randomly connecting to a mortal? Isn't this like letting a piece of trash come in?"

Identity: Emperor, Song Huizong

Cao Zhen: "The culprit behind the Humiliation of Jingkang? Definitely trash!"

Specializes in: Calligraphy, Painting, Arts

Cao Zhen: "How is this stuff of any use in a violent world of immortal cultivation where strength reigns supreme?"

Calligraphy: Level 99

Painting: Level 99

Arts: Level 99

Cao Zhen was self-deprecating to the point of feeling closed off—if he had this kind of access on Earth, his life would be soaring, perfectly on track to becoming a great star, a great artist.

In a violent world of cultivation, he couldn't think of any use for this Zhao Ji.

"Please select a specific user to connect."

Cao Zhen fell into deep thought. If he could accept a waste like Song Huizong, then he could possibly even connect with influential figures like Laozi or Hong Jun, right?

But if it was only a superficial connection, the use would be limited for now.

For someone with an Immortal Bridge Realm cultivation base like himself, whether it was Laozi, Hong Jun, or even the Daluo Golden Immortal Zhang Daoling, there was little difference in the assistance they could offer.

Rather than having another seemingly useless superficial connection, it would be more practical to find a deeply connected and impressive user; at the least, their overflow of experience could aid in his own cultivation advancement.

Cao Zhen searched hard through the memories left by his predecessor and soon realized that the body's former occupant was almost a shut-in with a very limited social circle.

Elder Copper Dish was almost the highest cultivator his predecessor knew; the former Cao Zhen didn't even know the name of the Sect Leader of the Hundred Peaks Sect, unable to bind with the sect leader even if he wanted to.