Qi Yuan's eyes lit up when he heard his daughter, Qi Jianjun, speak.
"The Upper Realm?"
"Yes, the Upper Realm where mother is!" Qi Jianjun replied seriously.
At this moment, Qi Yuan's gaze toward Shen Wushen changed again.
"Let's go to the Seven-Color Peak."
As for the Nascent Soul ceremony, forget it.
After all, Shen Wushen is from the Upper Realm.
Jinli... is still in the Upper Realm.
And Master... is also in the Upper Realm.
Unfortunately, he couldn't leave the Canglan Realm, so he naturally couldn't go to the Upper Realm.
The great calamity hadn't passed, so even if he stepped into the Yin God realm, he couldn't use the teleportation array to reach the Upper Realm.
Since Shen Wushen came from the Upper Realm, he could go back and deliver a message.
Shen Wushen didn't hesitate and immediately said, "If Brother Qi invites me, how could I refuse?"
With that, Qi Yuan and Shen Wushen turned into two streams of light and disappeared.
Standing in front of the newly built cement house, Qi Yuan asked nonchalantly, "Brother Shen, what do you think of my new residence?"
Since Shen Wushen called him "Brother Qi," it wouldn't be too much to call Shen Wushen "Brother Shen," right?
Shen Wushen was slightly taken aback. Looking at the house in front of him, he, who was not good with words, said, "The Great Dao is simple."
"You speak with insight," Qi Yuan smiled. "Come, let's go inside and talk in detail."
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The two entered the house and sat down in chairs.
Qi Yuan looked at Shen Wushen with anticipation. "I heard you came from the Upper Realm?"
"Yes," Shen Wushen nodded.
These details must have been told to him by Qi Jianjun.
"Can you travel between the Upper and Lower Realms?" Qi Yuan asked seriously.
"It's difficult... very difficult. It requires a great price," Shen Wushen replied.
He had only managed to come to the Canglan Realm by relying on the treasures left behind by his ancestors, along with activating the sect's supreme treasure.
Now, he could only descend to the Lower Realm one more time.
So, he planned to exchange divine techniques for Qi Yuan's guidance.
"As long as it's possible!" Qi Yuan said, a bit delighted.
A great price?
With his intelligence, he could devise a detailed plan to help Shen Wushen solve this problem.
He quickly asked, "Do you know the Moon God Palace? Can you see the Moon Maiden... Jinli?"
He had never really met Jinli.
Or rather, the person he had met was the Moon Maiden, Jinli's past self.
"I know the Moon God Palace. Your daughter entrusted me with..." Shen Wushen recounted what had happened with Qi Jianjun the previous day, including the task she had asked him to undertake.
"However, Futu Mountain is too far from the Moon God Palace. I've only heard of the Moon Maiden, but I don't know this Jinli.
Futu Mountain is too far, and delivering a message might take as long as three years."
Shen Wushen spoke truthfully.
"Three years?" Qi Yuan murmured.
He thought of the Moon Maiden by the July Lake and remembered Jinli, who had waited for him in a future timeline for millennia.
For Qi Yuan, the time that passed was very short.
But for Jinli, it was very long.
"Could I write a letter for you to deliver to her?" Qi Yuan asked.
Shen Wushen quickly shook his head. "Items from the Canglan Realm can't be taken to the Upper Realm."
The Canglan Realm... is extremely special.
"Really?"
"Brother Qi can send a verbal message. After I return to the Upper Realm, I can transcribe it into a letter and deliver it to the Moon God Palace," Shen Wushen suggested.
"That's not very private," Qi Yuan shook his head. "In that case, how about I compose a cultivation technique, and you... deliver that technique to the Moon Maiden Jinli?"
Qi Yuan's idea was simple: to create a powerful Dao technique that would incorporate what he wanted to say.
This way, when Jinli received the technique, she would understand Qi Yuan's message.
To say a few words to Jinli, Qi Yuan decided to create a powerful cultivation technique.
"No problem," Shen Wushen agreed.
"I'll give you the technique in five days," Qi Yuan said.
He needed time to create this technique.
After all, he couldn't just create a useless technique.
"Oh, by the way, do you know someone named Ruan Yixi from the Moon God Palace?" Qi Yuan thought of his master.
Shen Wushen shook his head. "I don't."
Qi Yuan frowned.
Ruan Yixi was indeed connected to the Moon God Palace.
But whether she was part of the Moon God Palace was still uncertain.
Thinking of something, Qi Yuan chuckled. "Does the Upper Realm have newspapers?"
"What is that?" Shen Wushen was confused.
"Do you know Ling Tian Pavilion? They have a service where you can pay spirit stones to publish information," Qi Yuan explained.
After destroying the Black Mountain Sect, Qi Yuan had spent a lot of money to publish the news about it.
"I know. There's something similar in the Upper Realm, but... to ensure that people in the Moon God Palace see the information, the price is steep," Shen Wushen said in a lowered voice.
"How much would it cost to publish a message confessing to Ruan Yixi of the Moon God Palace?" Qi Yuan's intentions were clear.
He was just thinking about Jinli, and now he was already planning to confess to his master, Ruan Yixi.
"A divine technique, one that hasn't been... recorded yet," Shen Wushen said with a blank expression.
The divine techniques Shen Wushen had given to Qi Yuan were mostly already recorded, so their value wasn't that high.
Qi Yuan frowned. "This is troublesome."
He didn't have any divine techniques.
Moreover, there probably weren't any divine techniques in the Canglan Realm.
He thought for a moment and asked Shen Wushen, "How do you usually make money?"
Just now, Shen Wushen mentioned that descending to the Lower Realm required great expense.
That meant Shen Wushen surely had a way to make money, but he might still struggle to gather enough resources to descend.
"By completing sect missions," Shen Wushen answered.
"Are there missions involving modifying techniques, perfecting alchemical recipes, or repairing incomplete techniques?" Qi Yuan asked.
"Yes, there are," Shen Wushen replied, still puzzled.
"How about this: you take all those missions, bring them to me, and I'll help you complete them.
Then, you exchange the rewards for divine techniques and celestial techniques for me," Qi Yuan said excitedly.
Indeed, he was young, and young people have sharp minds.
He had quickly come up with a way to exploit the Upper Realm.
This way, he would surely have a continuous supply of Upper Realm techniques.
He had already realized that he could use Upper Realm techniques to create his own "Qi Yuan Sutra."
"This..." Shen Wushen hesitated.
Qi Yuan's suggestion was too far-fetched.
The easily completed missions had already been done long ago.
The remaining ones were extremely difficult.
For example, one mission involved completing the true words of a divine technique called "The Primal Sutra," which had seventy-two characters, but three were missing.
How could someone who hadn't seen "The Primal Sutra" complete it?
Even an Yin God cultivator couldn't fill in the gaps.
Moreover, a Yang God wouldn't spend so much effort on such a task.
"You don't believe me?" Qi Yuan asked, continuing, "Have you ever taken on a similar mission? Show it to me, and I'll demonstrate how to solve it."
Seeing Qi Yuan's confident demeanor, Shen Wushen was silent for a moment.
But then he remembered Qi Yuan's power and chose to believe him.
"When I return, I'll take on the missions and hand them over to you," Shen Wushen said.
Qi Yuan smiled. "Since you're being so cooperative, I'll give you some pointers in advance."
Their original deal was that Shen Wushen would offer new divine techniques, and Qi Yuan would provide guidance to enhance Shen Wushen's strength.
"Thank you, Brother Qi!" Shen Wushen felt deeply grateful.
He hadn't even given the new divine techniques yet, and Qi Yuan was already willing to guide him. This was a sign of trust.
"Tell me, what's the biggest problem you've encountered in your cultivation?" Qi Yuan asked casually.
Guidance was the simplest thing.
Modifying divine techniques and increasing their power took much more time.
That's why he opted for guidance.
To give Shen Wushen a taste of what's to come.
Shen Wushen's expression grew serious. "When I was forming my Golden Core, I rushed the process, which caused some issues.
As a result, I have less spiritual energy in my body compared to other cultivators.
I saw that during our battle, Brother Qi barely used any spiritual energy to defeat me.
Could you teach me how to use spiritual energy like that?"
At this, Qi Yuan probed Shen Wushen's spiritual energy with his senses.
He couldn't help but click his tongue. "Your spiritual energy is eighty to ninety times that of Sect Master Kumu, and you still think it's too little?"
Of course, compared to him, it was indeed less.
After all, Qi Yuan's spiritual energy could power a star-like golden core.
"Solving this problem is simple. I have 1728 solutions," Qi Yuan said casually.
Shen Wushen was stunned.
He had consulted his master about this issue.
Even his master didn't have a good solution.
But now... one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight solutions? Was he joking?
"The simplest way is to transform your Nascent Soul into a Golden Core, thereby repairing the original damage. This would solve the problem entirely.
Moreover, by doing this... it would be like condensing a second Nascent Soul, and your spiritual energy... would at least double," Qi Yuan said seriously.
Shen Wushen was dumbfounded.
If anyone else had said this to him, he would have thought it was nonsense.
But this was Qi Yuan, who easily crushed him with Nascent Soul power and was superior to the prodigies of Futu Mountain.
He was half-convinced.
But then he remembered that Qi Yuan had more than one Nascent Soul, so the idea of transforming a Nascent Soul into a Golden Core seemed more plausible.
"Do you have a technique for transforming Nascent Souls into Golden Cores?" Shen Wushen asked eagerly.
He figured that Qi Yuan must have obtained some ancient inheritance to be able to form multiple Nascent Souls and have a technique for this transformation.
"I will in a moment. Give me a minute, and I'll create one for you."
Shen Wushen: "..."
Create one on the spot?
In front of him... create one?
He hesitated for a moment, then chose to remain silent and watched Qi Yuan carefully.
Qi Yuan closed his eyes.
In his mind, countless pieces of information swirled.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Qi Yuan opened his eyes again. "This technique is simple, not very high-level, so it was easy to create. It's done."
Seeing this, Shen Wushen looked at Qi Yuan. "Maybe... you should work on it a bit longer?"
A technique created in the time it takes an incense stick to burn? He was a little afraid to use it.
After all, this was a technique for transforming Nascent Souls into Golden Cores.
He had never heard of such a technique before.
"If you give me more divine techniques, I'll work on it a bit longer.
Who knows, in the future, you might be able to use your Nascent Soul to slay Yin Gods!" Qi Yuan said with a smile, his expression deep and mysterious.
This technique still had a lot of room for improvement.
For example, endlessly cycling between shattering the golden core and transforming the Nascent Soul.
However, each additional cycle would require more time and effort from Qi Yuan.
As he spoke, Qi Yuan recorded the technique into a jade slip.
"This technique, called the 'Golden Soul Method,' is now yours."
Shen Wushen took the jade slip, and his divine sense quickly entered it, his eyes filled with curiosity as he browsed the "Golden Soul Method."
The moment he read it, he became deeply engrossed, his eyes shining with fervor.
"This technique actually exists... why didn't I think of this before!"
Shen Wushen was ecstatic, like a starving tiger that had just found its prey.
He was now fully convinced that the "Golden Soul Method" was real, not a fake.
This technique could indeed solve his problem.
Once he mastered it, not only would the issue of his lacking spiritual energy be resolved, but his overall strength would also... double!
"Stop losing your mind here. Go back. I have other things to do," Qi Yuan said, issuing a polite but firm dismissal to the excited Shen Wushen.
He still needed to seriously create a technique for Jinli, embedding the message he wanted to convey within it.
That technique, of course, couldn't be as casually created as the one he had just given to Shen Wushen.
"Thank you for imparting this knowledge, Daoist Qi." Shen Wushen snapped back to reality, bowed respectfully to Qi Yuan, and then, with a flick of light, hurried away.
He was so eager that he even forgot to call for Shen Zhifeng.
In the cement house, Qi Yuan was left alone.
He looked up at the sun and moon in the sky.
He murmured, "With the great calamity, I still can't ascend to the Upper Realm for now."
Ordinarily, reaching the Yin God realm would allow one to ascend to the Upper Realm.
In some worlds, those at the Purple Mansion level could reach the Upper Realm through special means.
But due to the great calamity in the Canglan Realm, Yin Gods couldn't ascend to the Upper Realm, nor could their primordial spirits leave their bodies to wander the void or travel to other worlds.
Qi Yuan couldn't ascend to the Upper Realm, so naturally, he couldn't see Jinli.
"The one from the past..."
Qi Yuan murmured.
He already had an idea for the technique.
Last time, he had the Yi Guan Demon deliver his second message, "As if seeing you."
This time, the technique he was creating would be called "Seeing You."
Back when he was a mere Qi Refinement cultivator, the barriers of time and space left him powerless and confused. He even thought that to meet Jinli, he might have to wait for thousands or tens of thousands of years, with no guarantee of success.
But now, he wasn't the same Qi Refinement cultivator living in a thatched hut; he was a Nascent Soul True Monarch living in a cement house!
The barriers of time and space were no longer out of reach but within his grasp.
He looked at the stars in the sky and murmured, "Not far now."
...
Upper Realm.
Futu Mountain.
Shen Wushen appeared in his cave.
His eyes gleamed with sharp light.
His aura had more than doubled in strength since before.
Now, he dared to challenge the Saint Son of the same realm!
He might even win.
This was the power that the "Golden Soul Method" had given him.
But then he remembered something and frowned.
"Even so, I'm still too weak compared to Qi Yuan."
Originally, his increase in strength made him confident, eager to challenge Qi Yuan again.
But this time, he lost badly.
Moreover, the more his strength grew, the more he realized the gap between him and Qi Yuan seemed to widen.
This feeling was terrifying.
He left the cave.
Immediately, a young girl approached him, her face full of respect. "Young Master, you've come out of seclusion?"
"Yes," Shen Wushen nodded.
Leaving the cave, he transformed into a stream of light and headed outside the sect.
He needed to send a message to Qi Yuan.
Or rather, send a cultivation technique.