Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 300 Breaking through the Nascent Soul
"Master, this is bad!"

The Cangming Immortal Sect's Internal Affairs Elder reported with a troubled expression: "Recently, every day around dusk, unidentified cultivators have been entering and leaving the Silent Forbidden Land."

“This time it’s different from before; it’s been going on for almost a month now.”

The reason he is only reporting now is that he received instructions after encountering this problem for the first time last year.

Given the special circumstances of the Forbidden Land of Silent Calamity, there is no need to report unless there are major changes.

Therefore, when the internal affairs elder first noticed a single Golden Core cultivator entering and leaving, he didn't pay much attention, assuming it was the same as the previous times.

However, he soon discovered that the people who came this time were different.

They were actually going in and out of the forbidden area repeatedly.

Therefore, after some internal struggle, the elder in charge of internal affairs hurriedly came over to report the unusual situation.

If something really happens over there, you can't blame him for not reporting it in time.

"Hiss~, the Forbidden Land of Desolation."

Having not slept for seven consecutive days, Iron Fan Zhenjun threw the intelligence he was holding in his left hand onto the table.

With one brow furrowed, he tilted his head and rubbed his temple with his right hand.

He asked in a deep voice, "How many people did the surveillance array capture? What are their cultivation levels?"

"Have any other unusual occurrences occurred in that direction in the last two weeks?"

The Internal Affairs Elder answered fluently: "Reporting to the Sect Leader, we have only discovered one Golden Core cultivator so far."

"If there's anything unusual, a few days ago a disciple reported that the number of Golden Core Sea Fish in the southwest was much less than in other directions."

"How about we send a team over to take a look?"

That last sentence was actually the main purpose of his visit.

Due to the sudden invasion of the sea creatures, the five major sects gathered at the beginning of the year and then began to actively prepare for war.

Not only were skilled rogue cultivators recruited, but all Golden Core cultivators, except those stationed at a few important strongholds, were also recalled to prepare for battle.

Soon, several hundred Golden Core cultivators gathered within the sect.

With more people, there will naturally be all sorts of ideas.

Some people chose to take this opportunity to rest, some chose to seize the time to cultivate, and some, because they no longer had income from their postings, began to think about the various tasks within the sect.

But given the current situation, there simply aren't that many things to do within the sect.

If we can get the exploration mission this time, it will be another extra contribution to the sect.

However, the elder in charge of internal affairs was secretly making plans.

Iron Fan Zhenjun fell into deep thought on the spot.

It makes no sense. How come all the bad things in the world happen at once?

Just as chaos was beginning to break out on the eastern side of the Sea of ​​Compassion, the island of Silent Calamity behind it also became restless.

Who on earth is so audacious as to have designs on Su Li, a Nascent Soul True Monarch?
"Boom boom boom!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Then a true disciple came in: "Sect Master, the spirit boat has been fully inspected and is ready to depart at any time."

Upon seeing this, True Lord Iron Fan immediately ordered, "Very good, then pass on the message and have all the disciples prepare to depart."

The five major sects concluded that, as fellow human beings, they could not allow the sea race to attack Pudu Temple.

Therefore, they will meet up in the coming days and then head together to the south side of Pudu Temple to assist in the defense of the right flank.

While avoiding losses on the main battlefield, we should try to tie down a portion of the sea creatures' forces and prevent the possibility of the enemy completely besieging Pudu Temple.

In addition, the Buddhist side will be led by Lianhua Temple to assist in defending against the left wing.

Together they form a convex defensive line to resist the sudden attack of the sea creatures.

Since the Cangming Immortal Sect is the furthest away, it needs to set off a few days in advance to ensure that the five major sects can arrive at their destinations at the same time and support each other.

The true disciple then received the order and left.

Iron Fan True Lord thought for a moment and looked at the Internal Affairs Elder: "Now the important matter is at hand. Leave the investigation of Ji'e Island to Cangming Tower."

"I will have Yunya stay behind to direct this investigation."

"Your Inspection Hall can send two people, and the rest will travel with the fleet."

"That's settled then. If there's nothing else, go and make the arrangements."

The elder in charge of internal affairs immediately accepted the order and left.

Iron Fan True Lord picked up the latest intelligence report on the table again, his brows furrowed with worry: "We still can't contact the Little Prajna Temple at all; they've probably met with some misfortune."

Not only that, but after the New Year, Zen Master Jingping never showed up again.

Judging from the looks of it, he has suffered at least a serious injury, and his fighting ability has been temporarily greatly reduced.

In addition, the reclusive family surnamed Wang within the territory of the Zhaokong Sect has been sending many spies to the Cangming Sea since the end of last year.

I have no idea what they're up to this time.
Faced with the sea creatures, these reclusive families were unsure whether they could be relied upon.

The saying goes, "Those who have no stable property have no stable mind."

If things go wrong, they have no tangible assets to give up, and they might migrate as a whole, fleeing the Sea of ​​Compassion.

We must be wary of both the Zhaokong School and the Chongzhen Temple!

Thinking about these troublesome things, Iron Fan Zhenjun felt extremely overwhelmed.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, the situation is turbulent. I wonder if our human race can produce a few more Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the next few years to help us overcome these difficult times."

However, Xiao Chen, the Nascent Soul True Monarch, was still diligently catching fish.

"Great Fire Dragon!"

"Great Fire Condensation Palm!"

"Where do you think you're going, you monster!"

The enormous True Yang Fire Dragon surged against the tide and into the sea, pulling out the Golden Core Sea Fish that were lurking within.

Then came a slap made of raging flames, which flattened him into a fish cake.

"The fishing is pretty good today; we've already caught a second one so quickly."

After skillfully extracting the demon core, Xiao Chen looked up at the sky; it was still a quarter of an hour before noon.

At this rate, today could be another bountiful harvest.

"It's a pity we've already eaten this one, so let's just skip it."

After identifying the species of the sea fish in his hand, Xiao Chen threw it back into the sea.

He no longer cares about seafood, since he's been eating it almost every day lately.

More importantly, with his current cultivation level, eating more third-tier sea fish meat would no longer be able to further enhance his qi and blood.

Basically, besides blood crystals, you have to consider fourth-tier monster meat.

But let alone the fact that fourth-tier demonic beasts are rare, even if you do encounter one, it's unlikely you can kill it, and you might even be considered successful if you don't get killed in return.

"Crack~!"

A silent ball of water struck Xiao Chen's spine with perfect accuracy.

Instantly, a bone-chilling cold flowed into his body, attempting to freeze his true essence.

It's worth mentioning that, unlike freezing, cold waves are not considered negative effects and cannot be exempted from them.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen was a passionate young man who was quite resistant to cold, and he could directly neutralize such an attack by relying on his qi and blood.

Turning around, I saw another frozen fish, completely white!
"Oh!"

Xiao Chen's eyes lit up immediately. He had eaten one of these fish just six days ago. The belly inside was exceptionally tender and tasted extremely delicious.

Just how delicious is it?

Even Su Li, who usually only takes a small bite, ate two bowls.

Unfortunately, I didn't encounter a second one for the next few days.

"go with!"

Xiao Chen pointed, and two beams of light, one blue and one purple, flew out from behind him.

Since we've encountered such a delicious dish, we naturally can't use fire, lest we ruin its flavor.

Therefore, he immediately activated the Wind and Thunder Swords he had prepared beforehand and cut the pure white frozen fish into three pieces on the spot.

After discarding the useless fish head and tail, Xiao Chen immediately turned around and headed back.

After about a month, he had accumulated dozens of demon cores, which he estimated would be enough.

It's better to go back early so the fish can stay fresh.

"Eh~?"

Before Xiao Chen could leave, he noticed that as the blood of the frozen fish spread, it attracted two Golden Core Sea Fish from different directions nearby.

It charged towards the fish's head with one end and towards its tail with the other.

"You guys like to eat this too?"

Xiao Chen was immediately delighted and casually took two more demon cores.

Then he cut off about ten pounds of the freshest fish belly to take back to Su Li to eat.

Then, without hesitation, the remaining fish meat was cut in half and made into many slits to create bait.

They changed locations twice, using flesh and blood to attract the remaining Golden Elixir Sea Fish in turn.

Sure enough, they easily lured in a total of five golden sea fish once again.

"The reason we couldn't catch fish before was indeed due to a lack of good bait!"

Xiao Chen happily put all five demon cores into his Vast Ocean Ring. Now he didn't need to estimate anymore; he definitely had enough demon cores.

Thanks to the hunting these past few days, the journey was naturally smooth.

"Ding!"

With a crisp ring of a red bell, Su Li greeted her with delight: "Didn't you say you were going to catch a few more sea fish today and try to collect all the demon cores at once?"

"Why are you back so early?"

With the help of the frozen fish, Xiao Chen quickly completed the hunt and returned two hours earlier than usual.

"Hey, why do you still have sawdust on you?"

Xiao Chen immediately noticed that there were tiny wood shavings hanging on Su Li's white dress.

He looked behind him and saw a thick, spirit-sinking cloud-piercing tree standing in front of the stone house.

Upon closer inspection, it was clearly a human figure being processed.

Moreover, it looks lifelike and is almost finished being sculpted, with only some details of the clothing remaining.

"The style of this dress looks somewhat familiar."

Even though the statues were facing away from him, Xiao Chen felt a strange sense of familiarity: "Are you repairing those statues?"

Su Li had a habit of looking at statues before.

Looking back, he also helped restore the statue at the very beginning.

As he spoke, Xiao Chen stepped over, preparing to take a closer look.

"Don't look!"

Su Li immediately stepped in front of him and said, "I was just a little bored being alone on the island, so I was looking for something to do."

"Well, I just carve something random to pass the time."

A hint of urgency and shyness flickered in her eyes, as if she didn't want anyone to see what the sculpture looked like.

Xiao Chen immediately understood: "Oh, is that so? Then I'll go cultivate now."

After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the beach.

If he guessed correctly, Su Li's carving must have been too ugly, and she was embarrassed to let him see it, afraid that he would laugh at her.

If she had done something really well, she would have shown it off and waited for praise. Why would she need to hide it like this?

Besides, if Su Li could carve a beautiful statue, why would she have asked me to help her create a new one in the first place?

Hmph, he, Xiao, saw through that little trick instantly!

This is actually quite normal; everyone has areas where they are not good at something, and it's impossible to be good at everything.

"correct!"

Xiao Chen walked halfway before turning back: "Tonight we're having that frozen fish from last time. I brought back ten pounds, so we'll each have half."

After saying that, he went to the beach, took out a demon core, swallowed it, and began to cultivate seriously.

With the help of a clear mind, I quickly entered a state of deep meditation.

"Okay."

Su Li responded and watched as Xiao Chen began to meditate and breathe in spiritual energy before coming to the front of the stone house.

They quickly put away the sculpture she was about to finish carving.

Fortunately, she hadn't had time to carve the detailed textures on the feather robe yet, so it shouldn't be easily noticeable, right?
Su Li waved her hand, summoning a gentle breeze that blew away the wood chips on her body.

After standing there for a while, he went into the forest to look for side dishes for the evening.

After she finished cooking the soup made with the three delicacies of the earth, Xiao Chen also finished his cultivation and came over.

He began skewering the fish meat onto tree branches, grilling it while recounting his plan to achieve infant formation.

"Now that I have all the demon cores I need, I can finally stay on the island and cultivate without worry starting tomorrow."

It's early June now.

"I estimate that by the end of the month at the latest, we should be ready to break through the bottleneck."

After explaining the situation, Xiao Chen asked, "Is there anything about the Infant Nurturing Altar and the Blood-Bestowing Infant Painting Secret Technique that needs to be addressed beforehand?"

It's best to confirm these important details in advance.

Su Li countered, "Are we really not going to wait for the auspicious time?"

Xiao Chen nodded: "The eleventh is just right. To be honest, I also chose the eleventh for my two previous breakthroughs."

"This time should be fine too."

Su Li nodded: "In that case, I will help you process the Crimson Moon Dew starting in five days, so that the medicine will be more effective."

"The infant-raising altar doesn't require much attention."

"But you must remember to memorize the mental techniques thoroughly, and don't make any mistakes."

Xiao Chen patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I memorize it twice a day, morning and evening. I know it by heart, better than the fish in my hand."

"Oh no, the meat looks like it's going to burn."

He only realized as he spoke that he had almost put the fish directly into the fire.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and provided timely treatment, so the taste was not affected.

The days that followed were naturally filled with tedious cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, it's already the end of June.

When all the demon cores were refined, the total amount of true essence within Xiao Chen's flawless golden core successfully reached 1,002.

The three extra ones came from the Hundred-Turn Mystic Pills he had taken before.

Now, once you've become a little familiar with the newly added True Essence, you can try to break through.

During this time, Su Li actually hollowed out the small hill in the middle of the island all by herself.

"Is this really necessary?" Xiao Chen walked in from the only reserved cave.

Looking at the empty mountainside, I was quite taken aback.

"Of course it's necessary!"

Su Li happily explained, "Although there are no spiritual veins on our island, this is a breakthrough location that I reconstructed based on the appearance of the core of the spiritual vein in my sect."

"Setting up a spirit-gathering array here should be more effective."

"Look, I've left the array base. I'll set up the array plates here and there later."

To be honest, such an arrangement serves more as a symbol or a blessing.

It's unlikely to have any real effect.

However, Xiao Chen still thanked him sincerely: "You've really worked hard."

Su Li smiled and said, "I am a member of the Witch Clan, this kind of work is not tiring at all."

Ah, you're right.

Now, it can be said that almost everything is ready.

However, there is one more thing that needs to be done in advance, which is to first use the Taiqing Nascent Soul Glass Bead to experience the process of forming a nascent soul.

This experience is very simple; you don't need to prepare anything.

Moreover, since it's not a true breakthrough, the time required is very short, only ten hours.

Therefore, Xiao Chen waited a few more days.

On the morning of the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), he first swallowed a purple-gold Bodhi seed to refresh his mind.

Then he took out the Taiqing Huaying Glazed Bead, channeled his true essence into it, and bit his fingertip, dripping a drop of blood onto it.

Finally, he poured all of his divine sense into the glass bead.

After obtaining information about True Essence, Blood Jade, and Divine Sense.

The Taiqing Nascent Soul Glass Bead immediately emitted a dazzling spiritual light, which then almost materialized.

A shell resembling a silkworm cocoon formed around Xiao Chen's body.

At the same time, a mysterious and profound Daoist aura emanated from it.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, just like the jade slip that had been passed down, an exceptionally realistic scene was simulated.

Xiao Chen felt a blur before his eyes, as if he had arrived at the core of a high-level spiritual vein.

"Wow, such rich spiritual energy!"

He immediately felt that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him was frighteningly abundant.

It is dozens of times more concentrated than the medicinal herb garden in the Hundred Herbs Secret Realm.

"This shouldn't be just a fourth-tier spiritual vein, right?"

Xiao Chen looked around and said, "I heard that the Sea of ​​Compassion only has one pseudo-fifth-order spiritual vein. I wonder where this is?"

But that's not important. The most urgent task is to try to break through to the Nascent Soul stage on your own.

"Let me think about it. The first step is to inject my divine sense into the golden core."

Xiao Chen never expected that he would encounter difficulties at the very first step.

The divine sense resides in the cultivator's sea of ​​consciousness, and can be projected outward to explore or inward to examine oneself.

However, there are some places that even divine sense cannot detect, and the Golden Core, which is full of true essence, is one of them.

Because the flawless golden elixir contains a large amount of true essence, divine sense cannot enter it at all.

"Oh no, am I going to fail at the very first step?"

Xiao Chen took a deep breath and used his divine sense to transform into blades as much as possible to repeatedly impact the flawless golden core.

I don't know how much time passed, but finally I heard a click.

A crack appeared in the flawless golden elixir!
"Well, at least my divine sense can go in now."

Ignoring the excruciating pain emanating from his golden core, Xiao Chen manipulated his divine sense to enter it and began simulating the second step—the formation of his nascent soul.

In fact, if it were truly a case of forming a nascent soul, then reaching this stage would already be considered a failure.

But it's okay, it's just an experience, the important thing is to participate.

Therefore, Xiao Chen insisted on continuing to raise the infants and accumulate as much experience as possible.

The so-called "infant nurturing" is to refine one's own consciousness into a primordial spirit embryo that is exactly the same as one's physical body, but much smaller.

Well, you could also interpret it as sculpting a version of yourself.

Or, to put it another way, use your consciousness as clay to mold a new version of yourself.

"Oh dear, this is so difficult!"

Xiao Chen was not very good at carving to begin with, and now that he had limbs, he couldn't help or exert any strength.

The divine consciousness can only be manipulated and shaped using intention.

The result was that after spending a lot of effort, all they could manage to squeeze out was a lump that looked somewhat like a person.

When it comes to sculpting facial features, it's a disaster.

Manipulating one's consciousness is far too cumbersome, like asking a right-handed person to use their left hand to hold a foxtail grass as a brush and draw a self-portrait with their eyes closed.

As a result, Xiao Chen was unable to properly process his appearance.

However, if the primordial spirit embryo created by the cultivator does not resemble himself, he will face the problem of incompatibility in the next stage.

A perfect match doesn't have to be 100%.

However, if there is not even 90% similarity, the nascent soul will not be able to integrate into the body, thus directly leading to the failure of the breakthrough.

"I think you're just making things difficult for me, Xiao."

After struggling for an unknown amount of time, Xiao Chen received a message from the depths of his being, prompting him to proceed to the next step.

This is actually the effect of the Taiqing Huaying Glass Bead.

There will naturally be no hints during the actual breakthrough process.

If a cultivator cannot accurately grasp the timing, it will lead to a failed breakthrough.

The next step, naturally, is to use true essence and spiritual energy as nutrients to solidify and nurture the already sculpted primordial spirit embryo.

The process was alright.

The main reason is that the simulated environment is so rich in spiritual energy that it is frightening, almost inexhaustible.

Therefore, Xiao Chen passed smoothly and entered the final step.

That is to manipulate the already cultivated primordial spirit embryo, break through the golden core and enter the body, and finally merge with oneself.

However, since his previous attempts at sculpting were so unrealistic, this process naturally failed.

The next instant, Xiao Chen's vision blurred, and he was back inside the mountain.

The glass bead in her hand had exhausted its spiritual light and turned into an ordinary bead.

I put it in the Vast Ocean Ring as a keepsake.

Xiao Chen immediately fell asleep.

There are still two hours until the opportune moment arrives, so we must hurry to recover our energy and prepare for the challenge.

An hour and a half later.

Xiao Chen had just woken up when he saw Su Li squatting in front of him.

"You're awake."

Holding a bottle of prepared elixir, she smiled slightly and said, "Let me help you apply the witch's runes."

Xiao Chen immediately sat up.

He cooperated by taking off his feather robe, revealing his entire upper body.

Su Li lifted the lid, dipped her index finger in the spiritual liquid made from Crimson Moon Dew, and ran it over Xiao Chen's body.

They meticulously drew the secret patterns unique to the Wu tribe.

"You must remember this order."

As Su Li applied the ointment, she instructed, "Reapply it every month, and don't let it dry out completely."

"Wait, once a month?"

Xiao Chen glanced at it and saw twelve portions of prepared spiritual liquid in front of him.

"correct."

Su Li nodded: "Because the entire breakthrough process takes ten months."

Xiao Chen was a little confused: "It takes this long?"

He knew it would be a long time, but he didn't expect it to be this long.

"Foundation Building takes three days, Core Formation takes thirty days, and Nascent Soul Formation takes three hundred days, which adds up to exactly ten months."

Su Li explained, "The extra two bottles are for you as a backup."

"This shouldn't be a secret; haven't you heard about it before?"

Xiao Chen was speechless: "I've only ever heard of ten months of pregnancy, who knew that the formation of the nascent soul would take so long."

Su Li smiled and said, "That's pretty much true."

"Although the nascent soul has no physical body, it is formed from divine consciousness, which is almost equivalent to the process of a cultivator developing a primordial spirit. It can't be less than ten months."

"Perhaps the ancient predecessors named this realm 'Nascent Soul' because they considered that the newly born primordial spirit is like an infant."

As he spoke, layers upon layers of secret patterns had completely covered Xiao Chen's upper body.

"All right."

Su Li blushed slightly: "The time is almost up. Remember to lay out the spirit stones and apply the spirit liquid. I'll be waiting for your good news outside."

Xiao Chen nodded: "Don't worry!"

After she left the mountain, she waved her hand, and immediately piles of spirit stones appeared around her.

To bring good luck, he took out a total of 6,666,666 spirit stones.

Small hills were piled up directly on the ground.

A moment later, at dawn on the eleventh day, it was time to go.

Xiao Chen took out the Jade Marrow Nascent Soul Pill and swallowed it. He immediately felt a cool sensation rushing into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Another surge of hot energy flowed into the dantian, enveloping the golden core.

With the help of the elixir, his consciousness directly entered the golden core, buying precious time for the second step.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Three crisp sounds rang out.

Xiao Chen was sitting cross-legged on the infant nurturing altar that Su Li had helped set up.

The Nine-Aperture Bright Jade, the Three-Light Nourishing Soul Jade, and the Earth Mother Heavy Marrow Jade broke one after another.

A powerful force surged into his dantian, easily penetrating his golden core.

The auxiliary materials also began to take effect, synchronizing Xiao Chen's entire physique with that power.

Immediately afterwards, that force split in two.

The former slowly formed something resembling a human-shaped mold.

The latter compressed Xiao Chen's consciousness into a single entity and forcibly stuffed it into the mold.

With the help of the mold, it became much easier for him to sculpt it.

With almost no effort, he created a primordial spirit embryo that was almost identical to himself.

The second step is complete.

The next step is to use true essence and spiritual energy to consolidate and cultivate it.

It's actually not difficult in itself, it just requires patience and inspiration.

With a million spirit stones at his disposal, Xiao Chen naturally absorbed spiritual energy without a second thought, striving to waste it rather than run out.

The third step was then easily completed.

We've reached the final step.

He took a deep breath.

He then manipulated the primordial spirit embryo to make a forceful breakthrough, only to find that perhaps the flawless golden core was too stable, and it could not break through.

"Oops!"

Xiao Chen immediately focused his mind and launched one attack after another.

But this hurdle is like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

The originally solid and flawless golden elixir has now become an obstacle.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen's divine sense was stronger than that of ordinary cultivators, so the primordial spirit embryo he condensed naturally possessed greater power.

After a fierce struggle, it finally violently shattered the flawless golden elixir.

Once the Golden Core is shattered, the cultivator has no chance of turning back.

If one cannot form a nascent soul and loses their golden core, even if they survive with the help of their elders, they will become a cripple.

Of course, if there were two Golden Pills, the result might be slightly better.

However, severe injuries can also prevent future breakthroughs, trapping one in the Golden Core stage for life.

It was precisely because of this risk that Xiao Chen insisted on having a 100% certainty before attempting a breakthrough.

"After ten months of pregnancy, the elixir is broken; swallowing the shell and consuming the vital energy, one attains true reality."

He silently recited the mantra.

The shattered golden core and the remaining true essence within the body were absorbed by the primordial spirit embryo as its own nourishment.

Under such nourishment, the primordial spirit embryo also grew rapidly.

It quickly grew a whole size larger.

But by this point, the golden core fragments and true essence were almost completely exhausted.

Although Xiao Chen was absorbing the spiritual energy from the outside world with all his might, refining it still required a process.

As a result, the growth rate of the primordial spirit embryo began to gradually slow down.

Just then, the Five Elements Seal trembled slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the ten Earthly Fiend Seals lit up one after another, and wisps of extremely special fiendish energy emerged, which were actually absorbed by the primordial spirit embryo.

The power contained within the malevolent aura is immense.

This immediately caused the primordial spirit embryo to begin growing rapidly again.

In the end, he stopped when even his dantian was almost full.

After the primordial spirit embryo had fully developed, Xiao Chen felt his body begin to heat up.

The spell patterns that had been drawn long ago emitted waves of pulling force, beginning to connect with the embryonic primordial spirit.

Guided by the witch runes, a phantom image was evenly drawn out on the primordial spirit embryo.

The phantom gradually grew larger, eventually merging with the entire body.

Thus, the primordial spirit embryo, which looked almost exactly like Xiao Chen, also sat cross-legged in the dantian.

Just like Xiao Chen outside!
This also means that the Nascent Soul formation has finally been successfully completed!
(End of this chapter)