Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 410 The Devouring Spirit and Essence Technique

Due to the large number of books in the collection, and the extra time spent on those dozen or so particularly difficult ancient books.

Xiao Chen was able to read through the entire collection of books on the sixteenth day.

When he came out, he found that the other True Lords had already left Pudu Temple.

"Then I won't bother you any longer."

Xiao Chen bid farewell to Fazhao Zhenjun, who had arrived at the first opportunity, saying, "We'll meet again someday. Please stay, no need to see me off."

However, Zen Master Jinghua, who came with True Lord Fazhao, reached out to stop him.

He then explained with a smile, "Master Xiao, please don't be in such a hurry to leave. We just received some good news this morning."

"During this period, a lot of spiritual items were used to repair the temple, and the disciples also took the opportunity to tidy up the warehouse."

"As it turned out, we found a fragment of the Star Sand Wave Shield that was sent here back then."

Not long after Xiao Chen arrived at Pudu Temple, he mentioned that he was looking for the fragments.

However, they were told that the confusion in the registration might be due to the items being stored for too long, or that the disciples might have made a mistake while packing up.

In short, the item was neither in the box recorded in the ledger, nor was it nearby.

After all, the annihilation of the Wu tribe was hundreds of thousands of years ago.

There wasn't much interest in the Stardust Wave Shield, which led to the fact that no one paid attention to the fragment that was sent over a long period of time.

In the end, Zen Master Jingxing said that he would arrange for a special disciple to search for it, and that it would be sent over as soon as it was found.

Xiao Chen originally thought that it might be impossible to find it in a short period of time.

He even suspected that some audacious disciples had secretly taken it.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that they had really gotten mixed up because of the long time that had passed.

As it happened, Xiao Chen stayed two extra days because he was reading those ancient books, so he successfully obtained the fragment before leaving.

Actually, he had originally offered a fourth-tier spiritual material as an exchange.

However, Zen Master Jinghua refused, saying, "Please take back the sacred object, Mr. Xiao. How could these fragments be so valuable?"

"I'm not just being polite. This thing is really useless to us, otherwise it wouldn't have been lost for so long without us noticing."

"Since Mr. Xiao is interested, please take it."

He was telling the truth. Although the fragment was indeed very valuable back then, after hundreds of thousands of years, it was practically nothing more than a souvenir, if not worthless.

The problem is that it's just a fragment, which makes it even less interesting.

I've never heard of a magical artifact that can be repaired after such a long interval.

Therefore, on this side of the Sea of ​​Compassion, the value of all ancient artifact fragments is extremely limited.

"Alright then, thank you all, masters!"

Seeing his sincerity, Xiao Chen didn't stand on ceremony, accepted the fragments, and then took his leave again.

After obtaining this fragment, he was able to assemble nearly half of the Star Sand Wave Shield.

Although we are still far from being able to collect and repair everything.

However, don't forget that besides forcibly piecing things together, Xiao Chen could also consider going to the new cultivation world and using these fragments as base materials to refine them anew.

This means that no matter what, there is a guaranteed minimum loss.

Of course, even if it's used as a substrate, the more complete the collection, the better.

In the new cultivation world, the more complete the foundation, the greater the power that can be retained in the end.

Therefore, Xiao Chen still planned to continue searching for relevant clues to see if he could gather more information.

Because the sea creatures have been completely defeated.

The journey to Qianji Valley was smooth sailing.

True Monarch Qian Shu warmly welcomed Xiao Chen's arrival.

Despite his repeated emphasis that there was no need for trouble or a large-scale effort.

However, he still directed the disciples in the valley to decorate with lanterns and colorful streamers, and to hold a grand welcoming banquet.

Meanwhile, during the banquet, 1,200 disciples were summoned to perform the Thousand Machine Dance, a long-standing tradition of Thousand Machine Valley.

One thousand two hundred puppets of various shapes and sizes were arranged into twelve celestial formations by the disciples in an orderly manner, and an aura of killing intent immediately rose into the sky.

They then practiced eight different formations in turn, each designed to handle different situations.

Four of these formation variations not only involved the use of puppets, but also required disciples of the Thousand Machine Valley to personally enter the formation to cooperate.

Clearly, this thing is not only good-looking, but also has certain practical value.

At the end of the performance, True Lord Qian Shu's eyes sparkled as he exclaimed, "Thinking back to those years when the valley was full of outstanding people, the Thousand Machines Heavenly Array was famous throughout the world."

"At its peak, it had 1,200 Golden Core disciples and 1,200 Thousand Machine Puppets."

"Even if they leave the valley and go to the outside world, the combined formation will be enough to suppress and kill a Nascent Soul cultivator."

"Unfortunately, most of the people in the valley nowadays are mediocre, and they can only look at the empty shells."

Then, True Monarch Qian Shu changed the subject: "However, even though times have changed, I have actually created several Thousand Machine Puppets, which are hidden in my study."

"If Fellow Daoist Xiao is interested, shall we go and take a look together later?"

“They are all restored one-to-one according to the ancient books, and I personally made every single part, big and small.”

When he said this, Qian Shu Zhenjun's words clearly carried a hint of self-satisfaction.

It's like showing off your precious treasure.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chen, while not disliking puppets, couldn't say he liked them either: "Um... let's forget about this one."

"I don't really understand these things, so going there would be like a cow eating a peony."

"Reading is more suitable for me."

Qian Shu Zhenjun was clearly still a little disappointed upon hearing this: "Oh, is that so? No problem, I've already instructed my disciples to clean the Scripture Pavilion, you can go there anytime, fellow Daoist."

"Actually, if you haven't been exposed to them, puppets are not exactly likable."

"But once you understand them, you'll discover their charm."

"If Fellow Daoist Xiao is ever interested, you are welcome to come and find me in the valley."

It was clear that he really liked puppets and was even trying to recommend them to Xiao Chen.

Moreover, judging from the unsurprised attitude of the surrounding disciples, this should not be the first time they have done this.

Most of the Nascent Soul True Monarchs who visited in the past had encountered the exact same situation.

But this is destined to be a futile effort.

After all, Xiao Chen didn't even have time to practice the four great arts of alchemy, artifact crafting, talisman crafting, and array crafting, so naturally he had even less time to study the relatively niche art of puppetry.

Perhaps only when he has plenty of free time in the future will he be able to achieve this.

Or perhaps, he might become interested in this only if he suddenly encounters an extremely powerful Hextech that is also strongly related to the Way of the Puppet.

After the welcoming banquet, Xiao Chen declined the invitation to watch the new puppet show.

He frankly stated that he wanted to borrow ancient books from the library.

Although Qian Shu Zhenjun was somewhat disappointed, he put aside his desire to show off his creativity and led him directly to the Sutra Repository.

Unlike other sects, the Thousand Machine Valley's scripture pavilion was not built very high.

Instead, they opened a long tunnel near the spiritual vein and hid the sect's scriptures deep inside the mountain.

The tunnel is guarded by numerous puppets and traps.

If any enemy wants to break into this place, they must first get past these many checkpoints.

However, once inside, the restrictions of the formation were lifted, and they could move around freely.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, please take this. If you wish to leave, simply infuse it with your true essence, and a disciple will come to guide you immediately."

True Lord Qian Shu left behind a token that could be used to summon his disciples.

Then he voluntarily withdrew, leaving the space inside entirely to Xiao Chen.

The overall layout here is roughly rectangular. Although it only has one floor, the collection of books inside is quite substantial.

Moreover, each shelf is labeled with different categories to facilitate finding the books you need.

Xiao Chen noticed that the further along the texts went, the more complex the content became, and the longer the time span.

Surprisingly, it also contains many secret methods for creating puppets.

Moreover, apart from the lack of fourth-tier puppets, all the content from the first to third tiers is included.

Judging from the two empty bookshelves at the back, it seems that the most essential books on the legacy have been temporarily put away.

To be fair, everyone seems to be quite generous in this regard.

At least he was quite generous to Xiao Chen, allowing him to freely look at and learn various common secret techniques.

This time it took much less time.

It only took five days to browse to the last row.

"Tsk, it's all the same content. Hopefully, I can find something new in the last row."

That's right, Xiao Chen made almost no new discoveries this time.

Because he had read so many books, although the collection in Thousand Machine Valley contained some unique rare editions, the content of which was not particularly novel.

After all, there are only so many spiritual beings, histories, and stories within the scope of the Ocean of Compassion.

Now, Xiao Chen can only pin his hopes on finding some interesting discoveries in the ancient biographies in the last row.

Fortunately, since Qianji Valley was once glorious, it did indeed record many ancient secrets.

Especially when he possessed the complete Thousand Machines Heavenly Array, he not only participated in many affairs within the Compassionate Sea, but also presided over a period of time against the demonic path.

They even sent people to the Storm Sea and participated in the Vast Ocean Secret Realm.

Therefore, the secret manual mentions a lot about the Demonic Sect.

This also includes the ideas and achievements of the founders of Qianji Valley at that time in improving some of the captured demonic secret techniques.

Although demonic arts are harmful and immoral, they should not be studied normally.

However, in order to better understand the enemy and to extract their essence for better cultivation.

The founders of Qianji Valley conducted very detailed research and improvements, thus leaving behind dozens of special secret techniques evolved from demonic arts.

After excluding those secret techniques related to puppetry or those of too high a level.

Two Yellow-level secret techniques also piqued Xiao Chen's interest.

The first one was called "Thousand Machines Water Escape Talisman," which looked somewhat familiar to him at first glance.

A closer look at the description reveals that this item is a modified version of the "Black Abyss Blood Escape Talisman".

As a righteous sect, Thousand Machine Valley naturally rejects any demonic practices that require the use of life essence.

They attempted to develop a powerful life-saving talisman based solely on the principles of Water Release. Unfortunately, their efforts ultimately failed.

Of course, the "Thousand Machines Water Escape Talisman" itself is not a failure; it was indeed successfully created.

The problem is that without the powerful force provided by burning blood essence, its speed and distance are far from the original version, and it is far less than half the effect of Blood Escape.

Such a thing might be acceptable as a standard measure, but it's clearly not enough to save one's life.

However, the production cost of this improved version of the talisman was even higher than that of the original "Black Abyss Blood Escape Talisman", thus it became a failure.

In the end, it only remained in biographies, serving as a reference for future generations.

"This thing is interesting!"

Xiao Chen immediately became interested: "Since the two types of magic talismans come from the same source, their production process and details should be similar."

You should know that he still had ten sets of raw materials that he had previously seized from the Zhaokong Sect.

He had originally thought that although he didn't have the method to make them, he could try to draw them and see if he could get lucky and make one or two.

I also considered asking for help or having Su Li take over and try it out.

However, due to various reasons, it was delayed and I haven't had time to do it yet.

Now that Xiao Chen has obtained this "Thousand Machine Water Escape Talisman", he has a very good reference.

Because this is a semi-finished product, it contains a complete record of the entire process within the "Black Abyss Blood Escape Talisman".

Furthermore, a detailed analysis was conducted on each step, resulting in various improvement ideas.

If we remove the later improvements and only retain the steps and analysis,

That's practically a handbook of secret teachings passed down through generations.

"I wonder how well Su Li is learning witch runes. If I show this to her, it should greatly increase the success rate."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment. Even if he could only succeed halfway, it would still mean five life-saving talismans.

If used continuously, it means that one can travel 50,000 miles away in a short time!

What does 50,000 li mean?

Theoretically, a newly promoted Nascent Soul Venerable should possess a divine sense range of no more than ten thousand miles.

Even if you encounter a powerful expert who has broken through to the Nascent Soul stage for hundreds of years, their divine sense may not be able to cover a distance of 50,000 miles.

It's important to understand that the difference in spiritual strength between them is far more than just five times.

If one's spiritual sense is not far enough to pinpoint the enemy's location, then it will be very difficult for any cultivator to carry out an effective pursuit.

In other words, if Xiao Chen could possess five Black Abyss Blood Escape Talismans...

So as long as you don't encounter an exceptionally powerful Nascent Soul cultivator, you'll have an additional way to protect yourself.

"This is good stuff, I'll take it back and try it out."

Xiao Chen first activated the token with his true essence, and then looked at it three times while waiting.

Then he asked the disciples of Qianji Valley for paper and pen and copied down the "Qianji Water Escape Talisman".

Anyway, all of this stuff was displayed on the shelf for him to see, so they clearly didn't treat him like an outsider.

Then he didn't hold back and openly copied the text.

In fact, the Thousand Machine Valley disciple had already informed True Lord Thousand Pivot before fetching paper and pen.

However, the result was that he was asked to pick out a set of fine writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones from the warehouse.

Ultimately, apart from the paperweight used to hold down the paper, which had no grade, the rest of the items were at least Tier 3.

The second secret technique that Xiao Chen had his eye on was called the "Spirit Devouring and Essence Devouring Technique".

Its main function is to greatly improve the speed at which a cultivator's true essence condenses and recovers.

As is well known, even in a fourth-order spiritual vein, an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator often needs ten days to half a month to condense a strand of true essence.

This effect is undoubtedly too poor.

This "Spirit Devouring and Essence Devouring Technique" only requires three days and ten thousand low-grade spirit stones to accelerate the condensation of a true essence.

At first glance, the price-performance ratio seems to be quite low.

If a newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator wants to condense three thousand strands of true essence, he/she will have to invest a full thirty million spirit stones.

Although low-grade spirit stones are not difficult for Nascent Soul True Monarchs to obtain, they cannot withstand such expensive consumption.

Of course, Xiao Chen also saw a solution: in addition to the 'Spirit Devouring' technique, there was also a 'Primal Devouring' technique attached.

As the name suggests, after learning the 'Devouring Essence' technique, you only need to capture an enemy cultivator and then absorb his true essence to replace the consumption of spirit stones.

It can also significantly accelerate the speed at which cultivators condense true essence.

However, as a magical skill, its advantage is that it is simple and easy to learn, and its effects are indeed remarkable.

However, the corresponding drawbacks are also very significant.

For the 'Spirit Devouring' technique, the exorbitant cost of spirit stones is simply beyond the reach of demonic cultivators.

For the 'Devouring Essence' technique, firstly, it is extremely difficult to capture enemy Nascent Soul cultivators alive, and even if one succeeds once, it is difficult to have a follow-up.

Secondly, absorbing the true essence of others has the most direct impact of significantly reducing the quality of one's own true essence.

At the same time, it is difficult to completely transform the alien true essence, and the part that is not completely transformed will also create hidden dangers for one's future breakthroughs.

It is worth mentioning that the Thousand Machine Valley layer attempted to improve the secret technique to reduce consumption.

However, it was found that reduced consumption inevitably led to decreased efficiency.

They also tried to increase the efficiency of the transformation and completely transform the alien true essence, and even came up with a "Qin Yuan Da Fa" (Essence Tempering Technique) afterward.

However, they were disappointed to find that no matter how hard they tried or how much they improved, it was all in vain.

At most, it can only purify 99% of the alien true essence; it can never achieve 100% conversion.

In the end, the matter could only be dropped, and the improvement of this secret technique was abandoned, leaving it as a half-finished product with only the Yellow-level grade.

They haven't even come up with a new name yet.

"I'm still unable to achieve a 100% conversion?"

With his exceptional intelligence, Xiao Chen immediately realized that this seemingly ordinary statement was actually anything but simple.

Why can't different types of true essence be converted?
There must be an important secret here; perhaps understanding it will allow one to glimpse the Great Dao.

However, while identifying a problem is easy, solving it is much more difficult.

After thinking about it, Xiao Chen decided to put this problem aside for the time being and think about it slowly when the time was right in the future.

He cares more about something else now.

That is to speed up the process of condensing true essence.

To be fair, Xiao Chen, because of the Five Elements Seal, could obtain a true essence every day without having to do anything.

This efficiency is already astonishing, and it has shocked the other True Lords more than once before.

The problem is that the amount of true essence required by a Nascent Soul cultivator is far too much.

To reach the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, one needs to accumulate a full 3,333 strands of true essence, and not a single one can be missing.

If any one element is missing, a breakthrough cannot be achieved.

Leaving aside other cultivators, for Xiao Chen alone, this is roughly equivalent to 3,333 days.

That is, a little over nine years later.

Only then can he accumulate enough true essence and attempt to break through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Even if he can increase this efficiency by actively cultivating and consuming rare and precious herbs, etc.

Furthermore, with Hextech around, even though he has mixed spiritual roots, he can still significantly outperform the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

However, even if Xiao Chen chooses to go into seclusion and cultivate diligently, it will still take him at least four or five years to accumulate enough true essence.

For him, it was still too long.

Xiao Chen thought it over carefully: "Although 10,000 spirit stones for one strand of true essence is indeed a bit expensive, it seems that it is not impossible if it can be used in moderation."

Because he doesn't actually need to use this method to obtain all the true essence.

It takes time to prepare for a breakthrough.

The Five Elements Seal continues to function, including when dealing with various matters along the way, such as investigating unusual celestial phenomena, participating in auctions, and purging the Yin Corpse Sect.

In the end, Xiao Chen only needed to replenish less than half of his true essence through this "Spirit Devouring and Essence Replenishing Technique".

Simply put, he neither needs nor is it necessary to spend over 30 million spirit stones.

You only need to prepare about 15 million spirit stones.

Although this is still a huge sum of money, don't forget that Xiao Chen can also make a lot of money by traveling back and forth.

He hadn't paid much attention to earning spirit stones through this method before.

One of the main reasons is that I feel that although I don't have a lot of spirit stones, I have enough to spend, so I don't feel any urgency.

If there is a need for this now.

Xiao Chen didn't mind being a serious businessman for once and earning more spirit stones on the way back.

In conclusion, he should be able to afford this seemingly exorbitant expense.

"Well, in any case, let's learn this secret technique first."

Xiao Chen thought about it more and more and felt that this secret technique was very important: "The specific way to use it can be adjusted later."

"Anyway, just getting started doesn't cost many spirit stones."

"At worst, I can learn it but not use it yet, and then cultivate it after I've earned enough spirit stones."

Moreover, Xiao Chen had a small expectation in his heart.

Even disregarding the half-finished 'Qin Yuan Da Fa', this 'Spirit Devouring and Essence Devouring Da Fa' itself is a Yellow-level secret technique.

Theoretically, it should be able to enjoy a hundredfold increase in performance compared to a featherweight fighter.

Given Xiao Chen's familiarity with Hextech, this boost will most likely enhance the biggest characteristic of the secret technique, namely, the speed of cultivation.

In other words, if you can get enough spirit stones.

That means it's highly likely that instead of condensing a new True Essence every three days, it will only take less than half an hour to obtain a new True Essence.

If that's the case, then one's cultivation speed will be directly linked to the speed at which one earns spirit stones.

As long as the spirit stones are available, one can quickly acquire a massive amount of true essence at an extremely rapid pace.

Thus, one can improve their cultivation level in a very short time.

If everything goes smoothly, it might not even take four or five years.

It might only take a year or two for me to attempt to reach the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

(End of this chapter)