To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

A cultivator's spiritual root is fixed after birth.

For countless years, there has been neither a way to change the aptitude of mortals nor a means to seize their spiritual roots.

Moreover, in the Qionghua Realm, even soul searching and body possession do not exist, which is very different from the legends in Gu Fan's previous life memories.

The reason is quite simple—the Dao Ancestor did not allow it.

As the source of all paths, the operation of all things in the world can be decided by the Dao Ancestor's single thought.

Among the three kingdoms of the Western Continent, the Qin Kingdom, which borders the Chen Kingdom, worships the [Ancestor of Reincarnation].

Under the will of the Dao Ancestor, all living beings in the world will enter the cycle of reincarnation after death. Once methods such as soul searching and body possession are carried out, they will leave a mark in the dark, which is called "karmic hindrance".

If one day one is caught in the cycle of reincarnation, one will be punished for it, and one's soul will be scattered and one will be unable to be reborn.

Of course, these are all legends and strange tales recorded by the Lingxiao Sect, and Gu Fan cannot distinguish between their authenticity.

"It seems that the methods of the Spirit Transformation Sect in worshipping the true spirit and cultivating the Dharma form have indirectly improved the spiritual root aptitude. No wonder the number of disciples is the largest among the three sects in Wei Kingdom," Gu Fan thought silently.

But despite his thoughts, Gu Fan was not swayed by them.

"People still have to rely on themselves."

......

The day after the sect competition ended, Gu Fan went to Fengxian Hall to collect his reward.

In addition to the ten bottles of pills, there were also three thousand spirit stones and three hundred merit points.

This reward is undoubtedly substantial.

Each bottle contains five pills. Unfortunately, there are only three months left until the Three Sects Dharma Assembly. Otherwise, after removing the poison from the pills, Gu Fan could use these pills to raise his cultivation to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Three thousand spirit stones are enough to purchase a high-quality mid-grade magic weapon.

If used properly, three hundred merits could be exchanged for spiritual materials to forge a high-grade magic weapon.

It is conceivable that over the next three months, all disciples who have qualified to participate in the Three Sects Dharma Assembly will seize the time to strengthen their skills.

Before the Three Sects Dharma Assembly, besides his cultivation, Gu Fan had another matter to attend to.

Registration for the literary competition.

To participate in the alchemy literary contest, one must register at Dan Ding Peak; for talismanic arts, it is at Qin Wu Hall; and for artifact crafting, it is at Shen Ji Peak.

Gu Fan wanted to participate in both the Talisman Dao and Weapon Dao literary contests at the same time, so he had to visit each of the two peaks separately, and the process went very smoothly.

Today, Gu Fan's reputation as a master of both talismans and magical artifacts has spread throughout the outer sect of the Lingxiao Sect.

......

Inside a quiet room deep within Shenji Peak.

Although he no longer needs the support of the earth's flames, Gu Fan has become accustomed to refining weapons here.

The mountain's interior not only isolates the heat and noise emitted during weapon forging, but also allows for the timely exchange of any missing materials, making it extremely convenient.

The Samadhi Fire illuminated the entire quiet room, and a black steel whip bobbed up and down in the flames.

Stars seemed to circulate between Gu Fan's eyes as he used his divine sense as a brush to carve circles of restrictions into the artifact's embryo.

A moment later, a bolt of lightning exploded from the steel whip. Gu Fan breathed a sigh of relief, a smug look on his face, and reached out to grasp the steel whip in his hand.

The steel whip is about five feet long and consists of nine sections, each with eight sides.

Although it is entirely black, upon closer inspection, one can see blue-purple runes that shimmer like breathing on each surface, with silver lightning occasionally swirling around them.

Using his divine sense to probe the inside of the steel whip, he was astonished to find nine layers of restrictions.

Gu Fan put the steel whip into his storage bag and then rode the Sky-Breaking Shuttle back to Lingxi Peak. By this time, the sky was already dark, and before he even reached the gate, he saw two figures standing outside the courtyard.

Meng Wei and Jiang Qingque, standing on either side like two stone lions, squatted on the ground without any decorum. Upon hearing Gu Fan's footsteps, they leaped over.

"Junior brother, have you finished crafting the magic weapon?" Meng Wei asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.

Gu Fan simply nodded slightly, and the two of them beamed with joy.

Upon entering the courtyard, Meng Wei and Jiang Qingque served tea and water, then approached Gu Fan with smiles and asked, "Junior brother, stop keeping us in suspense and quickly take out your magical artifacts so we can have a look."

"Alright." Gu Fan smiled helplessly and took out a magical artifact from his storage bag.

One of them was a newly forged steel whip. A flash of lightning appeared in Meng Wei's eyes, and he snatched the steel whip away. He examined it gently, as if caressing a woman's delicate skin. Then, he infused it with a little magic power, and lightning burst forth around his body, making him look like a black-faced thunder god.

After repeatedly experiencing the power of the magical artifact, Meng Wei grinned from ear to ear.

"What about mine? What about mine?" Jiang Qingque looked at Meng Wei with envy, then turned to urge him.

"Don't rush," Gu Fan comforted him, taking out a jade box and saying slowly, "This magic artifact of Senior Brother Jiang took a lot of my effort to make."

Jiang Qingque immediately offered tea instead of wine, saying, "Thank you for your help, fellow Daoist. I will never forget this kindness."

"You're too kind, senior brother. Please open it and take a look." Gu Fan pushed the jade box in front of Jiang Qingque.

Jiang Qingque nervously opened the jade box, revealing a crack. Instantly, a cold glint shot out from it, stinging his face.

Instead of being surprised, he was delighted. He widened his eyes and completely opened the jade box, revealing a round sword pellet that was half-suspended in the air.

The sword pellet was no bigger than an infant's fist, and its entire body was dark gold, with cloud patterns swirling around it.

Gu Fan pointed to the sword pellet and explained, "Senior brother must infuse it with sword energy to refine the sword pellet before he can use it."

Jiang Qingque nodded quickly and pointed his finger at the sword pellet. The sword pellet then emitted a dazzling light and instantly disappeared from its original spot, transforming into a silver light like a spirit fish that swirled around him. Sometimes it flew up and down, and sometimes it split into several beams, dazzling the eyes of the onlookers.

Seeing the two people's overjoyed expressions, Gu Fan also felt a sense of accomplishment.

He had no prior knowledge of the forging method of sword pellets. Although he had read about forging secrets in the Chenxing Pavilion, he had never tried it. However, the sword pellets that Bai Ziming controlled during the decisive battle left a deep impression on him.

The characteristics of sword pellets are different from ordinary magical artifacts. They can be tempered and maintained by the sword energy of cultivators, and their quality can be further improved by incorporating other spiritual materials in the future.

There are even records of sword cultivators who used only one sword pellet from beginning to end, constantly nurturing their life force until they reached the Golden Core stage.

In refining weapons for Meng Wei and Jiang Qingque, Gu Fan tried many newly learned techniques, which served as a test of his accumulated knowledge in weapon crafting over the past year, and also as preparation for the weapon crafting competition at the Three Sects Dharma Assembly.

Although the Three Sects Dharma Assembly has not yet started, the rewards for the literary contest are basically the same as in previous years.

The reward for the Artifact Crafting Competition is the ability to choose any one of the various spiritual materials provided by the organizer. Unlike ordinary refining materials, the spiritual materials rewarded by the Artifact Crafting Competition are of high quality and can be used as one of the raw materials for refining magic weapons.

This is why Gu Fan longs for it so much.

When Meng Wei and Jiang Qingque left in high spirits, the courtyard fell silent once more.

Gu Fan sat alone under the peach tree, took out a palm-sized round plate with intricate patterns carved on it.

Gu Fan had already spent the merits and spirit stones from the sect competition. The materials he received were not used to forge magical artifacts, but were instead used to forge several array plates.

He currently has enough offensive and defensive magical artifacts, but his array-building equipment is somewhat lacking.

According to Zhou Furui, his spiritual strength was already sufficient to control a second-order formation, but due to the lack of formation tools, he could not yet demonstrate the power of the formation.

Looking at the array plate in his hand, Gu Fan's eyes revealed a hint of excitement.

"I wonder which lucky person will be the one I'll be able to use the formation on."

......

As the sun and moon race by, time slips away unnoticed, and the day of the Three Sects Dharma Assembly is fast approaching.

Nearly a hundred outer disciples gathered in front of the Dharma Peak. Apart from the top thirty-two in the grand competition, all the others were going to participate in the Dharma Assembly's literary contest.

At the head of the table were three Golden Core cultivators, led by Liu Shentong, with several Foundation Establishment disciples attending to them.

The three Golden Core cultivators remained silent, as if waiting for something. The others also dared not utter a sound, their faces solemn.

After waiting for half an hour, a vast purple aura descended from the clouds, revealing a middle-aged Taoist with an air of otherworldly grace.

The Taoist priest wore a purple robe, which was simple yet dignified. His silver hair moved without wind, and his eyes were filled with a fierce lightning light.

"Greetings, Sect Leader." Liu Shentong and the other two Golden Core cultivators were the first to bow.

Gu Fan then realized that the person in front of him was actually Qi Zongyuan, the leader of the Lingxiao Sect.

The disciples immediately bowed in greeting.