Transmigrating to the Qi Cultivation Path, I became an outdated Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Chapter 93 Reality and Illusion [30,000 words daily, please subscribe!]

He Sheng learned about the events at Changyang Mountain more than a month later.

That day, he had just completed a foundation rebuilding process and was still consolidating his cultivation.

The green snake hurriedly swam in through the waterway, somewhat panicked, and said, "Immortal Master, a large number of elders from the He family have arrived outside the Water Palace, more than a dozen of them, and they are all kneeling by the pool!"

He Sheng frowned slightly and used his divine sense to sense the area. Sure enough, he found a large group of people kneeling by the Longevity Pool. The person in the lead was white-haired and holding a dragon-headed cane. It was none other than the clan elder, He Weixian.

Seeing this scene, He Sheng knew that something big must have happened.

"Go and bring He Weixian in."

He alone is fine; the rest of you can wait outside.

The green snake obeyed and left.

Taking advantage of this lull, He Sheng activated the "Blood and Flesh Rebirth Technique," and his bones emitted a series of soft cracking sounds. His body gradually hunched over, and his face became aged and withered.

He now has two relatively clear identities.

First, there is Xiang Yue, a rogue weapon-cultivating master;

The second is the current change in the lord of the manor.

Xiang Yue's identity was used to navigate the Yuanxia Immortal City, while his identity as the Lord of the Prefecture was used to deal with the He family and the Yinsha River.

The two are clearly distinct, and each has its own uses.

When the Green Snake led He Weixian through the waterway and into the main hall, He Sheng was already waiting inside.

"This humble servant, He Weixian, greets Your Excellency, the Prefect!"

After bowing respectfully, the elder hurriedly recounted the events that had occurred at Changyang Mountain, starting with the discovery of He Jingxing's earth spirit root and continuing until the departure of the female cultivator from Tianxuan Sect.

Finally, he took out the letter of petition that He Ziyang had written earlier and respectfully handed it to He Sheng.

He Sheng never expected that so many things would happen during this period. Although he tried to remain calm on the surface, his heart was in turmoil.

After quickly skimming through He Ziyang's letter, he began to ponder it carefully.

The female cultivator from Tianxuan Sect punished Lin Wanrou, clearly dissatisfied with the woman's instigation of Ye Shaochen.

However, this female sword cultivator never mentioned Ye Shao Chen's attack on Piao Ge from beginning to end. The "Purple Cloud Annihilation Sword Technique" also stated that it was compensation given to sever the karmic ties between the old turtle and the He family.

In other words, in the eyes of such immortal sects, Piao Ge's life or death is utterly insignificant.

This is both a form of contempt and a demonstration that Ye Shaozhen's previous promise not to pursue the matter further was not empty talk.

So, does that mean I can now openly use Brother Piao's identity?

He Sheng kept his identity hidden because he had two major worries in his heart.

One question is whether Ye Shaochen's promise is valid and whether it represents the attitude of Tianxuan Sect.

The way these powerful sects act is always domineering, and it's hard to say how they will deal with it. What if they feel that it's too shameful for a genius disciple of their sect to not even be able to kill a country bumpkin with a single sword strike? What if they end up sending someone to clean up the mess?

Fortunately.

It appears that the Tianxuan Sect is not as ruthless as it seems.

The second matter concerns the Lower River branch.

Although he believed he had done it flawlessly, the cultivation world is full of tricks, and there might be some secret method to trace the source.

Lin Wanrou and Chen Keshan are both meticulous people, and they might very well suspect Piao Ge.

As it turned out, these two people were mostly suspicious.

Lin Wanrou came to the He family's celebration to provoke them. She first sent them a Bloodstone, and then forced the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhou and Wen families to join forces to spar with Chen Keshan.

This is hardly a congratulatory visit; it's clearly a provocation and a test.

This woman most likely suspects that Piao Ge is not dead and is secretly taking revenge on her by doing something to the Xiajiang branch. That's why she took this opportunity to come to her door and act this way.

Thinking of this, He Sheng's expression turned slightly cold.

Unfortunately, despite all her calculations, she didn't anticipate that the Tianxuan Sect would send someone at this time.

She never expected that this female cultivator from the Tianxuan Sect would be so domineering, publicly humiliating her.

However, He Sheng was also surprised that Lin Wanrou could handle the situation so well after being humiliated in public. He felt that this woman had a remarkable temperament and was extremely patient.

"Such people cannot be allowed to live!"

He Sheng's murderous intent surged.

There is no room for negotiation between me and this woman. Now that Chen Keshan has lost an arm and is seriously injured, Lin Wanrou is alone and at her weakest.

Perhaps... this is the perfect time to nip it in the bud.

He Sheng began to seriously consider this matter.

Aside from the two matters mentioned above, what He Sheng was most concerned about was the "Purple Cloud Annihilation Sword Technique" sent by the Tianxuan Sect.

According to He Weixian's retelling of what the female swordsman from the Tianxuan Sect said that day, this fourth-grade technique corresponds to the [Alloy] destiny, so He Sheng naturally cannot cultivate it.

But this was the first complete Qi-cultivation technique he could access.

Even if he cannot cultivate, the supernatural cultivation methods, the methods of entering the Dao through breath control, and the key points for building the foundation of the Dao recorded in it are enough for him to have a deeper understanding of the breath control supernatural path.

"Has He Ziyang mastered the basics of this martial art?"

He Sheng snapped out of his daze and asked a question.

Upon hearing this, He Weixian's face showed a complex expression: "Reporting to the Lord of the Manor, Ziyang did obtain the cultivation technique from that small black iron sword, and also sensed the purple-gold soaring energy contained within the sword, but..."

"Just what?"

"However, this technique is completely different from the 'Thousand-Ren Jade-Severing Technique' he practiced before."

Ziyang said that the two methods of cultivation, the way of circulating magical power, and even the way of breathing and refining qi are completely different, which left him with many doubts.

But whether we consulted Qingyun or the others, no one could answer our questions.

As He Weixian spoke, a hint of shame crept into his voice.

The Qingyun he mentioned was that Master Yun.

"The Purple Cloud Annihilation Sword Technique is too profound. It is truly difficult for us Qi Refining cultivators to comprehend its mysteries."

He Sheng was not surprised by this.

The Qi-absorbing Divine Path and the Qi-refining and Void-merging Path are two completely different cultivation paths. He Ziyang's cultivation was crippled, and he had to start cultivating this method from scratch, which would inevitably lead to many confusions.

"There's no rush," He Sheng said calmly. "Take your men back first. Let He Ziyang study the cultivation technique more; there's no need to rush into practice."

in addition..."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious.

"Have him memorize the entire manual word for word, so that it can be kept as a secret within the clan and passed down to the He family in the future."

He Weixian quickly agreed, but there was a hint of doubt in his eyes. He couldn't help but say, "Lord of the Prefecture, we cultivators of the Silver Sand River rarely come into contact with the outside world. Even the Heavenly Profound Sect only found out about it after making many inquiries. It is the supreme immortal sect of Xia Prefecture in the north."

As for this so-called fourth-grade cultivation technique, it was completely baffling. The only explanation given was that it was a technique only found in the upper-class immortal sects of the world.

The female cultivator then publicly announced that Ziyang was a disciple of the Guicang True Person of the Tianxuan Sect, and said that he could be formally accepted into the sect once he reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

All these events combined have left me unsure how to treat Ziyang within the clan in the future, nor how to get along with other Foundation Establishment families.

""

He Weixian looked exhausted, because the intervention of such a behemoth as the Tianxuan Sect in the He family was far beyond his comprehension, and he was simply powerless to deal with it.

"Keep everything as usual for now."

Soon, I will return to Changyang Mountain to settle all matters.

Seeing that He Sheng was so straightforward and did not make any excuses, He Weixian felt a great weight lifted from his heart and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Thank you, Lord Prefect."

After speaking, He Weixian hesitated for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

He Sheng knew that this elder was obviously suspicious of his identity. After all, even if someone had a past relationship with the He family, they wouldn't get involved in the He family so deeply.

"There's no need to say more."

He Sheng waved his hand, cutting off He Weixian's intention to speak, and then said, "Some things are not ready yet."

You'll know when the time is right.

He Sheng had already made up his mind that he should not appear as Brother Piao for the time being.

After saying that, He Sheng waved his hand, ordering the Green Snake to send He Weixian out of the Water Mansion.

Only after the man's figure disappeared at the end of the waterway did he slowly stand up and stand with his hands behind his back in the center of the hall.

Starlight poured down from the intricate array of patterns on the dome, dappling the cold bluestone ground beneath our feet.

Deep within the Water Palace, the faint sound of the gushing spring could be heard, like the steady heartbeat of the earth.

His gaze pierced through the starlight, landing on a certain spot in the void, and he remained silent for a long time.

Tianxuan Sect, Lin Wanrou, He Family, Fourth-Rank Cultivation Technique...

A myriad of thoughts clashed and intertwined in his mind, eventually settling down and coalescing into a clear idea.

"Lin Wanrou must die, and quickly!"

Once he made up his mind, He Sheng turned his gaze to the time clock in his palm.

[Current available total practice time: 6 years, 3 months, and 13 days]

Although he bought eighteen Foundation Establishment Pills at Qianhongfang in one go, each Foundation Establishment process takes nearly a month, so he had just completed one Foundation Establishment when he returned this time.

As for his cultivation level, it had been raised back to the late stage of the initial Foundation Establishment stage before he came out to meet He Weixian.

[Qinglan Water Elemental Skill, Level 6 (Beginner): 1/100]

(Total cultivation time: 10 years, 3 month and 1 days)

To ensure the defeat of Lin Wanrou, we need to further enhance our combat strength, as Chen Keshan is not to be underestimated.

If one can cultivate the Thousand Water Illusionary Body, one will be even more confident in killing these two at the same time!

He Sheng turned his attention to the information about the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique".

【Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique (Mastery): 132/300】

His current progress in cultivating this technique is that after he had mastered the basics, he squeezed out some time from other sources to quickly advance to the proficiency level.

However, due to the inheritance of the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" that I obtained, which has extremely detailed guidance, the speed at which this spell can be cultivated is much faster than the "Clear Waves Controlling Water Technique".

It is precisely for this reason that He Sheng believes that with the current amount of general cultivation time, it is possible to cultivate a transcendent technique.

He immediately focused his mind on the plus sign after "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique," and the general cultivation time began to decrease rapidly, with cultivation information being displayed accordingly.

After four months of dedicated practice, with the help of the extremely detailed cultivation annotations in the "Thousand Illusion Water Shadow Technique" inheritance, your understanding of the transformation of illusory water has become increasingly profound.

It can now simultaneously create three water shadow clones, each possessing about one-tenth of your original strength; they are no longer mere phantoms.

Three months later, your control over the water shadows has become increasingly proficient.

The annotations in the transmission saved you a lot of detours. You started directly with "the myriad phenomena of water," avoiding the common mistake that ordinary cultivators often fall into: "similar in form but not in spirit."

Your "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" has naturally reached the Great Perfection stage. The number of water shadows it generates has increased to six, and each one is more solid and its duration has nearly doubled.

After another five months of arduous training, you began to try to incorporate the subtle artistic conception into the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique".

This attempt will give you a qualitative leap in your understanding of the word "illusion".

The water shadows are no longer merely a condensation of magical power, but also contain your understanding of the "ripples of water". Each water shadow seems to possess an independent life, and its movements are no longer mechanical copies, but each has its own posture, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Your "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" has reached the Great Perfection realm.

The guidance in this lineage does not end here; instead, it points out in more detail the key to breaking through the limits: controlling water with intention and transforming water into life.

Following the instructions, you begin to attempt to separate a divine thought and merge it into the water at the moment the water and shadow separate.

This method requires a high level of spiritual awareness and also demands a high degree of purity in magical power.

Fortunately, your spiritual sense and magical power far surpass those of your peers. By following the cultivation tips and taboos noted in the inheritance, you quickly made progress.

Nine months later, with a soft shout from you, the spiritual spring water in the cave surged up and transformed into seven figures identical to you.

Whether they are sitting or standing, angry or laughing, their aura flows around them, and their magical power fluctuations are exactly the same as yours!

Of course, the strength of these water shadow clones is only about 20% of your original strength.

With a thought, seven water shadows attacked simultaneously, unleashing a continuous barrage of attacks.

This is not simply an increase in quantity, but a qualitative change.

You can sense that as long as you have enough magic power, these water shadows will continue to exist.

This technique is a transcendent art derived from the "Thousand Illusion Water Shadow Technique," namely the "Thousand Water Illusion Dharma Body"!

With this, you have also broken through to the "divine" level in this magic.

This technique consumes an extremely high amount of mana; even a cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment would find it difficult to sustain the simultaneous existence of seven water shadows.

But you are different. Your magical power has been repeatedly refined through the subtle ripples of the realm of magic, making it far pure and profound than others of the same level, perfectly meeting the demanding requirements for casting this technique.

After entering the "Transcendent" state, the difficulty of cultivation suddenly increases.

Even with guidance from tradition, every step was extremely difficult.

You need to refine the "Thousand Water Illusion Dharma Body" from its initial roughness to its exquisite detail.

You begin to try to reduce mana consumption, increase the solidity of the water shadows, and have them try using the "Clear Wave Water Control Technique".

Progress during this period was extremely slow, often going one or two months without any progress, but you remained steadfast and undeterred.

A year and a half later, under your tireless refinement, the "Thousand Water Illusionary Body" was finally pushed to the limit of transcendent techniques.

Now, with a thought, you can instantly create nine water-based avatars, each possessing 30% of your full strength and capable of casting most of the water-based spells you know.

Even more terrifying is that the nine avatars are connected to your mind and can form a simple water-based illusion array, making it difficult for enemies trapped inside to distinguish between reality and illusion, leaving them exhausted and unable to cope.

Afterwards, you followed the guidance of the tradition and tried to push your limits further.

This step focuses on a deeper understanding of "water". You have a flash of inspiration and try to integrate the "Thousand Water Illusion Dharma Body" with the "Rippling Waves" conception at a deeper level, trying to make each water shadow an extension of your perception of heaven and earth, so that the "illusion" is no longer limited to "shadow".

This has already touched upon the very surface of the rules, further increasing the demands on both magical power and divine sense.

A year later, you gained some understanding of the relationship between your true self and the Water Shadow Dharma Body. You merged the nine Water Shadow Dharma Bodies into one and poured all your insights into water magic into the other.

In that instant, the other person seemed to come alive and become another version of you.

You know that this merged Dharma body is still illusory, but you can exchange between the real and the illusory with it in the blink of an eye.

This step is crucial; you have grasped a sliver of the true essence of the realm between reality and illusion.

Half a year later, on this day, a torrential rain fell from the sky, and you lay between heaven and earth.

First, you condense a water shadow avatar, which possesses nearly 80% of the strength of your original self.

Immediately afterwards, this water-shadow avatar split into nine, each possessing thirty percent of your original strength.

But this was not the limit. The nine paths continued to split, transforming into twenty-seven water shadow avatars, each possessing one-tenth of your original strength.

You feel you can continue, but your magic power is running out.

You know in your heart that if one day your magical power can sustain you, you could even transform into a raindrop, a water droplet, a wave in this world...

You've got it!

This is the true and illusory beauty of water!

You broke through the shackles in one fell swoop, pushing the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" into the realm of "transcendence and sainthood."

[More than a year later, you discover that your magical power is no longer sufficient to continue your cultivation. You must further enhance your magical power in order to elevate the True Illusion of Water.]

The cultivation information abruptly ended there, and He Sheng's general cultivation time had also been exhausted.

【Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique (Transcendental): 779/2000】

(Total cultivation time: 6 years, 6 month and 13 days)

He Sheng slowly opened his eyes, and saw overlapping figures in them before they disappeared.

He immediately had a thought, and nine identical Dharma bodies appeared, almost indistinguishable from his own.

I never expected the Thousand Water Illusionary Body to be so powerful, especially after comprehending the true and illusory essence of water; it's practically a life-saving divine skill.

What surprised He Sheng even more was that the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" had surpassed the "Clear Wave Water Control Technique" in just over six years of cultivation.

【Qinglan Water Control Technique (Transcendental): 499/2000】

(Total cultivation time: 19 years, 1 month and 12 days)

"In just one-third of the time, we have already made significant progress."

This is not surprising, since the "Qinglan Water Control Technique" relies entirely on self-enlightenment, which can be described as feeling one's way across a river by touching the stones, while the "Thousand Illusions Water Shadow Technique" has clear guidance for cultivation, so the two are naturally very different in difficulty.

He Sheng also tried to re-cultivate the "Qinglan Water Control Technique" and attempted to learn from the cultivation method of the "Thousand Illusion Water Shadow Technique" to shorten the cultivation time of the "Qinglan Water Control Technique".

Unfortunately, the two cultivation paths are fundamentally different, and the "Qinglan Water Control Technique" failed to shorten the cultivation time.

However, through this training, He Sheng gained a deeper understanding of artistic conception.

The subtle artistic conception is clearly more inclined towards auxiliary functions and has strong versatility, but its enhancement of hard power is limited.

However, the realms of reality and illusion are different; the transcendent technique of sinking and manifesting has a very significant boost to one's own strength...

After reflecting on his experiences, He Sheng felt his strength had greatly increased and he was more confident in killing Lin Wanrou.

Several days later, as night fell, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator entered Xiajiangfang and headed towards the Xiajiang branch.

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