Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

After cleaning the marks off the mountain wall, Zhang Li returned to his cave.

He then took out a bloodstained storage bag, and after searching it, he actually found a low-grade magic weapon, which he then slashed at his arm.

A flash of cold light, and the blade of the magic weapon grazed the arm, leaving only a faint white mark on the skin.

It wasn't until Zhang Li increased his magical power that he finally felt a noticeable stinging sensation, leaving a thin scratch.

But the wound healed quickly within a few breaths, leaving no trace.

"However, the defensive capabilities have been significantly improved."

Zhang Li nodded and put the magic weapon away.

Although the first spiritual aperture opened in the palm of the right hand, the Vajra Qi flowing within the aperture could still spread out along the meridians in a small area, protecting a section of the arm nearby, which brought about this physical transformation.

However, this is the extent to which the protective energy spreads; its defensive power decreases further towards the shoulders.

Zhang Li knew clearly that the first level of the Golden Body Technique required opening twenty-eight acupoints, mainly distributed on the limbs and chest and abdomen.

He speculated that the two orifices in the palm and the two orifices in the tiger's mouth are the core of power generation, the eight orifices in the remaining arms and the twelve orifices in the lower limbs are responsible for connecting the four limbs, and the four orifices in the chest and abdomen serve as the hub of Qi.

Only when all twenty-eight spiritual acupoints are opened can a complete closed loop be formed, allowing the Vajra Qi to circulate throughout the body, limbs, chest, and abdomen, rather than being limited to a small patch of skin and flesh.

We've only just begun to understand the basics of palm techniques.

With this in mind, Zhang Li sat cross-legged on the futon and began to open up the next spiritual aperture.

Having the experience of opening the first spiritual aperture, opening the second spiritual aperture was a piece of cake.

It was about an hour faster than the first time.

This time, the difference was that when Zhang Li mobilized his qi and blood to guide the Xuanjin liquid to impact the spiritual aperture at the tiger's mouth of his right hand, the qi in the spiritual aperture of his palm also began to circulate along with the qi and blood.

With the aid of the protective energy, the opening of the second spiritual aperture was accelerated considerably.

"Just as I guessed."

Zhang Li understood that the formed spiritual apertures were not isolated entities. The distribution of the twenty-eight spiritual apertures in the first layer of the Golden Body Technique was indeed interconnected and mutually reinforcing.

Once an acupoint is opened, the Vajra Qi within it can flow slightly along the skin, flesh, and meridians, feeding back and impacting nearby unopened spiritual acupoints.

This was verified once again after the formation of the Qi vortex in the second spiritual aperture. The already full palm aperture expanded further, and the two Qi vortices resonated faintly through the skin and flesh.

The two spiritual points on the right palm, the center of the palm and the tiger's mouth, are formed one after the other. An invisible energy link connects the two. The Vajra Qi accumulated in the center of the palm slowly flows to the tiger's mouth, and the newly generated Qi in the tiger's mouth flows back in the opposite direction, in a continuous cycle.

However, the resonance was extremely limited, confined to the palm of the right hand, and could not spread to the forearm.

"If two spiritual apertures can only achieve this much, then all twenty-eight apertures must be opened for true complete mastery of the body."

Zhang Li suppressed his joy, took a blood-replenishing pill, and began to recover his depleted qi and blood, and stabilize his newly opened spiritual aperture.

With the two spiritual apertures resonating and the vital energy flowing, he only needed thirty-two days to cultivate the spiritual aperture at the tiger's mouth of his right hand to perfection.

When the vital energy in the two spiritual apertures is activated simultaneously, a single palm strike can shatter a low-grade magic weapon, and the defensive power is greatly enhanced.

Even when a fully activated low-grade magic weapon lands on the right palm, it can only leave a faint red mark. After a short while, the red mark slowly fades away without leaving any damage.

"At this rate, my physical cultivation may soon surpass my Qi cultivation."

Zhang Li looked down at his right hand, which was glowing with a faint golden light, and this thought came to mind.

He is currently at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and he is unsure whether he can break through to the ninth level within the next five years.

But in these five years, he can guarantee that he will open all twenty-eight spiritual apertures of the first level of the Golden Body Technique.

Of course, he wouldn't neglect Qi cultivation just because his body refinement progressed too quickly; Qi cultivation was the foundation of Zhang Li's cultivation.

The decline of body cultivation is an indisputable fact. In this day and age, there is absolutely no possibility of achieving immortality through body cultivation.

The lineage has been broken for too long, and the inheritance has been severely lacking. Even with the Golden Body Technique, one can only cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage, and there is no further guidance from the sect.

However, Qi cultivation is different. Although Zhang Li's current cultivation method can only reach the Golden Core stage, the Qi cultivation path has been passed down from ancient times to the present, with a complete system and a vast inheritance. As long as there is enough opportunity to find a more profound cultivation method, one can continuously seek upwards and have the possibility of becoming an immortal.

Zhang Li had already clearly distinguished in his mind which was the primary role and which was the secondary role.

Body refinement is merely a means of self-defense and combat. The Golden Body Technique forges an indestructible body, giving him greater defense and combat power in battle, but it cannot be his main cultivation method. Qi cultivation is the foundation for his pursuit of longevity.

However, in the next five years, apart from his daily Qi cultivation practice, Zhang Li decided to devote more time to cultivating the Golden Body Technique.

He hadn't forgotten that five years from now would be the time for the Crimson Trial to begin, and he would then go into the trial to try and secure a Foundation Establishment opportunity.

Although Zhang Li was not very clear about the details of this trial, the fact that it was called "bloody" meant that it was bound to be filled with endless fighting and bloodshed was commonplace.

It's impossible for him to break through to the tenth level of Qi Refining within five years, but it's enough for him to cultivate the Golden Body Technique to the first level of perfection, which is enough to contend with a Qi Refining perfection cultivator.

With numerous trump cards at his disposal, while it might be unrealistic to expect him to break through the trials, he would be more than capable of protecting himself and would have the resources to compete for the Foundation Establishment opportunity.

After planning his subsequent cultivation strategy, Zhang Li took out several bloodstained storage bags.

After Mu Yunze and his group, Zhang Li's attention was drawn to the Golden Body Technique, and he didn't have time to deal with anything else.

He first opened the storage bags of the three mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, checked the items inside, and obtained more than 400 spirit stones, three mid-grade magic weapons, five low-grade magic weapons, and a number of spirit talismans, pills, and spirit materials.

Zhang Li doesn't need any of these items right now. Apart from the spirit stones, he plans to sell them all when he has some free time.

The storage bags of the two cultivators, the one with the pointed beak and the one in the gray robe, both at the late stage of Qi Refining, contained many more useful items for him.

First, there are magical artifacts. There is only one high-grade magical artifact, a Transformation Bead obtained from a cultivator with a pointed beak. It is slightly damaged, but it is not a big problem and can be repaired.

In the sharp-mouthed cultivator's storage bag, Zhang Li also discovered a spell called Thick Earth Golden Armor Technique, which was ranked as a superior-grade spell. It was a good spell, and Zhang Li planned to give it to Lu Ran tomorrow along with the Golden Body Technique, as the spell's attributes were suitable for her.

There are also spirit stones, which the two of them have together for about 1,200, as well as a number of spirit talismans and pills.

Other miscellaneous spiritual materials will be sold together later.

After taking stock of the storage bags and resting for two days, Zhang Li returned to his ascetic life of staying indoors and not venturing out.