Chapter 18: The Great Sun Thunder Body
Xiao Tian said, "Even though our cultivation systems are different, you can still help me with soul cultivation and body refinement!"
"Improving your soul is doable. There is a place in this mental space specifically for honing spiritual power, but the pain is unbearable for most people." The little marten glanced at Xiao Tian and shook its head. "As for body refinement techniques, there are some, but this stone talisman has had countless owners. They have all sealed their legacies in this space, and with your current strength, you can't break the seals."
"That's easy to solve!" Xiao Tian said, leaving the space and bringing Yao Lao into it.
"Where is this place?" Yao Lao asked, confused.
Seeing Yao Lao appear, the little marten became even more vigilant, ready to flee at any moment.
"Master, this is the stone talisman space," Xiao Tian briefly explained. "Now I need your strength to break the seals and obtain body refinement techniques."
Then he looked at the little marten and said, "Now can you help us open the seals?"
As the saying goes, 'When under someone else's roof, you must bow your head.' If it was only Xiao Tian, the little marten could still negotiate some terms. But with Yao Lao present, the little marten, whose strength had not fully recovered, had to be more cautious.
Of course, the little marten didn't forget to take the opportunity to gain some benefits. "Lend me your soul power for a while; only I know the locations of the seals!"
"Okay!" Xiao Tian and Yao Lao immediately poured their soul power into the little marten, making its body more solid.
The little marten didn't dare to overdo it. With a swift swing of its little claw, purple-black lines shot out, heading towards the dark areas.
"Buzz!"
Xiao Tian vaguely felt that something deeply hidden in the distance was collapsing. Waves of energy emanated from the darkness, and the little marten extended its claw, releasing a suction force.
"Swoosh!"
In the next moment, a golden streak shot out from the darkness, tearing through layers of blackness, carrying a fierce aura as it approached Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian's gaze fell on the golden streak. Within it, he saw a sun slowly rotating.
After a while, the light dimmed, revealing ancient characters.
"Great Sun Thunder Body!"
The little marten explained, "This is a top-tier body refinement technique. Its owner once used it to slay many powerful opponents, earning great fame!"
However, Xiao Tian remained indifferent. He knew there were even higher-level techniques like Creation Martial Arts, Spirit Martial Arts, and Heavenly Martial Arts. Still, given his current strength, the Great Sun Thunder Body was more than sufficient.
Xiao Tian extended his hand into the golden light sphere.
"Buzz!"
As his hand entered, the golden light turned into golden liquid, wrapping around his hand and flowing into his body.
When the golden liquid merged with his body, a burst of golden light exploded in his mind, revealing the esoteric cultivation method.
After standing still for a long time, Xiao Tian slowly opened his eyes. If one looked closely, they would see tiny golden lights flickering in his eyes.
"The Great Sun Thunder Body has three levels. The first level forms the Copper Thunder Body, the second the Jade Thunder Body, and the third the Great Sun Thunder Body. To achieve the first level, one must temper the body with lightning. But once successful, one becomes invulnerable to blades, guns, and fire, and even ordinary spirit treasures can't break through the defense."
Xiao Tian's insistence on body refinement was to better absorb different types of fire. In the original story, Xiao Yan's absorption of different fires was a life-threatening ordeal. Xiao Tian, not being the protagonist, couldn't guarantee such smooth outcomes. Hence, he had not rushed to find and absorb different fires.
"Looks like I'll need to find a thunderstorm to temper my body," Xiao Tian thought. "But first, I need to improve my cultivation."
Collecting his thoughts, Xiao Tian said to the little marten, "Take me to the place where I can train my soul now."
"It's Lord Marten, not 'little marten'," the little marten retorted.
"Got it, little marten," Xiao Tian replied with a smile.
"Hmph!" The little marten snorted but led the way.
Hearing about a place to train the soul, Yao Lao followed closely.
After a while, the three arrived at a white, glowing area. In the light, there were two huge crystal grinding stones slowly rotating. As they rotated, they emitted a special wave that distorted the surrounding space.
"This is the Mental Grinding Stone," the little marten explained. "You sit between the stones, and they will crush and restore your soul repeatedly, greatly enhancing your soul power. But the process is extremely painful. I tried it once and couldn't bear to try again."
"Right now, my priority is improving my cultivation. I'll skip this for now," Xiao Tian said, shaking his head before leaving the stone talisman space.
He passed through the gate and returned to the back mountain of the Xiao family.
"Master, I'm going to start cultivating. I'll leave the refining of the Yang Yuan Pills to you," Xiao Tian said with a sheepish smile, handing the stone talisman to Yao Lao.
He then sat down, cross-legged, and began swallowing Yang Yuan Pills.
Advancing in the Dou Shi stage required far more energy than in the Dou Zhe stage. Generally, reaching the peak of the nine-star Dou Zhe stage required about one-third of the Dou Qi to condense a single drop of liquid Dou Qi in the Dou Shi stage. This amount of Dou Qi was roughly equivalent to the energy in one Yang Yuan Pill.
To advance to a two-star Dou Shi, he needed to condense fifteen drops of liquid Dou Qi. In other words, Xiao Tian needed to consume six or seven Yang Yuan Pills to break through one-star strength.
Previously, advancing from a one-star Dou Zhe to the Dou Shi stage had taken just over ten Yang Yuan Pills.
Fortunately, with a Yang Yuan Stone mine at his disposal, Xiao Tian didn't have to worry about running out of Yang Yuan Stones for now.
According to his estimates, the Yang Yuan Stones he had should be enough to cultivate to the Dou Wang stage. However, as cultivation progressed, the required energy would increase exponentially, and the Yang Yuan Pills would become less effective. Even so, they were far more efficient than absorbing energy from the environment through meditation.
Moreover, with Yao Lao, an eighth-grade pinnacle Alchemist, by his side, Xiao Tian could have him refine various pills for breakthroughs in the future. After all, keeping Yao Lao busy with alchemy was a good way to make use of his skills.
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