Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 358: Chapter 355: 2 Months

Upon returning to the Sect, he found that not much had changed. It was just as he had left it several days ago.

This was to be expected.

Although there were signs of an impending war with the Nanyue Kingdom, they were still in the preliminary stages of preparation and information gathering.

Naturally, there wouldn’t be any drastic changes yet.

However, Shen Changchuan could feel that the outbreak of war was probably not far off.

He didn’t linger.

Shen Changchuan dove straight back into his courtyard, resuming his previous cultivation routine.

Perhaps it was due to the insights gained from Wang Xiao’Er’s life, or perhaps it was because he had relaxed a bit while he was out, but Shen Changchuan felt a subtle increase in both his success rate when refining elixirs and the speed at which he cultivated his magic.

’Perhaps I’ve been wound too tight lately, and this just happens to align with the true meaning of balancing work and rest.’

However, Shen Changchuan knew that given the current situation, he had to race against time. Before the war broke out and he was required on the battlefield, he had to master enough strength to protect himself. Thus, he had no choice but to continue burying his head in his work.

Of course,

compared to his previous cultivation routine,

Shen Changchuan made some changes to his cultivation plan for the next month or two.

’If worn, the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Jade can nourish a Cultivator’s meridians and improve their aptitude.’

’A treasure like that is already expensive, let alone at an auction. The final price will only be pushed higher!’

’Therefore, for the auction in the Heisei Domain three months from now, I have to prepare a lot more Spirit Stones...’

’Fine. In that case, for the next two months, I’ll refine as many elixirs as possible.’

’As for cultivating magic, I’ll cut back on it and focus mainly on absorbing what I’ve already learned.’

’Increase income, reduce expenses, and save up some Spirit Stones.’

’It’ll also give me a chance to soothe my tense mind.’

’Besides, cultivating a few more Perfection Tier Two Magic won’t increase my combat power by much right now. I should wait until I advance to the Soul Emergence Middle Stage, then I can cultivate more powerful Tier Two High Level magic!’

Following his modified plan,

Shen Changchuan entered seclusion.

Soon,

two months passed.

Within those two months,

the Dragon Cloud Sect held another entrance examination and recruited over a thousand Outer Disciples.

Despite this, the number of disciples within the Mountain Gate didn’t necessarily increase.

This was because the previous batches of Outer Disciples had already been summoned in the name of "gaining experience" to the southern border shared with the Nanyue Kingdom, where clashes with the Demon Cultivators from Nanyue had begun.

The Dragon Cloud Sect was not the only power to make a move.

The top-level clans of the Tian Nan Domain with Divine Travel Realm experts presiding—including the Shen Family of Tian Nan City, the Ancient Sword Sect, the Nangong Clan, and the Celestial Dragon Gang—had all begun to take action.

They summoned the Cultivators under their command and used inheritances, Spirit Stones, and treasures to hire Loose Cultivators to scout the Nanyue Kingdom.

In response,

it was rumored that the major Demon Cultivator factions in the Nanyue Kingdom had also united.

They amassed their main forces at the front lines

and even began to rely on the inherent individual combat strength of Demon Cultivators to infiltrate the Tian Nan Domain and gather intelligence.

For a time,

an atmosphere thick with the tension of an impending storm hung over the two lands.

The changes in the external situation

did not have much of an impact on Shen Changchuan.

This was perhaps because he had long anticipated and prepared for it.

Therefore, he felt no panic in his heart.

He just kept following his plan.

Meanwhile,

during those two months,

two things related to Shen Changchuan happened within the Sect.

First, his friend and fellow disciple Wu Tianhao, with whom he had once gone through a life-or-death trial, had successfully advanced to the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer Realm a month ago.

He had entered the Soul Emergence Middle Stage.

At that time, the atmosphere in the Sect was tense as it went all-out in its war preparations, so Wu Tianhao didn’t hold a large banquet to celebrate.

Nevertheless, Shen Changchuan still paid him a visit with a gift to offer his congratulations.

While there, he also met Wu Yuanzhi, the Patriarch of the Wu Family, as well as some of Wu Tianhao’s other relatives and friends.

They all wore smiles on their faces.

They were clearly delighted that Wu Tianhao had broken through the bottleneck of the Soul Emergence Third Layer and reached the Fourth Layer.

However, when they were chatting alone,

Wu Tianhao didn’t seem overly joyful.

Shen Changchuan then learned that in order to break through to the Soul Emergence Middle Stage, Wu Tianhao had prematurely used a Secret Technique, which would leave him with significant future complications.

He admitted frankly

that the life-and-death battle back in the Demon Beast Forest had terrified him.

He had been completely powerless against a Demon Cultivator at the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer.

If Shen Changchuan hadn’t been there, he was afraid he would have died.

This had instilled a deep sense of crisis in him.

After all,

the Sect was about to march on the Nanyue Territory and attack the Demon Dao’s lair.

When the all-out war began,

they would surely face countless Demon Cultivators,

and the battles against them would be frequent.

’If I run into a situation like that again, won’t it be certain death?’

Therefore,

he had no choice but to raise his Realm as much as possible.

Although there would be future complications,

those could always be dealt with later by spending time and effort.

But if he lost his life,

it would be gone for good.

Wu Tianhao’s reaction

also made Shen Changchuan’s heart sink a little.

’Even if a large-scale war breaks out, with our strength at the Soul Emergence Realm, we’d be in the middle to upper tiers of the entire battlefield. It’s far better than being cannon fodder in the Qi Introduction Realm, whose fates are not their own. But in this world, there’s always a higher mountain. Those stronger than the Soul Emergence Realm Early Stage are pitifully few compared to the vast numbers in the Qi Introduction Realm, but they still exist. No one can be sure that they won’t have the bad luck of running into a stronger, higher-Realm existence on the battlefield. The only thing we can do is to increase our own strength as much as possible, to have the confidence to face more variables.’

The second matter

was that during this period,

Xiaofeng successfully advanced to the Soul Emergence Realm, becoming a Great Demon of the Soul Emergence Level.

Speaking of which,

Xiaofeng’s rate of advancement would be considered absolutely incredible in the wild.

Just a few years ago, when it was caught by Shen Changchuan and brought under control with the Beast Taming Secret Technique, it was only at the Qi Introduction Sixth Layer Peak.

In just a few short years, it had already advanced to the Soul Emergence Level.

If the Demon Beasts in the wild knew,

their jaws would probably drop in shock.

But this wasn’t actually that strange.

For more than a year,

during Shen Changchuan’s grueling process of mastering Alchemy, he had produced many Wasted Pills and Low-quality Elixirs thick with Elixir Poison, all of which ended up in Xiaofeng’s stomach.

As a Demon Beast,

its constitution was naturally strong, so it wasn’t afraid of Elixir Poison.

Furthermore, Shen Changchuan’s Concentric Vision Technique allowed him to perform an operation somewhat akin to ’Possession,’ helping it with the Refinement of the Wasted Pills and Low-quality Elixirs in its body.

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