[Year 120, you are 137 years old.]
[You safely returned to Jiuli Valley.]
[Inside your Tier 4 cave dwelling, you took out a pile of jade slips and set them in front of Li Yan.]
["Yan'er, these are all musical memory inheritances and insights. One is even a Tier 4 musical memory inheritance... Study them well..."]
[You looked at Li Yan as you spoke.]
["Thank you, Master."]
[Li Yan's beautiful eyes widened. She had gained a great deal from just a brief glance.]
["Master, you must have paid a massive price for these inheritances and insights..." Li Yan looked deeply moved.]
[Although she hadn't interacted much with other cultivators, Li Yan wasn't a fool. She knew everything gained required a price to be paid.]
[Before returning to Wujian Domain, you had taken a trip to Miaoyin Pavilion in Zixiao Domain.]
[This faction was a rare musical arts sect. Every member was a female cultivator, and all possessed high attainments in the musical arts.]
[Because your reputation had already spread, the Pavilion Master welcomed you inside with the utmost respect.]
[You took the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the musical performances of Miaoyin Pavilion's numerous female true persons.]
[The Pavilion Master, likely hoping to replicate the experiences of the pavilion's Tier 4 musical arts founder, sent her most beautiful female true persons to spend the night with you.]
[Naturally, you did not refuse.]
[After a few days of pleasure, you stated your true purpose.]
[You wanted Miaoyin Pavilion's various musical arts inheritances and insights.]
[The Pavilion Master agreed immediately.]
[Of course, you didn't take them for free. You offered many of your own skill inheritances and insights in exchange.]
[Over several simulations, you had memorized countless skill inheritances and insights. Bringing out a few cost you absolutely nothing.]
[Furthermore, to thank Miaoyin Pavilion for their hospitality, you promised to lend a hand if they encountered any danger within the next two hundred years.]
[In reality, through your Divination and your experiences in the fourth simulation, you already knew that Miaoyin Pavilion would not face any danger in the coming centuries.]
["It's only right to pay a small price for Yan'er," you said with a smile.]
["Master..."]
[Deeply moved, Li Yan pressed herself against you.]
[After returning to Jiuli Valley, you went to see True Monarch Beiheng.]
[Following a few years of recuperation, he had mostly recovered.]
[At the same time, you wanted to check on his condition after he refined and absorbed the Blood Roc essence blood.]
["That Blood Roc essence blood is indeed extraordinary. I can feel my physical body slowly transforming. I estimate the process will continue for a hundred years," True Monarch Beiheng said truthfully.]
[You silently made a note of this. With True Monarch Beiheng acting as a guinea pig, you would know what to expect in your next simulation.]
[Returning to your cave dwelling, you began tying up the final loose ends of your trip to the Taiyuan Region.]
[Namely, whether True Monarch Chongtian would return a century from now, and whether he would come looking for you and True Monarch Beiheng after discovering you had killed the Blood Roc...]
[In theory, you felt True Monarch Chongtian wouldn't return. After all, in this simulation, the Blood Roc hadn't wreaked havoc in the Taiyuan Region, so few True Monarchs knew its true background.]
[True Monarch Zixu only sensed that the Blood Roc was a mutant beast king. As for whether it possessed a True Spirit Bloodline, perhaps only Venerable Xuan, another beast king, knew for sure.]
[Without the Blood Roc ravaging the Taiyuan Region a century later, this matter probably wouldn't even reach True Monarch Chongtian's ears.]
[Of course, no matter how confident you were, you still intended to personally confirm it through Divination.]
[Buzz—]
[You took out several divination wonder items and attempted a reading.]
[Your Divination skill was only at the Third-Order High-Grade. If you wanted to divine information at the Nascent Soul level, you would inevitably have to invest your lifespan.]
[However, you had the crucial knowledge that True Monarch Chongtian was collecting True Spirit Bloodline beast king soul essence pills. Using this information as a medium made the process much easier than divining a True Monarch out of thin air.]
[In Divination, mediums were of the utmost importance. Without one, divining out of nowhere drastically increased the difficulty.]
[As you slowly invested your lifespan, your mind merged with the omnipresent heavenly web of fate.]
["True Monarch Chongtian... won't be coming..."]
[Finally, after investing eight years of lifespan, you received a definitive hexagram.]
["Mhm... My Divination skill has also reached the Third-Order Perfected Stage..."]
[Deeply investing lifespan into divination not only allowed you to divine the information you wanted, but it also elevated your Divination skill.]
["Being able to determine the exact movements of a Mid Stage True Monarch by sacrificing a mere eight years of lifespan is also tied to the fact that I am a True Monarch myself now..."]
[You inwardly guessed that ten years of a True Monarch's lifespan was of a far higher quality than ten years of a true person's lifespan.]
[If you were still at the Core Formation Stage, even with the crucial knowledge that True Monarch Chongtian was collecting True Spirit Bloodline beast kings, using it as a medium wouldn't have yielded the conclusion that he wasn't returning unless you invested eighty to a hundred years of lifespan.]
[In Divination, the quality of a True Monarch's lifespan was over ten times that of a true person's.]
["It's a pity that I can't be sure how much lifespan I'd need to invest to break through from the Third-Order Perfected Stage to a Tier 4 Divination grandmaster. If it were less than a hundred years, I'd do it right now!"]
[You sighed inwardly. The number of Tier 4 Divination grandmasters was far lower than the number of Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Stretched over a long enough timeline, their immense influence would probably exceed even that of Mid Stage True Monarchs.]
["I'll take it slow. There's no rush..."]
[You reined in your thoughts and dismissed the matter.]
[Year 130, you are 147 years old.]
[Over forty years had passed since you stepped into the Nascent Soul Stage.]
[Over these forty-odd years, you never slacked off in your cultivation, continuously consuming various Tier 4 medicinal pills.]
[Yet, you had only completed one-fourth of the Early Nascent Soul Stage.]
[And this was with the blessing of the Lotus Heart Seed, which weakened the bottlenecks and shackles you encountered.]
[Without the Lotus Heart Seed, you probably wouldn't have even completed a fifth or a sixth of the way.]
[Year 140, you are 157 years old.]
[Inside the underground karst cave, within the Extreme Cold Deep Pool.]
[You soaked in the water, completely naked.]
[Wisps of profound frigid energy constantly stimulated your physical body, steadily elevating your physique and pushing it closer to a Tier 4 body.]
[Rumble—]
[At a certain moment, the Qi and Blood within your physical body suddenly shifted and surged, as if shattering a bottleneck.]
["Third-Order Perfected Stage physical body..."]
[You opened your eyes, feeling your elevated physique.]
[Fifty or sixty years after stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage, with the assistance of the Extreme Cold Deep Pool, your physical body had finally reached the pinnacle of the third tier.]
[Next, it was time to push for Tier 4.]
[However, breaking through to become a Rank 4 Body Cultivation True Monarch meant facing an even more terrifying Heavenly Thunder Tribulation.]
[You planned to first observe the body cultivators of Jiuli Valley attempt to break through to the fourth tier before making a decision.]
[If you still lacked confidence by then, you wouldn't mind waiting until after stepping into the Mid Nascent Soul Stage to attempt your breakthrough to become a Rank 4 Body Cultivation True Monarch.]
[Year 160, you are 175 years old.]
[Inside your Tier 4 cave dwelling, you sat cross-legged, comprehending the various secret arts and divine abilities of the Mountain and Sea Lineage.]
[The Shanhai Inheritance you had obtained from the Armored Guardian was extremely comprehensive, containing many secret arts and divine abilities you could cultivate.]
[Besides the original Covering Seal and Mountain Overturning Palm, you also cultivated a secret art called Heaven and Earth Net.]
[Leveraging the dense nature of the Mountain and Sea Lineage's mana, this secret art condensed a mana net covering a radius of tens of li. It belonged to the domain-control class of methods.]
["Second Nascent Soul..."]
[You looked at a highly renowned secret art within the Shanhai Inheritance.]
[The Second Nascent Soul secret art!]
[This secret art wasn't exclusive to the Shanhai Inheritance; many other ancient dharma cultivation inheritances had similar techniques.]
[The so-called Second Nascent Soul entailed condensing a new Nascent Soul in addition to your main Nascent Soul.]
[The Second Nascent Soul secret art had immense utility. It could replace the main Nascent Soul to carry out all sorts of dangerous tasks.]
[For you, successfully cultivating the Second Nascent Soul could even cover up a certain weakness of yours.]
[You walked the path of an ancient, top-tier dharma cultivation True Monarch. Your strongest method was your Nascent Soul spirit body leaving your physical body.]
[During those times, with your physical body losing the oversight of your Nascent Soul spirit body, even protection from Spirit Treasures like the Exquisite Pagoda couldn't make it absolutely foolproof.]
[But if a Second Nascent Soul remained to oversee your physical body, this weakness would essentially be resolved.]
[Furthermore, the Second Nascent Soul could increase your margin for error. If the main Nascent Soul encountered deadly peril and perished, as long as the Second Nascent Soul remained, you wouldn't truly die.]
["It's a pity..."]
[You shook your head slightly. The benefits of the Second Nascent Soul secret art were immense, but its restrictions were equally massive.]
[To condense a Second Nascent Soul, you had to use a soul-path spiritual item as a carrier.]
[This soul-path spiritual item needed to be at least Tier 4 High-grade, or even Quasi-Tier-5. Otherwise, condensing a Second Nascent Soul with it would be extremely difficult.]
[Soul-path spiritual items were already rare, let alone Tier 4 High-grade or Quasi-Tier-5 ones.]
[Up until now in Wujian Domain, you hadn't even heard of a Tier 4 soul-path spiritual item.]
[There was indeed a soul-path spiritual item of this level on the reward list of the Ghost Realm Trial Field.]
[But wasting a chance to select a treasure just to cultivate the Second Nascent Soul?]
[Compared to the Second Nascent Soul, a Fourth-Order Late Stage puppet held even greater value.]
[The Second Nascent Soul wouldn't allow you to unleash combat power above your realm, but a Fourth-Order Late Stage puppet could.]
["Never mind. It's not like the Second Nascent Soul is an absolute must to cultivate."]
[You pondered inwardly.]
[Although it could increase your margin for error and cover your weaknesses...]
[...Tier 4 High-grade soul-path spiritual items were simply too rare. Even if a True Monarch obtained one, they would definitely keep it for their own use.]
[Many Nascent Soul Stage True Monarchs knew about the Second Nascent Soul secret art. Even those who didn't were very clear on the value of a Tier 4 High-grade soul-path spiritual item.]
[Year 170, you are 187 years old.]
["Tier 4 talisman Dao..."]
[You looked at the Tier 4 talisman you had drawn.]
[This Tier 4 talisman wasn't a dharma talisman, but one you had drawn using your own talisman Dao skill.]
[Independently drawing a Tier 4 talisman meant your talisman Dao skill had stepped into the fourth tier, making you a talisman Dao grandmaster.]
["My second Tier 4 skill!"]
[A smile surfaced on your face.]
[Looking across the massive Wujian Domain and the surrounding large domains,]
[there were Tier 4 alchemists.]
[There were Tier 4 talisman masters as well.]
[But a True Monarch who was both a Tier 4 alchemist and a Tier 4 talisman master?]
[There were none.]
[At the very least, you had never heard of one.]
[Even for a Nascent Soul True Monarch, mastering a Tier 4 skill required favorable timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony.]
[Nascent Soul True Monarchs also needed time to cultivate. Mastering two Tier 4 skills? That was simply too rare.]
[You steadied your mind and peered inward at your dantian.]
[At the center of your dantian, naturally, sat your chubby Nascent Soul spirit body.]
[Beside the Nascent Soul spirit body grew a nine-colored lotus flower.]
[It was the blossomed form of the Lotus Heart Seed.]
[Further away, fifty talismans exuding astonishing spiritual pressure circled around them.]
[Nearly a century after stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage, these fifty dharma talismans had naturally evolved to the Rank 4 Middle Grade.]
["With my Tier 4 talisman Dao skill, I won't have to start nurturing new dharma talismans from the Third-Order High-Grade anymore."]
[You were in a great mood. Mastering a Tier 4 talisman Dao skill not only gave you an extra method, but it also elevated your resource-earning ability to the next level.]
[Year 173, you are 190 years old.]
[True Monarch Beiheng came to find you, mentioning that for the next thirty years, Jiuli Valley could dispatch a True Monarch to guard the Demon Cave.]
[In Wujian Domain, there existed a Demon Cave that connected to the Demon Abyss Realm. It was a small-scale passageway capable of allowing demons approaching the fourth tier to enter the Human Realm.]
[At the end of the ancient era, this Demon Cave had been sealed by human cultivators, blocking the endless hordes of demons on the other side.]
[However, every thousand years or so, the demons on the other side would launch an assault on the seal. This would cause it to loosen, allowing quite a few demons the opportunity to enter the Human Realm.]
[During each period when the seal loosened, guarding the Demon Cave was considered a highly lucrative assignment for True Monarchs.]
[First, the passageway connected by the Demon Cave was only a small-scale one. Even without the seal, it could at most allow demons nearing the fourth tier to enter, posing absolutely no threat to a True Monarch.]
[Furthermore, obstructed by the seal, the demons had no way to launch a large-scale invasion. They could only squeeze through in batches of dozens or hundreds. To a True Monarch standing guard outside the Demon Cave, this was practically a buffet delivered right to their mouth.]
[If one demon came, they would harvest one; if ten came, they would harvest ten.]
[The demons capable of passing through the small-scale passageway were at least at the first tier, with many at the second and third tiers as well.]
[Third-tier demons still held considerable value to Nascent Soul True Monarchs.]
[Coupled with their sheer numbers—where a change in quantity led to a change in quality—every Nascent Soul True Monarch was naturally eager to guard the Demon Cave during this period.]
[Demons were similar to demonic beasts. Their physical bodies, divine souls, essence blood, bones, and internal organs were all resources.]
["Fellow Daoist Beiheng, you're not going?"]
[Your tone carried surprise. Logically speaking, it should be True Monarch Beiheng going to guard the Demon Cave. After all, it was a highly profitable venture.]
["I am currently putting all my effort into refining and absorbing the Blood Roc essence blood, so it isn't suitable for me to take action. Besides, is there any difference between Fellow Daoist Qingyuan going to guard it and me guarding it?"]
[True Monarch Beiheng said.]
["Alright, I'll set off immediately."]
[You nodded slightly.]
[Heading to guard the Demon Cave this time wasn't just to make a huge profit.]
[You also wanted to test whether the demons from the Demon Abyss Realm would be suppressed by you as well.]
[Your purple talent, Natural Enemy of Demonic Cultivators, claimed to suppress all demonic cultivators in the world.]
[You wanted to determine whether the demons of the Demon Abyss Realm counted as demonic cultivators.]
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