Southwest of the State of Liang, Mount Cangyue.
This mountain lay within a mountain range stretching for thousands of li, its peaks brimming with spiritual vitality, gathering auspiciousness and fortune.
The main peak, Luoyun Peak, was shrouded year-round in rising mist and clouds—a true scene of an immortal blessed land.
This place was the mountain gate of the Luoyang Sect, a Cultivation Sect renowned throughout the entire cultivation world of the State of Liang.
Although it could not compare to the Qingxu Sect and the Hidden Sword Pavilion, it easily ranked third among the five great immortal sects of the State of Liang, firmly suppressing the Joyous Union Sect and the Spirit Beast Sect.
In the eyes of ordinary Rogue Cultivators and cultivator families, it was a colossal entity that could not be provoked.
On this day.
At Tiandu Peak of Mount Cangyue, within the courtyard complex of the outer sect disciples.
A youth lying motionless on the ground, dressed in the outer sect disciple attire of the Luoyang Sect, suddenly twitched and sat up.
Before the bewildered youth could figure out where he was or what had happened, a massive flood of residual memories surged into his mind. His vision went black, unable to withstand the overwhelming influx of information, and he fainted once more.
…
One month later.
The youth, now named Fang Ping—a transmigrator from another world—walked in with a calm expression, having just completed an outer sect disciple’s chore.
The Luoyang Sect was a major Sect, after all. Even outer sect disciples were assigned their own individual courtyards.
The small courtyard was protected by a simple restriction. It only served to block outsiders from casually entering and could not even be considered a basic Formation, but it at least provided the disciples with a rare sliver of private space.
Using his disciple identity token to open the restriction, he entered the courtyard and finally breathed a sigh of relief, his expression relaxing slightly.
Over this period, he had gradually adapted to his new identity without arousing anyone’s suspicion. A few days ago, he had finally sorted through the chaotic influx of memories and understood exactly what had happened to the original owner of this body.
Body Seizing!
To be precise, a Nascent Soul cultivator who had been severely injured while exploring an ancient ruin was forced to abandon his physical body and flee with his Nascent Soul. Unfortunately, he happened to stumble upon the original owner of this body and prepared to seize it for rebirth.
However, that Nascent Soul cultivator, who called himself Perfected Qingyang, had sustained injuries so grievous that even his Nascent Soul was on the verge of shattering.
Furthermore, Body Seizing was an act that defied the heavens, inevitably drawing unseen tribulations.
As a result, a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator unexpectedly perished together with the original body—a mere outer sect disciple of the Luoyang Sect at the second level of Qi Condensation!
It just so happened that at this exact moment, Fang Ping, who had suddenly died from working 996 overtime in another world, transmigrated over and picked up a new body for free. He was able to replace the original soul and continue living.
“I have to say, Perfected Qingyang was truly unlucky…”
Recalling it now, Fang Ping could not help but feel a trace of pity for that great cultivator who had lived for over eight hundred years.
Even if he had luckily survived the tribulation and successfully completed the Body Seizing, he would have immediately discovered an even more despairing fact: this body’s Cultivation aptitude was terribly low, merely at the level of a Four-Attribute Spirit Root, and of exceedingly poor quality.
It was only a hair stronger than the most mediocre five-attribute spirit root aptitude.
Trying to cultivate his way back to the Nascent Soul realm would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Under normal circumstances, the original owner of this body would not have even qualified to become an outer sect disciple of the Luoyang Sect.
He had only bypassed the assessments and procedures to directly enter the outer sect by relying on a bit of legacy left behind by an elder who had died fighting for the Luoyang Sect.
“Perishing together on the spot might not have been a bad thing for that Perfected Qingyang. Otherwise, discovering the enormous disparity after the Body Seizing might have plunged him into even deeper despair.”
But all things in the world were balanced.
Perfected Qingyang and the original body suffered terrible luck, which meant someone else had to reap the benefits.
Because the Body Seizing failed, Perfected Qingyang’s true spirit was completely annihilated. Out of the countless cultivation methods and Dao arts he had mastered, not a single one was passed down.
However, a supreme treasure swept along by Perfected Qingyang’s Nascent Soul was left behind.
Thinking of this, Fang Ping released an ancient Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron from his Dantian.
This treasure cauldron originated from an ancient ruin known as the Yuanshi Sect.
Before Perfected Qingyang perished, he had made an agreement with six other Nascent Soul cultivators to jointly explore that ruin. After discovering the leftover treasures in the Yuanshi Sect’s pill hall, the various Nascent Soul cultivators engaged in a vicious battle.
Perfected Qingyang’s strength was not weak, but he was too greedy. Even after snatching a ten-thousand-year spiritual herb, he remained unsatisfied and actually reached for this most eye-catching treasure cauldron.
In the chaotic melee, he did indeed manage to snatch the Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron, but this also drew the combined attacks of all the other Nascent Soul cultivators, which included two late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivators.
The result was predictable. Perfected Qingyang perished on the spot. Forced to abandon his physical body, his Nascent Soul swept up the treasure cauldron and used the spatial rift triggered by the Self-Destruction of his life-bound Dharma Treasure to luckily traverse the void, getting transported to the cultivation world of the State of Liang.
What followed was the scene where the original body’s possession was attempted.
According to the remaining fragments of Perfected Qingyang’s memories, that Yuanshi Sect ruin was exceptionally terrifying.
Even after ten thousand years, its internal layout could still easily slaughter Nascent Soul cultivators.
Furthermore, the pill hall they had explored was only a small part of the ruin. The Sect’s main peak was protected by separate restrictions, which even the combined efforts of the Nascent Soul cultivators could not shake.
The background of this ancient great sect, which had collapsed for unknown reasons, was likely far more astonishing than Perfected Qingyang had ever guessed!
“A treasure cauldron that could incite Nascent Soul great cultivators into a death match, and one that Perfected Qingyang would rather Self-Destruct his life-bound Dharma Treasure to escape with—just what grade of treasure is it?”
In Fang Ping’s impression, the Golden Core ancestors in the State of Liang’s cultivation world would be fortunate to possess even a few Dharma Treasures.
To own a single Low Grade spirit treasure was a foundation profound enough to suppress the Providence of a Sect.
Yet this Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron might very well be an existence that surpassed spirit treasures.
“But what on earth is the use of such a mysterious supreme treasure—a treasure cauldron that I can easily store inside my body?”
Looking at the Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron in front of him, Fang Ping could not help but feel quite perplexed.
Since transmigrating, he had repeatedly tested and probed the cauldron’s functions.
He had channeled Spiritual Power into it, dripped blood to claim ownership, roasted it with spirit fire, and even tried asking if there was a ring-grandpa spirit or some kind of system interface inside, but no matter what he tried, he received zero response.
“Is my strength too weak and my realm insufficient to activate the treasure cauldron? Or have I simply not found the right trigger?”
Logically speaking, since it was a treasure cauldron found in a pill hall, it was highly likely related to pill refining.
Could it be that he needed to try his hand at that?
For a moment, Fang Ping was somewhat undecided.
The Dao of Pills was vast and profound, ranking among the foremost of the hundred cultivation arts and carrying an extremely high barrier to entry. Only a discipline like the Dao of Formations, which stood at the top of the craft pecking order, could rank above it.
A saying had always circulated within the State of Liang’s cultivation world: The Dao of Pills bankrupts three generations, while artifact refining ruins a lifetime.
This meant that unless one possessed peerless talent, becoming an artifact refiner required a cultivator to expend a lifetime’s worth of effort.
And the price of grooming a pill master was even more staggering. It required the combined efforts of three generations of a cultivator family, and success was still not guaranteed!
Amidst his hesitation, Fang Ping recalled his own dreadful aptitude—a Four-Attribute Spirit Root of exceptionally poor quality.
The early stages of Qi Condensation were still manageable, with his strength improving at a relatively fast pace.
However, reaching the middle and late stages of Qi Condensation, with his aptitude, every single layer of advancement could easily take five or even ten years to achieve.
It was common knowledge that the optimal age for a Qi Condensation cultivator to attempt Foundation Establishment was no older than sixty. Otherwise, due to the decay of the physical body and vitality, the success rate would plummet continuously.
This body was already over twenty years old. Giving himself the maximum possible allowance, the time he had left was merely forty years.
And this did not even account for the minor Bottlenecks that might exist between the mid and late stages of Qi Condensation, nor the various preparations required for Foundation Establishment after reaching the ninth level of Qi Condensation.
If those factors were included, he had even less time left.
Relying solely on bitter cultivation would be far from enough!
“The Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron… the Dao of Pills!”
Fang Ping pondered for a moment, and a decision gradually took root in his heart.
He planned to tentatively try his hand at the Dao of Pills to confirm whether this Purple-Gold Treasure Cauldron could actually help him.
If it couldn’t, he would decisively cut his losses.
This decision might drag down his cultivation progress for the foreseeable future. But even so, Fang Ping had to make the attempt.
He had a distinct feeling that this mysterious treasure cauldron most likely contained an astonishing secret!