“A Connate Spirit Wood? Spirit Core? What are those?” King of Elixirs heard Chen Fan’s murmur and was confused.
The so-called Connate Spirit Trees were trees that lived for over ten thousand years. After they had passed their Thunder Tribulation, they could shed their mortal coil and exist in the world as a Connate Spirit, or sometimes it even took up a human form and possessed many unimaginable Immortal Enlightenment abilities.
Chen Fan waved a hand as he explained.
The Spirit Core was buried under countless herbs, however, it rose into the air as if it was snatched up by an invisible hand. As it slowly made its way toward Chen Fan, King of Elixirs could finally see what had sent Chen Fan into elation.
The so-called Spirit Core looked like a dark charred wooden chunk. However, the surface of the wooden chunk was smooth like rocks on the river bank, making it look like a wooden egg.
King of Elixirs had no time to marvel at Chen Fan’s telekinesis ability. Surprise and confusion was written all over his face. “Ten thousand year old tree? What kind of tree can live that long? Plus, you were saying that the tree can exist in its spirit form and can transform into a human shape? Do you mean like the Tree Sprite in folklore? Could it be considered an Earth Immortal?”
“Sort of, Any Connate beings would definitely be considered deity in their own rights.”
Chen Fan said lightly
After some time, the wooden egg had made its way to Chen Fan and it fitted nicely in Chen Fan’s palm. Despite its small size, it was surprisingly heavy. It was at least ten times heavier than the heaviest wood such as ebony, making it denser than even iron.
“I believe whoever found this Spirit Core had found it with the Spirit Wood that Zhou Jin Yi had offered me. However, they must not have noticed the energy inside the core, therefore they had thought it was a regular piece of wood and had chucked it at the corner of the storage and forgot about it.” Chen Fan thought to himself.
When Zhou Jin Yi showed Chen Fan the Connate Spirit Wood, he had already suspected that the Medicine God Valley Sect had collected more than just one piece of wood from a Connate Spirit Tree. A regular Connate Spirit Tree could grow up to a few hundred meters tall and the crown itself could cover over a few thousand square kilometers.
If the Medicine God Valley Sect had stumbled upon the remains of such a mammoth tree, they must have collected more than just a small chunk of wood. However, Chen Fan didn’t think that the Medicine God Valley Sect would have also collected the Spirit Core by accident.
“The tree was a deity?” King of Elixirs was stunned by the revelation.
If a tree was really able to live over tens of thousands of years, it must have passed numerous trials and tribulations. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that it had long since become sentient and gained immortality. The Tree Sprite in the legends could even fight against heavenly guards and generals.
“Mr. Chen, what is a Spirit Core?” King of Elixirs asked cautiously.
He registered that Chen Fan cared a lot about this Spirit Core. He wagered that the Spirit Core was worth more than the combined value of all the herbs in this room.
“Spirit Trees can live for tens of thousands of years and can reach over a few hundred meters tall. At the center of its trunk was the Spirit Core. Inside the Spirit Core, was half of its Spirit Qi as well as vitality. In other words, it’s the life source of the Spirit Tree. Even if the tree was destroyed, as long as the core was replanted into the earth, the Spirit Tree would quickly grow back again.” Chen Fan explained patiently.
“So this Spirit Core contained the essence of the Tree Sprite?” King of Elixirs exclaimed loudly.
“Yes, you can say so.” Chen Fan nodded.
Any being that had reached the Connate Spirit level, let it be a human cultivator, a tree, a beast or a cultivator of an alien race, they would have formed a vitality core inside of them during cultivation. This core contained half of their energy and vitality. Only by destroying this core, could one really kill a Connate Spirit being.
For the cultivators, this core was called an Essence Core. After countless refinement, the Essence Core could transform into a nearly indestructible Golden Core. By then, a cultivator would finally reach the Golden Core level. With the Golden Core, one could travel in space without any spacecraft and demolish space ships with their bare hands. They could also live thousands of years without falling ill.
“So it was the Demon Core of a ten-thousand-year-old Tree Sprite!”
Envy burned in King of Elixirs’s eyes. He wished he could take back the gift from Chen Fan’s hands.
He had been sulking ever since Chen Fan made it clear that he was going to plunder the sect of its thousand-year-old herbs. Now he was dealt another blow after knowing he had to give away a ten-thousand-year-old Demon Core. His heart was filled with regret and remorse.
“Very well, you can get out now. I need to cultivate alone in peace.” Chen Fan put away the wooden egg to conceal it from King of Elixirs glare. He said lightly, “During my seclusion-cultivation, do not disturb me for anything, or anyone.”
“Yes, Immortal Master Chen. ”
Despite the remorse that filled up the heart of King of Elixirs, he dared not defy Chen Fan. Therefore, he lowered his head and backed out of the room after he answered Chen Fan obediently.
When Chen Fan was alone in the medicine storage, he picked a random spot and sat down to start the Void Mortal Refinement Art. Slowly, the Spirit Qi was drawn out of the herbs and pour into his system. The Void Mortal Refinement Art refined it and sent it right into his Dao Body.
“There are over a few thousand precious herbs and the amount of Spirit Qi could even rival that of the Yun Wu Mountain.” Chen Fan cracked a smile and then took out the wooden egg.
Still, the sight of the Spirit Core made him feel light-hearted.
He had expected to find a few thousand year old Spirit Medicines to help him lick off the Dao Body formation. Just like any cultivation progression, the Dao Body was separated into many levels. A Connate Cultivator would have reached the initial success of Dao Body, and was able to withstand military bombardment. However, Chen Fan didn’t expect even to achieve initial success since it would require much more Spirit Qi than those in thousand year old herbs. He had expected to reach the Introductory level at the most.
However, things were looking better than he had expected since he had obtained a Connate Spirit Wood’s Core. It made him hopeful that he could make it to the Initial success of the Dao Body
“The Connate Spirit Wood had gathered Spirit Qi for over ten thousand years, and therefore its core contained ten times more Spirit Qi than even most Connate Spirit Beings. Despite the slow leak of Spirit Qi over the ages, it should still have enough Spirit Qi to recharge a Connate Cultivator’s system.” Chen Fan examined the wooden egg carefully with his Immortal Will.
The owner of the wooden egg must have been long gone, otherwise, he or she would never allow Chen Fan so much as to touch it. He was hard pressed to believe that the previous owner would not fight to the death to retrieve the core and replant the Connate Tree if he or she was still alive.
“This much Spirit Qi should help me to achieve Initial success of my Connate Body. Since the core was from a Connate Spirit Tree, I should follow the same wood element while I cultivate my Dao Body.”
Chen Fan started to recall all the previous cultivation techniques he had learned that related to the Wood Element.
The Connate Body or, Dao Body was divided into different categories based on the type of elements. A normal cultivator could only achieve a normal Dao Body of no element attached to it. These Dao Bodies could greatly strengthen the cultivator’s physique, prolong their life for over hundreds of years and allow them to connect to the Essence Qi of Heaven and Earth. However, once one reached beyond the Dao Body, they would form Spirit Body and that was where the different types of elements came to play. A Spirit Body of a certain element would excel at bending and manipulating such element.
“The Dao Body was a jack of all trades and master of none. On the other hand, the Spirit Body was like an expert who specialized in only one area. For example, the sentient beings formed by Essence Qi would always have a certain elements attack to them, and thus when they use the art of the same element, they could become extremely powerful.”
Chen Fan knew that there were as many stars as there were different kinds of Spirit Bodies in the universe.
A billion different kinds of Essence Qi would give birth to a billion unique Spirit Bodies. He knew in total a hundred and seventy thousand and two hundred different kinds of methods to cultivate the Spirit Body. The most common branch of the cultivation method was the Method of Five Elements. Under the Method of Five Elements, there were seven hundred and eighty-nine different methods specifically for the wood element.
“Wood Element was one of the most popular elements of choice. A different cultivation technique would result in a very different Spirit Body. These differences even affected the Immortal Enlightenment abilities. Just like the Spirit Body, the Immortal Enlightenment abilities also came with numerous ranks and levels. The most powerful Spirit Body that was cultivated using divine cultivation technique would be much stronger than those formed using run of the mill methods.”
Chen Fan recalled that he had followed the most popular cultivation method, the Art of Seventh Gold in his past life. The Dharma Body formed by the Art of Seventh Gold was one of the lowest grades among Spirit Bodies. However, Chen Fan was still able to dominate the Cang Min World and remained invincible. In the end, he emerged from the Cang Min Realm and became Immortal Cultivator Cangqin’s seventh Inner Circle Disciple.
Once he started to cultivate under the True Martial Immortal Sect officially, he formed the True Martial Sacred Body.
As one of the most powerful Immortal Sects, the True Martial Sacred Body was one of the most powerful forms in the universe, and therefore it was given the name “Sacred Body”
“However, the amount of Spirit Qi required to achieve the True Martial Sacred Body was more than the total amount of Spirit Qi on earth. That wasn’t just any Dao Body, it was the invincible Sacred Body!” Chen Fan lamented.
Luckily, he knew a method to switch his art to another one. Therefore he wagered that he still has a chance to form the True Martial Sacred Body as he did in his past life.
Right now, his priority was to find an Art that was best in the wood element category.
“Yi Wood Body….it’s a low-grade Spirit Body. It is formed by Yi Wood Art. It would spur the growing plant and boost the cultivation speed. Capable of self-healing and healing others.”
“Green Flower Sword Body; one of the Green Flower Sect’s Sword type Spirit Bodies. It would increase the physique of the cultivator as if the cultivator was using a Dharma Treasure. It came with the Art of Green Flower Blade Aura. It was a Blade Aura formed by True Essence inside of cultivator and could be projected outward for a distance up to a few hundred meters. Sort of like the Art of Flying Sword. ”
“The Body of Wax and Wane. It is a Buddhism Art. In order to achieve this body, one would need to grasp the real meaning of the riddle ‘Wax and Wane and Everything in Between’ People who cultivate this art often had shriveled skins since they would tend to hide their True Essence inside of their body saving them for the last moment. They were much more powerful than cultivators of similar levels and were granted one chance to resurrect. Even if their physical body had perished, they could be reborn amidst the fire. It also came with special Immortal Enlightenment ability: Eyes of the Wax and Wane. It could see through any lies or deceit.”
“The Spirit Body of Forever Spring formed by the Art of Forever Spring. It doesn’t have any special Immortal Enlightenment abilities but it could make the cultivator live three times longer than their counterparts. Making them as long-lived as a Golden Core level cultivator.”
Chen Fan recalled each and every Wood Element Art. Some were from traditional and righteous Immortal Cultivation Sects, some were from more unsavory and unorthodox covenants. There were even arts for Spirit Beasts and for the mystic race of Wood Spirits.
He studied each and every one of them, paying attention to their requirements. Most of them required the cultivator to be in specific locations or obtaining specific cultivation resources or have enlightenment over a specific aspect of life.
“I think the Green Flower Sword Body suits my needs the most. It’s quite similar to the Seventh Gold Dharma Body that I have cultivated last life. Maybe I should go with it.” Even as Chen Fan thought to himself, he caught a glimpse of something interesting: “Azure Thearch Longevity Body. The most powerful art in the Branch of Five Elements. Need to follow the Art of Azure Thearch Longevity Art. One of the Sacred Body in the Branch of Five Elements.”