Chapter 85: Formless Treasure Body Scripture
Chapter 85: Formless Treasure Body Scripture
“Upon reaching the high rank within the Breath Refining Realm, one begins to circulate their Internal Breath to strengthen their physical body…”
“And when Refining Breath reaches completion, the foundation for the Treasure Body is already laid, allowing one to actually achieve the Treasure Body half a step faster than others?”
After finishing his lessons for the day, Fang Cun was still recalling the knowledge imparted by Master Lan Shuang earlier. He deeply felt that having a teacher guiding him was truly worlds apart from not having one. Traveling the same cultivation path, but because of the emphasis on certain crucial points, the careful allocation of effort… it could indeed allow him to advance faster than others at certain times…
“What Master Lan Shuang pointed out is indeed the biggest challenge I currently face…”
“Except… if I truly cultivate this way, my only option in the future will be to join the Nine Immortals Sect…”
“…”
“…”
Holding these thoughts, Fang Cun returned to the Fang Residence. After finishing dinner, he settled down calmly to think.
He first mentally reviewed the method imparted by Master Lan Shuang. The deeper he pondered, the more he felt the profound mystery of the Nine Immortals Sect’s Moonlight Body. Ordinary Foundation Establishment and Treasure Body, upon achieving success, merely grant a physique and strength surpassing ordinary mortals – transcending the mortal frame and mastering the five qi. This Moonlight Body, however, clearly stood above the five qi by a level.
And this was only the foundation!
After successfully cultivating the Moonlight Body, one could then cultivate supernatural arts and combat techniques rooted in this Treasure Body, vastly increasing one’s means of facing enemies!
Compared to the Breath Refining Realm, an ordinary Treasure Body entered an entirely new realm.
And cultivating this Moonlight Body? Compared to an ordinary Treasure Body, it yet again entered another, even higher realm!
Of course, even putting all that aside, the half-step head start Master Lan Shuang had helped him gain was exceptionally valuable in itself.
Following his current pace, he could reach the pinnacle of the Breath Refining Realm in just over a month. Reaching that stage, forging the Treasure Body would become another difficult challenge. Meng Zhixue had started cultivating her Treasure Body a year ago and was only halfway through. If he only had half a month left… what chance did he have to fully cultivate his Treasure Body before leaving the academy?
This half-step head start significantly increased his chances.
“Yet… should I truly just accept this favor bestowed upon me by Master Lan Shuang?”
Fang Cun sat cross-legged on his couch, calmly considering.
“Young Master…”
Just as Fang Cun’s internal decision hung in the balance, a soft call came from outside his door. It was Steward Huang.
“What is it?”
Fang Cun retracted his Internal Breath and asked calmly.
He knew that after his explicit instructions, Old Steward Huang wouldn’t dare disturb him in his private chambers without a critical reason.
“Someone just called, claiming to deliver… the late… Great Young Master’s belongings!”
Old Steward Huang’s voice held an unmistakable tremor.
Shua!
Fang Cun’s eyes snapped open wide. His pupils constricted slightly, “My brother’s belongings?”
……
For a fleeting moment, countless questions flashed through his mind. But he swiftly rose, left his room, and followed Old Steward Huang to a gazebo in the outer courtyard. On the stone table within the gazebo rested a black box. There was no one else there. Asking Old Steward Huang, he learned the visitor had delivered the box, stated their purpose, and immediately departed. Servants who chased after didn’t catch sight of anyone.
Fang Cun glanced around, noticed Xiao Qingliu was missing too, and thought it best not to inquire further.
He frowned, fixing his gaze on the black box. After a long while, he slowly raised his hand and reached towards the lid.
“Young Master…”
Old Steward Huang suddenly called out, his voice trembling. He stepped in front of Fang Cun, turning back with a pleading look: “Allow me!”
Fang Cun saw his worry. After a moment of silence, he nodded gently.
Old Steward Huang’s trembling hand rested on the lid. He hesitated, then added, “Or perhaps… Young Master should step back a little further?”
“Unnecessary. Just open it.”
Upon Fang Cun’s command, Old Steward Huang took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut briefly, and then yanked the lid open!
The instant it opened, he leapt backwards, arms flung wide as if shielding Fang Cun from any sudden change lurking within the box.
Inside the box, however, lay only perfect silence. Nothing stirred at all.
Old Steward Huang, eyes still closed, braced himself for several long heartbeats. Finally seeing no ill omen, he cautiously relaxed. He craned his neck to peer inside the box, his expression shifting to bafflement. He turned back to Fang Cun: “Young Master, this box… it seems to contain a… a scripture?”
Fang Cun tilted his head slightly, “A scripture?”
Old Steward Huang nodded vigorously, “Yes! Called… the Formless Treasure Body Scripture?”
“The Formless Treasure Body Scripture?”
Fang Cun’s brow arched ever so slightly. He stepped forward, concentrating on the scripture inside the box. It was a handwritten text with white covers. On the topmost page were written the characters for Formless Treasure Body Scripture. And looking at the handwriting—
—Fang Cun’s heart skipped a beat. It was unmistakably his brother’s handwriting!
……
“General Lord, the scripture has been delivered!”
At that very moment, outside Willow Lake City, upon the vast expanse of the eight-hundred-mile Willow Lake, a small boat cleaved the emerald waves. Inside the boat, a figure wearing a bamboo hat leisurely cooked a fresh fish, sitting alone and savoring his drink. Hearing the subordinate’s report, he remained impassive, merely emitting a soft “Hmm.” He raised the small wine cup to his lips, closing his eyes calmly. What thoughts occupied his mind was anyone’s guess.
The subordinate, having just returned after delivering the scripture, hesitated, then asked cautiously, “Do you think… will he cultivate it?”
“He certainly will!”
The figure sitting alone with his wine only spoke after a pause, his voice carrying a light chuckle. “After all, it was personally written by his own brother.”
“But…” The subordinate hesitated again, “But… it’s merely a discarded scripture, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily!”
The man, sitting in quietude, finally murmured after a while, “How could the renowned Immortal Master Fang Chi of Great Xia, having labored three long years upon its creation, personally declaring it the Formless Treasure Body Scripture crafted for the countless common folk of Great Xia… how could that be nothing but a discarded scripture?”
“Haven’t the Four Divine Kings, the Seven Princes, even His Majesty the Immortal Emperor,” the subordinate ventured softly, “already selected cultivators to practice this path? And regardless of the talent, cultivation base, character, or the vast resources consumed… the end results were all… less than promising. Now, many claim it truly is a discarded scripture. The Treasure Body Method recorded within seems only comparable to the Five Qi Body Refining Art – the utmost widespread, yet lowest fifth-tier Treasure Body art in Great Xia. Forget competing with the Imperial Clan’s Celestial Body, the Jade Body of the Daoists or the Golden Body of the Buddhists… even the most rudimentary five qi methods surpass it…”
“If Treasure Bodies were rankable, the fifth tier would hold the Five Qi Body Refining Art. This Formless Treasure Body…” The subordinate paused briefly, his voice growing even quieter, “…appears to rank below the fifth tier. One might call it… sixth.”
“That’s merely the judgment of ordinary minds…” The General Lord, hearing this, let out a light laugh. “Do you think so too?”
The subordinate hesitated, whispering carefully, “According to the view generally held by the esteemed Lords in Zhaoge, while the Immortal Master Fang Chi of Great Xia possessed unparalleled natural talent, he was still far too young. Calculating from the womb, his accumulation of cultivation experience spanned scarcely thirty years. Learning the methods of others? He might have been astonishingly brilliant. But to derive an entirely new method? His foundation was far too shallow. Any profound art requires generations of accumulation, tempered over millennia. His art sprang merely from a sudden idea; its essence is fundamentally mediocre…”
“Generally held?” The General Lord fell silent for a time, then suddenly laughed. “If they truly considered it mediocre, they likely wouldn’t exhaust such effort scouring the world for extraordinary talents to practice it, hoping to unearth its hidden marvels! Perhaps in some eyes, it is merely discarded scripture. But placed before mediocre observers, wouldn’t even the most profound art appear to be discarded scripture?”
Gulp…
The subordinate swallowed hard upon hearing this, seeming rather frightened. After a pause, he said, “But delivering this method to the Fang Manor so readily… won’t it… won’t it invite some terrible consequence?”
“Hah. Even if we didn’t deliver it, others inevitably would.” The General Lord chuckled faintly. “In his final years, the Immortal Master held too many mysteries others failed to grasp. The method he left behind, though rigorously deduced to seem worthless, still prompted those great figures to squander the lifeblood resources and futures of hundreds of Immortal Seedlings pursuing it. All just to see if it contained secrets others misunderstood. But those so-called celestial seedlings… how could they ever compare to one who shared flesh and blood with the Immortal Master himself? If anyone holds a hope of uncovering the subtle wonders within this method, it can only be him!”
“It’s simply that… those great figures guard their reputations. Precisely because so many eyes are fixed upon the Fang Family of Willow Lake, they cannot openly hand this publicly acknowledged discard to the Immortal Master’s brother, fearing the reputation of harming him. Our delivering it thus… plays directly into their expectations. Even had we not done it…” he chuckled softly, “…believe me, within a year, at least five copies would find their way to the Fang Manor.”
The subordinate swallowed again, barely audible: “But if it truly is a useless method… what would become of the Second Young Master of the Fang Family?”
“Impossible…” The General Lord let out a light laugh, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “The Little Immortal Master Fang Chi’s divine powers shook the world. He alone, by fortunate chance, entered the Heavenly Secret Mansion – into which even those from the Imperial Clan’s Beyond the Heavens couldn’t venture. He laid eyes upon the Primordial Heart of Dao…” He paused for a long while before the final words drifted like an echo.
“…Tell me. Just what did he truly… obtain?”
……
A long bamboo pole extended from the boat, dipped into the water, tapped lightly. Suddenly, like an arrow, the small craft shot away, vanishing into the enveloping mist.