Chapter Eighteen: The Yin Spirit Method of Three Souls and Seven Spirits

With a single breath, he drew in all the spiritual energy within a hundred feet, swallowed it into his abdomen, circulated it through the myriad acupoints, infiltrated his limbs and bones, extracted its essence, and gathered it in his mind, where it was refined once more and directed into the meridians throughout his body.

As his spirit grew stronger, the spiritual energy and his vitality finally converged within his organs, transforming into Qi.

When the Qi was fully refined, it became the foundation of all arts—arts forged by the heart and gathered by the spirit.

At last—

A faint sound, like a gentle sigh, arose. A few golden sparks gradually spilled from the back of Luo Ancestor’s head, his chest, abdomen, and limbs.

The golden light slowly converged three inches above Luo Ancestor’s head, finally becoming a cluster of clear energy.

The clear energy was ethereal, seeming at once mist and light, containing countless mysteries.

“Luo.”

“Ancestor.”

Two crisp voices echoed from within the clear energy.

Then the clear energy took on a new form—not formless or chaotic, but gradually assuming Luo Ancestor’s visage, becoming his likeness.

Yet this form lasted only for three breaths; the Luo Ancestor shaped from clear energy collapsed, and the golden sparks returned to his body.

“It can be considered a success,” Luo Ancestor exhaled a long, turbid breath.

Two days had passed. Luo Ancestor had spread the cultivation method he gained from the wooden body throughout the world within the gourd, then accelerated time within that realm.

This time, the speed surpassed five hundredfold—his absolute limit. Now, one day in the gourd-world equaled five hundred days, and three days equaled more than fifteen hundred days.

This was nearly five years, condensed into three days.

But it could not be called a hasty passage of time; each day in those five years was rich and vibrant.

Especially for the miniature human race within the gourd-world, it was a time of climax and upheaval.

From the ascension of the Martial Saint of Wood, leaving behind a golden body, to the declaration by his disciple that the ascension was false, prompting all heroes to reassess the path of cultivation.

On the day the Martial Saint of Wood ascended, it wasn’t only his disciples who witnessed it; many others watched from afar, seeing the spectacle but unable to hear the Saint’s final words.

So, two voices arose in the world: some believed the disciple, others suspected him of seeking to monopolize the Saint’s legacy.

Thus the world was thrown into chaos.

Then Luo Ancestor introduced the cultivation of the Dao-seed to the martial world within the gourd.

The realm boiled over.

No one listened to the words of the Martial Saint’s disciple anymore.

Those already on the verge of breakthrough leapt forward, reaching this new stage and forming a Dao-seed.

Unlike Wood, they did not merge their spirit with the heavens and earth, but followed Luo Ancestor’s method, drawing their spirit back into their flesh, restoring their lost vitality, and thus no longer needing to pursue so-called ascension.

During this time, Luo Ancestor observed each breakthrough, experienced every process, eliminated useless steps, and innovated, finally creating a new method.

He also combined the Dao-seed cultivation with visualization, merging them into the Three Souls, Seven Spirits, and Yin Spirit method.

This resulted in his current Yin Spirit form.

Thus, his refining Qi and transformation of spirit progressed anew.

Originally, Luo Ancestor’s plan for refining Qi and transforming spirit was to gradually strengthen his spirit, eventually achieving an out-of-body experience.

However, the primordial spirit out-of-body experience he once imagined was unattainable; by his calculations, perhaps only with the refinement of the void and union with the Dao could the primordial spirit be condensed.

For now, achieving a Yin Spirit was already remarkable.

First comes the refinement of the Yin Spirit, then its transformation to pure Yang, becoming the Yang Spirit.

Such were the steps he theorized, though specifics would need to be analyzed as they arose. As he was pioneering the path, with no one to guide him, he could only advance step by step, always ready to overturn previous plans.

Fortunately, with the gourd-world and the ability to manipulate creation, he had sufficient experimental samples and could make adjustments best suited to himself.

Over the past month, he continually analyzed the innate magical abilities of his settlement partners, expanding from four to fifteen types, working day and night, accelerating time within the gourd-world, causing himself to experience “jet lag” every day.

Thus, Luo Ancestor was kept extremely busy this month.

Luckily, with each advancement, both his spirit and flesh improved, and daily cultivation allowed him to relax and recover, preventing collapse.

Moreover, the out-of-body experience of spirit and the Yin Spirit’s departure are not the same.

With the Yin Spirit departing, his connection with the world deepened, allowing him to draw vast amounts of spiritual energy and greatly enhance his previous arts.

Furthermore, the Yin Spirit’s departure meant his thoughts were no longer confined to his mind; he could think more swiftly through the Yin Spirit and even seize other bodies.

It’s important to note that in this primordial wilderness, there likely was no Sixfold Reincarnation yet, only the great cycle of the heavens and earth. If one’s spirit was weak at death, it would be shattered and merged with the souls of other dead creatures, then cast into the natural cycle.

Of course, most beings here were born from innate spiritual essence.

Luo Ancestor, reflecting on his attainment of the Yin Spirit, felt greater confidence in tomorrow’s battle with the Eagle Demon Tribe.

He was certain to easily defeat the Eagle Demons, making the Cave Dwellers the dominant force within a hundred miles.

Afterward, Luo Ancestor began to consolidate his current stage, diligently cultivating the Three Souls, Seven Spirits, and Yin Spirit method to stabilize the Yin Spirit, so that next time it departed, it would be instantly formed.

Besides that, the arts Luo Ancestor had refined over these days also improved with the formation of the Yin Spirit.

He pondered for an hour, finally devising a ranking system for the arts.

One through nine was the simplest, so Luo Ancestor unified the ranking for his arts and the magical abilities of his companions.

After adulthood, the innate magical abilities of the primordial human race were first-rank arts; after thirty years, second-rank; after fifty years, third-rank.

This represented the limit of the human race. At that stage, if the arts were combat-oriented, they could destroy a rock a yard across, though only with full force, leaving no strength for a second use.

Those with talent might reach fourth-rank, able to destroy a rock ten yards in diameter.

Luo Ancestor had yet to meet such a person.

The elders claimed such individuals appeared in the past, but in this wilderness, even they were merely stronger ants...

In the end, Luo Ancestor divided the arts into nine ranks. He himself was at the seventh rank, and above the ninth, he established a new category—the Dao Arts.

According to his classification, only those who refined the spirit and returned to the void could perform Dao Arts.

Dao Arts also had nine ranks; above them were Immortal Arts, though he had not yet classified these, for he was not an immortal and could not presume to predict them.

One must stay grounded and not take too great a leap.