Chapter 1748 : Forging the Mortal Path

With a sincere desire to forge a path of cultivation for all living beings, Eldrin Chen immediately lowered his gaze and began to deduce a method of practice.

Given his current cultivation level and comprehension, if Eldrin Chen disregarded the potential for future growth, he could likely deduce a cultivation path comparable to the Golden Core Realm or even the Infant Soul Realm in the span of a single Eldrin [a conventional short duration, roughly five to fifteen minutes].

However, a cultivation path that merely halts at the Fourth Fifth Rank realm would ultimately be considered crude and unrefined, a feat countless Celestial Immortal Great Power across the world could easily accomplish.

Considering the goal was to extend the immortal path for ordinary mortals, Eldrin Chen proceeded with great caution and deliberation in his deductions.

"Mortals cannot sense spiritual energy [the vital energy that flows through all living things and the world]," he mused. "Therefore, the initial stage of cultivation must focus on strengthening the physical body."

"This first realm, then, should be the realm of body cultivation."

Whispering this to himself, Eldrin Chen immediately began calculating the methods for physical cultivation.

This first realm was the most rudimentary; Eldrin Chen completed its deduction in a mere instant.

Unlike the ancient sages of the primordial Human Race, who emulated the cultivation methods of colossal primordial beasts, the body refinement art crafted by Eldrin Chen emphasized internal refinement of the self.

This first realm's body refinement method was further divided into six stages: tempering the skin, refining the tendons, renewing the blood, forging the bones, refining the organs, and finally, Body Forging [the foundational stage of physical cultivation, forging a resilient vessel]. For uninterrupted reading, go to audi novel.com.

The first five stages are cultivated through specialized cultivation arts, supplemented by copious amounts of flesh and blood medicines. These five stages can be cultivated simultaneously or progressively, with no inherent order of precedence.

The sixth stage, Body Forging, requires the complete mastery and perfect, flawless integration of the preceding five stages to forge the Martial Path True Body [a perfected physical form achieved through martial cultivation].

Upon achieving the Martial Path True Body, the cultivation method for the first realm of the physical body is considered complete.

This first realm's flesh-tempering method can vastly enhance combat prowess. According to Eldrin Chen's calculations, one who has forged the Martial Path True Body could lift a massive cauldron weighing tens of thousands of Jin-weight with a single hand and withstand attacks from the ninth layer of Vital Essence Refinement with their bare flesh.

In truth, cultivation methods modeled after the ancient behemoths should, in principle, also be capable of reaching such heights, though progress beyond that point becomes increasingly arduous.

However, Eldrin Chen's method was specifically created for the Human Race. It is exquisitely suited to the human physique, inflicting minimal damage during cultivation. Far from hindering future potential, it continuously enhances the cultivator's latent capabilities.

By Eldrin Chen's estimation, even an individual with notoriously poor innate talent would, upon completing the cultivation of Martial Path Body Forging and forging the Martial Path True Body, undergo a radical transformation in their foundational bone structure and aptitude, becoming a one-in-ten-thousand cultivation prodigy.

"It is a process of tempering the meridians and cleansing the marrow, traversing the path from mortal to transcendent through Martial Path Body Forging."

"This does not merely excavate the latent potential within the flesh; instead, it perpetually deepens the body's foundational reserves. It is akin to planting a seed within the physical form, awaiting the day it grows into a towering tree."

Eldrin Chen murmured softly, a glimmer of light shining in his eyes.

The mortal body is frail and weak; even if it possesses some latent potential, how many times can it truly withstand being pushed to its limits?

Do you truly believe the physical forms of the Human Race possess boundless potential, that honing them to their absolute peak could allow them to rival an entire Universe?

Eldrin Chen understood clearly that compared to the vast, boundless Universe and the myriad Stellar [celestial bodies] of the great cosmos, the physical body of the Human Race was truly insignificant.

It is like a single grain of sand; no matter how intricately you carve it, you cannot build a towering edifice upon it.

Only by allowing that grain of sand to expand continuously, gathering the dust of the Boundless Universe, can it transform into a radiant Nine Heavens Stellar [a star of the highest heavens], unlocking infinite possibilities.

"The first realm of the Martial Path Body Forging [a cultivation art focused on tempering the physical body] is the initial step of Martial Path Foundation Establishment [the foundational stage of the martial cultivation path],"

Eldrin Chen murmured softly, then lowered his gaze once more, attempting to deduce the second realm.

Without a Spiritual Root [the innate conduit for absorbing spiritual energy], even after achieving the Martial Path True Body [a perfected physical state from martial cultivation], a cultivator remains unable to refine the spiritual energy [the vital energy that flows through all living things] permeating heaven and earth.

Beyond this point, progressing further becomes increasingly arduous.

However, Eldrin Chen had long devised a countermeasure. Since one cannot draw spiritual energy from the external world, then it must be generated from within.

Therefore, the second realm of the Martial Path is also known as the Vital Essence Refinement Realm. However, this Vital Essence Refinement is not the same as that Vital Essence Refinement.

The Vital Essence Refinement of the Immortal Path focuses on refining from the outside in, directly absorbing and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth [the vital energy that permeates the cosmos]. This method is simple and swift.

The Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement, however, is exceptionally brutal. It is practiced by those who have cultivated the Martial Path True Body [a physique forged through martial arts, granting immense physical power]. They refine the essence of their own flesh and blood into True Essence [a potent, condensed form of life-force energy], opening a Energy Sea [a reservoir of power] within their Elixir Field [the core energy center within a cultivator's body].

Refining the essence of one's flesh and blood is akin to personally burning one's own body to exchange for Vital Energy [life-force energy]. Thus, Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement is an agonizing process. Without special techniques and elixirs [spiritual pills], it requires a willpower a hundred times greater than that needed for Self-Achieved Foundation Establishment [the most difficult method of reaching the Foundation Establishment realm] to succeed.

Furthermore, a practitioner of Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement requires massive amounts of flesh, blood, and medicinal herbs to replenish their vital essence.

Having deduced this far, Eldrin Chen understood that due to the difference in cultivation methods, the temperament and willpower of a Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement practitioner should far surpass that of the vast majority of Foundation Establishment Cultivator. For the best reading experience, visit audio-novel`com.

Additionally, the Vital Energy within a Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement practitioner is hard-won. Therefore, once they unleash their full power and exhaust their True Essence, it would likely take them ten times longer than a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to recover.

For example, after a great battle where a Foundation Establishment Cultivator exhausts their spiritual power, finding a Spiritual Vein [a concentrated flow of spiritual energy within the earth] for three to five days would restore them to peak condition. In contrast, a Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement practitioner would need to gorge themselves for an entire month to recover.

Of course, when the era of Dharma Decline [a cosmic age where spiritual energy withers and cultivation becomes nearly impossible] arrives and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth dries up, immortal cultivators will face a dead end, while practitioners of the Martial Path will fare somewhat better.

"Upon reaching the pinnacle of Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement, one should then forge the Foundation of the Path [the foundational stage of the Martial Path]."

Having completed the deduction of the second realm of the Martial Path, Vital Essence Refinement, Eldrin Chen immediately began to deduce the cultivation method for the third realm of the Martial Path.

According to Eldrin Chen's estimation, after reaching the Vital Essence Refinement Perfection Stage of the Martial Path, one's Vital Energy [the foundational life force energy cultivated by martial artists] would be brimming and flawless, allowing for certain endeavors.

If one were to emulate the methods of the Immortal Path, the next step would be to channel True Essence [the refined, potent energy of a cultivator] through the Celestial Spine Meridian [the primary energy channel along the spine], opening the Upper Elixir Field [the Sea of Consciousness located in the forehead] to enhance one's soul and spirit, thereby beginning to touch upon more profound cultivation paths.

However, Eldrin Chen understood clearly that attempting to open the Upper Elixir Field while still at the Martial Path Vital Essence Refinement realm would be nothing short of courting death.

Piercing through the Celestial Spine Meridian was not only agonizing and arduous, but most critically, it required the consumption of a vast ocean of True Essence power and spiritual energy [the ambient energy of heaven and earth].

Immortal cultivators possessed a Spiritual Root [an innate spiritual organ that allows one to absorb and refine spiritual energy], enabling them to directly refine spiritual energy to replenish themselves and also refine various Spiritual Object [spiritually infused natural treasures].

But martial cultivators of the Martial Path could only refine essence into energy, relying almost entirely on their own willpower and True Essence. Their hope of success was virtually nonexistent.

Attempting to open the Upper Elixir Field at this stage was akin to seeking one's own demise. Therefore, Eldrin Chen sought other methods and finally conceived of a substitute for the Spiritual Root—the Path Foundation Casting [the art of forging a foundational structure within one's dantian to serve as a cultivation base].

The so-called Path Foundation Casting involved constructing a foundation for one's future path within the Elixir Field.

After further deduction, Eldrin Chen discovered that while Vital Essence Refinement martial artists could not refine the ethereal spiritual energy, they *could* refine various types of Fiendish Energy [malevolent or demonic spiritual energies].

Various energies can be refined, such as Subterranean Fire Fiend [a violent, earth-bound fire essence], Netherworld Turbid Miasma [a dense, corrupting energy from the underworld], Vast Sea Water Miasma [a potent, briny essence drawn from the deep ocean], and even various forms of Heavenly Solar Aura [the pure, radiant energy of the sun].

By using the True Essence [a foundational cultivation technique] to draw in these diverse Fiendish Energy [a general term for potent, often dangerous, spiritual essences], one can construct a Path Platform [the foundational spiritual matrix within a cultivator's body] within oneself. By inscribing special array patterns upon this foundation, the Path Platform can then draw upon and absorb the spiritual energy [the vital force that permeates the world] from the heavens and the earth.

For instance, establishing one's Foundation Establishment [the second major realm of cultivation] with Fire Fiend [a type of fierce fire essence] allows one to absorb fire-attribute spiritual energy. Establishing it with a water-type fiendish energy allows absorption of water-attribute energy. If one uses the supreme celestial and terrestrial fiendish energies for Foundation Establishment, they can draw upon nearly all spiritual energies under heaven.

Cultivating using these Fiendish Energy is an excruciatingly painful process. In the past, Verdant Origin Chen merely consumed a single Foundation Establishment Pill [a pill to aid in reaching the Foundation Establishment realm] that was tainted with a trace of Subterranean Fire Fiend, yet the agony was so unbearable that he took his own life. This starkly illustrates the immense difficulty inherent in walking this path. Original English translation available at audi0-n0vel.c0m.