Chapter 532: 法身元婴，回阳灵水

Pure Nine-Lotus Treasure Lamp: . . .

Zhou Shengqing had long anticipated the possibility of his Nascent Soul formation failing. Thus, this Reverse Longevity Art had been written down on paper long ago, and Chen Mobai and Fu Zongjue each took a copy.

"This art requires the Longevity Scripture to be cultivated to the eighteenth level before it can be used. Once activated, all spiritual power will be exhausted, leading to certain death. Moreover, during the art's operation, the vast spiritual consciousness of the Longevity Wood will continuously assimilate your divine sense. If you cannot endure, you will, in turn, become nourishment for the tree." As Zhou Shengqing spoke, the Soul Guiding Lamp cracked open a bit more.

"Senior Brother..." Seeing this, Mo Douguang hesitated, on the verge of speaking.

"From now on, the sect will be in your hands. After I am gone, cremate my body. If there's an opportunity in the future, bury me beside Master's tomb." Before his death, Zhou Shengqing had completely come to terms with it. Images of his youth flashed in his mind: chopping firewood in the mountains and encountering the Primordial Patriarch descending from the sky.

"Yes, Senior Brother," Fu Zongjue and Chen Mobai replied, bowing respectfully to Zhou Shengqing's phantom.

"This is my storage bag. Leave the spirit stones and other miscellaneous items inside for the sect." Zhou Shengqing waved his hand, and a cyan storage bag opened. He took out a set of wooden armor and three talismans. "Junior Brother Chen, you have many magic tools, so I'll leave this Divine Wood Armor for Junior Brother Fu."

Chen Mobai nodded upon hearing this. Fu Zongjue immediately reverently accepted Zhou Shengqing's core magic tool.

"These talismans are Fourth-Tier Spirit Leaf Talismans. You each take one as well." Chen Mobai, Fu Zongjue, and Mo Douguang nodded and each took one.

Afterward, Zhou Shengqing took out a golden talisman brush, his face showing reluctance, and tossed it to Chen Mobai. "Junior Brother Chen, this is the Top-Grade Third-Tier Sun-Chasing Talisman Brush. Master and Fourth Junior Sister jointly refined it as a gift for my two hundredth birthday. Among everyone in the sect, only you are proficient in the art of talismans, so I'll give it to you."

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for bestowing this treasure!" As Chen Mobai took the talisman brush, he felt an unprecedented heaviness.

"Junior Brother Mo, you have worked hard to protect me and the Divine Wood Sect all these years. Take this storage bag." Mo Douguang said nothing more, silently accepting the small storage bag Zhou Shengqing handed him.

"And these, who knows what we'll get from them." After distributing his own treasures, Zhou Shengqing smiled and took out four more storage bags, which belonged to the Core Formation cultivators he had killed. Except for Zhao Xuankang, who was experienced and destroyed his own storage bag, the rest were all here.

Zhou Shengqing first opened the rogue cultivator's storage bag. Besides over twenty high-grade spirit stones and a few water-attribute cultivation technique manuals, there was also a bottle of pills with a powerful seal. However, given Zhou Shengqing's current cultivation level, he directly broke the seal. Inside were three blood-red pills, emitting a faint fragrance. Chen Mobai knew nothing about the pills from the Heavenly River Realm, but Zhou Shengqing seemed to know about them.

"These should be Blood Spirit Pills, useful for Core Formation cultivators to break through bottlenecks. However, to confirm, you can have Zeng Woyou or Yan Shaoyin identify them later." Zhou Shengqing was primarily proficient in talismans, and his knowledge of pills was limited to hearsay. "If they are indeed Blood Spirit Pills, then the gains from this first storage bag are decent."

Zhou Shengqing smiled and opened the remaining three ghost cultivators' storage bags. A potted plant, black as ink, as thick as an arm, and shaped like a coiled dragon, instantly captured all their attention. This potted plant had no leaves; its branches resembled black jade, shimmering with dark green light under spiritual radiance, deep and captivating.

"Fourth-Tier Soul Nurturing Wood!" After Fu Zongjue identified it, he couldn't help but exclaim, but then a look of regret appeared on his face. "If only it were Fifth-Tier!" A Fifth-Tier Soul Nurturing Wood could allow a cultivator who failed to form a Nascent Soul to abandon their physical body and transform into a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, which would be perfect for Zhou Shengqing's current situation.

"Even if it were Fifth-Tier, what then? The sect doesn't have the method for a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, nor does it have Revival Spirit Water." When Zhou Shengqing first saw this Soul Nurturing Wood, he was somewhat surprised, but he quickly realized the situation and couldn't help but sigh. To transform into a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, in addition to the Soul Nurturing Wood, a spirit liquid called "Revival Spirit Water" is also needed to protect one's divine sense. The Divine Wood Sect possessed none of the three necessary conditions.

"Senior Brother, look at this pill formula!" At this moment, Fu Zongjue had swept through everything poured out from the three ghost cultivators' storage bags with his divine sense and instantly found something good. It was none other than the pill formula for Revival Spirit Water. Judging by the delicate appearance of the storage bag, it likely belonged to the ghost cultivator who had possessed Madam Guo's body. No one knew why she would have collected this pill formula.

"It's a top-grade Fourth-Tier pill formula. Yan Shaoyin might not even be confident in refining it. Many of the medicinal ingredients listed on it are extremely rare, and many can only grow in the Netherworld..." After reviewing the pill formula, everyone shook their heads and sighed again.

"Senior Brother Zhou, if your soul is entrusted to this Soul Nurturing Wood, how long can it last?" Chen Mobai suddenly asked. He himself possessed a section of Third-Tier Soul Nurturing Wood and had a deep understanding of such natural treasures. He knew that under Zhou Shengqing's current condition, where his vital energy had been drained by the Longevity Wood, he could transfer his soul and divine sense into the Soul Nurturing Wood to survive.

"This Soul Nurturing Wood belonged to that Underworld Lord. He was on the verge of becoming a Ghost King, so it was likely prepared for his own advancement. Its grade is also close to Fifth-Tier. After I transfer my soul into it, it should be able to sustain me for about a hundred years." Zhou Shengqing made an estimation and gave his judgment.

However, once he entered the Soul Nurturing Wood, he could only transform into a ghost cultivator or a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, and could no longer undergo reincarnation. If he became a ghost cultivator, there would be no talk of a next life. As for a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, after one's lifespan approached its end, a Pure Yang magic tool would be needed for 'soldier-dissolution' to achieve 'corpse-liberation' and enter reincarnation. Coincidentally, what Chen Mobai had in abundance was Pure Yang magic tools.

"Senior Brother, if you trust me, I guarantee that within a hundred years, I can find the method for the Dharma Body Nascent Soul and the Revival Spirit Water for you." Chen Mobai's tone was firm and confident when he said this.

However, this meant Zhou Shengqing had to make a choice. No one could say for sure what the next life would be like. According to the situation in the Heavenly River Realm, 99% would be mortals without spiritual roots. Having experienced the Nascent Soul realm, how could Zhou Shengqing be willing to abandon everything in this life and gamble on such a slim chance for the future?

"Hahaha, since there's an opportunity to reach a higher level in this life, what does a hundred years of solitude matter?" With the chance of forming a Dharma Body Nascent Soul, Zhou Shengqing no longer hesitated after careful thought. He immediately drew his soul and consciousness entirely from the Soul Guiding Lamp, transforming into a wisp of green smoke that settled into the Soul Nurturing Wood.

Based on everyone's feedback, I've revised the sequence of events regarding the failed Nascent Soul formation. Last night, I rushed the draft, focusing only on the chapter outline for the failure and lacking control over the details. Now, I've revised it to make it more logical.

This chapter is an extra update for the monthly pass votes. There will be another guaranteed four thousand characters later, which everyone can read tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)