After taking care of business, Li Changzhou returned to the Water Turtle Mansion.
This aquatic residence, passed down from the ancestors of the old turtle, spanned an enormous area. During his short absence, the water demons had not had enough time to clean up, but seeing that they were earnestly sweeping, he did not pursue the matter.
He found an empty room for himself and ordered that no one disturb him.
["You are not a match for Sun Wukong right now, and the matter of Tang Seng cannot be rushed; you can only wait. You should focus on cultivation,"] Guanyin suggested.
Li Changzhou already had this intention, and he couldn't neglect it even while on a mission.
There were two directions for cultivation: one was 'Divine Body Enhancement' by practicing the "Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique"; the other was mana, with the goal of breaking through to the Earth Immortal level.
["Bodhisattva, which do you think I should cultivate?"] he earnestly asked for guidance.
Guanyin pondered and enumerated, ["Once the 'Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique' is cultivated to the twelfth form, starting from the thirteenth form is 'Blood Refining.' Your muscles and bones are strong, and your five viscera are divine. If your blood now possesses divine skills, you will be able to perform the 'Fatian Xiangdi' magic and transform into a body tens of thousands of feet tall."]
From the thirteenth to the seventeenth forms, it's all about Blood Refining.
["How do you practice 'Blood Refining'?"]
["To refine blood, you must first bleed. Sit on the summit of a mountain, integrate your blood into a small river headwater, let the blood follow the river for ten miles, nourish a village's population, sustain two or three small mountains, and then flow into a lake, before reabsorbing the blood—this is the first step;"]
["Then choose an even higher mountain, a longer river and repeat the process five times, allowing the blood to travel over a thousand miles, nurture tens of thousands of beings, sustain a hundred thousand mountains and rivers, and finally enter the sea—only then is your work complete."]
Is this refining the body?
It was almost like forging the body into the heavens and the earth!
["You're different,"] Guanyin added, ["the five viscera you cleansed were using an entire planet; your blood must at least be able to nourish a realm before it can be considered a success."]
["In this vast primordial world, even a bamboo forest has an owner, not to mention all the mountain springs and rivers. How am I supposed to refine blood?"] Li Changzhou frowned.
["The primordial has long been divided, making it increasingly difficult for successors to cultivate. If it weren't for the mission, you could teleport to the Divine Will Great Wall of this time period and choose an uninhabited planet to cultivate on."]
He didn't know anyone at the Divine Will Great Wall of this time period, and instead of wasting time in his mission looking for a planet, it would be better to go back to modern times, discreetly contact Si, and have her help—saving so much time.
["What about mana?"] Li Changzhou asked again.
["There's not much to say about mana; it's about revealing 'Constant Sand.' However, with the 'Constant Sand World,' you're just given another hiding place; it's not of much help in battle unless you're like the monkey, consuming golden elixirs, gnawing on flat peaches, drinking jade liquid, savoring jade dew, and rapidly accumulating mana."]
["Eating flat peaches can also increase mana?"] Li Changzhou showed interest.
["Neither the Eternal Spring nor the Life Fruit can, only flat peaches are the exception. This is also why Queen Mother reigns—flat peaches that ripen every three thousand years can increase a mortal's cultivation by a thousand years; those that ripen every six thousand years can extend an Immortal's lifespan by a thousand years; and those at nine thousand years can increase an Earth Immortal's mana by a thousand years!"]
["Good heavens, I feel like kissing Queen Mother's feet!"] Li Changzhou was shocked.
Peaches that ripen every three thousand years and add a thousand years of cultivation to mortals – what level is a thousand years of cultivation? Bai Suzhen nearly faced the Human Crossing Tribulation after a thousand years of practice; eating just one peach is almost like making someone half-immortal.
In a value game, it could directly take someone to the fourth layer realm of the Visualization!
Those ripening at six thousand years could turn an Immortal with only a three-thousand-year lifespan into one with four thousand years!
Not to mention peaches that mature at nine thousand years. If Li Changzhou had ten, with ten thousand years of mana, he would have dared to confront Sun Wukong directly upon becoming an Earth Immortal!
Li Changzhou suddenly didn't care about Tang Seng's flesh; he was now interested in flat peaches.
["I won't hide it from the Bodhisattva, but I have a pretty decent facade that pleases women quite a bit, and I'm quite confident in my amorous skills. Winning over Queen Mother probably wouldn't be too difficult—what do you think, is it possible—"]
["You asked to be reborn; how you choose to die is none of my concern!"]
Knowing he was joking, Guanyin still explained:
["The more you do, the more mistakes you'll make; do not provoke trouble unnecessarily while on a mission. While the flat peach is desirable, one's power is limited. Everyone's 'Constant Sand World' is unique. For an ordinary Earth Immortal, using regular mountains and rivers as 'Constant Sand,' it is already their limit to gain a couple thousand more years of mana than when they were an Immortal; any more would be beyond their fortune to bear."]
["Then how many years of mana can the Bodhisattva withstand?"]
["Sixty-nine thousand years."]
["What about the Buddha?"]
["Eighty thousand years."]
["Is there anyone with more than the Buddha?"]
["Yes."]
["Who?"]
["A Saint."]
It was as good as asking nothing.
During the conversation, Li Changzhou had already made up his mind; mana would be of no practical help to becoming an Earth Immortal, as he was currently unable to use 'Honey Pot World,' but could use 'Teleportation.'
Although he had returned both the 'Dawn Mirror' and the 'Chaos Series - Flame Butterfly' to Yang Qinglan and Li Qianxia, they could still summon each other, so he was not lacking means of survival.
["Let's try 'Blood Refining' first; there happens to be a Tongtian River here."]
["You are just beginning to refine blood; the Tongtian River is too wide and lengthy for you. It would be better to find a smaller river at first."]
["No problem, I want to test the waters. If it doesn't work out, I will say so; it's just a waste of a little blood."]
If it were an average cultivator, it wouldn't be as simple as just wasting a little blood.
'Blood Refining' is not merely about bleeding; as the blood merges with the river, the spiritual essence of the body also enters the water. Should 'Blood Refining' fail, not only would blood be lost, but spiritual essence would also be depleted.
If one's mental and spiritual essence diminished, they would become dull, foolish, or slow-witted;
If one's bodily spiritual essence was depleted, they would become a pile of dead flesh, externally manifesting as a lack of soul in the eyes, inability to carry on the shoulders, or to lift with the hands. If they ended up in 'Ming City University Affiliated Hospital' and met Doctor Zhao, a medical advice of 'abstinence' would certainly follow.