"Soul-Sculpting Mud? A disciple actually managed to find this?"
Lu Qing looked at the spiritual objects recorded in the booklet with delight.
"This was recently discovered when a small secret realm opened in a remote state, and some disciples went in to explore it and were lucky enough to obtain it."
The disciple didn't know the purpose of this spiritual mud; he simply found it peculiar and offered it up in exchange for merit.
The First Holy Lord explained.
"So it was obtained in a secret realm, no wonder." Lu Qing suddenly realized.
He said it himself: how could such a spiritual object as Soul-Sculpting Clay be found so easily?
But if it's a secret realm, then it makes sense.
The Secret Realm is one of the most powerful opportunities in this world, and it is most likely to produce all sorts of wondrous and strange items.
"Seniors, I would like to exchange for this Soul Sculpting Clay. Is that possible?" Lu Qing asked immediately.
"Of course, Fellow Daoist Lu, your contribution is the greatest in the Holy Mountain. Whatever spiritual item you wish to exchange for, it is entirely up to you."
The First Holy Lord nodded directly, then asked with some curiosity, "Young Fellow Daoist Lu wants this Soul Sculpting Clay to refine a puppet avatar?"
“That’s right.” Lu Qing did not deny it. “The Third Holy Lord once gave me a copy of the Puppet Sect’s inheritance, which I found quite interesting. I have always wanted to try refining it myself.”
"I was just short of materials, so I put it aside. I never expected to see this soul-sculpting clay today."
Among the legacies left by the ancient immortal sect, the Puppet Sect, there are many kinds of materials that can be used to refine puppets.
But those magical objects are quite difficult to find.
Therefore, Lu Qing never attempted to refine a puppet body.
Until today, I saw this soul-sculpted clay.
Soul-sculpting mud is an excellent primary material for crafting puppet avatars, even surpassing the materials used in the puppet avatars of the three Holy Lords by a grade.
If crafted properly, the resulting puppet avatar will undoubtedly possess considerable power.
"Should I have someone send this Soul-Sculpting Clay over later?" the First Holy Lord asked.
"No rush. I need to go out for a bit now. I'll retrieve the Soul Sculpting Clay when I return."
"Alright."
The First Holy Lord nodded, but didn't ask what Lu Qing was going out to do.
Within the sacred mountain, Lu Qing had the most freedom of movement.
Even the three holy lords never inquired about his whereabouts.
After bidding farewell to the three Holy Lords, Lu Qing transformed into a stream of light and soared into the azure sky, flying towards the East Sea.
It didn't take long before we arrived above the sea, thousands of miles deep in the East China Sea.
Lu Qing did not conceal his aura, so when he arrived, the old dragon turtle's enormous body slowly rose to the surface.
"Senior Dragon Turtle, it's been a long time," Lu Qing said with a smile.
"It has been nearly ten years since I last saw you, Fellow Daoist Lu, your cultivation has become even more profound."
The old dragon turtle sensed Lu Qing's presence and a hint of surprise appeared in its eyes.
Although it also couldn't see through Lu Qing's actual cultivation level.
But as a former powerful primordial spirit, it had an intuition that Lu Qing had become stronger.
It even sensed a dangerous aura emanating from Lu Qing.
Clearly, Lu Qing's cultivation must have made great progress in the past ten years, reaching a level that could threaten it.
"Humans are truly blessed by heaven. Although they are born weak, their strength increases much faster than that of us exotic beasts and spirit beasts when they truly cultivate."
The old dragon turtle couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
It was the same in the previous era of cultivation.
It cultivated diligently for over 20,000 years before finally reaching the Primordial Spirit Realm.
However, many of humanity's most outstanding talents can achieve the primordial spirit after cultivating for hundreds or thousands of years.
Their cultivation speed is far, far faster than that of other exotic beasts and spirit beasts.
This is also why the old dragon turtle didn't get angry when Lu Qing asked for its bloodline.
Besides the tempting offer from Lu Qing, it also meant that it didn't want to antagonize such a mysterious and unpredictable genius with unlimited potential.
"Senior Dragon Turtle, you said in the message that you were willing to trade with me. Is that true?" Lu Qing asked at this moment.
“Not bad, but of course, the premise is that what you use to trade is enough to tempt me,” the old dragon turtle said in a deep voice.
"Don't worry, I won't let you down, Senior Dragon Turtle."
After Lu Qing finished speaking, he flicked out a jade slip, which fell downwards.
The old dragon turtle caught the jade slip.
Upon examining it with his mind, he saw a small map of the starry sky inside, dazzling and brilliant.
"Senior Dragon Turtle, this jade slip contains a small star map, which I obtained from an alien from outer space that I once killed."
It records the positions of stars in many worlds outside.
Having experienced the previous era of cultivation, the senior should understand.
For cultivators like us, once we step into the Nascent Soul Realm, it becomes incredibly difficult and arduous to make any further progress in our cultivation.
The reason for this is that the origin of our world is not strong enough to nurture powerful beings above the initial stage of the Primordial Spirit realm.
Therefore, if one wants to make further breakthroughs after entering the Nascent Soul Realm, the best way is to leave this world and enter a more powerful world to cultivate.
Otherwise, remaining idle in this realm will only lead to the calamity of the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, a period that occurs once every tens of thousands of years, and the depletion of spiritual energy.
But the starry sky is vast, and dangers and unknowns abound.
Without the guidance of a star map, even a powerful being with a primordial spirit could easily get lost in the starry sky.
"If you are willing to exchange, then I will hand over the star map of the territory where our world is located."
The old dragon turtle stared at the small patch of starry sky in the jade slip, listening to Lu Qing's words, and fell silent.
In particular, Lu Qing's words about cultivating the Primordial Spirit Realm deeply moved it.
As an old dragon turtle who had witnessed the rise and fall of an entire era of cultivation, he naturally knew that what Lu Qing said was true.
At the height of the previous era of cultivation, it had already entered the Nascent Soul Realm.
However, for a full ten thousand years afterward, until the end of the era of cultivation, its cultivation level made only limited progress.
Because after entering the Nascent Soul Realm, its cultivation becomes countless times more obscure.
It's like groping in the dark; it's extremely difficult to make any progress.
And it wasn't just it; even the two human Nascent Soul Realm cultivators it knew had the same problem.
It had discussed this with the two human beings at the Nascent Soul Realm, and the conclusion they reached was similar to what Lu Qing had just said.
The very essence of this world cannot support them in breaking through to higher realms.
This is why their cultivation was extremely obscure and arduous.
If they don't cultivate in this world, what else can they do?
In the previous era of cultivation, it wasn't uncommon for powerful beings with primordial spirits to attempt to traverse layers of fierce winds, break through boundary membranes, and enter the starry sky for exploration.
But all they found was a vast, empty starry sky.
The vastness of the starry sky far exceeds imagination.
Without the replenishment of spiritual energy, they simply cannot go very far.
This results in either returning empty-handed or getting lost in the starry sky, with their soul lamp going out.
This is also why, at the end of the last era of cultivation, those human cultivators chose to forge the Boundary-Breaking Ship.
Because even a powerful being at the Nascent Soul Realm would find it difficult to survive in the starry sky on their own.
The cultivators of their realm knew far too little about the vast starry sky.
This is precisely why the old dragon turtle agreed to trade with Lu Qing when he heard that Lu Qing possessed a star map of the outer sky.
If what Lu Qing said is true, then that star map is extremely valuable.
Looking at the small patch of star coordinates recorded in the jade slip, the old dragon turtle knew that Lu Qing had not lied to him.
It hesitated for a moment, and finally spat out three jade bottles from its mouth.
"Inside here are three portions of my condensed true blood."
As agreed beforehand, we should be able to exchange the star map you have now.
