Chapter 58: Divine Network
Only after the mosquitoes had flown far away did Xiao Nanfeng carefully help the Lady Arclight out of the water.
Upon witnessing the boar skeleton once again, Xiao Nanfeng gulped. He hurriedly stowed the boar's skeleton within his storage ring as he carried the Lady Arclight on his back straight toward the forest.
He avoided some spirits that had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, then headed toward the boar's lair. He skulked around the entrance to the lair, carefully listening for any sounds coming from within, then emitted his spiritual power to perform another search. Only when he was entirely confident that there was no life within did Xiao Nanfeng slowly approach its entrance.
The lair was large and spacious, but had a trace odor of blood. The boar seemed to have been relatively cleanly, at least, and there was no excrement to be found. In fact, the lair seemed to contain nothing at all.
Xiao Nanfeng carefully inspected the lair to confirm that there were no signs of a second occupant before he relaxed.
He then placed the Lady Arclight on a large rock so that she could rest, then took out the boar skeleton and placed it by the entrance to the lair, thinking that the boar spirit's aura would be sufficient to terrorize the other spirits nearby.
Having resolved the problem of shelter, Xiao Nanfeng then glanced at the golden tree outside the lair—and the three golden sunfruits on it.
Xiao Nanfeng walked up to it. A fragrance enveloped his body in comfort.
The golden sunfruit gave off a pale golden glow, shining all over. However, they weren't fully golden—where the fruit's stem connected to the tree, they were still a little unripe.
"No wonder the boar hasn't consumed them yet... but I don't have time to wait." Xiao Nanfeng plucked all three fruit at once.
He returned to the lair and sat cross-legged in meditation as he consumed one of the golden sunfruit. The flesh of the fruit was extraordinarily tasty. It gave off an incredible burst of yang energy as he consumed it, far more so than the crow spirits' inner cores that he had consumed.
The energy of pure yang swept through Xiao Nanfeng's limbs and bones, causing him to radiate with golden light. His pores emitted golden flame.
"Before I set off on this expedition, Master helped me pick out quite a few Immanence-realm techniques. The one he ultimately recommended was Divine Network. Cultivation before Ascension-realm involves a mortal body, and all such cultivation is foundational. The stronger one's foundations, the greater the possibility of developing extraordinary talents. Divine Network is supposed to be incredibly difficult to cultivate, but all those who have succeeded with it have gone on to become incredible masters..."
Xiao Nanfeng began to circulate his qi in the manner prescribed by Divine Network.
His dantian suddenly glowed with resplendent golden light, The roiling pure yang qi emanating from his dantian divided into two streams, one up and one down. The stream of qi heading down passed under his groin and looped over his back, then rushed up his body via his spine.
With a huge explosion, the two streams of pure yang qi recombined at his skull, sending a huge wave of spiritual energy emanating from his body. Xiao Nanfeng's body, gleaming golden, seemed almost to give off a brief flash of rainbow light. Subsequently, dark impurities were expelled through his skin and pores.
"Cultivation at Immanence requires that I unblock the ten divine conduits throughout my body. This is the first conduit, so I've reached the first stage of Immanence!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out, opening his eyes. A golden gleam shot through his irises.
"Each divine conduit is tethered to nine capillaries, which are particularly fragile and difficult to unblock. As recorded in Divine Network, the more of these capillaries I unblock, the stronger my foundations. I haven't used up all the energy of the golden sunfruit, so let me unblock these capillaries as well." Xiao Nanfeng concentrated on his body.
Closing his eyes, he continued to distill the remaining yang qi from the golden sunfruit, forming skeins of energy that he sent toward his divine capillaries.
These capillaries were particularly fragile and clogged rather severely. Using too little force would prevent the capillaries from being unblocked; using too much would destroy them. Many cultivators didn't dare to attempt to unblock their capillaries, afraid that the backlash from failure would permanently hinder their future cultivation.
Xiao Nanfeng, however, was different. Unlike the ordinary preliminary Immanence-realm disciple, he boasted spiritual power.
Xiao Nanfeng carefully sent spiritual power into his body all around his divine capillaries, strengthening them and cushioning them from impact. Simultaneously, he infused his spiritual power into his yang qi, carefully controlling the qi until the rambunctious energy was tame as could be, before starting to unblock his divine capillaries.
After an hour, he had completely unblocked his first capillary.
"Let's continue!" Xiao Nanfeng couldn't wait to test out his newfound power.
No wonder so many Taoist scriptures mentioned the importance of these capillaries! After unblocking his first one, he began to sense the intimate connection between his divine conduit and capillary, which almost seemed to serve the same purpose. Could every capillary be thought of as a divine conduit, too?
After another half an hour, a wave of energy emanated from Xiao Nanfeng's body again.
"That's the second capillary. Let's continue!"
"The third capillary..."
"The sixth capillary!"
Only then did Xiao Nanfeng consume all the yang energy in the first golden sunfruit.
Xiao Nanfeng consumed one more. Burning yang energy filled his body. He planned to unblock all nine capillaries associated with his first divine conduit in one go.
"The seventh capillary!"
"The eighth capillary!"
Only when he had unblocked all nine capillaries did Xiao Nanfeng slowly open his eyes. By then, he felt as though he were emitting flames from every pore of his body.
He had exhausted the majority of his spiritual power by then, but in exchange, he had unblocked his first divine conduit and all its tributary capillaries.
The Taoist scriptures he had read mentioned these capillaries, but even the most talented cultivators at the first stage of Immanence could unblock only one or two of them. Xiao Nanfeng, however, had unblocked all nine!
He didn't consume the third golden sunfruit, because he had discovered that the benefit from consuming multiples of the same natural treasure was marginal, as though his body had developed a resistance against it. The second sunfruit had had a far weaker effect than the first, and the third would be weaker still.
Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the Lady Arclight, still unconscious and lying on a rock. He wasn't petty; he peeled the last golden sunfruit and slowly fed it to the Lady Arclight. Despite the fact that she was unconscious, she was still able to swallow by instinct.
As Xiao Nanfeng fed her the last piece of the sunfruit, the Lady Arclight's tongue licked her lips before reluctantly slipping back into her mouth.
"I've all but become your nanny!" Xiao Nanfeng grumbled.
After consuming the golden sunfruit, the Lady Arclight's pale face seemed to gain a measure of color.
By then, it was already evening. Rather than head out of the cave to scout around, Xiao Nanfeng pulled out the Lady Arclight's jade token and began to study the scriptures within.
For one thing, he had to meditate and hence regenerate the spiritual power he had consumed, and for another, he wanted to confirm whether or not the boar's carcass could indeed deter other spirits nearby from drawing close.
This hidden realm was full of danger, and he wanted to be as cautious as he could.
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