Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Chapter 428: Cultivation Dispersal and Re-Cultivation

“And at that point, the cultivator faces a choice—disperse their cultivation and re-cultivate from scratch.”

Everlasting Fairy explained confidently, her knowledge in cultivation unmatched.

“Dispersing one’s cultivation is akin to a kind of reincarnation. With all their memories intact, they become like a newborn baby and start all over again. With the experience from their previous cultivation, they can avoid many of the mistakes they made before, ensuring a solid foundation this time around. The opportunities they missed before, whether because their cultivation was too advanced or they were too old, are now available to them. No one can tell if a person has undergone this process—not even by checking bone age or other methods.”

“However, there are three major risks to dispersing cultivation and starting over. First, it requires the cultivator to be at the Unity Stage and at their peak condition. Only when their essence, energy, and spirit are in perfect harmony can they ensure that a spark of their true soul survives the dispersal. If they attempt it when they are too old or their energy is weak, they risk failure, which could result in complete soul annihilation with no chance of recovery.”

“Second, after re-cultivating, they are as defenseless as a newborn. They need to relearn how to eat and crawl, and even as they grow up, the cultivation world is dangerous. They could easily provoke an enemy and be killed before they ever have the chance to regain their power.”

“Third, the new body’s spiritual roots are unpredictable. For example, someone may have had Dual Spirit Roots before dispersing their cultivation, but after re-cultivating, they might end up with Triple Spirit Roots or even Quad Spirit Roots. In such a case, no matter how much experience they have, it would be nearly impossible to reach the heights they once did.”

Lu Yang nodded, realizing that this sounded somewhat similar to the situation with Li Haoran, though there were distinct differences. At the very least, Li Haoran was a completely new individual, and his talent in his next life was guaranteed to surpass that of his previous life. Each method had its pros and cons.

No wonder Huang Ming was so difficult to deal with. It was like fighting someone who had started cultivation at the Unity Stage but had suppressed their strength to match his.

“By the way, among The Five Ancient Immortals, are there any cultivators who dispersed their cultivation and started over?”

“Nope,” Everlasting Fairy said, counting on her fingers. “I come from a small tribe, Heaven’s Will Immortal was a refugee, Nonuple Immortal was the first heir of the Lianshan Clan, Qilin Immortal was born of the earth, and Immemorial Immortal was a spirit born from the Heaven-Reaching World Tree.”

“Can you tell who Huang Ming was in his previous life?” Lu Yang asked.

Everlasting Fairy shook her head. “I can’t tell. If he hadn’t used that spiritual attack, which doesn’t belong to this realm, I wouldn’t have known he was someone who had re-cultivated.”

Lu Yang pondered this. Did the Corpse-Driving Sect know about Huang Ming’s reincarnation and re-cultivation? Why had Huang Ming chosen to cultivate in this sect when someone with his talent could have easily joined the Five Great Immortal Sects? Was he afraid of something, or was there something special about the Corpse-Driving Sect?

“Ah, no matter. I’ll stop thinking about it for now.” Lu Yang’s face lit up with an excited smile as he drew his Qingfeng Sword. This was the first time he had encountered someone who had dispersed their cultivation and re-cultivated—it was time to get serious.

Huang Ming watched Lu Yang closely, his expression growing tense. He could no longer afford to underestimate this opponent.

As a cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation and started over, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing to a younger generation, which was why he had resorted to using his Spiritual Arrow attack.

That attack was something no mid-stage Golden Core cultivator should be able to block, not even one who specialized in mental strength.

How had Lu Yang managed it? Could it be that, like him, Lu Yang had also dispersed his cultivation and started over?

Huang Ming had no idea that ever since the early Foundation Building Stage, when Everlasting Fairy was resurrected, she had forcefully made Lu Yang open up his spiritual space, vastly enhancing his mental strength compared to others of his age. With Everlasting Fairy constantly tinkering within, the spiritual space had grown larger and more resilient over time.

In terms of spiritual power, no one in the Golden Core Stage could surpass Lu Yang.

“Slash!” Lu Yang shouted, his essence, energy, and spirit becoming one as a vicious blade of sword qi, as fierce as a streak of lightning, danced through the air in a sharp arc aimed at Huang Ming.

From the sidelines, Zhao Po felt his hair stand on end. Even from a distance, the sheer power of this sword strike was terrifying—could this really be a technique used by a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator?

The Drowning Ghost was also frightened, realizing for the first time that Lu Yang had been holding back in their earlier battle. If this sword strike had been used against him, it would have been enough to leave him severely injured!

The sword strike was too fast, and Huang Ming had no way to dodge. If he tried to take the hit head-on, he knew he would lose. Gritting his teeth, he made a quick decision, and in an instant, he swapped places with his Living Corpse!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“He swapped positions with the corpse?!” Zhao Po exclaimed in shock. He hadn’t expected his senior brother Huang Ming to have mastered such a secret technique, which was typically only available to those in the Nascent Soul Stage.

Huang Ming panted heavily, quickly swallowing a recovery pill to replenish his spiritual qi. Using the secret technique had drained what little spiritual qi he had left.

The Living Corpse took the full brunt of Lu Yang’s sword strike, splitting in two. However, red threads grew from the wound, reconnecting the two halves, and soon the Living Corpse was whole again.

Huang Ming, no longer holding back, directed the Living Corpse to attack Lu Yang alongside him.

Corpse Drivers typically relied on their corpses to fight, as their physical bodies were weaker. But Huang Ming’s physical strength and spiritual power were formidable, allowing him to fight alongside his Living Corpse, compensating for all the weaknesses of a typical Corpse Driver.

His combat power skyrocketed!

Zhao Po could only stare in awe as Huang Ming’s techniques shattered everything he thought he knew. The gap between him and Huang Ming was far larger than he had ever imagined.

“Haha, now this is getting interesting.” Lu Yang, fighting against two opponents at once, showed no signs of retreat, his battle spirit burning fiercer with each passing moment, like a god of war.

“No wonder you became a disciple of Dao Seeking Sect. You do have some skill, but that’s all it amounts to!” Huang Ming’s eyes glinted like a wolf’s, fierce and determined.

“With your talent, you must be undefeated among your peers. But today, I’ll make sure you experience the taste of defeat!” Huang Ming sneered, his tone dripping with disdain.

“The flowers of the Other Shore bloom, reshaping heaven and earth!”

This was his ultimate trump card. If he were to lose here, there would be no point in pursuing his goal of seizing control of the great era’s future. He might as well end his life early.

The delicate, blood-red flowers of the Other Shore bloomed, and both Huang Ming and his Living Corpse’s eyes turned red. Their power surged explosively, their nails lengthening into sharp claws like those of a wild beast. The ground trembled under the immense pressure, as if an earthquake was shaking the very earth.

“Let’s see how you can win two against one now!” Huang Ming’s face twisted with confidence, believing victory was at hand.

“It’s true, this isn’t looking good,” Lu Yang muttered, before slipping into the ground. He quickly retrieved the Twin Stem Lotus seed and activated the 《Tree Planting Technique》.

In Huang Ming’s momentarily stunned gaze, amidst the blooming field of Other Shore Flowers, a lotus blossomed, and two Lu Yangs appeared. One wielded the Qingfeng Sword, and the other held the Underworld Moon Sword.

A calm and confident smile spread across Lu Yang’s face.

“Now it’s two against two.”

(TL Note: “The Other Shore”, refers to the realm of Buddha, is where the enlightened ones live beyond transmigration without suffering and in the constant bliss of Nirvana. https://buddhisttemple.ca/teaching/the-other-shore/)

(End of the chapter)