CHAPTER 186: CHAPTER 185: DESIRE RUNE (FIRST UPDATE, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE)

Returning to the cave mansion, Lu Xuanji counted his gains.

In ten years, the first layer of [Vertical Earth Golden Light] had reached small success, [Celestial Wood Technique] had reached great success, [Pure Yang True Flame] had reached great success, and [Elemental Magnetic Celestial Saber] had reached small success, making his combat power quite decent among Purple Mansion Cultivators.

He also contemplated the anomaly [Pure Yang Great Sun], feeling that when unleashed, it would boost his combat power by three layers and suppress enemies by three layers, serving as a significant trump card.

The downside was that using [Pure Yang Great Sun] consumed a large amount of True Essence, and could only be maintained for ten breaths.

It could be used as a desperate measure, but not as a regular trump card.

Meanwhile, the Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron, Li Fire Sword, and others were also improving in grade, reaching the early stage of the third grade.

After reaching the third grade, the conversion speed of Spiritual Qi by the Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron was accelerating.

The amount of Spiritual Liquid at the bottom of the Great Cauldron was increasing.

The amount of Spiritual Liquid condensed daily was equivalent to one hundred Spirit Stones.

The amount of Spiritual Liquid generated annually was equivalent to more than thirty-six thousand Spirit Stones.

Refining the Spiritual Liquid added a certain bonus to cultivation speed, and entering the Heaven Mending Cauldron, utilizing twenty times the Spiritual Pressure, accelerated the cultivation speed, but it was still somewhat slow.

Considering all these factors, it averaged about twenty-five years to improve one layer.

"Improving one layer every twenty-five years, at the age of over four hundred, I might reach the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion; however, factoring in some bottlenecks encountered along the way, it could take even more time,"

"No wonder loose cultivators and small clan cultivators struggle to achieve the Golden Core without great fortune!"

Lu Xuanji smiled bitterly.

Calculating the remaining lifespan and the time spent on each level’s advancement, he increasingly felt the difficulty of proving the Golden Core Dao—this difficulty was multifaceted, with resource scarcity, lack of guidance from renowned mentors, and insufficient lifespan.

To accelerate the process, there were two methods: one was to hasten the maturation of Spirit Medicine, where third-grade Spirit Medicine, once matured, could be refined into third-grade Elixirs to increase cultivation speed and shorten the time of breaking through the mirror; the other was to forge supporting types of magical treasures to enhance cultivation speed.

The best approach was to combine both methods.

Opening the phone, numerous magical treasure blueprints appeared.

[Li Fire Sword (deduction to 100%), Wings of Freedom (deduction to 100%), Heaven Mending Cauldron (deduction to 100%), Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron (deduction to 100%), Seven Fiend Gourd (deduction to 100%), Chaos Map (deduction to 50%), Void Ship (deduction to 50%), Void Celestial Armor (deduction to 50%), Heaven-Stealing Claw (deduction to 3%), Godslaying Hammer (deduction to 80%), Shadow-accepting Sword (deduction to 30%), Heaven-Supporting Pillar (deduction to 50%), Immortal Shield (deduction to 20%), Calamity Bow (deduction to 100%), Heaven-Fixing Mirror (deduction to 20%), Primordial Lotus (deduction to 50%), Red Dust Map (deduction to 30%), Grotto World Eye (deduction to 40%), Eternal Pagoda (deduction to 5%), Creation Immortal Gourd (deduction to 30%), Heaven-Sealing Lock (deduction to 30%), Flawless Lotus (deduction to 20%), Decaying Celestial Cannon (deduction to 30%)]

Looking at these blueprints, he frowned slightly, still lacking money.

Closing his eyes to suppress the restlessness within, after a long while, he opened his eyes again.

On his palm appeared a rune, fluctuating and changing, sometimes like a dragon or snake, sometimes like a Buddha, sometimes like a heavenly maiden, sometimes like a demon; the rune constantly changed, with each instant transforming, seeming to have no eternal form.

This rune was named the Desire Rune.

After cultivating the [Great Desire Technique] for ten years, he had only condensed one Desire Rune.

The [Great Desire Technique] came from a stone stele and was said to be an Immortal Technique. Condensing one Desire Rune was considered entry-level, thirty runes were small success, three hundred runes were great success, and three thousand runes were perfection.

The Desire Rune could be used to make wishes.

The more Desire Runes, the stronger the wishing power.

After making a wish, to realize it, one had to pay a great price, but the cost was unknown and required contemplation.

"I wish..."

Lu Xuanji activated the [Wish Rune], pondering what wish he should make.

The wish couldn’t be too grand, or it couldn’t be fulfilled.

The wish also couldn’t be too outrageous, or it similarly couldn’t be fulfilled.

"I wish for the [Celestial Wood Technique] to reach perfection!"

Lu Xuanji said.

Activating the [Wish Rune], a strange power flowed through, operating and transforming ceaselessly.

Then, Lu Xuanji felt his lifespan fading away, losing twenty years of life, and something seemed to vanish.

As these things disappeared, Lu Xuanji sensed the increase of Celestial Wood Runes within, growing to as many as seventy thousand.

With the runes increasing to seventy thousand, [Celestial Wood Technique] reached perfection.

Lu Xuanji felt changes in his aura, stepping into the Fourth Grade Spirit Plant Master.

At this point, the hastening capability improved once more.

He could now hasten the maturation of third-grade and fourth-grade Spirit Medicine, suitable for alchemy and increasing cultivation speed.

"According to my assessment, it would take another forty years to cultivate the [Celestial Wood Technique] to perfection, even with the support of fifth-grade Spirit Wood. Without it, it could take even longer. But with the Wish Rune, wishing directly... the Celestial Wood Technique reached perfection!"

Lu Xuanji was astonished.

He found the [Great Desire Technique] somewhat miraculous, akin to Aladdin’s Lamp, allowing wishes to be made at will.

"No, my lifespan is vanishing, and so is my destiny!"

Lu Xuanji frowned, feeling something amiss. He took a mirror and looked into it, but it was blank.

His cultivation was too low to observe his own diminishing destiny.

Only by reaching the Golden Core Realm could he discern the depletion of his destiny.

Although he couldn’t see it, he sensed that some part of his destiny was leaking away.

"Destiny represents the luck of a cultivator and their opportunities. When a cultivator’s destiny is intact, it means opportunities remain, and they might receive the favor of certain benefactors. Even if danger arises, they can survive it. However, if destiny is severely damaged, not only will misfortune continue, but serendipitous encounters will also decrease!"

"The Wish Rune is simply poisonous!"

Lu Xuanji took a deep breath and reconsidered the [Wish Rune], as if seeing some high-interest loan.

Someone playing with credit lines might enjoy themselves immensely for a month.

But by month’s end, when it’s time to pay interest, crying won’t even help.

Past experiences taught him that taking shortcuts incurs a high price.

By activating the [Wish Rune], consuming destiny and lifespan, divine techniques could quickly reach perfection; moreover, as the number of Desire Runes increased, the wishing power grew... it seemed like too much of a shortcut.

Yet, it gave a sense of unease.

Rather similar to some Demonic Cultivation Techniques!

...

In the Immortal Realm, in the Divine Hall of Destiny.

An elder sat on a stone, holding a fishing rod. The fishing line descended into the lake below.

But the fishhook was not curved but straight.

"This old man, with cause and effect as the line, desire as the bait, fishing as if fishing for people, letting those who wish take the bait!"