Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 611 - 610: Opportunity, Direct Refining Void and Merging Tao

Chapter 611: Chapter 610: Opportunity, Direct Refining Void and Merging Tao

After all, he originally had an Immortal Body; unless he was injured, there would hardly be any opportunity to use Spiritual Power.

However, now that Chen Nuo had brought it up, Tian Peng certainly needed to listen.

Tian Peng sat cross-legged on the ground and began to circulate his spiritual energy.

Although the Spirit Stone was of high quality, it was still a Spirit Stone with limited spiritual power. Usually, after using it twice, it would be depleted; even if there were some remnants left within, his body being a Mortal Flesh Body simply couldn’t retain spiritual energy—given enough time, it would dissipate on its own.

When Chen Nuo asked him to circulate Spiritual Power just now, he found it strange, but now, he no longer thought it strange at all.

Spiritual Power seemed to flow like water in a river, inexhaustible, capable of circulating continuously within his body.

After circulating Spiritual Power for a while, Tian Peng looked up excitedly at Chen Nuo, "Shopkeeper! What’s going on? I can actually retain spiritual energy now; this feeling is truly amazing. Even though I’m a mortal, I don’t feel like one; does this mean I can become an Immortal soon?"

He was very excited, but the cold dose of reality still needed to be delivered. Chen Nuo replied, "No, it’s still a long way off."

The joy on Tian Peng’s face instantly collapsed, "Ah, but Shopkeeper, I have Spiritual Power now, how can I still be a mortal?"

"You are a mortal," Chen Nuo answered, "but now you are no longer an ordinary mortal."

"What does that mean?" Tian Peng was a bit confused by Chen Nuo’s words, going back and forth between being a mortal and not being one.

So what was he then, if he was neither a mortal nor an Immortal? If he was neither man nor Immortal, what exactly was he?

"To be precise, you can now begin cultivation as an ordinary mortal," Chen Nuo continued to explain.

This reminder suddenly struck Tian Peng, who smacked his forehead.

Indeed, how could he have forgotten? Those who are neither man nor Immortal are cultivators aiming for immortality.

While it may seem easier for cultivators to become Immortals compared to relying on fortuitous encounters, it’s actually not the case; cultivation is much harder than relying on fate.

Sometimes, a fortuitous encounter could be sudden enlightenment about something very special, doing something extraordinary, or instantly becoming an Immortal after comprehending something; but cultivation is much more difficult.

Cultivation doesn’t depend solely on opportunities but also on one’s own power. Each year, thousands or tens of thousands cultivate, but in the end, only one or two become Immortals.

Then they are revered as ancestors by the cultivation community, but in fact, after becoming an Immortal and moving to the Heavenly Court, they might only be granted a modest Immortal Position, with perks that aren’t even as good as when they were mortals.

Although Tian Peng thought this, cultivation was a much better option for him than relying solely on chance.

He wasn’t one of those commoners with no backing. With Chaos Residence supporting him, there was no need to worry about failing to become an Immortal.

"Shopkeeper, that’s fantastic!" Tian Peng said. The mere opportunity to cultivate made him feel much closer to becoming an Immortal.

"Master, what does cultivation mean?" Sun Wukong asked, as someone outside the Five Elements and having followed Chen Nuo from the start, he really didn’t understand much about cultivation.

"Cultivation requires Spiritual Energy, and an ordinary mortal looking to cultivate must have the innate ability to absorb it," Chen Nuo informed Sun Wukong. "Tian Peng has now become capable of cultivation."

"Right, Mr. Monkey, I can cultivate now!" Tian Peng was very happy.

"That is indeed good." Sun Wukong still didn’t quite understand what Tian Peng meant by cultivation, but seeing how happy he was, it must be something that could accelerate becoming an Immortal, and Sun Wukong was also happy for him.

"Don’t get too excited just yet," Chen Nuo interrupted them. "Cultivation to Immortality is very arduous. If you dedicate yourself entirely to cultivation, you’ll miss out on many opportunities."

"Even though your physical constitution is now stronger than that of an ordinary mortal, it doesn’t mean you can become an immortal quickly through cultivation,"

"Shopkeeper, I understand what you mean," Tian Peng nodded.

He had not actually resolved to cultivate, but now that he had two paths to choose from, he was naturally very happy.

"As long as you understand," Chen Nuo said.

It was not known what level of cultivation Tian Peng had attained. Originally, as a mortal practicing cultivation was going against the heavens, and most mortals, just like before, would live out the rest of their lives peacefully and earnestly.

There were also some who discovered they had a bit of talent for cultivation and then only reached the stage of Refining Essence into Qi, never advancing further.

At almost every stage, there were vast numbers of cultivators who would stop making progress and then could only continue living as mortals.

Chen Nuo was not worried that Tian Peng would stop making progress at a certain stage, he was only afraid that Tian Peng, with the thought of having two paths to choose from, would waste a little time on each, ultimately failing to cultivate properly and missing opportunities.

In between, it was not just about cultivating; he even had to avoid being tracked by Buddhism and the Heavenly Court. Overall, Tian Peng’s life in the mortal world was not easy.

"But Shopkeeper, can you tell what my current level of cultivation is?" Tian Peng was very curious about his own level of cultivation.

A mortal’s cultivation level has several stages, with almost an insurmountable gap between each.

Cultivation itself is quite troublesome, energy-consuming, and time-consuming; the higher one goes, the more difficult it becomes. Tian Peng wanted to know his current level of cultivation simply out of curiosity.

Others might start from zero, but he felt he was filled with spiritual energy and thought it unlikely his starting point was zero.

He was eager to know his current level of cultivation, as it would make for good bragging material in the future if it was decent.

"System, do you have a magic artifact that can detect cultivation levels?" Chen Nuo tapped the system.

He had an abundance of magic artifacts in his warehouse, capable of summoning wind and rain, but he genuinely lacked one for detecting cultivation levels.

It was mainly because such artifacts weren’t of a high grade, so few people brought them to exchange with him.

Upon receiving Chen Nuo’s query, the system began searching.

"Ding, a low-grade Spirit Testing Stone has been detected; it can assess up to Golden Immortal Realm cultivation levels."

The Golden Immortal Realm was considered one of the pinnacle stages of cultivation among mortals. Chen Nuo exchanged fifty Merit Points and then handed the Spirit Testing Stone to Tian Peng.

"This is a Spirit Testing Stone; it can detect your cultivation level. Simply channel your spiritual power into it, and the result will be revealed," he explained.

Tian Peng thanked Chen Nuo and then took the magic artifact. In the center of the Spirit Testing Stone was a palm-shaped indentation, where one presumably just needed to place their hand.

Tian Peng placed the Spirit Testing Stone on the table and began to channel his mana.

The Spirit Testing Stone was white throughout, like jade. If one did not know it was a magic artifact, it would look just like ordinary Han White Jade from the mortal world.

But as spiritual power was channeled into it, colors began to emerge—a faint, ink-like green started seeping out from where Tian Peng’s palm met the stone.

With the continued input of spiritual power, the ink-green color spread more and more until it soaked the entire Spirit Testing Stone in green.

At the upper end of the Spirit Testing Stone, characters gradually appeared, emerging like smoke to form the four large characters "Refining Void and Merging Tao."