Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chapter 659 643: Subduing the Twin Dragons! [Request for Subscription]

When the External Incarnation has just been formed, it possesses Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivation and needs to enhance its cultivation level like a genuine cultivator through practice.

Moreover, since the Incarnation is not a true physical body, it cannot consume Spirit Pills to increase cultivation; it can only absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi through refinement to enhance cultivation. The speed of its cultivation depends on the Spiritual Object used for refining the Incarnation and the environment in which it cultivates.

The advantage is that the Incarnation lacks true meridians, so long as it doesn't perform other tasks, it can almost continuously operate cultivation techniques without needing rest to relieve meridian and mental stress like real cultivators do.

Another difference from real cultivators is that the Incarnation faces no realm bottlenecks; even when reaching Golden Core Stage Cultivation, it will not form a Golden Core, and naturally, it will not have a Nascent Soul.

Because it lacks a Golden Core and Nascent Soul to store magical power, even if the Incarnation reaches high realm cultivation, its magical power is weaker than real cultivators. How much weaker depends on the Spiritual Object used for refining the Incarnation and on various factors such as the cultivation techniques practiced.

Zhouyang's Incarnation uses a Tier Seven Spiritual Object, and the cultivation technique practiced is the top-level technique "Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Longevity Creation Immortal Scripture" that Master Donglai relied on to achieve immortality.

As a result, this Incarnation's magical power is only about one-tenth weaker than that of true peers at the same stage, which is the magic power limit for an Incarnation without a Golden Core and Nascent Soul.

Due to consuming considerable Essence Blood and Primordial Qi when refining the Incarnation, and because he tore a part of his Divine Soul Origin during the final "spiritual awakening" of the Incarnation, Zhouyang spent five entire years in closed-door retreat after forming the Incarnation before coming out.

Had he not used the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Nourishing Wood obtained from the Immortal Island to recover Divine Soul damage, it would've taken him not just five years, but perhaps fifty, to fully heal the damage done by tearing the Divine Soul.

Luckily, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Nourishing Wood he acquired is substantial enough, and this time he used less than one-tenth of it for healing.

After five years, his Incarnation's cultivation has already increased to the Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment, and at this rate, it will likely reach the Golden Core Stage within twenty years.

The Incarnation now shows no traces of the original wooden mannequin appearance.

Zhouyang deliberately molded its appearance to resemble how he looked in his previous life, seeming ordinary. If not for the exceptionally conspicuous purple distinct pupils and purple long hair, it might have been overlooked in a crowd.

Moreover, were it not for the absence of a unique blood and flesh aura of living beings, others would have been completely unable to discern it as an Incarnation.

After examining the Incarnation carefully, Zhouyang instructed with a commanding tone, "Cultivate well here; without my orders, do not step out of the chamber."

"Yes."

The Incarnation cast its purple distinct pupils on Zhouyang with a glance and responded in a low voice.

Honestly, given the seamless Divine Soul connection between the main body and the Incarnation, Zhouyang had no need to go through this redundant exercise.

But still adapting to this unique state of unity between the main body and Incarnation, he found expressing through words more comfortable.

With a shake of his head, Zhouyang suppressed distracting thoughts and turned to exit the cave dwelling.

Outside, when he scanned with Divine Sense, he found Jiang Fengxian was not cultivating in the cave but tending to the planted spirit elixirs on the mountain.

"Zhou Lang, you finally came out of retreat. Was everything smooth?"

Seeing Zhouyang emerge, Jiang Fengxian quickly set aside her tasks to return to his side, smilingly inquiring about the gains from his closed-door retreat.

Regarding such a momentous task as refining the External Incarnation, Zhouyang naturally hadn't concealed it from his companion, hence Jiang Fengxian's inquiry.

"Everything went smoothly; now the Incarnation is complete. The next step is to steadily enhance its cultivation so that it can truly be of use."

Zhouyang spoke with a smile, and suddenly pointed to the mountain with the newly planted numerous spirit elixirs, asking, "What prompted you to learn Spirit Plant Techniques suddenly? Weren't you always uninterested in diversifying into such pursuits?"

Hearing his question, Jiang Fengxian smiled faintly and said, "Previously I avoided diversifying into these cultivation techniques; first because, as a Loose Cultivator having no fixed abode, it would have easily benefited others. Secondly, I didn't want to interrupt my own cultivation."

"But now I have formed a Nascent Soul, and besides, with this Donglai Immortal Island, there's no worry of anyone usurping it. Spending some time learning a few techniques is a good way to pass some idle moments."

Passing idle time was obviously an excuse; Zhouyang knew Jiang Fengxian opted to learn Spirit Plant Techniques mainly to help him manage Donglai Immortal Island.

Because barring any unforeseen circumstances, after dealing with original grievances at Divine Lady Palace on Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm, and attending a few matters back at Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, Jiang Fengxian plans to relocate with their daughter Jiang Yufeng to Donglai Immortal Island and retire.

He wouldn't be able to accompany them here so quickly.

Understanding all this, Zhouyang made no sentimental statements, merely drew the beloved into an embrace and headed towards the cave dwelling.

Inside the cave, after partaking in an intimate spiritual and physical dual cultivation session with his beloved, Zhouyang rose slightly, supporting against the bed railing and asked softly, "Fengxian, have you made any discoveries exploring the island these years?"

[Donglai Immortal Island] stretches thousands of miles. Besides its abundant spirit herb and spirit wood resources, it also has rich mineral resources. However, due to various reasons, Zhouyang was unable to explore the island's resources earlier.

Before he began his closed-door cultivation to practice the Secret Technique of External Incarnation, he specially entrusted this task to Jiang Fengxian, asking her to help investigate.

Now, upon hearing him inquire about this matter, Jiang Fengxian gently tucked her somewhat disheveled hair back and softly replied, "There are indeed gains, but these gains might disappoint you, Zhou Lang."

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhouyang slightly furrowed his brows and looked at the beauty in his arms with confusion.

"Firstly, the most important giant spirit stone ore on the island still contains a large amount of low-grade spirit stones and middle-grade spirit stones, but the number of top-grade spirit stones is already low, estimated to be less than a thousand pieces. As for top-grade spirit stones, there isn't even a single one!"

"Secondly, the other spirit ores on the island, including several higher-tier Tier Five Spiritual Gold veins, only have a little leftover scraps, and although the ordinary Tier Two and Three spirit ores are intact, they aren't very worthwhile to mine!"

"Additionally, although the spirit wood resources on the island are abundant, Tier Five Spirit Wood is nearly impossible to find. According to the two demon kings, the Tier Five Spirit Wood was mostly consumed by Mu Qingyun!"

"As for spirit herbs, most of the high-tier spirit herbs on the island were plucked by the two demon kings and are now in our possession. Though there are still a lot of immature high-tier spirit herbs and middle-to-low tier spirit herbs growing in various places, they can't be put to much use in the short term."

Zhouyang's face grew increasingly grim with each of Jiang Fengxian's words, and by the end, his face was as black as coal.

"That damned Old Monster Mu!"

He cursed angrily with a grim look, recalling the few "Transformation Elixirs" wasted by Mu Qingyun.

Aside from the spiritual objects he obtained in the Daoist Palace, the truly good things on this immortal island no doubt fell into Mu Qingyun's hands long ago.

As Mu Qingyun died under the Celestial Tribulation, those treasures were reduced to dust in the Tribulation Thunder.

Now, what's left for Zhouyang, aside from a large quantity of middle and low-tier spiritual objects he can't use, aren't many good things.

"Forget it, let's leave it at that. Once I handle the remaining few trivial matters, we shall leave the immortal island and return to the Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm!"

Shaking his head, Zhouyang suppressed the anger in his heart, deciding not to dwell on these unchangeable matters, and softly voiced his plan.

In the days that followed, Zhouyang spent a few more affectionate days with his beloved, and then entered the Artifact Refining Chamber, where he extracted the Tribulation Thunder he had previously collected and began crafting Thunder Pearls using a secret technique.

After multiple failures, Zhouyang exhausted all three Thunder Balls and finally refined four Celestial Thunder Pearls.

Because these were crafted using the Tribulation Thunder Power from a True Spirit Celestial Tribulation, each of the four Celestial Thunder Pearls had the power equivalent to a Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator's full-strength attack. When used together, their power wouldn't be less than the first Thunder Tribulation of the True Spirit Celestial Tribulation.

With these four Thunder Pearls as a trump card, and the complete Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, the Vermilion Bird Fan, even if facing a Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, Zhouyang dared to engage in battle.

After completing the Thunder Pearls, Zhouyang turned to address another matter that had been pending for over a century.

He walked out of the cave dwelling and went to the outside of the Immortal Mountain, then with a wave of his hand, a green and a silver flood dragon flew out from the Exquisite Jade Bracelet worn on his wrist.

Back when he obtained the Exquisite Jade Bracelet from the Dragon Taming Golden Brilliance Team, he discovered that the two floods dragons commanded by the team at the time were resting and healing inside.

Over the years, since he hadn't decided how to deal with these two flood dragons, he hadn't awakened them.

Now that he had reached Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, and the two flood dragons had recovered from their injuries during their over-century-long slumber, he was ready to deal with this matter.

"You human thief, prepare to die!"

The moment the two flood dragons emerged, they roared angrily, releasing lightning and wind blades to attack Zhouyang. It seemed they knew, even in their slumber, that the owner of the Exquisite Jade Bracelet had changed and realized that Zhouyang had killed their previous owner.

"Noisy!"

Zhouyang's face darkened, and he raised his hand to punch, directly dispersing the lightning and wind blades. Then, with two more punches, he struck both flood dragons on the spot, causing them to spew blood and collapse.

"If you want to die, I'll fulfill that wish!"

His eyes shot lightning at the faces of the two flood dragons, and the oppressive aura of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator weighed heavily on them, making it difficult for them to raise their heads.

"Nascent Soul Stage! How is this possible!"

The silver flood dragon exclaimed in shock, looking at Zhouyang with disbelief, almost doubting its own eyes.

The cyan flood dragon also widened its dragon eyes, finding it hard to accept this reality.

Zhouyang was quite pleased with the reaction of the two flood dragons. If he didn't have Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, the way he would deal with these two flood dragons would basically be to skin and dismember them.

But now, he looked sharply at the two flood dragons and coldly shouted, "Speak, do you want to live or die?"

"Do you want us sisters to submit to you? Impossible! We of the Eastern Sea Dragon Race will never submit to a human, absolutely not!"

The silver flood dragon's eyes widened in anger, roaring furiously.

They were both adult flood dragons; how could they be willing to submit to a human cultivator, an enemy who killed their previous master!

"Tch, what Eastern Sea Dragon Race? Mere flood dragons dare to boast and embellish themselves. When you were being driven like dogs by the Dragon Taming Clan, why didn't you say that?"

Zhouyang sneered, mercilessly mocking the silver flood dragon right to its face.

"You..."

The silver flood dragon was so furious that its dragon scales stood on end, but it triggered the internal injury left by Zhouyang's punch moments ago, causing her dragon body to writhe in pain, leaving her unable to speak further.

The cyan flood dragon was relatively calmer, its gaze unwavering as it coldly stared at Zhouyang, saying, "If you think you can make us submit just because of your profound cultivation and powerful strength, you should abandon that idea sooner rather than later!"

"So, you're choosing death?"

Zhouyang's face darkened, not expecting these two female flood dragons to react so staunchly.

"If it means serving as lifelong slaves to humans, we'd rather die!"

The cyan flood dragon raised its head high, with eyes full of defiance as it announced its choice.

"Sister is right; we'd rather die than be slaves to a human!"

The silver flood dragon quickly echoed the cyan flood dragon, gazing at Zhouyang with eyes full of hatred.

Seeing this, Zhouyang was naturally filled with anger.

If he truly intended to kill these two flood dragons, he would have done so long ago, not waited until today.

It was obvious his intentions had been discerned by the cyan flood dragon, which is why it dared to confront him fearlessly.

Understanding this, Zhouyang could only lay his cards on the table, saying, "Who said you must be lifelong slaves? As long as you obediently offer up your demon souls for me, Zhou, to refine into Lifebound Soul Tokens, I'll release you once I ascend or pass away!"

Upon hearing this, before the cyan flood dragon could speak, the silver flood dragon, eyes filled with disdain, started cursing, "Hmph, do you think we would fall for such a deceit? If we do offer up our demon souls to be refined into Lifebound Soul Tokens, wouldn't we have to serve you as beasts for life? Perhaps even after your death, we'll still be driven by your descendants. Do you really take us for fools?"

This time, the cyan flood dragon also fully supported the silver flood dragon, coldly saying to Zhouyang, "Sister Ling is right. The idea of refining Lifebound Soul Tokens should not be mentioned again. Not even direct descendants of the Dragon Taming Clan, possessing True Dragon bloodline, have ever made us offer our demon souls for refining into Lifebound Soul Tokens, much less someone like you, a pure-blooded human!"

"Lifebound Soul Tokens must be refined; if Zhou doesn't have your Lifebound Soul Tokens at hand, how can I ensure your true submission?"

Zhouyang looked at the two flood dragons, saying in a tone that brooked no argument, "This is a matter of principle. If you refuse even this, Zhou has no choice but to fulfill your wish and send you to reunite with the Dragon Taming Golden Brilliance!"

"If death is what it takes, you think we're afraid? We'd rather die than be your slaves!"

The silver flood dragon retorted defiantly to Zhouyang, showing no fear of death whatsoever.

However, Zhouyang did not respond to the somewhat dim-witted silver flood dragon. His deep gaze was fixed on the cyan flood dragon.

He already knew that this cyan flood dragon was the key to subduing the pair.

Indeed, the cyan flood dragon was not as reckless as the silver one. Instead, it calmly looked at him and said, "You're worried we won't truly submit, yet how can we be assured you won't go back on your word? As Sister Ling just mentioned, if you were to pass our Lifebound Soul Tokens to your heirs after your death, wouldn't we be full of regret then?"

"Moreover, there's another matter you seem to have overlooked—considering your Nascent Soul Stage lifespan, should we submit to you, by the time your lifespan exhausts and you pass, we might not have many years left either. Even if you keep your promise and return the Lifebound Soul Tokens, our lives would be spent!"

Now they were starting to negotiate!

Zhouyang felt a surge of joy in his heart but maintained a neutral expression as he said, "You make a good point. Let's adjust the terms: serve Zhou for a thousand years, and after that, if you no longer wish to follow, Zhou will return your Lifebound Soul Tokens. How about that?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the cyan flood dragon cried out, "A thousand years is too long! Five hundred, no more than five hundred years, and mere words are not enough, you must swear to uphold your promise!"

She's planning to push her luck.

Zhouyang certainly won't condone this kind of behavior; five hundred years is really not long at all for him now.

He immediately glared coldly at the Cyan Flood Dragon, flicked his sleeve, and said, "No way, a thousand years is already my bottom line, there's no room for negotiation here, but as for the oath, I can agree!"

A flash of disappointment flickered in the eyes of the Cyan Flood Dragon, perhaps understanding that Zhouyang would indeed not make any more concessions. After a slight hesitation, she responded, "Alright, then it's settled!"

"Sister Qingluo, you..."

The Silver Flood Dragon looked at the Cyan Flood Dragon with a face full of shock, unable to believe that her trusted sister from the same clan had succumbed to the enemy's might just like that.

And it seemed the Cyan Flood Dragon knew exactly what the Silver Flood Dragon wanted to say, interrupting her before she could finish: "Sister Silver Bell, we are long-lived beings with lifespans of thousands of years; there's no need to lose our lives over a moment of anger."

"Dragon Taming Golden Radiance was good to us sisters, but during his lifetime, we never disobeyed any of his orders or did anything to betray him, so there's naturally no need to die with him!"

"In short, that's all I'm going to say, Sister. If you really want to die loyally for Dragon Taming Golden Radiance, I will respect your decision!"

The Silver Flood Dragon stood there in shock.

Only now did she realize that from the very beginning, her trusted Cyan Flood Dragon never intended to die in loyalty for her master. All the words before were just posturing to sell herself at a better price.

As naive as she was, she actually believed that the Cyan Flood Dragon and she were of one mind as sisters!

"Tsk tsk tsk, so there really is such a foolish Flood Dragon in this world!"

"Do you think dying rather than surrendering is great? Very honorable?"

"Little did you know, even if you died, no one would remember you, no one would be sad for you, not a single tear would be shed for you!"

"Oh, maybe you think Dragon Taming Golden Radiance can see your loyalty, but he's been utterly destroyed by me, not even a chance for the illusory reincarnation!"

Zhouyang looked at the Silver Flood Dragon, who appeared utterly betrayed by her revolutionary friendship, with a face full of derision, laughing heartily. His laughter bore a tone of scorn and disdain, his gaze as if looking at a fool.

Hearing his words, the Silver Flood Dragon trembled with anger, glaring at him, wanting to curse but not knowing where to start.

Zhouyang's words were unpleasant, but entirely factual.

Recalling Zhouyang's words and looking at the already "betrayed" Cyan Flood Dragon beside her, she had no rebuttal.

The Cyan Flood Dragon saw this scene too, her lips moved slightly, and she transmitted her voice to comfort her, "Dear sister, as long as you're alive, you can have everything. Living is the only way to realize your dreams and aspirations. If you die, wouldn't all the grand words have been for naught?"

"I..."

Tears welled up and fell from the Silver Flood Dragon's eyes as she saw the encouraging look of the Cyan Flood Dragon.

The rest was easier, with the Cyan Flood Dragon doing the persuasion work, the Silver Flood Dragon, though still unwilling in heart, followed the Cyan Flood Dragon and offered part of her demon soul, allowing Zhouyang to refine the [Lifebound Soul Token].

The method for refining the [Lifebound Soul Token] was found by Zhouyang in the [Artifact Refining Classics] collected by [Master Donglai]. Nowadays, not many cultivators in the Cultivation Realm understand how to refine such a treasure.

After the [Lifebound Soul Tokens] were refined, Qingluo and Silver Bell, the two Flood Dragons, officially became Zhouyang's spirit pets.

The task Zhouyang gave the two Flood Dragons was to guard the Immortal Island after his departure and manage the spirit herbs and elixirs on the island for him.

He also specially opened an acre of Spirit Field on Donglai Immortal Mountain to plant [Blood Dragon Rice], and the two Flood Dragons needed to frequently use their own Flood Dragon Spirit Blood to irrigate the Spirit Field to ensure the normal growth of the [Blood Dragon Rice].

About Zhouyang's arrangement, the two Flood Dragons were undoubtedly very satisfied.

The cultivation environment on [Donglai Immortal Island] goes without saying, better than the Dragon Pool the Dragon Taming family specially prepared for them before by far.

Most importantly, not having to follow around Zhouyang means they don't have to constantly see this human whom they find detestable nor take life-threatening risks in various battles.

Having assigned the tasks to the two Flood Dragons and confirmed they could well manage the diverse precious spirit elixirs on the mountain, Zhouyang sent Communication Flying Swords to the Thunder Feather Demon King and Lu Caixia, preparing to leave the Immortal Island with the two demon kings to seek revenge against the Divine Lady Palace in the Donghua Continent Cultivation Realm.

With the fastest Thunder Feather Demon King among Nascent Soul Stage aiding, and the [Five-Colored Deer] capable of nullifying all spells holding the formation, even if Palace Master Lou Feifeng of the Divine Lady Palace advanced further to the sixth layer of the Nascent Soul Stage, she would undoubtedly meet her demise!