Cultivators sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, absorbing spiritual power for their own use. Aptitude, comprehension, creation, opportunity, and temperament all have a profound impact on each cultivator.
But in the end, cultivators attribute great power to themselves. The use of their own spiritual power and their understanding of heaven and earth create distinctions of strength and weakness.
Therefore, there are realm divisions.
During the barbaric era, there were many realm divisions. But now, solely in terms of the human race, the inherited realms are Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation. Realms beyond that are not heights that can be reached in this world.
In many ancient books, realms above Spirit Transformation have been passed down.
Above Spirit Transformation is the Void Refinement Realm, then the Integration Realm, and finally the Great Ascension Realm. Great Ascension cultivators who survive the Ascension Tribulation can achieve True Immortal status and ascend to the Immortal Realm to become true immortals.
Zhang Ling had read many ancient books and paid close attention to this realm theory. However, in the ancient books passed down from ancient cultivators, there were only a few words about these realms, and even descriptions of Spirit Transformation cultivators, who were closest to him, were extremely rare.
Zhang Ling's simplest understanding of Spirit Transformation cultivators was that they could initially mobilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to unleash powerful divine abilities, with minimal consumption of their own spiritual power.
Beyond that, he had no way of knowing about higher realms, only knowing their names.
Since this bird spirit in front of him was a cultivator from the Spirit Realm, then its original realm was at least an old monster of the Spirit Transformation stage.
But now, hearing the bird spirit suddenly ask about realms above Spirit Transformation, could it be that this guy's original cultivation was even higher than he imagined? Could he be a Void Refinement Realm cultivator?
Thinking of this, a trace of astonishment could not help but appear on Zhang Ling's face.
"Hehe, how about it? With my guidance, your cultivation will definitely improve by leaps and bounds." Seeing Zhang Ling's expression, the bird spirit laughed again.
"Since senior has such cultivation, then why must you find me?" Zhang Ling's expression changed a few times, and he said leisurely. "With senior's supernatural powers, it shouldn't be difficult to reshape your physical body without the help of others, right?"
Reshaping the physical body is indeed not easy.
However, he had indeed seen some heaven-defying secret methods in some classics that could accomplish this.
However, there were many restrictions on this kind of secret method, and the requirements for the caster were extremely high. It also required the assistance of natural treasures, and there was also a great backlash effect. The lightest seemed to be a drop in cultivation.
Even so, there were indeed such secret techniques.
The Blood Condensation Flesh Body of the Blood Dao secret technique can reshape the physical body by relying on a large amount of blood energy.
The Heavenly Demon Transformation Spirit Great Art of the Demon Dao, as well as some special secret methods such as the Three Souls Returning to Origin Technique, can do this through some extremely rare treasures.
Since the bird spirit's cultivation was so profound, it shouldn't be difficult to master this kind of secret method. Why did he suddenly want to cooperate with him? Zhang Ling didn't think that he valued his cultivation.
"Hmph, what do you know? I am not a human cultivator. The fake body recast by ordinary secret methods will not only prevent me from restoring my original cultivation, but may also become a burden. My physical body has not completely died and is still in that seal. As long as I can get the physical body, I will naturally use the secret method to occupy the physical body to be reborn, and it will be easy to restore my original cultivation."
The bird spirit snorted, seemingly a little impatient. "Now I only have a trace of original spirit left, and I can't use many methods. That place is quite dangerous. If I enter there now, I won't be able to reach the seal of my physical body and will be wiped out by the ancient cultivator's restrictions. I'm looking for you just to find a temporary protector."
"Then how much strength can you exert now?"
"Hehe, you have a lot of schemes, wanting to inquire about my current strength. I'm not afraid to tell you, the strength I can exert now is indeed not as good as you, only equivalent to the Pseudo Nascent Soul realm, but it is not a problem to temporarily increase my strength by consuming some soul power. Even if you and this little turtle join forces to take me down, don't even think about it."
The bird spirit glanced at the Black Tortoise, gave a strange smile, and a flash of golden and blue spiritual light flashed on its body. It opened its mouth and shot out a spiritual light, wrapping around the black Two Instruments Gourd.
The gourd instantly turned into a black light and was swallowed into its body, disappearing.
Seeing this scene, a trace of helplessness flashed in Zhang Ling's eyes.
At the same time that the bird spirit made a move, he moved his mind and asked the Black Tortoise to simultaneously use the secret method of collecting the black Two Instruments Gourd obtained from the Black Tortoise statue.
But it didn't work at all. The secret method didn't work on this gourd at all.
Zhang Ling recalled the memory of the Black Tortoise and immediately knew that the black Two Instruments Gourd was also something that the Black Tortoise found in the sixth layer of the Abyss Secret Realm during an entry and exit of the Abyss Secret Realm thousands of years ago.
It was also because he found this treasure that the Black Tortoise was convinced that his master had not fallen. It seems that this black Two Instruments Gourd is indeed greatly related to this bird spirit.
"How are you considering it? If you really don't want to cooperate with me, then let's separate here." The bird spirit flapped its wings and turned its head to look around the environment, seemingly identifying the direction, and then left.
Zhang Ling was always sensing the condition of the second primordial spirit. After Zhang Ling's mind induction, the second primordial spirit had suppressed some of the special feelings towards the bird spirit.
However, when he wanted to let the second primordial spirit completely abandon this abnormal feeling, he immediately noticed that the Black Tortoise's whole body's blood and energy were surging, and it had a feeling of being about to go crazy.
He quickly retracted his heart, and the Black Tortoise's whole body's blood and energy gradually calmed down.
The Black Tortoise's bloodline was all integrated into the Black Tortoise's body. Although the second primordial spirit was still under his control, this kind of restriction subtly affected the second primordial spirit's consciousness.
Even if it can be suppressed, over time, it will definitely produce inner demons, and even directly betray him. This kind of hidden danger is extremely great.
Zhang Ling glanced at the bird spirit flapping its wings and about to fly away, and sighed in his heart. "This junior is willing to cooperate with senior, but we don't trust each other, and we are not at ease with such cooperation. I have a Soul Pact Curse here. As long as senior signs a Soul Pact with me, I am willing to sincerely cooperate with senior."
As Zhang Ling spoke, he pointed towards the space between his eyebrows and pulled out strands of gray-green light, which quickly flowed and entangled, turning into a half-inch long black paper.
The paper was very small and trembled slightly. The edges were uneven, like a section of paper torn off randomly. However, it exuded a strong Yin Fiend evil aura, which looked extremely strange.
"Eh, Soul Contract, how do you know the ghost curse in the Underworld River Ghost Scripture? No, it seems to be a simplified version, interesting... hehe." Looking at the black paper, the bird spirit called out strangely, seemingly a little surprised.
Hearing the bird spirit's surprised voice, Zhang Ling was also stunned. The black paper was a kind of ghost secret method condensed by his soul power, the Soul Pact Curse, not some Soul Contract.
This kind of secret method has no attack power. Instead, it is a kind of forbidden curse condensed by both sides using soul power, which has a certain binding force. It is a special restriction.
It is a curse technique similar to a heart demon oath.
The heart demon oath does not have a great binding force on their Nascent Soul cultivators. There are many ways to avoid it. This kind of ghost curse has a stronger binding force. This curse is a kind of forbidden curse in the ghost cultivation technique Underworld King Art in his hand.
The Underworld River Ghost Scripture that this person said, what is that? Zhang Ling didn't know, but it sounded like it was also a ghost secret method.
"Okay, it's okay to sign this curse."
After pondering for a moment, the bird spirit nodded and let out a cry. A trace of gray-golden spiritual light also floated out of its body. Like silk threads, it quickly injected into the black paper.
Suddenly, golden light appeared on the black paper. After a while, the paper stabilized.
Zhang Ling narrowed his eyes, and a wisp of divine sense wrapped around it. Some strange blood-colored small characters appeared on it. He used the power of divine sense to write down the content of the contract.
The bird spirit did the same, more directly waving out a spiritual light, which turned into a strange feather, floating on the paper and disappearing.
Some strange small characters also appeared on the back of the paper.
After doing this, the black paper suddenly rolled up violently. Then, with a puff, it turned into a ball of black flames, burned to ashes, and a wisp of green smoke floated up.
Strangely, these green smoke divided into two vague and strange skull heads. The eyes of the skull heads were blood red, and they laughed strangely a few times, divided to the left and right, and directly integrated into Zhang Ling and the bird spirit's body and disappeared.
So far, the Soul Pact Curse has been successful.
Zhang Ling immediately sensed that there seemed to be an extra layer of restriction in his sea of consciousness.
The bird spirit seemed indifferent, revealing a lazy look, fanned its wings a few times, landed on the Black Tortoise's shoulder, yawned spiritually, and said leisurely.
"Okay, I only have a trace of original spirit left, and I can't maintain my spirituality for a long time. The space in this area is extremely unstable, so you should leave this place as soon as possible."
As the bird spirit spoke, its figure swayed vaguely a few times, and turned into a feather again. However, compared to the previous blue feather, there were many more golden spiritual patterns on the feather at this moment.
Looking closely, the bird spirit's phantom was curled up on the feather. The feather floated without wind, and then it drilled into the Black Tortoise's sleeve robe, hiding in it, seeming to fall into a deep sleep.
This scene made Zhang Ling a little dumbfounded. Could it be that this guy didn't worry about him playing any tricks? Or did he think that his strength was high and he had signed a contract, so it would not be detrimental to him?
Zhang Ling shook his head self-deprecatingly, and didn't think too much about it. He and the Black Tortoise flew towards the front, intending to first explore where they were now. This place was indeed not very safe, so it was better to leave as soon as possible.
In this way, he and the Black Tortoise flew for two or three hundred miles. The sky was gray, and the water below was still endless, without any iconic things.
Before, he fought with Fairy Yue. This crazy woman mobilized the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, creating space cracks that sucked him into it. After the bird spirit's guidance, he also found a weak space in the black and white gang wind area and came here.
This made Zhang Ling suspect that he was still in the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm.
He glanced at the Black Tortoise and gave the Black Tortoise an order. The Black Tortoise turned into a black light and flew towards another direction. Zhang Ling himself also explored in the opposite direction.
Separating from the Black Tortoise can quickly explore this area.
Before long, Zhang Ling and the Black Tortoise were more than two hundred miles apart. He released all his divine sense and swept around, but found nothing.
Zhang Ling suddenly smiled strangely, and a bronze ancient lamp appeared in his hand. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a ball of blood essence, lighting the ancient lamp. He closed his eyes, and his face showed a painful expression, and his face was a little pale, but after two or three breaths, he opened his eyes again and took a long breath.
With a wave of his hand, he put away the bronze ancient lamp.
"Hehe, the hidden danger in the sea of consciousness has been resolved."
Using the ancient lamp to instantly increase his soul power by more than double, he separated the binding power of the Soul Pact Curse that had just been planted in his soul from his soul.
This was a little trick he played. The Soul Pact Curse did have a binding force on the contract set by both parties. Once the contract was violated, his own soul would be severely damaged.
However, this kind of Soul Pact was mentioned in the Underworld King Art.
As long as his own soul is strong, and he separates the power of the curse within a short period of time after planting this curse, the impact on himself will not be too great.
This method of solution is easy to say, but it is not easy to do. Once this curse is planted, if you want to separate the power of the curse, your own soul must instantly become several times stronger to do it.
There are many secret methods in the cultivation world that can make people's strength skyrocket. There are similar secret methods that can increase spiritual power by three or four times.
However, Zhang Ling had never heard of a similar secret method that could instantly increase soul power.
The bronze ancient lamp in his hand was not an ordinary treasure, and it could just do this. Therefore, he proposed the Soul Pact Curse and reached a cooperation with this mysterious bird spirit.
Of course, this cannot completely eliminate future worries. However, Zhang Ling also thought of the Awakening Soul Pill. This kind of Breaking Barrier Pill that removes the soul restriction may also have a removal effect on this kind of ghost curse.
Not long ago, he gave all the Breaking Barrier Pills he had refined to Ding Ruozhao. At this moment, he didn't have any Awakening Soul Pills in his hand. This was not a problem. He still had several copies of alchemy materials in his hand, and he could refine a few Awakening Soul Pills.
As for whether this ghost curse can really have a strong binding force on the bird spirit, he is not sure. After all, its history is extraordinary. Looking at its performance just now, it doesn't seem to be afraid of this kind of curse power.
Zhang Ling just wanted to make the bird spirit more afraid of him and not easily break the contract.
This is also a delaying tactic. After going out, Zhang Ling plans to immediately assimilate the second primordial spirit again. See if he can find other methods to remove the hidden dangers on the Black Tortoise's body.
Even if it ultimately fails, he can just give up the Black Tortoise.
If the bird spirit sincerely cooperates with him and can really give him guidance on his cultivation, Zhang Ling will naturally not have other thoughts, and it is okay to help it reshape and be reborn.
These things can only be decided based on the situation. And this move is just an extra layer of precaution.
Zhang Ling flew while thinking, and flew another hundred miles. A strange area appeared in front of him. A large area of colored mist blocked his vision.
A tinkling sound came, and a small bell around his waist kept making sounds. Obviously, there were space cracks in the middle.
The closer he got to that side, the more Zhang Ling sensed a powerful wind pressure. After approaching a distance, he stopped. The protective spiritual light on his body also opened up. Strands of strong wind hit his body, making a muffled sound like a heavy object hitting him.
The colored mist in front of him connected to the sky and the earth. Even hundreds of feet above the sky, the situation was the same.
Zhang Ling frowned and sent his divine sense towards the bottom of the water. His face became gloomy again. The bottom of the water in front of him was also covered with a layer of colored mist. This reminded him of a certain situation.
He quickly patted the spirit beast bag around his waist and released a dozen earth spirit bees. The other hand hit out a dozen small yellow spiritual lights to wrap these earth spirit bees.
With a thought, he controlled the spirit insects to fly towards the front. After a while, the spirit insects entered the colored mist area and instantly lost contact.
"Am I really this unlucky? It's another spatial obstacle." Zhang Ling cursed aloud, a situation he had encountered before in the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm.
Back then, after being swallowed by the Xuan Turtle, he was brought to a relatively independent space. That space wasn't large and nearly trapped him to death.
These small spaces, formed by spatial rifts, vary in size, and their outermost edges are called spatial barriers.
Encountering a spatial obstacle means you've reached the end of the small space. Unless you can break through this space, you'll be trapped inside.
Of course, if there's a stable spatial rift leading to the outside world, you can pass through it directly, just like before.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ling immediately flew upwards, and after ascending a thousand zhang, he encountered a spatial obstacle again, confirming his guess.
It seems the place he's in is indeed a small space. He wonders if he can find a stable spatial rift leading to the outside world. If not, things will be bad.
Zhang Ling scanned his surroundings and was about to search along the spatial barrier when his mind stirred. He immediately changed direction and flew towards the Xuan Turtle.
At this moment, the Xuan Turtle had made another discovery. Through mental connection, he immediately knew that the Xuan Turtle seemed to have discovered a dilapidated ancient ruin.
After a quarter of an hour, Zhang Ling approached the area. The Xuan Turtle wasn't far from his previous location, only three or four hundred li away.
His divine sense spread out towards that direction, and he saw a semi-circular island not far away. The island wasn't large, only a few li in size, and seemed to have some ancient architectural ruins on it.
As soon as he approached the area, Zhang Ling revealed a surprised expression because he noticed from afar that there was a slender spatial rift on the flat side of the island, and a whistling wind sound came from there.
This spatial rift appeared to be a stable spatial rift, but the widest part was only the size of an inch, and the length reached an astonishing hundred zhang.
From a distance, it looked like a strange, slender black needle lying horizontally there.
Zhang Ling pursed his lips, feeling inexplicably that this spatial rift wasn't formed naturally, but more like a sword light.
After looking at the spatial rift a few times, Zhang Ling went around it and flew towards the ancient architectural area of the island, landing on a dilapidated bluestone square.
The surroundings were in ruins, with some stone pavilions and towers collapsed in many places, buried among some grass, trees, and ancient trees. Only a few stone halls built of yellow rock on the hillside were relatively well-preserved, and their outlines could be seen.
The Xuan Turtle was inspecting one of the stone halls. Zhang Ling didn't hesitate and moved swiftly to join the Xuan Turtle, exploring the ancient cultivator's ruins.
