Su Yan carried the *Mud Pill Inner-Realm Longevity Art* back to Mount Wuwang. He entered the ascension ground and studied it while cultivating, testing the technique that had carried Zhou Qiyun to glory and death.
The art mobilized the Mud Pill Secret's power, gathering qi from the Chaos Sea. It was a variant qi cultivation method, alien yet familiar.
The Mud Pill vitality refined into body and soul, pushing both toward immortal thresholds. Su Yan had to admit—the concept was brilliant.
But the trap was obvious.
The technique stuffed the soul with so much Mud Pill vitality that it grew bloated and powerful. Yet bloated power was fragile power. A fattened pig made for easy slaughter.
"Almost all nuo masters have weak souls," Su Yan observed. "They handle other nuo masters well enough, but against underworld ghosts they crumble. Many powerful nuo immortals can't survive a single strike from the bull brothers' Soul-Lashing Whip."
Zhou Qiyun had spotted this flaw and changed course. He had sought to forge his soul into something truly indestructible.
Su Yan read through Zhou Qiyun's notes. Before receiving the Tuo's Immortal Scripture and Nine Heavens Yang Spirit Scripture, Zhou Qiyun had found fragments of ancient qi cultivation texts. From half-genuine scraps, he had refined his soul to a level rivaling a true Primordial Spirit.
"Reaching this height from broken fragments," Su Yan shook his head. "A true genius."
The notes described the fragment's contents—scattered insights about Primordial Spirit cultivation, unclear even about what a Primordial Spirit truly was. Obviously written by someone who had never achieved one.
Yet Zhou Qiyun had built a skyscraper from rubble.
His greatest insight lay in unifying the Mud Pill grotto-heaven with qi cultivation. The Tuo's Immortal Scripture and Nine Heavens Yang Spirit Scripture represented the pinnacle of ancient qi cultivation wisdom—difficult to fuse with each other, let alone with a completely different system.
Zhou Qiyun's approach surprised Su Yan. Instead of using nuo arts as the root and qi cultivation as support, he reversed it. Qi cultivation became the trunk. Nuo arts became the branches.
For a nuo immortal, this meant denying his entire life's achievement. It required courage and intellect that few possessed.
* * *
"Emperor Zhangwu opened the Crimson Palace and Jade Capital Secrets. Their powers conflicted, and he could not resolve them. I mocked him for choosing the wrong path. But was it truly wrong?"
Zhou Qiyun had written, "The world believes the Six Secrets conflict and that mixing them means death. But that is only true without a unifying trunk. If the Xiyi Domain becomes the central pillar, the Six Secrets become flowers and fruit upon it. No more conflict. No more chaos."
Su Yan closed the notes and sat in silence. Then he shouted, "Seventh Lord!"
Yuan Qi was cultivating the Dragon-Serpent Awakening Art nearby. He slithered over. "A-Yan, what's wrong?"
"Swallow these volumes. They are treasure. They must not be lost."
Yuan Qi opened his mouth and gulped the books down. From neck to tail, his body was stomach. He had long since refined his gut into a storage space for precious items.
Su Yan explained Zhou Qiyun's tree metaphor. "He said qi cultivation is the tree and the Six Secrets are six flowers. That's wrong. The Six Secrets are six power sources feeding the tree of qi cultivation. That is the correct relationship."
Yuan Qi blinked his enormous eyes. "What's the difference?"
Su Yan met his gaze. "The difference is: Zhou Qiyun fed his qi to the Secrets, making them stronger. My method feeds the Secrets to my qi, making it stronger."
Yuan Qi sort of understood. Mostly didn't. "How do we do that?"
"Seventh Lord, brilliant!"
Su Yan clapped his hands and paced excitedly. "Zhou Qiyun solved the connection problem from his perspective as a nuo immortal. But that perspective limited him! I'll take the first half of the Mud Pill Inner-Realm Longevity Art and connect it to my Grand Unity Daoyin Art!"
"A-Yan, how do you connect them?"
"Connecting two different cultivation systems sounds impossibly complex, right?" Su Yan laughed. "But if we treat the vitality fished from the Mud Pill grotto-heaven as the solar essence we guide through Daoyin breathing—if we treat it as heaven-and-earth qi—then what connection do we need? Seventh Lord, isn't that the logic?"
Yuan Qi's eyes went perfectly round. His brain had left the building.
The serpent patted Su Yan's head with his tail tip, smiling with fatherly pride. "A-Yan, if you've found the answer, be brave and do it!"
"Yes!"
Su Yan sat down and attempted to unify the Mud Pill Secret with his qi cultivation.
The bull brothers watched from the corner, trembling with awe. "Our teacher asks Seventh Lord for guidance even on matters beyond mortal comprehension. Seventh Lord's depth is unfathomable."
Yuan Qi sweated internally. "I was just agreeing with whatever he said. Is he actually going to cultivate like this? If something goes wrong..."
He blinked. "Well, that's A-Yan's problem. He's smart enough to fix it. Should I open my own Mud Pill Secret too?"
* * *
Su Yan organized the Grand Unity Daoyin Art's circulation method. He trimmed the Mud Pill Inner-Realm Longevity Art to its grotto-heaven section. He merged them, tested the combination several times, confirmed no fatal errors, and began.
The moment he activated the Grand Unity Daoyin Art, his Xiyi Domain erupted. A heavenly river crashed through mountains and valleys. Thunder rumbled. The great sun turned.
Vital qi poured in from the ascension ground's rich spiritual environment. Mud Pill longevity vitality flowed alongside it, penetrating flesh, bone, organs, and soul alike.
"So this is the true longevity art."
Tears slid down Su Yan's cheeks. "If Zhou Qiyun had realized this, he wouldn't have rushed his tribulation. He wouldn't have fallen to the Mud Pill Palace Master."
His body and soul climbed steadily. The longevity vitality harmonized yin and yang, clarified life and death, and extended his lifespan.
Then the great bell screamed. "A-Yan! A-Yan! Seventh Lord is in trouble!"
Su Yan stopped. The bell's voice came from inside Yuan Qi's head. "He forced his Mud Pill open! His technique lacked power and precision! The grotto-heaven opened halfway and is collapsing! I'm holding back the Chaos Sea's backlash!"
Su Yan pressed a finger to his brow. His soul left his body and plunged into Yuan Qi's mind.
Chaos waves crashed. Clouds of primal mist drifted. A half-formed grotto-heaven twisted and flailed, unable to stabilize.
If it collapsed, Yuan Qi's mind would dissolve. At best, he'd become an idiot. At worst, his head would vanish entirely.
"Seven! Gather your spiritual sense!"
Yuan Qi couldn't hear. His consciousness had scattered.
Su Yan made a decision. His soul returned to his body. He gathered all his qi and shouted, "Rise!"
Yuan Qi flew into the air, held aloft by Su Yan's power.
Su Yan activated the Eight Yuan Tones. Dao sounds resonated through both their bodies. He activated the Dragon-Serpent Awakening Art. Yuan Qi's body followed suit.
Su Yan pointed at Yuan Qi's brow. Yuan Qi's tail stabbed at his own brow.
Together, human and serpent, their combined power slammed into the half-formed Mud Pill.
Boom!
A second grotto-heaven tore open. It intertwined with the first, dragon and serpent coiled as one, plunging into the Chaos Sea and fishing for longevity vitality faster than Su Yan's own.
The great bell stared. "The stupid snake lucked into a blessing."