As his voice fell, the three Condensed Origin cultivators waved their arms simultaneously. Over a dozen strands of True Essence were unleashed from their palms, flying several zhang out from the cloud platform to begin their manifestation.

When a cultivator reached Perfection in the Qi Gathering realm and wished to break through, they had to use the spiritual energy within their Qi Mansion to condense True Essence.

As True Essence accumulated, it would ultimately transform into an Origin Core, marking the successful achievement of the Condensed Origin realm.

This path of breakthrough appeared simple, but because every step took place within the delicate confines of the Qi Mansion, its execution was exceptionally difficult and perilous.

Without the correct method to guide the process, it was entirely courting death.

Even with the Condensed Origin Method in hand, one had to be flawlessly cautious. The slightest slip would result in severe injury and a drop in realm at best, or death and the total dissipation of one's cultivation at worst.

The dangers of condensing True Essence lay mainly in two areas.

First, the transformation of spiritual energy into True Essence was not a simple matter of compression. It required refining and purifying the energy multiple times, stripping away the dross to retain the absolute essence. If anything went wrong during this process, the unformed True Essence would explode within the Qi Mansion, permanently damaging the very foundation of one's cultivation.

Second, before the Origin Core was fully formed, the True Essence within the body remained unstable and had to be suppressed at all times. Otherwise, it would run rampant, eventually bursting through the meridians and causing a agonizing death.

This was precisely why many cultivators at Qi Gathering Perfection remained stagnant at the twelfth level for decades.

A lifetime of cultivation was hard-won, and many of these individuals served as the pillars of their respective family clans. Without absolute certainty, no one was willing to take such a risk.

Yet, great peril always came with immense rewards. If one could achieve the Condensed Origin realm, a single thought would open up a vast new world.

Among the feats most envied by Qi Gathering cultivators was the ability to ride the wind and soar through the void.

With a single step, clouds and mist would become one's companions, allowing them to roam freely between heaven and earth.

How carefree, how unrestrained! This was truly the bearing of an immortal.

While this was the most widely celebrated use of True Essence, it was closely followed by the protective barrier it provided.

With a layer of Protective True Essence, no Qi Gathering technique could harm a Condensed Origin cultivator in the slightest. The vast chasm between realms lay precisely in this defense.

Within the Qi Gathering realm, there were rare tales of geniuses defeating those at higher levels. But using Qi Gathering power to slay a Condensed Origin master was something that had never occurred in the entire history of the Zhuhu Wangchao.

Beyond this, True Essence possessed many other marvelous uses.

Right now, for example, the three Condensed Origin cultivators of Wangyue City summoned their own True Essence and manifested it into various technique forms from the Qi Gathering stage.

The long-bearded old cultivator made the first move. Holding a jade tablet, he softly chanted, "The first of the Five Elements, called: Metal!"

Clang-

The first strand of True Essence completed its manifestation, transforming into thousands of sharp metal shards. As they chased and clashed against each other, sparks flew in all directions, and the sharp ring of clashing iron echoed throughout the venue.

After a brief exchange, the metal shards shifted again, transforming into heavy metallic boulders, golden rays, and an indestructible golden body... displaying the ever-changing forms of Metal Dao arts.

Within the Mountain Grotto-Heaven, all cultivators who practiced the Five Elements Metal Method were completely focused on the sky, terrified of missing a single detail.

After a quarter of an hour, the old cultivator finished demonstrating the Metal Dao arts one by one. He gently flicked his fingertip, and the True Essence instantly restored itself, flying back into his palm.

The gathered cultivators watched, hungering for more. Among them, some frowned deeply in thought, some revealed expressions of sudden enlightenment, and others looked utterly bewildered.

"The second of the Five Elements, called: Wood!"

...

"The third of the Five Elements, called: Water!"

...

"The fourth of the Five Elements, called: Fire!"

...

"The fifth of the Five Elements, called: Earth!"

The old cultivator finished demonstrating the Five Elements arts in sequence and withdrew his divine ability.

"Here it comes."

Yang Lingrui perked up his spirits and focused his attention on the burly man who was about to demonstrate next.

According to the order, after the Five Elements arts, it would be the turn of the Wind and Thunder paths.

"The first of the Two Spirits, called: Wind!"

Whoosh-

As the man's voice boomed like a great bell, a fierce wind appeared out of thin air, howling mournfully within the grotto-heaven.

Wind was inherently formless. To allow the observing cultivators to see the internal workings clearly, the burly man condensed a few points of spiritual light and cast them into the technique.

Yang Lingrui watched without blinking. After the violent wind raged for several rotations, it abruptly ceased.

But through the lingering spiritual light, one could see that the technique had not ended; rather, the wind technique had been hidden within the natural flow of heaven and earth's Spiritual Qi, rendering it entirely imperceptible.

"Excellent! So there is such a method!"

Yang Lingrui committed this technique to memory, then continued to observe carefully.

The spiritual light shifted again, becoming fine wisps and threads. They seemed soft and powerless, but as they gently brushed against the mountain walls, they left behind deep, trailing ravines.

"A gentle breeze brushing the face can also kill! It is not necessary to gather it into a wind blade to increase its power!"

...

"Wind has no physical form, so it can penetrate every opening. If it cannot be defeated from the outside, then break it from within!"

...

"Wind has no trace, intent has no trace, I too can have no trace!"

A quarter of an hour of the demonstration left Yang Lingrui exclaiming in silent delight.

Watching such an expert demonstrate was far better than blindly pondering alone at home.

Previously, his mind had remained confined. He had simply thought about how to make wind blades faster, how to condense wind cones more tightly for greater power, and how to control more wind blades simultaneously.

The only technique that could truly be considered an advanced application was the gale enveloping his body, and even that had been born from Yang Lingqing's guidance.

But after today, he felt that he had opened the door to a new world in the path of dao techniques.

He would no longer be constrained by the fixed movements within techniques, but would embark on the path of comprehensive mastery.

Li Cheng saw that he seemed to have gained some insight and did not disturb him. He even raised a spiritual energy barrier to shield Yang Lingrui from the booming sounds of the next Thunder Dharma demonstration.

Toward Yang Lingrui, he felt a measure of guilt. After arguing with his sister yesterday and reflecting on his own past actions, he recognized that his behavior had indeed been inappropriate.

"Thank you, Young Master Li."

As the demonstration neared its end, Yang Lingrui came back to his senses. Seeing the barrier surrounding him, he quickly expressed his thanks.

"What's there to be polite about with me?"

Li Cheng waved his hand and continued, "Earlier you said you wanted a personal display stand in the Hundred Arts Hall. It's already been arranged. Come with me."

"Good!"

Yang Lingrui followed Li Cheng across the suspended floating bridge and arrived at the Hundred Arts Hall, located in the lower half of the grotto-heaven area.

This place was where cultivators from all paths displayed their products. If someone took a liking to an item, they could sign a bulk purchase contract under the witness of cultivators from the Wangyue City Immortal Patrol Office.

This contract had the endorsement of the Wangchao and was extremely binding. If one party violated the contract's terms, the Wangchao would intervene directly.

Therefore, conducting transactions here was far more secure than in ordinary markets.

The demonstration had not yet ended, so there were not many people here yet, allowing them time to make preparations.

Li Cheng brought Yang Lingrui to a personal display stand. This place was not large, only enough to accommodate one person, but it was sufficient for displaying items.

Yang Lingrui had inquired with Gao Hui and knew that such display stands were very rare. Even the Li family did not have many, so he felt profound gratitude toward Li Cheng.

However, Yang Lingrui did not know that this display stand had not been obtained for him by Li Cheng's own influence.

Li Cheng did not have that much power; after all, the Li family itself only had three spots, leaving no spares.

It was last night, when Li Cheng went to apologize to Li Qingwan, that he had inadvertently mentioned the matter.

After Li Qingwan learned of it, she used her own connections to secure this spot for Yang Lingrui.

But she did not want Yang Lingrui to know about this, so she had Li Cheng make up an excuse, saying that a late-stage Qi Gathering rogue cultivator had been unable to attend, leaving this spot vacant.

"The demonstration is over. I need to go back and help my family side."

"No problem. Young Master Li, go ahead and attend to your matters."

After Li Cheng left, Yang Lingrui took out four talismans from his Storage Bag.

A Fine-grade Mind-Calming Talisman, a Fine-grade Evil-Repelling Talisman, a Low-grade Fire Talisman, and a Low-grade Divine Movement Talisman.

The types of these four talismans had been carefully selected internally by the Yang family.

They could not be too rare, nor could their realm or quality be too high.

They had to avoid arousing suspicion while still ensuring they could be sold.

Yang Lingrui placed the four talismans properly. Soon, the crowd that had finished observing the ceremony and demonstration surged into the hall.

His position was relatively remote. He had originally thought it would be a while before anyone inquired, but unexpectedly, less than half an hour after the crowd entered, a cultivator wearing a Daoist robe and carrying a Dharma sword on his back approached his stand.

"Fellow Daoist, what is your price for this Mind-Calming Talisman and Evil-Repelling Talisman?"