The Immortal Cultivation World Is Too Dangerous: I Return to Earth as a Divine Sage - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hiding on Earth with a Small Goal: Invincible Below Nuclear Weapons

“Three hundred and eight bottles of low-tier spiritual pills used for the Qi Refining stage, each bottle containing ten pills. Of which, fifty-three bottles are healing pills similar to Rejuvenation Pills. One hundred and fifty-three bottles for Qi Refining Layers 1 to 4, sixty-seven bottles for Qi Refining Layers 4 to 8, and thirty-five bottles for Qi Refining Layers 8 to 12.

“Five bottles of mid-tier spiritual pills used by Foundation Establishment cultivators: two for healing injuries, two for cultivation, and the last bottle contains only one pill—a Foundation Establishment Pill, extremely precious, capable of increasing the chance of reaching Foundation Establishment by thirty percent.”

On the sofa, after calming his lingering fear, Ye Yang used the divine sense unique to cultivators to probe the storage ring, taking stock of the gains from his life-risking adventure.

“Riches are indeed found under peril. Though I nearly died this time, the rewards match the cost. With so many cultivation pills, even if I don’t return to the cultivation world and stay on Earth, which lacks spirit stones and spiritual energy, I can still maintain normal cultivation. Wait? Not return to the cultivation world?”

While inventorying the Tianhuang Sect’s pill storage, Ye Yang’s eyes suddenly narrowed as a thought struck him.

“I initially went to the cultivation world to become an interdimensional trader and get rich. After discovering cultivators, I wanted to become one myself, achieve longevity, ascend to immortality, and become an ancestor. Now, I have pills for cultivation and techniques for practice. The goal of cultivation can already be achieved on Earth. Why risk going back to the cultivation world?

“If the cultivation world were as safe as those in cultivation novels, that’d be one thing. But the shockwaves from a battle between two Golden Core cultivators could affect a thousand miles. Wouldn’t a Nascent Soul cultivator’s shockwaves affect ten thousand or even a hundred thousand miles?

“For a small-time cultivator like me, just starting on the path, I wouldn’t even sense a Nascent Soul cultivator’s shockwave before being reduced to ashes, without even a chance to use the Kunlun Mirror to return to Earth. Yes, I can’t return to the cultivation world—at least not until I’ve used up my cultivation resources.

“What if I go back and get caught in the midst of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s battle? I’d be done for.”

Lying on the sofa, the more Ye Yang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to stay away from the cultivation world.

Finally, he made a decision.

The cultivation world was too dangerous. He would hide on safe Earth and cultivate.

At the very least, he wouldn’t return until he reached Foundation Establishment and gained some self-preservation ability. Then he could go back to the cultivation world to gather resources.

The moment he obtained resources, he would immediately return to Earth and continue hiding and cultivating. Unless he became a Golden Core cultivator, or even a Nascent Soul cultivator, he wouldn’t linger in the cultivation world.

If possible, Ye Yang even wanted to reach the Soul Transformation stage, the pinnacle of the cultivation world, before returning.

“Let’s keep checking the techniques from the Tianhuang Sect’s technique library. I hope there’s some cultivation experience from high-tier cultivators. Otherwise, if I’m just fumbling through cultivation on my own, breaking through each realm will probably take a long time.”

Having decided not to return to the cultivation world, Ye Yang immediately probed his divine sense into the storage ring again, examining the Tianhuang Sect’s technique jade slips he had swept clean.

The speed of scanning technique jade slips with divine sense was extremely fast.

In just half an hour, Ye Yang had gone through most of the Tianhuang Sect’s technique library jade slips.

After another few dozen minutes, Ye Yang was down to the last three of the nearly five hundred technique jade slips in the library.

At this moment, looking at the final three jade slips in the storage ring, Ye Yang’s expression was somewhat heavy.

It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the techniques in the library. He had found the complete version of the Tianhuang Sect’s signature technique, “Tianhuang Record,” which could lead to the Golden Core stage, among the jade slips he’d just reviewed.

But while he had the technique, there were no jade slips with cultivation experience.

The path of cultivation was fraught with pitfalls—one wrong step could lead to endless mistakes. The difference between having guidance and fumbling alone was absolutely immense.

“That doesn’t make sense. A cultivation sect like the Tianhuang Sect shouldn’t lack cultivation experience left by high-tier cultivators. Could it be that the Tianhuang Sect’s cultivation experiences aren’t stored in the technique library? But that’s not right either. Although the technique library’s name suggests it only stores techniques, it’s essentially a data archive. Besides techniques, it contains jade slips describing natural treasures, rare anecdotes, and oddities of the cultivation world.

“If there were cultivation experiences from high-tier cultivators, they would definitely be stored in the technique library. Could the high-tier cultivators’ experiences be in these last three jade slips?”

Pondering silently, Ye Yang continued to examine the final three jade slips from the technique library.

“Name: Primordial Thunder Art (Incomplete),

Level: Soul Transformation Technique,

Description: Lacks content beyond the Foundation Establishment stage. For those with no hope of reaching Golden Core, cultivating the Primordial Thunder Art can make one nearly invincible among peers of the same realm if they aren’t cultivating an equivalent technique.”

Soon, the contents of the first jade slip entered Ye Yang’s mind.

“Incomplete technique? Trash.”

Looking at the description of the Primordial Thunder Art, Ye Yang shook his head inwardly. Of course, when Ye Yang called it trash, he didn’t mean the Primordial Thunder Art was weak.

A Soul Transformation-level technique, practically the ceiling of the cultivation world, couldn’t possibly be weak. But it was precisely because the Primordial Thunder Art was too powerful that Ye Yang called it trash.

In the cultivation world, one could only switch from a lower-level technique to a higher-level one.

Higher-level techniques could easily convert the spiritual energy of lower-level techniques. But switching from a high-level technique to a lower-level one was impossible.

The Primordial Thunder Art only had content for the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages. After reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment, without the subsequent content, one’s path would essentially end.

With the Kunlun Mirror allowing him to traverse two worlds and his decent aptitude, how could Ye Yang be satisfied with stopping at the peak of Foundation Establishment?

Thus, in Ye Yang’s eyes, the Primordial Thunder Art was naturally trash.

Dismissing the Primordial Thunder Art as trash, Ye Yang immediately turned to the second jade slip.

“Cultivation Insights, Author: Qi Daozhen, Content: From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment Peak.

“Qi Daozhen? The sect’s founding ancestor?”

Upon seeing the contents of the second jade slip, Ye Yang’s eyes immediately lit up with joy.

“No wonder none of the previous jade slips had high-tier cultivators’ experiences. They either don’t leave any, or they leave the best. With the cultivation insights left by the Tianhuang Sect’s founding ancestor, Qi Daozhen, who needs anyone else’s experience? With insights covering up to the peak of Foundation Establishment, I won’t have to worry about lacking guidance before reaching Golden Core.”

Looking at the contents of the Cultivation Insights, Ye Yang thought excitedly.

“There’s one last jade slip. I’ll check it quickly, then carefully study Ancestor Qi Daozhen’s Cultivation Insights and start popping pills to cultivate.

“The spiritual energy at Qi Refining Layer 1 is too weak. It’s only enough to bully a few hundred ordinary people. Since I’ve decided to hide and cultivate on Earth, I need to at least become invincible on Earth first. Let’s set a small goal: invincible below nuclear weapons.

“A Foundation Establishment cultivator’s combat power can easily destroy a city of a million people, roughly equivalent to a smaller-yield nuclear weapon. By extension, reaching Foundation Establishment should make me immune to nuclear weapons’ power. Invincible below nuclear weapons would be at the peak of Qi Refining.

“There are no extraordinary beings on Earth. I’m the only cultivator, so I can lower the bar a bit. Late Qi Refining should be enough to be invincible below nuclear weapons.”

Having planned his next steps, Ye Yang immediately probed his divine sense into the final jade slip.