Naruto: Cultivating to Immortality

Chapter 235 Going down the mountain

Time flies, and five years have passed since the Uchiha clan was massacred. During these five years, the ninja world has not fallen into turmoil due to the demise of the Konoha Uchiha clan. Although other ninja villages already harbored plans to attack Konoha, they had not yet fully recovered from the trauma of the Third Shinobi World War. Furthermore, Konoha possessed a ninja like Hyuga Kanan, whose strength was comparable to a thousand troops, making other ninja villages wary and hesitant to provoke war. Therefore, the various ninja villages chose to remain inactive, allowing the ninja world to maintain a relatively peaceful state.

In the cultivation grounds, Hyuga Kanan remained in seclusion. With the assistance of the world's will, Hyuga Kanan had made relatively rapid progress over the past few years. Since breaking through to the Golden Core realm, he possessed abundant natural energy that he could refine, and having entered the origin of the world's will during his breakthrough to comprehend various rules and powers, he had now reached the late Golden Core realm. However, to break through to the next realm, he would need to comprehend the breakthrough himself.

At this moment, Hyuga Kanan could clearly feel that the golden core in his dantian had become incredibly round. Not only that, but the dense, regular Dao patterns on its surface were also more pronounced than before. These changes made the originally simple aura of the golden core even more ethereal and mysterious, like something hidden in clouds, difficult to grasp. Moreover, the golden core seemed to have increased in size considerably, all indicating that it was evolving towards a higher level.

However, Hyuga Kanan knew very well that although he had successfully formed his Golden Core, there was still a long way to go before breaking through to the next stage. To allow his Golden Core to transform and ultimately form a Nascent Soul, he needed to double his understanding of the power of rules. Only then could he use the power of rules to continuously refine his Golden Core, gradually changing its form to human shape and imbuing it with more spirituality. This process required him to master more comprehensive and in-depth rules, which was undoubtedly an extremely challenging task.

However, Hyuga Kanan is still very confident that he can spend a few more years to complete this transformation, break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and lay the most solid foundation for his cultivation path.

If we were to name the person who has made the most progress in the past five years, it would undoubtedly be Hyuga Neji. He truly lives up to his immense talent, successfully reaching the Perfection of Qi Refining in just a few short years, only a hair's breadth away from condensing his own Innate Flower. At this moment, the Essence and Qi Innate Flowers among his Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit have already reached their basic forms, but have not yet fully transformed, though they have laid a solid foundation. As long as he continues to cultivate according to the established plan, he believes he will soon be able to ignite these two Innate Flowers. However, the only problem that currently troubles him is that the time required to refine his soul power is simply too long, so for the time being, his soul power is far from reaching the level required to condense an Innate Flower.

Because there's no world's will to help refine the ninja's soul, Hyuga Neji can't obtain pure soul energy to enhance his own soul power. Therefore, he can only rely on the Nourishing Spirit Technique to slowly increase his soul power. Although this method can improve his strength to some extent, it can't compare to those who possess pure soul energy. If he wants to condense the Divine Flower within his essence, energy, and spirit, he needs even more soul power to support it.

Judging from the current pace of cultivation, barring any extraordinary encounters or accidents, it will take at least several more years to accumulate soul power and nurture the Divine Flower. Such a long and arduous process is truly frustrating and disheartening.

As time went on, Hyuga Neji's mood grew increasingly irritable. He found himself trapped in a vicious cycle: the more anxious he was to improve his cultivation level quickly, the harder it became to concentrate on serious training; and the less he could concentrate, the more he felt his progress was too slow and too difficult. This mental issue was actually the negative impact of his mental cultivation failing to keep pace with his advancement in cultivation level. However, Hyuga Neji himself was unaware of this. He was extremely confused and distressed by the sudden and significant drop in his cultivation speed. He had originally thought that as long as he worked hard, he could quickly improve his cultivation level, but now he was encountering such a significant obstacle. This sense of frustration made him even more anxious and uneasy, and he even began to doubt whether he was truly suited for this path.

Hyuga Neji sat on the ground, staring blankly ahead, his heart filled with confusion and bewilderment. He couldn't help but doubt his abilities and whether his training methods were correct. This self-doubt plunged him into deep anxiety, and for nearly a month, his training progress had almost come to a standstill.

His once resolute heart now wavered, his thoughts tangled like a jumbled mess. He didn't know how to break through his current predicament, and the inner turmoil prevented him from focusing on his cultivation. He tried various methods, but all to no avail.

Left with no other option, he realized he couldn't continue like this and had to seek outside help. So, he decided to find his teacher, hoping to receive guidance and instruction. He believed his teacher would have a solution and could help him out of his current predicament. With a glimmer of hope, Hyuga Neji arrived at Hyuga Kanan's secluded retreat, seeking assistance.

After listening to Hyuga Neji's account, Hyuga Kanan realized the problem his disciple had encountered. A wave of guilt washed over him, as he realized he hadn't fulfilled his responsibilities as a teacher. Because he spent most of his time in seclusion, he had rarely had the opportunity to personally instruct and guide Neji. Completely unexpectedly, Neji had displayed extraordinary talent in cultivation, achieving remarkable progress in just a few years. This fact far exceeded his expectations.

In Hyuga Kanan's estimation, it would take Hyuga Neji at least five more years to reach his current level. Therefore, he hadn't paid much attention to Neji, believing that as long as he diligently cultivated step by step, he would eventually reap the rewards. However, reality dealt him an unexpected blow. Neji's cultivation progressed exceptionally rapidly, far exceeding Kanan's expectations. It now seemed clear that Neji's mental state couldn't keep up with his cultivation speed, causing his resolve to waver. If this continued, it could very well trigger inner demons, ultimately ruining Neji's path to cultivation.

“Neji, this is my fault. I never expected your training speed to be so rapid, so I haven’t given you enough guidance.” Hyuga Kanan first admitted his negligence to Hyuga Neji. Looking at the gifted and hardworking student in front of him, he was filled with guilt and self-reproach.

Hyuga Neji listened quietly, his face expressionless. He knew his teacher was telling the truth. Although he had always trained diligently, he had recently found that his mental state seemed to be lagging behind.

Hyuga Kanan continued, "The problem you're facing is one that all cultivators encounter. Your cultivation progress is too rapid, but you lack the corresponding mental state. The path of cultivation is incredibly long and lonely, requiring a strong mental state to continue. What you need to do now is not to continue cultivating diligently, but to completely stop and properly recuperate. You need to go down the mountain and experience the ninja world to gain a clearer understanding of the world, thereby improving your mental state."

Hyuga Neji frowned; he understood his teacher's meaning. Cultivation wasn't just about accumulating power, but also about tempering one's mind. If one's mind wasn't strong enough, no matter how hard one tried, it would be difficult to break through to a higher realm.

"Go, child, say goodbye to your father, and then travel around to see the world and broaden your horizons. This will benefit your future cultivation path. When you feel you have gained some insights, return to continue your secluded cultivation. Also, you can take this opportunity to collect some materials. After you break through to the Innate Realm, you can start forging your own natal magic weapon. As for the materials needed, I will give you a list. Just follow the list to find them. But remember, this is a big deal, so don't be careless."

Hyuga Neji nodded, agreeing with his teacher's suggestion. Then, he decided to put aside his training, leave the mountain, and venture out into the world. He wanted to see just how vast the world was and how many unknowns awaited his exploration.

As Hyuga Neji turned and left, Hyuga Kanan watched his retreating figure, still somewhat surprised. Hyuga Neji's talent for cultivation was truly exceptional; both his physical abilities and personality were outstanding. It was worth noting that it took him nearly ten years to complete the Qi Refining stage of cultivation, and that was only after receiving the world's will's help in refining ninja soul energy and absorbing pure soul energy. But this child, Hyuga Neji, relied entirely on his natural talent, completing the Qi Refining stage in a short time, even surpassing his mental fortitude in his cultivation speed.

It's important to understand that mental state issues generally only arise after reaching a higher level of cultivation. After all, once you've cultivated to a certain level, the time required for further improvement becomes extremely long. During this extended period, the slow progress is what causes cultivators to doubt and waver in their chosen path. However, Hyuga Neji had only been cultivating for less than ten years, and the sudden slowdown in his rapid progress was what caused his mental state issues.

However, it is believed that Hyuga Neji will gain a great improvement after his travels, laying the groundwork for his future training.