The do of the Enlightennt Hall was inlaid with Thousand-Year Night Beads.
Soft rays of light bathed the Profound Jade ditation Mat at the center of the hall, the Eight Trigrams runes of the Demon Race carved on the mat glimring with a faint azure Spiritual Qi in the dim light.
Chen Sheng sat cross-legged, the "Yin Yang Qi Diagram" hovering in front of him trembled as if alive, the cover woven from the tail feathers of the Golden-Winged Roc sparkling with a gentle flow of light.
Black and white energies entwined and wandered at the edges of the scroll, occasionally touching the hall’s pillars and triggering tiny shimring patterns along their Spiritual Qi paths.
He took a deep breath, focusing a wisp of intertwined Yin-Yang Power at his fingertips — a power that had been with him since birth, now resonating faintly with the energies of the scroll as it flowed around his fingers.
"First, unseal the Restrictions before refining the Dao Artifact."
Chen Sheng murmured in his heart, raising his fingers gently and slowly pointing the strand of Yin-Yang Power onto the pale golden runes at the edge of the scroll.
"Buzz——"
At the instant his fingers touched the runes, the scroll exploded with a dazzling black and white light.
In the brilliance, dozens of hair-thin Restriction threads extended from the cover across the pages like silver snakes slithering over the scroll. Each thread lit up with a crisp "ding" sound.
Chen Sheng felt a gentle yet majestic force rushing in through his fingertips, rging instantly with the Five Elents and Yin-Yang Power around him.
The mist surrounding the Profound Jade ditation Mat was drawn by this force, spiraling into a Taichi pattern about a ter in size, with black and white energies cycling within it, causing ripples in the very air.
He imdiately gathered his Heart Spirit, transforming the power of the Divine Soul into a stream of golden light, slowly infusing it into the scroll.
As the Divine Soul delved deeper, a space of Restriction within the scroll unfolded in his mind:
It was a realm of chaotic void where black and white energies intertwined to form a winding Golden Bridge, beneath which ran a torrential river of Spiritual Qi, with countless tiny runes floating upon it.
As the runes flickered, information about "Soul Suppressing," "Golden Bridge," and "Absorption" surged into his sea of consciousness like a tide.
Chen Sheng’s heart stirred imdiately: "Begin refining!"
...
It was unclear how much ti had passed when his Divine Soul touched the final Core Restriction and the scroll suddenly shook violently, black and white energies surging outward like a tide, enveloping Chen Sheng completely.
The black robe he wore fluttered on its own, the Golden-Winged Roc totem embroidered on its cuffs detaching from the fabric, transforming into a palm-sized miniature Peng Bird, soaring and screeching amid the black and white energies, its golden feathers emitting a faint Spirit Light.
"The preliminary refining is complete."
Chen Sheng opened his eyes, a flash of black and white passing through them. He raised his hand, and the scroll shrank to palm size, transforming into a stream of light falling into his palm.
"Next, to the Great Wilderness Forbidden Land, to breakthrough to Demon Emperor!"
Outside the hall, the Golden Feather Demon Venerable had been waiting. Seeing Chen Sheng erge, the golden flas in his eyes flickered slightly:
"How goes the Controlling of the Restrictions?"
"Replying to Ancestor, the three Core Restrictions are unsealed, and the Divine Soul connection is stable."
Chen Sheng presented the scroll with both hands, the scroll slightly quivering in his palm, as if responding to the gaze of the Golden Feather Demon Venerable.
The Golden Feather Demon Venerable nodded, raising his hand to open a door of golden light, behind which surged a wave of dense, almost palpable, Spiritual Qi:
"The Spiritual Qi Tide in the Forbidden Land has arrived, quickly go break through, I will protect you here."
Chen Sheng bowed in salute, turned, and stepped into the door of light.
As the door closed, he found himself in a vast valley — the Great Wilderness Forbidden Land.
The surrounding sheer cliffs soared thousands of miles high, covered with ancient Demon Race runes, flickering softly and exuding a subtle air of desolation.
The Spiritual Qi in the air was dozens of tis more dense than in the Golden Feather Hall, every breath filling his ridians with tumultuous Spiritual Power.
At the center of the Forbidden Land, a massive circular stone platform hovered in mid-air, surrounded by nine Spiritual Energy Vortexes.
Within the vortexes, seven-colored Spiritual Qi churned continuously, a tide ford from the rging of the Five Elents and Yin-Yang Powers.
Chen Sheng descended onto the stone platform. The mont his feet touched the surface, he felt a surge of boundless Spiritual Qi pour into his body. He sat cross-legged, placing the "Yin Yang Qi Diagram" above his head, forming hand seals for a breakthrough:
"Let the challenge begin, Demon Emperor Realm!"
As he ford the seals, the Tier Three Demon King’s Golden Core within his Dantian began to tremble violently.
The golden patterns on the surface of the Golden Core flickered continuously, the once solid core gradually becoming transparent, the Spiritual Power within boiling like water.
He took a deep breath, channeling the Five Elents and Yin-Yang Powers around him towards the Dantian — to shatter the core and form the Nascent Soul, one must break the shackles of the Golden Core with their own power, transforming it into a Demon Emperor Nascent Soul.
"Hah!"
With a soft shout, Chen Sheng’s Five Elents Power transford into five colorful bands, wrapping around the Golden Core in his Dantian, while the Yin-Yang energies beca twin black and white swords, lightly piercing the core’s surface.
With a slight "crack," a tiny fissure appeared on the surface of the Golden Core, spreading until the core gradually disintegrated into countless golden Spiritual Power dots.
Drawn by the Five Elents and Yin-Yang Powers, these dots slowly gathered into a walnut-sized Nascent Soul, entwined with black and white energy and glimring faintly with golden light.
"Shatter the core and form the Nascent Soul, accomplished in a snap!"
As the Nascent Soul took shape, his aura began to surge rapidly, the pressure of the Tier Three Demon King gradually dissipating as a more powerful presence awakened within him.
The next mont, Chen Sheng’s sea of consciousness suddenly darkened.
Countless black shadows erged from the depths of his consciousness, shadows filled with his regrets during cultivation and the bloody mories from the Golden-winged Roc Race’s inheritance.
— This is the Heart Demon Tribulation, a reflection of a cultivator’s inner weaknesses during breakthrough.
"Heh heh... did you think breaking through would be so simple?"
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