Hong Yu had made up his mind to cultivate the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit, and he wasn't about to hesitate.
Only one day remained before the end of the assessnt in the Abyssal Mountain Range. If he missed the deadline and failed to return, he would lose his chance to enter the Cyan Nether Sword Sect. But upon his return, he would certainly face interrogation—or even coercion—from the powers backing the Ten Great Celestial Prodigies. Thus, increasing his strength as quickly as possible had beco a pressing matter.
Fortunately, after two consecutive days of life-and-death battles, Hong Yu's cultivation had beco more consolidated. Moreover, he had successfully guided Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into his Lower Dantian, so breaking through from the Late Ninth Layer to the Peak Realm shouldn't be an issue.
Once he reached the Peak of the Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm, he could finally begin cultivating the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit.
The Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit was divided into nine levels. Each level of cultivation involved a compression of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within his Lower Dantian.
This ant Hong Yu first had to fill his entire Lower Dantian with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Then, using the Secret Technique of the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit, he would compress it. The first compression would form a single Qi Vortex. After repeating this process nine tis, the cultivation would be considered complete, forging a flawless Nine Revolutions Primordial Spirit.
As everyone knew, there was a golden age for a Martial Artist's cultivation.
The younger one was, the greater their potential!
According to Little One, many of the prodigies who had attempted to cultivate the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit in the past had t with failure. This was for two reasons. First, they had squandered too much ti during the nine compressions of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Second, they had never truly grasped the secret of the technique.
"Lad, since you're planning to cultivate the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit, this seat can't just let you follow in the footsteps of your failed predecessors." Inside the Profound Celestial Tower, Little One sat with his legs crossed, able to see Hong Yu outside through the Divine Tower. His two bright, dark eyes narrowed into slits as he spoke in a sly tone, "Co on, co on! Give all the remaining First-Grade Spirit dicine you have, and I'll teach you a thod to rapidly devour Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!"
"Little One, this is extortion! You're taking advantage of the situation!"
Hong Yu protested angrily.
But Little One didn't care in the slightest. Tapping the large tobacco pipe in his hand—a pipe taller than he was—he said dismissively, "It's a fair trade. You're free to refuse!"
"..."
Hong Yu admitted defeat.
He handed his last few stalks of First-Grade Spirit dicine to Little One. Inside his mind, the damn Tower God let out a wicked laugh before slowly transmitting a Secret Technique to him. This technique was called Sea of All Rivers. Perhaps having a pang of conscience after extorting over a dozen stalks of First-Grade Spirit dicine from Hong Yu, Little One proactively opened the Shadow Martial Space.
Inside the Shadow Martial Space, Hong Yu practiced the Breathing Technique, Sea of All Rivers.
After about three hours, he had already reached the Mastery Realm, increasing his absorption speed of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi by threefold.
'Sea of All Rivers is truly incredible. Just reaching the Mastery Realm tripled my speed. At the Realm of Perfection, it can increase it by a full five tis!' As he felt the speed at which he devoured Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi skyrocket, the frustration from losing his First-Grade Spirit dicine faded considerably.
"Sea of All Rivers, absorb!"
Hong Yu slowly closed his eyes, activating the Breathing and Exhaling Profound Skill, Sea of All Rivers.
This Breathing and Exhaling Profound Skill was truly formidable. With his absorption speed tripled, Hong Yu could feel the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi converging on his position.
At his previous speed, it would have taken thirty to forty hours of continuous absorption to fill his Lower Dantian. But with the boost from Sea of All Rivers, it took Hong Yu only ten hours to completely refill the empty space. Once his Lower Dantian was full, Hong Yu felt clear-headed and brimming with energy.
With such a vast reserve of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Hong Yu was completely confident he could slay Hong Hu if they were to et again!
And that was without resorting to any tricks!
After all, no matter how strong Hong Hu was, he likely wouldn't be able to withstand three or four consecutive, full-power Destruction attacks.
'Now for the first compression. This part is crucial.'
Hong Yu took a breath and began the first compression.
Each level of the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit was harder than the last.
This First Layer was relatively simple, but that didn't an just anyone could successfully cultivate it. Compressing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was an extrely dangerous process. If the Qi, which contained terrifying destructive power, were to accidentally detonate, a crippled Dantian would be a minor consequence. In a worst-case scenario, his entire body could explode, resulting in certain death.
Hong Yu circulated the Profound Skill with extre caution.
Once...
Twice...
Three tis...
He refined the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in his body again and again. After the ninth refinent, the Qi that filled his Lower Dantian was finally compressed, shrinking to one-ninth its original size. However, the power and purity it now contained were on another level entirely.
"Qi Vortex, appear!"
Hong Yu let out a low shout.
As the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit Spell circulated, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in Hong Yu's Lower Dantian—which was already transitioning from a gaseous to a liquid state—began to slowly rotate. Hong Yu's entire body trembled violently as a searing pain erupted from every one of his thirty-six thousand pores, causing him to convulse.
'Endure it!'
Hong Yu gritted his teeth, holding on through sheer force of will.
The soul-tearing pain tornted him for a full half hour. Just as Hong Yu felt he was about to collapse from exhaustion, the swirling, chaotic Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi finally settled. Its size remained the sa, still occupying only one-ninth of his Lower Dantian. However, a strange Qi Vortex had now ford above this mass of spiritual energy.
This was the mark of the First Layer of the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit.
BUZZ!
His Lower Dantian suddenly trembled, and the slowly forming Qi Vortex finally stabilized.
At that mont, Hong Yu felt an unprecedented surge of power coursing through his entire body.
He tentatively clenched his fist, producing a series of sharp CRACKLES. With a powerful push from his legs, his body shot toward the top of the cave. As he landed, he executed the Seven-Star Step, smoothly grabbing the nearby long spear. With a low grunt, "HA!", he thrust the spear forward.
BANG!
The spear slamd into the cave's rock wall.
The long spear plunged deep into the rock. To the sound of CRACK-CRACK-CRACK, a spiderweb of fissures spread out from the point of impact. The cracks grew larger, spreading with increasing speed, reaching the ceiling in the blink of an eye and continuing to expand. With a deep RUMBLE, the entire cave began to shake violently.
'Not good...'
Hong Yu quickly retrieved his long spear and fled the cave.
BOOM!
The mont he cleared the entrance, the cave behind him collapsed, sending countless boulders tumbling down and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Standing outside, Hong Yu stared dumbfounded, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Holy hell, did I almost bury myself alive?!"
The fear was quickly replaced by a surge of wild joy and excitent.
The power of that casual strike was already comparable to the full-powered, upgraded Destruction he had used to kill Hong Qi. More importantly, it had been just a normal attack. 'Hahaha,' Hong Yu thought ecstatically, 'my regular attacks are now on par with a Half-Step Earth Soul Realm cultivator, packing six to seven thousand jin of destructive force. If I use the upgraded Destruction on top of that, my power will double to around fifteen thousand jin. That already surpasses many Early-stage Earth Soul Realm experts!'
The Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit was truly incredible. Just completing the First Layer had boosted Hong Yu's combat power to such a degree.
If he were to reach the Second Layer, or the Third Layer...
...or even forged the ultimate Nine Revolutions Primordial Spirit, how heaven-defying would his combat power beco?
Perhaps, on that day, he too could beco one of those legendary, peerless Demon Fiends capable of slaying a Celestial Soul Realm expert while only at the Earth Soul Realm!
Composing himself, Hong Yu looked toward the horizon, which was beginning to glow with the pale white of dawn. 'Only a few hours left. It's ti for to head back.'
Having plundered the points of seven of the great prodigies, his first-place ranking was already guaranteed.
The only thing he needed to worry about was how he would face the powers behind the Ten Great Celestial Prodigies upon returning to the rendezvous point outside the Abyssal Mountain Range...
......
「At the entrance of the Abyssal Mountain Range.」
The camp, laid out in neat rows, had been quiet for two days but now buzzed with renewed commotion.
As noon approached, powerful cultivators erged from their tents and gathered in the spacious plaza, all eyes fixed on the entrance to the Abyssal Mountain Range.
By now, the prodigies should have started to return!
But so far, they hadn't seen a single person erge...
"Strange. There's only half an hour left until the competition ends. Why hasn't anyone co back?"
"Could there have been an accident?"
"Impossible. We've been standing guard here; no other experts could have gotten inside. Besides, they wouldn't venture into the inner region to provoke a Tier Two Wild Beast. They shouldn't be in any mortal danger!"
"Let's just wait a little longer."
The minutes ticked by.
With only fifteen minutes remaining, the first figure finally erged from the Abyssal Mountain Range.
"Huh? Isn't that the Cao Family's boy, Cao Bo? He's the first one back?" soone exclaid, recognizing him.
He was a skinny youth with a pale face, his clothes tattered and filthy. Clearly, his two-day trip hunting Desolate Beasts had not gone well.
Cao Bo dragged his exhausted body back to the camp and handed his Points Jade Order to Hong Tiande. "Senior, here is my Points Jade Order."
"Mm."
Hong Tiande waved his hand dismissively, his expression impatient.
He had been feeling a strange sense of panic since yesterday. This unease intensified as he watched the ti tick away with no sign of Hong Hu or the others.
Cao Bo was taken aback. Hong Tiande's indifference left a bitter taste in his mouth, but then he thought of his pathetic fifty points and sighed inwardly. 'With a score like this, forget the top four, I'm probably dead last among the Ten Great Celestial Prodigies. Why would a high and mighty Elder of the Hong Family give a second glance?'
Shaking his head, Cao Bo returned to the Cao Family's designated area.
Cao Bo's father was none other than Patriarch Cao. He asked anxiously, "Bo, are you hurt?"
Cao Bo shook his head.
Patriarch Cao breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you see anyone else?" he asked.
"No."
Cao Bo asked, puzzled. "Why? Hasn't anyone else returned?"
Patriarch Cao nodded.
"Look, soone else is back!" an exclamation cut through their thoughts.
Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw another figure erging from the Abyssal Mountain Range.
It was Wang ng!
Compared to the domineering and flamboyant young man who had entered the mountains, Wang ng now seed much more subdued. He kept glancing left and right, as if on guard against so terrifying presence. He didn't let out a long sigh of relief until he was safely back inside the camp. He handed his Points Jade Order to Hong Tiande. Hong Tiande gave him a cool look and frowned. "Wang ng, did you see anyone else?"
"Anyone else?"
Wang ng froze. A look of terror washed over his rugged face, as if he'd recalled sothing absolutely horrifying, and a violent shiver wracked his body.
This subtle reaction did not escape the notice of the crowd.
Several of the patriarchs hurried forward to inquire...
"What in the world happened?"
"Was there an accident?"
"You brat, hurry up and talk! Are you trying to worry to death?"
Faced with the urgent questioning of more than a dozen powerful figures, Wang ng's face grew even paler. His lips trembled as he stamred, "Th-they... They're... all... all dead..."
"What? All dead?"
"How is that possible? Are you two the only survivors?"
"What happened in the Abyssal Mountain Range? Tell , what about my son, Chen Hao?"
Chen Hao's father's eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed Wang ng's shoulders and shook him, demanding, "Tell , besides the two of you, is everyone else dead?"
As Chen Hao's father shook him until he was dizzy and disoriented, Wang ng's body suddenly went still. An image flashed through his mind. Rembering the figure of that youth, Wang ng clutched his head and scread in terror...
"Th-there's... one more... still alive..."
User Comments
0 comments from readers