On a pitch-black, rainy night, the high tower stood tall.
The patterned golden tiles gleamed with brilliant luster. Numerous fireballs rolled across the vicinity, setting off tremendous explosions from time to time.
Whenever lightning tore through the sky, the entire tower blazed with ten thousand golden rays that shot straight into the highest heavens. Even from afar, one could see the crimson light filling the sky.
Inside the tower, within an exceptionally perilous stone chamber, outer heavenly light poured down like a torrential deluge, submerging Qin Ming. Only the black-and-white diagram could be seen spinning at high speed.
"Brother Ming smells so fragrant!" Xiao Wu remarked from outside the chamber, nearly drooling.
At that moment, Qin Ming was exuding a delicate, refreshing fragrance from head to toe, as though a humanoid great medicine had ripened.
Zhao Ziyuan nodded. "You're not wrong. This is practically like the legendary flesh of a holy monk. If we were out in the wilderness, it would definitely draw all sorts of demons and monsters fighting over him."
Qin Ming sat quietly with eyes closed, joining dragon and tiger, balancing yin and yang, refining the great medicine within.
This was cleansing the marrow and purging the impurities, nourishing his own form with the internal medicine.
He too could smell the orchid-like fragrance. Radiance shone throughout his body like an immortal lotus in full bloom, its dazzling petals spreading wide as showers of light soaked into his internal organs.
Outside his body, black and white light intertwined.
Qin Ming frowned. Could the furnace explode?
Several times, he had merged the yin-yang fish into the Eight Trigrams Furnace, yet each time the refining was halfway through, he aborted the process.
At one moment, multi-hued mist enveloped his body; at the next, black and white light intertwined, with the two qi of yin and yang circulating. One could see the struggle and anguish within him.
A breakthrough was within sight, yet he also sensed the danger.
The more formidable the baleful qi and heterogeneous substances, the more perilous the fusion and refinement. A misstep could easily shave years off one's lifespan. At this very moment, he felt an indistinct premonition: his situation was delicate, fraught with peril yet carrying opportunity.
In the past, he would refine the golden core great medicine within, then shatter the core to feed back into himself. Drinking it like nectar would elevate his physical constitution and cause his heavenly light to transform.
Yet now, when black and white qi swirled around the golden core and the yin-yang diagram accompanied it, his hair stood on end.
After all, this yin-yang heterogeneous substance was simply too astounding.
It was a rare treasure nurtured in the baleful grounds of an immortal sect. It had ripened long ago and should have been harvested, yet it had been left unattended until it took physical form.
One could say that this condensed outer heavenly light was entangled with wisps of yin-yang laws. It was exceptionally dangerous, and ordinarily, it could replenish its own spiritual substance.
Next, Qin Ming adjusted his state, attaining the utmost emptiness and maintaining profound stillness, observing the shifts in the yin-yang dao diagram.
His body and mind grew clear and vacant. His spiritual field resonated with the yin-yang fish, inspiration welling in his mind as he comprehended all the ensuing transformations.
Sure enough, while such a dangerous heterogeneous substance could enhance the power of heavenly light, it indeed chipped away at a person's life force.
With a flash of insight in his heart, Qin Ming communicated with the black-and-white diagram and even made an accurate projection of how much lifespan would be sacrificed to fuse and refine it.
*It will consume at least a century of life force!*
He drew in a sharp breath of heavenly light. This was truly ruthless. Breaking through under these conditions would not grant an increase in longevity; rather, it would reduce his lifespan. It was truly terrifying.
This would scare off most people. How could an Outer Sage dare to squander his life so lavishly?
Even though Qin Ming was somewhat exceptional—Lu Zizai had examined his condition and determined that at the Newborn realm, he was already capable of living for more than two hundred years—he still could not afford such waste.
Yet the yin-yang diagram held a fatal allure.
Once he fused and refined it, he would definitely be able to cut down adversaries at a higher realm.
It was like forging a common iron blade with repeatedly folded and tempered steel. The weapon in his hand would become sharper, capable of sundering all sorts of defenses from powerful foes.
At this moment, Qin Ming resumed refining the great medicine internally. Between his chest and abdomen, the Eight Trigrams Furnace formed from heavenly light appeared archaic and natural, steaming with the two qi of yin and yang as the golden core took shape once more.
Outside his body, the two qi of yin and yang accompanied him as well.
The yin-yang fish formed and enveloped him, spinning unceasingly like a path-blazing patriarch approaching the Grand Dao, contemplating wondrous truths to pioneer new ground for the Newborn path.
He did not shatter the core. In this perilous state, he forced his spirit into extreme concentration, searching for a solution while the spiritual brilliance in his mind flickered continuously.
His senses were exceptionally keen, far exceeding his normal state.
The next instant, Qin Ming took notice. Within the stone chamber, heavenly light filled every corner, extraordinarily dense. To an ordinary person, this would be lethal, yet he felt no adverse effects.
*Right. In the past, this heavenly light was harmful to me as well. It caused me to fall gravely ill, escaping death by a hair's breadth and keeping me bedridden for over a month.*
Qin Ming had an epiphany. The key lay in receiving it and gradually growing accustomed to it.
However, this yin-yang baleful qi was a rare breed among heavenly lights. How long would it take to assimilate it until it felt as natural as breathing, no longer causing harm?
In this ethereal state, he already understood that the century of lost lifespan revealed in his earlier comprehension was the price he had to pay. Afterward, he would be able to use it as naturally as eating and drinking, no longer constrained by it.
*Wait... will my temples turn gray? Will I suffer premature aging?* Qin Ming hesitated.
Was such a price worth paying merely to pursue astounding combat strength?
According to the understanding of ancient sages, this was strictly inadvisable. In those days, people breathed refined qi and maintained their spirits in isolation precisely to keep their bodies from aging and their spirits from decaying.
As for the present, the vast, boundless world of night mist had no end, and competition was brutally fierce. Pursuing combat prowess was naturally a vital choice.
Weighing the two, one needed to strike the right balance!
*Back then, when I fell gravely ill, I actually lost lifespan too. Later, through one Newborn breakthrough after another, absorbing spiritual substances, did I replenish it?* Qin Ming pondered.
Immediately, his spiritual senses extended into the dense heavenly light around him.
Back then, he had absorbed quite a bit of heavenly light time and time again, which could be considered constant erosion. Yet it ended up acting like a sacred baptism, causing his lifespan to surge to two hundred and sixty years.
*Some heavenly lights are violent and damage the body, while others are gentle and nourish it. Once I adapt to them, those special heavenly lights will become nutrients that extend my longevity!*
With this realization, Qin Ming felt the seemingly unsolvable dilemma dissolve instantly.
In the past, because he had simply adapted to heavenly light, he had not thought too deeply about it. Now, in this special state, he had penetrated to the core of the matter.
Soon, he discovered those "longevity heavenly lights." Among them, the Nine Heavens Pure Spiritual Qi could nourish the physical body, while a certain purple mist yielded extraordinary results, capable of countering the erosion of baleful qi and nurturing essence, qi, and spirit.
Qin Ming's spiritual field vibrated as if about to ignite, capturing heavenly light with all his might. The deluge of lightning and fire this time had brought down no fewer than fifteen varieties from beyond the mortal world.
Among them, at least four could nourish the body and strengthen vitality, while the others were relatively neutral once his body adapted to them.
At this moment, Qin Ming captured them selectively, all to combat the erosion of the yin-yang heterogeneous substance and neutralize its grave perils.
He had no desire to lose a century of life first and then scramble to make up for it later.
There was no sense in having one's life force drop upon breaking through. He decided that however much longevity heavenly light he captured, he would refine an equivalent amount of the corresponding yin-yang heterogeneous substance.
In the past, when he underwent the baptism of heavenly light, he had been quite wasteful; ninety percent of it had flooded over him like an overflowing torrent, dissipating into empty space.
Now, Qin Ming calculated down to the smallest detail, refusing to let even a single "drop" of longevity heavenly light slip by. His future dao depended on it.
The Second Realm—Outer Manifestation—was not merely about releasing heavenly light outward; it also required capturing various spiritual substances between heaven and earth to elevate oneself.
Right now, his greatest advantage over others was that he did not fear the mysterious heavenly light carried down from beyond the mortal realm by lightning and fire. He could absorb the special spirituality contained within to his heart's content.
In truth, when various heavenly lights were blended together, separating them was arduous.
Yet Qin Ming's own body made the choice. Trapped in a vitality deficit, his flesh actively welcomed those longevity heavenly lights while casting aside the neutral substances.
In an instant, he seemed to turn into a black hole, constantly devouring heavenly light and rapidly filtering it through the selection of his physical body.
Next, Qin Ming ceased joining dragon and tiger to form the medicine, instead using the yin-yang diagram to absorb heavenly light, greatly enhancing his efficiency.
Ordinary people could not assimilate the black-and-white twin fish; attempting to do so would result in sudden death. Even Qin Ming had to take a roundabout approach, refining them indirectly. If once was not enough, he prepared to do it ten times, a hundred times.
Ordinarily, progress in the Second Realm of the Newborn path was exceedingly slow.
Qin Ming felt that his current pace was entirely tolerable—it could hardly be called slow. Before the rainy season ended, he believed he could break through and resolve all his issues.
The torrential downpour showed no signs of stopping, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. In this single night alone, Qin Ming felt he had received a tremendous boon, especially when the final several dozen bolts of lightning-fire descended and purple qi poured down without cease.
In a daze, it felt as though purple qi was arriving from the east, enveloping him and causing the vitality of his longevity-starved body to surge. He constantly neutralized the impact of the yin-yang baleful qi.
Had Qin Ming not chosen this legendary yin-yang heterogeneous substance, and settled for some slightly weaker baleful qi or heterogeneous substance instead, he would have broken through long ago.
If one wished to possess premier combat power among those of the same realm, how could one do so without paying a price?
Originally, nearly half of his foundational vitality would have been severed—a cruel reality known to all preceding sages.
However, because he did not fear heavenly light, he was able to "compensate" for it.
Fortunately, this was the rainy season, when the lightning was at its fiercest, perfectly meeting his needs.
In the days that followed, Qin Ming continued to serve as a sparring partner, but he worked in fits and starts, fishing for three days and drying the nets for two. Those on the immortal path began to voice their dissatisfaction.
On the eighth day, Qin Ming gave Jia Four a sound thrashing, using the bout to hone the wondrous Indestructible Butterfly Scripture. The moment he saw dark clouds roiling and lightning flickering, he immediately stopped.
"Sorry, everyone, it's raining! I have to go bring in the laundry!" He took off on the spot.
Everyone was left speechless. Could a sparring partner this irresponsible truly accept a portion of auspicious beast blood with a clear conscience?
Jia One and Jia Two had been waiting for him to temper their conscious spiritual light with his special heavenly light, only to be left disappointed.
Sure enough, over the course of half a month, Qin Ming spent the vast majority of his time missing in action, driving the people on the immortal path past the limit of their endurance.
Yu Gensheng told him, "The old fellows from the immortal path said there is no way they will let you view the Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic, nor will they provide you with a baleful ground. They said you're being far too perfunctory."
Qin Ming spread his hands. He could not help it. Given the choice, he naturally had to seize the tail end of the rainy season to quickly extend his lifespan and make his breakthrough.
He was blazing a trail. Once he succeeded, his own path would be validated, marking a preliminary triumph in his pioneering efforts. Everything that followed would be much easier.
Therefore, everything else could be set aside.
As for the Eight Views Divine Radiance Classic, once his realm advanced, he could always seek out Jiang Ran in person to trade for it.
If all else failed, he could use the method of spiritual resonance to "seek" it from other disciples.
For twenty whole days, Qin Ming polished himself, bathing in heavenly light.
In fact, by the end, he was no longer satisfied with the longevity heavenly light brought down by real-time lightning and fire.
Through the connections of Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan, he moved in and out of the various high towers, capturing the lingering heavenly light left behind from the past.
Near those lightning-attracting sites, there was indeed much to be gained.
As the month drew near its end, Qin Ming felt the time was almost ripe, particularly after undergoing the baptism of an unprecedented thunderstorm.
This thunderstorm lasted a day and a night, bringing down heavenly light that was somewhat different from before. Among it was a rare variety that glowed bright red, like the evening glow or celestial blood raining down.
In truth, the heavenly light carried by each lightning-fire was somewhat distinct.
In Qin Ming's eyes, this was nothing short of good fortune descending upon his head!
After a month of absorbing longevity heavenly light, neutralizing it against the yin-yang heterogeneous substance, and cautiously refining it, Qin Ming finally drew the last mass of black-and-white light into his flesh.
He had "adapted" to them!
On this stormy night, Qin Ming attempted to join dragon and tiger to form the medicine, once again beginning to refine the golden core within.
He remained very cautious. After sensing carefully, he found no issues; the heavenly light dao diagram formed by the legendary yin-yang fish no longer harmed him in the slightest.
Furthermore, he could clearly sense that over time, the yin-yang heterogeneous substance would gradually transform from its current neutral state into something beneficial to him.
This was the marvelous aspect of his current body: first adapting to heavenly light, and then gradually transitioning to turning it to his own use.
On this night, good fortune descended upon his head. Drinking celestial blood from beyond the mortal world, the refinement of the golden core proceeded with extraordinary smoothness.
Within Qin Ming's body, the Eight Trigrams Furnace was forged together by Mundane Fire, lightning-fire, and heavenly light.
The instant the perfected golden core swirling with yin-yang qi emerged from the furnace, a rumble echoed within the high tower. The celestial thunder in the night sky grew several degrees fiercer, as though heaven and earth had sensed it.
Qin Ming shattered the core. In that moment, black and white light surged toward his four limbs and hundred bones, even inundating his conscious mind.
This core was internal medicine, capable of nourishing and strengthening oneself.
At this moment, Qin Ming felt his vitality surge, his lifespan expanding as the barrier of his realm loosened.
Subsequently, he repeatedly refined himself through the silk book method, joining dragon and tiger many times without deliberately pursuing a supposed ultimate number, letting nature take its course.
Until finally, an enlightenment dawned upon him: it was already consummate and utterly flawless.
Qin Ming formally broke through into the middle stage of the Second Realm!
His harvest was immense. Because he had fused the yin-yang diagram, his heavenly light had undergone a qualitative leap, transforming like a rust-encrusted iron blade into one forged from hundred-refined steel.
Most importantly, he had spent a whole month testing his hypothesis, and he could now say that he had blazed the trail to success.
"This is more than enough!" Qin Ming was filled with joy.
Though it had taken him this long, when he considered that other geniuses required a decade, what reason did he have to be dissatisfied? This was already record-breaking speed!
Coupled with the fact that the baleful qi and heterogeneous substance he had fused and refined far exceeded the norm, boasting immense power without costing him any reduction in lifespan, a smile spread across his face that he could not suppress even if he tried.
Most crucial of all, during this breakthrough, just as in the First Realm, Qin Ming actually underwent another—Newborn transformation!
This was the most important change of all!
This was a domain sought by countless preceding sages and even founding patriarchs!
Even Qin Ming had not anticipated that the transformation would exceed his expectations.
With a single thought, the yin-yang diagram emerged, revolving slowly to guard him in its center, endowing him with a distinct dao resonance.
The black yin fish now held its brilliance inward like a black hole capable of devouring all things, while the white yang fish was no longer blinding, yet the yang qi within had reached the utmost extremity.
This was what it meant to return to simplicity and truth.
With a casual strike, the black-and-white light spun out at high speed, carrying the momentum to crush dry weeds and smash rotten wood.
"At the same realm, who cannot be severed?" he remarked calmly.
Qin Ming had a sudden realization: as his cultivation realm advanced, perhaps all things could be severed.
Chapter 261