Cold and dead.
Such was the boundless azure empyrean.
Only the occasional swarm of firmament insects flew past, their shrill chirping bringing a fleeting splash of vitality to this desolate expanse.
Yet high within this celestial vault, a black-robed figure sat cross-legged. A tempest of crimson sword qi swirled ceaselessly around him, shrouding his form.
A closer inspection revealed that the strands of sword qi subtly bore three colors: pale red, deep purple, and dark crimson.
Originally, the three varieties of sword qi had been distinctly separate. But beneath the black-robed Daoist's relentless refinement with his magic power, they gradually converged into a single hue.
Fiery crimson!
Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes. Gazing upon the crimson sword qi that bathed his surroundings like the glow of sunset, satisfaction gleamed in his gaze.
Cultivating the Myriad Firmaments Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture truly was an arduous endeavor. Not only was the necessary firmament qi exceedingly rare and costly, but refining it was also exceptionally difficult.
At the entry stage, refining a single strand required more than half a year.
It had taken him fifty or sixty full years just to advance his proficiency by one rank.
Achieving the stage of "A Thousand Firmaments Flowing as One" was unimaginably difficult.
Yet as Luo Chen gradually grasped the sword scripture, his speed of refinement unexpectedly took a leap forward.
Leaving the Eastern Desolation and journeying to the Central Plains had taken fourteen years in total. During that journey, he had finally pushed the art from Proficient to the Perfect level.
And upon reaching the Perfect level, Luo Chen discovered a new transformation.
"The Crimson Firmament Qi, Purple Firmament Qi, and Scarlet Firmament Qi—which originally lacked harmony—have now fused together perfectly. They have formed the Crimson Firmament Sword Qi that best suits my Fire Spirit Body. The increase in might brought by the greater volume was within expectations, but the destructive power of a single strand has doubled!"
"Such is the transformation born of sheer purity!"
"Not only that, but my refining speed has increased even further. From now on, refining a single strand of sword qi takes only twenty days."
"In other words, if I wish to advance from Perfect to Grandmaster proficiency, provided I have enough firmament qi, it will only take around eleven years."
After a quick calculation, Luo Chen's spirits rose.
He did not know whether others experienced similar leaps when cultivating this sword scripture, but for him, it was an immense advantage.
Ordinary Crimson Firmament Sword Qi was already a formidable combat method in the Nascent Soul stage.
Now that it had reached the Perfect level and doubled in might, its lethality alone was barely inferior to the Great Five Elements Sword Formation he had painstakingly forged in the past.
What about Grandmaster-level Crimson Firmament Sword Qi, then?
And what of the stage when he cultivated this fifth-rank sword scripture all the way to Great Perfection?
Setting everything aside to hone his art alone in this desolate, lifeless void, enduring an unspeakable loneliness and isolation, Luo Chen hoped the final result would not disappoint him.
Whether that outcome would meet his expectations remained to be seen. Yet throughout these past dozen or so years of ascetic cultivation, Luo Chen had reaped other gains as well.
The first was that the unstable, floating magic power resulting from his rapid breakthroughs had gradually settled through the continuous refinement of his sword qi.
He could now direct the magic power within him as effortlessly as moving his own limbs, without needing to worry about the hidden dangers of an unstable foundation.
As for the second...
Luo Chen cast a glance inward toward his Purple Mansion. Correspondingly, the Nascent Soul within opened its eyes.
Clad in the Xuanchen Armor, its hands cradled an ancient blood sword.
Compared to before, the blade felt increasingly spiritual and alive.
Upon closer inspection, the blood-red sheen upon it flowed like living blood.
In particular, the blood groove running along the blade was crystal-clear, resembling the veins of a living body.
After successively drinking the blood of two Soul Formation almighties and countless living beings, combined with Luo Chen's openhearted refinement, this pseudo-spirit treasure was finally about to take that final step and transform into a genuine spirit treasure!
Luo Chen slowly withdrew his divine sense.
There was no rushing this.
Based on his insights into artifact crafting, the Yuantu Sword's ascension to a spirit treasure differed greatly from that of ordinary true artifacts.
The sword already possessed an artifact spirit, yet another would soon be born. Which would take precedence, or whether the two would fuse into one, remained completely unknown.
This required Luo Chen's constant vigilance and patient nurturing to ensure that all his efforts would not come to naught at the final juncture.
Finally, there was one more harvest.
His magic power rippled outward, flowing gently through the azure empyrean.
As if resonating with him, vast amounts of world origin qi surged from all directions, circling Luo Chen. It felt as though he could command them at will with a single thought.
Furthermore, if Luo Chen were able to condense a primordial spirit, he could draw this origin qi into his body at any time, rapidly converting it into magic power.
This phenomenon was the hallmark ability of a Soul Formation almighty!
Blending one's spirit with the vast world, commanding boundless origin qi!
For this reason, Soul Formation almighties avoided fighting whenever possible. Yet the moment they acted, they could shatter mountains and split the earth at the very least, or incinerate seas and drown continents at the worst.
Nor were they constrained by their surroundings.
Even in conventionally spiritless voids like the azure empyrean, they could persist indefinitely, sustained by the endless world origin qi flowing through the cosmos.
Suddenly!
Just as Luo Chen drew in the vast torrent of world origin qi, the long-dormant Hunyuan Cauldron violently shuddered.
Frenzied beastly roars erupted from within, one after another.
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Have you realized that I've climbed another step, and grown desperate?"
The Hunyuan Cauldron shook wildly as an illusory silhouette drifted out, swelling in an attempt to break free of the cauldron.
The crippled Kui Ox ghost deity had indeed sensed the change in Luo Chen.
It could sit by and await death no longer.
If this continued, like a frog in boiling water, its consciousness would inevitably be completely wiped away by Luo Chen.
Thus, it began to rebel.
The Hunyuan Cauldron was Luo Chen's natal magic treasure, bound intimately to his heart and mind. He had long noticed the Kui Ox ghost deity secretly gathering strength to break the suppression.
Now that it sought to make a desperate gamble, Luo Chen felt no fear whatsoever.
No day was better than today—he might as well settle this once and for all!
The Million Baleful Souls Banner had lacked a primary soul for far too long; it was already starved for one.
Yet just as Luo Chen was about to strike, an unfathomable resonance stirred within his soul.
"Foundation Establishment?" Luo Chen blurted out.
A brilliant light flashed in his eyes.
Through his connection, he sensed that his avatar had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Counting the years, the boy should only be twelve!
"Entered the Dao at six, Foundation Establishment at twelve... Heh, with such cultivation speed, all the effort I spent on him was well worth it!"
Though surprised, he felt far more delight.
Luo Chen had no fear that his avatar's swift progress would lead to mishaps; a true genius was meant to surpass the imagination of ordinary folk.
After all, that body had absorbed the potential of his twin sister, had been nourished from infancy by a top-grade Water Lotus Seed, and had fused with a spring harboring the power of source law.
Such a foundation completely overshadowed Luo Chen's Fire Spirit Body, and was even superior to that of Shi Ju, whom he had met in the past.
No matter what miracle occurred with the avatar, it would never be excessive!
"Keep striving!"
"The day will come when you meet me, and we shall become one."
Murmuring, Luo Chen wore a peculiar smile.
Across from him, the Kui Ox silhouette atop the Hunyuan Cauldron had swelled to its absolute limit, roaring toward the heavens in the boundless azure empyrean.
Luo Chen's smile vanished. He pressed a finger to his brow and chanted a Sanskrit syllable.
"Svaha!"
Golden light erupted fiercely from between his brows, washing over his entire body.
A primordial spirit unfurled, enveloping Luo Chen's physical form, and reached two massive hands toward the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Boom!
Golden flames erupted!
Boom!
Azure fire surged!
At this moment, Luo Chen's primordial spirit held Nirvana in its left hand and Wither-Bloom in its right, initiating the final refinement of the Kui Ox ghost deity!
***
Meanwhile.
On another continent, within the vast White Egret Marsh.
Inside a waterside pavilion, a delicate youth opened his eyes in a daze.
"Ascending to Foundation Establishment is really this simple?"
Spread before him was a yellowed scroll—the core Foundation Establishment breakthrough method of the Zhou family. Other disciples could usually only receive it by word of mouth, and even if books existed, they were mostly hand-copied manuscripts. Yet before him lay the original text.
This was a demonstration of the authority bestowed upon him by the Zhou Old Ancestor.
Beside the breakthrough method lay a branch of variegated coral, a portion of secret spirit liquid, and three high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills.
All of these were thorough preparations Zhou Fuyou had made to break through to Foundation Establishment.
Yet none of them had been used!
He had merely attempted it on an impulse, and then he had succeeded—so smoothly that it bordered on unbelievable.
Were outsiders to learn of this, they would be thoroughly astonished.
Even with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, it should not have gone so effortlessly.
Even if Luo Chen knew of this, he would likely feel a pang of envy. Back then, Luo Chen's breakthrough to Foundation Establishment had been fraught with bitter struggle, narrow escapes from death, and sheer luck.
Yet Zhou Fuyou had crossed that threshold with effortless ease.
With a thought!
An inexplicable power welled from the youth's mind, expanding outward from the Yinlu Water Pavilion as its center.
One li, two li, three li... At three li, it had already surpassed that of a normal cultivator who had just entered Foundation Establishment. Yet Zhou Fuyou did not halt this delicate perception, continuing to spread it outward.
Four li, five li... Only after reaching a range of ten li did he begin to feel a faint exhaustion.
Yet amidst that fatigue lay far greater delight.
He knew this perceptual ability was the manifestation of the soul born when a cultivator ascended to Foundation Establishment—spiritual sense.
An ordinary novice in Foundation Establishment could cover one or two li at most, yet his had expanded across a full ten li!
From this, one could see the profound depth of Zhou Fuyou's soul foundation.
"Is it because of my constitution?"
"Yet soul foundation has little to do with physical constitution. It is mostly brought from the womb and naturally augmented by the passage of time. Why does my soul foundation contradict what is recorded in the scriptures?"
A deep perplexity arose in Zhou Fuyou's heart.
During his six years of cultivation, he had received little guidance from elders, relying mostly on his own knowledge to fumble forward step by step.
Yet many of the achievements he ultimately reached diverged from the classical records.
Zhou Fuyou did not know where the discrepancy lay, but his weary soul urged him to withdraw his spiritual sense.
As he reeled it in, the scenes of many living beings entered his awareness.
Nearby neighbors kept their distance from the Yinlu Water Pavilion, as if terrified of disturbing him.
Grandmother Lin was directing several sturdy women in sweeping the courtyard. Seeming to remember something, she hurried toward the kitchen, though her advanced age was already showing signs of frailty.
In a quiet cultivation chamber, his sister Zhou Qingyu sat with her eyes closed, doing her utmost to sense the spiritual qi. Yet no spiritual power fluctuated around her. After taking those three pills, was cultivation still so difficult for her?
Once all his spiritual sense was gathered back, the youth felt the changes within his body.
Spiritual qi, resembling a vast canopy of clouds, was gathering.
Drops of exquisitely pure spiritual liquid began to drizzle down from the clouds like a gentle shower.
Later on, it turned into a torrential downpour.
This sight once again overturned the records in the cultivation classics.
When ordinary people reached Foundation Establishment, spiritual liquid was extracted drop by drop. Yet for him, it flowed ceaselessly like a violent rainstorm.
Such immense spiritual power defied the very hallmark of the Dew Cicada Art, which was known for producing meager magic power.
In Zhou Fuyou's view, even cultivators practicing the ancestral art of the Zhou family or the three high-grade water arts of the Tianyuan Dao Sect could hardly hold a candle to him.
Amidst his wonder, Zhou Fuyou did not stop his movements.
His hands formed an incantation seal, directing the massive reservoir of spiritual liquid to reconstruct his dantian using the method of the Dew Cicada Art.
After an unknown amount of time passed.
Zhou Fuyou looked inward, deeply shaken.
The sea of qi constructed from his dantian was neither a puddle, nor a pond, nor even a great river. It resembled a bottomless abyss.
No matter how heavily the rain of spiritual liquid poured down, the sea of qi could contain it all.
"Marvelous!"
"Cultivation truly is marvelous!"
Murmuring, Zhou Fuyou opened his eyes.
Clad in his red-coral white robe, he carefully put away the supplies meant for his breakthrough. All of these could be saved for his sister in the future.
As for himself, he retrieved from his storage pouch the numerous spell scriptures Mo Wanting had gifted him.
Long ago, Zhou Fuyou had realized that he possessed a terrifying talent when it came to spells.
He grasped them at a glance and mastered them upon study!
With just a bit of practice, he could even cast them instantaneously!
With such talent paired with vast magic power, failing to learn spells would be an utter waste.
Healing Art, Water Bullet Art, Water Arrow Art, Water Prison Art...
Zhou Fuyou skimmed over these first-rank water spells without paying them much mind. He had already mastered them in secret, thoroughly versed in every one.
Water Avoidance Art, Wave Treading, Water Tornado, Glazed Canopy...
Just by reading their introductions, Zhou Fuyou understood their purposes.
Movement, wide-area strikes, single-target attacks, defense.
He would learn them all!
Yet even this did not satisfy Zhou Fuyou.
His spiritual sense extended to scan several other spells preserved in jade slips.
Mist-Locked Jade Pavilions, Nine Bends Heavenly River, Spiritual Form Retaining...
"Third rank?"
"There are even fourth-rank water spells!"
"Dean Mo Wanting of Yuheng Courtyard was truly generous!"
Zhou Fuyou felt an itch in his heart. With his talent, could he learn these third-rank water spells?
Hesitating, he instinctively opened a third-rank spell that bore a warning forbidding cultivation before the Golden Core stage.
Its name—Mirror Flower Water Moon!
In some unfathomable way, he sensed that this spell would suit him perfectly.
Chapter 1036