Above Heaven and Earth Peak, a hazy phantom spread like a colossal canopy, veiling the sky.
Any cultivator with a modicum of discernment recognized what it was.
A Primordial Spirit!
In the pursuit of Qi Refining, the immortality sought was the eternal life of the spirit.
Thus, one refined essence into qi, and qi into spirit, steadily accumulating the foundation of the divine soul within the scattered sea of consciousness.
Yet when all was said and done, the divine soul leaned toward yin and the unsubstantial; it could not directly face the majesty of heaven and earth. At most, a cultivator could project a sliver outward as what was known as spiritual sense or divine sense.
However!
Once a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul realm, the divine soul combined with the body's essence-qi and dharmic powers to give birth to an extraordinary entity: the "Nascent Soul."
The Nascent Soul was the emblem of the unification of the three treasures—essence, qi, and spirit!
It could temporarily harbor the divine soul, serving as an interim dwelling once the soul departed the sea of consciousness.
Even so, at this stage, its symbolic significance outweighed its practicality. Without the shelter of the violet palace, a bare Nascent Soul still dared not linger for long beneath the scorching sun of the clear blue sky.
Therefore, cultivators relentlessly pursued crossing the yin soul into yang, transforming from an unsubstantial yin state to a solid yang state.
Once one attained the Solid Yang realm, the divine soul could merge completely into the vessel of the Nascent Soul. At that point, the Nascent Soul was no longer called a Nascent Soul, but a Primordial Spirit!
The external manifestation of a cultivator's soul was no longer referred to as divine sense, but as divine thought.
And this realm, as a whole, was known as "Soul Formation"!
This was a fundamental transformation.
From then on, a cultivator no longer feared the scorching sun, nor the watchful gaze of the Heavenly Dao. They could cultivate without restraint, casting off all shackles to perceive the three thousand Great Daos and boundless laws!
When Alchemy Saint Chu Yan revealed her complete Primordial Spirit—bearing an identical appearance to her own rather than that of an infant—everyone knew she was an authentic Soul Formation mighty figure.
Having comprehended the laws, a single thought could make her a god or demon, and she had attained the qualifications to ascend!
Right now, what she was doing was preparing for ascension.
Everyone held their breath and focused with absolute concentration, wanting to etch every subsequent change into their minds.
Luo Chen was no exception!
Not only did he focus his mind, but he also channeled dharmic powers into his eyes, pushing the Spirit Eye Art to the greatest extreme of his life, determined not to miss the slightest nuance.
Within his dark pupils, spiritual light gleamed brilliantly. If not for everyone's eyes being fixed on the Alchemy Saint, his gaze would surely have drawn countless curious glances.
Under Luo Chen's burning gaze, the colossal Primordial Spirit pervading the sky slowly closed its eyes.
As her eyes shut, boundless spiritual energy surged from all directions, across thousands and tens of thousands of li.
Spiritual energy of every attribute poured in, not limited to any single element.
Gathering together, this spiritual energy encircled the massive Primordial Spirit.
Watching this scene, Luo Chen was deep in thought.
If Nascent Soul cultivators could manipulate heaven-and-earth spiritual energy corresponding to their own attributes, then upon reaching the Soul Formation realm, such existences could mobilize and absorb the totality of all spiritual energy in heaven and earth—origin qi.
The primordial origin qi of heaven and earth!
In his understanding, if one viewed this heaven and earth as a living being, origin qi was the breath it exhaled and inhaled. The spiritual energies of various attributes were merely individual components of that origin qi.
A Soul Formation cultivator cultivated a Primordial Spirit that stood alongside heaven and earth, comprehended the true meaning of the laws, and grasped a share of the Dao's authority.
At this moment, a Soul Formation cultivator was already on an equal footing with the heaven and earth of this realm in status; it was only due to the difference in raw personal power that they still appeared small.
Yet essentially, they could already be considered part of heaven and earth, and naturally could absorb and utilize the primordial origin qi breathed out and drawn in by heaven and earth.
And after absorbing and refining a force as mighty as origin qi, a cultivator's dharmic powers would surely possess limitless potency.
Compared to the frail creatures of this world, they possessed the immense capability to burn the heavens, boil the seas, chase the stars, and seize the moon!
Thus, honorifics for Soul Formation cultivators no longer used titles from lower realms that reflected cultivation philosophies or stations, such as True Cultivator or Master. Instead, they were replaced by a moniker symbolizing their earth-shattering power.
The world called them "mighty figures"!
Watching the boundless origin qi surging from the Central Plains continent, nearly submerging the entirety of Heaven and Earth Peak, Luo Chen felt waves of emotion stirring within him. His thoughts spun rapidly, his mind extraordinarily active.
Even as he repeatedly circulated the Micromote Origin Art to suppress the turbulence in his mind, countless thoughts still ran wild.
Why is this happening? Am I simply unable to contain myself after witnessing such a magnificent spectacle?
Yet in the very next instant, a record from the countless ancient texts he had read illuminated the truth.
It's because she drew upon the power of heaven and earth to aid her ascension!
For a Soul Formation cultivator, achieving ascension was by no means simple.
It was divided into two paths: active and passive.
The latter required cultivating to the late Soul Formation realm, where one's individual might caused this world to feel apprehension, compelling heaven and earth to actively force the cultivator to ascend.
The former occurred when a cultivator lacked sufficient cultivation and individual power, and therefore required a helping hand from heaven and earth.
And how did heaven and earth lend its aid?
The boundless origin qi summoned by the Primordial Spirit was one part of that power, but the other part...
Luo Chen drew a deep breath. Slowly, he mobilized the source power gained from his body refinement, allowing it to well up into his eyes.
This was a perilous action.
Normally, Luo Chen would never use source power to cast spells. Source power and dharmic powers were products of two entirely different cultivation systems, suited to vastly different arts.
Yet right now, he needed to glimpse the true reality of this world.
And there was no power better suited for that than source power!
For source power was born only in desolate beasts, and desolate beasts were the original darlings of the Mountain Sea Realm.
As source power flooded his eyes, Luo Chen's eye sockets turned crimson, and everything in his vision took on a scarlet hue.
Within that sea of crimson, he vaguely sensed extraordinary presences flying from across the Central Plains toward the Alchemy Saint's Primordial Spirit.
Are these... spiritual opportunities? Luo Chen murmured to himself.
He had once seen a description of "spiritual opportunity" in an ancient text:
[Spiritual opportunity in the cosmos is profound and distant, indistinct and nebulous.
Thus the Great Dao is hard to seek, and living beings dwell in darkness.
Only when heaven bestows spiritual opportunity, manifest and unobscured, parting clouds and mist, may the true essence be attained!]
The so-called spiritual opportunity was not a type of energy, but more like a consciousness born of a heaven and earth.
This consciousness spurred the growth of all things within that realm and gave rise to all manner of Great Dao laws.
Hence, when the world spoke of heaven and earth possessing a spirit, that "spirit" had never referred to spiritual energy, but rather to the ethereal, unpredictable thing called "spiritual opportunity."
At this moment, the Alchemy Saint had manifested her Primordial Spirit primarily to attract these spiritual opportunities.
Only, the spiritual opportunities she was absorbing seemed somewhat excessive, didn't they?
Why is the scope so vast?
In Luo Chen's sight, spiritual opportunities were strewn across thousands of li.
And beyond the reach of his eyes, across tens of millions of li, even more mysterious, enigmatic spiritual opportunities seemed to be surging forth.
Had Luo Chen's realm been higher, he would have discovered that at this moment, not just the Central Plains, but even the other four continents had faint spiritual opportunities actively flying toward the continent of the Central Plains.
For now, assuming this was simply what a Soul Formation mighty figure's ascension entailed, he did not pursue the matter further, but continued watching the Alchemy Saint's actions.
Her process of channeling spiritual opportunities lasted a very long time.
A full half of a day.
The overwhelming pressure bore down so heavily that all the low-level cultivators on Heaven and Earth Peak collapsed, sitting paralyzed on the ground.
Only the Nascent Soul True Persons could sit high in the clouds, yet they too were under immense strain.
With eyes bloodshot and crimson, Luo Chen could no longer maintain his Spirit Eye Art using source power, and he lowered his head.
Is it still not over? Why haven't the auspicious signs of ascension appeared yet?
Ancient records recounted that when a Soul Formation cultivator ascended, it was like a wandering child leaving home; heaven and earth, like parents, would manifest various auspicious signs to see them off.
Being borne aloft by rosy twilight clouds was the most common sight.
In addition, there were signs such as golden lotuses springing from the earth, all living creatures rejoicing, and kaleidoscopic clouds chasing the moon.
Just as Luo Chen waited with bated breath, the long-awaited auspicious sign finally appeared.
Amidst the hazy sky, a ray of twilight glow pierced through Heaven and Earth Peak like a sharp sword, illuminating the Alchemy Saint's Primordial Spirit.
As if in resonance, the Alchemy Saint's Primordial Spirit trembled, and a delicate, slender body drifted up from the depths of Heaven and Earth Peak.
If nothing went awry, the next step should be the Primordial Spirit returning to the body, followed by ascending to the immortal realm bathed in glowing clouds!
That was what Luo Chen anticipated.
Yet he failed to notice that certain people held no such anticipation whatsoever.
Even the Alchemy Saint did not return her Primordial Spirit to her vessel. Instead, she left it outside, continuously drawing even more spiritual opportunities from across the Mountain Sea Realm.
Luo Chen waited for a long time, but the expected spectacle never unfolded.
Puzzled, he subconsciously looked up.
The Alchemy Saint still made no move. Answering his and everyone else's confusion was the voice of Mo Shouzhuo, the Sect Master of the Tianyuan Dao Sect.
"You have worked hard. Leave the rest to me!"
A single calm sentence drew everyone's gaze toward the elderly man clad in black-and-white Daoist robes.
He beckoned behind him.
Another old man behind him reverently presented a primitive, antique chessboard.
Only then did people recall the two figures who had accompanied Sect Master Tianyuan earlier, having been overlooked until now.
The grey-haired elder of illustrious renown was none other than Chess Saint Ke Lianshan.
The cold, desolate beauty was Mingyan, the most outstanding true disciple of the Tianyuan Dao Sect's Master-Disciple Lineage today.
Sect Master Tianyuan took the chessboard from Chess Saint Ke Lianshan's hands, supporting it with his left hand while pressing two fingers of his right together like a sword, tracing across the void.
Luo Chen could not resist channeling his Spirit Eye Art with source power once more.
Under his gaze, he saw wisps of invisible, intangible spiritual opportunities converging at the fingertips of Sect Master Tianyuan's right hand.
Soon, a miniature vortex formed.
Then, Sect Master Tianyuan flicked his finger downward, and like a Go stone, the vortex landed dead center on the antique chessboard.
Tianyuan—the Origin Point!
At that moment, the Alchemy Saint seemed relieved of a great burden. Her Primordial Spirit returned to its vessel, sinking into her slender body.
At that moment, the antique chessboard trembled slightly, starlight flashing ceaselessly upon it.
And at that very moment, heaven and earth shook violently, and wind and clouds howled in fury!
The expanse of glowing twilight clouds that had descended instantly dissipated.
Dense, heavy storm clouds gathered wildly above Heaven and Earth Peak, silver-white arcs of lightning crackling through the dark mass.
Seeing this, Luo Chen was struck dumb.
What is he doing?!
Those spiritual opportunities were meant to bear Alchemy Saint Chu Yan aloft into the immortal realm!
Could that chessboard be the Tianyuan Dao Sect's sect-guarding spirit treasure, Lanke?
Rumor has it that this single chessboard alone could suppress the spiritual opportunity of an entire continent. Yet now, it has become a treasure of interception, seizing the spiritual opportunities belonging to the Alchemy Saint and drawing them into the board!
Luo Chen could no longer spare any attention for Sect Master Tianyuan's actions; he hastily looked toward the Alchemy Saint.
Interrupting the opportunity for ascension and intercepting heaven-and-earth spiritual opportunity for selfish use—though he did not know what benefit it brought to the Tianyuan Dao Sect, for Alchemy Saint Chu Yan, it was unquestionably an act of brazen defiance that enraged heaven and earth.
And the consequence...
Storm clouds blanketed the sky; tribulation lightning was poised to strike!
In a cultivator's lifetime, they would trigger heavenly tribulations only three times:
Once at the Nascent Soul realm.
Once at the Integration realm.
Once at the Tribulation Transcending realm.
Each time consisted of three rounds, commonly known as the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.
Soul Formation ascension was supposed to be a joyous occasion, never something that should summon a heavenly tribulation.
Yet now, the terrifying might of this abruptly manifested tribulation was simply beyond imagination!
How would Alchemy Saint Chu Yan face it?
Amidst Luo Chen's worry, that slender woman remained completely serene, utterly unperturbed.
Sitting cross-legged in the void, she slowly stood up.
Her plain white Daoist robe draped over her petite frame, and the corners of her slightly rounded face curved into a faint smile.
With a flick of her sleeve, the boundless origin qi swirling around her jolted violently.
Rumble!
The origin qi shattered, transforming into a downpour of spiritual rain that showered upon every cultivator across Cloud Sea Plaza.
The low-level cultivators who had collapsed in exhaustion drank it in like sweet dew, feeling refreshed and invigorated as their cultivation advanced.
Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment perfection who were on the verge of Core Formation found qi vortexes coalescing within them unconsciously, automatically beginning to condense a Golden Core.
Those who harbored chronic ailments found their afflictions thoroughly cleared, leaving their bodies light and easeful.
Even the Nascent Soul True Persons seated high in the clouds felt a notable swell in their dharmic powers.
Luo Chen, who was previously just short of breaking through to the second layer of Nascent Soul, faintly felt his bottleneck loosen. With some quiet cultivation in the coming days, breaking through to the second layer of Nascent Soul should be effortless.
Is this her benevolence? Luo Chen thought to himself.
Yet Chu Yan was not finished.
Reaching into empty air, under Sect Master Tianyuan's furrowed brow, she seemed to seize hold of something.
Then, exhaling a breath of pure qi, her ten fingers repeatedly formed hand seals in the air.
Watching this, Luo Chen fell into a daze.
Why does this look so familiar?
Those mudras... are alchemy arts?
She's refining pills!
But why do I feel a sense of deja vu regarding these alchemy techniques?
Suddenly, Chu Yan's movements ceased. Five fist-sized orbs of light hovered before her.
"Sect Master Mo, my apologies. Before departing, this humble woman still wished to leave a few things behind."
His finger resting against the chessboard, Sect Master Tianyuan's brow slowly relaxed. "No matter. A bit of spiritual opportunity will not affect the grand scheme."
The reason he said this was that of the five orbs of light, two landed among the representatives of the Central Plains clans, and one flew off toward the Lanke Mountain Range. This meant that of the Alchemy Saint's parting gifts, the Tianyuan Dao Sect received the lion's share.
Yet the destinations of the remaining two orbs were somewhat unexpected.
One flew into the hands of a young man from the Mingyuan Sect of the Eastern Desolation.
"Martial Aunt..."
"Take it. Consider this a small measure of compensation to the Mingyuan Sect."
The young man pressed his lips together and put the orb of light away.
And the final orb of light, under the watchful gaze of thousands, came to rest in the hands of a grey-haired middle-aged man among the Star Gate's many guest elders.
Luo Chen was stunned.
Facing gaze after gaze—especially the burning stare of Elder Qideng nearby—he felt profoundly uncomfortable all over.
"Senior Alchemy Saint, this...?"
Chu Yan smiled faintly. "The transformation of your True Fire is just one step away from completion. With the aid of this Heavenly Mechanism Pill, success will follow naturally. Consider this my token of goodwill to the Star Gate."
Luo Chen was taken aback. How did she know that his Wither-Bloom True Fire was on the verge of completing its transformation? And why bestow this gift not upon the other consecrated elders and guest elders of the Star Gate, but specifically upon him, an external affairs guest elder who had only just joined?
There was no time left to ponder.
For with Sect Master Tianyuan's weathered remark, "It is time for you to depart,"
the Alchemy Saint was gone!
Boom!
Above Heaven and Earth Peak, a star gate opened wide.
A radiant pillar of light soared into the sky, scattering the storm clouds and blasting open a mysterious portal amidst the azure expanse of the nine heavens.
The slender woman stepped onto the brilliant pillar of light and strolled upward. Under the gaze of the world, she pushed open that portal and vanished from sight.
With her figure gone, the wrath of heaven and earth had nowhere to vent.
At last, the dark clouds vanished, and the tribulation lightning dispersed.
Now, the verdant mountains stood green, the river flowed on, and under the clearing moon and gentle breeze, the fair maiden was nowhere to be seen.
Luo Chen stared blankly toward the high heavens. Toward this woman whom he had seen twice and met only once in passing, an inexplicable pang of reluctance to part actually welled up inside him.
Just at that moment, beneath the night sky, a deep dragon's roar abruptly resounded.
"Spiritual opportunity is fulfilled; the Mirage Dragon awakens! Tianyuan disciples, enter the Grotto-Heaven!"
Luo Chen whipped his head around, looking out toward the base of Heaven and Earth Peak.
Below Heaven and Earth Peak, beside the banks of the Shi River, a vast expanse of white mist abruptly billowed forth, and a colossal maw formed of swirling clouds and mist slowly opened.
The maw was profound and deep, bridging reality and illusion, as though leading to an entirely different realm.
Chapter 749