Chapter 443 - 436: Gifts from the Phenomena (Part 2)

Chapter 443: Chapter 436: Gifts from the Phenomena (Part 2)

"Junior Martial Uncle Bai has reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and both the Celestial Tribulation he passed and the phenomena it triggered were extraordinary... I expect it won’t be many years before he forges his own Realm and makes a name for himself among Nascent Soul Cultivators. We can’t hold our two junior martial uncles back. You all must also work hard to stand on your own two feet soon."

Wei Dao’s final words were directed at Bai Zichen’s three disciples.

Lii Guizhen and Ma Ruoxi were already the Sect’s most promising Core Formation Seeds. Lii Guizhen, in particular, lacked nothing in terms of aptitude or fortuitous encounters.

He had reached the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment long ago, but his ambitions were sky-high; his desire to achieve Perfect Core Formation via the Pill Discussion slowed his progress.

Later, he spent even more time mastering his Thunder Skill and cultivating Body Refining Techniques on the side.

Only after cultivating the Immortal Nirvana Body, a technique from the Red Bright Lineage, did he finally find the right path for his Body Refining.

By witnessing the Tribulation Crossing and listening to the Sound of the Great Dao this time, Lii Guizhen should have been the one who gained the most.

It was estimated that not long after he returned, he could attempt to break through to the Core Formation Stage, and his chances of success would not be low.

In contrast, Ma Ruoxi had not comprehended the Pill Discussion and was following the ordinary path to Core Formation.

However, her Swordsmanship was exquisite. She was often able to extrapolate and innovate, building upon existing principles.

When it came to the Sword Dao, she was the disciple who most resembled Ancestor Bai.

With Bai Zichen’s ascension to the Nascent Soul Stage, his disciples’ status was bound to rise with the tide. Even Tong Huan’s chances of reaching Core Formation had increased.

Wei Dao’s words were respectful and polite toward all of them; he did not put on the arrogant airs of a senior.

"We will certainly work hard, so as not to bring shame upon our Master."

The three martial siblings exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.

...

’The Heaven-Sent Dew may seem insignificant, but it saved me decades of effort at the very least. If it had lasted just a few more hours, I’d already be well on my way to the Mid-Stage Nascent Soul.’

Bai Zichen indeed had a lot to review and take stock of.

’Factoring in the changes to my Spiritual Root from the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture, I should be able to reach the peak of the Early-Stage Nascent Soul in one hundred and eighty-five years... However, this Cultivation Technique goes no further. To continue Breaking Realms, I’ll need to find a High-Tier Fire Element Technique.’

The Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture had only nine layers; cultivating to this point meant reaching the technique’s absolute limit.

However, he could imagine that even without a subsequent technique, he could still rely on his Mysterious Holy Body to successfully break through to the Mid-Stage Nascent Soul.

Cultivating beyond that point would be a complete mystery; his only option would be to find a new Cultivation Technique to switch to.

’According to the description, the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture enhances one’s Fire Spiritual Root aptitude up to a limit equivalent to half the effect of a Celestial Spiritual Root... But thanks to the enhancement and mutation from the aura of the Holy Beast Essence Blood, my current Spiritual Root is at least seventy percent as effective as a Celestial Spiritual Root.’

Bai Zichen based his estimates of the time required for each Realm on the recorded cultivation speeds of Celestial Spiritual Root Cultivators and Ge Cang, so his calculations were bound to have some inaccuracies and omissions.

If he could further tap into the wondrous properties of the Holy Beast Essence Blood, he might be able to make his Acquired Pseudo-Heavenly Spirit Root nearly as effective as an Innate True Heavenly Spirit Root.

He had achieved this much from just the leaked aura of the Holy Beast Essence Blood; he hadn’t even begun to use the Essence Blood itself.

’No wonder the best way for Nascent Soul True Monarchs to increase their strength is through Magical Treasures and Divine Techniques. It’s just too difficult to rely on increasing one’s Realm.’

Cultivating to the peak of one’s current Realm often took a century or more.

Then, to break through to the next Realm, one needed to accumulate power, a process that could take another century of building a foundation to even have a chance of success.

This was why many remained Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators for several hundred years after their initial breakthrough.

The second Nascent Soul phenomenon was Ten Thousand Swords Subdue. As every Sword Light plunged into his body, he felt like a target riddled with thousands of holes.

Each Sword Light left a Sword Shadow in his Sea of Consciousness.

Once ten thousand had gathered, they merged into a gigantic Flying Sword that connected with the two great Sword Intents within his Sea of Consciousness.

His Sword Dao Realm, which had not budged since he comprehended One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, had finally taken a massive leap forward.

The legendary Sword Light Division was no longer so distant.

’True Monarch Tang Fei was able to break through in the heat of battle, reaching the Sword Light Splitting Realm right before his death. The Ten Thousand Swords Subdue phenomenon he must have experienced surely laid an excellent foundation for it...’

He had long heard Ge Cang speak of the Grotto Heaven Gate. While the phenomenon lasted, it allowed Bai Zichen to experience the process of a Nascent Soul Realm transforming and generating a Grotto Heaven.

The magnificent and towering Power of Creation was a sight to behold.

Even though he had not yet even formed his own Nascent Soul Realm, he now had a basic understanding of a Grotto Heaven Prototype.

If he ever reached the day he could construct his own Grotto Heaven, he would be a step ahead of cultivators who had never experienced the Grotto Heaven Gate.

Without a True Inheritance, many principles that seem obvious in hindsight could take another person hundreds of years to find the opportunity to comprehend.

The fourth phenomenon, Sea of Starlight, was more of an acknowledgment of his power.

The starlight floating above his Dantian Qi Sea could be used for Artifact Refining or for cultivating Divine Techniques.

These were manifestations of the starry sea. Used in Artifact Refining, he could easily infuse large batches of Top-Grade Magical Treasures with starlight, upgrading them into Top-Grade Magical Treasures.

There were even several starlight-based Divine Techniques that required the pale white starlight formed by the Sea of Starlight, which could double the effectiveness of his cultivation for those techniques.

This type of Nascent Soul phenomenon appeared very rarely in the Cultivation Realm.

As a result, the records on the Sea of Starlight were quite vague, failing to explain the boons granted by this Nascent Soul phenomenon. He would have to explore it on his own.

In this regard, he was a true pioneer.

The fifth phenomenon: Time Ring Body.

It was this particular Nascent Soul phenomenon that fundamentally set him apart from other Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

A small, black-and-white river circled before his plump, white Nascent Soul.

A dense Power of Time hovered above the river. When its chubby little hand reached into the water, it immediately felt the passage of ages, the shifting of seas and lands, and it quickly pulled its hand back.

’This isn’t the true River of Time, but being within it makes one a favored child of the Time Path. With the blessing of Time True Intent, one can wield all sorts of incredible Divine Techniques...’

The Nascent Soul lifted its small hand, which had also been dyed black and white. The colors took a long while to fade.

Bai Zichen had a feeling that if he let his Nascent Soul step fully into the encircling river, his comprehension of Time True Intent would ascend to a new level.

He might even be able to execute the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword without having to use Hidden Sword.

’The ultimate form of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword would naturally be every strike imbued with the Power of Time, manipulating time itself... Such a state is likely beyond the wildest dreams of any cultivator in the Human World. But I can now try to learn the complete version of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword, instead of the version split into three parts.’

The Qing Emperor Longevity Sword had been split into the Wood God Skill, the Sword Nurturing Technique, and the Sword-Encompassing Technique purely because a senior True Monarch of the Fish Dragon Sect wanted to lower the difficulty of cultivating this Supreme Divine Power.

Otherwise, even many Nascent Soul Cultivators would fail to grasp its fundamentals, making it impossible to master. No matter how powerful a Divine Technique was, its usefulness would be limited if no one could learn it.

Once split, the power of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword was restricted, but the threshold for learning it was drastically lowered.

There was no chance of a Nascent Soul True Monarch failing to learn it. Even Core Formation True Men with decent Comprehension could master it as well.

The Fish Dragon Sect relied on having several Core Formation True Men who had mastered the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword in each generation, giving them the most powerful core fighting force in the Ten Thousand Stars Islands.

With this power, they swept aside the other sects that still existed in the Ten Thousand Stars Islands at the time, establishing themselves as the sole hegemon of the region.

’The complete version of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword can decapitate even a Tier Four Nine-Headed Xuan Turtle with a single strike. That’s not something that can be accomplished by simply shaving off a few hundred years of lifespan.’

Bai Zichen knew full well that the Fish Dragon Sect’s legacy contained no Tier Four Flying Sword, nor did that Nascent Soul True Monarch possess a powerful Sword Dao Realm to back him up. He had relied purely on the divine might of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword.

The Nascent Soul could only step into that encircling river for ten breaths at most before it would run dry.

A moment ago, just dipping its chubby hand in had caused the river’s water level to drop noticeably.

But those ten breaths were enough time for him to unleash a single strike of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword.

If he added his own Hidden Sword to that, unleashing two consecutive strikes, he feared that not even a Nascent Soul True Monarch in their prime could withstand the assault.

’Furthermore, when the power of the Time Ring Body is depleted, it can be slowly restored. No matter how slow the recovery, it can’t be much worse than the process for Hidden Sword... Once I master the complete version of the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword, the Divine Technique will also change when my Nascent Soul channels it through the river of time. At that point, I’ll have a trump card to deal with even those Great Demons with incredibly long lifespans.’

The effects of Time Ring Body were, of course, not limited to just the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword.

With the ability to freely command Time True Intent, any time-based Divine Technique would be effective, but the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword was certainly the most prominent among them.