Yuan's Ascension

Finally, the incubation stage is complete. Wu Yuan’s eyes fluttered open as a smile crept onto his lips.

It had taken far longer than he had expected. When he first entered the Yanqing Hall, Little Black had confidently stated that the Star Embryonic Body would reach maturity within a few short years.

But as Wu Yuan soon discovered, theory alone was not enough. Little Black's estimations had been far too optimistic.

In reality, it took fifteen long years before it was finally ready. While it was a far cry from the 100 years stated by the artifact spirit, the process had been filled with unexpected challenges.

After such a long wait, it’s finally time to go have a look. A glint of anticipation shone in Wu Yuan’s eyes. This day had been a long time coming.

In one swift movement, Wu Yuan left the meditation chamber and soared into the sky. The lightwaves around him distorted, rendering him invisible to any onlookers below.

Cloud Capital. Wu Yuan gazed down at the sprawling city beneath him. With a population exceeding four million, it was a bustling metropolis that encompassed the Cloud River and numerous other rivers, connected by grand bridges constructed through Wu Yuan's mastery of earth-type arcane arts.

Fifteen years had brought an incredible transformation to the city, causing the previous Cloudhill City or Holy Capital during its prime to pale in comparison.

During its most prosperous days, the Great Jin Empire only occupied the lands of three continents and had a population of less than half the world. However, it squandered its resources on warfare. How can it compare to the Wu Empire, where resources were instead channeled into construction and maintaining peace?

Presently, only small-scale military forces and constables were needed to quell local disturbances in the Middle Land. Meanwhile, the broader peace was maintained by the Middle Land Guard and Teng Snake Guard.

The Middle Land Guard consisted of numerous Heavenly Rankers, while the Teng Snake Guard had grown gradually over fifteen years, now boasting a large number of first-rate and second-rate Adepts. Both groups monitored the world with ease.

Martial arts pervaded every corner of the Middle Land, with martial artists and even Heavenly Rankers venturing far and wide.

Cloudhill. Wu Yuan's eyes swept across the landscape of Cloudhill. He took in the grandeur of the towering mountain, the numerous compounds, pavilions, and halls nestled among towering trees, and each training ground and grotto of the Heavenly Rankers.

This region was now the headquarters of the Middle Land Guard, and each Heavenly Ranker was allocated their own personal mountain peak. However, the tallest and largest mountain by far was the Archeldritch Mountain, rebuilt by Wu Yuan himself.

Just the area of land occupied by the headquarters of the Middle Land Guard dwarfed that of the entire Cloud Capital.

Fang Xia, who had recently broken through, could command mountains to rise with a single arcane art, an ability relegated to the realm of immortals and devils.

The Middle Land Guard currently boasted two Golden Core cultivators: Fang Xia and Hai Feizhang, along with nearly 70 Heavenly Rankers, including more than ten late-stage Qi Sea cultivators.

It's a shame that Qiong Sea King has yet to break through. Wu Yuan shook his head.

Despite receiving the best inheritances and Wu Yuan’s personal guidance, Qiong Sea King and the Arctic King had yet to advance to the next phase. Meanwhile, Hai Feizhang who had kept a low profile all these years quietly ascended to the Golden Core stage two years prior.

Let's go. Wu Yuan stepped into the air as easily as walking on flat ground. With each stride, he flashed dozens of li ahead, covering hundreds of li in a second. The scenery beneath him flashed past in a blur.

For most cultivators who contemplated the Earth Dao, their speed on land would only be slightly faster than their flight speed. But when Wu Yuan moved, the air transformed into solid ground beneath his feet, melding sky and land into a seamless whole.

This was one of the traits of a Spiritual Body cultivator.

Indeed, after fifteen years of cultivation, Wu Yuan advanced from the Communion phase to the first-stage Spiritual Body phase.

Given that Wu Yuan had the assistance of the Luminous Immortal Soil and blood mist, this cultivation progress was considered rather slow. This delay was due to him cultivating both paths of qi and body refining, causing him to face obstructions in body refining when he progressed in qi refining.

This wasn’t too large an obstacle at the Communion phase, but his progress in the Spiritual Body phase was far slower.

...

Given Wu Yuan’s flight speed, he arrived at Zhong Continental City from Cloudhill in less than seven minutes.

In contrast to the prosperous Holy Capital in the past, the city was now smaller. However, it regained its vibrancy, becoming the third largest city in the world, surpassed only by Cloud Capital and the Stellar City.

Wu Yuan swiftly made his way to the Yanqing Hall at the west. After passing through a mind confusion array of white fog, he was greeted by a colossal snake.

"Master," the snake raised its head.

It was Little Black, now a colossal creature nearly 100 zhangs long who could block out the sun when it spread its wings.

Its current power far surpassed that of the Spiritual Body devil soldiers. Even a third-stage Spiritual Body devil soldier wouldn’t stand a chance against Little Black in a one-on-one battle!

"Little Black, you have done well," Wu Yuan landed gracefully, giving Little Black a reassuring pat on its now shrinking head.

Little Black nuzzled against Wu Yuan's hand affectionately.

In recent years, Little Black had taken up residence in the Yanqing Hall.

"It was my miscalculation that kept Master waiting for so long," Little Black expressed remorse.

Wu Yuan smiled reassuringly and followed Little Black into the depths of the Yanqing Hall.

The main hall remained unchanged. The only difference was that the sparkling liquid that once filled the entire crystal platform was now nearly depleted, while the giant elliptical egg in the center, two meters in diameter, displayed intricate patterns that shone like starlight on its white shell.

The vital aura of the egg had grown significantly stronger compared to fifteen years ago!

"Has the incubation stage concluded?" Wu Yuan inquired.

"Yes," Little Black nodded eagerly, "Master, observe the pattern on the eggshell. It’s flawless and naturally formed."

Wu Yuan nodded in agreement.

The patterns on the eggshell seemed to intertwine in perfect harmony, and any addition would disrupt the delicate balance.

"Furthermore, I sensed that its vital aura peaked over the past month," Little Black added, "It has ceased to develop any further."

Wu Yuan acknowledged the information with a faint nod.

With the formation of cryptic patterns on the eggshell completed and its vital aura reaching its peak, they could roughly assume that the incubation stage had reached its conclusion.

However, both Wu Yuan and Little Black possessed only theoretical knowledge, hence they weren’t able to confirm this.

"Alright then. Little Black, protect me," Wu Yuan instructed.

Little Black complied, soaring out of the main hall and coiling itself around the entire mountain with its colossal body. In the Spiritual Body phase, one could enlarge or shrink their body to any size.

"With Little Black guarding me, even foes as powerful as Fang Xia won’t be able to threaten or disturb me," Wu Yuan's Soul Force extended outward as he relaxed.

Compared to Fang Xia and Qiong Sea King, Wu Yuan placed his utmost trust in Little Black.

Despite only being at the first-stage Spiritual Body phase, Little Black had learned many ether arts, possessed a strong immortal root, as well as comprehended a Domain, making it powerful enough to outmatch Fang Xia, a second-stage Golden Core cultivator.

...

Within the main hall of the Yanqing Hall, Wu Yuan settled into a lotus position, clearing his thoughts and focusing his mind, going over the Soul Split Secret Art one last time in his mind.

This secret art was part of the inheritance memories passed down to Wu Yuan, and for the past fifteen years, he simulated the first level countless times.

Compared to fifteen years ago, my soul has grown significantly after consistently Visualizing the black pagoda, yet my cultivation of qi remains at the seventh-stage Qi Sea phase. The demands on my soul are not high.

Why did a cultivator have to reach the Yuan Soul level in order to split their soul at the Amethyst Cradle phase?

The amount of mana an Amethyst Cradle cultivator possessed was far too much for a weak split soul to control. This was why Wu Yuan focused on cultivating his vital ether rather than essentia, leading him to reach the first level of the Spiritual Body phase.

Soon, he completed the mental simulation of the process.

Let’s begin. Wu Yuan felt his heart reach a completely peaceful state. The crystal platform before him slowly opened, revealing the giant egg that emitted a potent vital aura.

Within his qi sea, the ethereal sword soul gleamed, surrounded by nine lifebound flying swords that enveloped his qi sea with sword qi.

Soul Split! Wu Yuan initiated the technique.

Crack~ An excruciating pain surged through Wu Yuan's entire being, threatening to overwhelm him. Even his consciousness dimmed. This agony eclipsed even the torment he faced when confronting the worm devil at death's door.

The Soul Split Secret Art wasn't merely about splitting the soul down the middle. The soul was formless, an amalgamation of consciousness threads. Hence, the secret art entailed extracting strands of consciousness one by one from the body. Each step proceeded according to Wu Yuan’s expectations.

Expel. He gritted his teeth against the searing pain as his consciousness threads flowed out from his upper dantian lobe.

This was not the spreading of Soul Force; it was the separation of the soul's essence. Waves of weakness overtook his mind, testing his resolve. Wu Yuan sighed inwardly. Now, he understood why so few cultivators dared to undertake such an endeavor.

Even splitting a mere one-fifth of his soul already left him feeling drained. To split around half? Nevertheless, with his powerful soul and meticulous preparations, Wu Yuan persevered.

As the expelled strands of consciousness lingered in the air outside his body, a sense of hesitation and coldness permeated them. The Yang Soul, while able to possess bodies, could not remain outside the body for long. Only upon reaching the Yuan Soul level could it manifest a truly resilient form.

Go! Wu Yuan commanded.

The hundreds of expelled soul consciousness threads swiftly streamed into the massive shell within the platform.

In one seamless motion, it was done.

Why was finding a suitable vessel so challenging? Only a spiritless body vessel was capable of allowing one to flawlessly meld their soul consciousness threads with its physical form.

A spiritless body vessel was absolutely pure, without the slightest contamination of soul aura. Even for a powerhouse surpassing the Amethyst Cradle phase, acquiring such a body was exceedingly difficult. Such a body vessel was also the ideal vessel for accommodating a soul.

Hence, Wu Yuan saw this as a golden opportunity. He knew that Reverend Qing Yan was only an Amethyst Cradle Reverend, and it was remarkably rare for someone like him to possess a Star Embryonic Body.

As Wu Yuan's soul consciousness threads entered the shell, it felt like they were returning home to their original body. A feeling of warmth enveloped his soul. It was a perfect integration!

Boom! Wu Yuan felt his consciousness shift suddenly, perceiving the existence of two true selves. Their perception of the world was distinct, however the consciousnesses of both selves were shared. Both were Wu Yuan.

Qi refiner self, assimilate. Wu Yuan swiftly merged his soul consciousness threads with the body inside the shell. Nourished by the body, the split soul began to recover to its original state.

As the soul entered the shell, the once internally chaotic Star Embryonic Body underwent rapid transformation. Originally in an unborn state, it would soon be born into the world upon merging with the soul.

Simultaneously, Wu Yuan's soul was severely weakened, fatigue washing over him. Despite this, he pressed on. Splitting the soul was merely the initial step.

The second step - relocating the qi sea!

The qi sea, a mysterious realm that was part real and part illusion, could be relocated into a spiritless body vessel. The soul chamber could not.

However, the qi sea alone could be moved, but the essentia and mana could not be carried over.

Open! Split! With a mental command, pain tore through Wu Yuan as his chest split open. A sphere of light burst forth, hurtling towards the white egg.

Thankfully, Wu Yuan had reached the Spiritual Body phase, reducing the damage taken from splitting his qi sea. This second step posed little danger.

The cracks in the eggshell multiplied, signaling the rapid transformation of Wu Yuan's qi refiner self.

As the cracks grew wider, the sphere of light descended, entering the egg through the fractures and merging with the new body.

A surge of vigorous vital aura emanated from the cracked white shell.

Success. Wu Yuan smiled.

All that was left to do was wait for the birth of his qi refiner self.

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