Chapter 585: Finally Entering The Nascent Soul Realm

Whether it was by coincidence or design was impossible to say.

Perhaps when the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher created the new methodology, he had genuinely drawn upon the scene of the world's initial creation as his reference.

In any case, to solve the problem of those born without spiritual roots being unable to cultivate, he had taught mortals how to forge a Heaven-Earth Root from negative human emotions, one that could forcibly draw upon the energy of heaven and earth.

The two shared a name, yet were clearly not of the same order.

If the Heaven-Earth Root that heralded creation was sacred and solemn, then the "Heaven-Earth Root" that plundered heaven and earth to grant cultivation to all seemed somewhat sinister.

Its nature was visible in the form it took.

The tens of thousands of writhing tendrils were its rootlets. Now, as if having developed self-awareness, they extended ceaselessly toward the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, automatically seeking the most suitable places to take root and invade.

The newly-born Five Elements Grotto-Heavens seemed to sense the coming danger. They shuddered, erupting in radiant light of various hues, attempting to repel the intrusion.

It was useless.

The glow barely slowed the rootlets at all. Only an insignificant fraction were lost. The rest advanced unopposed, driving deep inward like countless fine needles piercing silently through the grotto-heavens' surface.

The grotto-heavens thundered. An indescribable sound rose from within, like a pained wail.

Yet it could not stop the endless rootlets from winding tighter and tighter around them.

The light faded, and darkness descended.

Li Fan watching the entire devouring process from the side, felt an involuntary chill seep into his heart.

The Heavenly Venerable's new methodology is truly strange. It looks nothing like a righteous path.

However, Li Fan was not one to be overly fastidious. However sinister it appeared, this new methodology was his only viable cultivation path.

He set aside the stray thoughts and fixed his gaze on the grotto-heavens, now swathed in squirming black.

The endless rootlets acted as his own feelers, transmitting the grotto-heavens' current condition directly into his consciousness.

Their power was being devoured, and their resistance grew weaker and weaker.

Suddenly, an incomparable energy entered the myriad tendrils.

It was a life force several times more refined than anything Li Fan had sensed from the human body's hidden reserves while practicing the Creation Forge Technique. A vibrant, surging vitality, siphoned from the grotto-heavens, poured into his body.

After absorbing even the smallest thread of it, he understood at once.

With vitality this pure, even if his body were sliced a thousand times over, ground into nothing, so long as a single scrap of tissue remained, he could rebuild himself entirely from it.

Reborn from a drop of blood, undying and immutable...

That divine ability spoken of in ancient legend, said to belong only to true powerhouses, was now being approximated through this method.

Dao Teacher...

Li Fan couldn't help but marvel once more.

Seeing that the moment had come, he finally acted, initiating the final step of forming his Nascent Soul.

His already half-dissolved body melted away entirely, becoming a gurgling stream of thick black liquid that seeped along the countless root-like tendrils and invaded the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.

In his perception, he felt as though he had split into ten thousand parts, and those ten thousand into a hundred million. He was divided into countless separate existences, yet still felt like a single whole, unified in one purpose: to seize the nest, to take over the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens completely and make them his own.

It was a profoundly strange experience.

The grotto-heavens, which had originally existed several tiers above a human body, now felt like a lifeform at his own level. The once intangible, ethereal "heaven and earth" had become a solid thing that could be attacked.

As his invasion pressed on, the grotto-heavens' struggles grew fainter, until they were nearly imperceptible.

***

Tianling Province, outside the void of the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.

"Hmm? Did something move just now?" A Golden Core cultivator on guard duty suddenly looked up, staring at the vast, pitch-black cavity overhead.

"Old Sun, I think you're seeing things again," scoffed the cultivator beside him, sprawled out and utterly indifferent. "I keep telling you, take some leave, get proper rest. After fighting in the war this long, watching all those people die, you should be thanking the heavens you haven't lost your mind. And yet here you are, volunteering for guard duty..."

Old Sun ignored the teasing. He kept his eyes fixed on the black void, his expression growing serious as a thought took shape.

After a moment's hesitation, he flew to the edge of the void to investigate.

"Madman," the other cultivator muttered under his breath. "Paranoid all day long. His brain's fried." He stretched, watching Old Sun with the air of a man enjoying free entertainment.

As expected, after a long inspection, Old Sun found nothing unusual. He returned to the ground, visibly dissatisfied.

"See? Told you it was all in your head," the other cultivator immediately crowed. "Not even birds come to shit in this godforsaken place. Why would any enemy bother? I don't know what the higher-ups were thinking, leaving a squad here to guard it. They get to go back and enjoy themselves while we're stuck suffering. Pah..."

Getting no reaction from Old Sun, he shifted targets and began complaining to no one in particular.

Old Sun seemed long accustomed to it. He tuned the man out completely, but still glanced up at the sky every so often, his brow furrowed.

High above, concealed from sight, Li Fan watched Old Sun with a flicker of surprise.

Hmm. This Cultivator Sun's spiritual sense is remarkably sharp. He nearly detected me. Interesting.

The moment the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens had plunged into the void of Tianling Province, Li Fan had seized his chance and completed his devouring of the grotto-heavens, successfully advancing to the Nascent Soul realm. But before he could examine the changes within himself, Old Sun below had already sensed something amiss and nearly detected him. Thankfully, Li Fan concealed himself in time.

His cultivation now stood a full realm above theirs; he could subdue them both with a gesture. But the great war had only just wound down, and the Myriad Immortals Alliance was still in a highly sensitive state. Any disturbance here might well stir up another storm.

Better to keep his head down and reap the rewards quietly.

Li Fan shook his head and committed Old Sun's face to memory.

As he prepared to leave, voices drifted up from below.

"Old Sun, have you heard? Zhang Debiao seems to have struck it rich lately."

"Isn't he in charge of battlefield cleanup?"

"He’s been scooping up the spoils from every corpse on the Tianling Province front!"

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