Chapter 428: Chapter 11 Reflection!
Over the course of a year, Wang Sheng had almost practiced the Inner Core Skill and the Ba Duan Jin every day, expanding the Qi of his elixir, allowing it to permeate his entire body.
With the aid of pure spiritual power within his spirit world and the assistance of two types of elixirs, he had finally reached the ultimate moment of his cultivation.
He quickly adjusted his state and began preparing for his breakthrough.
“Reflection Realm, also known as ‘Focused Gaze’,” he said, “is where the divine thought power, emanating from an introspective gaze, can further activate oneself and project one’s spiritual body outward. That said, it’s actually far from simple in practice…”
Qi Refining and God Transformation Fifth Stage, Reflection.
The first task was guiding his spiritual power through his gaze, then using that power to anchor the still-circulating Great Medicine Qi in place.
The use of the gaze wasn’t random; the eyes of a living being were always the most straightforward way to observe the changes in the world, an extremely important organ, making understanding the world much simpler.
Thus, the Great Medicine Qi was influenced by a gaze that followed the laws of the universe.
“In addition to getting closer to the universe and nature, this step also ensures that the Qi of the elixir can disperse without losing its divine essence. The refining process had already been practiced before, but this time it’s more profound. The goal is to use this power as a lead to draw out the spiritual body.”
Without hesitation, Wang Sheng began his breakthrough.
As divine thoughts were drawn out through his gaze, passing his eyes, Wang Sheng felt different than before, as if his eyes had undergone a change.
“That’s it, the spiritual body I need to attract this time includes the eyes, it’s not just a transitional phase…” With this realization, Wang Sheng proceeded even more cautiously.
Success wasn’t as easy as he had imagined; one careless mistake could cost him everything. With the presence of a progress bar as a safety net, he wasn’t worried about mistakes, but if possible, he would avoid deliberate failure.
Quickly, under the introspective state, a transformation in Wang Sheng’s divine thought occurred that was beyond words.
Soon after, the Qi of the elixir within his body gradually came to a halt, settling in one place.
As divine thoughts entered, the elixir’s Qi started to emit a faint glow, which then intensified quickly and all of the Great Medicine Qi turned into a white light.
“The Reflection has started!”
This light pierced through Wang Sheng’s entire body, leaving nothing hidden; every inch of his flesh was lit up, crystal clear and indisputable.
Under this light, the Five Internal Gods fell silent, seemingly becoming an integral part of the organs.
All these efforts aimed to ensure a complete projection of the spiritual body.
“While the path of immortality doesn’t necessarily preclude those with physical impairments, at least in the realm of Qi Refining into God Transformation, bodily defects can greatly affect cultivation, and in severe cases, even hinder its progress.”
The spiritual body was linked to the physical one.
If the physical body was impaired, not only would it be impossible to operate the Small and Large Circulation, but it would also indicate an incomplete spiritual body.
Even after arduous efforts to reach the stage of Reflection, the projected spiritual body would be inferior to others, receiving less power in return.
It wasn’t that one couldn’t cultivate; it was just that compared to a cultivator with a complete body, the difficulty was greater, and even if successful, the resulting strength would be weaker, requiring much more effort.
Wang Sheng did not have this concern.
As the light grew stronger, before long, a throbbing sensation came from the depths of his body, as if something was growing, something separating.
After a short while, a hazy silhouette appeared.
The figure held the complete shape of a human body, but upon closer inspection, it lacked any details; the features were indistinct, the limbs devoid of fingers or toes, like a rudimentary clay figurine fashioned by a child.
“As expected, the spiritual body can be easily reflected in the spirit world, but that’s more like the transformation of thoughts and cognition. In reality, to manifest it requires true existence. To be as detailed as in the spirit world, there’s still a way to go.”
“But—”
“This state is already halfway to completing the breakthrough.”
“Qi Refining into God Transformation. Reflection: 1%.”
The moment the spiritual body appeared marked half of the fifth-stage breakthrough.
It was considered half because there was another crucial step ahead.
“Though the spiritual body is not yet perfected, it still needs to receive power…”
Wang Sheng slowly unleashed his spiritual body, drawing on his experience within the spirit world. This step didn’t feel uncomfortable for him; he even found it quite manageable.
Moreover, the spiritual body cultivated through Inner Core Skill was different from the spirit associated with the soul cultivation system.
From the start, the soul cultivation path developed the spiritual body, but upon creation, it was extremely fragile. A martial artist with slightly stronger qi-blood could easily shatter such a spiritual body, which could hardly even withstand sunlight.
The Inner Core Skill manifested the spiritual body at the late stage of the third great realm, Qi Refining into God Transformation, after having strengthened the physical body extensively first. At this stage, the spiritual body, having been nourished by the powerful physical form for so long, possessed terrifying strength and extraordinary resilience despite its incompleteness.
Thus, releasing it caused no discomfort.
“The next critical step after releasing it… use all of the spiritual body’s power to sense the universe, to receive power…”
Wang Sheng’s spiritual body opened its senses, beginning to resonate with the universe.
Before long, he felt an overwhelming, brilliant force—the power of the universe.
[Storm and thunder, mountains and rivers, lakes and oceans, they all constitute the power of the universe. Some call this power ‘spiritual force,’ others ‘spiritual energy,’ or ‘Primordial Qi’…
The power of the universe is ubiquitous; even the Qi Blood Power is a form of that universal power.
It represents rules, not some manifested object.
No cultivator can truly defy the universe; born of it, how could one go against it?
The so-called defiance is unnoticed by the universe.
Your wish to resist change is yours alone.
The rules can’t possibly respond to such things.]
Upon sensing the power, Wang Sheng suddenly understood much.
“The power of the universe, in truth, has always been under control; it’s just a matter of the extent of control. Strengthening this grasp is also part of the path to immortality.”
The fifth step towards ascension, the Reversal of the Void and the Convergence of the Way, seeks a path that one can command.
“Seems like it all started with the appearance of the spiritual body.”
It didn’t take long for Wang Sheng’s spiritual body to approach that vast force, which was indifferent yet gentle.
Indifferent because it was the same for all living beings, and gentle because it was willing to bestow its power upon any creature, like a mother feeding her baby.
Within this process of “nourishment,” Wang Sheng’s spiritual body continually strengthened, and at the same time, it came even closer to the true “Way.”
Of course, the Reflection Realm was the limit; it approached the “Way,” but the reality was that this realm could never actually touch the “Way.” To do so required a higher realm.
Just when Wang Sheng thought his spiritual body was about to return from that unknown place, suddenly a force as if crossing time and space, descended upon his physical body.
His physical body also began to improve!
“What’s going on, it shouldn’t be like this!”
Cultivating the Inner Core Skill to its end would lead to transcendence and ascent to immortality. Transcendence inherently represented the dissolution of the physical body, which meant that in the later stages, cultivation of the Inner Core Skill would not greatly enhance the physical body.
But now an accident had occurred; it seemed the connection between his physical body and his spiritual body was too strong. The power of the heavens and earth, nourishing in reverse, also acted upon the physical body.
“This is advancing into an unknown realm!”
Such an anomaly had occurred before, but the impact had been so minimal that he hadn’t paid it any attention.
But now it seemed that the impact was becoming increasingly significant.
However—
“This is actually a good thing.”
His physical body bore so much, and even though the Inner Core Skill was his Foundation Method and path, he had never thought to abandon his physical body.
Not knowing in what direction this change would lead, it still was a good thing.
Feeling the dual enhancement of his physical body and spiritual body, he submerged into silence.
Time passed, unknown how long.
Wang Sheng came back to his senses, his spiritual body had already returned to his physical body.
The contact with the power of heaven and earth had ended.
“Refining Qi into God. Reflection: 1%”
There was no progress, and he was not surprised.
Embracing the power of heaven and earth was part of this realm’s process. As the spiritual body perfected, more power would be embraced.
“Finally, a Breakthrough… My power has increased quite a bit.”
As a qualitative change phase within Qi Refining and God Transformation, the Breakthrough brought gains much greater than imagined.
“Due to the spiritual body’s reasons, my Divine Thought has become frighteningly vast. Now using Divine Thought, perhaps I could easily erase a complete Spirit World, not to mention various martial techniques and Divine Skills that utilize Divine Thought. And due to receiving the power of heaven and earth, my Fist Force, Spear Force, have undergone a qualitative change and can no longer be simply referred to as Force.”
“The physical enhancement is not as great as that of Divine Thought, but it is still extremely terrifying. Now using the law image, I could easily tear through the sky.”
“Next, there’s longevity—”
Wang Sheng, sensing his body’s condition, found that Divine Thought and physical body were both enhanced, resonating and increasing his lifespan more than he had anticipated.
“Lifespan twelve thousand!”
According to Wang Sheng’s estimate, living past ten thousand years would require at least reaching the final stage of Qi Refining and God Transformation, or perhaps even later at the peak of Qi Refining and God Transformation, just before breaking through.
But unexpectedly, this feat was accomplished just after breaking through the fifth stage.
Now Wang Sheng was even more certain his path had indeed deviated, but this deviation was a good thing.
“Nearly quadrupling my lifespan, if I’m cautious, I could even witness a civilization emerge from nothing. When lifespan reaches a certain level, the thrill isn’t as intense, but the pursuit of longevity hasn’t lessened a bit—it’s a paradoxical thought…”
He quickly came back to his senses from the initial excitement.
This Breakthrough was significant for longevity, but most importantly for strength, as the embraced power allowed for an all-around improvement.
“Realm—
Refining Qi into God. Reflection: 1%
Cultivation Technique—
Inner Core Skill (Refining Qi into God): Breakthrough+6 (6%)
Ba Duan Jin: Breakthrough+6 (3%)—Blood Qi Furnace: 22%, “Nurturing Seedling: 45%”
Five Elements Fist: Breakthrough+4 (97%)—Divine Guarding Five Qi: 6%
Yijin Scripture: Breakthrough+5 (1%)—Golden Body: 35%”
Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter: Breakthrough+4 (5%)—Spiritual Virtualization: 30%
Lifestyle—
Planting Skill: Breakthrough+6 (63%) Forging: Breakthrough+1 (1%)
Reading: Breakthrough+2 (95%)…
Martial Techniques—
Eight Extremities Fist: Breakthrough+4 (60%) Plum Flower Step: Breakthrough+4 (55%)
God-slaying Sword: 9 (12%) Sleeve Universe: Breakthrough+3 (70%)…
Knowledge—
Universe: Breakthrough+4 (15%) Mechanical Techniques: 8 (95%)
Array: 8 (68%) Talisman-Making: 9 (11%)…
Divine Skills—
Summon Wind and Rain: Breakthrough+1 (89%) Heavenly Thunder: Breakthrough+1 (56%)
Strengthening Talismans: 8 (2%)…”
All martial skills and derivative items of the cultivation technique had improved; even if Divine Thought hadn’t increased, combat power was incomparable to before.
“Well then, it’s time to meet ‘Zhong’…”
(There’s one more [card], it’s a must-drop from the point before.)