“Nine thousand and ninety-ninth drop.”
A lush green droplet of water suddenly burst, releasing a shower of Wood Element Spirit Qi. This Spirit Qi was quickly absorbed by a shadowy figure of a young man. The young man’s hair was vibrant green in color, and even his eyes gleamed like two pieces of emeralds. His skin was covered with ancient and mysterious inscriptions, making the boy look less like a human and more like a Wood Sprite.
This was what Chen Fan looked like after three months of cultivation in the medicine vault.
He sat cross-legged in the medicine vault, arms wrapped around the Spirit Core of the Connate Spirit Wood. The immense Wood Element Spirit Qi inside the core had nearly dried out, rendering the wooden egg a hollow husk that floated in Chen Fan’s palm.
If anyone happened to enter the medicine vault and catch the sight, they would be shocked.
Other than the fact that Chen Fan now looked like a Wood Sprite, the entire medicine vault had transformed into a green paradise of lush trees and undergrowth. Precious herbs were everywhere in the room. There were Lingzhi mushrooms tucked in the corner under the branches of Ginseng and Astragalus. Atractylodes and the Black Hair Herb either hang low from branches or were buried under the ground. There were many other unknown plants scattered all over the vault. The vaulted ceiling was also covered with Green Vines with lush green leaves.
What is even more amazing about the scene was that none of the plants were rotting in the soil, and Chen Fan never watered them during the three months. They simply grew on anything and everything. The air was infused with green mist that carried strong Wood Element Spirit Qi as well as the Essence of Life. Just one whiff of such air in a mortal’s system could have warded off all ailments. Its effects were not any worse than a thousand-year-old herb.
The Spirit Qi in the Spirit Wood was so abundant that even though Chen Fan had used up over ninety-nine percent of the Spirit Qi, the last one percent was still able to transform the vault into a Spirit Land for Wood Element Cultivation.
“Hew!”
Chen Fan took a long breath and stirred up the air in the room. Suddenly, a whirlwind swept across the room; it wrapped the green mist around itself and channeled into Chen Fan’s mouth.
“BOM! Kaboom!”
Chen Fan’s bones cracked, joints popped, and his muscles convulsed as his body let out a cacophony of strange noises. In a blink, Chen Fan grew to two meters tall, looking like a green giant among the trees and plants.
“The Azure Thearch Longevity Body is very challenging indeed.” Chen Fan heaved a sigh and opened his eyes slowly. “I thought that I would be able to complete the Initial Success level of my Dao Body cultivation; however, it seems that I am still a half-step away from reaching Introductory Level.”
“If not because of the experience and knowledge in cultivating Spirit Bodies I had obtained in my past life as a Celestial Lord, I would have achieved even less.”
With that thought in mind, Chen Fan furrowed his brows.
“Fine, this will have to do. I will try one last time.”
So thinking, he folded his hands and started the Void Mortal Refinement Art. The elliptical wooden egg let out a long screech. A droplet that was a few hundred times larger than the average size of all previous droplets was squeezed out from its body.
This droplet was about the size of a thumbnail. The wooden egg shivered for one last time, and finally give up its luster.
The large drop of water glistened much brighter than its normal counterparts, making it look more like a chunk of emerald. It floated and twirled in the air slowly, letting out a powerful wave of Wood Element Spirit Qi. The wave of Qi breathed more life into the flowers in the room, making them bloom even more joyfully.
“This was the last shred of Spirit Qi inside of the core. One drop of this Spirit Water was worth the effects of over a hundred pieces of Essence Gathering Pills. I am going to swallow this last drop and let fate decide the rest.” Determination flashed in Chen Fan’s eyes. He opened his mouth and swallowed the drop of water.
“Kaboom!”
A booming sound came up from somewhere deep inside of Chen Fan’s body. Then suddenly, his belly bloated up like a large balloon. Something moved and thrashed against the underside of his belly, threatening to burst out.
“Arise!”
Even at this suspenseful moment, Chen Fan remained calm. He charged up the Void Mortal Refinement Art to its limits to contain and refine the sudden burst of Wood Element Spirit Qi.
“Bang!”
The skin on his puggy bloated fingers burst, splattering flesh and skin tissue everywhere, revealing sections of finger bones that scintillated. Chen Fan was not at all disturbed by the slightly morbid development, and he kept on refining the Qi.
“Peng! Peng!”
The flesh on both palms flew off with the two sudden explosions. As soon as the bloody blob of flesh reached the air, it turned into countless wisps of green smoke. Thus it was, The Dao Body was entirely different than the mortal coil. A human’s body was made out of flesh, organs, and sinews. However, a Dao Body of a Connate Cultivator was made up of powerful Essence Qi that was similar to the Essence Qi of Life. The ultimate goal of any Connate Cultivator was to master the Dao Body and to turn his physical existence into that of unsubstantial yet powerful Essence Qi.
From here, they could form a vast Essence Qi Sea using their mortal body as a nearly limitless source of power. Although Chen Fan was still a long shot from mastering the Dao Body, his physical form was quickly integrated by the powerful Wood Element Spirit Qi, turning his flesh into Essence Qi.
“Bang!” “Bang!”
Two more explosions, his arms were reduced into two gleaming white bones that looked like two pieces of smooth jade. On the surface of the bones were ancient inscriptions that were as old as time itself. Its origin can be traced back to the beginning of the universe before the earth and heaven were separated, and all the knowledge of the universe was wrapped up tightly in a few symbols.
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”
Chen Fan’s feet, calves, shoulders, and finally, his chest burst.
Every inch of his boy was turned inside out, and the pain was worse than even the cruelest torture one could conceive. Chen Fan had a will that was stronger than iron. However, his will could not alleviate the pain in the slightest. Such was the tortuous path of cultivation, in order to transform from a mortal to a Connate Being, Chen Fan had to endure the pain of death and rebirth to shed his mortal body and exchange his bones.
What exactly did the process mean?
It meant on had to shed every inch of flesh, sinew, and bones and replace them with Essence Qi.
The Introductory Level of the longevity body he was trying to achieve didn’t require him to replace his bones, but he needed to replace his flesh nonetheless. Otherwise, he would never meet the physical condition of reaching the Longevity Body.
In the end, even Chen Fan’s skull bloated up and exploded, leaving only a ghastly looking skull that was loosely connected to his spine. All the while, Chen Fan didn’t move an inch and remained the seated position. An apparition flickered in and out of view in fits and starts amidst the green glow of the white bones. This apparition was Chen Fan’s soul. This was Chen Fan’s most vulnerable moment ever since he was reborn back to earth. If he couldn’t obtain the Longevity Body after forsaking his mortal coil, he might as well reincarnate again or forcibly possess someone else’s body.
Let it be rebirth or rob others of their bodies; neither was the ideal solution.
In Chen Fan’s past life, he had seen many powerful cultivators who were forced to abandon their level of attainment and reincarnate because of a slip up during such a critical moment. Although the second life was supposed to possess all the memories and experiences the cultivator had accumulated in a previous life, some ended up stuck in a perpetual limbo of death and rebirth without getting anywhere.
“However, I am Chen Beixuan, the North Mystic Celestial Lord. If I didn’t know what I was doing, I would not have picked the Azure Thearch Longevity Body. ”
The skeleton opened his mouth; despite its lack of substance to convey any expression, it clearly represented a smile. In the two empty sockets, flames of determination and confidence burned.
“Form, NOW!”
Chen Fan finally stated the last segment of the Void Mortal Refinement Art: Dao Body, as the Dao Body slowly started to build up.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, a gale came up in the medicine vault. The gust carried powerful Wood Element Spirit Qi that came to Chen Fan like a deluge of biblical proportions. The green mist created by Chen Fan’s flesh suddenly all converged toward Chen Fan in countless long and stringy strands. It was as if a whale had drawn a large gulp of water.
The mist that shrouded Chen Fan’s body started to wrap itself around the bones, forming layers of plasmic substance where flesh, nerves, blood and organs started to grow. After some time, Chen Fan’s body started to take form.
The organs and innards started to appear first, and then the blood vessels and nerves surfaced on the squishy flesh. Then everything was covered by layers of muscles, skin, and hair. As soon as his scalp solidified in the thin air, a dark hairy bush puffed out in a blink, the hair didn’t stop growing until the end of his dark hair reached his shoulders.
Chen Fan’s appearance didn’t change much at first glance; however, upon closer look, one would notice the significant improvement in his complexion and in the finer details of his features. It was as if his face was created by design as everything was placed with a strong aesthetic intention.
A cultivator, regardless of the look of his birthday suit, was able to reform his mortal coil once he had reached the Connate Spirit Level. It was much more convenient and safer than plastic surgery. Therefore in the world of cultivation, one could rarely pick out anyone who was an eyesore.
“The Azure Thearch Longevity Body. Complete!”
Chen Fan opened his eyes slowly.
His pupils were as dark as midnight and as innocent as a newborn baby. Slowly, a small flame appeared at the center of his eyes. After a few months of recuperation, the Li Fire Golden Eyes was finally fully charged again.
Chen Fan rose to his feet and looked at his hands.
The skin on the back of his hands was so smooth and tender that it felt like the skin of a newborn. Such was the pureness of the Connate Body. From now on, Chen Fan was able to live on Qi alone for a long time and without eating any food that would sully his pure body.
“It’s a pity that I have only reached the Introductory Level, and I am still a long shot from the Phenomenal Success. So I can only live on Qi for at most fifteen days before I have to replenish my mortal body with mortal food.” Chen Fan heaved a sigh.
However, even at the Introductory level, his eyes shone brighter than they ever had.
The Void Mortal Refinement Art had five levels: Ice Skin, Jade Bone, Silver Blood, Golden Eyes, and Dao Body. The first four levels were easy to obtain, but the Dao Body was extremely difficult to form. Even among the members of The Sect of the Grand Dao, only the Inner Circle Disciples could have formed Dao Body during their Foundation Establishment level. In Chen Fan’s case, his success was even more rare considering he had not just formed any kind of Dao Body, but one of the most powerful Spirit Bodies of the Five Elements Immortal Sect: the Azure Thearch Longevity Body.
Despite the nascency of Chen Fan’s body, his smooth skin was harder than even steel. It was formed not by carbon, but by Essence Qi. Even a bullet wouldn’t be able to leave so much as a scratch on it.
“I have formed the Dao Body and mastered the Foundation Establishment level. My next goal is to reach the Ethereal Enlightenment stage.”
A light glinted in Chen Fan’s eyes.
The Azure Thearch Longevity Body might look not that much different than a mortal body by itself. However, it would start to show its true power once Chen Fan possessed Divine Powers.