Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 131 part1! Let me tell you, this breakthrough will trigger some extremely important events. But I won't say more.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
Speaking of the Red Dust-Refining Seed transformation, as someone at the Peak of Core Formation and about to go through her Tribulation, she was very aware of the theory behind it since it was one of the essential steps to reach the Void Seed Rank.
The Void Seed Rank, as the name implies, consisted of transforming one's Elemental Core into a Void Seed by injecting Void Energy and balancing it with the Elemental Energy through one's comprehension of the Void, the latter's proficiency determining how much Void Energy one could absorb at once.
It was an extremely demanding Rank, with stringent criteria in terms of Energy accumulation, Purity, Elemental comprehension, Physique's refinement, etc.
Because the Soul, Physique, and Mana acquired some slight Void characteristics, the boost in power was colossal to the point that without at least a Heart Cultivation reaching the Refining Seed Rank, not only would it be impossible to muster any power, akin to attempting to move a continent with a light breeze, but the inner balance between the three Parts would also crumble and with it, the cultivator would either explode or implode, killing them on the spot.
And that was only one aspect of having insufficient Heart Cultivation.
Another one was the Heart Tribulation during the Nine Elemental Law Lightning Tribulation at the Peak of Core Formation Rank, which was virtually impossible to pass successfully without reaching the Refining Seed Rank.
The last main advantage of having a high Heart Cultivation was the 'Universal Intimacy', though that was just one of its many names, the reason being that the effect varied from person to person.
What did not vary, however, was its basic effect, giving the feeling of growing closer to the Universal Laws and thus easing any Law comprehension compared to prior to the breakthrough.
Truly a case of 'If a cultivator doesn't understand his own Heart, how can he expect to comprehend the Universe?' The Heart was the connection to the Divine, or in other words, to the World around.
The specifics behind that connection were not known, but what was actually known was that only through strengthening that connection could one progress further on their Path to Immortality.
Listen to your own Heart, and your progress would be guaranteed to be smooth.
It sounded easy enough, but was anything but for one single reason: The existence of the Will.
From birth, individuals naturally develop their Will, the latter being a sort of interface created to interact with the external world, constantly modifying it to fit the changing environment.
With time, layers upon layers were added, or more specifically, as one event after another was experienced, instead of purely being time-related.
Since the Will was constantly 'updated', it should be a good thing, right?
Yes and no.
For most people, those layers resulted in mottled Will, and, unlike a pure Will, a mottled one was a complete burden for anyone, cultivator or Mortal.
Why was it said that youth was the best period to learn and grow? That was the reason! Age usually meant a greater amount of experiences lived through.
However, the layers added by most people were mainly toxic, which ended up with them aging faster, worsening injuries, cultivation bottlenecks, or simply death.
While the younger children had a relatively pure Will, the older one was able to live, the more mottled one's Will became.
That being said, there was nothing absolute, and the Heavens always left a way, no matter how hopeless it seemed.
In this case, it was the same.
No matter how impure one's Will was, it was still possible to purify it, though the difficulty did increase the more impurity one had accumulated.
The three steps of 'Self-exploration', 'Realization', and 'Letting go' were the most well-known ways to do just that.
Though those three steps sounded simple, how many people could truly do it?
The number of cultivators achieving it was already very low, and that was with them benefiting from their own Soul Energy, having a nurturing effect on their Consciousness, so it was easy to understand how difficult that step was for those Mortals.
Refining Seed, or Refining the Red Dust, to condense the Dao Seed.
Truly a daunting step for most, usually being the last bottleneck for those at the Peak Core Formation.
Since Heart Cultivation methods did not exist, at least nothing that even remotely reached the degree of refinement those modern cultivation techniques possessed, most cultivators at that level opted to move to low-level or even Mortal cities to experience the' Red Dust of the Mortal World' in the hope of transcending their own Red Dust.
Unfortunately, most ended up being unable to extricate themselves from it, which resulted in them being completely halted in their cultivation Path.
Of course, just like mentioned previously, nothing was absolute, and breakthroughs did happen even to those who had failed previously.
However, the occurrence of such a thing was abysmally low. After all, if one had already failed once to 'Refine the Red Dust' from their consciousness, accumulating even more of it instead, could they succeed in removing it through a second attempt?
History told us the odds of that happening: Virtually zero!
In Ling's case, she had already reached the Peak Red Dust level years ago, but had been unfortunately stuck there ever since, which was the main reason behind her and Sergei's journey back to the Origin island almost a year ago.
The good news was that after putting her affairs in order over there, her state of mind improved, pushing her toward a Heart breakthrough.
However, unlike the reckless brat sitting cross-legged in front of her with his eyes closed, she chose to go through the transitional level, making her breakthrough much safer, though it also meant a much slower speed relative to her own level.
The exact length?
She was not sure since the Red Dust Refinement and Dao Seed Condensation had the annoying 'feature' of slowing its speed the further along one was.
Another downside of that particular type of breakthrough was the higher chance of not only having Heart Demons appear but also having those same Heart Demons be much stronger than one would normally experience with a certain heart cultivation level.
Everything good had its trade-off, so it was not exactly surprising.
Now, the problem with that situation was that none of them, whether Sergei or Ling, made the connection between her state and the Heart Demon she was experiencing.
For Sergei, it was due to his own breakthrough being a bit special, happening in a secret realm a few years prior, a brief period after he had broken through to Core Formation.
The story was relatively convoluted, but to sum it up succinctly, the Secret Realm was the tomb of a Peak King Grade Demon Beast, which used his Soul to attempt resurrection through possessing Sergei's body.
However, that ended up backfiring on the Beast Soul, the latter serving as nutriment for her husband's Soul and Heart's growth.
So the experience was not exactly replicable for anyone else.
That was, unless one wanted to end up losing their own body, a prospect that few would find attractive.
In Ling's case, her situation was fortunately not too dire, and as long as she stayed steadfast, her Heart breakthrough would not fail.
In a way, it could even be considered as a practice Heart Tribulation, though it was doubtful if she would appreciate the opportunity if she knew.
As a myriad of thoughts revolved in everyone's minds, time continued its inexorable passage until, a few hours later, the changes in Demian's Aura stilled for a brief moment, startling everyone guarding him, especially Sergei and Ling, whose senses were worlds beyond the rest of those present.
While they were wondering what was happening, the young man's Soul Space suddenly experienced a new 'twist'.
As the breakthrough process reached the exact one-third point, the previously peaceful Chaos Soul Ring's disk-world form started shifting into a colossal Buddhist bell, its walls carved with extremely mysterious Runes, with each of them emitting an Aura of transcendent power so powerful that a mere hint of it should have obliterated the entire Earth as if the World were merely equivalent to a dust particle In comparison, let along Demian's weak Chi Gathering cultivator's Soul Space.
However, instead of having his existence erased completely, the mysterious Artifact's Aura had no effect, giving the illusion that the object was merely an illusion.
That situation did not last long, though.
Indeed, a fraction of an instant after the transformation, which itself took place as quickly, the perfectly round clapper moved to the side, hitting one of the Bell's wall, which created a kind of indescribable Heavenly Sound filled with mystery that shook Demian's entire being, from his Red Fog consciousness deep into his Soul Space to the most insignificant cell inside his body, along with every Energy Channel coursing through his flesh
However, the effect was more profound than just a 'simple' shake, as a fraction of the Red Fog filling his consciousness was 'shaken' to oblivion with the sound, a feat that would easily take a few days with his current breakthrough speed.
Also, his consciousness was not the only beneficiary of that shake, as the barrier blocking his Merging Acupoint located below his Heart, which had already weakened through weeks of his Perk's effect, suddenly had some cracks appear on it, clearly on the verge of shattering.
As for the rest of his being, maybe due to his almost perfect foundation, each of his attributes only received some very slight improvements, but nothing as major as his Acupoint's bottleneck being on the verge of being overcome.
As seconds and even minutes went by, the bell sound started weakening, its effects along with it.
However, before it completely disappeared, a voice that seemed to embody the Heavens and its mysteries resounded in the young man's Soul Space.
"I see through the Mortal World's Red Dust."
Each word, though simple in appearance, shook Demian's entire being again, sublimating the effect of the Bell's previous toll.
This time, the cracks on his Merging Acupoint did not stop expanding until, barely a second later, a crisp sound transmitted from his chest area.
As if a Heavenly shackle just broke, a feeling of lightness rose in the half-conscious young man's consciousness.
The Red Fog also instantly diminished by one-ninth before resuming its slow 'cycle' process, though the speed seemed to be a bit faster than previously.
Although it sounded long, merely a few minutes passed in the outside world, with everyone present being a witness to the extraordinary phenomenon.
Indeed, the details of what was happening in the young man's Soul Space were unknown.
Nonetheless, whether it was the process of 'Aura blending into the Universe' or the sudden sound of breaking just a second ago, which triggered a massive whirlpool of Water Elemental Energy, large enough that it easily went beyond the already colossal shop, gushing frantically into the young man's body as if it was a blackhole instead of a body made of flesh.
Keep in mind that the concentration of Elemental Energy around the shop reached Peak Tier 3, but the vortex of Energy rushing into the young man's body was still as large as someone having a breakthrough in the Core Formation Rank.
Granted, the fact that he exclusively cultivated Water Elemental Energy meant that eight of the Nine Elemental types of Energy were not absorbed, but it was still a major feat for someone at his level, especially since the breakthrough in question was not a cultivation breakthrough, something Ling and Sergei had immediately been aware of thanks to their powerful senses.
With a complicated expression on her face, Ling sent a Voice Transmission to her husband.
["You've really picked a little monster. Breaking through to the Refining Seed Rank at Peak Chi Gathering was already incredible, but he's also using the Universal Resonance during the breakthrough to unlock his Merging Acupoint. What's next? Unlocking the rest of his Acupoints, using them to improve his Physique and Energy foundation into transcendence? Doesn't he know there is a process to cultivation? Does he want to become Immortal in one step?"]
The question prompted a few chuckles from Sergei, whose state of mind, maybe due to his particular Dao Seed, was pretty open-minded about many things.
After all, the children, due to their talent, would definitely be targeted by other Forces, so the higher their potential, the better it was, in his opinion.
The reason being that the higher the potential, the faster the strength growth, and the faster the strength growth, the easier it would be to deal with assassination attempts.
As long as those people were not aware of the children's exact progress, that was.
With all that in mind, the handsome man sporting a mustache responded in the same way.
["Actually, if he could accomplish that, it would make his Path much easier from now on. That aside, we'll have to set some restrictions for the store's employees to prevent potential enemies from learning the truth."]
Hearing his words, a light frown appeared on Ling's face before she shook her head and responded.
["You forgot how many eyes are always on us. With that kind of commotion, they will definitely find those female clients to find out what's happening here. Actually, I'm pretty sure that most of those King Grade and above Families in Bright Star Island already know about Demian's Heart Cultivation breakthrough. And in at most a few weeks, it'll be the whole Federation and Frost Beast Palace, if not before that. Putting a gag order on those employees won't achieve anything."]
With a knowing smile, Sergei shook his head slightly while saying.
["I'm not trying to hide his Heart Cultivation's breakthrough, but the fact that he was able to unlock one of his Acupoints during that breakthrough. It's a detail, I know, but it's a slight advantage over those with malicious intentions. Plus, I have this strange feeling that it won't end with only one Acupoint. So, it's even more essential to hide the details of what's happening here, showing a little to hide a lot. Speaking of which, I'll update the higher-ups from the Extinguishing Hall. I'm sure that after knowing Demian's current potential, they'll do their best to protect him."]
Hearing the explanation, she felt it made sense and thus simply nodded, agreeing to his plan.
As the conversation between them merely lasted a brief moment, it was when they stopped conversing that they found a female figure teleporting to their side, with only a few Void Ripples forewarning her arrival.
Despite their apparent carelessness, both of them were extremely alert and thus instantly moved to shield Demian and the three Mikhailov women, though none of their actions looked deliberate to the outside, merely a result of turning toward the new arrival.
With his signature calm smile, Sergei greeted the newly arrived woman.
"Lady Silvenir, I apologize again for the commotion my student made in your shop. Because of him, you even had to close down for a few days. But do not worry, I'll make sure to repay the favor once his breakthrough concludes."