Translator: CinderTL
"Core Formation! Nascent Soul! Primordial Spirit!"
Li Chunjun flipped through the detailed scripture outlining the three realms of Spirit Refining.
The Core Formation realm focuses on developing and mastering one's own power to its absolute limit, laying the most solid foundation for cultivating a cultivator's Mystical Powers.
The Nascent Soul realm marks the initial formation of these Mystical Powers.
Early Nascent Soul: one Mystical Power. Mid Nascent Soul: one Mystical Power. Late-Stage Nascent Soul: one Mystical Power.
Once all three Mystical Powers are cultivated to perfection, they can be merged into one, infused with the cultivator's entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit. This transforms it into a form akin to an avatar, which is then tempered by the Thunder Tribulation, transitioning from the ethereal to the tangible, from yin to yang, and achieving the Primordial Spirit.
It is said that a First Tribulation True Monarch's Primordial Spirit remains relatively fragile, even susceptible to damage from prolonged exposure to the sun.
However, by the Fourth Tribulation, the Primordial Spirit can exist independently of the cultivator's physical form.
By the Seventh Tribulation, the Primordial Spirit becomes nearly indistinguishable from the cultivator's true self, essentially serving as a perfect avatar.
It can act as the True Monarch's representative in the outside world.
Furthermore, because this avatar is formed from Mystical Powers, it possesses far greater power than the original body. Even if destroyed, it only suffers severe injuries and depletion of Primal Qi, not true death.
For a Cultivator, this was equivalent to gaining an extra life.
"The Spirit Refinement Great Realm... I originally thought it referred to the 'spirit' of Divine Sense and the 'spirit' of the Heart-Mind. But it turns out it also encompasses the 'spirit' of Mystical Powers. From the Core Formation stage onward, every step is a foundation for the moment of Primordial Spirit formation."
Li Chunjun flipped through the characteristics of the Nascent Soul stage: "The choice of three Mystical Powers in the Nascent Soul stage is crucial. The goal is to merge them into a single Great Mystic Power! If this Great Mystic Power fails to encompass all aspects, failing to ensure balance between Essence, Qi, and Spirit, it will leave significant weaknesses. Ultimately, the opponent will exploit these weaknesses with targeted techniques, achieving victory over the stronger opponent with ease."
History was filled with Primordial Spirit True Monarchs who had met their demise this way.
Take the Primordial Spirit True Monarch Li Chunjun had just read about, who cultivated a Flame Primordial Spirit.
Once unleashed, this Primordial Spirit could incinerate and destroy anything.
However, such a Primordial Spirit was fiercely volatile, lacking stability and demanding extremely precise Divine Sense control.
This True Monarch's Divine Sense was only average. By forcing himself to cultivate this Mystical Power, he was ultimately defeated by a Nascent Soul Sword Master whose Sword Intent had reached perfection and who had cultivated Divine Sense extensively. The Sword Master shattered the Flame Primordial Spirit's unstable structure with a single strike, causing the flames to spiral out of control and consume the True Monarch in self-immolation.
Li Chunjun's gaze lingered on the Nascent Soul stage cultivation notes for a long moment, and he began to understand.
This stage of cultivation revolved around mastering three Mystical Powers.
Each additional Mystical Power placed a greater burden on the cultivator, making cultivation increasingly difficult.
Incompatibility and interference between Mystical Powers often prevented Early-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators from ever breaking through to Mid Nascent Soul and mastering a second Mystical Power.
Even if they succeeded, Mid Nascent Soul cultivation remained arduous.
But what if one could simultaneously cultivate all three Mystical Powers to perfection?
"No! Perhaps I can use the state of 'sudden enlightenment' to directly cultivate a Great Mystic Power!"
Li Chunjun mused.
This wasn't mere speculation.
"Many of the Mystical Powers circulating in the Cultivation World today are actually derived from more powerful, original abilities. Some even refer to the Mystical Powers cultivable at the Nascent Soul stage as 'minor Mystical Powers' or 'quasi-Mystical Powers,' reserving the terms 'true divine ability' or 'Great Mystic Power' for those cultivated at the Primordial Spirit Realm and manifested through the Primordial Spirit."
Legend had it that in the most ancient times, cultivation consisted of only four realms:
Refining Essence to Transform Qi, Refining Qi to Transform Spirit, Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness, and Void Refining to Dao Unification.
Back then, every breakthrough between realms was incredibly difficult, achievable only by those with peerless talent.
In an entire Great World, you could probably count on one hand the number of Cultivators who had reached the Refining Essence to Transform Qi stage. Refining Qi to Transform Spirit was enough to establish a sect, while Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness was even rarer, achieved solely through fortuitous encounters, innate talent, and sheer luck—not through human effort alone.
Many Overlord Sects had only one or two disciples in the higher realms. Some even lost their lineage entirely because they couldn't find disciples who could cultivate their unique Cultivation Techniques.
Over time, as the Cultivation World progressed, the Four Major Realms were further divided. Qi Refining was split into nine levels, and Spirit Refining gained the concepts of Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Primordial Spirit.
Some truly gifted Peerless Prodigies, however, could emulate the Ancient Cultivators. Starting from the Core Formation Realm, they could leapfrog through cultivation, directly cultivating Great Mystic Powers and achieving Primordial Spirit.
"Cultivating Great Mystic Powers and condensing the Primordial Spirit marks Nascent Soul Perfection. When the Primordial Spirit emerges, surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, turning death into life, transforming emptiness into reality, and cultivating the false to achieve the true—that is the realm of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs..."
Li Chunjun's thoughts gradually cleared.
He now had his first plan after entering sudden enlightenment.
"The Great Dark Heaven, Grand Ruins Sword Intent, and Void Flicker—combining these three Mystical Powers can evolve into two Great Mystic Powers. One is the Void Heaven Flash, leaning towards the Taixu Sword Scripture. The other is the Dark Heaven Devouring Void Art, leaning towards the Flaming Phoenix Chaos Scripture..."
Li Chunjun considered the two Great Mystic Powers for a moment before quickly dismissing the Dark Heaven Devouring Void Art.
For one thing, the Dark Heaven Devouring Void Art relied heavily on the Great Dark Heaven, which he hadn't even begun to master.
More importantly...
This Great Mystic Power didn't synergize well with the Great Void Destruction Sword Intent.
Among the three Sword Intents he currently possessed, the Great Void Destruction Sword Intent was clearly the most profound.
Therefore, the Void Heaven Flash was the obvious choice.
The core of this Great Mystic Power lay in Void Flicker.
In theory, Void Flicker required capturing Spatial Ripples—the ripples generated when Void Power flowed through space—and integrating them into the technique to instantly traverse several miles, even dozens of miles.
Of course, as one's cultivation level rises, this Mystical Power can cover hundreds or even thousands of miles in a single flash.
However, the Void Heaven Flash focuses on shattering the Void itself!
It unleashes a surge of overwhelming power to pulverize the Void, forcibly completing a Void traversal.
Moreover, it concentrates this power of Void destruction, releasing it all at once after the traversal to obliterate the enemy.
When combined with the concealment of the Great Void Destruction Sword Intent...
It becomes an absolute killing technique.
However, to truly shatter the Void, one must master this Great Mystic Power.
And even meeting the entry requirements for this Great Mystic Power is incredibly demanding.
It requires the cultivator to have fully mastered both the Destruction Sword Intent and the Void Sword Intent, along with a Sixth-Tier Void Spiritual Object to facilitate the vibration of the Void and create artificial Spatial Ripples.
Only by combining these three elements can one even begin to learn this Great Mystic Power.
And Li Chunjun already possessed the foundational requirements for all three.
"The Void Heaven Flash, because it involves Void Mysteries, will greatly aid in my comprehension of Void Power. And the essence of Void Refining lies in understanding the profound mysteries of the Void Law, using an infinite mind to contain infinite laws and transforming the power of the laws into one's own strength!" Li Chunjun mused.
The potential to lay a solid foundation for the Void Refining realm was another compelling reason for him to cultivate this Great Mystic Power.
Li Chunjun glanced at his remaining Merit Points and quickly located Wang Qian's Message Jade Talisman. He sent a message detailing his request.
Six hours later, Wang Qian appeared outside Li Chunjun's resting chamber.
As Li Chunjun opened the door, Wang Qian and several officials responsible for notarization were waiting outside.
"Sword Prodigy Li, the materials you requested have arrived," Wang Qian said with a slight bow.
Li Chunjun nodded.
The officials quickly presented a container resembling an hourglass.
"This is a Broken Crystal," Wang Qian explained. "Based on your requirements—a Sixth-Rank material capable of resonating with and even shattering the Void—the Broken Crystal is the most suitable choice."
"Broken Crystal?" Li Chunjun was surprised. "I've seen this before. Its value should exceed 150,000 Merit Points, shouldn't it?"
"Sword Prodigy Li, you seem to have forgotten that you slew four Divine Spirit Envoys. While you didn't obtain any Octahedral Profound Jade from them this time, two of the envoys contained traces of Divine Power. Although it has already been used, its value remains comparable to a piece of Octahedral Profound Jade. After deliberation, the higher authorities have approved your request to exchange 150,000 Merit Points for a Broken Crystal." Wang Qian smiled.
Li Chunjun nodded in response.
The Broken Crystal was a Sixth-Rank material even superior to Void Particles.
Sixth-Rank materials possessed performance comparable to Seventh-Rank Dao Artifact materials, but lacked the core element of "Dao Rhythm," which made them significantly cheaper.
However, Li Chunjun didn't need Dao Rhythm to comprehend the Great Dao Laws or amplify his Dao Arts and Divine Powers. He only needed its ability to resonate with the Void.
In this case, the Broken Crystal perfectly suited his needs for cultivating the Void Heaven Flash.
Moreover, once he successfully refined the Broken Crystal, his Lifebound Flying Sword would advance further, and transforming it into a top-tier Spirit Treasure wouldn't be a distant dream.
"The Broken Crystal is a rare treasure even among Sixth-Rank materials, making it extremely difficult to refine. One misstep can cause the energy within the Broken Profound Crystal to release, triggering a severe Void resonance. If this happens in an unstable area of the Void, it could even shatter the Void, leading to unpredictable consequences. Sword Prodigy Li, please be extremely cautious during refinement," Wang Qian cautioned gravely.
"I recall that mastering the Void Law would make refining the Broken Crystal effortless, wouldn't it?" Li Chunjun asked.
"Void Law?" Wang Qian paused, then said after a long moment, "That... that's a realm of cultivation only Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators typically delve into..."
Halfway through his sentence, he realized that the Sword Prodigy Li before him was a Heaven's Chosen destined to ascend the Profound Yellow Star Brilliance List.
Could such a figure be viewed through ordinary eyes?
He immediately corrected himself: "That's right. If you can comprehend the Void Law, you can indeed easily refine the Broken Crystal. In fact, once the Sword Prodigy has mastered all 1,024 Void Mysteries, entered the Void Law, and then fully grasped Mind Power, merging the two through Mind Power to contain the Void Law, entering Void Refining would be effortless."
1,024 Void Mysteries.
This was the prerequisite for entering the Void Law.
It wasn't that the Void Law itself consisted of only 1,024 mysteries, but mastering these 1,024 Void Mysteries would essentially grant mastery over the application of Void Power, thus laying the foundation for breaking through to the Void Refining realm.
It was like how ordinary people don't need to learn every character to communicate daily; mastering a few thousand is sufficient.
"Mind Power..."
Li Chunjun smiled upon hearing the term. "Perfect. Exchange the remaining Merit Points for a decent Mind Power Technique for me. I'll also try to glimpse the wonders of the Mind Power realm."
(End of the Chapter)
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