章 76: Chapter 76: Breakthrough II: Star Forging!
Now that she was past the most dangerous part of the breakthrough, Xiao Hong could finally relax a little.
A part of her attention riffled through the old Xiao Hong's memories - particularly that one memory that went into the details of Cultivation in the Divine Sea Stage.
"When they said that Cultivation up to the Sky Spirit Stage was child's play, they really meant it, didn't they?" Xiao Hong smiled wryly.
"What's more absurd is that the ordinary Immortal Cultivator's breakthrough would be ten times more difficult and dangerous than my own,' she realised as she carefully thought about the process of breaking through, "having to divide their attention between absorbing Spiritual Energy, refining it into Zhenqi and supplying it at exactly the right frequency so that it resonates with the dantian-shattering wave's frequency.
"Moreover, they also have to keep track of the condition of the Dantian to avoid accidentally crippling their Cultivation.
"Then, they have to immediately change the way they supply Zhenqi - changing it from bursts to a continuous flow.
"All the while bearing with the sheer agony of having your Dantian shattered."
The corner of Xiao Hong's eye twitched slightly. "Alright, I take it back, Immortal Cultivators are no less hardcore than the Martial Artists!"
In a sense, Immortal Cultivation was actually more difficult than Martial Arts - the abrupt surge in difficulty from Sky Spirit to Divine Sea would surely have caused an uncountable number of Cultivators to halt in their Path, unable to advance further.
Of course, there were also many methods that could help mitigate the difficulty of the process. For example, the Qi Storage Talisman and the Qi Storage Artefact - which could store the cultivator's Zhenqi for a short period of time and release it at the user's signal. Then, there was the Spirit Splitting Artefact that could allow the user to divide their consciousness and the Heavenly Spirit Pills to supplement it.
However, the Super Factions closely guarded the methods of production and had a near complete monopoly over the distribution of these products. This made it difficult for an unaffiliated Loose Cultivator to get their hands on these things.
"Heavens, this is a flag if I've ever seen one!" Xiao Hong stared up at the sky. She was more and more inclined to believe that the Epic Rebellion of the Loose Cultivators was just around the corner!
"The suppressed Rogue Cultivators rebelling against the tyrannical Super Factions to take back the right to cultivate freely! Ah, what a hot-blooded scene!" She wiped a few tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Except, they can barely even take a step beyond the Transformation Stage!" So, despite her senses as a Xianxia novel reader telling her otherwise, she decided that it was simply impossible. The Super Factions' own Core Formation Cultivators existed.
"And, it's not like mere Core Formation Cultivators trash can win against the Essence Soul Enlightened Ones." the puny mid-stage Divine Sea Cultivator rolled her eyes contemptuously.
Anyway, Xiao Hong decided not to bother about it anymore.
Her breakthrough was more important, so she focused on that while going through the Ancient God's Physique Scripture. "Star Forging is the first Calamity I have to transcend, corresponding to the Calamity of Birth of the Physical Cultivation Path of the Immortals."
She quickly reviewed the knowledge she had on the topic of Physical Cultivation.
"The Calamities of the Physical Cultivation Path number only three. But, each Calamity is thrice as difficult as that of the Essence Cultivation's Disasters." Her expression turned sombre. The danger she would face during Star Forging was much greater than the previous breakthrough to the mid-stage of Divine Sea.
There was a good chance that she would actually end up dead.
***
Half a day passed in the blink of an eye and her Dantian was fully healed.
Inside her now expanded and fully healed Dantian, her red-gold sea of Zhenqi, which was initially in the state of being ready to burst, was now provided with ample room to grow. To be precise, it was exactly ten times the previous amount of space! Well twenty, if she were to consider the state of her Dantian before the interference of the Great Mystic World's Will.
"Also, it seems that my Dantian has also grown firmer, meridians have all expanded and strengthened. And it seems," she muttered thoughtfully, sensing her Zhenqi deplete slowly as it nourished her Meridian System and body, bringing with it a sense of comfort and warmth, "this process will continue for quite a while."
Then, she focused her attention on her Qi.
"The quality of my Zhenqi has increased quite a bit" Xiao Hong analysed as a strand of pure red Zhenqi wove around her fingers like a playful snake. With a small gurgle, it dove back into her palm. Her hand formed a casual hand seal and a head-sized ball of fire appeared above her palm, radiating scorching heat. "The effectiveness of my Qi has increased by more than half."
Then, she inspected her Sea of Zhenqi. "The quantity of Zhenqi itself hasn't increased as much as I'd thought it would…"
She quickly noticed that the actual quantity of her Zhenqi hadn't increased as much as she'd expected - only about 40%. The remaining would only fill up as she slowly cultivated.
"As expected of my trash talent, I suppose." a resigned sigh escaped her. "Oh, whatever, doesn't matter."
She shrugged it off quickly, however. There was no point moping about it. She might as well spend the time figuring out a way to bypass the limit of her talent.
***
After another half day later.
Xiao Hong had decided to wait a little longer, just to be perfectly sure.
She let out a short breath. "It's time."
Her expression hardened. This was the first true Calamity she would face in her Path and it could very well mean the end of her. Her greatest reliance, the System, was of limited assistance here. She could only rely on herself to transcend the Calamity.
She clutched the sides of her robes and a shuddering breath escaped her lips. The cloth felt cooler against her skin after she let it go.
Her eyes brightened. She had to do this.
The beings that ruled this world wield unimaginable power. They weren't something she could contend against without an unparalleled Cultivation Base. And without the ability to resist such beings, she could not guarantee her own survival.
Xiao Hong closed her eyes, concealing the steely resolve reflected within them. Her Divine Sense swept through her body once again. This time, however, she shifted her focus towards the cells of her body - more specifically the power held within those cells.
In her senses, a colossal red nebula appeared. A vast, swirling nebulous cloud, a majestic tapestry woven from countless glowing particles of stardust, packed together densely. Each speck of stardust represented a cell in her body - to be precise, it represented the source of supernatural power and vitality in the cell.
But within this brilliant expanse, a void loomed, utterly devoid of a single particle of stardust.
'... The Heart Space.' thought Xiao Hong.
The so-called Heart Space was not the physical heart or the muscles, veins and arteries that made it up. No, it was a special space within the heart much like the Dantian. Except, unlike the Dantian, it existed in the body naturally.
"It is said that the ancient Martial Artists that trod the Pathways of Ascension used this Heart Space to store their Essence rather than the Dantian." Xiao Hong recalled one of the records she had found in the public libraries of the Purple Spirit Sect. "They were the predecessors of modern Martial Arts. They were divided into the stages Houtian, Xiantian, Transcendent, Profound, Life and Death, Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster and so on.
"However, this ancient Martial Path was… quite weak. Grandmasters could be casually one-shotted by Bone Tempering Martial Artists of today.
"It was only under the hard work of countless generations of geniuses, that the ancient Martial Path was modified and refined to become the modern Martial Path, which can contend with the Immortal Cultivators…"
Many speculated that the Heart Space that all Humans had was a product of the ancient Martial Artists. With their weak strength and short lives, they died and reproduced quickly, passing down this 'Heart Space' in a dormant form.
But there was no proof.
Xiao Hong shook her head. As interesting as it was, she did not bother with it.
While focusing her attention towards the 'nebula' in her body, she directed a strand of her consciousness towards the System. After her Physical Cultivation had reached the brink of its first Calamity, the System had automatically removed the Ancient God's Physique Scripture from the automatic cultivation slot. Normal breakthroughs were still fine - the System could easily assist her. But Calamities? That required Xiao Hong's control.
She sent a mental command to the system. "Set Slot: Ancient God's Physique Scripture."
Immediately, the Ancient God's Physique Scripture leapt into action. The 'nebula' within her body reacted, pulsating violently, growing brighter and brighter.
Suddenly, Xiao Hong's body shuddered. A strange force spread out from the void at the centre of the nebula, causing the entire nebula to pause for a moment before it swirled more violently than ever before!
In a terrific show of might, the entire nebulous cloud surged towards the void inside the nebula!
Bang!
But, it was blocked, crashing into a barrier surrounding the void of the Heart Space! The size of the vast nebula decreased after the collision.
"Gah!" A horrendous agony tore through Xiao Hong's consciousness! It was like thousands of white-hot knives were being driven into her heart and then ruthlessly twisted!
A crushing wave of exhaustion washed over her - as though she were a mortal who had not rested in days. Her limbs seemed to be weighed down by a couple of mountains each. The healthy flush that had graced her cheeks moments ago vanished, replaced by a pallor that spoke of impending doom.
These were the signs of depletion of lifeforce. Every particle made of starlight represented a cell in her body, its source of supernatural power and its vitality. Each flickering point of starlight extinguished represented a cell in her body surrendering its vitality to the cause of her advancement.
Bang!!
Yet, Xiao Hong ruthlessly controlled the nebula to strike the barrier yet again, harder than ever before! It shook the very core of her being, but she persisted.
"Grrrh!" A growl escaped her gritted teeth. Her fingernails bore into the tiles, cracks spreading out from the holes.
A scorching light bloomed in her eyes as she clawed her way through the tsunami of pain. This was nothing! Nothing compared to the horrible agony she'd suffered under Fang Jin's attack - when she found it difficult to differentiate between her bones and flesh.
So, she would not lose to mere physical pain!
Slicing through the waterfall of fatigue that threatened to drown her consciousness, she forced the nebula to slam into the barrier with greater and greater force.
If she didn't break it now, the barrier would only grow stronger! In the future, she would have to pay a much greater price to break through this barrier! So, she could not stop, or her Path might just be cut off!
With every impact, her aura that had once blazed like a wildfire flickered unstably like a candle under the chilly winds of autumn.
The pallor of her face intensified. Wrinkles, like canyons carved by time, etched themselves deeper into her previously smooth skin. Her vibrant, heart-stopping beauty was marred by age spots blooming across her once flawless skin like malevolent flowers.
Her thoughts became sluggish and mired. Her mind felt foggy, slowly losing its sharpness. The alacrity of her mind provided by her strong Spirit faded like a mirage.
This was the cost of defying the Natural Order. The cost of defying the Way of Heaven.
Bang!!!
Yet, she still chose to forge onwards. She continued to attack the barrier with all her might! And after dozens of attacks, the barrier finally collapsed!
A titanic amount of Spiritual Energy was extracted from the Spirit Stones in the System's Storage before being pumped into her body. Every minute, nearly a hundred Spirit Stones' worth of Energy was extracted by the system and poured into her body!
As more and more energy accumulated, the nebula grew brighter and brighter, before suddenly the nebula surged, shrinking rapidly towards the centre of the blank space!
Xiao Hong watched in trepidation as more and more of the nebula was pulled towards the centre of the blank space because as the nebula shrunk, she could feel more of her cells lose their vitality. The wrinkles on her skin deepened, and her breaths turned shallower and shallower. Her skin turned a sickly grey, a testament to her Life Force draining away with each passing second.
Her thoughts turned sluggish and darkness ate away at the edges of her rapidly shrinking vision.
Yet, she persisted. Because she knew that she could not afford to lose consciousness. That was a sure death.
But… no matter how long she waited, the nebula only shrunk. Nothing new happened.
'Dammit… I…' She fell forward on her rickety arms that were nothing more than skin and bones. The arms that once held enough strength to twist metal bars into bow ties were now so weak they could not even hold her own weight.
Flumping down on her face, her breathing became even more laborious. Like someone had placed a mountain on her chest.
"I… don't wanna…" a raspy voice wheezed out of her ragged lungs in a desperate plea. She did not want to die. She didn't want this precious life full of miracles to end - to crumble into dust.
Because she had fallen in love with this life. The thrill of wielding supernatural powers was merely part of it.
It was in this life that she was finally more than a parasite that leeched off of others' hard work.
It was in this life that she made genuine connections with her Sect mates - sect mates who fought by her side, staring at the face of death…
It was in this life that she found genuine friends in the pointlessly handsome Senior Brother Bai Hao, the calm and collected Jun Meiling, and that old fogie Gu Ran…
It was in this life that she found a partner in the cute Qiao Guiying who was somehow both bold and shy at the same time…
It was nothing short of a miracle to Xiao Hong.
Yet, all of that was slipping away like sand through the gaps of her fingers.
She did not want all of her hard work to become void.
At this moment, as she felt her life drain away, a desperate will to survive - to cling to life - was born in her heart. It ignited her dying spirit and forced her consciousness to stay active.
By all means, this trace of clarity was nothing more than terminal lucidity. It was a trace that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
But it was this trace that bridged the gap between success and failure. It was this trace - extended slightly by her will to survive - no, live, that reversed life and death.
The nebula, once a swirling sea of vibrant lights, flickered and imploded in a violent maelstrom. In its place, a single point of the purest red light remained, pulsing with her shallow heartbeats.
For a moment nothing seemed to happen. But, then-
BOOOOOOM!!!
It detonated in a cataclysmic eruption, blooming into a brilliant red light!
A tremendous force seemed to originate from the tiny red point of light, propagating outwards like a shockwave, ripping outwards like a monstrous fist! In an instant, it transcended her body and manifested in reality, slamming into the barrier formation set up by Xiao Hong with the force of a thousand elephants, shaking it like a drumhead struck by a death metal drummer.
An indescribable feeling of freedom, unlike anything she'd ever felt, surged through Xiao Hong's body. It was like a thousand handcuffs being taken off. It was the feeling of weightlessness when one slipped off a swing at its highest point. It was a deeper, more profound sense of liberation that she could not quite describe.
It was the feeling of a shackle being broken, Xiao Hong realised. A shackle that bound every living being. A limiter imposed by the Way of Heaven.
And now she'd broken it.
In the newly opened Heart Space, Xiao Hong saw a star. Not tiny pinpricks of glowing stardust that made up the nebula before. No, this was a genuine star, radiating raw power as it revolved leisurely, pulsing along with her heartbeat, sending waves of energy coursing through her heart.
As Xiao Hong observed that star, it let out a burst of power. A wave of gentle energy infused Xiao Hong's nearly dead body, like life-giving rain on parched earth. As the wave of energy washed over her, Xiao Hong felt a flicker of sensation return to her ravaged body.
It was faint and weak, but it ensured Xiao Hong's condition didn't deteriorate.
The Red Star pulsed again, and the remaining cells reacted as a wave of vitality, potent and invigorating, surged through them. Their dormant life processes roared back to life under the nourishment of the energy.
A day passed as Xiao Hong lay on her stomach.
A majestic vitality bloomed in the cells that were still alive. Like seeds receiving the nourishment of rain, they started dividing rapidly, growing into healthy, vibrant cells radiating a robust vitality unlike anything before! The dead, decayed cells were crushed and subsumed, used as nutrients to facilitate the growth of new cells.
The process was slow, inching forward at a snail's pace.
Another two days passed.
Despite the slow start, as more and more cells were born with the help of the newborn star, the process accelerated exponentially.
By the fifth day of her seclusion, Xiao Hong was already on her feet, having recovered most of her strength.
In fact, she even felt that she was stronger now than before the Star Forging Calamity - much, much stronger!
On the seventh day of her seclusion, she had completely recovered!
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