Chương 159: The Final Charge

40 days…

After breaking through to the 9th Layer Qi Palace Realm, Yaan only had 40 days left!

He had no time to feel elated at his success in forming the rare 9th Layer Qi Palace.

In fact, he didn't even have sufficient time to properly recover from his injuries!

He needed to carefully focus his efforts into certain areas now. After breaking through to the 9th Layer, his body was injured. His dantian, his meridians, his Qi Channels, were all injured. His Qi Palace itself was also covered in cracks…

Thanks to the effects of the golden elixir and the reverse grey mist vortex, Yaan's physical body did not take long to recover. He did not focus any effort on accelerating this recovery, since his body would recover in time regardless.

But from there, Yaan needed to make a choice. He could use his Psyche Power, his Vital Energy and his Astral Power to somewhat accelerate the recovery of a certain area. The effect was not very amazing, but it was better than doing nothing.

In the end, Yaan focussed on restoring his Qi Palace and his dantian, ignoring the Qi Channels and meridians.

To form the Vital Qi Core, the Qi Palace needed to have enough strength to endure its might. Likewise, the dantian needed to possess sufficient stability such that it could contain the power of the Vital Qi Core.

As for the meridians and Qi Channels, they were less essential. These vessels would be fused together with his blood vessels during the ascension, the injuries wouldn't cause a huge problem, unlike a damaged dantian and Qi Palace.

Even though Yaan decided to focus his efforts on these specific recoveries, his influence was minimal. In the first place, recovering from Qi refining system injuries was extremely difficult. It was slightly better now that he possessed Qi refining cultivation once again, but the recovery was still slow.

After 37 days of recovery, Yaan sighed to himself.

'I can't delay this any longer, this will have to do.'

There were still one or two cracks along the upper layers of the Qi Palace. The inside of the dantian retained some damage, such as its membrane walls which were weakened compared to usual.

But he no longer had time to recover!

He needed to form his Vital Qi Core within three days.

Before setting out to do this, there was one final matter that Yaan needed to deal with; the removal of his Astral Tattoos, and hence his Astral Power cultivation.

The Four Paths Cultivation Technique was not compatible with Astral Power, it could only be cultivated using the core cultivation routes of each of the four paths. If Yaan attempted to form a Vital Qi Core whilst his body was covered in Astral Tattoos, he was guaranteed to fail early on in the process.

Fortunately, compared to dealing with his Vital Energy cultivation, regressing his Astral Power cultivation was many times easier.

Whoosh!

With a single thought, Yaan urged the movement of one of his 4-Star Astral Tattoos. As it reached the tip of his finger, he quickly pulled back his hand whilst urging the tattoo to move further outwards. By exerting some force assisted by his Psyche Power, Yaan swiftly detached this tattoo from his body.

It was not that astral cultivation could easily be taken away, but that Astral Power could be manipulated by its wielder with a high degree of control. Others would not have the ability to steal one of Yaan's 4-Star astral spirits, but he could quite easily control it into detaching from his physical body.

Of course, after doing this, the astral spirit was no longer subdued, so it returned to its original form.

"GRAAAH!"

A ghostly sound that was like a mixture between a wail and a roar echoed out, causing Yaan's eardrums to tremble. He narrowed his eyes and paid close attention as the Rank 4 monstrosity lunged towards him.

With a single move, Yaan managed to plunge the demonic sword into the giant black spirit's chest. The spirit seemed to freeze for a moment. Its ferocious aura rapidly dwindled, replaced by shock and disbelief.

BANG!

The spirit actually detonated, sending Yaan flying backwards through the air. He was not injured, but this truly caught him off guard. He knew what happened to astral spirits upon their demise, and it certainly wasn't this!

After picking himself up from the ground, Yaan stared at the now ordinary looking sword in his hand once again. He glanced at the Immortal Ancestor, but this immortal was as unmoved as ever.

"Weird sword…" Yaan muttered.

One by one, Yaan removed his Astral Tattoos, then killed the resultant astral spirits. He had no other choice but to kill them, because he did not possess the method to trap these spirits within the black astral crystals. They would attack him relentlessly unless he killed them.

He only struggled slightly in the battle against the final spirit.

After Yaan removed his last Astral Tattoo, he no longer possessed 4-Star astral cultivation, whilst he was facing off against a 4-Star astral spirit.

However, Yaan's battle strength was beyond normal for a Rank 3 cultivator; his combination of the five Obsidian Rank constitutions, his 3-Star Vital Energy, his 9th Layer Qi Palace and his Hundred Sage Grade Sea of Consciousness, all made it such that he could put up a fight against Rank 4 opponents. On top of this, astral spirits were very weak for their rank, so Yaan was able to win this fight.

The demonic sword also provided him with assistance in this battle. After exchanging tens of moves, he was finally able to slip past the astral spirit's defences, piercing into its ghostly body with the demonic blade. Once again, the spirit detonated, but Yaan expected it at this point and easily evaded in time. He still didn't know why these spirits exploded when they were killed by the demonic sword, but it was surely related to the sword's unique power which left its human victims as shrivelled up corpses.

"Finally…" Yaan exhaled deeply. His eyes shone with determined light as he finally reached the last step.

Everything else was done. It was not a smooth journey, not in the least, but he managed to arrive at this point after all his hard efforts. There was nothing else to do now but to attempt the ascension to the Vital Qi Core Realm!

"Three days…" Yaan muttered. "I have three days to succeed…this is more than enough time!"

With that, he began.

Sitting down in the lotus position, Yaan shut his eyes and focussed his attention inwards. Using his Psyche Power, he spent some time fully immersing himself in watching the condition of his own body, his Qi, his Vital Energy, all of his powers and all of his components.

The first step was to fuse the five Obsidian Rank progressive body constitutions!

Usually, the progressive body constitutions were fused together at Iron Rank, resulting in the formation of the Iron Rank Progressive Physique Constitution. This was also known simply as 'Iron Rank', and it was the first cultivation realm of the true body tempering path.

Yaan was not taking this path, however. In order to form the Vital Qi Core, he needed to fuse together the five constitutions at Obsidian Rank. He would then use this process of body transformation to fuse together his blood vessels and Qi Channels.

There were many things to consider simultaneously, so his focus needed to be maintained at its peak for an extended period of time. Yaan had already visualised the coming process countless times, and his Sea of Consciousness would be more than sufficient to keep track of the many changes and alterations throughout his body. He was ready.

CRACK!

A strange cracking sound echoed out from Yaan's body the moment he acted, but Yaan remained calm, having expected this.

To fuse the progressive body constitutions into the single Progressive Physique Constitution involved connecting the constitutions together. As for how these constitutions, which were all focussed on separate components of the body, could be connected?

It was through the blood, or rather, through the Progressive Blood Constitution!

Muscles, tendons, organs, bones, these four components were often in contact with one another, whilst some parts of them connected together. However, only the blood flowed through every spec of all four components!

The blood was pumped around the body, channelling through the muscles, connecting to the tendons, feeding the organs and supporting the bones. Yaan made use of his psyche cultivation, pushing out with a sudden burst of effort, enhanced by his Psyche Power, to forcefully still the flow of the blood whilst fusing it into the other four components!

The cracking sound released from his body was caused by the first jolt, the first sign that the body transformation was underway!

The vitality contained within every droplet of his Obsidian Rank blood formed connections to the other four constitutions. Even after his blood resumed its flow, these connection remained.

As the flow of blood forcefully dragged out and pulled on these connections, a horrendous tearing feeling encompassed many regions throughout Yaan's body. This was caused by his very flesh, tendons, organs and bones, all rearranging themselves within his body!

The original Fiend Transformation caused a similar process whereby the body was rearranged into a form more suitable for body tempering. This time however, the body was truly rearranging into the peak form suited to the pursuit of body tempering cultivation.

But, as someone seeking the cultivation of all four paths, this was not the final result that Yaan wanted to see. As such, whilst ignoring the agony tearing through his body, and after confirming that the body transformation process had been initiated properly, Yaan made his next move.

The next move would cause an even bigger jolt than the repeated mini-convulsions wracking his body with pain. This move was naturally the fusion of the Qi Channels and the blood vessels…

Right now, Yaan's body was in a sort of malleable state. His body's condition was not settled; it was changing, opening up the possibility of pushing these changes even further.

Multiple psyche avatars within his Sea of Consciousness swept their hands out like a wave. As his Psyche Power surged violently, a shocking movement of blood and Qi surged through Yaan's body.

"Peugh!" He coughed out a lungful of blood and felt a wave of weakness wash over him, but Yaan forced himself to remain sitting upright through gritted teeth.

Using his Psyche Power, Yaan was able to control every minute movement within his body, allowing him to push his blood vessels and Qi Channels closer together.

However, no matter how much these vessels moved, even to the point of nearly overlapping, they would not fuse. This led Yaan to the most dangerous and chaotic part of the process…

The ascension itself.

In order for Rank 3 Vital Energy cultivation to ascend to Rank 4, it was necessary to consume the Rank 4 Boundary Ascension Pill…but in this breakthrough, there would be much greater resistance compared to Yaan's past breakthroughs.

As such, he needed to use the Rank 5 Boundary Ascension Pill!

Before doing this, Yaan first consumed his own extracted Vital Core.

The Vital Core dissolved in his stomach and instantly, Vital Energy spread out through his body. To Yaan's surprise, not only did his Vital Energy climb back up to the Peak 3-Star Realm smoothly, but it also helped to stabilise his dangerous condition.

As soon as his Vital Energy cultivation reached the peak of the 3-Star Realm, Yaan swallowed a Rank 5 Boundary Ascension Pill. He obtained this pill from Zue Yin back when he extorted her, she truly had gathered many valuable resources back in the 4th Trial Realm.

BANG!

A shockwave erupted from Yaan's body, spraying blood all around him.

The Qi Channels and blood vessels which were previously so resistant to fusing, now overlapped properly, showing initial signs of partially fusing together.

He had shattered the Rank 4 boundary, but it still remained to be seen if he could succeed in breaking through. But to fail at this point after so forcefully tearing down the boundary…could easily spell his death!

There was a massive amount of energy remaining in Yaan's body, left over from the Boundary Ascension Pill. There was also the energy left over from his own Vital Core. The energy from the Vital Core was much smaller in quantity, but this was Yaan's own cultivated Vital Energy, making it extremely useful and easy to absorb.

Whoosh…

Yaan directed these energies towards his dantian. At the same time, he forced his major blood vessels to overlap with the major Qi Channels which led to and from the dantian.

Bang!

Another shockwave resounded. Yaan fell down to his side, but without hesitation, he pushed himself back up. Just now, the fusion failed, but that was fine…he would just try again!

Bang!

Time and time again, Yaan attempted to forcefully fuse his Qi Channels and blood vessels. Each fusion failed, but each fusion also caused some of the minor vessels to partially fuse together. At this point, some of his Qi was seeping into his blood and some of his blood into his Qi.

With each failure, Yaan took a step closer towards success, but with each failure, his body and Qi system became increasingly injured.

Eventually, a change occurred.

BANG!

This time, a larger shockwave spread out, shaking the entire hall. The Immortal Ancestor raised one eyebrow, but Yaan didn't notice this, he didn't have the luxury to pay any attention to external matters right now.

Blood poured from Yaan's mouth whilst bursts of Slaughter Qi were released in chaotic shockwaves. Despite this, and despite his rapidly accumulating injuries, Yaan let out a crazed laugh.

"Hahaha!"

His blood-soaked figure's eyes shot open, showing a manic gleam of excitement and joy.

As a blood red core began to take form within Yaan's dantian, he knew that he had succeeded in the most crucial step…his Vital Qi Core was forming. So long as he could hold on, so long as he could endure for a bit longer, he would successfully step into the Vital Qi Core Realm!

Finally, he successfully fused together the blood vessels and Qi Channels within his body! As soon as he succeeded in doing this, masses of blood filled with vitality gathered within his dantian, merging into the partially formed core of Slaughter Qi.

Ever since Yaan used the Rank 5 Boundary Ascension Pill, a core had been trying to take form within his dantian. It was just like the Immortal Ancestor said before though - it was impossible to form a Qi Core from Slaughter Qi, so this core was left in an incomplete state.

Now though, as the blood poured in and fused into the core, a change began to occur. The slaughterous attribute was seemingly displaced, replaced by a shocking bloody vitality, a vitality that was rapidly fusing into the Qi, forming a new, unique type of power…

His Vital Qi Core was forming, his body transformation was nearly complete and the fusing of his remaining blood vessels was only a matter of time. Yaan barely managed to hold on until this point thanks to his powerful Sea of Consciousness, but he had succeeded! And yet…

"What is this?!" Yaan's expression changed drastically. He inhaled deeply as a terrifying slaughterous power was ejected from his dantian. This power was torn away from his Slaughter Qi after being displaced by his vitality forced to spread out through his body.

Yaan did not have long to react. He hastily used his Psyche Power to suppress this slaughterous power, pushing it down into an unknown place. He felt a sense of extreme danger as he pushed the slaughterous power into this place, but he had no other choice; he had the feeling that if this power was released into his body without restraint, then it would immediately kill him!

His mind blurred, his consciousness shook, Yaan's body became heavily injured and even showed signs of dying!

In his hazy consciousness, Yaan quickly swallowed multiple Rank 5 Vital Recovery Pills. He then went on to consume an array of potions and pills to enhance his recovery and to force himself to remain conscious for as long as possible.

His ascension had succeeded, he formed the Vital Qi Core! And yet, he felt uneasy…the slaughterous power clearly never left him, yet he could no longer find any traces of it…where exactly did it go?

By the time the slaughterous power could no longer be seen, Yaan lost consciousness.

Whilst Yaan had this thought in mind as he slipped away into yet another deep slumber, he did not realise that the Immortal Ancestor had already departed from the Grey Mist Pressure Chamber.

The moment that Yaan formed his Vital Qi Core, a shocking phenomenon appeared above Fragment Peak. Thanks to the grey mist that eternally surrounded this mountain, nobody else saw this occurrence, but it could not escape from the Immortal Ancestor's notice.

When Yaan's Vital Qi Core formed, a giant black crack appeared in the sky above the mountain. The Immortal Ancestor stared at this crack with a severe expression.

CHI!

Suddenly, he stepped back hastily. Hundreds of giant green chains shot out from the crack, shooting down towards Yaan below. The Immortal Ancestor showed an expression of shock, but there was nothing else he could do aside from watch on helplessly.

The very moment before the chains reached Yaan, a strand of invisible light shot out from his body. Between Yaan and the rapidly descending chains, a young girl with a black crystal imbedded into her forehead stood expressionlessly in the air, staring up at the chains with her emotionless emerald eyes.

Despite her appearance, the Immortal Ancestor was unable to see this girl.

"Not yet." She spoke calmly and her voice resonated with the front-most of the chains. Soon after, black runes lit up all over the many chains, seemingly restraining them and causing them to freeze in the air.

With the appearance of the black runes, she lightly tapped the closest chain with one finger. The chains trembled and then quickly pulled back, returning into the enormous spatial crack above.

Once she saw that the chains had retreated and that the crack had closed, the girl returned to Yaan's body.

The Immortal Ancestor, who did not see the girl nor her actions, also returned to the Grey Mist Pressure Chamber. He stared at Yaan, who was sleeping soundly, with a contemplative expression.