Chapter 319: Gold Core Heavenly Palaces
Within the Seazombie ancestral land, at the spot where the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure existed, blue light surged. As the process continued, it attracted more and more attention from the Seazombies and the Seven Blood Eyes disciples. That was especially true of the former, who were absolutely stunned by what was happening. As the days passed, and the Seazombies saw the blue light coming from the altar, they knew exactly what it signified.
It was because they knew that they were so shocked. It was similar with the Seven Blood Eyes disciples stationed in the area.
Master Third looked down at Xu Qing surrounded by blue light, and could sense the strong aura of death in it. It caused his heart to pound.
If it wasn’t for the fact he knew Xu Qing was doing this for the sake of his 121st dharma aperture, and that there was virtually no chance Xu Qing would betray the sect, Master Third would probably think he was really trying to become a Seazombie.
As the power of multiple zombie ancestor statues poured into Xu Qing, his life force shrank, and the death aura around him grew stronger.
Six more hours passed. It was dusk and the moon had already come out. A tremor passed through Xu Qing as he reached his absolute limit. He was suppressing the violet crystal as much as possible, and thanks to the encroachment of the zombie ancestor statues, his body was on the very verge of being zombified.
On the one side of him was life. On the other side was death. This was that spot between life and death. Unfortunately, it was a very unstable state. The slightest variation would push him from that spot between life and death into... being a real zombified Seazombie.
At that critical moment, Xu Qing opened his eyes. They shone with blue light, and seemed devoid of even a scrap of emotion. Raising his right, zombified hand, he slowly pointed at the black piece of wood in front of him.
In response, powerful fluctuations rolled off of it.
All of a sudden, the Darkspirit Everwill Door appeared in front of Xu Qing. Rumbling loudly, it opened. A dazzling flash of white light appeared, completely different from the blue light. And it enveloped Xu Qing!
Compared to before... the light was even more dazzling and bright. It didn’t contain even a hint of the darkness of the brutal world around it. That said, it was colder, with its previous warmth hidden inside. The light from this black door was what Xu Qing had planned to use to stabilize his position in that spot between life and death. Thanks to his encounter with Master Shengyun, as well as his subsequent research, he had come to the conclusion that the twofold ensorcellment on the door gave it a power to seal one’s life force. It was a sealing power that, within the blink of an eye, would freeze him in place.
That said, there was also a golden light that appeared, which briefly attracted Xu Qing's notice. However, then he shivered from head to toe as the instability of that spot between life and death was suddenly stabilized. His life force was locked in place.
Master Third, who was overseeing the entire situation, saw what was happening and immediately dispelled the blue light from the zombie ancestor statues. Then he performed an incantation gesture, causing the giant mirror to rotate and then sent light shooting down onto Xu Qing.
Yet again, Xu Qing was wrapped up within the light of the mirror. He shivered, but was thinking with absolute clarity, and immediately sent his senses into himself to look for the 121st dharma aperture.
Master Seventh had said that each individual had dharma apertures in different places, and it was the same with the 121st. In that spot between life and death, with the help of the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure, Xu Qing searched and searched... and finally found the 121st dharma aperture!
Astonishingly, it was located right in the middle of his sea of consciousness. Furthermore, it didn’t exist in a state of reality, but instead, was somewhat illusory.
After finding it, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to send all of the soul power within him shooting toward his sea of consciousness. Instantly, he started shaking.
It was harder to open the 121st dharma aperture than any of the other apertures. But Xu Qing was ready for the process. Dharma force flowed out of all of his other dharma apertures, converging into a stream of soul fire that shot toward the 121st.
A few breaths of time passed. Cracking sounds rang out within him, and he shook even harder. And then, the illusory 121st dharma aperture within his sea of consciousness... opened!
The moment it did, unrivaled dharma force fluctuations erupted from it. Those fluctuations were boundlessly violent, and could shake heaven and earth! That lone dharma aperture released power equivalent to 30 of his other dharma apertures. The majestic nature of that dharma force was why that single aperture could ignite a life flame.
Xu Qing’s existing four life flames, despite having changed color thanks to the zombification process, all converged. And then Xu Qing’s fifth life flame ignited.
As for its color... it was the ordinary red of flame.
Terrifying fluctuations rolled out from the fire, filling Xu Qing, and instantly shattering that state of existence between life and death. In the blink of an eye, the aura of death surrounding him vanished.
Because the process had not been completed, the zombification Xu Qing had experienced could be reversed. What was more, the power of the violet crystal was unleashed. Though Xu Qing hid the crystal itself using his shadow, it still did a good job of rapidly restoring his life force.
Gradually, another of the life flames turned red, then another.... When all five of his life flames were back to their normal color, intense life force surged through him. His skin returned to its previous condition, and his hair no longer looked dry and withered. The entire process took about eight hours. At that point, he opened his eyes. He was completely back to normal!
He had successfully returned from the point between life and death. He had opened his 121st dharma aperture! Seeing what had happened, the seven Seazombie cultivators up above seemed both regretful and respectful.
No one would dare to look down on someone who had opened 121 dharma apertures. That person would reach the ultimate limits of the Gold Core level. And of course, the Seazombies knew who Xu Qing was, and that he had life lamps.
Master Third breathed a sigh of relief, and his eyes shone with admiration. However, he didn’t say anything to interrupt. He knew that next... Xu Qing was going to try to reach the Gold Core level. He waved his hand to send away the Seazombie cultivators. After sealing the area even more tightly, he chose to act as dharma protector.
Master Seventh himself had asked him to do that. And whether it was because of the favor to Master Seventh, or for the sake of the sect in general, Master Third was going to take the responsibility seriously. He wouldn’t let any accidents happen during Xu Qing’s breakthrough. Truth be told, it would be unlikely for any accidents to happen in this place. It would be hard to find somewhere safer in all of Seven Blood Eyes.
A moment later, Xu Qing opened his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He could sense that Master Third had secured the area, so he closed his eyes and started the breakthrough!
For all intents and purposes, there was nothing to do after you reached five flames, other than break through.
Rising from Foundation Establishment to Gold Core involved burning life flames to the limit, and using them to illuminate the heavenly palaces.
Illuminated heavenly palaces, though illusory, would never go away.
What cultivators had to do was, in the years after the breakthrough, turn the illuminated but illusory heavenly palaces into corporeal palaces. By adding the might of a gold core to them, they would become true heavenly palaces.
In response to Xu Qing’s thoughts, his five life flames burned high and bright.
121 dharma apertures were like a hundred and twenty-one furnaces. And that was especially true of the final aperture. Countless flaming strands became five life flames, which radiated incredibly dazzling light that filled Xu Qing.
Within his sea of consciousness, above the life flames, the faint corner of his first illusory heavenly palace had been visible before. But now, it was revealed, as though a curtain had been pulled aside. A moment later, it was bathed in light. It resembled an enormous palatial mansion, bursting with holiness and dignity. It was the most basic and simplistic appearance for a heavenly palace. All humans had illusory heavenly palaces that looked like this.
Such matters were determined by the bloodline of a species. As for how it looked when it became corporeal, that would depend on the techniques practiced by the cultivator.
As Xu Qing’s five life flames burned high and bright... a second illusory heavenly palace appeared above the first.
After that was a third and a fourth....
Massive rumbling sounds echoed out in his sea of consciousness. Lightning crashed. Then his fifth illusory heavenly palace appeared.
From bottom to top, the five heavenly palaces looked majestic. What was more, the light of the life flames was still going. A sixth heavenly palace was revealed within his sea of consciousness.
Above the sixth heavenly palace was a thick mist that blocked any further progress of the light. Six heavenly palaces was the limit for cultivators with three life flames. That was because the palaces beyond that existed in the life mist, which was impenetrable to the light of life flames.
But Xu Qing was an exception. As his five life flames burned brightly, a seventh illusory heavenly palace appeared within the mist.
After that, as the dazzling light pierced into the mist, an eighth became visible. Eight illusory heavenly palaces caused his sea of consciousness to tremble, and at the same time, caused him to emanate shocking fluctuations that kicked up a raging vortex around him. Boundless amounts of spirit energy were sucked in.
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“Next,” he murmured, “my life lamps will become life palaces!”
With that, he hoisted up the seven-colored wind-chanting lamp within his sea of consciousness. The lamp shot past the six illusory heavenly palaces and into the life mist. After passing the seventh and eighth palaces, it reached the highest point, where it unleashed shocking might.
Consummately brilliant light emanated out, causing a ninth heavenly palace to appear around the lamp. This palace was not illusory. It was corporeal!
The process took about an hour. After that, Xu Qing’s ninth heavenly palace was there in the life mist.
The seven-colored wind-chanting lamp had become like a gold core of its own, suppressing the ninth heavenly palace and... completing it!
The power of a single heavenly palace instantly erupted from Xu Qing as he sat cross-legged on the altar. Wild colors flashed in heaven and earth, and a deafening rumbling sound echoed out. However, things weren’t over yet. Next, he took the black umbrella-shaped life lamp and hoisted it high!