Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Yue Hongyan’s entire body was cloaked in a golden glow, and amidst the radiance, numerous spots of light sparked from the orifices of various sizes all round her body. Every orifice seemed to take on a life of its own, breathing and pulsating, seemingly brimming with life force.
These spot of light were all bright red like fire, and in the middle of the flaming red light, there were dancing streaks of purplish-blue electric sparks. The immense energy surged through her petite body
And what made the Extreme Tooth Dragon King astonished yet enraged was, the golden blood mist which Yue Hongyan cultivated with the pure True Blood of an Immemorial Celestial Dragon! It was not the blood of any other dragon tribe, but it was the blood and flesh of the Earth Dragon King which Zhu Yi and the Tiangang Swordmaster were gunning down now!
This was cultivated from the dragon tail which Lin Feng hacked down back then. He gave his own disciples a portion of the Celestial Dragon’s True Blood, and Yue Hongyan naturally received a share as a cultivator specializing in martial arts.
But the Earth Dragon King’s blood and flesh contained overwhelming strength, and even the True Blood from its completely severed tail might still too much to endure for Nascent Soul cultivators. However, Yue Hongyan already did ample preparations under Lin Feng’s guidance, and even though she did not anticipate her current predicament, the unexpected developments did not affect her decision-making.
There was inherent risk, but Yue Hongyan was never a person who was afraid of taking risks.
Under the intersection of thunder and fire, the pure gold True Blood of the Immemorial Celestial Dragon was like a layer of golden film which clasped over Yue Hongyan’s body, which was subsequently absorbed slowly by her opening orifices.
Yue Hongyan’s eyes surged with purple light. The void space around her body was continuously ripped apart, creating numerous black holes which engulfed everything in the vicinity.
The foundational mantras of The Heavenly Classic of the Way’s Virtues has been unleashed to the extreme by Yue Hongyan in this moment. Amidst the brilliant golden glow, purple stripes began appearing on her body which gradually moulded into dragon scales which faded in and out of sight.
As the dragon scales flipped open, massive amounts of thunder and fire surged forth, absorbing the newly created draconic flames and the heavenly thunder to form a stable cycle.
Yue Hongyan’s spear techniques grew slower but the aura they exuded grew much stronger, seemingly reaching their ultimate peak where all the inner potential she withheld would explode outwards, but also resembling a masterpiece of war which grew sharper with every challenge it overcame.
An elixir suddenly appeared, as if formed from the condensed swirling and ever-changing clouds. It was the Trāyastriṃśa Elixir of Creation!
Yue Hongyan opened her mouth and swallowed the holy elixir.
Letting out a crisp clear howl, Yue Hongyan finally revealed her cosmic form which was previously blended perfectly with her physical body.
Her massive stature towered over the lands. Her eight arms agitated the Images of the Eight Trigrams: heaven, earth, wind, thunder, water, fire, mountains and swamps. Her body was clad with a sturdy suit of armor, with the armor scales resembling dragon scales, producing great amounts of thunder and fire which swirled around her giant cosmic form as the scales opened and closed.
Her cosmic form had four heads, four faces, and each of the four faces bore different expressions. The first one looked as piercing and murderous as a tempest, the second one looked as dark and burdened as rain-laden clouds, the third one looked as furious and agitated as the raging thunder, while the last one was ever-changing like the flashing lightning.
Varied weather conditions: wind, rain, thunder, lightning, mist, snow, ice and frost, all appeared above the cosmic form. And above these various phenomena was an illusion which enacted the destruction of all forms of existence, the collapsing of void space, and the reduction of everything to nothingness followed by the rebuilding and the opening of the Greater World.
Yue Hongyan immediately loosened the grip on her Royal Extermination Pole-Ax, and the green and black pole-ax enlarged drastically amidst the void space. The giant cosmic form grabbed it and thrusted it towards the Extreme Tooth Dragon King to counter the latter’s savage assault.
She fought fire with fire, one spear after another, battling the towering draconic flames before her. She took the challenge head-on, advancing forward without turning back.
The shadow of a young girl appeared above Yue Hongyan’s head. That girl looked almost identical to her, and seemed about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was her Nascent Soul.
As her cosmic form demonstrated her martial arts cultivation without hesitation, Yue Hongyan’s spiritual essence climbed to new heights. Her physical body also continued absorbing the energy of the thunder and fire as well as the dragon’s True Blood, growing stronger and stronger.
Both her tangible physical strength and her formless spiritual essence continued growing, eradicating any barriers she once faced back in the past.
A brand new world seemingly unveiled before her eyes, showing itself to Yue Hongyan, allowing the spiritual altar within her heart to become as clear as ever. This was a completely new experience for her – she seemed to have been reborn, reaching a brand new level. The great gate that faded in and out of view in the middle of the Sea of Self-Awareness gradually became clearer in this instant.
As the cosmic form charged forward, Yue Hongyan too advanced forward step by step. The opponent she had to overcome was no longer the Extreme Tooth Dragon King before her, but her past self. She had to surpass herself to enter an entirely new realm.
The Extreme Tooth Dragon King stared coldly at Yue Hongyan. As his formidable draconic flames continued blazing down, most of his attacks were blocked by the golden layer of film, and the raging flames that managed to permeate the film in turn boosted Yue Hongyan’s strength.
He could certainly figure out that Yue Hongyan wanted to use this opportunity to break through her upper barriers to achieve the Immortal Soul Stage!
Enraged by the thought that he was becoming Yue Hongyan’s stepping stone, the Extreme Tooth Dragon King’s anger and humiliation grew even greater. He could no longer endure the shame, and lunged into the sea of fire, morphing into a red Light Dragon, charging towards Yue Hongyan with all his might.
The four faces on Yue Hongyan’s cosmic form simultaneously let out silent screams which shook the heavens, churning up gales and cracking thunderbolts.
She shut her eyes. Her seemingly unconscious physical body joined her hands together as if they were grasping onto a spear, then aimed at the Extreme Tooth Dragon King, ferociously thrusting her arms forward. Her cosmic form yielding the Royal Extermination Pole-Ax also executed the same movement.
With a violent burst of power, the layer of golden film and the skies of thunder and fire all boosted this spear. Yue Hongyan unleashed the greatest attack she has ever summoned and collided forcefully against the Extreme Tooth Dragon King.
After this blast, the Extreme Tooth Dragon King was petrified, while Yue Hongyan’s spirit and willpower reached their ultimate peak, finally unlocking the elusive door to the Immortal Soul realm!
When she was young and ignorant, she only saw the flames of battlefields rising into the skies, shining spears and armored cavalry, and the flesh and blood of her relatives and comrades splattering before her eyes. The eternal snow-covered, pristine and tranquil Mount Lan was inundated by blood and fire, and no longer existed in her memory.
She then embarked on a nomadic life of wandering and fleeing, escaping near-death situations and starvation as her companions died one by one. As someone who matured under such conditions, she would fight to the end just to protect her comrades. But ultimately, she still lost everything because of the person she trusted the most.
Everything only became different when she met her master Lin Feng again on Mount Changchun.
Below the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree atop Mount Yujing, the single tree leaf plastered between her eyebrows that helped her erect her First Class Spiritual Altar, brought her into a whole new world. From then on, she never wavered in her resolve!
Yue Hongyan’s physical body suddenly opened her eyes, with a purple glow blazing in her eyes. Her Nascent Soul transformed into a ray of flowing radiance, fusing into her cosmic form. Her gargantuan cosmic form blended perfectly with her Nascent Soul, charging through the big open door together.
Crossing through the large door in the void space, baptised by the Great Way of the Heavens and Earth, Yue Hongyan’s cosmic form collapsed and morphed into little talisman seeds. Every seed fused with the heavens and earth, shining with a blinding radiance.
In the next instant, these talisman seeds joined to form a giant Taiji diagram in the void space. It was half-black and half-white, rotating slowly as the two extremes blended together.
Above the Taiji diagram, the lighted illusion of Yue Hongyan’s will in martial arts materialized, becoming clearer and clearer. Void space was being cyclically created and destroyed. The destiny of everything in existence changed and shifted continuously. The boundless mysteries of the heavens and earth also exuded extreme ferocity, brimming with the powerful forces of a destructive and murderous aura.
Then, a crisp singing voice rang through the surroundings lands of the Barren Expanses.
“The flames of war cloud the skies above Mount Yan, but I’ve mastered my mantras beneath the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree. After cultivating my body with thunder and fire, I’ll press forward no matter what!”
The fourth disciple under the Leader of the Celestial Sect, the Xuan Lan Master Yue Hongyan, has now attained her Immortal Soul!
The Royal Extermination Pole-Ax has already fused with the giant Taiji diagram. Aside from that, there was a blood-red sphere resembling a crimson jewel and a ferocious-looking eyeball which also entered the Taiji diagram created by Yue Hongyan’s Immortal Soul. Even the Seven Stars Merciless Armor clad on her physical body also detached itself from its owner and integrated itself into the diagram.
The energy of the Taiji diagram dispersed outwards, sending tinges of fear through the heart of the Extreme Tooth Dragon King despite having already attained the Original True Spirit. “How could she break through these barriers so effortlessly and so quickly to achieve the Immortal Soul Stage? A human attempting to attain the Immortal Soul experiences the same level of difficulty as a demon attempting to attain the Undying Demon Soul, so how can she do this so easily?!”
He originally assumed that Yue Hongyan was courting her own death when she tried to break through into the Immortal Soul Stage right in front of his face.
For other human cultivators, even if they managed to cultivate their Immortal Soul, they would undoubtedly be giving up their lives into the hands of the Extreme Tooth Dragon King in the face of such a formidable enemy. They would have been killed right at the moment they advanced to the Immortal Soul Stage.
Sometimes, the Extreme Tooth Dragon King might not even attack the opponent during the latter’s transition phase, but since he already witnessed Yue Hongyan’s strength during the Advanced Nascent Soul Stage and saw that she was an opponent that matched his own level, he naturally could not underestimate her at all.
But right after his initial attack, when Yue Hongyan officially began reopening the door to the Immortal Soul Stage, the layer of golden film suddenly solidified and burst with thunder and fire, isolating herself from the Extreme Tooth Dragon King.
Given ample time, he could ultimately break down these barriers, but the speed at which Yue Hongyan was advancing into the Immortal Soul Stage far exceeded his calculations.
When he finally charged through the layer of golden film, Yue Hongyan had already cultivated her Immortal Soul!
The Extreme Tooth Dragon King clenched his teeth. His pride and rage did not allow him to retreat, instead arousing an unrelenting ferocity in him. He thought to himself wickedly, “No matter what the result of today’s battle is, I’ll still destroy your physical body even if you’ve cultivated your Immortal Soul!”
“You’re a martial arts cultivator. Once your physical body is destroyed, your strength would be greatly reduced no matter how formidable your Immortal Soul is. You’ll never know whether you can ever reach a satisfactory level of physical strength again!”
With that, the Extreme Tooth Dragon King morphed into a ray of red light with a deafening roar. He circled the bottom of the Taiji diagram above Yue Hongyan’s physical body and then abruptly tightened his grip in an attempt to crush her physical body before her Immortal Soul fuses with her physical body!