"Kree!"
In the last couple of months, Bai Lin guarded Wei Wuyin's cocoon. At random times, she would caress the squishy texture of the cocoon with her wings, hugging it gently while softly releasing clarion cries that she hoped he could hear. It was all so he'd know that she was here, that she wouldn't go anywhere.
Entrusted with this important task, she diligently and dutifully guarded his body and soul. She wouldn't even allow those persistent women that kept coming to visit anywhere close nor touch the cocoon. They were even unable to send their Spiritual Sense near. Even when Wu Yu returned with a bevy of talents and subordinates, Bai Lin refused to allow the Grand Knight of Neo-Dawn access.
She cried out domineeringly, with wisps of Nirvanic Flames surging across the walls, floor, and ceiling to the point where Wu Yu was forced to retreat. He could only act on his own, and by Wu Baozhai's suggestion, those talents were all led to the Eternal Monarch Sect to continue their cultivation until further notice.
While the Eternal Monarch Sect was still based on New Everlore within the Everlore Domain, a uniquely constructed World Realm produced by Wu Yu and a few other Earthly Saints had become their true home. Members stayed there while various formations drew over greater quantities of the Aeternal Sky Solar Star's Solar Essence and refined it to higher levels.
The last nine years since the end of the Saint Cyclic Renewal Summit had been the greatest foundation-building period of the Eternal Monarch Sect since its inception. Under Wu Baozhai's leadership, the sect was growing with no signs of losing momentum. There were avid discussions of relocation, moving the Eternal Monarch Sect to one of the lower-ranked Starfields to establish themselves. Eventually, they might have an Eternal Monarch Starfield!
Wu Baozhai's ambitions were clear. Suitable locations had already been scoured and selected, and it was merely a matter of resources, timing, and ability. With the Everlore Association distracted by their joint-concoction efforts, Wu Baozhai sought to seize the initiative to make a clean breakaway, especially considering the recent conflicts between Golden Life Pavilion and, by extension—Wei Wuyin and the Everlore Association.
The Original Dawn Palace soon became quiet, empty, and peaceful as the seven beauties were taken away by Wu Yu despite their protests, leaving only Bai Lin and the cocooned Wei Wuyin. Like this, months passed.
Since Wei Wuyin took the Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill, eight months came and went. Since entering the Third Calamity, a total of five months had passed. It was at this time that the cocoon that housed Wei Wuyin's body began to tremble.
"Kree?" Bai Lin was instantly alerted, her golden eyes flaring with radiant excitement. She could feel the mental connection between them growing stronger by the moment, and even her phoenix blood was stimulated. Wei Wuyin was waking up!
Her excitement was not without payoff; Wei Wuyin's right hand moved, pressing firmly against the squishy exterior of the cocoon. Then, his left hand pressed beside it. With a movement of his fingers, the cocoon was dug into until enough force was applied and—
RIP!
Wei Wuyin pulled apart the cocoon! A gushing flow of embryonic liquid spewed out alongside his naked body. He rolled on the floor, only stopped by Bai Lin's gentle wings blocking his path. After escaping the cocoon, Wei Wuyin coiled into a fetal position, seemingly like a newborn baby, as his breath came exceptionally slowly as if unaccustomed to his lungs.
"Wei Wuyin!" Bai Lin called out gently, using their mental connection. Wei Wuyin's body slightly quivered in response, clearly having heard and understood the emotions carried by her message. Unfortunately, his eyes were closed shut, and his limbs were stiff.
Wei Wuyin's limbs kept trembling as if he was trying to summon the strength to move them but to no avail. This kept happening for at least twenty seconds until his fingers moved. The fingers were just the start as the toes began to wiggle. Bai Lin was unable to understand, but Wei Wuyin's physique had changed entirely, including the pathways of his nervous system and bodily process. He was initially finding it difficult to adjust, only finding some success with careful experimentation.
His movements of escaping his cocoon were instinctual and without conscious control, as if performed by a profound law managing the process, and it was this instinctual process that helped to serve as a basis for Wei Wuyin to adjust and understand how his physique functioned.
Wei Wuyin's entire body had transformed; the average mortal could have as many as a quadrillion synapses and a hundred billion neurons, but Wei Wuyin's neurological structure had vastly exceeded that, having nearly eighty quintillion synapses and a hundred trillion neurons, all extremely condensed and individually far more effective than the largest potential neuron of a mortal!
This was merely the start.
Wei Wuyin, however, was entirely focused on adapting to this significant change, especially the divergent pathways of his nervous system, clearly forged in a way that perfected the inherent flaws of a human. Soon, he found the outlet to breathe.
"Huuu! Haaa!" Every exhale and inhale felt extremely precious, and his birth contained a unique type of Nascent Energy that was only found in babies. If Wei Wuyin's bone age were to be measured, he would be one day old. Fortunately, cultivators inspected Spiritual Aura to determine the age of other cultivators, lest Wei Wuyin be mistaken for a toddler in the coming days.
Slowly, Wei Wuyin opened his eyes, once again blessing the world with his silver irises. Bai Lin grew increasingly excited!
"Wei Wuyin! Are you okay?" She asked as she carefully approached.
Wei Wuyin's silver eyes roamed about until he pressed his arms against the floor, slowly moving to his palms and lifting his body until he stood upright. Soon, he grasped all the motor functions of this newly established nervous system. He knew that this was a sign of physique change—Mind!
Qing Qiumu had a Violet Forestry Palace of the Psyche, a type of innately-born talent. This was reflected by her mental connection with plant life, wood energies, and wood essences, and if one surgically extracted her brain, they would find that the Violet Forestry Palace was a unique set of neurons in her brain that affected her Sea of Consciousness to allow this to be possible.
There were Alchemic Products that could change the composition of the brain, granting certain unique psyches like this, but they were incredibly dangerous to refine. Wei Wuyin didn't dare to do so because while the Alchemic Dao was limitless unless the alchemist had an in-depth understanding of the Mind Dao and anatomy, it was best not to consume products devised by other alchemists in this field. There were endless examples of products rotated out due to how they affected the mind and even prevented cultivators from manipulating their Spirits of Cultivation.
There was a recommended warning on products like this across the board: ONLY use on non-cultivators, preferably infants. Essentially, those who've yet formed their Spirits of Cultivation or whose bodies have yet to fully adapt to their minds.
Wei Wuyin knew that his current change of neurological structure meant his physique-establishment pill had bestowed him with some kind of Psyche Talent, but he was unable to pinpoint its exact qualities. This wasn't the only thing that had changed within him; Wei Wuyin's meridians had changed, effusing the faintest silvery glow that possessed an aura of inexhaustible eternity that he had felt before.
While it wasn't the same, having an additional air of eternity, the aura of inexhaustibility was the same as what the Renewal Physiques possessed! At the very least, the Neo-Dawn Paragon-Forging Pill had accomplished his intentions, especially seeing how his Primary Light Source, Bloodline Source, Primal Yang Source, and the other sources of his cultivation base were all emitting similar auras!
HE DID IT!
He closed his eyes as a wave of indescribable relief flowed through his newly established fleshy body, clenching his fist with a sense of pride. Decades of effort had paid off! It was a feeling that very, very few would ever feel, especially among the Mortal Dao.
"Your skin looks like a baby's," Bai Lin said as she gently moved her head to rub against Wei Wuyin's clenched fist. She could see how fresh Wei Wuyin's skin looked.
Wei Wuyin found the sequence of nerve signals to his lips, controlling it as he attempted a smile. He actually formed a grin! He was adapting extremely quickly, but he still had much to learn.
Habitually, after concluding the success of his pill, he opened his eyes and shifted his head to glance at his right arm to find that the Bloodline of Sin was still present. His heart began to race slightly.
First Calamity: Survived - 7/7.
Second Calamity: Claimed - 1/1.
Third Calamity: Claimed - 3/3.
Fourth Calamity: Suppressed - 49 Years.
Karmic Luck Value: 95,372.3.
His Karmic Luck had doubled! The increase was nearly quadruple what the Second Calamity had given him! Additionally, this confirmed that his method of passing the Third Calamity was enough to conquer it!
As he reveled in his success, he received a hectic, choppy message from his Sea of Consciousness. Shaken, he hurriedly entered to find his Second Mind had transformed into a mass of mental energies. Shockingly, however, this mass was absolutely freaking titanic!
While his Sea of Consciousness was massive by ordinary standards, it covered about a third of the space and stayed at the edge, seemingly fearful of crushing the Palace of Eden or Eden's Astral Core. It wiggled weirdly as Enlightened Scholarly Mist was exuding out in large quantities, only to be reassimilated shortly after. A process that kept increasing the Second Mind's mass!
"Is this Mental Deviation?" Wei Wuyin was thunderstruck, but he didn't hesitate to act. While normally, one should be cautious when finding such a disturbing thing, the message he received was one for help! It begged for HELP! Wei Wuyin's mental incarnation hastily re-established his Soul's connection with his Second Mind's manifestation, once more becoming one, as this was the only way t9 understand and assist.
Then, uncontrollably, he began to feel every…last…feeling!
EVERYTHING!
EVERY LAST OUNCE OF PAIN!!!
AGONIZING, SOUL-RIPPING, BLADE-SPLITTING PAIN!!!
His Primary Mind's manifestation instantly exploded into a mass of mental energy!