Volume 1, Chapter 249 – Heavenly Astral

Of the thirty-six death acupoints, aside from the nine apertures atop the head, the remaining twenty-seven were distributed throughout the chest and abdomen.

To break into the Heavenly Astral Realm, the first death acupoint that had to be forced open was the Guanyuan acupoint, located three cun below the navel.

The Guanyuan acupoint was the meeting point of the Conception Vessel. If it suffered a heavy blow, it would cause blood and qi to stagnate. An ordinary person would be hindered in movement for at least two to three hours. In severe cases, one’s blood and qi could collapse, the foundation could be damaged, and one could age prematurely and die.

The Yuqing Creation Art was of an extremely high grade, and the Earth Fiend true qi Shi Lan had cultivated was several times more abundant than that of an ordinary Earth Fiend Realm martial artist.

Added to that was the Glazed Jade Body refined through the Jade Tempering Art, which made Shi Lan’s body far more supple than that of an ordinary person.

Such a robust foundation reduced the difficulty of her breakthrough by quite a bit, but she still did not dare be the slightest bit careless.

At such a crucial juncture, if the breakthrough failed and damaged her combat strength, it could lead to extremely serious consequences.

Shi Lan guided her true qi downward until it reached the Guanyuan acupoint.

The Guanyuan acupoint was like an ancient gate, dividing Heavenly Astral from Earth Fiend and blocking the path of her true qi.

Shi Lan calmed her mind and steadied her breathing. Controlling her true qi, she began attacking the Guanyuan acupoint without the slightest hesitation.

A burst of pain, so intense it nearly felt as though she were being torn apart, surged up from her lower abdomen. Even with Shi Lan’s tolerance, the corner of her eye twitched for an instant, her breathing sank, and every inch of her skin tensed.

As her true qi settled, Shi Lan let out a light breath and quickly understood where the pain was coming from.

The Guanyuan was where blood and qi converged. Compared with men, the Guanyuan acupoint was even more important for women, so naturally the pain was much more intense.

Even so, although the pain was severe, it remained within the range she could endure, and the circulation of her blood and qi remained completely normal.

Shi Lan drew in a deep breath, her gaze sharpening. She took out the little less than half of the Violet Thunder Liquid that remained, then spread open the Black Domain and wrapped all of the remaining Violet Thunder Liquid within it.

A long pain was worse than a short one. Shi Lan intended to settle this as quickly as possible.

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The instant the Black Domain touched the Violet Thunder Liquid, vast energy exploded through Shi Lan’s meridians. Her already dense true qi rose by several levels, and its circulation speed surged several times over.

It was like a sharp blade stabbing into her body. The intense pain made Shi Lan’s body begin to spasm faintly, as though she were about to be split open from end to end.

That violent pain stimulated Shi Lan so strongly that, without realizing it, she began wanting to slow the circulation of her true qi.

This was the instinctive self-protection produced when a person encountered pain or an overwhelming stimulus.

Sensing the slowing of her true qi, Shi Lan gritted her teeth and suppressed her body’s instinctive reaction. She took out a casket of phoenix blood, spread the Black Domain open again, and began absorbing the phoenix blood.

As if pouring oil onto fire, her already wildly violent true qi was ignited at once, launching one frenzied assault after another against the Guanyuan acupoint.

The savage pain rose in wave after wave, and under those successive surges, the gate of the Guanyuan acupoint began to loosen as well…

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the gate of the acupoint collapsed with a crash. The Guanyuan acupoint, which had been like a stagnant pool, seemed to be activated in an instant. As true qi poured into it, it erupted with vigorous life force and began madly devouring Shi Lan’s true qi.

The Guanyuan acupoint was like a bottomless pit. In less than half a quarter-hour, it had nearly drained all of Shi Lan’s true qi dry.

Feeling the sense of depletion and hunger spreading through her body, Shi Lan refined phoenix blood with one hand while taking high-grade spirit crystals into her grasp with the other, circulating her cultivation method to draw out the spiritual qi within and nourish herself.

Yet even the combined power of the high-grade spirit crystals and the abundant energy in the phoenix blood still could not keep up with the speed at which the Guanyuan acupoint was devouring true qi. Shi Lan’s Innate spiritual body began involuntarily drawing in the vital energy of heaven and earth around her.

In the space of a finger snap, all the vital energy of heaven and earth in the secret chamber was swept clean. That terrifying devouring force spread in all directions and soon extended nearly a hundred li, stirring up a massive spiritual qi tide.

…

Xianwu City was currently a place where all kinds of people were mixed together, and it did not take long for someone to notice the abnormality in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

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“A spiritual qi tide…”

“Which senior is circulating cultivation to stir up such a huge commotion?”

“Even if it were a Myriad Phenomena Realm expert cultivating, I doubt it would create a disturbance on this scale.”

“It should be some great expert who has already cultivated a Nascent Soul.”

The crowd discussed it among themselves, but no one connected the phenomenon to a breakthrough in cultivation.

Although breakthroughs could also produce certain strange signs, they generally did not draw in spiritual qi and form a tide. When those with powerful martial cultivation circulated their arts, they absorbed spiritual qi like whales swallowing the sea, exactly like the scene before them.

Immediately, some of those present could not suppress their curiosity and began tracing the source.

…

The door to Shi Lan’s secret chamber remained tightly shut. Vast amounts of spiritual qi came rolling in from every direction and poured into the chamber.

Su Lanyue stood outside the chamber door, looking on with several traces of worry in her eyes.

Crack…

A muffled sound startled the absent-minded Su Lanyue awake. The door of a secret chamber not far from Shi Lan’s burst open, and a tall figure slowly stepped out.

“Is everything all right?”

Su Lanyue’s eyes lit up, and she hurried forward.

“Fortunately, there was danger, but no disaster.”

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Shi Tianlu shook his head slightly. Upon stepping into the Heavenly Astral Realm, his lifespan had increased greatly, and his appearance had also changed considerably. Divine light crackled in his eyes like lightning, and his hair was black as ink. He now looked only a little over thirty.

“Is Lan’er the one in seclusion?”

Shi Tianlu had originally intended to remain in seclusion for a few more days to consolidate his cultivation, but he had sensed the changes in heaven and earth’s vitality and thus hurried out.

“It’s Lan’er.”

Su Lanyue nodded.

“Has anything important happened at home recently?”

Su Lanyue recounted everything that had happened over the past few days, one event after another.

The Sacred Martial Immortal Sect causing trouble, the Demon-Suppressing Army taking over Xianwu City, the Lu family coming to the door…

Shi Tianlu had never expected that so many things could happen in just a few short days.

As the two were speaking, a guard came running over at a quick pace.

“Reporting to the Patriarch, many martial artists have gathered outside the residence. They are all looking around in every direction.”

Shi Tianlu frowned slightly. After a brief moment of thought, he turned, stepped into the rear courtyard, and entered the study.

…

Around the Shi Residence, there were already several hundred martial artists who had been drawn over by the spiritual qi tide. Their auras varied in strength, but all of them held their breath and concentrated, waiting for the spiritual qi tide to calm.

Creak…

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The main gate of the Shi Residence slowly opened, and Shi Tianlu stepped out in a black robe, carrying a long pole. His Heavenly Astral Realm cultivation was displayed before everyone without the slightest concealment.

Bang!

Shi Tianlu hurled the pole down fiercely. It sank three chi into the earth, and the tightly bound banner at its head unfurled and fluttered in the wind. The gilded characters branded upon the black flag seemed to carry flames, scorching many people’s eyes and leaving them unable to look directly at it.

Demon Suppression!

…

…

Shi Lan’s consciousness was somewhat muddled at this moment. The instant she forced open the acupoint, a long string of system notifications followed right behind it. There was simply too much information this time, almost more than she could bear.

[Main quest completed. Reward issued.]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining two intermediate lottery chances and the high-grade body-refining method True Martial Undying Body.]

[Main quest issued: Enter the Myriad Phenomena Realm within three years. Reward for completion: Space Law Fragment x1. Failure: host will be erased, system will enter self-destruction sequence.]

[Main quest issued: Slay one demon of the Myriad Phenomena Realm or above within one year. Reward for completion: Secret Canon of Spirit Refinement, Soul-Derivation Chapter, Heaven-Nether Jade x1. Failure: lose eight hundred years of lifespan.]

[Host cultivation has reached the required threshold. Some sealed elements will now be unsealed.]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining 100 minor world coordinates, 20 middle world coordinates, and 2 major world coordinates.]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the star maps of the Lingyang Starfield, the Flying Immortal Starfield…]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Feather-Chasing Sword Art, Moon-Gazing Step…]