Volume 1, Chapter 386 – Breaking Through

“When are you planning to leave for Yunlai Immortal Palace?”

“In a few days.”

Threads of spiritual power from the spirit spring flowed into her body. A gentle warmth filled every limb and bone, relaxing Shi Lan’s muscles and joints enough that she let out a quiet breath without realizing it.

She planned to set out only after stepping into the late stage of the Myriad Phenomena Realm and pushing the True Martial Undying Body to completion in its first layer.

Mist billowed over the spring. Tianbai huddled in a corner of the pool, not daring to come close. Amid her pure, snow-white fur without a single stray color, there was now a faint blush of pink.

“At the gathering held by Yunlai Immortal Palace, most of those attending are guests from the major powers. The young prodigies gather there in force, and many people use the opportunity to spar and compete for rankings on the prodigy lists.”

Young heroes roamed the world with swords in hand. Who knew how many prodigies had risen to fame at gatherings like these?

Wu Lingkong’s fingers lightly traced across Shi Lan’s waist and abdomen. For a moment, she could not tell whether what lay beneath her fingertips was warm jade or flesh and bone.

“Will there be a lot of people going?”

Shi Lan did not even fully understand why she had received an invitation herself. If she had not felt that accepting the invitation and then not going would be somewhat discourteous, she would not have planned to attend at all.

Wu Lingkong thought for a moment.

“Most of the forces in the Central Heaven Domain will probably go. Among the other eight great Domains, any force above the third grade will also receive an invitation. The Imperial Court will send people as well to attend as observers.”

“A gathering held once a year is treated with this much ceremony?”

Shi Lan was a little surprised. For great experts whose Dao touched the divine, going into seclusion once could easily last three or five years.

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“But in the span of a single year, some young prodigies may already have undergone earthshaking changes.”

At that, Wu Lingkong sighed a little. She had known Shi Lan for only a few years now, and when they first met, Shi Lan’s cultivation had still been below her own.

The speed at which a prodigy’s cultivation advanced could not be judged by ordinary standards.

…

After soaking in the spirit spring for nearly two hours, Shi Lan rose, got dressed, and returned to the secluded chamber once more.

She opened her Qiankun Bracelet and took out a mountain of spiritual materials.

There were not many shortcuts in cultivating the True Martial Undying Body. One simply had to use mountains of spiritual materials to forcibly temper the body until it developed indestructible qualities.

Other than the staggering expense, it had almost no flaws.

This many spiritual materials had nearly exhausted all of her battle merits, and those battle merits had been exchanged for with the life of a Demon Emperor.

Shi Lan drew in a deep breath and activated the blood and qi throughout her body. Dazzling blood-red light flared up within the chamber.

The terrifying heat rising from her vigorous blood and qi turned the chamber into a steaming furnace in an instant.

Tianbai’s hair stood on end as fear rose in her uncontrollably. Though they were both in the Myriad Phenomena Realm, her liege could kill her with a single raised hand.

One precious herb and spiritual material after another gradually melted within the wrap of blood and qi, merging into it and nourishing Shi Lan’s body.

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Compared with the first time she had cultivated the True Martial Undying Body, her cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds, so it was no longer nearly as difficult. The vast spiritual power was soon completely absorbed by her formidable fleshly body.

Her jade-like flesh and bones glimmered faintly, giving off a gorgeous radiance, as if they had been imbued with an undying divinity. It was an exceedingly terrifying sight.

Shi Lan did not know the exact rank of the True Martial Undying Body, but now it seemed that this high-level body-refining method granted by the system was far stronger than she had imagined.

Shi Lan sat cross-legged within the chamber, her body growing ever more crystalline. The barrier to the middle stage of the Myriad Phenomena Realm failed to hinder her in the slightest, and she crossed it without the least obstruction.

The enormous quantity of spiritual materials had not yet been fully consumed, and her physique was still rapidly growing stronger.

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed…

As the final piece of spiritual material was refined into her body, a burst of rosy light bloomed from deep within Shi Lan. The undying divinity sank into her marrow and, from the very root of her being, greatly strengthened her physique.

Now, with the slightest stir of her blood and qi, treasure-light would flow across her body, as if she were a priceless treasure engraved with Dao imprints.

After a long while, Shi Lan slowly drew in her blood and qi and returned to normal. Her eyes dimmed, no sharp gleam spilling from them, her aura still as an ancient well and completely restrained. She had already stepped into the state of returning to simplicity.

Shi Lan rose to her feet and stretched her muscles and bones. In the depths of her sea of consciousness, her spirit soul was crystalline as jade. With the augmentation of the Secret Canon of Spirit Refinement and the nourishment of the immortal-path primordial spirit beside it, it had almost touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Once she condensed the golden body of the primordial spirit, her strength would once again surge dramatically, and she would become a true great cultivator.

However, as her spirit soul continued to grow, the presence of the immortal-path primordial spirit at her side also became increasingly pronounced, often leaving her mind sore and swollen.

The immortal path and the martial path could not remain as peacefully together as she had imagined. A subtle struggle was already beginning to emerge.

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As Shi Lan was still pondering this, a fluctuation of aura came from the side. Tianbai’s aura abruptly surged, and she stepped into the middle stage of the Myriad Phenomena Realm.

The spiritual power that spilled out when Shi Lan refined those materials had been unimaginably abundant, and with the secluded chamber completely sealed off, the place had effectively been transformed into a peerless spiritual land. It was enormously beneficial for cultivation, and Tianbai had reaped considerable gains as well.

The cultivation speed of lower-order demon races was very slow. Some Demon King clans with limited talent might fail to advance even a step further for over a century after entering the Demon King realm.

Judging purely by cultivation, Tianbai was now already enough to rival some veteran Demon Kings.

…

After leaving seclusion in the chamber, Shi Lan went to find Wu Lingkong and bid her farewell.

“There’s been a lot going on in the city lately. My father can’t handle it all by himself. Otherwise, I would have gone with you.”

Wu Lingkong looked rather troubled. She had only seen Shi Lan a few times, and Shi Lan had spent most of that time in seclusion. There were still so many places she wanted to take Shi Lan to.

“There will be time in the future…”

Shi Lan shook her head slightly with a faint smile and took out several bottles of pills from her Qiankun Bracelet.

“I still have a few bottles of spirit pills that should be of some help to you.”

She opened the system’s lottery panel, put in one million reputation points, and started a ten-draw.

At her current level, the system’s three-star and four-star grade pills were already of little use to her, and among the five-star pills, only a few kinds were still useful.

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But for Wu Lingkong, who was still in the Earth Fiend Realm, these spirit pills would be of far greater use.

“This…”

“Lingkong, I do not have many friends. I do not want our relationship to grow distant by the next time we meet.”

Seeing that Wu Lingkong was about to decline, Shi Lan spoke first and pushed the pills in front of her.

During their trip to the spirit spring, Shi Lan had already noticed something. When Wu Lingkong was with her, she had become much more restrained and was no longer as casual and natural as before.

Even if it was not obvious on the surface, Shi Lan could still feel that as the gap in their cultivation widened, Wu Lingkong had already become somewhat constrained.

Her temperament had grown a little cool, but that did not mean she wanted to become a solitary figure.

If that truly happened, then even if she one day ascended to the absolute summit, what meaning would there be in turning back and finding no one behind her?

Wu Lingkong’s hand paused slightly. She accepted the pills Shi Lan offered and slowly nodded.

“Are you leaving today?”

“I’m setting out immediately.”

“Wait. Stay here for a moment.”

…