Chapter 178: Those Who Wished to Understand the Will of Heaven Must Begin from the Middle Phase of the Aurous Core Stage
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
At the top of the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree, Lin Feng sat. His body and mind were in their perfect condition.
"Let us begin," Lin Feng closed his eyes and with his mind's eye, he viewed his body. A white jade aurous core brimmed with a spinning purple light.
Under Lin Feng's control, the mana in his body began to work.
A thick torrent of mana swept through Lin Feng's body like water after a dam had been breached.
Following which, the mana went 'boom' and began to burn like matchsticks that had been lit. The mana burned from feet-first all the way to the top of Lin Feng's head. Evidently, it was Immolation by the Yin Fire.
This was the Tribulation of the Yin Fire!
As one progressed the middle stage of the Aurous Core stage, one must go through the Immolation by the Yin Fire. Successfully going through this stage would bestow one with unlimited chances for progression and advancement. Failure to do so would reduce one to ashes.
Many cultivators in the early phase of the Aurous Core stage deliberately suppressed their power so that they would not inadvertently encounter the Tribulation of the Yin Fire as they had no confidence in successfully overcoming it. They would rather spend their entire life in the early phase of the Aurous Core stage and enjoy a thousand-year lifespan than to be reduced to ashes in a single instant.
Lin Feng, however, was filled with confidence. Hence, he deliberately ignited the Tribulation of the Yin Fire as he believed that he had made the necessary preparations.
In that moment, while his entire body burned from the fire from the Immolation of the Yin Fire, the spiritual altar in him was calm as if it had been blown over by a gentle gust of spring wind.
Lin Feng could every inch of his body transforming as it communicated with every single creation under heaven. In a flick of a finger, it felt as if a thousand years had passed.
As the Yin Fire burned Lin Feng's aurous core, it vibrated non-stop. From it, black smoke billowed out.
In the early phase of the Aurous Core stage, despite having formed a aurous core it still contained impurities. One had to borrow the power of the Yin Fire to get rid of them.
After a while, Lin Feng opened his eyes rapidly. His eyes glowed.
Boom!
Between the Heaven and Earth, Lin Feng's willpower turned into a powerful force linked the upper echelons of Heaven with the nethermost River Styx.
Lin Feng felt his entire body trembling with force from head to toe as it underwent a thorough transformation from inside out.
An aurous core, glistening and flawless, emerged without a single trace of impurity.
A gust of invisible air appeared out of nowhere and connected with Lin Feng's body.
As fate would have it, Lin Feng's consciousness connected with the heaven and earth. Yet, it did not integrate with them. Rather, he felt like a frog that had lived its entire life in a well finally realizing the vastness of the sky.
A door that was originally closed had been pushed open by Lin Feng's hand, allowing him to step into a brand new world.
Those who wished to understand the will of heaven must begin from the middle phase of the Aurous Core stage.
Lin Feng could only understand the veracity of this statement after he had entered this phase.
Before that, a cultivator only used the power in his body to store energy.
From the perspective of one's innate power, there was not a big difference between the middle phase and the early phase of the Aurous Core stage.
However, only after one had entered the middle phase of the Aurous Core stage could someone be said to have controlled the entirety of mana.
Cultivating one's Tao meant that while a power of an individual was limited, the power of the Heaven and Earth was unlimited just as how the sun and moon were eternal. Only by borrowing the power of the Heaven and Earth could one break through the limitations of Man and live freely, without any prospect of destruction.
In the early phase of the Aurous Core stage, one could glimpse into the prospect of immortality. However, one could only bring one power to its peak, reflect upon one's existence and through repairing one's wounds indefinitely and hence, obtaining immortality.
However, that is only limited to one's mastery of the flow of Heaven and Earth. One could not yet reach the pinnacle of one's power and maximize its potential.
However, in the middle phase of the Aurous Core stage, one could achieve that after understanding the will of heaven. That is the fundamental difference between these two phases.
One had power, but could not use it. The other had and could use the power. That was the difference.
Cultivators in the middle phase of the Aurous Core stage did not have to rely upon external powers to defeat a cultivator in the early phase.
As Lin Feng stared into the void in the distant, he noticed stars sparkling in the distance. He did not know how far away were they from here, but he could feel that in the space of a flicker of a star the cosmos possessed a destructive force that would tremble even the bravest of men.
"That is true power," Lin Feng sighed as he said it. He reached out his right hand and tried to grasp at it.
The void in front of him connected with the Water-type spiritual energy in him to form on his hand a mini stream that trickled gently.
Lin Feng's left hand pointed gently, and Earth-type spiritual energy was summoned. It materialized into a clump of earth.
"Light?" Lin Feng blew gently and the void lit up.
"Fire?" Lin Feng made another gesture with his hand and Fire-type spiritual energy was picked up from it. It came together and turned into a ball of burning fire.
Normally, a cultivator could only cultivate a single type of spell. Even after advancing to the Aurous Core stage, one could only draw from the space around them a single type of spiritual energy.
Hence, an ability like Lin Feng's to summon so many different types of spiritual energy from the void could be said to be unprecedented.
"I only managed to truly understand the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams." A smile broke on Lin Feng's face. "Other than the Dual Dimension Vacuum Charm, the Steps of Heaven and the Heaven-Collapsing Hammer, I have mastered my fourth spell."
Lin Feng retrieved his mana and descended from the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree. He saw Kang Nanhua sitting underneath it as he stared into the distance.
"This aura..." Lin Feng swept his surrounding with his gaze and smiled, "It appears that you have made much progress."
Kang Nanhua nodded and turned his head. Smilingly, he said, "It was all thanks to my lord's bringing me here."
He flicked his finger and a droplet of water of the deepest blue hovered in the space before him.
Lin Feng's pupils contracted. Even though the water droplet hung in mid-air, he could feel its unbridled power.
That was one of the Six Great Primordial Waters, the Great Chaos Primordial Water.
The Six Great Primordial Waters each had their specialty. The Blood River Primordial Water could pollute and besmirch anything. The River Styx Primordial Water could destroy everything. The One Heavenly Primordial Water could synthesize with anything. The Xuanming Primordial Water could freeze anything. The Grand Moon Primordial Water possessed the greatest amount of Yin Energy.
As for the Great Chaos Primordial Water, it was heavy beyond belief. A single droplet of it weighed five thousand kilograms. After it was turned into a spell, it possessed the ability to douse and drown everything under heaven.
Those who cultivated the Great Chaos Primordial Water were undefeatable solely based on their mana. They surpassed other cultivators of the similar mana level.
Kang Nanhua, having cultivated the Great Chaos Primordial Water, could hold his own against cultivators in their Nascent Soul stage. Certain cultivators in their Nascent Soul stage could not even compare with him in terms of mana.
At this moment, Kang Nanhua body trembled with unbridled mana. He could easily battle against the Gengjin Tiger King, and could even best the Hundred Herbs Grandmaster.
Lin Feng nodded seriously, and said, "Congratulations, Nanhua."
"It's all thanks to my lord's assistance," Kang Nanhua smiled. "Where are Xiao Yan and the rest? I have yet to give them my presents. Initially, I didn't want to give them as I had nothing worth giving. Now, I finally possessed something that is worth giving."
Xiao Yan and the rest came upon hearing the news. Kang Nanhua cast a spell with his hands.
The Sand of the Ganges and the Great Chaos Primordial Water appeared together before everyone. A single grain of the Sand of the Ganges combined with a single droplet of the Great Chaos Primordial Water.
Then, countless amount of sand and water came together and turned into four tiny shields. They then dispersed themselves before Xiao Yan and the rest.
"This item is called the Great Chaotic Shield of the Ganges. Treat it as my gift to you," Kang Nanhua said while smiling. "It may be slightly ugly but I hope you don't mind."
Kang Nanhua taught them the method to control it and now, the Great Chaotic Shield of the Ganges belonged to the four of them.
Xiao Yan gently tapped the shield and felt its power. "It's so firm."
Lin Feng said, "Of course it's firm. The defensive power of this shield could not be breached by cultivators below the Aurous Core stage. To even leave a single scratch would require an immense effort."
"Cultivators who are past the Aurous Core stage must expend all of their energy to break through this shield. It would require cultivators who possessed supremely offensive weapons to do so."
"Even for a cultivator in his Nascent Soul stage, he could not breach the shield in his first blow." Lin Feng smiled, "With this 'turtle shell', even if the four of you met unbeatable enemies you would not be defeated."
Xiao Yan and the rest were taken aback in delight as they stared at the Great Chaotic Shield of the Ganges with a different light.
Xiao Budian turned his eyes to Kang Nanhua, and said while smiling, "Mr Kang, do you have anything else to give us? Why not just give everything you want to give in one shot?"
Xiao Yan and the rest chided him, "You little thick-skinned b*stard!"
Lin Feng tapped Xiao Budian's head and said, "One must learn to be content. If you really want something, I could prepare one for you."
Xiao Budian withdrew his head, and gleefully said, "I knew it if Mr Kang could be so generous how could master be stingy?"
"There's no rush in it. Accompany me on a long trip out, and I'll tell you about it slowly," Lin Feng turned his head to look at Kang Nanhua. "I intend to head towards the Spiritual Conference of Hanhai. While I'm gone, please help me take care of the mountain."
Kang Nanhua nodded his head, "I still need time to practise my spell and temper the Earth and the Water. While I await my lord's return, I shall try and surpass more challenges."
Lin Feng said, "That would be for the best. This too would help you in your role as the sect's guardian."
Wang Lin said suddenly, "Master, I wish to remain on the mountain and continue cultivating. I hope to at least enter the Foundation Establishment stage."
"That's good too," Lin Feng thought about it for a while before agreeing. "The item I've passed to you shall be used for your victory celebration after you entered the Foundation Establishment stage."
Wang Lin nodded his head in agreement, and said to Kang Nanhua, "Mr Kang, I thank you in advance for your care."
"I'll take care of the small things so you could focus on cultivating," Kang Nanhua nodded and said.
Lin Feng turned his gaze to Yue Hongyan and asked suddenly, "Would you be willing to come with me?"
Yue Hongyan was startled, "I could?"
Lin Feng replied, "Your personality is like a strong fire and unfit for idling. Practising and cultivating alone does not suit you. Rather, you should obtain real-life experience. Only then could your mastery improve."
Yue Hongyan thought about it for a while. She found Lin Feng's words reasonable and agreed, "Thank you senpai for your care. I'm immensely grateful."
"Let's go then," Lin Feng said while nodding his satisfactorily. With a flourish of his robe, he flew off together with Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, Xiao Budian and Yue Hongyan and disappeared from Mount Yujing.
The next time they appeared, they were flying in the sea of clouds over the Kunlun Mountains towards the north.
Xiao Budian smiled and said, "Master, what present did you prepare for me? Stop teasing me and take it out please."
"What an impatient little monkey!" Lin Feng chided. He flicked his finger, and three balls of light appeared in the sky.