Chapter 938 - Robust Soul
Coldness and eternal darkness descended. Shi Hao was sealed up, his body within the cage of nothingness, no return route to be found. He couldn’t see the end, before his eyes only eternal desolateness.
At this moment, he woke up from his muddle-headedness, but the situation was extremely critical. How was he supposed to escape?
Po!
He did everything he could to forcefully attack, wishing to break out a path and return to the real world. However, this place was unsusceptible to any change, a truly terrifying place.
This place was unknown, mysterious. Everything came and went, seemingly forever lost. This place was difficult to tear apart, an indestructible prison.
“Kill!”
With a raise of Shi Hao’s hand, magical imprints were formed. He used Heaven’s Hand, wishing to blast his way out, but he failed again and again.
“How could it be like this?” Moreover, he discovered that everything around him became darker, nothing visible now.
Moreover, his primordial spirit was being drained, yet he couldn’t obtain any replenishment. If this continued, he would definitely be erased, completely scattering. He was going to be crossed off the list of the living.
In that instant, Shi Hao became quiet, no longer moving, nor did he resist. Instead, he began to think, preserving his primordial spirit’s strength.
In the icy coldness, the dead silent place where everything was pitch-black, time flowed on, as if it immediately brought him through three lives and three worlds. This was a strange type of sensation.
Shi Hao sat there, feeling incredibly lonesome. He silently thought to himself. He felt like time fragments were quickly rushing past, as if a thousand years immediately passed.
This was a terrifying feeling that left him horrified!
There was a type of saying ‘ten days in a cave, thousand years in the world’. Now that he was trapped here, exactly how much time had passed in the outside world?
Shi Hao didn’t know. A chill ran down his back.
“Back then, was Little Immortal King also like this, leaving behind his physical body, his primordial spirit entering the world of darkness, unable to struggle free?” Shi Hao said quietly to himself. He became clear-headed again.
The scenes he previously saw on the rough stone walls displayed that Little Immortal King had failed. Someone returned with his corpse, delivering him into the medicine refinement hall. There was only a flesh shell left, no primordial spirit to be seen.
Now, he fully understood what had happened.
“What do I have to do to escape? I cannot follow in his steps!” Shi Hao’s primordial spirit turned into a little person, sitting down there, tightly clenching his fists.
He wanted to get out. There was Stone Village, his loved ones, his friends, and things he had to protect. There were people he wanted to see, so he couldn’t allow himself to be trapped to death here.
However, this place was cold and dark, endless chilliness swept over. A pitch-black darkness surrounded this place. He couldn’t feel everything, unable to make contact with anything. There was no way to rush out.
In addition, right at this time, he felt his primordial spirit weakening, his soul force was sucked away from the dark void, about to be gradually erased.
Shi Hao’s entire body grew cold. How was he going to make it through this? How was he to resist this type of terrifying corrosion? Forget about running, just staying here for a moment longer meant that he might scatter like smoke.
Was there nothing he could do? The corrosion of primordial spirit, obliteration of the soul, was nothing going to continue existing?
Shi Hao did his best to enter the most cool-headed state. He couldn’t act rashly. He wanted to continue living, wishing to break through this place. He couldn’t die just like this.
He had previously seen a few dark prisons drift through the long river of time. There were still specks of light within them even now, specks that belonged to powerful creatures.
Why were they still alive? Could it be that they had ways of resisting the corrosion?
Shi Hao carefully thought about this, closely examining himself. Was there any way to resist the darkness’ corrosion, to make his primordial spirit maintain an ‘undecaying’ state and continue living?
“Immortal dao, divine dao, these two great era have different systems. What should I do?”
Just now, he used precious techniques, displayed divine dao power, but it was useless, unable to fend off that force. The consumption of his primordial spirit was instead more severe.
However, immortal dao, he didn’t understand at all. This great era already didn’t belong to that system. That type of inheritance no longer existed.
“Immortal energy, I had previously cultivated a strand of immortal energy!” Shi Hao said to himself. It was to the extent where he had already cultivated a second strand. Only, the primordial spirit had separated from the flesh shell, his body losing consciousness.
“ En , there is a bit?!” When Shi Hao was inspecting himself, he discovered that neither of the two strands of immortal energy followed him here, but why did he still have a bit inside of himself?
He tried to transfer this bit, and then he discovered with shock that the load on his primordial spirit decreased, and even the corrosion was blocked, recovering a state of equilibrium.
What was going on? Shi Hao was confused. Even though he was pleasantly surprised, he still felt rather confused.
When he inspected himself closely to see the truth, he suddenly recalled that while cultivating in isolation on the bluestone paths, after igniting two thousand nine hundred bluestone dao flames, he cultivated an extremely weak and faint strand of immortal energy. However, at that time, his injuries were too severe, almost destroying him. That immortal energy wasn’t able to completely form, instead ultimately being used to nourish his body.
Shi Hao now understood. It was that strand that was nourishing his body, strengthening his spirit. He saw it disappear before, but in reality, there was immortal dao energy that remained, and it was now revealing itself.
“Merging with my flesh shell, moving into my primordial spirit, even though it isn’t powerful, it has miraculous uses as well, saving my life…” Shi Hao said softly.
Now, this strand of energy had already become indistinguishable from his flesh shell and primordial spirit, refined in reverse. It could even be said that it was no longer immortal energy, but just another part of his true self.
“I am going to leave, using this to break out!” Shi Hao calmed himself down, transferring all of his power to recover and strengthen his true self. He wanted to reach the most powerful state.
He groped about, struggling in the darkness, resisting the power that corroded his primordial spirit.
This process continued. During this period of time, he encountered danger many times, but later on, it stabilized. Eventually, he developed a completely new ability, as expected, able to acquire energy from the nothingness.
Only by having immortal dao energy would this work. He was able to accomplish this!
Shi Hao focused his attention. He sat there, doing everything he could to strengthen himself. He had to continue living, had to successfully open up the black cage.
Time flowed on. It was hard to imagine how much time had passed. Shi Hao’s heart was about to go cold, because it felt as if a hundred years passed. Was this just a misconception?
Only after such a long time did he recover to his peak. It was because the soul force in the nothingness was too difficult to absorb. This was the result he achieved only after doing everything he could.
Could this type of power open up the dark space?
Shi Hao didn’t know!
However, he had to try, had to do everything he could.
“If I fail, will I have to wait another hundred years?” Shi Hao’s heart felt heavy. He absorbed a mouthful of soul energy, and then he calmed himself down, doing his best to suppress himself. He then began to absorb the power of the nothingness again, nourishing his soul, strengthening his primordial spirit.
Another few decades should have passed, right? Shi Hao didn’t know. He felt like his primordial spirit became quite a bit more powerful.
He wanted to give it a try. He couldn’t wait any longer.
If a hundred years really did pass in the outside world, then was his physical body still there? Was it already destroyed? Meanwhile, Immortal Ancient’s power struggle should be coming to a close soon, right? To the extent where everything should have ended.
“I have to return!” Shi Hao shouted inwardly.
So many years passed. Many things could have happened. How could he resign himself to being trapped here?
“Going to risk it all!”
The current him was already much more powerful than when he entered. His primordial spirit shone brilliantly, radiant in the darkness.
Po!
Shi Hao fought for his life, doing everything he could, exhausting all he had to break free. He wanted to open the dark cage and force his way out.
Immortal dao energy merged with his body’s various methods and secret techniques, displayed with his primordial spirit, releasing the most powerful attack he had ever displayed in his life!
Weng!
The black cage trembled. One could vaguely see it distorting. However, it still didn’t open up.
Meanwhile, this strike left Shi Hao’s primordial spirit shaken up, almost scattering.
“Again!”
Shi Hao shouted, using all of his remaining power, continuously releasing secret methods. He immediately released nine strikes.
Pu!
Shi Hao fell back in retreat, dropping into the darkness. His body quickly grew dim, his primordial spirit becoming weak, suffering from corrosion.
Just now, the cage was moved, continuously distorting, but it still wasn’t broken through. He suffered from a powerful recoil, leaving him seriously injured.
Shi Hao operated his own powerful soul force, quickly resisting the corrosion. He then calmed himself down, once again beginning to nourish his soul and strengthen his primordial spirit.
After experiencing this once already, he quickly stabilized his primordial spirit. However, absorbing the void’s power was still too difficult. Shi Hao cultivated all alone to strengthen himself.
“How many years have passed? It should be another century, right?” When he opened his eyes again, he revealed a type of sadness, and even more a type of unwillingness, as well as a trace of weakness.
He wasn’t feeling sad for himself, but rather thinking back to the lower realm. He didn’t know how that place was now. Those loved ones, those that he was familiar with, how would they feel if they couldn’t see him again?
He previously told them that he was going to return to Stone Village within a few decades to see his family. However, how many years had passed now?
There was also that figure under the Fire Mulberry Trees. Where was she now, was she still well?
He didn’t want to see the people in the village grow old one by one, didn’t want to see generations disappear one after another, the graveyard where they were buried behind the village. He wanted to leave!
“I have to return!” Shi Hao felt grieved. He roared out loudly, but he didn’t forget to acquire power to strengthen himself.
In the darkness, he continuously trained, strengthening himself to become stronger than before. However, he didn’t rashly attempt to break out again. He had to reach the most powerful state.
He was going to make his divine senses incomparably sturdy, make his primordial spirit extremely brilliant, and only then would he have a chance of breaking through this cage.
Just like that, he cultivated and cultivated, continuously strengthening his primordial spirit, his soul force slowly increasing, becoming stronger and stronger.
This made Shi Hao develop some suspicions. What kind of place was this? Why was there soul force? He could actually slowly cultivate here. What was going on with this black cage?
Could this be reincarnation? His flesh died, so now, he was just waiting for reincarnation?
"There is no reincarnation. I will return!"
The years quickly passed. Shi Hao didn’t know how much time had passed. He felt like it was a thousand years, or even ten thousand years. Great changes had taken place, he had almost turned to stone.
“Why?” He muttered.
In this place, within the loneliness, he could see his own heart more clearly. All of the past events emerged in his mind.
From when he was young, to when he grew up, scenes appeared one after another.
His youth when he lost his supreme being bone, his body covered in blood, growing weaker by the day. His memory declined, only having A’man to protect him, telling him while shedding tears that he had to remember, that he couldn’t forget.
Then, Stone Village…
Willow Deity…
“I am going to return. I want to see them!”
Shi Hao felt as if a thousand eras had passed. He felt like he had already accumulated enough. His soul force now was incomparably terrifying, reaching an unimaginable level!
Hong!
His fist smashed outwards, exerting all of his force. It was finally effective, breaking through the dark cage, a bit of light visible. He saw the long river of time, as well as the other cages.
“How should I return? How do I differentiate the direction?” Shi Hao became excited, his body trembling. He felt like he could break through this cage, but how was he going to get on the road back? How was he supposed to do this?
---
In the outside world, Jun Dao, Heavenly Country’s king and Divine Temple’s Ancient Holy Child approached, bringing quite a few people with them. Great formation masters took action, unexpectedly breaking through the formation in the mountain’s belly, seeing Shi Hao’s true body.
This was an extremely powerful formation master, a native!
Within the dark cage, SHi Hao felt as if endless time had passed, like a thousand years, ten thousand years, but in reality, that wasn’t truly the case. It was just the corrosion of darkness that gave him this misconception.
In that place, soul force was abundant. His primordial spirit had experienced sharpening again and again, becoming ridiculously powerful!
As soon as he returned, his primordial spirit would become incredibly powerful, enough to leave others shocked!
“Two strands of immortal energy?!” Jun Dao felt great shock inside.
Even the expression of the Heavenly Country’s king changed. That person was sitting there, his flesh split apart, but it was wrapped within immortal energy, slowly healing, about to recover.
“He is asleep. There is no soul fluctuation. Even with all of us here to break through the formation, he still hasn’t reacted at all. This is an opportunity. Take action!”
They quickly rushed forward, decisively taking action.