Chapter 211: Soul Formation Stage
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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***
The Sacred City of the Middle Province.
By a quiet pond, a young man dressed in white stood blankly.
Without saying a single word, he, who had only been staring at the clean water surface that reflected the sky intact, glanced away.
He blankly stared at the jade slip held in his hand.
“Jin So-myeong.”
He looked and looked again at the information contained in the jade slip.
From a whipped serf boy entering the Qi Condensation stage by his own power to eventually becoming a Nascent Soul cultivator.
That entire process was recorded in detail.
Of course, the record was not complete.
Even though they mobilized the full intelligence power of the Sacred City, they could not find out how Jin So-myeong had raised his realm so quickly.
A mere hundred or so years.
In a fleeting instant, the boy who had a mixed spiritual root reached the brink of the Soul Formation stage.
It was a story as impossible as an ant crawling on the ground becoming a dragon.
Was that all?
He killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator during his Qi Condensation days; although there were no witnesses, the circumstances made it certain.
In the Foundation Establishment stage, he slew a Rank 3 Demon King, and during the Golden Core stage, he fought a Nascent Soul cultivator head-on and won.
Truly a talent bestowed by heaven; it would not be a waste to call him a Combat Immortal.
An expectation or anxiety felt after a long time.
Just as he was clutching the jade slip amidst complex emotions difficult to express in a word or two.
“Heavenly Venerable. An abnormal weather phenomenon has occurred in Lightning Strike Valley.”
“···”
“The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth within a ten-thousand-li radius is gathering. It is speculated that… Jin So-myeong is probably challenging the Soul Formation stage.”
At the urgent words of the woman who approached with quick steps from behind, the young man, who listened silently, let out a hollow laugh.
“To challenge the Soul Formation stage already… it is ridiculously fast. There was no need to agonize over whether to wait or not.”
Mumbling so quietly that it could barely be heard, he frowned.
Setting aside the fact that his absurdly fast cultivation speed was hard to understand, it was truly unexpected that he challenged the Soul Formation stage in a place without a Rank 5 spiritual vein.
Was it the arrogance of believing he could reach the Soul Formation stage even without the help of a spiritual vein?
Though it was out of the question for ordinary people, Jin So-myeong already had a record of promoting to the Nascent Soul stage without a Rank 4 spiritual vein during his Golden Core days.
“I will know if I check.”
Glancing at the pond one last time, the young man nodded and took his steps.
***
At the same time.
In Lightning Strike Valley, Jin So-myeong was focusing all his mind.
As he challenged the Soul Formation stage, the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth gathered frantically.
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the energy surging like a tsunami, cold sweat flowed naturally.
Although the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth was so pure that it greatly helped cultivation, the single fact that the quantity was vast turned it from a fortuitous opportunity into a danger.
‘I might die like this.’
As the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth surging from ten thousand li in all directions filled the surroundings, even breathing was difficult.
He bit the tip of his tongue to hold onto his reason, which was trying to blur.
If he let his guard down, he felt like he would be bewitched. No, being simply bewitched was not the problem; he might be crushed to death by the colossal energy.
Leaving behind the sweat droplets running down his forehead and cheeks to drip from the tip of chin,
he concentrated on his breathing.
As if scooping out constantly crashing waves with a gourd, he absorbed the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth filling the surroundings and guided it to his dantian.
Although his saturated dantian cried out in pain, he did not stop.
It was already a tiger-riding momentum.
It was as clear as day what would happen the moment he took even a single step back.
He would either die miserably after failing the breakthrough or become a cripple. Since he had taken a step toward the Soul Formation stage, he had to keep moving forward.
Focusing only on his breathing, he filled and filled again.
Although it was hard to maintain his sanity due to the increasingly dense spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, he did his best.
A day, a week, a fortnight, a month…
He pushed a massive amount of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth into the Nascent Soul settled inside his dantian,
and a certain change was about to occur in the Nascent Soul filled with extremely pure energy.
‘Now.’
Amidst the pain as if his soul were being torn apart, he instinctively felt that the time had come.
The Soul Formation spiritual object.
He compressed the Red Dust Heart Lotus, the lotus wrapped in red dust, with magic power and swallowed it in one breath.
Boom!
The moment his head was dyed stark white by the intense impact.
Within an incomprehensible process, the Nascent Soul, which originally had the appearance of a young child, began to grow rapidly.
Growing in an instant as if fast-forwarding time, it eventually took on the exact same appearance as his physical body.
And,
when he opened his eyes, the world and all its creation were beneath his feet.
Would a bird that broke its eggshell feel like this when facing the world for the first time?
Like a butterfly that cast off its pupa and soared high.
The moment he blinked his eyes, everything changed.
‘Ah…’
Was this the Soul Formation stage? The surroundings were still filled with the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, but it was no longer painful.
It was as comfortable as soaking his body in a warm bathtub.
An endless ascent continued amidst the emotion of his soul being enriched.
‘Ah!’
It felt like something he had desperately craved was being filled.
The ecstasy of becoming a superior being. What in the world could be exchanged for this thrilling feeling of his soul’s status rising?
Literally the ultimate joy.
Born as a lowly creature, he had become one with the world and all its creation.
He realized that the ultimate goal of starting his cultivation was right here.
The Great Dao of Longevity? He had already achieved it.
Since he had become one with the world to share its end, what could possibly be lacking?
There was neither worry nor pain. It was peerlessly perfect.
A fortuitous opportunity of a thousand years that came during the process of breaking through to the Soul Formation stage. That which he had searched for and wished for so much was right here.
Just as he was smiling amidst the liberation of feeling like he was flying above the clouds,
faintly,
an unpleasant scenery shimmered at the edge of his vision.
Down below on the ground. The noisy and boisterous world where he had stayed until just now grated on his nerves.
Pain and patience. A world where one had to struggle all one’s life to escape death was visible.
It was terrible and pitiful.
Was it not literally a place filled with muddy dust? It was a mystery how he had lived in such a place.
He wanted to ignore it immediately and enjoy the happiness of becoming one with the world and all its creation, but…
for some reason, it was hard to take his eyes away.
Even though this place was peerlessly brilliant and that place was covered in dust and insignificant.
His heart went there.
Like a faint lamp rising in the darkness, he could not turn a blind eye to it at all.
While staring blankly at the world filled with turbid dust, the moment he took a step without realizing it,
“After endless hardships, you have barely reached perfection, so why do you try to return to suffering again?”
At the voice ringing in his ears, he paused.
‘…Right. Why should I return to that place?’
This place is indeed the utopia a cultivator can ascend to.
Even if I cultivate for another thousand years, no, ten thousand years, I will eventually return to this position in the end.
If so, there was no reason to bring hardship upon myself.
Wandering around to find what was already achieved was something only a fool would do.
“···.”
However, one thing weighed on his mind.
That which he had wished for since he began cultivation long ago.
That was simple: becoming the complete master of himself, and seeing the vast world with his own two eyes.
‘Is this place truly the end?’
Amidst the sense of omnipotence where the world and all its creation lay beneath his feet, he looked around.
Was this place truly the ultimate that a cultivator could reach? Was there nothing better?
He could not know.
Therefore…
He wanted to confirm it. The moment he thought so,
his steps, which had refused to budge, became light as if by magic.
“Though you have finally arrived after going through a thorny path, you are saying you will return to being a lowly creature again?”
“It does not matter.”
He answered the voice that rang in his ears once more, or rather, the doubt that arose from within.
Even if this is the greatest joy I can obtain, and even if I end up returning here after turning around a long distance.
I will check with my own two eyes whether there is something better, and what is at the end.
The moment he left behind the utopia filled with joy and chose suffering himself.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, a ringing in his ears was heard. Falling from the heavens, the first thing he felt was heaviness.
None other than the heaviness of his physical body.
The sense of liberation of having become one with the world and all its creation disappeared before he knew it, and the limit of a mortal crushed his entire body.
At the incomprehensible pain, his brow furrowed of its own accord.
Moving his head with difficulty, which had become stiff as if rusted, he examined his body condition…
‘It’s the worst.’
The Nascent Soul is on the verge of breaking.
Was the moment he successfully reached the Soul Formation stage itself a lie?
The Nascent Soul, which had grown like an adult, was still in the shape of a child.
What would happen if one tried to contain the ocean in a bowl the size of a soy sauce dish?
Of course, it shatters.
That was the state of the Nascent Soul now. It was on the verge of collapse due to absorbing too much of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.
As the Nascent Soul, formed by the condensation of the essence of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, shook, his strong will also lost its strength.
Just as he was floundering, holding onto his extremely weakened mind and body.
“This is the result of your choice.”
Simultaneously with the ridicule that came like a whisper, carapace began to sprout from the back of his hands.
‘Insect-Armor Race?’
The sensation of his skin being covered in carapace was horrific.
Did the poison inhaled at the Defeated Sage Dojo hide deep in his body and then break out, aiming for a moment when he could not resist?
Of course, now?
At the helplessness, his strength drained completely.
If he had remained in the heavens, there would have been no such pain; although belated regret followed, he grit his teeth.
‘No.’
He cast away his weak mind. He held onto and endured with his last remaining handful of stubbornness.
If he endured and endured, would he not eventually cross the wall and reach the Soul Formation stage? Gathering his scattering concentration, he supported the Nascent Soul that was about to collapse.
However, regardless of his will, reality was harsh.
Crack.
The moment an ominous sound was heard, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the Nascent Soul.
‘Ah?’
There was no time to even react.
As if contents were leaking from a broken bowl, the condensed spiritual Qi of heaven and earth began to gush out,
Boom!
and the Nascent Soul, unable to endure, shattered like a breaking glass window.
The essence of cultivation accumulated since his Qi Condensation days completely collapsed and scattered like shards…
“Tsk, tsk. Look at that. Did you not fail?”
He could not believe it.
Yes. There is no way I failed. This is merely an illusion shown by a Heart Demon that visited during the trial.
As he repeated this to himself even by force, the mocking voice grew even louder.
“How foolish. Do you not feel it yourself? This is not an illusion or the like, but reality. You failed!”
He wanted to deny the voice mocking him, saying it was the end of a fool who brought suffering upon himself, but he could not even speak.
While standing blankly in shock from the shattered Nascent Soul,
he suddenly realized what he had to do now.
He reached out his hand. Gathering the shards that were shattered and scattering like a glass window, he reconstructed the Nascent Soul again.
“Do not act so clingy. Only by accepting failure can you move forward.”
He did not listen.
He concentrated only on reviving the Nascent Soul by gathering the shards piece by piece. The shards gathered with great difficulty collapsed in vain, but he repeated it.
Whether the current situation was an illusion or not was no longer important.
There was no need to distinguish it in the first place. Either way, the action to be taken in any situation was the same.
Challenging again until it succeeded. That was all.
“It is meaningless. Since you consumed the Soul Formation spiritual object, you will not lose your life. Do not waste time and aim for the next opportunity.”
Was it really a useless effort?
No matter how much effort he poured in, the Nascent Soul collapsed like a sandcastle.
Forcing himself to ignore the despair that seeped through his weakened mind and body, he immersed himself only in gathering the collapsed Nascent Soul.
“You are being stubborn about a useless thing.”
How many times did he repeat the seemingly meaningless action amidst the continuous ridicule?
Very gradually, a mysterious phenomenon occurred.
As he repeated gathering and stacking the shards, the height of the Nascent Soul grew and its limbs lengthened.
However, he could not perceive it amidst the shock of his soul’s collapse.
“···.”
In the darkness that had become quiet as even the ridicule disappeared before he knew it, he just silently continued.
Then suddenly.
By the time he realized that the Nascent Soul no longer collapsed.
He opened his eyes and saw.
He faced the Deity Form he had fashioned through the time of endurance.
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