txolops Chapter 411 Year of Seclusion
Chapter 411 Year of Seclusion
Chapter 411 Ten Years of Seclusion
Luo Ming completely relaxed, temporarily putting aside the disputes, schemes, and crises, immersing himself in this peaceful haven. He needed this brief respite to calm the tension and resentment accumulated from decades of wandering and fighting, and to adjust his mind and body to their optimal state in order to face the crucial hurdle of condensing his Nascent Soul.
Outside Silver Shark Island, the demon army has completely retreated, and it seems there will be no fighting in the short term.
Clearly, Luo Ming's sudden appearance made the demon race's higher-ups wary, and they dared not act rashly until they had stronger forces.
Luo Ming stopped in front of the prayer mat and waved his hand.
"Om one"
A flash of dark light appeared, and the "Ten Thousand Souls Banner," which he had reforged using the "Thousand Demon Banner" method, now free of the hidden danger of the Ghost King's backlash and even more powerful than before, floated in a corner of the secret room, emitting a deep and obscure fluctuation.
"Silver Moon," Luo Ming thought to himself.
"Whoosh!"
A small, silvery-white wolf phantom, only a foot long, with fluffy fur and a clever, lively eye, leaped out from the surface of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and landed lightly on the top of the banner pole, its four paws gripping it like a guardian spirit.
It was Silver Moon, who had completely merged with the spirit of the Myriad Souls Banner and could control the Ghost King and the Yin Souls within the banner to a certain extent.
"Brother Luo, please rest assured and continue your seclusion. This banner is under the control of Yin Yue. Unless a cultivator at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm or above comes in person, don't even think about breaking the restrictions here and disturbing you." Yin Yue's voice was clear and crisp, with a hint of eager excitement.
Being able to stand alone and protect Luo Ming filled her with a sense of responsibility and pride. But then she tilted her head, a mischievous glint in her eyes, and asked, "But Brother Luo, why are you in such a hurry to go into seclusion? Why not spend more time with Sister Yuan Yao? I saw the look in her eyes when she saw you off just now; it was full of reluctance."
Luo Ming glanced at the increasingly intelligent and even somewhat gossipy Silver Moon, shook his head, and said calmly, "The current situation seems calm on the surface, but undercurrents are surging. The demon race could make a comeback at any time. Only those with sufficient strength can truly control the situation."
Yinyue nodded her little head, a thoughtful expression on her face: "Brother Luo is right. Strength is the key. However—" A trace of worry flashed in her eyes.
"After all, there are still three Nascent Soul cultivators on Silver Shark Island: the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace, Blood Fiend of the Reverse Star Alliance, and that mysteriously newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator. They—wouldn't interfere or do something detrimental to you at this crucial moment when you are condensing your Nascent Soul, Brother Luo? After all, there is no shortage of intrigue and backstabbing within the human race."
"Hmph." Luo Ming snorted coldly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Right now, they'd love for Silver Shark Island to have another Nascent Soul cultivator to deal with the pressure from the demon race. Why would they cut off their own arm? Even if someone has ulterior motives, in the current situation, they wouldn't dare to easily attack a fellow cultivator who is currently forming a Nascent Soul. Besides—"
He paused, his tone radiating powerful confidence: "Even if someone is truly blinded by greed and intends to do something wicked, they will first have to ask my spirit beast and your Myriad Soul Banner!"
Upon hearing this, Yin Yue's eyes lit up: "That's right! Brother Luo, you also have Feng Li, Xuan Gui, and Zhi Yang!"
Luo Ming nodded slightly: "With your control over the Myriad Soul Banner, relying on its newly refined power, plus the Ghost King within the banner, it shouldn't be difficult to restrain a Nascent Soul stage cultivator for a short time. The Wind Fox Beast, the Black Tortoise, and the Fat Sun Bird have all advanced to the seventh level, and their strength is far beyond what it used to be."
A hint of satisfaction flashed in Luo Ming's eyes when he mentioned the three spirit beasts.
The Wind Fox Beast possesses a strange and unpredictable talent, with incredible speed and a knack for stealthy attacks, making it extremely difficult to defend against. If used to ambush and restrain, even an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would be thrown into disarray if they were to be careless.
The Xuan Turtle underwent the most significant changes after refining that drop of Xuanwu True Blood. Its size had increased to over three hundred feet, the natural Dao patterns on its shell had become increasingly clear, and its defensive power was nothing short of monstrous. It withstood the bombardment of a Nascent Soul cultivator's magic weapon without sustaining any damage for a short period of time.
More importantly, it has awakened several powerful innate bloodline abilities, especially the lightning-attribute ability. Now it can generate its own power using the water and earth demonic energy within its body. Its power is fierce and violent, and it can be used multiple times. It can also restrain a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Meanwhile, the Fat Sun Bird had already successfully advanced to level seven on its way to Silver Shark Island. Its natal spirit fire, after absorbing the Blazing Sun Bird's demon core and the wisp of Golden Crow True Fire's essence, experienced a surge in quality and power.
Unbeknownst to them, Luo Ming had already amassed a considerable number of combat forces capable of threatening Nascent Soul cultivators.
This is the source of Luo Ming's confidence to openly go into seclusion and condense his Nascent Soul on Silver Shark Island, right under the noses of various forces! He was well-prepared, his spirit beasts were powerful, and the external situation was delicate, with multiple forces balancing him.
"Yinyue understands!" Yinyue nodded repeatedly, her eyes no longer filled with worry, but with confidence and eagerness. "Brother Luo, just focus on your seclusion and break through to the Nascent Soul stage! With me and the Wind Fox outside, everything will be perfect! Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be ensured a swift and complete end!"
Time flows like still water, quietly passing through ten years.
Since the bizarre and disastrous beast tide ten years ago, the demon army, though not far away, has not launched another large-scale attack on Silver Shark Island. A delicate stalemate seems to have formed between the two sides.
Thanks to this, the human cultivators firmly guarded the last passage to the "Sea King Sect" secret realm, and took advantage of this rare respite to carry out almost predatory mining of the remaining resources within the secret realm.
Over the years, a large number of rare spiritual herbs that have been stored in the secret realm for thousands of years have been harvested almost like draining a pond to catch all the fish, and have flowed into the markets of Silver Shark Island and the surrounding seas.
Suddenly, the price of high-quality spiritual herbs experienced an unprecedented drop, prompting countless low- and mid-level cultivators to frantically buy and hoard them. Catalyzed by this near-abundant supply of spiritual herbs, the overall strength of human cultivators in the nearby seas experienced an explosive growth.
New Core Formation cultivators emerged like mushrooms after rain, including Wen Siyue of Mingyue Tower. With her solid foundation and the pills left by Luo Ming, she successfully condensed her Golden Core three years ago, officially entering the Core Formation stage and becoming another powerful assistant to Yuan Yao.
In addition, no fewer than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators from Silver Shark Island and other forces also took advantage of this opportunity to successfully form their Core Formation.
Those cultivators who had been stuck at the early to mid-stages of Core Formation for many years benefited greatly. The abundant supply of spiritual herbs significantly reduced the cost of refining breakthrough pills and increased the success rate.
Over the past decade, countless Core Formation cultivators have broken through minor realms. Among them, Jiang Rufeng of Mingyue Tower, with the help of the "Haoyuan Pill" bestowed by Luo Ming and his ten years of dedicated cultivation, broke through the shackles two years ago and successfully advanced to the late Core Formation stage!
His strength increased dramatically, and his aura became more refined. He could now vaguely glimpse the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage, a stage that countless cultivators dreamed of yet remained unattainable! This made his gratitude and loyalty to Luo Ming reach an unparalleled level.
On this day, in the core secret chamber beneath Mingyue Tower.
Luo Ming, who had been sitting in meditation for ten years, suddenly opened his eyes, which had been closed for more than three thousand days and nights, in a deep darkness and silence!
"Sizzle—!"
Two condensed, dazzling, and seemingly piercing dark golden beams suddenly shot out from the depths of his pupils, leaving two brief but sharp streaks of light in the dimly lit chamber before slowly receding.
This is a "divine light" phenomenon that will naturally appear when one has cultivated the "Azure Nether Scripture" to the ninth level of perfection, and one's magical power has reached the extreme of the Core Formation stage, when there is no further progress and the power is about to overflow!
Luo Ming slowly exhaled a long, lingering breath, as if carrying the sound of metal and stone.
He looked inward into his dantian and saw the "golden elixir" floating in the center of his dantian, spinning endlessly. It was perfectly round and flawless, with a surface that shimmered with a deep and refined dark golden color, radiating an astonishingly powerful and flawless magical energy!
Inside the Golden Core, a vibrant life force and profound Daoist charm are being nurtured and stirring, as if some extraordinary being is about to break out of its shell!
"The Realm of the False Infant—is complete!" Luo Ming felt an indescribable joy welling up inside him.
He carefully felt the surging power of the perfect golden core in his dantian, as well as the torrent of magical power flowing through his meridians, which was several times more refined and condensed than it had been ten years ago. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"I didn't expect my cultivation speed to be almost twice as fast as I anticipated. I reached the Nascent Soul stage in just ten years—" he mused to himself.
In reality, he overlooked the fact that his physical cultivation had already reached the Nascent Soul realm. Having entered the Nascent Soul stage, his efficiency and upper limit in absorbing and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had been significantly increased, making him essentially no different from a true Nascent Soul cultivator.
With a slight thought, he sensed the secret chamber beneath him. The concentration of spiritual energy within the chamber had reached an astonishing level!
The spiritual energy almost condensed into a liquid mist, and with each breath, pure spiritual power seeped into his pores, nourishing his body and golden core. This was certainly due to the high-level spirit-gathering array he had set up, but more importantly, it was the "Changing Seas and Changing Fields" divine power he had awakened after refining the "Black Tortoise True Blood" that was exerting its miraculous effects without him even realizing it!
Although this supernatural power is not strong in attack, its core involves the origin of water and soil and the way of earth vein changes.
Luo Ming has been cultivating in seclusion here for many years. His supernatural powers are running naturally, subtly drawing in, gathering, and purifying the spiritual energy of the water and soil attributes deep underground. This has continuously optimized and improved the spiritual energy environment of this secret room, almost achieving the effect of artificially creating a small, high-level spiritual vein!
"The Xuanwu True Spirit, who controls water and soil and commands the earth's veins—truly terrifying." Luo Ming couldn't help but exclaim.
He has only just begun to grasp the basics, yet it has already produced such miraculous effects.
It's hard to imagine that if one truly mastered the "Chang Hai Sang Tian" technique, or even reached the Nascent Soul stage, could one really create a top-tier spiritual vein with water and earth attributes out of thin air in their secluded cultivation place? What an incredible feat of creation that would be!
With a shift in thought, he returned to the present moment. A gleam shone in Luo Ming's eyes, like stars in the dark night.
"The nascent soul is formed, and the foundation is sufficient. It's time—to formally condense the nascent soul!"
Even with his weathered and unwavering character, the thought of "condensing the nascent soul" stirred an irrepressible surge of excitement and anticipation within him.
The Nascent Soul Path is a crucial watershed on the path of cultivation, the beginning of truly touching the laws of heaven and earth, possessing a lifespan of over a thousand years, and becoming a giant in one's own right! Countless exceptionally talented individuals have stopped here, leaving with lifelong regret. But he, Luo Ming, will knock on this door today!
He even had a strange intuition that with his now abnormally powerful physical body, vast and pure magical power, and divine sense far surpassing others of his level, coupled with the "Heaven-Mending Pill" improving his spiritual root aptitude, the "Black Tortoise True Blood" solidifying his foundation, and the formidable resources accumulated from numerous fortuitous encounters—
It seems that even without any external assistance, he is very confident that he can forcefully break through that bottleneck and successfully condense his nascent soul!
"Is it an illusion?" Luo Ming frowned slightly, carefully examining his own state. "Was it the Heaven-Mending Pill that completely improved my five elemental roots, making my magical power more harmonious and easier to break through? Or was it the immense blood and qi power of this body, comparable to a transformed demon beast, providing unparalleled 'fuel' and protection for condensing my nascent soul? Or perhaps that drop of Xuanwu True Blood subtly enhanced my life essence and affinity with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?"
He had been refining the "Heaven-Mending Pill" for many years, and its medicinal power had long been fully absorbed. Although he possessed the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, his efficiency in refining spiritual energy at this moment surpassed that of common dual-element geniuses! He had never seen a true "Heavenly Spiritual Root" cultivator, so he had no way to compare, but he felt that he was not much different.
There are three key hurdles to overcome when a cultivator condenses their nascent soul: the physical body hurdle, the mana hurdle, and the divine sense hurdle.
Luo Ming's physical strength had long surpassed the standard of early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, making it practically meaningless to him.
The mana barrier was no challenge for him, as his mana was as powerful as that of an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and its refinement far exceeded that of a Core Formation cultivator.
As for the final test of spiritual awareness, Luo Ming's spiritual awareness has now reached the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, so he is almost certain to pass this test as well.
Faced with Luo Ming's substantial resources, none of the three major obstacles seemed to pose a real threat.
"It seems that the biggest variable is still that intangible yet most dangerous one—the inner demon tribulation." Luo Ming's eyes flashed, and his expression became more solemn.
Although he was confident in his powerful spiritual sense, unwavering will, and the protection of his consciousness by the "Forging God Technique," he knew, through years of understanding and reading of ancient texts, that the tribulation of inner demons was unpredictable and difficult to guard against. This tribulation directly targeted the weakness of his Dao heart, interrogating his true nature and obsessions, and triggering the deepest fears, desires, regrets, and confusion within him.
Simply having a strong spiritual sense can only increase the probability of resisting temptation and maintaining clarity of mind, but it cannot guarantee 100% safety.
Throughout history, countless outstanding talents, despite possessing magical power, physical strength, and spiritual awareness, ultimately succumbed to the illusions of inner demons, lost their Daoist resolve, failed at the last hurdle, or even had their souls scattered.
Thinking of this, Luo Ming couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly and shake his head.
"With such profound knowledge, yet still feeling some fear of inner demons—it seems I haven't truly achieved a flawless Dao heart, unattached to material things." This very fear might become an opening for inner demons to exploit.
He quickly regained his composure, his eyes becoming firm, calm, and serene once more. Now that he was aware of this, he needed to be even more cautious.
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