If someone were to ask what death feels like, Shi Yi could probably answer.
Death was a silent stillness. The body's limbs went numb, consciousness faded, and memories flickered like a lantern show, important and trivial alike flowing past like a gentle stream.
It was a peculiar sensation.
Tranquil. Serene.
The moment earth, water, fire, and wind surged within him, Shi Yi felt his body collapse. This was a power beyond his reach. Attempting to refine the elements in the Spirit Transformation Realm was nothing short of suicidal.
Fortunately, he existed here as a mental consciousness, not a physical body. His body's destruction didn't mean true death. Protected by the thirteen supreme scriptures, his soul and consciousness remained untouchable.
By ordinary logic, dying in the Void God Realm would leave one severely weakened in the real world. Vitality would plummet, spirit and energy would suffer, and recovery could take months.
Such a mental death could wreak havoc—mildly, it might cause psychological issues; severely, it could strip away one's spiritual essence, crippling future cultivation.
Yet in the enigmatic Void God Realm, Shi Yi's mental consciousness suffered only negligible damage to his vitality, spirit, and energy.
Because the loss was so minimal, the real-world Shi Yi didn't awaken.
A few minutes later, his scattered mental consciousness—shredded flesh and all—began to reassemble under the ceaseless vitality of Liu Shen's technique, restoring him to his former self.
Flesh reformed.
In the real world, Shi Yi couldn't achieve such a feat, but in the Void God Realm, as a mental consciousness, he could. With Liu Shen's technique of endless renewal, he reconstructed his flesh.
"The Void God Realm is indeed strange. Death here barely harms one's vitality, spirit, or energy. With Liu Shen's technique, I can even die and revive simultaneously. At the edge of constant death and rebirth, it seems I can resist this place's amnesia."
Shi Yi rubbed his chin, beginning to grasp why Liu Shen had sent him to the Spirit Transformation Cave Heaven in the Void God Realm—and why he'd appeared in this mysterious place.
In the real world, refining the Spirit Transformation Cave Heaven would be far harder. The forces within his cave heaven were too potent, far beyond what he could handle at his current stage.
"Forge the true spiritual self, build the foundation of the Spirit Transformation Cave Heaven, and transform body and soul."
Understanding the crux of it, Shi Yi resumed refining the forces within his cave heaven. This time, he avoided invoking earth, water, fire, and wind or tampering with yin-yang chaos.
"The Nine Palaces: Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Zhong, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui."
Shi Yi began with the power of the Nine Palaces within his ten cave heavens.
Nine was the ultimate number, encompassing heavenly and earthly counts.
Heaven One, Earth Two, Heaven Three, Earth Four, Heaven Five.
Earth Six, Heaven Seven, Earth Eight, Heaven Nine, Earth Ten.
Five heavenly numbers, five earthly numbers.
Heaven One births water in the north; Earth Two births fire in the south; Heaven Three births wood in the east; Earth Four births metal in the west; Heaven Five births earth in the center.
Yang without a pair, yin without a match, incomplete until united.
Earth Six completes water in the north with Heaven One; Heaven Seven completes fire in the south with Earth Two; Earth Eight completes wood in the east with Heaven Three; Heaven Nine completes metal in the west with Earth Four; Earth Ten completes earth in the center with Heaven Five.
"First Palace Kan [North], Second Palace Kun [Southwest], Third Palace Zhen [East], Fourth Palace Xun [Southeast], Fifth Palace Zhong [Center], Sixth Palace Qian [West], Seventh Palace Dui [Northwest], Eighth Palace Gen [Northeast], Ninth Palace Li [South]."
As the power of the Nine Palaces flowed into his body, Shi Yi's spirit transformation showed initial success.
He knew the path was correct.
But—
Careless for a moment, he failed to control the force, and his body exploded again.
A few minutes later, Liu Shen's ceaseless vitality reformed his mental consciousness once more.
"Got careless!" Shi Yi muttered, then invoked the Nine Palaces again.
This time, he was meticulous, not daring to be the slightest bit reckless. In the real world, there were no do-overs. One explosion, and he'd be done for.
Soon, as he carefully refined the Nine Palaces' power, his mental consciousness grew stronger. At least now, refining this force wouldn't make him explode so easily.
Good.
He was refining only the tiniest fraction of the Nine Palaces' power.
As a mere Heavenly Passage Realm cultivator, he was still laying his foundation. If he dared to refine even a sliver more, his body would detonate on the spot.
"The Eight Trigrams: Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Gen, Xun, Dui."
"Qian is heaven, Kun is earth, Kan is water, Li is fire, Zhen is thunder, Gen is mountain, Xun is wind, Dui is marsh."
"Innate Eight Trigrams: Qian south, Kun north, Li east, Kan west, Dui southeast, Zhen northeast, Xun southwest, Gen northwest."
"Humans have eight gates: Rest, Life, Injury, Obstruction, Scene, Death, Alarm, Open."
Learning from the Nine Palaces, and with his cautious nature, Shi Yi invoked the Eight Trigrams' power from his ten cave heavens without incident.
As he refined the Eight Trigrams, his mental consciousness became more solid and stable.
If the Nine Palaces were raw materials, the Eight Trigrams were the foundation's pillars. His mental consciousness was the house built atop them.
Now, as long as he didn't channel too much cave heaven power at once, his mental consciousness wouldn't shatter.
"The Seven Stars: Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, Yao Guang—the Big Dipper. Tian Shu [Greedy Wolf], Tian Xuan [Giant Gate], Tian Ji [Fortune], Tian Quan [Literary Song], Yu Heng [Integrity], Kai Yang [Martial Song], Yao Guang [Army Breaker]."
"Humans have seven emotions: joy, anger, worry, thought, sorrow, fear, shock."
The Seven Stars and Seven Emotions were stable.
Shi Yi sensed that his control over his emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and more—had reached a point where he could remain impassive, his feelings hidden.
Perfect.
His cautious nature demanded such emotional mastery to keep his thoughts concealed.
But he felt the Seven Stars held more secrets he hadn't yet uncovered, beyond the Seven Emotions.
"The Six Harmonies: body, heart, intent, qi, essence, spirit."
"Body aligns with heart, heart with intent, intent with qi, qi with essence, essence with spirit, spirit with void. The six spirits of man, indispensable."
"Humans have six desires: life, death, ear, eye, mouth, nose."
The Six Harmonies and Six Desires were steady as a rock.
Shi Yi felt his physical strength surge, far beyond its previous limits. If he faced an adult Pixiu again, he was confident he could twist its head off in half a day.
"The Five Elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth. Benevolence, wisdom, trust, righteousness, propriety—these are virtues."
"The five origins: original nature, original spirit, original qi, original emotion, original essence. All things in the universe stem from the Five Elements."
The Five Elements were stably refined.
At this stage, his mental consciousness no longer risked exploding. The Five Elements, the foundation of all things, ensured his subsequent refinements would be smooth.
"The Four Symbols: Taiji births Two Principles, Two Principles birth Four Symbols. The Four Symbols divide yin and yang clearly: Lesser Yang, Greater Yang, Lesser Yin, Greater Yin."
"The Four Symbols: the four divine beasts. East Azure Dragon, West White Tiger, South Vermilion Bird, North Black Tortoise."
"Each divine beast has a spirit and attribute: Azure Dragon—wood, White Tiger—metal, Vermilion Bird—fire, Black Tortoise—water. These are earth, water, fire, wind, also known as all things in the world."
The Four Symbols: earth, water, fire, wind.
Shi Yi's face flickered between pale and flushed. Refining earth, water, fire, and wind again, he felt their overwhelming power. Even a trace could have obliterated his former self.
But with the Nine Palaces, Eight Trigrams, Seven Stars and Emotions, Six Harmonies and Desires, and Five Elements as his foundation, he successfully refined this infinitesimal sliver of earth, water, fire, and wind.
"The Three Talents: heaven, earth, man. The Two Principles of yin and yang birth heaven and earth; heaven and earth nurture man. Thus, the Three Talents emerge, with the Way of Heaven, the Way of Man, and the Way of Earth. Combining both, the Three Talents are heaven, earth, man; the Three Lights are sun, moon, stars."
Three flowers gathered atop, five qi converged within.
Three flowers of essence, qi, and spirit bloomed above Shi Yi's head, growing brighter and more vibrant under the Three Talents and Three Lights, as if ready to blossom.
"The Two Principles: yin and yang. All things embrace yang and carry yin. One yin, one yang—this is the Dao. The Two Principles of yin and yang, the two qi, birth from chaos. Clear qi rises to form heaven, turbid qi sinks to form earth. Yang at its peak births yin, yin at its peak births yang. Yin-yang Taiji."
Shi Yi's expression grew calmer. His mental consciousness glowed softly, radiating the dual hues of heaven and earth, yin and yang, like the foundation of chaos, exuding an enigmatic aura.
"The One Origin: chaos. Chaos is the great beginning. One Origin renews, all things are reborn. Heaven and earth are limitless, born from the infinite. Space is the cosmos, time is eternity. Things have roots and ends, affairs have beginnings and conclusions. Knowing what comes first and last brings one close to the Dao."
Shi Yi's chaos refinement now flowed effortlessly.
With yin and yang as the vessel, everything fell into place.
From acquired to innate.
A nirvana rebirth!
Shi Yi's life essence was transforming bit by bit, his body gradually becoming an innate divine embryo.
At that moment, in the real world, as his mental consciousness succeeded in refinement, his real-world body's tenth cave heaven involuntarily released a trace of the Nine Palaces' power.
From acquired to innate.
Nine Palaces to Eight Trigrams.
Eight Trigrams to Seven Stars.
Seven Stars to Six Harmonies.
Six Harmonies to Five Elements.
Five Elements to Four Symbols.
Four Symbols to Three Talents.
Three Talents to Two Principles.
Two Principles to Taiji.
Taiji to chaos.
Thus, just as his mental consciousness transformed, Shi Yi's real-world body began its own journey from acquired to innate, slowly becoming an innate divine embryo.
Now, Shi Yi's body was like jade, his bones crystalline, as if reborn. His veins coursed with a torrential flow, and an intangible fragrance emanated from him, like a peerless treasure medicine.
A mortal who caught a whiff would be cured of all ailments.
A drop of his saliva could extend life by a century.
Unaware that his real-world body was mirroring his refinements, Shi Yi's mental consciousness only knew that, upon succeeding, he saw a golden path leading to the Void God Realm's Starting Ground.
"Teacher, I have a question. Is the Void God Realm your backyard?" Shi Yi smacked his lips.
"Don't ask so many questions. Since you've succeeded in refining, go to the Void God Realm and spar with other prodigies. Otherwise, no matter how deep your foundation, it's just a castle in the air," Liu Shen's voice echoed.
"I'm not going!" Shi Yi shook his head firmly.
"Why not?" Liu Shen asked, puzzled.
"Not going, and that's final!"
Shi Yi genuinely didn't want to. What was the point of fighting? Win, and you make enemies. Lose, and you're humiliated. If there's a grudge, just kill them outright. Why bother with sparring?
"Break five Void God Realm records, and I'll grant you one reasonable condition."
Liu Shen deployed her trump card. She knew Shi Yi's deepest desires—his fixation on her, strange as it was. But she sensed that by leveraging this obsession, he might unleash a determination that could surprise even her.
Obsession and delusion…
_
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