Ch. 43: Forming Dao Spirit
Hours passed, and evening came. After dinner, Chen Fan chatted with Tang Hongyu for a few moments before going out.
Tang Hongyu watched the back of her man disappear while biting her bottom lip. She didn't know why she felt uneasy in her heart.
"Maybe it's just my dissatisfaction with living alone from there on," she rationalized her uneasiness before managing to calm down.
Moving to Chen Fan, after he came out, he got on top of his rock and sat cross-legged there. Then, he started meditating and cut off his senses from the outside, focusing inward.
As he examined his body with his Divine Sense, he saw a thumb-sized golden core in his chest. Then, he examined the vast space inside it, which was filled with pure energy that spun like a terrifying whirlpool.
He stopped meditating and thought of his accomplishments so far.
First is entering the Initial Stage of the Dao Body, which is slightly better than the level of the Qi Gathering stage of this universe's cultivation method, the stages from External Force to Sublimation of the Martial Artist's method, and the Houtian Realm of the cultivation method Chen Fan made for his disciples and close people. This stage consists of cleansing meridians and opening three dantian.
Second is entering the Half Completion of the Dao Body, which is around the level of the Connate stage of this universe's cultivation method, the stages of Divine Realm and Earth Immortal of the Martial Artist's method, and the Xiantian Realm of the cultivation method Chen Fan had made for his disciples and close people. This stage consists of destroying the mortal body and forming the Dao Body, which can be done gradually by reforming the Meat, Organ, and Bone one by one.
The latest accomplishment is entering the True Completion of the Dao Body, which is around the level of the Golden Core stage of this universe's cultivation method, the Celestial Immortal stage of the Martial Artist's method, and the Core Formation Realm of the cultivation method Chen Fan had made for his disciples and close people. This stage consists of combining the three dantian into one core, expanding the space inside the core, and finally spinning the stored energy until it looks like a whirlpool.
"The next step is the Initial Stage of the Dao Spirit," Chen Fan muttered and then checked his knowledge of forming the Dao Spirit
To create a Dao Spirit, the first step is to compress the soul into the infant state before moving it into the core; second is to plant Dao Seed inside the infant soul and nourish the soul and the seed with the energy in his core; third and last is using the infant soul to break the core from inside.
'Stopping in the middle of compressing my soul is fatal. When it starts, I can't stop. If someone interrupts the process, it will endanger my life. The process is said to be excruciatingly painful. I suppose I have to put a barrier around me. I don't know if I'll scream in agony when I can't endure the pain. If it happens, Hongyu will rush to help me without knowing that it will worsen the situation. The barrier must be able to block sound and view, then.'
Chen Fan ceased his thoughts and went to work. He made an array around the rock.
This array would absorb the ambient energy in the air to empower and repair itself. In addition, this array would block sound and cover the space inside with thick mist.
With this barrier, Tang Hongyu wouldn't hear any sound if he screamed in agony. She also wouldn't see his body twitching in pain when she decided to check him out.
Don't get him wrong. Chen Fan was happy that Tang Hongyu was concerned about him. But sometimes the good intentions of an ignorant person can lead to disaster.
After completing and activating the arrays, Chen Fan started meditating again. Then, he began entering the Initial Stage of the Dao Spirit.
He started compressing his soul. This made him feel the pressure that made him uncomfortable as if his entire body was being pressed inward from the outside, then the pain… oh, the excruciating pain… came.
He had somewhat prepared himself for this outcome. However, he still underestimated the pain from compressing his soul.
It was too much!
He wasn't prepared for such an insane degree of agony!
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
He couldn't bear the agony and unconsciously screamed. At the same time, his body was sweating heavily and shivering fiercely.
Assailed by agony that couldn't be expressed in words, Chen Fan screamed, screamed, and kept screaming until his voice turned hoarse. His body was sweating heavily and shivering fiercely.
Despite the pain, he didn't dare to stop the process of compressing his soul. He endured the excruciating pain while desperately maintaining his focus on his task.
Time became meaningless for him. He only had a single thing in his mind. To complete this process safely!
Finally, the agonizing task was over. His soul had transformed into a ridiculously cute and adorable baby that slept peacefully.
He almost lost consciousness after he was done, but he managed to keep awake until he stored the Infant Spirit in his core.
Afterward, he let his consciousness slip and fell into sweet slumber.
…
Chen Fan woke up and groaned miserably. His body was sore like never before in his life!
After forming Dao Body, this was the first time he felt sore and tired. This pain and fatigue didn't come from his body but his soul, so the passive regeneration of the Dao Body was useless.
Then, he recalled what happened before he lost consciousness. He said with a grimace, "Right, I compressed my soul. Damn, I never thought that it would hurt that much!"
He got up to a sitting position and then stretched his stiff muscles. He looked up at the clear sky and saw it was still morning.
Although the barrier was blocking the view from outside, it didn't block him from looking outside. He could see outside without any problems.
"How long have I been unconscious?" He wondered and soon got the answer. "Huh, only twenty-four hours? Coupled with the twelve hours I had spent compressing my soul, around thirty six hours had passed. Should I take a break?"
Unfortunately, he remembered that he had to plant the Dao Seed in his Infant Spirit.
He couldn't delay it.
The longer he delays it, the more dangerous the attempt to plant the Dao Seed in his Infant Spirit will be.
In fact, it can be fatal.
The best time to plant the Dao Seed is after transferring the Infant Spirit into the Core. However, he'd fallen unconscious after transferring his Infant Spirit.
Although he'd lost consciousness for around 24 hours, delaying the planting of the Dao Seed for that long wouldn't cause lasting problems.
Then, he realized that the process of planting the Dao Seed in the Infant Spirit wasn't easy even though it wasn't as painful as compressing his soul.
His face twisted miserably as he imagined another painful session that he had to experience.
"Shit! I'm afraid that I'll turn into a masochist if the painful procedure keeps repeating! I don't want to be a masochist! Only madness lay in waiting in that path!"
He wouldn't be seduced by the dark side!
After calming down, he put his worries aside and started meditating. He must be ready for what was to come.
Around thirty minutes later, Chen Fan was ready. Then, he started the next procedure.
He chose True Void as the property of his Dao Seed, the same property as his Dao Body. Then, he planted it inside the Infant Spirit.
It was very painful just as he assumed. It was as if your chest was being drilled slowly.
He couldn't ignore the pain because it came from his soul. Still, he didn't scream like before.
Looks like his pain tolerance had improved considerably after what he had experienced. He gnashed his teeth as he endured the agonizing process.
Around six hours later, the agonizing procedure was finally over.
"Finally, the painful steps are done. The next step won't be as painful as before, though it's supposed to be time-consuming. Oh well, I can cheat on this one! But, before that, I'm gonna catch a break first…"
He let his body fall backward and lay on his back. Then, he watched the bright sky absently.