Comprehension and Force
Bang!
4th Layer Qi Palace Realm.
Bang!
5th Layer Qi Palace Realm.
Bang!
6th Layer Qi Palace Realm…
One by one, Yaan ascended through the layers of the Qi Palace Realm. Now that he had built up some experience with these ascensions, he was able to use his Sea of Consciousness to deduce the number of Origin Soul Realm cultivators that he needed to kill in order to refine enough Slaughter Aura to succeed in each breakthrough.
The amount of required Slaughter Aura increased exponentially for every subsequent breakthrough. This was not because each layer was substantially more powerful than the last, but simply because Yaan's comprehension of the realm boundary was becoming weaker and weaker as he continued to force his way through these breakthroughs. To overcome this comprehension deficit, he needed to be even more forceful with every following ascension.
To reach the 4th Layer, killing three of the unfortunate powerhouses was still enough. To reach the 5th Layer, he executed six pitiful souls. To reach the 6th Layer, he actually needed to kill 12 individuals at the Origin Soul Realm!
Yaan took a few days between each breakthrough to allow his foundation to settle and to deduce the amount of Slaughter Aura needed for the next breakthrough. After the 6th Layer ascension, he was even more diligent, because he almost injured his Qi refining system due to the overwhelming force of the breakthrough.
With less than three months remaining until the three year deadline, he could not afford to injure himself and then spend months recovering from these injuries. Perhaps he had enough leeway for one or two more periods of recovery, but even that was pushing it. It would be best to do his utmost to avoid sustaining damage in the first place.
But of course, that was easier said than done. With each ascension requiring more Slaughter Aura than the last, and with Yaan's comprehension and perception of the boundary becoming weaker and weaker, the breakthroughs were now quite violent and overly forced.
Yaan sighed to himself, but there was nothing else that he could do other than persevere!
Ordinary Qi refiners, or even demonic race Qi refiners, could actually attempt to breakthrough into the Spirit Core Realm or Demon Core Realm from the 3rd Layer Qi Palace and Qi Temple Realms. Since progressing further through the Qi Palace and Qi Temple Realms before attempting this breakthrough led to the development of a superior foundation and an increased talent in ascending through the Core Realms, everyone would attempt to reach as high a layer as possible before challenging the final breakthrough to the new realm.
But for Yaan, it was different. The Vital Qi Core was too powerful, it combined the benefits of Vital Energy and Qi into one power, whilst also allowing the cultivator to fuse together their body cultivation and Qi refining cultivation! This extreme core could not be formed with a lacking foundation; the only way to form the Vital Qi Core was to first reach the 9th Layer Qi Palace Realm!
"The 9th Layer…" Yaan muttered to himself with an uncertain expression.
To orthodox Qi refiners, the 9th Layer represented the peak of Qi refining talent. Even for most demonic race Qi refiners, reaching the 9th Layer usually meant possessing a supreme ability to comprehend the realm boundaries of the Qi refining path. Reaching this stage was extraordinarily rare, in fact, the only cultivator whom Yaan personally knew to have attained this stage was Zue Yin. That said, he knew that there were others in the Fragment Sect to achieve this level, it wasn't completely unheard of.
But still, for someone to reach this point forcefully? It would be difficult, extremely difficult!
Yaan took a deep breath and prepared himself to continue. He knew that the 7th Layer breakthrough would be many times more troublesome than the last.
The layers in the Qi Palace Realm could be split into three groups of three; the 1st through 3rd Layers, the 4th through 6th Layers and the 7th through 9th Layers. Going from the 3rd to the 4th and the 6th to the 7th Layers was a well known difference in difficulty. It would also make a big difference to a Qi refining cultivator's future prospects if they were able to overcome these boundaries prior to their ascension to the Spirit Core Realm.
Even though Yaan was now at the peak of the 6th Layer, the boundary between this stage and the 7th Layer felt like it was covered in a thick wall of fog. He was barely able to perceive the existence of this boundary. Ordinarily, it should be impossible to ascend past the boundary when he was unable to properly comprehend its mysteries…
The boundary between cultivation realms was like a bridge, in order to cross this bridge, it was necessary to understand the method to navigate across.
But alternatively, the boundary between realms could be viewed as a wall. Others would study this wall over an extended period of time, eventually finding a loophole which would grant them smooth passageway to the other side. Right now, Yaan's method consisted of shattering this wall with brute force!
These were just metaphors which could be used to explain the process of comprehending and crossing a boundary, allowing a cultivator to ascend realms. In reality, a realm boundary was far more complex than a bridge or a wall, but because of this complexity, using such a forceful method was even more shocking!
And naturally, it was more dangerous.
Chi chi chi…
Yaan's blade, the demonic sword, was like a scythe of death, reaping the lives of all that it touched. Origin Soul Realm powerhouses were cut down like grass. Their blood flowed at first, but the strange power of the sword caused this blood to dry up alongside their rapidly withering corpses.
Turned from esteemed elders to withered corpses in an instant…this was the fate of all those targeted by a single immortal.
The Slaughter Aura built up, causing a torrent of bloodlust to fill Yaan's mind and heart. He remained unmoved, now more than accustomed to dealing with these feelings. The bloodlust was not the problem, the problem was what came next…
Whoosh!
The Slaughter Aura stormed into his dantian, rapidly converting into Slaughter Qi and filling the dantian with a dense slaughterous power. The six story tall black palace was now shrouded in a demonic mist of Slaughter Qi, which was rapidly gathering in the sky, forming dense grey clouds.
As more of these clouds gathered, they seemed to take up the entire space of the dantian. At this point, when the clouds started overlapping with the surging ocean down below, Yaan forced the thick gatherings of Slaughter Qi to fuse into the Qi Palace!
Bang!
Yaan was beyond forceful this time, he urged his Psyche Power to gather into a single, powerful psyche avatar, then used this avatar to force as much of the Slaughter Qi into the Qi Palace as possible. An explosive ripple spread outwards, and the shock sent the ocean and clouds into disarray.
As the Slaughter Qi was thrust outwards, Yaan's heart skipped a beat for a moment. He felt his dantian being stretched by the forceful outwards movement of the Slaughter Qi, it was an extremely unnerving feeling.
Yaan hastily regained control over the situation, only breathing out a sigh of relief once the Slaughter Qi returned to its usual stable but still ferocious state.
"The 7th Layer!" Yaan opened his eyes and smiled.
He successfully reached the 7th Layer without sustaining injuries! This was an excellent result, it allowed him to continue with his cultivation after just three days. This time period was necessary in order to settle his foundation to the bare minimum degree.
After killing 33 cultivators to reach the 7th Layer, Yaan calculated that he needed to kill twice this number if he wanted to assure his success in reaching the 8th Layer. At this point, he could barely even perceive the existence of the realm boundary, forcing him to waste most of the Slaughter Aura just to increase the intensity of his assault towards this illusive target.
After going through difficulties which were similar but more intense compared to his ascension to the 7th Layer, Yaan successfully reached the 8th Layer!
At this point, he sustained light injuries to his Qi Channels. Luckily, these injuries were not too severe, whilst he managed to avoid damaging his dantian and other meridians.
After slightly less than one month, he was ready to take the last step within the Qi Palace Realm.
The ascension to the 9th Layer…
Despite being so close now, Yaan's expression was grim.
"I actually can't perceive the 9th Layer boundary at all!"
This was a big problem!
Usually, a Qi refiner needed to possess perfect comprehension over the realm boundary in order to smoothly ascend.
Yaan relied on force to compensate for his lack of comprehension. However, he still needed to perceive the existence of the boundary at the very least. If he could not even feel the boundary, then what was he supposed to attack? What good was brute force if it completely lacked a target?
After searching for a few hours but finding nothing, Yaan sighed and turned towards the Immortal Ancestor. He did not have much hope in turning to this person, but he at least felt the need to try.
"Any advice?" He asked without explaining his dilemma, knowing that this immortal had already seen through all of his problems.
"Succeed within 77 days, or I will take your life." The white-haired immortal replied nonchalantly.
Yaan's eye twitched. How was that advice? That was just a threat!
But what else could he do?
And so, Yaan's crazed ascension was forcefully put on hold as he searched for a way forwards. The only idea he could think of was to meditate, cultivating like an ordinary Qi refiner for once in his search of the realm boundary. So long as he could perceive even a trace of the realm boundary, then at least he would have a target to aim for, no matter how faint it may be.
After searching for slightly over one month, Yaan found a trace of the tiniest corner of the boundary. Or at least, he thought it was so…regardless, this was the only lead that he had discovered in this period of time. If he let go of this now, then who knew when another opportunity might arise. He needed to take this gamble!
Without further hesitation, Yaan leapt to his feet, grabbing the demonic sword and quickly rushing across the many stone pillars….
Chi chi chi!
Yaan ruthlessly cut down each cultivator one by one. He ignored their unconscious hatred and resentment which stormed into his heart, continuing on with the massacre.
Blood flowed, heads rolled, but Yaan was focussed on the realm boundary and nothing else.
Compared to his own life which was at stake here, why would he bother with the lives of some strangers? This was the cruelty of the cultivation world. If a person could not handle this, then they were not qualified to become a proper cultivator!
Yaan had struggled to accept this early on in life, but now, he was most certainly qualified.
As the Slaughter Aura reached its peak, Yaan stopped moving. Still holding the sword in one hand, he closed his red eyes and took a deep breath.
Whoosh!
All of the Slaughter Aura generated from the over one hundred cultivators was refined nearly instantly, immediately transforming into a thick cloud of Slaughter Qi within the dantian.
In the next instant, the Slaughter Qi became even thicker as the remainder of the Slaughter Aura was refined. At this point, the clouds solidified into liquid Slaughter Qi; Yaan's entire dantian was submerged in liquid Slaughter Qi!
The eight floor tall palace was now underwater, hidden within the thick depths of this abyssal environment…
A whirlpool formed within the dantian. Yaan exerted every ounce of control that he could muster, sending the ocean surging into the palace in a single giant wave!
CRACK!
Cracks formed across the palace surface.
CREE!
The dantian and meridians creaked as they were expanded and violently vibrated from side to side. The entire Qi refining system sustained damage, but Yaan ignored this for now as exhilaration filled his heart.
At this point, even though his situation was precarious, he felt some degree of relief…because the tiny trace that he had latched onto just now was indeed the 9th Layer boundary!
BANG!
Blood spurted out from Yaan's body, collecting into the shockwave released as a result of the sudden breakthrough. His entire body became died in red, whilst his skin below this layer of blood turned pale; he was clearly injured.
His dantian sustained the least damage, but it was still damaged. As for his meridians and Qi Channels, these were even worse off. But…
He succeeded!
The 9th Layer of the Qi Palace Realm!