Chapter 22: The Dumbfounded Tianmeng Ice Silkworm

Chapter 22: The Dumbfounded Tianmeng Ice Silkworm

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was extremely nervous, stammering, "What are you doing? Big Bro can't understand your actions at all!"

"Begin fusion, now! Quickly!"

Qian Zhaoguang didn't explain, simply issuing a swift command in his mind before fully circulating the Spirit Refining Art, driving his Pseudo-Spirit Awareness upwards.

"How did I end up with such a strange human brat like you!"

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm complained resentfully, but steeled its heart and began to increase the intensity of its spiritual origin fusion.

The dense white light became even more solidified, slowly pouring into Qian Zhaoguang's body, while its own physical form gradually grew transparent and shrank in the process.

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had already realized Qian Zhaoguang was right earlier.

If they didn't quickly open up this 'Sea of Consciousness' he spoke of, the two of them would immediately perish together.

According to the description in the Spirit Refining Art, this was an exceptionally difficult threshold. The slightest mishap could potentially lead to death.

After a cultivator reached perfection in the first stage, if they wished to continue cultivating downwards (progress further), they first had to open up something called the Sea of Consciousness.

Only by opening the Sea of Consciousness would the subsequently transformed spiritual power have a place to reside, preventing it from exploding and turning the cultivator into an idiot.

Right now, Qian Zhaoguang was undergoing this very process.

He controlled his Pseudo-Spirit Awareness, carrying Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's vast spiritual origin, continuously surging upwards, directly towards the Niwan Palace, also known as the Upper Dantian.

Unlike the traditional Soul Master cultivation methods of Douluo, the location of Qian Zhaoguang's Sea of Consciousness was naturally different from the location of a traditional Soul Master's Sea of Spirit.

The Pseudo-Spirit Awareness shone brightly at the very top. Leveraging the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's immense origin power, it effortlessly broke through the sealed bottleneck, advancing unimpeded.

"Prepare for impact. I'm going to detonate the spiritual power after extreme compression. The moment I detonate it, you rapidly inject your origin. Success or failure hinges on this single move."

"What? Detonate spiritual power? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Qian Zhaoguang's abrupt statement startled the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.

In its view, spiritual power was the very origin of a living being. Once spiritual power was detonated, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But...

Even if it objected, it would be useless.

Before the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could say anything more, the Pseudo-Spirit Awareness pulsed erratically like a heart, and a violent explosion roared within Qian Zhaoguang's mind.

An explosion akin to the beginning of the universe occurred within his Niwan Palace. The massive amount of compressed spiritual power violently blew open the Niwan Palace, expanding it to an unbelievable extent.

This was the nascent Sea of Consciousness.

At that very moment, an incredible transformation seemed to occur at the spot between his eyebrows.

The Ancestral Aperture opened at this instant, seemingly becoming a bridge connecting Heaven and Earth with the embryonic Sea of Consciousness.

The starlight-like point diffused outwards, spreading to every corner, dyeing the entire Sea of Consciousness a pale gold.

The Pseudo-Spirit Awareness had completed its transformation at this moment, evolving into true Spirit Awareness.

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm stared blankly at everything unfolding before it.

It could sense that this Spirit Awareness was incomparably powerful, and the Sea of Consciousness was as stable as an eternal rampart, but it simply couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

In its perception, Qian Zhaoguang's spiritual power level had instantly surpassed its own, evolving to a state of having both form and substance.

To it, this was simply too incredible.

As an unprecedented million-year soul beast, it had strived for centuries without achieving this transformation, yet at this moment, the host it had chosen had done it.

"Don't just stand there gaping! Accelerate the fusion! This is just the first step of a ten-thousand-li long march! How far we two brothers can go in the future depends entirely on this moment. Expanding the Sea of Consciousness later will be as difficult as climbing to the heavens!"

Qian Zhaoguang's voice echoed within the nascent Sea of Consciousness.

Unbeknownst to Tianmeng, Electrolux's Divine Sense had also relocated into the Sea of Consciousness.

Both Qian Zhaoguang's spiritual power and Electrolux's spiritual power were referred to as 'Shen Shi' (神识 - Spirit/Divine Awareness/Sense), but they were fundamentally different.

The former 'Shen' (神) referred to the spirit/mind.

It relied on one's own power, using a special method to directly sublimate the spiritual body to an extremely high level before beginning cultivation, essentially being born directly in Rome. Future progress would primarily be a process of accumulation, with almost no bottlenecks.

The latter 'Shen' (神) referred to divinity/godhood (神祇).

It was an enhancement and transformation of spiritual power gained incidentally after elevating one's fundamental life essence. The root difference was immense.

It was hard to say which was superior or inferior.

The appearance of Spirit Awareness allowed Qian Zhaoguang to perform various incredible feats using spiritual power in the early stages, but the price was that the difficulty of cultivation increased geometrically, primarily reflected in the cultivation speed.

However, Qian Zhaoguang currently had no time to ponder these miscellaneous details; there were even greater difficulties awaiting him.

Under the control of his newly born Spirit Awareness, his soul power within his (lower) Dantian underwent a similarly violent explosion.

This explosion didn't destroy his Dantian, but it shattered all the meridians within his body into tiny fragments.

Qian Zhaoguang let out an inhuman roar, his face contorted beyond recognition.

Severing all one's own meridians – the agony was almost impossible to describe in words.

The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, caught in the fusion process, was completely呆滞 (dāizhì -呆滞 - sluggish/motionless/dumbfounded).

First, self-detonating spiritual power, now self-detonating soul power and shattering all meridians... Is he really trying to commit suicide?

Is it too late for me to run away now?

A dense barrage of cracking sounds erupted from Qian Zhaoguang's bones and sinews. The sounds, though not loud, carried a heart-stopping quality, as if his entire body might explode in the next second.

Purplish-red blood continuously seeped from the surface of his body, the fragments of his ruptured meridians flowing out directly along with the blood.

If someone were observing from the side at this moment, they would undoubtedly be stunned by the sight.

Qian Zhaoguang had completely become a figure drenched in blood. His clothes were thoroughly soaked in purplish-red blood, which was then frozen into a layer of blood armor by the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's cold aura, looking utterly terrifying.

The dwindling life energy from the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's main body continuously poured into his Dantian, replenishing the deficit.

Now, within Qian Zhaoguang's Dantian, a vortex composed of soul power gradually formed. The soul power that had scattered throughout his body after the earlier explosion was controlled by the vortex and his Spirit Awareness, continuously gathering into illusory outlines of meridians.

Yes, reshaping the meridians – this was the very first step in formally cultivating the Qi Refining Art, and also the reason why his previous cultivation had seemed so fast.

Because that hadn't been true cultivation rank at all, merely fuel accumulated for the purpose of reshaping the meridians.

At this point, Qian Zhaoguang no longer had the strength to roar, only managing hoarse gasps from his throat.

This was truly too painful!

Within the newly opened Sea of Consciousness, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm exclaimed in alarm, "Hey, hey, hey! Are you alright!? You're not gonna kick the bucket, are you, you brat!?"

"Shut up! Accelerate your fusion process!"

Qian Zhaoguang roared back painfully within the Sea of Consciousness, then began guiding the remainder of Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's origin power to combine with his own.

At this moment, the aura around his body plummeted rapidly, dropping directly from Level 10 back to the state before he had even awakened his Martial Soul.

The soul power vortex within his Dantian emitted a powerful suction force, drawing in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Energy, as well as the final vestiges of power within the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.

This residual power, which the original Huo Gua couldn't absorb, was something Qian Zhaoguang's physique was strong enough to withstand, making it perfectly usable for him now.

Vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Origin Energy were drawn into his Dantian, continuously compressed and shaped within the soul power vortex, solidifying into an inverted trapezoidal golden base. It looked as if crafted from pure gold, appearing exceptionally magnificent.

The instant the golden base took shape, Qian Zhaoguang's depleted aura skyrocketed rapidly, directly rushing into the Level 13 range before finally stopping.

The most crucial element of the Qi Refining Art – the Qi Sea – opening complete!

(End of Chapter)