Chapter 256
BOOM!
Long Que spread its wings and shrieked, summoning a torrent of pitch-black light that slammed violently against the Shenzhao barrier!
Amid the deafening roar, the barrier quaked wildly!
The phoenix shattered itself, transforming into a sky-wide cascade of black light that rained down in all directions.
The next instant.
Vast quantities of spiritual energy surged in, and Long Que’s phantom form recondensed, flapping its wings and shrieking as it charged once more toward the Shenzhao barrier!
At the same time.
A sharp, snapping crack suddenly rang out!
CRACK!
The Wheel-Turning Apparition glowed entirely golden, its royal aura sweeping outward; golden light blazed from its fingers, forcibly cracking the thick barrier!
Its expression was cold and indifferent, golden light blazing fiercely in its palm as it struck again and again.
Once, then again, hammering relentlessly against the cracks in the barrier!
The two realms’ spiritual essence, though transparent in form.
Yet the spiritual energy upon them surged violently, trembling outward in wild waves!
For three years.
Jiang Jian trained day and night without a single moment of slack.
His latent spiritual essence was immense beyond measure.
Each time the two realms manifested, becoming transparent.
Vast quantities of spiritual essence surged up from deep within the two acupoints, continuously feeding the manifestation!
Accumulate deeply, strike lightly!
Jiang Jian directed the manifestation’s strikes.
Straight at the center of the Shenzhao barrier—the thickest, most resilient part!
The Shenque and Yongquan acupoints.
The walls of the acupoints trembled uncontrollably, pushed to their absolute limit!
Spiritual energy roared like a raging ocean, surging toward the manifestation in a silent scream!
Every single strand of spiritual essence painstakingly cultivated.
Now, at this very moment, became an endless stream of backing force, furiously striking the Shenzhao barrier!
Exerting its maximum possible effect to shatter the barrier!
The accumulated cultivation foundation a living being gathers in the first two realms.
At this instant.
Was proven most truly!
CRACK!
Another thunderous crack echoed through the heavens!
The barrier that had stood firm and thick before him.
Now began to collapse from its very center!
At the island’s center.
Jiang Jian sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, face pale.
Above his head, a vast vortex of spiritual energy roared as it spun, splitting into hundreds of streams that descended downward!
Each stream carried immense quantities of pure spiritual energy, easily absorbable by any living being!
This was a unique trait of the “Initial Star Ring Fragments”!
Though these external spiritual energies could not replace cultivation foundation to directly strike the Shenzhao barrier.
They could protect the living being’s acupoints, forming a spiritual energy barrier that prevented the foundation’s explosive release from shattering the body.
“The Supreme Divine Palace is not enough.”
Jiang Jian’s spirit hardened, and he halted his assault.
No longer targeting the barrier’s center.
Instead, he drove the manifestation to strike the entire surface of the Shenzhao barrier!
If any living being had been present to witness this scene.
They would have frozen in place, utterly terrified!
The Shenzhao barrier naturally exists within a living being’s divine palace.
As long as a hole is punched into it.
No matter how large or small the hole.
Spiritual essence can seep into the divine palace.
Thus achieving breakthrough.
Becoming a living being of the Shenzhao Linzhen realm.
The larger the hole, and the thicker the location where it is punched.
The greater the potential of the divine palace the living being will achieve.
Because the Shenzhao barrier.
In itself.
Is a non-renewable, unique, and precious resource!
All living beings are born with identical Shenzhao barriers—extremely thin, with no differences whatsoever.
As a living being trains continuously.
The Shenzhao barrier grows thicker and thicker.
Depending on cultivation conditions, each individual faces vastly different Shenzhao barriers when breaking through.
Once shattered.
The fragments that fall from the Shenzhao barrier.
Will flow into the divine palace along with the spiritual essence.
Becoming the most fundamental potential foundation of the Divine Palace realm!
This is why large fragments falling from thick sections of the barrier, once punched through, enable living beings to forge Supreme Divine Palaces.
At the same time.
Some Celestial Prodigies of Deyue sought even stronger divine palaces.
Not only did they strike cracks into the thickest part of the Shenzhao barrier.
But they spared no effort, using every possible means to expand the crack before it shattered.
Until the barrier reached its absolute limit and could no longer hold.
Then they shattered it all at once.
Only then.
Would the Shenzhao barrier shed more fragments upon breaking, transforming into the potential foundation of the Divine Palace realm.
Once a hole appeared in the barrier.
Spiritual energy, unimpeded, flooded into the divine palace.
Instantly, the living being broke through.
The remaining Shenzhao barrier would remain frozen in place, forever present—and utterly unusable.
From then on.
All spiritual essence required passage through the hole to enter the divine palace.
Jiang Jian calmed his mind, recalling the academy’s records.
According to secret records from the Deyue Academy.
And the scenes he had witnessed in the Face-the-Wall Hall.
Among the current Lingtai realm cultivators of the four Deyue realms.
All, when breaking through to the Divine Palace realm.
Had shattered at least two-thirds of the entire Shenzhao barrier, starting from its thickest point!
No living being who broke through with less than two-thirds of the barrier shattered had ever reached the Lingtai realm.
The one who impressed Jiang Jian most was the Lingxi True Lord of the Surface Realm.
His entire breakthrough process.
Had been displayed in full, in meticulous detail, upon the Face-the-Wall Wall.
Lingxi True Lord was not human.
He was the sole, unprecedented being on Earth to attain Lingtai realm status without ever being a formal citizen.
When breaking through to the Divine Palace realm.
He transformed his primal demonic power into his true Lingxi form and slammed into the Shenzhao barrier.
Relying entirely on his own foundation.
He struck with violent, direct force, colliding head-on.
It relies entirely on its own foundation.
Violent collision, direct and unyielding.
In the end, the Divine Illumination barrier was shattered and collapsed, literally broken into two-thirds!
Vast fragments of the Divine Illumination barrier, along with the primal demonic energy, surged into the Divine Palace and settled within.
These precious foundations were accumulated.
They provided indispensable aid for his later insight into the Spirit Platform, over a century hence.
“Shattering the Divine Illumination barrier—yet even the Pure World Divine Flame couldn’t be used.”
Jiang Jian paused his actions for a moment, frowning.
He had already estimated it.
If he relied on his own foundational reserves,
punching a hole through the thickest part of the barrier wouldn’t be difficult.
But,
if he did that,
the remaining Divine Illumination barrier would be utterly wasted.
This was something Jiang Jian could absolutely not accept.
Moreover,
Jiang Jian had just tried activating the ice-blue radiance, only to discover it was utterly useless during breakthrough.
Every living being has only one chance to break through the Divine Illumination barrier!
If he broke through now,
then,
the remaining barrier fragments would immediately change their nature and lose all spiritual essence.
And they would become a bottleneck blocking spiritual energy from entering the Divine Palace!
The reason why beings in the Divine Palace realm vary so drastically in power—so immensely that it’s suffocating—
lies largely here.
This is it.
Some beings lack sufficient cultivation foundations.
Even after exhausting all their strength, they can only punch a tiny hole in the thinnest part of the Divine Illumination barrier.
As a result,
although they attain the Divine Palace realm,
the amount of barrier fragments they obtain is minuscule, nearly nonexistent.
Meanwhile,
because the hole is too small,
the remaining barrier changes nature and becomes an unbreakable obstruction.
Therefore,
the spiritual energy that seeps into their Divine Palace,
whether in quantity or quality,
cannot compare to others’.
According to academy records,
every being capable of glimpsing the Spirit Platform,
during their Divine Palace stage,
shattered at least half of the Divine Illumination barrier.
This allowed spiritual energy to flow through
like a roaring ocean, a rushing great river.
Almost completely unimpeded.
“Every fragment of the Divine Illumination barrier is a unique resource.”
“Absolutely cannot be wasted.”
Jiang Jian carefully sensed his own foundational reserves.
For a moment, he made no hasty move.
In his estimation,
his two-stage cultivation foundation had reached perfection.
Nothing more could be gained.
But the barrier before the Divine Palace was far too thick.
Jiang Jian could not be certain
whether his current cultivation foundation
could shatter it completely, leaving not a single fragment behind.
If, during the assault, he accidentally punched a hole,
he would immediately succeed in breaking through.
The remaining Divine Illumination barrier would instantly change nature—and all of it would be wasted!
As he pondered,
Jiang Jian’s mind returned again to
Xu Suan, the True Lord he had heard most about in the Second Realm.
This True Lord of the Spirit Platform possessed extraordinary insight and peerless comprehension.
When he broke through to the Divine Palace,
he did not use his foundational reserves, nor did he exert brute force.
Instead, he sat in stillness for ten years upon the Star-Scattered Sea, contemplating the barrier.
When the moment arrived,
his spiritual awareness surged—he comprehended the barrier’s true nature.
The vast Divine Illumination barrier melted like snow and ice.
Most of it transformed into scattered micro-light, sinking into his Divine Palace.
According to the Wall-Contemplation Hall’s
secret records,
when Xu Suan broke through using comprehension,
he dissolved eighty percent of the Divine Illumination barrier.
Most Spirit Platform beings across the Four Realms of Earth and Moon
during their third realm stage, fall within this range.
“If I, like him, sat in stillness and cultivated insight, I might yet dissolve this barrier entirely.”
Jiang Jian sat cross-legged on the ground, thinking of Xu Suan’s deeds.
Though his emotions carried respect,
deep within his spirit, he held an unyielding pride equal to any being’s.
If measured by comprehension,
Jiang Jian boasted that his spiritual mind and insight
would not be inferior to any living being’s.
“Yet, this method,”
“takes too long.”
After consideration,
his eyes narrowed in thought.
He did not choose this method—for now.
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
