Chapter 303

At the summit of the Cloud Sea, time flows in another dimension.

This is the forbidden ground of the Ninth Dao Institute, an independent cave heaven opened by Dean Jiang Mingyuan with supreme power from the main spirit vein node. Clouds and mist swirl year-round, and the spirit qi is so dense it condenses into visible pale gold spirit mist, refracting into a dreamlike halo under sunlight and moonlight.

Wondrous flowers and strange herbs grow in cliff crevices, exhaling fragrant dao rhythm when they inhale and exhale spirit qi; occasionally, illusory phantoms of spirit birds and strange beasts flash through the Cloud Sea—manifestations of concentrated spirit qi naturally condensing.

Wang Ping's cultivation quiet chamber lies in a natural stone grotto on the east side of the Lone Peak; outside, a waterfall cascades, its gentle sound oddly free of clamor, instead bringing a tranquility that washes away worldly dust. The chamber's furnishings are extremely simple.

A meditation cushion, a stone table, and an ever-bright jade lamp—yet each is extraordinary.

The cushion is woven from ten-thousand-year clear-heart grass; sitting on it calms the mind and steadies the will. The stone table is carved from a single piece of Enlightenment Stone, aiding in comprehending cultivation methods.

The lamp burns thousand-year whale marrow; its flame is steady and soft, and its aura can nourish the soul.

Since returning from the Heaven-Reaching Tower that day, Wang Ping has been in secluded cultivation here for over a month.

On this day, at the third quarter of the Yin hour, the sky was still dark.

Wang Ping opened his eyes on schedule; five-colored light flickered in his pupils for an instant before returning to deep calm.

He rose and left the quiet chamber, arriving at a protruding Cloud-Viewing Platform outside the grotto. The platform is paved with white jade, three sides overhanging, facing the endless Cloud Sea to the east.

Facing east, he formed hand seals before his chest; as his finger signs shifted, they stirred the qi throughout his body.

As the first wisp of purple qi burst from the far end of the Cloud Sea, Wang Ping drew a deep breath.

This inhalation was like a great whale drinking water; within a radius of a hundred zhang, the pale gold spirit mist surged violently, forming visible vortices that entered his body through his mouth and nose and through the 3,065 apertures all over his body.

Spiritual mist entered the body, not chaotic but precisely diverted: the purest metal-attribute spiritual energy flowed into the lung meridian, green wood energy into the liver meridian, black water energy into the kidney meridian, red fire energy into the heart meridian, yellow earth energy into the spleen meridian. The Five Elements each went to their proper place, not the slightest disorder.

This is the first significant change brought by Nascent Soul-level divine sense—the utmost discernment and control over spiritual energy attributes!

In past cultivation, although Wang Ping could sense the differences in spiritual energy attributes, absorption inevitably entailed mixing, requiring gradual purification and separation through the circulation of qi within the body.

Now that his divine sense has broken through to the Nascent Soul level, with a mere flick of thought he can guide different-attribute spiritual energies as easily as moving his fingers—how could cultivation efficiency not increase manifold!

Purple qi came from the east, and the rosy glow gradually stained the sea of clouds.

Within Wang Ping's body, five distinct-attribute torrents of spiritual energy surged along their respective meridians, finally converging into the dantian qi sea.

In the dantian, five golden cores hovered and rotated, like five miniature stars. The metal-attribute golden core was pure white, its sharp aura concealed within; the wood-attribute golden core was lush green, dripping with vitality.

The water-attribute golden core was deep azure, like still deep waters; the fire-attribute golden core was blazing red, fierce and domineering; the earth-attribute golden core was heavy yellow earth, bearing all things.

As the torrents of spiritual energy poured in, the five golden cores' light grew brighter; as they slowly rotated, their qi interconnected, forming a stable Five Elements circulation system.

Metal produces water—silvery threads of white qi streamed from the surface of the golden core and flowed into the water golden core.

Water nourishes wood—the azure light of the water golden core nurtured the wood golden core's verdant hue; wood fuels fire—the verdant wood energy stirred the fire golden core to blaze fiercely; fire creates earth—the blazing red fire burned down to become yellow earth.

Earth produces metal—within the heavy earth energy, specks of golden light separated out and returned to the golden core.

The cycle repeats, endless and unceasing.

With each complete cycle, the five golden cores' volume condensed a bit more, their color grew purer, and the profound dao patterns on their surfaces became clearer and deeper.

And Wang Ping's cultivation, in this day-after-day morning practice, steadily advanced toward late Golden Core.

After an hour, the rising sun fully leapt out of the sea of clouds, golden light shining everywhere.

Wang Ping slowly withdrew his practice and exhaled a long, distant breath of turbid qi.

That breath, three feet from his body, actually condensed and did not disperse, turning into a murky gray stream in which faint impurity particles could be seen—this was the last filament of dross he had refined out of his spiritual energy from last night's cultivation and this morning's practice.

"The seventh transformation of the golden core is complete." Wang Ping sensed his dantian and understood clearly in his heart.

The progress of a Golden Core cultivator's cultivation is often described by "how many transformations of the golden core".

One to three transformations are early stage, four to six are mid stage, seven to nine are late stage, and nine transformations perfected allow one to assault the Nascent Soul.

Wang Ping's foundation is deep, and having undergone the "life from death" rebirth, his golden core's essence is extremely high, his recovery speed far surpassing ordinary people. After more than a month of arduous training, he has steadily progressed from the three-transformation threshold upon leaving the pagoda to the seven-transformation realm, officially entering late Golden Core!

More importantly, his current seven-transformation golden core exceeds ordinary nine-transformation golden core cultivators in condensation degree, spiritual power purity, and dao pattern completeness.

This is the foundation of having perfected Point Spirit, possessing all Five Elements, and having been tempered by life-and-death trials.

At the chen hour, Wang Ping returned to the quiet chamber and began today's main practice—the second layer of the Refining Spirit Technique, the 'Tempering Spirit Chapter'.

He sat cross-legged on the futon, his mind sinking into the sea of consciousness.

The world of the sea of consciousness is vast and boundless, yet contains profound mysteries.

At the center, the will star that had undergone the life-and-death tempering of the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda now emitted an enduring, warm light. Its body was about the size of a fist, its color not uniform but a chaotic gray-white; upon closer inspection, five-colored specks of light twinkled like stars within it.

This is the concrete manifestation of the fusion of Wang Ping's Five Elements origin, chaotic true intent, and indomitable will.

The surface of the will star was covered with intricate, profound runes. These runes were not static, but like living things slowly flowed, reorganized, and evolved.

Some took the shape of mountains, heavy and stable; some resembled flowing water, supple and enduring.

Some were like rising flames, blazing fiercely; some were like the clash of metal, sharp beyond compare; still others were like the earth's veins, bearing all things.

This is the Soul‑Sealing Rune condensed in the first layer of the Refine God Decree's Spirit‑Condensing Chapter; after being tempered in the Life‑Death Dao Fire, it has already undergone an anomalous change, faintly emitting the spiritual fluctuation unique to Spirit‑Realm Dao arts.

Wang Ping could clearly sense that these runes were deeply bound to his own comprehension of the Five Elements Great Dao.

When he contemplated the mysteries of the fire element, the flame‑shaped runes became more active and bright; when he grasped the true meaning of water, the flowing‑water runes glowed with a faint azure light.

They seemed to have become a recorder and amplifier for Wang Ping's Dao comprehension on the soul‑spirit level.

And today, Wang Ping intends to attempt a third soul‑consciousness condensation.

The first two condensations were successful: the first used the insight of 'Samsara of Life and Death' as the Dao fire, the second used the initial realization of 'Five Elements Circulation, Chaos Returns to One' as the seed fire.

Each success brought a qualitative leap in his soul‑consciousness; now its strength has solidified at the peak of early Nascent Soul, faintly touching the threshold of mid‑Nascent Soul!

"For the third condensation, I will use 'Five Elements Mutual Generation and Contraction, Evolving All Things' as the seed fire," Wang Ping had already planned in his mind.

He gathered his mind, and his thoughts sank into stillness.

First step: 'Gather the spirit to form the cauldron.'

In the sea of consciousness, vast soul‑consciousness power began to surge. This power is no longer the former hazy mist; it has become solid like quicksilver, heavy yet agile.

Under Wang Ping's will, the soul‑consciousness power gathered, compressed, and took shape beneath the will‑star.

This process demands utmost precise control. Though formless and intangible, the soul‑consciousness must be forcibly condensed into a 'cauldron' shape to serve as the tempering vessel—a difficulty easy to imagine.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Wang Ping's forehead, all his spirit poured into it.

One double-hour passed.

A statue about three Chinese feet tall, with three legs and two ears, its entire body formed from pure spiritual light, finally took shape as an illusory furnace cauldron.

On the furnace cauldron's surface, faint Five Elements Dao patterns could be seen flowing, resonating faintly with the runes on the Will Star.

This is the 'Quenching Spirit Furnace', one of the core divine abilities of the second layer of the Refining Spirit Technique, which can be continually strengthened as the practitioner's realm rises, and is the supreme method for tempering spiritual sense and purifying soul power.

Second step, 'Guide Thought as Firewood'.

Wang Ping's thought moved; the scattered, minor thought threads in his sea of consciousness, as well as some redundant spiritual sense branches, were stripped away, turning into wisps of gray mist that were poured into the Quenching Spirit Furnace.

These 'firewood' are not dross, but essential 'fuel' for the tempering process; under the scorching of Dao Fire, their essence is refined and merged into the primary spiritual sense, while the dross is burned away and expelled.

Third step, the most crucial and perilous—'Ignite the Dao Fire'!

Wang Ping held his breath and focused, beginning to mobilize his own insight into the Five Elements' mutual generation and overcoming, and the transformation of all things.

He recalled the various insights gained since cultivating the Five Elements Divine Light: the metal element is sharp and can cut all things, yet can be refined by fire; the fire element is fierce, capable of burning the heavens and boiling the seas, yet can be extinguished by water.

The water element is gentle and moistens all beings, yet can be blocked by earth; the earth element is heavy and bears all things, yet can be penetrated by wood.

The wood element brims with life, growing vigorously upward, yet can be cut by metal—mutual generation and overcoming, endless cycle.

Furthermore, he thought of the endless variations of the Five Elements' combination: metal and water mutually generate, forming icy sword qi.

Wood and fire complement each other, capable of turning into prairie blazes; water and earth combine, able to evolve into swampy mire; fire and metal melt together, able to forge divine weapons; wood and earth rely on each other, able to nurture towering spiritual plants...

Rising to a higher level, he realized the Five Elements are not isolated but are the fundamental elements constituting all things in heaven and earth. Metal and stone deposits contain the qi of metal and earth; rivers, lakes, and seas hold the true intent of water; forests and grasslands display the vitality of wood; subterranean fire and magma are the fierceness of earth; high mountains and great ridges are the heaviness of earth... even wind, rain, thunder, lightning, the turning of the seasons, and the proliferation of living beings—all bear the traces of the Five Elements' mutual generation, overcoming, and evolution.

These insights flowed, collided, and merged in Wang Ping's heart.

At a certain moment, inspiration struck!

At the center of the Quenching Spirit Furnace, a strange point of flame suddenly blazed forth!

This flame was not a single color, but five colors flowing: at times gold-white blazing, at times verdant green dripping, at times deep azure, at times bright red scorching, at times earthy yellow heavy.

Amid the alternating five colors, a faint gray chaotic current also flowed, as if expounding the ultimate truth of the Five Elements' mutual generation and overcoming and the myriad transformations of all things!

'Five Elements Evolution Dao Fire, accomplished!'

Wang Ping felt a surge of joy, not daring to delay; he immediately guided this nascent strand of Dao Fire to begin scorching the 'firewood' in the furnace.

'Hiss—!'

Indescribable intense pain once again swept over body and soul!

This pain differed from the previous two; it was not merely a crushing tearing sensation, but as if countless minute Five Elements forces collided, exploded, and recombined deep within body and soul!

At times like golden needles piercing acupoints, sharp pain; at times like a blazing fire scorching the soul, intense heat burning.

At times like icy cold covering the body, freezing consciousness; at times like a massive mountain pressing down, heavy and suffocating; at times like myriad trees piercing the heart, vitality and destruction intertwined...

Wang Ping clenched his teeth, his whole body's muscles tensed, veins bulged on his forehead, and sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

He clung tightly to that point of clarity in his sea of consciousness; the Will Star spun wildly, shedding firm, steady light to suppress the turmoil of body and soul.

In the Quenching Spirit Furnace, the Dao Fire blazed fiercely.

The gray 'firewood' began to churn violently under the scorching of the five-colored flames; impurities were burned into wisps of black smoke, expelled through the furnace cauldron's cracks—these were the distracting thoughts, heart-devil seeds, and minute flaws accumulated from past cultivation within body and soul.

The essence, meanwhile, under the Dao Fire's tempering, gradually merged with the primary spiritual sense, causing that mercury‑like spiritual sense power to become ever more crystal‑clear and pure, its flow faintly echoing the sound of the Great Dao.

Time trickled by.

In the Quiet Chamber, Wang Ping's body began to undergo strange changes; extremely faint five‑colored light seeped from his pores, forming a hazy halo on his skin.

Within the halo's flow, faint visions of mountains and rivers, sprouting plants, water and fire intermingling, and metallic luster could be seen—this is the resonance when spiritual sense tempered to the depths harmonizes with the flesh, causing the inner Five Elements' origin to naturally manifest outward.

The sun rose higher, then gradually tilted westward.

After a full five double‑hours.

The five‑colored Dao Fire in the Quenching Spirit Furnace gradually died out. Inside, the original full cauldron of gray 'firewood' had vanished, replaced by a small lump about the size of a fist, crystal clear like top‑grade crystal, within which a five‑colored nebula slowly rotated—the essence of spiritual sense!

The third tempering of spiritual sense succeeded!

Wang Ping slowly opened his eyes.

At that moment, the scene in the Quiet Chamber appeared completely different to his eyes.

That Eternal Jade Lamp—he could not only 'see' its shape, color, and light, but also 'sense' the flow of each thread of energy in the wick's 'Millennium Whale Fat Marrow', 'perceive' the subtle spiritual qi meridians within the lamp's material, and even 'hear' the subtle Dao tone produced when the lamp's flame rubs against the ambient spiritual qi, a tone imperceptible to ordinary folk.

His gaze fell upon the Stone Table; though the stone surface appeared smooth, in his perception it was composed of countless tiny 'Enlightenment Stone' grains, each vibrating minutely at its own unique frequency, emitting a special fluctuation conducive to comprehending the Dao.

He could even discern which areas' vibration frequencies were most suitable for studying fire‑element techniques, and which were more beneficial for water‑element comprehension.

Spiritual sense swept over himself.

The inner scene was revealed in minute detail. Blood flow was no longer a vague red; one could clearly 'see' the five‑element micro‑substances it contained: gold particles chiefly responsible for sharpness and healing, blue particles governing vitality, azure points regulating water balance, red sparks providing energetic heat, and yellow grains handling stability and support.

The five viscera and six bowels were no longer mere organ outlines; one could sense how each organ's cells were conducting five‑element energy transformation and exchange.

In the Dantian Qi Sea, five golden cores resembled five miniature Five Elements Worlds. The patterns on each golden core's surface were all clearly discernible; even their 'readings' revealed fragments of the Great Dao contained within:

This pattern recorded a certain insight into the true essence of metal's sharpness, while that pattern's inscription etched the realization of water's utmost gentleness...

"This is the microscopic world of Nascent Soul-level spiritual sense..." Wang Ping's heart was shocked and delighted.

After the third condensation, his spiritual sense strength formally entered the perfected level of early Nascent Soul! More importantly, the "quality" of his spiritual sense underwent a transformation, his insight into the essence of all things, perception of energy flow, and precision of self-control reached a new realm.

His thoughts stirred slightly, attempting a more exquisite manipulation.

His right index finger extended; at the tip, a red flame the size of a grain of rice ignited. The flame appeared ordinary, but under Wang Ping's ultimate control of his spiritual sense, its internal temperature distribution was precisely regulated.

The core temperature was enough to melt gold and iron, yet the outer layer was only around a hundred degrees, not even enough to scorch the skin. Even more marvelously, the flame's spectral frequency was adjusted to a specific band, causing its emitted light to appear a stable, soft warm yellow, like candlelight.

Next, he pointed with his left index finger, and a crystal-clear water droplet condensed. Inside the droplet, water molecules arranged into a special lattice structure, giving it extremely high surface tension; it rolled on his fingertip without dispersing, and its temperature remained constant at the freezing point, yet strangely did not freeze.

Then, Wang Ping made a daring attempt.

He slowly brought his left and right index fingers together.

Water and fire are inherently incompatible, that is common sense. But under Wang Ping's absolute control of his mid-Nascent Soul spiritual sense, that point of scorching flame and that droplet of icy water, when they were only an inch apart, actually did not produce a violent reaction.

Wang Ping held his breath, his spiritual sense like the most precise instrument, simultaneously regulating the flame's temperature distribution, spectral frequency, energy fluctuations, and the droplet's molecular structure, temperature gradient, and surface tension.

One inch, half an inch, three fen...

Finally, the flame and the water droplet lightly touched.

No explosion, no steam.

At the moment of contact, the scorching heat of the flame's core and the icy chill of the water molecules, under Wang Ping's divine sense guidance, formed a delicate balance point. Part of the flame's thermal energy transformed into energy that stimulated water molecule activity, while the droplet's coldness neutralized the flame's outward violence. At their point of contact, a hazy halo of constantly shifting red and blue light emerged.

At the center of the halo, an extremely tiny, grayish breath quietly arose—this was a trace of 'Chaos' born from the extreme collision of water and fire under absolute balance.

Although this wisp of Chaos aura was so weak it could be ignored and vanished instantly, a tremendous surge rose in Wang Ping's heart!

"Water and fire in harmony, yin and yang balanced, Chaos just beginning..." he murmured, his eyes blazing with scorching light. "My master was right—when mastery of the Five Elements reaches its utmost, one can touch the threshold of Chaos! This is only water and fire; if all five elements were present and simultaneously controlled to perfect balance..."

He dared not think further, but that vision was deeply etched into his mind.

He dispersed the fingertip technique, Wang Ping suppressed his surging emotions, and began to summarize today's gains.

After three rounds of divine sense refinement, he had truly entered the ranks of Nascent Soul cultivators on the 'spirit' level. Combined with a perfected Five Elements Dao foundation from point spirit completion and his steadily recovering cultivation, his overall combat power likely could suppress ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivators and even contend with mid‑Nascent Soul ones.

"But this is not enough." Wang Ping's eyes were firm. "My master expects a Chaos Five Elements Nascent Soul, the true foundation of the Great Dao. I need more accumulation, deeper insight, and stronger foundation."

He took out a jade slip and placed it on his forehead. This was granted by Jiang Mingyuan the day before, recording some conjectures and insights of an ancient Five Elements adept on "Five Elements transforming into Chaos". Though fragmentary, every word is a pearl, greatly enlightening Wang Ping.

Unbeknownst to him, night fell.

The night sky above the cloud sea's summit shone with exceptionally bright stars, seeming within reach. Thick spiritual qi shimmered with a faint glow under the moonlight, making the lone peak look like a fairyland.

Wang Ping finished his contemplation, left the meditation chamber, stood on the cloud‑watching platform, and gazed at the starry sky.

The Milky Way is vast, the Great Dao boundless.

He knew that the path beneath his feet had only just begun.

Meanwhile, outside, the stirrings provoked by his actions were quietly gathering.