Chapter 45: Breaking Through to the Saint Domain

The morning in Yunfeng Town, the mist had not yet fully dispersed.

Aikesi sat cross-legged on a green stone at Hou Shan, with fire elements slowly circulating around his body. He had been here for three days; every morning he meditated on this green stone, feeling the rhythm of the fire elements. Three consecutive days of meditation had increased his affinity with the fire elements, and he had vaguely touched the bottleneck of the Nine-level Peak.

The mountain mist gradually dissipated in the morning light, and dewdrops fell from the leaves, making a crisp sound. Aikesi took a deep breath, and the magic within his body slowly circulated. The surrounding fire elements gathered toward him as if summoned. He could clearly feel the excitement of every wisp of fire element; they jumped in the air, flowed through his meridians, and finally merged into his dantian.

"Ding—Check-in function triggered, special scene check-in triggered."

The mechanical voice sounding in his mind made Aikesi pause slightly.

Aikesi felt a slight movement in his heart. He was currently cultivating Fire-type Mage magic, and the surrounding fire elements were active; if he could obtain a treasure related to fire... He silently prayed in his heart, hoping his luck wouldn't be too bad.

"Start check-in."

"Check-in successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a rare item from the Legend of Sword and Fairy world—Golden Silkworm Gu."

Golden Silkworm Gu?

Aikesi was stunned. Of course he knew what the Golden Silkworm Gu was—it was an extremely rare treasure in Legend of Sword and Fairy that could directly increase cultivation by one level with absolutely no side effects. In the game, it was almost like a cheat. First release of this book. Read novels at tiantiankanxiaoshuo, ttksw. tw, super smooth, providing you with error-free chapters and non-disordered chapter reading experience.

"Golden Silkworm Gu: A rare spiritual gu from the Legend of Sword and Fairy world, capable of permanently increasing the user's spiritual power, the extent depending on the user's aptitude. No side effects whatsoever, extremely effective for breaking through bottlenecks."

The system's prompt sounded again. Aikesi read every word carefully. Increasing spiritual power? This was far more precious than simply raising the magic level.

Aikesi took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement. He was now a Nine-level Peak Fire Saint Magus, stuck at this bottleneck for several months. According to normal cultivation speed, breaking through to the Saint Domain would take at least several more years, perhaps even longer. The Saint Domain was a huge watershed; countless geniuses were stuck here, unable to advance a single step for their entire lives. And this Golden Silkworm Gu...

"Just right to try it," Aikesi whispered, his gaze firm.

He flipped his hand and took out the Golden Silkworm Gu. It was a golden insect, about the size of a thumb, emitting a faint glow. Looking closely, the body of the Golden Silkworm Gu was nearly transparent, with golden liquid flowing slowly inside, as if containing boundless vitality and energy.

According to the system prompt, this Golden Silkworm Gu needed to be swallowed directly.

Aikesi did not hesitate and immediately placed the Golden Silkworm Gu into his mouth.

The Golden Silkworm Gu melted upon entering his mouth, not even giving him a chance to chew. A warm current instantly exploded in his oral cavity, then surged into his limbs and bones like a living creature. The feeling was extremely peculiar, as if countless tiny streams were rushing through his body, each carrying a warm and gentle strength. Wherever they passed, cells trembled joyfully.

"This is..." Aikesi's pupils contracted slightly.

Immediately, this warm current began to gather toward his brain, as if countless tiny streams were merging into the ocean. The speed increased faster and faster; the warm current surging from his limbs and bones was like ten thousand rivers returning to the sea, crazily rushing toward his head. Aikesi felt his head swell, and his consciousness instantly fell into a state of emptiness and clarity.

Boom—

It felt as if something exploded in his mind. Aikesi felt his consciousness expanding rapidly. The spiritual power that could previously only perceive a few li around him now spread outward like a tide—ten li, twenty li, fifty li, one hundred li!

He had never had such an experience. It felt as if he had been locked in a small room, and suddenly all the walls collapsed, the view before him opened up, and the entire world opened its doors to him.

The surge in spiritual power lasted for about a quarter of an hour before gradually stabilizing. Aikesi's consciousness slowly withdrew from that mysterious state of expansion, but the feeling of knowing everything around him did not disappear. Within a hundred li, any rustle of wind or movement of grass could not escape his perception.

And after the spiritual power stabilized, an even more astonishing change occurred.

The Falling Heart Flame within Aikesi's body suddenly began to beat violently. That strange fire, which had been quietly lurking in his dantian, seemed stimulated by something and suddenly expanded! The golden flames instantly surged, almost breaking through his dantian.

"This—"

Before Aikesi could react, the Falling Heart Flame had turned into countless tiny fire threads, rapidly spreading through his meridians to his entire body. Wherever each fire thread passed, the meridians were scorched and torn, the pain as if being cut by countless knives simultaneously. But under the effect of the Three Thousand Burning Flame Seed, the torn meridians healed instantly, the speed of repair even exceeding the speed of destruction.

Tearing and healing alternated repeatedly, each cycle more intense than the last. The pain made the veins on Aikesi's forehead bulge; he clenched his teeth, almost shouting out. Sweat that just seeped to the surface was evaporated, turning into white mist swirling around him. But he bit his teeth down hard, his nails digging deep into his palms. He knew this was another benefit brought by the Golden Silkworm Gu—triggering the strange fire within his body, allowing the flames and spiritual power to merge perfectly.

If someone looked from a distance at this moment, they would see Aikesi entirely shrouded in a layer of golden halo, with faint golden patterns appearing and disappearing under his skin; those were the tracks of the strange fire circulating in his meridians. His aura fluctuated violently, sometimes strong, sometimes weak. When strong, it was enough to make the surrounding magical beasts tremble; when weak, it was like that of an ordinary person.

After an unknown amount of time, the burning sensation within his body gradually faded. The last wisp of fire thread returned to his dantian, and the Falling Heart Flame calmed down, but it was more solid than before. The color of the flame changed from deep gold to pale gold, vaguely transforming toward colorless transparency.

Aikesi slowly opened his eyes and discovered that deep within his pupils, golden flames were vaguely jumping. He blinked, and the flames disappeared, but upon looking closely, one could still find that faint touch of gold deep in his eyes.

"This is... a breakthrough?"

He raised his right hand, and with a thought, a ball of golden flame appeared in his palm. The temperature of that flame was extremely high; the surrounding air was scorched until it twisted and deformed, and the surface of the green stone even showed signs of melting, yet he himself felt no heat at all, as if the flame was part of his body.

Even more astonishing was that the spiritual power fluctuation contained within this ball of flame was more than ten times stronger than before! The flame constantly changed forms in his palm, sometimes becoming a sword, sometimes a knife, and sometimes transforming into a blooming golden lotus. Every petal was lifelike, and every wisp of flame moved at will.

"Saint Magus..." Aikesi murmured to himself, his voice carrying a hint of barely suppressed excitement.

He clearly felt that he had crossed the threshold that troubled countless Mages—the Saint Domain! This was a natural moat that countless geniuses could not cross in their entire lives. Yet, with the help of the Golden Silkworm Gu, he had crossed this hurdle so easily.

He retracted his aura and used spiritual power to look inward. In his mind, the spiritual power had condensed into a golden ocean, expanded more than ten times compared to before. The golden ocean was calm and waveless, but Aikesi knew that with just a thought, this ocean could raise towering waves. At the center of the ocean, a more brilliant golden light slowly rotated; that was the core condensed from spiritual power, and also the source of his consciousness.

In his dantian, the Falling Heart Flame and the Three Thousand Burning Flame Seed floated quietly, with faint golden threads connecting them, obviously resonating due to this breakthrough. The Falling Heart Flame was more solid than before; at the center of the flame, a hint of milky white was visible, a phenomenon that only appeared when the temperature reached its extreme. The Three Thousand Burning Flame Seed had also expanded from the size of a thumb to the size of a fist; the golden patterns on its surface were more complex and profound, vaguely showing a trend of breaking out of its shell.

"The power of the Falling Heart Flame should have increased significantly, and the Three Thousand Burning Flame Seed has also grown a great deal," Aikesi thought. He tried to activate a wisp of the Falling Heart Flame; even a weak flame made the surrounding air violently distort, and the green stone beneath his feet instantly melted into a fist-sized hole. He quickly withdrew the flame, feeling both surprise and joy.

After breaking through to the Saint Domain, he could not only control more powerful magic, but more importantly, his comprehension of the elements had reached a new level. Many obscure and difficult-to-understand magic theories that were previously incomprehensible were now suddenly clear. He even vaguely touched the threshold of the Profound Mystery of Fire Element; that mysterious feeling could only be understood, not spoken.

"Aikesi!"

A familiar voice came from the foot of the mountain.

Aikesi smiled slightly, stood up, and in a few leaps reached the foot of the mountain. Linlei was standing there; seeing him come down, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. It was an indescribable feeling; the Aikesi before him looked exactly the same as before, yet it felt as if something had changed everywhere.

"You just now..." Linlei looked him up and down, "Why do I feel like you've changed?"

"Changed where?" Aikesi smiled. He had deliberately retracted his aura; unless the other party's spiritual power far exceeded his, they could not see through his true cultivation level.

Linlei frowned and thought for a moment, saying, "I can't say. It's just that I feel like you standing there, as if merging with the surrounding environment, yet at the same time somewhat out of place. This feeling is strange, like... like looking at someone who suddenly grew much taller; it's clearly the same face, but it just feels different."

Aikesi secretly praised Linlei's sharpness. Even though he had deliberately retracted his aura, Linlei still noticed the anomaly.

"Indeed, some progress," Aikesi did not hide it. "Just broke through."

"Broke through?" Linlei paused, then exclaimed with joy, "You reached the Saint Domain?" As soon as he finished speaking, he froze. Aikesi had only just reached the Nine-level Peak not long ago; how could he have broken through so quickly?

Aikesi nodded: "Mm, Fire Saint Magus."

Linlei widened his eyes, looking at him in disbelief: "You... weren't you just at the Nine-level Peak? How did you suddenly break through?"

Aikesi smiled: "Just good luck. I obtained a treasure that directly helped me break through the bottleneck." He did not explain the origin of the Golden Silkworm Gu in detail, and Linlei did not press further. This was the tacit understanding between brothers; everyone had their own secrets, no need to dig to the root.

Although Linlei was shocked in his heart, he was mostly happy for his brother. He patted Aikesi's shoulder and smiled: "Great! Now we have another Saint Domain powerhouse! When we get back later, Bake and the others will surely drop their jaws. You didn't see their faces; they were chanting all day about breaking through quickly, and then you went and surpassed them."

"Don't rush to say it yet," Aikesi said. "I want to keep a low profile. Although the Saint Domain counts as a top powerhouse in Yunfeng Town, it is still not enough to look at in the entire Yunluo Continent. Exposing one's strength too early might easily cause unnecessary trouble."

Linlei thought for a moment and nodded: "True. Alright, I'll keep your secret. But you are too humble; a Saint Magus under twenty years old, if spoken of, would shake the entire Yunluo Continent. I remember the youngest Saint Magus in history was also over thirty."

The two looked at each other and smiled, walking down the mountain side by side. The morning light shone on the two of them, casting two long shadows on the mountain path.

Returning to their residence, the five Bake brothers were training on the practice ground. Seeing Linlei and Aikesi return, they all greeted them. Aikesi chatted with them a few words as if nothing had happened.

Returning to his own room, Aikesi sat cross-legged and looked inward at his body again. He needed to fully understand his current state to prepare for the cultivation ahead.

The effect of the Golden Silkworm Gu was far more astonishing than he had imagined. Not only did it allow him to break through to the Saint Domain in one go, but it also caused a deeper fusion between his spiritual power and the strange fire. Now, when he cast Fire-type Mage magic, the power increased by at least five times. He tried to condense the most basic Fireball Technique in his palm; the fireball that was originally the size of a fist was now the size of a human head, and the temperature was astonishing, making the air crackle and pop.

"The Three Thousand Burning Flame Seed has grown considerably." Aikesi observed the seed within his dantian. Originally only thumb-sized, it was now fist-sized, with faint golden patterns shimmering on its surface. According to the settings in Battle Through the Heavens, once the Three Thousand Burning Flame truly awakens, its power is sufficient to burn the sky and boil the seas. Although it is currently only in seed form, the energy it contains is already astonishing.

At this rate, perhaps before long, the Three Thousand Burning Flame will truly awaken. By then, combined with the Fallen Heart Flame, his strength will leap forward again. The Fallen Heart Flame governs the interior, capable of burning impurities within the body and refining Magic; the Three Thousand Burning Flame governs the exterior, capable of incinerating all things, with astonishing offensive power. The two Foreign Flames complement each other, sufficient to allow him to challenge those of higher realms.

"Once I truly master this flame, combined with the Fallen Heart Flame, even if I encounter a Sanctuary Peak expert, I will have the strength to fight." Aikesi calculated silently in his heart. However, he also knew that now was not the time for arrogance. The Saint Domain was merely the starting point; above it lay the Sanctuary Peak, and above that, God Level experts. The path of cultivation knows no end.

Three days later.

Linlei prepared to set off for Chier County City to fulfill his five-year pact with Zhanni.

Upon learning the news, Aikesi voluntarily proposed to accompany him: "I will go with you. In case we encounter any trouble, it is good to have someone to look out for each other."

Linlei thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Very well. If I go alone, you would not feel at ease." He understood his brother, knowing Aikesi was worried about him meeting with an accident. Although with his current strength, few in Chier County City could threaten him, having an extra helper was always a good thing.

The five Bake brothers originally wanted to follow, but Linlei refused: "You stay in Yunfeng Town and continue cultivating. Just Aikesi and I going is enough; too many people would only draw attention."

Although Bake and the others were unwilling, they also knew Linlei spoke reason. They could only urge the two to be careful on the road, not to act impulsively when encountering matters, and to return early.