Chapter 190: True Spirit Condensed, Only I Remain; Golden Immortal Formed, Strange Phenomena Arise

Cliff light shines upon the water, warm clouds emerge from the mountain peaks.

A Five-Colored Treasure Tree, several zhang tall, stands upright with a canopy like a magnificent parasol. Layers of halos intersect around it, dense and overlapping, in a posture as steady as Mount Tai, impenetrable even by rain.

On its branches, pearl-like flowers are in full bloom, clustered like pine needles; as the five colors flow, they reveal an aura that threatens to destroy everything.

Ten thousand paths of rainbow light, trailing five-colored hues, spread out in circular halos, lingering around Fang Longye and reflecting the joy between his brows.

Reversing the Five Qi in the Chest to the innate state truly yields great rewards for a cultivator! Through this realization, he has finally found the key to fusing the Great Five Elements Art into one, based on the Five-Colored Treasure Tree divine ability he previously comprehended.

Although it is only an initial fusion and far from perfect, in terms of power, it can already unleash unimaginable strength.

A joyous and congratulatory occasion!

Moreover, the gains brought about by reversing the Five Qi in the Chest to the innate state are far more than just these~

Not to mention that his divine abilities in the Five Elements path have all greatly improved, even his comprehension of Yin and Yang has surged violently under this stimulation~

This is simply because the Five Elements path is inherently one of the most fundamental Great Daos in heaven and earth.

Comprehension in the Five Elements easily leads to the effect of drawing inferences about other aspects.

The mutual generation of the Five Elements is creation, while their mutual overcoming is destruction. Creation and destruction are one, which can also embody the principles of Yin and Yang.

This is the profound mystery of the Five Elements' generation and restriction.

It can almost reflect all the Great Daos between heaven and earth.

Fang Longye's mind stirred, and he dispersed the divine ability; the Five-Colored Treasure Tree immediately dissipated like smoke and clouds, then gathered and condensed, binding into a beam of light that plunged into his body.

Sinking his consciousness into his true form, he saw the Five Qi rotating ceaselessly within his five viscera, revealing a sense of perfection and playing a primitive and vast musical movement.

Most crucially, as the Five Qi in the Chest—now reversed to the innate state—rotated, an indescribable aura was born from the void.

It then spread like a spiderweb, settling over Fang Longye's entire body; as this profound power entered, his true form underwent new changes.

The changes throughout his body were very faint, almost imperceptible.

However, they were most obvious in his five viscera and six bowels, which emitted a light invisible to the naked eye from the inside out, carrying a quality that was nearly innate.

Experiencing it personally, Fang Longye finally understood why reversing the Five Qi in the Chest to the innate state is called a supreme foundation.

It is not only because this causes the cultivator's essence, Qi, and spirit to undergo a transformation, which is of great benefit when crossing the Three Calamities later.

It is even more because the Five Qi in the Chest, once reversed to the innate state, can fundamentally elevate the cultivator's five viscera and six bowels to a level near the innate.

Fang Longye even suspected that if he were to continuously refine the Five Qi in the Chest from now on,

would it be possible that relying solely on this Five Qi in the Chest could drive him to elevate his own origin to the innate level? Although this possibility is extremely slim.

But it is not impossible.

Therefore, any systematic path of cultivation is not that simple.

What cultivation must be done at which realm has already been refined and polished by predecessors to a point of near perfection.

Every step has its special considerations and is not a useless effort.

After some reflection, Fang Longye composed himself, intending to make a single push to break through to the Golden Immortal Realm.

However, before that.

He still had a trivial matter to attend to.

Regardless of the path a cultivator follows, once they break through to the Golden Immortal Realm, it is a new beginning, a new starting point.

Excluding the Three Calamities that Heavenly Immortal Path cultivators must face, they are basically beings with endless lifespan, living as long as heaven and earth.

Therefore, the remaining hundred-plus thousand years of lifespan he currently has cannot be wasted.

If he did not have the Instant Radiance divine ability specifically for burning lifespan, that would be one thing.

Since he has it, he must naturally make the best use of it.

He immediately summoned the Longyin Bell, a Superior Spiritual Treasure, and activated Instant Radiance, turning his own lifespan into a strange power to overcome heavy restrictions with the force of a bamboo being split, completely refining it.

Next was the Refining Immortal Pot.

Following the same method, under the effect of the Instant Radiance divine ability, his heart-refinement of this strange treasure reached one hundred percent, and he completely mastered this Treasure Pot, which rivals a Superior Spiritual Treasure.

Finally, with a point of his finger toward his celebration clouds, a small green stone seal and a small bronze cauldron appeared.

Come to think of it, it is quite funny.

He already possesses quite a few Superior Spiritual Treasures.

The Green Mountain Seal and the Qingyang Cauldron, these two Medium Spiritual Treasures that he initially regarded as supreme treasures, have not even been fully refined to this day.

Moreover, if not for the fact that he still has a surplus of lifespan, he probably would not use such unconventional refining methods on these two Medium Spiritual Treasures.

After some operations, he left behind ten thousand years of lifespan, then calmed his mind to polish himself and threw himself into the cultivation of breaking through to the Golden Immortal Realm.

……

Around Cloud Cliff, it is empty and misty; bamboo leaves carry the scent of rain, accumulating green like jade.

Clusters of exotic flowers are in full bloom, reflecting a patch of red.

Fang Longye sits cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in quiet cultivation; auspicious Qi and precious colors rise around him, naturally forming morning mist and evening rain.

Sparse colors drip down, appearing like horizontal branches of elegant bamboo, changing in a hundred postures, seven or eight stalks standing out of thin air, playing with the wind and moon.

The surroundings are quiet and secluded, pines and cypresses are dense, pine moss and flowers bloom, lush and deep.

Only the sound of water dripping, ding-dong, ding-dong.

Fang Longye sits cross-legged with eyes closed, his expression calm, as if he hears nothing.

Wanting to break through to the Golden Immortal Realm is actually very simple for him.

After reversing the Five Qi in the Chest to the innate state, the barrier has been removed; whether he is a Golden Immortal or not is, for him, merely a matter of a single thought.

It is just that he has only recently reversed the Five Qi in the Chest, so his Aura is restless and not yet rounded.

For the sake of perfection, he naturally needs a period of quiet cultivation to carefully polish himself.

Before he knew it, water vapor gathered, and it began to rain.

Pattering down onto the leaves, accumulating a half-tune of green in the empty space.

The cold hue was brimming in his grasp, permeating everything above and below.

Fang Longye was immersed in a profound tranquility, feeling as if he were aware of nothing.

Following this period of sitting in meditation, perhaps the timing was ripe, or perhaps it was a sudden enlightenment.

Suddenly, in this moment, he forgot his own physical form, forgot his own identity, and forgot all manner of affairs, as if his spirit had detached from his own self.

He felt only a transcendent, clear, and lucid joy.

His entire spirit reached a state of "sitting and forgetting."

What is meant by "sitting and forgetting"? *Zhuangzi: Great Master* says: "Slough off limbs and trunk, discard intelligence and perception, depart from form and leave knowledge behind, and become one with the Great Thoroughfare; this is called sitting and forgetting."

To forget one's own physical form, to cast aside one's own ears and eyes, to discard the connection between oneself and the outside world, to shake off the shackles of form and intellect, and to merge and communicate as one with the Great Dao.

This is what is called "sitting and forgetting."

Rain fell in torrents.

It was as if the Lord of Heaven had suddenly flown into a rage; the void shook incessantly, wind and rain raged, and the violent water vapor gradually spread in all directions, plunging the entire world into darkness.

Yet Fang Longye knew nothing of this, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, his eyes lowered and closed.

Amidst the wind and rain.

Only where he sat did the rain not fall.

Sunk into the state of "sitting and forgetting," Fang Longye felt as if he had arrived at an indescribable place, and in the darkness, a sound that was difficult to describe in words reached his ears.

It was extremely ancient, extremely vicissitudinous, and extremely profound.

It was like the morning bell and the evening drum, thought-provoking.

The sound of the Dao in the darkness permeated, and a mysterious Qi descended, like wind blades and frost swords.

It sliced away all the restlessness he had accumulated during this period—the tribulations he had encountered, his difficult escape from the Dapeng Bird, meeting a strange enemy on the East Sea, entering Tang Valley, encountering Lu Ya, and successfully reversing the Five Qi in the Chest, and so on and so forth.

Nothing remained but a heart as still as water, like an ancient well without ripples.

……

Hoo— Not knowing how much time had passed, Fang Longye took a deep breath and woke from the mysterious state, his heart completely calm.

He looked at the surrounding wind and rain.

The timing was perfect; the water was moistening the earth, which was just right for him, a dragon of the water attribute, to break through his realm.

Without further hesitation, with a shift of his thoughts, he began to surge toward the Golden Immortal Realm.

The Five Qi in the Chest rotated, swirling and circling.

Fang Longye only felt as if the Five Qi in the Chest had come alive, transforming into five giant dragons that wrapped tightly around his heart and mind.

Guarding him firmly within.

Above his crown, the auspicious clouds were clear and bright, condensing into five colors; the three treasures of essence, Qi, and spirit gathered to form three flower buds that had yet to bloom, floating and sinking within, appearing and disappearing. Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown, Five Qi Towards the Origin.

The Three Flowers above his crown swayed gracefully, and the Five Qi in the Chest rotated without cease.

A special connection emerged between the Three Flowers and the Five Qi, tight and seamless, emitting a special rhythm that resonated and interacted with heaven and earth.

It was mysterious beyond mystery, wondrous beyond wonder.

It could not be described in words.

Fang Longye only felt a mysterious power lifting him up, straight into the darkness, verifying his existence with heaven and earth.

He sought to seize the mandate of heaven and pluck a Golden Immortal Dao Fruit right then and there.

Within his sea of consciousness.

Fang Longye's primordial spirit stood tall and opened its mouth to swallow upward.

This upward swallow extracted all the information of this life that had been scattered across the past, the future, and infinite space and time in the darkness.

In a trance, he saw himself ecstatic upon first seeing the Fusang Wood, saw himself struggling to survive after meeting the Dapeng Bird, saw himself roaring across Beiju Luzhou, ……

He saw himself when he first left the Gourd Small World, saw himself practicing diligently in the Gourd Small World, saw himself just after transmigrating, ……

And, before he transmigrated, the Crocodile Commander, a crocodile that had not yet opened its spiritual wisdom, a small creature still gestating in its eggshell……

In an instant, he understood a great deal, yet it was as if he understood nothing at all.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—

As Fang Longye swallowed the mysteries of the universe, gathering the information of this body scattered across all past and future space-time into his body, it immediately flowed forth like a vessel brimming with sweet dew poured over his head.

It was greedily swallowed, absorbed, and fused by Fang Longye's heart, mind, personality, thoughts, …… and all the so-called self.

Finally, it formed a glimmer of spiritual light as brilliant as a star, yet like a dream-like bubble.

The True Spirit condensed!

In Honghuang, there are no shortage of True Immortals capable of killing Golden Immortals, but they are ultimately different from Golden Immortals. The biggest difference lies in the True Spirit.

Creatures below the Golden Immortal Realm do not have a True Spirit!

Be it soul or spirit.

Whatever heart, mind, consciousness, thoughts, self…… and so on.

None of these count as a True Spirit.

What is a True Spirit?

It is the aggregate of a cultivator's light of nature, the symbol of a cultivator stepping into the state where "I am I," the unique True Self.

It is the reliance that allows a Golden Immortal's memories to not fall and their personality to remain unchanged after reincarnation; it is also the origin of a Golden Immortal's immortality and their ability to live as long as heaven and earth.

Infinite mysteries swallowed into the belly; my fate is determined by me, not by heaven.

A feeling of self-completeness and incomparable stability immediately surged into Fang Longye's heart.

At the same time, an enlightenment arose.

From this moment on, he no longer needed the Golden Finger to conceal himself.

Even those in the Taiyi Realm would find it impossible to use methods of divination to pry into his past and origins.

Even just calculating his present and future is difficult beyond measure.

Only a Great Luo can calculate him by overlooking the long river of time and space.

This is because living beings are inherently aggregates of information; as long as they exist in the world, they are incessantly leaking information outward.

Just like the brainwaves, pheromones, etc., discovered by humans in Fang Longye's past life.

And only upon reaching Golden Immortal can one gather these leaked pieces of information back in, and be able to control oneself to no longer leak information outward.

"Ding—"

As his True Spirit condensed, it was as if a jade chime had been struck in the dark, immediately triggering a certain mechanism and driving his entire body to begin a transformation.

At the same time, a mysterious and profound power descended suddenly from the void, landing upon him; it seemed to have form, yet seemed formless, elusive, yet truly existent.

Boundless creation followed closely behind, permeating all around.

Surging, colliding, ceaseless and endless.

Fang Longye felt as if he had returned to the womb once more, with "amniotic fluid" wrapping him firmly, giving him the warmest protection.

Like a caterpillar forming a cocoon to transform, waiting for its awakening to emerge as a gorgeous and colorful butterfly.

He did not know how much time had passed.

It felt as if only an instant had passed, yet also as if billions of years had gone by.

Fang Longye's eyelids moved slightly, and he opened his eyes; his gaze was clear and pure, like a newborn infant, completely ignorant.

With his "breaking the cocoon and being reborn," everything was already different~

A Golden Immortal is thus achieved!

……

Once a Golden Immortal is formed, there are naturally celestial phenomena~ Fang Longye had just opened his eyes and turned his mind back, not yet having time to contemplate his own changes, when he felt something and immediately looked up.

He saw that above the horizon, a thunderous sound rose abruptly.

Then the sky curtain pulled open, and a vast and mighty purple-blue long river poured down in reverse.

Its beginning could not be seen, nor its end; immortal music played, jade stamens bloomed, and wherever it reached, it was like a Mirror wiped clean of dust, immediately clearing the clouds and rain, with sunny light filling the sky.

Thousands of auspicious signs were born, some with Phoenixes chirping low, some with divine dragons raising their heads, some with Qilins roaring, some with mysterious turtles carrying maps,... and so on, changing incessantly.

A rich fragrance surged over, as if it were lotus scent, and also like pill scent, mixed together.

The fresh fragrance brushed his face, his divine bones were instantly cleansed, his heart became calm and peaceful, and no Demon could arise.

"What a grand manifestation of auspicious omens!"

"If only I were ascending in my own Daoist temple!" Fang Longye shook his head and sighed.

Such auspicious omens, although of no use to him, would definitely count as continuous blessings if they touched anyone below the Golden Immortal realm.

Even if they fell upon Cangmang Mountain, they could add a few points of creation to his own Daoist temple out of thin air~

Collecting his mood, he immediately split open a patch of blue sky from behind him, vast and immense, like a world, and pulled this sky full of purple-blue auspicious signs into his internal Grotto-Heaven.

It could be considered a form of nourishment~ Turning back, he looked at the surrounding scenery with great interest.

He saw that in mid-air, there was still residual auspicious Qi, evolving into all kinds of magnificent sights.

Zithers and flutes played in harmony, mysterious sounds entering the ears, ethereal and exquisite. The halos scattered into flower stamens, falling blossoms fluttering, creating fragrance upon hitting the ground.

There were also appearances of birds and beasts emerging, gorgeous and colorful, as if echoing with the wonderful music.

Not far behind him, cloud towers stood towering, and red springs produced mist.

The entire scene was like a painting, beautiful and magnificent.

Just like Fang Longye's mood at this moment.

Joy was written on his face.

After many twists and turns, he had finally ascended to Golden Immortal! How could this not make one happy? Fang Longye only felt that his entire body and mind were light and carefree, filled with joy; looking around, everything he saw was so full of vitality.

Carrying this joy, he felt his own changes.

First was his Primordial Spirit; he saw the Primordial Spirit sitting in his sea of consciousness, clear and clean, unstained by dust, radiating a strange light, echoing with the rhythm of Yin and Yang.

All kinds of mysterious scenes emerged around it, with flowing light of primordial energy, dragon scripts and phoenix seals, essence of the five spirits, banners and talismans,... arising and vanishing in turns.

As the saying goes, when things reach an extreme, they reverse; when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin is born. With the achievement of Golden Immortal, the Pure Yang quality created during the True Immortal stage immediately underwent changes.

His entire essence, energy, and spirit were no longer purely one attribute, escaping the shackles of "either this or that," and instead blending Yin and Yang.

He was no longer restrained by attributes related to Yin and Yang.

This is what is called "leaping out of the Three Realms, not within the Five Elements."

From then on, the mutual generation and restriction of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements were largely ineffective against him.

Unless one's cultivation was far higher than his, anyone wanting to deal with him through the logic of attribute opposition would only be performing a futile effort.

Looking at his physical body, it was many times stronger than before the breakthrough; all over his body, inside and out, strange patterns had emerged.

A Dragon Pearl the size of a chicken egg wandered around his body, crystal clear, glowing with gorgeous light.

Black and white Yin and Yang Two Qis mixed with Clear and Turbid Qis emerged from inside the Dragon Pearl, deriving endlessly, tempering his flesh and blood.

Wherever it passed, it shone brilliantly.

Boom—the Dharma power within his body was as thick as the Abyssal Sea; with a single thought, it stirred up huge waves, every strand refined to the extreme, incomparably heavy.

With the achievement of Golden Immortal, his strength had surged by more than a thousand times! (End of chapter)