Chapter 143: Impacting the Mid-Stage (Part II)

Once the Spiritual Qi vortex inside his body exploded, Zhang Nuo's body would inevitably be blown into fragments; while Spiritual Qi is a good thing, anything becomes a disaster if there is too much of it! It all depends on how you utilize it!

Zhang Nuo relied on the Nine Dragon Sword Case's ability to gather Spiritual Qi, and added to the fact that he possessed a Double Spirit Sea, he had managed to create such a Spiritual Qi vortex. His original intention was to quickly break through his blocked meridians, but who would have thought this method was a double-edged sword; used well, it could achieve twice the result with half the effort, but if used poorly, one would suffer the consequences.

At this moment, seeing the Spiritual Qi vortex growing larger bit by bit, sweat appeared on Zhang Nuo's forehead! Just as he was thinking of a way to disperse the Spirit Power within it, Chunyangzi's voice rang out from inside the Sword Box!

"Throw the Spiritual Qi vortex above your Spirit Sea and let the Double Spirit Sea help you share some of the burden!"

One sentence awakened the dreamer. Upon hearing this, Zhang Nuo had no time to speak; with a movement of his Divine Sense, he guided the Spiritual Qi vortex toward the Spirit Sea. Within the Spiritual Qi vortex, a large portion of the Spiritual Qi originated from the Double Spirit Sea, so he believed absorbing it back should not be a problem.

However, another problem arose: the Spiritual Qi vortex, which had already become uncontrollable, was extremely difficult to guide, and several times it nearly escaped Zhang Nuo's control.

At this time, the volume of the Spiritual Qi vortex had grown several times larger; as soon as it touched the meridians in Zhang Nuo's body, a tearing, excruciating pain would immediately surge forth!

The veins on Zhang Nuo's forehead popped out, and the teeth in his mouth were nearly crushed, but compared to death, this excruciating pain seemed much better. After a bout of effort, he finally managed to move the Spiritual Qi vortex above his Spirit Sea.

By now, the vortex had become the size of a thumb, and the Spiritual Qi within it was even more abnormally agitated, with a portion already scattering into Zhang Nuo's body. It was just that Zhang Nuo had been focusing on the changes inside his body and had not noticed the changes outside; at this moment, his skin was blood-red, to the point where the blood rushing through his vessels could be seen, and his physique had grown a full size larger.

If the Blood Corpse of Gu Yu were to see him at this time, it would surely have to rush up, hug him, and call him brother!

The Double Spirit Sea was absorbing the Spirit Power radiating from the Spiritual Qi vortex at high speed, and in this way, Zhang Nuo's pressure was reduced by a few points. However, do not look at how fast the Spirit Sea erupted with Spirit Power; its absorption speed was far inferior to its release speed. Although it was already doing its utmost, a portion of the Spirit Power still rapidly darted into his body.

Another mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Zhang Nuo's mouth. At this moment, his consciousness had already become blurred, but he understood in his heart that he could not faint now; once he lost consciousness, he would never be able to get back up.

Looking inward, he saw the Double Spirit Sea still desperately absorbing the Spirit Power. He felt the power of the Spiritual Qi vortex decreasing, but even the remaining power was enough to kill Zhang Nuo several times over.

"Faster! A little faster!"

Chunyangzi's anxious voice came from inside the Sword Box. Although he could not see what was happening inside Zhang Nuo's body, he could fully sense it through the faint fluctuations of Spirit Power.

Now, Zhang Nuo's mind could no longer hear any sound; apart from the waves of dizziness brought on by the pain, he could feel nothing else.

"Hah!"

Just as Zhang Nuo was about to be unable to hold on, he suddenly let out a low shout. At the same time, the suction of the Double Spirit Sea inside his body surged; two balls of white light rushed out from the Spirit Sea and instantly wrapped the Spiritual Qi vortex within them, as he felt the Spirit Power in the Spiritual Qi vortex flowing into the Spirit Sea like running water.

Zhang Nuo finally could not hold on any longer; a boom sounded in his head, and he fainted onto the bed. And at the very moment he lost consciousness, a loud explosion came from his dantian, causing his body to tremble violently. Afterward, everything returned to calm!

The morning sunlight slowly enveloped the entire Nanxuan Sect. At this time, many disciples had already risen early to practice. In Zhang Nuo's small courtyard, Bai Xiu and Xun Zhen stared blankly at Zhang Nuo's room; last night, they had felt huge fluctuations of Spirit Power emanating from his room.

However, early this morning, these fluctuations had disappeared.

"Sister Xiu, do you think something might have happened to Senior Brother?"

Xun Zhen looked at Bai Xiu with some worry, a trace of concern appearing on her small face.

"Senior Brother is in seclusion, what could happen! Besides, didn't you hear what the senior brothers who returned from the Trial Ground said? At that time, Senior Brother Zhang was extremely powerful!"

Once this was mentioned, a look of admiration appeared on Bai Xiu's face. Being able to acknowledge Zhang Nuo as a senior brother seemed to be an extremely proud thing. Xun Zhen stole a glance at her and suddenly climbed to Bai Xiu's ear, whispering:

"Why don't you go in and see what Senior Brother is doing? You might even be able to get some Dual Cultivation or something with him!"

After Xun Zhen finished speaking, she giggled and slipped into her own room in a flash. Bai Xiu's face turned red, and she immediately scolded with a smile:

"You little girl, see if I don't tear that mouth of yours!"

Having said that, she also chased after her in a flash. Subsequently, the sounds of the two girls playing and fighting came from the room.

At this time, Zhang Nuo had just opened his eyes. The pain in his body had not lessened at all; on the contrary, it was even more severe than before. Just as he wanted to sit up from the bed, his body moved, and a heart-piercing pain erupted once again. With an "Ouch!", Zhang Nuo fell back onto the bed.

"Kid! You really don't cherish your own body! Do this a few more times, and this body of yours will be ruined!"

The voice of Chunyangzi came from the Nine Dragon Sword Case beside him! The voice was extremely angry!

"I didn't expect it to be like this either! Fortunately, I managed to use the Spirit Sea to absorb more than half of the Spirit Power in time!"

While speaking, Zhang Nuo looked inward. He saw that the internal organs in his body had almost shifted out of place, and several meridians were even more severely damaged, while the Double Spirit Sea at his dantian was emitting dazzling white light even without him driving it.

It seemed that in the final moment, the two Spirit Seas had indeed absorbed quite a bit of Spiritual Qi. With his head feeling heavy, he fell back onto the bed. Feeling the unprecedented level of Spirit Power abundance in his body, Zhang Nuo gave a bitter smile.

"Senior! I thought of a way to continue using this method to cultivate!"

Zhang Nuo's weak voice reached into the Sword Box.

"What way?"

Chunyangzi still said in a bad mood.

"The reason my body couldn't withstand the impact of the Spiritual Qi vortex is because my physical body is not strong enough! If I practice some Body Refining Technique, do you think the effect would be a little better!"

Pondering this idea in his mind, Zhang Nuo then spoke it out.

"Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation? You actually thought of that! I have stayed in the Immortal World for thousands of years, and I have rarely seen cultivators who practice Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation. Besides, a person's energy is limited; you can't attend to everything! Do you think you are a demonic beast? Born with a strong physical body!"

As soon as Zhang Nuo's idea was spoken, Chunyangzi gave him a harsh scolding.

"Actually, I don't need to practice the Body Refining Technique to a very high level; I just need to be able to withstand the impact of the Spiritual Qi vortex!"

"Better save it! The difficulties of Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation are not as easy as you think! Hurry up and see how many meridians you broke through last night, and whether the 'Shangqing Sword Art' has reached the Third Layer!"

Zhang Nuo's eyes rolled, and he said with a chuckle:

"No!"

After this sentence, Chunyangzi made no more sound. Zhang Nuo simply ignored him, his mind still thinking about the matter of the Body Refining Technique.

About three days later, Zhang Nuo was finally able to move. He walked around on the ground a few times and took a few more Pills, gradually feeling that the Spirit Sea in his body had returned to normal!

That night, Zhang Nuo began to cultivate again. Through the impact of the Spiritual Qi vortex last time, he felt that the bottleneck of the Third Layer of the 'Shangqing Sword Art' had loosened.

However, the injuries to his body had not completely healed, so he did not dare to impact it too violently; he only kept using the Spiritual Qi to nourish his meridians.

Time passed bit by bit like this. In the blink of an eye, nearly two months had passed since Zhang Nuo went into seclusion. During this period, Zhuge Qing had come countless times, but every time she saw only those two girls, Bai Xiu and Xun Zhen.

"Is he still in seclusion?"

Today, Zhuge Qing came again. Looking at Zhang Nuo's tightly closed door, she really wanted to rush in!

"Replying to the Young Sect Master! Senior Brother has never come out!"

Xun Zhen appeared extremely well-behaved, standing quietly beside Zhuge Qing, answering one question for every one asked.

"Forget it, I'll come back another day!"

As she spoke, Zhuge Qing turned her head and wanted to leave. Suddenly, at this moment, Zhang Nuo's room opened, and a youth with a haggard face and sunken eye sockets walked out from inside.

"Are you looking for me?"

The familiar voice came out. Zhuge Qing turned her head to look; who else could it be but Zhang Nuo? She walked quickly to Zhang Nuo's side, pursed her lips, and smiled, saying:

"Why have you been in seclusion for so long? People have come looking for you several times!"

"They have come looking for you a total of forty-eight times!"

Xun Zhen stood behind the two of them and calmly blurted out this sentence. Zhuge Qing's pretty face immediately flushed red; she turned her head back and feigned anger at Xun Zhen:

"You're the one with the big mouth!"

Xun Zhen chuckled, turned around, and ducked into the room. This girl was extremely sharp; seeing the situation at hand, she immediately hid herself.

"Look at you, how did you end up like this? Seclusion is just..."

Zhuge Qing was in the middle of chattering away when her gaze suddenly stalled. She immediately began to size up Zhang Nuo with a serious expression, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

"You have advanced to Foundation Establishment Mid-stage?"

Looking at Zhuge Qing's adorable appearance, Zhang Nuo chuckled and nodded.

"How many Pills did you eat?"

One must know that advancing from Foundation Establishment Early Stage to Foundation Establishment Mid-stage requires a massive consumption of Spirit Power. An ordinary cultivator, without the help of Pills, might need twenty-some years, and even a fast one would need over a decade.

When Zhuge Qing raised her cultivation to Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, it was because she was the daughter of the Nanxuan Sect Sect Master and could consume a large amount of Pills; one could even say she was soaked in a vat of medicine to reach Foundation Establishment Mid-stage! As for ordinary cultivators, they do not have that many Spirit Stones to purchase Pills.