Chapter 117: Half-Step Chonglou

Breaking open the Mystic Gate, he beholds Chonglou.

Any cultivator, when he excavates from his innermost minutiae the Heavenly Lock Chonglou formed by the creation of heaven and earth, and projects its manifestation outside his body, is considered to have stepped one foot into the Chonglou Realm.

The Chonglou Realm consists of thirty-three Heavenly Locks, each layer a scenery, each layer a heaven.

Each Heavenly Lock harbors endless mysteries, concealing inconceivable matters of the human body, creation, the universe, origins, and so forth.

The thirty-three Heavenly Locks are each composed of varying numbers of light strands drawn from over three billion such strands.

Each light strand is a code, is a key.

Even if only the secret of a single light strand within a Heavenly Lock is unlocked, that counts as unlocking that Heavenly Lock, granting a benefit, augmenting one's mana, gaining insight into one's innate nature, obtaining a heavenly secret, and enabling ascent to a higher Heavenly Lock.

In other words, the simplest cultivator need only break thirty-three light strands, obtain thirty-three heavenly secrets, and become a 'master of great ability' among the thirty-three heavens of the Chonglou Realm.

However, such a 'master of great ability' cannot possibly advance any further.

Whereas cultivators seeking the utmost, such as Wu Tie practicing the Primeval Scripture, must break open all over three billion light strands, perfectly, completely, and fully unlocking the thirty-three Heavenly Locks, only then is it considered a true summit.

Thirty-three versus over three billion—the gap in strength is self-evident.

Each different cultivation method is a different means to open the gate, a different decryption secret, a different path to ascend heaven. Some are simple, some complex, some easy, some difficult, some leap forward, some progress step by step……

Over three billion light strands, over three billion heavenly secrets, the thirty-three Heavenly Locks yet give rise to an almost boundless path to heaven, and thus the world possesses boundless cultivation methods.

Wu Tie silently swallowed the second Blazing Three Tribulations Fruit, then the third……

Vast energy surged within his body, terrifying power continually filling Wu Tie's physique, merging into his cells, ultimately transforming into elusive light strands that, in a manner Wu Tie could not comprehend, projected behind him, making the thirty-three Heavenly Locks increasingly crystalline and translucent, increasingly substantial and solid.

When a cultivator reaches the final stage of the Profound Mystery Realm, at the Half-Step Chonglou, the consolidated foundation of the thirty-three Heavenly Locks becomes more solid, the energy stored in each heavenly secret grows richer, and breaking light strands and comprehending heaven and earth yields ever greater benefits.

Wu Tie was not in a hurry to ascend Chonglou, to break the Heavenly Locks.

He was using the secret art of the Primeval Scripture to gradually infuse the power of the Blazing Three Tribulations Fruit into the Heavenly Locks, bit by bit strengthening and solidifying the Heavenly Lock Chonglou behind him.

He maintained the standard of the Half-Step Chonglou Realm; the Heavenly Lock Chonglou lay before him, yet he never took that step.

He merely watched the towering structure rise, saw the Heavenly Locks glow, and felt the mighty, wondrous power gradually accumulating within them—a miraculous force filled with the unfathomable creation mysteries he could not comprehend.

From the knowledge inherited from Old Iron, some deeper fragments of knowledge drifted forth.

Wu Tie mumbled indistinctly…… 'Gene…… gene versus…… heavenly earth shackles……'

'The original intent of cultivation…… the true essence of cultivation……'

'All power is adjunct, is illusory…… the process of unlocking is the root of everything……'

Wu Tie saw a sea of chaos.

Within the boundless chaos, countless golden light points spun and darted rapidly, brimming with endless vitality, harboring boundless creative power.

Suddenly, an inconceivable mighty force descended from the heavens; those lively, vibrant golden light points abruptly stiffened, gradually gathering together, gradually condensing into extremely fine light strands……

Light points condensed into light strands, light strands into beams, beams intertwining and entwining……

An incomprehensible change occurred for Wu Tie: the intersecting beams coalesced into a colossal double-helix light pattern, spanning the void, filling heaven and earth, as if piercing time and space, dominating every tangible and intangible existence Wu Tie could or could not comprehend.

Wu Tie's body stiffened.

Above his head, an extremely faint yet essentially terrifying aura quietly emerged.

This qi mechanism slowly wandered back and forth within the mine cavern, as if searching for Wu Tie's coordinates.

Gradually, as Wu Tie's Blazing Three Tribulations Fruit was swiftly digested, and as the Heavenly Lock Chonglou behind him grew ever more towering and awe-inspiring in aura, this originally extremely faint aura rapidly strengthened, soon reaching a level comparable to that of Zhu Zixi.

Moreover, this aura continued to increase.

Wu Tie was being awed by the 'before him' immensely vast, all-encompassing double-helix light pattern; his entire soul stiffened, all thoughts halted, and he completely disregarded everything inside and outside his body.

A robust, powerful long howl and a clear, melodious long cry sounded simultaneously.

In the boundless chaos darkness, two golden-hued silhouettes spiraled forth.

They were a man and a woman with human bodies and serpent tails, each holding in their hands a blazing radiant orb of light, having wandered from an inconceivably ancient source of time; their long tails entwined together, just as the double-helix light pattern intertwined.

Their human bodies were about the same size as ordinary people's, but their two long tails stretched endlessly, spanning the entire void, their length unknown.

The man and woman exhaled golden light from their eyes, heavily striking the double-helix light pattern that spanned the void.

The double-helix light pattern exploded with a boom; the Heavenly Lock Chonglou behind Wu Tie shuddered violently, countless thunderclaps rang in his mind, his body jerked, and he abruptly 'woke up'.

A terrifying sense of crisis surged upon his heart.

The Primeval Scripture's essential secret for breaking through from the Profound Mystery Realm to the Half-Step Chonglou welled up in his mind.

Wu Tie drew a deep breath, then closed his eyes.

His entire aura abruptly collapsed inward; all his essence, energy, and spirit, all his bodily radiance, even the myriad‑ray Heavenly Lock Chonglou behind him, simultaneously sank into his body. Not a trace of aura leaked out; all qi mechanisms shrank to the deepest recesses of each tiny cell.

At this moment, Wu Tie's whole body was deathly still, like a lifeless stone.

That aura, ever growing stronger and already a hundred times more terrifying than Zhu Zixi's, suddenly congealed, drifted in the void for a while, then gradually waned.

Soundlessly, puffs of gray‑white yin fire erupted simultaneously from all directions.

These yin fires possessed no trace of heat, yet wherever they passed, even the hard ore instantly turned to ash.

Wu Tie curled up on the ground, his whole body devoid of any aura; occasionally a yin fire would sweep over his body, sliding like an oiled loach through his pores, swiftly passing through his vessels and meridians, traversing his five viscera and six bowels, gliding over his skin and muscles.

Wherever the yin fire passed, Wu Tie's formidable bodily energy was rapidly incinerated.

His flesh became withered, his skin turned pallid, and his skin cracked with fine lines like those of a weathered boulder.

The first phalanx of Wu Tie's left index finger quietly lit up, then his entire skeleton glowed with a dim, dark luminescence. Strands of gray‑white flame struck his bones, but this time the yin fire could not penetrate his bones in the slightest.

Moreover, his bones behaved like thieves, furtively, bit by bit, continually swallowing traces of yin fire.

Each mass of yin fire passing through Wu Tie's body would carry away large amounts of his flesh and vital essence, continually weakening his bodily strength; only his bones, from the passing yin fire, would continually absorb minute amounts of power, carefully transforming and hoarding them.

The yin fire raged, roaming around Wu Tie for a full two hours.

Originally, the mine cavern where Wu Tie hid for cultivation was only a dozen meters across; under the yin fire's toil, the surrounding rock walls continually turned to ash, and the cavern kept expanding.

After two hours, Wu Tie was buried under thick white ash; the original mine cavern had become a very regular spherical stone chamber with a diameter exceeding twenty li.

Originally plump‑fleshed and with a lustrous complexion, Wu Tie, after being stripped of much flesh and vital essence by the yin fire, now appeared wrinkled all over, his hair white and withered, looking older than an ordinary untold cultivator over a hundred years old.

The yin fire quietly dispersed, just as when it appeared, no one knew where it came from; after it vanished, no one knew where it had gone.

Wu Tie quietly curled up in the ashes; after a long time, a long time, he dispelled the Fire Tribulation Secret Technique from the Chapter on Avoiding the Three Tribulations in the Primeval Scripture, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of rotting gray qi.

He trembled as he stood up.

His flesh and blood were almost completely refined by the yin fire; precisely because of this, the flesh and blood tissue remaining in his body had already reached the 'perfect' extreme. That is the essence that even such terrifying yin fire cannot melt, worthy of being called a heaven-and-earth supreme treasure.

Wu Tie took a deep breath, and strands of vast energy surged out from his skeleton that flickered with eerie light.

The yin fire burned away Wu Tie's blood-flesh essence, but the yin fire itself was swallowed by his skeleton, which absorbed an amount of energy a hundred times greater than his own blood-flesh essence. After being transformed by Wu Tie's skeleton, this energy rapidly replenished his body.

Using the remaining perfect physique as a template, this newly replenished energy quickly generated new flesh and organs.

Drop after drop of golden plasma flowed out from the bone marrow, layer after layer of withered, aged dead skin continually shed, Wu Tie's mouth shattered into ash that drifted away, and crystal-clear teeth continually grew out.

His cheeks twitched slightly; the newly grown molars numbered a full thirty-six, each lustrous and white, like beautiful jade carved.

A fragrance like orchids drifted from Wu Tie's mouth, rich and enduring, making even Wu Tie himself unable to help feeling a little intoxicated.

An even richer fragrance emerged from Wu Tie's pores.

Like orchids and like reishi, naturally clean, also carrying the vitality of a newborn child, Wu Tie breathed deeply, his five viscera and six bowels rapidly wriggling, the vast vitality like the seed of a divine tree underground in spring, Whoom— surged throughout his body.

Terrifying power erupted in every cell.

Wu Tie slightly exerted force with his hands; he suddenly punched forward with an inch punch, 'Pa!' a huge bang, pure bodily force compressing the air, a white fist aura shot out ten li, leaving on the rock wall ten li away a bowl-sized imprint, depth of a hundred zhang, whole body smooth as a mirror.

Merely a half-step Chonglou, without using Divine Ability Secret Technique, the power of this punch already exceeded that of many experts who had been in the Chonglou Realm for years, fully exerting their Divine Ability Secret Law, by dozens of times.

Primeval Scripture, perfect cultivation method.

Wu Tie lowered his head to look at the gray-white ashes on the ground, murmuring softly: "Fire, wind, thunder three tribulations… this fire, if one cannot endure it, the whole person will be burned into a pile of ashes. The stronger one's foundation, the more terrifying the calamity."

"This seems to be an intentional restriction on the appearance of experts."

Wu Tie looked up at the dome twenty li high; he suddenly opened his eyes, strands of fire light surging within his eyes, he clearly saw on the twenty-li-high dome the faint traces left by the ravaging yin fire.

Three Blazing Tribulation Fruits; anyone who consumes one, if they can endure it, can easily obtain three heavenly talents of fire-attribute divine abilities.

Wu Tie consumed three Blazing Tribulation Fruits; perhaps because his foundation was too strong, or perhaps because his Heavenly Lock Chonglou swallowed the essence of the three Blazing Tribulation Fruits, he only obtained one minor divine ability, the 'Blinding Fire Eye'.

'Blinding Fire Eye', as the name suggests, can shoot fire from the eyes, stabbing the enemy's eyes, causing temporary loss of vision.

Such destructive power is nothing to Wu Tie.

However, the Blinding Fire Eye's additional attribute greatly enhances Wu Tie's vision.

Even in places with no light at all, Wu Tie can see objects as if in daylight; normally he can see up to seven or eight li away as his limit, but now he can easily discern faint traces twenty li away.

Such vision is very useful.

Wu Tie took a deep breath, silently leapt into the air, and returned to the mine tunnel leading to the outside world.

As soon as he stepped onto the mine tunnel, he heard terrifying cracking sounds coming from the surrounding rock layers.

Centered on the fist imprint Wu Tie had just punched out, countless cracks rapidly appeared, quickly spreading in all directions.

This rock layer had been hollowed out by the Shi Family's miners; its geological structure was originally not very solid. The yin fire had burned out a spherical space twenty li in diameter out of nowhere; this rock layer lost its support, a major collapse is inevitable.

Wu Tie was horrified to see that in a crack in the rock wall obliquely above, there was actually a bit of lava seeping out.

Scorching lava fell like raindrops; Wu Tie let out a strange cry, turned and ran.

This is the most terrifying place in this world wrapped in stone.

You never know what lies behind the rock wall separating you—perhaps a paradise cave, or perhaps a nest of poisonous insects, or simply a surging underground river…

Still, that's fine; the most terrifying thing is encountering an underground lava layer.

Underground lava backflow basically means death with no chance of survival.

Wu Tie fled at top speed, flashing a few times to the mine cavern where Shi Meng and the others were resting; he grabbed Shi Meng, took the shamaness, lifted Lao Bai, tied his tail to his waist belt, and then fled at top speed.

Faint terrifying sounds came from behind in the mine tunnel; waves of heat surged out, howling.