Chapter 443: Nascent Soul and Neutron Star Battle Body

The chaotic vortex was endless, wildly swallowing and spitting out the surrounding chaotic currents.

Each heavenly demon and heavenly immortal waited with extraordinary patience, without any idle chatter or betting on the outcome.

They were all immortal beings who had lived for countless tens of thousands of years.

Their minds were as still and unyielding as ancient stone; aside from the treasures within the Pangu Secret Realm, little could stir their hearts.

The Tai Xu vessel blended among the many war artifacts, appearing utterly ordinary.

Until the moment arrived.

"It has begun."

A ethereal voice whispered in Fang Xing's ear.

Before his eyes, the Pangu Token floated forth, transforming into a streak of light that enveloped him.

Then…

Heaven and earth changed instantly!

…

"Is this… the Pangu Secret Realm?"

Fang Xing looked up, seeing only chaotic-colored currents; the place he stood must be the "Chaotic Mountain."

"Those summoned into the Pangu Secret Realm always begin within Chaotic Mountain."

"Chaotic Mountain is boundless… yet the danger is minimal. You must find a place at once to enter seclusion, break through to Nascent Soul, or else trouble will come."

As Fang Xing pondered, a terrifying beast suddenly spotted him and charged forward.

The monster had eight legs and sixteen arms, its form grotesque—a "Chaotic Beast," unique to the Pangu Secret Realm!

Whoosh!

The Chaotic Beast, seeing Fang Xing, made no attempt at communication; its sixteen arms slammed down in unison.

"The most common danger in Chaotic Mountain—the Chaotic Beast! These creatures possess low intelligence, endlessly slaughtering intruders… and are born with innate comprehension of the 'Chaotic Principle,' at least reaching the Fourth Stage: 'Principle Body'; the stronger ones even reach the Fifth Stage: 'Principle Born from a Single Thought'…"

"Even an Emperor's Heir of the Mortal Realm is in grave danger if surrounded by Chaotic Beasts—many life-saving relics lose their efficacy within the Pangu Secret Realm…"

Fang Xing's body instantly swelled into a black-and-red dragon a thousand meters long, his claw striking out.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Each of the sixteen arms was composed of Chaotic Principle energy, wielding unimaginable force; they struck the black-red dragon's scales—but failed to pierce them.

The black-red scales shimmered with starlight, as if a red giant star were swelling within them.

Fang Xing's claw struck the Chaotic Beast's abdomen, unleashing a surge of immense physical power.

"Roar! Roar!"

The Chaotic Beast was flung backward, a bloody hole appearing on its belly—but it charged forward undaunted.

The two colossal beasts tangled fiercely, shaking the void and affecting countless mountain peaks.

After an indeterminate time, Fang Xing's claw struck true, landing squarely on the Chaotic Beast's face—featureless, without mouth or nose.

The many-limbed Chaotic Beast froze, then its body exploded into a torrent of chaotic currents that dissipated.

"Damn… it took so long. If a few more show up, I'll be in danger… and I got nothing from it."

"This is why explorers avoid conflict with Chaotic Beasts… they leave nothing behind when they die—not a single treasure."

Fang Xing sighed, shrinking his form: "But Chaotic Beasts are territorial; now that this one is dead, another won't come for a while—this could serve as a viable spot for seclusion."

He raised his will to the Illusory Void Layer, attempting to observe the entire Pangu Secret Realm from a teleportation perspective.

But the next moment, Fang Xing realized something was wrong.

"Cannot teleport out of the realm? That's expected… but even the internal void has been altered—teleportation is possible, yet limited to at most hundreds of thousands of li per jump…"

"What kind of void manipulation is this?"

Fang Xing was stunned.

Compared to this restriction, outright sealing all void fluctuations might have been simpler.

…

Several days later.

Inside a cave dwelling.

"It's time…"

A black dragon coiled, Fang Xing murmured.

As long as his understanding of Dao reached the Third Stage, achieving Nascent Soul would be but a thought away.

He had delayed it, first waiting for the Time Dao to advance, to condense the Zhu Long Nascent Soul.

Later, he waited merely for the Pangu Secret Realm to open.

Now all was ready—he would break through immediately!

Boom!

He focused his mind; the Time Heart condensed, extending countless "Threads of Time."

With his Principle comprehension, Fang Xing effortlessly summoned cosmic qi, crossing the boundary between mortal and Nascent Soul!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Infinite cosmic qi surged violently, cascading down like a waterfall.

Fang Xing felt his essence, energy, and spirit coalesce into a single "seed," stirring within the qi-soil, ready to burst forth!

"Zhu Long Nascent Soul… Converge!" He immediately activated the "Zhu Long Nascent Soul Art" from the Qing Hua Scroll; his Zhu Long blood surged instantly, pouring into the "seed."

In a haze, Fang Xing saw again that terrifying Zhu Long—human-faced, serpent-bodied, roaming boundless star rivers, manipulating stars.

The power of Time descended; a strange Nascent Soul emerged.

It resembled a miniature Zhu Long, covered in crimson scales, human-faced and dragon-bodied, with a single eye.

Zhu Long Nascent Soul—Achieved!

The moment the Zhu Long Nascent Soul formed, it seemed to drift through the River of Time, granting Fang Xing crystal-clear insight into the "Time Principle."

"Is this what a Nascent Soul is in this world? Now that I've formed one, my clarity toward other Principles has at least doubled… but my clarity toward the Time Principle? It's tenfold!"

Fang Xing now felt his past self had been a fool—his prior understanding of the Time Dao had been like a blind man touching an elephant.

If he could now exert fifty years of Time Dao now, he might fully perfect it!

The Zhu Long Nascent Soul became a crimson light, sinking into the body of the thousand-meter black dragon.

"My cultivation energy…"

Fang Xing opened his eyes, sensing his own cultivation energy.

In the past fifty years, he had already perfected an Immortal-grade method; now that he had broken through to Nascent Soul, his energy remained Immortal-grade.

"But the total quantity of Nascent Soul Stage One energy is at least a hundred times greater than that of Mortal Realm Stage Nine!"

"The quality is the same—though both are Immortal-grade, Nascent Soul Immortal-grade energy is at least ten times more refined than Mortal Realm Immortal-grade energy!"

"Now, if I faced that Chaotic Beast again, one claw would crush it. Only a Chaotic Beast commander with innate Fifth-Stage Chaotic Principle would require extra effort…"

Not just Fang Xing—any Emperor's Heir not immediately swarmed by Chaotic Beasts would surely break through to Nascent Soul first, gaining a massive power surge.

"But… my increase will be far more terrifying than any Heir's."

Fang Xing turned his gaze to his attribute panel, fixing his eyes on the "Nine Sources Star Forge Secret Art."

"Previously, this art could not advance—likely bound by my realm… but now…"

Thud!

Thud!

The muffled beat of a heart echoed throughout; the black dragon's scales erupted with terrifying light and heat, as if in that instant it had become a red giant star.

"Release!"

Fang Xing shattered a Void Treasure, its contents—the last reward: ninety-nine units of Nascent Soul Elixir!

No!

In quantity, he had even exchanged and stored more Nascent Soul Elixir than ninety-nine units!

On the attribute panel, the glyph representing the Nine Sources Star Forge Secret Art blurred:

【Nine Sources Star Forge Secret Art: Master → Grandmaster!】

Hum!

In an instant, the thousand-meter black-and-red dragon turned to dust!

Only upon close inspection could one see that each speck of dust was, in fact, a star moving along a precise orbit!

"The Grandmaster-level Nine Sources Star Forge Secret Art requires forging a Neutron Star Battle Body!"

"A 'Neutron Star' is a celestial body of extreme mass and density… to an unimaginable degree!"

Fang Xing detached his Nascent Soul from his body, observing his physical transformation with cold detachment.

"No wonder the Neutron Star Battle Body couldn't break through before Nascent Soul… the body would scatter into fundamental particles… without a Nascent Soul, I'd be dead…"

"Now… compress! Compress everything!"

Fang Xing's Nascent Soul both merged with and withdrew from his form, watching his fundamental particles frantically absorb Nascent Soul Elixir, then reassemble and compress… forming the most basic "Neutron Star Structure!"

Then, using that single Neutron Star Structure as a base, his entire body rapidly replicated it!

During this process, over a hundred units of Nascent Soul Elixir were consumed at a furious rate.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

When all was complete, the thousand-meter black-and-red dragon had vanished from the cave.

In its place stood a palm-sized black-and-red Yinglong.

Though tiny, each scale was exquisitely precise, gleaming with a diamond-like luster.

I'm so small! How did my true form shrink to the size of a palm?

Even if concentrated things are essence, a palm-sized object isn't a dragon—it's an earthworm or a loach...

Fang Xing was utterly speechless, wanting to complain but not knowing where to begin.

But after carefully sensing it, a new realization came: "So strong! I'm... so strong now!"

If his previous thousand-meter dragon body was charcoal, then this palm-sized body was diamond!

Concentrated to the extreme! Hardened to the extreme—diamond!

"Now, I can barehandedly catch a royal weapon—even if it still breaks through my defense, I won't be as humiliated as last time."

"If I meet Shi Qing again, I can definitely crush her with one grip... wait, I can't crush her—I'll just headbutt her to death! If she hasn't advanced to Nascent Soul yet..."

Fang Xing estimated his current strength was roughly equal to that of an Imperial Prince who had reached Nascent Soul Ninth Reckoning!

And this wasn't even his limit!

Because the "Nine Sources Star Forge Body Secret Art" had been refined to "Black Hole Level"!

Equivalent to the realm of a Nascent Soul Overlord!

"Once at Black Hole Level, I can definitely barehandedly catch a royal weapon... No wonder Black Hole Level is said to rival the Law Lord—the Heavenly Immortal adept."

If one can withstand royal weapons with sheer flesh, one can naturally rival Heavenly Immortals and Heavenly Demons!

This was a path to becoming a Nascent Soul Overlord through flesh cultivation!

"It's rather amusing... I came to Qingyuan Great Realm with no intention of enhancing my body, yet I kept encountering miraculous fortunes..."

"But my path of Dao principles has been bumpy... I hope the 'Great Dao Stele' in the Ancient God Temple grants me some insight..."

Only two updates today

(End of Chapter)