Chapter 79: Extreme Realm True Self, Cave Heaven Nourishing Spirit

The initial manifestation of the True Self brought great joy to Mengchen's heart; fortunately, these months of bitter cultivation had not been in vain, yielding fruitful rewards.

The next instant, his heart grew slightly grave, because from here on, if he wished to reach the extreme realm of the soul's True Self, he would have to pay more and endure more.

The path of cultivation appears wondrous and unfathomable, with infinite beauty, but the effort required behind the scenes is something ordinary people cannot imagine or comprehend.

Quietly, Mengchen frantically drew in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, all of which was absorbed by the soul's True Self, gradually becoming solid.

This process consumed seven days of time; the soul's True Self reached a state of saturation regarding the absorption of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, and it had also become incomparably solid, nearly materializing.

At this moment, Mengchen felt his soul was unprecedentedly powerful, with a significant improvement in his perception of surrounding things and his own cognition.

Now that the shaping of the True Self was considered complete, he had stepped into the second stage of the Spirit Transformation realm, yet for Mengchen, this was still far from reaching his expectations.

He had always pursued the extreme realm; from Blood Moving, to Cave Heaven, and then to Fleshly Body Spirit Transformation, all had reached the extreme realm.

Naturally, Mengchen also aimed for the extreme realm in the shaping of his True Self, so what followed was extreme tempering; only through repeated tempering and polishing could one reach the legendary extreme realm.

"Gangzi, can you help me temper my soul's True Self?" Mengchen called out in a deep voice.

Now, with a good helper like Gangzi in existence, it saved him from having to look for other external factors to temper it.

Immediately, the clear and resonant voice of the Vajra Pestle came from within Mengchen's heart.

"Good! No problem; training you to become stronger is my bounden duty."

Now, Mengchen was the only successor of its Ancient Monk Lineage; the Vajra Pestle was naturally eager to temper him and make him stronger, not to mention that this was Mengchen's own proactive proposal.

"Are you ready? I will now draw upon the True Fire to help you temper it," the Vajra Pestle's voice echoed.

"Good! Let's begin!" Mengchen gritted his teeth and said.

Facing this impending scene, he was fully prepared.

"Swoosh!"

A cluster of True Fire appeared out of thin air without a sound, then shot onto Mengchen's body.

Suddenly, Mengchen's body was like a pile of dry firewood; it ignited at a touch, instantly bursting into raging flames.

"Hiss..."

The intense burning pain caused Mengchen's divine sense to gasp in his body.

The raging flames were almost about to roast his fleshly body to a crisp.

However, his face remained calm, motionless, his gaze tranquil, with not the slightest ripple in his expression.

Being burned by True Fire is a form of extreme torment.

He did not know how long he had been burned, but his skin shed a layer of charred, blackened old hide, revealing a body as crystalline as jade, even more powerful than before.

However, the fleshly body shedding its old hide to grow a brand-new, powerful physique was not Mengchen's purpose in enduring the burning of the True Fire.

Because he had already reached the extreme realm of Fleshly Body Spirit Transformation, under the influence of the spirit, he could autonomously perfect his fleshly body without needing to adopt such radical methods for training.

The reason for the True Fire burning his body was actually to temper the soul's True Self he had shaped.

He used the True Fire wielded by the Vajra Pestle to constantly hone and refine it, so as to make the soul's "True Self" reach its strongest state, reaching the extreme realm of this stage.

He sat cross-legged in the cave, motionless, continuously receiving the baptism of the True Fire.

Under the roasting and burning of the True Fire, the soul's True Self was burned until it self-collapsed; the essential Runes of the fleshly body that composed the True Self scattered into the soul sea, and the little figure formed by them was roasted apart and melted.

For Mengchen, this was undoubtedly an extremely severe test; this little figure was his soul, another version of him.

When the soul's little figure was burned and melted by the True Fire, his soul was also enduring inhuman torture.

As the True Fire continued to roast it, the soul, burned back to its original form and appearing as wisps, also began to look as if it were burning, appearing as though it were about to turn into ashes.

Yet after burning for a long time, it was discovered that the soul, which was about to turn into ashes, was ultimately inextinguishable; it was wrapped in the center of the flames, continuously undergoing calcination.

As time passed, the soul was constantly honed in the True Fire, becoming increasingly resilient and slowly growing stronger. Quietly, the soul wisps were able to move against the True Fire and re-attach themselves to the scattered fleshly body Runes, gathering together once more.

"Boom!" Accompanied by a faint muffled sound, the original little figure suddenly condensed and appeared.

Under the control of Mengchen's divine sense and will, the little figure sat cross-legged, hands pressed together, like a little Buddha in meditation, exuding a mysterious aura.

"Swoosh!"

The instant the little figure condensed and sat down, a soft sound was emitted; the True Fire flames suddenly surged, completely wrapping the little figure and burning it until it turned red-hot.

This sudden surge of True Fire was actually withstood by the little figure.

The little figure remained in a cross-legged state, standing firm under the calcination of the True Fire.

Regarding this, Mengchen did not feel surprised.

Because this was the result of his soul's unyielding tenacity; if he had not persisted through the previous long burning, there would not be this scene today.

The little figure bathed in the raging flames; parts of its body were occasionally burned away, but soon, the little figure would re-condense and become complete.

This process also lasted for quite some time; the little figure persisted under the calcination of the True Fire for a full forty-nine days.

Now, the little figure emitted a brilliant golden light throughout its body, as if it had turned into pure gold, and it was no longer afraid of the True Fire's calcination.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from within the little figure's body, giving Mengchen a start.

But following the little figure's subsequent changes, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

It was seen that as the cracking sound rang out, a layer of golden shell fell off, and a brand-new little figure appeared, looking crystalline and full of fleshly texture.

"Haha... finally succeeded."

Mengchen instantly felt elated in his heart; his soul's True Self had reached the extreme realm.

"Congratulations!" The Vajra Pestle's voice echoed, and then it fell silent and disappeared.

Afterward, Mengchen spent several more days adjusting his breath and recuperating, allowing his physical state to reach its peak.

During the few days he had been awake, Shi Hao, the Tianhu girl, Heizi, and the others were all immersed in cultivation, so he did not disturb them.

Moreover, time flew; after a careful calculation, from the start of his seclusion until now, half a year had passed.

During these few days, Mengchen had also walked out of here to inquire about news regarding the Kunpeng fortune.

Upon learning that no one had yet obtained the Kunpeng fortune, Mengchen also set his mind at ease.

Later, he returned here again, intending to advance to the third stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm: Cave Heaven Spirit Nourishing.

Mengchen sat quietly for a moment, eyes closed, contemplating in his mind: for this Cave Heaven Spirit Nourishing, what spirit should be nourished?

According to the experience of predecessors, this spirit can be mountains, rivers, plants, or trees, with divine vines and immortal herbs being the best; it can also be various fierce beasts and birds of prey, with the Ten Fiends being the best.

There are also those who nourish their own self, and this "self" does not refer to the physical body, but the True Self shaped by the spirit, the soul's True Self.

In legends, this soul's True Self is also called the Soul Divine Fetus.

Once this Soul Divine Fetus is successfully nourished, it possesses strength no weaker than the true body, and it will grow stronger as the true body's strength increases.

Now that Mengchen possesses eleven great Cave Heavens, it means he can simultaneously gestate and nourish eleven true spirits.

Regarding the first true spirit to be nourished, Mengchen had already decided in his heart: it would be his soul's True Self, the Soul Divine Fetus.

As for the other ten true spirits to be nourished, he also had a preliminary plan: to use his own six Supreme Bones as a medium to gestate and nourish the Supreme Bone arts within the Cave Heavens.

The first chapter for today; I will update the second chapter tomorrow before 11.

Additionally, I am asking everyone for votes, thank you all; those who have votes, please check for me.

(End of this chapter)