Chapter 703: The Strange Transformation of Heaven-Earth Cloud Tower (Requesting Base Monthly Votes)

The process of refining the Dao body must proceed from outside to inside, from skin to blood, flesh, bones, and the five zang and six fu organs.

Xu Jin's Great Chaos Spirit Body was no exception.

Above his head, the Great Chaos Essence Heart, formed from eight special rhythmic forces, emitted beams of chaotic radiance under Xu Jin's control, beginning to refine his skin and flesh.

Instantly, an indescribable tingling sensation surged through his heart, followed by burning, pain, Su, coolness, tearing, and a sweet moistness—entirely different sensations appearing in rapid succession.

In an instant, the veins on Xu Jin's forehead bulged, his eyes widened in fury, and he nearly screamed out loud.

Each of these sensations, taken alone, Xu Jin could easily endure.

But now they came in relentless, alternating extremes, like ice and fire stacked ninefold.

When the tingling reached its peak, it switched to burning pain, then to needle-prick pain, then to Su -itchiness—each sensation amplified to its extreme.

The refined areas were constantly destroyed and repaired, forming a closed-loop cycle.

The parts being refined appeared to Xu Jin's naked eyes to grow translucent.

But this was only the first step.

The hallmark of a newly formed Great Chaos Spirit Body is that the chaotic radiance can freely enter and exit the body without obstruction.

What intrigued Xu Jin was that this chaotic radiance bore a faint resemblance to Chaotic Star Gang.

But only a faint resemblance.

When Xu Jin cultivated on his Star River Isle, he never let his body touch Chaotic Star Gang, but he had touched it with his spiritual sense, out of curiosity, and carefully sensed it.

The chaotic radiance he now used for body refinement had an energy fluctuation similar to Chaotic Star Gang, but its power strength was weaker by more than a thousandfold.

"No wonder Chaotic Star Gang is terrifying—my current body strength, if swept by even a fraction of it, would instantly turn to ash."

"Once my Great Chaos Spirit Body is fully refined, my physical strength and subtlety should far surpass other Spirit Bodies—by at least two or three times."

But the time—

After only half an hour of cultivation, Xu Jin had formed a rough estimate of his body refinement progress.

The final time required to fully refine the Great Chaos Spirit Body might be measured in years.

That time might exceed ten years.

Most other Spirit Bodies, with sufficient resources, achieve completion in one to two years, at most three.

Take Ning Ning Yuchan—her Geng Metal Spirit Body was completed in four or five months.

Not only had Ning Ning Yuchan stockpiled vast quantities of Geng Metal Rhythmic Force and early condensed the Metal Rhythm Pearl, ensuring flawless cultivation resources, but they were also top-tier.

Moreover, Ning Ning Yuchan herself was extremely compatible with the Geng Metal Spirit Body.

During the refinement of her Geng Metal Spirit Body, she had already sensed the postnatal Geng Metal Force.

Now, she was already refining her postnatal Geng Metal Dao Body; Xu Jin did not know her current progress.

Of course, Ning Ning Yuchan's speed was exceedingly rare.

Most people—even geniuses—required one or two years for a single-element Spirit Body; a fully formed dual-element Spirit Body took no less than three years; a three-element Spirit Body took even longer.

Xu Jin's eight-element hybrid Great Chaos Spirit Body was unprecedented.

At least, in all known records from the Seven Kill True Person's legacy, Master Fenghua Emperor's knowledge, and other sources, there was no precedent of anyone cultivating such a Spirit Body.

But now, the hardest step had already been taken, proving that his Master Master Fenghua Emperor's calculations were entirely correct.

With the direction confirmed, theoretically, as long as Xu Jin continued cultivating step by step, the Great Chaos Spirit Body would surely be achieved.

In truth, for many things and cultivation paths, determining the direction and foundational theory is the hardest part.

Xu Jin's path of the Great Chaos Spirit Body owed its greatest credit to his Master, Master Fenghua Emperor.

Thinking of this, Xu Jin's gratitude toward this Master—whom he had met only once, and whose true physical form he had never even seen—deepened further!

The next instant, Xu Jin resumed his focused effort, driving the Great Chaos Essence Heart to refine his body.

This Great Chaos Essence Heart consumed ten threads of various rhythmic forces per hour—massive consumption; it could not be wasted.

But after fifteen minutes, Xu Jin suddenly noticed something odd.

The pace of body refinement felt increasingly slower.

At the initial rate, completion would take about ten years; now, it might take more than thirty.

This startled Xu Jin—if this continued, his choice might be a trap.

Worse, the speed was still slowing further.

If it slowed any more, even sixty years might not be enough.

Instantly, Xu Jin, fully absorbed in body refinement, split off a thread of spiritual sense to internally observe himself and investigate why this was happening.

After all, there was no prior experience to draw upon in refining the Great Chaos Spirit Body.

If problems arose, Xu Jin could only meticulously record every change and describe them to his Master Master Fenghua Emperor for guidance.

But soon, a flicker of astonishment surfaced deep in Xu Jin's eyes.

Case solved!

Found the cause!

Earlier, during body refinement, Tian Di Yun Lou had shown slight disturbances.

Xu Jin had not paid attention then, since stirring internal star force naturally caused Tian Di Yun Lou to react.

But he hadn't expected this treasure to be the culprit.

Or rather—it was stealing!

Half of the chaotic radiance entering his body from the Great Chaos Essence Heart had been silently absorbed by Tian Di Yun Lou.

"Could it be because I previously absorbed the Chaotic Primordial Source from the Star River Isle?"

As Xu Jin pondered, his spiritual sense magnified like a lens, examining every inch of Tian Di Yun Lou—yet found no major changes.

The chaotic radiance it absorbed vanished as completely as the Chaotic Primordial Source previously integrated into it.

He could not locate it, nor detect any changes it had caused.

The reason was likely simple—the quantity was too small.

To destroy something, first let it grow arrogant.

To make the Chaotic Heart within Tian Di Yun Lou reveal itself, first make it fat!

Of course, that was not the only reason.

In that moment, Xu Jin connected the Chaotic Primordial Source, the composition of Tian Di Yun Lou, and its direct absorption of chaotic radiance—and thought of many possibilities.

But they were only speculations.

Thus, Xu Jin decided to try something.

Perhaps he would discover something.

He could be certain: there was no harm, only benefit.

When Tian Di Yun Lou absorbed the Chaotic Primordial Source from the Star River Isle, its body became more solid; now, quietly absorbing the chaotic radiance he used for refinement, it likely brought no harm.

The next instant, Xu Jin's spiritual sense shifted—Tian Di Yun Lou flew out, appearing directly above the Great Chaos Essence Heart.

As Tian Di Yun Lou approached, it instinctively began absorbing the Great Chaos Essence Heart at an astonishing speed.

Xu Jin fully released his control and even used his spiritual sense to urge it on.

The next instant, Tian Di Yun Lou blazed with radiant light.

With a whoosh, the Great Chaos Essence Heart flew straight into Tian Di Yun Lou.

Xu Jin's spiritual sense followed immediately.

Gone again!

Vanished without a trace!

But after several breaths, Xu Jin detected a faint clue.

On the inner walls of Tian Di Yun Lou's core layers, he found traces of Chaotic Force.

"Is Tian Di Yun Lou becoming Chaotic?" "Can Tian Di Yun Lou be Chaoticized?"

"If Tian Di Yun Lou becomes Chaoticized, what will it become?"

"Or what will happen?"

A cascade of questions arose in Xu Jin's mind.

His first impulse was to consult his Master, Master Fenghua Emperor.

But instantly, Xu Jin realized—the amount of Chaotic Rhythmic Force Tian Di Yun Lou had absorbed was far too little!

With only these current observations, if Master Fenghua Emperor were beside him and he fully opened himself for the Master's star force to probe and sense, some discovery might be possible.

But his Master Master Fenghua Emperor was now billions of miles away; Xu Jin could only describe the situation and seek guidance.

The current data was far from sufficient.

The next instant, Xu Jin's spiritual sense shifted—Xu Mi Mountain, Wood Rhythm Heart, Metal Rhythm Pearl, Earth Rhythm Mountain, Water Rhythm Waterfall, Fire Rhythm Paste, Wind Rhythm Leaf, and Thunder Pool each spewed ten threads of special rhythmic force; Xu Jin then guided them with his spiritual sense, fusing and assisting according to the operation and connection patterns of the original stars on the Can Dou Platform.

After more than ten breaths, another Great Chaos Essence Heart reappeared.

He again activated Tian Di Yun Lou to absorb it.

Not enough!

Continue!

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect—Xu Jin's speed in fusing and forming the Great Chaos Essence Heart grew faster each time.

Another set of ten threads each of eight special rhythmic forces coalesced into a Great Chaos Essence Heart, instantly absorbed by Tian Di Yun Lou.

Still not enough!

Again!

After three consecutive attempts, Xu Jin found Tian Di Yun Lou's internal changes were minimal.

This time, Xu Jin gritted his teeth and directly extracted one hundred threads of each of the eight rhythmic forces, refining them into a large, dense Great Chaos Essence Heart, then activated Tian Di Yun Lou to absorb it.

This time, the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower took a full three breaths to fully absorb it.

Due to the sustained absorption, Xu Jin also precisely tracked the changes within the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower by following the Chaotic Rhythm.

Much clearer than before.

But still a bit short.

Again!

Xu Jin gritted his teeth and sent another hundred threads of each type, beginning to refine the Great Chaotic Rhythm Core.

Yet this time, when injecting the Void Rhythm, his heart still trembled twice.

The consumption rate was enormous—far greater than he had imagined.

The other stellar patterns had been pushed to eighth and ninth ranks much earlier; the shortest had taken over a year.

After reaching the ninth rank, as before, each minor advancement added one more thread of special rhythm per day.

The lowest had already reached ninth-rank middle, yielding five threads per day.

Even the weakest, the Wind of Xun Rhythm, had accumulated fifteen hundred threads.

But since acquiring the Void Stellar Pattern, only four and a half months had passed.

Immediately after obtaining it, Xu Jin had pushed the Void Stellar Pattern all the way to ninth-rank middle, originally intending to reach ninth-rank upper.

But the Space Law Star Pattern was too weak then—just newly formed—and the difficulty of advancement had skyrocketed, consuming too much, so he stopped pushing further.

The ninth-rank middle Void Stellar Pattern now granted Xu Jin five threads of Void Rhythm per day.

To date, he had accumulated six hundred and sixty threads of Void Rhythm.

With this amount accumulated, Xu Jin felt ready to begin refining the Great Chaotic Spirit Body.

Consuming some daily while accumulating more should keep pace.

But Xu Jin hadn't expected that after the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower interrupted him, he had already consumed two hundred and forty threads of Void Rhythm today—over one-third.

He felt the Void Rhythm was running low.

"I must hurry to push the Void Stellar Pattern to ninth-rank upper, even break into tenth rank."

As he resolved this inwardly, his spiritual sense sank fully into the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower.

The instant he sank in, confusion flooded his heart.

After absorbing vast amounts of Great Chaotic Rhythm, the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower had finally undergone a clear transformation!

There was only one change!

Chaotic transformation!

Most of the inner walls of the Cloud Tower's floors had become chaotically transformed.

Simply put, the old Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower had been forged from star patterns of varying powers; though integrated into one by the Divine Soul Embryo,

the different forces within it had remained sharply distinct!

For example, the thirty-seventh floor was forged from ninth-rank Thunder Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern, the thirty-eighth from ninth-rank Wood Lei Lei Yuanxing Pattern—though within the same tower, the two forces remained separate.

But now, the tower was still the tower, yet the forces between its floors were merging into chaotic unity.

The previously sharply divided floors were, under the influence of Chaotic Rhythm, beginning to fuse.

But this fusion was still in its early stage.

Only the inner walls of the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower had begun to fuse, showing signs of chaotic transformation.

Outside, the differing elemental forces between the tower's floors remained sharply distinct.

"What will this strange change lead to?"

Xu Jin was filled with confusion.

But he felt it was most likely a good thing.

Because he had noticed a pattern.

Chaotic Rhythm was composed of eight forces; his Great Chaotic Spirit Body followed the same path.

When forging the Heaven-and-Earth Cloud Tower, he had incorporated all eight forces—even mixed in Divine Soul Star Patterns.

Now, all of them were undergoing chaotic transformation.

But Xu Jin understood too little about Chaotic Power and had too little experience with it.

In an instant, Xu Jin could no longer sit still.

He couldn't wait.

He had to contact his Master immediately.

This concerned his cultivation future.

But out of caution, he should stay far from the Emperor Dongxuan Dao Palace—after all, the palace housed the powerful Commander Tian Zhang True Person and was protected by powerful arrays.

【Ling'er, I'm returning to the Prince's Mansion to cultivate. Arrange it.】Xu Jin sent a Starlight Message to Zhu Zhu Linxiao at once.

Xu Jin found Zhu Zhu Linxiao far more reliable than Zhu Zhu Shizhen.

【Husband, I've already begun arranging. When do you plan to go? Today, or tomorrow?】

【Best if today.】

【Understood, Husband. I'll arrange it immediately. In half an hour, I'll personally await you at the mansion gate with a retinue, and the ceremonial procession will arrive at the Candidate Daozi Residence within half an hour.】Zhu Zhu Linxiao said.

Her demeanor filled Xu Jin with deep satisfaction.

【The procession and reception aren't necessary—I'll just move in directly.】

【Husband, it's not that I'm defying you, but this is your first time entering the Yutang True Person's Mansion. Without proper ceremony, people might gossip. Please, let me have my people greet you at the gate.】Zhu Zhu Linxiao pleaded.

【Very well.】

After replying, Xu Jin smiled. Being begged for permission—and then reluctantly granting it—felt good.

"This woman is too skilled."

(End of Chapter)