Chapter 694: Breaking Through Bottlenecks

"Ah…"

He Pingsheng let out a shriek, his face instantly turning crimson.

Large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead and all over his body.

Sweat poured like rain.

Pain!

This pain was even more unbearable than when he had undergone the Nine Poison Golden Body refinement.

And this was even with the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire cooperating—imagine if it hadn't.

No wonder that Body Integration cultivator had abandoned trying to fuse the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire.

The agony made it impossible for He Pingsheng to activate his cultivation technique to refine the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire.

He could only first adapt to the intensity of the flame's scorching and the pain.

Just treat it as body refinement.

And he could only endure it for about three breaths before he had to expel the fire from his body.

Because if it stayed inside longer than three breaths, he felt his meridians would be utterly burned to ruin.

He expelled the flame from his body, rested for about ten breaths, then drew the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire back in.

Over and over again!

Not even refinement—just enduring was hard.

"Maybe…" The Nine Heaven Mystic Fire, unable to bear his suffering, spoke: "Wait a bit longer…"

"Your current cultivation base is far too weak!"

"Wait until you reach Void Refinement before attempting to refine it again—it'll be much easier!"

"No… again!" He Pingsheng insisted.

Thus, every three breaths of refinement, he stopped for ten.

He Pingsheng endured this agony.

One day!

Two days!

One year!

Two years!

Three years!

Slowly, he grew accustomed to the flame; the time he could refine it increased from three breaths to half an incense stick's duration.

No…

It should be said: the time he could endure it—not the time he could refine it!

Ten years later, he finally attempted to channel his magic power through his meridians.

He could finally attempt refinement.

But once he began, the endless agony returned.

Ten years!

Ten years!

Another ten years!

By the sixtieth year, He Pingsheng could barely suppress the soul-rending pain and sustain continuous refinement.

At this point, he had refined less than one-tenth of the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire.

But it was at least a good start.

After that, progress stabilized.

Ninety years later, He Pingsheng had refined about half of the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire.

At this point, he no longer felt any pain.

The rest was merely a matter of time—eventually, it would flow naturally.

At this time, He Pingsheng took out the 【Heaven-Moon Divine Array】 and began studying the array.

Time passed slowly!

Year after year after year!

Unconsciously, another thirty years passed.

When He Pingsheng had completed one hundred and twenty-two years of seclusion, he finally fully refined the entire Nine Heaven Mystic Fire.

Huh…

In an instant after refinement, He Pingsheng exhaled deeply, then collapsed onto the ground.

At this moment, an endless sense of bliss surged through his body.

It felt as if some inner constraint had shattered.

Boom…

He Pingsheng waved his hand, and a wisp of flame shot from his palm, slowly burning.

The flame gave off no heat.

All its fire energy had been contained within.

The flame was dark red, with faint threads of black woven through it.

This was the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire!

After lying still for about half an incense stick's duration, He Pingsheng sat up again.

He looked inward—and was astonished to find that, with the complete refinement of the Nine Heaven Mystic Fire, his cultivation base had broken through.

From the tenth layer of Soul Transformation, he had advanced to the twelfth layer.

"This… this this this…"

He Pingsheng was so shocked he could barely speak.

Just now, he had felt an inner constraint shatter, accompanied by an intense surge of bliss.

It was his cultivation base that had just broken through.

The key point: this was the bottleneck of Soul Transformation!

And it just… broke in an instant?

After a few breaths of astonishment, he understood: an instant?

Impossible.

The breakthrough was indeed instantaneous!

But before it, he had endured one hundred and twenty years of torment!

He swore he never wanted to endure that pain again.

These two Soul Transformation bottlenecks had been broken this way.

Previously, he had broken bottlenecks using rare treasures and elixirs—this time, he had broken them himself.

Wonderful!

He Pingsheng leapt up in joy.

Now at Soul Transformation twelfth layer, his combat power had surged terrifyingly—and more importantly, he could immediately attempt to break through to Void Refinement.

Once he reached Void Refinement, he could immediately create a body double!

That would be another layer of survival insurance, wouldn't it?

With a thought, He Pingsheng stepped out of the magic treasure's space.

Then he opened the array and walked out of the cultivation hall.

His vast spiritual sense surged outward.

After one hundred and twenty-two years of seclusion, Mount Gusu had changed greatly.

It was no longer the desolate place it once was—it had become a sacred cultivation ground, with more and more disciples, growing in numbers and vitality.

Some disciples had even advanced from Qi Refining to Nascent Soul within a century.

This filled He Pingsheng with satisfaction.

"Young Master!"

Upon sensing his emergence from seclusion, Zhou Qingmei and Hao Cang were the first to rush over.

He Pingsheng nodded and looked at Hao Cang: "Inform Lady Zhou, I've emerged from seclusion. Also summon all other Elders of the sect."

Over one hundred and twenty years had passed—he wondered how their cultivation had changed.

He Pingsheng casually parted the array and returned to his cultivation hall to sit.

His array knowledge had improved—he could now easily set up a fifth-rank great array.

Sixth-rank arrays still required further study.

Soon, the most important figures of the sect arrived.

Qiao Huizhu, Zhou Qingmei, Zhou Qingmei's body double, Hao Cang, Longyue Immortal, and one other—Xihu True Person.

He Pingsheng's gaze settled on Xihu True Person, lingering for a moment.

The woman had reached Nascent Soul eighth layer—not bad.

After buying her from the auction, he had first taken her to the True Flame Immortal Sect, then left her at Mount Gusu, forgetting to properly arrange her position.

Fortunately, now it seemed she had become a pillar of the Mount Gusu sect.

He Pingsheng withdrew his gaze and turned to Qiao Huizhu.

Qiao Huizhu's cultivation base has grown stronger; she has broken through.

Layer One of Void Refinement?

This…

Faster than me!

Besides Qiao Huizhu, another who has entered Void Refinement is Longyue Immortal Lady.

As for Hao Cang, this fellow has also reached Void Refinement Layer Two.

"My lady, have you crafted a division body?" He Pingsheng looked at Qiao Huizhu.

Qiao Huizhu smiled: "No… I've only just broken through into Void Refinement for a little over twenty years; I haven't prepared to craft a division body yet!"

"Hmm!" He Pingsheng said: "Not well prepared yet… Later, I have something to discuss with you regarding your division body."