Chapter 510: Nirvana: Soul Essence Utterly Shattered

Dìshì had been waiting for this day, waiting far too long.

When everything was no longer completely under his control, he had no choice but to resort to a risky move, advancing everything ahead of time.

Since I have already come this far to Nirvana, I must certainly walk out of it alive!

No matter what method is used.

Even if the enemy I once hated most could lend me a hand at this moment, I would surely grasp it tightly!

As for what will happen after Nirvana, we'll talk about it after Nirvana succeeds.

What I never expected was that, at the moment I collided with the girl, a bolt of heavenly lightning struck precisely from above my head, and in that instant my body shattered into pieces, completely disintegrating.

Yes, physically speaking, shattered into fragments, completely disintegrated.

At the moment the heavenly lightning fell, the Three‑Legged Crow did not follow; Feng Wu departed from my body, and even my belly… a bright‑red egg miraculously left my flesh and floated in the sea of fire.

Only my soul essence and divine status were united within the flesh.

That bolt of heavenly lightning fell and smashed my flesh!

At that moment my soul essence trembled, my vision blurred, yet I still saw flesh and blood flying apart, then vanishing without a trace under the extreme heat.

At that moment I had a very clear feeling: "I am dead."

I really wanted to cry.

From the moment I took over the Wufu Town Pawnshop and came into contact with cultivation, I initially despised my mortal body, insisting it was what shackled my cultivation.

But as time passed and I experienced so many things, I came to feel that possessing a healthy mortal body and living an ordinary life is extraordinarily rare and precious.

But… it… shattered.

It completely vanished within this expanse of fire.

Along with the disappearance of the flesh went the innate curse, the ice silkworm poison, and all external forces and sorceries that had been imposed upon the body.

My soul essence continued to tremble and twist.

Bolts of heavenly lightning struck down, my soul essence shattered, scattered, then reassembled.

This process is the true core of Nirvana.

Free from the shackles of the flesh, the soul under repeated heavenly‑lightning baptisms may either scatter and perish, or, if it endures, undergo a complete metamorphosis.

I cannot control my soul at all; having come this far, everything left is left to heaven's will.

My world, during this Nirvana span that is neither long nor short, became intermittent.

Many images flashed before my eyes at the moments my soul coalesced, and when my soul was scattered they turned into blank darkness.

Among them many images flickered by in an instant, while some I desperately wanted to capture and strive to remember.

Chaotic and bustling, like a dream or an illusion.

Until suddenly a vision appeared before my eyes: the Three‑Legged Crow shook its massive wings and rushed toward that crimson egg!

Is… this also my memory?

Bang!

A muffled boom, and my soul essence was shattered again by heavenly lightning.

Upon re‑condensing, I saw Feng Wu transform into a wholly crimson longbow entwined with clusters of Nirvana fire, its string drawn taut, shooting at the Three‑Legged Crow.

No, this is not my memory; this is happening right now!

The Three‑Legged Crow actually intends to sneak‑attack the egg!

He intends to seize a body!

For a moment I couldn't fathom why, with Nirvana fire everywhere, everyone could suddenly enter and move about freely without being burned to soul‑scattering oblivion.

Then I quickly realized they were all benefiting from my light.

I drew away ninety‑nine percent of the fire, and they had all once been sheltered by my body; it seems Dìshì had long known this would happen, so he sent the Three‑Legged Crow in—truly killing three birds with one stone.

I am anxious, yet I can do nothing.

Fortunately, Feng Wu remains.

After the final shattering and re‑joining of my soul essence, only I remain in the vast expanse of fire.

I still hover in that sea of fire; the surroundings are eerily silent, yet I faintly sense countless heavenly lightnings lurking around me, stored up and ready to burst.

Boom!

A tremendous thunderclap came from above.

This heavenly lightning is not of the same level as those I endured before, and its source is different.

This one is truly the heavenly lightning that fell from the sky, bearing the aura of judging all things.

Pain.

The pain of my soul essence being completely split.

Yet amid that excruciating pain I felt a strange sensation—my flesh and blood were growing without limit.

I… have come back to life.

The surrounding Nirvana fire receded inch by inch, seeping into my body; unlike before it did not scorch my soul essence, but turned into nourishment supporting the growth of my flesh and blood throughout.

This is Nirvana.

This is rebirth through fire.

It is also at this moment that I realized, when facing the final heavenly lightning, I was not alone.

Feng Wu and the egg have both returned to my body.

Where the Three‑Legged Crow is, I no longer have the energy to ponder.

The process of my flesh and blood frenzied growth is perhaps not much better than death by a thousand cuts.

Every nerve, every bone, continually stretched and enlarged from a tiny point, painful enough to make me want to die, yet I can clearly feel the pulse of life.

That is the most wonderful rhythm of this world, letting you endure countless trials of life and death, start over again, and yet still be hard to part with.

After I absorbed the last wisp of Nirvana fire, I involuntarily let out a long howl to the sky.

It was a phoenix's cry.

But I discovered something extremely wrong: my newly healed body was merely a vessel wrapping my Soul Essence, as if it could contain heaven and earth, yet…… it had not become a phoenix's true form.

Is Nirvana without a phoenix's true body still considered a successful Nirvana?

The surroundings were deathly silent.

After the sea of fire vanished, the whole space fell into pitch darkness, and an invisible force beneath my feet lifted me upward.

I remembered the Nirvana space behind that door in Mount Azure Paulownia; back then I almost fell in, only to be pulled out, yet why does the whole layout feel changed?

And what about the Azure Paulownia Dark Seal?

When the Azure Paulownia Dark Seal exchanged for Feng Wu, it should have been in the hands of the Divine Stature.

I tried to summon it, but there was no response.

My body continued to rise slowly in the darkness, and for some reason I felt a bit uneasy.

Until Feng Wu's voice echoed in my mind: "Xiao Jiu, did you hear that?"

Hear what?

I held my breath and focused, listening intently.

Faintly, I seemed to hear the rustling of leaves, interspersed with one or two bird calls.

The higher I went, the more distinct that rustling became, soft, gathering from all directions, the sound gradually growing louder and louder…

"It's the Chinese parasol tree!" Feng Wu voiced my thought: "We're inside the trunk of the Chinese parasol tree!"

Yes, I also realized that.

I have entered Mount Azure Paulownia before, and I have seen that huge Chinese parasol tree; I even hugged it.

But I never imagined it would be hollow.

Its roots are gnarled and twisted; could what lies below actually be the Nirvana space?

Or perhaps that's not reasonable.

A thought rose in my mind: the trunk of the Chinese parasol tree is not hollow.

I once regarded this Chinese parasol tree as my lucky tree.

It once protected and helped me grow during my darkest days.

Likewise, it has protected Feng Wu for many years.

So it's not that the trunk is hollow; rather, an invisible force from below is pushing me upward within the trunk, but after I absorbed the Nirvana fire, a certain formation array appeared below, controlling my ascent.

This formation array should have been set up around the outskirts of Mount Azure Paulownia; it existed long ago, constantly suppressed by the Nirvana fire, and was activated the moment the Nirvana fire disappeared.

And the Chinese parasol tree is protecting me…