Chapter 1706
Chapter 1706 (Raw 1718):
To advance to the Primal Core Realm from the Veritable Personage Realm, one had to merge the three essences to form a Primal Core.
Xiao Chen's Yin Essence Energy came from the ten-thousand-year-old Baleful Yin Energy that he had absorbed and refined. His Yang Essence Energy was obtained from the Heavenly Yang Pill, which rivaled a clump of ten-thousand-year-old Baleful Yang Energy.
As for his Veritable Essence Energy, that was equivalent to the regulator of the other two essences but was not exactly that.
Be it Yin Essence Energy or Yang Essence Energy, their ultimate purpose was to temper the Veritable Essence Energy. They constantly honed the Veritable Essence Energy. In the end, the cultivation of a cultivator was based on Veritable Essence Energy.
When the three essences merged into one, the most important thing was balance. Through the conservation of Yin and Yang, one could condense the Primal Core.
Xiao Chen had already achieved this condition long ago. The Yinyang Taiji diagram spinning slowly in his dantian meant that he did not have to spend any effort on maintaining balance.
This was already the most perfect balance of this age. This was derived from the Immortal Epoch's Daoism. Now, it belonged only to Xiao Chen, for him to use to his benefit.
In the Great Thousand Realms, there was a saying, one had to become a person first before becoming a god.
After the Transcending Mortality Realm, one became a Veritable Personage and took the first step in the Martial Dao. The Veritable Personage Realm was the foundation, which determined how far one could walk in the future and how much potential one could bring out.
Many people understood this point, but not many could accomplish this.
Not everyone's physical body could endure ten-thousand-year-old Baleful Yin Energy and ten-thousand-year-old Baleful Yang Energy. Even if one could, one might not have the opportunity to encounter them or subdue them.
Even more so, not everyone could be like Xiao Chen, all the while bearing patiently, maintaining a calm and peaceful attitude.
Even in the face of great danger—the pursuit of the Black Lotus Church, the challenge of the Divine Firmament Sect, or the encirclement of the Divine Shield Army—Xiao Chen did not forcibly break through.
Even more so, he did not rashly break through to stand out from the crowd and become famous.
Xiao Chen's breakthrough proceeded naturally, happening when the conditions were right. He had been through countless cycles of tempering and polishing, moving step by step until today.
This was because from the very beginning to the end, he, Xiao Chen, had never forgotten his original intent: seeking the moon!
To seek out Liu Ruyue, to seek out the person he loved the most, to fight for the position of Dragon Emperor, and to complete the revitalization of the Azure Dragon bloodline.
Everything that Xiao Chen experienced in the Grave Sea Cluster was just a sideshow. His final battlefield was definitely the Central Great Realm, where the geniuses gathered and the outstanding talents of the Great Desolate Hundred Races established themselves.
Heaven rewarded the faithful.
Xiao Chen took a deep breath. With a thought, the black-and-white Taiji diagram formed by the Yin and Yang Essence Energies in his dantian slowly merged, compressing bit by bit.
After the cleansing of more than a hundred White Jasmine Flowers, Xiao Chen's Yin and Yang Essence Energies were already incredibly pure and crystalline, giving off a glow that made them look like silk.
This was especially so for the Yang Essence Energy, which was refined from the Heavenly Yang Pill. Originally, it was contaminated by the Medicinal Pill's impurities, which could have given rise to various problems.
After this round of cleansing, the impurities of the Medicinal Pill were all flushed out of his body; not a single hidden danger remained.
This resulted in the Yin and Yang Essence Energies becoming exceedingly vast and pure. Hence, the process of merging the three essences was very slow.
"Whoosh!" An even larger black-and-white Taiji diagram appeared around Xiao Chen's body. Light and shadow swirled around, flashing endlessly. The world within the light and shadow flowed with a unique Dao aura as it turned illusory.
This Dao aura was different from Buddhist Might. It was exceptionally profound, capable of inspiring wild thoughts in others.
Time moved on, minute by minute, second by second. Although Xiao Chen's progress was slow, it went very smoothly without any obstructions at all.
This was how a breakthrough from reaching the right conditions took place. Without a bottleneck, everything moved naturally.
Four hours later, the Yin and Yang Essence Energies in Xiao Chen's dantian had already compressed to the size of a palm. The light that they gave off looked boundlessly resplendent. This light shone through his body from inside.
Xiao Chen's bones, flesh, blood, skin, and even his soul all received great benefits as the three essences merged.
Xiao Chen's skin flickered with light that synchronized with the Taiji diagram in the surroundings, vaguely connected to the entire world.
This was the Fiendish Demon Battlefield. Not only was the level of space here higher, but the Spiritual Energy in this place was also several times stronger than outside.
Breaking through here was several times better than in a blessed land. This was a pleasant surprise that Xiao Chen had not anticipated.
After another seven or eight minutes, the extremely compressed Yin and Yang Essence Energies finally completely fused with Xiao Chen's Veritable Essence Energy.
"Whoosh!"
The Taiji diagram, which was previously very slow, sped up, spinning wildly at ten times—one hundred times, one thousand times—its original speed after the union.
A bright, golden light shot out of Xiao Chen's body, illuminating the surrounding fifty kilometers as bright as day. Every single blade of grass and every tree was clearly visible.
Fortunately, he had chosen a rather desolate area. Furthermore, this was the Fiendish Demon Battlefield, where the situation was ever-changing. Hence, such a huge commotion did not attract the attention of others.
As that light spun around, brand-new Veritable Essence Energy constantly flowed through Xiao Chen's meridians.
Intense energy filled his entire body. He felt his strength increasing by leaps and bounds.
This continued for an entire hour before the feeling of his strength growing stopped all of a sudden.
The boundless light withdrew into his body. It was like all this had never happened.
After the light disappeared, Xiao Chen looked within himself and discovered a fingernail-sized, crystalline Primal Core hovering in his dantian.
The Primal Core had nine golden stars on its surface. Each golden star flickered with light, appearing bright and piercing. He could not look directly at it.
A 9-Star Primal Core!
This was the most perfect advancement. Any of the many outstanding talents in the entire Great Thousand Realms would be proud of it.
Xiao Chen could not help rejoicing. After leaving the Kunlun Realm and experiencing all sorts of trouble, he finally condensed his Primal Core.
Looking at that completely solidified crystal made Xiao Chen incredibly happy. His cultivation had jumped directly to peak Minor Primal Core.
When one first advanced to the Primal Core Realm, the Primal Core would mostly be soft. There might even be some sticky Veritable Essence Energy fluid inside it.
A completely solidified crystal was the mark of a peak Minor Primal Core cultivator.
Advancing further would bring him to the Major Primal Core Realm. Only by breaking through could one expand the capacity of one's Primal Core. That required continuous tempering to allow the Primal Core to mix with the power of the world.
That was an extremely significant step. Many people could not cross this hurdle in their entire lifetime.
However, Xiao Chen suspected that his 9-Star Primal Core contained even more Veritable Essence Energy than that of an average Major Primal Core expert.
Every flickering golden star contained incredibly pure Veritable Essence Energy.
Regular Primal Cores had only two or three golden stars. Those that surpassed five stars were extremely rare in the blessed lands.
Rumor had it that Shangguan Lei's Primal Core had only six stars, and it was already enough to let him stand out from those of the same generation in the Black Cave Mountain.
Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes, and an insuppressible tyrannical aura shot out of his eyes. The air he exuded gave the impression that he had undergone a metamorphosis.
This was not something that made Xiao Chen happy. However, he had just advanced to the Primal Core Realm and indeed could not control it freely.
The strength and tyranny of a 9-Star Primal Core could not be easily concealed.
Shangguan Lei's unparalleled tyranny, which prevented many people from looking directly at him unless they cultivated the Thunder Dao or had a violent character, was mostly due to his 6-Star Primal Core. This inevitably resulted in the suppression of others.
"When I meet that Holy Son Ming Xuan again, I can give him a huge surprise!"
Xiao Chen was a prideful person, but he did not show it before others. It was inevitable that he would remain defiant when he was suppressed so badly by a person from the same generation.
Xiao Chen did indeed possess the qualifications not to want to submit. He had been a half-step Primal Core cultivator when he faced the early-stage Major Primal Core Holy Son Ming Xuan. His opponent had held a humongous advantage in cultivation.
Now that Xiao Chen had made a breakthrough in his cultivation, going up against the Holy Son Ming Xuan could now barely be considered a fair fight.
Xiao Chen's eyes wandered before turning in the direction of the Ten Thousand Weapon Pavilion. He muttered to himself, "I have to go and find a good saber that fits me well."
If Xiao Chen had had a good Dao Weapon earlier, that awkward situation of being unable to injure the Holy Son Ming Xuan would not have happened.
"Who is it?!"
Suddenly, Xiao Chen's expression flickered. After advancing to the Primal Core Realm, his senses had turned exceedingly sharp. Any small movement within fifty kilometers could not escape his attention.
He gently pushed off the ground and moved several kilometers, landing where the sound had come from.
Xiao Chen saw a wild white cat padding along, not making any sound as it nimbly leaped about.
He recognized this white cat. It was that young cat-eared girl, who had drawn a strange symbol on his forehand when her fiendish Qi erupted. He had lost track of her after that.
Xiao Chen had nearly forgotten about this matter, so she came at a good time.
The young cat-eared girl's black-gem-like eyes widened with surprise when she saw Xiao Chen appear. He had actually discovered her so early. Even more surprising was that after merely half a day, Xiao Chen's strength had undergone such a massive change.