Three Flourishes and Three Declines

In the secret spiritual grounds of Ten Thousand Demons Valley, where Yan Kuan had secluded himself for cultivation, energy storms churned within the quiet chamber, spatial fluctuations ceaselessly rippling as waves of incomparably pure heaven and earth spiritual energy surged in, flooding overwhelmingly into the seated figure's body.

Yan Kuan's body was like a bottomless pit—no matter how much energy poured in, it never showed signs of overflowing.

An emerald divine dragon and a dark yin serpent coiled around him, driving the energies of life and death to circulate through his form. In an extremely short time, he broke through to the peak of Dou Wang. At that precise moment, two jade bottles flew out, and he swallowed the two pills within one after another.

The Battle Spirit Pill, a sixth-grade pill, could directly raise a Dou Wang's cultivation by one star, though it had strong resistance—only the first consumption yielded maximum effect.

The Imperial Zenith Pill, a high-grade sixth-grade pill, had effects and limitations similar to the Battle Spirit Pill, but was specifically used to elevate the cultivation of a Battle Emperor. With luck, it could even raise one's cultivation by two stars directly.

Yan Kuan chose to consume the Battle Spirit Pill and Imperial Zenith Pill at this moment to facilitate a better breakthrough and reduce the depletion of his own life essence.

The Life-Devouring Pill allowed him to rapidly break through realms by burning his life essence. The more difficult the bottleneck, the greater the consumption. If he could use other pills to assist the breakthrough, it would reduce his losses and make subsequent recovery easier.

With the Battle Spirit Pill and Imperial Zenith Pill taken simultaneously, under the medicinal power of the Life-Devouring Pill, Yan Kuan refined them all at the fastest speed, successfully rising to a three-star Battle Emperor. Then, relying on the Life-Devouring Pill's potency to continue breaking through, he reached a level in just a few days that ordinary people could hardly attain.

After three days and three nights, Yan Kuan sat cross-legged in the secluded cultivation chamber, his form as unmoving as a boulder. Only the spiritual energy vortex spinning endlessly above his head continued to emit a low, whistling sound.

After cultivating in this manner for a long time, he slowly opened his eyes. His pitch-black pupils were ancient and unremarkable, as flat and calm as if devoid of any ripple.

He slowly raised his head, spread his palm flat, and with a thought, a burst of flame appeared in the center of his palm. The pair of flame wings on his back swelled to over three zhang in length.

The divine power circulating through his body returned to the Sea of Bitterness. In his pitch-black eyes, a sharp gleam suddenly emerged. His aura shot upward in a straight line, rapidly breaking through to the peak of a nine-star Great Perfection Battle Emperor before his energy gradually stabilized.

Yan Kuan turned his hand slightly, and at the center of the flame in his palm, a faint silver light appeared. Spatial force—this was a law power belonging only to Battle Ancestors. Even across this universe, it was an extremely special force, one that could only be controlled by techniques involving the Dao of Space.

"Peak Battle Emperor... finally, I can begin the first perfect transformation!"

Yan Kuan had spent five years of bitter cultivation honing his foundation, which gave him the capital to soar to the heavens with the aid of pills, leaping straight to the peak of Battle Emperor. Though it cost him a considerable amount of his lifespan, it also granted him the capital for transformation.

Five years ago, Yan Kuan had gone to cultivate at the Immortal Sword Sky Pool, spending three years tempering his foundation with the Great Sage's Sword Intent. In truth, he could have broken through beyond Dou Wang back then, but instead of advancing step by step, he chose to spend another two years refining pills.

During those two years of pill refining, his alchemical experience skyrocketed. With the foundation to refine seventh-grade pills, he chose to initiate his plan—a plan that had begun two years ago when he first entered Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

At the Immortal Sword Sky Pool, Yan Kuan had obtained three ancient jades, which recorded part of the secrets of the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals. He also knew clearly that the other six ancient jades were in Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

So when he entered Ten Thousand Demons Valley to negotiate cooperation, part of it was genuine—refining pills to gain experience, each taking what they needed. But another part of the reason was precisely these six ancient jades.

Monkey and Old Crane didn't know the specific details of the Burial Grounds of Earth Immortals, but Yan Kuan understood them clearly. His original goal had been the branch of the Undying Divine Tree tainted by death energy. Using it to refine the Life-Devouring Pill had been planned long ago.

The Life-Devouring Pill could not only rapidly increase Yan Kuan's strength but also provide crucial assistance for his single-secret realm cultivation.

The key to single-secret realm cultivation involved the nine transformations of the fourth Wheel Sea realm, the Other Shore. More precisely, it used the concept of nine transformations to continuously evolve oneself, unlocking the potential of the Wheel Sea Secret Realm—a path of enlightenment that allowed cultivators of ordinary talent to transform into prodigies.

In the nine transformations of the Other Shore realm, a cultivator's flesh, organs, and bones would wither, then undergo a kind of rebirth. This involved nine consecutive cycles of blood replacement and bone transformation to complete the metamorphosis.

This process was akin to a complete rebirth. For most cultivators of ordinary talent, it was their only chance to change their aptitude.

Legend had it that the transformation method of the Ancient Great Powers who cultivated only the Wheel Sea Secret Realm was inspired by this. They referenced the methods of supreme powerhouses who opened a second life, pursuing a more radical and thorough transformation—undergoing Nine Deaths and Nine Lives, ultimately breaking the cocoon to become a butterfly and returning to Great Perfection.

When the Nine Deaths and Nine Lives transformation was complete, the moment one emerged from seclusion, the ten directions would stir, and extraordinary phenomena would shoot into the sky. Even a cultivator of ordinary talent, having undergone this transformation akin to living another life, would ascend into a supreme Great Power with world-shaking phenomena—a true prodigy of the age.

Of course, ascending to an Ancient Great Power through Nine Deaths and Nine Lives was the result of long years of effort, not something achieved overnight. Some who cultivated a single secret realm spent their entire lives on this without success.

Cultivating a single secret realm required not only a powerful mental cultivation method but also the assistance of ancient secret arts. Only by undergoing the ultimate transformation could one achieve the full nine cycles.

To some extent, the ancient single-cultivation method was more difficult. Time, patience, perseverance, resources, techniques—none could be lacking.

Yan Kuan chose this path of single-cultivation of the Wheel Sea. He did not lack secret methods or resources for now, and he believed he had patience and perseverance. Only time was something he had to find a way to shorten. And the thing that could help him with that was the Life-Devouring Pill.

The Life-Devouring Pill used a branch of the Undying Divine Medicine tainted by death energy as its main ingredient. It inherently contained the power of life-and-death cycles, resonating with the profound meaning of Nine Deaths and Nine Lives in single-cultivation of the Wheel Sea.

By consuming it, Yan Kuan could not only rapidly elevate his cultivation to the peak of Battle Emperor, comparable to the extreme of the Four Extremes, but also use the life and death energies saturating his body to undergo the life-death transformation of the Wheel Sea Secret Realm.

Over these past few years, he had delved deeply into various Daoist scriptures and numerous cultivation texts, already forming his own unique insights into Wheel Sea cultivation. Comparing his own situation and existing foundation, he deduced a cultivation method and phased steps suited to himself.

For the nine life-death transformations of the Wheel Sea Secret Realm cultivation, he planned to divide them into three steps. They were: Three Flourishes and Three Declines, Six Withers and Six Revivals, and Nine Deaths and Nine Lives. By proceeding step by step in this way, he could ascend to an Ancient Wheel Sea Great Power at the fastest speed, and then reach for even higher levels.

Now, having taken the Life-Devouring Pill, he could initiate the first step of three consecutive life-death transformations. He called it: Three Flourishes and Three Declines.