Heavenly Pool Mutation

Lu Chen stood at the village entrance and said that although he was going out to gain experience, he had no direction at all. "Grandpa Feng, which way should we go?"

Feng Tiancheng flew out of the Twin Fish Token, gazed ahead, and spoke after some thought. "Let's head east first. I once left behind a Secret Realm for cultivation over there. You don't have any cultivation resources on you now, so we can go take a look. Along the way, I can teach you some Martial Skills and techniques. Only by raising your cultivation can you possibly save your grandfather."

With that, the old man and the youth set off.

Lu Chen spent an entire month traveling eastward over an unknown distance before finally reaching the Secret Realm Feng Tiancheng had mentioned.

Lu Chen used the identity token Blind Lu had left behind to open the Secret Realm. The moment he entered, he was dumbfounded. It was called a Secret Realm, but it was actually just a bare, bald mountain. He could not help wanting to curse.

Feng Tiancheng flew out of the Twin Fish Plate and said, "This was left behind from his past cultivation. There are some Spirit Plants inside. There may not be many, but they are enough for now."

Lu Chen rolled his eyes, feeling that Feng Tiancheng was simply fooling a child. Yet when he reached the mountaintop, he discovered that Feng Tiancheng had truly been right: there were Spirit Plants. But this was not merely a patch of them—it was an entire mountaintop full of them.

Lu Chen immediately looked around like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. Only then did he truly realize that Dongshan City was just a tiny place. The farther one went, the bigger the world became. Back in Dongshan City and Dongshan Town, one might see only one or two cultivators in an entire year. But after leaving the village, Lu Chen had encountered countless cultivators along the road and heard all manner of strange tales. His knowledge steadily broadened as well.

After that, Lu Chen remained in the Secret Realm cultivating. Having suffered through the painful memories of being unable to cultivate before, he worked even harder now. With the Twin Fish Token's aid and Feng Tiancheng's guidance, his Martial Skills and techniques improved continuously.

During this time, Lu Chen gradually became more mature and steady. From Feng Tiancheng, he began to understand cultivation between heaven and earth. He had already cultivated the Heavenly Net Heart Method to its second level, successfully building a bridge between the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and himself. His speed of absorbing spiritual energy increased considerably.

In his spare time, Lu Chen also learned a Movement Technique, the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent. Once cultivated to great mastery, it could create nine phantom clones at once for evasion and sudden assaults. Feng Tiancheng told Lu Chen that the Azure Emperor had once comprehended the Nine Dragon Clone Art from it and successfully divided into the nine incarnations, including themselves.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. Lu Chen was no longer someone utterly ignorant of cultivation. He had formed some unique insights into it, and his sharp aura had become somewhat restrained.

A month earlier, Lu Chen's cultivation had reached the second level of the Qi Gathering Realm, and the force of a single punch had reached two thousand jin. Yet ever since reaching the second level of the Qi Gathering Realm, his cultivation had stopped improving. He could clearly feel that after the spiritual energy he circulated completed one circuit through his body, it directly entered the Twin Fish Plate instead of accumulating within him.

Even so, he felt refreshed and full of energy every day. His strength continued to grow, and every aspect of his physical constitution kept improving, but his cultivation remained stubbornly stalled.

Feng Tiancheng inspected Lu Chen's body every day. Over the past month, he had examined it no fewer than dozens of times. Their bloodline talents were similar, so Feng Tiancheng believed there should have been no problem. Once Lu Chen entered the Qi Gathering Realm, his cultivation should have gone as smoothly as a boat sailing with the wind. Yet faced with the current situation, Feng Tiancheng could not make sense of it for the moment.

Just then, Lu Chen turned over, and Feng Tiancheng's right hand accidentally brushed against the Twin Fish Token. Lu Chen immediately felt his cultivation rise by the slightest trace and hurriedly told Feng Tiancheng what had happened.

"Grandpa Feng, try holding the Twin Fish Token and checking again. I feel it should be related to the Twin Fish Token."

When Feng Tiancheng heard this, he recalled how the Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass had become fragments before, and now the Twin Fish Token was restricting Lu Chen's cultivation. He felt there was a major problem with the Twin Fish Token.

Feng Tiancheng held the Twin Fish Token in his hand and formed hand seals, attempting to store it within his body as he had in the past. Although he succeeded, he could clearly feel a trace of resistance during the process, perhaps because he was not its original owner.

He then had Lu Chen try. The instant Lu Chen made a move, the Twin Fish Token impatiently entered his body. It traveled through his body for a Greater Celestial Circuit before entering his Heavenly Pool, where it transformed into a black and a white little fish. They began tumbling and leaping within the sea of qi in his Heavenly Pool, displaying immense affection toward Lu Chen.

Within the sea of qi in Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool, the Twin Fish Token returned from his meridians to the Heavenly Pool. After transforming into little fish, they continuously spat spiritual energy from their mouths, and that energy was even purer than the spiritual energy Lu Chen cultivated himself.

After the two little fish spat out the spiritual energy within them, they sank back into the sea of qi in the Heavenly Pool and absorbed spiritual energy into their bodies. Then they leaped from the sea of qi and spat it out again, repeating this cycle. With every repetition, the two little fish grew a little larger.

The sea of qi in the Heavenly Pool gradually shrank, but the purity of the spiritual energy within increased severalfold. There were even faint signs that it was about to transform into Spirit Liquid. One had to know that the liquefaction of spiritual energy was something that only occurred in the Breath Regulation Realm.

Lu Chen's realm also rose by one level during the process, directly reaching the third level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

Lu Chen opened his eyes and told Feng Tiancheng everything. In Feng Tiancheng's memories, it was indeed possible for magical treasures and weapons to develop intelligence, and they could indeed be stored within a person's Heavenly Pool. But transforming into living creatures as they had now was something Feng Tiancheng had never seen before.

Yet cultivation between heaven and earth was filled with every kind of possibility. It could only be said that the Twin Fish Plate had undergone a mutation over the twenty thousand years of changes in heaven and earth. Moreover, Lu Chen's cultivation had directly advanced by one level during this period, proving that this mutation appeared beneficial for now.

Feng Tiancheng explained his understanding to Lu Chen, then said, "The Twin Fish Plate may have mutated and fused with your body. Perhaps only when the Twin Fish Token is stored in your Heavenly Pool can your cultivation continue advancing. During this process, the Twin Fish Token will also continuously grow stronger."

Feng Tiancheng further speculated that if they found more fragments, even more changes might occur. As he spoke, he had Lu Chen take out the Yang Sea Pearl, which had never been able to enter his body, and store it within himself to see what changes would happen.

The moment the pearl entered Lu Chen's body, the black little fish reacted instantly. It swallowed the pearl directly and began circulating on its own from the perineum through his internal meridians. Slowly, fiery red light appeared in the black little fish's previously hollow eyes, and it continuously smeared fiery red spiritual energy along the meridians.

Very quickly, it completed one circuit and returned to the sea of qi in the Heavenly Pool. The black little fish spat out fiery red spiritual energy, directly dyeing the originally clear and transparent sea of qi within the Heavenly Pool red. After spitting it out, it began circulating again.

Just then, Lu Chen suddenly collapsed to the ground. Crying out hoarsely, he told Feng Tiancheng that the fiery red spiritual energy was burning his Heavenly Pool, sea of qi, and meridians. Lu Chen grew increasingly agonized and began letting out wave after wave of roars.

Hearing Lu Chen's cries, Feng Tiancheng hurriedly pressed his right hand against Lu Chen's waist and abdomen. He released a thread of divine sense and attempted to inspect Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool.

Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool was now filled with fiery red light, and the sea of qi was slowly being contaminated as well. Feng Tiancheng looked toward the remaining white little fish in the sea of qi. At this moment, it appeared exhausted and listless.

He understood in an instant. A Yang Sea Pearl had been added to the yin fish, but the yang fish lacked a Yin Sea Pearl. Yin and yang were now out of balance, which was why this situation had arisen. Yet the Twin Fish Token had already fused with Lu Chen. If they did not stop it in time, Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool and meridians might be burned to ruin, turning him into a cripple from then on.

Without waiting any longer, Feng Tiancheng wanted to use his own spiritual energy to simulate a Yin Sea Pearl for Lu Chen and temporarily maintain the balance. Cold air radiated from his left hand as he pressed it against the Baihui acupoint atop Lu Chen's head. He poured all the spiritual energy he had recently accumulated into Lu Chen's meridians, guiding it in reverse through a Greater Celestial Circuit before injecting it into the white fish's body, temporarily serving as a Yin Sea Pearl.

After the Yin Sea Pearl formed, icy blue light began radiating from the white little fish's eyes. It instinctively began circulating in reverse through the meridians, carrying icy blue spiritual energy and smearing it along the meridians. After completing one circuit, it returned to the Heavenly Pool and spat the icy blue spiritual energy into the sea of qi, where it began continuously battling the fiery red energy. The black and white fish also crashed into each other, each eroding the other's territory within the sea of qi.

One moment, sweat poured from Lu Chen's body as he screamed, "I'm burning to death!" The next, his entire body froze over as he shouted, "I'm freezing to death!" He convulsed without end.

Gradually, the alternation between heat and cold grew faster and faster. Seeing that Lu Chen was about to fail to endure it, Feng Tiancheng withdrew his hands and shouted at him, "Think of your grandfather, and the villagers! Think of your goal of cultivating immortality! Are you going to let them down? Control the Twin Fish's movements yourself! This is your trial!"

Feng Tiancheng's shout struck Lu Chen like a blow to the head, jolting him awake. Trembling, Lu Chen sat cross-legged and began trying to guide the yin-yang Twin Fish. Once, twice, three times...

After dozens, then hundreds of attempts, the black and white fish finally began to calm down. Their intelligence returned, and they began circulating through the meridians under Lu Chen's guidance.

The black fish set out from the perineum, while the white fish set out from the Baihui acupoint. One moved forward and the other in reverse, beginning their cycle. Upon completing one circuit, they entered the sea of qi in the Heavenly Pool and spat out spiritual energy.

The sea of qi in the Heavenly Pool also became stable. Icy blue and fiery red each occupied half of it. Whenever the black and white Twin Fish met, they would rub their heads together before affectionately pressing against each other again.

Seeing this, Lu Chen gradually stopped circulating his spiritual energy and opened his eyes.

Immediately afterward, a series of crackling sounds came from within Lu Chen's body, and the aura of his cultivation began to surge. The skin that had just been burned and frozen slowly peeled away, while black impurities seeped out through his skin.

This was the second time Lu Chen's body had been tempered. This time, even the impurities deep within his body had been expelled. His body became purer, his skin tougher, and the sense of strength in him even more powerful. Ordinary mortal weapons could no longer break through Lu Chen's defenses.

When Lu Chen checked his cultivation, he found that it had directly broken through two levels, reaching the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm. He had taken another step closer to the tenth level's great completion.