Celestial Pool Mutation

Lu Chen stood at the village entrance and said, "Even though I said I was going out for training, I don't have a direction. Grandpa Feng, where should we go?"

Feng Tiancheng flew out of the Twin Fish Plate, looked ahead, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Let's head east first. I left a cultivation secret realm there before. You don't have any cultivation resources on you right now, so you can go take a look. I can also teach you some martial skills and techniques along the way. Only by increasing your cultivation can you possibly save your grandfather."

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

Lu Chen spent a month traveling east, covering an unknown distance, before finally reaching the secret realm Feng Tiancheng had mentioned.

Lu Chen used the identity token left by Blind Lu 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 mountain. He couldn't help but feel like cursing.

Feng Tiancheng flew out of the Twin Fish Plate and said, "This is what he left behind from his past cultivation. There are some spirit plants inside. Although not many, they are enough for your current needs."

Lu Chen rolled his eyes, feeling that Feng Tiancheng was toying with him like a child. However, when he reached the mountaintop, he discovered that it was indeed as Feng Tiancheng had said – there were spirit plants. But it wasn't just a few; it was the entire mountaintop covered in them.

Lu Chen was instantly like someone who had never seen the world, looking left and right. Only then did Lu Chen truly realize that Dongshan City was indeed just a small place. The further he went, the larger the world became. Back in Dongshan City, they only saw one or two cultivators a year in Dongshan Town. But after leaving the village, Lu Chen encountered countless cultivators and heard numerous strange tales along the way, broadening his horizons.

For the next period, Lu Chen stayed in the secret realm to cultivate. With the painful memory of being unable to cultivate before, Lu Chen became even more diligent. With the help of the Twin Fish Plate and Feng Tiancheng's guidance, Lu Chen's martial skills and techniques continuously improved.

During this time, Lu Chen also gradually matured and became more steady. He began to learn about the world of cultivation from Feng Tiancheng. The Heavenly Net Heart Method had already reached the second level, successfully building a bridge between the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and himself, significantly increasing the speed at which he absorbed spiritual energy.

In his free time, Lu Chen also learned a movement technique, the Nine Transformations of the Golden Serpent. When cultivated to the Grand Perfection stage, this technique could simultaneously generate nine illusory clones for dodging and attacking. Feng Tiancheng told Lu Chen that the Azure Emperor had once gained insight from this technique to create the Nine Dragon Clone Art, successfully creating his nine avatars.

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

A month ago, Lu Chen's cultivation had reached the second level of the Qi Gathering Realm, with his fist strength reaching two thousand jin. However, after reaching the second level of the Qi Gathering Realm, his cultivation stopped progressing. The spiritual energy circulated daily was clearly felt to complete one cycle within his body before directly entering the Twin Fish Plate, without accumulating in Lu Chen's body.

Despite this, he felt refreshed and energetic every day, his strength growing, and his physical qualities constantly improving, yet his cultivation remained stagnant.

Feng Tiancheng examined Lu Chen's body daily. In the past month, he had checked Lu Chen's body dozens of times. Their bloodline talents were similar, and he had expected no problems. After entering the Qi Gathering Realm, everything should have gone smoothly. But with the current situation, Feng Tiancheng was at a loss.

Just then, Lu Chen shifted his body, and Feng Tiancheng's right hand inadvertently touched the Twin Fish Plate. Lu Chen immediately felt a slight increase in his cultivation and quickly informed Feng Tiancheng.

"Grandpa Feng, try holding the Twin Fish Plate and see again. I feel like it has something to do with the Twin Fish Plate."

Hearing Lu Chen say this, and recalling how the Primal Yang Twin Fish Compass had become fragments before, and now the Twin Fish Plate was restricting Lu Chen's cultivation, Feng Tiancheng felt that the Twin Fish Plate had significant issues.

Feng Tiancheng took the Twin Fish Plate in his hand, formed a hand seal, and attempted to store it within his body as he had before. Although he succeeded, he could clearly feel a distinct resistance during the process, perhaps because he was not the true owner.

He then had Lu Chen try. The moment Lu Chen made a move, the Twin Fish Plate eagerly entered his body, traveled a full cycle through his meridians, and entered his Celestial Pool, transforming into two small fish, one black and one white. They began to frolic and leap within the Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi, showing immense affection for Lu Chen.

Within the Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi, the Twin Fish Plate returned from the meridians to the Celestial Pool. After transforming into small fish, they continuously spewed spiritual energy from their mouths, and this spiritual energy was even more refined than what Lu Chen cultivated.

After expelling the spiritual energy within their bodies, the two small fish then submerged into the Sea of Qi to absorb spiritual energy, leaped out of the Sea of Qi to expel it, and repeated this process. With each repetition, the two small fish slowly grew larger.

The Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi gradually shrank, but the purity of the spiritual energy within it increased severalfold, even showing signs of liquefying, which was something that only occurred in the Breath Regulation Realm.

Lu Chen's realm also increased by one level during this 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 memory, it was true that magical artifacts could develop sentience, and it was also possible for them to be stored within a person's Celestial Pool. However, transforming into living creatures like this was something Feng Tiancheng had never seen before.

But the world of cultivation was full of possibilities. It could only be said that the Twin Fish Plate had undergone a mutated change over the past twenty thousand years with the changes in the world. Moreover, Lu Chen's cultivation had directly advanced by one level during this period, indicating that this mutation currently appeared to be beneficial.

Feng Tiancheng shared his understanding with Lu Chen and added, "Now that the Twin Fish Plate has mutated and merged with your body, perhaps your cultivation can only continue to increase if the Twin Fish Plate is stored within your Celestial Pool. During this process, the Twin Fish Plate will also continuously grow stronger."

Feng Tiancheng also speculated that if more fragments were found, even more changes might occur. As he spoke, he asked Lu Chen to take out the Yang Sea Pearl, which he couldn't previously store, and place it within his body to see what would happen.

The moment the pearl entered Lu Chen's body, the black fish reacted instantly, swallowing it whole. It began to circulate on its own from the perineum along the body's meridians. Slowly, the originally hollow eyes of the black fish began to emit a fiery red glow, continuously sticking spiritual energy stained with fiery red onto the meridians.

Soon, after completing one cycle, it returned to the Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi. The black fish expelled fiery red spiritual energy from its mouth, directly staining the clear and transparent Sea of Qi within the Celestial Pool fiery red. After expelling it, it began to circulate again.

At this moment, Lu Chen suddenly collapsed on the ground, crying out to Feng Tiancheng that the fiery red spiritual energy was burning his Celestial Pool, Sea of Qi, and meridians. Lu Chen's pain intensified, and he began to let out roars.

Hearing Lu Chen's cries, Feng Tiancheng quickly placed his right hand on Lu Chen's abdomen and released a wisp of divine sense, attempting to probe Lu Chen's Celestial Pool.

Lu Chen's Celestial Pool was now filled with fiery red light, and his Sea of Qi was also gradually being stained. Feng Tiancheng then looked at the remaining white fish in the Sea of Qi; the small fish now appeared tired and listless.

He instantly understood. A Yang Sea Pearl had been added to the Yin Fish. The Yang Fish lacked another Yin Sea Pearl. Now, Yin and Yang were unbalanced, which was why this situation had occurred. However, the Twin Fish Plate had already merged with Lu Chen. If it wasn't stopped in time, Lu Chen's Celestial Pool and meridians could be directly burned, rendering him a cripple.

With that, Feng Tiancheng no longer waited. He intended to use his own spiritual energy to simulate a Yin Sea Pearl for Lu Chen, temporarily maintaining the balance of the pearls. He emitted waves of cold air from his left hand and placed it on Lu Chen's Baihui acupoint at the top of his head, channeling all the spiritual energy he had recently accumulated into Lu Chen's meridians. He began to circulate it against the direction of the meridians for a full cycle before injecting it into the white fish, temporarily acting as a Yin Sea Pearl.

Once the Yin Sea Pearl was formed, the white fish began to emit an ice-blue glow from its eyes and spontaneously circulated against the direction of the meridians. Carrying ice-blue spiritual energy, it adhered to the veins and circulated for a full cycle before returning to the Celestial Pool to expel ice-blue spiritual energy, which merged into the Sea of Qi, beginning to contend with the fiery red. The black and white fish also collided with each other, eroding each other's Sea of Qi domain.

Lu Chen's body alternately broke out in a cold sweat, crying out that he was burning, and then his whole body became ice-cold, crying out that he was freezing, convulsing uncontrollably.

Slowly, the alternation of heat and cold became faster. Seeing that Lu Chen was about to collapse, Feng Tiancheng withdrew his hands from Lu Chen and shouted at him, "Think of your grandfather, and the villagers. Think of your goal of cultivating immortality. Do you want to disappoint them? Control the operation of the Yin and Yang fish yourself. This is a test for you."

Hearing Feng Tiancheng's shout, Lu Chen was jolted awake as if struck by a thunderclap. Lu Chen began to tremble and sat down cross-legged, attempting to guide the operation of the Yin and Yang fish. Once, twice, thrice...

After tens, even hundreds, of attempts, the black and white fish slowly stopped and regained their sentience, beginning to circulate within the meridians under Lu Chen's guidance.

The black fish started from the perineum, and the white fish started from the Baihui acupoint, circulating in opposite directions. After completing a cycle, they entered the Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi to expel spiritual energy.

The Celestial Pool and Sea of Qi also stabilized, with ice-blue and fiery red occupying half each. Each time the black and white fish met, they would nuzzle each other affectionately before colliding again.

Seeing this situation, Lu Chen also slowly stopped circulating and opened his eyes.

Immediately after, a crackling sound came from Lu Chen's body, and his cultivation and aura began to surge. The skin that had been burned and frozen before slowly peeled away, and some black substances seeped out of Lu Chen's skin.

This was the second time Lu Chen's body had been tempered. This time, the impurities deep within his body were also expelled. Lu Chen's body became purer, his skin became harder, and his strength became more formidable. Ordinary mortal weapons could no longer break through Lu Chen's defenses.

Lu Chen checked his cultivation and found that he had directly broken through two levels, reaching the fifth level of the Qi Gathering Realm, one step closer to the Grand Perfection of the tenth level.