Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang

Zhong Yue seemed to sense the changes in his Sea of Consciousness and wanted to open his eyes, but the Suihuang visualization he had constructed mentally was also shaking, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"Don't get distracted!"

The Kindling Child shouted, "If you get distracted, all your previous efforts will be in vain, and you'll damage your spirit. It will be even harder to visualize the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization completely! You must push through now and finish this cultivation!"

Zhong Yue reined in his spirit and focused entirely. The Fire Epoch Palace, the Fire Tree, and Suihuang stopped wavering and instead became more complete and stable.

After a long time, Zhong Yue felt his spirit exhausted and opened his eyes. He looked at the magnificent and brilliant Fire Epoch Palace around him in disbelief, then looked down at himself, even more incredulous!

"No need to be surprised. This is a scene you visualized with your spirit; it only exists within your Sea of Consciousness and consumes your spirit. However, it is your soul that is being tempered."

The Kindling Child said smugly from his shoulder, "The Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization is not like the Rustic cultivation method you practiced before. Your Rustic cultivation method had a tiny bit of use for soul refinement, but it offered no benefit for tempering the spirit. The Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization I'm teaching you not only refines the soul but also tempers the spirit, making your spirit stronger with each attempt!"

As Zhong Yue was about to get up and leave the Fire Epoch Palace to see the scenery outside, he suddenly heard a crash. The Fire Epoch Palace collapsed, the Fire Tree dissolved, and even the Suihuang body he had condensed shattered, revealing his true soul form.

"What is this?" Zhong Yue was confused.

"If you were to step out of the Fire Epoch Palace, it would mean your soul has egressed."

The Kindling Child chuckled, "Whether it's the Fire Epoch Palace or the Sword Gate, they both represent a gateway. Inside the gateway is your body, and outside the gateway is beyond your body. Stepping out of either the Fire Epoch Palace or the Sword Gate means your soul has egressed. You've only just begun to touch upon the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization, so reaching this point is already quite good."

"Really?" Zhong Yue's eyes lit up, and he said joyfully.

The Kindling Child's expression immediately turned stern again. He walked back and forth on Zhong Yue's soul's shoulder with his hands behind his back and said with a cold laugh, "Descendant of Fuxi, do not be arrogant. You are still far behind a pure-blooded Kindling inheritor. A pure-blooded Kindling inheritor can visualize the visualization diagram completely with just one glance, while you are merely grasping the general outline. You still need to cultivate further!"

Zhong Yue, however, was quite open-minded and laughed, "Are the pure-blooded Divine race that powerful? But they are the Divine race, and I am of the Human race. It's natural that I can't compare to them. Diligence can make up for lack of talent. I will cultivate diligently, and I don't believe I'll be worse than them."

The Kindling Child's face fell, and he muttered to himself, "Diligence can make up for lack of talent? With higher comprehension than others and being more diligent than others, how are you going to let others live?"

Zhong Yue's comprehension ability was only average among the Kindling inheritors of generations past. However, the inheritors the Kindling Child had experienced were all pure-blooded Fuxi Divine race!

Zhong Yue reaching this point had already surprised the Kindling Child.

"Your spirit is too weak. Just one visualization exhausted your spirit completely, and you need to rest for a bit. Cultivate the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization a few more times, and your spirit will grow stronger. When you can achieve spiritual manifestation, visible to the naked eye, you will have achieved minor success," the Kindling Child said, looking at his Sea of Consciousness, which was now dry and only about ten feet across.

Zhong Yue was stunned, "Spiritual manifestation, visible to the naked eye, and that's only minor success? This is something only Qi Refiners can achieve. Can I really do it?"

Suddenly, he felt dizzy and drowsy, and his eyelids involuntarily closed as he fell asleep. Indeed, the previous visualization had consumed too much of his spirit.

The Kindling Child also left his Sea of Consciousness and returned to the broken lamp. Dark mist billowed around, and huge noises could be heard constantly. The tiny child, only the size of a finger, looked at the sleeping Zhong Yue, then at the dark mist, a look of confusion on its face. "How long have I slept? Why have the Fuxi Divine race of the past become like this? What happened during this time? And what are those things in the dark mist... This little Divine race says it's now the Human Emperor Era, what era is the Human Emperor Era..."

Within Zhong Yue's Sea of Consciousness, his spirit, like a trickling stream, continuously regenerated, gradually filling the Sea of Consciousness.

A few hours later, Zhong Yue woke up. After a brief meditation, he immediately entered his Sea of Consciousness and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. The Sea of Consciousness, which was originally only about ten feet across, had now expanded by nearly half, reaching over twenty feet!

He knew it had taken him several years of cultivating the Sword Gate Soul Egress Visualization to achieve a Sea of Consciousness of just over ten feet. Yet, after cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization just once, his spirit had become fifty percent stronger!

"Such a powerful visualization technique, what exactly is the origin of the Kindling?"

He steadied himself and visualized the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang again. Because his spirit was more than twice as strong as before, he visualized the Fire Epoch Palace, Suihuang, and the Fire Tree with even greater ease this time.

After a moment, Zhong Yue's soul opened its eyes. He saw that the Fire Epoch Palace formed by his spirit was much more stable than before. Although this visualization had consumed a lot of his spirit, he still had nearly half of his spirit left to expend.

"There's still so much spirit left in my Sea of Consciousness. It should be enough to support me in walking out of the Fire Epoch Palace, right?"

Zhong Yue's heart pounded. He hadn't achieved soul egress in six years of cultivation, but now, after cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization for only two short hours, he felt confident he could achieve soul egress.

Within the Fire Epoch Palace, the Suihuang formed by Zhong Yue's soul took a step, walking towards the outside of the Fire Epoch Palace!

As he moved, his spirit was rapidly consumed. One step, two steps, three steps. The seawater formed by his spirit in his Sea of Consciousness rapidly decreased!

By the ninth step, Zhong Yue had reached the entrance of the Fire Epoch Palace, with one foot about to step out of this divine palace. At this moment, his spirit was almost depleted.

Finally, he completed his ninth step, and his Sea of Consciousness was completely drained at the same time!

BOOM!

A thunderous roar, like a charging spring thunder, exploded in his ears, deafening him. Zhong Yue's vision spun, and he suddenly felt as if he had stepped into an entirely new world!

At this moment, his soul had actually emerged from his body and stood before him!

Soul Egress.

Zhong Yue's mind was in turmoil. He had finally achieved soul egress!

He had entered the Sword Gate at the age of nine, and six years had passed. Six years of diligent and arduous practice, a hundred times more arduous than others, never giving up, yet he had never managed to achieve egress. Now, after cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization for just a few short hours, he had actually achieved egress!

Zhong Yue was both shocked and overjoyed, wishing he could cry and laugh out loud to vent his happiness.

A flame floated, and the Kindling flew out of the bronze lamp, meeting Zhong Yue face-to-face. Only now, flying outside his body, did Zhong Yue realize how small his soul was, almost the same size as the Kindling.

The two tiny figures looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

"You've achieved egress now, but it's only the beginning. You're still a long way from becoming a Qi Refiner."

The Kindling Child examined him from head to toe. "The realm of egress is too lowly. Your soul is still very weak; you can't even perform Soul Sacrifice, let alone sense Spirits."

"Soul Sacrifice?"

Zhong Yue's soul returned to his body, feeling dizzy. That was the side effect of his spirit being completely depleted. Zhong Yue suppressed the urge to fall asleep and said, "Among the fifty thousand outer disciples of my Sword Gate, fewer than a thousand can perform Soul Sacrifice. Isn't Soul Sacrifice supposed to be difficult?"

As he spoke, he felt his spirit recover slightly. However, this recovery speed was much slower than sleeping soundly. To recover his spirit quickly, he still needed to sleep soundly.

Soul Sacrifice was another realm. After soul egress, one could attach their soul to an object and make the object fly. However, Soul Sacrifice required an extremely powerful soul, making it difficult to achieve easily.

Those who could perform Soul Sacrifice were outstanding individuals among the outer disciples!

"Soul Sacrifice is difficult?"

The Kindling Child landed on his shoulder and asked curiously, "After your next visualization, you'll be able to try the Soul Sacrifice."

Zhong Yue's eyelids grew heavier, and he mumbled, "How can it be so soon..."

When he woke up again, he immediately checked his Sea of Consciousness. He saw that it had expanded a bit more, and his heart was filled with both surprise and joy. "Perhaps I can really try the Soul Sacrifice this time... Huh? Why have I lost so much weight?"

He looked down and saw that in just these two or three days, he had lost a significant amount of weight, becoming skin and bones. His heart couldn't help but be alarmed. Although Zhong Yue was only fifteen years old, his physical fitness was among the best of the tens of thousands of outer disciples in Sword Gate. He was one of the few outer disciples who cultivated the martial path.

The martial path was not important for Qi Refiners. It was rarely heard of for Qi Refiners who cultivated the martial path to achieve great success, so Sword Gate was not enthusiastic about it.

Sword Gate's main focus was sword qi. First, one would comprehend Spirit, and then use Spirit to cultivate sword qi. Ordinary Qi Refiners in Sword Gate could achieve sword qi that could fly through the air, a three-foot sword qi that was indestructible. However, Sword Gate was a sacred land with a long history, and it also had some inheritances regarding the martial path, and it did not prohibit outer disciples from practicing it.

The martial art technique Zhong Yue obtained in the outer sect was called the Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art. It was also a visualization method, originating from a Human race tribe that worshipped the dragon as their totem. It involved visualizing a fierce dragon coiling around oneself, strengthening the physique, and making every movement as if empowered by a dragon, granting immense strength.

Zhong Yue had cultivated diligently until now, and his physique was several times stronger than that of ordinary outer disciples. The reason he painstakingly cultivated this martial art technique was also due to his poor background. He often had to go down the mountain to search for medicinal herbs to refine pills to improve himself, and he needed a way to protect himself.

The Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art had also allowed him to escape death numerous times when encountering ferocious beasts, leaving only scars on his body without costing him his life.

Yet, in just these two or three days, his body, which he had painstakingly built up through the Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art, had withered away so suddenly, making it somewhat difficult for Zhong Yue to accept.

However, although his body had become thin, Zhong Yue felt that he had not become weaker; his strength was still there.

"Cultivating the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization requires a massive amount of energy. The muscles in your body were consumed by your two visualizations."

The Kindling Child explained, "Your body is already quite strong. You must have a body-refining technique, right? You did very well. Body, mind, and soul complement each other. To achieve great things, you need a good body! If your body were slightly weaker, the first visualization of the Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang would have caused your body to starve to death."

Zhong Yue was startled and exclaimed, "Cultivating this technique can kill people?"

"Naturally. The mind is connected to the body. When the body is strong, the mind also becomes stronger. The consumption of the mind will also consume the body's energy. During visualization, the mind is consumed, and at the same time, the body's energy is consumed. If the body is slightly weaker, you will absolutely starve to death."

The Kindling Child chuckled, "Fortunately, your physical foundation is quite good, allowing you to endure two visualizations. However, if you attempt a third visualization, you'll likely turn into a skeleton. Now, you must eat, and eat a lot. Not only must you eat until you are full, but you must also eat well. It's best if you don't eat grains, but only consume spirit pills and elixirs, otherwise, your body will be hollowed out!"