Transcendence

Clutching the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, Huang Huai stepped forward with anticipation, reappearing in the Otherworld.

The once dilapidated small courtyard had undergone a tremendous transformation. The weeds had been cleared, the broken doors and windows removed, and the damaged sections of some rooms visibly repaired. It was clear that the repairs to the courtyard had continued over the past few days.

Inside the side room where the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva was enshrined, Huang Huai appeared with the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan. He placed the statue on the altar, then lit incense sticks for both the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan and the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

After doing so, Huang Huai looked around the courtyard again, ensuring no one was present. He then closed the doors and windows and sat cross-legged before the altar.

The sandalwood incense smoke curled upwards as Huang Huai sat properly facing the altar, slowly calming his mind to prepare for the subsequent condensation of his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit.

In just a few breaths, Huang Huai achieved a state of utter tranquility, able to visualize the White Bone or the Taiji Diagram at will.

With a thought, Huang Huai skillfully visualized a meticulous Taiji Diagram, its yin and yang constantly rotating.

That's right, this time Huang Huai decided not to rely on the White Bone Visualization Method to condense his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit, but to try using the Tai Chi Diagram Visualization Method instead.

From the bottom of his heart, Huang Huai believed that compared to the White Bone Visualization Method, the top-tier visualization methods of the current world's Daoist traditions were far superior.

In the current world, Daoist practitioners couldn't cultivate extraordinary power through visualization methods due to limitations of heaven and earth, but that didn't mean the secret Daoist visualization methods were weak.

Therefore, Huang Huai decided to give it a try. At worst, he would fail and need a few days to recover. Others might fail a dozen or twenty times before condensing their True Spirit and Primordial Spirit; why couldn't he? He had plenty of patience to try a few times.

What if he succeeded? After all, the quality of a visualization method directly determined the strength of the True Spirit and Primordial Spirit condensed.

Although the strength of the True Spirit and Primordial Spirit could be improved through later cultivation, it was always beneficial to get a head start.

The vast Taiji Diagram flowed with yin and yang, appearing as if it were real, a testament to Huang Huai's years of visualization practice. As Huang Huai willed it, the Taiji Diagram suddenly surged upwards. The next moment, Huang Huai felt a tremor in his soul and was astonished to find his consciousness entering a mysterious realm.

"This is the Sea of Consciousness!"

With newfound clarity, Huang Huai examined his state with immense curiosity. He saw himself emitting a soft glow, and above his head, a Taiji Diagram, with its yin and yang flowing, suppressed the chaotic space of the Sea of Consciousness.

The four directions were a hazy gray, boundless, like the void of the Sea of Consciousness in chaos. Under the suppression of the Taiji Diagram, a stable area appeared, and his condensed True Spirit and Primordial Spirit stood within this area.

At a glance, this area spanned several miles. This alone brought a hint of joy to Huang Huai, because according to the Xuan Yuan Casting God Method, under normal circumstances, condensing the True Spirit and Primordial Spirit using the White Bone Visualization Method would allow the mental energy gathered from the visualized white bone to suppress at most an area of a few dozen feet.

Huang Huai couldn't help but look up at the Taiji Diagram, exuding a profound aura, and secretly rejoiced that he had chosen the Tai Chi Diagram Visualization Method for Foundation Establishment.

It seemed there was indeed a significant gap between the White Bone Visualization Method and the Tai Chi Diagram Visualization Method.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, Huang Huai was curiously sensing its mystical properties. A sudden intuition made him subconsciously look in a certain direction. Instantly, the chaos surged, and the void of the Sea of Consciousness outside the Taiji Diagram's suppression range seemed to boil, as if a suppressed monster was about to break free.

Suddenly, a pure stream of Incense and Fire Prayer Power surged from the void of the Sea of Consciousness. Upon its appearance, it naturally integrated into Huang Huai's spirit, and even Huang Huai himself didn't understand what was happening.

Absorbing this pure Incense and Fire Prayer Power was like taking a potent tonic. Even his manifested True Spirit and Primordial Spirit expanded, and the Taiji Diagram above his head grew, pushing back the chaotic void and opening up a wider area.

This sudden change occurred in an instant. By the time Huang Huai reacted, he understood the origin of the sudden stream of Incense and Fire Prayer Power.

Not long ago, he had received a dream-transmission from Xuan Yuan Emperor Lord, who had imprinted a mark within a Jade Ruyi. Normally, regardless of the outcome, that mark would return to the Jade Ruyi. However, Holy Lord Emperor Guan had severed and completely erased Xuan Yuan Emperor Lord's imprint with a single saber strike. The original imprint of Xuan Yuan Emperor Lord was manifested from Incense and Fire Prayer Power.

Thus, with the imprint erased, what remained was incredibly pure Incense and Fire Prayer Power, which was naturally suppressed within his Sea of Consciousness. Now that Huang Huai had condensed his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit to anchor his Sea of Consciousness, that Incense and Fire Prayer Power naturally merged into Huang Huai's Primordial Spirit.

Relieved, Huang Huai was naturally delighted. After absorbing that stream of Incense and Fire Prayer Power, he could feel his mental energy had at least doubled. If he had to cultivate it conventionally, it would likely take him a year or more of arduous practice.

With a thought, his consciousness returned to his body. Huang Huai opened his eyes, and his vision brightened as if the entire world had suddenly become clearer.

Huang Huai understood that this was because his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit had been condensed, his mental energy had surged, and his five senses had become incredibly sharp.

"Have I successfully entered the ranks of the extraordinary?"

With this realization, Huang Huai felt a surge of joy. Although he had confidence in himself, he hadn't expected to successfully condense his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit on his second attempt, completing the first step of Foundation Establishment in the Xuan Yuan Casting God Method.

"Considering my talent, am I a minor prodigy in this Otherworld?"

Of course, while he said this, Huang Huai knew the reality clearly. The reason he could so easily condense his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit, despite it being his second formal attempt, was that he had essentially been immersed in visualization for over ten years. His foundation was already incredibly solid; all he lacked was the method to condense his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, looked at the statues of Holy Lord Emperor Guan and Guanyin Bodhisattva on the altar, and a slight smile appeared on his lips as he whispered, "Gather True Spirit, stabilize Sea of Consciousness, strengthen spirit, open Divine Court, invite God into Body!"

Standing up, Huang Huai's face was filled with confidence as he said, "The next step is to open the First Divine Court and invite a God or Demon into my body. From then on, the power of Gods and Demons will be my own. With extraordinary power, my lifespan will greatly increase, and I will no longer be an ordinary mortal."

Glancing at the sky outside, Huang Huai stepped forward, picked up the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, and with the opening of a mysterious portal, his figure disappeared.

After returning the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan to the side room, Huang Huai returned to his residence. Instead of lying on his bed to sleep soundly, he immediately sat cross-legged and used the visualization method to temper and strengthen his mental energy, accumulating enough power for the next step of opening the Divine Court.

Unknowingly, a night passed. As the melodious morning bell rang, Huang Huai, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes. A glint flashed within them, a clear external manifestation of his surging mental energy.

"Huh, I must say, after sitting cross-legged for so long, I don't feel any discomfort at all. In fact, there's a warm sensation throughout my body. Could this be the powerful mental energy feeding back into the physical body mentioned in the Xuan Yuan Casting God Method?"

Putting aside his thoughts, he left the small courtyard, a smile gracing his face, indicating his excellent mood at the moment.

Whenever he encountered a senior disciple, Huang Huai would greet them proactively. Seeing the genuine joy on Huang Huai's face, they couldn't help but tease him, "Xiao Jiu, you're not this happy even if Auntie and Xiao Shan are coming to see you these two days."

Huang Huai paid no mind to his senior disciples' teasing. He couldn't possibly tell them that the reason he was so happy was that he had already condensed his True Spirit and Primordial Spirit, officially embarking on the path of wielding extraordinary power.