Breaking Through to the Spirit Gathering Realm

The weather had finally turned cool. Taking this opportunity, I'm asking everyone to vote for me in the Sanjiang contest.

The Black Donkey sat upright with a solemn, serious expression. But seeing a donkey imitating a person and sitting upright was already an incredibly comical sight. Zhou Heng couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

"You little brat, you're asking for a beating!" The Black Donkey kicked out at him with a hoof.

Zhou Heng had been with it for seven or eight days. How could he possibly have no guard against this Despicable Donkey? He immediately dodged to the side, then waved a hand. "I apologize. I really shouldn't have laughed at you, you Despicable Donkey, putting on human airs!"

"I'll kick you to death!"

Once things had settled down, the Black Donkey cleared its throat and said, "Cultivating martial arts is a process of making your physical body into a god. What is a god? If you were the master of this continent—the true master—and all things came into being with a single thought, that would be a god!"

"Martial artists have to form a small world within themselves and become the god of that small world. Then they communicate with this great world and obtain boundless power!"

"The Body Refining Realm is still stuck at the very bottom of the martial path. You can't even begin to talk about forming a small world!"

"Only after reaching the peak of the Body Refining Realm and opening up your Dantian can you form a chaotic world and draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. That is the Spirit Gathering Realm!"

So that was how it worked!

Zhou Heng couldn't help nodding. Though this Despicable Donkey was cunning, greedy, and unreliable, it truly had a deep understanding of martial arts. Its explanations were clear and easy to follow, far easier to understand than Lin Fuxiang's.

"How do you create a world? You open heaven and earth, with clear energy becoming the sky and turbid energy becoming the earth!"

"So, when the Dantian world is filled with spiritual energy, the next step is to divide the world. This is the Initial Division Realm!"

"Then you form the earth. That is the Earth-Opening Realm!"

"Next, you form the sky. That is the Heaven-Opening Realm!"

"At this point, heaven and earth have just taken shape. They're still desolate and boundless, and can't yet be called a true world! So you must create mountains and rivers. That is the Mountain and River Realm!"

"Once you have mountains and rivers, you also need an ocean. That is the Spirit Sea Realm!"

"By then, the world has just begun to take shape. The martial artist can start making their physical body into a god, forming an infant pearl at the heart of the world and giving birth to a deity. That is the Fetal Formation Realm!"

"Transform the fetus into an infant, and that is the Divine Infant Realm!"

"Let the Divine Infant grow and transform from mortal to god, and that is the Spirit Transformation Realm!"

Zhou Heng's heart surged with excitement. He hurriedly asked, "What comes after the Spirit Transformation Realm?"

"Idiot. Spirit Transformation means turning into a god. What could possibly come after that?" The Black Donkey snorted, its face full of disdain.

Damn, he'd been looked down on by a donkey!

Zhou Heng didn't take it to heart. He was only thinking about the nine realms after the Body Refining Realm. They were all stages in forming the Inner World. It was as if an unseen lamp had been lit within him, guiding him forward.

"Black Donkey, didn't you say you used to be very powerful? Which realm were you in?"

"Me?" The Black Donkey paused, then considered it for a moment. "Of course I was in the Spirit Transformation Realm!"

If it had really been in the Spirit Transformation Realm, it would have been the strongest existence under heaven. How could a formation possibly have drained away all its cultivation? Clearly, this Despicable Donkey was bragging again.

With spiritual fruits to eat every day, Zhou Heng's cultivation improved at a ridiculously fast pace. Though the energy provided by the Black Broken Sword was growing weaker, he still reached the peak of the Tenth Layer of Body Refining within a month!

"Today, I'm going to take a look at the Cold Pool!"

He made up his mind. Without waiting for nightfall, he immediately leaped into the pool. With a splash, the icy water wrapped around him, making him shudder.

How fierce!

He was already at the peak of the Tenth Layer of Body Refining, with abundant blood and qi throughout his body. He should have been impervious to cold and heat by now, yet a bone-chilling cold still swept over him. Just how low was the water's temperature?

He took a deep breath and plunged down.

Three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang!

The frigid cold pierced to the bone. His blood flowed more and more slowly, as if it were about to freeze!

Zhou Heng hurriedly turned and swam back to the surface. By the time he climbed onto the bank, his entire body was covered in frost, with icicles even forming in long ridges!

"Hahaha—" The Black Donkey immediately laughed so hard it doubled over, its beady eyes darting around as if it were considering whether to kick Zhou Heng back into the water.

"Incredible. I only went down ten zhang, yet the water was already so cold that even someone at the Tenth Layer of Body Refining couldn't withstand it!" Zhou Heng clicked his tongue in amazement. "And I was nowhere near the bottom of the Cold Pool. I really don't know how cold it gets down there!"

"Lucky for me, I'm clever and didn't act as rashly as that brat!" The Black Donkey patted its chest in relief.

If the Tenth Layer of Body Refining wasn't enough, then he would wait until the Eleventh and Twelfth Layers!

Zhou Heng wasn't in a hurry to return to the Nine Spirits Sect. He'd already returned the copy of the Bright Jade Art, and these days he had spiritual fruits to eat—far more powerful than Spirit Gathering Pills. He could do without his place among the Outer Sect's top ten.

He soon broke through to the Eleventh Layer of Body Refining. After another month of arduous cultivation, he reached its peak and went into the Cold Pool again.

Twenty zhang!

He had gone ten zhang deeper than last time, but he had no idea how far he still was from the bottom.

Instead, this only spurred Zhou Heng on. He was determined to take on the Cold Pool. After breaking through to the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining, he continued to improve his cultivation without pause.

In the blink of an eye, he had been in the valley for three months.

"Brat, I advise you to give up. This Cold Pool might run straight to the earth's core. No mortal strength can stand against it!" The Black Donkey was so lazy it had never once gone into the Cold Pool.

Zhou Heng had actually given up on conquering the Cold Pool, too. The Spirit Gathering Realm was only the beginning of the martial path. Perhaps he would need to reach the Heaven-Opening Realm or even the Divine Infant Realm before he could truly challenge the pool.

He used the Cold Pool to challenge himself. Every additional zhang—or even chi—he managed to descend was progress!

"Brat, your Lord Donkey is going to find a good place to break through to the Spirit Gathering Realm. From now on, my bray will shake the world! We've spent three months together, so you can call it fate. If you run into trouble later, just give them my name!" the Black Donkey said carelessly.

Zhou Heng burst out laughing. "Give them your name? Wouldn't that just make me die faster? I'd become a rat crossing the street, with everyone yelling for me to be beaten!"

"You brat, you really don't know what's good for you. Forget it, I'd better go check out the East Spirit Immortal Pool and see what this generation's Saintess looks like!" The Black Donkey turned and left, without a backward glance.

"That Despicable Donkey," Zhou Heng murmured, though a smile rose at the corners of his mouth.

The Black Donkey was despicable, but they had lived together for three months. He couldn't help feeling some affection for it. Zhou Heng was a sentimental sort, and he suddenly found himself missing Zhu Zhihe and the others. He wondered whether they had caught up with the Purple-Clad Woman.

"Starting today, I'll open my Dantian and break through to the Spirit Gathering Realm!"

Zhou Heng clenched both fists, his eyes filled with resolve and anticipation.

Only after reaching the Spirit Gathering Realm would he be qualified to avenge his father!

But how was he supposed to open his Dantian?

This wasn't like Skin Refining, Flesh Refining, Bone Refining, or Blood Refining, where he could break through simply by using True Essence Power to smash through a barrier. The Dantian formed its own world, something ethereal and elusive. How could he open it?

Zhou Heng's greatest advantage was that he could look within himself before reaching the Spirit Gathering Realm. He could clearly see his Dantian world!

How could he make use of that?

He sank into deep thought.

For the first ten days, he sat cross-legged. His body's energy consumption fell to a minimum, and each day he needed only a slice of meat and a sip of water to ward off hunger and thirst. Starting on the eleventh day, he lay down on the ground instead. His body relaxed even further, and his consciousness drifted as if leaving his body, gazing down at himself from above.

Some insight seemed to stir within him, yet he couldn't grasp or touch it. A wave of impatience suddenly rose in his heart.

"Be calm, stay composed, let your heart join with nature, and comprehend nature!"

Those were the words the Black Donkey had left Zhou Heng—a small parting gift.

One day, two days, three days. Zhou Heng remained motionless, neither eating nor drinking, like a corpse. Nearly all his bodily functions had stopped; only his consciousness continued to circulate through his body.

On the twentieth day, the Black Sword in his Dantian suddenly trembled. It wasn't the Black Broken Sword moving on its own. Rather, Zhou Heng's consciousness had struck his Dantian, setting the Black Sword vibrating.

Zhou Heng's body remained completely still, but the air around him churned like boiling water, surging and steaming in a spectacular display.

If a Spirit Gathering Realm expert had been there, they would have clearly sensed the disturbance in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It was as if Zhou Heng had become the center of the world, with countless streams of spiritual energy rushing toward him like thirsty horses galloping to a spring, coiling around his body.

But Zhou Heng wasn't in the Spirit Gathering Realm. He had made some progress, but he hadn't yet stepped through the threshold. He couldn't absorb this spiritual energy, so it continued to gather around him in ever-greater quantities.

Spiritual energy was formless, but in sufficient quantities it formed immense pressure, squeezing Zhou Heng's body as if a ten-thousand-jin boulder were bearing down on him from every direction.

If he didn't break through, and the spiritual energy didn't disperse, then Zhou Heng would be crushed to pieces alive!

"Open!"

Zhou Heng's index finger twitched slightly. His consciousness returned to his Dantian, taking human form as it reached for the Black Broken Sword. He grabbed it, then swung it in a mighty slash.

He would cleave through his shackles and hack a new world into being!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thunderous crashes rang out from within his body, even affecting the Cold Pool nearby. The water churned and boiled, swirling into an enormous vortex.

First Form of Heaven-Soaring!

Zhou Heng's battle intent erupted. He actually began executing the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles within his Dantian. His consciousness was driving the sword technique, so it consumed no True Essence Power.

Heaven-Soaring Second Style! Third Form of Heaven-Soaring!

He continuously executed these three Heaven-Soaring sword forms, cleaving apart the void.

His Dantian shuddered violently and expanded slightly in every direction!

Zhou Heng forgot everything else and kept swinging his sword!

With the help of a strange fruit, his Dantian space had already expanded to a size of four chi. Now it swelled again and again, finally breaking beyond its original limits.

Opening the Dantian!

Zhou Heng fought like a madman, continuously gathering all the True Essence Power in his body at his Dantian and smashing it against the barrier, as if trying to tear open a gap.

Five chi! Six chi!

Boom!

His True Essence Power was exhausted. Zhou Heng's whole body shook, and his eyes snapped open. Two piercing beams of light seemed to split heaven and earth, shining with dazzling brilliance.

A gap had opened in his Dantian!

In an instant, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth all around him rushed into his body like a flood.

So this was the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

Zhou Heng swept his gaze around and saw that the world was filled with starlike particles. Compared with the True Essence Power he had refined before, they were far purer, and the energy they contained was much more powerful. Each speck of starlight was at least a hundred times brighter than the True Essence Power in his body!

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged into him, gathering in his Dantian and transforming into his own spiritual power!

This was the Spirit Gathering Realm!