Third Trial, Complete

The next day, in the early morning.

Yun Jingheng was awakened by a burning sensation in his dantian.

When he opened his eyes, it was still dark. A crescent moon hung in the Mo Lan night sky outside the window, its pale light shining through the window paper onto the quilt, like a thin layer of frost.

Before he could even turn over, the burning sensation in his dantian suddenly surged, spreading along his meridians to his limbs and bones, making him arch his back.

The Moon Palace was shaking violently.

He quickly closed his eyes and looked inward, seeing the miniature palace floating above the Golden Core, with all the patterns on its surface lighting up at the same time.

The main hall, side halls, corridors, and platform—every floor tile and every pillar was glowing. Silvery light shone outward from inside the palace, turning the entire dantian into a sea of Moonlight.

The Golden Core is also spinning.

It spun several times faster than usual, and the silver glaze on the surface seemed to be melted by the high temperature, peeling off and reforming layer by layer, each reformation being denser and thicker than the last.

The unformed core at the center of the Golden Core began to contract violently, like a star collapsing, and all the Moonlight Spiritual Power was suddenly compressed towards the center.

He sensed it.

That "node" has been reached.

He almost instinctively sat up in bed, sat cross-legged, placed his hands in a mudra on his knees, and his consciousness sank into the operating path of the fourth chapter of the Lunar Path Technique.

He had been stuck at the threshold, always feeling that something was missing. But now, the surging Moonlight Spiritual Power in his dantian seemed to be ignited by something, rushing along the meridian paths marked by the method, more than ten times faster than usual.

The first Sunday.

The Moonlight surged from the dantian, ascended along the spine, passed through the mingmen point, pierced the dazhui point, entered the niwan palace, swirled once in the sea of consciousness, and then descended along the Ren meridian back to the dantian.

The journey was swift and smooth, like a flash flood breaking through a silted riverbed, clearing all obstacles without hindrance.

The second Sunday.

The Moonlight began to "take shape" in the sea of consciousness. The silvery-white spiritual energy condensed into an extremely thin membrane of Moonlight in the Niwan Palace, like a mirror floating in the very center of the sea of consciousness.

The mirror reflected the image of the Moon Palace; the eaves of the main hall, the curves of the corridors, and the steps of the platform were all clearly visible, as if a real palace was being reflected deep within his consciousness.

The third Sunday.

The Golden Core in his dantian suddenly contracted, then expanded dramatically from its shrunk position.

A silver light burst forth from within the Golden Core, illuminating the entire dantian. After the light faded, a perfectly round Golden Core core, its surface gleaming with a warm, silvery light, quietly floated in the center of the dantian. A layer of extremely fine Moonlight patterns flowed across its surface, like naturally formed frost flowers, so beautiful it seemed unreal.

It's done.

The moment the Golden Core core solidified, the Moon Palace also ascended.

The last floor tile in the main hall was illuminated by a silvery-white light. From the platform to the corridor to the side hall to the main hall, all the patterns connected to form a complete loop. The palace resounded with a loud bang, like a sleeping giant bell being struck for the first time.

The entire Moon Palace was raised a notch.

The material visibly transforms into something resembling jade or amber, with all surface scratches disappearing and replaced by a layer of naturally formed patterns, each one as perfect as moonlight itself growing into the metal.

The silver-white light band between the base and the Golden Core had become three times thicker, and the speed of spiritual energy transfer was astonishing.

Yun Jingheng's body trembled slightly.

A warm energy surged from the dantian, flowing along the meridians to the limbs, washing over every inch of bone and every muscle.

At the same time, all the pores on his body opened, Moonlight overflowed from within, condensing into a very thin halo on his body, enveloping him in a soft, silvery-white light.

[The Nine Trials of the Lunar Moon God: Third Trial Completed! Rewards are being distributed: a million- Moon Laurel Head Soul Bone.]

[Initiating fusion.]

Before Yun Jingheng could think about it further, he wondered, "Does the Moon Laurel count as Soul Beast?"

He searched through the Douluo Continent's knowledge system for a long time but couldn't find the corresponding entry. Then, a violent wave of dizziness struck his mind.

It felt as if someone had driven an ice pick right into the center of his head, both cold and painful, piercing straight down from the Baihui acupoint, through the skull, the meninges, and the sea of consciousness.

He groaned, instinctively pressing his hands to his temples, and slumped off the bed from his cross-legged position.

"Hiss..."

A towering silver wave surged within his sea of consciousness.

Yun Jingheng's soul was momentarily shaken by that force, but he quickly steadied himself; he had to cooperate.

How to coordinate?

He gritted his teeth, sat up straight again, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the depths of his mind.

The crack grew wider and wider, and silvery-white light poured out from it, carrying a rich, crisp fragrance of grass and wood—the scent of osmanthus, Sisi and slightly cool, like standing under a blooming osmanthus tree on a late autumn night.

The crack has completely burst open.

A silvery-white branch peeked out from the crack.

The branches are covered with a thin layer of bark, and fine threads of Moonlight flow through the bark's veins. At the tips of the branches are a few tender leaves and a cluster of delicate golden osmanthus flowers.

The branches emerged from the depths of Yun Jingheng's sea of consciousness, growing longer and denser, like a living Soul Bone taking root, growing, and spreading within his sea of consciousness.

pain.

The pain was different from the pain of being cut by a knife; it was the pain of "something taking root in my sea of consciousness," a numb and swollen sensation, as if something was stretching open my entire brain.

"Master, relax, let it in." Xiao Jiu's voice came after a long time.

Veins bulged on Yun Jingheng's forehead, and his teeth clenched so tightly they cracked. Following his previous experience of refining the Lunar Divine Metal, he dispersed his divine soul, allowing his sea of consciousness to open like a container, accepting the growth of that branch.

The branches took deeper and deeper root in the sea of consciousness.

The roots penetrated the bottom of his sea of consciousness, spreading along the boundaries of his consciousness, like a silvery-white root network covering the bottom of the entire sea of consciousness.

The branches grew upwards, branching out into more twigs, each twig blooming with clusters of golden osmanthus flowers. The fragrance of the osmanthus flowers permeated his sea of consciousness, creating a strange resonance with the Moonlight Spiritual Power in his dantian.

The Moon Palace trembled.

When the roots of the Moon Laurel Tree spread to a certain point in the lower layer of the mind, they touched a "channel" connecting the mind and the dantian. Following that channel downwards, it passed through the neck, through the chest cavity, and plunged straight into the dantian.

Yun Jingheng's body trembled violently.

The roots of the Moon Laurel Tree spread out in the dantian, part of them Entanglement around the surface of the Golden Core, and the other part Entanglement around the base of the Moon Palace.

The Moonlight patterns on the surface of the Golden Core Entanglement with the silvery-white light threads of the Moon Laurel root system, like two ropes twisted into one, instantly establishing an extremely tight connection.

On the platform in front of the main hall of the Moon Palace, a miniature Moon Laurel Tree suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The crown was not tall, only half a foot high, but it had all the branches and leaves. Clusters of small golden flowers were hidden in the crown, like gold dust sprinkled on a silver plate.

The big tree in the sea of consciousness and the small tree in the dantian are the same tree, or rather, the head and root of the same tree.

The tree canopy in the sea of consciousness and the tree root in the dantian are connected through that channel, Moonlight Spiritual Power circulates between the two, forming a self-consistent closed loop.

The pain began to subside.

Like the tide slowly receding after reaching its peak, Yun Jingheng's tense body gradually relaxed.

He lay on his back on the bed, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and a large wet patch of his clothes clung to his body, feeling chilly.

But the feeling of "complete renewal" in his mind and dantian made him feel refreshed all over, like taking a hot bath after a hangover, both tired and refreshed.

He took a while to sit up again and closed his eyes to look inward.

The Moon Laurel Tree in his sea of consciousness had stabilized, its branches stretched out, and the laurel blossoms were in full bloom. The golden petals swayed gently among the silvery-white light threads, and the fragrance permeated the entire sea of consciousness, giving his soul an indescribable sense of peace.

Within the dantian, the miniature Moon Laurel Tree took root in the very center of the Moon Palace platform. Its crown was not tall, but its branches and leaves were dense. Each time the Moonlight Spiritual Power on the Golden Core rotated, a strand would be separated to nourish the roots, and the crown would in turn feed back a strand of golden laurel spiritual power that flowed into the patterns of the Moon Palace.

The three elements— the Golden Core, the Moon Palace, and the Moon Laurel Tree —form a delicate relationship.

He tried to mobilize his Soul Power.

The golden osmanthus spiritual energy and the silver Moonlight Spiritual Power merged together. When it surged out of the dantian, it was no longer just silver, but had a faint golden edge, and its texture was almost twice as dense as before.

He reached out and made a fleeting gesture in the air. A wisp of golden and silver light spilled from his fingertip, hovering in mid-air and solidifying into a thin leaf shape with sharp edges, like a real laurel leaf.

Then he began to experience the Soul Skill granted by the Soul Bone.

"... This Soul Bone Skill is overpowered, but I like it."

Head Soul Bone Skill:

1. Undying Moon Laurel: Passive, Unique Trait: Regeneration, Immortality.

2. Mirage Shadow Under Laurel: A group illusion control technique that weaves a Guanghan illusion with the fragrance of Moon Laurel and Moonlight. Enemies are trapped in a false dream of the osmanthus tree falling forever, reliving their most painful memories, causing their Soul Power to stagnate and their Divine Power to continuously drain away.

3. Thousand Laurels Burying the Moon: A forbidden technique of the original Mental Attribute. When activated, a phantom of the Guanghan Moon Laurel grows behind the user. The osmanthus petals are fragments of spiritual materialization. The petals scatter, and if touched, the memory will be permanently withered.

4. Laurel Soul Reflecting Shadow: Ignores distance and Soul Skill, locks on, cannot be dispelled, and once locked on, the next Soul Skill will definitely deal 500% damage.

[The Nine Trials of the Lunar Moon God: The Fourth Trial...]

Yun Jingheng didn't look closely; he was very sleepy.

He lay back down on the bed, pulled the blanket over his stomach, and closed his eyes to feel the harmonious circulation of the three things in his dantian.

The sky outside the window was already mostly bright, and the morning light shone through the window paper, warming his face.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, his consciousness floating on the surface of the water. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he heard the sound of the courtyard gate being pushed open, followed by Yun Ming's footsteps approaching and pausing outside the window.

"... Jing Heng?"

He mumbled a reply, "Um... all done... let me get some sleep..."

There was a moment of silence outside the window, then a very soft laugh could be heard.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and the courtyard gate closed again.