"I've cultivated the God-Devil Body Refining path, and I reached the ninth stage of the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map long ago. But because of my cultivation method, my Qi Refining Path cultivation has yet to break through."
Lei Zhan murmured, "This time, I'll open my Qi Refining Purple Mansion in one go."
He looked up at the palm-sized, translucent flying sword in his hand, then hesitated no longer.
"Rise!" Lei Zhan lightly tapped the flying sword with his finger.
At once, a faint ripple stirred through the tranquil chamber.
In the next instant, with a soft whoosh, the Nirvana Demon-Slaughtering Sword, which had been resting in his hand, seemed to be pulled by an invisible force and floated into the air.
With a thought, Lei Zhan let the Qi Refining method he knew by heart—the Nine Directions Fragment—flow through his mind. Countless currents of elemental power surged in the Purple Mansion dantian within him, roaring out through his body like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
The currents, infused with purple-gold light, swirled around one another and intertwined. Gradually, they gathered into one ancient, intricate rune after another, each glowing gold and purple.
The rune patterns were complex and mysterious. In the blink of an eye, they had spread across nearly half the chamber's ceiling.
The entire chamber was enveloped in their gold-and-purple radiance. At the center of the runes hung the palm-sized Nirvana Demon-Slaughtering Sword.
"Merge!"
Lei Zhan gazed at the countless runes in the air and spoke.
The ancient gold-and-purple divine patterns blazed with light. Each one seemed alive as they surged toward the Nirvana Demon-Slaughtering Sword.
Every time a gold-and-purple rune merged into the sword, the precious magic treasure—crafted from the rare material Nirvana Crystal Gold—began to melt like a candle beneath a flame.
Time passed. The gold-and-purple runes in the chamber gradually thinned, and the Nirvana Demon-Slaughtering Sword, crafted from the rare material Nirvana Crystal Gold, was slowly transformed by the runes into liquid. It became a pool of golden-purple nectar.
"Splash, splash..."
The purple-gold liquid glimmered faintly. It seemed like the purest energy in the world, gathering into a ball and flowing slowly.
Lei Zhan circulated the Nine Directions Fragment. At a thought, he began to draw in the pool of purple-gold liquid.
"Draw in!"
Lei Zhan opened his mouth.
In an instant, the purple-gold liquid in the air seemed to answer his call. It shot toward him, guided by his Divine Sense, flew straight into his mouth, and was swallowed into his body.
His dantian was fire; the purple-gold liquid was oil.
"Rumble..."
As soon as the purple-gold liquid entered his body, it was like oil thrown onto a fire. Within his dantian, his purple-gold true essence—already nearly comparable to that of a Purple Mansion cultivator—surged without end, rolling like boundless waves as it began to gather and build up furiously.
His dantian was a sea of raging waves. As the purple-gold liquid blended with the true essence he had already accumulated to its limit, the liquid seemed to be turning solid, growing ever more viscous.
Soon, with the abundant supply of purple-gold liquid, it reached its extreme. His boundless true essence spun wildly, compressing itself.
His elemental power seemed to resent how small his dantian was. It could hold no more true essence.
"Rumble!"
In an instant, it was as if Pangu had opened Heaven and Earth! A thunderous blast erupted in his dantian, which had once been an indistinguishable mass of chaos!
"My Purple Mansion has opened!" A smile suddenly appeared in Lei Zhan's eyes.
Where his dantian had once been, there was now a boundless expanse of empty space. Purple mist billowed through it without end. This strange place, suspended between emptiness and reality, was the Purple Mansion!
The moment the Purple Mansion Space opened, the first drop of viscous elemental power, as dense as mercury, began to condense in the boundless, mist-filled void. Soon, more and more elemental power gathered. A small pool appeared in the endless emptiness, then quickly grew into a little lake...
At the same time, he was drawing in large amounts of Essence Liquid.
His elemental power continued to gather and accumulate, and the lake kept expanding...
Lei Zhan cultivated in the chamber for a long while before finally stopping.
He slowly opened his eyes, a faint smile on his face.
"This Purple Gold Marrow, refined from the human-grade, supreme-grade magic treasure Nirvana Demon-Slaughtering Sword, is worlds apart from the Purple Gold Marrow refined from those worthless magic treasures. Once I refine it and break through, I won't even need to spend time or Essence Liquid consolidating my cultivation." Lei Zhan's Divine Sense stirred as he looked inward at the empty space where his dantian had been.
The Purple Mansion lake might not look large, but the elemental power it held was as dense as mercury, immensely potent.
"Even though I've only just entered the Purple Mansion Realm along the Qi Refining Path, the pure elemental power in my Purple Mansion is nearly on par with that of a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator." Lei Zhan sensed his strength, then waved his hand. A multitude of magic treasures appeared in the chamber.
There was a palm-sized black flying boat, a wing-shaped magic treasure that looked like a green feather, a handful of dark-gold sand that glittered with tiny points of light, and several clusters of black long needles.
"Now that my Qi Refining cultivation has reached the Purple Mansion Realm, I can finally refine these human-grade magic treasures. If I use this Star Sand and the 128 Rahula Divine Needles to perform the Water-Fire Grinding Disc again, the power of that secret technique should rise by a great deal."
In the second level of the War God Hall, Lei Zhan had first performed the Water-Fire Grinding Disc secret technique by relying entirely on his understanding of the Dao. The power he had drawn upon came solely from the Dao.
But a good magic treasure could multiply a cultivator's battle strength. If he could wield this set of Rahula Divine Needles, he could drain the Void Return Divine Demon's divine power much faster.
Whoosh—
At a thought from Lei Zhan, his Divine Sense drew the magic treasures floating in the air toward him. They gathered around him as his vast Purple Mansion elemental power surged into them and began refining them.
A moment later, everything settled.
Lei Zhan waved his hand, and the treasures he had fully refined vanished into his Purple Mansion Space.
"Hmm. In less than a year, I'll have to challenge the Divine Ability Hall... I've gone very deep into the Way of Blazing Fire. If I can comprehend the Blazing Spear Domain before then..." Lei Zhan murmured, then closed his eyes again.
He had a feeling that Water and Fire complemented each other. He had spent five years at the Domain Realm of the Dao in the Dao of the Azure Sea, and his progress was already immense compared to five years ago. The same was true of the Way of Blazing Fire.
It wouldn't be long before he, too, reached the Domain Realm of the Dao.
By then, his odds of conquering the Divine Ability Hall would be much better. Lei Zhan had no divine consciousness comparable to a Primordial Spirit Daoist's, so he could only keep deepening his understanding of the Dao and strengthening his God-Devil Body Refining combat techniques.
Inside the Star Hall stood the same mountain, verdant and brimming with life.
Below it stretched the same desolate field of rubble. Before the field stood a seemingly humble thatched cottage.
Stars glittered across the sky. One enormous star after another followed its set course, moving slowly. The entire hall was imbued with the ineffable Dao.
A handsome young man in black robes slowly pushed open the doors, which had been crafted from enormous Immortal Green Fire Wood. Beside him walked a huge bear with yellow fur.
"He's back again." Lei Zhan gazed at the scene before him—the trickling stream across the rubble, the weeds stubbornly growing among the stones, the stars overhead—and was filled with emotion.
"Every time I come to the Star Hall, I come away with a different feeling."
"The Star Hall is a sacred place for comprehending the Dao, left behind by my master. Every inch of it contains the mysteries of the Dao." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded. "Come here when you've had a new insight, and you'll see something different every time."
"You're exceptionally gifted, and you have this Immortal Mansion left behind by my master. Your future achievements are sure to set you apart from ordinary divine demons."
"Mm." Lei Zhan nodded. How many mighty figures at the True God Dao Ancestor level were there in the Three Realms? Yet there were billions of cultivators, and not every one of them had the good fortune that he and Immortal Juhua had. What was more, Daoist Sanshou had been one of the best among them, making such an inheritance rarer still.
"Cultivate well. Your aptitude is far greater than Juhua's. Only by fully comprehending one of the Great Daos will you have a chance to become a mighty figure who roams the Three Realms—and stand alongside my master." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Lei Zhan. "Go."
Lei Zhan nodded.
Roam the Three Realms?
If that day came, the Three Realms would be no more than a starting point to him.
What he truly wanted was the chance to leave the Three Realms and enter the boundless Chaos, making the name Lei Zhan known throughout the Endless Territory!
Still, ambition was one thing. He couldn't reach for the sky. A journey of a thousand miles began beneath one's feet; a nine-story tower rose from a heap of earth. He still had to tread his path steadily, one step at a time.
I had something to do this morning and drove for several hours. I've only just finished writing the first chapter. Sorry for the wait, everyone.
Please follow the story! I got a private message yesterday: the novel made it into the first round of recommendations! I owe you all a chapter!