Nurturing the Wheel with Essence

Inside the examination chamber.

With Kong Jiao as the center, the white frost spreading outward had already covered most of the floor.

The frigid environment was nearly on par with the area outside the Frostmoon Altar, cold enough to freeze dripping water into ice.

The spiritual energy drifting from Kong Jiao's body from time to time was now visible to the naked eye, having completely transformed into a frosty white hue.

Almost at the same moment his spiritual energy completed its metamorphosis, a subtle ripple diffused from within his seated body.

Two strands of the purest aura, stirred by the Moon Palace Taiyin Scripture that Kong Jiao practiced, drifted out from the crystal embedded in the ceiling of the examination space.

One was a snow-white Essence Soul.

The space had already been cold enough.

The moment that snow-white Essence Soul aura appeared, the entire chamber was instantly encased in ice.

Only the puppet and the spot where Kong Jiao sat remained dry.

The other strand was even more miraculous.

Its entire body shimmered with a moon-white radiance, and as the aura moved, it rippled like water.

Wherever it passed, starlight reminiscent of a galaxy remained in its wake.

Until it finally condensed into a single mass.

Hum! The entire chamber, frozen by the snow-white Essence Soul, instantly saw the ice vanish and the snow melt; the entire space transformed into a void of the universe surrounded by countless stars.

It stood in the center of this galaxy like a monarch, as if a bright moon hung high in the sky.

Immersed in this vision that resembled a galaxy.

In front of the examination space, that massive Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi, so large it required two people to wrap their arms around it, seemed to sense the aura of the galaxy; it swayed without wind, twisting left and right like a graceful woman dancing.

The puppet seemed to have known of the existence of those two strands of pure aura long ago, remaining unmoved.

Under its unblinking gaze, both strands of pure aura slowly drifted toward the crescent mark forming on Kong Jiao's brow.

Kong Jiao was completely unaware of the changes in the outside world, still immersed in his cultivation.

The first to enter the crescent mark was the snow-white Essence Soul.

The moment the aura made contact with the crescent mark.

Hum! An extreme frost power centered on the crescent mark and diffused throughout his entire body.

The spiritual energy that had been flowing steadily through his meridians under Kong Jiao's control seemed to be shackled by that frost power.

What was once intangible spiritual energy had now frozen into a solid state, like flowing water turned to ice.

The sudden influx of an unknown power filled Kong Jiao with inexplicable terror.

Just as he was at a loss.

"Focus your mind, use the Moon Palace Taiyin Scripture to grind it down until it merges with your spiritual energy."

The voice transmitted into his consciousness by the puppet brought a sense of calm to Kong Jiao's heart.

After nodding silently, he immediately exerted his full strength to execute the Moon Palace Taiyin Scripture, attempting to break through the shackles of the frost power.

Yet, no matter how hard Kong Jiao tried, the spiritual energy within his body remained motionless; that frost power was like an immovable mountain.

What do I do? Panic rose within him, and a bead of cold sweat uncontrollably trickled down his forehead.

He did not give up. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and desperately pushed his spiritual energy.

"Move!" he roared internally.

The Spirit Wheel floating in his dantian's sea of energy began to rotate slowly at this very moment.

Rumble! The rotation of the Spirit Wheel was not silent.

It emitted a massive, deafening roar that only Kong Jiao could hear, like a torrential flood rushing toward him.

Once the Spirit Wheel moved, the spiritual energy that had been frozen into solid ice by the frost power finally showed signs of movement, beginning to crawl through his meridians at a snail's pace.

There's a chance! This sight brought joy to Kong Jiao's heart.

He immediately focused his mind, concentrating on executing the Lunar Scripture.

With the help of the Spirit Wheel and Kong Jiao's full effort, the speed of his spiritual energy circulation gradually returned to its original pace.

But the Spirit Wheel showed no signs of stopping.

It spun faster and faster within his dantian's sea of energy.

The spiritual energy, which had returned to its normal flow, had unknowingly increased its circulation speed to several times what it was before.

The spiritual energy surged rapidly through his meridians, causing them to ache with a bloated sensation.

Kong Jiao stared dumbfounded at this incredible scene within his meridians, not knowing what to do.

Damn it! My meridians are injured; I'm afraid this speed will cause trouble!

As Kong Jiao muttered to himself, his heart leaped into his throat.

A moment later, he relaxed again.

Although his spirit power had run wild, the meridians damaged by the Qi-Bursting Pill showed no signs of further expansion.

On the contrary, those tiny fissures actually showed signs of healing under the nourishment of the spirit power.

In the span of a mere tea break, all his injuries healed in an instant.

At this moment, trailing behind that snow-white Essence Soul, an aura as bright as the full moon drifted toward the space above the crescent mark on Kong Jiao's forehead, seemingly prepared to enter his body just as the snow-white Essence Soul had.

The puppet suddenly struck, extending two fingers to intercept the Moonlight Essence Soul.

Crack! The moment his mechanical index and middle fingers touched the Essence Soul, they were instantly entwined by an inexplicable force, and dense cracks appeared between the two fingers.

Yet, he did not care in the slightest.

He forcibly severed one-fifth of the Essence Soul.

Holding the essence energy in his hand, the puppet turned his head toward the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi and spoke calmly: "This is the excess Lunar Essence. I can give it to you, but you must think clearly. This Lunar Essence was drawn down by Kong Jiao; if you accept his Lunar Essence, you must bear his karma."

The assessment space fell into silence following the puppet's words.

The Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi stopped twisting, as if it were deep in thought.

After a long while, a young girl's tender voice, laced with a tone of grinding teeth, emanated from the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi: "I want it!"

The puppet did not hesitate, directly tossing the severed fifth of the Lunar Essence toward the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi.

The latter's already crystalline body overflowed with brilliant light the moment the Lunar essence energy entered it.

The remaining Lunar Essence Soul was held in the puppet's hand, and golden beams of light erupted from his pupils to envelop it; he seemed to be activating some secret technique.

In the end, the Lunar Essence Soul was completely sealed within a golden silkworm cocoon the size of a dragon's eye.

After finishing all this, the gold in the puppet's pupils dimmed significantly.

He then cast the golden silkworm cocoon into the crescent mark on Kong Jiao's forehead.

Perhaps because it was sealed, the golden silkworm cocoon entered his body without causing any ripples, unlike the snow-white Essence Soul.

Kong Jiao was completely unaware of everything that had happened in the outside world.

Or rather, he had no time to concern himself with it.

After the power of the snow-white Essence Soul was worn down by him, his dantian was undergoing a heaven-shaking transformation.

The dantian's sea of qi, which had been like mist, had now completely transformed into the appearance of a lake covered in frost.

The Spirit Wheel floating within it had now merged with the frost-covered lake, drifting in the sea of qi like a bright moon reflected beneath an ice lake.

His spirit power had undergone a qualitative change as a result.

Every wisp of spirit energy was snow-white and transparent, and as it flowed gently, it emitted a pleasant, crisp sound like black ice colliding.

His cultivation base grew crazily, and in just a moment, it filled the fourth stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm, reaching the edge of a breakthrough.

I can break through! Feeling the abundant spirit power within his body, Kong Jiao thought with bright eyes and great confidence.

However, before he could put his thoughts into action, the puppet's voice exploded from the depths of his consciousness once again.

"Wake up!"

The voice carried majesty and left no room for doubt.

Kong Jiao was forcibly jolted awake by the puppet's voice.

His eyes snapped open, and Kong Jiao stared blankly at the stiff face before him and the puppet's dark golden pupils.

The latter's wooden face was almost pressed against his own forehead.

Kong Jiao was startled at first, then leaned back to maintain distance from the puppet, saying with a hint of resentment: "I was clearly..."

"You cannot break through too quickly. The essence energy has not yet fully fused with your spirit power. If you break through now, there will be endless hidden dangers," the puppet said, as if he knew what Kong Jiao was going to say, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"You need to consolidate for a period of time. Only when you have fully refined the essence energy and can control your spirit power as easily as your own arms can you break through."

"Essence energy? What essence energy?" Kong Jiao looked at the puppet's eyes in a daze.

"The Wheel-Nourishing Realm is all about nourishing the wheel with essence. The essence energy I speak of is, naturally, the essence energy that nourishes the Spirit Wheel."

"Having received the essence energy and cultivated the Moon Palace Wheel-Nourishing Scripture, you can finally be considered a true Wheel-Nourishing Realm cultivator," the puppet said casually. He glossed over this topic, as if there were more important things to say.

"After you go out, you must cultivate diligently. Do not be slack, and strive to cultivate the Moon Wheel Seal to perfection as soon as possible. Enter the inner sect of my Moon Palace."

Kong Jiao pursed his lips. This was the second time the puppet had mentioned the Moon Palace inner sect, and he really wanted to say that the Moon Palace had long since ceased to exist.

But he was afraid of upsetting this highly intelligent puppet.

He simply didn't speak, instead responding dryly: "This disciple obeys!"

The puppet nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi behind him, saying slowly: "When you have cultivated the Moon Wheel Seal to perfection, come here to find me and take this fellow away. She will be a great help to you."

Kong Jiao had actually been plotting to get his hands on this Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi for a long time.

He had been pondering how to trick it away from the puppet.

Upon hearing these words, his eyes lit up immediately, and he nodded repeatedly: "This disciple obeys."

The puppet's words were undoubtedly an order to leave, and Kong Jiao understood it perfectly well.

However, taking the opportunity here and just dusting off his hands to leave left him feeling somewhat guilty, as if he hadn't created any value for this sect called the Moon Palace that had bestowed its inheritance upon him.

He would have no way to give back in the future either.

After all, the Moon Palace no longer exists in this world. As Kong Jiao thought this silently to himself, he looked up at the puppet before him, whose dull, emotionless face no longer seemed quite so rigid.

In a sense, this puppet had guarded this space for who knew how many years.

Always clinging to the inheritance of the Moon Palace, with great loyalty and righteousness.

"Does the senior know the situation of the outside world?" Kong Jiao ultimately could not bear it and asked tentatively.

"Do not call me senior. You are the nine hundred and seventy-second generation disciple of my sect; in terms of seniority, it is far too distant and complex. You may call me Yi-Twelve." The puppet pointed out the oversight in Kong Jiao's words indifferently.

Then, with his unique, stiff voice, he slowly responded to the question Kong Jiao had just asked.

"I know everything that has happened in the outside world."

The puppet's answer made Kong Jiao's pupils widen sharply.

This was an answer he had never expected.

He actually knew everything.

Yet, he was still willing to guard this space, waiting for the arrival of a disciple to receive the Moon Palace's inheritance.

Thinking of the various miraculous displays the puppet had shown earlier, other thoughts suddenly stirred in Kong Jiao's heart.

"Have you never thought about going out?" Kong Jiao deliberated repeatedly before asking cautiously.

"My duty is to guard here and wait for the arrival of the disciple who will receive the Moon Palace's inheritance. It was so in the past, and it will be so in the future." The puppet's reply was a matter of course.

"What if there are no more comers in the future?" This time, Kong Jiao appeared very serious, staring into Yi-Twelve's dark golden pupils.

Since his duty was to guard this place, Kong Jiao had to start from this point to persuade him to leave with him.

This time, he did not wait for Yi-Twelve's answer.

Clang! A blinding pillar of light erupted suddenly from the crystal on the ceiling, and Kong Jiao only felt himself surrounded once again by the dazzling radiance.

Then his body felt light, enveloped by a sense of weightlessness.

When he felt the weight of his body again, he had already returned to the stone chamber where he had first entered the trial space.