Life-Bound Spirit Transformation

The branches and leaves of the Jade Snake Orchid—even its roots and stalk—were covered in silvery, scale-like patterns. The older it grew, the more it resembled a spirit snake with leaves growing from its body and an orchid balanced atop its head.

Moreover, the entire Jade Snake Orchid was crystalline like jade. One could bite into it with a "crunch, crunch," as if eating a water radish, while a refreshing fragrance surged through every limb and bone.

Jiang Ming ate a Jade Snake Orchid, yet he still did not feel on the verge of breaking through. Secretly, he marveled at the Heavenly Tyrant Body. Among cultivators of the same realm, some had bodies that were simply human bodies, while others had bodies like whales—vast as the sea. They required more cultivation resources, but the benefits they gained were even greater.

For instance, in terms of the most fundamental true essence, he had been a genius in his previous life, exceptionally gifted and blessed with extraordinary bones. Compared to ordinary cultivators of the same realm, he possessed three times as much true essence.

Yet now, compared with his former self at the same realm, he had more than ten times as much true essence.

He was barely human anymore.

His body was like that of a young ferocious beast.

His dantian sea of qi was purple, filled with swirling violet mist and boundless potential waiting to be unearthed.

Unfortunately, the Great Freedom Sword Scripture focused primarily on the realm of the Dao and the Life-Bound Sword. When it came to uncovering the mysteries of the flesh, it was not as profound as the Shrouding Method.

That was why Jiang Ming had always longed to cultivate an Emperor Scripture.

"Crunch!"

Jiang Ming picked up another fruit, as large as a goose egg and green as jade, then bit into it. The flesh was crisp, the juice plentiful, and the taste sweet and refreshing. A cold chill accompanied it into his stomach before spreading through his limbs and bones.

With that chill alone, an ordinary Sixth Qi Refining Layer cultivator who dared eat it directly would be frozen into a human stick.

The jade-like fruit naturally radiated a clear, comfortable cold glow. It was perfectly whole and seamless, astonishing to behold, as though it had been meticulously polished from jade spiritual marrow.

The Azure Jade Snow Lotus Fruit was one of the two medicinal treasures Elder Han still lacked. The old man had spent eight years searching and waiting for it to mature. Now, he had finally found it on the Northern Ice Plains three thousand li away, atop a snow mountain ninety thousand meters high.

An Ice Crystal Snow Eagle guarded the snow lotus there. It was estimated to mature in half a year. When that time came, Elder Han would certainly be unable to sit still and would risk his life for it.

After the fruit entered his stomach, Jiang Ming felt the purple qi within him form into an ocean, churning with a "whoosh, whoosh" as it transformed into a rotating purple vortex. The surging violet qi resembled the cyclone formed by a hurricane, producing repeated dragon roars.

Jiang Ming even saw what seemed to be a dragon's shadow within that vortex. It swallowed clouds and exhaled mist in the sea of purple qi, winding and coiling like a God Dragon, its head visible but its tail hidden.

He remembered that this physique possessed the mysteries of the Nine Divine Forms.

Unfortunately, the Great Freedom Sword Scripture was not particularly compatible with the physiques of the Shrouding the Heavens world.

After all, they were things from two different worlds.

The cultivation methods of Chinese Paladin placed greater emphasis on the realm of the Dao Heart. As long as one's Dao Heart was sufficient and one attained enlightenment, one would become increasingly powerful.

In his case, if his Dao Heart had not been as indestructible as Immortal Metal, he would have long since become a great demon.

Still not enough?

Then he could only eat the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass.

The Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass looked as though it had been carved from Nine Heavens Scarlet Radiant Jade, a precious material used to refine Heritage Saint Weapons. Its entire body glowed with brilliant scarlet radiance, dazzling and resplendent. It looked like a work of art crafted from lingzhi, surrounded by a naturally lingering fragrance. Just one breath of it gave one the sensation of being cleansed and purified.

The nine leaves of the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass resembled a phoenix's tail feathers. It had only those nine leaves, and after being dug up, its crystalline roots made it look like a phoenix crouching upon the ground. No wonder low-level cultivators called it the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb.

Jiang Ming picked up the palm-sized Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass, opened his mouth wide, stuffed it in, and began chewing quickly as though he were eating spinach.

If eating the Azure Jade Snow Lotus Fruit was like eating a popsicle—

Then eating the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass was like eating hot pot.

In an instant, a rolling torrent of heat rushed into his stomach. The juices and essence seemed to transform into a brilliant scarlet fire phoenix that charged into his limbs and bones.

Just moments ago, after eating the fruit, Jiang Ming's body had been icy cold and covered in a layer of Nine Heavens Jade. Now, he was enveloped in scarlet radiance, like a lit lantern wreathed in flickering flames. The ordinary clothes he wore could no longer withstand the ordeal and burned directly into ash, falling to the ground when his true essence shook.

If an ordinary Seventh Qi Refining Layer cultivator swallowed the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass as he had, they would likely be burned straight to ashes.

What an overbearing Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass. Its medicinal power was several times more violent than that of the Azure Jade Snow Lotus Fruit.

At that moment, within Jiang Ming's dantian, which resembled a purple abyss, the hurricane vortex was like a bottomless pit, like a True Dragon drawing in water.

No, it should have been an Immortal Phoenix swallowing flames. The phoenix spirit formed from scarlet radiance was swallowed directly, with the main thing consumed being that thread of phoenix spirituality. All the brilliant scarlet rays flowed like countless rivers returning to the sea and were ultimately absorbed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At that moment, Jiang Ming's Life-Bound Sword, suspended within the sea of purple-gold true essence, let out delighted sword cries.

Jiang Ming saw Dao Patterns resembling phoenix feathers appear upon the blade. A mysterious power surged into his heart, and inspiration struck. His cultivation began to break through.

Three hours later, he naturally entered the Seventh Qi Refining Layer. He was not far from the eighth layer either.

He had reached a realm he had cultivated in before, yet this time, the feeling was entirely different.

Could that lifelike Immortal Phoenix just now have been the Immortal Phoenix among the Nine Divine Forms of his Heavenly Tyrant Body?

Whether it was the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body or the Heavenly Tyrant Body, each theoretically possessed four great phenomena and Nine Divine Forms, each bearing their own marks of heaven and earth. Yet the specific details of their development depended on the Dao and methods each person cultivated.

For example, Jiang Ming possessed the Heavenly Tyrant Body. Logically, the true essence he cultivated should have been purple, but the true essence produced by his Great Freedom Sword Scripture was golden.

When the two combined, they became purple-gold true essence.

After Jiang Ming broke through, his Life-Bound Sword let out a clear, pleasant phoenix cry. Scarlet radiance flowed across its entire body, making it resemble a magnificent work of art—brilliantly scarlet, radiant, and crystal-clear.

Jiang Ming's heart stirred. He understood what he needed to do.

He took out the thumb-sized Spirit Phoenix Crystal. His Life-Bound Sword shrank to the size of an embroidery needle and pierced into it in a flash.

The Life-Bound Sword seemed to come alive, as though it were absorbing the power of blood essence. Originally, it had been a glazed sword of green jade, flowing with a purple halo and specks of deep blue starlight.

It became increasingly crystalline, gaining traces of scarlet radiance and turning more ancient and God-sacred. The phoenix feather patterns on its blade seemed to come alive, and the embroidery-needle-sized Life-Bound Sword became wrapped in scarlet flames.

This devouring process took nearly an hour.

Accompanied by a sword cry like a phoenix's call, Jiang Ming's Life-Bound Sword finally transformed into a Spirit Artifact.

This was the special quality of a Life-Bound Sword. Even though Jiang Ming's own cultivation was still weak, he could still nurture a Life-Bound Sword that surpassed his realm.

Moreover, it was his Life-Bound Sword. It moved as his heart willed, as easily as an extension of his arm, capable of changing size at will. Within the range of his God sense, taking another person's head was as easy as reaching into a bag for something.

When he had been at the Sixth Qi Refining Layer, the range of his God sense had covered a radius of five hundred meters.

Now, it had directly reached a radius of one thousand meters.

For an ordinary Seventh Qi Refining Layer cultivator, God sense could at most extend three hundred meters in radius.

That was the maximum range of exploration; there was no stacking or overlap.

God sense was like a power of perception, intangible yet truly existent. To truly make it materialize would require a much stronger cultivation base. Only upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage would a qualitative change occur.

With a thought from Jiang Ming, his Life-Bound Sword became a normal blade three chi and one cun long, freely flying around his body.

He stretched out his hand, and the Life-Bound Sword flew into his palm. Its body was scarlet-red, bearing several phoenix feather Dao Patterns and a faint purple halo—the result of the Purple Copper and Jiang Ming's true essence.

The material of his Life-Bound Sword had now been cleansed by Spirit Phoenix Blood and improved. After transforming into a Spirit Artifact, it had gained several degrees of spirituality and became easier to control. Not only would it consume less God sense during control, but using the Sword Flight Technique would also require less true essence. Its power had increased greatly as well, allowing it to easily cut apart its former self.

This was Jiang Ming's current foundation for survival. In the future, it could in turn supplement his cultivation of the Shrouding Method.

Everything was ready. All that remained was for Brother Ye to arrive.

No, that was not right. Judging by age, Ye Fan was at least twenty-five or twenty-six, older than Jiang Ming himself.

Whatever. That kid would eat sacred fruit in the future and turn into a little brat anyway.

He even had Jiang Tingting call him Big Brother. When Ye Fan met Jiang Ming, would he not have to call him Uncle?

Still, that kid was extremely cunning. Later, his disciple Ye Tong and Jiang Tingting would get together, and he would become the elder.

Speaking of which, did the Solar Saint Emperor's lineage have the surname Ye?

After breaking through, he felt refreshed and invigorated.

Upon reaching the Seventh Qi Refining Layer, he was theoretically comparable to the Divine Bridge Realm of the Shrouding Method.

But in reality, an ordinary Seventh Qi Refining Layer cultivator absolutely could not defeat an ordinary Divine Bridge cultivator.

For one thing, the body of a Seventh Qi Refining Layer cultivator was far too fragile, inferior even to some Life Spring cultivators.

These were some thoughts Jiang Ming had formed after watching Elder Han fight a Rogue Cultivator.

Fortunately, Jiang Ming was no ordinary Seventh Qi Refining Layer cultivator. His methods and secret arts were all the finest, while his discernment and realm looked down upon all living beings.

After Jiang Ming's bout of commotion, the sky had already turned dark.

Another day had come to an end.

At night, he could not possibly go running around outside. This was the Primordial Ruins.

As for its origins, Jiang Ming remembered that this place seemed to have once been the orthodoxy of the Azure Emperor Lineage.

After the Azure Emperor vanished, several human factions, forces of the Azure Emperor Lineage, and forces of the Monster Emperor Lineage came to this land to seek the Desolate Pagoda and fight over the Azure Emperor's inheritance. Their battle shattered the heavens and split the earth, turning this place into ruins.

By now, it had been more than eight thousand years.

At that time, Gai Jiuyou, a peerless figure of his generation, had still been a young man.

He was the man born closest to the Azure Emperor's era. Unfortunately, precisely because he had been born too close to the Azure Emperor's time, even with talents and gifts comparable to the ancient Great Emperors, he had still been unable to become an emperor and had missed the best period for cultivation.