As a mining slave, he had to know about some of the rare treasures found within the earth veins.
This fruit grew by feeding on Divine Source and could strengthen a person's fundamental essence. For cultivators whose essence had been damaged by mistakes in cultivation or cultivation deviation, it was undoubtedly a supreme treasure.
But Divine Source Fruits were far too rare. As the name suggested, they fed on Divine Source.
What cultivator could afford such extravagance, using Divine Source to nourish a single fruit?
Qin Tian swallowed the Divine Source Fruit in one gulp. Abundant Life Essence and divine substance immediately surged from his abdomen, striking every gate within him. As the medicinal power washed over those "gates," tiny cracks opened in them one after another.
They released a hazy, clear radiance-the fundamental power of the human body. These sealed gates were not ones he could open at his current realm, yet the medicinal power had washed them open ahead of time.
It truly lived up to being a fruit born from absorbing the essence of Divine Source. Its abundant divine substance opened forbidden gates and considerably strengthened Qin Tian's fundamental essence. Though he still fell short of a king physique, he now far surpassed an ordinary Mortal Body.
As for the claim that the Mortal Body was the strongest physique? It was something to hear and leave at that. Anyone who actually believed it was a fool.
The one who had said that was the Heavenly Emperor, Ye Fan. What heights had he reached? It was no different from a certain Chairman Wang calling a hundred million a modest goal.
In any case, Qin Tian did not want this strongest physique. He wanted something a little inferior, like a chaos body or an innate sacred body Dao embryo.
Once the remaining medicinal power could no longer force open even a single "gate," Qin Tian began circulating the Dao Scripture Life Spring Chapter, refining that vast residual power to break through into the next secret realm.
The Dao Scripture Bitter Sea Chapter circulated throughout the Eastern Wasteland, but in truth, it was not the only scripture available. The Life Spring Chapter and even the Divine Bridge Chapter had also been passed down, though they were kept by the Desolate Ancient Families or holy lands.
Occasionally, however, someone fortunate would excavate the Dao Scripture Life Spring Chapter from an ancient tomb or hidden ground and preserve it as a legacy.
For instance, the Dao Scripture Life Spring Chapter had been passed down within Qin Tian's sect as its greatest treasure.
But... an innocent man became guilty by possessing a precious jade.
In the past, the Great Bandits had attacked Qin Tian's sect precisely because of the Dao Scripture Life Spring Chapter. They had stolen the Life Spring Chapter, murdered all his friends and family, and sold him to a mine as a slave.
He would never forget this hatred, this blood debt.
With these thoughts in mind, Qin Tian assailed his Bitter Sea, seeking to reveal his Wheel of Life and step into the Life Spring realm.
Chaos qi coiling around him, divine waves striking across three thousand miles, an azure dragon spanning the heavens, a vermilion bird sweeping through the sky, a great roc soaring, a white tiger roaring-none of those appeared.
Though he possessed a fine pair of divine eyes, his physique was another matter. Even after being strengthened, he still had the most ordinary of Mortal Bodies.
His breakthrough into the Life Spring realm caused no grand spectacle. Only his deathly still Bitter Sea trembled, its ink-black divine power churning as a trace of vitality quietly emerged amid the boundless Death Aura.
The Divine Source Fruit's remaining medicinal power transformed into Life Essence and battered his Bitter Sea. As it expanded that lifeless sea, Life Essence also emerged from his Wheel of Life, nourishing every limb and bone and making his body far stronger than before.
He carefully savored this transformation.
As life and death transformed, as yin and yang shifted, Qin Tian visualized a Kunpeng in his mind.
He knew the process by which Huang had created his cultivation system in the past-the methods and principles Huang had used to shape each secret realm.
The Sea of Bitterness realm had been opened with the Thunder Emperor Technique and stabilized with the Willow Deity Method, but the most important component was the Kunpeng Method. The transformations of yin and yang, life and death, were the true mysteries of the Sea of Bitterness realm.
The Bitter Sea and Life Spring were concrete manifestations of the Kunpeng Method.
Back then, Huang had compressed his unique cave heaven into a single point before detonating it, giving birth to the twin energies of Yin-Yang Qi and ultimately shaping the first, most primordial Sea of Bitterness. It was nowhere near as complex as the Sea of Bitterness of today.
But it was "one."
It was the beginning of the Secret Realm Method!
This was Qin Tian's greatest wealth: knowing how the Secret Realm Method had evolved from nothing into existence. Once he grasped "one," he could naturally grasp "two," "three," and even "ten thousand."
If he comprehended even the slightest trace of it, it would amount to a strike from a higher dimension in this world where the Immortal Dao no longer existed.
The Secret Realm Method was the highest scripture in existence—the Dao Fruit of a supreme Immortal Emperor!
Even though Huang had only been an Immortal King when he taught his path.
Yet when the Desolate Heaven Emperor later broke beyond kingship and became an emperor, ascending to become a true Immortal Emperor, everything connected to him had been elevated.
The Secret Realm Method, a "path" so closely tied to Huang, had naturally been elevated as well.
The Kunpeng Qin Tian visualized connected with his Bitter Sea and Life Spring. In an instant, it seemed to come alive.
An unfathomably profound sensation welled up within him. His mind felt clear and empty, and he could faintly hear supreme sounds of the Dao crossing time and space to reach his ears at this very moment.
So glorious, so majestic!
Sea of Bitterness!
Rumble!
Wisps of immortal radiance spilled from his Bitter Sea. It was the process of death turning into life.
The Wheel of Life hidden within the boundless Bitter Sea was shaken. It was the place where all things first began, the foundation of vitality, containing the essence of his entire body. It was called the Source Wheel of Life, or simply the Wheel of Life.
The Bitter Sea overlapped with the Wheel of Life. More precisely, the Bitter Sea submerged the Wheel of Life, which could be called a cultivator's foundation.
Legend had it that if one could keep the Wheel of Life crystal clear, without scars or marks, forever as pristine as at birth, there might be a sliver of hope of becoming an immortal.
But time was not the only thing that wore away at the Wheel of Life. The Bitter Sea also gnawed at it bit by bit. One above and one below, they attacked from both sides, leaving another mark on the Wheel of Life each year until it was covered in scars. Once the Life Spring could no longer seal in its essence, it would collapse completely.
That was the moment a person's lifespan ran dry and they returned to death.
Every foundation of a cultivator lay within the Wheel of Life. They had to cultivate their Life Spring until it endured ten thousand tribulations undying, and cross the entirety of the Bitter Sea.
Now, the Wheel of Life was being opened. Throughout this process, Qin Tian pushed his divine eyes to their limit, capturing every change and comprehending the mysteries of the Secret Realm Method.
He seemed to see countless Kunpeng dancing amid the Death Aura, transforming death into life, evolving from Kun into Peng.
The Death Aura turned into vitality, and vital essence was unearthed at tremendous speed. A springhead appeared, connecting to the Wheel of Life. A divine spring bubbled from it, its crystal-clear waters wreathed in hazy, multicolored mist.
The Death Aura turned into vitality. Points of light blazed brilliantly in his lower abdomen, and threads of Life Essence burst through the gates to flow into every limb and bone. His entire body felt at ease as his flesh, organs, and bones were nourished. At this moment, he seemed to possess inexhaustible strength.
The once lifeless Bitter Sea had been utterly transformed. It shone dazzlingly, its essence flowing without end.
At the center of the Bitter Sea, a springhead had been opened at some unknown point. Rosy clouds billowed like beacon smoke and shot straight upward. Rather than merely spreading and swirling, they erupted like an active volcano!
The deathly Bitter Sea could no longer remain calm. It surged unceasingly, and under Qin Tian's deliberate intervention, the boundary between life and death blurred.
Life and death collided directly. Life and death, yin and yang, Kun and Peng-two utterly opposing concepts clashed, bursting into countless fragments of Dao laws.
It plunged Qin Tian straight into a state of lucid emptiness. Waves resounded within his Bitter Sea, and the faint sound of scripture echoed in his heart.
A layer of sacred light enveloped Qin Tian's entire body.
Even strange Manifestations arose within his Bitter Sea: faint images of nine tiers of Immortal Kings, a Kunpeng soaring on the wind, and a Green Lotus swaying.
Qin Tian involuntarily assumed a stance.
It was a fist stance, simple to the extreme, yet it contained a trace of undying Dao resonance, like a Kunpeng riding the wind straight up ninety thousand miles!
Behind Qin Tian, a pair of brilliant golden Kunpeng wings flickered into view.
Qin Tian had entered the Life Spring realm!
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