Heaven-gifted talent

After murmuring to himself, Li Wangxian did not rush to leaf through the Sun Remnant Scripture. Instead, he picked up the Lesser Yang Scripture again and studied it closely, pondering its meaning, supplementing his understanding with insights left by his predecessors, and listening to the elders of the church expound on the Dao.

After a dozen or so days of this, he had consolidated his cultivation and fully grasped every crucial hurdle of cultivation within the Sea of Bitterness secret realm. Only then did he open the Wheel Sea Scroll of the Sun Remnant Scripture.

Once he truly began reciting it, Li Wangxian could only marvel. The divine might of an Ancient Great Emperor at that level was utterly unfathomable. Even an incomplete scripture contained a "Dao" and "principles" far more profound and intricate than those of the Lesser Yang Scripture.

Precisely because it was so intricate, with certain key points missing, he first needed to study the complete Lesser Yang Scripture and understand the full course of cultivation in this realm. Only then could he comprehend and practice it without taking the wrong path.

From then on, Li Wangxian rarely ventured out. Aside from occasionally eating or sleeping for a while, he spent nearly all his time cultivating, contemplating the Yin and Yang Immortal Seed to gain the insights needed to practice the Sun Scripture.

This was astonishing. The Immortal Seed contained complete lunar and Sun Dao Patterns—a tremendous stroke of fortune. Who throughout history had ever been able to use such an invincible Immortal Seed to comprehend and cultivate at this realm?

Thus, the higher-ups of the Sun Church felt as though they were watching a new legend rise in the history of cultivation.

After a month of contemplating the Sun Remnant Scripture, a spring opening appeared at the very center of Li Wangxian's Bitter Sea, which was half the size of a fist. It connected to his Wheel of Life, and a Divine Spring bubbled forth, wreathed in hazy, colorful mist. This was the second minor realm of the Sea of Bitterness secret realm: the Life Spring.

Only at this stage did cultivators gain a source of power, allowing them to wield all manner of Mystic Arts and divine abilities with unfathomable might. This was a crucial step in a cultivator's transformation. As long as the source of divine power did not run dry, their magical power would be inexhaustible.

At this point, cultivators could also ride a Divine Rainbow. Once their Life Spring poured forth divine light, they could travel upon a rainbow, soaring through the heavens and burrowing through the earth, with countless exquisite Mystic Arts at their command.

Another three months passed. As Li Wangxian contemplated the Yin and Yang Immortal Seed, he gained insights into the Sun Dao Patterns and brought forth life within his Bitter Sea, nurturing flourishing vitality amid barren stillness. He cultivated a Divine Meridian and refined it into a heavenly bridge that spanned the sky in dazzling splendor. He had attained the third minor realm of the Sea of Bitterness realm: the Divine Bridge Realm.

This realm was wondrous indeed. The human body held endless mysteries, and powerful cultivators refused to remain trapped within the Bitter Sea. They wished to explore other unknown human body secret realms, and thus began the journey of forcing their way across the Bitter Sea.

To reach their goal, cultivators needed to transform their physical bodies and grow a Divine Meridian within the Bitter Sea, helping them break through the obstacles in hopes of reaching its opposite end. This was an arduous and lengthy process. Cultivators would grow stronger with every setback, ultimately sublimating their Sea of Bitterness and forming a Divine Meridian of heaven and earth, releasing their own boundless potential. This was the third realm of the Sea of Bitterness realm: the Divine Bridge.

Another six months passed. Li Wangxian seemed truly born to cultivate the Dao. His body united with the Dao, and his insight into and understanding of the Great Dao were peerless. He grasped the deepest mysteries within the Sun Remnant Scripture and the Lesser Yang Scripture.

Then he actually attempted to mend the passages concerning the Sea of Bitterness secret realm in the Sun Remnant Scripture. More astonishing still, drawing upon the insights he had gained from years of contemplating the Sun Dao Patterns within the Immortal Seed, he truly began to discern a few ways forward.

Unfortunately, he still failed in the end. He remained far from the level required to create a cultivation method or alter a scripture of this caliber. He did not even possess the qualifications to serve as a mere patchworker with the help of the complete Sun Dao Patterns within the Yin and Yang Immortal Seed.

Even so, this revealed Li Wangxian's tremendous ambition and a talent for cultivating the Dao that ordinary people could not comprehend.

After all, who throughout history had dared harbor the lofty ambition of mending an emperor's scripture after less than a year of cultivation-and had truly discerned even the slightest way to do so?

The rewards this experience brought Li Wangxian were undoubtedly immense. He gained an understanding of cultivation and the creation of methods that ordinary people could never experience. His cultivation also reached the pinnacle of the Divine Bridge Realm. His Divine Meridian gleamed like a rainbow across the sky above his Bitter Sea, poised to pierce beyond the Sea of Bitterness.

Just then, he noticed something amiss. Everything before his eyes grew hazy, and he could no longer see anything, as though he had lost his bearings. He extended his powerful divine sense to scan his surroundings, but, astonishingly, all it revealed was the same murky mist and nothing else.

My five senses, my spiritual perception... they've all grown indistinct. Understanding dawned in his heart. This was the calamity of lostness of the Divine Bridge Realm.

Only by cultivating a heavenly meridian that stretched above the Bitter Sea and led to the Other Shore could one establish the foundation for escaping this predicament. This was the Divine Bridge Realm, an exceptionally crucial hurdle.

Yet as the heavenly meridian grew and stretched across the void, where exactly must it extend to reach the Other Shore? Some people spent their entire lives unable to see through illusion, trapped at this end of the Divine Bridge and unable to cross the Bitter Sea. This was the calamity of lostness.

At its most severe, it could even strip away the five senses and extinguish all spiritual perception, leaving one an unfeeling, unknowing cripple. It was terrifying in the extreme.

Most people encountered mist blocking their way when forming their heavenly meridian, leaving them unsure which direction to take. Usually, however, it was not serious. Once they calmed their minds, they could pass through, and it could not stop them.

Li Wangxian's cultivation had gone smoothly thus far, without any setbacks to speak of. Before reaching the very pinnacle of the Divine Bridge, he had never been trapped or constrained.

Only now did it erupt in full. Endless mist surged forth, and illusions obscured his spiritual perception, blocking his path ahead. This was a severe calamity of lostness.

"Cross the sea, and there lies the Other Shore!" A trial of life and death lay before him, and he had to face it. There was no retreat; otherwise, his hearing, sight, and the rest of his five senses would be stripped away, leaving him utterly lost.

This was a journey of questioning one's own heart. Powerful cultivators all had to overcome this hurdle themselves and experience it firsthand. Otherwise, a shadow would fall over their subsequent cultivation, and their spiritual perception would lose its keenness.

In a sense, although the calamity of lostness was an ordeal, overcoming it would baptize both body and mind. It would awaken a person's instinctive intuition and strengthen their subconscious, allowing them to see through illusion and point straight to the source.

Li Wangxian closed his eyes and remained motionless, as silent as a fossil. Only half a month later did he murmur, "I will not lose my way..."

At that moment, mist sealed off every direction in his vision. He seemed trapped within a cage. Even when he immersed his mind in his Sea of Bitterness, he could see only a stretch of heavenly meridian, with no idea where it should lead.

The calamity of lostness was called a trial of life and death, and that was no empty claim. When looking back upon their past, many Heavenly Prodigies had singled out this hurdle for particular mention.

Li Wangxian truly encountered danger. His five senses grew increasingly numb, and his spiritual perception was on the verge of vanishing. It was as though his entire being had been sealed off. He could neither hear nor see... he was like a deaf man, like a blind man.

"I ask my own heart: where is the Other Shore?"

Li Wangxian felt neither fear nor panic. His heart was calm as he earnestly pondered what he had learned and strained to peer into the mist, hoping to see through it.

In the end, he truly found a way. He needed only to meditate upon the vast vision he had experienced on the day he crossed into this world, which still lingered in his heart, and he could break through the mist and see across the Bitter Sea. Yet he did not do so. Instead, he carefully questioned himself, treating this as a rare opportunity to temper himself.

"The Other Shore, the Other Shore... does turning back bring one to shore?" he asked himself again and again. "The road of cultivation is winding and long. How could I turn back? How would I turn back? I must advance bravely."

The mist still sealed him in, and his five senses grew ever more numb. He felt that he was about to lose all spiritual perception. This was danger unlike anything he had ever faced; he might stop here forever and become a cripple.

"According to the records, the greater one's potential, the harder it is to escape the calamity of lostness. I should not lose heart. I should count myself fortunate."

Li Wangxian continued to face it calmly, without panic. Instead, even greater confidence arose within him.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed, yet he still had not emerged from the mist.

Time slowly slipped away. For two whole months, Li Wangxian endured the calamity of lostness. When his five senses were completely stripped away, he could no longer perceive anything.

"The Other Shore, the Other Shore-it is not the shore opposite me. Why must I search for it? Wherever I go, it is there. The place where I stand is the Other Shore," Li Wangxian said calmly.

Rumble...

Cloud and mist churned, rapidly breaking apart. Heaven and earth grew clear, and everything lay before his eyes.

In a single instant, all the mist dispersed. His five senses revived, sharper than ever before, incomparably keen. A mysterious radiance enveloped him, as though he were receiving a baptism.

He had passed the trial of life and death and seen through the calamity of lostness. His "instincts" had undergone a baptism, and his divine sense surged out like a bolt of silk, perceiving an ever broader expanse. His body and mind felt as though they had been tempered.

Li Wangxian immersed his mind in his Sea of Bitterness. The stretch of heavenly meridian had now grown even thicker, crystalline and translucent, like a purple-gold beam spanning the sea and leading somewhere unknown.

He ascended the Divine Bridge and strode forward. Just as he had said, wherever he went was the Other Shore. He crossed the sea.

The heavenly meridian shone brilliantly as he traversed the Bitter Sea and reached its end. This was a pure land, veiled in drifting clouds and mist. High in the heavens, he faintly glimpsed an enormous Dao Palace.

White clouds drifted past, blocking his view. The Dao Palace vanished, and he could no longer catch sight of it. Li Wangxian felt no regret. He had only just reached the Other Shore and had yet to perfect this realm. How could he enter the Dao Palace Secret Realm?

The legendary Dao Palace corresponded to the chest region of the human body, where five deities resided. All manner of strange phenomena would occur when cultivating this secret realm.

The valley spirit never dies; this is called the mysterious female. The gate of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth.

The Five Spirits nurtured the five elements. The five energies, pure and subtle, communed with heaven and connected with earth, flowing without end and giving rise to Dao power.

After reaching the Other Shore Realm, he felt the changes within himself. His essence, energy, and spirit had sublimated, and divine power surged through him. His Bitter Sea had expanded to the size of a palm, its rippling surface dazzlingly radiant.

He felt as though one strike of his palm could shatter the blue heavens and one kick could split the earth. This was the strange illusion that came with growing stronger.