Shi Hao sprang to his feet and waved at Aman. "Big brother! Come give me a hit. Let's see whether merging the ten cave heavens really repels all evil and leaves me unaffected by all laws, just like the legends say!"
Whoosh! Aman drew the Azure Phoenix True Feather Sword and slashed at him.
A sword beam bearing a phantom of chaos qi cleaved into the cave heaven, only to vanish like a clay ox sinking into the sea. Space slowed it, and the cave heaven ground it away. After struggling through the cave heaven's barrier, it was still so weakened that Shi Hao scattered it with a single punch.
"I blocked it! Yes!" Shi Hao grinned. "Again, again! This exalted one is unaffected by all laws!"
Whoosh! Streaks of blood appeared on the True Feather Sword, the power of Six Treasury Immortal Thief clinging to its surface as Aman thrust again.
Clang! Layers of immortal phoenix feathers appeared over Shi Hao's body, wreathed in nirvana divine flame. He blocked the blow without injury once again, but the strike pierced his cave heaven's barrier and caught him off guard, blasting him away.
"This still needs a little more tempering. There should be a path forward from here, right?" Aman asked, putting away the True Feather Sword.
"There should be, right? It feels like there's still room to expand." Shi Hao examined his unique cave heaven and tentatively inscribed various arts upon it. The Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art, Phoenix Precious Technique, and Grass Character Sword Art all appeared upon its barrier walls, making the cave heaven even more transcendent.
Shi Hao stepped forward, sending his cave heaven crashing out. A pair of black gauntlets laced with blood-red threads appeared on Aman's hands. The Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art integrated the Six Treasury Immortal Thief, Phoenix Precious Technique, and Grass Character Sword Art, and he unleashed them in a single blow.
Boom! The collision far surpassed an ordinary clash between cave heavens, sending both of them flying backward. Two distinct claw marks were blasted into Shi Hao's cave heaven. Aman's gauntlets shattered from the impact, and the torn wounds on his hands vanished in a flash.
Two sword beams shot from Aman's eyes, slipping through the gaps in the cave heaven and streaking past Shi Hao.
Aman still possessed more divine abilities and managed to seize a slight initiative, but Shi Hao had undoubtedly caught up.
He's actually caught up already. Aman's eyes flickered with considerable surprise. Shi Hao's growing strength left him both gratified and a little wistful.
After taking two successive steps beyond his limits, Shi Hao's potential had undergone a fundamental transformation. The clearest sign was his supreme blood, which had begun strengthening again. Something seemed to be gestating at its core.
"Well? These three youngsters are outstanding, aren't they? Any thoughts of taking disciples?" The Immortal Phoenix King's egg passed by and posed the question to the Willow Deity.
"Yes," the Willow Deity answered succinctly. "Once I've fully recovered, I'll pass down my arts."
The Void God Realm had absorbed the nourishment fed back into it, and the Willow Deity was now in excellent condition. The willow branches had already reached three thousand in number, and complete rebirth was imminent.
Several more months passed in a flash. Shi Hao continued consolidating his foundations and exploring ways to fight with his unique cave heaven.
Aman, too, had been searching for a way to take that final step, and at last, he had found a lead.
He installed drops of blood essence within the cave heavens throughout his body, using their spirituality to nurture bodily deities. They were only embryos, but that was enough. Supported by the spirits of all 365 deities throughout his body, he successfully achieved Transforming the Primordial Spirit into the Heavenly Emperor, bringing his entire body under its rule. The previously disordered powers of his acupoints were organized and used to nourish his primordial spirit. Riding that momentum, Aman opened a primordial spirit cave heaven within the ancestral aperture between his brows.
He had been unable to accomplish this before because, unlike Chen Yao, he lacked a surge of true qi to give him a push. Aman's final step also required a push to complete his primordial spirit cave heaven.
Having finally completed his plans for his cave heavens, Aman broke straight into the spirit transformation realm. After arranging his divine radiance and runes, he immediately completed fleshly body becoming spirit and true self reforging. At the same time, he made great strides in nurturing spirits within his cave heavens, further enriching the spirituality of the blood essence that had yet to truly become the bodily deities of his full heavenly circuit. It was faintly poised to take shape as individual deities.
As for Chen Yao, his approach to nurturing spirits within cave heavens differed from Aman's. He had been nurturing the primordial spirit Heavenly Emperor within his primordial spirit cave heaven all along, with no intention of creating other spirit bodies for the time being.
He wanted to completely combine his nurtured primordial spirit with Grand Luo Insight, achieving that theoretically ultimate ability.
To perceive every change in all things while also achieving yang spirit roaming freely beyond Grand Luo Heaven.
"Before long, the Kunpeng Nest out at sea will open. To check on Fellow Daoist Kun Peng as soon as possible, I'll transport you directly outside the nest when the time comes. Go inside and investigate at once." The restrictions on the Kunpeng Nest were unexpectedly sturdy. The Willow Deity said a visit had revealed that they had yet to reach the point of complete collapse, and Sky Desolation was still sustaining them.
The Willow Deity had sent a fragment of consciousness to communicate, but Sky Desolation had never responded.
With Sky Desolation there, even broken into three pieces, the formation under its protection would not decay easily. Forcing entry would be difficult.
Thus, the Willow Deity decided to send people inside to check on Kun Peng as soon as Sky Desolation lifted the isolation.
Perhaps Sky Desolation had been secretly planning something all along, only opening the Kunpeng Nest after its recent failure.
"Aren't you going, Willow Deity?" Shi Hao asked curiously.
"I'm waiting for a being that carries clues to the Gate of Origin. It has been appearing nearby, so I cannot leave for now. Keep my branches safe. They can keep you from dying and allow a fragment of my consciousness to descend," the Willow Deity instructed.
Thus, before Heavenly God Mountain could come calling through the Void God Realm, the Willow Deity seized the opening of the Kunpeng Nest's formation to send the group to its entrance, placing them directly inside the great hall.
Their foreknowledge and reincarnation immortal qi profoundly shocked Sky Desolation. It took the initiative to guide them into the abyss, where they saw the true Kun Peng Precious Technique and the Kunpeng Remains hidden in its depths.
Sky Desolation transmitted sorrowful fluctuations, explaining that all these years it had been trying to sacrifice some of its own spirituality to regenerate Kun Peng's shattered lingering will, but had failed. That was also why it had sealed the formation tight during its slumber and ignored the Willow Deity.
Chen Yao wound the reincarnation immortal qi once around Sky Desolation, then sent it flowing once around Kun Peng's remains. At last, he gathered specks of unconscious true spirit, gradually rekindling the spirituality of Kun Peng's spirit particles.
The Immortal-Breaking Curse Art had its own specialty: it primarily targeted cultivation attainments and had little effect on spirit particles.
Sky Desolation was so excited that it fitted its pieces together on the spot and flew around the reincarnation immortal qi. It watched Kun Peng's true spirit gradually gather, then the river of time and space emerged. The dao fruit of bygone years took its place, becoming nourishment for the innate potential of reincarnation rebirth.
A Kun Peng egg appeared, a golden sphere covered in black markings. Its condition was considerably worse than the Immortal Phoenix King's, however. It only conveyed a vague thought of gratitude, instinctively drew close to Sky Desolation, and then fell asleep again.
Kun Peng had returned to life!
If revival through reincarnation immortal qi did not reduce all the dao fruits of one's current life to nothing, requiring cultivation to begin anew, countless kings would surely flock to it like ducks rather than primarily studying it.
Sky Desolation offered endless thanks. After absorbing some of the power of creation within the immortal qi to heal its injuries, it gained a little more spirituality. Yet it still had not recovered and remained in three pieces.
Sky Desolation brought them back to the place holding Kun Peng's blood essence and precious technique inheritance. It drew two additional origin runes itself and gave them to Shi Hao and Aman, allowing them to study the Kunpeng Method alongside Chen Yao.
The Willow Deity sent a fragment of consciousness inside to speak with Sky Desolation, then took the Kun Peng egg to Stone Village. Sky Desolation remained there to stand guard.
Unfortunately, the spirit particles representing the true spirits within the eggs of Kun Peng's other children had completely dispersed. They had not possessed the cultivation of the Ten Fiends, so their true spirits could only linger briefly, far less tenacious than the lingering wills and remnant souls of immortal beings.
Chen Yao could only reveal that Kunpeng Son was imprisoned beneath Five Elements Mountain, sending Sky Desolation's fury soaring to the heavens.
It decided that once the Willow Deity recovered to the pinnacle of the immortal dao, it would immediately accompany the Willow Deity to Immortal Mountain and turn the place upside down.
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