I Am the Great Void

Talisman artifacts-

Were originally means of magical combat suited only to Qi Refining cultivators.

Each time a talisman artifact was wielded, it consumed embryonic breath. Low-grade talisman artifacts were manageable, but mid-grade and high-grade talisman artifacts consumed enormous amounts.

Especially for Embryonic Breathing cultivators-

They had yet to open the bridge between their inner and outer worlds and could not draw spiritual energy from the void or external medicines to nourish and strengthen their embryonic breath... Naturally, every wisp of innate embryonic breath within them, once spent, was gone forever and could not be replenished.

The most obvious examples were those martial Grandmasters.

Years of fierce fighting on the battlefield made it all but impossible for them to hold back, leaving no room to nurture their nature and prolong their lives. Often, after just three to five years of campaigning, they had exhausted every last trace of embryonic breath within them.

In the end, though their full lifespan should have been a hundred and fifty years, few even lived past sixty.

All because they had not attained Qi Refining, yet had exhausted their embryonic breath far too early.

And because of this limitation, neither talisman artifacts, Dao Arts, nor alchemy and formations could serve as an Embryonic Breathing cultivator's primary means of fighting enemies.

What they truly relied on was still the killing arts of mortal martial combat.

Yet Embryonic Breathing cultivators were already beyond human in both physique and perception. Even mortal martial arts took on an entirely different aspect in their hands, almost as though reborn in new flesh and bone.

But within the One True Dharma Realm.

Chen Heng had no need to worry about the consequences of exhausting his embryonic breath.

It was only a mind image, after all. Whatever he did to it would not affect his true body outside.

"Go!"

Chen Heng pointed a finger.

The Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead hovering in midair immediately became a streak of light and blasted toward Xu Zhi's head. As it moved, a wisp of embryonic breath was consumed within Chen Heng.

Whoosh!

Xu Zhi sprang backward, covering fifty or sixty feet in an instant, but the bead pursued him relentlessly. He could only pour all his embryonic breath into the Iron Sword and hurl it with all his strength.

With a thunderous roar of lightning and fire, the Iron Sword shattered. Half of Xu Zhi's body was a bloody ruin, yet this mind image did not stop there. In the narrowest sliver of time, he seized the broken sword hilt amid the lightning and fire, twisted around, and lunged at Chen Heng again.

"Trying to get close? It won't be that easy!"

With a flick of Chen Heng's wrist, the bead shot out again, hurtling toward Xu Zhi's back.

This time, countless bolts of red-and-white lightning erupted from the bead midway through its flight, their might overwhelming, each thunderclap louder than the last.

Xu Zhi had almost closed to within fifty feet of Chen Heng when a bolt suddenly shot toward him, forcing him to dodge. He did not dare block it.

After evading twelve bolts in succession, Xu Zhi was finally overtaken. A bolt capable of melting gold and shearing iron flew straight at his heart!

A thunderous crash rang out, like a massive boulder striking the earth. Dust billowed everywhere, and rolling flames and lightning scattered in all directions.

"This..."

When the dust dispersed and Chen Heng saw what lay within, a trace of surprise crossed his face.

Xu Zhi looked miserable now. Half his body streamed with blood, and his blue-gray Daoist robe was in tatters, covered in scorch marks from fire and lightning.

But a closer look revealed that these wounds had been inflicted earlier. The bolt aimed at his heart had done him no harm.

Above Xu Zhi's head, a thin barrier condensed from embryonic breath rippled continuously. Evidently, it had blocked that bolt capable of melting gold and shearing iron.

"A Qi Refining cultivator's embryonic breath can block a strike from a mid-grade talisman artifact just by manifesting like this?"

Although Chen Heng knew his own limited embryonic breath could not unleash the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead's full power, he was still astonished.

"What a pity, what a pity... Senior brother, you've neglected your cultivation. If you had a talisman artifact and even a few Dao Arts, how could I possibly beat you?"

Chen Heng shook his head regretfully, then pointed at the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead again. "Come, let's see how many bolts your sixth-level Qi Refining embryonic breath can withstand!"

His words had barely fallen.

Dozens of red-and-white bolts burst from the bead with successive whooshes, slamming into Xu Zhi's protective barrier and making the embryonic breath within it churn and surge.

Finally, after enduring more than ten strikes, the barrier collapsed with a crisp sound like shattering glass.

Boom!

Enduring the discomfort of having his embryonic breath drained dry, Chen Heng mustered his last scrap of concentration and drew another bolt from the bead, striking Xu Zhi.

Sizzle!

The red-and-white lightning swept over Xu Zhi and burned him to drifting ash, leaving no further movement.

After doing all this, Chen Heng could no longer hold himself up. He slumped straight to the ground, utterly drained.

Without its master's control, the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead's radiance dimmed. It fell from the air and rolled across the ground, its spiritual potency hidden deep within.

"My embryonic breath..."

Only after a full half-cup of tea's time did Chen Heng gradually recover.

He stood, dizzy and muddleheaded, his whole body weak. The ground beneath his feet felt strangely soft, as though he were standing in a bed of cotton.

"So this is what it feels like to exhaust my embryonic breath? How peculiar."

Freed from the restraint of his embryonic breath, the Cold Dipper True Qi within him began running rampant again. Chen Heng fell after taking only a few steps and simply settled into a cross-legged position.

The mid-grade talisman artifact consumed a great deal. Though it had allowed him a rare victory over Xu Zhi, it had also drained all his embryonic breath, leaving his mind distressed and making him feel close to vomiting blood.

His body was still as hard as metal, and the strength in a single sweep of his arm-which even three horses could not overcome-had not diminished in the slightest.

Yet he felt as though he were lying naked in the void, with nothing but boundless emptiness above, below, and on every side, nothing to touch and nothing to lean upon.

Hazy and undivided, adrift and unmoored.

Chen Heng frowned as he contemplated this change, unaware of how much time passed.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and his expression shook.

"Look inward at the heart, and the heart is without a heart; look outward at the form, and the form is without a form. Set the body aside, and the body remains; forget the form, and the form remains!"

He tried to spring to his feet, but the Cold Dipper True Qi had already frozen his knees stiff and numb. The movement sent him sprawling facedown.

"So this, this is the void described in the 'Primordial Beginning True Origin Scripture Expounded by the Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord'! This void is not that void! Yes! Yes!"

Chen Heng paid his fall no heed and laughed aloud on the ground.

"I am the Great Void! First empty the body; once the body is empty, there is the true void... So that is how it should be! I understand! I understand!"

What had begun as an ordinary magical duel had, through the chance circumstance of exhausting all his embryonic breath, led Chen Heng to grasp the true meaning of the void in that Qi Cultivation Art.

There was nothing more wondrous than the workings of fortune in this world.

Having understood the word "void," he was not far from comprehending the "Primordial Beginning True Origin Scripture Expounded by the Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord." Qi Refining was now within easy reach.

With such an insight.

How could Chen Heng not be wild with joy?

After several peals of laughter, he barely managed to suppress his surging excitement and entered meditation again, carefully pondering it.

But this time, before long.

Another disturbance in the Cold Dipper True Qi jolted him awake.

Chen Heng looked down at his legs. The muscles there had begun turning blue, and when he touched them, they no longer felt like flesh and blood, but rather like dead wood soaked through with cold water.

"What a nuisance..."

Chen Heng beheaded himself with a single stroke.

When he was reborn, he wasted no words. He summoned Xu Zhi at once and unleashed a relentless bombardment with the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead.

Once all his embryonic breath was exhausted, he closed his eyes to contemplate again. When the Cold Dipper True Qi stirred once more, he raised his sword again.

Magical combat, contemplation, suicide...

The cycle repeated for an unknown length of time.

Throughout it.

Apart from withdrawing his consciousness from the One True Dharma Realm when his body outside grew hungry or thirsty, hastily gulping down some water and dried meat, Chen Heng poured all his energy into it.

Naturally, his cultivation made conspicuous progress.

Not only did he wield the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead with greater mastery, without the slightest awkwardness.

He also comprehended the entire "Primordial Beginning True Origin Scripture Expounded by the Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord," leaving only the final step before he could enter Qi Refining.

And that final step held no perilous barriers.

So long as he was willing to quiet his mind and spend a few more months polishing his cultivation with patient, water-worn persistence, success would come as naturally as water flowing into a channel, and his cultivation would reach completion.

One day.

While Chen Heng was still refining his understanding within the One True Dharma Realm, a sudden stabbing pain struck between his brows, and a premonition arose in his heart.

"What's happening?"

With a shift of his consciousness, Chen Heng connected to the Golden Cicada and left the One True Dharma Realm.

"Why is my true body outside sounding a warning?"