Chapter 626 - 408: Body Ascension
After the Heart and Spirit World, the grand voice of the Three Emperors gradually faded away. This time, Wei Fan still couldn’t finish listening to the Three Emperors’ discussion on the Saint Realm, only hearing the various profound insights about breaking through to the Saint Realm.
However, this was already enough. He was not yet a Saint Realm powerhouse, so listening to Saint Realm matters was of no use, and he couldn’t create his own Scripture of the Three Emperors for the Saint Realm.
In fact, he gained a lot, and had great confidence in breaking through to the Saint Realm.
A restless excitement stirred within him, wanting to break through to the Saint Realm immediately, but he suppressed this emotion.
Having listened to the Three Emperors’ discussion, he now had a deep understanding of the Saint Realm and realized he faced three choices.
The first is to only use the Primordial Spirit to reach Sainthood, forging his Martial Dao with the Primordial Spirit. This is the simplest method of Becoming a Saint, and also the least difficult.
With his Martial Dao foundation, coupled with the three-time transformed Primordial Spirit, his chances of successfully breaking through to the Saint Realm were the highest.
The second choice, to abandon the Primordial Spirit for Sainthood, is Body Ascension. This means using the Body Refining Technique—Nine-Nine True Skill for Sainthood, which is much more difficult than the first method.
Among the many martial artists in the Five Great Domains, many practice body refining techniques, but when it comes to the moment of Becoming a Saint, almost no one chooses Body Ascension; they all choose the Primordial Spirit for Sainthood.
Because Body Ascension is like nine out of ten paths leading to death, not only is it difficult to achieve, but the mortality rate after failure is also terrifyingly high. If the Primordial Spirit Sainthood fails, many can survive, but once Body Ascension fails, there are almost no precedents of survival.
Therefore, although many martial artists in the Five Great Domains practice body refining, apart from specialized Body Refining Sects, almost no one chooses Body Ascension to Become a Saint.
Of course, this method of Becoming a Saint isn’t without benefits. Once one achieves Body Ascension, they are peerlessly powerful in the same rank, able to resist Holy Soldiers with bare hands as if it’s child’s play, with overwhelming Blood Qi that can shake the sun, moon, and stars.
Not only is the combat power formidable, but the life force of those who achieve Body Ascension far exceeds those who achieve Primordial Spirit Sainthood.
In the Martial Domain, the Human Race’s Martial Saints generally have a life span of four thousand years, while the Demon Race, due to their unique nature, have Demon Saints with a life span of about five thousand years. But those who achieve Body Ascension can have a terrifying life span of six thousand years, even surpassing the life span of Demon Saints.
The third choice is to achieve Sainthood with both body and Primordial Spirit, giving up neither.
This choice is the most difficult, with a great chance of failure, but if successful, it is also the strongest.
"If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t dare to choose the third method of Becoming a Saint!"
Wei Fan turned his wrist, taking out the Holy Blood Fruit given by Feng Hua. Consuming this during the breakthrough to the Saint Realm can increase the success rate by fifty percent.
In fact, he had long decided to use the third method of Becoming a Saint; otherwise, with his foundation, simply achieving Sainthood with the body or Primordial Spirit wouldn’t need such caution.
It was precisely because he had already decided to use the third method of Becoming a Saint that he sought things to aid in achieving Sainthood.
He didn’t immediately start the breakthrough to the Saint Realm, having consumed a lot of Heart Spirit by studying cultivation techniques and listening to the Three Emperors’ discussion. He waited for his state to return to its peak before making the breakthrough.
Wei Fan prepared some food in the cave to relax his mind.
Suddenly, the Demon Hunter Waist Token in his arms began to move.
"Is there a mission?"
Wei Fan infused it with his Heart Spirit, and a message appeared in his mind: "Young lad, don’t go back to Celestial Star City for now. Hide well; a Martial Saint from Fire Cloud Cave is looking for you!"
The message was from Zhou Shen, warning him that a Martial Saint from Fire Cloud Cave was seeking him.
"I thought the first ones to come would be figures like the Primordial Saint Master!"
Wei Fan put the waist token back into his chest, not particularly concerned. After doing such a thing at Huangfu Qingyang’s martial ground, anyone who wanted to kill him wouldn’t be able to sit still. A Martial Saint powerhouse coming personally to kill him wasn’t surprising.
A few hours later, Wei Fan adjusted his mindset, and his state reached its peak. He summoned the panel.
[Scripture of the Three Emperors (Martial King Ninth Layer)]
[Nine-Nine True Skill (Fifty-Fourth Diagram)]
[Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations (Third Transformation)]
...
[Ordinary Power: 5,970,000 years]
[Martial King’s Power: 79,700 years]
"About eighty thousand years of Martial King’s Power left..."
Wei Fan pondered. Once he broke through to the Divine Realm, the Martial King’s Power would disappear. He didn’t know if he currently counted as the limit of the Martial King Realm, so he simply invested the nearly eighty thousand years of Martial King’s Power into the Nine-Nine True Skill and Scripture of the Three Emperors.
After all the Martial King’s Power was consumed, he felt some improvement, though not significant.
"Add Scripture of the Three Emperors, Nine-Nine True Skill!"
Success or failure depended on this. After taking a deep breath, Wei Fan chose to simultaneously add the Scripture of the Three Emperors and Nine-Nine True Skill to start the breakthrough to the Saint Realm.
[One year’s power, you choose to achieve Sainthood with both body and Primordial Spirit, beginning the breakthrough to the Saint Realm]
As the panel flickered, the Scripture of the Three Emperors began to operate within his body. At the same time, the True Skill Marks of Nine-Nine True Skill also began to radiate light, manifesting within his body.
The reason Martial Saint powerhouses transcend to Saint is because they have truly stepped into the hall of Martial Dao, casting their own Dao. Therefore, the first step to breaking through to the Saint Realm is to cast all the knowledge one possesses into Dao.
Once one’s own Dao is forged, with every gesture, they can invoke the power of Dao, causing their own power to erupt tenfold.
Therefore, to achieve the status of a Saint Realm powerhouse, the first step is casting the Dao. This step is actually not difficult for most Martial Kings. Those who have cultivated to the Ninth Layer of the Martial King have long had a clear understanding of their Dao and can easily forge it.
The real challenge is the second step, where ninety-nine percent stumble; not only do they fail to become a Saint, but they might also lose their lives. The Holy Blood Fruit, which assists in breaking through to the Saint Realm, should also be consumed at this step.
With the rotation of the Scripture of the Three Emperors, the three eyes of the Primordial Spirit in the Sea of Consciousness opened simultaneously. The Will Power erupted like a volcano from the top of the Primordial Spirit’s head, and the Profound Yellow Tripod, Jiaolong Sunset Bow, and Tiger Soul Saber were lamentingly thrown away. A "Dao" gradually emerged above the Primordial Spirit’s head.
At the same time, the True Skill Mark of Nine-Nine resonated with a grand celestial sound, and thick thunderbolts burst from it, permeating Wei Fan’s entire body.
In an instant, a long-lost pain emerged. Amidst destruction and rebirth, his physical strength was slowly enhancing.
Compared to the sanctification of the Primordial Spirit, Body Ascension to a Saint is even harder, let alone Wei Fan’s choice to sanctify both his flesh and Primordial Spirit simultaneously.
If he were to cultivate on his own, it would be impossible for him to sanctify both his Primordial Spirit and body at the same time. Now, he only needs to separate his consciousness to control the panel, adding power to the True Skill and the Scripture of the Three Emperors. Everything relies on the panel to complete.
Unlike the sanctification of the Primordial Spirit, where one needs to cast the Dao, the first step of Body Ascension requires the forging of the Sacred Body instead of casting the Dao.
Thick thunderbolts burst from inside out, frantically refining his body. Amidst the rising green smoke came a burnt smell, and some weak spots were directly pierced through.
Wei Fan said nothing, silently enduring the pain that penetrated the Divine Soul. Gradually, he again felt some sort of connection between the True Skill of Nine-Nine and the Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations.
Within the Primordial Spirit, a warm current began to flow into his limbs and bones, merging with the mark of the True Skill.
"Boom..."
The result was that the thunder released from the mark of the True Skill became more dominant, with greater destructive power. Simultaneously, the grand and mysterious celestial sound became clearer, resonating outside the body, no longer only echoing within his Heart Spirit.
His flesh began to enter a more intense stage of tempering. Large sections of flesh and bone were evaporating and then regenerating, as if being reborn, as the warm current from the Primordial Spirit continuously seeped into his limbs and bones.
Time passed unknowingly, and finally, the intense pain vanished, and no matter how the thunder tempered, his body no longer suffered any damage.
"Time to start forging the Sacred Body!"
Wei Fan knew this was not the end, but just the beginning of Body Ascension.
All thunder suddenly disappeared, and the mark began to tremble as if something inside was about to burst out.
Ancient martial arts are quite mysterious. Even though he has cultivated the True Skill of Nine-Nine to this extent, he is still unfamiliar with this martial art and lacks the concept of a Heart Method. All cultivation relies on the mark to accomplish.
Even if he wanted to pass the True Skill of Nine-Nine to someone, he couldn’t do it at the moment.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Wei Fan felt a shock in his Heart Spirit, and a golden character emerged from the mark, emitting a mysterious aura that instantly imprinted on his heart, causing cracks to form on it.
The character slowly dissipated and merged into his heart.
"Boom boom..."
In an instant, Wei Fan heard his heart beating like a drum, becoming stronger and more powerful.
"Boom boom boom..."
This seemed to set a precedent, and mystical characters began to continuously spew out from the mark, perpetually merging into his body. The body, which had stopped growing stronger, started to enhance at a terrifying speed.
Gradually, a trace of Dao began to emerge in his physical body.
"Dao Mark?"
After a while, Wei Fan noticed a profound pattern appearing on his bones and flesh, a trace of Dao.
These patterns were chaotic, appearing on the flesh, bones, and even the internal organs. Although blurry, they truly existed.
By the time the mark of the True Skill of Nine-Nine stopped emitting characters, the patterns on his organs and flesh had connected, forming a complete entity.
In an instant, Wei Fan felt a sense of Perfection, with those patterns emitting blinding golden light as if they started to operate.
"The Sacred Body is complete!"
The blinding golden light radiated from his body, making him appear as though he was covered in golden threads, mysterious and sacred.
A Saint-level wave appeared on his body, causing the surrounding void to ripple.
The True Skill Mark of Nine-Nine continued to glow, and the golden light became increasingly bright.
After a while, these Dao marks no longer remained only on his body. Like arcs of electricity, they extended from his body into the void, as if to absorb something.
"Boom!"
At the same time, Wei Fan’s whole body shook, and the Dao forged by the Primordial Spirit broke through the Sea of Consciousness and extended to the outside.
Instantly, his entire aura transformed dramatically. A holy, towering presence overwhelmed everything, as if a tiny ant had become a dragon, or a frog in a well leaping out to see the real world.