Chapter 79: Cave Emanating Such Powerful Thunder Energy (4)
Lin Yuan remained seated cross-legged on the mountain path, the wind whipping relentlessly against his black-and-white Daoist robes.
A few moments ago, he had realized that the sheer, oppressive aura emanating from the cavern was powerful enough to instantly obliterate his physical body. But the deeper he analyzed it, the more terrifying truth gradually settled over his mind.
He already knew that the overwhelming power of the thunder energy could destroy his body. What he had only now come to understand was far more dangerous.
The thunderous energy was not merely powerful, It was mostly composed of Origin Qi. And its pure Origin nature meant that if it reached his Nascent Soul directly, it would not simply injure it. It could fundamentally damage the very foundation of his soul.
Hovering within his dantian, his flawless Nascent Soul—forged to perfection by the Origin Soul Revival Pill—was currently shivering. It was a completely involuntary reaction to the thunder energy.
After profoundly comprehending the Ten Thousand Ways Return to One Heart Sutra, Lin Yuan was able to fundamentally understand the various types of energies that existed across heaven and earth. He understood how Spiritual Qi, Death Qi, Demonic Qi, and even Celestial Qi were all merely different branches, diluted variations all emerging from this single, unified Origin Energy. Origin Qi was the ink with which the Heavenly Dao painted the universe; everything else was just a faded reflection on the canvas.
Through the enlightenment granted by the sutra, Lin Yuan also learned that true Origin Energy was unimaginably scarce in the Nine Provinces. In this lower world, finding even a sliver of it was considered a supreme show of luck. Entire sects would wage wars for a single wisp of Origin Qi, for it represented the unfiltered truth of the heaven and earth. To find an entire cavern practically overflowing with Origin Energy of the thunder nature was a miracle so absurd it completely defied reason.
Yet, standing before a mountain of literal gold, Lin Yuan found himself completely paralyzed by the limitations of his own cultivation.
One needed to formally condense a Primordial Spirit to be able to safely cultivate and absorb Origin Energy.
A Nascent Soul, regardless of how flawless or robust it was, was still fundamentally flawed. It was the infancy of immortality, a manifestation of a cultivator’s will and spiritual energy. But a Primordial Spirit—the absolute hallmark of the legendary Soul Transformation realm—was an entity that had completely severed its mortal attachments and aligned itself with the vast laws of the Greater Dao. It was a soul that had successfully undergone a qualitative ascension.
If a cultivator lacked a Primordial Spirit, any sliver of Origin Energy would be unimaginably dangerous to their soul foundation. Exposing a Nascent Soul directly to raw Origin Qi was akin to pouring molten iron into a fragile wooden cup. The density of the origin would violently burn through the spiritual construct, cracking the foundation, and eventually shattering the soul into nothingness.
Even with the peerless soul foundation Lin Yuan had acquired from the Origin Soul Revival Pill, his Nascent Soul was still only a Nascent Soul. It possessed an extraordinarily powerful foundation, but it lacked the necessary authority to withstand or control Origin Energy.
Furthermore, the sutra revealed another restriction: possessing a Primordial Spirit was only the first step. One also needed to have the right cultivation technique to actively cultivate Origin Energy. Attempting to absorb it using a standard breathing technique would result in Qi deviation. Fortunately, Lin Yuan’s Ten Thousand Ways Return to One Heart Sutra was perfectly suited for cultivating origin energy, as its core philosophy was literally returning all disparate paths back to the unified One.
But even with the right technique secured in his mind, the absence of a Primordial Spirit barred the door completely.
As Lin Yuan sat there, regulating his breath and listening to the terrifying pulse of the thunder Origin Qi echoing from the cavern, he pondered about the cultivation world.
In truth, Origin Energy was not strictly needed to advance in cultivation.
This was a widely misunderstood concept. In the Nine Provinces, and indeed across the myriad realms of the universe, cultivating Origin Energy was just a side bonus to one’s typical cultivation journey. It was not the primary fuel of immortality.
Throughout the cultivation realms—from the humble beginnings of Qi Condensation, through Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, and all the way up to Soul Transformation and Void Refinement—it was still Spiritual Energy that one needed to cultivate primarily. Spiritual Qi was the absolute bedrock of the universe. It was the water that sustained the fish, the air that filled the lungs, and the foundation upon which every single breakthrough was inherently built. A cultivator gathered vast oceans of Spiritual Qi to expand their meridians, forge their Cores, and nourish their souls.
So, if Spiritual Energy was the primary source for breaking through and ascending the realms, why was Origin Energy considered the most valuable energy resource in existence?
Was it its rarity that made it valuable? There was certainly some truth to that. Or was it its ability to subtly reveal the Origin, allowing one’s Dao to gradually approach the Greater Dao? There was truth in that as well.
But the most accurate answer lay in something far more fundamental.
By successfully cultivating Origin Energy, one could exponentially increase the sheer potency, density, and absolute quality of their Primordial Spirit.
In the high-stakes world of cultivation, two cultivators might both successfully reach the Soul Transformation realm after forming their primordial spirits. On paper, their cultivation bases would be identical.
However, if one of those Soul Transformation cultivators possessed a Primordial Spirit that had been tempered and nourished by even a single wisp of Origin Energy, the resulting disparity in actual combat power would be absolutely monstrous.
The Primordial Spirit infused with Origin Qi would be vastly heavier, purer, and fundamentally closer to the Great Dao. When the two experts clashed, the cultivator with the Origin-tempered soul would be entirely unrivaled against their peers in the exact same realm. Their divine sense would easily crush their opponent’s, their spells would carry a terrifying primordial weight, and their domain would be virtually unbreakable.
A Soul Transformation cultivator with a better, Origin- infused Primordial Spirit is objectively stronger than other Soul Transformation cultivators with normal Primordial Spirits.
So, in essence, cultivating Origin Energy increases the absolute quality of one’s Primordial Spirit!
Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the pitch-black maw of the cave with a mixture of profound reverence and burning ambition.
He could not enter the cave today. He could not touch the supreme thunder Origin Qi without erasing himself from the annals of time. But the knowledge that this resource was sitting here, completely undetectable to most around this area, was the ultimate trump card.
"I cannot cultivate it now," Lin Yuan said, his voice carrying the unwavering conviction of his Dao Heart. "But the moment I forge my Primordial Spirit... I will return."
His deep purple eyes fixed upon the seemingly ordinary mountain before him.
"And when I do, not a single strand of this Origin energy will remain!"