by Dragon King
After parking the car in the courtyard, Hao Ren got out of it and greeted, “Hello! Grandma!”
“Oh! Your grandson has grown up already!” The old lady looked at Hao Ren and said.
Hao Ren nodded with a bashful smile.
This old lady was Grandma’s best friend in her childhood. After she married into a far-away family, Grandma had never seen her again until now. After being separated for many years, these two old ladies were very emotional.
Hao Ren could have gone back after getting his grandma settled down. However, due to his low spirits recently, he decided to stay here for a couple of days, away from the city.
The old grandma ushered Grandma and Hao Ren into the house. They had prepared a simple meal, and Hao Ren ate it with them.
After knowing that Hao Ren wanted to stay there for a couple of days, the old grandma immediately cleared out a guest room. It was a little room built with tiles and bricks, and it had one wooden bed and one set of beddings in it.
They washed their faces and brushed their teeth at the sink in the yard, and the latrines were outside the courtyard.
However, Grandma was quite fond of these simple facilities. She used to live in a similar old house, and she found this place comfortable and relaxing.
Compared with the apartment downtown and the modern house near the sea, she preferred this type of old countryside houses.
There were several grandkids of this old grandma in the house, and they were about seven to eight years old. Seeing Hao Ren for the first time, they kept looking at him curiously, and some of the naughty ones even tried to mess with him.
They reminded Hao Ren of his own childhood since he had been a naughty and bold boy just like them.
Since this old grandma’s sons worked in the nearby towns, only two daughters-in-law and grandkids stayed at home with the old grandma during the weekdays.
This was a simple family. Although they were not rich, they were friendly and sincere. Grandma would feel relaxed and comfortable here while catching up with her childhood friend during her one-month stay.
In the evening, the old grandma grabbed her grandkids and gave them a bath in the courtyard. The children took off their clothes and jumped around in the big bathtub.
Watching the antics of these kids, Hao Ren’s grandma laughed heartily. She loved little kids!
Without the convenience of a shower, Hao Ren took a washbasin and roughly cleaned himself with water and a towel in his simple little room.
This village was devoid of the city’s noises and phony glamour; it was a perfect place for Hao Ren to unwind.
On the second day, after a simple breakfast of pickles and congee, Hao Ren went to the nearby hills by himself.
The air was several times fresher than the suburbs of East Ocean City, and Hao Ren walked up a hill and chose a grass field before sitting down cross-legged.
The Dragon Core in his body began to rotate, absorbing the relatively denser Nature Essence here. The Nature Essence would flow through the 108 acupoints all over his body before emerging into the Dragon Core.
Devoid of any distractions, obsessions, and resentments, Hao Ren sensed the nature quietly. The five-elemental essences seemed to be growing slowly from its current level of 0.35.
The spring was gone, and the summer had just begun. The wildflowers in the mountains were in full bloom, and the breeze swayed the sea of flowers. This scene was typical to the locals, but to Hao Ren, it was a perfect place for cultivation.
‘Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, and Three begets all things…’
Hao Ren cultivated the five elemental essences in his body while gaining an understanding of the world in pure nature.
Seeing the sun had risen over his head, Hao Ren stood up and walked down the hill, feeling refreshed.
The old grandma’s family was about to have lunch when Hao Ren came back. They thought he had been wandering around in the village, not knowing that he had been meditating on the hill for five hours.
Reluctant to have lunch, the kids were still frolicking in the courtyard. The lively scene suddenly gave Hao Ren, who had just come out of cultivating, some inspiration.
“To cultivate the Heavenly Dao, one must first cultivate the Mortal Dao!”
“The East Ocean Dragon Clan is cultivating the Mortal Dao by living in the mortal world. The Heavenly Dao is mystic and aloof while the Mortal Dao is real and close.”
“How could a cultivator understand the secrets of the Heavenly Dao without love and passion?”
“Grandma, I’m finished!” Hao Ren put down his chopsticks and strode out of the courtyard.
“The kid… How come he eats so fast?” Grandma was exasperated.
Holding this inspiration inside, Hao Ren went onto a hill. Not high or covered with dense forests, this hill had one side facing the sun while the other away from the sun, forming a perfect picture of yin and yang.
Hao Ren sat down, feeling that the inspiration had merged into his body and activated the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll.
“Metal, six!” A beam of white sword energy appeared at the tip of his right pinky finger.
“Water, seven!” A beam of blue sword energy shot out from his left index finger.
“Wood, ten!” A surge of green sword energy shot out from his right middle finger, cutting a shallow line in the grass-covered ground!
The five elements in the world were water, fire, metal, wood, and earth, and they nurtured everything in the world.
It suddenly dawned on him that what Su Han taught him during the painting session was, in fact, the proper training method! Converting the five elements into each other at will was the core of any five-elemental cultivation technique.
Beams of green, blue, red, yellow, and white sword energies shot out of his fingers one after another. They were pale and weak but looked as beautiful as fireworks!
Five-elemental sword energies!
With the use of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, the five elements in Hao Ren’s body were fully activated. The well-balanced five-elemental array formation began to rotate around the Dragon Core!
The lost essences were always replenished by the new ones, and this movement was called circulation!
Wood begets fire; fire begets earth; earth begets metal; metal begets water; water begets wood! That were the mutual creations of the five elements!
Fatigued, Hao Ren exhaled deeply before lying down on the grass. The full circulation of essences according to the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll had emptied him.
The process of cultivation was the process of destruction and creation; it allowed for a constant expansion of one’s limits.
After replenishing the five elements in his body, Hao Ren felt like his cultivation value had broken through the previous limit. Compared with the ultimate cultivation value of one, his cultivation value had now almost reached 0.7!
He lowered his Nature Essence before gradually elevating his cultivation realm with the practice of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll. His method of destruction before creation was a success!
Kun-level Masters would always put themselves in seclusion before making a charge toward Qian-level. Hao Ren’s cultivation in the wilderness could also be called Seclusion Cultivation.
When darkness began to appear, Hao Ren walked down the hill and returned to the old grandma’s house to rest.
Having not seen Hao Ren for almost the whole day, Grandma thought he had been wandering around the village. She was relieved when she saw his peaceful expression, thinking that her Ren had finally gotten over his troubling thoughts.
After dinner, Hao Ren went back to his room to continue cultivating. He hoped to make a breakthrough in two days, and that was why he had come here with Grandma and didn’t take Zi with them.
He had been working hard on his cultivation recently, but he had also been troubled with the daily distractions. If he were able to cultivate peacefully every day like this, he believe
d that he would have reached Kan-level earlier.
Su Han had kept herself away from all the unnecessary distractions in the city and focused all her attention on cultivation, gaining more understanding of the Heavenly Dao and Mortal Dao at the same time. That was why she had made one breakthrough after another and finally reached mid-tier Qian-level!
Hao Ren spent the whole night cultivating the Spirit Concentration Scroll and the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll by turns, treasuring each small increase of 0.01 or 0.02 in his cultivation strength.
Before he came here, he had been troubled with the thoughts of Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia. After he immersed himself into cultivation, nothing could disturb his mind.
The roosters in the village crowed when the sky turned a little bright.
Hao Ren had a bowl of congee for breakfast.
Refreshed, he went back onto the hills.
The simple and natural life here gave him a different feeling.
When the sun moved from the east to the middle of the sky, Hao Ren had cultivated for half a day, and his cultivation value seemed to have reached 0.9. Now, he was more proficient in releasing the sword energies.
However, the closer he got to Kan-level, the slower the cultivation process became. It seemed like there was an invisible veil blocking his path.
Only half a day was left before his return, but Kan-level seemed to be just out of his reach.
He had gradually mastered the techniques of the first level of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, including essence transference, essence absorption, releasing elemental sword energies,, and forming the hundun sword energies in his palm.
Cultivating the techniques could gradually increase one’s strength, but the elevation in realms was a change in quality. If the cultivator couldn’t gain a thorough understanding and the first opening in the Dragon Core couldn’t be unlocked, it was useless to put more effort into practicing the technique.
Only one step, one step!
Hao Ren felt like he was very close to Kan-level as his cultivation value had returned to one. Compared with before where his power comprised mostly of water-elemental essences, he now had a balance of all five elements. He was in the perfect state.
“Gongzi Hao!” Premier Xia suddenly appeared in a grey short-sleeved shirt.
“Why are you here?” Hao Ren was surprised.
“The Dragon King sent me here to give you two immortal elixir pills.” With both hands, Premier Xia presented him a small box with a smile. “It’s not easy to break through to Kan-level. The Dragon King just wanted to test you.”
“I don’t need them now. You can put them over there.” Hao Ren pointed to the ground beside him.
Premier Xia was surprised, but he did as he was told.
Taking a deep breath, Hao Ren sat back down and continued to charge at the breakthrough point through cultivation.
He had kept Su Han’s instruction in mind, knowing that the realms achieved by elixirs were not stable, and he’d better not eat them if he didn’t need to.
“Fuma is a hard-working cultivator; only half a day is left, and he is still trying,” Premier Xia stood in the sun and thought.
“Excessive affection often ends in regrets; just as good dreams are the easiest for one to wake up from.”
A beam of five-colored godly light flew across the sky, and a grain-sized spark floated down from the sky, blinding Hao Ren’s eyes.
He felt a burning sensation on his forehead, and the inscription on the monument in the Taoist Temple on top of the GreenStone Mountain suddenly came to him from his memory.
Clap! Clap!
The two Mount Tai Bracelets on Hao Ren’s wrists broke one after another.Nothingness; or reason of beingYin and YangHeaven, Earth, and Human, also could be interrupted as or Spirituality, Materialism, and the Medium.
163 Soul Formation Cultivator
Instantly, Hao Ren was unblocked from head to toe, and the Dragon Core in his Dantian got one opening on it after a crisp ‘Clap’ sound.
The mountains in the distance looked clearer, and the grass and trees on the hills seemed to be brighter.
The broken Mount Tai Bracelets dropped to the ground in four pieces.
This meant Hao Ren had broken through to Kan-level!
The Nature Essence that had been circulating around the Dragon Core began to travel around his body like a small dragon!
Hao Ren had been tired after half a day of cultivation, but now, he felt instantly refreshed!
However, Premier Xia wasn’t surprised by Hao Ren’s breakthrough. Instead, he was gazing up at the sky and murmuring, “Soul Formation Cultivator…”
Hao Ren controlled his strength and tried to get used to the power of Kan-level before asking Premier Xia, “Soul Formation Cultivator?”
Premier Xia turned around and nodded. “A Soul Formation Cultivator just passed through the sky, inspiring you. Different from us, Soul Formation Cultivators are purely human cultivators.”
“Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, Kan; which level are they?” Hao Ren asked.
Premier Xia immediately shook his head. “The Soul Formation Cultivators are all super powerful cultivators who can sweep through the earth. They have reached the ascending realm, but they don’t want to be regulated by the Heavens. After blocking the Heavenly Tribulation, they remain in the mortal world.”
“Does this mean that they are even more powerful than Zhao Yanzi’s Third Uncle?” Hao Ren wanted to confirm his guess.
“Their power is indeed greater than that of Third Lord!” Premier Xia admitted helplessly before continuing, “We dragons possess Dragon Cores which give us a natural cultivation boost. The Core Formation Cultivator is equivalent to our Zhen-level, but the effort required before the Core Formation Realm is ten times more difficult than our cultivation before Zhen-level! That is why it is thousands of times more difficult for them to reach the Nascent Soul Realm compared to us reaching the equivalent Qian-level! Without extreme fortitude and luck, it’s impossible for a human cultivator to reach the Soul Formation Realm! That is why even the Dragon Kings of the four oceans would show respect to the Soul Formation Cultivators when they meet each other. Even the mighty Inspectors who supervise the Dragon Tribe have to keep their distance with these cultivators!”
“In short, you can never mess with the Soul Formation Cultivators!” Premier Xia concluded.
“Ok.” Hao Ren nodded. “Was it a passing Soul Formation Cultivator who helped me with the breakthrough?”
Premier Xia nodded with force and explained, “That was a sign of your great luck. Maybe the Soul Formation Cultivator was in a good mood and gave you a hand when he or she saw you cultivating diligently.”
“No one can get a glimpse of the Soul Formation Cultivators. They either lived as hermits in the depth of mountains or stayed among the humans disguised as mortals. No one can look through their disguises, and not a single person can pose a threat to them.”
Premier Xia didn’t believe that Hao Ren knew a Soul Formation Cultivator.
Hao Ren was startled by Premier Xia’s words.
If these cultivators were in a good mood, they could casually help him break through. Did it also mean that they could destroy him casually if they were in a bad mood?
They were masters who were even more powerful than Zhao Kuo. Seeing Hao Ren’s alarmed expression, Premier Xia smiled. “Gongzi Hao, don’t worry. The Soul Formation Cultivators rarely show themselves, and there are no more than ten of them in the mortal world. They rarely move around and never interfere with the mortal’s businesses. You are really lucky to have received guidance from one of them!”
Hao Ren relaxed. After all, his current realm was tens of levels lower than the Soul Formation Realm, and it was impossible that this cultivator came here on purpose to inspire him. He raised his head and bowed in the direction where the five-colored godly light beam had disappeared to thank this cultivator for helping him.
After breaking through to Kan-l
evel, his entire body was refreshed. He was about to walk down the hill when his belly was suddenly struck with a sharp pain.
The pain was so sharp that he felt as if his head was going to break, and he felt like the Dragon Core in his body was cracking.
“Gongzi Hao, this is the sign of the official breakthrough. Please hurry up and take the elixir pills!” Seeing that Hao Ren was experiencing excruciating pain, Premier Xia picked up the box from the ground in a hurry and was about to put it into Hao Ren’s hands.
Hao Ren lifted his hands and pushed the box away.
He was determined to pass this transformation process on his own.
Thud! Thud!
He pushed both of his hands into the ground!
The five-elemental essences rushed around aimlessly in his body, penetrating his skin and bones.
Swoosh… Hao Ren shot out sword energies through his fingers randomly, creating several deep holes in the ground.
“Gongzi Hao…” Premier Xia walked close to Hao Ren and said in concern.
Hao Ren shook his head, refusing to take the elixir pills. He began to shake uncontrollably, and he felt like all the meridians in his body were reforming!
They were turning from human meridians to dragon meridians! This would happen when the Dragon Core got its first opening!
After the Dragon Core acquired enough openings, Hao Ren’s meridians and blood would completely become dragon meridians and dragon blood. At that time, he would be able to stay in his current human form or transform into a real dragon!
Layers of Tribulation Clouds appeared, but they were white instead of black. Different from the breakthrough of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, this breakthrough didn’t trigger a Lightning Tribulation. These clouds were the result of the fast rotation of the Dragon Core which had quickened the condensation of Nature Essence in the area!
These were Auspicious Clouds!
If it had been the time when cultivation was popular, people who saw the clouds would know that someone just had a breakthrough.
Reaching Kan-level meant that Hao Ren was officially entering the cultivation world.
Instantly, he turned from a mortal to a cultivator.
