Chapter 3

Zhong Yue seemed to sense the changes in his sea of consciousness and wanted to open his eyes. The Suiren Emperor’s diagram he had constructed with his mind was also shaking, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

"Don’t be distracted!"

The little Xinhuo child shouted, "If you get distracted, you will have wasted all your efforts, damaging your spirit. It will be even harder to visualize the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor diagram completely! You must finish this cultivation in one go!"

Zhong Yue gathered his spirit, focusing entirely. The Ji Huo Palace, the fire tree, and the Suiren Emperor no longer wavered, becoming more complete and stable.

After a long while, Zhong Yue felt his spirit exhausted. He opened his eyes, looking around at the magnificent and splendid Ji Huo Palace in disbelief, and then looked down at himself, finding it even harder to believe!

"There’s no need to be surprised. This is the scene you visualized with your spirit, existing only in your sea of consciousness. The energy you expended is your own spirit, but what is being tempered is your soul."

The little Xinhuo child, perched on his shoulder, said proudly, "The Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram is not the crude cultivation method you used before. Your old method had a tiny bit of use for soul tempering but did nothing to strengthen your spirit. The Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram can both temper your soul and strengthen your spirit, making your spirit stronger each time!"

Just as Zhong Yue was about to get up and leave the Ji Huo Palace to see the outside scenery, there was a sudden crash. The Ji Huo Palace collapsed, the fire tree dissolved, and even the Suiren Emperor’s body he had condensed disintegrated, revealing his true soul form.

"What is this?" Zhong Yue was puzzled.

"If you leave the Ji Huo Palace, your soul will leave your body."

The little Xinhuo child laughed, "Whether it’s the Ji Huo Palace or the Sword Gate, they both represent a gateway. Inside the gateway is your body, and outside is beyond your body. Whether you step out of the Ji Huo Palace or the Sword Gate, your soul will leave your body. Now, you have just started with the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram, and being able to do this much is already quite good."

"Really?" Zhong Yue’s eyes lit up with joy.

The little Xinhuo child’s face immediately turned serious. He walked on Zhong Yue’s soul, hands behind his back, and said coldly, "Descendant of Fuxi, don’t be arrogant. You are far inferior to the pure-blooded Xinhuo inheritors. A pure-blooded Xinhuo inheritor can visualize the diagram completely with just one glance, while you can only visualize a rough outline. You need to continue your cultivation!"

Zhong Yue, however, was very open-minded and laughed, "The pure-blooded divine race is so powerful? But they are the divine race, and I am the human race. It’s natural that I can’t match them. Diligence can make up for lack of talent. I will intensify my cultivation and won’t believe I will be inferior to them."

The little Xinhuo child’s face fell, and he muttered to himself, "Diligence can make up for lack of talent? If your insight is higher than others and you are also more diligent, how can others live?"

Zhong Yue’s comprehension was only average among the generations of Xinhuo inheritors, but the Xinhuo child had only experienced pure-blooded Fuxi divine race inheritors!

Zhong Yue’s ability to reach this point was already a surprise to the little Xinhuo child.

"Your spirit is too weak. Just one visualization has exhausted it, and you need to rest for a while. The more you practice the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram, the stronger your spirit will become. When you can manifest your spirit and make it visible, you will have made some progress." The Xinhuo child looked at his sea of consciousness, which had dried up to about ten zhang in size, and smiled.

Zhong Yue was stunned, "Manifesting the spirit and making it visible is just a small achievement? This is something only cultivators can do. Can I really achieve it?"

Suddenly, he felt dizzy and drowsy, involuntarily closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep, indeed due to the excessive spirit expenditure from the visualization.

The little Xinhuo child also left his sea of consciousness, returning to the broken lamp. The surroundings were filled with rolling black fog, and there were constant loud noises. The tiny child, no bigger than a finger, looked at the sleeping Zhong Yue and the black fog, his face showing confusion: "How long have I been asleep? Why has the Fuxi divine race become like this? What happened during this time? And what is this thing in the black fog... This little divine race says it is the era of the Human Emperor. What kind of era is that..."

In Zhong Yue’s sea of consciousness, his spirit flowed like a stream, gradually filling the sea.

After a few hours, Zhong Yue woke up. He meditated briefly and immediately entered his sea of consciousness, feeling a surge of joy. The sea of consciousness, which was originally only about ten zhang in size, had grown by nearly half, reaching over twenty zhang!

To understand, it had taken him several years to cultivate a sea of consciousness of about ten zhang, but the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram had made his spirit half as strong after just one practice!

"Such a powerful cultivation method, what kind of background does Xinhuo have?"

He calmed himself and visualized the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor again. With his spirit now twice as strong, he found it much easier to visualize the Ji Huo Palace, the Suiren Emperor, and the fire tree.

After a moment, Zhong Yue’s soul opened its eyes. The Ji Huo Palace, formed by his spirit, was much more stable. Although this visualization had consumed a lot of spirit, he still had nearly half left to use.

"With so much spirit left in the sea of consciousness, I should be able to step out of the Ji Huo Palace, right?"

Zhong Yue’s heart pounded. He had never achieved soul separation in six years of cultivation, but after just two practices of the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram, he felt confident he could achieve it.

In the Ji Huo Palace, Zhong Yue’s soul, transformed into the Suiren Emperor, took a step towards the palace’s entrance!

With each step, his spirit rapidly depleted. One step, two steps, three steps, the sea of consciousness, which was like a sea of water, rapidly decreased!

By the ninth step, Zhong Yue had reached the entrance of the Ji Huo Palace, with half a foot about to step out of the divine palace. At this moment, his spirit was almost completely drained.

Finally, with the ninth step, he fully stepped out, and his sea of consciousness was completely exhausted!

Boom!

A deafening sound echoed in his ears, like a thunderclap, making his vision spin. Suddenly, he felt as if he had stepped into a new world!

At this moment, his soul had actually left his body, standing in front of himself!

Soul separation.

Zhong Yue’s heart raced. He had finally achieved soul separation!

He had entered the Sword Gate at the age of nine, and it had been six years. He had practiced diligently and endured hardships, far surpassing others, but had never achieved soul separation. Now, after just a few hours of practicing the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram, he had achieved it!

Zhong Yue was both shocked and delighted, wanting to cry and laugh to release his joy.

A flame floated, and Xinhuo flew out of the bronze lamp, facing Zhong Yue. This time, stepping out of his body, Zhong Yue realized how small his soul was, almost the same size as Xinhuo.

The two tiny figures looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Now that you have achieved soul separation, it’s just the beginning. There’s still a long way to go before you become a cultivator."

The little Xinhuo child examined him, saying, "The realm of soul separation is too low. Your soul is still very weak, and you can’t even perform a soul sacrifice, let alone sense the spirit."

"Soul sacrifice?"

Zhong Yue’s soul returned to his body, feeling dizzy and disoriented, a side effect of the spirit depletion. He resisted the urge to fall asleep and said, "Among the fifty thousand outer disciples of the Sword Gate, fewer than a thousand can perform a soul sacrifice. It’s not something that can be easily achieved."

As he spoke, he felt his spirit recovering slightly, but the recovery was much slower than a good night’s sleep. To quickly recover his spirit, he still needed a good rest.

Soul sacrifice is another realm. After soul separation, the soul can be attached to an object, allowing it to fly. However, soul sacrifice requires a very strong soul, which is not easily achieved.

Those who can perform a soul sacrifice are the outstanding figures among the outer disciples!

"Is soul sacrifice that difficult?"

The little Xinhuo child landed on his shoulder, puzzled, "When you visualize next time, you can try a soul sacrifice."

Zhong Yue’s eyelids grew heavier, mumbling, "How can it be so fast..."

When he woke up again, he immediately checked his sea of consciousness, which had grown a bit more. He was both surprised and delighted: "Maybe this time I can really try a soul sacrifice... Hey, why have I become so thin?"

He looked down and saw that in just a few days, he had become much thinner, almost skin and bones, which shocked him. Although Zhong Yue was only fifteen, his physical condition was among the best among the tens of thousands of outer disciples of the Sword Gate. He was one of the few outer disciples who practiced martial arts.

Martial arts were not important for cultivators, and it was rare to hear of cultivators achieving great success through martial arts. Therefore, the Sword Gate was not enthusiastic about martial arts.

The Sword Gate mainly cultivated sword qi, first comprehending the spirit, and then using the spirit to cultivate sword qi. Ordinary cultivators of the Sword Gate could make sword qi soar through the air, with three feet of sword qi that could destroy anything. However, the Sword Gate, being an ancient and prestigious place, had some martial arts traditions and did not prohibit outer disciples from practicing them.

Zhong Yue had obtained a martial arts technique called the Dragon Totem Circulation Technique from the outer disciples, which was also a visualization method. It came from a human tribe that revered the dragon totem, visualizing a fierce dragon coiling around the body to strengthen the physique, making every movement as if the dragon were enhancing the body, giving immense strength.

Zhong Yue’s physique, cultivated to this day, was several times stronger than that of ordinary outer disciples. The reason he diligently practiced this martial arts technique was that he came from a poor background and often had to go down the mountain to search for herbs to refine elixirs to improve himself, needing a way to protect his life.

The Dragon Totem Circulation Technique had saved his life multiple times when he encountered fierce beasts, leaving only scars on his body but not costing him his life.

However, in just a few days, the good physique he had cultivated through the Dragon Totem Circulation Technique had withered, making it hard for Zhong Yue to accept.

However, although his body had become thinner, Zhong Yue felt that he had not become weaker; his strength was still there.

"Practicing the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor visualization diagram requires a lot of energy. The muscles in your body were consumed by the two visualizations."

The little Xinhuo child explained, "Your body is not weak. You must have a body-strengthening technique, right? You did well. The body, spirit, and soul complement each other. To achieve great success, you need a good body! If your body were a bit weaker, the first visualization of the Ji Huo Palace Suiren Emperor would have starved you to death."

Zhong Yue was startled and exclaimed, "Practicing this technique can kill people?"

"Of course. The spirit is connected to the body. A strong body makes the spirit stronger, and the spirit’s consumption also consumes the body’s energy. When you visualize, you consume both your spirit and the body’s energy. A slightly weaker body would starve to death."

The little Xinhuo child laughed, "Fortunately, your body is quite good, allowing you to withstand two visualizations. However, if you visualize a third time, you might become a skeleton. Now, you must eat, and eat a lot. Not only should you eat enough, but you should eat well. It’s best to eat only elixirs and not grains, or your body will be drained!"