They already had one experience with secluded cultivation for Nascent Soul Formation within the Void Heaven Realm. It had only been sixty or seventy years since Qin Xi's own Nascent Soul Formation, so preparing this time felt familiar and effortless.
Mo Tiange set up a Spirit Gathering Formation around the Seclusion Chamber, while Qin Xi had long since refined the necessary elixirs. They didn't possess any special means to increase the chances of Nascent Soul Formation, but the Plain Maiden Art and the Taiyuan Record were already top-tier cultivation methods. Combined with the primeval environment of the Void Heaven Realm and the spirit pills refined from ten-thousand-year spirit herbs, the probability of success was already very high.
"Tian Ge," Qin Xi instructed, "after you enter seclusion, don't immediately attempt Nascent Soul Formation. First, carefully recall the insights of others who have formed their Nascent Souls, contemplate the realm, and only when everything is clear in your heart should you circulate your spiritual energy to assault the Nascent Soul stage."
Mo Tiange agreed to each point. After preparing all matters, she entered the Seclusion Chamber.
Sitting cross-legged inside the chamber, she activated the Spirit Gathering Formation, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
She still remembered when Qin Xi was forming his Nascent Soul. She had once boasted arrogantly that she possessed talent rarely seen in a thousand years and opportunities not encountered in ten thousand years, so why couldn't she become the youngest Nascent Soul Cultivator in the history of the Tianji Region? And now, she was only a hundred and sixty years old, already at Core Formation perfection, beginning her assault on the Nascent Soul realm.
A faint smile touched her lips as she set aside the sigh in her heart. That statement had actually just been idle talk. Although she was confident she could form her Nascent Soul, she had never truly cared about it. What importance was there in forming it early or late? Since stepping onto the Immortal Path, she had never given up on herself. Every step taken to reach this day had been solid and steady. That was far more important than becoming the Tianji Region's youngest Nascent Soul Cultivator.
Holding to the origin and guarding the one, calming the heart and quieting the spirit—she easily entered a state of deep meditation.
Everything around her faded away. She could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. It was as if she had returned to her mother's embrace—warm, peaceful, tranquil, until there was only nothingness. Gradually, even her heart dissolved into this nothingness. She couldn't find herself, yet she was everywhere.
Where am I? she asked herself, but the surroundings were empty, as if even time and space did not exist.
This nothingness, where even the self did not exist, would be terrifying under normal, conscious circumstances. Yet at this moment, she was utterly calm, so calm she didn't even think to question why. Because this nothingness allowed her to feel a peace and fulfillment she had never known before.
Finally, a point of light appeared in the empty nothingness. This light grew brighter, slowly expanding until, at last, she saw people and things.
This was a small village under the jurisdiction of Liancheng in the mortal country of Jin, with only three or four hundred inhabitants. Everyone shared the same surname, so the village was named after it: the Mo Family Village.
On the vast territory of Jin, such small villages were too numerous to count, utterly unremarkable. But here, its significance to her was different.
A childhood both lonely and happy; those people she had once loved or hated—they all flashed before her eyes one by one.
Then came ten years of displacement and wandering, the bullying and injustice she had once suffered. Back then, she always thought that once she achieved success in cultivation, she would definitely seek revenge, stomping on their faces with vicious satisfaction, watching their fearful expressions, and feeling immense pleasure herself. But when she finally possessed such power, she realized she no longer held any of it in her heart.
That bullying and injustice had once filled her with resentment, made her gnash her teeth. If those people appeared before her now, she had no doubt she would casually exterminate them. Yet despite that, she would not deliberately seek them out for revenge. Because she had a higher goal. Beneath this goal, those people she once brooded over were insignificant. It was like how humans view ants—utterly insignificant.
This goal was called the Immortal Dao.
In the primeval era, when heaven and earth first separated, Heavenly Gods descended upon the world, and demon spirits appeared. Tiny humans struggled amidst birth, aging, sickness, and death, yearning for the power to move mountains and overturn seas like the demon spirits, or even the gods. Thus, cultivation was born.
What is cultivation? It is mortals' presumptuous desire to leap beyond the cycle of reincarnation, to achieve immortality, for man to conquer heaven.
Millions of years passed leisurely by, from the vast primeval times to the chaotic present day. Countless people stepped onto the Immortal Path, struggling within the Immortal Dao. Yet those who truly leaped beyond reincarnation and cultivated into true Immortals remained only in legends...
Does the Immortal Dao truly exist? Or does the struggle end with nothing but a pile of white bones, scattered by the wind? An expression of pain appeared on Mo Tiange's face, yet she herself could not feel it.
Qin Xi, who had been guarding outside the Seclusion Chamber without leaving since she entered, watched with tense concern. The circumstances each person encountered during Nascent Soul Formation were different. He didn't know what Mo Tiange's mental state was experiencing, but he knew he could not interfere. If she couldn't even pass the initial stage of mental comprehension, then there was no need for Nascent Soul Formation—she would have already failed.
The path of cultivation: Qi Refining was the entry, Foundation Establishment the threshold, Core Formation counted as minor success. Only by forming a Nascent Soul could one be considered to have truly stepped onto the Immortal Path and touched the true meaning of the Immortal Dao. Therefore, when assaulting the Nascent Soul stage, innate talent was no longer so crucial. What mattered more was cultivation base, mental fortitude, and personal enlightenment. This was also why, even for those privileged disciples backed by great cultivators and major sects, they could at most be pushed to the Core Formation stage with elixirs, but could not forcibly cross the barrier of Nascent Soul Formation. Only by comprehending the mysteries of the Immortal Dao could one become a true great cultivator.
"What is the Immortal Dao? It is to seek power, to not be controlled by others." A woman appeared within Mo Tiange's mental state, speaking in a light tone.
Her bearing was dignified, her expression serene. Just standing there casually, she was stunningly beautiful. She was Mo Yaoqing, a woman from five thousand years ago who hailed from the Danxia Sect in Yunzhong, possessed a Pure Yin constitution, and whose talent was as astonishing as her beauty.
Beauty and the Pure Yin constitution—these two combined perfectly upon her, resulting in a lifetime of misfortune.
No one saw the overflowing talent beneath her superior aptitude, nor did anyone see the steadfast Dao Heart behind her beauty.
To escape her fate, she crippled her own cultivation, starting again from zero, expending several times, even ten times, the effort and hardship of others to step onto the Nascent Soul Path.
Mo Tiange thought of herself. Once a naive and ignorant child, she had been abducted because of an unintentional remark. In her youth, a moment of carelessness had not only invited disaster but also implicated innocent people.
What is the Immortal Dao? It is to seek power, to not be controlled by others! "What is the Immortal Dao? It is to seek immortality, to explore the true meaning of the world." This time, a vague figure appeared. Its features were unclear, its form indistinct, only its voice was clear and calm.
This was Fuyaozi, the number one cultivator in Yunzhong for over a hundred thousand years, an eccentric lone cultivator, a legendary genius said to have advanced to the God Transformation stage.
His life was not filled with so much misfortune, yet it was fraught with hardship everywhere, each step taken with immense difficulty.
Considered to have trash-level spiritual roots, possessing no wealth, no backing, he could only rely on his own two legs to advance step by step with great difficulty on the Immortal Path.
Yet despite this, he never gave up. From an insignificant Qi Refining minor cultivator, he endured countless hardships and dangers to succeed in Foundation Establishment, stepping across the threshold into the cultivation world. Afterwards, he obtained a fragmentary Mixed Origin cultivation method and, relying on his steadfast Dao Heart and intelligence, advanced step by step on the Immortal Path.
And when he became a great cultivator, he showed not a hint of arrogance or pride, still tirelessly exploring the Immortal Dao.
What is the Dao? What is man? What is heaven and earth? Where does the Dao come from, where does man go, and where does the end of heaven and earth lie? Can tiny humans truly possess the power to change heaven and earth? And where does the Gate of Eternal Life open?
What is the Immortal Dao? It is to seek immortality, to explore the true meaning of the world!
Countless people, countless events, continuously appeared within Mo Tiange's mental state, questioning, doubting, and finally calming.
The spiritual energy within the Seclusion Chamber gradually stabilized. Outside the chamber, Qin Xi let out a long breath.
Finally, she had passed the first barrier.
He himself had failed Nascent Soul Formation three times. Each time, he had fallen at this first barrier. This barrier wasn't particularly dangerous, but it was crucial for stepping onto the Nascent Soul Path. Only with firm conviction could one continue walking the Immortal Path. The slightest hesitation, and one could not advance a single step further.
She didn't know how much time had passed when Mo Tiange opened her eyes. Feeling her heart as still as water, she then took the prepared elixirs one by one.
After consuming all the elixirs, powerful spiritual energy exploded within her body. She did not panic, slowly guiding this energy to circulate within her.
One Yin and one Yang form the Supreme Ultimate; the harmonious union of the Five Elements is Chaos.
All living things in this world cannot escape Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. Mastering Yin-Yang and the Five Elements meant mastering the world.
Qin Xi stood motionless outside the Seclusion Chamber, sensing the rhythmic ebb and flow of the spiritual energy circulation.
This was the second barrier of Nascent Soul Formation, and also the most dangerous one. During this process, the body absorbed vast amounts of spiritual energy. If the meridians and dantian withstood the trial, the Golden Core would shatter and form the Nascent Soul. If the Golden Core shattered but the trial was not withstood, failing to form the Nascent Soul, then centuries of cultivation would be washed away.
He waited quietly. If an accident occurred, he would intervene to stop it, protecting her Golden Core and preserving her cultivation base.
Nascent Soul Formation could be attempted again. But once the Golden Core shattered, everything would be beyond recovery, and one could only start over from the beginning.
Yet what puzzled him was that, although everything within the Seclusion Chamber was stable, with endless spiritual energy surging towards Mo Tiange, the moment of the Core shattering and the Infant forming was long in coming.
One year, two years, three years...
Time rushed by like a white steed flashing past a crack, yet everything within the Seclusion Chamber seemed to have stopped.
This left Qin Xi utterly bewildered, yet there was nothing he could do.
During the Nascent Soul Formation process, if others interfered, it could easily lead to tragedy. Apart from taking too long, Mo Tiange's current state was completely normal. If he rashly intervened, he might spoil things by being too clever. After all, experiences with Nascent Soul Formation differed for each person. His own process could only serve as a reference.
"There are also those who take over ten years to form their Nascent Soul. Perhaps Tian Ge is like that?" He could only guess this way.
Mo Tiange within the Seclusion Chamber was already immersed in that state of Yin-Yang circulation and Five Elements alternation, completely unaware that someone outside was restless, unable to sit or lie still.
Five years, ten years, fifteen years...
Time did not pause in the slightest.
Volume Five: The Immortal Path Finally Appears
Advancing Towards Great Cultivator ~