Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 653: Dharma Body, Divided Soul (2)

Reaching the Dharma Body phase meant that one had become an Earth Eldritch or Earth Deity. Beyond that lay the Universe Architect phase, which would be the final major phase of the six phases of immortal cultivation.

It could be said that throughout his journey of mana breakthroughs, Wu Yuan had consistently pushed the limits of the evolution of life, breaking through time and again without delay.

Becoming an Earth Eldritch before five hundred? Wu Yuan shook his head inwardly. Those so-called peerless geniuses of the Origin Eldritch Field have likely only just entered the Void Refiner phase.

Normally, most geniuses would attempt to break through to become Earth Eldritches after one or two thousand years of cultivation. Firstly, it was due to their slower cultivation progress, and secondly, it was to allow their souls time to grow and adapt.

However, Wu Yuan had never walked the usual path.

After the successive trials of the Thunder Marsh World and the Huanggu World, Wu Yuan’s perspective was no longer limited to the geniuses of his generation.

In terms of Dao comprehension, even among the geniuses who had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years in the First Origin Eldritch Field, ninety-nine percent couldn't match Wu Yuan’s current level.

Shambhala, expand. Wu Yuan devoted a portion of his focus to driving the vigorous expansion of his shambhala.

Limited by his environment, he could only continuously refine ethercrystal and divine crystals into vital ether. Thus, the process was much slower. It took a full two months before his entire internal shambhala finally expanded to its limit, and his vital ether reached peak purity.

Wu Yuan perceived the vast world with his consciousness, now three million li in diameter at its widest point. The entire world appeared to acquire weight and dimension.

The Boundary Tree stood majestically at the center. Mountain ranges and rivers stretched across the landscape, with countless plants growing throughout this world. Among the endless vegetation, numerous thunder beasts lived carefree lives...

These thunder beasts were the fruit of Wu Yuan's comprehension of the Law of Life and the Creation Essence Diagrams. They possessed no true life or thoughts, and couldn't be considered living beings. They were merely an application of Wu Yuan's secret arts. Yet they added a touch of vitality to the entire world, filling it with life.

Despite having just reached the first-stage Dharma Body phase, my three-million-li internal shambhala already rivals that of many ninth-stage Dharma Body powerhouses. Wu Yuan smiled faintly.

This vast world contained immense power.

What was a Dharma Body? It was, in fact, a true reflection of one's internal shambhala. Upon reaching this level, the shambhala appeared to solidify into tangible reality. Every gesture would truly contain a fraction of the internal shambhala's might, causing one's power to surge dramatically.

Hum~ The moment his internal world expanded to its limit, it subtly distorted, as if another world was emerging. Simultaneously, above his internal shambhala, a faint, illusory river began to form rapidly.

Though called a river, it was actually a convergence of strange forces, flowing mightily from an unknowable past towards an unfathomable future.

A miniature Destiny Voidscape? Wu Yuan nodded lightly, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

Normally, one would need to reach the Universe Architect phase to form a miniature Destiny Voidscape within oneself, reflecting an independent world.

Is it because of my first-degree immortal root? Wu Yuan pondered silently, his gaze sweeping over this not-too-powerful miniature Destiny Voidscape. Unfortunately, it's too small, too empty, without any living beings.

A true Destiny Voidscape spanned the entire river of time, corresponding to reality and encompassing all timelines. Countless qi refiner cultivators would leave their vital aura imprints within it, subsequently opening their own Voidspaces.

Body refiners were different. They controlled their own world, with its own voidscape, where countless lives dwelled—essentially a miniature version of heaven and earth. Naturally, this granted them inconceivable combat power and self-preservation ability.

But correspondingly, as there cannot be two suns in the sky, this independence meant that body refiner cultivators were inherently suppressed and rejected by the existing heaven and earth. The stronger they became, the greater the suppression they faced.

The Voidspace of my qi refiner self is influenced by the external world. Wu Yuan smiled faintly. But for my body refiner self, the size of the miniature Destiny Voidscape formed by the reflection of my internal shambhala is the size of my Voidspace.

I am the world, and the world is me.

With a rumble, Wu Yuan quickly sensed a mysterious power permeating his miniature Destiny Voidscape, nourishing his soul. It was the power of Faith.

At last, my body refiner self can also refine Faith. Wu Yuan mused inwardly, feeling joyful.

With the power of Faith, his cultivation speed would increase further. Others wouldn't dare utilize too much Faith, but Wu Yuan, with black pagodas in both of his true selves, could refine as much as he wanted without fear.

This Faith power comes partly from the Greenridge Macrocosm and the Summerpeak World... but the majority of it is from the Huanggu World. Wu Yuan quickly noticed.

Indeed! Though he had resided in the Huanggu World for a few centuries, he had accomplished many miracles there and gained great fame. It was only natural for a large number of beings to worship him.

This Faith power seems insufficient. Wu Yuan pondered silently. When I get out, I'll need to find a way to obtain more Faith.

Wu Yuan vaguely understood why various super factions eagerly seized territory, seeking to propagate Faith. It was indeed good stuff.

Perhaps its impact on Dao comprehension and the soul wasn't decisive. But for super powerhouses, even a slight increase in strength was precious. The closer one got to the limit, the harder it became to raise it further.

With the breakthrough complete, I'll slowly cultivate my mana and nurture my ether body alongside contemplating the Dao. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

Having entered the Dharma Body phase, his world essence grew more profound. The most iconic ability of this phase—creating an ether body!

If one cultivated superior teachings, the ether body could nearly match the true self in all aspects, with combat power approaching that of the true self.

Once I cultivate my ether body, future life-or-death battles will be much safer. A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Wu Yuan's eyes as he calmed his mind.

He began to cultivate silently according to the various ether body cultivation instructions in the ‘Archeldritch Divine Codex’.

Similar ether body cultivation teachings were extremely precious in the Huanggu World, but in the Greenridge Macrocosm, they were quite common. Relatively powerful sects all possessed them.

One’s cultivation method wasn't the key determinant of the ether body’s strength; the most important factor was still the cultivator themself.

If this were the Cang Feng Eldritch World, one could cultivate a flawless ether body in just ten years with the aid of some extraordinary items. But now, I can only rely on myself, taking it slow... I estimate it'll take about a hundred years. Wu Yuan mused silently.

Without the assistance of rare external objects, his ether body creation proceeded at a snail’s pace, and his accumulation of vital ether was equally, ridiculously slow. Wu Yuan estimated that even with the aid of divine crystals, it would take over a thousand years to reach the ninth-stage Dharma Body phase.

There's no rush to cultivate ether. By following the proper steps in cultivation, one will eventually reach the ninth-stage Dharma Body. Wu Yuan shook his head slightly. For me, the Dao is the root.

He continued his cultivation.

At the same time, Wu Yuan thought of his qi refiner self. By my calculations, my qi refiner self should have also advanced to the Divided Soul phase.

In the past few hundred years, my qi refiner self's comprehension of the Law of Space has been accelerating. I wonder how the situation is. Am I truly immersing myself fully in the Law of Space? Wu Yuan's body refiner self pondered.

In terms of the Law of Space, progress had been extremely rapid, and imperceptibly, it was also allowing the body refiner self to comprehend the Essence Great Dao more quickly.

His exceptionally deep comprehension of the Law of Space, which took his movement skill to the next level, was also inextricably linked to this Wu Yuan's body refiner self clearing level seven so quickly.

...

While Wu Yuan's body refiner self was trapped in the Immutable Land, striving to comprehend the Essence Great Dao to obtain the best ultimate opportunity.

Endless spacetime away, in the Immortal Belvedere within the Greenridge Macrocosm, in the courtyard belonging to Wu Yuan.

Boom! Waves of surging power rippled outwards in all directions as Wu Yuan sat in lotus position atop a jade platform in his meditation chamber. He retracted his vital aura rapidly.

Using the items I've acquired, I estimate it will take about three years to successfully cultivate my mana body.

However, with the amount of treasures I have in my possession, there's no chance of exchanging them for enough divine crystal elixir to reach the ninth-stage Divided Soul phase. Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.

Divine crystal elixir was incredibly precious, with even ordinary Archimmortals struggling to find channels to purchase it.

Wu Yuan's qi refiner self did have the qualifications to buy it, but the price was exorbitant. It was generally used for life-saving purposes or to refine some precious medicinal pills.

Using it solely for cultivating mana? No one could be so extravagant.

It was worth noting that the amount of divine crystal elixir required to progress from the first-stage to the ninth-stage Divided Soul phase was ten thousand times that needed to advance from the first-stage to the ninth-stage Amethyst Cradle phase.

If I use divine crystals, supplemented with some rare cultivation treasures, it would only take a few thousand divine crystals and three hundred years to reach the ninth-stage Divided Soul phase. Wu Yuan's qi refiner self swiftly researched various cultivation plans in the immortal voidrealm before finally settling on this one.

This plan, though much slower than cultivating with divine crystal elixir, was still seven hundred years faster than cultivating mana purely with divine crystals. The advantage was that the cost was much lower.

Cultivating with divine crystal elixir would allow me to reach the ninth-stage Divided Soul phase in ten years. With this current plan, it'll take three hundred years, which is still acceptable. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

Entering the Divided Soul phase granted a lifespan of ninety thousand years. Three hundred years? That was nothing, and the effort expended wasn't too much either.

To upgrade my nine lifebound flying swords into high-grade spirion artifacts via the optimal evolution path, the divine crystals required will only increase, not decrease. Wu Yuan felt a headache coming on.

Whether it was cultivating mana, upgrading his lifebound flying swords, or acquiring other powerful artifacts, all required vast sums of wealth.

Although Wu Yuan's qi refiner self had previously received a gift of one hundred thousand divine crystals from Immortal Sovereign Bei You, he was still strapped for resources.

It's time to see my grandmaster. Wu Yuan stood up, thinking to himself. Previously, when I comprehended the Spatial Rift Dao to the True Intent stage, I paid my respects to Grandmaster.

Grandmaster said that once I entered the Earth Immortal phase, he would begin the third stage of my cultivation training plan. Wu Yuan's qi refiner self's eyes held a glimmer of anticipation.

Several hundred years ago, Immortal Sovereign Bei You had set two goals for Wu Yuan: First, to conquer level one hundred of the two-star tower and level one hundred of the three-star tower. Second, to deduce three Intermediate Laws of Space to the True Intent stage within a thousand years.

Wu Yuan had long been able to accomplish these two goals.

Let's go see my Grandmaster. Wu Yuan's qi refiner self took a step forward, leaving the meditation chamber and flying into the distance.