Chapter 135 – Taking the Infant Tempering Pill, Half-Step Spirit Transformation! (Second Update)

When Su Xing saw this, his breathing grew rapid.

“Finally, it’s time to condense the Perfect Nascent Soul!”

Su Xing had been preparing for this day for a long time! From collecting the two medicinal ingredients, to breaking through in spiritual consciousness, to refining the Nascent Soul Tempering Pills.

Now all that remained was the final infant condensation stage, and he would complete a self-breakthrough, achieving the Perfect Nascent Soul!

“The Perfect Nascent Soul—the key to achieving immortality!”

“I just wonder, aside from the opportunity for immortality, does the Perfect Nascent Soul have any other benefits?”

Su Xing took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Within the Blessed Spirit Field, you swallowed the first Nascent Soul Tempering Pill.】

【The pill entered your body and quickly dissolved into a warm current that flowed through your limbs and bones.】

【You sensed a subtle change in the Nascent Soul within your dantian. The thin layer of golden light on the Nascent Soul’s surface was slowly peeling away…】

【The golden light shed faster and faster. In mere moments, the tiny Nascent Soul figure in your dantian became plain and lusterless, as if it had lost all its divine power.】

【Immediately after, you felt your dantian transform into a bottomless black hole, with vast amounts of spiritual energy being rapidly drawn into it.】

【This spiritual energy converted into pure spiritual power, continuously reforging the Nascent Soul within your dantian. Golden light reappeared on the Nascent Soul’s surface, growing ever more profound.】

【This process lasted a full three days!】

【After three days, you felt slight fatigue in both body and soul. The infant tempering process truly consumed immense mental energy—one moment of careless control over spiritual energy would render all previous efforts wasted!】

【Even though you were already somewhat weary, you didn’t dare let your guard down for even a moment.】

【Because before breaking through the Five Trials, the infant tempering stage could not be interrupted or paused. It had to be completed in one continuous push, or everything would be lost!】

【You took a deep breath and consumed the second Nascent Soul Tempering Pill.】

【As the second Nascent Soul Tempering Pill entered your body, you felt your Nascent Soul change once more. The golden light dispersed, and then it began madly absorbing the surrounding heaven-and-earth spiritual energy like a vortex.】

【You struggled to stabilize the spiritual energy within your body, continuously hammering and refining your Nascent Soul.】

【Another three days passed like this…】

【At this point, you found your sensitivity to heaven-and-earth spiritual energy had become increasingly acute. With a single thought, vast amounts of spiritual energy would surge in to replenish your spiritual power consumption.】

【But the rate at which this drained the surrounding spiritual energy was terrifying.】

【You were grateful you had planted over a hundred Spirit-Gathering Flowers in advance. Without them, the spiritual energy in the Blessed Spirit Field would have long been exhausted, and your breakthrough would have been forcibly interrupted.】

Su Xing took a deep breath at this.

“As expected, the spiritual power consumption of a Spirit Transformation cultivator is this terrifying? No wonder Old Dog Zong has never been able to break through to the Void Return stage. Insufficient spirit stones and spiritual energy must be the biggest reason!”

After a pause, Su Xing thought further: “But the fact that Old Dog Zong can still maintain his peak Spirit Transformation cultivation means he probably has quite a few spirit stones on hand. Otherwise, his cultivation level would have dropped long ago…”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up.

Spirit stones were something nobody ever had too many of—naturally, the more the better.

Perhaps once he was strong enough, he could squeeze a hefty sum of spirit stones out of Old Dog Zong?

Su Xing shook his head slightly. Better not think about that now—the priority was focusing on the breakthrough.

His gaze returned to the simulation panel.

【After the second infant tempering ended, you felt your body and soul growing even more exhausted. You desperately wanted to sleep.】

【But you knew that interrupting now would only waste all your previous efforts.】

【So you decisively consumed the third Nascent Soul Tempering Pill!】

【As the pill entered your body, spiritual energy surged into your dantian once more. At the same time, fine cracks appeared on your Nascent Soul, but it didn’t shatter completely. The golden light on the Nascent Soul faded away once again.】

【After three more days, you completed the third infant tempering.】

Su Xing frowned slightly at this, puzzled. “That’s not right. According to what Shennong Youtian said, after consuming three Nascent Soul Tempering Pills, the Nascent Soul should shatter and be reborn, breaking through the Nascent Soul stage in one leap to reach half-step Spirit Transformation…”

“At this point it’s already a first-grade Nascent Soul quality. If I chose not to linger, I could break directly into Spirit Transformation… But if I’m willing to gamble, I’d need to pass the Five Trials and achieve a Perfect Nascent Soul.”

Su Xing was somewhat confused. His current situation didn’t match the information he’d received before.

“But there’s no better option right now. If I want to shatter the infant, the only choice is to push on!”

Su Xing’s gaze returned to the simulation panel.

【After consuming three Nascent Soul Tempering Pills in succession, the Nascent Soul in your dantian showed no signs of shattering and reforming. So, steeling your resolve, you consumed the fourth Nascent Soul Tempering Pill!】

【With the fourth Nascent Soul Tempering Pill, the Nascent Soul in your dantian finally shattered completely, dissolving into scattered points of golden light.】

【At the same time, your dantian became like a black hole, madly devouring the surrounding heaven-and-earth spiritual energy.】

【This violent influx of spiritual energy destabilized the spiritual power within your body.】

【Even though you were utterly exhausted, you gritted your teeth and held on. As the spiritual energy poured in, the Nascent Soul in your dantian finally began to reconverge, piece by piece.】

【Several more days passed like this…】

【By now you were completely spent. Over ten days of high-intensity infant tempering was something even a Nascent Soul cultivator would struggle to endure. If not for your powerful spiritual consciousness, you would have long since failed the breakthrough.】

【But despite the exhaustion, your efforts had been worth it!】

【You turned your awareness inward and beheld the Nascent Soul figure within your dantian. Its radiance now far surpassed before, its entire form emanating a profound and mysterious aura—incomparably stronger than an ordinary Nascent Soul!】

【With the successful infant tempering, you condensed a first-grade Nascent Soul and became what everyone called a half-step Spirit Transformation cultivator!】

【After the successful tempering, you finally fell into a contented sleep. You slept for three full days and nights before slowly awakening.】

【Now you faced two choices: push straight through into Spirit Transformation in one go, or attempt to condense a Perfect Nascent Soul to glimpse the path to immortality!】

Su Xing let out a long breath at this.

“Finally… I’ve reached half-step Spirit Transformation. Next, I just need to pass the Five Trials, sever my delusions, and enter the Spirit Transformation stage, right?”

Su Xing murmured softly.

As for breaking directly into Spirit Transformation? That option wasn’t even in Su Xing’s consideration.

Focusing only on immediate gains while ignoring long-term growth was undoubtedly the choice of a fool.

With the simulator at his disposal, Su Xing had his eyes fixed on the highest peak along the path of cultivation.

“As for severing stray thoughts and entering Spirit Transformation… if I remember correctly, one must pass the five trials of Lust, Fear, Greed, Pride, and Wrath. First comes the Trial of Lust, followed by Fear, then Greed…”

After a pause, Su Xing began recalling information about the Five Trials.

“The Five Trials are like ascending through heavens—each trial overcome increases the speed of communion with heaven-and-earth spiritual energy by an entire tier during the Spirit Transformation stage, making one’s internal spiritual power even more dense!”

“At the same level, a Spirit Transformation cultivator who has passed two trials can almost certainly defeat one who has only passed one!”

Su Xing took a deep breath and murmured:

“Unfortunately, the Five Trials aren’t so easy to pass! During each trial, countless stray thoughts flood in, and one must hold firm to their true self to successfully break through! And once a breakthrough fails without being interrupted in time, there’s a very real chance of death and complete annihilation of one’s Dao!”

“Therefore, any cultivator who wishes to attempt the Five Trials must make thorough preparations!”

With his decision already made, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【You chose not to step into the Spirit Transformation stage, nor did you immediately begin the Five Trials.】

【Before attempting the Five Trials, you needed to make full preparations. Otherwise, if the breakthrough failed, you would have wasted this entire simulation.】

【So after ending your seclusion, you continued your daily routine of refining pills and maintaining your brotherhood with Old Dog Zong.】

【In the third year, having gathered sufficient medicinal ingredients, you prepared to defect from the Advent Cult.】

【Of course, before defecting, you didn’t forget to treat Old Dog Zong to a meal.】

【The next day, you took Luo Shuying and defected from the Advent Cult, seeking refuge with the Great Xia Military.】

【When you presented the pills you had refined over the years, the Great Xia Military warmly welcomed your addition and afforded you the highest respect.】

【Free from the Advent Cult’s constraints, you settled in the Capital City to cultivate in peace, refining pills daily.】

【Meanwhile, upon learning of your and Luo Shuying’s defection, the Advent Cult launched a hunt against you. Naturally, Old Dog Zong was also among those being hunted.】

【In just a few months, you suffered over a dozen assassination attempts. But you had long been prepared—with your strength rivaling a Martial Emperor, ordinary assassinations posed no threat to you whatsoever.】

【Over the course of two years, you refined enough pills to bolster Great Xia’s forces with tens of thousands of new Grandmasters, hundreds of Heavenly Kings, and dozens of Martial Emperor-level powerhouses.】

【In the sixth year, with all matters settled, you began to devote yourself entirely to considering how to pass the trials.】

【The first of the Five Trials was the Trial of Lust. Based on your estimation, this trial would use seductive beauty to tempt you, causing you to lose yourself and become forever lost within the illusion.】

【And you were someone whose resistance to beauty had never been particularly strong.】

【So to ensure you passed the trial successfully, you decided to put yourself through special training!】

Seeing this, the corner of Su Xing’s mouth twitched as he complained: “Hey, hey, hey—what do you mean my resistance to beauty isn’t strong? You’re just a simulator, so explain yourself clearly!”

“I swear, I am the sworn enemy of poison and gambling!”

The simulator: “…And what about lust?”

Su Xing: “I swear, I, Huang Su Xing, am the sworn enemy of gambling and poison!”

“…”

Getting back on track, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel, curious to see how he had conducted this “special training.”

【You recalled the trope from the cultivation novels of your previous life—immortals descending to the mortal world to temper themselves in the red dust of the mundane. And so you decided to temper yourself in a similar fashion.】

【You confessed your feelings to Jin Congxue. Naturally, Jin Congxue had no reason to refuse you, and the two of you fell together as naturally as water flowing into a canal.】

【You spent a blissful period together. This period of bliss caused a certain decline in your lower back strength.】

【After several months, having endured Jin Congxue’s devilish training regimen, you felt somewhat confident in your ability to pass the Trial of Lust.】

【But you decided to play it safe, so you went to find Luo Shuying…】