Chapter 354 – Red Moon Has Not Yet Died, Breaking Through to the Fifth Layer!
by spirapiraChapter 354 – Red Moon Has Not Yet Died, Breaking Through to the Fifth Layer!
“Begin simulation!”
【Simulation #131 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 1,785,401 points… Remaining simulation attempts: 0.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1 point of origin energy. Draw?】
“Yes!”
Su Xing silently intoned.
【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the gold talent Hundred Flowers Divine Physique… Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 80%…】
【Hundred Flowers Divine Physique】: Gold talent. One of the Hundred Great Divine Physiques. Female-exclusive. You can cultivate a hundred varieties of flowers and absorb the spiritual essence within them, enhancing your aptitude and talent while increasing your cultivation speed.
“Uh… this talent!”
Su Xing felt somewhat helpless. Though it was one of the Hundred Great Divine Physiques, he hadn’t expected it to be a female-exclusive talent.
It could increase aptitude and cultivation speed… but Su Xing was completely unable to use it.
“Uh… this talent—looks like I’ll have to use Gift of Roses to give it to someone else later…”
Su Xing shook his head slightly, not dwelling on it.
“This time, the goal is the Great Shaman Body Forging Art—officially breaking into the fifth layer. At the same time, my Spirit Domain and Great Dao comprehension need further advancement!”
“If the Great Shaman Body Forging Art successfully reaches the fifth layer, I should be able to explore the Fifth Heaven… and perhaps even attempt to cross the Endless Sea!”
After a brief pause, Su Xing continued:
“It’s just that… the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art…”
Su Xing recalled the description of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art in his mind.
The fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art was comparable to a Mystic Immortal. It granted extreme speed and strength, allowing one to fully unleash their qi and blood as well as life force, thereby forming a certain kind of aura!
At this level, one could traverse the void with their physical body alone, completely unaffected.
Their life force would stand unyielding, like the most ancient Tree of Life!
“This also means that the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art is an all-around enhancement!”
“Once I break into the fifth layer, my physical strength will likely increase tenfold at minimum! At that point, I’ll truly possess an overwhelming advantage among Mystic Immortals!”
“And after reaching the fifth layer, the aura that forms around my body can also render me immune to the erosion of the void upon the physical body… Even if my magical power becomes destabilized, my physical body can still survive in the void!”
Su Xing felt a surge of anticipation.
One could say that as long as the Great Shaman Body Forging Art reached the fifth layer, Su Xing would possess the qualification to cross the Endless Sea!
“To break from the fourth layer at Perfection into the fifth layer, my qi and blood as well as my physical body need to reach their current absolute limit…”
“Then, let’s officially begin!”
Brimming with anticipation, Su Xing turned his gaze toward the simulation panel.
【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you realized you were in a simulation.】
【You returned to Celestial Demon City and, leveraging your influence and reputation, established the Heavenly Abyss Army. You began recruiting subordinates and soldiers…】
【At this point, your fame was still limited to Celestial Demon City alone.】
【Even so, in just half a month’s time, you recruited several hundred cultivators above the Body Integration stage within Celestial Demon City!】
【Among them were even dozens of Tribulation Transcendence and Mahayana cultivators, as well as two Human Immortals!】
【You produced a portion of spirit liquid to reward your subordinates and win their loyalty.】
【Another three days passed, and you prepared to launch the Heavenly Abyss Army’s first operation.】
【Your target was an alien stronghold located thirty thousand li (15,000 km) southwest of Celestial Demon City.】
【This stronghold was guarded by a Greater Divine Power alien, with dozens of alien deities under its command and several thousand formidable alien warriors.】
【Your original intention was to lead the Heavenly Abyss Army to eradicate it together, but the army had only just been established and its strength was far from sufficient.】
【So you stationed the Heavenly Abyss Army ten thousand li (5,000 km) from the stronghold, then went alone to annihilate it.】
【As expected, you easily destroyed the stronghold and credited the achievement to the Heavenly Abyss Army.】
【Sure enough, news of the alien stronghold’s destruction quickly spread throughout all of Celestial Demon City.】
【The Heavenly Abyss Army’s reputation grew even more prominent, and for a time, even more rogue cultivators wished to join…】
【And because you had slain several thousand aliens, you harvested a considerable amount of blood essence, enough to refine Rebirth Pills.】
【However, before that, you needed to make a trip to Earth first.】
【Following your plan, you informed the Celestial Secrets Pavilion about Red Moon’s intelligence.】
【You then spent approximately five years relocating Earth’s human race to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.】
【After leading two Supreme Unity Golden Immortals to the Endless Abyss, you returned to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and contacted the Azure Cloud Sect.】
【Atop Three Immortals Peak, you successfully obtained the Dao-Enlightenment Tea.】
【You bestowed the new talent, Hundred Flowers Divine Physique, upon Jin Congxue. In just five short years, she had already achieved Spirit Transformation cultivation…】
【Such a terrifying cultivation speed made you suspect that Jin Congxue might also harbor some kind of divine physique within her…】
【But you couldn’t discern any clues for the moment, so you chose not to overthink it.】
【In the sixth year, you resumed the identity of Jiang Hao and made a trip to Celestial Demon City to check on the Heavenly Abyss Army’s progress.】
【Because you had been continuously providing spirit liquid and pills over the years, cultivators flocked to join in droves.】
【In just five short years, dozens of Immortals had joined the Heavenly Abyss Army, along with hundreds of Tribulation Transcendence cultivators… and the number of Mahayana and Body Integration cultivators exceeded three thousand!】
【Such numbers already qualified as top-tier fighting force within the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.】
In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.
“The Heavenly Abyss Army has been established without issues… but the pace is still too slow!”
“Five years—I can’t wait that long…”
Su Xing shook his head slightly. In the simulation, five years passed in the snap of a finger.
But in reality, who knew what level Su Xing’s cultivation and strength would have grown to in five years!
So the Heavenly Abyss Army’s usefulness to Su Xing at that point would be limited…
Therefore, Su Xing needed to unearth more talent as quickly as possible.
The first thing Su Xing thought of was the Star Realm!
As long as Su Xing offered the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method, a large number of elite cultivators in the Star Realm would likely be willing to serve Su Xing! To join the Heavenly Abyss Army!
“It seems I’ll need to make a trip to the Star Realm before long!”
Su Xing thought to himself.
“But for now, the most critical thing is still the Great Shaman Body Forging Art—successfully breaking into the fifth layer!”
He turned his gaze toward the simulation panel.
【Next, you made trips to the Yellow Sand Realm and the Star Realm.】
【Using the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method, you successfully gained the support of Star Realm cultivators, and by offering spirit liquid as incentive, you recruited a great number of cultivators.】
【This Heavenly Abyss Army, aside from defending Celestial Demon City, also became a latent force protecting the human race of Great Xia, guarding against unexpected incidents in your absence.】
【After making thorough preparations, you set out for the Nine Heavens Domain.】
【In the tenth year, you arrived at the Third Heaven and spent two and a half years plundering all the treasures from the various Secret Realms.】
【In the thirteenth year, you successfully reached the Fourth Heaven, where you began cultivating while simultaneously gathering the Fourth Heaven’s treasures.】
【Secret Realms that ordinary cultivators might encounter only once in several thousand years—you had already mapped out over a hundred of them, knowing the exact location of every treasure, able to obtain them with ease.】
【Just like that, sixty-four years passed in the blink of an eye…】
【In the seventy-seventh year, after more than a full sexagenary cycle of arduous cultivation, your strength had grown further.】
【The Great Shaman Body Forging Art still remained at the fourth layer, Perfection, but your qi, blood, and physical body had been growing imperceptibly all along.】
【This process was all too familiar to you!】
【This was the process of breaking through one’s limits!】
【According to the cultivation guidance of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, for the fifth layer there were no specific auxiliary cultivation items—anything capable of enhancing qi and blood could be consumed!】
【Once you crossed the fourth layer and reached the fifth, it would be a qualitative transformation of physical power!】
【To that end, you had prepared numerous items to strengthen the physical body, including Sky-Mending Flowers, alien blood essence… and even rare treasures found within the Secret Realms—all of which you consumed!】
【For an ordinary body cultivator, trying to digest so much energy all at once would be utterly impossible, and would even carry the risk of the body exploding!】
【But you possessed the talent Heaven Devourer and carried the Wu Clan Bloodline, granting you the ability to devour rare treasures and absorb energy far beyond that of ordinary cultivators…】
【Therefore, with the aid of Sky-Mending Flowers, blood essence, and other resources, your physical limits were continuously broken through.】
【At the same time, your Spirit Domain range this year had grown to over seven hundred zhang (2.33 km), and your mastery over your Spirit Domain had further strengthened.】
In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this and murmured:
“Then it’s time for the immersive simulation!”
“Activate immersive simulation, duration: sixty-three years…”
【Ding! You have successfully activated the immersive simulation. Cost: 22,995 points of energy. Remaining energy: 1,762,405 points…】
As the simulation Chime faded, Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulation world.
After appearing inside the Secret Realm, Su Xing surveyed his surroundings and began steeping the Dao-Enlightenment Tea.
“This simulation, I’ll continue comprehending the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny!”
Su Xing drank a sip of Dao-Enlightenment Tea, then began his contemplation of the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method.
…
In the blink of an eye, fifty-four years passed.
That year, the effects of Su Xing’s nine Dao-Enlightenment Tea leaves had been completely exhausted.
When Su Xing emerged from his contemplation, he reflected on the progress of the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny within him.
“Fifty-four years of immersive simulation, under the effects of the Dao-Enlightenment Tea… it’s equivalent to over three thousand years of contemplation!”
“But unfortunately, I’m still far from the fourth realm of the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly. He could feel that his mastery over the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny had become much more proficient.
If before he had just entered the third realm, then now Su Xing could be considered to have explored considerably further within the third realm.
But the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method required comprehending two supreme Great Daos simultaneously—the difficulty was simply too high!
“Once the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method reaches Major Mastery… I should be able to smoothly advance to the fourth realm of the Dao of Cause and Effect!”
“However, at my current pace, it would probably take over thirty thousand years of contemplation to successfully reach the fourth realm, right?”
“Even with the aid of the Dao-Enlightenment Tea and talent bonuses, it would still take over five hundred years…”
Su Xing did a quick calculation.
Each simulation’s Dao-Enlightenment Tea—nine leaves, lasting fifty-four years—was equivalent to three thousand two hundred and forty years of contemplation…
Inevitable Epiphany, with double enhancement, nine days was equivalent to one thousand eight hundred years of contemplation!
Each Dao-Hearing Pill was equivalent to one hundred years of cultivation insight. If he could refine supreme-grade Dao-Hearing Pills, each one should be equivalent to two hundred years of insight…
And there were nine Dao-Hearing Pills in total!
Calculating this way, the maximum amount of comprehension Su Xing could obtain from each immersive simulation was six thousand eight hundred and forty years!
Based on the estimate that smoothly advancing the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny to the fourth realm would require at least four simulations!
“What’s worse is that I currently can’t refine supreme-grade Dao Comprehension Pills, so even if I devoted everything to comprehending the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny, it would still take approximately five or more simulations!”
Thinking of this, Su Xing shook his head slightly.
“Returns and investment are always proportional…”
“But besides comprehending the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method, I can’t neglect the other Great Daos or the Spirit Domain either!”
After some deliberation, Su Xing decided to temporarily use only the Dao-Enlightenment Tea’s benefits for comprehending the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny.
As for Inevitable Epiphany and the effects of the Dao-Hearing Pills, those would be used for other purposes…
“Mm, since that’s the case, next I should spend some time comprehending the Dao of Speed!”
“The Dao of Speed isn’t considered a top-tier Great Dao, so comprehending it should be somewhat less difficult. Reaching the fourth realm shouldn’t take more than ten thousand years, right?”
With that thought, Su Xing activated Inevitable Epiphany.
He began comprehending the Dao of Speed…
In the blink of an eye, nine days passed, and the effects of Inevitable Epiphany gradually dissipated.
Su Xing emerged from his state of epiphany, assessed his progress in the Great Dao of Speed, and nodded slightly:
“Not bad. The Dao of Speed has improved considerably compared to before…”
“Then the objectives of this immersive simulation can be considered complete!”
Su Xing had no plans to remain in the Nine Heavens Domain any longer.
He still had nine Dao-Enlightenment Tea leaves that hadn’t been refined.
Over the course of two months, Su Xing successfully refined nine Dao-Hearing Pills.
With dozens upon hundreds of pill-refining experiences accumulated, in this simulation, Su Xing finally refined his first supreme-grade Dao-Hearing Pill!
A supreme-grade Dao-Hearing Pill—one month of comprehension was equivalent to two hundred years of arduous cultivation!
Its effects were double that of an ordinary Dao-Hearing Pill.
This meant that Su Xing’s skill in refining Dao-Hearing Pills had thoroughly reached the Grand Accomplishment realm!
“Tsk tsk, Grand Accomplishment-level refining skill… from now on, the probability of refining supreme-grade Dao-Hearing Pills will keep increasing!”
“Until eventually I can refine perfect Dao-Hearing Pills with a hundred percent success rate—at that point, I’ll have reached the Perfection level in this particular pill!”
Su Xing thought to himself.
“By now, it should be roughly the one hundred and thirtieth year of the simulation… it’s time to leave the Nine Heavens Domain and visit the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm!”
Su Xing thought this over. He was curious to see what had become of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm after Red Moon’s demise.
And so, Su Xing spent a year and a half traveling from the Fourth Heaven of the Nine Heavens Domain back to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.
Upon arriving at the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, Su Xing first checked on the current state of the human race in Great Xia.
Over a hundred years had passed, and the ordinary people of Great Xia had already gone through several generations.
What pleasantly surprised Su Xing was that the probability of Qi Refining practitioners being born in Great Xia was now extremely high—even higher than in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm!
Nearly one in every ten people was a Qi Refining practitioner!
He even spotted cultivators approaching the peak of Spirit Transformation… the strongest individual to emerge from Great Xia’s ordinary population in over a century!
What surprised Su Xing was that in just over a hundred years since he’d last seen her, Jin Congxue had actually advanced to peak Body Integration stage cultivation.
As for Su Xing’s parents and close friends, he had long since bestowed spiritual roots upon each of them, setting them on the path of immortal cultivation…
Su Xing observed all of this from the shadows without revealing himself. Knowing they were doing well was enough to satisfy him.
Afterward, Su Xing made a trip to the Celestial Demon City front lines to inquire about the current state of the battlefield.
The news of “Jiang Hao” returning to Celestial Demon City quickly caused a sensation!
In just a century, the Heavenly Abyss Army under Su Xing’s command had multiplied tenfold and more!
A hundred thousand soldiers, all at Body Integration stage or Mahayana stage and above…
Furthermore, several hundred Immortal realm powerhouses served as Chiliarchs and Myriarchs.
The only thing that left Su Xing somewhat disappointed was that, aside from himself, the Heavenly Abyss Army had only three Celestial Immortals and nine Earthly Immortals presiding over it.
Most of these powerhouses had been invited by Su Xing from the Star Realm…
However, it was precisely because of the Heavenly Abyss Army’s existence that the alien races could no longer contend with human cultivators on the front lines.
The Lesser Azure Cloud Realm had been remarkably peaceful for the past century.
…
The immersive simulation ended, and Su Xing returned to reality, nodding slightly as he said:
“Is Red Moon truly dead?”
“It’s been over a hundred years… and it still hasn’t appeared.”
Su Xing breathed a slight sigh of relief. The Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was free of red-eyed aliens.
Combined with the changes Su Xing had made to this world, the emergence of the Heavenly Abyss Army was indeed sufficient to protect this realm.
“But the price paid was Earth nearly being destroyed…”
Su Xing shook his head slightly. Even though he had tried his hardest to save the lives of Earth’s human race, aside from Great Xia, over eighty percent of the people from other nations had perished in that catastrophe.
“Well, there’s only so much this simulation can handle!”
“I need to break through to the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer as soon as possible, and Spirit Domain cultivation can’t be neglected either!”
With that thought, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【After much deliberation, you decided to remain on Earth.】
【The blood essence of the alien god was an excellent material for body tempering, and there was plenty of it. You decided to use it to help yourself break through to the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer!】
【And so, from then on, you practiced the Great Shaman Body Forging Art daily, strengthening your physical body and breaking past your limits, while also working harder to comprehend your Spirit Domain.】
【In the blink of an eye, sixty years passed.】
【Year 200. This year, the coverage range of your Spirit Domain reached one thousand zhang (3.33 km)!】
【A thousand-zhang (3.33 km) Spirit Domain was already quite considerable, meaning that in combat, you could effectively strike the vast majority of targets.】
【At the same time, over this sixty-year period, you consumed one Sky-Mending Flower every two years, and your body’s vital energy grew increasingly abundant.】
【Although you had not yet reached the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer, your physical body was already more than twice as powerful as before…】
【However, the supply of Sky-Mending Flowers was limited. Fortunately, you possessed the Luotian Mirror, and you urged the disciples within the Luotian Mirror to cultivate more Sky-Mending Flowers, ensuring you could consume one every two years.】
【The rest of the time, you consumed the more readily available blood essence to temper your body.】
【And so, another hundred years passed…】
【Year 300. Your Spirit Domain’s range had grown to over fifteen hundred zhang (5 km).】
【Compared to a hundred years ago, your physical body was also more than twice as powerful!】
【Over this century and more, thanks to your return, the Heavenly Abyss Army had grown ever stronger.】
【You led the Heavenly Abyss Army, nearly driving the alien races out of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm entirely.】
【The number of alien races you encountered on the battlefield dwindled—often you would search for ten thousand li (5,000 km) and only come across a handful of alien gods.】
【This left you somewhat puzzled…】
【You speculated that perhaps the alien races had decided to shift their battlefield and temporarily abandon their assault on the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm…】
In the real world, Su Xing frowned slightly upon seeing this.
“Alien gods—there’s definitely more than just Red Moon… In fact, the alien races likely have far more powerhouses than the Three Thousand Worlds!”
“Even if Red Moon died… the alien races couldn’t possibly give up on invading the Three Thousand Worlds! It’s merely a question of how long the invasion takes!”
Based on Su Xing’s judgment, the alien races were stronger than the Three Thousand Worlds.
This meant that the invasion of the Three Thousand Worlds was inevitable.
Red Moon had been a major force in the alien invasion of the Azure Origin Domain. With it gone, the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was safe for now.
But that didn’t mean the alien races would abandon the invasion!
“However… there’s only one place where I can get accurate intelligence!”
“The Celestial Secrets Pavilion!”
Su Xing pondered for a moment, then decided to visit the Celestial Secrets Pavilion and ask directly.
He turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【After much deliberation, you decided to visit the Celestial Secrets Pavilion to inquire about the alien races’ situation.】
【At this point, the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm was relatively stable, so the Celestial Secrets Pavilion was still in operation.】
【You spent some resources and successfully purchased a critical piece of intelligence from the Celestial Secrets Pavilion!】
【The alien races, due to the Heavenly Abyss Army’s strength, had temporarily abandoned their invasion of the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, but had accelerated their invasion of other worlds!】
【Their targets of invasion were nearby minor worlds such as the Black Water Realm and the Yellow Sand Realm!】
【Moreover, due to the alien invasion, these two minor worlds were already on the verge of total annihilation…】
【Additionally, the Advent Cult’s main forces were concentrated in these two worlds.】
【Intelligence from the Celestial Secrets Pavilion revealed that the Advent Cult was conducting some kind of mysterious blood sacrifice ritual, carrying out continuous slaughter, seemingly in preparation for an upcoming blood sacrifice…】
In the real world, Su Xing’s heart lurched when he saw this.
Slaughter… blood sacrifice!
“Hiss—I knew it. That thing Red Moon isn’t so easily killed!”
Su Xing rubbed his brow, feeling a headache coming on.
Red Moon was, after all, an existence that had managed to survive even at the hands of Grand Luo Golden Immortals!
Therefore… there was no guarantee it didn’t have hidden cards to play!
As an alien god associated with slaughter and death… it was simply too difficult to kill completely!
“So those two Supreme Unity still didn’t manage to finish off Red Moon?”
“But at least, those two Supreme Unity forced Red Moon into faking its death to escape… which bought several hundred years before its resurrection!”
Su Xing estimated that Red Moon’s main battlefield had shifted and was no longer on Earth.
Now, probably very few people knew the whereabouts of Red Moon’s true body…
Killing Red Moon had become increasingly difficult!
“But these aren’t things I need to worry about right now!”
“This simulation has progressed to the three-hundred-year mark… it’s time to leave the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm!”
Su Xing knew that staying in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm from this point on would no longer be safe.
Therefore, he had to return to the Nine Heavens Domain and make one final push toward the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer!
He turned his gaze to the simulation panel.
【Year 301. You departed the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and headed for the Nine Heavens Domain!】
【In just two years, you arrived at the Fourth Heaven.】
【Year 303. The new batch of Sky-Mending Flowers you had previously arranged to be cultivated had matured… You prepared to make one final push toward the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer!】