Chapter 400 – Refining Essence into Qi, Becoming a God Through Faith!

【Simulation #146 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 2,867,128 points… Remaining simulation attempts: 1.】

【Simulation begins!】

【Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1 origin energy point. Draw?】

“Yes!”

【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the gold talent Lunar Divine Physique… Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 80%…】

【Lunar Divine Physique】: Gold talent. One of the Hundred Great Divine Physiques. Possesses a portion of the celestial Lunar Star’s authority, with an innate ability to control ghosts and yin entities.

“Lunar Divine Physique? It seems to be the counterpart to the Solar Divine Physique from before…”

Su Xing mulled it over. This talent might be extremely suitable for ghost cultivators, but he himself had no use for it.

“The top priority is still breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm as soon as possible!”

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

【Ding! Please select your Plus One…】

“I choose Late Bloomer…”

【In the spirit field grotto-heaven, you become aware that you are in a simulation.】

【You spent one month in the Star Realm, harvesting over 300,000 Star Stones…】

【After obtaining enough Star Stones, you left the Star Realm and headed to Earth…】

【After safely retrieving the human race from Earth, you went to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion and sold the Red Moon intelligence…】

【You then traveled across the Azure Origin Domain, reclaiming the Luotian Sect’s legacies.】

【Year 30: You departed for the Endless Sea.】

【Year 48: You successfully arrived at the Heavenly Secrets Domain, White Cloud Realm.】

【Over the next two hundred-plus years, you remained in the White Cloud Realm cultivating with all your might, simultaneously training your Spirit Domain and raising your cultivation.】

【In the blink of an eye, time reached the 300th year.】

【By this point, your cultivation had approached the late stage of Mystic Immortal ninth layer…】

【That same year, the Celestial Vessel descended. You boarded the Celestial Vessel and headed for the Celestial Secrets Realm…】

【Year 320: The foreign races ambushed the Celestial Vessel.】

【In this battle, you displayed great divine might, slaying numerous foreign race gods and Divine Sovereigns. You earned the White Emperor’s favor and accumulated a considerable number of Celestial Secrets Pavilion contribution points.】

【Year 330: The Celestial Vessel successfully arrived at the Celestial Secrets Realm.】

【You began contemplating your next cultivation direction…】

In the Real World, Su Xing pondered as he read this.

“In this simulation, I still haven’t used the Dao-Enlightenment Tea… It’s time to comprehend a new Great Dao!”

Currently, among Su Xing’s various Great Daos, the ones that had reached the fifth realm were the Great Dao of the Sword, the Five Elements Dao, and the Great Dao of Speed!

Su Xing could perhaps afford to delay the other Daos slightly, but the Dao of Cause and Effect and the Great Dao of Space were ones he needed to advance to the fifth realm as soon as possible.

After all, these two Daos were directly tied to Su Xing’s safety in reality and his speed of acquiring energy.

“Then next up—Great Dao of Space, let’s enter the fifth realm as quickly as possible!”

After some deliberation, Su Xing decided to prioritize advancing the Great Dao of Space.

Once the Great Dao of Space entered the fifth realm, Su Xing’s movement speed would see a further boost.

At that point, his speed traveling between the various worlds would be even faster!

With this thought, Su Xing silently intoned:

“Activate immersive simulation, duration: 70 years…”

【Ding! You have successfully activated immersive simulation. Remaining origin energy: 2,841,578 points…】

As the Chime faded, Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulated world.

…

In the blink of an eye, the seventy-year immersive simulation ended, and Su Xing returned to reality.

“Whew, the Great Dao of Space… has finally advanced another step, reaching the fourth realm Minor Mastery level!”

During this seventy-year simulation, Su Xing had consumed a considerable number of Dao essence treasures, combined with the Dao-Enlightenment Tea, Inevitable Epiphany, and nine supreme-grade Dao-Hearing Pills.

Only then had he finally pushed the Great Dao of Space into the fourth realm Minor Mastery!

Clearly, the cultivation difficulty of the Great Dao of Space was significantly higher than Su Xing had imagined.

Su Xing estimated that he would need at least three to four more simulations before he could successfully advance the Great Dao of Space to the fifth realm!

“However… just going from fourth realm entry-level to Minor Mastery alone, my overall movement speed has improved by more than ten percent!”

“At this rate, once the spatial Dao enters the fifth realm, my movement speed will probably double outright!”

“At that point, traveling between the Star Realm and the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm would only take about ten days…”

Time, for Su Xing, meant origin energy—meant strength!

The faster Su Xing could move, the more convenient it was to travel to other worlds.

Naturally, the speed at which he could acquire origin energy would also increase.

“My Qi Refinement cultivation has also smoothly risen to Mystic Immortal realm ninth layer, approaching the late stage… So it’s time to steadily build up my strength for a while!”

With a plan already in mind, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Year 400: Your comprehension of the spatial Dao deepened further.】

【Over the next sixty years, you accumulated your foundation and practiced the Zhengyi Breath Absorption Art daily.】

【Year 460: Your cultivation successfully entered the late stage of Mystic Immortal ninth layer…】

【In addition to your daily cultivation, you took on missions more frequently, as acquiring the Spirit-Connecting Flower required more contribution points.】

【You chose not to seek trouble with the Red-Pupiled Divine Sovereign, as the benefits from killing him would be extremely limited.】

【In the blink of an eye, another two sexagenary cycles passed…】

【Year 580: Your cultivation finally advanced another step, climbing to the ninth layer Peak.】

【You began your seclusion, attempting to break through to the final stage—Mystic Immortal Great Perfection.】

【This seclusion lasted a full seventy years.】

【Until year 650…】

【Having spent over 300 million high-grade spirit liquid, and with the aid of countless precious treasures, you finally shattered that last barrier…】

【Congratulations! You have successfully advanced to Mystic Immortal Great Perfection!】

In the Real World, Su Xing let out a long breath of relief upon seeing this.

“Finally… broken through to Mystic Immortal Great Perfection…”

“It was within expectations, though…”

Before this simulation, Su Xing had already been approaching the mid-stage of Mystic Immortal ninth layer.

Yet going from the mid-stage of Mystic Immortal ninth layer to Mystic Immortal Perfection had still taken a full six hundred years!

For an ordinary Mystic Immortal, this single step alone would likely take no less than thirty thousand years!

It was only with sufficient spirit liquid resources, combined with talent and effort, that Su Xing had reached this point…

“But Mystic Immortal Perfection is merely the beginning, not the end!”

“Next comes the assault on the Golden Immortal realm…”

“Condensing the Three Flowers Above the Crown, refining essence into qi… The time has come!”

Su Xing clenched his fist, his heart stirring with excitement.

After entering the Golden Immortal realm, Su Xing’s strength would undoubtedly undergo another massive leap.

At that time, below Supreme Unity, there would be virtually no existence that could threaten Su Xing.

Perhaps after that, Su Xing wouldn’t need to skulk around in hiding anymore, and could instead wage guerrilla warfare openly?

After all, the foreign races’ invasion speed couldn’t match Su Xing’s growth rate!

“From year 650 to year 800… one hundred and fifty years. I wonder if that’s enough to successfully condense it?”

Su Xing felt somewhat anxious as he turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Year 650: You publicly announced your seclusion, beginning preparations for refining essence into qi and condensing the Human Flower.】

【Refining essence into qi—a human being, within the mother’s womb, is born from the transformation of essence. Thus, vital essence is also the seed of reincarnation.】

【The process of refining essence into qi may offer a glimpse into the mysteries of reincarnation…】

【You entered the spirit field grotto-heaven, casting aside all external distractions. Even the usually boisterous Spirit Vein Dragon sensed something and fell into slumber.】

【Your mind began to gradually empty. Lust and desire slowly faded from your heart…】

【Beneath your dantian, the Essence Refining Stone emanated a warm aura that, beginning from the dantian, circulated through every inch of your body.】

【Your meridians, enveloped by this gentle energy, began to undergo a profound and mysterious transformation…】

【You felt as though you had returned to the womb, your entire being wrapped in a warmth unlike anything you had ever experienced…】

【Outside, time trickled by, moment by moment…】

【But you felt no sense of time passing whatsoever…】

【Within your body, the Mysterious Gateway also underwent a subtle transformation as time flowed on…】

【Droplets of crystalline radiance began to gather within the Mysterious Gateway. The Dao of Yin-Yang began to shift and transform within you…】

【Gradually, you seemed to forget your physical form. Your entire being entered a state of ethereal emptiness, your body becoming as soft as an infant’s, your flesh radiating a jade-like luster.】

【In this moment, your mind was purer than it had ever been, filled with an unprecedented sense of clarity and openness…】

【An unknown span of time passed…】

【When you opened your eyes once more, it was as if you were a newborn infant—everything before you felt strange and wondrous.】

【Memories flooded back like a returning tide, gradually unsealing…】

【You gazed around with curiosity at everything. The world, in your eyes, had begun to change in certain ways…】

【The Dao that had once drifted between heaven and earth now appeared ever more clearly.】

【It seemed as though you had drawn closer to them!】

【You remained in the same posture from when you first entered seclusion, yet time had slipped away without your notice.】

【Counting on your fingers, you only then realized…】

【This seclusion had lasted a full one hundred and forty years!】

【One hundred and forty years had passed silently… yet it felt as though you had merely closed your eyes for the briefest of moments.】

【And now, it was already simulation year 790!】

【Congratulations! You have successfully shed the impurities of human desire, refined essence into qi, and condensed the Human Flower!】

In the Real World, Su Xing blinked at this.

“Hm? The Human Flower… it condensed just like that?”

Su Xing had originally expected that condensing the Three Flowers Above the Crown would be incredibly difficult.

Yet he hadn’t anticipated that with the Essence Refining Stone’s assistance, it would be achieved so easily!

“No, wait… this body of mine has never lost its primal yang. Combined with the fact that I’ve maintained strict self-discipline and minimal desires throughout my cultivation journey, that’s why condensing the Human Flower was so effortless?”

“It was like taking a light nap, and when I opened my eyes again, it was already done…”

“With the Human Flower condensed… that makes me a half-step Golden Immortal now!”

Su Xing was delighted. The Golden Immortal realm was drawing ever closer.

“Moreover, it’s simulation year 790… There are still ten years until that great battle. I can absolutely accumulate enough merit, and find a way to bring out the Spirit-Connecting Flower…”

“If I can successfully bring out the Spirit-Connecting Flower, then in the next simulation, I’ll be able to smoothly refine qi into spirit and condense the Earth Flower!”

Su Xing’s heart brimmed with anticipation as he turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Year 790: After successfully condensing the Human Flower and stepping into the half-step Golden Immortal stage, you spent some time adapting to your thoroughly renewed body.】

【The condensation of the Human Flower gradually brought you to a state of returning to simplicity, but your mana seemed to show little growth…】

【Ten years passed quickly…】

【Year 800: The first great war between the alien races and the Heavenly Secrets Domain erupted.】

【In this battle, you held nothing back, slaying large numbers of alien Divine Sovereigns and accumulating considerable merit.】

【Year 805: You and Xiao Zhanlong devised a plan to slay that Shadow Tribe Divine Sovereign.】

【This step of planning lasted an entire year…】

【In the end, with your masterful acting and Xiao Zhanlong’s coordination, you killed the Red-Pupiled Divine Sovereign.】

【Yet in this battle, you put yourself in grave danger and claimed the greatest merit, but also suffered severe injuries.】

【After recovering from your wounds, you examined the changes in your own strength.】

【The Heart of the Strong talent successfully triggered!】

【But your realm showed no change whatsoever, still remaining at the stage of refining essence into qi, having successfully condensed the Human Flower.】

【However, you discovered that your mana had become nearly ten percent more dense compared to before you lost consciousness!】

【You understood this was because your strength had reached a bottleneck and could not break through further.】

【Therefore, Heart of the Strong could only increase the density of your mana…】

In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.

“So that’s how it is — once the realm reaches its critical point, Heart of the Strong can’t trigger a breakthrough…”

“But it can still use Heart of the Strong to continue growing mana and increasing strength…”

“Following this logic, physical body bottlenecks should also be unbreakable — only raw power and vital energy can grow…”

Su Xing thought it over; this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

After all, once you hit a bottleneck, that ten percent increase in mana was obtained for free.

It was equivalent to having nearly half a realm’s worth of extra accumulation and depth compared to cultivators at the same level!

At higher realms, especially after reaching Great Firmament Golden Immortal, wasn’t it precisely these things that determined victory?

“When the time comes, everyone will be Great Firmament Golden Immortals… what you’re really comparing is accumulation and depth.”

Su Xing understood this deeply.

The most obvious example was the battle between the White Emperor and Blood Two!

Blood Two was also a Great Firmament Golden Immortal, yet was suppressed by the White Emperor throughout the entire fight, nearly losing his life.

Wasn’t it precisely because the White Emperor had broken through to Great Firmament Golden Immortal so long ago that his accumulation — whether in Great Dao comprehension or mana density — far surpassed Blood Two’s?

Therefore, even among Great Firmament, there were vast differences!

“This great war has also ended… so next, the plan is to find a way to exchange for the heavenly treasure, the Spirit-Connecting Flower!”

Su Xing didn’t know whether his contribution points would be sufficient.

His gaze turned to the simulation panel.

【Year 810: After the great war ended, you returned to the Celestial Secrets Realm.】

【You went to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion’s main hall, hoping to exchange the contributions you had accumulated over centuries for a Spirit-Connecting Flower.】

【But the Spirit-Connecting Flower was far too precious — the dream of every cultivator at the Mystic Immortal Perfection stage.】

【Even with sufficient contributions, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion had only one…】

【Moreover, several cultivators who had already successfully condensed the Human Flower were waiting to make the exchange.】

【But you were determined to obtain the Spirit-Connecting Flower no matter what…】

【So you had someone put you in contact with the other cultivators who needed the Spirit-Connecting Flower, and offered them treasures as compensation, barely managing to get them to withdraw from the competition.】

【In the end, you successfully obtained the opportunity to exchange for this sole Spirit-Connecting Flower.】

【The Spirit-Connecting Flower — across the entire Three Thousand Worlds, fewer than ten existed…】

【And in the Celestial Secrets Pavilion, there was only this one…】

【Every single Spirit-Connecting Flower was extraordinarily precious.】

【You carefully planted the Spirit-Connecting Flower in the Five Elements Soil within your spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【At this point, you didn’t have much time left. You couldn’t take risks — if you wasted this Spirit-Connecting Flower, all your efforts would have been for nothing…】

【…】

In the Real World, Su Xing breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

“Good — as long as the Spirit-Connecting Flower is in hand, everything else can be managed…”

“With this Spirit-Connecting Flower, condensing the Earth Flower shouldn’t be far off…”

“Next, since my main body’s strength is difficult to raise further, I should go improve the lesser demon disguise’s strength instead…”

Su Xing thought this, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.

【Year 820: You traveled to a lesser chiliocosm and transformed into your lesser demon disguise form.】

【Over the following decades, you bred a considerable number of lesser demons in this lesser chiliocosm.】

【Your existence quickly drew significant attention from the alien races.】

【The 3rd Grand Legion personally invited you to join.】

【You did not refuse, becoming a vice-commander of the 3rd Grand Legion.】

【Year 1000: Your realm successfully advanced to the late stage of Greater Divine Power.】

【Year 1200: You comprehended spatial laws, and your mastery of law power successfully entered the third realm, increasing your divine power…】

【Year 1300: The 3rd Grand Legion was destroyed, and you transferred to the 2nd Legion.】

【Year 1400: Your divine power rose to Peak Greater Divine Power…】

【You began preparing to break through to the True God level.】

【True God was different from all previous breakthroughs — mere accumulation of divine power alone was utterly insufficient.】

【Abundant divine power, a condensed godhood, and sufficient divinity — only then could one become a True God!】

【For you, divine power was not an issue. Having cultivated step by step to Peak Greater Divine Power, your divine power was already not far from the True God level.】

【Combined with sufficient blood essence, you could ensure enough divine power for the ascension to True God!】

【As for divinity, that was even less of a problem for you!】

【Both your speed laws and spatial laws had entered the third realm — your divinity was more than sufficient.】

【The only thing you lacked was a godhood!】

【Condensing a godhood was an extremely difficult process. Apart from killing other True Gods to seize their godhoods…】

【The only other method was faith!】

【With enough living beings worshipping you, you could become a True God!】

【Ordinary alien True Gods did not ascend through faith, but through slaughter!】

【But you were different… As the only lesser demon on the verge of reaching True God, all lesser demons naturally worshipped you!】

【What you needed was to cultivate enough followers…】

【And how to cultivate them? Simply breed enough lesser demons!】

【Every newborn of the Lesser Demon Tribe was your most loyal follower…】

【Under these circumstances, you began a large-scale breeding plan…】

【Every pair of lesser demons produced a minimum of one hundred lesser demons per year…】

【You had accumulated sufficient blood essence to sustain the entire Lesser Demon Tribe’s reproduction…】

【In just one short year, across dozens of legions, the lesser demon population had already exceeded one hundred billion…】

【And your goal was to birth lesser demons numbering in the trillions!】

【But to achieve such a rate, sufficient blood essence was required to support it…】

【So you began leveraging your connections, “borrowing” blood essence from the various major legions.】

【Every legion was happy to befriend a lesser demon on the verge of breaking through to True God…】

【Thus, you easily obtained massive quantities of blood essence.】

【And so, another half year passed…】

【The number of lesser demons worshipping you grew ever larger…】

【You could gradually sense the power of faith becoming increasingly immense, aiding you in condensing your godhood…】

In the Real World, Su Xing’s expression became somewhat intrigued upon seeing this.

“Ascending to godhood through faith… now that’s a different path entirely!”

Su Xing also understood the power of so-called faith.

Not only among the alien races — even in the cultivation world, there existed the immortal power of faith and incense worship used to achieve immortality!

Using the power of incense worship to condense an immortal physique and immortal rank, ultimately becoming a deity to protect a region.

But ascending through incense and faith always came with certain drawbacks.

The reason was nothing more than this: the number of living beings who believed in a deity often directly determined the magnitude of their immortal power!

If one truly had enough worshippers, one could even rival a Great Firmament Golden Immortal!

But that was far too difficult!

An ordinary immortal who ascended through faith would already be considered exceptional if they reached the Celestial Immortal realm.

After all, living beings in this world were limited, and there was more than one incense-worship deity.

The same applied to the alien races.

Within any single alien tribe, numbers were limited. Even if faith could help one ascend to godhood, it couldn’t sustain too many alien gods.

And other species of aliens typically wouldn’t offer their faith…

It seemed the Lesser Demon Tribe was the sole exception!

“The Lesser Demon Tribe’s numbers can absolutely grow without limit, as long as there’s enough blood food!”

“And the Lesser Demon Tribe’s population is definitely the largest among all the races!”

“So… it seems I really can walk the path of faith ascension!”

At this thought, Su Xing’s eyes grew solemn.

Just how many lesser demons existed in total — Su Xing didn’t know.

But in every war, the lesser demon cannon fodder that died numbered in the millions at minimum.

With the alien races invading the Three Thousand Worlds, nearly every day countless worlds were under assault, and the number of lesser demons dying was beyond reckoning!

One could even say that the Lesser Demon Tribe’s total population might rival all other alien races combined!

“If I ascend through faith, the Lesser Demon Tribe would absolutely be able to supply enough worship!”

At this thought, a sharp gleam burst from Su Xing’s eyes.

If this were truly the case, the Lesser Demon Tribe’s potential was absolutely greater than Su Xing had imagined!

It might even rival the so-called Emperor Clan and King Clan!

The only issue was that lesser demons had poor cultivation aptitude, and those who could become gods were already a minority.

Let alone cultivating to Greater Divine Power — throughout the entire history of the Lesser Demon Tribe, there might not have been more than a handful who achieved it.

Add to that the Lesser Demon Tribe’s simple-mindedness, and they might never have figured this out.

This was precisely why the Lesser Demon Tribe remained the lowest-ranked existence among the myriad races!

But if Su Xing’s idea could be realized…

Then the Lesser Demon Tribe would be a quintessential late-game race — the kind that overwhelmed quality with sheer, absolute quantity!

“Then let’s try this path of faith ascension!”

“I want to see just how terrifying the Lesser Demon Tribe’s potential really is!”

Su Xing felt a surge of anticipation as his gaze returned to the simulation panel.