Chapter 332
The Primordial Spirit Leaves the Body, and the Daoist Path Becomes Stronger!
Although it was a dream, a hazy state, Zhou Sheng vaguely felt that this choice was very important to him.
If you continue on this path, climbing the immortal trail, you might fall and be shattered to pieces.
Returning would mean the path to immortality would be interrupted, but there would be no danger to one's life. With one's current cultivation and supernatural powers, one could still roam freely throughout the world.
Without any hesitation, Zhou Sheng lifted his foot and stepped towards the clouds.
If we're not going to fix it, then so be it; but since we're going to fix it, we're going to become heavenly beings!
He can accept failure, but he cannot accept failure because of his own cowardice and weakness.
As Zhou Sheng took that step, he plummeted from the clouds, his body losing all its lightness, as if struck down from the clouds by an invisible hand.
His prized magical powers, supernatural abilities, and divine sword have all vanished, and there is no response no matter how he calls out to them.
A sense of fear arose that I was about to lose everything and be plunged into the abyss.
Even the greatest secret, the Luo Shu, has vanished at this moment.
Just then, a faint, ethereal melody suddenly resonated in his mind, seemingly coming from a very distant place.
The familiar melody gave him a jolt.
The Swift Sound of the Cloud Palace!
Subconsciously, the image of a monkey appeared in his mind, wearing a phoenix-winged purple-gold crown, a golden chainmail, holding a Ruyi Jingu Bang (a magical staff), and wearing lotus-silk cloud-walking shoes.
Majestic and awe-inspiring, fighting against heaven and earth!
In an instant, all fear vanished, leaving only a surge of heroic spirit.
Even if I lose everything, even if I'm smashed to pieces, so what?
If one cannot attain true freedom in this life, and cannot possess the power to control one's own destiny, then even if one lives for hundreds or thousands of years, it will not be a happy life!
He wanted to become a true sage.
With a sudden thought, he felt the speed of his descent slowing down, and eventually even rising instead of falling. His body became lighter and lighter, as if he were walking on a long wind for 30,000 miles, soaring straight into the clouds and flying higher and higher.
It is higher than the clouds, higher than the stars, higher than the bright moon.
With a deafening roar, Zhou Sheng felt as if he had jumped out of this world and arrived in another realm.
A cold wind swept over him, making him shiver violently.
This feeling of coldness was completely unfamiliar to him. Since he began cultivating, he had long been immune to heat and cold, and even in heavy snow, he could wear only a single layer of clothing.
But now he seems to have become an ordinary person again, even weaker than an ordinary person, like a newborn baby, easily affected by the slightest breeze.
I opened my eyes, and the sky was still the sky, the earth was still the earth, the moon was bright and the stars were few, and my beloved was by my side.
But in his eyes, this world seemed to have changed.
He could feel the rhythm of the wind, the rise and fall of the clouds, the varying shades of moonlight, and the breath of the mountains…
He looked down and saw himself.
That was his physical body, lying on its side in the coiled dragon posture of the "Sleeping Immortal Technique of the Hidden Dragon," but there was no longer any breathing or heartbeat.
At this moment, he floated in the air, his whole body enveloped in a faint white light.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on breaking through the Heavenly Gate, opening the Mysterious Pass, and attaining the ability to separate your primordial spirit from your body, becoming a half-step terrestrial immortal."
A figure radiating white light flew through the void, like a god wandering in the night, with a smile on its face.
This person was none other than Old Man Niushan, who was also experiencing astral projection. However, the white light flowing around him was more dazzling than that of Zhou Sheng, and his primordial spirit was also more solid.
"May I ask, senior, why do I feel so cold?"
Zhou Sheng quickly seized the opportunity to ask for advice. Although the old man of Niushan was only at the sixth level of cultivation, his knowledge was unfathomable, and it would not be an exaggeration to call him an omniscient person.
"Hehe, it's good that it's cold."
"It seems that old fellow Yu Zhensheng didn't expect you to break through to the sixth level so quickly, and didn't even tell you some basic common sense."
The old man from Niushan sighed and said, "This sixth test actually has two aspects. The first is to be fearless, to step out of the Heavenly Gate, and to have a heart as firm as diamond in seeking the Tao."
Zhou Sheng recalled his previous experience and couldn't help but nod inwardly, feeling sincerely grateful for Jinse's help.
If it weren't for her music, I would never have been able to overcome my fear so quickly and strengthen my resolve to seek the truth.
"As for the second test, it is the moment when the primordial spirit leaves the body. If it is a newborn baby, it is extremely fragile. Without the protection of the physical body, any rain or wind can kill it."
"Therefore, most people who break through the sixth level will choose a quiet room that can shelter them from the wind and rain, and will also light a special incense that can calm the mind and gather the soul, making full preparations before they try."
"You little rascal, you chose a cliff where the mountain winds howl. For a newly formed primordial spirit, it's like a newborn baby being put directly into a wind tunnel and an ice cave. It would be a miracle if you didn't feel cold!"
Zhou Sheng was immediately ashamed, but as time passed, he felt the bone-chilling coldness rapidly dissipating, and his primordial spirit became more and more relaxed.
There's even a sense of liberation from constraints, a feeling of being at ease like a fish in water.
"However, your magical power is truly too profound, tsk tsk. Nearly three hundred years of cultivation, yet you passed this test with just a shiver. If word got out, I wonder how many people would envy you..."
Zhou Sheng's extraordinary experiences and extraordinary fortune amazed even the well-informed Elder Niu Shan.
With nearly three hundred years of cultivation, he was comparable to some terrestrial immortals who had just survived their tribulations. Those people were all extraordinary figures in the mortal world, with astonishing backgrounds and boundless fortune.
But who can have nearly three hundred years of cultivation at the age of twenty-something?
Even his revered mentor, whom he considered a god, didn't have such good fortune back then.
"This is all thanks to Senior's Seven-Turn Dragon-Tiger Golden Core. If I'm not mistaken, that tiger demon inner core... probably has quite a background as well."
Zhou Sheng expressed his gratitude again, not as a formality, but as a heartfelt expression of appreciation.
A seven-turn golden elixir that can enhance one's cultivation by a hundred years far surpasses the effects of half a dragon's inner core.
He recalled the phantom of the tiger on the day the elixir was completed, and felt a vague sense of familiarity, leading to a guess in his mind.
"Hehe, you guessed right. That inner core was left by my master. Back when he cut off the dragon vein of Changbai Mountain, he was blocked by a tiger demon that had survived three heavenly tribulations. My master set up a great formation and summoned heavenly lightning to kill the tiger demon, leaving only this inner core."
"As his first disciple, the old beggar naturally obtained this inner core. Therefore, this Seven-Turn Dragon-Tiger Golden Core can be said to be a unique creation in the world. Even if you kill a few more dragons, you still can't refine it."
Hearing these words, Zhou Sheng's heart was stirred.
Things in this world are truly full of coincidences.
He and the Imperial Tutor Liu Bowen were truly destined to meet. Not only did he obtain three of the nine dragon veins that Liu Bowen had severed, but he also had a grudge against the remnant soul of the tiger demon that Liu Bowen had killed. Now, he had the good fortune of obtaining the tiger demon's inner core, which was refined by Liu Bowen's personal disciple.
Is it a coincidence?
Old Man Niu Shan suddenly gave him a meaningful look, a hint of amusement in his smile.
"My master was incredibly insightful. He left his inner core to me, perhaps intending to use the old beggar's hand to help you, kid, three hundred years from now."
"How about... you become my disciple, and I'll accept you as my junior brother on behalf of my master?"
...(End of this chapter)