Chapter 208: Chapter 178: Great Freedom Heart Scripture and Fusion Stage

Ling Xiao hadn’t found such a good resting place in a long time. He said happily to Clown, "Looks like we’ll be staying here for a while!"

The Spiritual Qi here was abundant. Ling Xiao’s Spiritual Power had already reached the peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, and he planned to break through to the Fusion Stage right here in one go. Once he entered the Fusion Stage, his physical strength would reach the level of a Demon Swordsman!

He used a few Magical Beast Crystal Cores to set up a simple array at the cave’s entrance, preventing any magical beasts or venomous creatures from entering and disturbing him. Then, he let Clown out to roam freely.

Ling Xiao wasn’t worried about Clown’s safety. The little guy was actually very intelligent; it would never provoke an opponent unless it was absolutely certain it could escape. Besides, there were no high-level Flying Magical Beasts in Penzes Swamp, so Clown would have no trouble protecting itself. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Ling Xiao began his closed-door cultivation. If anyone had been able to see the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, they would have witnessed it gathering frenziedly from all directions and converging on Ling Xiao’s cave.

It flowed in through the crown of Ling Xiao’s head, moved through his body along the meridians, and continuously accumulated in his Dantian.

This session of seclusion lasted for ten days. Ling Xiao’s Dantian was now completely filled with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and was constantly expanding!

This was the critical moment for breaking through the bottleneck!

Ling Xiao’s face flushed a deep red, bordering on purple. Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was a wonderful thing, but like a delicious feast, if you ate too much, you’d get indigestion. Eat a truly excessive amount, and you’d feel painfully bloated!

The same was even more true for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

In moderate amounts, it would nourish the Dantian and condition the meridians. But absorbing too much... carried the risk of the Dantian exploding and the meridians tearing apart!

The Fusion Stage breakthrough occurred when a cultivator had absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to a critical point and then violently flooded it all back into their meridians. This process caused the Dantian and meridians to fuse into a single, integrated system! Throughout the cultivator’s body, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi would then flow endlessly, a self-sustaining current.

But this process was excruciatingly painful. This Spiritual Qi, born of heaven and earth, was so powerful it could move mountains and empty seas. Even for a Mahayana Stage Cultivator, the very foundation of their True Essence was still composed of this same Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Before ascension, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was a Cultivator’s very foundation!

At that moment, Ling Xiao’s body was like a giant vortex. Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi spiraled continuously into the crown of his head, flowed through his meridians, and poured into his Dantian. And his Dantian... it just kept expanding, and expanding, and expanding!

Ling Xiao’s face twitched violently, his expression savage and distorted. His hands began to unconsciously form a series of cultivation hand seals. Streaks of Sword Qi shot erratically from his fingertips, blasting shards of rock all over the cave. Ling Xiao, however, seemed utterly oblivious. Any stone fragments that flew toward him were deflected by an invisible energy shield and clattered to the ground.

The Cultivation Heart Method Ling Xiao was practicing was Shushan’s top-tier technique, the "Great Freedom Heart Scripture." It was said that Shushan’s founding ancestor had gained enlightenment from Buddhist principles to create it, and it offered immense benefits for a Cultivator’s mental cultivation. Among all of Shushan’s disciples, those who practiced the Great Freedom Heart Scripture almost never suffered Qi Deviation due to an invasion of Heart Demons.

The Great Freedom Heart Scripture was divided into nine layers. The most miraculous part was that a genius with exceptional comprehension could potentially reach the ninth layer—the Great Perfection Realm—as early as the Nascent Soul Stage. By doing so, their mental cultivation would be so profound that they would be immune to any Heart Demon invasions all the way up to the Mahayana Stage.

However, in all of Shushan’s history, not even the founding ancestor had managed this feat. When he first created this Heart Method based on Buddhist principles, he was already at the Late Soul Emergence Stage.

In later generations, not even the Emperor’s most exceptional disciple was able to cultivate it to the Great Perfection Realm before the Tribulation Crossing Stage.

In his previous life, Ling Xiao had reached the fourth layer of the Great Freedom Heart Scripture while only at the Early Golden Core Stage. His mental cultivation had been so powerful that it had astounded everyone in his sect!

Yet now, having experienced the cycle of death and rebirth, Ling Xiao had already reached the fifth layer of the Great Freedom Heart Scripture!

Even Ling Xiao himself found it unbelievable!

His mental cultivation was incredibly strong and his Spiritual Power was as vast as an ocean; the Great Freedom Heart Scripture was the fundamental—and only—reason for this.

Therefore, even though the pain inside him had reached the absolute limit of his endurance, he knew this was the price to pay. If he wanted to increase his strength this quickly, he had to endure such excruciating pain.

If Ling Xiao had been willing to take his time, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi bit by bit and letting it accumulate in his Dantian, he might have been able to break through without any pain at all.

Speed demanded a price.

Just as the pain reached its zenith, Ling Xiao’s Spirit Platform fell into a state of profound stillness. All the agony seemed to vanish like smoke into thin air. His entire being felt as if it were basking in warm sunlight, utterly comfortable.

’I’ve unknowingly entered the sixth layer of the Great Freedom Heart Scripture, the realm of Selflessness!’ Ling Xiao was ecstatic.

’The sixth layer of the Great Freedom Heart Scripture! Even the Sect Leader of Shushan from before I crossed over was only at the sixth layer!’

First Layer: I View Sentient Beings. Second Layer: Sentient Beings View Me. Third Layer: Transcending Sentient Beings. Fourth Layer: Transcendent Perfection. Fifth Layer: The Self in All Things. Sixth Layer: The Absence of Self!

At that very moment, the Dantian inside Ling Xiao’s body contracted violently before abruptly releasing. A boundless torrent of Spiritual Power, converted from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, surged into every meridian in his body with the force of a tidal wave!

Ling Xiao’s body swelled up like an overinflated balloon, only to be suddenly pricked! It deflated rapidly, then swelled up again, then deflated again... This repeated three times.

Only then did Ling Xiao’s body return to normal. Vast Spiritual Power now roamed freely inside him. His Dantian and meridians were now connected as one, all of his Spiritual Power completely fused!

He had leaped straight into the Mid-Fusion Stage!

From now on, whenever Ling Xiao cultivated, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi he absorbed would no longer need to pass through his Dantian to be utilized. His Dantian and meridians had fused into one! Now, it could be said that his Dantian was his meridians, and his meridians were his Dantian.

Ling Xiao opened his eyes. They held no piercing glare, but were as clear and placid as autumn water. Every gesture he made seemed to carry the nimbleness of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. In his eyes, the entire world appeared incredibly vibrant. And to the world’s eyes, so did he.

’So this is what it feels like to truly step onto the path of cultivation,’ Ling Xiao mused. He felt much stronger than he had when he reached the Fusion Stage in his previous life. A thought struck him. ’Could it be that the abundant Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi here provides such an added benefit?’

Ling Xiao laughed, stepping over the field of debris and out of the cave. Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Clown was nowhere in sight. Ling Xiao gazed down the cliff. The drop of over a hundred meters was no obstacle to his vision. He spread his arms and leaped, his body soaring downward.

At the same time, the Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword appeared in his hand. As he plummeted toward the ground, he touched the sword’s tip to the earth. The blade bent slightly before snapping straight with a sound like a dragon’s cry. Ling Xiao used the rebound to flip through the air, landing steadily on a large boulder.

From deep within the forest, he heard the sound of furious shouting and roaring.

’Beastmen!’

The word suddenly appeared in Ling Xiao’s mind. He leaped, and his figure, like a phantom in the sunlight, vanished like a wisp of smoke.

When he reappeared, he was at the edge of the clearing where the commotion was coming from. He landed silently atop a giant, leafy tree dozens of meters tall and peered down through a gap in the foliage.

He saw a large group of Beastmen surrounding and attacking a Water Python Magical Beast that was over thirty meters long.

These Beastmen were fundamentally different from the ones Ling Xiao had seen in Cameron Town. To his astonishment, he realized that every single Beastman in this group possessed the strength of a Mad Sword Master or greater!

It was a chilling realization.

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Oh man... that was a close one today. I really have to finish writing earlier next time; not having a backlog of Chapters is too dangerous... Anyway, it’s almost midnight, so if you enjoyed it, please consider tossing some recommendation votes my way!

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