The quantity of Spiritual Drops condensed in Qi Refinement pretty much decided the size of a cultivator's Qi Pool. The cultivation method impacted the quality, and when additional forces such as Evil Qi and Divine Power joined the dance, unpredictable results became the norm. Qingxin had seen and accomplished too much in his lifetime to be surprised by the oceanic size of Xinzi's Qi Pool. It was staggering for sure, but not something that defied his understanding.
The nature and quality of it, however, made the senior abbot bite his lips and hide his trembling hands behind his back. Not only did the five elements, yin and yang, seamlessly intertwine in Xinzi's Qi Sea, but they also tapped into both the Evil and Divine Powers to add various embryonic laws to the midst—bringing size and quality to unprecedented levels.
Yet, Xinzi wasn't satisfied. Our monk didn't merely want to breakthrough to Foundation Building. Lianism, formation arts, cultivation level, he'd bring them all up in one breath.
The second-layer Fascination and Retribution Seals on Xinzi's body broke down. The lotus underneath him bloomed with radiant light, and as his breakthrough went on, the monk returned to his monastic roots—sinking into Lianist Enlightenment.
'Your main Demon Heart is too weak to resist the pressure of your new bones' Divine Powers. You might be able to suppress it for some time, but ultimately the pain will gnaw at you, break the balance, and cost you this body. To solve this somewhat, you must increase your Holy Force—the more, the better.' Qingxin thought. Unlike Divine Power and Evil Qi, Holy Force was an entirely neutral energy bound to no primordial alignment.
It could pair with the divine just like it could blend with the infernal—or just exist in harmony with either one. Qingxin knew that Xinzi understood this principle. Unfortunately, "understanding" was only the first of many barriers in cultivating Holy Force.
Unlike Divine Power or Evil Qi, Holy Force could only come from self-enlightenment. No shortcut would yield results, so Xinzi could only rely on himself. Underneath his master's gaze, our monk started chanting the Mantra of Indulgence. An offensive call for decadence pealed throughout the void space, rattling Qingxin's ears.
"Sinking into Indulgence.
Offending the Law.
Offending the Earth.
Rankling the Seas and Heavens." For the first time, the senior abbot confronted the depth of his disciple's profane enlightenment. And while he'd already expected such results, the truth still frustrated him.
Golden rays coiled Xinzi's form, and he loosened the forces keeping up the chaotic equilibrium in his body. Again, Divine Power oppressed Evil Qi, and searing waves of pains wracked our monk's body. But here, he reached out, grabbing the two Nascent Souls burning at his left and right. In that instant, Xinzi realized that, as the vector of transmutative reality, it behooved him to turn grief into bliss. If he couldn't even do it for himself, how could he do it for the world at large?
The monk's lips curled up, and he brought the two burning souls to his lips. His mouth opened wide, and he bit the head off the first Nascent Soul—then did the exact same thing with the second one.
When the monk's teeth sank into the two golden soul's necks, ear-splitting shrieks rang in the void space. But a moment afterward, Xinzi's holy force flowed through the mangled souls, turning that debilitating pain into a rush of ecstasy. Body, arms and legs followed, Qingxin's eyes widened in disbelief, and by the time that he'd recovered his senses, Xinzi had cannibalized the two Nascent Souls.
Waves of Holy Force rushed out of the lotus underneath him, filling and washing over his body.
'Indeed. Dual Cultivation, Soul Consumption, Demonic Refinement, all are tools to smother the internal war and indulge in bliss. The more I indulge, the more Holy Force I generate. My Indulgence has already exceeded the status of Word. Yes…it is now a Law.' Xinzi's lips curled into a smile, and the monk joined his hands in a prayer sign.
"May All Living Things Indulge in Eternal Bliss," Xinzi pronounced his Law. Mesmerizing waves of golden Holy Force poured out of his flesh, soul, bones and organs as he took his final step as an Enlightened Monk and rose…to Eminent Monk status.
Above the multicolored sea of qi, three seven-colored seeds took shape, then fell into the ocean and vanished at the bottom of its depths.
'Terrifying. In each realm breakthrough, cultivators have the opportunity to refine a Seed of Immortality, thereby laying down the foundation for their future ascension. Without at least three seeds, condensing an Immortal Platform is impossible. When others struggle to condense one seed in a lifetime, you've gotten three already. Based on this accomplishment, even if you only go through ordinary realm breakthroughs in the future, you will still achieve Immortal Ascension.' Even Qingxin couldn't stay stoic. After all, he'd barely managed to refine one seed per realm—to say nothing of three in Foundation Building. And that accomplishment alone put him far above any other Hengye clansman.
In other circumstances, Qingxin would have relished Xinzi's accomplishments. But the direction that he took strayed farther and farther from the righteous path. Now, the abbot would rather see his disciple shine as the average narcissistic deity, than keep going down the corrupt path that he seemed so dead-set on.
As if to give credence to the senior abbot's thoughts, stones, fire sparks, water bubbles and other manifestations of the elements that occasionally raced through this void space gathered by Xinzi's lotus throne. Multi-colored beams fell from his Qi Sea, blessing the elements with an amalgam of divine, holy, evil and transmutative energies.
Thunderous laughs boomed out of the elements, as under Qingxin's gaze, they acquired sentience and became enlightened. The stone morphed into a golem, the fire spark into a flame elemental. Other elements morphed as well, becoming spirits that bowed towards Xinzi.
For the first time in thousands of years, Qingxin was scared out of his wits.
Xinzi opened his eyes. The Qi Sea returned to his body, making the structure of his dantian undergo a qualitative change. The Five Elements and all their variations now existed in harmony within Xinzi's seven-colored Qi. The first Inverse Dao Seal vanished as well, becoming food for the monk's Void Spiritual Root. There, magenta flames replaced the Frigid Flames.
"Master, your disciple has broken through to the Foundation Building realm. Yet, your disciple cannot see any happiness in your eyes—almost as if you'd rather not see me grow.
But master, I understand your thoughts. And that is why I want you to see, to know…that there is nothing you can do to prevent me from becoming the entity that I yearn to be. God, Saint, Devil, in truth, it doesn't matter. So long as I can control all facets of reality, strip and alter things as I please, I can establish my own Pure Land—a true paradise unfettered by all the contradictions of the upper realms," Xinzi said and stretched out his hands.
Golden runes materialized, rotating and aligning to form layers upon layers as, with one single move, Xinzi set-up a third-layer formation. In that formation, the virtual images of idyllic scenes where men and women alike drowned in ecstasy alternated before Qingxin's trembling eyes.
"Master, mortals are pitiful creatures. The divines, saints and devils alike lie to them—forcing them to go through lifetimes upon lifetimes of indignation, pain and grief, only to serve as tools for the upper realm tycoons' growth. There is no justice. No right or wrong. No afterlife. Heaven assigns arbitrary fates, Hell further twists them—adding change and chaos to feast on negativity while the Saints watch…they watch, learn and watch some more. The Golden Lotus is only primordial being that I do not despise, because it doesn't pretend to offer something that it will not." In Qingxin's mind, Xinzi's level tone only enhanced the contempt that he showed for the various superior beings.
"All mortal worlds are on a deadline. Sooner or later, they will be destroyed. Then new worlds will replace them, and the loop goes on. Master, I am curious. Faced with these truths, and the opportunity to leap into an ever-expanding world free of disease and grief, will mortals lose the ability to value ecstasy, or will the unfettered chants of decadence peal for an eternity? I'm curious. I want to see it. And this Five Elements Transmutative Technique will be the tool I use to shape that world into reality.
Cultivator, formation master? Monk, divine, devil, good, evil? These terms do not ring true, and I'm sure that the world will find better terms to define me. Until then, master, take good care of yourself. For I do hope that you will be there to watch the inauguration of my new road.." Though mystical, holy forces coated Xinzi's form, his words echoed with a calm, nefarious tone that sent chills down his master's spine.