Chapter 298: Bright Spirit

Around half of the year had passed by since Cao Yun and his fellow third-years had entered the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. At first, a tense atmosphere had permeated through the Wubei Sect. Even the disciples who had no idea of what was going on had been able to feel it in the air. Indeed, the chief elders, the elders and even the instructors were all aware of the looming threat from the demonic cultivators, albeit with varying precision. Moreover, they had just come out of a demonic beasts stampede. Although it had been protected by its defenses, the sect was still licking its wounds as Sect Leader Xuan was busy rebuilding the most intricate array formations. Some were so old and powerful that only a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior had any chance of doing anything.

But as the attack did not come, the atmosphere became stranger and stranger. It felt as though everyone had been waiting for a war that had not come. With time, some became less vigilant. In their view, the demonic cultivators had renounced. Since their plans had been known, they had probably tucked their tail and ran. Others were not so optimistic, but they still had to attend to everyday life.

Within the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, Cao Yun had almost forgotten about the threat of the demonic cultivators. It was still there in the back of his mind. But he was fully focused on the test he was facing right now. After several months of perpetual fighting against the armor, Cao Yun had inflicted incredible damage to it. And now, he was certain he could destroy it with a single move.

Slowly, he had realized that mastering martial arts was maybe even more important than cultivation itself. The Mortal Warrior realm was not a very complicated realm. The Mortal realm was also known as the Foundation Realm and it was difficult for some because it literally consisted in creating the foundation for cultivation. But once those foundations had been built, the next realm was the Forge Realm. It consisted in using those foundations to finally forge the Soul Embryo. Apart from that final step that was the first real tribulation, the Lesser Tribulation, this realm had nothing really difficult in it. One simply had to strengthen and fully open the Five Prodigious Gates, accumulate Fire Qi in the Middle Dantian and then prepare the meridians and vessels for the birth of the Soul Embryo.

There was really nothing new. In the previous realm, every cultivator had already worked on their meridians and vessels, on accumulating Qi and on opening and controlling their acupoints. As such, apart from the Lesser Tribulation, progressing within this realm was only a question of time. Most cultivators who had been able to become a Mortal Warrior ended up being stuck either at the Qi accumulating phase or just before the Lesser Tribulation. Some were too afraid to go forward while others had not prepared enough for it. However, going back to prepare better was extremely difficult.

Each grade of the Mortal Warrior realm was stronger than the previous one, but the greatest difference was between the Mortal Warrior realm and the Spirit Warrior realm. There was almost no way of bridging that gap because it was the equivalent of three entire grades. Moreover, Spirit Warriors could invade someone's soul. Against that, few Mortal Warriors could resist. However, Cao Yun could, thanks to his Drop of Wrath. Now that he had some control over it, he could use it to destroy any threat within his sea of consciousness. Although he didn't know the full extent of its power, he knew that even Xiao Xuefeng could not resist it. After all, she was not even able to sense it.

Of course, Spirit Warriors could also attack from the outside. But against that, Cao Yun had no way to resist even if he were to become a 7th-grade Mortal Warrior right away. In the best case scenario, he could take one hit, maybe two, before dying.

Thus, Cao Yun had decided to focus his attention on his martial arts. And the results he had reaped were plentiful. Even though he had not yet mastered the first variation of the Winnowing Basket Star, he had formed all seven stars of the 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. Besides, his Spear Aura had been considerably improved. He was not at the stage of Spear Intent yet, but he could discern some of its subtleties. Now, he had realized that if he could fully master his martial art and develop his Spear Heart, he may in fact have a chance against a Spirit Warrior.

He was fighting against the armor without the use of Qi Manifestation because of the blue vortex above their heads, but he could still use the Qi within his own body. However, gradually, Cao Yun realized that it wasn't even necessary. Just like someone with poor technique could still win a fight with brute strength, Cao Yun was doing so with his own Qi. After realizing that, he began to decrease his use of Qi to focus more and more on his technique alone.

Now, Cao Yun did not even control his Qi when he was fighting, he let his body work on its own without any conscious interference. Instead, he was fully focused on his martial art. At first, he had been at a clear disadvantage against the armor, but now he was even stronger than before. Martial arts were meant to transcend the difference of strength to fight. If one only relied on their raw strength, they did not need any martial art to begin with. Of course, there were gaps almost impossible to bridge. But now, Cao Yun was confident in fighting anyone under the Spirit Warrior realm. And he could even fight against Spirit Warriors if they tried to invade his mind and soul.

After gaining all of those benefits from the test, Cao Yun was now at a standstill. No matter which spear it was using, the armor was not giving him any challenge at all. At a glance, he could see through both his techniques and his Spear Aura. He had hoped that the armor would maybe conjure up some Spear Intent, but it had not. Another spear was destroyed by 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' and the armor knelt down to leave Cao Yun some time to recover.

Now, Cao Yun did not need it at all. In less than a day, he had destroyed ten spears. Clearly, time had come for him to put an end to the test. He had already decided on it a few days prior, but he had waited for his next Five Echoes Pearl to be fully ready. Using the time he had been given, Cao Yun decided to advance his mind cultivation once more.

The process was now very familiar to the young man. All his focus gathered on the front of his Upper Dantian, in the Chamber of Bright Spirit. This chamber was right behind the eyes and the glabella, at the point known as the Third Eye. It was rich in Earth element and was related to empathy, compassion, but also self-awareness. After what he had lived in the very first test, Cao Yun had now a better understanding of his own self. He was able to differentiate between his thoughts and what he would sincerely call his self. Thus, he wasn't really expecting much from this new chamber, but it was a necessary step. Only after energizing the first eight chambers could he finally take care of the Chamber of Mysterious Elixir. Then, he would at last enter the third layer where he could maybe try out his ideas regarding the Drop of Wrath's Po.

Like always, the Five Echoes Pearl fell into his ocean and dispersed in a bright light. At the same moment, he felt his mind becoming even more clear than before. The change was very small indeed but Cao Yun being very focused and perceptive was still able to sense it. If he hadn't gone through the first stage, certainly this Chamber of Bright Light would have been an eye-opener. It was unfortunate that it wasn't but the sensation was still very good.

The next and final Five Echoes Pearl would take a lot more time to condense. Indeed, that one would me made of the very last energies it could extract from the Five Agents. Unlike the other ones, it had to be bigger and denser. But the process had been so smooth until now, Cao Yun was not worried. Instead of taking three to four months, it would maybe take five or six. No matter what would happen, he was certain that his mind cultivation would progress before he became a fourth-year.

Now was the time to end this little test who had taught him so much but had nothing more to give him.

Finally, the armor stood up and another spear flew into its hand. It got into position. As it was about to move, a tip of a spear as big as the armor itself appeared in front of it. At the very same moment, the armor found itself unable to move at all as though it was frozen in place. Then, Cao Yun's spear pierced through the armor's chest. A vibration spread through the shaft of 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' and the entirety of the armor literally exploded into tiny fragments. Even the spear it was holding got completely destroyed.

This time, the armor did not reform itself. Instead, the fragments scattered everywhere began to melt and fused back with the metallic ground below. From the destroyed spear, golden characters appeared and exploded into golden particles which entered Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. Like many others before them, they had almost no effect on Cao Yun's Insight Writings. His understanding of the spear had exceeded what those past intuitions could teach him. Unless it was the spear of someone who had understood Spear Intent, their Insight Writings were useless to him now.

From the Supreme emblem, Cao Yun felt heat. He took it in hand and he was ready to receive his reward. It happened exactly as it had during his first test. But the result was different because the reward was different. A light emerged from the emblem and struck the blue vortex above. For the first time ever, it stopped spinning on itself. And suddenly, instead of trapping Qi, it released all of it.

In an instant, Cao Yun found himself in an environment ten times richer in Qi than the Hongchen Kingdom. As his body was fully transparent to it as a Mortal Warrior, he felt a powerful wave go through him. All his Dantian, meridians, vessels and even acupoints got filled with Qi. But it did not exceed what his body could bear. As such, the sensation was exquisite, it felt as though he was tucked in a warm blanket during a cold winter morning. This sweet and warm sensation was everywhere in his body but even in his mind and soul.

Instead of getting lost in it, Cao Yun decided to use it to advance his Qi cultivation. Although he was in no hurry to break through, he was not against the idea at all, quite the contrary in fact. As a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior, his goal was to open his Five Prodigious Gates, starting with the two Earthly Springs and the two Labor Palaces. Sitting cross-legged, Cao Yun exposed both his palms and his soles upward to the Qi around him. With his full intent, he tried to focus as much Qi as possible around those four points. And very quickly, he could feel a powerful sensation.

At first, his gates reacted by closing themselves under the pressure. But as the young man relaxed more and more, so did the gates. Instead of forcing them open with his intent, Cao Yun was only observing them, focusing fully on the sensation, not causing it. With the training he had already done, it didn't take long for the four gates to be fully open once more. Incredible amounts of Qi were now circulating. Qi was coming in through one gate and could exit from another. A very complex circulation began to take place. Once more, Cao Yun let his body do what it wanted, what it needed.

Slowly, the four gates became sturdier and sturdier, until at last something new happened. Determining the exact moment that something happened was almost impossible. But at some point, all four gates began to resonate with one another. Qi was flowing through the four gates at the exact same rate both in and out at the same time. Right then, Cao Yun felt as though he was made of pure energy. He could only feel four gates connecting him to the outside world. The outside world was flowing through him and he was flowing through the outside world. Those four gates were fully connecting the two.

He could now feel Qi in an even larger area.

Cao Yun had finally broken through to 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior. After that, the next step would be to open the last of the Five Prodigious Gates, the Bai Hui, the Gate of the Hundred Convergences at the summit of the skull. Because it was connected to the Upper Dantian, Cao Yun was not worried at all about it. Thanks to his mind cultivation, it should be fairly easy to open. Usually it took two to three years to an average cultivator, alchemists were faster in general and only took somewhere between ten to sixteen months. Right now, Cao Yun could not be sure how long it would take him but he was certain that a year was too long.

Once his breakthrough complete, the Supreme emblem got activated once again. Just like it had happened last time, Cao Yun got transported in yet another world for his third test.

This time, he found himself in a more familiar environment. Instead of being in a pure void or in a world of metal with a blue vortex above, he was in a jungle. Moreover, when he looked around, he realized that he knew every single plant and tree around him. However, there was no real reasoning behind their presence. This jungle felt completely artificial. There were species of plants that could simply not survive under the same conditions and yet they were living next to each other.

Besides, Cao Yun was soon marked by another fact. There was no sound of animals, only the sound of the wind through the vegetation. Apart from him and the plants, there didn't seem to be any other living thing.