Chapter 72 : As If Seeing the Sun

Chapter 72: As If Seeing the Sun

Long Tao’s body had convulsed violently.

Each rampaging surge of spiritual energy had felt like several iron hammers smashing back and forth inside his abdomen, brutally ravaging his dantian and meridians.

The agony brought by the tearing of his divine soul had acted directly upon his consciousness and soul—an indescribable pain.

His facial muscles had twisted grotesquely from the torment, his body spasming uncontrollably, as if it were about to completely fall apart in the next instant.

Cold sweat had already soaked him through, his teeth grinding audibly.

Yet, having lived two lifetimes, he endured with a ferocity even he had not expected of himself, stubbornly persevering as he continued to guide that violent spiritual energy, again and again smashing it against that invisible barrier!

Suddenly, a sensation like a shell cracking spread from within his body, like a crisp sound from the depths of his soul.

The dantian barrier that had obstructed him for so long, under those reckless, utterly violent spiritual energy impacts and the divine-soul–reinforced “Sea Eye” anchoring, was finally breached!

In that instant, an indescribable, unprecedented sense of comfort swept through his entire body like a warm current! Although pain still wracked him from head to toe, he was now so exhilarated that he no longer cared, using his divine sense to feel the changes within his dantian.

What had once merely been a chaotic, cramped area where spiritual energy gathered had now been forcibly opened into a “space”! This newborn space was no longer sluggish and muddled as before; it had truly formed a spontaneously rotating Qi Sea.

The central “Sea Eye,” after being reinforced by the divine soul he had forcibly carved out, seemed even more stable than what the sect had taught.

As the “Sea Eye” rotated, those enormous amounts of spiritual energy that had just been rampaging and tormenting him to near death poured crazily into this newborn Qi Sea like a hundred rivers returning to the ocean.

They were no longer disorderly currents, but under the guidance of the “Sea Eye,” became gentle and orderly, rotating at a steady pace around the center, forming a miniature fog sea brimming with vitality!

Long Tao clearly felt that his connection with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had become unprecedentedly close and smooth! There was no need for deliberate guidance at all—the surrounding spiritual energy was naturally drawn by this newborn Qi Sea, swarming in of its own accord, passing through his pores and meridians to flow into the dantian, where it was swiftly refined and absorbed by the vortex, becoming part of his own spiritual energy and stabilizing this newly opened realm.

Moreover, his meridians had been forcibly widened considerably during the earlier violent impacts.

The total amount and circulation speed of spiritual energy they could now accommodate far exceeded before! And according to the cultivation method, the recovery speed of spiritual energy had increased fivefold—this would have to be verified later, assuming he survived.

“Huff… huff…” Long Tao’s breathing gradually shifted from its earlier rapid, painful gasps to deep, steady breaths.

Each inhalation and exhalation matched the rhythm of the Qi Sea vortex, drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy.

The pallor on his face visibly returned to a healthy flush, the weakness in his body swiftly replaced by a surging sense of power.

Qi-Refining Sixth Layer breakthrough! Qi Sea opened! Though achieved through an extremely perilous, near self-mutilating method, it had succeeded!

“Senior Brother Long! You… are you alright? You just now… forcibly broke through to the sixth layer?”

Nan Yuchen, who had been trapped among the tree roots and had witnessed everything from beginning to end, finally could not help asking.

Though he did not understand why the other party had chosen to force a breakthrough here, he knew that silence was required during breakthroughs and had endured his worry the whole time.

Now, seeing that Long Tao seemed to have succeeded, his tone inevitably carried both joy and confusion.

“I already said it—I am merely a passing itinerant merchant, not your Senior Brother Long. Young friend, you should first worry about your own situation. That egg in your arms has been feeding on your destiny luck for a long time already. It is not far from hatching and forming a recognition bond.”

These words left both Nan Yuchen and the Wuyi Sect Golden Core cultivator stunned.

This man was clearly the one with the lowest cultivation realm present—so why did he always speak with the bearing of a senior expert? And having merely broken through to the Qi-Refining Sixth Layer, how could he be acting as if he had just endured a heavenly tribulation and formed a Golden Core and Nascent Soul?

Deep within Long Tao’s Sea of Consciousness, he had no time to boast to the System.

Time was tight; he had to seize every opportunity.

“Senior, I will briefly explain the situation outside. If there is any key information you can tell me, it will be the greatest help!”

“Telling you some information is naturally fine, but why ask this now? Hurry up and prepare to accept those thousand Soul Lamp Value points and scare off that Golden Core!”

“Relying solely on divine soul strength, I feel it’s still not safe enough!” Long Tao explained rapidly.

“If I can expose some secrets he believes are deeply hidden, spoken from my mouth, mixing truth with falsehood, it will make him even more suspicious and fearful!”

“Tsk, you brat really do have quick wits! Fine, go on.”

Long Tao immediately conveyed, in the most concise manner possible, the intelligence regarding the Yaoguang Azure Phoenix Egg, destiny-luck incubation, and the fact that the other party had waited here for twenty years.

That System senior was indeed erudite and responded almost instantly.

“Yaoguang Azure Phoenix? A hybrid strain of the Green Luan and the Phoenix. This item is innately flawed and would normally die young, unable to hatch naturally. But as you guessed, it can indeed be supplemented by siphoning great destiny luck to make up for its congenital defects and increase its survival chances. If the source of destiny luck is the Child of Destiny of this generation, the likelihood of a successful birth is extremely high.”

But then its tone shifted.

“However, this bird is not a true Phoenix. It shouldn’t take twenty years without hatching. How did he drag the incubation time out to the present and control it so precisely? Do you have any other information you haven’t mentioned?”

Long Tao’s thoughts raced as he immediately added the information about that bizarre Nether River tributary.

“So that’s it!” the System’s voice realized.

“By using the deathly aura leaking from a Nether River tributary, as long as the distance and quantity are controlled just right, it can indeed safely delay the hatching process of this Phoenix Egg! This man does have some means.”

But immediately after, its tone grew grave.

“However, there is one point where he is lying! A Nether River tributary is innately antagonistic to the flourishing wood-aspect vitality here—it is absolutely impossible for it to approach naturally! And it is even more impossible for him alone, a Golden Core cultivator in under twenty years, to break the barrier between two realms and draw out a fissure! Pure nonsense!”

“Then… then what could be the reason?” Long Tao hurriedly asked.

“Could it be assistance from his sect?”

“His sect? Does it possess its own Nether River tributary?”

“Absolutely not!” Long Tao was utterly certain.

If the Wuyi Sect truly had such a heaven-defying resource, the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect would have known the very next day.

“Hm… if that’s the case, then it definitely wasn’t sect assistance,” the voice pondered.

“By my knowledge, there are several methods that might achieve this, but with the current information, it’s hard to determine.”

It then changed tack and proposed a risky suggestion.

“However… you can gamble with a name! It might work!”

“A name?”

“Yes—‘Xianqi Old Wretch.’ Remember this name. I can’t conveniently say more right now, nor do I have time to explain. Just use this name to probe him. If it works, great.

If it doesn’t… then directly accept the divine soul!”

Long Tao’s heart tightened.

He no longer hesitated to ask further questions.

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the still somewhat unstable aura left by his recent breakthrough, once again putting on that inscrutable, profound demeanor as he looked toward the Wuyi Sect Golden Core.

A faint, barely perceptible hint of mockery even curled at the corner of his mouth.

“Heh… I was momentarily muddled earlier.

There was one matter I couldn’t quite figure out.” He spoke slowly, successfully drawing the other party’s full attention.

“The Yaoguang Azure Phoenix, though a holy-beast hybrid, is not a true Phoenix.

It wouldn’t be unable to hatch for twenty years.

Yet you were full of confidence, lurking here and waiting in bitter patience, even able to make the entire Wuyi Sect cooperate with this absurd plan.”

He paused.

“Now I understand.

That Nether River tributary you mentioned earlier was probably not some ‘moat’ dug out of boredom, but something you deliberately drew in during the last opening of the secret realm, specifically to precisely delay the hatching time of the Azure Phoenix.

Forget twenty years—even several decades more, you could control the incubation time through that Nether River.

That’s why the Wuyi Sect was willing to cooperate with you.”

The pupils of the Wuyi Sect Golden Core True Person abruptly contracted, the playful, mocking smile on his face instantly freezing! A flash of incredulous shock passed through his eyes, his body even leaning forward almost imperceptibly!

This person… could absolutely not be just an ordinary Qi-Refining itinerant merchant! Those earlier insights about the Phoenix Egg might still be explained by chance encounters or background, but this precise line of reasoning—if one did not possess extremely profound knowledge, it would be impossible to arrive at it in such a short time!

“Your knowledge… truly exceeds my expectations,” the Golden Core True Person said, his voice dropping several degrees, carrying a trace of gravity.

“But matters have already come to this. Even if you know all of this, so what? Once the Azure Phoenix hatches, it will only recognize me as its master! You cannot change anything!”

“No, no, no,” Long Tao shook his head, his tone still calm, even tinged with pity.

“There is another, more crucial problem that you seem to be deliberately overlooking. The Nether River tributary and the surging vitality here are innately antagonistic—it is absolutely impossible for it to approach naturally. And with your abilities and those of the entire Wuyi Sect, you also shouldn’t be capable of accomplishing this! Heh… that clumsy lie you told earlier about ‘accidentally breaking through a fissure’—thinking back on it now, I almost feel embarrassed for you.”

“You…!” The Golden Core True Person’s expression finally changed as he shouted harshly, “Who exactly are you?!”

“I am merely an itinerant merchant.” Long Tao pressed forward step by step, following the System’s guidance as he threw out that critical name.

His tone was firm beyond doubt, as if he had long since seen through everything.

“However, I would like to ask you—after having ‘Xianqi Old Wretch’ help you so greatly… what reward did you promise him?”

On the surface, Long Tao was steady as a seasoned hound; in his heart, he was panicking like mad.

He had no idea who “Xianqi Old Wretch” was—good or evil, strong or weak.

He could only grit his teeth and, in a tone pretending to speak as an equal, even faintly disdainful, utter this extremely high-risk bluff.

Yet—the effect truly appeared!

The moment the name “Xianqi” left his mouth, the Wuyi Sect Golden Core True Person seemed to be struck by an invisible heavenly thunder! His surrounding aura instantly fell into chaos, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

The color drained from his face in an instant—an expression mixing extreme shock, utter incomprehension, and… fear!

“You! …How do you know that name?!” he cried out in disbelief, his voice trembling noticeably.

All his previous composure and mockery vanished without a trace.

“Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! I… I…”

Though he was somewhat incoherent from the extreme shock, the instincts of a Golden Core cultivator still remained.

Almost simultaneously with his cry, light flashed around his body as several defensive magical artifacts—clearly extraordinary—were instantly activated, orbiting him like satellites and radiating powerful spiritual energy.

Any one of them would have been enough to instantly obliterate Long Tao into dust.

And yet—he did not dare to truly strike!

That name seemed to possess some kind of magical power, utterly intimidating him.

Like a man wary of breaking the vase for fear of harming the rat, he dared not act rashly!

Joy surged wildly in Long Tao’s heart—he knew that he and the System had gambled correctly! This name was indeed a “keyword”!

He forcibly suppressed his excitement and pressed the advantage, stepping forward.

That single step seemed to be a signal.

“I know that for these twenty years, you have been meticulously calculating, stalling for time, waiting for the arrival of the Child of Destiny to complete this final incubation,” Long Tao’s voice suddenly turned icy and oppressive.

“But there is one thing you probably never considered.”

“What?” The Golden Core True Person asked reflexively, his mind already in turmoil.

“I was also stalling for time!”

As Long Tao stepped forward, the Wuyi Sect Golden Core True Person felt his outward-spread divine sense suddenly collide with a blazing, boundless, resplendent great sun that had appeared out of nowhere!

That terrifying divine soul pressure crashed over him like a tangible tsunami, instantly shattering his divine sense defenses and flooding his perception.

His mind went completely blank, all capacity for thought erased, leaving only the most primal fear and trembling rising from the depths of his soul!