Chapter 243 - Waking Up
An enormous pair of stone doors blocked their road, with ancient trees growing beside them. These were the kind of trees that the ancient wood of the Kun Peng nest came from. They were like walls as they towered over this area, making the route through the stone doors the only path available.
“Are we really only now getting closer to the nest’s true entrance?”
Even though everyone had already entered this enormous structure a long time ago, they had never seen the nest’s ancient wood until now. As a result, it was perfectly reasonable for them to suspect that this was the case.
An ocean beast that was roughly ten zhang in length appeared. It was an ocean whale with half of its body in a humanoid form. With fierce strength, it pushed towards those doors, but in the end, they didn’t move at all.
There were a few creatures in front that wanted to force open the ancient trees to open up the path ahead. However, symbols began to pour down in torrents, completely blasting them apart.
A Silver Violent Ape appeared. It was extremely aggressive, and had been impatient for while now. It quickly took out its precious artifact and struck towards the enormous stone gate to smash it apart.
Hong!
The resulting noise was extremely loud, as if thunder had struck down from the nine heavens. Within the Kun Peng nest, the stone doors began to shine brightly. All the outstanding individuals nearby cried out in fear as a massive wave of force spread out. It began to engulf all directions, making their hearts beat quickly.
The large number of experts were blasted apart. As this enormous wave of power spread, they were like bursting bubbles, not able to withstand even a single blow. The entire sky was covered in a shower of blood as bony remains covered the ground; the tragic scene was simply too horrible to endure.
This all happened too suddenly! It was just a single strike, yet more than thirty percent of the people here exploded from the power of the massive fluctuation. Broken legs and mutilated arms flew out everywhere.
It was a terrifying sight to witness. All of the outstanding individuals here felt their hair stand erect. A chill ran all the way from their their feet to their heads, and as they backed up, even breathing felt difficult.
“Where did that Silver Violent Ape come from? It dares to strike the Kun Peng symbols! This is truly aggravating and hateful. Is he looking to die?!” Quite a while passed before someone shouted out, cursing loudly in anger.
Shi Hao was also affected by the attack somewhat. Even though he used the broken sword to protect his body and even hid in the back of the crowd, he still coughed out loud mouthfuls of blood. However, there was no endangerment to his life.
A group of people immediately retreated while bearing heavy injuries. The Kun Peng dao field’s bone text killed an extremely large number of people, filling the ground with corpses. Even those that survived were still trembling in fear from what just happened.
The party that held the Kun Peng’s bone remnants suffered the least amount of damage since the force didn’t seem to have been directed against them. The damaged bone was surprisingly protecting them, allowing them to avoid this great disaster.
“Everyone, let’s not keep our treasures any longer. Our Kun Peng remains are already seriously damaged, and its symbols have already disappeared, so we can only reach this point. I believe that there is definitely someone here who possesses a crucial item. Right now, we need to make a concerted effort to open up this gate. I believe that our ocean race friends in particular definitely have some Peng bones.”
The group at the very front spoke. These individuals were an alliance of experts from the Archaic Divine Mountains, and their group consisted of powerful young men and women. Each and every one was unordinary and glowing with vitality.
It was quite clear that they were all pure-blooded creatures. The young men were handsome with divine splendor flourishing about them, and the young ladies possessed an otherworldly beauty.
“We have a damaged scale piece.” The Sea Demon race appeared. A cracked scale appeared within the hands of their leader, and within the golden scale were streaks of faint black patterns.
“Let’s open up this gate first. It’s highly likely that we will face many more difficulties inside, so how will we enter the true forbidden land if we can’t even open up these doors?” Another group of people spoke out.
They brought out half of a ruined feather that flowed with multicolored light. It possessed an aura that was both pure and holy. From its current appearance, it was completely normal for someone to think that this was some fur rather than the feather of a Kun Peng.
As these great powers joined hands, another group of land creatures appeared. They brought out a small chunk of black blood rumored to have been left behind by the Kun Peng. This was definitely a supreme treasure! If it was grinded into powder and consumed, its medicinal effects would inevitably be extremely shocking.
In the end, everyone took out various things that the Kun Peng left behind: Blood, bones, scales, and feathers. They received the approval of the stone gate, and it released a wave of gentle radiance. Following a rumbling sound, the dusty nest was opened.
In that instant, a wave of auspicious multicolored light surged, flooding through this ancient region. Everyone was showered with a rain of immortal light, as if they were going to soar into the clouds and transcend.
Soon after, these powerful individuals rushed forward, stepping into the true ancient nest.
This time, Shi Hao did not continue but instead stayed behind. He began to feel that this Kun Peng nest was too dangerous, and that rushing first did not equate being the first one to obtain the precious technique.
From the time they first entered, half a month had already passed. However, just like before, their efforts still resulted in nothing. Breaking through all these restrictions would take an extremely long period of time.
Sure enough, when he arrived, he noticed everyone else not far ahead of him. He observed his surroundings carefully as he proceeded inward bit by bit, not wanting to trigger any of the traps.
“So many spiritual medicines!” Everyone cried out in alarm.
The nest was just too large. As they gazed forward, a vast and boundless world appeared before them. There were a few regions where medicinal herbs grew, and essence energy was surging from a cliff where various plants shone brilliantly.
This was the Kun Peng’s dao field. After the passage of countless years, not only did this place not decay, it had even grown into a wondrous and spiritual precious land.
Mists curled about. A stalk of precious medicine would appear every so often, emitting auspicious light. The surge of light they were met with upon entering this place all originated from them.
Such spiritual pureness was extremely rare in the outside world, yet such a large amount was present here. It naturally brought about a huge sensation, making everyone want to steal everything here.
However, the enticement of the Kun Peng technique at the deepest parts was still too great. It made everyone calm their stirring hearts, and only a small portion of the disciples were left behind to pick these medicines. The remaining people went on their way.
They had travelled for another half month already and covered an extremely long distance, yet they still did not see the final forbidden land. This made everyone here fearful.
During this period of time, the devilish brat had fought a great number of battles, receiving many serious injuries as a result. Those individuals were all experts who surpassed the Spirit Transformation realm, and even though they were being suppressed here, they were still top level experts.
This made him feel even more stressed, because there was a chance that he could die here if he continued.
“I’ve been too ambitious, trying to obtain the Kun Peng technique right away. As a result, I’ve become more and more restless, to a point where I can’t even calm down.” Shi Hao spoke to himself.
He did not continue to follow them and instead stopped. He wanted to calm himself down and cultivate within this rarely seen precious land for a period of time.
The archaic divine nest was extremely dangerous, with a crisis at every turn. There were too many experts here, so with his currently strength, he would most likely lose his life in the final battle.
Fortunately, he was able to clear-headedly realize what he had to do.
The sea deity’s descendant and Flaming Fish youth were both ridiculously powerful. Those were the creatures that truly stood at the peak!
Other than these two, there were still the pure-blooded creatures from the Archaic Divine Mountains, as well as the older generation kings. There were just too many experts here that weren’t to be trifled with. In the outside world, the appearance of a single one would bring about a huge commotion.
Shi Hao felt like he still had time. After all, even though they had already entered the nest for more than a month, they were still far from reaching their destination. It was likely that it would still be a long time before they could reach the end.
Rather than impatiently thinking of ways to fight over that precious technique, it was better to calm down and improve his strength first. After that, his plans could be carried out more effectively.
The devilish child assessed his current state and felt rather ashamed. After calming down, he realised that he became really impatient after entering. He ignored the basis of cultivation and lost his earnest heart.
The Kun Peng’s nest was monstrous, stretching as far as the eye could see. Even though there were many dangerous areas that would release destructive symbols upon being triggered, there were also many large peaceful regions.
Shi Hao meditated for two days before getting up. He then proceeded towards towards an area with even less people, occasionally passing by creatures that were picking spiritual medicines.
Finally, he entered an extremely peaceful area. After traveling through a small path and climbing up the Kun Peng nest’s walls, he sat down with his legs crossed on the ancient interweaving wooden structure to comprehend the laws of this world peacefully.
There was no one who doubted his skills in cultivation and perception. Shi Hao was outstandingly talented; otherwise, how could he so proudly rush headfirst into everything?
He was only eleven years old, yet he had already reached the Spirit Transformation Realm. Moreover, he entered with ten heavenly passages, making those creatures from the Archaic Divine Mountains speechless.
Wholeheartedly devoting himself towards his meditation, the devilish child immediately dissected the various battles that happened within the Kun Peng nest. He then analyzed all of the battles he experienced during the month he travelled through the waters.
He suddenly realized that it had already been more than two months since he first set out for sea. Time truly passed quickly, and it was only because he was so scatterbrained and impatient that he failed to noticed the days go by.
“I’ve broken through a long time ago and have consolidated the dao. Now, I can advance my cultivation realm!” Shi Hao said to himself.
During these past few months, he had experienced countless battles, putting himself in many near-death situations. Even though he had acted rather impulsively, it wasn’t completely bad. With some self-reflection, it all became indispensable experience.
The Spirit Transformation Realm was a realm where one had to understand the meanings of each word. It could evolve as well as reconstruct itself, making this stage a crucial stage of cultivation.
Everything had its own spirit, whether it be a blade of grass, a towering tree, a speck of dust, or even a grain of sand. They all had their own spiritual nature, and needless to say, this was even more true for living creatures.
As such, the Spirit Transformation Realm is the transformation of all types of spiritual natures. It is the formation of one’s spirit, and in doing so, reconstructing oneself into being the most powerful one could be.
If the heavenly passage was an unshakeable foundation that reflected one’s endless potential, then the Spirit Transformation Realm was an additional layer of reform and transformation. It was the pursuit of wings that could allow one’s ‘true self’ to fly towards divinity.
It was for the sake of creating the self, forging one’s spiritual body. The process was no longer only about the flesh, but now also involved venturing into the profound mysteries of the soul. If they were able to search deep inside and gain enlightenment, then their entire being would advance, transforming themselves into a divine embryo.
However, there were many mortals who were able to obtain great success in this realm, and all of them would place huge emphasis on the remodeling of their own self. There were even a few individuals that would carry out an evolution within their great heavenly passages, forming a divine spirit with fighting power not inferior to their true body.
If one was able to reach the true extremes of this realm, then they would gain unspeakably wondrous changes and benefits.
For Shi Hao to enter the Spirit Transformation Realm, all he head to do was transform the symbols within his body and activate the spirituality within them. As a result, every strand of divine light contained a spiritual nature that allowed him to surpass his previous self.
To transform one step further, not only did he have to activate the spirituality within himself, he still had to mold his spiritual self. Every single symbol had to seem as if they possessed life, and he had to then use those living symbols to nourish his both body and soul, constructing his true self.
During this entire process, Shi Hao’s ten heavenly passages were neatly arranged around him. Among them, two were gushing with auspicious energy, separating into a Kun Peng and a Suan Ni. They were undergoing changes within the Spirit Transformation stage.
The Kun Peng was absolutely dazzling. Its closed eyes suddenly opened, as if life had been bestowed upon it. The Suan Ni flickering with electricity released a long roar, as if it had seized a true spirit and will from the nine heavens.
This was only the beginning, yet the wonders and mysteries of spirit transformation were already visible.
Shi Hao completely cleared his mind, tossing out all conflict to calm his heart and mind. Only an earnest attitude remained as he wandered about unhurriedly within this fantastic and wonderful state of dao comprehension.
This was absolutely remarkable. He was still fretful and impatient not long ago, with his mind dead set on his plan, yet now he had given up on everything. He was wholeheartedly devoting himself towards cultivation. This was also a type of perseverance and willpower.
How could a normal person do such a thing? This was simply an absolute transformation of one’s mentality.