Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 7

Volume 6 Chapter 7: The Three Achieve Enlightenment (Part 3)

"Connection Between Heaven and Man" and "Unity of Sky and Earth" are two important realms for cultivators.

When a cultivator breaks through to the Condensed Core Stage, every following breakthrough will enter the realm of "Connection Between Heaven and Man." This realm appears only during their breakthroughs and is the goal pursued by all Condensed Core Stage cultivators. When a cultivator breaks through to the Mahayana Stage, they will enter the "Unity of Sky and Earth" in future breakthroughs, stabilizing in the realm of "Connection Between Heaven and Man," while "Unity of Sky and Earth" becomes the goal pursued by all masters, also known as the "Path to Immortality."

When two Golden Core Stage cultivators break through to the Mahayana Stage at the same time, it is an unprecedented event. No one knows the difference between this and the situation of one person breaking through, except for those involved.

Some bored cultivators have speculated about this situation: when two Golden Core Stage masters break through to the Mahayana Stage simultaneously, their minds will merge into the Heavenly Way. Because of this, the two masters’ minds will also unite, intertwining and gaining each other’s understanding of the Heavenly Way.

The greatest evidence is that the Mahayana masters who broke through at the same time in history all became close friends afterward, and their cultivation progressed rapidly for some time after their breakthrough.

However, some people believe this is nonsense, as the Heavenly Way is vast and boundless, while Mahayana cultivators are relatively just a tiny speck in the ocean; how can they merge within the Heavenly Way?

These two viewpoints argue endlessly, with no conclusion in sight, while the masters who broke through at the same time simply smiled lightly and did not respond.

At the same time, Xu Qingfan broke through to the middle stage of the Golden Core Stage when two quasi-masters made their breakthroughs, and under the "heavenly connection," he had the chance to resolve this ancient debate.

As Xu Qingfan broke through to the middle stage of the Golden Core Stage, the Spirit Qi of heaven and earth continuously washed over and transformed his body; with the Spirit Qi inside him growing rapidly, his mind drifted into a state of ethereal emptiness, expanding and rising, making the elusive Heavenly Way feel incredibly close in that moment, where even the slightest change was crystal clear.

In this state, Xu Qingfan suddenly discovered that within the vast and ethereal Heavenly Way, there were two streams of energy contained within it. They wandered through the misty Heavenly Way, happily absorbing bits and pieces from it, occasionally touching each other briefly before quickly separating again.

In this way, the two energies, blending into the Heavenly Way, quickly transformed as they absorbed and merged, changing from something powerful yet out of place with the Heavenly Way to becoming as ethereal and elusive as it was, as if they had already blended into the Heavenly Way while also appearing independent of it.

Because Xu Qingfan was in the realm of "heavenly connection," he clearly remembered every slight change in these two streams of energy in his heart.

Although Xu Qingfan’s mind was clear yet hazy at that moment, he did not realize that what he sensed was the transformation process of two Condensed Core Stage cultivators into Mahayana cultivators. By coincidence, he was perhaps the first in the cultivation world, aside from the masters, to understand such a transformation so thoroughly.

This understanding may seem not very important, and even after waking up, Xu Qingfan was only amazed by this transformation process. However, it had a deep and far-reaching impact on him. The most obvious benefit was that, because Xu Qingfan clearly understood how a Condensed Core Stage cultivator transforms into a Mahayana cultivator, he now had a clear direction in his future cultivation, which would save him a lot of time compared to other golden core cultivators.

An even more important influence would suddenly appear months later, during a great change that would affect Xu Qingfan’s entire life.

It might be because two quasi-masters broke through at the same time, so the Spirit Qi in "Ronghua Mountain" became countless times denser than usual, and the ethereal Heavenly Way was clearer than ever.

Because of this, Xu Qingfan’s breakthrough took much longer than the usual Golden Core Stage breakthrough. It lasted for a full hundred days, and only when those two quasi-masters broke through to the Mahayana Stage and became true masters did Xu Qingfan’s breakthrough come to an end.

When Xu Qingfan slowly opened his eyes, a profound and ethereal light flashed through them. His aura was more mysterious than ever before, and every move he made seemed to stir the Spirit Qi and all things within a hundred feet around him.

This aura seemed inappropriate for a cultivator at the middle stage of the Golden Core Stage, yet Xu Qingfan’s cultivation was clearly at that level.

In fact, because Xu Qingfan’s breakthrough took longer, he absorbed more Spirit Qi. At that moment, his cultivation was close to the late stage of the Golden Core Stage, but he was still at the middle stage. He had gained a greater understanding, especially of the subtle details of the transformation from Condensed Core Stage cultivator to Mahayana cultivator. During his breakthrough, he subconsciously guided the Spirit Qi to reshape his body, resulting in a faint aura of a master, even though his strength had not increased much.

The ones welcoming Xu Qingfan were the masters and golden core cultivators watching the Taoist Crane, looking at him with amazed expressions. In the eyes of those golden core cultivators, there may also have been hints of jealousy and envy. Although they did not know what benefits this breakthrough would bring, they could be sure that Xu Qingfan had gained a lot, judging by his extraordinary aura.

Additionally, when Xu Qingfan broke through, ethereal lights formed various mythical beast shapes around him, the spectacle not falling short compared to the breakthroughs of the two quasi-masters. Originally, they were focused on observing the Taoist Crane’s breakthrough, but due to Xu Qingfan’s changes, their attention gradually shifted to him.

Moments later, the Condensed Core Stage cultivators finally woke up, bowing to Xu Qingfan and congratulating him, "Congratulations, friend, on your breakthrough. You are close to achieving the Great Ascension."

At the same time, the Mahayana Stage masters also nodded to Xu Qingfan to express their congratulations.

When Xu Qingfan came to his senses, he hurriedly bowed in return, humbly speaking, but his mind was busy processing all that he had experienced during this "Heavenly Connection."

"This child, although faced with many difficulties in life, has also been blessed with a rare depth of fortune."

On the other side, Mr. Liu watched Xu Qingfan and the golden core cultivators exchanging polite talks, and a smile appeared on his face as he quietly murmured to himself.

The other six masters nodded in agreement after hearing Mr. Liu’s words.

Just as everyone was congratulating Xu Qingfan, a vague yet powerful aura slowly emerged from behind him. When Xu Qingfan turned to look, he saw a youthful man with white hair, exuding an otherworldly presence, approaching slowly with a tall scholar, resembling a green pine, and a stern-looking monk clad in a brown robe.

These three were the Three Talents—Taoist Crane, the Green Pine Scholar, and Master Wan Shi. The strong aura was coming from the Immortal Crane among them.

"Congratulations, friend, on mastering your cultivation method. You are on the path to the Heavenly Way."

Just now, the seven masters who only nodded slightly when Xu Qingfan broke through were now respectfully bowing to Taoist Crane. After a few polite words from Taoist Crane, Xu Qingfan, along with several Golden Core Stage experts, congratulated him. As for the cultivators below Golden Core Stage, they bowed from afar and did not have the right to join in.

"Congratulations, Taoist friend, on mastering your cultivation method and having hope of reaching the Heavenly Way."

Xu Qingfan stood at the back of the group of Golden Core Stage experts and was the last to congratulate Taoist Crane.

"I share your joy, Taoist friend. With this experience, I believe that I will soon have the chance to congratulate you as well." Taoist Crane’s smile always made one feel there was something deeper behind it. "I have just broken through to the Mahayana Stage, and I will probably be quite busy for a while. I wonder if I could discuss the doctrines with you when I have the time, Taoist friend?"

Discussing doctrines between a Mahayana Stage master and a Golden Core cultivator? Is there anything they can discuss together?

Xu Qingfan seemed to suddenly remember something, nodded with a smile, and said, "I will always be here to welcome you."

Taoist Crane smiled and nodded, but then went with the other two to attend to others, leaving Xu Qingfan standing alone, deep in thought.

※※※※

On the other side, outside Master Jiuhuan’s bamboo house, there were also many cultivators waiting. However, unlike outside Taoist Crane’s residence, here, apart from Master Tianhan of the "Mercy Cloud Temple," there were no other masters. In fact, there were far more Golden Core Stage cultivators here than at Taoist Crane’s place.

After all, if Master Jiuhuan really did break through to a higher level, they would have gained much more understanding.

However, after everything ended, there was no movement in the bamboo house for a very long time.

After a long time, finally someone pushed the door open, with a presence as ethereal and powerful as a Taoist Crane.

But this person was not the Master Jiuhuan everyone expected; instead, it was Master Bo Guangyan, who had disappeared for a long time due to great mental damage.

However, where was the sign of mental damage on Master Bo Guangyan at that time? The powerful presence he had clearly proved that the one who broke through was not Master Jiuhuan, but him.

After a brief moment of surprise, everyone was ready to congratulate Bo Guangyan.

However, Bo Guangyan did not show any joy from achieving a great cultivation method; instead, his face was filled with sorrow.

Before everyone could congratulate him, Master Bo Guangyan spoke first, "Martial Uncle, Master Jiuhuan has passed away."