Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 138

Volume 6 Chapter 138: Between Righteousness and Evil (Part 1)

At the same time that the Righteous Alliance fought fiercely against the suddenly appearing Demonic Figurine, far away thousands of miles away, Xu Qingfan finally completed the merging of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demonic Pearl" after over ten days of final refinement.

When Xu Qingfan infused the last bit of righteous and demonic energy into his life and death energy, he subconsciously examined his own state. The changes in his body filled Xu Qingfan’s mind, leaving him feeling both incredible and an overwhelming mix of surprise and joy!

The joy came from the fact that he had not been entirely corrupted by evil. In the last ten days, for some unknown reason, the merging efficiency of the "Demonic Pearl" with Xu Qingfan had greatly decreased. The demonic energy contained within it also seemed to have significantly diminished for an unknown reason. However, as Xu Qingfan accelerated the merging with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," at the last moment, both the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demonic Pearl" completed their merge with Xu Qingfan simultaneously. The "Demonic Pearl" took longer to merge, so its evil nature was more deeply rooted in Xu Qingfan. But since the "Demonic Pearl" had lost a lot of demonic energy, the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" was even stronger. It was just like at the beginning; neither could overpower the other.

What Xu Qingfan feared most, being controlled by the Demon Thought, did not happen. In the final moments, when the "Demonic Pearl" suddenly weakened, although it was perilous, Xu Qingfan managed to resist the Demon Thought’s control. Since the Demon Thought was dependent on the "Demonic Pearl," and at that moment Xu Qingfan had fully merged with it, his body’s nature leaned more toward the demonic. The Demon Thoughts could no longer be eradicated; they were only suppressed deep within his consciousness under the combined power of him and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic." Though it remained a hidden danger, it was far better than being completely controlled by the Demon Thought.

Everything must be compared to show its value. If, at ordinary times, Xu Qingfan suddenly became this mixed with righteousness and evil, he would have suffered greatly. Yet in comparison to being completely corrupted, this change was enough to make Xu Qingfan feel fortunate.

And the surprise lay in the increase in Xu Qingfan’s strength at this moment.

Under the repeated refinement and transformation of the "Demonic Pearl" and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," Xu Qingfan noticed that his meridians and dantian had widened dozens of times compared to when he was at the Golden Core Stage, and their stability increased by hundreds of times. The righteous and demonic energies merged within the meridians and dantian, coexisting peacefully with each other, leaving no one able to clearly define whether Xu Qingfan’s body was now righteous or demonic—it was extremely complex.

Even though Xu Qingfan’s meridians and dantian had expanded dozens of times, he felt a clear sensation of bursting due to the rapid increase of Spirit Qi within him. It seemed that even such wide meridians and dantian could not contain the Spirit Qi in his body. At this moment, his life and death energies had already merged and refined more than half of the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demonic Pearl," making him incredibly strong. If before, Xu Qingfan’s Spirit Qi flowed like a small stream, it now surged like an endless ocean. The Nascent Soul in his dantian had also grown to more than three times its size compared to before he meditated, appearing crystal clear, yet the black markings on it became even more pronounced.

At this moment, the life and death energies within Xu Qingfan were no longer the same as before. Both "Withered Qi" and "Flourish Qi" had absorbed many times more positive and demonic energy than they originally had, giving them strong features of both. "Withered Qi," in addition to its original corrosive quality, could now corrupt everything around like demonic energy, twisted and evil, with much greater destructive power, which could be called "Qi of Demonic Death." "Flourish Qi," besides its original strong life force and healing ability, was now even more powerful in driving away evil spirits, giving a sense of endless authority and sanctity, which were the qualities of Buddhist power.

Although the power of both was equal, because the "demonic" traits in Xu Qingfan’s body were more pronounced, the "Qi of Demonic Death" flowed more smoothly within him.

With such a significant change in the life and death energies, it seems that the "Formula of Life and Death" created by Xu Qingfan would need a major revision.

Furthermore, Xu Qingfan had absorbed more than half of the power from the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demonic Pearl." The remaining positive and demonic energies hid within his meridians and dantian, meaning that as long as Xu Qingfan meditated for a while, his Spirit Qi could increase again by double!

As he observed the life and death energies moving within him, sensing their immense power, Xu Qingfan felt a stir in his heart, realizing that his current Spirit Qi was already several times stronger than when he first broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage. What level had he reached now?

Lost in thought, Xu Qingfan began to focus on the Nascent Soul within his dantian. Just as he concentrated on it, the Nascent Soul suddenly trembled, as if it was about to leave his body.

The Nascent Soul leaving the body is a sign of reaching the Astral Projection Stage.

"Could it be that I have already reached the Astral Projection Stage?"

Xu Qingfan was even more surprised and in disbelief, silently reflecting that breaking through to the Astral Projection Stage was not an easy feat.

Here, we must talk about the differences between the three realms in the Mahayana Stage.

The Nascent Soul Stage refers to the energy within the cultivator’s body and their understanding of the Heavenly Way, which have reached the limits of human capability. To break through further, they fuse the Golden Core with the Original Soul, creating another self made purely of energy. This is the Nascent Soul within the Mahayana Stage master. Once the cultivator has the Nascent Soul, their capacity for the Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth and their understanding of the Heavenly Way can increase nearly tenfold. This is why the strength of Mahayana Stage masters far exceeds that of ordinary cultivators.

The Astral Projection Stage goes a step further; the Nascent Soul has fully matured and can leave the body to move freely. After breaking free from physical limitations, the Nascent Soul can connect more closely with Heaven and Earth. Its understanding of the Heavenly Way and its ability to absorb Spirit Qi are far stronger than those of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. At this realm, the importance of the Nascent Soul far surpasses that of the body. Even if the body is destroyed, the cultivator will not die. As long as a trace of Original Life Essence Blood remains, the cultivator can reshape their body.

The Soul Splitting Stage is the ultimate limit for human cultivators. At this realm, even the Nascent Soul, along with the absorbed Spirit Qi and understanding of the Heavenly Way, has reached its peak. To grow stronger, the cultivator splits their Original Soul in two, keeping one half inside the body while the other half drifts into Heaven and Earth, beginning to merge with the Heavenly Way. When this half of the Original Soul completely merges with the Heavenly Way, the cultivator can harness the power of Heaven and Earth to act on its behalf.

It can be said that these three realms, while all part of the Mahayana Stage, are three distinct existences. The strength between each realm varies greatly, and breaking through is extremely difficult. However, once a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul Stage, they are fundamentally different from ordinary cultivators. This is why it is collectively referred to as the Mahayana Stage.

If one goes even higher, they reach the legendary "Soul Changing Stage," the Unity of Sky and Earth, where oneself completely merges with the Heavenly Way. However, this realm only exists in legends. For nearly a hundred thousand years since the emergence of human cultivation, no human cultivator has been known to reach it.

At this moment, Xu Qingfan’s realm has already reached the Astral Projection Stage. His Nascent Soul has exited the body, but not freely; it seems to be in the early stage of the Astral Projection Stage.

As far as Xu Qingfan knows, even among the masters of the Righteous Alliance, only Immortal Zizhen, Mr. Liu, and Li Fulu, along with perhaps three or four others, have such cultivation skills.

Just as Xu Qingfan naturally progressed from the Golden Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage, this breakthrough was just as effortless, so much so that Xu Qingfan himself didn’t notice it at all. It felt as though everything fell into place.

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan felt a bit confused. The breakthrough in a cultivator’s realm is not as simple as just having enough Spirit Qi in the body. In addition to enhancing the Spirit Qi, one must also have a deep understanding of the Heavenly Way. Each time the realm is raised, it also makes the cultivator involuntarily reach a state of "Heavenly Connection" or "Unity of Sky and Earth," gaining insight into the new Heavenly Way at that level.

And during Xu Qingfan’s two major breakthroughs, none of this had appeared. Everything was silent.

If it is said that Xu Qingfan broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage so quietly before because his understanding of the Heavenly Way had already reached the limit of the Golden Core Stage, allowing everything to happen naturally, then this time to silently break through to the Astral Projection Stage without sufficient understanding of the Heavenly Way seems very unreasonable.

Just as Xu Qingfan had this suspicion, countless pieces of information suddenly surged into his mind. These pieces of information were so clear, as if they had long been deeply engraved in Xu Qingfan’s heart. They were very complex and had many contradictory parts, suddenly flooding his mind and making Xu Qingfan feel like his head was going to burst.

After finally sorting through the sudden influx of information, Xu Qingfan finally understood the sequence of events.

As it turned out, this information was the understanding of the Heavenly Way, contained in the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demon Pearl." As the two merged with Xu Qingfan, they entered his consciousness. The "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" was transformed from Master Jiuhuan’s Spirit Qi after his death and his life’s understanding of the Heavenly Way, while the "Demon Pearl," during its refinement by the Demon Ancestor, also integrated much of the Demon Ancestor’s understanding of the Heavenly Way.

The two major conditions for a cultivator to break through a realm are understanding of the Heavenly Way and a large amount of energy sufficient to reshape the body. Both the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demon Pearl" fulfilled these requirements. No wonder others made earth-shattering breakthroughs, while Xu Qingfan was so quiet. Others needed to merge with the world over time, while Xu Qingfan only needed to integrate with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Demon Pearl."

Carefully comparing the completely opposite understandings of the Heavenly Way from both the righteous and demonic sides, the Heavenly Way itself has no distinction between right and wrong. Both types of understanding represent different aspects of the Heavenly Way, and while both are correct, they are fundamentally opposing. Yet, both of these understandings have deeply entered Xu Qingfan’s heart, leaving him unable to choose, causing him great pain.

Just moments ago, Xu Qingfan was relieved that he hadn’t fully turned to the demonic side, but now, he finally started to feel a headache over his situation.

Not only are there many completely opposite thoughts constantly popping up in his mind, as if his soul is splitting, but at this moment, Xu Qingfan’s body is also blending the righteous and the evil. This unique characteristic of his body has never appeared in the cultivation world, leaving Xu Qingfan uncertain about how he should cultivate in the future.