Translator: CinderTL
"Nascent Soul."
Li Chunjun put down the documents in his hand.
These documents were filled with records of battles between Nascent Soul cultivators.
Compared to the Core Formation Realm, where one breaks the shackles of the human body and masters all of one's Essence, Energy, and Spirit, the Nascent Soul Realm transcends from internal to external, evolving personal strength into the power of the heavens and earth.
Cultivators at this level undergo a second round of growth after optimizing their bodies to the limit, akin to a newborn infant, giving birth to a new "life" from existence to nothingness.
The essence of this "life" is the Mystical Powers! In the second stage of Qi Refining, one purifies their Qi and plants the seeds of Arcane Arts. Through continuous nurturing of Essence, Energy, and Spirit in the Qi Refining and Core Formation Realms, these seeds finally bloom and bear fruit in the Nascent Soul Realm, giving birth to Arcane Arts and Mystical Powers.
Mystical Powers are guided by "True Intent," resonating with the heavens and earth, allowing cultivators to transcend the limitations of their own strength. Every move they make carries the might of the heavens and earth, resulting in a qualitative leap in destructive power.
"The strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator depends not only on the strength of their Essence, Energy, and Spirit but also, most crucially, on the strength of their Mystical Powers... A Great True Lord in the late Nascent Soul stage who only masters low-level Mystical Powers might even be weaker than an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator..."
As Li Chunjun reviewed these battle records, he gained a profound realization.
Mystical Powers! They are the key to the Nascent Soul Realm, and even the Primordial Spirit Realm!
The Essence, Energy, and Spirit, which are crucial in the Core Formation Realm, are equivalent to Qi.
But Mystical Powers are the ultimate form of maximizing Qi.
If Qi is likened to steel, the Core Formation Realm is akin to wielding a lump of iron to strike someone—it has lethality but is rather limited.
In the Nascent Soul Realm, cultivators use "Mystical Powers" to refine this steel into spears, swords, and giant axes, drastically increasing their lethality. This is a transformative improvement.
The difference between early and mid-stage Nascent Soul lies in the amount of Qi and the number of Mystical Powers one has mastered.
In actual combat, it all comes down to the power of the Mystical Powers they wield.
Even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators are no exception.
However, late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators often have a minor mastery of Sword Intent. Even seemingly ordinary Mystical Powers in their hands can transform the mundane into the miraculous. It is not easy for an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to defeat them solely relying on the advantage of Mystical Powers.
But...
It is not entirely impossible.
"Mystical Powers!"
Li Chunjun murmured again.
In his mind, the Flaming Phoenix Profound Light and the Void Sword Flash flowed one after another.
These two ultimate secret techniques...
They are the embryonic forms of Mystical Powers.
Now he finally understood why the Flaming Phoenix Sword Prodigy specifically emphasized mastering the Flaming Phoenix Profound Light and the Void Sword Flash.
He also understood why the intensity of battles is confined to the Core Formation Realm, remaining within controllable limits. Once it reaches the Nascent Soul Realm, it can easily escalate into full-scale warfare.
With the emergence of Mystical Powers, everyone's destructive power rises to a new level.
Once a Nascent Soul cultivator unleashes their full strength...
Their methods could easily reach the scale of burning cities and annihilating nations.
"I wonder what it would be like to face Mystical Powers with a perfected Sword Intent."
Li Chunjun mused.
He vaguely drew a parallel to electromagnetic cannons and nuclear weapons on Blue Star!
Perhaps the former is more technologically advanced than the latter, but in terms of destructiveness, the latter undoubtedly far surpasses the former.
"Mystical Powers can also be categorized into ordinary, superior, and top-tier, but distinguishing their strength is extremely difficult! Different Mystical Powers have different effects. One cannot say that a Mystical Power capable of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh is inferior to one that can scorch the heavens and boil the seas. They are simply different in nature and effect, which greatly increases the complexity. Similarly..."
This also made Li Chunjun increasingly uncertain about whether he currently possessed the strength to slay a Nascent Soul cultivator.
After going through these materials, Li Chunjun remained silent for a long time.
After a while, he finally spoke, "As my realm improves, the gap hasn't narrowed; instead, it has widened."
Even if a top-tier Qi Refining cultivator faces a high-level Qi Refining cultivator, the difference, no matter how large, would hardly allow one to fight against a hundred.
But a Nascent Soul against a Core Formation...
Except for the very few Nascent Souls who are completely unskilled in combat, for others, fighting against Core Formation cultivators, taking on a hundred at once is likely the norm.
Moreover...
If Nascent Souls are already this formidable, what about Primordial Spirits? Those are True Gods of the mortal world, capable of temporarily leaving their physical bodies and walking the world in an energy form!
Such power...
How strong must it be? If Primordial Spirits are already like this, what about Void Refining? Dao Unification!? Jiang Wanyu once used the Milky Way to describe the Profound Yellow Great World. If the Profound Yellow Great World is seen as a galaxy, what is the Blue Star Minor Realm? A planet!? A star!? How many planets and stars are there in a galaxy? At this moment, he suddenly understood the mocking attitude of Bai Yang, Tian Jian, and others when he made the vow to annihilate the Chiyang Sword Sect.
Li Chunjun put down these materials and remained silent for a long time.
Annihilating the Chiyang Sword Sect.
The sixteen Nascent Souls of the Chiyang Sword Sect, at present, don't seem like too big of a challenge, but...
The Blue Star Minor Realm can accommodate Primordial Spirits!
If they truly face the threat of annihilation, the Chiyang Sword Sect would undoubtedly seek help from the Primordial Spirits in their main sect.
Therefore...
His strength is still far from being able to break the rules.
Li Chunjun looked up, gazing into the distance.
That was the direction of the Chiyang Sword Sect.
It was also the direction of the Great Shang Dynasty, Xuanzhou, and Guangzhou City.
Should he really just obediently play the role of the Flaming Phoenix Sword Prodigy? Suppressing the world with his sword!
Bullying the Core Formation cultivators of the Eight Great Immortal Sects, yet never being able to touch their Nascent Souls? Li Chunjun closed his eyes.
He already had the answer in his heart.
In his mind, the profound mysteries of the Flaming Phoenix Chaos Scripture and the Spirit Refinement Chapter of the Taixu Sword Scripture flowed rapidly.
From the Virtual Core to the True Core, the True Core to the Golden Core, and then to cultivating Mystical Powers, nurturing the "Nascent Soul" as a life form of Mystical Powers—all flashed by.
As the most top-tier cultivation techniques of the Taixu Sword Sect, the legacies left by Dao Unification-level grand cultivators, both the Flaming Phoenix Chaos Scripture and the Taixu Sword Scripture recorded numerous Mystical Powers, all of which were exceptionally powerful.
While these Mystical Powers were astonishingly powerful, they were also extremely difficult to cultivate.
This was why many people, despite knowing that the Flaming Phoenix Chaos Scripture and the Taixu Sword Scripture were top-tier legacies, still didn't cultivate them.
It wasn't that they didn't want to, but that they couldn't.
It was like wanting to get into a top-tier university but failing to do so.
Li Chunjun scanned through these Mystical Powers and finally settled on three: Great Dark Heaven!
Void Flicker!
Grand Ruins Sword Intent!
Among them, Great Dark Heaven came from the Flaming Phoenix Chaos Scripture.
It could create a powerful Dark Heaven domain around the user, greatly restraining and suppressing nearby living beings and cultivators.
Similar to a black hole's gravitational field.
Cultivating this Mystical Power required the cultivator to have an extremely strong physique, with the more vigorous Life Essence the better, perfectly aligning with the advantages Li Chunjun gained from his life level improvement.
Void Flicker was an upgraded version of Void Sword Flash.
It could be used for both offense and defense.
Grand Ruins Sword Intent was a killing technique from the Taixu Sword Scripture, a lethal Mystical Power triggered by Sword Intent.
The stronger the Sword Intent, the more powerful the Mystical Powers! This particular Mystical Power could maximize the advantage of his fully realized Sword Intent.
These three Mystical Powers could also be combined in the future to form a greater Mystical Power that only Primordial Spirit True Monarchs could cultivate, laying the groundwork for the "killing moves" at the Primordial Spirit level.
"The difference between the early, middle, and late stages of the Nascent Soul lies in the fact that with each advancement of the Nascent Soul, the increase in Qi and the enhancement of Essence, Energy, and Spirit allows the cultivator to practice another Mystical Power..."
Although Li Chunjun had not yet formed a Nascent Soul, his Life Essence had reached level 27, equivalent to that of a Primordial Spirit.
He was eager to know if he could master the Great Dark Heaven.
Moreover, although his Void Sword Intent was only at a minor achievement level, his Destruction Sword Intent had reached a major achievement level, comparable to that of a Primordial Spirit. Therefore, he could attempt to cultivate the Grand Ruins Sword Intent.
"Ruins" signifies the meaning of devastation! The reason this Mystical Power is called a killing move secret technique and named Grand Ruins is because it contains traces of Destruction Sword Intent.
Otherwise, it should not be called Grand Ruins Sword Intent but rather the pure Great Void Sword Intent.
Having chosen these two Mystical Powers, Li Chunjun decided to skip the preliminary killing moves like the Flaming Phoenix Profound Light and began to delve into them with great focus.
With each enhancement of his life level, his innate talent and comprehension had been continuously strengthened.
Calculating based on the standards of a Primordial Spirit True Lord...
He was undoubtedly the kind of prodigy who could achieve the level of a Primordial Spirit through his own talent in the future.
Therefore, his comprehension of the Great Dark Heaven was not without direction.
However, the difficulties involved were still incredibly daunting.
It was the kind of situation where it could be understood and mastered, but it required an immense amount of time and effort.
The same was true for the Grand Ruins Sword Intent.
As for the Void Flicker...
Without a foundation in the Void Sword Flash, it was even more challenging to cultivate than the other two Mystical Powers.
"According to estimates, the Grand Ruins Sword Intent would take three years to enter the door, ten years to achieve minor mastery, thirty years for major mastery, and one hundred years for perfection... The Great Dark Heaven would take about one hundred and fifty years to perfect!"
As for the Void Sword Flash, it would likely take two hundred years! A total of four hundred and fifty years to perfect all three Mystical Powers.
That is, four hundred and fifty years to advance from the early stage of the Nascent Soul to the peak of the Nascent Soul, preparing to break through to the Primordial Spirit.
This speed...
Not fast, but not slow either.
It aligns with the cultivation progress of a Nascent Soul True Lord who could become a Primordial Spirit True Monarch in the future.
Even compared to the "Sword Prodigy" level prodigies, it was only slightly inferior.
He estimated that the talent of a "Sword Prodigy" was equivalent to a life enhancement level of 29 or 30.
Achieving the Primordial Spirit was not difficult.
With the right opportunity, one could attain Void Refining.
"Four hundred and fifty years."
Li Chunjun muttered this number.
He couldn't accept it! "What the Nascent Soul is truly like, I'll only know after a fight."
Li Chunjun said solemnly.
Zhou Wu Gou's actions, in accordance with the Taixu Sword Sect's rules of equivalent retaliation, would allow him to legally and justifiably kill the entire Zhou family.
And the strongest in the Zhou family...
Zhou Chixin! Mid-stage Nascent Soul!
...
Ten days later, Jiang Yuqiu arrived outside Li Chunjun's courtyard.
Here, Li Chunjun had been waiting for a long time.
"How is it?"
Jiang Yuqiu asked.
"Eager."
Li Chunjun replied.
"Good."
Jiang Yuqiu then took Li Chunjun into the air, flying towards the sect's entrance.
There, Sect Master Huan Ming and Lei Yuan, who was in charge of external campaigns, along with other Nascent Soul cultivators, were already waiting on a Flying Boat.
"If I recall correctly, in recent years, five of the eight major sects bordering the Taixu Sword Sect have had conflicts, attempting to encroach on the Taixu Sword Sect's territory?"
Li Chunjun asked.
"Indeed! Especially the Wu Ji Sect, which has seized a significant portion of our maritime territories. Otherwise, the area we control would be even larger, likely reaching two-fifths."
Jiang Yuqiu understood his meaning and immediately responded.
"Once this Inheritance Battle concludes, I will reclaim all the territories belonging to the Taixu Sword Sect and ensure they compensate us."
Li Chunjun acknowledged with a nod.
"Good!"
A smile spread across Jiang Yuqiu's face.
They had spared no effort in nurturing the Flaming Phoenix Sword Prodigy, waiting for this very day.
(End of the Chapter)
---
Read (MI) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c230. [+4.1k Words]
Early Access at $5.
Translated (5) Series, (2.6K+) Chapters, (3.5M+) Words.