NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 25: Half-Saint Realm
Unnoticed by anyone but the Way of Heaven, Kong Xuan silently entered the chaotic boundary. In contrast to his previous high-spirited state, he returned in tatters. His aura flickered weakly, and cracks filled his Ninth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification. Still, there was a smile of triumph in his eyes.
Kong Xuan paused and stared into the endless chaos one last time before fully entering the Three Realms. 'I only have a limited time before they arrive. I have to investigate what the current era is.'
He silently returned to Yingzhou Immortal Island and entered the mansion-shaped artifact. There, he summoned his brother, Jinchi, the Golden-Winged Great Roc.
"Brother, what happened to you?!" Jinchi cried out upon seeing Kong Xuan. Since birth, his brother has always been a supporting pillar in his heart. Even when facing Tongtian of the Three Purities, Kong Xuan had not been injured to this point.
"It's nothing," Kong Xuan said before immediately entering a coughing fit. He covered his mouth with his sleeve, and when he retracted it, a splotch of blood stained it.
Ignoring Jinchi's concern, Kong Xuan said, "Tell me what has happened in these years."
Although worried, Jinchi found confidence in Kong Xuan's serenity, so he narrated everything that had happened in recent years.
"So it's currently Shennong's era," Kong Xuan muttered. He sunk into thought as he weighed his options. 'If anything happened to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors process, would the Way of Heaven pin the blame on me and saddle me with Karmic Sin?'
Kong Xuan shook his head. 'It's not like I have a choice now.'
"Brother, where did you go all these years?" Jinchi tentatively asked upon seeing his brother fall silent. "I tried looking for you, but I couldn't find you at all."
Kong Xuan waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. Even if you flipped the entire world, you wouldn't have been able to find me."
"Don't underestimate me. While you were hiding, I successfully cut off another Corpse and entered the Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm," Jinchi said, not knowing that Kong Xuan had left the Three Realms.
"Let me guess. You haven't severed your obsession yet, right?" Seeing Jinchi's expression, Kong Xuan knew he was right. "It'll be near impossible for you to sever your obsession in a short amount of time. Find a method to increase the power of your fleshly body as fast as possible."
"Why?" Jinchi asked. "Aside from the Saints, there is no threat. If they wanted to take action, it wouldn't matter. Did you forget what the Dao Ancestor said? All under Saints are ants."
Hearing the word ant, Kong Xuan frowned but quickly schooled his expression. "It's not the Saints you should worry about. A major war might come to the Three Realms soon. You must grasp this time to strengthen yourself and increase your chances of survival."
The air turned heavy. "Brother, is the next tribulation coming so soon?"
Kong Xuan shook his head. "Tribulation? No. Calamity? Likely. You don't need to care. Just know that an unprecedented crisis that threatens even Quasi-Saints will arrive within an eon."
Jinchi nodded. Every doubt he had about Kong Xuan's decision was proven wrong. It was as if Kong Xuan could see the future.
Arduously cultivating as soon as they hatched instead of enjoying life and exploring the world? To gain the qualifications to listen to the Dao Ancestor's ceremony.
Refusing to join the Demon Heavenly Court? That was to avoid the fate of perishing with the Titan Tribe and Demon Clan.
The one time Jinchi didn't listen to his brother's orders was when he gave up his seat on one of the six prayer mats because of Zhunti's words and mass condemnation. What he lost would forever haunt him to this day and in the future.
With how grave Kong Xuan emphasized the future crisis, Jinchi might really lose his life this time. "Alright, I understand. Do you have anything else to instruct?"
Kong Xuan shook his head. "Keep your mouth shut, and don't leak it to anyone. Even your closest friends."
Jinchi paused, but after a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "Brother, I'm thinking about grabbing some of Phoenix Ancestor's blood essence from the Phoenix Clan... do you think it's plausible?"
"We were originally Phoenix Ancestor's children. Just because we aren't phoenixes, they kicked us out and didn't give us any aid," Kong Xuan said with a snort. "Phoenix Ancestor's blood essence should originally belong to us."
Jinchi's eyes lit up. "I understand."
Jinchi turned into a gold-green streak and disappeared from Yingzhou Immortal Island. With his brother gone, Kong Xuan sealed the floating island. He could let Jinchi know of his injured state, but anyone else knowing was a risk.
With the island sealed, five figures emerged from Kong Xuan's body. Four of the five had the exact same features, except they wore robes and exuded an aura related to one of the five elements. The fifth, however, was just a blurry white mist without any distinct form.
Kong Xuan stared at the fifth figure and, after a moment of hesitation, waved his arm. The blurry figure dispersed as if a breeze had passed by, dispelling it. Immediately after, Kong Xuan's face paled even more, and he started coughing uncontrollably.
Blood dripped down his chin and splattered the ground. When Kong Xuan stopped hacking, he took out an Enlightenment Apricot and bit into it. Although its primary purpose was to stimulate the eater's mind and make comprehension easier, it was still a fruit produced by one of the top ten connate spiritual roots. As such, it was full of the essence of heaven and earth.
If anyone else saw how he used the precious fruit, they would have pointed at him and scolded him for being wasteful.
However, Kong Xuan didn't care. What he said to Jinchi didn't only apply to him but to himself too. He suspected that even Saints of Heaven would not be able to look down from their lofty positions in this crisis.
Kong Xuan wiped the blood from his chin and sat in a lotus position. He needed to reform his fifth incarnation and merge his incarnations back into himself as soon as possible. If he was lucky, epiphany might strike him, allowing him to master the Law of Five Elements.
First, Kong Xuan focused on healing himself. All things in the world were made of the five elements, and with his unique method, Kong Xuan strengthened his fleshly body to the limit with the qi of the five elements. Even against the titans, he had the confidence to say that his flesh was on par with theirs. There was only one difference. The titans possessed innate abilities due to their flesh, while Kong Xuan didn't.
Still, he didn't expect it to be so hard to expel the foreign energy out of his body. It was as if it had a mind of its own, stubbornly clinging to his wounds. Eventually, he expelled every last remnant of the foreign energy, allowing him to truly start recovering.
The whole process took ten thousand years. Ten thousand valuable years Kong Xuan could have spent strengthening himself. With the foreign energy expelled, Kong Xuan unsealed the barriers and allowed Jinchi passage.
"Congratulations on Brother's recovery," Jinchi said happily.
"It took far longer than it should," Kong Xuan said with a grunt. He observed Jinchi closely and noticed that his body exuded a slight aura of fire, one that resembled the nirvanic flames unique to the Phoenix Clan. "Have you not made the blood essence your own yet? You should strive to completely make the innate ability within the blood essence your own. This way, you can have a higher chance of surviving."
"I understand," Jinchi said with a nod. He waved his hand, and a red-gold orb appeared above his palm. "Those stupid phoenixes didn't dare to reject me. They actually gave me quite a lot. Here, this is half I saved for you."
Kong Xuan stared at the red-gold orb and Jinchi. His eyes flickered as his gaze lost their focus, but only for a moment. "Keep it. I need to maintain a balance of five elements for my path. The Phoenix Ancestor's blood essence is good, but it will strengthen the fire element in my body too much and force it into imbalance."
"Oh, okay," Jinchi said as he stored the blood essence. He glanced at his brother again. "Are you sure you don't even want a little bit?"
Kong Xuan snorted. "Instead of worrying about me, worry about yourself more. Absorb the rest and incorporate it as much as you can into your body. You should be wary of the Phoenix Clan. If they gave you a quarter of what you showed me, I would have believed them. Since they revealed their hands and gave you so much, you must be wary of forming cause and effect with them."
"Brother, you worry too much," Jinchi said without a care. "They don't even have a Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament anymore, much less a Quasi-Saint. What can they do to me?"
"Don't belittle them. After all, they're a clan that managed to preserve themselves from the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation. What I'm worried about is not the Phoenix Clan themselves but the trouble attached to them," Kong Xuan said. His eyes sharpened and continued. "Karma is mysterious and unpredictable. Since you took so much, you've already formed karmic ties with the Phoenix Clan. Be wary."
Jinchi furrowed his brows. He didn't understand why Kong Xuan was so worried. "Isn't karma just Karmic Merit and Karmic Sin? I haven't caused any problems. Why should I be worried?"
Seeing that Kong Xuan was about to lecture him again, Jinchi quickly added. "Alright, alright, I'll be careful of them. Since everything is done, I'm going to find a place to absorb the rest of the blood essence. Goodbye, Brother."
Jinchi turned around and left before Kong Xuan could say anything. Seeing Jinchi's disappearing figure, Kong Xuan sighed. "Really, still so immature after eons."
Kong Xuan shook his head before focusing. His eyes scanned his four incarnations, passing them one by one until he settled on the empty spot where his fifth incarnation should have been.
His aura began to rise as the pressure in the room increased. Not just him, but his four incarnations' aura also rose in conjunction. When his aura peaked, Kong Xuan shouted, "Sever!"
A white figure jumped from Kong Xuan's body and sat in front of him. He had the exact same features but wore white robes instead of blue. Furthermore, he exuded an aura of metal.
"Finally, all five of my incarnations are present," Kong Xuan said. Just as a smile appeared on his face, his vision blurred.
Gone was his mansion, Yinzhou Immortal Island, and even the Three Realms. Instead, Kong Xuan found himself floating above a vast plain. The plain seemed to stretch on endlessly, and bodies of water only appeared at the very edge, like a thin circle around a continent.
Below, Kong Xuan could see humans walking or riding horses across the plain. They didn't build infrastructure but lived in portable tents. Fitting, as all these mortals were nomads that never stayed in one location for too long.
Kong Xuan recognized this site. Wasn't this the foreign world he had snuck into? How did he return?
Sensing a change, he turned his head. Or at least, he attempted to. Kong Xuan discovered that his body had become immobilized, except for his eyes. Shifting his gaze, he saw the sky warp until it resembled a giant face resembling that of a man with wild hair and a long beard.
The face opened its mouth, and a suction force pulled on Kong Xuan’s body. He resisted with all his might, but sadly, he could offer only meaningless resistance and was sucked into the mouth. His vision turned black.
When he regained his vision, Kong Xuan panted like a drowning man who finally broke out of the water’s surface. He looked around and discovered that he had returned to his mansion on Yinzhou Island. Everything was the same as before, except for his Metal Incarnation. It had turned into a blurry mist again.
Kong Xuan's expression turned ugly. He glanced in a certain direction. His gaze did not land anywhere in the Three Realms but outside it, the vast chaos. Though faint, he could sense a connection with his Metal Incarnation.
While exploring the foreign world, his intrusion was noticed by the giant face. Kong Xuan likened him to a Saint of Heaven because he was almost incapable of defending himself against that existence. Had the existence not been interested in keeping him alive, then Kong Xuan would have likely already died.
Instead, the existence seemed content to study Kong Xuan. More specifically, they seemed content to study the laws that he had mastered. Only at the price of his Metal Incarnation was Kong Xuan able to escape.
At first, Kong Xuan thought that the existence merely damaged his Metal Incarnation. But now, he realized that the existence had taken away something much more fundamental. Unless he could free his Metal Incarnation from the alien world, his path would be forever obstructed.
Luckily for him, it seemed that the existence had purposely allowed him to escape in order to discover his origin. Although the alien existence was powerful, there were at least seven existences in the Three Realms that could contend with him.
If war really broke out between the Three Realms and the alien world, the former would have an overwhelming advantage. The alien world only had a fifth of the Three Realm's size. Not only that, but the essence of heaven and earth of the alien world was far sparser, and they didn't have any existence in the Quasi-Saint Realm. Aside from that Saint-like existence, their most powerful experts were equivalent to Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament.
Kong Xuan didn't know what method the alien existence used to move the world, but even if he didn't reveal himself and initiate combat, Kong Xuan would find a method to expose him. A different world meant more resources, and he didn't believe the Saints would be unmoved, especially if they learned that the laws that formed the other world were different from those of the Three Realms.
Once the war started, only then would he have a chance to extract his Metal Incarnation. Until then, Kong Xuan knew he had to raise his strength as much as possible.
His gaze landed on the four figures: the Fire Incarnation, the Water Incarnation, the Earth Incarnation, and the Wood Incarnation. For now, absorbing them would raise his strength the fastest.
The years passed. Tens of thousands of years passed in a blink of an eye. As Kong Xuan was in the middle of absorbing his fourth elemental incarnation, he sensed a change in the essence of heaven and earth. His gazes opened, and he turned toward the Heavenly Realm, where the essence formed a whirlpool atop Supreme Purity Heaven.
Kong Xuan had an inkling of what was happening. It happened once when Laozi entered the Primordial Origin Realm, and now, it was happening again. Only this time, a different member of the Three Purity became a Golden Immortal of the Primordial Origin.
'Why did Tongtian become a Golden Immortal of Primordial Origin now of all times?' Kong Xuan questioned. Maybe it was something like Yuanshi who became consecrated twice? Might she gain more benefits from waiting for a while? ‘No, the method only applies to Yuanshi, and he did it twice to increase his power. Tongtian’s action won’t cause the breakthrough to have a superimposition effect.’
Regardless of his thoughts, once the whirlpool of essence disappeared, Tongtian's voice permeated through the Three Realms. "I, Tongtian, have entered the Primordial Origin Realm. Henceforth, I shall be known as the Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable!"
Unlike a Saint's consecration, her ascension did not carry the coercion that required all life in the Three Realms to kneel. Still, an invisible mountain pressed down on Kong Xuan. He had thought he would become the first one to enter the Primordial Origin Realm without simultaneously becoming a Saint.
Not long later, Kong Xuan saw the River of Time manifest above the Three Realms. Just as it began to change, the transformation paused as if someone had pressed pause on a remote. Soon after, the changes reverted and the River of Time disappeared. Although he didn't know what had happened, Kong Xuan needed to enter the Primordial Origin Realm as fast as possible to prevent himself from falling behind.
A few thousand years later, a pressure spanning three hundred thousand li appeared. Kong Xuan's voice, aided by the Way of Heaven, spread to the whole Earthly Realm. "Today, I, Kong Xuan, created the Half-Saint Realm!"
Inside Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain, Zhen Yuanzi's grip on the Realmverse Atlas tightened. It seemed that while everyone else was progressing, only he stagnated. After a moment of hesitation, his eyes turned firm. "It's time to hold the Earth Celestial Conference.”