‘Also, why did that damned old fogie not work on creating a way to recover one’s Cultivation fully? I refuse to believe he couldn’t do that!’ Gu Ran cursed his old master to experience an extremely tortuous stay in the Netherworld!

After venting for a bit, Gu Ran quickly went over to where Xiao Hong lay unconscious - he had noticed something!

Seeing that the shield had already dissipated after Bai Hao had released it, he sighed lightly, ‘Talented he may be, but he’s still too inexperienced. Even if the enemy seems to have escaped, it is still wise to keep your guard up. There’s no way to know if your enemies will play a dirty trick.

‘Especially with these Demonic Cultivators…’

He made a mental note to have a talk with Bai Hao later.

Squatting down, he took Xiao Hong’s wrist into his hand and sent a strand of Qi into it, looking like he was checking her health.

While doing so, his Divine Sense fluctuated slightly. A few tiny objects shot out from somewhere underneath Xiao Hong and into Gu Ran’s sleeve.

Having made sure no one noticed anything, he continued to push his Qi into Xiao Hong’s wrist, this time checking her health for real.

After a short while, Gu Ran’s eyes twitched slightly. His eyes flickered with a strange light as looked at the breathtaking visage that was now rather pale.  

Gu Ran couldn’t help his astonishment and he gasped lightly, ‘The Stellar Primordial Body is something else indeed…

‘Such injuries would have essentially crippled any ordinary Body Cultivator, but for her, there’s no damage to her vitality at all! Instead, it seems to be thriving!

‘As expected of the third strongest Physique in the entire Upper Plane. It truly is a monstrosity!

‘Coupled with her Spiritual Constitution,’ His eyes shone brightly as he looked at his Junior Sister. ‘It might be possible for her to reach my previous life’s Cultivation through the virtue of sheer talent!’

“How is it Junior Brother Gu?” A sudden voice broke Gu Ran out of his reverie. 

Looking up he saw worry on the faces of Bai Hao, Jun Meiling and even the rest of the disciples that had gathered around him and Xiao Hong. They had all, at some point, gathered around him and Xiao Hong. Most of them remained a little further, giving Xiao Hong some space.

He could feel genuine concern from all of them.

Gu Ran smiled with a relieved expression on his face. “She has indeed suffered heavy injuries, but there is no damage to her Foundation at all. In fact, her Life Aura is thriving! 

“We just need to ensure that her bones are all healing properly. Though, because she cultivates a Physical Cultivation Technique, we needn’t be too worried about that either.

“All in all, there is no danger to Junior Sister Xiao’s health. In fact,” Gu Ran gave a light smile, “When she recovers, she will have benefited greatly from this disaster and her Physical Cultivation will advance greatly!” 

He turned back to Xiao Hong, ‘More importantly, this benefit is only a minor one.

‘From the fluctuations of her Divine Sense, she seems to be in a strange state.’ He analysed carefully, ‘Almost like a Nirvana Stage Cultivator’s Divine Sense entering their Sea of Consciousness for the first time to break through to the Soul Palace Stage.’

He chuckled inwardly, ‘Well congratulations in advance, Junior Sister. Your path to Soul Palace is clear!’

The Divine Sense can be considered the eyes of the Soul, and the Sea of Consciousness the external manifestation of the Soul.

So, one could look at it like this: Fang Jin had smacked Xiao Hong so hard that her eyes rolled back into her head!

All of them heaved a collective sigh of relief upon hearing Gu Ran’s evaluation.

Jun Meiling patted her chest in relief. “Phew, thank Heavens she’s alright.”

Bai Hao nodded in relief, “Without Junior Sister Xiao, we would all have been truly done for!” While he could protect himself with the treasures that the Bai Family had given him, he could not do the same for the rest of the disciples. He doubted he’d ever be able to forgive himself if he ran while dooming the rest of his Junior Brothers and Sisters to such a fate.

The rest of the disciples also expressed their agreement. Without Xiao Hong, Bai Hao would never have the chance to reach Nirvana and they would be toast.

After a bit more questioning from Bai Hao and Jun Meiling, Bai Hao requested Jun Meiling and a few other female disciples to help take care of Xiao Hong.

“Well, let’s get started and build the city. We have no choice but to stay here for the next 2 years…” Bai Hao sighed again, this time in resignation. ‘I can definitely understand why the Nirvana Stage Cultivators utterly detest this place.’

He could already sense the overwhelming suppression of the Realm, no matter how he circulated his Qi, that omnipresent ‘ceiling’ seemed to block him, disallowing him from cultivating. It was incredibly uncomfortable. 

‘Especially with the momentum from my breakthrough in the Sword Domain constantly trying to elevate my Cultivation…’

Bai Hao’s mouth twitched. 

Normally, the momentum he gained from increasing his attainment in the Sword was like a rocket attached to his feet pushing him to the skies.

But now, because of the ‘ceiling’ he was constantly being pushed by the ‘rocket’ but could not fly up to the sky. Now, he felt like his face was constantly being squished against an indestructible wall. 

It was really uncomfortable!

He almost cried, ‘This damned momentum won’t stop until my Cultivation synchronises with my attainment in the Sword!’

He really did not know how he was going to spend the next 2 years in this Heaven-damned place!

He did not know of the current situation of the Realm, so he still thought he had to wait for 2 years.

***

Meanwhile, Gu Ran used the excuse of wanting to go into ‘seclusion’ as he wanted to stabilise his Cultivation Base and recover from his act of burning his Cultivation.

In an underground cave, Gu Ran quickly set up a few rudimentary Formations by throwing around a few Formation Plates. As he did so, he slowly went through the past few, rather intense hours, trying to summarise everything. 

It was an absolute necessity, as his lower Cultivation Base, and therefore weaker Spirit, did not allow too much information to exist in his Sea of Consciousness. After all, thousands of years’ worth of memories were far too much for even a Transformation Stage Cultivator to remember, much less a puny Disaster Stage Cultivator.

In fact, he did not remember the majority of his previous life’s memories! Especially his comprehension of the workings of the World.

Whatever he could remember had taken up most of his current Spirit’s capacity.

So, he was forced to summarise once in a while so he did not accidentally end up forgetting something important.

‘Junior Sister’s Spiritual Constitution is truly astonishing! To be able to utilise Formations to such a degree is quite unexpected.’ He stared up at the ceiling of his man-made underground cave.

‘Though it is highly dependent on the user’s ingenuity. Only absurd geniuses like Junior Sister Xiao can truly utilise the power of Formations to reach such a level. 

‘Realistically speaking, it is not possible for a mere pseudo-Grade 3 Formation to resist a Nirvana Stage True Demon for so long.’ Gu Ran stroked his chin, deep in thought. ‘It was only through her ingenuity in utilising the environment to her advantage that she could bridge this gap.

‘However, it is not the most stable path and is far too dependent on external circumstances.’ Gu Ran shook his head after some contemplation. ‘A well-prepared enemy will try their best to eliminate all disadvantages.

‘Moreover, at higher levels - beyond the Essence Soul - Formations will become weaker while also becoming far too complex. The power of Principles is not something that can be harnessed easily. To retain the advantage of Formations, there is a need to learn far too many Principles. It is simply not feasible to learn so many at once!

‘There will also be fewer and fewer people who can truly cultivate this Path to a high level.

‘There are quite a few Yuan Opening Experts, but not a single Cultivator who can create an Array Formation that can resist a Yuan Opening Expert.’

‘This was why I decisively chose not to tread this path back then!’ He firmed his stance once again, stabilising his wavering heart. 

‘This Junior Sister is an absurd oddity, indeed.’ the corner lips quirked up. ‘To make me waver, even if only briefly.

‘Speaking of absurdness,’ Gu Ran hesitated for a long while before he pulled out a few round objects from his sleeves and brought them to his palm with his Divine Sense.

A few crystalline orbs, like the purest gems, rolled around in his palm.

He stared at them blankly for a long time, rolling them around between his fingers. 

Suddenly, his lips twitched violently!

“I-I-It’s really a Perfect Quality Pill!” He gasped and almost fainted when the realisation sunk in after having confirmed it over and over.

His eyes were like rebellious kids who didn’t want to stay in their homes! Gu Ran was finding it extremely difficult to suppress their ardent desire to vacate their sockets!

“What the fuck?!” Gu Ran tried to calm down, but all he could do was continue to hyperventilate and utter curses, “What the actual fucking fuck?!

“Since when can puny Divine Sea stage brats create what even experts at my level can’t do?!

“Am I under some elaborate illusion, and all the incidents up to now are some weirdo’s fantasies?” Gu Ran really felt so! But no matter how he thought about it, he could not find any discrepancies! If someone could so thoroughly entrap him that he could not tell illusion from reality, they probably could end him without resorting to such methods, so he could only accept that this was indeed reality

But it seemed that, often, reality was weirder than fiction.

It was only after a while that he regained his composure. He looked up at the ceiling of the underground, ‘How utterly ridiculous.

‘I might need to reevaluate Junior Sister’s potential-’

Just as he was thinking along these lines, a thought struck him. “Huh? Wait a moment.”  His eyes widened again! 

“Doesn’t that mean I really got scammed by her?!” The realisation hit him like a bolt from the blue - his intuition wasn’t wrong at all! Xiao Hong could definitely refine many more pills than he’d initially thought and she had ruthlessly taken advantage of his ignorance!

“Damn! What an audacious little lass! She really dares to scam me!” Gu Ran’s eyes twitched violently. 

He gritted his teeth fiercely when he recalled her “innocent” and “tired from refining pills” expression back then. ‘Tired from refining pills my foot! More like tired from counting her profits after scamming me!

‘And to think I fell for it! Hook, line and sinker!’

“Hehehe, just you wait, my cute little Junior Sister, I’ll teach you what it means to offend Gu Ran!” A dark look was plastered all over his face - like he smashed his face in a pot of Talisman Ink. He swore to himself that he’d teach the lass a proper lesson! He’d teach her to never mess with him!

Somewhere not too far away, Xiao Hong’s unconscious body shivered.

***

‘Huh?

‘Where am I?’ Xiao Hong’s consciousness awoke looking around in confusion. 

In her eyes appeared an infinite sea of pure red that extended till it met a pitch-black horizon. It wasn’t crimson red like blood. It wasn’t a blazing red, like fire. It was simply… red. 

The purest red.

Xiao Hong looked at the ‘sky’ above.

It was pitch black, with no stars, no Moon and definitely no Sun.

It did not seem like a normal place at all!

She should have felt wary or even afraid. After all, in an unfamiliar, eerie place anyone would feel scared.

But somehow, Xiao Hong felt at home. 

Not just that. She even felt like she was the centre of the whole World - like everything around was an extension of her. The Black Sky, the Sea of Red, the ripples on the sea originating from where she lay on it; everything was her.

‘Hmm?’ Xiao Hong felt surprised. ‘What on Earth…?’

Then she had an idea. She willed. And instantly, she was standing, feet on the Sea of Red. There was no process between her states of lying down and standing - she simply went from one state to another. 

And that made her surer of her speculation.

‘Is this perhaps…?’ She casually reached out to the Sea of Red and willed again. The Sea responded immediately and a fist-sized blob of red ‘water’ floated up to her outstretched hand.

Looking at the blob of water floating over her palm, she stretched out a finger and poked it. Her finger faced no resistance from the blob of red ‘water’ and simply sunk in. 

Instantly, a current of refreshing energy surged through her mind! Her thoughts sped up, her mind focused, her memories became clearer and her mind felt like it had instantly elevated to a higher level!

However, in the same instant, the refreshing energy disappeared and she felt normal again. The blob of red ‘water’ had also disappeared.

‘As expected!’ Xiao Hong's eyes brightened in realisation as she looked around in excitement! “This is my Sea of Consciousness!

“And this,” She willed an even larger blob of red ‘water’, “is my Soul Energy!”

Her eyes sparkled in glee! Because she understood what it meant: there would be zero bottlenecks when she tried to break through from Nirvana to Soul Palace!

“Hahaha~! Awesome!” She was absolutely delighted. “I suppose suffering a beating at Fang Jin’s hands wasn’t all that bad, after all!” Xiao Hong took a hearty swig out of that mug of copium. “The Heavens must have been testing me and I’m actually very lucky!” 

Even Daoist White could not cook up such pure copium!

After a long while, Xiao Hong finally calmed down.

“With this, I won’t have to face any danger at all while ascending to the Soul Palace Stage.”

Yes! Breaking through from Nirvana Stage to Soul Palace Stage involved great risk. 

To awaken one’s Divine Sense, a Sky Spirit Cultivator had to open their Soul Gate to grant one's Soul Energy access to the outside world. This process alone was dangerous and could harm less talented Cultivators. The old Xiao Hong was one such example. An extreme one, actually - since she’d basically lost her life trying to open her Soul Gate, which was something even the less talented disciples of the Purple Spirit Sect could breeze through.

Similarly, to start building their Soul Palace, Nirvana Stage Cultivators had to access their Sea of Consciousness.

And this was far more dangerous than simply opening the Soul Gate. there was a great chance the Cultivator would accidentally damage his Sea of Consciousness while trying to access it.

The Sea of Consciousness was the manifestation of the Soul - existing between the Material World and the Spiritual World and accessible by both. And damaging it could cause the Cultivator to lose his memories, lose his sense of self, or even directly become a vegetable.

While there was little chance of death, some of the other options were not any better than death itself.

In fact, every stage upwards of the Divine Sea peak posed a great risk to the Cultivator. And every increase in Cultivation Base came with greater risk than the last.

So, it was indeed great news for Xiao Hong.

After a short while, Xiao Hong regained her composure. ‘Though, it should not be that beating from Fang Jin that allowed me to enter my Sea of Consciousness, but that strange state I entered…

‘That was probably what allowed me to Qi, Body and Spirit and heighten all of them at the same time.

‘What was that state anyway?’ Just as she was pondering, Xiao Hong felt a strange summoning. Like something was beckoning to her.

‘What the…?’ She felt rather confused. ‘How can there be something beckoning me in my own Sea of Consciousness?’ 

Bewildered, she followed the summoning and went over. In her own Sea of Consciousness, distance did not have meaning.

So she directly appeared at the place that seemed to summoning her.

A football-sized Red sphere floated with 3 rings floating around it, spinning leisurely, each perpendicular to the other two. 

Five spheres revolved around it like planets around the Sun.

Four of these five planets pulsed gently, glowing with soft lights of different colours. While the final sphere was dim and dormant.

Xia Hong reached out to touch one of the glowing ‘planets’.

Instantly, a large amount of data flooded her mind. 

Undead Wood Life Protecting Formation, Five Divine Beasts Array, Four Symbols Array, Dragon Fire Array, Mechanics of Arrays, Grade 3 Formation Foundation…

Xiao Hong’s eyes widened in shock when she realised what it was!

‘No! I have to check another one!’ She immediately reached out to another sphere.

Another flood of data was released into her mind.

It was the Ancient God’s Physique Scripture.

Xiao Hong stood still for a long while, her gaze unfocused. Suddenly, she snapped out of it and went over to the Red Sphere in the middle, staring at it with such intensity, that it felt like she was trying to ignite it with her gaze alone!

Under her intense gaze, the Red Sphere seemed to expand. Thin, tubular structures extending out of it intertwine with her Sea of Consciousness in an incredibly intimate way. These structures weaved into her Spirit, Body and Essence in a way she could not comprehend. 

Carefully, she raised her hand and reached out to it.

There wasn’t a flood of data like before. There was only several sentences’ worth of information, out of which, a few words stuck out like sore thumbs:

System Core Manifestation

“Well, shit.”