29: Refined in the Spirit Pool, Chaos Initially Fusion

The five-colored spiritual light of the spiritual pond flowed under the sunlight, like five colorful ribbons intertwining in the pond water. According to the grand ceremony's rules, Xiantian Realm Disciples must enter the pond for tempering, using the Five Elements Spiritual Qi to stabilize their cultivation. Lin Yang stood by the pond, gazing at the golden, wood, water, fire, and earth energies swirling in the water. The chaos star core in his Sea of Consciousness trembled violently — there were faint runes flickering beneath the spiritual pond water, carrying a hint of imperceptible malice, completely different from the spatial fluctuations he had sensed in the Secret Realm before.

“Young Master Lin, please.” From the viewing platform, Elder Zhao’s voice carried a false smile. As a Tenth Level of the Innate Realm powerhouse, his aura was like an abyss, his gaze fixed on Lin Yang, as if waiting for prey to fall into a trap. The black box held by a White Cloud Sect Disciple had quietly opened, and a wisp of black Qi drifted with the wind towards the spiritual pond, merging into the spiritual light on the water's surface.

Lin Yang took a deep breath and slowly stepped into the spiritual pond. As the warm water reached his knees, the five elemental energies suddenly became violent, like countless fine needles piercing into his Meridians: the sharp golden energy cut at his blood vessels, the fire True Essence burned his Dantian, the earth energy collided within his bones, and it even produced strong repulsion with the Five Elements dantian core inside him!

“As expected, it’s a trap.” Lin Yang gritted his teeth and circulated the Chaos Swallowing Heaven Art, only to find that the bottom of the spiritual pond was carved with runes that reversed the Five Elements, continuously releasing “Spirit Devouring Miasma” — this poisonous miasma could disintegrate True Essence, and its restraint on cultivators of all Five Elements was particularly obvious. Even more bizarre was that an dark silver fragment was embedded in the center of the pond's bottom, emitting faint spatial fluctuations, which were actually from the same source as the Secret Realm core energy he had absorbed, but carried mixed malice — clearly, Elder Zhao had found this core fragment elsewhere and used it as a medium to detonate the spiritual pond.

On the viewing platform, Elder Zhao's fingers, holding a teacup, tightened slightly, and a cold smile played on his lips. This fragment was purchased by his subordinates from the black market, reportedly from the outer reaches of the Qingmeng Mountain Secret Realm. Although not as complete as the core Lin Yang obtained, it was enough to trigger spatial energy and, combined with the Spirit Devouring Miasma, severely injure those who cultivated all Five Elements.

Just as Lin Yang's Meridians were about to be torn apart, the chaos star core suddenly erupted with a grey-gold strong light. The incomplete star map on the surface of the star core lit up, actually resonating with the Five Elements runes of the spiritual pond! The originally repulsive five elemental energies, under the pull of the star core, suddenly changed their flow, surging along the Meridians into the Dantian, being frantically swallowed and fused by the Five Elements dantian core.

“This is...” Lin Yang was both surprised and delighted. Gold and wood intertwined in the dantian core to form “Sharp Vitality,” water and fire collided to produce “Cold and Warm Balance,” and earth energy transformed into a “Foundation of Support.” The five forces no longer fought independently but, with the chaos star core as the center, slowly rotated into a spiral-shaped “Chaos True Essence Prototype”!

“How is this possible?!” Elder Zhao suddenly stood up, his teacup crashing to the ground. Not only did the Spirit Devouring Miasma in the spiritual pond fail to harm Lin Yang, but it actually became an aid for his Five Elements Fusion. At this moment, Lin Yang's aura rose steadily, subtly breaking through the third level of the Xiantian Realm and touching the barrier of the fourth level!

The five-colored spiritual light in the pond water grew increasingly vibrant, even forming a pillar of light that shot into the sky. Lin Yang subconsciously reached out to touch the pillar of light. The chaos star core and the spiritual pond's energy completely resonated, the reversal runes at the bottom of the pond shattered inch by inch, and the dark silver fragment was pulled by the star core's suction, detaching from the pond bottom and flying into Lin Yang's palm — the moment the fragment entered his hand, it resonated with the complete core within him, transforming into a wisp of pure spatial energy and merging in. A corner of the star map on the star core's surface was completed, actually unlocking the ability of “Small-Range Teleportation”!

“Explode!” Seeing the unfavorable situation, Elder Zhao crushed the communication talisman in his hand. The miasma in the spiritual pond suddenly condensed into a giant black palm, striking towards Lin Yang's head with the pressure of a Tenth Level of the Innate Realm cultivator. Before the palm wind even arrived, the bluestone by the pond was already crushed to powder.

“Thunder Blast Kill!” Lin Yang did not retreat but advanced, pouring the newly fused Chaos True Essence Prototype into both fists. The water and fire True Essence violently collided in his palms, but no longer annihilated each other. Instead, under the compression of the chaos star core, they erupted into a grey-green shockwave, forcefully shattering the giant black palm!

The moment the Qi wave spread, Lin Yang appeared before Elder Zhao using his teleportation ability and punched him in the chest! “Pfft!” Elder Zhao spat out fresh blood, his Tenth Level of the Innate Realm protective True Essence shattering like paper. He looked at Lin Yang in disbelief: “You... you can actually hurt me?”

“Thanks to you, I just broke through to the fourth level of the Xiantian Realm.” Lin Yang retracted his fist. The fragment in his palm had been swallowed by the star core, and the spatial energy made his aura even more solid.

The viewing platform was dead silent, then erupted in thunderous applause. The Elders of various sects looked at Lin Yang with fervent gazes, especially the Elders of the Star Moon Sect, who had already begun to quietly discuss the details of taking him as a Disciple.

Bai Wanqing took advantage of the Chaos to squeeze next to Lin Yang and handed him a jade talisman: “Crush it to conceal spatial fluctuations. The person behind Elder Zhao is more terrifying than you think. After leaving Qingmeng Mountain, immediately return to the Lin Family to pick up your grandfather and go to the Star Moon Sect to temporarily take refuge.”

Lin Yang gripped the jade talisman, feeling a cold touch on his fingertips. He looked at the pillar of light still lingering above the spiritual pond and suddenly understood that this “tempering” was a trap from beginning to end — Elder Zhao wanted to use the fragment to trigger spatial energy to kill him, but instead, it allowed him to complete the star core's spatial ability.