Nascent Soul Refining

Cultivation in the Nascent Soul Stage focuses on 'tempering the divine soul and integrating laws'.

White Night's daily cultivation was divided into three parts: absorbing spiritual energy at dawn to consolidate his Nascent Soul; studying ancient texts in the afternoon to refine his understanding of Wind Law; and at midnight, operating the 'Heavenly Wind Sword Scripture' to integrate the law into his sword moves.

The condensing wind bamboo in the Wind Listening Courtyard had grown to three zhang tall, its stalks emitting a faint golden light. When the bamboo leaves fell, they would automatically transform into spiritual energy light particles, a result of long-term nourishment from pure spiritual energy.

White Night sat cross-legged in the center of the bamboo forest. The Nascent Soul in his dantian was closing its eyes and forming hand seals. With each breath, dozens of wind-element runes converged into his body from all directions.

This was the unique 'Spirit Guiding into Body' method of the Nascent Soul Stage, which was more than ten times more efficient than the Golden Core Stage.

"Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators need the aid of spirit stones to maintain their spiritual energy consumption, yet he makes such progress relying solely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth." Qiu Xuan's divine sense swept over the bamboo forest, a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

He had secretly observed that a thin layer of spatial rifts always lingered around White Night's Nascent Soul. These rifts could automatically absorb diffused spiritual energy, and even he couldn't fully analyze their principles.

White Night had long been aware of this but never pointed it out. After all, the other party's divine sense was merely observing from afar and not brazenly probing.

As for that thin layer of spatial rifts, it was a small trick he had comprehended after integrating Wind Crevice Shuttle: using the power of his Nascent Soul to draw spatial rifts, transforming them into a 'spiritual energy funnel' that both increased absorption efficiency and concealed his aura. It was truly killing two birds with one stone.

This afternoon, he was perusing the 'Deity Transformation Realm Insights' jade slip gifted by Qiu Xuan. The jade slip recorded the 'Three Nines Heavenly Wind Tribulation' that one must overcome when breaking through to the Deity Transformation Realm.

That was the backlash from the laws of heaven and earth against cultivators forcibly integrating spatial power. Its might increased with the cultivator's potential, and countless geniuses in history had fallen during this tribulation.

"The Three Nines Heavenly Wind, each heavier than the last, with the most terrifying being the third 'Chaos Wind,' which can scatter a cultivator's divine soul origin." White Night's fingertip traced the jade slip, and his Heavenly Heart Imprint automatically deduced countermeasures. "One must use Wind Law as a shield and Space Law as a crevice, guiding the wind into the crevice to resolve it..."

As his deduction reached a critical point, he suddenly stood up, walked to an open space in the courtyard, and with a flick of his wrist, an iron sword appeared in his hand out of thin air.

The sword gleamed coldly in the sunlight, slowly dancing with his movements. The trajectory of the sword tip became increasingly strange, sometimes thrusting forward in a straight line, sometimes suddenly turning, as if it could pierce through invisible barriers.

"Wind Crevice Stab!"

With a low shout, the iron sword suddenly accelerated. The space half an inch in front of the sword body slightly distorted, and the next moment, it appeared three zhang away in front of the condensing wind bamboo, the sword tip stopping precisely three inches from a bamboo joint, without harming the bamboo stalk in the slightest.

This sword strike seemed ordinary, but it had already touched the edge of Space Law. When the sword was unleashed, it utilized the 'jump' of a spatial rift, making it nearly half faster than ordinary sword moves.

"It's still not enough." White Night shook his head and sheathed his sword, standing still.

The consumption of this sword strike far exceeded expectations; the spiritual energy within his Nascent Soul was nearly 30% depleted. Clearly, his control over spatial rifts still needed refinement.

He took out the Wind Law fragment rewarded by the system, gently crushed it with his fingertip, and the fragment transformed into a stream of green light that merged into his glabella.

In an instant, countless wind trajectories unfolded in his sea of consciousness. From macroscopic atmospheric currents to microscopic molecular vibrations, everything was clearly visible.

This 'microscopic' perspective allowed his understanding of Wind Law to break through once again. It turned out that every collision of airflow contained the power of spatial compression.

"So that's how it is..." White Night drew his sword again. This time, he no longer deliberately controlled the spatial rifts, but instead allowed his sword moves to follow the natural trajectory of the airflow.

As the iron sword danced, the surrounding air seemed to become his 'comrade-in-arms,' automatically accelerating and turning his sword moves. A faint wind phantom even condensed behind him, perfectly synchronized with his actions.

This was the higher realm of 'sword merged with wind,' where wind is sword, and sword is wind.

In the evening, Su Mei delivered the sect's monthly allowance: ten bottles of spirit condensing pill, one high-grade spirit stone, and a 'Demonic Beast Valley' training token.

"Senior Brother Bai, this is this month's allowance. Also, Elder Zhao asked me to tell you that a 'Wind Howling Ape King,' a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation beast, has recently appeared in the Demonic Beast Valley and injured many disciples. He asks if you are willing to lead a team to exterminate it."

White Night took the token, which had a map of the Demonic Beast Valley carved on it, marking the Wind Howling Ape King's activity range. He pondered for a moment: "When do we depart?"

"Gather outside the mountain gate three days from now in the morning." Su Mei added, "This time, there will also be five early-stage Nascent Soul disciples accompanying. Elder Zhao said that if the Ape King can be successfully killed, a 'Breaking Void Wind Escape Technique' will be rewarded."

The Breaking Void Wind Escape Technique was a sixth-grade movement technique of the Qinglan Sect. It was said that upon reaching great mastery, one could instantly traverse a hundred li, a divine ability coveted by many Nascent Soul cultivators.

White Night nodded: "Understood."

Three days later, five disciples had already gathered outside the mountain gate. They were all elites from various peaks, and Li Muran was among them.

Seeing White Night, complex emotions flashed in his eyes, but he ultimately cupped his hands and said, "Senior Brother Bai."

White Night nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "Let's go."

The Demonic Beast Valley was located in the continuous mountain range west of the Qinglan Sect. The valley was home to many wind-element demonic beasts, and the spiritual energy was chaotic, making it easy for ordinary cultivators to get lost.

But for White Night, the airflow fluctuations here were like guiding lights. His Heavenly Heart Imprint could clearly distinguish safe paths from demonic beast lairs.

"Three Wind Winged Wolves are three li ahead, bypass them."

"There's miasma in the valley to the left, hold your breath."

"Beyond this stone forest is the Ape King's lair."

White Night's instructions were concise and precise. At first, everyone was somewhat skeptical, but after several times of avoiding danger, they became completely convinced. Even Li Muran put aside his arrogance and followed closely behind him.

At dusk, they arrived in front of a massive cave. Broken weapons and shattered bones were scattered at the entrance, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

"The Wind Howling Ape King is inside." White Night signaled everyone to stop. "This fiend is skilled in sound wave attacks and is extremely fast. I will take the main attack later, Senior Brother Li will flank it with me from left and right, and the others will be on guard to prevent its escape."

Li Muran nodded: "Alright."

White Night was the first to step into the cave. Inside, it opened up into a vast space. On a stone platform in the center lay an ape ten feet tall, covered in green fur, with half a cultivator's skeleton still in its mouth. It was precisely the Wind Howling Ape King!

"Roar!" The Ape King saw the intruders, suddenly stood up, pounded its chest with both fists, and let out a deafening roar.

The sound waves surged towards everyone like a tangible tide, causing shattered rocks on the cave ceiling to fall.

"Focus!" White Night roared, and the iron sword in his hand drew a green arc. The Wind Law contained within the arc formed a barrier, steadily blocking the sound waves.

Li Muran seized the opportunity to circle behind the Ape King, his long sword carrying fierce sword qi as it stabbed towards its back.

The Ape King reacted extremely quickly, dodging sideways. Its massive furry palm struck out, and the palm wind carried the might of tearing space, forcing Li Muran to retreat repeatedly.

"Now!" White Night's figure flickered, executing Wind Crevice Shuttle, instantly appearing above the Ape King's head. The iron sword, imbued with the full power of his Nascent Soul Stage, thrust directly towards its crown.

The Ape King roared and crossed its arms to block.

With a crisp 'clang,' the iron sword struck its arm bone, leaving only a shallow bloodstain. The physical strength of this Ape King far exceeded that of ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul demonic beasts!

"What hard bones!" White Night used the force to retreat, understanding the situation.

Ordinary attacks would be ineffective against it; he had to find its weakness.

His Heavenly Heart Imprint rapidly operated, analyzing the Ape King's aura flow. Finally, he discovered a faint fluctuation at its throat, which was a convergence point of wind-element spiritual energy and also a weak point in its defense!

"Senior Brother Li, attack its left flank!" White Night shouted, then immediately feigned an attack to draw the Ape King's attention.

Li Muran understood, and his sword light, like lightning, stabbed towards the Ape King's left flank.

The Ape King indeed turned to defend, revealing a flaw at its throat.

"This is it!" A sharp glint flashed in White Night's eyes. He injected the power of three Wind Law fragments into his iron sword, and countless tiny spatial rifts suddenly coiled around the sword body.

"Wind Crevice - Fatal Strike!"

The iron sword transformed into a green blur, piercing through the Ape King's defense and precisely stabbing into its throat.

The Ape King let out a mournful shriek, its massive body slowly falling. Green blood gushed out, and it quickly lost its breath.

The cave was silent. The five disciples looked at the iron sword in White Night's hand, their eyes filled with awe.

This Ape King, which had left them helpless, was actually slain by White Night in three moves. This level of strength far surpassed cultivators of the same stage.

White Night pulled out his iron sword and casually waved it, the Wind Law purifying the bloodstains on the sword.

He walked to the Ape King's corpse, condensed a wisp of spiritual energy with his fingertip, and probed its dantian. There, he found a pigeon-egg-sized green demonic core, containing pure wind-element energy.

"The demonic core belongs to the sect; other materials will be distributed according to contribution." White Night put the demonic core into his storage bag, his tone calm, as if he had just completed a trivial matter.

On the way back, Li Muran couldn't help but speak: "Junior Brother Bai's swordsmanship seems to have improved again."

White Night looked ahead: "Just a slight insight."

Li Muran looked at his composed profile and suddenly understood that the gap between himself and the other person perhaps never lay in cultivation, but in the understanding of laws and that serene state of mind.

Upon returning to the sect, Elder Zhao looked at the demonic core and laughed heartily, stroking his beard: "Good lad, you didn't disappoint this old man! This 'Breaking Void Wind Escape Technique' is yours."

White Night took the jade slip containing the movement technique but didn't immediately read it. He simply cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Elder."

By the time he returned to the Wind Listening Courtyard, night had already fallen deep.

After submitting the demonic core to the sect, the system notification quietly sounded:

[Completed sect mission "Slay the Wind Howling Ape King," Reward: Nascent Soul Tempering Fluid x1 (can increase Nascent Soul purity)]

White Night took out the bottle of pale golden tempering fluid and poured it into his palm.

The moment the liquid touched his skin, it transformed into a warm current that surged into his dantian. His Nascent Soul let out a comfortable groan in the warm current, and the wind patterns on its surface became even clearer. This bottle of tempering fluid was even more precious than he had expected.

Moonlight filtered through the bamboo forest onto his face, White Night's eyes calm and profound.

The gains from slaying the Ape King were not limited to this; the life-and-death struggle with the demonic beast made his application of Wind Crevice Shuttle even more proficient, bringing him one step closer to the threshold of the Deity Transformation Realm.

What he didn't know was that on the Main Peak's viewing platform, the Sect Master and Qiu Xuan were looking in the direction of the Wind Listening Courtyard.

"This child's growth rate has exceeded our expectations." The Sect Master sighed softly, "Perhaps in less than three years, he will be able to touch the Deity Transformation Realm."

Qiu Xuan nodded: "It's just that the Deity Transformation Tribulation is perilous. With his potential, I fear it will attract the Ninefold Heavenly Wind..."

A look of determination flashed in the Sect Master's eyes: "If that day truly comes, our Qinglan Sect will spare no effort to help him overcome this tribulation."

...