159: Breaking through the barrier of life and death.

The taiyi green wood heart entered his mouth, not turning into a warm current like ordinary Spirit Medicine.

It was like a living little Azure Dragon, carrying the terrifying status of a half-step fourth-grade item, rampaging down his throat.

Gu Changsheng felt as if he had swallowed an expanding thunderstorm in his belly.

In an instant, his internal organs were squeezed and deformed by this overbearing yi wood essence Qi. The newly repaired Meridians once again let out an overburdened wail, and fine beads of blood seeped from the pores on his skin, instantly dyeing him into a man of blood.

"Hmph."

Gu Changsheng gave a muffled groan, his teeth clenched tight, the muscles of his cheeks bulging high.

Compared to having his Physical Body crushed by a single finger of a Purple Mansion True Person, this bit of pain was not worth mentioning at all.

Without any hesitation, his right hand moved as fast as lightning, pulling a golden fruit that emitted a faint scent of sandalwood from his sleeve.

wisdom bodhi fruit.

This was a supreme enlightenment treasure he had snatched from the jaws of death during the bloody battle in the Taixuan Secret Realm.

*Crack.*

The wisdom bodhi fruit was bitten into pieces.

A bone-chillingly cool current of air rushed straight to the top of his head.

His Sea of Consciousness, which had been somewhat in Chaos due to the intense pain, became incomparably clear in this instant.

The obscure and difficult-to-understand Purple Mansion chapter mnemonic of the Withered Wood Meets Spring Scripture flowed through his mind at this moment, each word being deconstructed into the most fundamental Dao principles.

Gu Changsheng's hands formed hand Seals, afterimages of his fingertips flying, finally freezing into a strange "Grafting Seal."

"Grafting Flowers onto Trees, Borrowing a Corpse to Return the Soul."

He shouted low in his heart.

He did not follow the orthodox method to refine that violent wood heart, but instead treated it as an external "scion."

Deep within the Dantian Qi Sea.

That long-starved and thirsty withered wood immortal foundation sensed its master's will.

It no longer waited passively, but actively extended those two branches of withered prosperity, like a pair of rough large hands, fiercely stabbing into that mass of rampaging azure energy.

*Sizzle—*

It was like boiling oil poured onto snow.

The taiyi green wood heart struggled frantically, attempting to break free from the entanglement of this low-grade immortal foundation.

But upon that immortal foundation, [Withered Meets Spring], a tightly closed vertical eye suddenly snapped open.

That gaze was greedy and cold, revealing a predatory desire originating from life's instinct.

"Fuse for me!"

Gu Changsheng's eyes widened, the colors of azure and black weaving frantically within his pupils.

He channeled the billions of Death Qi accumulated over ten thousand years at the bottom of the Myriad Corpse Pit, turning it into a massive black millstone that crushed down hard upon the taiyi green wood heart.

With Death Qi suppressing it from the outside and the immortal foundation plundering it from the inside.

That arrogant half-step fourth-grade spiritual material finally let out a wail. Its originally violent energy was broken apart, turning into the purest yi wood Origin, forced to merge into that small tree.

The first stage: elevating the immortal foundation.

Gu Changsheng felt his Dantian lighten.

That immortal foundation, now fused with the taiyi green wood heart, underwent an earth-shaking transformation.

The originally charred and withered bark began to peel off layer by layer, revealing a texture inside like purple-gold jade.

It was no longer rooted in the Qi Sea but began to slowly climb up the central meridian toward the "Ascending Yang Mansion" at the ancestral orifice between his eyebrows.

Heavy.

Heavy as a thousand jins.

It felt as if he were lifting not a tree, but a towering mountain peak.

The bones all over Gu Changsheng's body creaked and popped, his spinal Dragon curving into a tightly drawn bow.

"Rise!"

A beast-like roar squeezed out of his throat.

The black river water at the bottom of the Myriad Corpse Pit boiled.

Countless white bones resting on the bottom were swept up, exploding into fine powder in mid-air and turning into billowing Death Qi, pouring into his body like a black Dragon drinking water.

This Death Qi was too immense, immense enough to burst ten cultivators at Foundation Establishment Perfection.

But at this moment, Gu Changsheng was like a bottomless pit.

His left half-body shone with brilliant azure light—the vitality of the taiyi green wood heart burning; his right half-body was shrouded in dense black mist—the Wanshi Death Qi roaring.

Life and death clashing, a Yin and Yang millstone.

At this critical juncture.

Three thousand zhang above, at the inner Sect residence of the Corpse Yin Sect.

Inside a black hall floating in the sky.

True Man You Quan, who was in secluded meditation, suddenly frowned slightly. His gaze seemed to penetrate the thick layers of earth, looking directly into the depths of the ground.

"Hmm?"

"Why is there such a violent Spiritual Qi fluctuation at the bottom of the Myriad Corpse Pit?"

The strength of that fluctuation actually caused the entire mountain-protecting array of the Corpse Yin Sect to resonate slightly, and the corpse Qi in the earth veins converged toward a certain spot like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

True Man You Quan grew suspicious and performed a calculation with his fingers.

A blurry hexagram manifested in the Void Realm.

However, the moment the hexagram was about to take shape, a trace of extremely obscure taiyin power quietly circulated in the depths of the earth, shredding the originally clear lines of Karma into pieces.

The hexagram changed.

What manifested was a hideous giant beast trapped by chains, its head raised as it roared, breathing in and out the corpse Qi of heaven and earth.

"Is that... the 'Jiuyou Corpse King' who has been suppressed for a thousand years?"

The doubt in True Man You Quan's eyes dissipated, replaced by a touch of pleasant surprise.

"Yin reaches its peak and changes; seeking life within death."

"This brute has been locked up for a thousand years, yet today, taking advantage of the Sect's grand celebration Luck, it shows signs of evolution?"

If this corpse king could evolve into a "Hanba," the Corpse Yin Sect would effectively gain the combat power of a Great Immortal Master.

This was an immense auspicious omen.

"Good! Good! Good!"

True Man You Quan said "good" three times in a row, and the idea of using his Divine Sense to investigate was instantly dismissed.

If he were to rashly investigate at this time and disturb the corpse king's advancement, that would be a sin.

"Since you want to absorb, this seat shall lend you a hand."

True Man You Quan raised his hand and waved.

A purple-black dharma decree condensed out of thin air, turning into a Ghost Hand that covered the sky and sun, pressing down hard on the entrance of the Myriad Corpse Pit.

*Buzz.*

A thicker and more rigorous Seal barrier instantly took shape.

This barrier not only isolated all prying eyes from the outside but also forcibly locked the corpse Qi of the earth veins within a hundred-mile radius at the bottom of the pit, forming a high-pressure furnace where things could only enter but not leave.

"The day you succeed will be the time this seat refines you."

True Man You Quan gave a cold laugh and closed his eyes to enter meditation again... In the underground cave.

*Boom!*

Gu Changsheng felt the pressure above his head double.

Because of the sudden closure of the space, the concentration of the Death Qi that was still in a tug-of-war with him surged instantly, wrapping him tightly like liquefied mercury.

If it were anyone else, they would have been crushed into meat paste by this sudden pressure.

But Gu Changsheng laughed.

He laughed hideously, laughed wantonly.

"What a fine old fellow You Quan."

"Thank you for the assist."

He had originally been worried that the phenomena during his Breakthrough would attract prying eyes, so he had deliberately used the taiyin submerging spirit jade to create the illusion of "corpse king agitation."

He hadn't expected this old ghost to be so cooperative, actually personally taking action to help him block his aura.

This was simply closing the door to let him "eat his fill alone."

"Since you've welded the door shut, I won't be polite."

Gu Changsheng took a deep breath and stopped suppressing himself.

Taking advantage of that terrifying external pressure, the small purple-gold tree inside his body, which had already climbed to the Juque point in his chest, gave a final leap upward.

*Pop.*

A soft sound.

As if breaking some kind of shackle of life.

The immortal foundation entered the Purple Mansion.

The ancestral orifice between his eyebrows suddenly opened up, and a hazy gray space manifested in Gu Changsheng's Sea of Consciousness.

That small purple-gold tree was firmly rooted in the center of this world. On its originally bare branches, countless profound Dao patterns began to circulate.

The second stage: refining the Divine Ability.

Gu Changsheng did not dare to be the slightest bit slack.

The Purple Mansion had opened; next was the most critical step—refining this dead-like immortal foundation into his own unique natal Divine Ability.

"Burn!"

He chanted silently in his heart.

The remaining medicinal power of the wisdom bodhi fruit was completely detonated.

All of Gu Changsheng's insights into the "Dao of Withered Prosperity" turned into firewood at this moment, thrown into that small purple-gold tree.

The flame was not red, but a colorless and transparent "Wisdom Fire."

Under the calcination of the Wisdom Fire, the small purple-gold tree emitted crackling sounds.

Those originally complex and fancy branches and leaves began to wither and fall rapidly, turning into bits of flying ash.

Even that purple-gold bark peeled off layer by layer under the high temperature.

Removing the dross and retaining the essence.

The Great Dao is simple.

Within a few breaths, the entire immortal foundation shrank by ninety percent.

Leaving only a main trunk about the length of a finger, presenting a dusty gray color all over.

It looked completely unremarkable, even more dilapidated than a withered branch from the mortal world.

But Gu Changsheng could clearly sense that inside this withered branch was a terrifying rule that could make heaven and earth change color.

Withered Wood Meets Spring.

Reversal of Life and Death.

This was his Dao.

"Still a little bit short."

Gu Changsheng looked at that deathly silent withered branch, always feeling that something was missing.

It was the primer for "life."

He suddenly raised his hand, his fingertip cutting open the space between his eyebrows.

A drop of natal heart's blood, containing all his essence, Qi, and spirit, and even burning ten years of his Lifespan, was slowly forced out.

This drop of blood was not bright red but presented a strange azure-green color.

"Go."

The blood drop fell, hitting the very top of the withered branch.

*Buzz!*

The entire Purple Mansion space trembled violently.

After absorbing this drop of heart's blood, the bark of that withered branch, which had been deathly silent for tens of millions of years, twitched slightly.

A dot of tender green.

A tender sprout, only the size of a needle tip yet emerald green enough to make one's heart intoxicated, slowly poked out from the top of the withered branch.