There was no turning back from activating the Chaos Body, a process that lasted a full three hours.
No one could possibly understand the agony Chu Fan endured during those three hours.
Just as Zhegu Slave had warned from the start, activating the Chaos Body was a matter of life or death. Throughout the process, the intense pain threatened to swallow his consciousness on several occasions.
Then, with a soft POP, the agony vanished. His meridians began to regrow, his cells rearranged themselves, and his shattered Dantian slowly started to heal.
His previous injuries healed completely as well, and the feeling of recovering what he had lost filled Chu Fan with elation.
’As long as I can cultivate again, there’s still hope. It was all worth it.’
However, when he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Zhegu Slave, now a desiccated corpse.
The already frail old man was now nothing but skin and bones. His white hair resembled brittle, dry grass, and his clothes, which had once fit, now hung awkwardly on his shrunken frame.
"Zhegu Slave!"
Chu Fan cried out, rushing to his side. There was not a shred of life left in him.
’Why did this happen?’
’Why did he die?’
Clearly, Chu Fan would never know the answer.
’With Zhegu Slave dead, I have no family left. Now the mystery of my own origins might never be solved.’
’If he had known that activating the Chaos Body would cost Zhegu Slave’s life, how would he have chosen if given another chance?’
Chu Fan himself did not know.
All in all, the price was too great—far too great for him to bear.
The jade stones on the floor that formed the array had lost their sheen, becoming nothing more than dull, gray rocks.
Overwhelmed with grief, Chu Fan fell into a pit of self-reproach.
’Am I really a cursed star?’
’Perhaps my birth brought about my parents’ deaths, which is why Zhegu Slave brought me to Yunmeng Mountain.’
’Seven days ago, I brought about the deaths of my Master and five senior brothers.’
’Now Zhegu Slave has died because of me.’
’The Lone Star of Calamity.’
Chu Fan laughed, a miserable sound.
「Three days later.」
Chu Fan buried Zhegu Slave behind the thatched hut.
He did not erect a gravestone.
’What was done could not be changed, but he still had to get his revenge.’
"Miaolian Celestial Stabilization Technique."
This was the book Zhegu Slave had clutched in his hands as he died. It was only upon opening it that Chu Fan discovered it was a Cultivation Technique that could only be practiced by one with a Chaos Body.
The text was written in plain, simple language, bearing no trace of profound mystery.
Yet as he settled his mind and continued to read, Chu Fan found himself completely engrossed.
The greatest truths are often the simplest.
As he leafed through the book, Chu Fan was oblivious to the endless Spiritual Power swirling toward him like a cyclone, which his body devoured like a whale swallowing the ocean.
The Miaolian Celestial Stabilization Technique was divided into a Twelfth Layer Realm. These twelve layers were: Foundation Establishment, Fusion, Lotus Birth, Pill Formation, Nascent Soul, Divine Separation, Integration, Void Realm, Mahayana, Tribulation Crossing, Heart Realm, and True Self.
This differed from the common Cultivation Realm of the mortal world. While the realms of worldly Cultivators were also broadly divided into twelve, they were: Foundation Establishment, Switch, Fusion, Heartbeat, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Emergence, Divine Separation, Integration, Void Realm, Mahayana, and Tribulation Crossing.
However, worldly Cultivators who passed their Celestial Tribulation in the Tribulation Crossing Realm could ascend to become an Immortal. If they failed, they would either perish completely, their body and soul obliterated, or be reduced to the status of an Earth Immortal.
’But why does the Miaolian Celestial Stabilization Technique have two more realms after Tribulation Crossing?’
When Chu Fan finished reading the entire book, he was stunned to discover that after just one read-through of the Cultivation Technique, he had not only grasped the fundamentals but had, in less than a single hour, already advanced to the Second Layer Realm, the Fusion Realm.
True Qi was already coalescing within his body, accumulating in his Dantian and meridians. Had he performed Introspection, he would have seen a colorful cloud of True Qi floating within his Dantian.
"Well now, Golden Core shattered, meridians severed, a complete cripple... and you’re still not giving up?" A sudden, mocking voice interrupted Chu Fan’s Cultivation.
Three disciples approached, riding on their swords. They leaped from their Flying Swords and put away their Long Swords.
Two of them were none other than Li Qiong and Yu Wanqing, who had blocked Chu Fan’s path in front of Lingyun Hall just days ago. The third was Ji Ling, the Great Elder’s own grandson.
Chu Fan tucked the book into his robes. He hadn’t even had the chance to settle the score with them, and here they were, delivering themselves right to his doorstep.
’Never mind the humiliation from three days ago—the Jade Pendant his master had left him was still in Li Qiong’s hands!’
Chu Fan stood up, extended a hand toward Li Qiong, and said, "Give me back the Jade Pendant."
"Oh? Still think you’re the Lingyun Sect’s Saint Heir? Still think you’re the greatest prodigy in the Eastern Domain? What gives you the right to order us around now? Any one of the three of us could crush you like an ant with a single finger," Li Qiong said with utter disdain.
Yu Wanqing chimed in with a grin, "Exactly. The first thing we came to tell you today is that Ji Ling is now the Lingyun Sect’s new Saint Heir."
Ji Ling crossed his arms, looking extremely smug.
Ji Ling was also twenty-three years old, the same age as Chu Fan. If not for Chu Fan, he would have become the Lingyun Sect’s Saint Heir long ago. After all, reaching the Heartbeat Realm Late Stage at twenty-three was enough to be considered a prodigy.
But unfortunately for him, there was Chu Fan, that monster, who had already formed his Golden Core at the age of twenty-one.
’Now that the Eastern Domain’s greatest prodigy had fallen from the heavens, he could finally part the clouds and see the sun.’
’The one who triumphs in the end is the true winner.’
"Is that so? Then congratulations on getting what you’ve always wanted," Chu Fan said indifferently, before his gaze fell sharply on Li Qiong. "The Jade Pendant!"
"Asking me for the Jade Pendant? Are you courting death?" Li Qiong barked. "I won’t waste any more words on you. Senior Brother Ji is the Saint Heir now. Hand over the Lingyun Sword!"
At the mention of the Lingyun Sword, Chu Fan’s anger flared once more.
A Sword was a Lingyun Sect disciple’s second life. In pursuit of the distant realm of Man and Sword as One, every disciple nourished their blade with their own essence, building a rapport between man and Sword. For twelve hours a day, their Sword would almost never leave their side.
His blade was only called the Lingyun Sword because he had been appointed Saint Heir; the name was tied to the title.
’For them to demand his Lingyun Sword in the name of the Saint Heir... this was far more than a simple humiliation. This was like digging up a corpse to publicly flog it, and then urinating on it for good measure.’
Though he had not wanted to reveal that his Dantian had recovered, how could he possibly tolerate this?
Gritting his teeth, Chu Fan beckoned with a hand. The Lingyun Sword, which hung by his bed, unsheathed itself and flew into his grasp.
Watching Chu Fan grip the Sword, Ji Ling said disdainfully, "What? You actually dare to attack?"
The words had barely left his lips when he felt a chill run through his entire body. A lock of hair then drifted down before his eyes.
In that fleeting moment, he broke out in a cold sweat, as if he had just been pulled back from the brink of death.
’He hadn’t even seen how Chu Fan had moved. If Chu Fan’s Sword had been half an inch forward, wouldn’t he be dead right now?’
"My Cultivation may be crippled, but with the Sword Dao I have comprehended, killing you three would be as easy as flipping my palm." Chu Fan swept his cold gaze over the three men before him, his eyes finally settling on Li Qiong.
"The Jade Pendant?"
"Chu Fan, your audacity is boundless! How dare you attack the Saint Heir!" Li Qiong demanded, pointing at Chu Fan.
A gust of wind stirred. None of them saw how Chu Fan moved. In the blink of an eye, the Sword in Chu Fan’s hand was already pressed against Li Qiong’s throat.
"Chu Fan, are you trying to rebel?!" Yu Wanqing roared.