Chapter 108: The Realm of the Transformed

As the golden light of merit surged into Xu Cheng's primordial spirit, his cultivation advanced toward the threshold of the Transformation Realm. Perhaps due to his repeated cycles of destruction and rebirth, his foundation was exceptionally deep; the barrier of the Transformation Realm was not as sturdy as that of the Materialization Realm. It was like an eggshell, shattering with a gentle nudge, revealing a vast and expansive world beyond.

In that moment, he felt as if his previous self had been nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well. Once he reached the stage of Transformation, every inch of the world became clearly visible. It is said that cultivation is also known as "seeking truth," and perhaps this is the reason: to strip away the false, preserve the true, and perceive both the real world and one's true self.

Feeling the wonder of this new world, Xu Cheng stepped out of his meditation chamber in high spirits. He reached out a hand and caught a wisp of the warm winter sunlight. Without using any spells, merely with a thought, he held the light and made it dance in his palm. He recalled that in his past life, sunlight was said to be composed of seven colors. He carefully counted the colors within the sphere of light in his hand, but as it swirled and flickered, there seemed to be far more than seven.

With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the sunlight, and where the light touched the ground, a small crater formed. A casual movement now possessed the power of an ordinary spell.

Sensing his own state, Xu Cheng realized that even without his physical body, his primordial spirit could roam freely through the world. He had a feeling that his spirit could manifest a form using the sunlight itself; perhaps this was what they meant when they said that entering the primordial spirit stage was the first step to becoming an earthly immortal. Even so, the spirit could not fully abandon its reliance on the physical body; without it, one would eventually lose their sense of self over time and merge completely with the heavens and earth.

Filled with immense joy, Xu Cheng suddenly frowned. He could not sense the golden primordial bead in his chest, nor the coffin he had always carried on his back. Logically, even if they had shielded him from that terrifying final attack, they should not have been obliterated; they were two divine artifacts from the Yellow Springs, each with infinite wonders.

In disbelief, he began to examine himself thoroughly, from the outside in. At first, he found nothing, but after a moment, he discovered black-red tubular objects spreading throughout his entire skeleton. Tracing their source, he found them inside his ribs. The golden bead was still in its original position, yet he could no longer control it through his primordial spirit.

Suddenly, he felt a sensation like a heartbeat emanating from his chest. Within those black-red tubes, he felt as if fluid were flowing. Could it be that the coffin and the golden bead had fused with his bones? As he pondered this, he pressed lightly on the black-red tube on his arm. A long-lost sensation of pain traveled to his consciousness, and he was ecstatic.

After a moment, his joy subsided, and he murmured, "It seems the coffin has transformed into my veins, and the bead has become my heart?"

Given the exclusionary nature of the Yellow Springs, it was astonishing that they hadn't dissolved him. Xu Cheng, who had long suffered from the lack of a physical body, felt a few sparks of red fire flicker within the black eye sockets of his skull.

In that case, could he use items exchanged from the Yellow Springs to recreate a body for himself? He decided to experiment. With his new Transformation Realm cultivation, he levitated a pebble, smoothed its edges until it was perfectly round, and carefully extended his consciousness into it, fearing that too much force would shatter it. He continuously washed the interior of the stone with his own mana until the grey stone with white spots turned completely black. Finally, he imprinted it with the spell patterns of the Yellow Springs, filling them with tiny, intricate runes. A magical artifact was successfully forged.

He placed the stone into his eye socket, but after a long wait, it seemed to have no effect. He was puzzled about how the coffin and bead had fused with him. Suddenly, he noticed a flash of bright silver.

"Is this... the Minor Five Elements Creation Art?"

Had he inadvertently fused the Minor Five Elements Creation Art into the coffin and the bead? He removed the stone from his eye socket and infused it with the Minor Five Elements Creation Art. When he placed it back, his black-red veins pulsed and finally connected to the stone-turned-artifact.

A moment later, he could see. If he had previously relied on the perspective of his soul and primordial spirit—augmented by the Minor Five Elements Creation Art—he was now truly seeing through the black magical stone in his eye socket. Though he was not entirely satisfied with it being merely a stone, it was a step up from a construct of pure Five Elements essence. For now, it would suffice.

To avoid causing a stir, he cloaked himself in the Minor Five Elements Creation Art, shaping his appearance into that of a man in his twenties. With a heart beating and blood flowing within him, he felt like a living person again. In his excitement, he began to meditate, consolidating his current primordial spirit realm.

Perhaps influenced by his past experiences, Xu Cheng found himself wishing someone would shatter his primordial spirit again, allowing him to break and rebuild multiple times to accelerate his cultivation.

His thoughts were interrupted by the chime of a bell, similar to the one used in the Jade Toad Palace to awaken those lost in deep meditation. The sound was pleasant. Xu Cheng exited the chamber to find the old Daoist Zhang Taiping holding the bell. Seeing Xu Cheng emerge, Zhang was slightly stunned before saying, "Congratulations to the Envoy for your great progress in cultivation!"

"Mutual congratulations! Has the ancestor of the Celestial Master Dao emerged from seclusion?" Xu Cheng asked immediately.

"Indeed, the ancestor has emerged. Please, follow me."

Zhang Taiping led Xu Cheng forward. Previously, in his haste to breakthrough, he hadn't observed the Celestial Master Dao closely. Now, he was struck by its majestic grandeur. Several peaks pierced the clouds, each like a finger; viewed from above, they connected to form a whole, resembling a Mountain of Five Fingers. Upon reaching the peak of the "middle finger," feeling the clouds drifting around him, he felt as if he had become an immortal.

Inside the palace, Zhang Taiping bowed toward a figure with his back turned. "Ancestor, this is the Yellow Springs Envoy."

"Oh? Another Yellow Springs Envoy? Interesting, very interesting!" The man turned around; he was a young man, not at all as aged as Zhang Taiping. "Let us speak plainly. Can the Envoy grant this old man a bit more longevity?"

*Business is here,* Xu Cheng thought to himself. He nodded immediately and said, "Of course. Ten thousand points of merit can grant the senior sixty years of life."

"Good, good, good! The Envoy is truly a straightforward person!"

The ancestor of the Celestial Master Dao smiled brightly and produced a massive, glowing sphere of golden light from his robes, roughly estimated to be worth one hundred thousand points of merit.

*This is a big deal!*