Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1250
All of them were the enemies that he had fought at the risk of his life in the past hundred years.
Absorbing the power of the nebula storm, the enemies all turned into daunting giants who raged and pressed Li Yao overwhelmingly like collapsing mountains.
Li Yao was not frightened at all. The Tartarean Skeleton took three steps forward, leaving ripples in the void after every step. His third attack swept out and blew all the illusions of his enemies into dust!
The dust danced up and down like colorful fireflies before new illusions were condensed again.
They were no longer his enemies but himself in different phases of his life, when he was panicked, hesitating, scared, anxious, and furious.
Li Yao saw the version of himself in the magical equipment, struggling to survive for one more second while crouching in the garbage dump, a version of himself who was highly malicious to the entire world because of the torture of the uncanny dreams.
He saw the Li Yao in the Crimson Nimbus No. 2 High School who trained himself hard to be a Cultivator for nothing more than fame, fortune, and respect.
He saw himself entangled by the star child during the fierce fight in the Flying Star Sector and mired in the swamp of the Immortal Cultivators, almost unable to free himself.
He also saw himself being misunderstood by the people to be the Blood Devil and a 'traitor' after he returned to the federation from the Blood Demon Sector.
Countless versions of himself were roaring in desperation, shuddering in confusion, or bursting into fury and jumping to their feet.
With the utmost tranquility, Li Yao examined his past with neither sorrow nor joy.
But his saber did not hesitate at all as it slashed hundreds of illusions of himself.
"Hu!"
All the illusions of 'himself' were gone. Or rather, he had returned to his true self.
Like a breeze brushing his soul, all the hesitation, panic, and fright in the past were blown away, giving him a brand-new epiphany.
The barrier that confined his Nascent Soul had been riddled with holes and cracks.
All he needed was one last attack to march into the brand-new level completely.
Raising his head, Li Yao looked into the depths of the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy. He seemed to see Earth burning furiously and withering into the core of a rotten apple!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Li Yao heard the explosion of his every brain cell and the calling from the deepest part of his soul. The black flames of spiritual energy around the Tartarean Skeleton all retreated to the gap of the plate armor, and the hideous saber was reduced to a plain-looking thing no more than twenty meters long again.
Even the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy seemed to have sensed the massive spiritual energy that was fluctuating inside Li Yao's body. The nebula storm spurted out at much greater magnitudes than before. The high-energy particles and the super powerful radiation that were enough to melt the shell of a starship and burn up all the components on the starship flooded at Li Yao like an irresistible tsunami.
But it was too late.
At this moment, even if the entire three-dimensional universe collapsed in front of Li Yao abruptly, it would not be enough to stop him from launching the last slash.
Bam!
The saber swept out, raising tides of spiritual energy thousands of meters tall, which collided into the nebula storm brutally and broke the illusion of the black Earth into smithereens immediately.
What was shattered at the same time was an invisible barrier inside Li Yao's brain. He only heard a clear and pleasant crack before the whole world became different from before.
The first difference was the color of the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy and the storm.
The nebula contained a lot of invisible light that was beyond the recognition for the naked eye of human beings. Ninety-nine percent of the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation were not readily visible.
However, Li Yao could see the billions of colors in the nebula and the storm. He really saw the river that was running at him aggressively. He could even see every turbulence inside the river and analyze the level of the high-energy particles and powerful radiation.
The vacuum of space could not transmit sound, but he could hear the roars of the nebula and the storm clearly. He could also hear the flapping sound when the flames of his spiritual energy ripped the void apart!
Of course, it was not a real 'soundwave' but a wave of a higher level, a hundred times more complicated than a soundwave.
Waves existed everywhere in the universe. However, with the organs such as eyes and ears, ordinary people could only analyze a few waves such as sound and light.
Having grown a 'spiritual root', Cultivators could perceive, absorb, and train with the waves of a higher level—the spiritual waves.
Li Yao, however, seemed to have grown a few brand-new organs, virtual organs constructed by spiritual energy that allowed him to perceive and understand more waves.
What he saw was no longer a dark, cold universe, but the most glamorous new world that was filled with swirling, flowing greasepaint!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
He could almost hear the rhythm of the universe. His brain and his heart were pounding along with the pace of the universe, too, and soon surpassed what his fleshly body could bear. As a result, he expanded as a whole!
"This is…"
Seeing the incredible picture before his eyes, Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. He realized that he did not have an organ named 'eyes' right now.
His soul had completely broken free from the boundary of his physical body, allowing him to examine himself from a higher level. He observed the Tartarean Skeleton, which was still holding the saber downward, like a bystander.
It was not exactly the state where his soul left his body.
Li Yao could manage to move his soul away from his body before, too. However, in such a state, even after his soul left his body, it would be like a candle in a freezing wind that could die out at any moment.
His soul right now, however, was constructed into a thorough and stable model evenly in the hundred square meters around the Tartarean Skeleton.
Even the 'venom' that the nebula spurted out crazily could not shake his soul at all.
Instead, it provided the best training for his soul.
In such an amazing state, the hundred square meters around was his 'absolute domain' that was under his complete control. He was the 'god' in the hundred square meters!
I've made it!
This is the legendary Divinity Transformation Stage!
What—What a powerful level. No wonder it is named 'Divinity Transformation'. To quote the ancient Cultivators, my soul has been perfectly melted into the universe in the hundred square meters around myself. I am the universe, and the universe is me. I am utterly invincible in the hundred square meters!
The high-energy particles and powerful radiation spurted out from the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy are the best mediums to polish my new soul and to help me stabilize my hard-earned level of the Divinity Transformation Stage in the shortest amount of time possible!
This was the most critical and dangerous moment.
Countless seniors and experts had been overjoyed and lost control of their mind the moment they broke into the Divinity Transformation Stage, only to plunge from the Divinity Transformation Stage and perish on the spot.
It was like falling from the summit of a high mountain. The higher one had climbed, the more heavily wounded one would be after the fall. It was very possible that they would break into pieces.
That being said, if Li Yao's soul could resist the violent spurt of the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy, it would be like a well-tempered super alloy, and he would stand in the Divinity Transformation Stage steadily.
Together with his myriad of magical equipment and his sturdy soul that was much harder than that of general trainers, he would not necessarily be on the losing side even if he came across seasoned Divinity Transformation Stage experts from the Imperium or the Covenant Alliance.
Thinking about that, Li Yao dismissed all irrelevant thoughts. The soul that had broken away from his fleshly body turned into an indestructible saber while he slashed at the nebula storm brutally and restlessly. He focused on training under the scourge of the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation.
It was always the greatest pleasure to fight nature!
Chapter 1944: Very Perfect? |
Li Yao forgot everything. The federation, the Imperium, the Covenant Alliance, himself, Ding Lingdang, and even Earth. All was left behind.
The only thing on his mind was the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy before his eyes and the saber made of his soul!
One attack. One more. Yet another attack. He was going to kill the nebula.
There was no telling how long it lasted.
The violent storm turned tranquil, and the surging tides became feeble ripples. The high-energy particles and the powerful radiation spurted out from the nebula had been weakened to the point that they could barely affect a human body.
It was almost like the nebula storm had truly been killed by Li Yao and his saber!
Li Yao's soul became more condensed, more solid, and stronger than ever under the polishing of the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation.
Centered around his physical body, glamorous, dark-gold models had been constructed in the hundred square meters around. The gold and silver telepathic thoughts illuminated each other, attracting the cosmic dust and building them into images of deities and devils, which were either three-headed and six-armed or furious. They could not have looked more appalling.
It was not like the sound and visual effects during the fierce fight with Elder Scorching Sun of the Ancient Sages Sector but an 'incarnation of the soul', which boasted the real ability to deal damage!
As long as Li Yao willed it, he could fire the cosmic dust faster than five times the speed of sound to pierce through the composite plate armor of starships or condense the dust around him to form a powerful protective field, ripping any incoming flying swords, mystic rays, and magnetic bullets into pieces.
That was the power of the 'absolute domain' of the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators!
After ascending to the Divinity Transformation Stage, there were two additional techniques.
Firstly, the Nascent Soul would be even steadier and stronger. It would be able to leave the body and travel between the sky and the earth freely with a high resistance to the radiation and spiritual waves of the outside world.
In other words, the Cultivators had begun to surpass the boundary of the fleshly body and glimpsed at the border of pure energy or the method of free transformation between matter and energy.
Secondly, they would be able to open an 'absolute domain' around themselves.
According to the strength of the Cultivators, the diameter and power of the 'absolute domain' was different.
But in general, the absolute domain was like a 'small world' established by the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators. Every inch of space inside was under their strict surveillance and control.
If other people stepped into the 'absolute domain' of a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator, they would be bound by the rules of the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator, which would put them at a great disadvantage.
In fact, the two techniques boiled down to the same origin. It was because the soul of a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator could move away from the body for a long time integrating with the environment, achieving the effect of becoming one with the universe, that they could transform the world nearby into the absolute domain and make use of everything inside the tiny world, including the grains of dust to construct ever-changing images and launch the most powerful attacks.
The soul exiting the body represents the beginning of a brand-new life form. Starting from this moment, life is no longer a simple fleshly body but a collection of all the matter and material within the control range of the physical body and the soul!
Even if the ancient Cultivators did not understand the logic, they could also build their telepathic thoughts into various images, driven by their natural instincts. By boosting the dust inside their 'realm', they would be able to achieve effects similar to a mirage or even really endow the images with some attack power.
In other people's eyes, they were certainly like incarnations of deities and devils. No wonder they are called 'Divinity Transformation'!
My level, on the other hand, is even higher than the ignorant Cultivators of ancient times.
This is not about the simple classification of low, middle, and high levels but about the fact that I have truly understood the significance of 'Divinity Transformation'. I know what form my life is at right now and what the correct direction is for my training in order to evolve and make use of my new abilities!
Li Yao looked at the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy in great satisfaction as if it were a woman who had just been savaged and conquered by him. His soul was stretched to the maximum, and he felt so great that he was almost exploding.
This time, he could not have been luckier.
At first, he had jumped to the center of the cosmos from the edge smoothly without meeting any danger or obstacles.
Although he had encountered a bunch of 'universal starfish', an alien species, they were just a minor problem.
Those universal starfish dragged him into the nebula storm, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Not only was he given the opportunity to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage when he was faced with the blasts of the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation, he was also able to polish his reborn, brand-new soul to an indestructible degree against the nebula storm while he was slashing his saber, allowing himself to stand in the Divinity Transformation Stage steadily.
It was a perfect breakthrough.
More importantly, he did not encounter an intimidating 'minor apocalypse'.
When a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator intended to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage, they would often suffer the strikes of 'minor apocalypses' launched by the primeval civilizations. Such was always the case at the edge of the cosmos. The few Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators that the federation had today had all endured the attacks of mysterious minor apocalypses during their breakthrough. It was thanks to the thorough defenses put up by the national strength of the entire federation that they had managed to weather the process.
The situation should have been more severe at the center of the cosmos.
Just now, Li Yao had seized a rare opportunity and strived forward without caring about anything, but he had been braced for a minor apocalypse.
However, after his level consolidated and his heart calmed down again, he did not seem to sense the arrival of a 'minor apocalypse' at all.
Thinking quickly, he immediately understood why.
It was not necessarily because he was lucky but probably because the massive spiritual waves that he had unleashed during the breakthrough into the Divinity Transformation Stage were 'blocked' by the high-energy particles and the powerful radiation spurted out from the nebula of the Devilish Scorpion Galaxy.
It was almost like a cluster of furiously burning fire that had dropped into an erupting volcano. How could anyone find it?
My hundred years of misfortune has been entirely washed away. Fate has given me such a great gift the moment I arrive at the Imperium. Will Vulture Li Yao really have his day now?
Hahaha. I feel so good and so strong. Right now, I can walk cockily even in the Imperium of True Human Beings, which is teeming with experts!
It is said that the elders and leaders of a lot of big families in the Imperium that have a long history are merely in the middle level or high level of the Divinity Transformation Stage. They must consider their family, while I am all by myself with zero concern. What can I possibly fear?
Hehehe. Even the cosmic storm has been slain by me. Who in the entire world can stop me?
Li Yao's soul emanated dark-gold brightness that condensed into an enormous smiling face in space, which was laughing so hard that the teeth were almost falling.
Out of his expectation, a deep red face suddenly popped up above the golden one, as if it could not hear it anymore.
"Well," the mental devil said, "I understand that you must be thrilled to have broken into the Divinity Transformation Stage. It is perfectly normal that you want to brag about yourself, but could you please not do it so shamelessly? What do you mean by 'even the cosmic storm has been slain by me'? It was obviously a periodical outbreak, and now the outbreak has finished!"
"…I haven't had a level-up for more than a hundred years," Li Yao argued, "and nobody is cheering for me even though I just made a major breakthrough. What's wrong with celebrating on my own? Can you stop being a bummer?
"Besides, the increase of my level is beneficial to you, too. You've become stronger than before. Look at the models of spiritual energy that you have constructed. How delicate, stable, and precise!
"Speaking of which, it's just occurred to me that we should study team attack techniques more because normal Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators rarely have split personalities like us, which means that they can only have one 'absolute domain' with their sole soul. But can we build 'double absolute domains' with two souls or grasp any other awe-inspiring techniques like that?"
"Well… You do seem to have a point," the mental devil said. "Let's talk more about it later. I vaguely have an ominous feeling. Do you not feel that our teleportation and breakthrough were too smooth and fortunate?"
"Is that bad?" Li Yao asked.
"Not exactly bad," the mental devil said. "It's just that every operation in the past was always bumpy if not life-threatening. This trip, which has turned out to be so smooth and fortunate, doesn't feel normal. Something feels off. You'd better check if there are any hidden problems… Not good. Our starship!"
