Chapter 915: The Fourth Layer of the Phoenix
In the phoenix's nest, two men faced one another, both excited.
"Why does this atmosphere feel a little strange?" Li Qingshan scratched his head.
"Stop wasting time. Accept this power properly. Try not to die!"
Feng Xiwu waved both hands, and his sleeves flew through the air. Wutong branches that resembled scarlet bronze extended over from all directions of the phoenix's nest, wrapping around Li Qingshan layer open layer and weaving a cocoon.
"Come! I won't die!" Li Qingshan understood what Feng Xiwu was trying to do and was invigorated.
"Go!" Feng Xiwu called out. The divine wutong tree's roots that penetrated deep into the magma began absorbing the flames of the earth furiously, converting it into extremely pure fire spiritual qi. Some of the smaller and thinner roots were unable to withstand such tremendous flames of the earth, so they were directly reduced to ash, but he did not care.
After ten thousand years of waiting, he finally saw a sliver of hope. He no longer cared about anything. He had already done so much, so what was wrong with doing a little more?
The divine wutong tree shook violently, and Feng Xiwu's figure blurred. Every single branch lit up with scarlet-red light, injecting into Li Qingshan's body like a blood transfusion; this was the most pure fire spiritual qi.
In that moment, Li Qingshan felt like he was about to explode, but he felt no fear or dread, only surprise and joy. Only a tree of nature like the divine wutong tree was capable of something like this, and this opportunity would never arise a second time.
He circulated the Phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa, and the phoenix wings extended to their limit. They were unprecedentedly magnificent and dazzling, flowing with balls of fire. Then he embraced the phoenix's embryo in his arms firmly, communicating with the bit of consciousness within the embryo.
Possessing self-awareness was a good thing, but if this bit of consciousness resisted Li Qingshan's assistance, that would instead become a bad thing. But fortunately, perhaps because of his phoenix bloodline, the phoenix's embryo accepted his soul sense very quickly.
Because he had experience from dual cultivating with Gong Yuan, coupled with the fact that the consciousness was pure and flawless, just like a blank piece of paper, he achieved the deepest level of unity very quickly. As the Phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa circulated, the overly tremendous energy in the phoenix's embryo was rapidly reined in and condensed together. The bit of consciousness developed and strengthened as a result.
Li Qingshan's cultivation of the Phoenix Transformation constantly increased too. In under a year, he had reached the peak of the third layer. Right when he was about to continue and break through to the fourth layer, he became forcefully stuck there, unable to break through no matter how many times he tried it.
God dammit! I actually ran into a bottleneck at a time like this! Li Qingshan furrowed his eyebrows slightly. Things like bottlenecks could not be overcome by simply gritting his teeth and trying a little harder. Otherwise, there would not be so many cultivators who died with regrets.
Once he encountered a bottleneck, he either had to achieve instantaneous comprehension, or he had to wear it down over time. Most of the time, both were vital. However, under the current situation, any external assistance was useless. The turbulent energy from the divine wutong tree had nowhere to go.
On the contrary, the bit of consciousness in the phoenix's embryo rapidly strengthened under his assistance, occupying the entire embryo.
"Alright, I'll assist you with everything I have then and see just how powerful you can become!" Li Qingshan redirected all the energy from the divine wutong tree into the phoenix's embryo. The embryo turned into a scorching, miniature sun, so blinding that no one could look at it directly.
The tremendous energy in the phoenix's embryo even began to surpass regular Daemon Commanders, advancing in the direction of Daemon Kings. Even Li Qingshan was unable to imagine what kind of a "monster" he would hatch. Would it be born as a Daemon King? Surely it would not be that exaggerated!
Time flew. In the phoenix's embryo, the thick liquid created from the pure spiritual qi gradually began to take shape.
The tremendous life force was turning into a true lifeform, an undying phoenix.
Perhaps because it had waited for far too long as well, the bit of consciousness was eager to burst out of the shell the moment it formed. In less than three years, it had assumed the most basic form. The bit of consciousness had already merged with the body completely, becoming a true will.
Li Qingshan was happy about this, but he could not help but feel some pity.
At this moment, something unexpected happened with the phoenix's embryo. Li Qingshan seemed to see in a daze a magnificent phoenix soaring through the air. That was the most powerful lifeform he had seen so far apart from brother ox, so noble that it could overlook the entire world.
The phoenix produced a glorious cry, echoing through his entire sea of consciousness. It was like it was trying to tell him something, no, it was to the unborn phoenix.
Suddenly, thousands of pieces of information surged through his head, turning into millions of images.
Every single piece of information, every image, contained the truths of the world. There was an extremely strong sense of continuity, yet he was unable to describe what exactly it entailed. It was like a dream, clear and vivid, yet also blurry and vague. Once he woke up, all of it would turn to nothing.
Li Qingshan suddenly realised that this was the phoenix's legacy!
If a person grew up in the wilderness without the guidance from their seniors, they would not be any better off than a monkey. Their ability to survive might even be worse than a monkey's.
However, a divine beast like the phoenix was different. Just like the legendary sages of virtue that were born with knowledge, even when its parents were already long gone when it was born, its bloodline possessed a natural legacy, waiting to enlighten it the moment it awakened from chaos, so it would understand where it came from and where it was going. It would not lose its direction and would not forget who it was.
The "phoenix's legacy" was not like the Imbuement of Wisdom. Instead, it was more like the Great Banyan Tree King's fruit of wisdom, but much more wondrous.
As it underwent enlightenment, the legacy would not influence the young phoenix's individuality, which was why the feeling that it gave to Li Qingshan was like a dream.
Dreams were not actually "nothing". Instead, they originated from the subconsciousness, from a deeper layer of the sea of consciousness, which was far vaster and more profound than the surface consciousness. It allowed the young phoenix to possess extremely great wisdom the moment it was born. Coupled with its natural strength, it was completely capable of thriving alone.
As Li Qingshan hatched the phoenix, he also enjoyed this phoenix's dream that had been passed down since ancient times.
In a daze, he experienced some thoughts. He felt like he had gained something, and he felt like he had lost something.
For all this time, the Phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa had always been the cultivation method that he struggled the most with. Even with Feng Xiwu's complete assistance, he found it extremely slow, even encountering a bottleneck at the end and coming to a halt.
In Feng Xiwu's words, he had only inherited the phoenix's bloodline, but he had not comprehended the phoenix's heart. However, probably even Feng Xiwu was unable to clearly describe what the phoenix's heart was.
But at this moment, Li Qingshan felt like he had comprehended it, yet he was unable to put it into exact words either.
The Phoenix Undergoes Nirvana Rebirth, with an Undying Heart.
Li Qingshan muttered inside, and the bottleneck vanished as if it had never existed.
The Phoenix's Scripture of Nirvāṇa had broken through to the fourth layer!
Before he could even celebrate, the rumbling of thunder passed through the domain, roaring at his ears.
Surely not! It shouldn't have come so soon! Right when Li Qingshan felt rather puzzled, he realised what was going on. He lowered his head and took a look. So it's you who's undergoing the tribulation. Just how dominating of a victory at the starting line is this!?