Chapter 527 - 520: Sui Zhi’s Nascent Soul Formation

’I can ascend to Nascent Soul without turning into a Ghost Infant? Is such a thing really possible?’

Sui Zhi was skeptical.

But he had no other choice and could only place all his hopes on Du Youqian.

Years ago, he had made a casual move that helped Du Youqian through his difficult Juvenile Stage.

And now, it was time for him to reap the rewards.

Du Youqian was repaying him a million times over!

So, Sui Zhi entered seclusion to break through to Nascent Soul—or, more accurately, to be *pushed* into it.

He didn’t even need any Life-Saving Elixirs. Even if he failed at the Elixir Breaks and Infant Birth stage, the Ghost Infant Gu would replenish his vital energy and allow him to continue his ascension. He simply couldn’t die. It was impossible, even if he wanted to.

Watching the celestial phenomena of Nascent Soul Formation above Ruihan City, Du Youqian continued to work on improving his Gu Technique.

Qin Yiming hadn’t left either. He planned to stay and keep his old friend company.

Occasionally, Qin Yiming would visit Du Youqian to chat and ask for advice on Cultivation matters.

Du Youqian, in turn, asked Qin Yiming to use the association’s channels to sell off some surplus Treasures and purchase a variety of books and records.

As for Tier Five Treasures, Du Youqian only planned to have "Jinhuan" upgraded for now. He would also have Qin Yiming purchase a defensive Tier Five Treasure for him.

Combined with the imitation Celestial Measuring Ruler, that would be roughly enough.

The Divinity Transformation Stage was a long road. Each minor realm typically took nine hundred years to traverse. Du Youqian had plenty of time to improve his Cultivation Techniques and forge a full set of Tier Five Treasures himself.

One day, while chatting with Qin Yiming, Du Youqian asked, "The Qingxu Commerce Association must have its share of Divinity Transformation True Monarchs, right? Why didn’t you ask one of them for help? I’m not interrogating you. If it’s difficult to talk about, you don’t have to say anything."

Qin Yiming was struck speechless for a moment before replying, "We’re a commerce association, after all, not a Sect. Our unity has its limits. I could indeed have called upon those Divinity Transformation True Monarchs, but the cost would have been exorbitant—far more than Sui Zhi could afford."

Du Youqian sensed that wasn’t the whole truth, but since he was in no position to press the matter, he simply smiled and let it go.

Qin Yiming, too, found it hard to explain.

He had, in fact, sought help from a Divinity Transformation True Monarch within the association. As one of the twelve great scions, and having already completed the Third Transition of Nascent Soul, his future promotion to Divinity Transformation was all but guaranteed. He certainly had enough standing to make such a request.

But Shami True Monarch had issued a decree: It was forbidden.

’Why would Shami True Monarch pay attention to such a trivial matter and even issue a specific decree to stop him?’ Qin Yiming couldn’t figure it out.

However, after Du Youqian had seized the Divinity Transformation Spiritual Object, Qin Yiming had begun to form a suspicion: ’Shami True Monarch must know this Sui Xiao—or, more accurately, must have known Sui Xiao in his past life.’

Therefore, Shami True Monarch held great expectations for Sui Xiao, believing he could not only successfully ascend to Divinity Transformation but even climb to greater heights.

With that as a premise, it was easy to understand why Shami True Monarch had forbidden the Qingxu Commerce Association’s True Monarchs from helping Sui Zhi.

Shami True Monarch must have believed that the act of saving Sui Zhi should be left to Sui Xiao.

Sui Xiao was already the undisputed master of Ruihan City, and he might one day hold sway over the entire Immortal City Alliance.

But even a hero needs help. Sui Xiao would need loyal Nascent Soul Cultivators to serve him, as he couldn’t possibly handle everything himself.

If he were the one to save Sui Zhi, Sui Zhi would naturally become his most loyal subordinate, the one who would most consciously protect his interests—even though in terms of lineage, Sui Zhi was Sui Xiao’s Ancestor Gao, a direct blood relative.

But in the Cultivation Realm, the most accomplished one takes precedence.

It’s not shameful for a grandfather to serve as his grandson’s subordinate.

~~~~~~~~~

Sui Zhi’s ascension to the Nascent Soul stage was far faster than that of a normal Cultivator, almost rivaling Du Youqian’s own speed.

Du Youqian’s speed was due to his "One Certificate Forever" ability; having already reached Nascent Soul in his past life, this time was smooth sailing.

Sui Zhi’s ascension, on the other hand, was purely because the Tier Five Ghost Infant Gu was just that powerful.

The creation of a Ghost Infant Gu was an extraordinary process. It required a Tier Five Demon Emperor or a Human Race Divinity Transformation True Monarch. Their entire body—blood, bones, and soul essence—was refined and condensed into a single, tiny Ghost Infant Gu.

And if the Ghost Infant Gu ultimately succeeded in cultivating a Ghost Infant, a single one could save its master four to five hundred years of arduous cultivation.

From the perspective of the Celestial Dao, this was a terrible bargain.

How many years did it take to cultivate a Tier Five Demon Emperor or a Divinity Transformation True Monarch? How many resources? How many humans—and demons—had perished with regret on the path to ascension?

Every Tier Five being was a one-in-a-billion miracle.

Yet killing and refining one of these beings only saved a Demon Sect Divinity Transformation Cultivator four or five hundred years of time.

It wasn’t worth it. It was a terrible trade.

But for the utterly selfish Demon Cultivators, "worth it" wasn’t even part of the equation.

If slaughtering the entire world would allow them to take a single step forward, every true member of the Demon Sect would do it without a moment’s hesitation!

From that perspective, Du Youqian was certainly not a proper Demon Cultivator.

In a mere seven months, Sui Zhi’s ascension had smoothly passed the "Elixir Breaks and Infant Birth" stage and entered the "Divine Qi Calm Illumination" phase.

In this phase, the Cultivator used their Divine Sense as a furnace and their Essence Qi as charcoal. They would draw in vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, repeatedly hammering and tempering it until a single wisp of Pure Yang Qi was refined.

This Pure Yang Qi was then used to stimulate the newly-born Nascent Soul, allowing it to rapidly grow strong and become spiritually complete.

Only a sufficiently strong Nascent Soul could achieve a true "Divine Birth," becoming a being capable of leaving the body, commanding Treasures, and using the Heaven and Earth Divine Ability.

If any problems arose during the "Divine Qi Calm Illumination" stage, the consequences would be severe: at best, one would fail to comprehend the "Heaven and Earth" Divine Ability; at worst, one would lose all potential for future advancement.

By this point, Du Youqian had already raised his Gu Technique to Tier Three, which was sufficient to remove the Ghost Infant Gu. Thus, he could calmly watch the situation unfold and peacefully wait for Sui Zhi to complete the "Divine Qi Calm Illumination" phase.

「One day.」

Inside his private chamber, Du Youqian’s eyes snapped open.

He sensed a sudden change in the celestial phenomena of Nascent Soul Formation above Ruihan City. The vortex of Spiritual Qi that had been siphoning endlessly had stopped!

This meant that Sui Zhi had completed "Divine Qi Calm Illumination" and was entering the final stage of Nascent Soul Formation.

Du Youqian leaped to his feet. Without touching a thing, he was already outside the chamber. After ascending to Divinity Transformation, his mastery of the Path of Time and Space had improved, making such a feat easy. Given a little more time, he would surely comprehend the Instant Teleportation Divine Ability.

A breath later, Du Youqian appeared inside the chamber where Sui Zhi was in seclusion.

The Spiritual Qi was so dense it was practically intoxicating. It was enough to make any Cultivator below Foundation Establishment faint on the spot, and even Core Formation Cultivators would find it difficult to get close.

Having drawn in Spiritual Qi and refined a wisp of Pure Yang Qi, Sui Zhi’s Nascent Soul was now at the final, crucial juncture.

His face was ruddy, and a faint, almost corporeal Nascent Soul floated above his head, slowly revolving.

But Du Youqian’s gaze was exceptionally sharp. He could see that the bottom of the Nascent Soul was already stained a grayish-black!

The dark color was still spreading. In a matter of moments, it would consume the entire Nascent Soul, transforming it into a Ghost Infant. The Ghost Infant would then burst from Sui Zhi’s body and fly to the Gu’s true master.

Unperturbed, Du Youqian summoned his Dharma Aspect and shouted coolly, "Vile creature! You see me before you. Get out here now!"

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a hint of thunderous power. If any spirits or demons were nearby, that single shout would have been enough to grievously injure them.

A Tier Five Ghost Infant Gu was not so fragile, of course, but it still couldn’t help but flinch.

It was actually lurking inside the Nascent Soul.

A Nascent Soul was not a physical entity, so Du Youqian had no idea how it had managed to hide inside.

"Found you!"

Du Youqian remained motionless, but Jinhuan shot out, filled with the ferocious Sword Intent of "Annihilate," and stabbed toward the Ghost Infant Gu’s location!

If this Sword strike landed, the Ghost Infant Gu would surely die, but Sui Zhi would not be spared either.

It wasn’t a matter of Du Youqian’s Swordsmanship lacking precision. Rather, the Ghost Infant Gu was already inextricably linked with Sui Zhi in a symbiotic bond.

If the Ghost Infant Gu died, Sui Zhi could not survive.

Of course, Du Youqian had no intention of actually striking. The Ghost Infant Gu, however, was not an intelligent creature. It sensed the absolute, irresistible power of the "Annihilate" Sword Intent. Faced with certain doom, its survival instinct took over, and it leaped out of the Nascent Soul in a desperate attempt to flee.

It was a black Gu Insect, the size of a praying mantis. It resembled a spider but had more than twenty legs.

It was hideous, but the faint pressure it exuded was unmistakably that of a Tier Five being. An ordinary Core Formation Cultivator would be completely suppressed just by getting near it.

Jinhuan closed in but did not strike. With lightning speed, Du Youqian shot forward, snatched the Gu Insect, and prepared to use his Gu Technique to sever its connection to Sui Zhi.

"SCREECH!" The Ghost Infant Gu shrieked frantically. Knowing there was no escape, it immediately gathered its power to self-destruct.

In that exact instant, Du Youqian’s Dharma Aspect closed and opened its eyes. The Ghost Infant Gu was dumbfounded to find that the power it had just gathered had vanished, and its connection to Sui Zhi had been severed.