Longevity Martial Arts: Starting from Inner Core Skill

Chapter 1057: Chapter 2: Breakthrough, Refining Void and Integration

The difficulty increased exponentially.

But—

“How can this barrier stop me?”

Wang Sheng’s immortal power erupted, activating the power of space-time. In an instant, the Great Way appeared as if right in front of him.

A strong call spread throughout his body.

However, he was not in a hurry, fully committed yet remarkably calm.

His spirit settled at the illusory Heavenly Gate, observing the Great Tao River.

In that moment, his immortal power surged, yet his mind remained extremely calm.

He was searching for the most mysterious Mysterious Gate in cultivation.

The Mysterious Gate, as its name implies, doesn’t have a specific location. Some say it’s at the ancestral aperture between the eyebrows, others say it’s at the Dantian, with no unified theory.

But one thing is certain.

The Mysterious Gate is related to the Great Way.

And Wang Sheng was about to find his own Mysterious Gate, and leap forth from it.

Time flowed on.

His immortal power, his Great Way power, still surged, responding to the Great Tao River.

Yet his mind grew ever more serene.

Suddenly,

he only felt an ultimate quietness, losing the sense of self, but perceived an obscure union with heaven and earth, merging with the Great Tao River, as his spirit and body fermented within, like returning to the womb.

Then his eyes suddenly shone brightly.

“This is the moment!”

In an instant, his figure seemed to become incomparably large. With a hearty laugh, his spirit and body transformed into the Innate Ancestor Qi form, leaping within the void.

The invisible Heavenly Gate could no longer block him.

In a flash, he found himself within the Great Tao River.

This was his first true contact with the Great Tao River.

The Great Way is formless, inherently conceptual, seemingly existing, yet no one can truly touch it.

But now, Wang Sheng faced the Great Way directly. This meant he, in a sense, became an existence within a concept, formless and invisible.

But the matter was not over yet.

The Great Tao River surged violently. Even its casual fluctuations, ordinary to the Great Way, were extremely perilous to any being brave enough to enter. Prior to this, he only relied on the Great Way, having an anchor point, without facing it directly; any peril of the Great Tao River was irrelevant to him.

Yet as he entered the Great Tao River, he had to confront these directly.

Thus, he now needed to temper himself to adapt to the Great Tao River, to truly achieve Refining Void and Integration.

And the first step in facing it was to destroy his protective layer, the anchor point set by the Refining God and Returning to Void realm.

At this time, he hadn’t encountered danger because the anchor point existed, and the Space-time Dao was still protecting him.

To truly break through, he needed to leave this protection.

That is, to shatter the Void Heart.

Wang Sheng hesitated not a moment.

Upon sensing his own anchor, he showed no expression: “Shatter!”

“Crack!” A sound of invisible shattering resonated.

Of course, the anchor did not shatter completely at once, but slowly dissipated.

Yet he couldn’t care about that now.

As the anchor shattered, the fluctuations of the Great Tao River instantly surged forth.

Seemingly small waves, yet perilous to the extreme, their terrifying momentum stunning to the heart, even Wang Sheng, though prepared, was incredibly shocked.

Any single droplet could shatter his physical body.

He dared not hesitate in the slightest, immediately using the power of space-time.

Here, only the power of space-time could truly counter, accepting the tempering of the Great Way.

The power of space-time manifested, blocking most of the force, even if some permeated, the Lifeless Immortal Body sustained it, recovering quickly.

“Truly terrifying power, my current body can’t withstand much damage even if besieged by the Twelfth Realm, yet here it’s easily pierced. Were it not for the Lifeless Immortal Body and the power of space-time, even I might face immediate annihilation, but…”

Wang Sheng felt his constantly improving Lifeless Immortal Body and his control over the Space-time Dao, forcing a smile.

“The benefits are clear; both body and Yang spirit are enhancing, increasingly adapting to this environment!”

The breakthrough proceeded towards a better direction.

But Wang Sheng would not be complacent; this was just the beginning.

The waves of the Great Tao River merely served to help him adapt; the real tribulations were just beginning.

As time passed, various tribulations followed one after another.

The first step was the Nine Tribulations.

The Fire Tribulation, Void Fire descended from the sky, burning his physical body and spirit.

The Wind Tribulation, a terrifying wind blade instantly dismembered him, while the Yin wind eroded his spirit and body like the Fire Tribulation.

The Heavenly Tribulation…

In the Great Tao River, time was immeasurable, who knows how much time passed before the Nine Tribulations ended.

“I endured it, truly terrifying tribulations, unimaginable, unescapable, thankfully the Lifeless Immortal Body was strong, withstanding them all, gaining immense enhancement.”

The Nine Tribulations were naturally not simply nine kinds of tribulations.

Nine stands for the extreme, nine represents many.

The tribulations he underwent, far beyond nine types, he himself couldn’t count.

But the final result was good; he successfully overcame the Nine Tribulations, gaining great enhancement.

Now, he could be said to have reached a half-step toward becoming a concept.

This advancement was extremely terrifying.

Of course, others cultivating the Inner Core Skill fundamentally can’t tread this path.

Not to mention, his two little disciples, if they cultivated to Refining Void and Integration, at best reached the Twelfth Realm, and not the powerful Twelfth Realm he once was.

Nor would they endure his kind of tribulations.

Should they come here, they might instantly perish in the waves of the Great Tao River, let alone face the subsequent Nine Tribulations.

He was ultimately special.

To put it bluntly, he utilized the progress bar to materialize theoretical concepts and further them.

Whereas Qingfeng and Mingyue were more practical.

“After the Nine Tribulations, there are still the Four Dispersions, but for me, it’s a natural progression.”

After the Nine Tribulations, he reached half-step conceptualization.

And these Four Dispersions were to further elevate him, to complete the remaining half-step.

True dispersal, becoming formless and traceless.

This was the final elevation, truly and utterly shattering the Void Heart.

The Four Dispersions required Wang Sheng to do nothing, merely to go with the flow.

After enduring the Nine Tribulations, no further action was necessary on his part.

So, he quietly waited for the power of the Great Tao River to descend.

The power of the river was formless, and who knows how long it took, before Wang Sheng suddenly felt himself elevate, his physical body and Yang spirit drastically strengthened.

At this moment, he was of single-minded concentration, his divine consciousness incomparably profound.

Always hearing music in stillness, like a dream yet not a dream, as though in a realm of emptiness.

In this realm, the scenery and sights far surpassed the mundane, its flourishing beauty surpassed the mortal world, palaces and pavilions, jade tiles overlayed with smoke, pearls and fine silk, fragrances formed into patterns.

It was as if the Heavenly Palace was just before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he found no protection around him, whether in body or Yang spirit, all exposed within the Great Tao River.

Yet the previously perilous Great Tao River could no longer cause him any trouble.

Spraying waves, just like ordinary water.

And this, was the Great Way in his eyes.

If one day, another could reach his current state, perhaps it would be another scene.

The Great Tao River’s current state was naturally due to his complete adaptation.

Truly entering the Refining Void and Integration realm.

Truly resting his body in the void, gaining the Innate Void Yang God, merging with the omnipresent, all-changing Great Way.

This is the essence of the breakthrough process, integrating with the Dao while refining the void.

This integration is not as miraculous as the Dao Ancestor merging with the Heavenly Dao in primordial novels, but still frightening.

At this moment, he could traverse the Great Tao, roam all worlds.

By now, his breakthrough could be said to have ended, yet also perhaps not.

“Such a golden opportunity, such a state, I mustn’t leave directly, I should take it all in at once!”

At this moment, Wang Sheng was already a cultivator of Refining Void and Integration.

But only just initiated into Refining Void and Integration.

If he had sufficient capability, he could completely advance to the next step.

[Transform into countless avatars, ultimately achieving a single-minded focus, divine consciousness immeasurably profound.]

After entering Refining Void and Integration, this was what needed to be done.

In essence, he was already situated within the Void Dao, to elevate, naturally, was to expand his own power.

The so-called countless avatars essentially meant spreading his power throughout the Great Tao River.

Of course, doing so wasn’t an overnight feat.

What he needed to do was lay down a certain foundation, solidifying his place within the Great Tao River…