A sharp, soul-rending pain coursed through Luo Feng’s body, causing him to tremble slightly.
“This pain is much weaker than I anticipated.”
“It’s roughly equivalent to the pain I felt when fusing the 110th Blood-Net Crystal,” Luo Feng remained lucid. Regarding the ability to endure pain, thousands of years ago, when Luo Feng was still weak and first entered the Blood-Net World, fusing the very first Blood-Net Crystal had been unbearably painful. However, as his cultivation improved, so did his mental fortitude through continuous trials.
As he fused more and more Blood-Net Crystals, the intensity of the pain naturally increased. In those years, Luo Feng had been driven to the brink of collapse countless times by the pain. But over thousands of years, his endurance had only grown stronger. Now, with the fusion of 165 Blood-Net Crystals in his right claw and back combined,
“It’s easy.”
Despite his trembling body, Luo Feng’s face broke into a faint smile.
Thankfully, he had always adhered to the first level of mental cultivation: “Seeing one’s true nature, directly pointing to the heart.” Although mental cultivation is divided into three stages, the level of cultivation merely represents a tier. For instance, the “Heart of Innocence” emphasizes balance between strength and softness, between Yin and Yang, while the highest level, “The Heart Embracing All,” is even more profound and boundless.
The three stages of mental cultivation: the first is a stubborn, simplistic adherence to one’s true heart, without any techniques—only the single method of “holding true to one’s heart,” enduring all impacts like a rock being worn down by floodwaters.
The second stage involves techniques—knowing when to be strong and when to be soft, balancing Yin and Yang, thereby greatly enhancing resistance.
The third stage is even more refined.
However—
The reason the third and second stages surpass the first is mainly due to the level of cultivation or techniques, which act like amplifiers.
With the same soul and willpower, once one comprehends “Yin and Yang, the Heart of Innocence,” the ability to resist pressure, illusions, and soul attacks can surge ten or even a hundred times. If one reaches “The Heart Embracing All,” resistance to these things can surge a hundred or even a thousand times more.
However, when it comes to fusing the Crystals with the soul, there is no shortcut. No amount of strength or softness, no amount of openness, can help. One can only endure the fusion of the Crystals with the soul… the only thing required is to endure the pain! At this moment, all levels and techniques are useless… it all comes down to how firm one’s heart is and how much pain one can endure!
This pain originates from the soul itself.
Not an illusion! Not external!
Yin and Yang?
The Heart Embracing All?
This pain comes from the heart itself, not from mental pressure or illusions, but from the real pain of soul fusion! Luo Feng had always pursued extremes, constantly tempering his heart, enduring all pain, and had long forged his heart into something as hard and brilliant as a diamond.
…
One of the core components of the Star Tower—the Crystal—began to slowly fuse with Luo Feng’s soul. The fusion was extremely slow, but as the integration deepened, the pain intensified!
One year, two years, three years… ten years, twenty years, thirty years…
Sixty years passed in the blink of an eye.
While enduring the pain, Luo Feng continued studying the “Beast God Statue” and comprehending the laws of the universe. He even connected to the virtual universe network with interest, meeting with his family!
…
In the 61st year of receiving the inheritance, the pain had increased significantly compared to the beginning.
Luo Feng, who had been optimistic at first, now felt troubled: “The pain is increasing faster than I expected. At the beginning, I could endure it easily. But after just 60 years, the pain has increased so much. At this rate… I can’t be sure I can survive over 3000 years.”
“What should I do?”
“Perish?”
“No.” Luo Feng opened his eyes and glanced at the Cosmic Lord ‘Puti’ coiled beside him.
“I must live, and I must successfully obtain this inheritance, becoming the leader of Earth’s lineage.” Luo Feng whispered to himself, thinking rapidly for a solution while enduring the excruciating pain.
“Temper my heart!”
“From birth until now, I’ve only lived for a few thousand years. Yet my heart has been tempered to this level. This life-and-death inheritance will last at least 3300 years. During this time, my heart can be further strengthened! But this rate of improvement isn’t enough… I need the fastest way!”
Luo Feng pondered, various methods of tempering his heart flashing through his mind.
In fact, enduring this soul-rending pain itself was a form of tempering, making a strong heart even more resolute.
“Not enough. Simply enduring pain to temper the heart isn’t enough.”
“I need a faster method.”
From birth until now,
In the first couple of centuries, his heart matured quickly. Over the following thousands of years… although the long duration led to significant overall improvement, the rate of progress had slowed.
“The heart must be genuine! Pure! Sincere! Only then can great miracles occur!” This was one of the principles of heart cultivation passed down by ancient Chinese sages, and a belief Luo Feng had held firmly throughout thousands of years of cultivation.
Genuine—true and without falsehood.
Pure—untainted by distractions.
Sincere—filled with sincerity.
This was the ultimate path to achieving miracles and unleashing the power of the heart.
The principle was simple. Like a researcher who could fully focus on their work, free of distractions, with complete sincerity, in such total immersion, the power of the heart could create miracles, making research progress ten or even a hundred times more efficient, capable of producing great miracles.
“These past 60 years, I’ve endured the pain but have been constantly disturbed by it, unable to calm my heart,” Luo Feng murmured.
“From this moment on,
I will focus entirely on studying the ‘Path of the Beast God,’ with a pure heart. No matter how intense the pain, I will not be affected… my heart will be pure and true, fully devoted to the Path of the Beast God.” Luo Feng silently resolved.
…
Remaining vigilant in times of safety, preparing for the worst, Luo Feng sensed the impending crisis. Under the invisible pressure and the soul-rending pain, he truly began studying the ‘Path of the Beast God.’
It was easy to say he would be genuine and pure, but far harder to achieve!
Without this soul-rending pain, Luo Feng could easily attain this state. But under such intense pain, trying to remain completely undisturbed—even someone as strong-willed as Luo Feng initially couldn’t manage it. The pain often threw his heart into chaos.
And the invisible pressure—the pressure of possible death—also occasionally unsettled Luo Feng.
…
But gradually, Luo Feng forgot the pressure, cast aside the pain, and pushed the intense agony aside. No matter how violently the heavens collapsed, Luo Feng remained fully immersed in the ‘Path of the Beast God’…
Only in solitude could the heart reveal its true power!
And a heart of pure sincerity, especially one that remained genuine and pure even under such intense pain, generated an endless stream of strength, allowing Luo Feng to keep going…
…
In the highest palace, deep within the endless currents of the Thunder Island in the virtual universe.
The Chaos Lord had been preoccupied with his own matters for centuries. Now that he had finally relaxed, he summoned Luo Feng, wanting to test his disciple and learn of his current state.
“This Luo Feng has closed off his virtual universe access? He even left me an automatic reply saying he’s in retreat for cultivation?” Sitting on his throne, the Chaos Lord chuckled in disbelief.
Since beginning the life-and-death inheritance, Luo Feng had informed his family but dared not disturb the Chaos Lord lightly, not even wishing to send casual emails. Instead, he had written an email set to send automatically whenever the Chaos Lord sent a message or call.
“Domain Battlefield Army System.
Where was my disciple Luo Feng’s last connection to the virtual universe?” Sitting on his throne, the Chaos Lord spoke into the void.
“Reporting to Lord Chaos,”
A voice like clashing metal responded, “Luo Feng’s last connection to the virtual universe was inside the Star Tower.”
“The Star Tower?” The Chaos Lord nodded slightly.
Hundreds of years ago, the Star Tower had released the Sealed Star, and of the over a hundred thousand immortal warriors from other races, around 8000 perished. The fall of so many King-ranked immortals, usually so difficult to kill, had shocked countless races across the universe. As for the “Sealed Star,” it was said to have fallen into the hands of a King-ranked warrior from the Qihan Clan, a race from the edge of the universe.
“Once Luo Feng enters the virtual universe, he is to come see me immediately.” The Chaos Lord left a message for Luo Feng, unaware that his disciple was currently facing a terrifying ordeal.
…
Under the soul-rending pain, Luo Feng devoted himself entirely to comprehending the Path of the Beast God. His consciousness and willpower unknowingly began to rise rapidly… the results were indeed excellent. Although Luo Feng’s willpower was improving, the intensity of the pain was also increasing with time.
The increase was even greater than the improvement in his heart.
100 years, 200 years, 300 years… 800 years, 900 years…
More than a thousand years had passed in an instant.
Initially, Luo Feng had a significant advantage over the pain, but after over a thousand years of tempering his heart, his improvement could no longer keep up with the rising intensity of the pain. The pain was now approaching Luo Feng’s limit. At this rate, Luo Feng might barely survive for 2000 years.
At that point, once the pain exceeded his endurance limit, his willpower would collapse instantly, and the Crystals would cause his soul to disintegrate…
Resulting in death!
Of course, during this thousand-year span, there was an unforeseen gain… With his willpower and consciousness intensely concentrated and wholly immersed in studying the Path of the Beast God, his comprehension of the Beast God’s artistic conception had advanced by leaps and bounds, estimated to be on par with the 19th Floor of the Heaven-Reaching Bridge. Regrettably, this progress in the laws of the universe provided no assistance to Luo Feng in undergoing the life-and-death inheritance.
…
Though facing a crisis, Luo Feng, with his heart fully immersed and pure, was completely unaware of the danger—he was too focused.
If not for this focus, his heart would not have improved so quickly over these thousand years.
1600 years, 1700 years, 1800 years, 1900 years…
The soul-rending pain grew increasingly unbearable, far surpassing the pain of fusing 165 Blood-Net Crystals. It was already nearing Luo Feng’s breaking point. Yet Luo Feng continued studying the Path of the Beast God, unless the pain reached a level that could disrupt his current state, he would not realize the danger.
His heart was pure and true, with no distractions.
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