Chapter 124: Breaking Through to the Innate Realm

A man who has married into a family writing a divorce letter seems to go against the usual customs. Generally, the female family would not let the matter rest easily; they would certainly seek accountability, or else their family’s honor would be disgraced.

However, the Lin family now dare not utter even a single word of complaint.

To put it plainly, these so-called rules are nothing but a matter of whose fists are stronger; everything else is superficial.

After leaving the Lin family, Li Tan once again arrived at the lakeside where he had previously encountered Cangjue. Now, few ferocious beasts dared to enter this area, and after a little tidying up by Li Tan, it quickly became an excellent place for cultivation.

He sat cross-legged on a large stone by the lake, slowly beginning to inhale and exhale true energy, rapidly entering a state of meditation.

The major affairs in Linjiang had been resolved, and it was now time to focus on cultivation.

Li Tan wanted to break through to the Innate level as soon as possible. Besides seeking greater power, he was also deeply concerned about the potential changes that might occur with the Primordial Star Manual.

The transition from the postnatal to the innate state is a qualitative leap. At this stage, any cultivation technique will reveal its extraordinary characteristics, and naturally, the Primordial Star Manual would be no exception.

If there were still no changes at all, Li Tan would decisively switch to another cultivation method.

Although it would be troublesome and have aftereffects, compared to continuing to use a useless technique, those difficulties could be overcome.

But…

Li Tan refused to believe that the cultivation method specially bestowed by the Desolate Tower would be utterly worthless, just like that rusted sword—there must be something extraordinary about it.

With such expectations, Li Tan gradually entered a deep state of meditation. The true energy around him was drawn in and gathered. If someone had sufficient power, they could now see a vortex of true energy forming around Li Tan.

Cultivation is not something that can be achieved in a single day.

At the very least, it would take two.

After two nights of deep meditation, finally on the early morning of the third day, when the eastern sky began to turn pale, Li Tan seized the opportunity for breakthrough! The true energy in his dantian began to stir, forming a vortex spinning rapidly. The true energy from the outside rushed toward Li Tan like mad.

Li Tan’s body was nearly overwhelmed, but with his strong willpower, he endured it.

Soon, the intense pain caused by the gathering true energy dissipated, replaced by a warm current flowing throughout his body. His muscles and bones felt as if soaking in the finest nectar, incredibly comfortable, giving him a feeling of complete renewal.

Impurities within his body were expelled. His clothes were stained black with filth, emitting a foul stench.

Then, Li Tan opened his eyes, which had been tightly shut for two days, yet still shone brightly. He clenched his fists tightly, instantly feeling explosive power surging through his entire body.

“Finally reached the Xiantian realm,” Li Tan exhaled, then directed his spiritual sense into his dantian, intending to check whether the Desolate Tower would change and to observe the alterations in the capacity of his true energy reserves, thereby deciding whether to continue using the Primordial Star Manual.

However, as soon as his spiritual sense entered the dantian, he was stunned.

No, more accurately, as soon as he tried to sense his body, he was shocked.

That all-too-familiar dantian, located in his lower abdomen and holding his cultivation and secrets, had actually vanished.

It had literally disappeared—no trace, no location.

His dantian had silently vanished from his body! Instantly, Li Tan panicked, but soon he shockingly realized that he could still access the true energy within his dantian.

“What’s going on?”

Stunned, Li Tan followed the flow of true energy, attempting to trace it back to its source, only to discover that all the true energy still originated from the original dantian location, yet now it seemed to appear out of nowhere, which was extremely strange.

Cultivation, cultivation—practicing until the dantian disappeared. Could this be the effect of the Primordial Star Manual, hiding the dantian?

Clearly, it couldn’t be that simple.

After a moment of contemplation, inspiration suddenly came to Li Tan. He ceased his search for the dantian and instead tried to establish a connection with the Desolate Tower within it.

A vast sea of scriptures, a massive space, and three tightly closed grand doors appeared in his mind.

The scenes within the desolate tower effortlessly reflected in his mind.

Li Tan swallowed hard, then slowly extended his mental energy beyond the Desolate Tower, only to become completely frozen, like a statue.

He even began to doubt whether his eyes were malfunctioning.

This situation could only be described as a fantastical tale.

Beyond the desolate tower lay an endless stretch of barren land, where nothing existed but exposed rocks and faint traces of true energy.

Despite this, there was no doubt—it was undoubtedly a world! His dantian had transformed into this world! This realization left Li Tan dazed and disbelieving.

This was a scene beyond bizarre.

He forced himself to calm down and tried to analyze the current situation.

Due to the mysterious hidden power of the Primordial Star Manual, his dantian had detached from his body and transformed into a world within some unknown space! Sitting motionless on the large boulder, Li Tan repeatedly verified the validity of this hypothesis. Each time his spiritual sense swept across the desolate world beyond the Desolate Tower, his heart trembled violently.

If his cultivation continued to improve, would the true energy in this world become richer?

That must be the case, right?

Li Tan tried a little true energy circulation, and eventually, all the energy ended up in this world.

Then, he ventured a bolder hypothesis.

If the function of the Primordial Star Manual is to transform the dantian into a personal world, then as his cultivation improves, wouldn’t this desolate world gradually change?

In the future, wouldn’t there be mountains, rivers, and even life?

At this thought, Li Tan’s heart uncontrollably quickened, and this hypothesis made him somewhat ecstatic.

After a long while, Li Tan finally recovered from the shock of his dantian’s transformation. Sensation gradually returned to him. He jumped into the lake to wash off the filth produced during marrow cleansing, then changed into clean clothes and leapt up!

Now that he had the ability to project true energy externally, he could already perform simple gliding in the air. He flew toward the center of the lake, then aimed at the water surface and launched a Coiling Dragon Fist—an external projection of true energy.

With a violent boom, the lake surface seemed to be scooped out in a semicircular section. A large amount of water was struck into the air, raining down into the surrounding forest. After the commotion settled, the water level of the lake visibly dropped slightly.

Li Tan slowly descended but lightly tapped his toes on the water surface, propelling himself upward again and landing on the opposite shore.

“The power is even more terrifying than I imagined, and I only consumed one-fifth of my true energy. Now, the Primordial Star Manual’s true energy reserves are nearly comparable to a mid-tier cultivation technique.”

Excitedly muttering to himself, Li Tan couldn’t help throwing several more punches into the air, each producing a sharp whistling sound, exuding great momentum.

“That’s enough for now. The Featherflying Sect’s trial must be approaching soon. I should head back.”

With a flick of his sleeve, Li Tan made his way back toward Linjiang.