Chapter 1725: Advancement

Han Li and his second Nascent Soul simultaneously felt as though their bodies and spiritual senses were being sliced by countless sharp blades over and over again. What made it even more unbearable was that this excruciating pain could not be alleviated or resisted by any magical power or supernatural ability, forcing them to endure this torturous agony like ordinary mortals.

Despite Han Li’s physical resilience, which could normally withstand attacks from flying swords and blades, the overwhelming pain caused him to momentarily lose control of his internal mana, sending him plummeting downward.

With a dull *thud*, though wracked with unbearable pain, his Vajra Devilish Arts remained active, preventing any damage from the fall. Instead, his powerful body cratered the ground, sending debris flying in all directions.

Han Li had no time to dwell on such trivialities. After an initial cry of pain, he clenched his teeth and suppressed further outcries, though his face turned slightly ashen.

This level of suffering was beyond what any ordinary person could endure, and he could only rely on sheer willpower to resist.

Under these circumstances, Han Li felt his primordial spirit burning intensely, as if engulfed by an inexplicable scorching heat, making even his soul feel as though it were ablaze.

Though he barely retained a sliver of clarity, his heart was filled with dread.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to sit up in the crater, assuming a cross-legged posture and forming hand seals. A golden radiance erupted from his body once more.

After slightly adapting to the pain, he attempted to use the power of the Vajra Devilish Arts to forcibly expel the abnormality within him.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened.

As his spiritual energy circulated, the pain transformed into streams of cooling energy that surged into his meridians, converting into an unprecedented, peculiar force that propelled the Vajra Devilish Arts to operate at an astonishing speed.

After completing one full cycle, his cultivation inexplicably increased—though not by much in absolute terms, it was undeniably real. Moreover, this bizarre enhancement continued to grow as the Vajra Devilish Arts kept circulating.

Such an unexpected boon left him both shocked and elated!

Without further deliberation, Han Li closed his eyes and focused entirely on his cultivation, his body shimmering with golden light.

Under these circumstances, each cycle of cultivation was equivalent to a year of hard training under normal conditions—he would never let such an immense opportunity slip away.

However, this increase in cultivation paled in comparison to the second Nascent Soul within the distant pillar of light.

Though the second Nascent Soul also circulated its techniques to resist the pain, the sheer volume of energy it absorbed from the pillar rendered its efforts negligible.

Thus, even while cultivating, the pain barely diminished. But at the same time, the second Nascent Soul’s cultivation soared at a rate three to four times faster than Han Li’s main body.

Within the time it took to finish a meal, it had already broken through from early to mid-Deity Transformation stage, encountering no bottlenecks whatsoever.

Time passed steadily.

Han Li shuddered as a peculiar sensation surged through him—after some effort, he truly broke through the bottleneck of the early Void Refinement stage, advancing directly to mid-Void Refinement.

Overjoyed, he continued to frantically operate the Vajra Devilish Arts.

Unnoticed by him, the moment he reached mid-Void Refinement, the golden droplets within the distant pillar of light flashed and abruptly surged toward the second Nascent Soul.

In an instant, a brand-new golden body reassembled within the pillar.

This new golden body also had three heads and six arms, but its surface was covered in astonishing violet-gold patterns that formed vague, enigmatic runes. These runes flickered intermittently, appearing incomplete.

Compared to its predecessor, this golden body was vastly different, exuding a mysterious aura with its faintly glowing violet-gold spiritual light.

The third indistinct face on the golden body had become slightly clearer, revealing faint traces of facial features, though still far from distinct.

With this new golden body, the second Nascent Soul’s absorption rate of pure spiritual energy and five-colored runes skyrocketed, and the pain lessened considerably.

Soon after, the second Nascent Soul broke through mid-Deity Transformation, reaching late-stage, and rapidly approached its peak.

A short while later, as Han Li’s cultivation neared the peak of mid-Void Refinement and he prepared for the next breakthrough, the second Nascent Soul shattered the Deity Transformation bottleneck and ascended to Void Refinement—matching Han Li’s main body.

Such terrifying advancement speed would leave even the mightiest Spirit Realm cultivators speechless.

With a deafening *boom*, as if sensing something, the nine armored warriors’ silver halberds pointed skyward emitted a resonant hum, and nine beams of light shot into the void from their tips.

The milky-white pillar erupting from the golden vortex trembled and abruptly thickened.

The second Nascent Soul within the pillar let out a shrill wail as its newly formed golden body flickered wildly before dissolving once more.

In the blink of an eye, dense clusters of golden droplets reappeared in the pillar—though this time, they contained faint violet threads, differing from before.

The same process repeated: pure spiritual energy and five-colored runes merged into the droplets, and a mysterious force once again purified and refined them.

Unbeknownst to the eye, the violet threads within the golden droplets gradually thickened.

Meanwhile, as the milky-white pillar intensified, Han Li felt the pain in his body and spiritual sense deepen by more than twofold. The agony penetrated the depths of his soul, nearly causing him to black out.

Fortunately, he had grown somewhat accustomed to the torment and barely managed to stay upright. Moreover, the cooling energy he absorbed now surged in greater quantities, accelerating his cultivation even further.

……

Han Li felt as though he were trapped between ice and fire. His cultivation had already reached the peak of mid-Void Refinement half an hour prior, and he had attempted to break through to late-stage over a dozen times with the aid of the mysterious energy.

But this bottleneck was markedly different from previous ones—multiple attempts had failed.

As a result, the pain in his soul and the accumulation of mysterious energy within his body soon reached an unprecedented limit.

If he failed to break through soon, his soul would either be torn apart by the agony or his body would explode from the overwhelming energy.

This was only possible because of his cultivation of the Great Development Art and Vajra Devilish Arts, which made his primordial spirit and physique far surpass those of his peers. An ordinary Void Refinement cultivator would have perished long ago.

Han Li’s initial elation had long since vanished, replaced by dread as he frantically gathered energy to assault the bottleneck again and again.

He was agonizingly close—just a hair’s breadth away—yet late-Void Refinement remained frustratingly out of reach.

As he had suspected, such heaven-sent benefits were not easily obtained. By his estimation, if he failed three more times, death would be inevitable.

Sweat poured from his brow as his body blazed like a golden sun, nearly blinding to behold.

Whether due to his previous efforts or sheer luck, his next attempt finally succeeded—breaking through to late-Void Refinement as smoothly as water flowing downhill.

His body trembled as several streams of scorching energy surged from his dantian, flooding his meridians and limbs. Simultaneously, his main Nascent Soul glowed with alternating gold and azure light, expanding noticeably in size.

His mana skyrocketed, instantly surpassing his mid-stage capacity by more than half. Yet just as joy surged within him, his eyes widened in horror.

Because at the same moment, the golden droplets in the distant pillar reassembled into yet another golden body—this one adorned with far clearer and more complete runes, radiating a faint violet-gold aura.

But the milky-white pillar immediately intensified, dissolving the golden body once more into droplets. Meanwhile, Han Li’s cultivation continued to soar at an even faster rate.

Never had he imagined that one day, he would tremble in fear at the thought of his own power increasing.

He knew all too well that breaking through bottlenecks would only grow harder. Barely scraping by this time, the Body Integration bottleneck was utterly beyond his current capabilities.

If his mana kept increasing unchecked, his body would inevitably explode. How could he not shift from joy to terror?

This bizarre situation was entirely beyond his control. Only by halting the second Nascent Soul’s transformation within the pillar could he avert disaster.

But the second Nascent Soul, having lost its golden body twice and immobilized by the overwhelming energy, was powerless to resist the milky-white pillar’s forced infusion. Helpless, Han Li could only watch as his cultivation surged uncontrollably.

Within half an hour, the second Nascent Soul broke through two more stages, reaching late-Void Refinement—matching his main body.

Yet its advancement speed far outstripped Han Li’s.

While his main body was still far from the peak of late-Void Refinement, the second Nascent Soul had already reached its limit and began assaulting the Body Integration bottleneck.