“Again…”
The little boy was somewhat overwhelmed. As he was about to strike his twin axes once more, he suddenly felt dizzy and discovered his arms had become unbearably heavy, as if two mountains had been placed upon them.
Yet in reality, his body hadn’t moved at all.
Shui Miao had merely used his mental power to create this illusion for the young boy.
“Your willpower is indeed strong, hehe…”
Shui Miao suddenly lunged forward, grabbing both axes with his hands, attempting to wrest them away by force.
“Ugh…”
As soon as Shui Miao touched the axes, he was immediately forced back several steps by radiant divine light emitted from the weapons.
This divine light was like countless red-hot needles; merely being illuminated by it caused unbearable pain from the inside out, completely penetrating his body.
The divine light instantly cleared the young boy’s mind.
“Could this be an illusion?”
The little boy was astonished, never expecting Shui Miao to progress so quickly. “But unfortunately, you still can’t take my axes away from me.”
“You’re cheating! Using divine light against me—how could I possibly compete with that?”
Shui Miao protested.
Shaking his head, the little boy replied, “The divine light of a Golden Immortal is several times stronger than mine. If you can’t even handle this level of divine light, how can you fight against them? Giving you immortal energy and helping you ascend to immortality would be like sending you to your death.”
As Shui Miao’s power had increased, the little boy’s tone had also changed.
Shui Miao shook his head as well. “I’m not overwhelmed. I can endure it!”
“That’s impossible. Even if I gave them to you, you wouldn’t be able to take them.” The little boy extended the axes toward Shui Miao. “If you can grab hold of them, I’ll give you the Immortal Spirit Mirror.”
“Fine!”
Shui Miao immediately activated his Spirit-Devouring Force and grabbed the axes directly.
Instantly, the divine light flared up, consuming his Spirit-Devouring Force and emitting waves of black mist.
Shui Miao felt as if countless arrows were piercing his heart, enduring excruciating pain.
Yet he endured it, gritting his teeth through the agony as he firmly grasped the axes. “What’s a little pain to me? My physical body has already been decomposed by the power of the Natural Dao.”
“No! You’re mutilating yourself!”
The little boy stared at Shui Miao in disbelief, suspecting he was a madman.
Shui Miao simultaneously circulated his spiritual energy to heal his wounds as he spoke, “This divine light isn’t that big of a deal. I’ve grabbed the axes, so now you should keep your promise and hand over the Immortal Spirit Mirror. As a mortal, I can already withstand this divine light. Once I possess immortal energy, why should I fear them anymore?”
The reason Shui Miao was so confident and unafraid of consuming his Spirit-Devouring Force was because his Spirit-Devouring Force was also absorbing the divine light.
In other words, his Spirit-Devouring Force was rapidly adapting to the divine light.
“No! You used the Spirit-Devouring Force, so I can’t give you the Immortal Spirit Mirror.” The little boy snatched the axes back. “Divine light is the natural enemy of the Spirit-Devouring Force. You must abandon the Spirit-Devouring Force, cultivate spiritual energy, and use it to counter the axes’ divine light before you can truly succeed.”
“You’re breaking your word!”
Shui Miao became angry. “The Spirit-Devouring Force was cultivated by me. Why can’t I use it?”
“Because it’s evil!” The little boy immediately responded.
“Hehe…”
Shui Miao couldn’t help but sneer. “Spiritual energy itself has no inherent good or evil. Good and evil reside only in the human heart.”
“Huh…”
The little boy was momentarily stunned, as this statement indeed made perfect sense.
Shui Miao took a deep breath. “You broke your promise. I won’t trust you anymore. I’ve already obtained immortal energy.”
A massive surge of Spirit-Devouring Force flew back from the direction of the mountain.
Shui Miao absorbed this force into his body, and his internal spiritual energy immediately began to boil!
“What an amazing strategy—building a visible road while secretly advancing through another path! Shui Miao, you’ve won. But I must warn you: in the end, the Spirit-Devouring Force will only bring you death. Everything you gain through it will eventually be taken back. I can’t help you anymore. Here, take the Immortal Spirit Mirror. I must return to the Immortal Realm now.” After saying this, a white light flashed from the little boy’s body, and he left the Immortal Spirit Mirror, transforming into a golden beam that vanished into the distance.
Emerging from the Immortal Spirit Mirror, Shui Miao began sensing the transformation of his internal spiritual energy while secretly pondering, “He actually said the Spirit-Devouring Force would kill me? What did he mean by that? Xiaocaixie is a subordinate of the Queen Mother of the Ninth Heaven, and he was specifically arranged by Xiaocaixie to be by my side. His words must have meaning.”
Thinking deeply, Shui Miao realized that the Spirit-Devouring Force indeed had something peculiar about it, possibly hiding some profound secret.
At that moment, Shui Miao became more cautious and expelled all the Spirit-Devouring Force from his body, instead using pure spiritual energy to transform into immortal energy.
The Immortal Spirit Mirror contained an enormous amount of immortal energy.
Calmly settling his mind, Shui Miao focused entirely on transformation and enhancing his cultivation.
Who knows how much time passed, but eventually all of Shui Miao’s spiritual energy transformed into immortal energy. Yet the transformation continued. The Immortal Spirit Mirror was filled with an enormous quantity of high-grade immortal crystals.
The entire mountain was actually made of them!
Overjoyed, Shui Miao entered the Immortal Spirit Mirror and dove deep into the mountain, frantically absorbing the immortal crystals to enhance his cultivation.
Time passed, and Shui Miao’s immortal energy rapidly increased. The immortal energy continuously transformed in his dantian, with no more bottlenecks or dangers. Gradually, it condensed into a golden orb, which then transformed into a fetal form with clear facial features, complete limbs, and even a heartbeat. This wasn’t the end—his infant soul grew stronger, transforming into a seven-colored infant soul. Then Shui Miao’s soul left his body, absorbing the yang essence from his physical form, becoming a unique existence nearly akin to an immortal.
Seeing his physical body transform into a withered corpse, Shui Miao was deeply moved.
However, his cultivation continued to rise, and the mountain remained vast, as if this process would never end.
After a long time, Shui Miao experienced an extraordinary transformation that even he could hardly believe!
His body actually split into seven clones!
Each clone had unique attributes and could coordinate actions while also fighting independently. The sensation was indescribably wonderful.
Overjoyed, Shui Miao positioned the seven clones throughout the mountain, each absorbing immortal crystals of different attributes to enhance their cultivation.
This continued for a long time.
Eventually, the seven clones automatically began to merge!
“Boom!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Lightning strikes suddenly appeared within the Immortal Spirit Mirror, seven-colored thick bolts continuously raining down, enveloping Shui Miao in a storm of lightning. Each fusion was accompanied by thunder, and each time, his power increased exponentially. After forty-nine strikes of lightning, dark clouds still lingered in the sky, and two more bolts descended—one purple and one golden. When these two bolts struck Shui Miao, he felt no pain at all.
Then, the clouds vanished.
Shui Miao resumed his cultivation with the immortal crystals, absorbing them at a speed that could only be described as voracious.
Before long, his body transformed into a purple-golden hue.
Focusing his mind, Shui Miao observed his inner realm, suddenly realizing that his realm had expanded infinitely, as if it could contain an entire nation!
Inside this realm, everything was in chaos, a vast expanse of primordial mist.
With a thought, Shui Miao transferred all the spirit stones from the Immortal Spirit Mirror into his inner realm, enabling him to cultivate anytime, anywhere.
However, once the spirit stones entered his realm, an incredibly strange transformation occurred!
The Yang-based immortal energy formed a blazing sun, hanging high in the sky.
The Yin-based immortal energy formed a bright moon, rotating opposite the sun like a Tai Chi symbol.
The other five elemental energies transformed into their respective elemental forces, spreading throughout the realm. Under the natural forces’ operation, the earth-based immortal energy became clouds and mud, the metal-based immortal energy became mountains, the wood-based immortal energy became towering trees, the water-based immortal energy became sweet springs and flowing streams, and the fire-based immortal energy dispersed and integrated into various locations.
“Amazing!”
“My inner realm has actually evolved into a world of its own!”
A small Immortal Spirit Mirror had elevated me to such an inconceivable realm! Shui Miao was astonished, yet he also felt that this was a natural occurrence, an inevitable trend. At the same time, Shui Miao sensed that the myriad transformations of this world were continuously providing him with streams of mysterious power, making him stronger and stronger.
“Huh? What is that?”
Suddenly, Shui Miao sensed something strange emanating from the place where the mountain had been moved within the Immortal Spirit Mirror.
Approaching the location, Shui Miao waved his hand lightly, and a large chest glowing with seven-colored light appeared.
Inside the chest was a purple immortal robe and nine exquisitely transparent jade gourds.
As Shui Miao reached for the purple immortal robe, a large group of celestial maidens riding immortal beasts suddenly appeared beside the chest. In the center of this group was an incomparably beautiful celestial maiden wearing a phoenix crown and robe, riding a nine-headed divine phoenix, exuding a majestic aura befitting an empress.
“How dare you not kneel before the Empress?”
One of the celestial maidens shouted at Shui Miao.
“The Empress! Could it be the Queen Mother of the Ninth Heaven!?” Shui Miao was instantly shocked and quickly knelt down with a loud “thud”: “Forgive me, humble disciple Shui Miao, for receiving the Empress’s grace…”
“Enough of that. Rise. I have a few words to ask you.”
As the Queen Mother of the Ninth Heaven lifted her head, a seven-colored radiant light gently lifted Shui Miao to his feet.
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