Chapter 12: Cultivation

Li Yao took from the jade bottle a fist-sized piece of pure source radiating a dazzling light. The essence contained within was incredibly dense, and merely holding it sent waves of longing through his body.

He activated the Profound Method of the Shaking Light Scripture, guiding the essence out of the pure source. As the exquisite essence entered his body, Li Yao felt an overwhelming sense of comfort, an experience rivaling the transcendence of a celestial ascension.

Once the essence was absorbed, it directly merged into the Heavenly Scripture at Li Yao’s mental command.

Rustle!

In the depths of the void, the turning of pages echoed. Fueled by the abundant essence, the second page of the Heavenly Scripture began to glow brilliantly. Yet, within a mere instant, less than one percent of the page was illuminated before the light ceased to spread.

Li Yao, fully focused on observing the scripture, was momentarily stunned. Frowning, he stared at the now-empty pure source in his hand and drew in a sharp breath.

“Around twenty jin of pure source, and it only lit up less than one percent of the scripture.”

He then took out another piece, weighing ten jin. This time, it barely filled one percent of the area.

“Damn it. To fully illuminate the entire page, it looks like at least three thousand jin of pure source is needed. A true source glutton,” Li Yao thought with a shiver. This was only the Scripture of the Fate Spring realm, yet it demanded such an immense amount of pure essence.

These thoughts remained unspoken—if others knew it took three thousand jin of pure source to elevate the Fate Spring Scripture to the level of an Imperial Scripture, countless people would be driven to madness.

Imperial Scriptures were never measured by source quantity, nor did anyone use source as a benchmark for their value. To push a Great Saint-level scripture to Imperial level with three thousand jin of pure source was unheard of. If others learned this, they wouldn’t hesitate to offer even thirty thousand jin gladly.

“I’d better break through my realm first,” Li Yao resolved silently.

The second page of the Heavenly Scripture needed three thousand jin of pure source to be fully imbued. The total source Li Yao possessed could barely fill less than a quarter of that.

He still required two thousand three hundred jin. With a monthly resource intake of five hundred jin, and not consuming any of it elsewhere, he would still need four months. This estimate depended on the scripture being able to autonomously absorb three hundred jin of pure source within those four months.

Four months was a considerable setback to Li Yao’s cultivation.

Shaking his head, he thought to himself, “I should focus on improving my cultivation first. Opening the Sea of Bitterness isn’t difficult. With my current resources, I can soon break through from the Sea of Bitterness to the Fate Spring realm. Then, my monthly resource intake will increase from five hundred jin to seven hundred jin, accelerating the accumulation of pure source considerably.”

Having made up his mind, Li Yao once again took out a piece of pure source and activated the Shaking Light Scripture to absorb its essence.

Rumble!

The sound of vast, surging waves echoed once more. With the aid of pure source, opening the Sea of Bitterness was simple and swift, its boundaries visibly expanding almost every moment.

Of course, the consumption of source was rapid as well. A piece weighing a few jin was completely absorbed after several hours.

The next day, the Golden Crow rose from the east, patrolling the land and casting golden rays of light.

Inside his room, Li Yao opened his eyes. A faint divine glow suddenly flashed, merging with the golden sunlight streaming in, brightening the chamber noticeably.

“From sesame seed size to rice grain size in just one night—this progress is incredible. This must be the advantage of having resources,” Li Yao thought with delight. Initially, he had some reservations about entering the Shaking Light Sacred Land, but now he could only admit he was thoroughly impressed.

If not for the Shaking Light Sacred Land, he would never have had such massive amounts of pure source to cultivate with. In the original tale, Ye Fan had only found a small piece of impure source and was relentlessly pursued. Li Yao, however, had hundreds of jin of pure source, replenished monthly.

“Time to continue cultivating.”

After pacing the courtyard twice, Li Yao returned to his room to resume his cultivation.

Though he had not yet reached the fasting stage, the essence absorbed from the pure source replenished his body’s functions so thoroughly that he no longer needed grains for sustenance.

This was the advantage that wandering cultivators lacked. Without source, they could only absorb the faint natural essence from the world. Such meager energy was dedicated wholly to cultivation, leaving none for bodily maintenance, thus necessitating additional food intake.

Those who subsist on essence are divine and long-lived—that is the true path to immortality.

Days rose and set in endless cycles. Before he realized it, a month had passed.

A hot piece of news recently swept through the Shaking Light Sacred Land, known to almost every disciple and elder.

An official from Dragon Head Peak had discovered a prodigy in an affiliated cave realm. However, this prodigy had not sworn allegiance to Dragon Head Peak but was intercepted by the Sunrise Divine Island.

In response, Li Taishang of Dragon Head Peak personally arrived at Sunrise Divine Island, intending to forcibly take the disciple, but ultimately failed.

Many disciples were curious: what kind of prodigy could spark a rivalry between two major sects?

“Maybe it’s a divine body. Only such a being could almost ignite a clash between these two factions.”

“If it really is a divine body, then Sunrise Divine Island is destined to rise. Five thousand years ago, the Jiang Family Divine King was invincible. Since then, no one has matched his might. Such a constitution must be destined for world domination.”

This was the hottest topic in the Shaking Light Sacred Land over the past month. Whenever a few disciples gathered, the conversation inevitably turned to it.

Yet no one knew the truth. Some said it was a divine body; others claimed it was a royal body. None provided any certainty.

As the eye of the storm, Sunrise Divine Island and Li Yao remained silent, offering no definitive statement and allowing rumors to flourish, likely aiming to elevate the island’s prestige.

Li Yao himself was unaware of these events, fully immersed in his cultivation, intent on fully opening the Sea of Bitterness and breaking into the Fate Spring realm.

...

At the Shaking Light Sacred Land, on the Most Sacred Mountain.

Within a dim palace, several shadowy figures stood silently. They wore black robes of simple design and coarse fabric, swaying slightly with their breaths, as if they were part of the darkness itself. Deep hoods concealed their faces, revealing only vague outlines. Occasionally, faint glimmers shone from their concealed eyes, cold and profound like endless black holes, devouring all light and hope.

They belonged to the Most Sacred lineage—a faction within the Shaking Light Sacred Land that rivaled the Sacred Lord lineage. Though rarely taking the mantle of Sacred Lord since the land’s founding, this lineage had never waned over the ages.

In this generation, the Sacred Son of the Shaking Light Sacred Land hailed from the Most Sacred lineage, while the Sacred Daughter, Yao Xi, came from the Sacred Lord lineage.

Of course, their identities were far more complex. Beyond being the Most Sacred lineage of the Shaking Light Sacred Land, they bore an even more terrifying title—the Devouring Heaven lineage.