Chapter 146: Chapter 142: Refining Essence into Hair
Now that Yang Peng had awakened his bloodline, his most pressing task was to raise his cultivation and realm.
For that reason, Lin Hao brought him into the Saha World.
Like him, two other elders were also entering for the first time.
At his current realm, Lin Hao could now bring five people in with him at once.
The benefits of the Saha World needed no further explanation. Wu Taichu and Elder Gu, entering for the second time, began cultivating the moment they arrived.
Yang Peng’s bloodline and Divine Soul had been a huge shock to them. It was obvious that once Yang Peng matured, he would become a terrifyingly powerful existence.
Once Yang Peng became strong, they might no longer be of any help to Lin Hao. Thus, they wanted to seize this opportunity to contribute what they still could.
The other two elders shared the same sentiment. Though they had never entered the Saha World before, they knew of its existence. Now that they were inside, how could they not cherish every second?
As for Yang Peng, upon entering the Saha World, he, who had just awakened a special bloodline, immediately noticed how extraordinary this place was.
Yang Peng’s need to raise his cultivation was even more desperate than that of Wu Taichu and the three elders, yet paradoxically, he was the last to settle into meditative cultivation.
After everyone had entered their meditative states, a golden light flashed on the towering tree. Lord Lingdi had, at some point, followed them into the Saha World again.
Right beside it was the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape.
The Blood-Eyed Demon Ape was now about the same size as Lord Lingdi, and with its nine-colored scale armor, it looked even more adorable.
However, the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape’s reverence for Lord Lingdi was immense.
Lord Lingdi’s origins were earth-shattering. By the most conservative estimate, it had met at least two Emperor Venerables.
It made sense for the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape to be in awe of it. As for Lin Hao, he had long grown used to its mysterious ways.
"The Nine Dragon God Refining Pill, creating a Divine Soul from a dragon’s child. Not bad." Lord Lingdi glanced at Yang Peng and commented.
Lin Hao rolled his eyes.
"There are still eleven Nine Dragon Flowers left. If all goes well, you can gather twelve gods. Little fellow, your ambition isn’t small at all." Lord Lingdi paced upright like a human, speaking slowly.
Lin Hao’s eyes twitched, but he still chose to ignore it.
Lord Lingdi didn’t seem to mind. Its cat-like eyes darted about before it suddenly pointed at the trunk of the towering tree. "Aren’t you curious where that door leads?"
"Where?" Lin Hao asked. The door in the trunk, which had opened and closed twice now, had indeed piqued his curiosity.
"A glorious new age is about to dawn, and so it has opened. After you return from War Dragon City, you can go take a look. Inside, you’ll meet the rival you hate most," Lord Lingdi said with a mischievous grin.
Lin Hao shot to his feet.
The rival he hated most—there was only one: Lin Wu!
Lin Hao’s fists clenched, then slowly relaxed. His expression eventually became calm, devoid of joy or sorrow, as he re-entered his meditative state.
Lin Wu’s cultivation had long since surpassed the Blood Coagulation Realm. He had to raise his own cultivation to even have a fighting chance; otherwise, he would only suffer another humiliation.
Just as Lin Hao settled into his meditation, Lord Lingdi tapped the tree, and the door opened again.
A ball of white light appeared and slowly condensed into a human form—it was Yingxue.
Yingxue’s red lips moved, as if she were telling Lord Lingdi something.
After Lord Lingdi’s lips opened and closed a few times, Yingxue turned back into white light and vanished into the tree door.
"The Harmony Dominator Body is truly fearsome," Lord Lingdi finally murmured.
Then, it glanced at Lin Hao, its expression filled with anticipation.
"I was originally thinking I’d have to go to some trouble to suppress this little fellow’s realm and keep him from advancing to the Elemental Realm. Now it seems I don’t have to. This works out perfectly for my own healing." Hopping back onto the great tree, Lord Lingdi spoke.
Then, it tapped its cat paw on the forehead of the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape that had followed it, emitting a faint golden glow.
"This Emperor will bestow upon you a Secret Skill of the Saint Ape Race. I hope you do not disappoint me," Lord Lingdi said to the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape.
The Demon Ape was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly.
"Alright, come up here and cultivate properly." After speaking, Lord Lingdi once again began using Lin Hao to absorb faint wisps of energy into its body.
And the Demon Ape, in a very human-like manner, began to cultivate as well.
Lin Hao was currently circulating the Ninth Layer of the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill. As he cultivated in the Saha World, the moment he began, a strange transformation occurred throughout his entire body.
This time, not only did the essence of the sun and moon appear together, but the Flowing Light Divine Flame also manifested, enveloping his entire body in fire.
The Saha World, as ancient as the heavens and earth, could automatically and perfectly manifest whatever Lin Hao had acquired. It was truly omnipotent.
Although Lin Hao had used the Flowing Light Divine Flame for Body Refinement in the underground palace, he had never tried using it together with the essences of the sun and moon.
At this moment, even though his physical body was already perfect, his internal organs still couldn’t withstand the strain.
However, after all he had been through, Lin Hao’s martial heart was now indestructible. He gritted his teeth and persevered.
The Divine Flame blazed, the sunlight scorched, and the moonlight chilled. Lin Hao’s internal organs were undergoing a great trial.
As the Cultivation Technique circulated wildly, every single one of Lin Hao’s fine hairs was being tempered...
Elder Gu finally advanced to the Soul Gathering Realm. A small, crimson creature flashed into existence and then vanished.
A look of delight flashed across his face as he opened his eyes.
Meanwhile, Wu Taichu’s Divine Soul finally took form—it was a strange, orange spider.
Having reached peak completion of the First Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm, Wu Taichu also opened his eyes.
The other two elders also made great gains, both advancing to the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm.
They were equally overjoyed and opened their eyes.
Yang Peng was still cultivating, but they paid him no mind. As they opened their eyes, they all looked in the same direction.
Wu Taichu and Elder Gu had witnessed Lin Hao cultivate before, but they were still greatly shocked to see that, in addition to the essences of sun and moon, an alluring flame had now engulfed him.
As for the other two elders seeing this phenomenon for the first time, they were utterly dumbfounded, their eyes wide as saucers, nearly popping out of their sockets.
Using the essences of the sun and moon and an exotic flame for Body Refinement—this was simply unheard of, utterly shocking to the extreme.
"Is he breaking through to the Elemental Realm?" Elder Gu murmured, exceptionally shaken.
One must remember that when Lin Hao first arrived at the sect, he was only at the Third Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm.
Now, less than a month later, he was already attempting to break through to the Elemental Realm.
The term "world-shocking" wasn’t even close to describing this!
If news of this spread, even the most brilliant and stunning geniuses would be reduced to nothing in his presence.
"No, this isn’t a breakthrough to the Elemental Realm! What is our Martial Ancestor doing?" Wu Taichu watched for a moment, then shook his head in confusion.
Though he couldn’t see through Lin Hao’s true state, he could vaguely sense that Lin Hao had already reached the peak of the Ninth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm.
Breaking from the Blood Coagulation Realm to the Elemental Realm required one to mobilize all their True Essence and release it outward.
But what Lin Hao was doing was the same as before—he was still absorbing True Essence into his body, just as one would in the Blood Coagulation Realm.
"Look at his hair!"
Elder Gu cried out in horror.
Lin Hao’s hair was dancing wildly, each strand standing on end within the Flowing Light Divine Flame. Faintly, a strange light could be seen flowing along the strands.
"Refining Essence into Hair!" Wu Taichu uttered the four words, his voice trembling.
Not only him, but the three elders also shot to their feet as if they had encountered a god or a demon.
Legend had it that when a Martial Artist cultivated to a certain realm, a single strand of hair could annihilate a powerful enemy and shatter a Spiritual Artifact.
There were even tales of an Emperor Venerable destroying stars and crushing the myriad heavens with a single strand of hair!
And right now, Lin Hao was merely in the Blood Coagulation Realm! Instead of breaking through to the Elemental Realm, he was infusing his True Essence into his hair. This was beyond terrifying!
"His body!" another elder exclaimed.
Lin Hao’s body had become translucent, so clear that even his internal organs were visible. His blood energy surged like the roar of a god or demon.
Wu Taichu and the three elders stared with wide eyes, as if witnessing the rise of a peerless Emperor Venerable.
At this moment, Yang Peng also awoke from his meditation. His cultivation had reached the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm.
Upon seeing the phenomenon surrounding Lin Hao, he didn’t say a word. He simply fell to his knees, his gaze devout, as if worshiping a god.
Just as Yang Peng got back to his feet, Lin Hao’s eyes snapped open.
All the strange phenomena vanished, and serenity returned to Lin Hao’s surroundings. Only a faint halo of light remained, circling his body.
Wu Taichu and the three elders were left completely speechless.
Lin Hao himself, however, was not satisfied.
He frowned, lost in thought.
’This is the Saha World. Cultivating here is several times faster than outside, yet my progress with the Ninth Layer of the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill is still slow.’
’At this rate, it will take a considerable amount of time to master the Cultivation Technique and reach the Blood Coagulation Realm Tenth Layer—at least half a year, maybe even a full year.’
If other Martial Artists knew what Lin Hao was thinking, they would probably die of sheer frustration.
The Blood Coagulation Realm Tenth Layer was a realm other Martial Artists didn’t even dare to dream of, yet Lin Hao thought reaching it in that timeframe was slow.
Where was the justice in that?
’Just cultivating the technique blindly will certainly lead to slow progress. I need to stimulate my potential. Only by fighting constantly, walking the edge of life and death, can I advance further.’
Finally, Lin Hao smiled.
’When I return to War Dragon City in a few days, I truly hope the martial competition won’t disappoint me.’
Snapping back to reality, he saw the others staring at him intently. Lin Hao suddenly remembered: after he returned to War Dragon City, wouldn’t they be unable to enter the Saha World to cultivate?
"Sister Ling, I have something to ask you," Lin Hao called out to the towering tree.
Although he was the master of this Saha World, his familiarity with it was certainly no match for Lord Lingdi’s.
Lord Lingdi hopped down from the tree. "I know what you want to ask. Let me think."
Seeing it, Wu Taichu and the three elders were all taken aback. With their cultivation, they hadn’t even realized Lord Lingdi was also in the Saha World. This was quite astonishing.
"Ah, I’ve got it. Just leave a drop of your blood essence with me. Don’t worry about the rest," Lord Lingdi finally said, having thought of a solution.
Lin Hao didn’t ask why. He knew that even if he did, Lord Lingdi wouldn’t tell him.
Just then, the space around them warped. Their time for cultivating in the Saha World was up.
Back in the real world, Lin Hao decided to go refine some pills.
Not only did his third and fourth brothers need the Nine Dragon God Refining Pill, but he had also made a promise to two elders of the Lin family before leaving War Dragon City.
The two Lin family elders had been in life-or-death seclusion for many years, and their bodies had developed serious problems. It was nearly impossible for them to advance their realms again.
To solve this, Lin Hao could only refine pills to help them forcibly break through to the Soul Gathering Realm.
Although their realms would be stuck at the Soul Gathering Realm from then on, a Martial Artist’s lifespan would increase greatly upon reaching that stage.
All Lin Hao wanted was to give them a few more decades of life.
This wasn’t because Lin Hao needed them to protect the Lin family, but was simply a junior’s well-wishes for his elders—for health and longevity.
Lin Hao headed for Pill Cloud Hall, while Wu Taichu and the three elders, each with their own thoughts, went off to prepare gifts.
As for Yang Peng, under Lin Hao’s instructions, he headed for the mountain range near the Heaven-Stepping Sect.
Fighting Devil Beasts was a better way to stimulate one’s potential than just cultivating blindly.
