Chapter 1628: The Gate of the Great Emperor
Within the Spirit Turtle Sacred Sanctuary.
Elder Gui looked up at the sky, narrowing his eyes as he muttered, "Good boy. He is only breaking through to the Extreme First Stage Human Emperor, yet he is already causing such a phenomenon? Qi cultivation, spiritual refinement, and body refinement all at once. No wonder he cannot be judged by common sense."
At that moment, Ling Feng sat cross-legged deep within the sanctuary, atop a floating platform. He had reached a critical point. The elemental force within his body had climbed to its limit, on the verge of stepping into the ranks of the Extreme First Stage Human Emperor.
This place truly lived up to being Elder Gui's cultivation ground. It drew directly from the spirit spring of the Immortal Jade Pool, cleansing the body day after day and washing away impurities. Not only did Ling Feng absorb vast amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy with every breath, but his body was also tempered daily, approaching near perfection.
The effects of cultivating in this hot spring far exceeded his expectations.
In just a single month, his cultivation had surged wildly from the fourth level of the Human Emperor realm.
On the final day of that month, he finally reached the threshold of the Extreme First Stage Human Emperor.
A massive flow of spiritual energy stirred the air around him into spiraling currents.
Above his head, a faint outline began to take shape. A colossal gate slowly condensed from pure spiritual energy, towering in the air.
The gate stood over ten zhang tall, its form hazy, with faintly flickering patterns etched across its surface. It gave off an ancient and mysterious aura.
To Great Emperor experts, this gate was unmistakable.
It was the Gate of the Great Emperor.
Once a martial practitioner reached the Extreme Human Emperor level, they could begin to condense their own Gate of the Great Emperor. Only by relying on their own strength to push open this gate could they ascend into the Great Emperor realm.
This gate marked the threshold of the Divine Destiny Realm. After a month of cultivation in the Spirit Turtle Sacred Sanctuary, Ling Feng had finally touched that boundary.
Yet just as his Gate of the Great Emperor was about to fully take form, something unexpected happened.
Thump. Thump.
His blood surged violently. His body trembled. The vitality within him seemed to respond to some unseen call, as though it were about to burst out of his flesh.
But that was not the worst of it.
Inside his mind, a deafening roar erupted. Sharp pain struck again and again, dense and relentless like a torrential storm.
A portion of his spiritual consciousness felt as though it was being torn away from his soul.
"Hiss..."
Even someone like Ling Feng, who had long endured the agony of the Qi-Refining Primordial Lock, could not suppress a groan. His entire body convulsed, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"What is going on?"
Shock flashed through his mind. His cultivation had been steady all along. He had even deliberately slowed his breakthrough, yet something still went wrong at this critical step.
He had been about to push forward in one breath and condense his Gate of the Great Emperor.
Now, however, both his soul and his vitality were undergoing some uncontrollable mutation, leaving him unsure of what to do next.
Cultivating three paths at once granted him overwhelming power, but it also brought countless unknowns ahead. These were things no ordinary martial practitioner could answer. He would have to explore them on his own.
The void trembled.
Although the condensation of his Gate of the Great Emperor had been affected, it still completed in the end. A golden gate over a dozen zhang tall hovered above him, radiating a terrifying aura beyond compare.
One could only imagine what kind of heaven-shaking phenomenon would erupt when Ling Feng pushed open this gate and stepped into the Great Emperor realm.
What he did not know was that outside the Spirit Turtle Sacred Sanctuary, thick storm clouds had already gathered, covering the sky and nearly blanketing the entire Dongling Immortal Pool.
The moment the Gate of the Great Emperor appeared, the clouds began to spin wildly. Within the vortex, a towering golden phantom gate, a hundred zhang high, faintly manifested.
Elders and disciples alike stared in stunned silence.
Anyone who had reached the Great Emperor realm was familiar with such a gate, but something of this scale was beyond anything they had ever seen.
If this gate were opened, the resulting lightning tribulation might well destroy the entire Dongling Immortal Pool.
Back within the sanctuary.
Ling Feng steadied his mind. Though the gate had successfully formed, the tremors in his body and soul only grew more intense.
He clenched his teeth, enduring the indescribable pain as time dragged on.
At last, something within him seemed to shatter.
A vast surge of vitality burst forth like a raging torrent, rushing out of his body.
The void quivered again.
That immense force of vitality began to condense just like spiritual energy.
In the blink of an eye, a second gate took shape.
This one was blood-red, equally towering at over ten zhang, standing to the left of the golden Gate of the Great Emperor. Its presence alone sent a chill through the heart.
In the sky outside, a crimson gate a hundred zhang tall appeared, standing side by side with the golden one.
"What? A second Gate of the Great Emperor?"
Many of the observing elders turned pale, staring at the heavens in disbelief.
In common understanding, there was only ever one Gate of the Great Emperor.
Yet Ling Feng had condensed two in a single breath. What did that even mean?
Before they could process it, the storm clouds did not disperse. Instead, they spun even more violently.
Behind the towering golden and crimson gates, a third image began to form.
It was a pitch-black gate.
Compared to the other two, this black gate felt far more ominous, sending a deep sense of unease through all who beheld it.
This time, even the Sacred Emperor Tian Yuan, who had been meditating deep within the Dongling Immortal Pool, slowly opened his eyes.
Gazing at the three gates in the sky, he murmured, "Three Emperor Gates. Qi cultivation, body refinement, and spiritual refinement all cultivated together, and all three gates condensed at once. In ten thousand years across the Dongling Region, no genius has ever achieved this."
With his experience, he understood exactly what this meant.
Most martial practitioners condensed only a single gate before breaking into the Great Emperor realm. A rare few monsters could cultivate two paths and open two gates, already placing them far beyond ordinary Great Emperors.
For example, Saint Lady Hui Yue had cultivated both qi and spiritual refinement, condensing two gates in her time.
More gates meant greater talent, but also far greater difficulty.
Opening even one gate would leave most practitioners utterly exhausted. After that, they still had to face the Divine Destiny tribulation. Surviving it alone was no small miracle.
Opening two gates doubled the difficulty, and the power of the tribulation increased accordingly. The chances of death rose dramatically.
As for Ling Feng, he had condensed three gates.
That meant he would need to open all three in succession, then face an even more terrifying tribulation.
Or perhaps, he might never be able to open them all in his lifetime.
Even Saint Lady Hui Yue had required sixteen attempts before successfully opening both of her gates at once. Though she ultimately survived the tribulation, she had come frighteningly close to death. It was the closest she had ever been to perishing.
"No wonder even Elder Gui took an interest in this boy," Sacred Emperor Tian Yuan said softly. "His talent is extraordinary. But if he cannot open all three gates, then he will never step into the Great Emperor realm."
He slowly shook his head, then closed his eyes once more, returning to a state of deep meditation.
These were troubled times. As the sect master, he felt the pressure weighing on him.
If he could break through into the Half-Saint realm, then when the time came to face the Blood Shadow Alliance, they would stand a better chance.
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