Chapter 44: Origin Forging Realm
Jiang Yue stayed at Yang Mountain for three days.
During that time, he helped Yu Nianzhen open a cave close to the mountain peak and arrange some things within the cave.
However, most of the time was spent relaxing and getting into a good state of mind to break through to the origin forging realm.
When he returned to the third peak, he found a fellow disciple waiting outside his courtyard.
"Where have you been?"
The disciple didn’t have a good face.
He had been waiting for more than a day, but Jiang Yue had run off somewhere with the outcast’s disciple.
"Does senior brother have a message from master?"
Jiang Yue didn’t want to bother with the person.
Although they were fellow disciples, elder Chen’s disciples didn’t particularly like each other. This wasn’t because of incompatible tempers, it was because the elder had not chosen the disciple to inherit her true art.
As such, each new disciple was a new competitor.
Until the elder made her choice, the situation would continue, but Jiang Yue didn’t care about it.
For as long as they were not Yu Nianzhen, everyone else was a passerby in his life.
"The element cave is ready; you can retreat at any time."
"Thank you for letting me know."
Jiang Yue took a deep breath and headed away from his courtyard.
His condition was good, and he could break through at any time.
If that was the case, there was no reason to linger.
The element cave that elder Chen arranged was on the left side of the mountain’s shoulders.
It was two metres long, one metre wide, and less than two metres tall, but it was full of water element qi.
A qi purifying array was arranged on the ground, and Jiang Yue sat cross-legged in the middle of the array.
"It’s time to start."
After making sure that the cave protection array was active, Jiang Yue removed a few boxes and bottles from his storage bag.
He opened one box and exposed a guardian talisman.
This guardian talisman was a special kind that didn’t need to be activated.
Instead, it needed to be refined beforehand, and once the refiner encountered danger, it would automatically activate to protect the refiner.
Jiang Yue had previously refined it, and he placed it in front of him.
In this way, the talisman would protect him if he was attacked from the cave’s entrance while breaking through.
After doing that, he opened the box that contained his cultivation technique manual.
Although he had already comprehended the qi circulation method, he didn’t dare to be complacent.
If he made a mistake and circulated his qi in the wrong way, his qi would turn against him. At best, he would be crippled and at worst, his body would explode.
Because of this, Jiang Yue took some time to reread the cultivation technique manual to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything.
This took a shichen, and when he was sure, he returned the cultivation manual to his storage bag.
"It’s time to take the qi cleansing pill."
The qi cleansing pill was a fat white pill.
It had a clean smell, and its light scent circulated around his meridians, slightly cleansing his qi.
Jiang Yue took the pill and closed his eyes to refine it.
This refining took one day, and when he was done, his qi had undergone significant changes.
Although the qi refined using his peak grade basic breathing technique was of high quality, it still had some impurities.
After refining the qi cleansing pill, most of the impurities were eliminated, and his qi became clearer and more condensed.
Jiang Yue breathed out a turbid breath and opened his eyes.
"I am ready."
He reached for another porcelain bottle and poured out a red pill.
This pill was the origin forging pill.
After taking this pill, his body would be able to congeal heaven and earth qi into the shape of his origin tool.
However, he didn’t take it right away.
Instead, he closed his eyes and emptied his mind.
He entered a good meditative state and began to circulate the ten thousand illusions cultivation technique.
Soon after, his dantian opened and a pond formed within.
The pond was full of light blue qi, with a consistency of quick-flowing water.
Although the qi was clear, Jiang Yue felt that it was not condensed enough, and the quantity could still be increased.
He continued to cultivate, and three days later, the qi pond expanded into a wide ocean.
"This is the limit." He said and took the origin forging pill.
As soon as the pill entered his stomach, a howling sound was heard.
The cave’s water element qi formed a cyclone above his head, and his cultivation technique circulated madly to refine the qi.
Days passed and a moon pearl formed above the qi ocean in his dantian.
The moon pearl was a cloudy white, and when it first formed, it was the size of an apple.
Jiang Yue focused his mind and began to condense it.
His master had previously told him that it was better to condense his origin tool as much as possible.
He had also received more detailed advice from Yu Nianzhen’s master.
Because of this, he knew that the quality of his origin tool would determine the quality of origin qi he would refine in the origin forging realm.
Three days passed, and Jiang Yue condensed the apple into a longan.
"Not enough."
Where his master had asked him to condense as much as possible, master Yang had told him to make sure that the moon pearl was less than one centimetre in diameter.
A week later, he condensed the longan into a pearl with a one-centimetre diameter.
However, Jiang Yue felt that he could still do much better.
The cave’s water element qi was originally high grade, and after passing through the qi purifying array, its quality was increased to peak grade.
His cultivation technique was also great and could refine the peak grade water element qi to the best grade.
With his conditions, there was no reason to slack off.
If the origin could be condensed even further, he wanted to try it.
However, condensing the moon pearl to less than one-centimetre diameter was easier said than done!
Still, he did not give up.
Another week passed, and Jiang Yue condensed the moon pearl to the size of dust.
"This is good." He said happily.
After making sure that the moon pearl could not be condensed further, he circulated his qi according to the method described in the ten thousand illusions manual.
His newly condensed moon pearl sunk in his qi ocean.
The qi ocean formed a whirlpool with the moon pearl as the eye and began to whirl madly.
After a while, Jiang Yue’s qi began to change.
With every whirl, the qi would become more condensed and purer. Most importantly, Jiang Yue could detect a profundity in his qi that was previously not there.
When all his qi changed to origin qi, the moon pearl rose up and once again floated above the qi ocean.
At this time, the world turned dark, and a blue star appeared in the sky.
Although the star was blue, it had an illusory quality that made it appear mystical.
.....
"Xiaoyue succeeded." Yu Nianzhen said, and a happy smile curled his lips.
"I can’t be left behind."
He emptied his mind and continued to cultivate.
The sword origin above his qi ocean had condensed to the size of dust.
He could feel that this was the limit, and the sword could not be condensed further.
However, he felt that the edges could be smoother, and the sword proportions could be better.
Yu Nianzhen spent the next three days adjusting his origin tool until he was satisfied.
When that was done, the dust-sized sword sunk into his qi ocean and formed a whirlpool.
The conversion of heaven and earth qi to origin qi took another day.
When all his qi was converted, the sword rose above the qi ocean. However, the day did not turn into night!
Instead, Yu Nianzhen was overwhelmed by foreboding and cold sweat covered his back.
His hands shook slightly, and his breath went out of control causing his sword origin to shake dangerously.
Although his mind was filled with terror, he knew that he couldn’t lose control at this moment.
If he did, his sword origin would unravel, and there was no telling if he could congeal it a second time.
Yu Nianzhen took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
His mind emptied of all distractions and his sword origin settled above his qi ocean.
Right after he calmed down his inner world, the ground started to shake.
The shaking was like a small-scale earthquake.
It was the kind of small earthquake that lasted for a second before dispersing harmlessly.
However, Yu Nianzhen felt like the earthquake had entered his body and vigorously shaken his soul.
Before he could adjust his condition, a loud crack shook the world and echoed back and forth in his element cave.
Soon after, the air was filled with a suffocating breath, and his qi stagnated within his body.
He tried to draw in some metal element qi to relieve the suffocation, but every breath was denser than seawater.
