Within the Ice Soul Cold Pool, Li Zhaojun used this soul-capturing coldness to clear her mind of any distractions as much as possible.
Her body shifted through different colors, and the spiritual energy within the Ice Soul continuously entered her body. Inside her, the Golden Core showed faint signs of cracking, but this fracture did not signify demise, rather it was a rebirth out of the cocoon.
Qing Lian watched from above, her heart could not help but tense up: "She is about to enter the Nascent Soul Stage."
"Hmm." Fa Ying replied impassively. To someone at her level as an elder in the transformation stage, the Nascent Soul Stage was merely a small step on the path of immortality, but in Qing Lian’s heart, it was a dream she had never fulfilled in her life.
Passing through the Nascent Soul Stage, Li Zhaojun’s cultivation would surpass even Qing Lian’s.
"She is indeed a prodigy blessed by the heavens. In all my years, I’ve never seen a disciple with aptitude as good as hers. Her future accomplishments will surely exceed yours and mine. Achieving the Dao and ascending is only a matter of time."
Fa Ying spoke highly of Li Zhaojun, which was why she had insisted on keeping Li Zhaojun at Emperor Sect in the first place.
She did not want such a promising talent to be stifled in the hands of a master with cultivation like Qing Lian’s.
Yet, she did not interfere with Li Zhaojun’s existing cultivation method, allowing Li Zhaojun to continue practicing the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, while imparting all the techniques she knew.
At this moment, Li Zhaojun had entirely forgotten herself. The Golden Core inside her resembled an eggshell, gradually cracking. A form, akin to her infant self, was slowly emerging from the eggshell, the infant radiated golden light all over.
This was Li Zhaojun’s Nascent Soul.
After passing through the Nascent Soul Stage, Li Zhaojun’s life essence shifted from her external body to the Nascent Soul within her. The Nascent Soul’s survival ensured the body’s immortality, and the lifespan of the Nascent Soul could typically reach around eight hundred years, nearly three hundred more than the Golden Core Stage.
As the Golden Core shattered, the Nascent Soul was gradually hatching, and Li Zhaojun’s body had become purely white, the light was dazzling.
Even Fa Ying marveled in her heart, the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, indeed an ancient treasure passed down, could produce such a powerful celestial body glow at just the Nascent Soul Stage.
With a loud explosion, due to the onset of the Nascent Soul Stage, the spiritual energy required within Li Zhaojun’s body suddenly increased, the Ice Soul could no longer provide as much spiritual energy and shattered with a single blow from her. The Ice Soul first burst, then exploded, leaving only the cross-legged Li Zhaojun in the Ice Soul Cold Pool.
When Li Zhaojun opened her eyes, they were filled with white light, the result after mastering the fourth layer of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.
"Master, Shifu above, your disciple has not disgraced her mission, mastering the fourth layer of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra." Li Zhaojun turned around at the bottom of the pool, bowing and giving thanks to her two elders.
"Well done." Fa Ying’s face showed great satisfaction as she threw down a robe, "Put on your clothes, come up and speak."
Li Zhaojun tidied her garments, then leapt from the pool bottom, standing before Fa Ying and Qing Lian.
When Fa Ying used her spiritual sense to probe the Nascent Soul inside Li Zhaojun once more, her expression suddenly turned cold again.
"Senior Sister, what’s wrong?" Qing Lian’s face was puzzled.
Fa Ying forced a smile and said, "Zhaojun, you should return and organize the spiritual energy within your body. Even at the Nascent Soul Stage, you must diligently cultivate harder."
"Your disciple heeds the advice." Li Zhaojun departed the water cave coldly.
After watching Li Zhaojun leave, Fa Ying let out a long sigh: "Alas!"
"Senior Sister hasn’t said, what’s wrong with that girl?" Qing Lian was still very anxious.
Fa Ying’s face was stern as she said, "There is still a flaw in her heart, even if she has crossed the fourth layer of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, the fifth layer will probably be difficult for her to continue cultivating."
"Then what can be done? Is there another Ice Soul Cold Pool?" Qing Lian didn’t know what more to say at this point.
Fa Ying shook her head and said, "Even if there is, it can no longer suppress her inner demons. If a practical method is not found, she may remain stuck at the Nascent Soul Stage or switch to training our Emperor Sect’s cultivation technique, or else... she must have some fortuitous opportunities."
For those cultivating immortality, opportunities are hard to come by. Li Zhaojun has the absolute advantage of supreme spirit root and pure yin constitution, such a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy is rarely found. If Li Zhaojun were to cultivate something else, it would not achieve as great an effect as the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.
At this time, Ye Fan was practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill, still not yet surpassing the third layer.
Because compared to Li Zhaojun, he had more distractions in his heart.
Unlike the cultivation of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra which required severing emotional ties, the cultivation of the Nine Yang Divine Skill relied entirely on igniting the fire in one’s heart, achieving cultivation through a nearly domineering desire.
The higher he practiced the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the more he wanted to gain everything in the world, whether it was power, women, time, family affection... any beautiful things made Ye Fan want to possess them all for himself.
This is also why the Nine Yang Divine Skill could break the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra; originally, it’s pure yang, while the other is pure yin.
The higher he practiced, the stronger Ye Fan’s longing for Li Zhaojun became. He could no longer suppress his inner feelings, wanting to rush up the mountain to find Li Zhaojun and bring her back to Earth.
"Junior Brother, stop cultivating, we need to go up the mountain together." Shen Biancheng’s arrival interrupted Ye Fan’s continued cultivation.
Due to the intense fire in his heart, Ye Fan couldn’t surpass the bottleneck of the third layer, so he reluctantly stopped his cultivation.
Ye Fan got up, adjusted himself simply, at this time even Elder Wu, Wu Ding, and Qing Xu also came over.
"Senior Brother, you seem different somehow." Qing Xu looked at Ye Fan, saying innocently.
Ye Fan touched his face, "Do I?"
Wu Ding chuckled, "Of course you do, more mature and steady, but also it seems... more commanding."
Ye Fan knew these changes were likely the result of him cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
The group set out, following the teams from various sects as they made their way to the Inner Court of the peak of Emperor Mountain.
At this moment, Ye Fan’s heart was full of Li Zhaojun, he could think of nothing else, even setting aside his cultivation.
When they reached the peak of Emperor Mountain, outside the vast palace, people from the various sects had mostly arrived, only the six major sects other than Earth Origin Sect could enter the Inner Court.
Ye Fan kept searching for the appearances of Emperor Sect disciples, but unfortunately, Emperor Sect, being the host, not all disciples would show up. Ye Fan also wondered where Li Zhaojun might be, using his spiritual sense to scan the surrounding environment, but at the same time countless spiritual senses were also probing the environment.
It was like in a crowd, knowing she was around, yet he still couldn’t find the person dear to his heart.
Wu Ding tugged Ye Fan and said, "Junior Brother, stop looking around, the person you’re searching for should be inside." Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩•𝗳𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝕟𝕖𝕥
At that moment, the grand hall doors of Emperor Sect opened. The sect master of Emperor Sect emerged with over a hundred inner disciples, and despite the large number of people, Ye Fan immediately spotted Qing Lian and Li Zhaojun.
Li Zhaojun appeared surrounded by celestial aura, her beauty was breathtaking, making one feel inadequate.