Endless Years

Waves of soul-rending pain made Luo Feng's body tremble slightly. "This pain is much weaker than I anticipated." "It's probably only as intense as the agony I felt when fusing the 110th Xueluo Crystal." Yet, Luo Feng remained clear-headed. When it came to enduring pain, thousands of years ago, when he was still weak and first entered the Xueluo Continent, fusing his first Xueluo Crystal had been unbearable. But as his cultivation realm advanced and his mental fortitude was continuously tempered, he could fuse more and more Xueluo Crystals, and the intensity of the pain naturally soared. Luo Feng didn't know how many times he had been pushed to the brink of collapse by the pain back then. Over these past thousands of years, the longer the time, the stronger his endurance became... Now, combining the Xueluo Crystals fused into his right hoof-claw and back, the total had already reached 165! "This is easy." Though his body trembled slightly, a faint smile appeared on Luo Feng's face. Fortunately, he had always adhered to the first layer of mental cultivation, 'Clarity of Mind, Upholding the True Self.' Although mental cultivation was divided into three realms, the level merely represented a stage. For instance, the 'Heart of Innocence' focused on balancing hardness and softness, the harmony of yin and yang. The highest layer, 'All-Encompassing Heart,' was even more profound and infinitely vast. In the three realms, the first was about foolishly and stubbornly upholding one's true self, without any techniques, just a single move: 'Upholding the True Self,' stubbornly resisting all impacts. It was like a bedrock being continuously tempered by the relentless assault of a flood. The second realm, however, involved techniques. One would be firm when necessary and yielding when appropriate, achieving a perfect blend of yin, yang, hardness, and softness, naturally making one's resistance much stronger. The third realm was even more extraordinary. However— The reason the third and second realms surpassed the first was primarily due to their higher conceptual understanding, or more akin to techniques, which provided an amplifying effect. With the same spiritual will, after comprehending the 'harmony of yin and yang, and the Heart of Innocence,' one's resistance to pressure, illusions, soul attacks, and other such assaults could immediately soar tenfold or even a hundredfold. If one reached the 'All-Encompassing Heart,' resistance to pressure, illusions, soul attacks, and many other aspects could further skyrocket a hundredfold or even a thousandfold. However, the fusion of the crystal pearl and the soul offered no shortcuts. Concepts like hardness and softness, or all-encompassing acceptance, were useless. One could only allow the crystal pearl and soul to fuse... The only thing required was to endure the excruciating pain! At this point, all realm techniques were useless... It simply came down to the depth of one's inner perseverance and the strength of one's ability to withstand intense pain! This excruciating pain originated from the soul itself. It wasn't an illusion! Nor was it external! Yin and yang? An all-encompassing heart? This excruciating pain originated from the heart itself, not a mental impact, an illusion, or anything of that sort, but real pain brought by soul fusion! Luo Feng had always pushed his limits, continuously tempering his true self, stubbornly enduring all suffering, long ago refining his original heart until it was like a crystal diamond. *** The 'crystal pearl,' one of the core components of the Star Tower, slowly fused with Luo Feng's soul. The fusion was incredibly gradual, but as the degree of fusion slowly increased, the intensity of the pain also soared! One year, two years, three years... ten years, twenty years, thirty years... Sixty years passed in the blink of an eye. While enduring the intense pain, Luo Feng could still research the 'Beast God Statue' and comprehend laws. He even connected to the Virtual Universe Network with keen interest to meet his family! *** In the 61st year of receiving the inheritance, the intensity of the excruciating pain had increased significantly compared to the beginning. Luo Feng, who had been relatively optimistic at first, now grew troubled: "The rate at which this excruciating pain is increasing is faster than I anticipated. Initially, I could easily bear it. But after just 60 years, the pain has intensified so much. At this rate... I'm not confident I can endure for over 3000 years." "What should I do?" "Perish?" "No." Luo Feng opened his eyes, glancing at Puti, the Universe Master coiled beside him. "I must live, and I must successfully obtain this inheritance to become the leader of the Earth lineage." Luo Feng murmured to himself, quickly pondering solutions while enduring the intense pain. "Temper my true self!" "I've only lived for a few thousand years since birth, yet my state of mind has been tempered to this extent. This life-and-death inheritance will last at least 3300 years, and during this time, my state of mind can still improve significantly! But this rate of improvement isn't enough... I need to find the fastest method!" Luo Feng pondered, as various methods to temper his true self appeared in his mind. In truth, continuously enduring this soul-rending pain was in itself a form of tempering, which would make a strong practitioner's mental fortitude even firmer. "It's not enough. Merely enduring excruciating pain to temper my true self isn't enough." "I need a faster method." From birth until now. For the first one or two hundred years, his mental tempering progressed relatively quickly. In the subsequent thousands of years... although his overall state of mind improved significantly due to the sheer length of time, the speed of progress had slowed down. "'The heart, utterly true! Utterly pure! Utterly sincere! Only then can great miracles arise!' This was one of the experiences of Huaxia's ancestors throughout history in mental cultivation, and it was something Luo Feng deeply believed in during his thousands of years of practice." Utmost Truth: a heart without falsehood. Utmost Purity: pure without distractions. Utmost Sincerity: possessing a sincere heart. These were the supreme methods for achieving miracles and unleashing the power of the mind. The principle was actually quite simple. Just like a researcher who could single-mindedly focus on their work, with no distractions in their mind, solely dedicated to research, possessing utmost sincerity—in such complete immersion, the power of the mind would create great miracles, making the research smoother, and efficiency could potentially be ten or even a hundred times higher, truly capable of producing great miracles. "For these past 60 years, I've endured excruciating pain, but I've also been constantly troubled by it, making my mind hard to settle," Luo Feng murmured. "From this moment on." "I will begin to single-mindedly research the 'Path of the Beast God,' with a mind pure and singular. No matter how intense the excruciating pain becomes, I will absolutely not be affected... With a heart utterly pure and true, I will dedicate myself to researching the Path of the Beast God," Luo Feng thought to himself. *** Remaining vigilant and preparing for the unforeseen, Luo Feng sensed the impending crisis. Under invisible pressure and soul-rending pain, he truly began to research the 'Path of the Beast God.' To say one would be utterly true and pure was easier said than done! Without this soul-rending agony, Luo Feng's mental fortitude would easily allow him to achieve this. But with the pain so intense, to remain completely undisturbed was something even Luo Feng, with his strong inner will, couldn't do at first. His mind would often fall into turmoil because of the excruciating pain. The invisible pressure, the pressure of perishing, also occasionally caused Luo Feng's mind to waver. *** But gradually, Luo Feng forgot the pressure, cast aside the pain, pushing the intense agony aside. No matter if the sky collapsed and the earth shattered, Luo Feng remained single-mindedly immersed in the 'Path of the Beast God'... It was in solitude that the mind truly revealed its power! And a heart utterly true, utterly pure, and utterly sincere—especially a mind that remained utterly true and pure even under such intense pain—gave rise to an endless stream of power, allowing Luo Feng to persevere... *** In the Virtual Universe, at the highest point of Thunder Island, within the palace nestled deep within the endless currents. The Chaos City Lord had been preoccupied with his own matters for the past few centuries. Now that he had finally relaxed, he summoned Luo Feng, intending to test his disciple and also to ascertain his current situation. "Luo Feng actually closed his Virtual Universe reception? And left me an auto-reply email saying he's in secluded cultivation?" The Chaos City Lord, seated high on his throne, couldn't help but laugh. Ever since accepting the life-and-death inheritance, Luo Feng had instructed his family, but he dared not easily disturb the Chaos City Lord, nor was he willing to casually disturb him with emails... Instead, he had written an email and set it to auto-send. Whenever the Chaos City Lord sent an email or a call invitation, this email would automatically be sent to him. "Outer Territory Battlefield Military System." "My disciple Luo Feng, where was he last connected to the Virtual Universe?" The Chaos City Lord, seated on his throne, spoke to the void. "Reporting to Chaos City Lord." A metallic clang echoed, "Luo Feng's last connection to the Virtual Universe was within the Star Tower." "Star Tower?" The Chaos City Lord nodded slightly. Centuries ago, the Sealing Star emerged from within the Star Tower. Over a hundred thousand alien Immortals were present, and ultimately, approximately 8000 perished. How difficult it was for King-level Immortals to fall, yet so many had perished! The news spread, shocking countless races across the vast universe. As for that 'Sealing Star,' it was said to have fallen into the hands of a King-level expert from the 'Qi Hou Race,' a race from the cosmic frontier. "Luo Feng, come see me immediately once you enter the Virtual Universe." The Chaos City Lord sent Luo Feng a message command, unaware... that his disciple Luo Feng was currently facing a terrible tribulation. *** Under the soul-rending pain, Luo Feng single-mindedly immersed himself in comprehending the Path of the Beast God. His consciousness and will unknowingly began to improve rapidly... The effect was indeed excellent. Although Luo Feng's consciousness and will were improving, as time passed, the intensity of the pain also grew stronger and stronger. The magnitude of the increase was even greater than the degree of Luo Feng's mental improvement! 100 years, 200 years, 300 years... 800 years, 900 years... Over a thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. Originally, Luo Feng held a significant advantage against the pain, but over a thousand years, his mental tempering and improvement couldn't keep up with the increasing speed of the pain. This caused the pain to get closer and closer to Luo Feng's limit. At this rate, Luo Feng would probably barely be able to endure for 2000 years. By then, once it surpassed Luo Feng's endurance limit, his consciousness and will would directly collapse, and the crystal pearl would even cause Luo Feng's soul to disintegrate... Which meant perishing! Of course, there was also an unexpected gain over these thousand years... With his consciousness and will extremely concentrated for over a thousand years, and an unprecedented immersion in researching the 'Path of the Beast God,' he actually made another leap in progress. His 'Beast God Intent' alone was estimated to be comparable to the 19th level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge. Unfortunately, progress in laws offered no help to Luo Feng, who was undergoing the 'life-and-death inheritance.' *** Although facing a crisis, Luo Feng, with his mind completely immersed and his heart utterly true and pure, neither realized nor perceived the danger. He was simply too immersed. If he hadn't been so immersed, his mental tempering and improvement over these thousand years wouldn't have been so rapid. 1600 years, 1700 years, 1800 years, 1900 years... The soul-rending pain grew increasingly terrifying, having long surpassed the pain level of fusing 165 Xueluo Crystals. It was rapidly approaching Luo Feng's critical endurance limit, yet Luo Feng himself remained engrossed in researching the 'Path of the Beast God.' Unless the pain could reach a level that shattered his current state, he would not realize the crisis. His heart was utterly pure and true; nothing else existed.