Chapter 323 - The Nascent Origin and the Resonant Sprout

Chapter 323: Chapter 323 - The Nascent Origin and the Resonant Sprout

Something within Su Bai’s foundation finally settled into place.

The sensation was so distinct that, despite the blood running from his nose and the relentless tolling above him, an imaginary click seemed to echo through his mind.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

A smile slowly appeared on his battered face.

He had done it.

The connection between his Nascent Soul and the transformed Black-Ice foundation had finally become complete.

There was no longer any sense of the spiritual body being attached to him through something newly formed or fragile. The Nascent Soul belonged to his cultivation as naturally as his Infinite Dantian, his nine Gateway Dantians, and the Meridian Web connecting them.

The Macro-Taiji passed through physical and spiritual foundations without the slightest break.

Su Bai could feel the difference immediately.

His spiritual sense had become deeper and more cohesive, while the Nascent Soul responded to his thoughts with the same ease as moving his own limbs.

There was no announcement to confirm what had happened.

He did not need one.

He had entered the Nascent Soul Realm.

The tribulation above him continued without the slightest intention of celebrating.

Another enormous bell rang.

Su Bai’s smile twitched as pain tore through his Sea of Consciousness.

Blood immediately ran from the corner of his mouth.

’Right. I still have to survive this.’

The realization did little to diminish his satisfaction.

If he had suppressed the Void Ring’s Null State too early, the heavens could have descended while the connection was still incomplete. Whatever came afterward would have been far more dangerous with his Nascent Soul only partially anchored to the transformed Black-Ice foundation.

For once, being late had its benefits.

Su Bai turned his attention toward the Nascent Soul sitting before him.

The spiritual figure opened its eyes.

He moved his hand.

The Nascent Soul raised its hand with him.

Su Bai shifted his awareness, and the spiritual figure responded immediately without the slightest delay. ℯℯ𝑙.

The strange separation he had felt earlier was gone.

With a thought, the Nascent Soul began fading.

Its full-sized spiritual body flowed back toward him and entered his physical foundation before descending into the Infinite Dantian.

There, it settled naturally into the transformed Black-Ice structure.

Su Bai observed the sight for several breaths.

The structure had changed too much to continue thinking of it simply as the remnant of his Golden Core.

It had become the birthplace, anchor, and resting place of his Nascent Soul.

A name came naturally.

’Nascent Origin.’

Su Bai liked it.

From now on, that would be what he called the transformed Black-Ice foundation.

The nine Tribulation Marks remained etched across the Nascent Origin, while the Void Ring continued circling outside them.

At its center, the golden Yang radiance remained integrated with the dark crystalline foundation, preserving the balance that had existed since the Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method first transformed his Golden Core.

His Nascent Soul rested within it.

...

Another bell rang.

Su Bai nearly bit his tongue.

The faint heavenly chanting had grown louder alongside it.

Even after entering the Nascent Soul Realm, the concentrated Heavenly Soul Benediction still tore through his spiritual foundation under Reversal.

The difference was that his Nascent Soul no longer shook as violently.

With the connection complete, the Nascent Origin anchored it far more firmly than before.

The Macro-Taiji also responded faster.

Yin and Yang flowed through his physical foundation and Nascent Soul as one continuous cycle, redistributing the strain before the spiritual erosion could accumulate too heavily in one place.

Su Bai drew another measured portion of Immortal Qi.

The overwhelming pressure entered him and reversed into clarity, easing the chaos inside his Sea of Consciousness.

He exhaled slowly.

The situation was finally becoming manageable.

That was when he noticed something strange.

One of the remaining Root Sprouts was moving.

Su Bai’s awareness immediately shifted toward it.

The tiny leaf was not glowing.

It was trembling.

At first, the movement was so slight that he wondered whether it had merely reacted to the instability in his foundation.

The bell rang again.

The leaf vibrated.

The heavenly chanting followed.

Its vibration changed with the rhythm.

Su Bai stared.

Another resonance passed through the sect.

The leaf trembled again, perfectly following the sound.

This time, there was no mistaking it.

The Heavenly Soul Benediction was nourishing the sprout.

Su Bai’s expression became strange.

The previous golden sprout had reacted to blessing and heavenly lightning.

This one seemed interested in sound, or perhaps vibration, or maybe the strange spiritual resonance carried within both the bell and chanting.

Su Bai genuinely had no idea.

The tiny leaf continued trembling as though happily drinking in something he could not even see.

He watched it for several breaths.

’What are you supposed to become?’

No answer came.

The bell rang again.

The sprout vibrated more strongly.

Unfortunately, before Su Bai could study the reaction further, the enormous heavenly bell stopped.

The chanting vanished with it.

The change was so sudden that Su Bai froze.

The sprout stopped vibrating.

His eyes widened.

"Wait."

After spending the entire second phase wishing the heavens would stop hammering his soul, Su Bai suddenly found himself staring upward with genuine dissatisfaction.

"You’re stopping now?"

He sighed.

...

Around the Main Peak, he was far from the only disappointed person.

Cultivators slowly opened their eyes from meditation.

Several disciples looked almost dazed as the extraordinary clarity surrounding their minds began fading.

The elders who had benefited from old soul injuries healing wore similarly reluctant expressions.

Even the Ancestors remained silent for several breaths before opening their eyes.

Beyond the inner boundary, the righteous cultivators who had gathered outside Radiant Sky Sect were also waking from meditation.

Their numbers had grown considerably.

From Shen Youran’s position, the outer boundary had begun resembling an unusually disciplined gathering of cultivators who were all pretending they had not rushed here because they smelled an opportunity.

The Sect-Scale Suppression Formation remained active around them.

Nobody complained.

After receiving both the remnants of Heavenly Blessing Descent and the Heavenly Soul Benediction, they had very little reason to test Shen Youran’s patience.

...

On the Main Peak, Su Bai reluctantly withdrew his attention from the trembling sprout.

He suddenly imagined himself sitting beside the Gateway Dantian every day with a guitar.

His face became complicated.

’Do I have to sing to you in the future?’

He immediately rejected the image.

There had to be a better fertilizer somewhere in the cultivation world.

Up above, the tribulation clouds were still there.

The atmosphere above Radiant Sky Sect began changing.

The vast clouds contracted toward the Main Peak.

The remaining heavenly radiance disappeared, taking the gentle aura of blessing with it.

A low roar rolled across the sky.

The Ancestors’ expressions changed first.

Li Xuanzong looked upward.

"The final suppression."

The surrounding formation immediately became active again.

Su Bai also raised his head.

He had known this stage would come.

The Body Tribulation had failed to destroy his foundation.

The Soul Tribulation had failed to scatter his Nascent Soul.

What remained was the heavens’ final attempt to stop him.

Su Bai slowly stood.

His injuries had not completely recovered, but his new cultivation gave him confidence.

His Nascent Soul rested securely within the Nascent Origin.

The Macro-Taiji circulated without obstruction.

His ten physical Dantians and their spiritual counterparts responded together.

Solid Qi needles moved through the Myriad-Path Meridian Web.

He was stronger than he had ever been.

But then, Su Bai realized something was wrong.

There was no pressure, no lightning gathered within the clouds, and no oppressive spiritual force above.

The sky had become almost unnaturally calm.

Su Bai’s confidence weakened slightly.

It was then that a pale-gold light appeared above the Main Peak.

Everyone looked up.

The light spread.

Something enormous began taking shape within it.

Five vast fingers appeared first... then a palm.

The hand continued expanding until its shadow covered nearly the entire training ground.

Su Bai stared upward.

For several breaths, he had nothing useful to say.

"Is that... Buddha’s Palm?"

The pale-gold hand lowered slightly.

Su Bai swallowed.

’It seems the heavens finally stopped experimenting.’

A weak smile appeared on his face.

’It’s personally trying to swat me to death now.’

The heavens answered with another roar.

The enormous hand began descending.