Chapter 37: Heart Aperture

Qing, no, Neolan slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was that his entire body had changed. His face, physique, and overall body structure no longer looked exactly like either Qing Lan or his original body as Neolan, but instead appeared to be a combination of both.

His new physique was refined and lean, yet it also possessed a slightly sturdier appearance that made his body look more capable and balanced than before.

Even his facial features had subtly changed, making it difficult to say that he was completely Qing Lan or completely Neolan anymore. The only thing that had remained completely unchanged was the clothing he had been wearing before the transfer.

’I directly woke up as Qing, huh? Must be because I slept past twelve without realizing it...’

Neolan thought as he immediately felt Spiritual Energy rushing toward him in waves. He had spent hours on Earth without being able to properly replenish his Spiritual Qi because he had repeatedly used Void Steps, so he did not hesitate to increase the suction force and absorb the surrounding Spiritual Energy at a much faster rate.

While doing so, he glanced around and quickly confirmed that he was still inside the small hut where he had been cultivating before the transfer. It was also just past midnight, exactly as it had been when he had left this world. The realization immediately confirmed what the System had told him before, and Neolan narrowed his eyes slightly as he understood what that meant.

’Yep, time had been stopped...’

He shifted his attention away from the matter almost immediately and focused on his current cultivation. He could already feel an urge to break through again, but he quickly dismissed the thought because advancing too quickly would only damage the foundation he had just established. ’Although I feel the urge to breakthrough again, I shouldn’t. It would only ruin my foundation, so I should thoroughly refine my physical body, Meridians, and Dantian before breaking through again.’

Neolan shook his head slightly before continuing to absorb the surrounding Spiritual Energy. He had already experienced enough breakthroughs in his previous life to understand that increasing his realm was not the only way to become stronger.

Within a few more minutes, Neolan completely replenished the Spiritual Energy he had drained through his repeated use of Void Steps on Earth. However, something else quickly caught his attention as he continued absorbing the surrounding energy.

Because of his new Twelve Sovereign Primordial Roots, the Spiritual Energy seemed to become refined almost immediately after entering his body, requiring far less effort from him than it normally should have.

Neolan silently observed the process for a few moments before a faint smile appeared on his face. ’Hmm, its name is Primordial Roots for a reason.’ He stopped paying attention to the process after that and entered a state of complete focus.

Neolan began channeling the Spiritual Energy through his Meridians, circulating the energy repeatedly throughout his body so that every part of his foundation could be thoroughly refined. The Spiritual Qi moved through his Meridians before spreading into his veins, blood vessels, and every other part of his body that required purification and strengthening.

Once he finished circulating the energy through his body, he shifted his attention toward his Dantian and began compressing the refined Spiritual Qi around it. He continued compressing the massive amount of energy again and again until the originally gaseous Spiritual Qi gradually became denser and denser.

Eventually, the mass of Spiritual Qi condensed into a small spherical amount of liquid Spiritual Qi within his Dantian.

"Huff..." Sweat ran down Neolan’s entire body as he completed the process, and after every bit of his Spiritual Qi had been successfully liquefied, he snapped his eyes open. He looked down toward his body before a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Damn, these Spiritual Roots are really ridiculous. I could already liquefy my Qi even though I’m only at the first stage of Foundation Establishment." He remembered that, under normal circumstances, a cultivator would only begin liquefying their Spiritual Qi after reaching the Peak Foundation Establishment Stage.

That liquefied Spiritual Qi would then serve as the foundation for the upcoming Core Formation Realm, meaning that Neolan had accomplished something that should have been impossible at his current stage.

Yet, Neolan had already achieved it, ’No need to think about it anymore. Now it’s time to refine the physical body.’

He immediately got to work, but before doing anything else, he suddenly noticed a foul stench coming from his body. The impurities that had been forced out during the refinement process were leaking from even the tiniest openings of his body, emerging through the pores around every strand of hair and covering his entire body.

Neolan looked down at himself with a slightly helpless expression before sighing, ’These are such a hassle, I just had a nice bath, and now this again...’

He could only accept the situation and continue with the main task he had planned to complete before ending his cultivation session. ’Now, first the muscles...’

Neolan immediately began channeling his refined Spiritual Qi directly through his muscles, and the moment the energy entered them, an intense pain spread throughout his entire body. He clenched his teeth and continued circulating the Spiritual Qi through every muscle fiber, strengthening and refining them rather than merely increasing their size or strength.

Once he finished with his muscles, he shifted his attention toward his tendons. ’Now the tendons...’ Spiritual Qi immediately flowed through the tendons in his hands and legs, gradually strengthening their structure and amplifying their raw strength by a hundredfold.

After refining his muscles and tendons, Neolan finally moved on to the most dangerous part of his plan. ’Now finally comes the brain. Hehe, a normal person would call it suicide to channel Qi through the brain, but the higher the risk, the higher the reward.’

He remembered his Master’s teachings from his previous life, and she had also been one of the lunatics who had attempted this kind of cultivation without the slightest hesitation.

According to her teachings, successfully refining parts of the body that ordinary cultivators considered untouchable could produce results that ordinary cultivation methods could never achieve.

If he could actually succeed, the result could even allow him to accomplish something that would normally remain impossible until a much higher realm.

’It will let me open my Sea of Consciousness even before I reach the Golden Core Formation Realm...’ With that thought, Neolan sent a wave of refined Spiritual Qi toward both his heart and his mind at the same time.

He was not merely attempting to refine his brain anymore; he was even going to refine his heart, making the entire process considerably more dangerous. ’Although it’s double the risk, I want to see what happens if I do this!’

For the first time in a long while, his curiosity surged to an extreme degree, becoming strong enough that he was willing to risk his entire life just to see what kind of result would emerge from the attempt.

The moment the Spiritual Qi traveled through his Meridians and entered both his heart and mind, Neolan immediately felt an overwhelming pain.

"KHUG!"

His mind felt as though it was about to burst apart at any moment, while his heart felt as though thousands of needles were piercing it simultaneously. His entire body trembled from the sensation, and his expression became strained as he clenched his teeth tightly. Yet even under such intense pain, Neolan did not stop and continued circulating the Spiritual Qi through both his heart and mind.

The process continued for several minutes as sweat poured down Neolan’s body and soaked the ground beneath him. "GAAH!" He occasionally coughed up blood as the pressure inside his body continued increasing, but he still showed no intention of stopping.

The pain was severe enough that an ordinary cultivator would have abandoned the attempt long ago, but Neolan had already experienced countless battles and moments where his life had been on the line. If enduring this pain could give him the greater reward he was seeking, then he was willing to continue until the very end.

Half an hour passed, yet nothing happened.

Neolan still continued his attempt without wavering, patiently circulating the Spiritual Qi through his heart and mind.

Finally, when he sent the remaining amount of his refined Spiritual Qi into both locations at the same time, something suddenly changed. A strange sensation appeared deep within his body, and before Neolan could understand what was happening—

CLANK!

A chain-breaking sound echoed from deep within both his heart and mind.

Immediately afterward, Neolan felt his entire body go numb. His eyes snapped open wide, but before he could even react, his pupils rolled upward and his consciousness completely disappeared. His body lost all strength and fell backward onto the ground, while the hut became completely silent.

That was when a System Window suddenly appeared before his unconscious body.

[Congratulations!! Host has awakened his Sea of Consciousness!]

[Congratulations!! Host has awakened his dormant Physique through forcefully unlocking his "Heart Aperture"!]