Chapter 207: 元神三层

Author: I Eat Tomatoes

Liu Qiyue basked in the spring sun, watching her husband intently paint, and couldn't help but smile.

Since their marriage, Liu Qiyue had carefully kept every painting Meng Chuan had made for her, often taking them out to admire.

"So beautiful," Meng Chuan murmured, looking at Liu Qiyue, then lowered his head to continue painting.

Liu Qiyue couldn't help but laugh aloud.

Meng Chuan, however, noticed that the pregnant Liu Qiyue possessed a beauty unlike her usual charm—it was a stunning, profound beauty, the beauty of motherhood.

"This woman before me is my wife. My child is in her womb. How incredibly fortunate I, Meng Chuan, am," Meng Chuan thought, overflowing with contentment and happiness. In these times of war, he deeply cherished these blissful moments, and all this profound happiness flowed into the painting. As he painted, the 'True Spirit' within Meng Chuan's Sea of Consciousness radiated spiritual light, slowly transforming.

In fact, apart from the very first painting he did for his wife right after their marriage, which brought about a noticeable transformation of his True Spirit, subsequent paintings, although occasionally causing his True Spirit to radiate spirituality, resulted in only minor cumulative changes. Meng Chuan's True Spirit was currently only eight feet seven inches tall.

However, today, while painting his pregnant wife, the True Spirit's transformation was even more significant than during their first married painting session.

Eight feet eight inches, eight feet nine inches; the True Spirit was slowly transforming.

Nine feet!

The moment it reached nine feet, the True Spirit finally underwent a qualitative change.

"This is..."

In a daze, Meng Chuan's consciousness fully merged with his True Spirit.

Meng Chuan looked at the vast space of his Sea of Consciousness before him, then down at his arms and legs. "Is this my True Spirit?"

"It seems I can leave my physical body at any moment," Meng Chuan felt. His body felt like his home, but his True Spirit was the core. At this moment, his True Spirit could separate from his body with a single thought! However, according to the ancient texts from Yuanchu Mountain, the third level of the True Spirit... only allowed for 'night wandering.' It couldn't leave the body during the day, as it would be severely damaged by the scorching sunlight.

Still in a daze, Meng Chuan's consciousness returned to his physical body.

He could feel the changes within himself, clearly perceiving everything within fifty zhang around him at all times! He could also sense life auras within a five-li radius.

"I've reached the third level of True Spirit?" Meng Chuan realized.

A surge of excitement rose within him, but he quickly set it aside and continued painting for his wife.

That night, after dinner.

"Qiyue, I'm going to the quiet room to cultivate for a while," Meng Chuan said.

"Cultivate in seclusion?" Liu Qiyue nodded slightly. "A-Chuan, haven't you already reached a bottleneck?"

Both his fiendish aura and true essence had reached their ultimate bottlenecks, which was why he rarely went into seclusion anymore.

"My True Spirit has had a breakthrough," Meng Chuan stated.

"True Spirit?" Liu Qiyue's eyes lit up.

Having joined her husband on rescue missions, she could see that Meng Chuan's strength was immense! It far surpassed what a 'Perfect Lightning Extermination Demonic Body' or 'Peak Blade Soul' typically possessed. Outsiders might have assumed Meng Chuan had some miraculous encounter, but while he kept the secrets of Cangyuan Grotto-Heaven to himself, he had told his wife that his formidable strength was due to his True Spirit.

He had been a Great Solar Godfiend for several years, so revealing his True Spirit's cultivation was not a major issue.

"A-Chuan's True Spirit was already strong, and now another breakthrough?" Liu Qiyue felt both anticipation and pride.

Meng Chuan entered the quiet room.

Although the residence wasn't large, Meng Chuan and his wife had personally excavated and constructed a quiet room underground.

Sandalwood incense was lit. Meng Chuan sat cross-legged, then slowly closed his eyes.

With a single thought.

His consciousness fully retracted into his True Spirit, completely losing control over his physical body.

"Go."

Gazing at the vast expanse of his Sea of Consciousness, Meng Chuan's True Spirit leaped outward with a single thought.

It leaped out of his physical body.

A slightly translucent 'Meng Chuan' appeared beside the cross-legged physical Meng Chuan.

The quiet room was calm, with no hint of a breeze.

Yet, Meng Chuan's True Spirit felt faint 'winds' like blades constantly drilling into its form, causing pain throughout. The entire void felt like a terrifying 'ocean,' as if its fluctuations could swallow his True Spirit at any moment.

"Night wandering," Meng Chuan thought. "According to the secret manuals, when the True Spirit first engages in night wandering, it must undergo tempering by the 'Wind Tribulation' after leaving the body to become more resilient. Only when it can remain as stable as a rock in strong winds can it travel long distances in the dark of night."

With his True Spirit out of his body, the 'wind' in the quiet room, imperceptible to his physical form, still caused pain to his True Spirit. After a moment, however, his True Spirit grew more accustomed to it and became considerably stronger.

At least within the quiet room, it felt quite easy.

"The third level of True Spirit allows one to leave the body," Meng Chuan's True Spirit floated around the quiet room, then looked at his physical body sitting cross-legged, secretly sighing with emotion. "No wonder, when the True Spirit cultivates to the fifth level, it can even 'possess' another body. Completely changing to a new physical form."

Possession could be performed at the fifth level of the True Spirit, but powerful Godfiends rarely used it.

Firstly, the lifespan limit applied to the True Spirit itself! Changing bodies wouldn't break the lifespan limit. Secondly, a new body and True Spirit wouldn't perfectly integrate, which would affect one's strength.

Those who resorted to possession typically did so out of necessity when their original body was destroyed or beyond salvation.

"Return."

With a single thought, his True Spirit instantly returned to his physical body.

Only when back within the Sea of Consciousness of his physical body did he feel a strong sense of security. Currently, his True Spirit was too vulnerable on its own.

"From the third level of True Spirit onwards, the power of the True Spirit begins to exhibit great might," Meng Chuan clearly understood. Previously, at the first and second levels, he primarily relied on deeper control over his body's true essence to unleash greater strength. But from the third level, in addition to better control over his body's true essence, the power of the True Spirit could now contend with enemies independently.

Even if it were a mortal with a weak physical body,

if they possessed a third-level True Spirit, its power could still effortlessly slay a Great Solar Godfiend with a single thought.

According to the secret manuals:

At the third level of True Spirit... with True Spirit power alone, one possessed the threshold strength of a Marquis Godfiend.

At the fifth level of True Spirit... relying on the True Spirit, one possessed the threshold strength of a King Godfiend.

At the seventh level of True Spirit... one possessed the threshold strength of the Creation Realm.

If one's physical body's true essence and skill realms were also strong, combining them with the True Spirit could unleash even greater power.

"With the third level of True Spirit, there are many more True Spirit mystic arts one can cultivate," Meng Chuan thought. "My most important task now is to cultivate the True Spirit mystic art, 'God-Slaying Thorn.'"

Meng Chuan closed his eyes and began to concentrate on cultivation.

Within his Sea of Consciousness.

His True Spirit also sat cross-legged, but in its palm, True Spirit power gathered, forming the shape of a 'thorn.'

Divine patterns began to condense upon it, one by one, carefully integrating onto the thorn under Meng Chuan's control. The thorn gradually became clearer.

Only upon reaching the third level of True Spirit could the qualitatively transformed True Spirit power condense 'True Spirit Weapons.'

The God-Slaying Thorn was both a mystic art and a True Spirit Weapon.

For the next seven consecutive nights, Meng Chuan cultivated for three hours each night.

Because even a slight error in the divine patterns on the God-Slaying Thorn would cause it to dissipate, Meng Chuan had to meticulously condense and engrave them bit by bit. After seven days of cultivation, the divine patterns on the God-Slaying Thorn's surface were successfully engraved. The 'God-Slaying Thorn' became incredibly clear and dazzling, the most striking object in Meng Chuan's True Spirit's hand. Its power was equally formidable.

Without a condensed True Spirit, one would almost certainly die when facing the God-Slaying Thorn.

With this single 'God-Slaying Thorn' alone, he possessed the threshold strength of a Marquis Godfiend; it could even injure a Marquis Godfiend.