Chapter 262 - Lu Tianzi's Origin Totem

Two months passed in a flash.

During this time, Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue chose to remain in Crimson Mountain without letting anyone else know of their whereabouts.

By now, Lu Tianzi was already able to maintain the invisible filter over his inner world even without having to close his eyes in full concentration. This meant that the refinement of impurities in his inner world was now a continuously occurring process, never stopping for a single moment even while he was doing other things.

While this did not accelerate the rate at which the impurities were being refined, it at least freed up his time to practise the Eternal Wraith Sword. At time, he even practised the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art along with Nanlan Qianxue.

Xihuang Yuanfeng did not shy away from outrightly expressing his disapproval everytime Lu Tianzi practised the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art. But Lu Tianzi slowly grew used to it, and simply ignored him after the first few times.

On the other hand, Nanlan Qianxue was blown away by how quickly Lu Tianzi managed to pick up the sword technique.

It was only then that she finally realised that the difference between Lu Tianzi and her had little to do with their heritage.

She had always been confident of her innate talent, and that had been further validated by her accomplishments in the Nine Suns Sect.

Yet Lu Tianzi's improvement in the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art was undoubtedly far quicker than hers. Even though Lu Tianzi started practising it later than her, she soon found herself struggling to keep up with Lu Tianzi's moves, and needing him to guide her on certain aspects of the sword technique.

Previously, there had still been a difference in the techniques they possessed.

But this time, they were learning the same sword technique, and even one that was more suited for females.

With that, there was no longer any excuse she could find.

Her talent was not up to par, and that was it.

While Nanlan Qianxue was sincerely impressed by Lu Tianzi, she could not help but feel slightly disappointed as well as her pride took a serious hit.

Seeing this, Xihuang Yuanfeng could not help but let out a bitter smile.

From Nanlan Qianxue's progress, he could tell that she was indeed a talented youngster, perhaps almost comparable to himself in his younger days. Unfortunately, she just had to be accompanied by the monster that was Lu Tianzi, who had a halo so bright that it easily outshined the poor girl.

In such a situation, it was only natural for Nanlan Qianxue to feel slightly depressed.

Thankfully, Nanlan Qianxue picked herself up quickly, striving even harder than before in terms of her practice. It was as though she wanted to overcome the difference in talent with pure hardwork!

On this day, Lu Tianzi sat cross legged in the centre of the rock chamber. Formation flags were placed all around him, and the dim glow of an ancient emblem brightened up the initially dimly lit rock chamber.

Nanlan Qianxue stood in a corner of the rock chamber. Her eyes were focused upon Lu Tianzi, unwilling to miss even a single moment of what was to come.

After this couple of months, Lu Tianzi had finally succeeded in fully refining the impurities in his inner world.

Just thinking about this, Xihuang Yuanfeng could not help but let out a sigh of exasperation.

Others could take up to years to refine their inner worlds in preparation for the breakthrough to the Origin Core realm, but this Lu Tianzi only took a couple of months.

As if that was not enough, he actually managed to obtain a complete refinement of impurities.

How was that even fair?

Yet no matter what, it was now time for the toughest part. While Xihuang Yuanfeng did not think that Lu Tianzi would encounter any problems, he would still watch closely so that he could step in immediately in the case of an improbable accident.

While most Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artists tried to refine as much of the impurities in their inner world before attacking the next boundary, it was actually not a requirement to do so.

Even without refining the impurities, it was still possible to step into the next cultivation realm. The only difference would be the strength and potential of the martial artist in the future.

In the end, the actual process of breaking through to the origin core realm was still the truly difficult part.

One had to draw in every last bit of liquid Slaughter Essence within the inner world, holding it in place at a single point and then forming it into an origin core. This was a process that required a huge supply of concentration and energy, and most Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artists would not be able to fulfil these criteria.

That was also why even though there were many Peak Essence Condensation realm martial artists, the number who managed to break through to the Origin Core realm was miniscule in comparison.

With a flick of his wrist, a small red pearl appeared in Lu Tianzi's hand, one that was complete with a beautiful inscription symbol.

This was none other than the high ranked beast core that Lu Tianzi had obtained from Shadowfront Fortress.

Back then in the Heaven Constellations Inscription Tower, Lu Tianzi had already placed an inscription on it. Now, it was finally ready to be used.

Due to the complete refinement of the impurities within his inner world, the liquid Slaughter Essence in Lu Tianzi's inner world had become far more heavy and condensed. This actually resulted in Lu Tianzi needing an amount of energy beyond his level if he wanted to draw in all of his liquid Slaughter Essence to form his origin core.

Fortunately, the high ranked beast core in his possession provided exactly that.

In fact, it had so much energy within that General Nanbai Zhaoyu had initially wanted to rely on it to eventually step into the Overlord realm.

Even Xihuang Yuanfeng had to try his best to suppress the astonishment in his heart when he first understood what Lu Tianzi was intending to do.

Unless it was an unprecedentedly wealthy influence that was heavily focusing on nurturing its future leader, it was basically impossible for influences to part with a treasure like that just to aid a youngster in his breakthrough to the origin core realm!

Where did he even get such a thing anyway?

Of course, Xihuang Yuanfeng did not stop him either.

It was a treasure obtained by Lu Tianzi. Thus, it was only right for him to allow Lu Tianzi to do as he wished with it.

Lu Tianzi closed his eyes and quickly entered a state of deep meditation.

Slowly, the primordial Slaughter Essence started to escape the confines of the red pearl and formed into two gentle streams, each flowing into one of Lu Tianzi's arms through the palm of his hands.

The invisible filter that Lu Tianzi had set up was still in place, completely refining away the impurities from the primordial Slaughter Essence.

This newly introduced energy then sank into his inner world before sweeping out in both directions, acting as a pushing force that gathered liquid Slaughter Essence along with it wherever it moved.

Lu Tianzi's body immediately felt weak all over, feeling the direct impact of the displacement of the liquid Slaughter Essence in his inner world as they were pulled away.

If he failed to break through here, there was no doubt that it would take quite a bit of time for him to fully recover.

The time taken was nothing as compared to the refinement of the impurities, but it was still a relatively long process. Only after hours had passed did Lu Tianzi finally manage to bring together all the liquid Slaughter Essence in his inner world, moulding it into a ball made of liquid Slaughter Essence.

This ball of liquid Slaughter Essence was small in size, which was a good thing. The smaller it was, the more space there was to grow in the future.

Things did not end there though.

Bringing the liquid Slaughter Essence together was only the first step. Next was condensing it into an actual solid orb. Otherwise, it would simply collapse and split up into its original state of liquid Slaughter Essence in no time.

This time, Lu Tianzi drew upon the remaining energy within the high ranked beast core all at once, pumping it all into his inner world and smashing it freely against this small ball of liquid Slaughter Essence.

"Ugh!" Lu Tianzi could not help but groan as the sudden burst of pain caught him by surprise.

Smashing the primordial Slaughter Essence against this ball of liquid Slaughter Essence felt akin to having his internal organs forcibly compressed.

The resulting pain was nothing to be scoffed at!

Still, Lu Tianzi gritted his teeth and persisted.

Just like that, primordial Slaughter Essence drawn from the high ranked beast core was being continuously smashed against this ball of liquid Slaughter Essence. Over time, a thin layer started to form over this ball of liquid Slaughter Essence, keeping it in place.

This was yet another long process, but it certainly did not feel as long as it truly was.

When the primordial Slaughter Essence in the high ranked beast core finally ran out, this ball of liquid Slaughter Essence was already nothing like before.

It was now a solid orb of Slaughter Essence, containing all of Lu Tianzi's attainments in the Slaughter Essence cultivation system.

It was now an origin core.

The newly formed origin core slowly rotated in place, constantly gathering World Origin Energy from the surroundings. At this point, even without Lu Tianzi's invisible filter, the impurities of the world could not longer taint his inner world.

The origin core was a completely different existence from the liquid Slaughter Essence before, and only absorbed absolutely pure energy. In fact, it would continuously gather World Origin Energy even when left by itself, passively aiding Lu Tianzi's rate of cultivation.

Lu Tianzi immediately felt an unprecedented power surge out from within his origin core, filling his body with seemingly endless strength. The previous sense of weakness that he had felt from the displacement of liquid Slaughter Essence in his inner world was now washed away without a trace.

But even though the condensation process of the origin core had already been completed, it took a bit longer for the intense pain from before to truly go away.

Lu Tianzi finally opened his eyes and stood up.

The first thing he wanted to do right now was to test his newfound strength!

Driving his Slaughter Essence origin core to the limit, Lu Tianzi punched out with all his might. His Slaughter Essence instantly materialised, shrouding his fist in a blue light.

Behind him, the space blurred as the illusory figure of a vortex shimmered into existence.

It looked just like a vertical whirlpool, and almost seemed to be pulling in the very fabrics of reality into a point of absolute nothingness.

This was Lu Tianzi's Origin Totem, something that belonged solely to him.

Upon reaching the Origin Core realm, martial artists would form their own Origin Totem as well, something that appeared whenever the martial artists were ready to unleash their strongest attacks.

The forms that these Origin Totems took on were not something that the martial artists could control, but they would almost always be influenced by the cultivation techniques and personalities of the martial artists.

In Lu Tianzi's case, it was due to the Heaven Devouring Divine Art and his comprehensions into the Law of Water and Law of Origin that resulted in this particular form.

Of course, the form of the Origin Totem mattered little to Lu Tianzi right now.

What he was more concerned about at this moment was the seemingly limitless strength welling up within his body.

With just that one single punch, Lu Tianzi was able to feel a complete difference in his body as compared to before.

This was a power that gave him the right to look down on all martial artists below his cultivation level.

This was the power of an Origin Core realm martial artist.

Not just that, but this was the power of an Origin Core realm martial artist who had formed a true origin core!