Chapter 157: Breaking Through
So determined, Hui buried himself deeper into his meditation. This time, he focused on the two auras. Although one aura emanated from each dantian, the two dantians had their own sets of pathways that independently curved through his body, meaning his whole body emanated both a death aura and an aura of qi. With his life qi split into the red gem, and so little of it in comparison to the qi and death qi, it couldnt be relied upon to suppress the death aura.
Separate like with the amber. Hui sent his qi inward. He drew it outward, drawing his aura to his right side. A second later, he drew his death qi to the left. The two auras separated, drawing his qi toward that side of his body.
His body wavered. He felt icy cold, and the world shuddered before him. He felt his soul begin to slip.
No, no! Hui let go of his qi. His soul fell back into his body, and the two auras wobbled once more, fighting one another.
He frowned, frustrated. If I separate them, I run the risk of falling out of my body. No, rather I should say, if I separate them, Ill immediately fall out! Its just like the amber. Im pulling my auras apart, separating myself into two. I dont want to do that. No, the opposite!
The opposite. If I want to accomplish the opposite, then shouldnt I instead, merge the auras?
Merge death qi and qi? Thats impossible. I cant
Hui shook his head and slapped his cheek. No! Impossible is exactly what cultivators accomplish! Just because no one else has done it before, doesnt mean I cant.
Rather than the amber what about the corpse? Jin Xian. I merged each of the materials separately, but there what I did was merge the auras. I was focusing on the wrong part of the process! If I can merge my life and death auras into a single combined aura, I can break through the bottleneck and into the next realm.
As he broke through, the authority in the reversal spell grew stronger in accordance with his new cultivation base. The remaining sea lifted up into the air and streamed into the red gem, pouring itself inside willingly. Rather than draw it into himself, Hui stored it in the gem. He stood and let out a breath, smiling gently.
I did it. Ive reached the fourth realm! Im now at the same level as Bai Xue!
Or at least low on that realm. But in the same realm!
Dry bone stretched below what remained of the bone pile. No other bone piles remained in the realm, all devoured by Hui. With a sheepish smile, Hui leaped down the bone pile. He turned and lifted his hand. Under his will, the bones collapsed and became death qi, swirling in his void core.
Humming to himself, Hui strode toward the exit to the realm. Without the blood qi sea in the way, he could see the exit. Though only a small bit would have peeked above the sea earlier, now, a massive, dark gash opened in the far wall of the realm. Over a hundred meters tall and a hundred wide at its base, it hinted at the massive size of the blood qi sea.
Hui hummed to himself as he walked along, in no particular hurry. He glanced at the red gem, then sent it back into his storage ring. Now that it was full of blood qi, it no longer drew at his qi and longevity every time he pulled it out without suppressing himself.
Still, better if I treat it with caution. I did use it to trap an elder, after all.
If the other disciples in the trial could see him, their faces would be red with fury. Many remained deep in the realm, trapped on their bone islands. A few were forced to use up nearly all the qi in their snakes to reach the exit. Some gave up entirely and left the realm even after escaping, as their snakes dissipated, leaving them unable to use qi in the realm at all. In comparison, Hui emerged from the second realm with his snake more powerful than it had ever been, an entire realm full of reserve qi, and with a full-stage advance in his cultivation base.
He passed through the dark gash in the wall, and fell into darkness once again.