Otherworldly Evil Monarch

"Ah... this is great!" Jun Mo Xie took a deep breath as he muttered. He was brimming with energy. He summersaulted and roared loudly in an unrestrained manner to give vent to his excitement. Then, he steadied his excited state of mind, and operated the Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune.

One must vent their feelings of joy or sadness since it would only affect their meridians if one forces them down, and pressures oneself to stabilize one’s mind. And, this would in-turn mean that one would overreach themselves, and their condition would turn for the worse as a result.

However, Jun Mo Xie was very clear about this. He was anxious about the extent of his present advancements. But, he didn’t operate the Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune in a hurry to examine himself. Instead, he first dealt with the issue just mentioned. And, the Young Master Jun acted in a crazed manner, and gave vent to his excitement as much as he could...

The physiological condition of the body wouldn’t come into effect since there would be a sense of "I’ve already vented" to provide a subtle mental nudge once a person unburdens themselves. And, this would greatly reduce the chance of a devil’s bite during the practice.

[What problems will I have if I dispel the chance of a devil’s bite?]

Therefore, Jun Mo Xie’s practice proceeded without a hitch. And, the entirety his aura cycled within his body at extreme speeds. Then, Jun Mo Xie started to inspect his own internal state of affairs. And, his jaw dropped once again!

"Fu*k Fu*k Fu*k..." a succession of cuss words exploded from his mouth. Jun Mo Xie didn’t know what else to do or say. His mind was a confused mess, and only those extremely vulgar words were left in it.

"Truly... Ah!" he shouted fiercely at first. And then, he extended his hands, and started to beat his chest. Jun Mo Xie’s actions made him seem like a black bear that was showing-off his strength. It could be said that the Young Master Jun was ecstatic to the extreme.

No one could see what was inside the Hong Jun Pagoda in any case. And, no one would also know that the Young Master Jun had been completely cleansed from the inside. Moreover, he didn’t have a thread of clothing upon his body. The Young Master’s body had originally been covered in clothing. But, he had torn his clothes to shreds when he was going through that pain and suffering.

The Young Master Jun was thoroughly shocked!

It was because he had found a clear and thin essence flowing inside his meridians. And, this substance looked very similar to mercury. In fact, that matter seemed to have a somewhat flickering shine to it, and it was obvious that it contained a huge amount of power!

His aura had been invisible, and had exhibited no particular character as it had flowed into the first level. And, the aura and spiritual essence had taken on a somewhat misty appearance inside the Hong Jun Pagoda’s second level because of the Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune.

However, that spiritual essence and aura had disappeared, and this mysterious substance had appeared shortly after. Therefore, it was obvious that his spiritual essence had transformed. Moreover, this indicated that his essence had remained the same in quantity, but had undergone a qualitative change.

This obviously meant that his Xuan efficacy had undergone a substantial change. And, that slender and silvery thread declared that Jun Mo Xie had set foot in the third level of Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune!

This meant that he would see another breakthrough at last!

Jun Mo Xie got a hold of himself, and concentrated as he started to cycle his Xuan efficacy over his body again. The speed became increasingly fast, and the thin silver string started to make a noisy sound. It seemed to be vibrating since it was giving-off a buzzing noise...

First cycle... second cycle... and then, he was at the peak of the second level. Jun Mo Xie proceeded further, and he clearly felt that the layers ahead were becoming as frail as paper. He felt that he would only need to exert himself a bit, and he would get through...

And, it would be an entirely new realm when the time would come!

Jun Mo Xie slowly breathed in and out as he stabilized his mental state. And then, he gently increased the speed as he impacted the bottleneck.

He didn’t wish to congeal his full strength and break through because he believed that success would only come under the right conditions. And, that moment had presented itself since the conditions were ripe. So, trying to be too fast wouldn’t be good. Therefore, Jun Mo Xie didn’t feel anxious. Moreover, he didn’t dare to take the risks again.

Who knew what harmful side-effects may be unleashed if he broke through by force? Perhaps there would be a violent and harmful devil’s bite... like he had seen in the case of the Flame of Primal Chaos...

It had to be said that the devil’s bite from the Flame of Primal Chaos had made Jun Mo Xie very cautious...

Jun Mo Xie eventually started to feel that the gate to the next level was being pushed back due to the impact of his strength. After that, it became a bit thinner, and eventually became transparent...

[Finally!]

A very faint sighing-like sound arose. And, a very small opening appeared at the gate to the third level. It seemed like a balloon had come into contact with a very small needle, but... it finally burst.

Jun Mo Xie still didn’t advance at a rapid pace. He pushed forward slowly as he gently poured-in his aura, and cautiously proceeded forward. And, finally...

"Bang!"

Jun Mo Xie felt the explosive sound inside his mind, and felt like the world had turned upside down. He felt the entire Hong Jun Pagoda revolve for a moment. The Furnace of Good Fortune flickered on his left at one time, and then on his right. And then, he found that it was place above his head. The steadily burning Flame of Primal Chaos also moved about...

Jun Mo Xie remained unmoved by this. And, he stabilized his mind once again as he moved forward in a firm manner.

And then, at last...

There was an unexpected impact of a massive force. This force was extremely powerful, and had crossed Jun Mo Xie’s expectations by-far! Jun Mo Xie felt that his meridians had suddenly swollen. And then, an illusionary image appeared in front of him without any warning...

The illusionary image slowly floated downwards, and became stable as it got down. Then, it turned into a real doorway!

Jun Mo Xie stood in front of that doorway.

He felt that the spiritual influence within his body could shake mountains and call tsunamis with a cheerful voice. Jun Mo Xie’s heart was very moved after he examined his spiritual influence.

Then, he finally initiated the Third Layer of the Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune.

And, he opened the third level of the Hong Jun Pagoda after that!

Jun Mo Xie smiled as he recalled the pain he had suffered a while ago. It had seemed like the pain from the entire eighteen levels of hell at once.

[Only a real man can endure the most devastating of pain and hardships! These aren’t merely empty words!]

It was only natural that someone with Jun Mo Xie’s persistence would be able to endure that kind of pain and suffering. But, not everyone could endure it. In fact, most people wouldn’t be able to endure it. They would be terror-stricken, and would never be able to evade the dark of their fates.

So, it was extremely fortunate that Jun Mo Xie had survived it. He had met a number of people in his two lives. But, the number of people who could’ve survived that ordeal could be counted on five fingers.

And, that was enough to make him proud!

He had the persistence of an Evil Monarch. And, he had the crazed endurance of an Evil Monarch. But, that was also his greatest asset!

An indistinct and vague chant suddenly appeared in Jun Mo Xie’s mind.

"There’s a road to the sky above, but it takes an age to set upon it. Raise you head and look at the beautiful trees. A heart with a mountain of spirit is only a lake at the foot of an immortal. One can take this road after nine transformations of the soul..."

The aura in the third level of the Hong Jun Pagoda spanned heaven and earth.

He had finally broken through another barrier! A bright light had flashed at the time he had broken into the second layer of the Hong Jun Pagoda. And, his cultivation had broken past the first nine levels of Xuan Qi cultivation when that had happened. But, he had jumped from the Jade Xuan Peak to the initial level of Sky Xuan this time. And, this breakthrough was equal to advancing another one of the four barriers of Xuan Qi cultivation! This was astonishing. In fact, it was terrifying!

They were only four major barriers in count. However, the progress was exponential with each stage.

Everyone knows that the time required to breakthrough to the succeeding levels increases as a person’s Xuan cultivation reaches a higher state. Moreover, the arrangement of levels is very clearly organized. Therefore, a person would have to face four major difficulties or barriers in their journey. The first would be to ‘break the nine’ barriers. This entails to the first nine levels of Xuan Qi cultivation. And, this is what differentiates a Xuan Qi practitioner from an ordinary person.

The second was the ‘Jade Xuan’ entrance barrier. This was important because it was the true starting point for the future. Jade Xuan was certainly not a very high level. However, a person would never be able to break into the Jade Xuan realm if they didn’t possess sufficient innate talent for Xuan cultivation. So, to be able to reach the Jade Xuan realm at an early age was indicative that the said-person possessed excellent innate talent. And, this obviously dictated that they had a high probability of achieving greater things in the future. For example... Baili Luo Yun was merely a Jade Xuan expert. But, this was the main reason why countless high-level experts were surprised at the sight of him.

And, the third major breakthrough would happen when a person would advance from the Earth Xuan Peak to Sky Xuan. There was a massive difference in the strength of these two levels. In fact, the difference in power after the break through was so great that it couldn’t be calculated. It required a lot of effort and time besides mere innate talent to become a Sky Xuan expert. It was said that reaching that level was somewhat like going from Level-One Xuan realm to Earth Xuan peak!

As for the fourth breakthrough... that’s to the realm of Spirit Xuan. Any Sky Xuan expert who has cultivated at that level for thirty years or more could reach the Spirit Xuan realm. However, most Sky Xuan experts get very old by the time they reach the Sky Xuan realm. Therefore, another thirty years of cultivation is often beyond their imagination by that time. However, a person would reach an entirely different level of strength once they had ascended to the Spirit Xuan realm. In fact, most people couldn’t even dream of touching them. And, that was because they had already cleared all the four major barriers!

To sum matter up... the Young Master had suffered greatly. In fact, it would be an exaggeration to say that he had barely managed to survive that painful ordeal. However, the rewards he had received in return were also quite generous. This advancement was a huge leap. And, his advance had been unpreceded as far as the history was concerned. In fact, one could reckon that this feat would probably never be achieved again!

Jun Mo Xie silently went over the mantra he had just received. Then, he recalled the mantras he had received at the previous two levels. He recalled the mantra at the first level; "the soul that undergoes nine refinements won’t fall into hell." The second level had proclaimed, "Nine loyal transformations will stabilize the soul." Then, another mantra had appeared at the third level as expected. And, it had said, "One can take this road after nine transformations of the soul...."

These three mantras had one thing in common — the words "nine" and "soul". Jun Mo Xie nodded in silence and thought... [Is there a deeper meaning to this?]

The number ‘nine’ seemed to important. The Hong Jun Pagoda had nine layers. The Art of Unlocking the Heaven’s Fortune had nine levels as well. Moreover, one would encounter a mantra every time they would advance through each one of these levels. And, each of these mantras had the number ‘nine’ in them. He hadn’t reached the top level yet. But, Jun Mo Xie was certain that he would encounter the number ‘nine’ in each of the mantras as he’d advance further.

[What could this be hinting at?]

Jun Mo Xie recalled his previous two advancements. His soul had neither undergone nine refinements, nor had it witnessed nine transformations. [My soul hasn’t seen nine of anything. But, why did I still advance?]