Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 359

Volume 3 - Chapter 79: Primordial Spirit, Seven Extremes Realm - Part 2

Li Hao had originally cultivated the Li family’s three pinnacle methods for refining the soul, and with Feng Lao’s help, he even managed to steal the royal family’s top-tier soul refining technique. As a result, he had trained his soul to the point where it could wander fifty li.

Now, having advanced to the Fourth Pillar Realm, his soul naturally grew stronger, easily able to roam a hundred li.

However, this increase in range was due to the enhancements brought by his Dao will and the reshaping of his soul from his realm breakthrough. If these enhancements were excluded, his limit in the Spiritual Wandering Realm remained at fifty li.

Li Hao speculated that to truly push the limits of the Spiritual Wandering Realm, one would need to achieve at least a range of one hundred li.

At this moment, as he simulated one soul refining technique after another, Li Hao practiced them directly. His soul formed seals, and divine fire surged around him.

All of this was isolated within the Dao Domain, with not even the heat leaking out.

As he cultivated, his soul began to change, absorbing the power of moonlight drifting through heaven and earth to repair and refine itself.

The soul refining techniques were akin to how demonic beasts practiced by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. However, aside from those with exceptional innate gifts, most demonic beasts could only absorb moonlight, as it was gentle. Sun essence was far more intense and could easily burn the soul during absorption.

But now, with his soul enhanced, Li Hao was able to absorb the energies of both the sun and moon simultaneously. His soul burned with scorching divine sunlight, exuding an overwhelming aura.

With just a collision of souls, Li Hao could ignite an opponent’s soul with ease.

As the tempering of his soul progressed, its bond with his physical body also grew stronger. Amid this rapid improvement, Li Hao felt a strange illusion—as if mastering the ultimate level of the Spiritual Wandering Realm might grant immortality solely through the indestructibility of the soul.

Normally, if the physical body was destroyed, the soul was left fragile, needing to quickly find a host or risk being burned away by the divine sun if exposed too long.

Yet now, with his soul cultivating by absorbing sun essence, it was no longer vulnerable to the sun’s scorching rays.

Time passed.

With the integration of numerous soul refining techniques, Li Hao’s soul rapidly advanced. Soon, he felt himself entering a profound state of transformation—his soul seemingly shedding its old shell and being reborn anew.

The golden flames that once adorned his soul now fully receded into his body, leaving his soul a radiant crimson-gold, solid and vivid.

“This is…”

Li Hao opened his eyes, his thoughts stirring as his soul erupted forth. It surged out of the Dao Domain, pierced through the roof of the Lingyuan Pavilion, and stood tall in the sky.

Bathed in the light of the sun and moon, his soul shone brilliantly like a golden figure. Previously, it had been somewhat illusory, but now it resembled a true, solid form.

The soul flared up suddenly and disappeared, slipping into an illusory space—a seam in the fabric of reality.

Moments later, it reappeared.

Through repeated attempts, Li Hao suddenly understood: he had reached the pinnacle of the Spiritual Wandering Realm. The enhancements to his soul now allowed it to exist for extended periods even if his physical body perished.

Moreover, his soul could traverse spatial rifts—areas untouchable even by the Dao Heart Realm. Only those at the Supreme Dao Realm could forcibly squeeze it out using a Dao Domain.

This ability, attainable at the Spiritual Wandering Realm, was nothing short of terrifying.

“Under the radiance of the sun and moon, one can roam the void and traverse the rifts of space…”

Li Hao’s gaze sharpened as he decided to name this ultimate level of the Spiritual Wandering Realm as the Primordial Spirit.

At this moment, his soul had indeed transformed, becoming distinct from ordinary souls. Li Hao sensed that only in a battle against an equally matched opponent could he truly uncover the full advantages of the pinnacle state of the Spiritual Wandering Realm.

But for now, just the ability to traverse the void, only retrievable through a Dao Domain, was already remarkable.

Had he mastered this earlier, he could have used his soul to travel and kill opponents without even moving his body. Beneath the Supreme Dao Realm, few could pose a threat to him.

To think that this was achievable within the Spiritual Wandering Realm…

Li Hao withdrew his soul and continued his cultivation.

The practice of various soul refining methods did not stop at the breakthrough to the Primordial Spirit. Under these techniques, his Primordial Spirit continued to grow stronger.

Li Hao had long realized that beyond this pinnacle lay a terminal state—a true ultimate.

Reaching it, however, might be ten times harder than achieving the pinnacle.

The pinnacle itself was already exceedingly difficult; even the prodigies of the Ancient Holy Clans rarely achieved it fully, let alone the terminal state.

Time flew by.

Eventually, Li Hao ceased his soul cultivation. The enhancements to his Primordial Spirit from these techniques had already reached their peak.

...

Li Hao sent his Primordial Spirit out of the Lingyuan Pavilion, soaring beyond the city and over mountains and rivers. Under the sun and moon, what once might have burned his soul now felt only warm.

The essence of the sun, denser and more potent than moonlight, was absorbed by his Primordial Spirit, nourishing it continuously.

“I’ve heard that only ancient demon kings with extraordinary bloodlines can naturally absorb sun essence. Even most dragon clans rely only on moonlight for cultivation.”

Li Hao mused. The speed at which his Primordial Spirit soared far surpassed his physical body, allowing him to eliminate most enemies with his soul alone while his body remained stationary.

After roaming four or five hundred li, Li Hao began to feel a chill. The connection between his Primordial Spirit and his physical body grew faint, a strange sensation. As his body grew colder, the surrounding world seemed to shift, as if a sea of illusion and reality surged around him.

Continuing forward felt like wading deeper into this surreal sea—a dangerous prospect.

“Relying solely on the Primordial Spirit, I still can’t completely detach from my physical body,” Li Hao thought.

He began to withdraw his Primordial Spirit.

The hundreds of li flew by quickly, and upon returning to his physical body, Li Hao stretched slightly before resuming his cultivation.

This time, his focus shifted to the Object Manipulation Technique.

The realm known as the Fifteen Li Realm derived its name from the capability of manipulating objects with the soul at a speed of fifteen li in a single breath.

For most practitioners without significant background or resources, this was their upper limit.

Even then, reaching fifteen li required full exertion. For instance, traveling at this speed for extended periods was impossible. A practitioner might be able to explode with bursts of speed twice or thrice before exhausting themselves.

The royal family’s Object Manipulation Technique, however, allowed one to reach speeds of twenty-five li.

Other top-tier techniques capped at twenty li.

Though the difference between fifteen and twenty li seemed slight, in battle, it was a qualitative leap.

At five li’s difference, an opponent might not even have the chance to attack before being killed.

This was precisely why experts with royal bloodlines dominated others in the Fifteen Li Realm; their twenty-five li manipulation speed allowed them to easily overwhelm others at the same level.

Li Hao had previously reached forty li through his own cultivation. After gaining many techniques from the Tianji Tower, he advanced to eighty li.

Now, with his increased realm and enhanced soul, his object manipulation speed grew even faster.

As he integrated numerous object manipulation techniques, Li Hao’s Primordial Spirit flew out again. This time, it picked up a speck of dust from the ground outside the Lingyuan Pavilion and propelled it over a hundred li with his energy.

With each increase in speed and deepening of his understanding of object manipulation, Li Hao began to grasp a subtle insight.

No matter how fast one’s object manipulation was, it could not compare to void traversal.

And if one’s speed reached the absolute limit, it seemed possible to tear through the void and cross into another space.

...

Two days passed.

Li Hao emerged from the Lingyuan Pavilion.

Xia Linglong, unaware of how long he intended to stay, had not lingered outside after escorting him there. As the head of the Xia family, she had many responsibilities to attend to.

Although Youzhou had seen the defeat of the Lord of Gluttony Valley and the remaining demons had either been slaughtered or driven out, the towns destroyed by the demons required rebuilding, and the injured and grieving citizens needed comfort and aid.

Just as Xia Linglong was immersed in these matters, she received news of Li Hao leaving the pavilion and was momentarily stunned.

“Only two days?”

She was surprised but quickly guessed that Li Hao had likely memorized the advanced techniques and did not plan to practice them there, which would explain his swift departure.

Immediately setting aside her work, she went to greet him.

Li Hao exchanged a few polite words with her, expressing his thanks, and prepared to leave.

“General Haotian, my Xia family has two demon kings. Though they are not at the level of a Void Realm overlord, they could still guard your gates admirably. Would you care to see them?”

Xia Linglong invited him warmly.

Li Hao smiled. “No need to trouble yourself, Xia family head. Simply having access to the Lingyuan Pavilion was already a great privilege for me. Those demon kings would serve your family better in battle.”

Seeing that Li Hao’s refusal was genuine, Xia Linglong felt a trace of admiration. After all, these were demon kings, creatures of immense power. Even if Li Hao had no need for them, their value was undeniable.

As Li Hao’s intention to leave became clear, the members of the Xia family once again came forward to send him off.

He departed Youzhou, accompanied by Ren Qianqian, the Candlefire God, and Xiyan, which had swiftly climbed back onto his wrist.

Before leaving, Li Hao left two chess pieces with the Xia family, explaining that they could serve as his battle flags.

These chess pieces, imbued with his power, contained sword energy infused with Dao Domain rules. They could easily kill Absolute Technique Realm practitioners and severely wound even Supreme Dao Realm opponents.

When Xia Linglong learned of the chess pieces’ capabilities, she felt as though they burned in her hands. Her shock at Li Hao’s methods turned into deep gratitude for his gift.

Though the Xia family, as part of the Divine General Mansion, was already illustrious, the recent crisis in Youzhou, coupled with the appearance of the Desolate God’s avatar outside Qingzhou City, had made it clear that the Great Yu Divine Dynasty would soon face unprecedented challenges.

Thus, having these powerful treasures was nothing short of a lifesaving boon.

To Li Hao, however, this was merely payment for access to the Lingyuan Pavilion.

The gains he had reaped were immense—his breakthroughs in the Spiritual Wandering Realm and Fifteen Li Realm had both reached their pinnacles, granting him mastery of the ultimate states.

Additionally, other techniques in swordsmanship, fist techniques, and body refinement had seen considerable improvement, further enhancing his strength.

Excluding the Fourth Pillar Realm, Li Hao had now reached the absolute pinnacle in all preceding Martial Path realms.

...

Half a day later, Li Hao returned to Tianmen Pass. As soon as he arrived, he sensed a sinister, chilling aura within the city.

The aura was neither arrogant nor concealed, simply radiating naturally, yet it made Li Hao’s eyes narrow in surprise.

Noticing Li Hao’s return, some soldiers within the city rushed to report the situation.

Li Hao waved them off, indicating he was already aware, and led the Candlefire God back to the small courtyard he had once called home.

There, he saw a disheveled figure sitting where he used to drink tea, pouring and drinking by themselves.

Their clothes were tattered, and their wrists bore two broken iron chains...

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