Chapter 30: The Phoenix Divine Flame and a Gathering Storm

This, then, was Su Yun’s true purpose in coming here.

“Stop being so cryptic and just tell me!” Su Yun urged, her impatience growing. “The cultivation common sense manual mentioned it: special bloodlines and physiques grant abilities ordinary people don’t possess.”

The Soul Origin’s expression gradually turned serious.

“Alright, first, all possessors of a Phoenix bloodline inherit the innate talent of the Phoenix race: the Phoenix Divine Flame. This is a power every Phoenix bloodline holder possesses. Among them, the Fire Phoenix’s Divine Flame is the strongest of all Phoenix variants, capable of suppressing all evil entities.”

“Aren’t we artifact refiners? This flame is also perfect for both artifact refiners and alchemists.” The Soul Origin raised a hand, and a cluster of golden-red divine flame ignited within their palm.

Seeing that she possessed such a formidable ability, Su Yun’s face immediately lit up with joy.

“Is that so? It seems my choice to pursue artifact refining was indeed the right one. What else?” Su Yun pressed, eager for more.

“Additionally, there’s Flame Affinity. This grants immunity to most fire damage, and cultivating fire-attributed techniques yields twice the results with half the effort, making their power even greater.”

“Currently, with our Qi Condensation cultivation, we only possess these two abilities. The rest will unlock once we break through to higher realms,” the Soul Origin explained.

Though there were only two effects, they were more than enough to fill Su Yun with delight.

“Hehe, I’m already very satisfied. Alright, I won’t talk to you anymore; I’m going out to try this Phoenix Divine Flame!” As Su Yun spoke, she made to leave the Sea of Consciousness.

However, the Soul Origin called out, stopping her.

“Don’t be so hasty! You haven’t established a direct connection with me yet. The first meeting between consciousness and the Soul Origin requires building a communication bridge. This way, if new abilities from the bloodline power are unsealed in the future, you’ll receive the information firsthand.”

Su Yun paused, startled. She had almost forgotten.

“My apologies, I nearly overlooked that. So, how do we build this communication bridge?” Su Yun inquired.

The Soul Origin chuckled softly, then extended their hands towards Su Yun.

“A close embrace between us will suffice.”

Su Yun gazed at her adult self, a blush creeping onto her face. Nevertheless, she slowly walked towards the Soul Origin and embraced them.

As her consciousness and soul merged in an embrace, a peculiar light shimmered around them. Simultaneously, a flood of memories she had never possessed before began to surge into Su Yun’s mind.

These memories were the power of bloodline inheritance. Individuals with special bloodlines could transmit their cultivation insights, understanding of techniques, and even complete cultivation methods to descendants possessing the same bloodline, thereby helping them avoid detours on their path.

At that very moment, Su Yun also uncovered many secrets concerning her Phoenix bloodline.

Su Yun’s ‘abnormal’ mother hailed from a unique group known as the Phoenix Ancient Clan. This clan was considered special because they were the offspring of a Phoenix Maiden and a human male. Thus, neither Su Yun nor her birth mother were true Phoenixes.

They remained human, simply possessing the Phoenix bloodline.

Regarding abilities, the Phoenix bloodline indeed held numerous inherited powers, but these required advancing through cultivation realms to be unlocked one by one.

After absorbing the Phoenix inheritance, Su Yun slowly opened her eyes. At the same instant, a surge of spiritual energy erupted from her body; she had actually broken through to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation.

“I broke through?” Su Yun exclaimed, utterly surprised.

She had been cultivating for roughly three hours since entering the stone chamber. To advance from the First to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation in such a short time was incredibly fast.

Now that she had broken through, Su Yun naturally wanted to test her Phoenix Divine Flame. She raised her hand, diligently drawing upon the bloodline power within her. She felt a warm current flow from somewhere deep inside her body, converging towards her right hand.

Soon, a cluster of golden-red flames ignited in her right palm, yet she felt not the slightest sensation of being burned.

“Is this the Phoenix Divine Flame? It’s truly extraordinary.” Su Yun even opened her mouth and blew on the flames, but they showed no sign of flickering. Such a flame, if used for artifact refining or alchemy, would undoubtedly greatly increase both success rates and crafting speed.

After playfully examining the Phoenix Divine Flame for a while, Su Yun once again entered a state of cultivation. She believed that, at her current breakthrough speed, a few months of practice here might even allow her to reach the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation.

However, it was not that simple. Consider Lin Shuang and Lin Xue; both possessed the rare Ice Spirit Root. It took them over three years of cultivation to reach their current Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation.

If Su Yun could catch up to them in just a few months, it would likely shock every cultivator on Spirit Sword Mountain.

In truth, the first three layers of the Qi Condensation realm are relatively easy to achieve. As long as one’s aptitude isn’t exceptionally poor and there’s sufficient spiritual energy to absorb, even a dual spirit root cultivator can reach them within two to three months.

However, from the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation onwards, the difficulty of breakthroughs increases significantly. The Fourth Layer alone might take anywhere from three months to half a year, though a single spirit root cultivator might progress faster.

Of course, if one desires even quicker advancement, they can consume elixirs or absorb spiritual energy from spirit stones. Even so, cultivators with average aptitude typically require five to ten years to reach the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation, while those with exceptional aptitude, like Lin Shuang and Lin Xue, only needed about three years.

Upon reaching the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation, one can no longer rely solely on absorbing spiritual energy for cultivation. At this stage, a spiritual energy vortex appears within the meridians, which, in simpler terms, is a spiritual energy blockage.

One must rely on combat to break through these blockages to continue cultivating. Therefore, this realm requires a combination of combat and meditation. When breaking through to the next realm, a bottleneck will appear, also a form of spiritual energy blockage. One must breach this obstruction to enter the subsequent realm.

Time once again sped by. Entering meditative trance was the quickest way for time to pass; consciousness would enter a dormant state, only awakening upon a breakthrough.

Su Yun’s next awakening occurred three days later, meaning it took her three days to break through from the Second to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation.

At this point, Su Yun felt her divine sense was more than three times stronger than it had been at the First Layer of Qi Condensation.

“It’s almost time! I’ll soon break through to the Fourth Layer. Once I reach the Fourth Layer, I’ll have enough power to control a flying sword and fly!” Su Yun was incredibly excited, and so she re-entered her cultivation state.

****

Approximately a month later, Lin Xue emerged from her dwelling. The first thing she did was glance towards Su Yun’s residence.

‘Still not back? Has she been staying on Artifact Refining Peak or did she go to the Sword Comprehension Tower?’ Lin Xue mused inwardly.

Ever since Su Yun arrived, Lin Xue had paid particular attention to her. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she constantly felt an unusual sense of closeness towards Su Yun.

But as Lin Xue pondered Su Yun, her expression suddenly froze, as if something rather unpleasant had occurred.

“That girl, always causing trouble.” Lin Xue wore a pained expression, then swiftly controlled her flying sword and soared towards the Sword Discourse Platform.

What was happening?

Lin Shuang had gotten into a conflict with someone else.

At this moment, on one of Spirit Sword Mountain’s larger peaks, a colossal stone sword was embedded, with a vast circular platform at its center. Many cultivators from various peaks were currently flying towards this location, for today, there was quite a show to be seen at the Sword Discourse Platform.

“Hurry, hurry! If we don’t go now, the show will begin! Lin Shuang of Heavenly Sword Peak has clashed with someone from Blazing Flame Peak! This is a spectacle we absolutely cannot miss!” Many disciples on the path were eagerly discussing the matter.

On the Sword Discourse Platform, Lin Shuang stared coldly ahead at a young man who carried a somewhat flippant air, clearly not taking Lin Shuang seriously. This young man was a cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation.

“Deng Wenqing, don’t think I’m afraid of you just because your cultivation is higher than mine! You dared to bully a disciple from my Heavenly Sword Peak? Today, I’ll make you regret it!” Lin Shuang appeared utterly furious.

As for Deng Wenqing, he merely squinted at Lin Shuang with a dismissive air.

“Oh my, how terrifying, Junior Sister Lin Shuang! Don’t you think you’re meddling in affairs that don’t concern you? That woman Milan willingly gave her primordial yin to me; I didn’t force her. Why are you making it sound like I coerced her?” The young man, named Deng Wenqing, said with a strange, mocking smile.

At this, a female outer disciple from Heavenly Sword Peak, who was among the spectators, immediately covered her face and began to weep. The surrounding female disciples from Heavenly Sword Peak quickly rushed to comfort her.

“You scoundrel! Using flowery words to deceive someone out of their primordial yin, only to discard them afterward! I’m not done with you today!” Lin Shuang declared, then formed a sword incantation. The treasured sword in her hand instantly transformed into a streak of light, piercing towards Deng Wenqing.

Deng Wenqing casually parried the attack with a single sword stroke, then remarked, “Junior Sister Lin, you can fight if you wish, but let’s be clear: if I accidentally injure you, don’t accuse me of bullying the weak.”

“Enough with the nonsense!” Lin Shuang roared.

Her flying sword once again lunged towards Deng Wenqing. No longer merely defending, Deng Wenqing, after deflecting a few more moves, began to counterattack.