Molting the Mortal Coil

Sage had started the process of breaking through as a method to kick out the flame giant. Thankfully, he was successful. If the giant had continued to control his Spiritual Sea, the chances of his breaking through would drop to the bottom. Even now, with how much damage he’d suffered it was already going to be difficult. Yet, Sage wouldn’t give up. In fact he was extremely confident!

To reach the 6th rank, a cultivator normally needed to reach the 4th degree of understanding with one of the Laws. He’d also learned that reaching the 7th rank required completely mastering a law to the 10th degree. Of course, that only referred to Minor Laws. To reach the 7th rank with a Major Law only required 7 degrees of understanding. Going by that logic, a Primal Law would only require the 4th degree of understanding.

Comprehending a Primal Law while still in the 5th rank was more than enough to force his way into the 6th rank, even with the terrible condition he was in. Or at least that’s what Sage was hoping happened! Even if he’d scared out the flame for the moment, there wasn’t anything stopping it from coming back. If his breakthrough failed, he had a good chance of losing his life.

No, I will not fail!

The dark energy was still funneling into his body from the outside and flowing into his dantian. It was hard to see where the energy was going. The many celestial bodies within his Life Nebula had flared to brightness, but was that where the energy was actually going? Without having the flame giant in his mind to worry about, Sage sunk his consciousness down into his Inner World. He was instantly worried by the scope of the destruction and tried to segregate a portion of the Inner World to be protected from the devastation. One of the islands now seemed to be completely stable and he quickly moved all the inhabitants of the Inner World onto it. He continued on and flew into the core of the planet, passing through that energy barrier and observing the situation at the true core of his dantian.

Only here did he see where that dark energy was truly flowing to. The small tree with its three profound leaves. His soul, in the shape of a man, was sitting cross-legged beneath the tree. When he’d become a Core Formation cultivator his soul had moved into the core, using it as shelter. It was the reason that unless a Core Formation cultivator’s body was completely destroyed, it was very hard to kill them. If the soul didn’t leave the body, there were many miraculous medicines in the world that could restore the flesh and blood and give that soul another chance.

At this moment, Sage saw the dark energy from the outside traveling along the root like markings on the walls of the Green Core, the name he’d given this most central of places. The Tree of Life had extended roots out into his body and through his aura to the outside world. At that point, they’d suddenly disappeared leaving only these markings on the walls of the Green Core. From the looks of things, that dark energy, which he knew to be the essence of the Law of Corruption, was traveling through those roots and nourishing the Tree of Life.

Would the Tree of Life be damaged by feeding on the Law of Corruption?

Even if the Tree of Life was damaged or altered, it was something he could deal with later as long as he broke through. While the thought of ruining his future path worried him, if he couldn’t advance his strength here, he would be left at the mercy of the Flares and that giant of flame that had been on the verge of killing him.

The energy of a Primal Law continued to flow into the Tree of Life, building up momentum for the push to a new level. Every advance into a new rank brought about a fundamental change to a cultivator. Just like the 5th rank had created a core that constantly produced energy and acted as a housing for the soul, the 6th rank was just as earth shaking. The Nascent Soul. Sometimes called an embryonic soul, the cultivator merged the three forms of energy within their Core. Mind, Soul, and Qi. Then the Core would shatter apart, giving birth to the Nascent Soul. A new birth, the Nascent Soul was the combination of a cultivator’s power with the exception of the Body. A Nascent Soul was so powerful that it could even survive without a body, though cultivators reduced to such a state would have a very difficult time ever advancing again.

Even with some idea of what to expect, Sage was still apprehensive. His Spiritual Sea was in tatters and his body was full of injuries from his earlier battle. The Twin Soul had been destroyed, taking away all that potential Soul Power. The conditions he was under now were far from ideal. At the very least his Dantian was surging with power from the influx of energy to the Tree of Life. Without his confidence in a Primal Law, there was no way he would make such an attempt.

Finally, the buildup of energy reached a point of saturation. Sage felt the Tree of Life beginning to stir. It had been growing smoothly from the influx of the Law energy, pushing him to the 9th stage and then halfway to Nascent Soul. Just like when it had first sprouted when he reached the 5th rank, he could sense it was eager to transform yet again. Knowing that the key to the next rank was to unify the three parts, Sage moved his consciousness into his Soul. Driving it to rise to its feet. The soul drove the mind, and his consciousness was an extension of his mind. With the two in unison, he needed only to add the third element. With his soul already housed inside the Green Core, he wasn’t sure what else was needed. He followed the path naturally imparted to him by the Seed of Life, so he had no idea what he had to do to take the final step.

He waited patiently for a sign. After some time, he felt the energy roiling with volatility. If he didn’t act fast, he may miss the opportunity and fall into the hands of his enemies yet again. Silencing the turmoil in his mind, Sage’s soul placed it’s hands upon the trunk of the Tree of Life. There was an instant reaction and while there wasn’t any profound knowledge transferred to him, he simply knew the correct way forward.

The soul pressed its head up against the trunk of the tree. The whole of the area in the Green Core started to tremble and then, the soul sunk into the tree. The sapling was barely the height of a man, yet the much larger soul disappeared into it like water into a sponge. An overwhelming golden light burst forth from the small tree, bathing the Green Core and then expanding out to cover the whole Life Nebula.

Crack!

There was a loud snap, and then the bright light in his body was gone. The entirety of Sage’s dantian was now empty. Completely and utterly dark. There wasn’t a trace of the massive nebula that used to be there. In his head, the Spiritual Sea had disappeared. Not a trace of the stormy clouds and the dark waters. There was no island and no fortress. Only an empty space, much smaller than before, surrounded by dim grey mist remained.

A violently bright light lit up the night in the outside world.

It had already left Sage’s body and shot up into the sky. Piercing through the layer of clouds, the ball of brightness bathed itself in the light of the stars. The light it emitted was not only blinding, but paralyzing. Somehow it shook the Flares, rattling their nerves and sucking away every last drop of their courage. Not even their boss, the giant, could move a muscle while that terrible light washed over them. They grew fearful of their fate, worrying if this would be their end.

After only a few minutes, the Flares released a collective sigh of relief. The intensity of light in the sky started to fade and they also slowly regained control of their bodies. The glowing light started to descend from the sky and as it got closer the nearest Flares called out in amazement.

“Is that a glowing baby?”