Chapter 123: Exploring the Niwan Palace

The moonlight was serene as water, and the starlight was brilliant and resplendent. Above the firmament, auroras of intricate cyan, blue, and purple hues stretched across the nine heavens like the sword light and sword aura falling from the distant sky.

Xu Zhong sat cross-legged beneath the great locust tree, his sword resting across his knees. The Cloud-Swallowing Sword possessed great spirituality, breathing in the essence of the sun and moon just as a living person would. Gradually, the sound of sword-wailing emanated from within the blade, and streaks of sword light swirled around his body like a great dragon coiling itself. Above his head, the purple jade gourd was also absorbing the solar and lunar essence, refining it into sword aura. Within the gourd, this essence was transformed into a liquid, much like fine wine, nourishing the sword pellets contained within.

Xu Zhong looked up at the sky. With every breath, he appeared vacant and listless, as if his soul had departed; his body seemed withered, and his heart felt like cold, dead ash. He was attempting to condense his divine soul. The most crucial aspect of the "Preserving Truth" realm is the condensation of the divine soul, which is the fusion of the three souls and seven spirits. To cultivate it, one must stabilize the seven spirits within the Niwan palace, harvest them—much like refining spiritual energy from spells—into the human soul, then reach upward to pluck the celestial soul and downward to integrate the earthly soul. Only then can the souls be unified into a single divine soul.

Xu Zhong’s Niwan palace remained unopened, making it impossible to communicate effectively with his human soul. He used his "Mirror Heart" to reflect upon the Niwan. With his entire being focused, his consciousness drifted, entering the chaos of the Niwan. In an instant, his heartbeat and breathing seemed to cease; he existed in a state between life and death. With his consciousness residing in the Niwan and his body left unattended, he became like a sieve with holes. Various inexplicable, murky energies seeped into his body, instantly manifesting as miasma-demons that thrived and rampaged within his meridians. They took up residence in his acupoints, leaping incessantly, devouring his vitality and yang energy while exhaling dark, stagnant breaths. These lingering, congealed energies began to evolve into chronic ailments.

Yet, in the next moment, the deity of the Thunder Marsh within the "Yao" aspect of his cultivation struck down the chaos. A golden elixir, round and perfect, radiated divine light, purging and refining the various murky entities, preserving his inner purity and flawlessness.

Xu Zhong stood within the chaos of the Niwan, looking up and down. There was no height, no thickness, no time, and no space—only endless void. Without the technique of "Seeking the Dragon and Pinpointing the Acupoint," an outsider could never locate the Niwan, let alone attempt to seize the body. Only cultivators who had successfully forged their divine soul possessed the ability to perform such soul-transference.

Xu Zhong stared at the Niwan before him, feeling utterly bewildered. He lacked the necessary techniques; to act rashly might damage his soul. Were it not for this, he would have drawn his sword and cleaved the Niwan open in a single strike.

"If the technique of Seeking the Dragon and Pinpointing the Acupoint is the only way to open the Niwan, then how did the very first person to do so find the path?" Xu Zhong’s mind raced. His Mirror Heart reflected the Niwan. "Clearly, the cultivator who opened the Niwan existed first, and the technique was derived later."

Spells are harvested from the heavens and earth, but they can also be harvested from the human body itself. Perhaps the first cultivator to open the Niwan had derived the technique for locating the acupoint through the very process of opening it.

"Then why must I seek out some external technique?" Xu Zhong thought to himself. "I can open the Niwan by relying on myself."

Within the chaos, he looked up and down. "The Heavenly Gate, the Hundred Meetings, and the Jade Pillow!" He sensed these three acupoints on his physical body outside the Niwan. They were the gateways to the Niwan, forming a single line. It was through these three points that Ying Xiantian and the others had pushed open the gates of the Niwan, crossing the surrounding sea of chaos to reach the core.

As Xu Zhong focused on these three points, a fine, white thread seemed to float before his eyes. This thread was a composite of spiritual light seeping in from the three different acupoints, each of a different hue. The light from the Heavenly Gate was crimson, like a flowing sea of fire—this represented the yang energy of the outside world. From the Hundred Meetings flowed a pure white light, like liquid milk—this was the clear energy of the heavens. From the Jade Pillow entered a black, ominous energy, filled with malevolent spirits—this was the various murky, wandering airs of the mortal realm, churning with billowing black smoke and a foul, pungent stench.

Yang energy, clear energy, and murky energy—these three intermingled to form the fine, white thread. The thread drifted through the sea of chaos outside the Niwan, entwining around his human soul.

Xu Zhong felt a surge of excitement and was tempted to act, whispering to himself, "Perhaps I could follow this thread and open the Niwan directly." But he hesitated, wondering what would happen if this thread were not the correct gateway. "My Niwan might collapse, or worse, the sword light could emerge from my human soul, circle around, and strike back at me."

Xu Zhong was torn. On one hand, he did not want to rely on others to open his Niwan, fearing he might fall into a trap and become a pawn, just as Situ Nan had done to him. On the other hand, he had no clue how to proceed on his own. After all, the Niwan was the most mysterious part of the human body, the repository of the soul.

Without a soul, a person is like a tree without roots. If their lifespan has not ended, the body might remain alive but devoid of consciousness, unchanging and immobile like a tree, or perhaps perish from starvation. Though bold, Xu Zhong was not reckless. He estimated that he had only a thirty percent chance of success.

He sighed, his consciousness returning to his physical body. "If I could add another thirty percent, reaching a sixty percent chance, I would dare to open the Niwan with my sword." But alas, he did not have that certainty.

He brought his consciousness back into his body and instantly activated the secret storehouse of the Fire Yao. In an instant, divine light erupted from within. Miasma-demons were blasted out of his body, immediately ignited by the external yang energy. Ghostly, azure flames flickered.

Xu Zhong stretched his limbs. At that moment, feeling a sudden intuition, he activated the "Piercing the Nether" technique. Instantly, he saw a blinding, dazzling light erupting from the distance. Such radiance and fire were invisible to the eyes of ordinary mortals.

Struck by this blinding glare, Xu Zhong’s vision was soon entirely consumed by the white light. It resembled a curtain falling from the heavens, then dissolving into strands of blood and essence, shifting within the light and shadow, casting reflections that looked like great dragons. Behind the light, he saw even more blood and essence, densely intertwined to form the firmament above his head.

Xu Zhong’s heart pounded wildly. The aura contained within that blood and essence was terrifying beyond measure. The energy dissipating from it transformed into the spiritual energy within the entire Mingzhao realm. These two distinct streams of blood and essence did not originate from the same person, yet the power within them, though arrived at by different paths, returned to the same source.

His eyes teared up from the intensity, but the images he had witnessed were deeply seared into his mind.

"What on earth is that?"

No one answered him, nor could anyone answer. But there was no doubt that this night was destined to be a sleepless one.