Reaching Mortal Transcendence through a core that had all the characteristics of a normal Crystal Core, but was in fact an auxiliary one, was a theory, and though Wu Long figured it had a high chance of being true, there was still a possibility that it would fail.
After all, he never heard of anyone having more than one core.
But the transformations that were happening to his body were proof he has successfully advanced, as the constant nourishnt pouring from his Dantian up into his Root of Longevity beca far more stable and powerful, not only greatly extending his natural lifespan, but also alleviating the final bits of his Mortal Needs, as long as he supplied enough Spiritual Qi.
He could also feel Spiritual Qi saturate his flesh in a qualitatively different way.
With just a thought, he could change that Spiritual Qi's influence so that his body naturally floated up without using inefficient techniques or the Wind Rune. And his mind could naturally transfer thoughts into Spiritual Qi waves of sound transmissions, also without using any tricks that wasted a lot of Spiritual Qi.
All those abilities he had to simulate were now naturally his, and that simple change trendously elevated his capabilities.
Feeling all these nostalgic sensations made him take a mont to quell that excitent, before he went on to the third big task, the completion of the Celestial Core.
Now that he advanced with the Crystal Core, there was no risk in trying to advance the Celestial Core, rather, he was curious what would a second Mortal Transcendence Core be like. He concentrated on the Celestial Core, and exchanging the empty containers before him for new ones with fresh pills, he went on to push the Celestial Core through its nine transformations with only Fen Baihu's Yin Qi.
There was now no need for excessive precautions since this core was significantly less powerful and concentrated than his Crystal Core, and also required much less resources to reform, so he proceeded without reinforcing or adding any more barriers to the room around him.
Thankfully, he had enough of Fen Baihu's Yin Qi for all nine transformations, which all proceeded rather smoothly, but when he got the Core to the peak state of Core Reformation, he suddenly found himself unable to push it past the bottleneck he just crossed to the Mortal Transcendence with the other Core.
Just trying to jam more energy into it did not seem to work, as it no longer naturally progressed, but simply spewed that energy back.
'Hmm...', he frowned, as an idea popped into his head, 'Is it... only possible to have one Mortal Transcendence Core...? There's no real evidence for it and seemingly no logical reason for why that would be the case, but I can't exclude that possibility'
The reason his mind imdiately went to that scenario, was because it was a thought that occurred to him even before he started all of this. It was also one of the reasons he decided to wait advancing this core until after he advanced the Crystal Core.
Yet, he was unable to determine if that really was the case, or whether there was sothing he lacked in understanding toward the Celestial Core.
And then, he froze, as he noticed that his focus not only did not improve as he reford the Celestial Core, but got actually worse.
"...", a mont later his mind raced with thoughts once again.
It likely happened very subtly while he was in the process of the reformations, and the added hazy feeling in his mind did not help when it ca to noticing this anomaly going forward.
He made a slight grunt that ca out subconsciously, and his hands ford tight fists, in a rare display of agitation.
Such was the level of his frustration, that it caused him to exhibit a natural raw reaction without the usual control of his emotions.
It has been such a long ti since his conscious thought was disrupted to an extent of causing such a big blunder, that he forgot the feeling. And more than that, it was the state of his mind that made him feel irritated. A frustrating condition that made him unable to concentrate at will.
For a mind as powerful as his, not being able to utilize its capabilities felt like an unbearable itch that could not be scratched. And since he was so used to using it, that feeling was amplified several tis over.
But perhaps more importantly, for soone who relied on his mind and not talent to such a great extent as him, this condition was a fatal weakness.
It not only cost him a mistake he would have normally never made, but could potentially lead to more problematic and even dangerous consequences in the future.
A chuckle then escaped his lips as he recognized a quintessentially human impulse, an irreconcilable and futile anger at himself for making such a mistake, even if he rationally understood that what happened could be attributed to a number of factors that made it
plausible.
What caused that chuckle was the irony of experiencing this Mortal condition at the mont his cultivation took the first real step toward transcending mortality.
'Of all mortal emotions and conditions that I have experienced again in such a long ti, I cannot say I missed this feeling', he thought to himself as he shook his head.
He then took a breath, quickly composing himself with closed eyes, and then exhaled, opening eyes that were full of calmness and determination once more.
'Focus... concentration...', he then thought as he examined the changes that took place, and then compared them to the state he was in before he created the Celestial Core, searching for clues. Even though there was a similarity, there was a very important difference. His consciousness itself was not dissipating, he only lacked clarity and focus.
Moreover, he could clearly rember a brief mont, when he actually regained full sense of both his consciousness itself and the focus he lacked now, when the Celestial Core was completed.
The first lack of clarity in his mind only manifested after he slightly pushed the Celestial Core into the state past the gate of Core Reformation. And given that it only increased the more reformations the core went through, he beca suspicious of the connection between this condition and the reason behind him not able to advance the core into the state of Mortal Transcendence.
"Fen Baihu", he spoke not loudly, in a calm tone, and a small fox materialized not far in front of him.
"Hmm, I was thinking of when you will ask to co, I had sothing to ask you as well, but since it seems there's sothing urgent, you go first", the Celestial Fox replied with a bit of puzzlent in her eyes, but ready to be of help since she gained why he called for her. "Mm", Wu Long nodded without standing on ceremony, "Was there ever a lack of focus in your cultivation, when you could feel that your mind was too chaotic?"
Fen Baihu's eyes slightly widened, and then she nodded, "Yes, exactly seven tis. It happened each ti I gained a tail"
His gaze instantly beca more lively, as she understood he was facing this condition now. 'No wonder his ntal defenses seed less powerful than usual, if it was now...', a thought flew through her mind. If she tried, perhaps in his current state, she would be able to overpower him with her abilities. But... she strangely, to her own surprise, found out that there was no longer any desire to do so. She didn't even notice when that type of thinking stopped for her. Now, it was just a thought, acknowledging the possibility, and nothing more. She then imdiately began explaining what he wanted to know.
"It ant my powers lacked a focus point, and as a result their effects were bleeding into other parts of my existence, naly my consciousness. I created Mystic Realms as a focus point each ti and it was resolved... though if I think about it, it happened not seven tis but eight, as the mont I ca into being, I also lacked focus, or rather my 'self' lacked clarity if you know what I an. My first world was born out of consolidating my being", she spoke in a tone of soone rembering details from long ago, trying to shed as much light
as she could.
Wu Long raised his eyebrow, 'If what she's saying is applicable to ... then what I need is to create a Mystic Realm akin to hers. Sothing stable to provide the chaotic mass of consciousness-related power a form to consolidate in...'
He then nodded to her, "Thank you, do you have any tips for when you created your first world, or if not any of the Dream Realms?"
"Hmm", the little fox tilted her head in thought, as those ca as part of a natural instinct to
her rather than the rational and fully cognitive process he had to act through, "Now that I think about it... the scenery of my First World resembles the place I first ca into being at, the Ancestral Spiritual Land of the Mystic Fox Clan... but it might have been sothing unconscious, as that was the first scenery I perceived... perhaps... oh!"
As she was speaking, her eyes lit up and widened, and the little fox morphed into the beautiful
woman with platinum blonde hair, as she looked him in the eyes with excitent, "I rember! I felt a similar feeling when you showed that assassin the Weight of your Soul. I thought it was strange back then, but now that I think about, when I perceived the Weight of my Soul after getting the sixth tail, the imagery in it is of my first world"
'Hah', Wu Long nearly snorted out loud, '...that place huh...'
And then nodded to Fen Baihu, "Thank you, I owe you one"
"Hahaha, that's two if you count the previous one", she chuckled, since he already owed her
one favor.
"Sure", he smiled, and her cheeks beca slightly rosy as she noticed that she was sitting right in front of him, leaning forward and her face was centiters away from his, a pose she
did not even notice taking in her excitent earlier.
She quickly morphed into a cloud of mysterious mist that moved back from him and reappeared already standing, looking to the side as she cleaned her throat, "Khm~! Anyway, it seems you have an idea so I'll leave you to it, no need to distract soone struggling with
focus"
And then her figure disappeared as quickly as she appeared before, while he smiled shaking his head and then readjusted his mind, taking a few deep breaths.
The imagery he previously showed Hong Yue was not a random place, and though for her it
was impossible to tell whether there was even ground under all those corpses, Wu Long knew exactly what that place was.
It was a rather dreary and wasteland-like plain, with dry and tough, infertile soil as far as human eye could see. It was the first thing he ever rembered seeing in the entire universe.
It was a plain that beca a battlefield soti after his mories began. Or rather, it was a place regularly used as a battlefield by two warring nations, where a yet another battle began not long after his mories began.
He did not know how he got there, and he did not rember where he was before arriving
there, but it was in that plain that he was picked up by the old Patriarch of the small warring family of Wu, who fought for one of the two sides. And it was in that plain, that he killed for the first ti, driven by an instinct to survive, when a dying soldier lying on the ground, attacked him in dying frenzy.
That plain was etched into his mory because it was where it all began. When it beca part of the manifestation of the Weight of his Soul, he didn't really give it much aning. But perhaps, that place was more than just the first mory, perhaps in a way
it shaped who he was.
The Celestial Core no longer rejected refined Yin Qi of the Celestial Fox, as it was saturated with energy, enough to beco distorted within. And then, just as it happened with the Crystal Core, the distortion collapsed on itself, as sothing manifested within it. The core now had a distinctly different appearance from Fen Baihu's Soul Bead, as it beca clearer, and the light only was in the very center of it, while the rest of it was filled with thin lines of white mist, that distantly resembled Fen Baihu's tails. The mist 'tails' also showed up on the outside of the core, swirling in ever-changing patterns.
"Haa~", he sighed with relief, as his focus beca razor sharp once again, just as it was before, or rather perhaps even more so, since advancing into Mortal Transcendence Realm unlocked more of his ntal capacities among other things.
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