Chapter 319: Heavenly Palace Golden Core

Chapter 319: Heavenly Palace Golden Core

The azure radiance erupted torrentially upon the altar of the Forbidden Artifact of the Seven Blood Eyes within the territory of the Sea Corpse Clan.

The continuous surge drew the utmost attention from both the Sea Corpse Clan and the disciples of the Seven Blood Eyes.

Especially the former, the entire Sea Corpse Clan was stirred to its core, as nearly all of its members witnessed the azure glow emanating from the altar over several days, clearly understanding its cause.

It was precisely due to this awareness that, as the detection period prolonged, their hearts fluctuated ever more intensely.

As for the disciples of the Seven Blood Eyes stationed here, they too were deeply affected.

San Ye, observing the altar where Xu Qing was enveloped in azure light and radiating a deathly aura, felt his heart sway with turmoil.

If not for knowing that Xu Qing sought to open the 121st Law Slot and the probability of his betrayal was extremely low, he might have deemed Xu Qing as truly attempting to transform into a Sea Corpse.

Indeed, at this moment, Xu Qing’s body, having merged with the power of multiple Tomb Ancestor statues, was nearing the brink of annihilation, his deathly aura growing denser by the moment.

Until three hours later, as twilight faded and the moon hung high, Xu Qing’s form convulsed violently, sensing his limits.

The purple crystal within his body, under both his own suppression and the invasion of the Tomb Ancestor statues, finally brought his body to the verge of complete transformation—only a thread’s width remained.

On one side of this thread lay life, on the other, death.

This was the threshold between life and death.

Yet this state was extremely unstable; a slight deficiency would mean no longer the threshold, but an excess would result in his true transformation into a Sea Corpse.

At this critical juncture, Xu Qing’s eyes suddenly opened, emitting azure light, his expression as cold and emotionless as ever, as he raised his right hand, stiff as a corpse, and pointed toward a piece of black wood before him.

Beneath his finger, the black wood erupted with formidable fluctuations.

In an instant, a colossal, illusory wooden door materialized before Xu Qing, its roar echoing endlessly as the door slowly swung open.

A blinding white radiance, far more dazzling than the surrounding azure light, burst forth from the wooden door, enveloping Xu Qing entirely.

This light surpassed even the brilliance of before, more resplendent and radiant, untouched by the cruel truth of the world, yet colder, with warmth hidden deeper within.

The radiance of the black wooden door was the crystallization of Xu Qing’s desire to freeze the state between life and death.

Through his prior encounters with Shen Yunzi and subsequent research, he understood that the twice-refined wooden door contained a light capable of sealing the life essence level.

This seal resembled frost, halting all states of the body in an instant, as if crystallized.

Now, as the light spread, Xu Qing’s body convulsed again, his unstable threshold between life and death being utterly crystallized by the primordial light of the Yuan Ling Portal, no longer unstable.

His life essence level was thus immobilized.

At Shen’s arrangement, the azure light from the Tomb Ancestor statues dispersed instantly.

Following his hand seals, the seven Blood Eyes’ Forbidden Artifact—the bronze ancient mirror—flashed with light in the sky, condensing into beams that descended upon Xu Qing and reflected back.

Covering Xu Qing’s body completely in light, he felt his consciousness suddenly clear, his perceptions rapidly expanding throughout his body, seeking his 121st Law Slot.

Seventh Prince had mentioned that each individual’s Law Slot locations varied, especially the 120th Law Slots.

Yet now, within the threshold state and aided by the Seven Blood Eyes’ Forbidden Artifact, Xu Qing’s perceptions uncovered… his 121st Law Slot.

This slot existed within his consciousness sea, not truly real but in a state akin to illusion.

The moment it was found, Xu Qing hesitated not at all, his soul force erupting instantly toward the identified location in his consciousness sea, surging forth without restraint.

In the next instant, his body trembled.

Opening the 121st Law Slot demanded greater difficulty than other slots, yet Xu Qing had prepared sufficiently; his soul force once again ignited from various slots, converging into a cluster of soul flames before surging again.

After a few breaths, with a series of clicks resounding in his consciousness sea, Xu Qing’s body convulsed, and the illusory 121st Law Slot in his consciousness sea suddenly… opened!

As it opened, an unprecedented law fluctuation erupted from the 121st Law Slot, roaring and shaking the heavens!

Its released power was akin to thirty Law Slots combined.

Due to the overwhelming force, it earned the name "one slot opens a fire."

Under this explosion, Xu Qing’s four Soul Flames within his body, though their colors altered by the Sea Corpse Clan’s aura, quickly, through countless threads of fire, crystallized his fifth Soul Flame instantly.

The color of this fifth Soul Flame was crimson.

In this intense combustion, terrifying waves spread from it, engulfing Xu Qing’s entire body, shattering his threshold between life and death entirely.

The vitality of the Soul Flames allowed his state to recover as the deathly aura dissipated.

Since the ritual was incomplete and Xu Qing had not fully transformed into a Sea Corpse, he could reverse the process.

Especially the power of the purple crystal, Xu Qing’s vitality recovered swiftly, as the crystal’s suppression was only used to cast a shadow over it, revealing nothing.

Gradually, two of the five Soul Flames shifted colors to crimson, until the third Soul Flame… until all five Soul Flames returned to normal hues, unleashing dense vitality throughout his body.

His skin rapidly regained its hue, and his hair ceased to wither.

This process lasted four hours.

Finally, Xu Qing’s eyes opened, and everything was restored!

He successfully reversed from the threshold of life and death, opening the 121st Law Slot—this sight moved the seven Sea Corpse Clan members in the sky to pity and reverence.

No one dared underestimate an opener of the 121st Law Slot; it signified that his Golden Core cultivation would reach its peak, especially as they had already recognized Xu Qing’s Destiny Lamp.

Shen’s heart eased, his eyes gleaming with admiration, yet he did not disturb, realizing that… Xu Qing was about to ascend to the Heavenly Palace Golden Core.

He immediately waved his hand, dispersing the Sea Corpse cultivators around, sealing off the area more strictly, personally shielding Xu Qing.

This was a task entrusted by the Seventh Prince; regardless of the clan’s stance or the Seventh Prince’s favor, the Feng Clan’s commander would execute it strictly.

He would not allow any mishap during Xu Qing’s ascension.

In fact, it was hard for any mishap to occur here, for this was arguably the safest place within the Seven Blood Eyes.

After a moment, Xu Qing opened his eyes, remained silent for several breaths, then sensed Shen’s arrangements around him. Closing his eyes again, he prepared to ascend.

Five-fire ascension was nearly an inevitable success.

The cultivation of the Golden Core required igniting the Soul Flames to their peak, elevating them high within the body to illuminate the Heavenly Palace.

The illuminated Heavenly Palace was illusory yet unyielding, like a fixed locus, existing perpetually.

In the subsequent years, the cultivator needed only to solidify this illusory Heavenly Palace, ultimately placing it within a Golden Core to become a true Heavenly Palace.

Now, with a thought, Xu Qing’s five Soul Flames blazed brilliantly.

The 121 Law Slots functioned as 121 furnaces, especially the last one, its fire intensity thicker, condensing into countless threads that merged into the five Soul Flames, making them blaze more radiantly.

The Soul Lamp’s illusion further empowered the blaze, elevating it high within Xu Qing’s body.

In an instant, within his consciousness sea, the faint outline of the first Heavenly Palace, ever-present, was suddenly unveiled like lifting a veil, revealing more and more.

Until a moment later, Xu Qing’s first illusory Soul Palace was fully illuminated.

This Heavenly Palace resembled a colossal palace, brimming with sacred and majestic intent.

This was the most basic form of an illusory Heavenly Palace; all human races shared this form.

This was determined by their racial bloodline.

During the solidification process, variations emerged according to the cultivator’s unique techniques.

Now, as Xu Qing’s five Soul Flames burned and were raised, quickly… his second illusory Heavenly Palace was also illuminated upon the first.

Following were the third, fourth…

The roaring and rumbling within the realm of awareness seemed to shake all things, as if lightning bolts were darting in every direction, eager to tear apart the very fabric of existence—and at that moment, the fifth unformed celestial palace also materialized.

Look, the five celestial palaces from bottom to top were vast and immense, while the light of the vital fire continued to spread, causing the sixth unformed celestial palace to appear in the awareness realm in that fleeting instant.

Moreover, within the dense mist that resembled a sky-like canopy, blocking the firelight from penetrating, the sixth celestial palace was shrouded.

Six celestial palaces marked the limit of a tri-fire cultivator’s prowess, for the subsequent palaces existed within the vital mist, unreachable by the fierce radiance of the vital fire.

But Xu Qing was not among them.

As he unleashed his fifth burst of vital fire, the seventh celestial palace slowly took shape within the dense mist.

Shortly after, the eighth celestial palace within the vital mist was pierced and illuminated by the dazzling brilliance of the five vital fire clusters.

The eighth celestial palace caused the awareness realm to tremble and roar, its aura so overpowering that vortices erupted beyond his body, sweeping away and assimilating endless vital energy.

“Next… is the Life Lamp Palace!”

Xu Qing muttered within his heart, lifting his seven-colored wind-chant lamp high within the awareness realm.

The lamp traversed six celestial palaces before entering the vital mist.

Piercing through the seventh and eighth celestial palaces, it erupted with a majesty that shook the heavens and earth at a higher position.

The brilliant and dazzling light spreading from the seven-colored wind-chant lamp gradually wove the ninth celestial palace into existence around it.

Not an illusion, but a substance.

After half an hour, Xu Qing’s ninth celestial palace within the vital mist was fully formed.

Within it, the seven-colored wind-chant lamp was enshrined as a core-like entity, subduing and stabilizing the celestial palace, making it… complete at once.

A celestial palace’s power suddenly erupted from Xu Qing’s meditative form, vast and towering, altering the colors of the external heavens and earth, accompanied by a thunderous crash that stunned the ears.

Without end, the large, umbrella-shaped life lamp was raised high by Xu Qing at that moment!