Chapter 1274: Great Enlightenment and Qi Realization

However, considering that the Sun Luyao before him was actually his own creation, calling him useless would be akin to criticizing his own craftsmanship, wouldn't it? So, Li Fan swallowed the words he was about to utter.

He let out another cold snort, his thoughts racing. The current, invalid "Sun Luyao" had been destroyed. Moments later, a brand new simulated personality was born.

"Senior, that formation just now..." The new simulated personality, completely unaware that he had just been created, still had his memory frozen at the moment the Spirit Void Formation was destroyed, his face pale.

"It's truly too profound; this junior hasn't mastered it yet," Sun Luyao said bitterly, fearful of offending Li Fan.

Li Fan, feeling the crystal-clear sphere condensed at the cost of an entire small world, revealed a benevolent smile: "Don't worry. This Boundless Spirit Void Formation is indeed a bit complex. I just need to demonstrate it a few more times."

Li Fan's seemingly casual words sent a chill down Sun Luyao's spine. Yet, he dared not refute, only blankly followed the other party towards the next target small world. The worlds Li Fan chose were all the smallest kind among the subsidiary small worlds of Xuanhuang, ones not yet discovered by the Myriad Immortal Alliance. This was to prevent drawing Xuanhuang Realm closer to the Immortal Ruins and being noticed by outsiders.

However, he estimated that this act of 'digging at the roots' of Xuanhuang Realm would certainly not last long. Li Fan weighed the crystal-clear sphere: "Two or three more, and the protection will far exceed what my 119 generations of beings cultivating their spirits can provide. There shouldn't be any issues."

The Great Qì Small World.

Daoist Baihua was at the boundary of the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven, gazing blankly into the void. All this time, she had always perfectly fulfilled the Sacred Emperor's tasks. Consequently, the rewards of essence power had never ceased, and recently, they had even become abundant. But essence power, as a substance, was ultimately just that.

Before she ever received it, she thought it was incredibly precious and desperately wanted to experience it. Yet, once she had an abundance, she gradually found it bland. After all, it couldn't help her transcend mortal limits and ascend to the realm of true immortals. Any more of it would be useless.

Daoist Baihua felt herself slowly becoming complacent. After achieving freedom with essence power, she gradually lost her goals and motivation. The most frequent thing she did each day was to tend to the various Grotto-Heavens, ensuring their spiritual energy flowed smoothly and they teemed with life. The next most frequent activity was staring blankly. Emptying her mind, she thought of nothing. Occasionally, fragments of memories flashed by. Some were from her experiences in the Great Qì Sacred Dynasty since her awakening. Others were from her time with the survivors from various realms before she was captured by the Fishing Pond.

"I wonder if those fellows are truly all dead," Baihua couldn't help but think.

Just as Baihua was lost in thought, a ripple in the space ahead caught her attention. Upon sensing the familiar aura, her instantly tensed nerves relaxed again.

"Senior Baihua."

The newcomer was none other than Sun Erlang, the Sacred Emperor's eldest disciple.

"Are you here for another beating?" Baihua, seeing Sun Erlang's expression, knew his intention and couldn't help but say with a hint of resignation.

Sun Erlang admitted frankly: "This time, this junior went back to cultivate for a while and felt he had made progress, so I've come again to seek your guidance!"

Baihua smiled: "I told you, don't listen to that Artificer's boisterous bragging about puppets being comparable to immortals. They are ultimately just dead objects; how can they truly compare to cultivators like us?"

Before Sun Erlang could speak, Artificer Jushi's voice already rang out: "Whether it works or not isn't about bragging. Let's see the truth in action! Sun kid, teach her a good lesson!"

Sun Erlang cupped his hands: "Senior, please be careful... This time, it's truly different from before."

Before his words finished, Sun Erlang's figure vanished from Baihua's spiritual sense.

A trace of solemnity flashed in Baihua's eyes. She transformed into a golden streak of light and flew into the endless void opened up by the World-Splitting Whale. She faintly sensed a large number of presences secretly tracking her from behind.

"It must be the puppets controlled by that kid, but my spiritual sense can't even pinpoint them?" Daoist Baihua finally felt a stir of interest.

A golden glazed flower appeared in her hand with a slight thought. Then, in an instant, it burst into full bloom. Petals drifted down, but the main body of the glazed flower showed no signs of damage. Before long, the void around Daoist Baihua was enveloped by billions of golden light petals. The petals flew about, constantly colliding with the hidden and tracking puppets. One by one, the dark-gold colored puppets revealed their true forms. There were five in total, and they had quietly surrounded Baihua in the center.

Daoist Baihua scoffed playfully: "So Sun kid knew he couldn't win, and a one-on-one became a group beating?"

Sun Erlang's voice replied, though it did not emanate from the puppets: "Senior misunderstands. These puppets are all controlled by me alone. So, it can still be considered fair..."

In the void, five almost identical voices, accompanying Sun Erlang's words, rang out simultaneously: "Metal of Rending Void!" "Wood of Entanglement!" "Water of Extinction!" "Fire of Burning Intent!" "Earth of Nothingness!" Eerie Five Element powers surged from each of the five puppets. They did not rush to attack Baihua, but instantly formed a battle array.

Within the formation, Baihua felt as if she had instantly left the void and returned to the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven. However, this Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, instead of being vibrant with life, presented a scene of stark desolation. Every wisp of Five Element energy within the Grotto-Heaven was like a sharp sword. Upon sensing Baihua, the outsider, they launched a furious assault.

The Metal of Rending Void, silent and invisible, its sharpness capable of tearing space. The Wood of Entanglement, seeking enemies in the void, once entangled, it would relentlessly pursue until death. The Water of Extinction, dousing all vitality. Even the golden glazed flowers released by Baihua withered rapidly upon contact.

The Five Elements generated each other, their five powers transforming endlessly. Trapped within the formation, Baihua seemed to have endured days of siege, yet their offensive showed no sign of weakening. "This is the Five Elements Killing Array."

"The main controllers of the array must be those five puppets. They don't directly confront me, but instead act as array cores..." As Baihua pondered, she failed to notice that a dark-gold puppet had silently appeared behind her at some unknown point. Hidden within the turbulent Five Elements energy, it was like a golden longsword, decisively striking down. A sound like metal clashing echoed through the Five Elements Killing Array, and Daoist Baihua's body instantly became transparent.

A golden glazed flower blossomed within her body. Under the illumination of its light, the longsword that had struck into her body gradually became glazed and transparent as well. The power of the Metal of Rending Void erupted, breaking free from the glazed corrosion, then disappeared again, hiding within the chaotic Five Elements Killing Array.

"Not bad," Daoist Baihua, revealing her true form to Sun Erlang for the first time, praised him lightly. "If it were my former self, I might have been severely wounded by that move of yours."

"Unfortunately..." Within Daoist Baihua's transparent body, the Glazed Flower rapidly expanded. Under the pure glazed radiance, the turbulent Five Elements power was completely assimilated into solid glazed crystals. In just a few breaths, the Glazed Flower had swept away everything around it, engulfing the entire array space.

A slender finger emerged from the solid crystals. It gently tapped the solidified flower. A crack appeared, then rapidly spread throughout the entire flower. The flower shattered into countless fragments, and the previously chaotic Five Elements Killing Array completely reverted to void.

Baihua also reverted to her original body, gazing around. But what caused her expression to change slightly was that this 'Pure Life Glaze' technique, capable of instantly destroying a small world, seemed not to have broken the Five Elements Killing Array?

In the midst of nothingness, disturbing auras began to emerge again. After discerning them, Daoist Baihua suddenly realized: "It's not the Five Elements Killing Array, but the Grand Yin-Yang Five Elements Array."

The two energies of Yin and Yang flowed interchangeably, and Five Element auras reappeared from the chaos, perpetuating endlessly. Soon, the void, which had only just settled, became bustling once more. Seeing this, Baihua couldn't help but frown slightly. She could easily destroy the array, but she couldn't stop the process of Yin and Yang generating the Five Elements. Even if she destroyed it again and again, the killing intent directed at her in the void remained ceaseless.

"The power of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, when combined with an array, hasn't significantly increased its destructive power, but it has become truly much more difficult to deal with." Although Baihua also had some rudimentary knowledge of formations, she detected no traces of an array around her.

"Hahahaha! Baihua, you're out of options, aren't you! Surrender obediently soon!" Artificer Daoist's arrogant words echoed after the killing array.

Baihua snorted coldly, and dazzling golden light illuminated her eyes.

"Sun kid, be careful, she's finally forced out that move! Let's see how our countermeasures stand up." After gaining the blessing of essence power, Baihua's glazed light seemed to become even purer. It was as if space itself was crystallizing, and a glistening gem slowly formed around her. The Yin and Yang energies that bred the Five Elements, and even the structure maintaining the array's existence, found no room to survive under the pressure of such pure power. Light from outside shone in, and this killing array was about to be broken by Baihua.

"Are you the only one with essence power?!" At this moment, Artificer's somewhat smug voice rang out again.

A finger, purely composed of golden light, disregarded the already solid glazed crystals and inexplicably appeared before Baihua's eyes without warning. The crystals crumbled, dissolving into shimmering light. The golden finger, unstoppable, pressed firmly towards her glabella.

Baihua's expression subtly changed, and her body reverted to its pure glazed form. In the same golden light, Baihua confronted the golden finger. To her surprise, this seemingly terrifying golden finger of essence power was merely an empty facade. It shattered upon contact, transforming into countless golden threads that coiled around her body from head to toe.

"Sun kid, pull the net!" Artificer Daoist shouted, extremely excited. The golden threads spread instantly, intertwining horizontally and vertically, and Daoist Baihua, caught off guard, was already ensnared in the net! The Glazed Flower tried to bloom with light, but it collided with the golden net and was dissipated into nothingness. A tremendous force emanated from the golden net, and Baihua was miserably dragged forward at high speed.

"Presumptuous!" Baihua was truly enraged this time.

"All beings are glazed!" Amidst the extremely cold whisper, Baihua's seemingly captured figure vanished. The Glazed Flower, too, manifested an anomalous vision. Its petals drifted down, this time disappearing completely after falling. In an instant, its true inner form was revealed. Amidst the shifting light and shadow, it was a glazed world!

Glazed ice sealed everything, and countless beings instantly opened their eyes! Hiss... The massive golden net wrapped around the outside of the world instantly showed faint cracks.

Artificer Jushi's voice, a mixture of shock and anger, rang out: "Didn't you say you abandoned your realm and fled back then?! I can't believe you actually refined the entire Myriad Thriving Realm into a glazed state!"

"What a vicious woman!" From within the Glazed World, Daoist Baihua's voice came: "What do you know! This was for survival! Not just for me, but for the entire Heavenly Lotus Sect!"

Amidst Baihua's furious shout, dazzling radiance erupted from within the Glazed World, completely breaking free from the massive golden net that bound her.

"Sun kid, retreat quickly!"

"Senior, please forgive us..." She vaguely heard Artificer Jushi's somewhat discomfited voice and Sun Erlang's helpless tone. Returning to the void, their figures were no longer to be seen.

The glazed flower bloomed anew, concealing the central Glazed Myriad Thriving Realm. Daoist Baihua reverted to her original form. She did not pursue them, but instead returned to the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven. "Having just fought a battle, it's finally not so boring. I wonder when we can truly go to war with the Myriad Immortal Alliance?"

"If we can truly escape the Immortal Ruins, or even the entire Dark Star Sea, perhaps the Heavenly Lotus Sect will have its day of resurgence," Daoist Baihua pondered. She held a special kind of confidence in the Great Qì Sacred Emperor.

Baihua then inadvertently gazed towards the void beyond. There, in the place the Sacred Emperor had once visited, she faintly felt an energy that caused her entire Glazed Myriad Thriving Realm to tremble slightly in fear.

"What a lunatic..."

Within the Great Qì Sacred Dynasty, the somewhat disheveled Artificer cursed under his breath, looking at the seven dark-gold puppets with a hint of heartache. "Damn it, I should have thought of it earlier. How could someone who survived the Calamity of Annihilation be simple? Seeing her so submissive before the Sacred Emperor, I actually fell for it..."

"Artificer, oh Artificer, you're truly muddle-headed!" Sun Erlang remained silent.

The power that this seemingly gentle Senior Baihua suddenly unleashed was indeed a little frightening. However, the purpose of seeking a challenge from her this time was achieved. Sun Erlang looked at the seven dark-gold puppets on the field. Using these puppet bodies, he not only further familiarized himself with the power of the seven Heaven-and-Earth Souls at the core of the puppets, he also subtly advanced his mastery of essence power.

"No! I don't believe it. I, the great Artificer of the Heavenly Mechanism Realm, will not be outdone by a mere Myriad Thriving Realm!" The Artificer beside him spoke fiercely, pulling an object from his pocket.

"Sun kid, you install this for these puppets!" Artificer said grimly.

"What is this?" Sun Erlang asked curiously, looking at the square black object in Artificer's hand.

"Hehehe, this is experience our Heavenly Mechanism Realm extracted from the Immortal Puppet Progenitor back then. It cannot be replicated; after the Heavenly Mechanism Realm was destroyed, each use diminishes it. I've always been reluctant to use it, but now..." Artificer glanced at it with a hint of reluctance, but ultimately gritted his teeth and said, "No matter what, I can't be outdone by that woman!"

Sun Erlang's heart trembled slightly upon hearing the words "Immortal Puppet." Just as he was about to take it, he suddenly remembered something and hesitated: "Perhaps such a precious item should be reserved for Senior Tianyang? It might be more useful to him..."

Artificer waved his hand: "I already gave him a portion. Where do you think he's been all this time that you haven't seen him? He's been in secluded cultivation, gaining insights, and hasn't come out yet! Stop prattling, just do as I tell you! Hurry, I might regret it in a moment!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Erlang no longer dithered. Connecting his mind to the seven dark-gold puppets, he simultaneously crushed the square black object in his hand. Black liquid oozed from the cracks in his hand. Like a living creature, it climbed up Sun Erlang's arm until it reached his head. It seemed to transform into a hunting cobra, rearing its body high before plunging directly into Sun Erlang's eye sockets. Out of trust in Artificer, Sun Erlang did not resist. The moment the black liquid obscured his vision, the environment Sun Erlang perceived also transformed.

A flood of blurry images surged in, accompanied by discontinuous combat memories. Or, more accurately, memories of 'getting beaten up.' Mysterious and unfathomable spells bombarded the Immortal Puppet's body. The Immortal Puppet could only endure relying on its hard material, with little opportunity to counterattack. But even from merely taking blows, profound insights emerged in Sun Erlang's mind. After being beaten so many times, Sun Erlang seemed to develop a certain instinct. When the attacks of immortal techniques reappeared in his mind, he instinctively generated a feeling of how to deal with them.

This sensation captivated Sun Erlang. Unfortunately, just before he seemed on the verge of truly sensing something, all the visions suddenly disappeared. And all the previous insights receded like a tide, leaving no trace behind.

"Uh..." Sun Erlang's veins instantly bulged on his forehead, his fists clenched, and he gasped for breath. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared intensely at Artificer Jushi.

Artificer, however, seemed to have been prepared, having kept a considerable distance earlier. He said coldly: "Sun kid, clear your head. Don't be deceived by illusions! Are those feelings of impending enlightenment truly from yourself, or from the Immortal Puppet?!"

Artificer's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, and Sun Erlang instantly sobered up considerably. Even so, it still took him nearly half a day to slowly suppress the urge, born from a sense of loss, to snatch the Immortal Puppet's experience from Artificer and continue his insights.

"I'm sorry, Senior," Sun Erlang said, somewhat ashamed.

"It's fine. You don't need to blame yourself. Let alone you, even those old fellows from our Heavenly Mechanism Realm couldn't resist this temptation." Artificer licked his lips, seemingly savoring the taste of enlightenment. "Now, take a look again, what's different from before?" Artificer instructed.

Sun Erlang's attention returned to the five dark-gold puppets. A moment later, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Huh? Those memories of being beaten just now are continuously resurfacing..." Sun Erlang closed his eyes, sensing.

Artificer clapped his hands, and thousands of Sacred Army puppets appeared one after another. Relying on mechanical instinct, they simultaneously launched attacks on the dark-gold puppets controlled by Sun Erlang. As if refined by a thousand trials, all the various spell techniques were easily dodged by Sun Erlang.

Such a result left Sun Erlang himself somewhat bewildered for a moment. He couldn't even understand why those bombardments, which clearly landed on the dark-gold puppets he controlled, ultimately caused no damage. It wasn't because of the dark-gold puppets' powerful defensive capabilities neutralizing the damage; rather, it was truly through some profoundly mysterious method that all the Sacred Army puppets' attacks were completely evaded.

"Don't get distracted; try your best to maintain this instinctive feeling!"

"The remnants of the Immortal Puppet's experience will quickly dissipate. As for how much you can ultimately retain, that depends on your own fortune!" Artificer Jushi's words immediately brought Sun Erlang back to his senses. He discarded all distracting thoughts, concentrating fully on memorizing the Immortal Puppet's dodging instinct. But it was, after all, a divine ability belonging to an Immortal Puppet, not something that mortal means could solidify. Even though Sun Erlang was doing his utmost, as time slowly passed, the dark-gold puppets he controlled were inevitably hit more and more frequently.

After seven days of perseverance, the dodging probability finally stabilized at a consistent value. "One-third."

"That's a good result," Artificer consoled him.

Sun Erlang was clearly somewhat unwilling.

"Don't worry, as you slowly gain insights in the future, your dodging ability will still improve to a certain extent. However, to reach the level of the Immortal Puppet, moving as you please and evading the attacks of so-called divine abilities and spells... I'm afraid you would only achieve that by breaking through the limits of mortals," Artificer Jushi said honestly. Sun Erlang let out a long breath, slowly suppressing the regret in his heart.

"Don't underestimate this one-third; in life-and-death battles, it often yields miraculous results. Even if others' strength far surpasses yours, their attacks might be inadvertently dodged by you. More importantly, you can control seven puppets simultaneously. Your actual combat performance, due to the shared senses of the seven puppet bodies, will be slightly higher than this value..." Artificer began to summarize and analyze the gains from this experience with Sun Erlang.

"If you were to challenge Baihua again now, there's a high probability you could evade the Myriad Thriving Realm's glazed golden light. If her array doesn't break, she's merely a turtle in a jar..." Artificer grumbled, clearly still somewhat resentful towards Baihua.

As the two were conversing, they suddenly noticed a faint tremor in the surrounding space.

"Hmm?" Sun Erlang and Artificer first paused, then simultaneously flew out of the testing ground. It wasn't just their location; the entire Great Qì Sacred Dynasty was engulfed in violent tremors. In the sky, a vortex faintly appeared.

Bolts of lightning thundered within it. "This is..." A trace of surprise flashed in Sun Erlang's eyes. He had experienced similar scenes before. That was the anomaly that occurred when the Sacred Dynasty's environment underwent an overall sublimation. After the last anomaly, the spiritual energy concentration in the Sacred Dynasty had multiplied several times. Moreover, the number of talented individuals born into the world was also noticeably higher than before.

The current cultivation environment in the Sacred Dynasty was already no worse than ordinary prefectures in the Xuanhuang Realm. If it sublimated again, wouldn't it far surpass the Xuanhuang Realm? Not only the Sacred Emperor's few disciples, but all the citizens of the Sacred Dynasty had also emerged from their homes at this moment, gazing excitedly at the sky.

As the direct beneficiaries of the world's sublimation, the citizens of the Sacred Dynasty, without any prompting, collectively knelt to the ground, chanting praise to the Sacred Emperor's people, and began to pray devoutly. If Li Ping had been there, he would have seen that the Sacred Dynasty's destiny, which had already been condensed to its utmost, now showed signs of another breakthrough. However, taking this step would be extremely difficult. Currently, it was only the beginning.

Amidst the chants of the Sacred Dynasty's citizens, ethereal purple energy, as if substantial, drifted from all directions and was absorbed by the vortex in the sky. The sounds of wind and thunder intensified, and the crackling lightning bolts even caused Sun Erlang's mind to subtly tremble. From above, he felt an increasing pressure. It caused him to instinctively lower his head slightly.

"Master has achieved another breakthrough." A flash of realization dawned on Sun Erlang. From the expressions of Su Yuqing, Ou Shangtian, and the other Sacred Emperor's disciples, Sun Erlang saw that they shared his thoughts.

The vortex in the firmament spun ever more rapidly, and streaks of starlight occasionally sprayed forth from it, scattering into every corner of the world. Vegetation, when touched, grew at a visible rate. Creatures, upon contact, seemed to experience instant enlightenment, like a sudden awakening. Moreover, several condensed, vast streams of starlight flew out like silk ribbons, heading accurately towards Sun Erlang and the others. This also included cultivators like Artificer and Baihua, who had been summoned by the Sacred Emperor. The moment the starlight infused his body, the scene before Sun Erlang's eyes drastically changed.

As if he had truly arrived in the endless void beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, Sun Erlang saw countless rampant and terrifying forces of calamity hidden within the silent darkness. Sun Erlang also saw that even within this dreadful Sea of Annihilation, countless paths of the star sea were still stubbornly reviving.

"Light is hidden beneath darkness..."

"Life force is nurtured within dead silence." Like a devout believer experiencing enlightenment, Sun Erlang witnessed the vastness and tenacity of the star sea with his own eyes, unable to stop tears from flowing.

The same held true for other cultivators within the Sacred Dynasty. Streams of mysterious energy fluctuations burst forth from their bodies, reaching straight to the sky. The shared enlightenment insights further intensified the tremors in the Great Qì Small World. This fluctuation even spread beyond the world, diffusing into the void. The Five Elements Grotto-Heavens surrounding Great Qì, as well as other small worlds relocated there, were all affected and resonated at the same frequency. Like the rhythm of a heartbeat, it seemed something was being nurtured within this pulsating sound.

All living beings in the Great Qì Small World, as if feeling something in their hearts, looked up and gazed at the vortex in the sky. Under the gaze of countless eyes, a magnificent figure, passing through wind, thunder, and lightning, through purple energy and hazy, mysterious starlight, slowly descended into the world.

"Welcome, Sacred Emperor!" Billions of Great Qì citizens collectively prostrated themselves, their voices roaring like mountains and seas.

However, the Sacred Emperor's disciples, along with Baihua, Artificer, Reverend Yin, and others, were somewhat shocked to discover that the familiar Faceless Sacred Emperor, whose face had originally been a blank void, now possessed a countenance! After only a brief hesitation, the aura emanating from the Sacred Emperor unequivocally confirmed his true identity. The Sacred Emperor stood high above the nine heavens, gazing down upon the beings below. With a gentle wave of his hand, all the kneeling citizens rose.

(End of Chapter)