Chapter 39: Xun Wind Escape

Karma Primal Scripture: Chapter on Qi Refinement to Spirit Transformation

The Glowing Return—condense your spirit within the dantian, circulating through ten true breaths. Within this stillness, motion arises; from extreme movement, tranquility returns. This interplay between motion and rest reveals boundless cosmic mysteries and limitless karmic fortune—the essence of refining qi into spirit…

Qin Shu followed the oral formula, channeling his true yuan throughout his body. At the very top of his Dantian Sea of Qi, the Virtual Pill circulated as true yuan flowed into it before surging forth anew.

Refined by the Virtual Pill, the karma true yuan became increasingly dense—neither quite gas nor liquid, more like smoke or mist, yet also akin to lead or mercury. It coursed out from the dantian, traversed along meridians, permeated the five vital organs, and nourished his physical form.

With each grand circulation around his body, Qin Shu felt his physique strengthen incrementally. His meridians expanded steadily with every cycle, growing wider by degrees. What were once mere trickles now resembled streams, their capacity for transporting true yuan multiplying geometrically with each rotation.

As the true yuan circulated, the Virtual Pill ascended higher within the lower dantian until, finally, it seemed to pierce through space itself, reaching the Shanzhong Point and entering the upper sea of qi.

Its arrival in the middle dantian was like a bright moon rising over the ocean at dawn—a momentous event that instantly illuminated the previously murky depths. The refined true yuan erupted forth, coalescing once again into a vast sea of qi within the central dantian.

As Qin Shu circulated the Karma Primal Scripture, his upper, middle, and lower dantians aligned in harmony. Thread by thread, true essence condensed into strands of light and subtle energy, merging into his sea of consciousness and enhancing his divine sense.

His expanded awareness radiated outward, its reach continuously growing.

With each strengthening of his divine sense, the virtual pill within his Middle Dantian faced intense pressure, gradually solidifying it further—a cyclical process that demanded unwavering focus and mental fortitude.

After two days of steadfast cultivation, Qin Shu finally opened his eyes. The Core Formation Abyssal Tribulation was upon him.

At dawn on the third day, a flash of golden light streaked through the secret chamber.

Qin Shu found himself transported to a sparse grassland under an ink-green sky. Around him stood a pack of heavy-armored horn wolves, their bodies as massive as rhinoceroses. Caught off guard by his sudden appearance, they hesitated for a moment.

Reacting swiftly, Qin Shu struck first with decisive force. He had anticipated this scenario—being thrust into the heart of monstrous creatures from the very onset of the abyss—and remained utterly composed amidst the chaos.

In an instant, his internal true essence erupted forth. As a cultivator at the Core Formation realm, his true essence was several times more refined than that of someone in Foundation Establishment. It burst from every major acupoint across his body, coalescing into razor-sharp sword qi.

He seemed to transform into a cyan lotus itself, as streams of azure sword qi blossomed like petals unfolding, spraying outwards in all directions. In that moment, the entire world appeared to be enveloped by a veil of jade-green brilliance.

The pack of heavy-armored horned wolves numbered over a hundred, with all but the pups being second-rank monsters.

These creatures were covered from head to toe in thick layers of scaled armor. Their forelimbs were powerful and muscular, ending in razor-sharp claws akin to daggers. The entire body bulged with demonic strength, rising high along their backs before culminating in curved, crescent-like horns atop their heads. Even with their jaws closed, long fangs protruded menacingly from their mouths.

A robust tail terminated in a sharp barb at each wolf’s rear, lending them an air of supreme dominance.

Yet what good did it do them? With a single wave of sword qi, every heavy-armored horned wolf save for the Alpha was impaled through and through—dead beyond resurrection.

“Roar!”

The lone surviving Alpha let out a furious bellow, its body transforming into a bolt of black lightning as it lunged towards Qin Shu.

Its five clawed digits, sharp as knives, sliced through the air only to strike where Qin Shu had stood moments ago. The force of its charge carried the beast forward, leaving behind nothing but empty space.

In the next instant, Qin Shu’s figure vanished entirely, as if he had never been there at all.

A flash of azure light accompanied by a gentle gathering of clear wind coalesced into his form once more.

This was the art of the Five Elements Great Escape: evading swiftly on the wings of the east wind—a technique he had mastered upon breaking through to the Core Formation realm.

That streak of blue light was none other than the Qingping Sword Pill, which pierced clean through the skull of the heavy-armored horned wolf king. It entered at the nape and exited through the forehead, snapping the crescent horn in two as it passed.

The body of the heavy-armored horned wolf king crumpled to the ground, black-red blood gushing from its forehead in thick streams. Its mind had been pulverized by the Cyan Lotus Sword Art; after a few convulsions, it lay utterly still, never again to stir.

This pack of heavy-armored horned wolves once dominated the landscape for dozens of kilometers around. Now, every last one was exterminated by Qin Shu. Their bodies rapidly disintegrated under some tremendous force, dissipating into nothingness.

Five directional flags emerged from within him, forming the Great Array of Five Elements—a formation that now spanned a wider area and possessed greater power since his Core Formation breakthrough.

His divine sense extended five kilometers out. Within this radius, the world belonged to the Five Elements Formation, isolating it completely from the rest of the realm.

The Cyan Lotus soared forth, causing the earth to spontaneously cleave open, welcoming its arrival. The jade-white lotus root, along with part of its stem, buried itself deep in the soil. What remained above ground towered even higher than Qin Shu himself.

This time, due to the Five Elements Formation’s isolation, when the Cyan Lotus absorbed the essence of this fragment of the Abyss, the sliver of Abyssal will failed to detect it. Consequently, no tremors or alarms echoed through the entire fragment world.

In mere hours, the Cyan Lotus blossomed, its leaves unfurling as they radiated Fortune Force throughout the vast expanse of the Great Array of Five Elements.

With a resounding command, “Formation, open!” Qin Shu lifted the barrier that had severed heaven and earth alike. The array began to channel the very energies of this fragmented world.

It was at that precise moment that the consciousness of the fragment world stirred with rage. Unbeknownst to it, its essence had been steadily drained away. As the void grew increasingly fragile, the fabric of reality itself threatened to unravel.

Due to the fact that for dozens of kilometers around, this had been the territory of heavy-armored horn wolves, it would take significant time for other powerful monsters to arrive on the scene.

Qin Shu seized this window of opportunity, allowing the Cyan Lotus to absorb the essence power of this fragment world at an accelerated pace.

As the Fortune Force gradually intensified within the Great Array of Five Elements, it not only enhanced the array’s potency but also expanded its reach.

Initially, Qin Shu didn’t even activate the defensive mode of the Five Elements Formation. The weak creatures spurred by the will of the fragmented world to their doom were instantly obliterated upon entering the formation by the overwhelming surge of Fortune Force. Their remains then merged with the energy of the formation itself.

However, when the Five Elements Formation had grown to encompass ten kilometers, danger loomed near.

Even from the center of his array, Qin Shu could feel the earth’s violent tremors—their source unmistakably coming from the north edge of the formation.

Utilizing the Five Elements Great Escape technique, he appeared almost instantaneously at the formation’s border. With a probe of divine sense forward, he spotted a group of over a dozen colossal beasts charging directly towards them.

The black behemoths loomed like small mountains, their skin resembling obsidian—formed from cooled lava. Their flattened feet were as massive as sky-reaching jade pillars, while pairs of long, curved tusks protruded from their jaws. As they galloped, their ears flapped wildly, generating gusts of wind that swept across the land.

Abyssal Demon Elephants—monstrous creatures all of third rank—charged forth en masse, each one akin to a mountain hurtling towards them.

Leading this formidable herd was the Elephant King, twice as colossal as even the largest abyssal demon elephant. Though its bulk seemed ponderous, it moved with surprising swiftness.

Qin Shu sensed in these creatures the same exhilarating energy he’d experienced riding warhorses at full tilt. Who could say flat-footed beasts couldn’t leap high? This herd shattered such conventional wisdom.

“Guard!” Qin Shu barked, activating the defense mode of his Five Elements Formation.

In an instant, a thin membrane expanded into a hemispherical shield, enveloping an area ten kilometers wide. He then retreated to the very center of the formation.

Soon, the leading Abyssal Demon Elephant King collided head-on with the Five Elements Formation.

Noticing this through his perception, Qin Shu’s lips curled slightly upward, as if anticipating an entertaining spectacle.