Although the incantations were extremely complex and difficult to comprehend, and the hand seals were hard to memorise, for most warriors merely committing everything to memory without a single mistake would probably take one or two years.
For Ling Xiao, however, this posed no problem at all.
His Tai Chi Eye possessed formidable powers of analysis, simulation, and even duplication. Even if he did not fully understand the content, he could reproduce it perfectly.
In no time, his mind became perfectly serene.
Outside, his most trusted subordinates stood guard, so he had no need to worry about anything. He could devote himself entirely to cultivation.
His mind was like still water.
The instant he became completely tranquil, a deep, pitch-black tunnel instantly appeared in his consciousness. The tunnel was extraordinarily vivid, as though he were actually walking through it.
Yet the tunnel was long, and each step felt unbearably heavy. His mind seemed to be torn apart by something, the pain almost intolerable.
He gritted his teeth and endured the agony without giving up.
A warrior who cannot bear pain that ordinary people cannot endure will never achieve greatness.
Gradually, the tunnel in his mind merged with his memories.
He remembered it clearly: back when he was a beggar in Tianfeng City, they were chased by the city guards almost every day.
A lightless underground passage outside the city had become their best escape route.
Almost daily, they emerged from that dark tunnel.
Standing at the exit, gazing at the light outside, many hesitated, afraid to step out.
Because stepping out might not mean embracing the light; it might mean facing the guards’ blades, cruel beatings, or death.
Out of fear, many beggars preferred to starve rather than take that step.
Ling Xiao clenched his teeth. He knew full well that leaving the tunnel might be dangerous, but it also offered food to survive and perhaps a glimpse of a better tomorrow.
“Seize the light! Charge forward bravely!”
Suddenly, he lunged forward.
It was clearly only an illusion, yet it felt intensely real to Ling Xiao.
The moment he burst out of the tunnel, the entire world seemed transformed.
He felt his body become light, as if floating upwards.
The stone chamber he occupied was only about five metres high, yet he realised he was about to collide with the ceiling.
But when the impact came, there was no pain at all.
He looked down in astonishment.
And nearly cried out.
On the ground sat a cross-legged figure, eyes closed, hands still forming seals, lips no longer moving. Breathing slow and rhythmic, as if asleep.
Was that not himself?
“Detachment successful?”
In that instant, Ling Xiao confirmed his current state. Joy surged through him, mingled with a trace of panic.
The Primordial Spirit Fragment had warned what might happen after the soul left the body.
If wind blew at that moment, the soul might never return.
The best course was to strengthen the detached soul until even fierce gales could not scatter it.
A soul is formless matter.
It clearly exists, yet seems entirely non-existent.
Almost no one in the Profound Realm can see it.
Only the truly powerful can sense it.
Strong warriors can injure others with soul force, but detaching the soul entirely is something they have never even considered, let alone attempted.
Ling Xiao flew about the stone chamber, trying to touch the walls and objects on the floor, only to discover he could touch nothing at all.
This matched exactly the description of detachment in the Primordial Spirit Fragment.
The sensation was truly marvellous, making one want to shout at the top of one’s lungs.
Yet Ling Xiao knew that however loudly his soul cried out, no one would hear.
He passed straight through the stone wall and emerged outside the chamber.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind blew past, and Ling Xiao felt a piercing, bone-chilling cold.
Terrified, he hurriedly retreated back into the chamber.
As the fragment had warned, once the soul lost the protection of the body, it became extraordinarily vulnerable. Unless the soul was sufficiently powerful, even a dog’s bark might shatter it completely, and one would die without knowing why.
Only when his soul re-entered his body did Ling Xiao breathe a sigh of relief.
Detachment had succeeded. The next step was to strengthen the detached soul so it could withstand harsh external conditions.
This process, too, relied on visualisation.
What he had not expected was that the long-buried, almost forgotten Record of the Investiture of the Gods resurfaced in his memory once more.
He had obtained this Record of the Investiture of the Gods back in the Moonlight Sect. It contained illustrations of numerous figures.
In the past, Ling Xiao had believed these were mighty warriors from the ancient era.
But as his knowledge grew and his experience deepened, especially after studying the Primordial Spirit Fragment, he suddenly realised that these figures were not ancient warriors of the Profound Realm at all.
They were powerful beings who did not belong to this world.
For every one of them seemed to know methods of cultivating the primordial spirit, something impossible in the Profound Realm.
Regardless of their origin, at this stage they could be of enormous help to him.
True visualisation is not mere empty fantasy.
It requires a real reference as its foundation.
The mighty figures in the Record of the Investiture of the Gods became precisely that reference.
One of them possessed three heads and six arms. The record showed not only scenes of it in battle but also scenes of it meditating in contemplation.
Ling Xiao followed its example, imagining himself with three heads and six arms, each of the six arms forming a different hand seal.
The three heads chanted three different incantations.
Then he visualised his own Mountain-River World.
Within the vast Mountain-River World, sun and moon alternated, stars glittered brightly. All that radiance poured into his primordial spirit and transformed into a mysterious energy.
All of this was visualisation, mere illusion, nothing that truly existed.
Yet because of the cultivation method of the Primordial Spirit Fragment, these illusions could become reality.
If someone had stood beside Ling Xiao at that moment, they would have seen the faint outline of three heads and six arms actually forming around him.
Those hazy extra limbs and heads were condensed from soul force.
Above his head, the stone ceiling of the chamber had vanished, replaced by a vast, empty cosmos.
Though this cosmos appeared illusory and unreal, the energy pouring from it was genuine.
Countless beams of light streamed continuously into Ling Xiao’s mind, causing his primordial spirit to grow rapidly stronger.
His entire being felt as if immersed in a warm spring. Gentle currents caressed every part of his body; the perfect temperature allowed him to relax completely. That exquisite comfort truly felt like ascending to immortality.
