Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Soul Transformation
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Incarnation Realm
Seran waited in the antechamber for the feathering ceremony to begin.
All year long, she had traveled far and wide.
To etch the mortal world's landscapes—places she would never return to in her lifetime—into her memory one final time.
Of course, she had also visited her hometown in central Yuguo.
However, she had not gone to the Ryu clan household.
Most of her close relatives had already passed away, leaving only distant kin she had never met.
She planned to send word of her "death" later, using her alias identity.
The antechamber was eerily silent.
Moments ago, it had buzzed with energy thanks to the maids helping her don the ceremonial robes.
But now, Seran was alone.
How long had she waited when the sound of instruments suddenly rang out?
The feathering ceremony had finally begun.
Seran calmly stepped out of the antechamber.
Outside stretched a straight path.
Seran walked silently along the snow-covered road.
It was the same procession followed by every past feathering candidate from the Western Continent—all Incarnation Cultivators.
Neither too fast nor too slow.
Hands clasped politely, holding a long wooden placard.
Inscribed on it were her birthplace and her three-character name.
How far had she walked when a crowd appeared in the distance?
Cultivators lined both sides of the path.
The left side was the Golden Reed Sect, the right the Black Bamboo Sect.
Young Qi Condensation Cultivators, who had just entered the sect at age ten, shouted in unison.
“The final step upon the earth—our congratulations!”
The final step upon the earth.
It was an expression laden with double meaning.
It signified departure from the mortal world to the immortal realm, with no return, and also that, upon becoming an Incarnation Cultivator with flight capabilities, there would be no need to tread the ground.
Seran continued walking amid the cultivators' shouts.
With each step forward, the ages of the surrounding cultivators grew older.
She passed Jang Seonhwa, Yi Agum, Geum Yeongyeong, Ho Hye-mun, and Elder Wang in turn.
And finally reached the end.
Geum Gyo-wol and Yeo Mujin shouted,
“The final step upon the earth—our congratulations!”
Upon reaching the altar, Seran ascended the stairs alone.
A uphill path no one else could walk in her stead.
The very essence of cultivation.
Seran climbed a total of 125 steps.
The lifespan limit for Qi Condensation Cultivators and mortals alike was precisely 125 years.
It symbolized a mortal lifetime.
At the top of the stairs stood a brazier.
Seran tossed her name placard into the flames.
The words “Liu Seran of central Yuguo” burned brightly.
Today, the mortal Liu Seran would die.
*****
The ultimate goal of every cultivation sect was ascension to the immortal realm.
Thus, every aspect of the sect—from members and techniques to organizational structure and decision-making bodies—was designed solely for producing Incarnation Cultivators.
The layout of the buildings was no exception.
As Seran took her position at the altar's peak, the entire Black Bamboo Sect began to resonate.
Since the sect's founding, most major structures had been positioned with formations in mind.
Using those buildings as anchors, the grand formation activated.
Through a web like a spider's threads, the mountain range's heaven-earth spiritual energy surged toward the altar.
It flowed toward Seran, seated at the top.
The spiritual energy density near the altar temporarily soared to levels rivaling the immortal realm.
If heaven-earth spiritual energy were likened to water, Seran was immersed in a river on the verge of flooding.
Yet there was no need for worry.
This was the culmination of her lifelong cultivation.
The golden core in her lower dantian.
The spirit roots in her middle dantian.
The primordial spirit in her upper dantian.
Seran's three dantians resonated.
The heaven-earth spiritual energy continuously transformed into five elements spiritual power.
Rays of red, black, blue, white, and yellow light swirled around her, gradually expanding her form.
The five elements spiritual power condensed by Seran became the source of a new attractive force.
The gravitational pull, growing exponentially, finally breached the singularity.
Soon, the cosmos itself poured toward Seran.
Heaven-earth spiritual energy crashed down like a waterfall.
The ceremony site—and indeed the skies above the mountain range—darkened as if a hole had been punched through them.
The skies, clouds, winds, and snows across the entire Western Continent surged toward Seran's head.
A sky that lost its blue hue despite the sun shining.
A gale that swept away mountain peaks, clouds, great trees, and boulders in an instant.
A world that seemed to have met its sudden end.
Every living being on the Western Continent sensed the anomaly.
It was no disturbance that could be concealed through effort.
Yokai surgeons, yokai, and spirit beasts with even the faintest inspiration fled in terror.
But the upheaval did not last long.
The gale quickly subsided.
The sky regained its original color.
On the ground remained only traces of uprooted giant trees, craters where boulders had been, and collapsed peaks.
Yet the heavens were clear and blue, without a single cloud.
It felt as if it had all been a fleeting dream.
At that moment, the feathering ceremony entered its final phase.
The sphere of five elements spiritual power, rapidly expanding and contracting around Seran, began to change.
The five-colored lights, playing separately like water and oil, slowly began to blend.
Ultimately, they merged into five-colored mists that seeped into Seran's middle dantian.
A mist containing the energies of all things in creation.
That is, primordial chaos spiritual power.
The reason the stage after primordial spirit realm in the immortal realm was called mist realm.
Seran half-opened her closed eyes.
Within her pupils shimmered five-colored radiance.
Heaven-reading spirit eyes, Heaven-Observing Eyes.
She lifted her head to gaze at the sky.
Beyond the complex flows of the celestial bodies, a single bright trajectory connected the mortal world and immortal realm.
Surely, she would ascend along that light.
Seran closed her eyes again and contemplated her inner self.
In her middle dantian, alongside the primordial chaos spiritual power, something new had sprouted.
A sixth spirit root: wind spirit root.
The source of an Incarnation Cultivator's flight ability, and the sole means of ascending to the immortal realm.
Seran resonated her wind spirit root with the primordial chaos spiritual power.
A thread of cool breeze enveloped her small frame.
Her two legs gradually shed the earth's bonds.
Liu Seran of central Yuguo.
The girl born to tenant farmers.
The duke's daughter who fled her home against her will.
The single spirit root holder who entered a cultivation sect by fateful ties.
The cultivator who yearned to become someone noble.
The child who sought only love.
She attained enlightenment and succeeded in foundation establishment.
Through her encounter with the dragon, she formed her golden core.
She defeated her archenemy and coalesced her primordial spirit.
And today, she proved herself to the heavens.
She died as a mortal and was reborn as a spirit being.
At last, she became an Incarnation Cultivator.
The cultivators' cheers shook the mountains.
*****
The Black Bamboo Sect and Golden Reed Sect had jointly produced an Incarnation Cultivator.
It was the fulfillment of the cultivation sects' long-cherished wish spanning thousands of years.
It would have been stranger if no celebration had been held.
Cultivators generally did not indulge in alcohol.
Even foundation establishment cultivators were immune to intoxication, and it was seen as detrimental to cultivation.
Thus, it was used only in rare cases like ceremonies.
That was why alcohol was scarce at cultivation world festivals.
Instead, people drank their favorite beverages.
Plain water, honey tea, flower tea, regular tea, fruit juices, carbonated water, fermented drinks, vinegar drinks—everything imaginable.
New product development was typically the domain of pill refiners.
Yi Agum held out a large cup and said,
“Sister, take a sip without checking what's inside.”
“Out of the blue?”
“Aaah, hurry uppp.”
What sudden playfulness from her family member?
As a foundation establishment cultivator, she couldn't be drunk.
She was simply caught up in the festive mood.
Seran savored the mystery liquid and said,
“Isn't this beef broth?”
“Wrong! Please check the contents!”
“No matter how I think about it, it tasted like beef broth...?”
Seran peered into the half-empty cup.
There was no milky broth associated with beef soup.
It looked just like plain water.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Seran asked,
“Wow, that's amazing. How did you make this?”
Yi Agum wore a smug expression.
She pulled a neatly folded paper from her sleeve.
Inside the paper was gray powder.
Yi Agum pointed at the powder and said,
“I mixed this into plain water.”
“Is this enough for one cup?”
“No, a pinch is enough for a huge water barrel.”
Seran recalled a book from her previous life.
It was written by a synthetic flavor expert.
It explained how easily the sense of taste could be fooled.
She remembered reading it with great interest.
The two chatted for a while.
Seran wondered if other foods could be replicated.
Yi Agum said she would try, then went off to play with friends.
Seran went to a quiet spot to get some air.
There, she arrived at a snowy plain unmarked by footprints.
The snow had stopped falling long after the ceremony ended.
But each gust of wind scattered snow from the branches.
As she gazed at the stars, someone spoke to her.
It was Damcheong.
“Seran, what are you doing out here alone?”
“I was just getting some fresh air. Did you enjoy the festival, Damcheong?”
“Thoroughly.”
Seran turned to look at Damcheong.
His hands were filled with snacks.
It wasn't empty words; he was truly enjoying himself.
Suddenly, old memories surfaced.
Soyeongnyeo, about to leave after reclaiming the Dragon Marble.
Her sudden request to name her.
The decades spent with Damcheong.
Seran suddenly asked,
“Damcheong, are you pleased with your name?”
“My name? Of course—who gave it to me.”
“Then I'm glad.”
As the festival that had lasted for days drew to a close, spring arrived.