Chapter 479: Blood Transformation, Like Ants

Chapter 479: Blood Transformation, Like Ants

The third step of the Mental Realm, Unity of Heaven and Man.

In the past, when Chen Mu was comprehending his domain, he briefly entered the realm of 'Unity of Heaven and Man' with the aid of the system's power. But at that moment, he realized that the unity he had experienced was not a true convergence of heaven and humanity.

At that time, it was the system's power that supported him, allowing his consciousness to continuously merge and blend with heaven and earth, giving him a vague sense of control over all things. However, this was merely an illusion.

Without understanding the essence of heaven and earth, true mastery over the Dao is impossible.

And now,

Chen Mu's soul consciousness is not only merging with heaven and earth, but also fully unveiling the profound mysteries of heaven and earth's true nature. The mysteries of Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Heaven, Earth, Mountains, and Rivers, as well as the Eight Trigrams of the Universe, seem like infinite insights, flooding into his soul at this moment.

As he immerses himself in these seemingly endless insights, Chen Mu also feels as if this heaven and earth have transformed into an endless sea, and his soul is but a small boat in this sea, constantly tossed by the tides, as if about to be swallowed up by the waves of heaven and earth, completely assimilated and devoured by this vast realm.

"This is the true Unity of Heaven and Man."

Chen Mu murmured to himself.

The previous unity of heaven and man was protected by the system's power, giving him only the perspective of heaven and man, but he never truly merged with heaven and earth, as the system's power acted as a barrier.

But this time,

The system no longer separates him from heaven and earth, allowing his soul to genuinely merge and unite with this realm. While experiencing the seemingly endless mysteries of heaven and earth's essence, the power of heaven and earth constantly washes over his soul, threatening to engulf and erase it, to obliterate him within heaven and earth.

However,

At this moment, Chen Mu feels no fear amidst the cleansing and tempering of heaven and earth. Instead, he opens his mind, allowing his soul to completely merge with the essence of heaven and earth while also enduring the cleansing and tempering of his soul by heaven and earth.

This step of Unity of Heaven and Man is risky, just like the challenge of Blood Transformation. If one cannot withstand the tempering of heaven and earth, they might perish, erased by heaven and earth, their soul dispersed.

But how formidable is Chen Mu's soul?

Not of heaven and man, yet surpassing them! In the entire world, only a handful of heaven and man masters can cultivate the unending divine light, an immortal soul.

With this unending divine light, Chen Mu fears no cleansing or tempering from heaven and earth. No matter how fierce the cleansing from heaven and earth, no matter how his soul trembles, the unending divine light at the core of his soul remains unwavering, like a reef amidst the raging tides.

"Come, come with even greater force!"

Chen Mu's vision continues to expand, reaching high into the heavens, overlooking the entire Seven Mystic Mountains, spanning over four hundred li. But this is not the limit, as his consciousness continues to spread further.

When martial artists take the third step of the Mental Realm and enter the level of heaven and man, they can only withstand the cleansing and tempering of heaven and earth during this first Unity of Heaven and Man. Only by enduring this can they truly gain heaven and earth's acknowledgment, allowing them to freely display the power of heaven and man without being suppressed by heaven and earth.

For ordinary people, surviving this tribulation is crucial.

They must rely on their lifelong tempered martial will, the strength of their souls forged through trials, and their profound understanding of the Dao they cultivate. With these, they protect their souls and will, enduring until the tribulation passes.

But for Chen Mu, this is not a tribulation; it is an opportunity! Because,

His soul has already surpassed that of heaven and man, possessing the unending divine light. Thus, no matter how overwhelming the cleansing and tempering of heaven and earth, his soul's will remains unerasable.

This cleansing is, for him, a pure tempering, strengthening his soul to greater heights. Therefore, at this moment, experiencing the mysteries of heaven and earth's essence takes a back seat to harnessing the vast power of heaven and earth to temper his soul, elevating it to a higher level!

Humm!

Chen Mu's soul and consciousness further merge with heaven and earth, expanding even wider. If a heaven and man master were here, they would likely be shocked beyond belief by Chen Mu's actions.

When ordinary people challenge the level of heaven and man, they are typically cautious, let alone expanding their consciousness. Most focus on containing their souls and thoughts, enduring heaven and earth's cleansing, striving to quickly overcome this tribulation and solidify their heaven and man realm.

Who would dare to be like Chen Mu, not only failing to wield the power of the Heaven and Earth Path to protect his soul, but also boldly expanding his consciousness, merging with a broader heaven and earth, enduring the immense pressure of the vast heaven and earth?

Four hundred li,

Five hundred li,

Six hundred li,

...

Chen Mu's consciousness continues to spread, no longer limited to the Seven Mystic Mountains. It encompasses the vast town surrounding the Seven Mysteries Sect, the Seven Mystic Town, and the Seven Mystic Province, governed by the Seven Mysteries Sect and independent of the Northern Defense Governorate.

The vast Seven Mystic Province is home to over ten million people.

Chen Mu's consciousness sweeps through streets and alleys, over houses and mansions, from dilapidated huts to grand estates.

Chen Mu's gaze did not linger.

His vision continued to soar, ascending higher into the vast sky, overlooking an even more expansive land.

Eight hundred li,

Nine hundred li,

A thousand li!

Finally, his will merged with the land, and for a moment, everything within a thousand li radius became crystal clear to his eyes. With a slight shift of his gaze, he could see butterflies fluttering, and with another shift, he noticed lush vegetation.

A heaven and man master, with his soul core fused with a thousand li of land, had an all-encompassing view, leaving no room for escape within his sight.

But Chen Mu's gaze, encompassing a thousand li, did not stop. His vision continued to expand into the boundless heavens and earth.

The administrative center of Yu Prefecture was quietly revealed to his eyes.

His gaze, like that of a celestial being descending from the nine heavens, overlooked the mortal world. It swept past the outer city and encompassed the entire administrative center.

Chen Mu saw the Fang family, the Qin family... He saw Xu Qingzhao, the senior brother who had once guided him in Yu Prefecture, and who was now serving as the inspector, flipping through documents in the surveillance bureau, unaware of Chen Mu's gaze.

Chen Mu saw the Yu family who had accompanied him to Yu Prefecture years ago. After all this time, this branch of the Yu family had also taken root and flourished in the administrative center. He noticed children around four or five years old playing in the Yu family's courtyard, brimming with vitality.

He saw his former residence.

The mansion still had occupants.

Chen Mu had not taken all the servants and maids with him when he left, only a few close maidservants accompanied Xu Hongyu and the others. Many of the staff remained in the mansion.

Every courtyard was still clean and tidy.

Chen Mu's gaze turned inward, and he saw his main residence, where someone was meticulously cleaning.

Le'er, who had chosen to stay in the administrative center instead of continuing to serve Xu Hongyu at the Seven Mysteries Sect, was tidying a room. A gust of wind, seemingly appearing out of thin air in the courtyard and house, caught her attention.

"Old Master, your blessings," Le'er whispered, looking up at the vast, blue sky, feeling that Chen Mu's gaze had just swept over the mansion.

...

Twelve hundred li,

Thirteen hundred li,

Fourteen hundred li,

Chen Mu's vision continued to expand.

Most heaven and man masters, when merging their soul core with the land, could perceive up to a thousand li. But Chen Mu had not yet reached his limit, and his perception continued to grow even beyond fifteen hundred li.

In a thousand seven hundred li,

In a thousand eight hundred li,

...

Finally, Chen Mu's gaze settled on a location two thousand one hundred li away.

In the 1619th chapter, the view was clear and unobstructed.

It wasn't that his mental power couldn't expand any further, but rather that continuing beyond this point was meaningless. His perception outside of this range was far less detailed, and he could only vaguely sense some fluctuations of energy. Within these two thousand one hundred li, his perception was so acute that he could clearly see the number of veins on a leaf or the number of thorns on a bug. Beyond this range, everything became blurry, and he couldn't even see images, only barely sensing some energy fluctuations.

"Two thousand one hundred li, is this my limit for now?" Chen Mu muttered to himself.

Compared to ordinary Heaven Persons, his perception had seemingly doubled in scale, but the actual range he could sense, between a thousand li and two thousand li, was far more than just twice the difference!

Furthermore, this was his first time entering Unity of Heaven and Man, and he hadn't even finished the cleansing and tempering process of the heavens and earth. Once he completes this transformation, the range his Soul Core can fuse with will further expand!

At this moment, despite Chen Mu's powerful Soul Core, he felt a hint of exhaustion as he fused with the heavens and earth within a two-thousand-one-hundred-li radius.

The vastness and grandeur of the heavens and earth, with their endless expanse, constantly echoed within his Soul Core. He didn't need to control the heavenly earth power within this two-thousand-li radius; that was beyond human capability. But even without control, merely merging his consciousness with this expanse of heaven and earth, he constantly endured the surging changes from a bird's-eye view.

The Eight Trigrams of the Universe, the heavens and earth in constant rotation.

Within this two-thousand-li radius, the heavens and earth were in constant motion, with the heavens and earth, wind and thunder, water and fire... All sorts of heavenly earth power transforming and interacting. These continuous changes echoed within Chen Mu's Soul Core, like a surging tide, constantly tempering his soul.

At this moment, Chen Mu found it difficult to further scrutinize the heavens and earth within the two-thousand-li radius. He gathered his will and focused solely on the point of Unextinguishable Divine Light, allowing the changes of the heavens and earth to cleanse his soul, which was fused with the heavens and earth.

Buzz! Buzz!

His soul trembled incessantly, and his soul power was continuously depleted, but at the same time, his body absorbed the Heavenly Essence Qi, transforming it through his physique to nourish his soul with rich blood energy.

His soul strengthened bit by bit through this process of constant damage and recovery.

Having reached his current level, he had condensed a point of Unextinguishable Divine Light. Further promoting the growth of his soul was an extremely challenging task, and only by entering Unity of Heaven and Man could he, at this stage, borrow the power of the heavens and earth to temper his soul!

Chen Mu wasn't about to waste this opportunity. He focused solely on that point of Unextinguishable Divine Light, fully exposing his soul to the heavens and earth, enduring their tempering.

Within the Seven Mysteries Sect's Forbidden Ground.

Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun's gazes remained fixed on Chen Mu, but the shock on their faces had faded somewhat, though the turmoil in their eyes hadn't completely subsided.

Neither of them interfered with Chen Mu's process, as they weren't Heaven Persons themselves, but they understood the significance of this step. It required enduring the tempering and approval of the heavens and earth, and the duration of this process varied depending on the strength of one's soul.

They didn't know how long Chen Mu would need to complete his transformation, but Yin Heng had already moved beside the Heaven Earth Dragon Pillar, linking his energy with it to prevent any accidents and provide instant protection for Chen Mu if needed.

Qin Mengjun also took a deep breath, observing Chen Mu's transformation from the side.

One day,

Two days,

Three days,

...

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, ten full days had gone by.

"It's been ten days," Qin Mengjun said, shifting her gaze from Chen Mu to Yin Heng, her expression filled with concern.

Typically, the transformation of a Heaven Person took only two or three days, and as far as she knew, the longest it had ever taken was seven days. But Chen Mu had already spent a full ten days, and it seemed he hadn't completed his transformation yet.

Although she could still sense Chen Mu's mental power and energy merging with the heavens and earth, this prolonged period without completion made her anxious. After all, this step had never been entirely safe throughout history. There had been cases where individuals lost themselves in the heavens and earth after fusing their souls, never to awaken again, eventually perishing and becoming one with the Dao.

However, she knew that Chen Mu's soul was exceptionally powerful, and thus, she remained calm.

"He should be fine," Yin Heng said, his eyes fixed on Chen Mu. "His soul power is far stronger than ordinary people, so it's natural for his transformation to take longer. The stronger the soul, the more stable the transformation process... With his willpower, he's probably deliberately exposing his soul to the heavens and earth, enduring their tempering."

He understood that this step, which was challenging for ordinary people, wouldn't be an issue for Chen Mu. Moreover, Chen Mu likely didn't want to simply rush through this stage; he might use this opportunity to further temper his soul, as they had previously discussed the importance of the soul in their conversation about the Martial Way.

In the current world, the stages that significantly enhance the soul are limited to breaking through the Marrow Gate, Blood Transformation, and Unity of Heaven and Man. Chen Mu had now reached the final step and would do his utmost to stay at this stage and improve.

"I hope so," Qin Mengjun said, nodding slightly. She was naturally concerned about Chen Mu.

In reality, as Yin Heng had anticipated, Chen Mu was indeed taking full advantage of this opportunity to temper his soul. From the perspective of his soul, one could see that the Unextinguishable Divine Light in the depths of his soul, which had originally been a mere point, had now expanded to nearly the size of a fist, occupying almost a third of his entire soul!

This massive Unextinguishable Divine Light was the result of his soul being tempered by the heavens and earth over these ten days. It was so vast that it could no longer be called 'Divine Light' but should be referred to as an 'Unextinguishable Soul'!

Chen Mu even felt that even if he lost his physical body, his soul core would drift in the vast expanse of the universe, perhaps never dissipating. Ordinary soul power might be dissolved by the universe, but the golden portion of his soul core that had undergone refinement would not!

With an unyielding will, the soul core would remain immortal, and this part of the soul core would no longer be easily destroyed by the power of the universe. Even if he lost his physical body and became a rootless wanderer, it would still take an incredibly long time for the universe to slowly erode and dissolve him.

Sizzle...

The power of the universe continued to refine Chen Mu's soul core.

After nearly three days, almost half of his soul core was infused with the golden, unextinguishable divine light. After transforming into an immortal soul core, the entire universe finally stirred with an imperceptible ripple.

Buzz!

Accompanying this ripple, a reverberation echoed.

Chen Mu finally felt his soul core merging with the universe, without any resistance. The power of the universe no longer rejected the fusion with his soul core. In an instant, his mental realm and the universe became one, indistinguishable from each other, as if he had become a part of the universe itself.

"Huff."

Chen Mu exhaled lightly in his heart, knowing that the transformation into a celestial mortal had finally concluded.

However, he did not immediately retract his mental realm but instead expanded his vision, encompassing a region of two thousand miles into his sight, and then probing even further.

"Let's see how vast an area my soul core can merge with."

A thought flashed through Chen Mu's mind, and with a shift in his mental realm, the immortal soul core that had undergone half of its transformation also suddenly buzzed, releasing a vast surge of soul power that merged with the universe.

Buzz!

At this moment, even Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun, who were in the forbidden ground, felt a sense of pressure emanating from Chen Mu, causing them to stiffen and their eyes to widen.

Both of them felt a terrifying sense of oppression from Chen Mu, making it hard to breathe, as if they were gazing at an insurmountable giant peak, so high that its summit was barely visible!

"The power of a celestial mortal..."

Yin Heng couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He had witnessed the abilities of celestial mortals and had even fought against them, escaping from their grasp. He was more familiar with the power of celestial mortals than Qin Mengjun.

But the celestial mortal who had once pursued him left a far less terrifying impression than Chen Mu did at this moment. It was like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon! Facing that previous opponent, he had a chance to escape, but against Chen Mu, if it came to a real confrontation, he had no chance of escape. Chen Mu's aura was not like the difference between a blood transformation realm cultivator and a celestial mortal, but like the gap between a grandmaster and a blood transformation realm cultivator. It was an entire realm's difference!

At this moment, even Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun couldn't sense the vast universe, but Chen Mu's mental realm was rapidly expanding.

Two thousand three hundred miles,

Two thousand four hundred miles,

Two thousand five hundred miles,

His willpower extended to three thousand miles and showed no signs of stopping, continuing to spread outward. Only when it reached three thousand six hundred miles did his soul core finally feel the strain, and his mental realm gradually ceased its expansion.

At this point, Chen Mu's will seemed to tower above the firmament, overlooking a region of three thousand six hundred miles. Wherever his gaze fell, even a slight stir in the grass from the wind couldn't escape his notice!

"Three thousand six hundred miles..."

Chen Mu murmured to himself.

Looking across the entire world, perhaps no one could match Chen Mu's current state. In the state of unity with the universe, the range of his mental realm's expansion was even greater.

As for the power of the universe that he could control and manipulate, although it didn't reach the vast extent of three thousand six hundred miles, it was at least one-hundredth of that, allowing him to command the power of the universe within several dozen miles, making the area within his control almost like his own domain!

This range was equally terrifying. Ordinary celestial mortals could harness the power of the universe within a thousand zhang or several li, which was already quite formidable, clearly distinguishing them from other blood transformation realm cultivators. But Chen Mu was even stronger, surpassing them by more than an entire realm!

With this step, Chen Mu's soul power, when harnessed with the power of the universe, could even rival the might of his physical body!

One could say that this step for a celestial mortal was a true qualitative change. Before taking this step, soul power could only play a supporting role, and the power of the domain at Chen Mu's stage held little significance. But after taking this step, it was completely different. Not only did his perception range increase significantly, but with his mind and body united with the universe, the power of the universe he could command was vast and boundless!

At this stage, Chen Mu could kill a top-tier grandmaster with a mere glance, and within a radius of several dozen miles, he could suppress even celestial mortals like Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun with a single thought!

Ordinary blood transformation realm cultivators were like ants in comparison.

"If I were to gauge it by the Below Divine Nine Stages, I should be at the Lower Fourth Rank of Divinity, almost invincible. However, as I don't possess a complete immortal divine body or immortal soul core yet, I wonder if I can contend with a Lower Fifth Rank of Divinity cultivator."

Chen Mu's eyes deepened as he looked up at the boundless firmament.

He was very close to the divine realm now.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end