Chapter 77: Advancing as Easily as Drinking Water

After spending so much time together, Wang Li had formed a rough understanding of Lord Sheng.

First of all, although Lord Sheng wielded all sorts of incomprehensible methods, his own strength was not particularly formidable. At the very least, it was certain that he greatly feared the World Will of the Heavenly Profound World. Despite his dismissive words, calling it an imbecile, the threat it posed to him was immense—hence his avoidance.

Secondly, it seemed likely that Lord Sheng’s aim was to cultivate Wang Li into his helper, sending him to accomplish things he himself could not do, or found inconvenient to handle directly. This would explain why he went to such lengths to urge Wang Li to practice the Five Elements techniques in order to hasten his cultivation. As for the claim that an Innate Chaotic Body required the Five Elements technique to sustain cultivation, Wang Li didn’t believe a single word.

Lastly, and most importantly... there was something not quite right with Lord Sheng’s mind!

How could a sane person be so consistently self-contradictory?

Wang Li suspected that Lord Sheng’s peculiarities probably stemmed from the fact that he was merely a remnant soul...

Nevertheless, Lord Sheng was, after all, a being with profound origins, while Wang Li was just an ordinary person. Following Lord Sheng’s guidance was ultimately easier than struggling alone, which was why, despite his distaste for Lord Sheng’s devious ways, he had no choice but to go along with his arrangements.

In short, Wang Li surrendered himself to fate.

Life, after all, is like that—if you can’t resist, you might as well close your eyes and enjoy it...

Wang Li possessed a vast number of Five Elements techniques—hundreds for each attribute, complete, incomplete, and some exceedingly peculiar.

The grades of these techniques were quite low, none surpassing the top tier of the Yellow rank, but that didn’t hinder him from synthesizing and practicing them.

Having resigned himself, it didn’t matter which attribute he started with. He casually picked out more than twenty Metal techniques and began synthesizing.

After his advancement, Wang Li’s speed at synthesizing techniques had increased significantly. After about three hours, he produced a Metal-type technique named “Body of Geng Metal,” a low-grade Profound-level art.

This technique matched the “Second Enhanced Version of Purple Qi from the East” in terms of speed for absorbing and converting spiritual energy, and also included an attack spell called “Geng Metal Sword Qi.”

Wang Li operated four techniques simultaneously, and his cultivation speed more than doubled. The vast influx of spiritual power caused his Golden Core to rapidly perfect itself, forcing it to expand again and again to accommodate the endless energy.

Immersed in the “Junkyard,” surrounded by Five Element spiritual energy, Wang Li couldn’t match the absorption rate of the “Big Sphere,” but the spiritual energy he drew in was still astonishing.

“Don’t just stand there—hurry up and synthesize the other techniques! Once it’s sucked this place dry, you’ll have to rely on your own reserves. If you don’t take advantage of the free wool here, you’ll regret it!” Lord Sheng reminded him.

Prompted by Lord Sheng, Wang Li paused his training and switched to synthesizing other techniques.

After nearly three days, Wang Li finally synthesized all the Five Elements techniques he needed.

Besides “Body of Geng Metal,” he managed to create the Water-type “Turning Water into Rain,” the Wood-type “A Single Tree Makes a Forest,” and the Earth-type “Super Burrowing Technique”—all low-grade Profound-level techniques.

During the synthesis process, he dared not cultivate, acutely aware that his Golden Core might shatter and form a Nascent Soul at any moment.

He feared that such a breakthrough might bring about another mishap, just as when he formed his Golden Core, and disrupt his return.

But after the synthesis was complete, it was no longer up to him. Lord Sheng said that if he wanted to transform into the Five Elements, he had to accumulate enough spiritual energy of each element within his body, increasing his affinity and adaptability to the Five Elements. Otherwise, after the transformation, the selection relic would be unable to absorb his physical body. If any part of his transformed body was left outside, he might end up missing limbs when he tried to reassemble himself.

Wang Li had no desire to lose any body parts, but he was still worried that his Golden Core might suddenly break through. So he voiced his concerns.

Lord Sheng scratched his chin and replied, “No matter. Just form your Nascent Soul here. There’s plenty of spiritual energy, and you won’t need to undergo a tribulation. If it’s time to advance, so be it.”

“…I won’t have to chew on Nascent Soul fragments again, will I?” Wang Li asked, face darkening.

“Not at all, not at all,” Lord Sheng waved his hand. “Your constitution’s tough enough. Even if the Nascent Soul shatters, you’ll be fine. You can handle it!”

Wang Li: Can I start swearing now?

Pretending not to notice Wang Li’s expression, Lord Sheng laughed, “Besides, with all this abundant spiritual energy and seven elemental techniques, at worst you’ll just have to support a few extra Nascent Souls. You can afford it. No need to chew on fragments this time…”

Wang Li no longer had the strength to mock Lord Sheng’s audacity.

Easy for you to say—after all, you’re not the one taking the risk, are you?

But on reflection, Lord Sheng’s reasoning wasn’t entirely without merit. If you don’t want to suffer, you just have to work a little harder—nothing wrong with that.

Suppressing the urge to slap Lord Sheng, Wang Li threw himself into cycling seven different elemental techniques at full power.

Even with just three techniques, the speed at which he absorbed and converted spiritual energy was astonishing. Now, with all seven running at once, he became a veritable black hole for spiritual energy. All the energy within sight surged into his body, his absorption rate even surpassing that of the “Big Sphere.”

A massive amount of spiritual energy was converted by Wang Li into spiritual power, relentlessly compressed into his Golden Core. In just a few breaths, the core reached its limit. Already at the verge of breaking, it could no longer withstand the pressure, and began to crack with an audible “kakaka.”

Lord Sheng’s figure appeared in Wang Li’s dantian, watching the cracks spread across the surface of the core. “Push harder, I’m watching your back. Young man, this is the time to be bold!”

With Lord Sheng’s encouragement, Wang Li set aside his doubts and continued to pour spiritual power into the core.

Cracks kept spreading until finally, the first fragment broke off.

“Good, keep going! It hurts a bit, bear with it!” Lord Sheng cheered.

“It hurts?” Wang Li recalled the agony of chewing Golden Core fragments before, and hesitated.

“What are you afraid of?” Lord Sheng, seeing Wang Li falter, began to berate him. “There are far more painful things in life than this. If you can’t handle a bit of core-shattering pain, what’s the point of cultivating? You might as well cut your losses now. If you can’t seize an opportunity like this, you deserve your misfortune!”

Wang Li, still a youth clinging to the last vestiges of adolescence, had his pride. Even though he knew Lord Sheng was goading him, he refused to be cowed any further.

“Old bastard, shut your mouth!” Wang Li cursed, then unleashed a torrent of Five Elements spiritual energy into his fractured core.

With a series of cracking sounds, the Golden Core split apart, unleashing a surge of energy that tore through his meridians, flesh, and spiritual sea—wreaking even more havoc than chewing the core fragments had.

“It really hurts…” This time, Wang Li couldn’t endure. Everything went black as he passed out spectacularly.