Chapter 87: The Nascent Soul Stage

The one who descended from the sky was none other than Jiang Yue.

At the time, Wang Li was thoroughly startled, convinced that he had been discovered by the will of the world. It was only after Lord Sheng explained the situation that he was finally reassured. The Heaven's Chosen List had already taken physical form and could be considered a spiritual artifact, no longer directly controlled by the will of the world. Bringing Jiang Yue to Wang Li was entirely Jiang Yue’s own decision, not an arrangement of the world’s will, so there was no need to worry.

With Lord Sheng’s explanation, Wang Li set his mind at ease, hoping to return to his peaceful, leisurely life. However, Jiang Yue’s nature was anything but patient; she was perpetually restless, constantly hovering around him, which drove him to distraction.

“Hey, Wang Li, how do I look in this battle armor?”

“Hey, Wang Li, my spirit beast has diarrhea—do you know how to treat it?”

“Oh no! My Little Rainbow and Little Hammer are fighting again. Will you come help me persuade them?”

“Wang Li, Wang Li, why aren’t you absorbing spiritual energy? There’s so little here… Can’t you cultivate? I have plenty of spirit stones—do you want to borrow some? As long as you can cure my spirit beast.”

Wang Li responded to Jiang Yue’s endless chatter with passive resistance—he simply shut off his own hearing.

If I ignore you, what can you do about it?

But when Jiang Yue laid out a mountain of cultivation resources before him, he… surrendered!

Slapping his own forehead in regret, he thought, “How could I be so foolish? This girl is rich beyond measure!”

All Wang Li’s previous impatience vanished in an instant. He transformed into an all-powerful older brother, answering Jiang Yue’s every request.

There was no helping it. He had been stuck at the seventh level of the Nascent Soul stage for a long time. The real reason he had resigned himself to a dull and tedious existence was simply that he lacked enough spiritual energy to continue cultivating; his supposed enjoyment of a quiet life was merely an excuse—he had never truly intended to retire here.

Though tricking a young girl out of her belongings was somewhat disgraceful, Wang Li had no qualms about it.

As Lord Sheng put it:

“These are the fruits of my labor—hard-earned rewards! I spend them with pride!”

Lord Sheng was indeed a sage; when it came to shamelessness, even the illustrious Liu Guang was a mere novice before him.

Naturally, the result of catering to the girl’s every whim was that Wang Li first became a half-baked student of aesthetics under Lord Sheng, turning into a mediocre fashion designer and beauty blogger. Then he became half a veterinarian, then a spiritual guide coaxing the girl not to lose herself in the dreamscapes woven by the Nightmare Beast. Eventually, he even morphed into a game designer, extracting vast amounts of resources from the little girl through one game after another.

Compared to, well, tricking—no, bringing joy to the young lady, cultivation had been relegated to a secondary priority for Wang Li.

Nevertheless, with resources in hand, his absurdly rapid cultivation speed still allowed him to advance quickly.

Spending half a year cultivating in his "spare time," Wang Li finally perfected all twenty-two of his Nascent Souls. And then... he had to stop cultivating again.

“Lord Sheng, don’t tell me even you don’t know how to reach the Spirit Transformation stage?”

After half a month’s effort, Wang Li still couldn’t make the breakthrough.

Lord Sheng remained silent. Wang Li sighed, “I knew it... Lord Sheng, just tell me what to do.”

He had accepted his fate. Clearly, Lord Sheng hadn’t prepared a conventional path for him to advance; every breakthrough seemed to be a spur-of-the-moment decision. But Wang Li knew he had no alternatives, so he might as well go with the flow.

After all, Lord Sheng wouldn’t let him die.

At worst, he’d suffer through a bit more torment.

So Wang Li thought.

Seeing Wang Li so resigned to his fate, Lord Sheng was a little displeased.

“I am, after all, a sage. Helping you advance is no trouble at all—what preparations could I possibly need?”

“Just pick out your biggest Nascent Soul…”

But before Lord Sheng could finish, Wang Li bristled, “No, no, you’re the boss, but can we not eat my Nascent Soul raw? That hurts an awful lot!”

“Bah! When did I ever say you had to eat it raw?”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“It’s simple. The difference between a Spirit Transformation cultivator and a Nascent Soul cultivator lies in the former’s initial grasp and application of the laws of heaven and earth. A Spirit Transformation cultivator can faintly sense the existence of primordial energy, drawing it into themselves. As long as the primordial energy is inexhaustible, so is the Spirit Transformation cultivator’s power. Primordial energy is simply a higher form of energy than spiritual energy. As long as you absorb enough of it, you’ll naturally reach the Spirit Transformation stage.”

“Then why did you tell me to pick the largest Nascent Soul?”

“The bigger it is, the more primordial energy it can contain. Although this place has a fair amount of primordial energy, it’s still nowhere near enough to sustain all twenty-two of your Nascent Souls.”

“What about the remaining Nascent Souls?”

“Once we return to the Pure Yang Temple, you can continue absorbing primordial energy and upgrading the rest.”

“But wait, didn’t you once say that cultivation can’t be reversed? Didn’t that female cultivator you knew suffer that way?”

“You are you, she is she—it’s not the same. She lost power due to flaws in her techniques and lifespan constraints. You, on the other hand, are an innate being of chaos, already at the Nascent Soul stage, physically robust, with a long enough lifespan. What are you afraid of?”

“But there’s still a problem!”

“When Lord Sheng says you can, you can—what’s with all the arguing?”

“How do I draw in primordial energy? Is it just like absorbing spiritual energy?”

“Nonsense. Of course not. There are levels to power. Spiritual energy is the lowest form. Primordial energy comes from the world’s laws, and is the energy cultivators need before reaching the Great Luo stage. Enough talk—you wouldn’t understand anyway. Just listen to me: first, sense the power of the laws in this realm, find their origin, then draw that origin into your Nascent Soul. After that, your Nascent Soul will naturally attract primordial energy into your body.”

“But the books say that Spirit Transformation is about refining spiritual consciousness and merging it with the soul, so that the primordial spirit can leave the body and roam the heavens…”

“The books describe the ordinary cultivator’s path. With me around, your soul is stronger than most immortals. At your current stage, you’re still dreaming if you think about letting your primordial spirit leave your body!”

“I…”

Wang Li struggled for a long time but couldn’t come up with any convincing rebuttal.

His case was far too unique to be measured by ordinary standards.

Still, hearing Lord Sheng admit that his soul was as strong as a true immortal’s, Wang Li couldn’t help but be delighted.

A soul as powerful as a true immortal’s meant he needn’t fear any mental attacks from those below that level—he had gained yet another trump card.

He could use spiritual attacks freely without worrying about backlash. The thought alone was thrilling...

In the end, Wang Li followed Lord Sheng's method and successfully broke through to the Spirit Transformation stage.

The Spirit Transformation stage was indeed extraordinary. Even in this place devoid of spiritual energy, Wang Li found that he no longer needed to worry about its scarcity; relying solely on primordial energy, he could maintain his normal cultivation. As Lord Sheng had said, perhaps because the primordial energy in this space was limited, or perhaps due to the constraints of his technique, he could no longer advance at the same lightning speed as before. Nevertheless, compared to the time before Jiang Yue’s arrival, he was at least able to cultivate normally.

Within Wang Li’s soul, Lord Sheng’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Heh, the boy is so easily satisfied... But... heh heh...”