Chapter 184: Hard Choices (1/2)

”What should I do?” she thought.

It was difficult to just destroy the Evergreen Heart and forget about it. It would be a waste to destroy something as world-shaking as this. At the same time, the amount of attention and danger it would give her did not seem worth it. Even being associated with it could bring trouble much less finding it. There were people out there who would do anything for near-immortality. She would be wanted everywhere and Ming Yue did not want this.

She thought long and hard but could not come to an answer

”I should take advantage of this energy first. Destroy it or not, I should use it at least”, she sat down by the glowing tree and began cultivating under its influence.

Days passed by as her body was continually nourished by the Evergreen Heart. Bathing in this miraculous energy had filled her with power, strengthened her body. Her cultivation skyrocketed until she reached the bottleneck of the Core stage, arriving at the Mind Stage. Even then, breaking through was relatively easy for her.

The island within Ming Yue's body was glowing with energy. Suddenly all of it exploded forth and the energy had caused the island to expand, forming a great mountain next to it.

With the Mind Stage, one's mental capabilities would improve. Their comprehension and thinking is quicker and much stronger.

Once Ming Yue had reached it, information bursted into her mind. Every battle she had witnessed or participated in, every skill that she had created or used, everything that she had experienced blazed through her mind. She saw her shortcomings, weaknesses and improvements. In the span of several hours, she had rewatched her entire life.

As this happened, she never stopped cultivating and continued to devour as much of the Evergreen Heart's power as she could.

The Mind Stage was only a cursory thought as the mountain began to rumble and split apart, transforming into two. From its depths, streams of water spewed out and a great waterfall formed. It flowed down and cascaded towards the edge of the island, falling to the depths of the empty space within her body.

This was the Sight Stage, where one would view the world in a new light. They could easily discern the differences in energy and their properties. Whether it was the world's energy or someone's life force, one could discern evil from good, chaos from serenity, softness and firmness.

Of the seven stages in the Earth Realm, Ming Yue had gone from the first stage of Core to the third stage of Sight. Though she had managed to break past two stages, crossing them was nothing compared to reaching the stage of Perception. This stage is the gate-keeper that kept many cultivators back. It is also the most important one second to reaching the Sky Realm.

The Perception Stage can be considered an evolution to the Sight Stage. Where one can see the subtleties of countless types of energy, the perception stage would give you the ability to interact with these energies. Hence, it was at this stage that one could achieve true flight, to soar in the sky and go wherever one pleased.

Unfortunately, Ming Yue could not reach this stage at this moment. Even with the miraculous powers of the Evergreen Heart, that flourishing island of hers did not expand even further. Nothing improved from cultivating here anymore. Rather, she was too weak to enjoy all of its benefits. Her body could not refine as quickly as she could absorb and in a week, her body was absolutely saturated. Filled to its utmost, absrobing anymore only ended up being dispersed from her body.

”Haah”, she stood up and turned towards the Evergreen Heart.

The great tree continued to release more of its powers, like ripples in a pond it washed over her gently. She could not bear to destroy it but she knew it was the best thing to do. She took out her sword and held it tightly with both her hands.

Power surged through her as wind wrapped the blade, strengthening it ten times over. She raised it high above her head, prepared to chop it in one move.

”Ugh, damnit!”, she cursed herself and released her energy, lowering her sword.