Chapter 294 2 (1/2)
The Elderly Man Acts
From the Void Refinement Realm to the Void Fragmentation Realm, one has to keep improving their comprehension on their intent realms to grasp the meaning of a single word: void. Logically speaking, Void Inquiry was a process that could only be done by cultivators who had already attained the Early Void Refinement Realm because if one succeeds in the process, they would then be able to control the power of the Void!
Nascent Soul Realm cultivators cultivate the Primordial Power; Divine Transformation Realm cultivators cultivate the Heavenly Spiritual Power while Void Refinement Realm experts cultivate the power of the Void!
Cultivators at the Divine Transformation Realm were unable to perform Void Inquiry. Besides, if they are affected by a tiny amount of Void Power, they would be injured or even killed, let alone comprehend or master that power.
“Can you succeed in Void Inquiry?!” The elderly man uttered in a serious tone.
Silence filled his ears. There was only the sound of blowing wind.
Ning Fan felt that his state of mind seemed to have sunk into the portrait hanging above the sky, becoming one with the purple-robed young man within it.
It was as if he had returned to the time when he was sixteen years old, to Seven Apricot City, to the particular plum tree which he always saw.
All of a sudden, he had a wrong impression, as if the current him was looking back to his previous life at the current moment.
But at the next moment, he felt as if the person within the portrait was true while the outside world was fake.
The seed of samsara power gradually filled his heart and began to sprout and grow roots.
Ning Fan had once seen his past through the Bell of Samsara but he… had yet to take a glimpse into his future!
“What is true? What is fake? What is real? What is void?”
“The ‘me’ in the Star Island. The ‘me’ in the purple portrait. The ‘me’ in the illusory realm. The ‘me’ in the medicinal garden of the Celestial Emperor… Which one is the true ‘me’?!”
Void Inquiry!
The First Step in cultivation was divided into seven stages. From the beginning till the end of these seven steps, the cultivators were still in the process of comprehending the meaning of void. If one was unable to differentiate what was true and what was fake or what was real and what was void, then they would never be able to master the power of the Void!
“Void, what is it?!”
Ning Fan soared into the sky and roared, as if he was in a state of madness. He stretched out one of his fingers and the tiny amount of Void Power which revolved around the tip of his finger entered the purple portrait, turning into black snowflakes and fell upon the trees.
“Yes…. Yes…”
“I’m real and the portrait is void!”
“This void isn’t completely fake. I have indeed stood below that plum tree and thought about my future. There is no absolute for what’s fake and what’s real. If I look at my past from my current point of view, the past would be virtual and illusory. If right now my future self is looking at me right now, it would also become virtual…”
“When I was in the illusory realm, I stood on the seven million zhang* tall mountain, trying to comprehend the purple technique in order to leave the illusory realm. However, Immortal Sovereign Zi Dou said that the illusory realm may not necessarily be fake. During that time, I could not understand what he meant. But now, I feel that I have a slight understanding of his words… It doesn’t matter what’s fake… In Immortal Sovereign Zi Dou’s eyes, if he wills the illusory realm to be real, it will then be real; if he wills the Four Heavens and Nine Worlds to be fake, everything will then just be an illusion… He has already transcended beyond the boundaries of reality and illusion. He is in a much higher level where he could rewrite history with just a single thought… And that is samsara!”
Samsara!
Ning Fan’s eyes became clearer and brighter than before. At this moment, the virtual presence of Ning Fan within the purple portrait which was condensed using his Fu Li demon intent suddenly turned his head and gazed at the direction of the Star Island, looking at Ning Fan directly!
It was as if the past and the future had interlocked. What caused the two sides to overlap was samsara!
“I got it!”
Ning Fan made a step forward. The purple portrait crumbled and the sky was shrouded with sand!
His eyes were shut tightly but his aura rose drastically.
It was not because of the improvement of his cultivation that caused his aura to surge. Instead, it was because of the refinement of his intent realms which caused his aura to sublime!
The power from the three types of intent realms gradually merged into one.
After the fusion, a new intent realm was produced. It was composed of the color purple, black and dark red!
Furthermore, this intent realm had already surpassed the First Grade!
At this moment, Ning Fan’s intent realm had achieved Large Accomplishment!
He suddenly reopened his eyes and lifted both of his palms into the sky.
A purple tornado emerged on his left hand while black snowflakes appeared on his right.
“My left hand is wind while my right hand is snow. The snow buries my past and the wind will move my current life. Calling the wind with magic power and summoning the snow with the power of the Void, fusing the both of them into one. This is what samsara is!”
At the moment when his two palms met, a rising purple qi encircled hi body. All of a sudden, a black ancient tree with nearly one thousand blood-red plum blossoms on top appeared behind him.
With a flick of his finger, the purple breeze flowed out from his fingertips, carrying black snowflakes which were crystal-clear yet terrifying.
Gently, the snowy breeze flew into the air in front of him and stopped, as if it had clutched onto something. By exerting a little strength, it actually tore the sky within the vicinity of one thousand li* apart as easily as tearing off a piece of paper. The sky was split into half just like that!
The black bear’s countenance experience a great change. Even though he was a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert, there was no way he could break the sky so easily!
However, Ning Fan did it with ease by using that finger of wind and snow!
“Smoke and wind… That is the Immortal Sovereign’s Dao. Snow and wind… That is my Dao… His smoke and wind fills the air but my snow and wind makes one feel lonely… It does not mean that my snow and wind are stronger than Immortal Sovereign’s smoke and wind. It’s just that the snow and wind suit me the most… This is the snow of Seven Apricot City; this is the snow in my hometown…
Clearing off his intent realms and dispersing his wind and snow, Ning Fan closed his eyes and gently lifted his palms. Suddenly, he felt surprised.
As his fingertips moved, a trace of Void Power was immediately drawn out by them.
Although the Void Power was still not strong enough, it was clearly something that should not be held by any Divine Transformation Realm cultivators.
In the past, Ning Fan had to depend on his Eastern Ocean Bell in order to remain in the Void Realm. Today, however, he felt that travelling in the Void Realm would no longer be life-threatening to him as long as it was not too long.
It was because he had already succeeded in Void Inquiry and learnt the main concept of wielding the power of the Void.
In the process of comprehending his intent realms, the insights he had towards the two words: real and void had increased. Because of the new understandings he obtained, he grasped the methods of using Void Power, just like the saying goes: where water flows, a canal is formed!