80: Chapter 79: Finally Reaching Essence Building 80: Chapter 79: Finally Reaching Essence Building It was a silent night, just like any other; at the height of autumn, insects hastened to make their final cries, from which Hou Niao discerned a faint sense of desolation and solemnity.

Just like his mood!

To learn swordsmanship, one must possess Sword Intent, even if it’s vague—this is the essence of improvement.

He couldn’t yet grasp the true Sword Intent, but as autumn chilled and all things hibernated, the world became desolate, and naturally, a killing intent formed in his heart!

In the Sword Storage Tower, he had mastered the essence of several dozen straightforward and tough sword techniques, and through real combat within the Soul Realm, he had sufficiently trained and noticed an inclination toward a qualitative change from the quantitative changes.

Today was the day!

Cleansing himself, changing clothes, closing his eyes to concentrate, he emptied his thoughts and merged himself with the surrounding desolation, silently savoring that touch of imagination when all living things returned to stillness.

As the prime time for evening classes arrived, he promptly operated his Cultivation Technique and performed Energy Induction and Soul Capture.

Now the Heaven and Earth Spirit Mechanism was not merely drawn into the body through breathing, but surged in through the countless pores of his body, from all directions!

Both his Dantians were operating in unison, and he, already well-practiced, quickly maximized the efficiency of Energy Induction, his entire body like a small black hole surrounded by countless fireflies, with even more coming from afar.

Such small black holes were widespread in Jin City.

The time for evening classes was a fixed cultivation time for all cultivators, which aligned best with the heaven and earth.

Realms varied in levels high and low, black holes large and small.

If someone looked down from the sky, the entire Jin City was like a huge Spirit Mechanism black hole—when the Spirit Mechanism intensity of the Jin City area thinned, the Spirit Mechanism of the entire Da Feng Plain began to replenish it, and so on.

Every human city was a black hole plundering Spirit Mechanism, but in the endless supply of Spirit Mechanism from Jinxiu’s heaven and earth, they appeared insignificant.

This was a manifestation of a thriving world Spirit Mechanism environment, a world on the rise, filled with endless possibilities.

A tremendous influx of Spirit Mechanism once again nourished Hou Niao’s already full meridians.

As the Spirit Mechanism circulated around his body, it gradually started to spill out; at that moment, as expected, a slowly rotating vortex appeared at the Purple Mansion location in the center of his lower Dantian, and the spilling Spirit Mechanism consciously started to divert towards this outlet!

This was the predicament Hou Niao had to face!

No matter how he operated his Cultivation Technique or how he absorbed the Spirit Mechanism, the Spirit Mechanism entering his body would always prefer to fill this bottomless pit first!

That meant the Spirit Mechanism would never fill both Dantians!

The only strategy was for him to actively enter the Purple Mansion Vortex and block it from within!

If the ingested Spirit Mechanism couldn’t fill the Purple Mansion Vortex, it would naturally go to the two Dantians.

This Purple Mansion Soul Realm, while giving him extraordinary advancement in sword skill cultivation, also significantly troubled the improvement of his realm.

Fortune and misfortune coexist, truly never deceiving me.

Hou Niao broke into the Purple Mansion Soul Realm, feeling that it was the constant drawing of the Spirit Mechanism that maintained his existence in this realm.

Every existence must have energy to support it, including the spirit and soul.

Opposite, Sword Two raised its head, its cold Ghost Fire eyes staring at him, signaling the beginning of an attack, something he was all too familiar with.

Since returning from Liuyang, he had never seen any other Wandering Souls in the Soul Realm, not a single one, as if Sword Two were the end of the game?

He wasn’t sure; he had to fight to unveil the truth.

The two soul bodies eyed each other for a few moments, then simultaneously initiated, their swords flickering with light!

In an instant, they collided dozens of times, each filled with a decisive, no-return ferocity!

Such occurrences had happened countless times recently, always seemingly one layer of paper away; Hou Niao always unable to puncture that final layer.

But today, he was different!

The sword like autumn water, penetrates everywhere; but the focus wasn’t water, it was autumn!

It was the endless desolation in the autumn air, and in that desolation, a faint sense of an end!

Sword Intent, even the slightest, most superficial thread, had fundamentally transformed his swordsmanship!

While initially at a slight disadvantage, he was now gradually gaining the upper hand, taking the initiative in attacks!

This was not due to sheer good luck today, or divine intervention, but a transformation from quantitative changes to qualitative ones borne out of long-term effort!

It was the result of relentless hard work, life-or-death decisions, unwavering belief, and an understanding of slaughter in the Poplar Forest…

It was when late autumn arrived and the heavens and the earth changed their breaths that he naturally comprehended the essence of autumn’s end!

Everything was under his control, and from today, Sword Two was no longer his match, and there was no possibility of escape!

This was the sword skill he desired, not a deceptive victory by relying on a denser soul body!

He respected the sword, and the sword respected him in return!

After a hundred moves, without hesitation, Hou Niao’s soul body let out a joyful yet ugly shriek, like a rooster whose neck was choked while crowing.

The sword light flowed and flashed across the sky, vanquishing Sword Two under his fierce sword light!

It was a perfect victory!

Now, what to do?

He had realized early on that this was a key juncture, but knowing nothing of what happened at junctions, he could only continue forward, seeing no new soul body.

It was as if all wandering souls had vanished with Sword Two.

Apart from drifting forward, he had no other choice, but soon, he found himself at the end of the corridor!

It seemed as if an energy barrier had sealed off the corridor.

What lay beyond?

He had no idea!

Just as with the path of cultivation, who knew what waited for him in the future?

He smiled slightly and without hesitation, met the obstacle.

To cut through was the answer!

With an initial stroke of his sword, he struck the barrier!

He felt the overflowing, splintering energy fluctuations almost made him unstable on his feet!

In his gaze, as the streaming light dissolved, shrill screams ensued, and a huge group of starving wandering souls lunged at him!

Hou Niao plunged into the ocean of wandering souls!

Like a wavecrest, he instantly disappeared.

…

He returned to his own body, feeling swollen all over as if he was filled with air bubbles, a sensation of the Spirit Mechanism within reaching its peak.

Viscera, meridians, bones, flesh, even every pore in his body was filled with undissipating spiritual power, chaotically squirming about!

Without the outlet of the Purple Mansion Vortex, it was as dangerous as a dam closing its floodgates.

Hou Niao, calm and composed, saw this as the long-awaited opportunity; silently operating the Mysterious Skill, he followed this unanchored river of Spirit Mechanism, guiding and leading it.

The spiritual power surged into both Dantians!

Continuously guiding all the spiritual power in his body into both Dantians until his pores sealed shut, his flesh dried up, his bones became hollow, his meridians shrunk, and his viscera withered…

Then, he reversed the flow, replenishing each part of his body with the spiritual power collected in the Dantians, cycling this process thrice.

The Spirit Mechanism within the Dantians and other parts of the body temporarily balanced.

The Essence Building Realm was actually just this simple!

…

As the Jade Furnace underwent three transformations, yellow buds appeared; the astral hair unsnarled within the fire.

In the halls of Jiang Palace, a man admired the night moon.

A cup of fine wine, sipping on elixir sand.