Chapter 1837 : 10 Limits Primordial Spirit

Hearing this, Lyra (Person Name) understood that although the Innate Spirit Water was profoundly mysterious, it was not an all-purpose solution.

This water could accelerate the growth of the Primordial Ancient Tree and replenish part of the origin energy required for it to bear fruit, yet it could not supply all the primordial origin force the ancient tree needed.

After repeatedly accelerating its growth, the Primordial Ancient Tree would become severely depleted. Before its origin essence could recover, no amount of Primordial Spirit Water could induce it to bear fruit again.

Understanding this, Eldrin nodded slightly and said, "Regardless, producing 70-2 Soul Fruits of Heaven every kalpa is truly extraordinary."

Lyra (Person Name) also nodded in agreement upon hearing this, gazing at the Soulheaven Fruits before her as she remarked, "These Soulheaven Fruits are sufficient to help several individuals break through the barrier of the Primordial Spirit."

Eldrin nodded slightly. According to the conventions of the 3 1000 Immortal Domains, if a 4 Tribulation Ancient Immortal could refine 10 Celestial Soul Fruits, their primordial spirit would have a high probability of breaking through the 9 Limits realm, thereby shattering the Primordial Spirit Heavenly Barrier and advancing to become a 5 Tribulation Ancient Immortal.

Before him lay these 70-2 crystals, which meant they would likely suffice for the cultivation needs of 7 Ancient Immortals.

When supplemented with soul-nurturing treasures such as Nourishing Soul Wood and Dragon's Breath Incense, the required quantity of Soul Nurturing Fruits would be significantly reduced.

According to Eldrin's (Person Name) calculations, refining a substantial segment of Soul-Nurturing Wood with the assistance of 3 to 4 Soul-Heaven Fruits could potentially enable 1 to cultivate the Divine Soul Heavenly Pass.

At this thought, Eldrin took 20 Soul-Nourishing Fruits and tossed the rest to Lyra, saying, "With the remaining Heavenly Soul Fruits, cultivate in conjunction with the Soul-Nourishing Wood."

"I shall not impose further, but hope that by my next return, you will have shattered the barrier of the Primordial Spirit Ascension."

Hearing this, Lyra took Eldrin's hand and said, "You've already paved the cultivation path for us. If we can't even overcome such minor obstacles, how could we ever hope to catch up to your footsteps in the future?"

Eldrin smiled faintly and said nothing more, eventually departing from the Qingcang Immortal Realm.

With the aid of the Chaos Pearl, he returned to the Chaotic Sea, traversed the primordial chaos, and arrived at the Violet Sun Immortal Realm. There, he found the secluded Elder of the Horizon's End and the Celestial Maiden, both immersed in profound cultivation.

At this moment, the 2 had just finished refining the dragon's saliva incense. Upon detecting Eldrin's arrival, they immediately emerged from their secluded cultivation chamber.

"This time, you've returned truly swiftly."

Seeing Eldrin return so swiftly, the Celestial Maiden couldn't help but remark with a trace of astonishment.

Eldrin shook his head, however, and spoke calmly, "I merely employed an unorthodox method."

At this point, Eldrin said nothing more, simply retrieving 2 segments of Soul-Nurturing Wood and 6 Heavenly Soul Fruits from his sleeve.

Tianya Ancestor couldn't help but shudder inwardly after just 1 glance, exclaiming, "This..."

"These are for you."

Eldrin spoke with a faint smile, "Having refined 2 pieces of dragon's saliva incense in succession, and now with the aid of these 2 treasures, your chances of breaking through the Soul Avatar Heavenly Barrier should be quite substantial."

The Celestial Maiden and the Ancient Cliff Ancestor exchanged a glance, their hearts surging with both astonishment and exhilaration.

But after a brief moment, the Celestial Maiden still declined, saying, "These rare treasures are truly far too precious."

"Yes, we do not deserve this."

Before Eldrin departed this time, he had promised to bring them a segment of Soul-Nurturing Wood, which had been within their anticipated arrangements.

In their estimation, a segment of Soul-Nurturing Wood was worth 300 strands of Primordial Qi. Now, with the Great Calamity approaching, the price had risen by half, amounting to roughly 450 strands of Primordial Qi.

This expedition into the Chaos had yielded the 3 of them treasures collectively worth over 2,000 strands of Primordial Qi. When combined with the indescribably valuable Soulfruit Tree of Heaven, each of them stood to receive no less than 500 strands of Primordial Qi for their share.

5 100 strands of Primordial Qi were more than enough to purchase a segment of Soul-Nourishing Wood.

But the Soul-Nurturing Wood that Eldrin had just produced was a large section—the difference was simply too vast.

You must understand, a large piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood starts at a market price of 800 strands of Primordial Qi. Generally, such items only circulate within the Great Luo Ancient Sect and are exceptionally rare on the open market.

Large sections of Soul-Nourishing Wood are rarely seen on the market, primarily because the vast majority of ancient immortals cannot afford them.

Generally speaking, ancient immortals who require Soul-Nourishing Wood are mostly those who have undergone 4 or 5 heavenly tribulations. With the power of a 4-tribulation ancient immortal, 1 could at most slay a chaos beast king that has endured 1 or 2 tribulations.

The 4 Calamities Ancient Immortals were greatly suppressed by the Chaos Sea. Attempting to slay a Chaos Beast King remained highly perilous, as they often not only failed to eliminate their target but were instead relentlessly pursued by the Chaos Beast King of equivalent cultivation realm.

Thus, when ancient immortals ventured into the Chaos Sea, they would often sustain injuries, squandering vast amounts of time and resources in secluded cultivation to heal their wounds.

Many 4 Calamities Ancient Immortal Patriarchs, after venturing into the Chaos for an entire kalpa, would often harvest over a 1000 strands of Primordial Qi. Yet, more than half were typically spent on acquiring healing immortal medicines, leaving truly preserved ones scarcely abundant.

The vast majority of 4 Calamity Ancient Immortals would typically spend over a 100 million years, yet barely manage to accumulate a mere 2 to 3 100 strands of Primordial Qi.

If they did not perish, a 4 Tribulations Ancient Immortal would need to save for 1 or 2 kalpas to barely afford a small fragment of Soul-Nurturing Wood.

Yet, relying solely on a small segment of Soul-Nourishing Wood is hardly sufficient to breach the Celestial Barrier of the Primordial Spirit. Thus, countless ancient immortal patriarchs have squandered hundreds of millions of years, yet few have managed to transcend the realm of 5 Calamities Ancient Immortals.

The 9 Celestial Passes of the Great Dao—each stood as an immense threshold. Those capable of cultivating from a First Tribulation Ancient Immortal through the Seventh Tribulation were but 1 in a 1000, truly exceptional talents across the ages.

To return to our story, both Skyreach Elder and Celestial Maiden were well aware of the immense value of this large segment of Soul-Nurturing Wood. Moreover, when Eldrin (Person Name) gifted them the wood, he had also presented them with 3 Heavenly Soul Fruits.

The Celestial Maiden took a deep breath, unable to hold back from saying, "The combined value of the Soul-Nurturing Wood and the Heaven-Soul Fruit exceeds 1,200 strands of Primordial Qi. Even with our resources, we cannot afford them."

"Fellow Daoist, please swiftly retract this. There is no need for such cultivation."

Eldrin shook his head with a faint smile. "As we both know, for true high-ranking Ancient Immortals, neither Innate Ancient Treasures nor supreme-grade Innate Marvels qualify as genuinely peerless divine artifacts."

"Whether 1 can break through the bottleneck of their own cultivation realm is the most priceless treasure of all."

"These treasures may appear precious, but what truly matters is your breakthrough to the 5 Tribulations Realm. Only by becoming my 2 greatest assets will you prove your ultimate worth."

The Ancient 1 of the Remote Skies pondered briefly before speaking, "This counts as a debt we owe you. We shall repay it when you venture into the Primordial Chaos in the future."

Hearing this, Eldrin (Person Name) nodded with a faint smile and handed the treasures over to Old Man Tianya (Person Name) and the Celestial Maiden (Person Name).

Seeing this, the 2 repeatedly expressed their gratitude before going into seclusion to refine the rare treasures.

Watching the 2 head into seclusion, Eldrin couldn't help but nod slightly, a faint smile gracing his lips.

Among the 9 Great Celestial Barriers of the Grand Luo, the Barrier of Fate is the most ethereal and elusive. To shatter 1's own Barrier of Fate, 1 must possess an Innate Spiritual Treasure as a 'Dao-Unification Supreme Treasure,' merging with the power of the Great Dao to achieve even the slightest possibility.

The Spirit Treasure Heavenly Pass places the greatest emphasis on fate and backing. If 1 possessed heaven-defying fortune, obtaining an innate spirit treasure would naturally allow for a breakthrough.

Without a heaven-defying opportunity, having the Great Luo Ancient Sect as a backer would still grant 1 the chance to receive a bestowed Primordial Spiritual Treasure, thereby breaking through to the realm of 8-Calamity Ancient Immortals.

The Heavenly Barrier of Divine Abilities values talent and insight above all. Those with exceptional brilliance can create their own Great Luo Divine Abilities, ascending in a single step to shatter the Heavenly Barrier.

Those with astonishing comprehension may grasp the Patriarch-level divine arts created by ancient Great Perfected Ones, and by cultivating them to mastery, can similarly shatter the Heavenly Barrier of Divine Arts.

Of course, there exists a disparity between the 2 realms. Those who cultivate the divine abilities of predecessors ultimately cannot rival the creators of such abilities, generally only reaching the 9-Limit Realm of Patriarch-level divine arts.

Those who create their own divine abilities achieve absolute compatibility with their powers, enabling them to unleash might far beyond the ordinary. Such abilities begin at the level of 10 Limits—a sovereign-grade divine art from the very start.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some possessed comprehension so extraordinary it astonished the ages, capable of innovating upon existing foundations and ultimately advancing to even greater heights—reaching the Tenth Limit, or even the Eleventh Limit in 1 breakthrough.

Some have even cultivated a 12-limit Primordial Chaos-level supreme divine ability, capable of suppressing the Great Dao with a single technique. With 1 divine art, they could dominate the 9 Heavenly Passes, achieving the magnificent feat of overwhelming 10 1000 paths with 1.

Beyond the 3 great trials of Fate, Numinous Treasures, and Divine Abilities, among the remaining 6 great trials, the trial of the Dao Heart requires no external resources—it solely tests whether 1’s own Dao Heart is flawless.

Among the 5 great celestial passes that require resources, the Dao, Dao Fruit, physical body, and magic power passes all consume ordinary resources. Unlike the primordial spirit, they are not fragile and thus require minimal expenditure.

Generally speaking, the resources required to break through the Nascent Soul Heavenly Barrier would even exceed the sum of those consumed for the previous 4 major Heavenly Barriers combined.

In other words, once 1 achieves mastery over the Primordial Spirit Heavenly Pass, nearly half the resources required to break through all 9 Heavenly Passes in cultivation would have already been gathered.

As for the remaining 2 Celestial Passes—the Dao Heart and Fate—they do not depend on resources. The Spiritual Treasure Celestial Pass and the Divine Ability Celestial Pass rely on enlightenment, talent, opportunity, and even backing. Merely having sufficient effort and resources does not guarantee a breakthrough.

If both Tianya Patriarch and the Celestial Maiden successfully break through to the 5-Calamity Ancient Immortal realm this time, their future cultivation will primarily focus on comprehending divine abilities and enlightening their Dao Heart.

Though their talents made comprehending the Great Luo Divine Art profoundly challenging, so long as their Dao Hearts remained largely unblemished, they needed only to pass the '3 Inquiries of the Great Dao'—the tribulation of the heart—to break through to the realm of 6-Calamity Ancient Immortals.

Of course, passing the '3 Trials of the Great Path' in the Heavenly Gate of Dao Heart was exceptionally arduous. The slightest flaw in 1's Dao heart would render all previous efforts futile.

Countless 5 Calamities Ancient Immortals, burdened by remorse, fear, or regret in their hearts, found themselves unable to confront the Heavenly Tribulation of the Dao Heart, thus remaining forever stagnant in their breakthroughs.

The ancient immortal of Ziya from that era, who had weathered 7 heavenly tribulations, successively shattered the 7 great heavenly barriers of the flesh body, the Great Dao, the Dao Fruit, magical power, primordial spirit, divine abilities, and spiritual treasures. His innate talent and comprehension could truly be described as unparalleled since time immemorial.

Yet, by hiding under the protection of the Celestial Court and not daring to emerge to face the heavenly tribulation for dozens of kalpas, he failed to break through the Heavenly Barrier of the Dao Heart, ultimately leading to his defeat in attaining the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

"I wonder if the 2 of them will be able to overcome the Trial of Dao Heart in the future."

Eldrin murmured inwardly, returning to the seclusion chamber as his eyelids gradually lowered.

Regardless of the affairs between the Celestial Maiden and the Ancient 1 of the Distant Shore, the present him must refine the Soul Nurturing Treasure and attempt to shatter the barrier of the Primordial Spirit Ascension.

Eldrin (Person Name) had cultivated the half-step Patriarch-level divine ability 5-Colored Divine Light for many years. The esoteric art attached to this divine light, the 5 Lights Spirit Refining Grand Method, could temper the primordial spirit day and night.

Moreover, his own foundation would also enhance his primordial spirit, making Eldrin’s primordial spirit exceptionally formidable.

Thus, after cultivating for many years, although Eldrin's primordial spirit had yet to break through the Ninth Limit Realm, it had long since reached the peak of the Eighth Limit Realm, leaving him merely a step away from the Ninth Limit.

This time in seclusion, Eldrin first attempted to refine a large segment of Soul-Nourishing Wood.

No sooner had the refinement been completed than Eldrin felt his vast primordial soul surge into the Soul-Nurturing Wood. Through the wood’s continuous tempering and purification, he effortlessly broke through to the Ninth-Limit Realm.

"The Soul Barrier... has been broken just like that?"

Eldrin suddenly murmured, his voice tinged with surprise as he spoke.

While others striving to breach the Divine Soul Heavenly Barrier might cultivate for hundreds of millions of years without success, he had effortlessly reached this very stage.

However, upon careful reflection, this was to be expected.

The Radiant Divinity Refinement Art was intrinsically linked to the 5-Colored Divine Light. By tempering his soul day and night with this art, Eldrin was essentially continuously channeling a half-step Patriarch-level divine ability to nourish his primordial spirit.

As a result, Eldrin (Person Name)'s primordial spirit had long become incomparably powerful, even surpassing the limits of the 9-Limits Realm (Cultivation Realm) in quality long ago.

An ordinary 4-Tribulation Ancient Immortal typically possessed a soul that was relatively fragile and incomparably difficult to restore once damaged.

Eldrin's primordial spirit was nearly immortal and indestructible; even if torn into hundreds of fragments, it could easily rejuvenate. Strictly speaking, its essence had reached the 10 Limits Realm.

The only shortcoming was that the thickness of Eldrin's (Person Name) primordial spirit essence was still insufficient, leaving him stranded at the Eighth Limit Realm.

Having initially refined the Soul Nurturing Wood and receiving its nourishment, his primordial soul’s foundation surged dramatically, instantly reaching the Ninth Limit realm.

"The 10-Limit Realm is right before my eyes."

Eldrin murmured softly, immediately retrieving a Soul Heaven Fruit and beginning to refine it.

In just a 1000 years, this Heaven Soul Fruit was completely refined by Eldrin (Person Name) into primordial soul essence.

Thus Eldrin pressed on, and after refining 10 more Soul Fruits, his Primordial Spirit naturally broke through to the Tenth Limit.

However, Eldrin paid it no mind. He continued refining the Heaven Soul Fruits until all 4 remaining fruits were fully absorbed, only then did he slowly draw a deep breath.

"10-Limit Soul?"

Sensing the power of his primordial spirit, Eldrin murmured softly, a faint smile unconsciously gracing his gaze.

In that moment, he discovered the formidable strength of his primordial spirit and gained profound insight into its future cultivation methods.

"The soul is relatively fragile. Since ancient times, the method for Ancient Immortals to break the 9 limits has primarily relied on nourishing the soul with rare spiritual treasures of the soul."

Compared to cultivation methods that temper the physical body, spiritual power, and other heavenly barriers, such an approach is far too gentle and would squander over half of the medicinal efficacy—yet it remains the sole path for the vast majority of Ancient Immortals.

"But I am different. My primordial spirit has been refined to the point of near-indestructibility through relentless tempering. I have no need for such gentle cultivation."

"And what's more..."

Eldrin spoke softly, his gaze growing slightly solemn. "The conventional 9-limit spirit remains far too fragile for this realm."

"With such a fragile primordial spirit, can you truly break through to the Great Perfection Realm?"

"Even if you break through to the Great Luo Realm, there will inevitably be shortcomings in the future. It may not be possible to fully merge with what lies beyond the Great Dao." (Chapter End)

Chapter 1: The Prodigy's Fall The mountain mist coiled like ancient serpents, shrouding the Qingyun Sect's training grounds in ethereal silence. Ling Xuan stood at the precipice of the Cliff of Lost Dreams, his white robes fluttering like torn pages from a celestial scripture. Once the pride of the sect, now his dantai—the very core of his cultivation—lay shattered like jade struck by lightning. "30-2 1000 spirit stones," Elder Ming's voice echoed coldly across the stone plaza, "that was the price the sect invested in your 9 Revolutions Nirvana cultivation method. And now..." His words trailed off, but the disappointment hung heavier than mountain mist. Ling Xuan's fingers tightened around the rusted sword at his waist. For thousands of years, the Qingyun Sect had produced geniuses as numerous as the stars, yet he—who had reached the Foundation Establishment realm at merely 16—now found his meridians blocked, his cultivation regressing day by day. "Senior Brother Ling," a melodious voice interrupted his thoughts. Su Li emerged from the mist, her azure robes shimmering with faint spiritual energy. "The sect council has decided. You're to guard the Scripture Depository for the next 3 years." A dozen or so disciples whispered behind her, their eyes filled with pity and scorn. Ling Xuan's lips curved into a bitter smile. The Scripture Depository—where forgotten scrolls gathered dust, a place for those without hope. That night, as moonlight filtered through the decaying texts, Ling Xuan's blood accidentally stained an ancient jade slip. Suddenly, golden characters materialized in the air: "The Chaos Genesis cultivation method recognizes its master." A thunderous voice resonated in his mind: "Dantai shattered? Meridians blocked? Mere trivialities! I, the Vast Heaven Lord, have waited 90-9 1000 years for a successor!" Ling Xuan's eyes snapped open, glowing with primordial light. The game had just begun.