The Grand Abbot leaned forward slightly, his eyes glowing with eager anticipation.
"It is time," he said softly to himself, "How many cycles will he achieve? How many Dao's will he Transform?"
John's eyes seemed to glow with a myriad of colors, like the profundity of the universe was contained within. His dantian shook violently within him, like a creature about to burst out of an egg.
The Dao Transformation breakthrough process was only partially known to him. He knew of some vague details of what was to happen, but did not know exactly what would happen, or how to go about it in the best way possible.
He had inquired into the matter, both with Thunderzen, as well as his master during their recent discussions, but both had given him the same answer.
That he must figure out the process himself.
The answer disappointed him, and he had asked why he was unable to learn. He could seek out books regarding the process, but was cautioned against such a thing by Thunderzen.
"Why?" John had asked, seeking answers.
Both Thunderzen and Lilian had given the same answer.
That it was best to figure out the breakthrough process for oneself. Thunderzen had been vague on his elaborations, but thankfully Lilian had recently provided some clearer answers.
"The path to the Heaven Tribulation Realm is set in its rules, as the heavens lord over all before they break through to the Heaven Tribulation Realm and shed their mortal coil," she had said to him, "but once one has shed their mortal coil, they step beyond the formal rules established by the heavens.
While the overall process forward is the same, Dao Transformation, then World Expansion, and so on, the ascension process, the journey between these realms and into the next realms, are different for everyone," she continued, pausing for a moment to notice John was understanding her words before continuing.
"The journeys are different, and thus the breakthroughs are different," she continued thoughtfully. "Most parts of the journey and breakthroughs are the same, but the tiny differences affect more than you could imagine. Take for example, my breakthrough.
I study the Dao of Death and the Dao of Space primarily. I dabble in many other Dao's as well, but those are my two foremost Dao's," she explained, stern like a scholarly tutor. "The Dao Transformation breakthrough deals with more than just pushing the dantian to the next level. As the name suggests, there is a transformation, one in which the Dao's you comprehend play a vital part. And thus, my breakthrough insights are mostly worthless to you, and could even be harmful to you. They could lead you astray, they could cause far more harm than good."
She paused, studying his face. She nodded lightly as she noticed his stern focus, and then continued.
"And thus, I'll leave you with this final piece of insight," she said. "Going forward, your cultivation journey, and especially your cultivation breakthroughs, will be entirely up to you. Each will be like walking through an unknown land, trying to find the way to the other side.
Each land is different for everyone, and thus you can only trust yourself, and your instincts, to guide you on the correct path."
She smiled at him, a warm, gentle smile, which was incredibly rare from her.
"And I am fully confident that you will be able to tread your correct path, all the way to the pinnacle of the cultivation world."
That conversion boomed within his mind, the echoes reminding him of his master's words. Now that he was on the cusp of breaking through, he could instinctively tell that his master's words were completely correct. He smiled thankfully, and then whispered softly.
"It is time."
The last sliver of Qi needed to step over the edge surged into his dantian, sending it tumbling over the edge.
Boom!
His dantian exploded with a thunderous roar of energy, as if the surging energy within was no longer able to be contained by the dantian. John felt a sharp pain rise within his stomach, where his dantian was. It was as if he was about to explode from within.
There was no panic however, only calm, as he felt he knew what to do next. The steps were as natural to him as drawing in breath. His mind stilled with calm focus, and his soul power surged over his dantian and then pierced within.
The invading soul-power was hungrily absorbed by the dantian, as if it were the sweetest of nectars. The soul unleashed an endless flood of soul power, and the dantian accepted every drop without pause. It was as if the dantian and soul had become one for a moment, perfect in unison.
As his soul power flooded into the dantian, it began to mix with his Qi within, combining into something new. A new form of energy, something separate from the Qi given by the universe, and yet still the same.
The pain in his dantian had vanished, although John had not even noticed this. He was too engrossed in the process of Qi and Soul mixing to give it a moment's thought. It was as if he were becoming whole at the moment, complete for the very first time, and the experience was intoxicating.
His soul fed his dantian ceaselessly, like a torrential storm soaking a barren earth. His dantian was like a black hole, accepting every drop and then wanting more. The process continued for a long time, long enough that John had lost all meaning of time once more.
He felt his dantian strengthen by this infusion of soul power, growing stronger by the second. He felt his body course with energy greater than he had ever felt before. But at the same time, he felt his mind grow weak.
His soul drained itself, turning from an ocean of soul power into a lake, then a puddle, then a drop. He felt alarmed far before it reached this point. If that drop was to disappear, his soul would vanish, and he would die. But he did not stop the process. He would not stop the process.
His instincts flared with a strong message. This was right. This was the way forward. Had he heard from his master that he was to drain his soul to a single drop of soul power, he would never have believed that to be correct. But his instincts, his mind, his very soul, was telling him that this was the way forward, and there was no one that he trusted more than himself.
John felt his mind and soul on the verge of erasure, as if it were about to puff into a stream of smoke and disappear into the void. His memories grew hazy, his mind unclear, his very self was vanishing. Darkness enveloped him.
And then there was light.
A bright light. An explosive light. The light was within his mind, within his soul, but he felt blinded by it. It was as if he were staring directly at the sun.
Boom!
The light exploded into a torrent of energy that flooded into his soul, like a tsunami of energy flooding over a barren land. There was nothing in the way to stop this torrent of energy, which ceaselessly poured into his soul, turning the barren land into a storm of energy.
A storm of life.
The energy was both soul power, and something else. It was not his soul power, but it felt as if it belonged there as naturally as his soul power. His hazy mind cleared up as the energy poured into his soul, and he recognized the source.
It was his essence Qi, although it was not as it had been before. It was now transformed, like it had changed from belonging to someone else, belonging to the heavens, to belonging only to himself. This changed Qi flowed within his soul, a place normally only reserved for his soul power. Anything else within the soul other than soul power would usually cause pain, damage, or even death, but here it felt perfect. His essence Qi belonged here just as much as his soul power did.
The torrent of soul-infused essence flooded ceaselessly into his mind, invigorating it, nourishing it, expanding it. He felt his soul space grow larger, stronger, more profound. The growth intoxicated him. It was the most pleasurable thing he had ever felt. He wanted more. He wanted his soul to grow forever.
That feeling of growth was perfect. And then it stopped.
His mind shook with the unexpected end of the process, as if he had suddenly snapped out of a daze.
'No,' John thought. 'More. I want more!'
He urged his dantian to send more Qi, but shook once more. His dantian was empty, as empty as his soul had been just moments ago. There was a singular scrap of Qi remaining, like an evaporating dew drop in the early morning, about to disappear. There was no more energy to give.
'No! This is not the end. I won't allow it to end!' John roared within his mind. He wanted more.
Boom!
His mind shook, feeling as if his mind nearly exploded from within. John ignored that intense pain, gritting his teeth with focused intensity. The soul-infused Qi exploded out of his mind once more, surging through his body back into his empty dantian, filling it anew.
He didn't know why he did this. He just did it. It felt right. It was what he should do. What he must do.
His dantian surged with power, drinking the energy as greedily as his soul had just done moments ago. It too grew as his soul had done, becoming larger, stronger, more profound. As his dantian drank, his soul became emptier and emptier, until just a drop remained once more.
Boom!
His body shuddered as the energy reversed once more, surging back into his soul. It flooded back without pause, making him bask in the sensation of its invigoration. His dantian was steadily drained of Qi until it was nearly empty, and at that moment, John's mind shook once more as a revelation struck him.
He had been doing this process entirely instinctively, not knowing why, but knowing it was right. Now that both his soul and dantian had absorbed the soul-Qi energy twice, he had noticed something incredible.
Each time both had greedily absorbed the energy, they had grown. That should have been impossible, as he was draining the energy each time he sent it back and forth, the same energy as had been there at the start.
But with each cycle, soul and dantian grew. He finally understood.
The energy within was growing as well, as if it were a wellspring, endlessly providing more water from parts unseen. He didn't know how this was possible, but he didn't care. He embraced the euphoric sensation, and steeled his mind.
He was going to push this process until his mind was about to break, or his dantian was about to shatter. He would push himself to the edge and step beyond, as he had done once before, during his ascension to the Core Formation Realm. He would not leave an ounce of power out of his grasp, no matter how much it hurt.
He would become perfect.
