With the Griffin killed and absorbed, Mira now stood at the very peak of the spire, the swirling nexus of power beckoning her. The combined energies of the sun and moon intermingled into something uniquely beautiful, as if fire and ice had reached an equilibrium.
Mira approached cautiously, her breathing heavy and her body trembling from the aftermath of her last attack. Using her Black Tail to kill the Griffin sucked an enormous amount of lifespan out of her, around 25%.
Yet, that was already a reduced number, as it would've been much higher if she didn't have access to Primal Energy.
She guessed it would've cost her at least 50% of her lifespan to kill that Griffin if she hadn't formed her Primal Heart.
'The difficulty really escalated…' Mira thought, not expecting to use her Black Tail at all in this Realm.
However, she didn't see any other way to beat it.
Hell, she couldn't even hit it, much less kill it!
'It could've been testing me.' She considered that for a moment and felt it could be plausible. 'I didn't feel any killing intent coming from it, but it could've just been skilled at hiding it.'
In the end, Mira just shrugged her shoulders.
It was dead now, and it's not like she could go back in time to ask it about its motives.
'At least it provided me with a substantial amount of Qi.' Mira gave a weak smirk, feeling her meridians and core overflowing with energy.
She didn't know if there was enough to make it into the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but there should be plenty enough to enter the 8th Stage.
Thrilled that she would soon reveal every aspect of her soul and finally be done with the Nascent Soul Realm, she stepped before the swirling mix of energy.
On one side, an intense, fiery, untamed energy converged onto the center of the Spire. On the other side, an equally intense yet calm, icy, and soothing energy merged with the other.
However, now that she got a closer look, right down the middle, there was a stream of extremely pure, dense Qi keeping the two together.
All three of these energies then converged onto a single point on the Spire to create something entirely new. Something that made her Primal Heart pulse with need.
Steadying her breath, Mira's eyes narrowed. Then, with her eyes burning with desire, she stepped inside.
"Ugh!" She grunted, immediately feeling a surge of overwhelming energy flow through her.
The fiery energy from the sun flowed straight into her Primal Heart, where it did its best to absorb and consolidate as much of it as it could. It began rampaging around as if it were a wild beast, but Mira's Sub-Zero 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence was strong enough to keep it from causing harm.
Meanwhile, the energy from the moon went to her Human Heart, where it went into her veins, cycling throughout her body and improving her physique.
She had almost forgotten about it until now, but her physique, what she called the Extreme Overlord Yin Physique, was a fundamental part of her power, especially before she turned into a Fox/Human hybrid.
She'd spent so much time over the last few years trying to improve her cultivation, bodily strength, understanding her beast-like traits, and more that she had almost completely lost touch with her human side.
Not that she wanted to. She just didn't know how to strengthen or improve her Physique.
Now that she felt her Physique being improved, or rather altered, she was reminded of her roots. Perhaps, she wouldn't just come out of this with a higher cultivation and a new form, but something else as well.
Finally, the thin strand of Qi keeping it all together went straight for her core.
It mixed with her current Qi, continuously improving its quality and purging out any unwanted impurities.
The maelstrom of energies surrounding Mira began to synchronize with the very rhythms of her heartbeats.
Every inhale she took was a deep, searing wave of the sun's molten fire.
Every exhale was a cooling release of the moon's silver frosts.
And beneath it all was the grounding Qi that constantly refined her.
Mira felt like she was being torn apart and reassembled anew.
The energy from the sun, so raw and fierce, began challenging her Primal Heart. It wasn't simply about absorbing; it was about dominating, molding, and becoming one with the energy.
It sought to shatter her very essence, to rebuild her stronger than before. Each pulse of this energy clashed with her Blood Essence, threatening to crack the foundation of her strength.
However, the things received from the FLDIL aren't low-quality trash. Her Blood Essence and, simultaneously, her Primal Heart stood strong, accepting everything the sun had to offer.
At the same time, the moon's ethereal coolness began weaving through her Human Heart, anchoring her when the fiery tempest threatened to consume her.
This energy was the balm to the sun's blaze. With each cycle, it seemed to rejuvenate her, mending frayed connections, reminding her of her humanity, and tempering her unique elemental affinities.
Mira also felt the shifting and molding of her physique, the very fabric of her being rewritten.
Each cell in her body vibrated. Her Extreme Overlord Yin Physique began to resonate with the other energies in her body, intending to capitalize on the "Yin" portion and make that the focal point.
But it was the thin strand of pure Qi, acting as both a bridge and a guardian, that surprised her the most.
It was almost sentient in nature, intelligently navigating her core, merging, and separating, directing where energies should go.
Its purity was of such an extent that it began elevating her cultivation base. Mira could sense the barriers of the Nascent Soul Realm stages beginning to thin without her even having to do anything.
Her 9-Tailed Fox Progenitor Blood Essence began to react violently. The fiery energy of the sun enhanced the very essence of the fox within her, reigniting the ancient powers that lay dormant within.
One by one, her tails began to manifest physically around her, each one glowing with an ethereal luminescence.
The nine tails that had always been a manifestation of her unique powers began to vibrate with an intensity she had never felt before. They expanded, filling up with the trio of energies, becoming something like mini-dantians themselves.
But that was just the beginning.
At the root of her tails, she felt 9 connections forming, merging with her meridians. Qi, Primal Energy, and Yin Essence (what she decided to call the energy released from the moon) all came together, shifting some of her World Tree/Chaotic Silk meridians around to create different pathways.
They weren't merely extensions of her form anymore but channels that directed the merging energies into her very essence.
No longer did she have to convert her Qi at a horrible conversion rate to refill her tails with energy. Instead, they were now linked to her cultivation base.
As she felt the fiery sun's energy pour into her, her already icy silver hair started to shimmer with gold strands.
The glow of her eyes intensified, transitioning from crimson to a fusion of gold and iridescent silver, representing the perfect melding of her fox and human spirits with the energies of the sun and moon.
Her nine tails, each a symbol of her Progenitor lineage, began to transform. The fur became more luminescent as they were continuously pumped with energy.
The swirling patterns of sun and moon energies spiraled around each tail, embedding ancient runes onto them.
The physical boundaries that once defined her started to blur. Her silhouette began to shimmer, suggesting a form that was both tangible and intangible. The air around her pulsed with power as her presence exploded, making it clear that she was not merely growing but ascending.
She felt her consciousness expand and, with it, her Soul Sense, which didn't show any signs of stopping.
Inside her, a triangle of energies formed, creating a sort of harmony. Her Primal Heart, Human Heart, and Core were all connected to one another, each fueling the other's existence.
Her Primal Heart improved her physical strength, while her Human Heart enhanced her power and control over her elemental affinities. Lastly, the increasing quality of her Qi made every aspect of her better.
With everything at her disposal, she could now access a locked part of herself that she never knew she had:
Her Progenitor Form.
Around her, the spire's energy began to resonate, its own ancient power acknowledging her transcendence. The ground below her feet pulsed, and the skies above sang, each note a testament to her transformation.
Finally, as the surge of power began to diminish, Mira felt a profound sense of clarity. She looked down at her form, seeing not just a fox or a human or even a hybrid. It was something entirely new.
As if she had gone beyond those things. She felt like she was similar to an Elemental, that was a part of nature, than anything else.
Her control over Qi and overall strength was immense right now, she felt like she could conquer the world in this state.
In fact, after she was done here, she really wanted to see just how strong she really was.
With a serene smile, Mira closed her eyes and honed in on her soul.
'It's time to break through.'
