Combined with his handsome appearance, this scene would undoubtedly shake the hearts and minds of countless people if witnessed in the outside world. One might even mistake him for a royal prince of the human race, if they were unaware of his true identity.
As the four nascent souls appeared one after another, Xu Qing's cultivation soared rapidly. At this moment, an earth-shattering fluctuation and a terrifying power surged within him. The five nascent souls, including the Golden Crow Nascent Soul, erupted with immense force.
At the same time, a sense of impending heavenly tribulation emerged faintly in Xu Qing's heart. However, it was still lacking a little. It required a stronger sense to fully attract it.
As for the power of the liquid in the Bottle of Time, there was still a trace of it left. Under Xu Qing's guidance, it headed straight for the twelfth Heavenly Palace that he had been waiting to materialize for a long time.
It was already mostly materialized. As it absorbed the power of the liquid, the materialization sped up. Very soon, it reached 80%, 90%, and finally 99%!
The twelfth Heavenly Palace shone with a dazzling light and kept swaying.
It only lacked an item to be completely formed!
Xu Qing opened his eyes and saw the captain looking at him with a look of pity on his face.
The captain's aura was clearly much stronger than before. Just like Xu Qing, he emitted the fluctuations of a Nascent Soul cultivator. However, it was difficult to tell how many nascent souls there were.
"Little Qing, the nascent souls born from the life lanterns in your body are almost close to attracting the power of the first tribulation!"
Noticing that Xu Qing had woken up, the captain took a deep breath and his expression revealed some regret.
"The life lantern is a supreme treasure. However, it's a pity that we don't have the bloodline of the ancient sovereigns and rulers, so we can't give birth to the life lantern ourselves. External life lanterns can never fully integrate with our own bloodline, and thus we cannot achieve the state where the life lanterns become the furnace of the Spirit Repository, placed within the five secret repositories, continuously burning and refining everything into the foundation of our own secret repositories, as the descendants of the legendary ancient sovereigns and rulers did."
"This is also the reason why those great cultivators who have reached the Spirit Repository don't have much desire for life lanterns. It's not that the life lanterns aren't good but that we can't use them in the future. Sigh."
Xu Qing fell silent. Although he didn't know that the life lanterns could turn into a furnace in the Spirit Repository, he also sensed that as his cultivation level increased, the enhancement of the life lantern was about to reach its end.
"Is there no way to completely fuse it with our bloodline?" Xu Qing asked.
"This is the method that everyone has been seeking throughout history, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve unless one's cultivation reaches the realm of the ancient sovereigns and rulers. Only then can one reverse everything, allowing their bloodline to form life lanterns and bestowing this blessing upon their descendants as well."
The captain shook his head.
Xu Qing nodded but he didn't have too many regrets. After all, the life lanterns would provide help even at the Nascent Soul realm. Moreover, Xu Qing felt that the life lantern should be at its strongest in the Nascent Soul realm.
The captain patted Xu Qing's shoulder.
"It's nothing. Let me think of a way. Who knows, maybe we can find a way to achieve it. But for now, let's put that aside. Master probably didn't expect us to have the fortune of this Bottle of Time previously, so he left in a hurry and didn't talk about Nascent Soul in detail. In that case, I'll explain it to you in detail first."
"Different races have different names for the Nascent Soul realm. Some call it the Heavenly Mandate Realm, some call it the Dao Nascent Realm, and some call it the Heavenly Mandate Nascent Soul Realm. Each name is actually determined and modified based on the previous ancient sovereigns who unified the world."
"After the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether unified the world, he established a fixed name for it, known as the Heavenly Mandate Dao Nascent. In reality, it all means the same thing. The word 'Dao' was added in order to unify the understanding among the various races."
"As for the heavenly mandate, it's a type of heavenly tribulation."
As the captain spoke, Xu Qing combined his previous understanding of the Heavenly Mandate Dao Nascent Realm and gradually gained a comprehensive understanding.
In reality, in the understanding of the human race, Heavenly Mandate Dao Nascent was considered to be attained when at least one dao nascent had experienced the baptism of heavenly tribulation.
It could be considered a true step into this realm. Without experiencing the heavenly tribulation, no matter how many nascent souls there were, in theory, the cultivator would only be a fake Nascent Soul.
It was the same during the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether Era. However, as the unification of the human race disappeared, the saying also changed.
According to the understanding of the different races, there were various interpretations. Many races felt that even if they hadn't experienced the heavenly tribulation, as long as the dao nascent appeared, it would signify the Nascent Soul realm.
As for the heavenly tribulation, it was the shackles of the Nascent Soul Realm. Each time a new Nascent Soul appeared, they accumulated their power to face the heavenly tribulation. When they underwent the baptism of the heavenly tribulation, it signified breaking through the shackles once.
The Wanggu World was too big and there were many races. Their physiques were also different. For example, the Quasi-Immortal Race's understanding was completely different from the other races. Hence, it was very difficult for them to have a unified understanding of this realm.
Regarding the methods of advancement, they also differed based on the different races, so there were strong and weak methods.
But ultimately, they could be broadly classified into two categories. One was to choose to attract the heavenly tribulation after the birth of the second nascent soul, thereby advancing to the Heavenly Mandate realm.
The second category was less common and involved allowing all the Heavenly Palaces to transform into nascent souls and collectively undergoing the heavenly tribulation, resulting in a drastic and earth-shattering transformation all at once.
The latter was difficult, but once the cultivator succeeded, the power of the heavenly mandate they would obtain would be even stronger and would be of great help in the Spirit Repository Realm in the future.
After stepping into the realm of Heavenly Mandate Dao Nascent, the method of advancement was different from that of Heavenly Palace Golden Core. It required undergoing the Heavenly Mandate Tribulation, where all the nascent souls experienced a major breakthrough each time they went through the tribulation.
There were a total of five tribulations. After experiencing them all, the cultivator would reach the great circle of perfection.
It was fraught with danger, so the strength of the nascent souls needed to be enhanced and grown continuously in order to have the capability to undergo the tribulation. Otherwise, if the tribulation failed, the nascent soul would irreversibly collapse and permanently disappear.
At this stage, the life lantern was indeed at its most powerful state. This was because even if the life lantern tribulation failed, it wouldn't disappear. Hence, one could try many times after failing.
Xu Qing understood all of this. When he looked at his twelfth Heavenly Palace, the captain suddenly raised his hand and handed the Bottle of Time to Xu Qing.
"Put this item in your twelfth Heavenly Palace!"
Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the captain.
"Although this thing is a treasure, I have no use for it. My cultivation is to remove my seals." The captain chuckled and winked at Xu Qing.
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother." Warmth rose in Xu Qing's heart. Over the years, he had long treated the captain and Old Master Seventh as his indispensable family.
Xu Qing's childhood experiences had made him cold-hearted, but deep inside, he longed for family.
As they had gone through so much together, facing life and death situations time and again, Xu Qing had unconsciously come to see the captain as an older brother, filling a place in his heart that he had longed for.
Xu Qing took the Bottle of Time and placed it in his twelfth Heavenly Palace without hesitation.
The Heavenly Palace rumbled as it fully materialized. Moreover, unlike the other Heavenly Palaces, this twelfth palace emitted waves of time power. In the midst of it all, Xu Qing faintly heard a familiar sigh echoing from the depths of time.
This sigh stunned him.
That was… Zi Xuan's voice.
Xu Qing was about to probe carefully when a deafening boom rang out from the sky. Cracks began to appear, emanating from the distant horizon, swiftly spreading across the entire sky.
The sky seemed to have turned into a spider web.
A crimson color erupted in the sky!
Xu Qing and the captain's expressions changed at the same time.
