Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Instantly, Hao Ren was unblocked from head to toe, and the Dragon Core in his Dantian got one opening on it after a crisp ‘Clap’ sound.
The mountains in the distance looked clearer, and the grass and trees on the hills seemed to be brighter.
The broken Mount Tai Bracelets dropped to the ground in four pieces.
This meant Hao Ren had broken through to Kan-level!
The Nature Essence that had been circulating around the Dragon Core began to travel around his body like a small dragon!
Hao Ren had been tired after half a day of cultivation, but now, he felt instantly refreshed!
However, Premier Xia wasn’t surprised by Hao Ren’s breakthrough. Instead, he was gazing up at the sky and murmuring, “Soul Formation Cultivator…”
Hao Ren controlled his strength and tried to get used to the power of Kan-level before asking Premier Xia, “Soul Formation Cultivator?”
Premier Xia turned around and nodded. “A Soul Formation Cultivator just passed through the sky, inspiring you. Different from us, Soul Formation Cultivators are purely human cultivators.”
“Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, Kan; which level are they?” Hao Ren asked.
Premier Xia immediately shook his head. “The Soul Formation Cultivators are all super powerful cultivators who can sweep through the earth. They have reached the ascending realm, but they don’t want to be regulated by the Heavens. After blocking the Heavenly Tribulation, they remain in the mortal world.”
“Does this mean that they are even more powerful than Zhao Yanzi’s Third Uncle?” Hao Ren wanted to confirm his guess.
“Their power is indeed greater than that of Third Lord!” Premier Xia admitted helplessly before continuing, “We dragons possess Dragon Cores which give us a natural cultivation boost. The Core Formation Cultivator is equivalent to our Zhen-level, but the effort required before the Core Formation Realm is ten times more difficult than our cultivation before Zhen-level! That is why it is thousands of times more difficult for them to reach the Nascent Soul Realm compared to us reaching the equivalent Qian-level! Without extreme fortitude and luck, it’s impossible for a human cultivator to reach the Soul Formation Realm! That is why even the Dragon Kings of the four oceans would show respect to the Soul Formation Cultivators when they meet each other. Even the mighty Inspectors who supervise the Dragon Tribe have to keep their distance with these cultivators!”
“In short, you can never mess with the Soul Formation Cultivators!” Premier Xia concluded.
“Ok.” Hao Ren nodded. “Was it a passing Soul Formation Cultivator who helped me with the breakthrough?”
Premier Xia nodded with force and explained, “That was a sign of your great luck. Maybe the Soul Formation Cultivator was in a good mood and gave you a hand when he or she saw you cultivating diligently.”
“No one can get a glimpse of the Soul Formation Cultivators. They either lived as hermits in the depth of mountains or stayed among the humans disguised as mortals. No one can look through their disguises, and not a single person can pose a threat to them.”
Premier Xia didn’t believe that Hao Ren knew a Soul Formation Cultivator.
Hao Ren was startled by Premier Xia’s words.
If these cultivators were in a good mood, they could casually help him break through. Did it also mean that they could destroy him casually if they were in a bad mood?
They were masters who were even more powerful than Zhao Kuo. Seeing Hao Ren’s alarmed expression, Premier Xia smiled. “Gongzi Hao, don’t worry. The Soul Formation Cultivators rarely show themselves, and there are no more than ten of them in the mortal world. They rarely move around and never interfere with the mortal’s businesses. You are really lucky to have received guidance from one of them!”
Hao Ren relaxed. After all, his current realm was tens of levels lower than the Soul Formation Realm, and it was impossible that this cultivator came here on purpose to inspire him. He raised his head and bowed in the direction where the five-colored godly light beam had disappeared to thank this cultivator for helping him.
After breaking through to Kan-level, his entire body was refreshed. He was about to walk down the hill when his belly was suddenly struck with a sharp pain.
The pain was so sharp that he felt as if his head was going to break, and he felt like the Dragon Core in his body was cracking.
“Gongzi Hao, this is the sign of the official breakthrough. Please hurry up and take the elixir pills!” Seeing that Hao Ren was experiencing excruciating pain, Premier Xia picked up the box from the ground in a hurry and was about to put it into Hao Ren’s hands.
Hao Ren lifted his hands and pushed the box away.
He was determined to pass this transformation process on his own.
Thud! Thud!
He pushed both of his hands into the ground!
The five-elemental essences rushed around aimlessly in his body, penetrating his skin and bones.
Swoosh… Hao Ren shot out sword energies through his fingers randomly, creating several deep holes in the ground.
“Gongzi Hao…” Premier Xia walked close to Hao Ren and said in concern.
Hao Ren shook his head, refusing to take the elixir pills. He began to shake uncontrollably, and he felt like all the meridians in his body were reforming!
They were turning from human meridians to dragon meridians! This would happen when the Dragon Core got its first opening!
After the Dragon Core acquired enough openings, Hao Ren’s meridians and blood would completely become dragon meridians and dragon blood. At that time, he would be able to stay in his current human form or transform into a real dragon!
Layers of Tribulation Clouds appeared, but they were white instead of black. Different from the breakthrough of the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, this breakthrough didn’t trigger a Lightning Tribulation. These clouds were the result of the fast rotation of the Dragon Core which had quickened the condensation of Nature Essence in the area!
These were Auspicious Clouds!
If it had been the time when cultivation was popular, people who saw the clouds would know that someone just had a breakthrough.
Reaching Kan-level meant that Hao Ren was officially entering the cultivation world.
Instantly, he turned from a mortal to a cultivator.
To earn the opportunity of glimpsing at the Heavenly Secrets, one must experience the painful total body transformation.
Even though the Nature Essence was flowing chaotically in his body, Hao Ren sat on the ground stubbornly, determined to pass it with his own effort.
If the pain he experienced last time felt like he was being skinned alive, this time, he felt as if his body was being cut into several pieces before being glued together!
Boom!
Ten sword energies shot out of his fingers, instantly blowing up the bushes around him.
“Congratulations, Gongzi Hao! You have reached Kan-level!” Premier Xia stepped forward and picked up the elixir box before congratulating Hao Ren with a relieved expression.
Hao Ren exhaled deeply and stood up. The Dragon Core and the five elemental array formation around it were now one system, and the first opening on the Dragon Core was now diligently absorbing the Nature Essence around it.
Dragon Cores were the foundation of the Dragon Clan. Due to the Dragon Cores’ Nature Essence absorption ability, the dragons were capable of much faster cultivation speeds compared to human cultivators!
After unlocking of the first opening, Hao Ren was now a cultivator instead of a beginner.
He didn’t need any certificate to prove it since one could feel it from his aura.
Hao Ren brushed off the dirt on his clothes and looked at Premia Xia who had been waiting for him.
“How come I see a blue light around you?” he asked.
“Hehe, your question shows that you have truly reached Kan-level. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth corresponds with white, green, blue, red and yellow. The blue light you see on me shows that I am a water-elemental dragon,” Premier Xia explained.
As they walked down the hill, Hao Ren suddenly saw an old man standing along the path in a traditional robe.
This old man greeted Hao Ren and Premier Xia when they approached.
There was a yellow light around him.
“He is the earth dragon who is responsible for these hills, and he is also referred to as the ‘ Tudishen 1 ‘ by the local mortals. When you were cultivating here for the last two days, he was here guarding you,” Premier Xia explained.
Hao Ren smiled and greeted this old man.
Then, this old man smiled before turning into a cloud of yellow light and vanishing.
“Most of the dragons are water-elemental dragons, and we are divided into the categories of stream, river, lake, and ocean, and the blue light on us goes from pale to dark. This old dragon who is guarding this land must have seen the deep blue on your body and knew that you are a member of the ocean dragons. To show his respect, he has been secretly guarding for you.”
Hao Ren didn’t know that this earth-elemental dragon had been protecting him until now. He wanted to express his appreciation, but that dragon had already vanished.
When that earth-elemental dragon saw a member of the East Ocean Dragon Clan here, he was unsettled. He was relieved when he saw that Hao Ren had just come here to cultivate. Afraid of interruptions, he had protected Hao Ren and prevented humans and wild animals from entering the area Hao Ren was in.
He was actually relieved to see Hao Ren leave in peace.
Hao Ren stopped at the foot of the hill and asked, “Premier Xia, why are you still here?”
“I will accompany Gongzi Hao back to East Ocean City,” Premier Xia answered.
“Huh?” Hao Ren was surprised, but he immediately realized that as the head organizer of the Dragon Palace, Premier Xia would undoubtedly go and help with the princess’s birthday party.
Seeing his nervous expression, Hao Ren knew that it was Premier Xia’s first trip on land, and Zhao Guang had told Premier Xia to give the elixir pills to him before returning with him.
“You go ahead this way and wait for me at the eastern entrance of the village. I’ll meet you there soon,” Hao Ren said.
“Very well, Gongzi Hao!” Premier Xia answered before finding the correct direction and taking off.
He looked so cautious as if he was afraid of getting lost in the small village. Anyway, he was a Kun-level Master, and Hao Ren didn’t think he would encounter any danger.
After returning to the old grandma’s courtyard, Hao Ren told her that he was going back today. Knowing that he had school, she didn’t try to keep him.
She and Grandma told Hao Ren to be careful on the highway.
Hao Ren wanted to ease their minds by telling them that he wouldn’t be alone, but he was afraid that there would be more questions for him if he did.
After promising that he would call Grandma as soon as he got back to East Ocean City, he got into the car.
After driving through several narrow and winding concrete paths, Hao Ren got to the eastern entrance of the village.
Premier Xia was waiting impatiently in his grey short-sleeved shirt, and he looked like a little kid who was expecting to be picked up at the end of the school day.
“Premier Xia, get in the car,” Hao Ren said as he stopped the car and rolled down the window.
