Chapter Seventy: The Hidden Nature of True Essence

Li Xingyu saw how the man in black so easily dismissed the laser gun in his hand. Of course, he had no intention of explaining, nor would he give his opponent the chance to realize the danger and evade. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. In that instant, a silent, brilliant beam of light flashed from the muzzle. The man in black only felt a blinding light before his eyes and tried to dodge on instinct, but it was already too late. No matter how skilled, no one could evade a laser beam traveling at the speed of light over such a short distance.

Though the man in black’s demonic body was powerful and his defenses formidable, even he could not withstand the laser gun’s maximum output. A hole the size of a head appeared in his chest, the edges scorched black by the intense heat, not a drop of blood seeping out. This shot not only vaporized his heart and the greater part of his lungs, but also shattered his dantian. The fleeting thought of dodging was the last thing to cross his mind before death claimed him. Since his cultivation had not reached the Foundation Establishment stage, his consciousness had not yet fully formed. After a brief perception of his body’s state upon death, his awareness simply faded away.

Seeing his foe collapse, Li Xingyu’s own mind relaxed, but the demonic energy within had already seized control of most of his body. The remaining true essence and spiritual energy were forced into his dantian. With the last of his consciousness, Li Xingyu commanded what true essence remained to form a vortex in his dantian, absorbing and converting the spiritual energy, before he slipped into unconsciousness. Just before he succumbed, his gaze fell on the corpse of the man in black lying in the distance, and the phrase "capsize in a gutter" flashed through his mind.

This man in black was none other than Elder Li of the Heavenly Phoenix Family. Had he been able to fully restore his demonic body, he might have broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage in a few decades. Though demonic cultivators also required the absorption and transformation of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy, they could also rapidly increase their power through plunder. This so-called plundering could involve directly absorbing and converting another’s true essence. On this planet, for example, one could directly absorb the true essence of innate experts to enhance one’s own cultivation. With the right secret methods, they could even refine the flesh of cultivators or innate experts into pills suitable only for those possessing demonic energy. Such pills, due to their purity, allowed for much faster and more efficient absorption and conversion.

The reason his demonic body was damaged traces back decades ago, when he cultivated through plunder in another vast empire. In an attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the mixture of energies he had absorbed proved too chaotic for his then-inadequate demonic body to control, resulting in severe internal injury during the failed breakthrough. With his demonic body thus damaged, he feared that continued plundering would further complicate and destabilize the demonic energy within him. So, for decades, he had focused on refining his internal demonic energy and searching for a way to repair his body, until the appearance of the Jade Ginseng gave him hope at last.

Who could have foreseen that such a formidable demonic cultivator, who once wielded great power in another mighty empire, surviving countless dangers and possessing vast experience, would ultimately fall here—brought down in a moment of negligence and conceit by someone he believed already incapable of resistance. Had he taken the laser gun Li Xingyu produced seriously, given Li Xingyu’s nearly incapacitated state, it would have been very difficult for him to land a shot, even with such a weapon. Furthermore, Li Xingyu’s condition was already dire; if not for his strong will, he would likely have lost consciousness long before. Had Elder Li evaded for just a short while, the one to die would almost certainly have been Li Xingyu.

When Li Xingyu’s consciousness returned, a haze of confusion preceded the memories of what had transpired before he fainted. He recalled the vast spiritual energy unleashed by the man in black’s demonic energy and power core surging through his veins, nearly destroying his meridians. At the final moment, he had gathered his remaining true essence to form a vortex in his dantian, drawing in and absorbing the spiritual energy concentrated there. Thinking of this, he quickly sent his awareness into his dantian and discovered that the true essence within was still whirling fiercely, the vortex now much more powerful than before.

Sensing his true essence, he found that its strength had nearly doubled compared to what he had previously possessed in total, and its purity had also greatly increased. Examining his body and meridians, he saw that while some damage remained, most had already healed, and the width of his meridians had notably increased. Overall, his cultivation level had advanced to the late Spirit Consolidation stage. This discovery astonished him. Had his true essence not only survived the assault of demonic energy, but actually grown, breaking through to late Spirit Consolidation? Where, then, had the demonic energy and that vast spiritual energy gone?

After pondering for a while, he arrived at a tentative explanation: perhaps the demonic energy, lacking further reinforcement, had gradually dissipated, while the vortex of true essence in his dantian had absorbed the released spiritual energy, transforming it into his own true essence and enabling his breakthrough. The self-regulation of his true essence then repaired the severe damage to his meridians. Though this explanation felt somewhat forced—he doubted that such a result could be achieved with spiritual energy alone—he could find no alternative.

In fact, his guess was only half correct. Had it been any other cultivator practicing a different art, they would have perished long ago under such circumstances. But the cultivation method Li Xingyu practiced was a simplified version of one used by a special ancient race, and so the true essence he cultivated naturally possessed some of the unique qualities of that race’s internal energy, such as fusion and healing. When the vortex formed in his dantian, the transformation of spiritual energy led to a rapid increase in his true essence. As the demonic energy gradually invaded his dantian, the vortex of true essence drew it in as well, gradually merging it into his own energy. Thus, instead of being devoured by the demonic energy, his true essence was actually strengthened. Of course, this was only possible because the demonic energy was spent and lacked the strength to resist; the fusion trait of his true essence was not overwhelmingly powerful—if the invading energy had been too strong, it would have shattered the vortex and overwhelmed him instead.

In truth, whether it is true essence, demonic energy, or power gained through other methods, all are merely different forms of energy, each with their own properties. Yet, when the strength of one form of energy is vastly greater than another, its inherent traits become meaningless. Cultivation, at its core, is the process of drawing energy from the world through certain methods and refining it into a form under one’s own control. For example, the path of cultivation involves absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth and, through special techniques, transforming it into true essence. In the end, all cultivation is about absorbing and utilizing energy; energy is the foundation of every path.

After checking his condition, Li Xingyu opened his eyes and found himself inside a cave. He remembered losing consciousness atop Royal Gate Mountain, so his current location meant someone had rescued him while he was unconscious. Glancing around, he noticed a young man and woman sitting together nearby, speaking softly. As they saw him wake and turned to look at him, Li Xingyu recognized them as Qin Xiaotian and Chen Jingrou, whom he had previously saved. Seeing them together so intimately, he recalled the concerns he’d had atop Royal Gate Mountain about whether he should go to the Free Spirit Sect, and realized he might have been too confident.

He smiled at the thought, then addressed the two: “How did I end up here? Was it you who saved me and brought me to this place? I remember I was not far from the Free Spirit Sect when I lost consciousness. Miss Chen, why did you bring me here with Young Master Qin instead of taking me into your sect?”

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