I made the entire cultivation world cry

Chapter 428 Step by Step Lotus (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The moment Jiang Yi stepped out of the jade gate, her feet suddenly lost their footing.

She instinctively tried to use her magic to fly, but found that she was bound by invisible shackles and could only barely keep her body steady.

Looking down, she was standing on a small, palm-sized, blue stone slab, surrounded by an endless sea of ​​clouds, with flashes of gold, blue, black, red, and yellow light occasionally appearing in the milky white mist.

Jiang Yi stood on one leg on the stone slab, the wind whipping her skirt around her feet. "What does this mean?"

Suddenly, the sea of ​​clouds surged violently, and a phantom of an ancient ferocious beast formed from clouds roared and pounced, its sharp claws almost grazing her nose.

Jiang Yi subconsciously tensed her back, only to see the ferocious beast collapse the moment it hit her, turning into a blue spiritual mist carrying the fragrance of fresh grass and trees.

Immediately afterwards, the sea of ​​clouds transformed into the forms of ancient ferocious beasts such as Zhu Yan, Kui Niu, and Bi Fang.

Each impact of the phantom would cause different types of spiritual mist to explode around her. The crimson mist was as hot as fire, the earthy yellow clouds were as thick as mountains, and the turquoise clouds were full of vitality.

The spiritual energy contained in this spiritual mist is a hundred times purer than that in the outside world, especially the three elements of wood, earth, and fire that are the same as her spiritual root, which almost seep into her meridians through her pores.

Jiang Yi looked up and surveyed the vast sea of ​​clouds. His gaze sharpened, and in the depths of the extremely high and distant sky, he could vaguely see the outline of a floating island.

The waterfall cascades down like a silver river, refracting colorful light in the clouds.

Large lotus leaves swayed along the edge of the floating island, interspersed with black and white lotus flowers. Even though she was thousands of feet away, she could still smell the clear lotus fragrance carried by the wind, which made her golden core in her dantian subtly restless.

"Does this mean I should find a way to get to the island?"

As Jiang was pondering, a small five-colored fish suddenly leaped up from the sea of ​​clouds.

The fish was no more than three inches long, but its scales shimmered with a crystal-like brilliance. It brought up a string of sparkling water droplets, which drew a graceful arc in the air and landed with a 'plop' in the void in front of Jiang Yi.

Where the little fish fell, the five elements of spiritual energy automatically gathered to form a crystal-clear five-colored lotus platform.

The lotus platform is only the size of a fist, yet it is incredibly lifelike. The little fish uses the lotus platform as a landing point to propel itself upwards. Each time it lands, a new lotus platform blooms in the sea of ​​clouds, and the lotus platforms behind it disappear.

Five-colored light flowed between the lotus platforms, creating a 'heavenly staircase' leading to the floating island in the vast sea of ​​clouds, until the little fish finally jumped into the lotus pond of the distant floating island.

Jiang Yi nodded slightly, having already understood the rules.

"Like a fish leaping over the dragon gate, each step brings forth a lotus flower."

A voice also came from the Heart-Piercing Mirror hanging at Jiang Yi's waist.

“There was a similar trial in the Azure Emperor’s Palace. The Five Elements began, and all things were founded. Although the Azure Emperor was skilled in the Way of Plants and Trees, he was also a master of the Five Elements Great Way. His Five Elements Forbidden Array was created by gathering all his knowledge in his life, and its power was enough to support the existence of a small world.”

After all, the Azure Emperor was the creator of the Heart-Piercing Mirror. Regardless of his character, the Heart-Piercing Mirror always recognized the Azure Emperor's abilities.

Zhu Xin continued, "According to ancient records, Qi cultivators in the Primordial Era did not distinguish between spiritual roots. They began their cultivation by balancing the Five Elements, and their Golden Core was also complete with all Five Elements. They began to transform Yin and Yang in the Nascent Soul stage, unlike modern cultivators who only begin to complete the Five Elements in the Nascent Soul stage and only start to ponder Yin and Yang in the Deity Transformation stage."

"This trial requires you to balance the five elements of spiritual energy to form a stable lotus platform in the sea of ​​clouds, and then ascend to the floating island in the distance. If my deduction is correct, the trial on the floating island is related to Yin and Yang. After Yin and Yang, there should be another trial, which is related to the Primordial Qi."

"This trial aligns with the saying 'The Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three.' The three is not actually three, but refers to all things. Fortunately, there are no other competitors here, so you don't need to rush and can try slowly. It's a good opportunity if you can master the Five Elements Cycle here, which will lay the foundation for you to refine the Sword-Nourishing Gourd into your natal magic weapon and even form your Nascent Soul."

Jiang Yi could understand what Zhu Xin was saying. As long as Zhu Xin didn't curse, Jiang Yi would never interrupt him if he wanted to talk.

Jiang Yi focused his mind and took the lead in using his own spiritual root to draw upon the wood spiritual energy. The emerald green spiritual mist peeled away from the sea of ​​clouds like silk threads, and then flowed naturally along the guidance of the fire spiritual root.

Wood makes fire!
A crimson stream of light suddenly rose up, burning brightly in front of her, intertwining with the blue mist.

Fire generates Earth!
As the flames surged, Jiang Yi's thoughts shifted, and the blazing tongues of fire swirled up thick, earthy-yellow clouds, blending seamlessly with the wood and fire elements.

The three-colored spiritual light flowed endlessly, condensing in front of her into the rudimentary shape of a lotus platform with a diameter of about one foot. Green leaves formed the base, crimson flames the petals, and thick earth the platform. Although it appeared somewhat illusory, it had already outlined the contours of the lotus platform.

However, when Jiang Yi attempted to transform earth elemental energy into metal elemental energy, an unexpected change occurred.

The metallic spiritual energy was incredibly sharp, and once it entered the three-colored spiritual energy, the original harmonious balance of the three colors was instantly broken!
The lotus platform trembled violently and eventually collapsed out of control. The chaotic spiritual energy slammed into Jiang Yi, and she almost lost her balance and fell from the palm-sized stone slab into the sea of ​​clouds.

A merciless jerk of laughter erupted from the Heart-Piercing Mirror.

"You've turned the Five Elements Gathering into a Four Elements Fighting Out. Even a stray dog ​​peeing on the roadside knows to lift its legs to find its balance before releasing its pee. Your amateurish Five Elements Rotation is even..."

Before Zhu Xinjian could finish his mocking words, Jiang Yi ripped it off his belt and kicked him away.

Then Zhu Xin Jian transformed into a golden light and flew back, obediently hovering beside Jiang Yi without saying a word.

Jiang Yi stood quietly in the sea of ​​clouds, closed her eyes, and began to feel the flow of spiritual energy around her, recalling the process of her previous failure.

A moment later, Jiang Yi opened her eyes. With a slight thought, the five copper coins on the sword-nurturing gourd floated up and hummed and spun in front of her.

A miniature Five Elements Coin Array instantly took shape. The previously chaotic and unruly Five Elements spiritual energy seemed to be organized by an invisible hand, flowing orderly towards the array's core. The vast and pure Five Elements power circulated endlessly, and in an instant, a lotus platform entirely formed from pure Five Elements spiritual energy appeared before Jiang Yi.

It was stable and lifelike, exactly like the lotus platform that the fish had created when it demonstrated it to her.

"Wonderful!"

A clear, resounding praise came from the Heart-Piercing Mirror hanging to the side.

"I underestimated you. You know how to use this array as a bridge. It seems your head hasn't been clouded by the spiritual energy that was just exploded. You actually managed to think of this way of taking advantage of external forces."

Jiang Yi remained calm and did not take a step forward. Instead, he raised his hand and retrieved the five copper coins, causing the newly formed Five Elements Lotus Platform to dissipate.

"This Five Elements Copper Coin Formation is indeed a shortcut, but it's not the path I want to take right now."

The Heart-Piercing Mirror trembled slightly. "Why would you leave the safe lotus platform to suffer? This trial doesn't stipulate that you have to rely on yourself! Do you know that ancient cultivators, whenever they obtained a useful magic weapon, would use all their strength to activate it? You're simply wasting it!"

"I know that this copper coin formation is just a backup plan, but it cannot be my only reliance when climbing the Heavenly Stairs. The Five Elements Cycle is the foundation. If the foundation is not solid, even if I reach the floating island, what I will gain is nothing but a castle in the air."

Jiang Yi's tone was resolute. She closed her eyes again, no longer paying attention to Zhu Xin's confusion and astonishment.

Her mind was completely immersed in comprehending the five elements of heaven and earth. Within her dantian, the golden core slowly rotated with a peculiar rhythm, echoing the torrent of spiritual energy from the outside world.

She clearly captured the natural rhythm of the earth-generating-metal process she had just experienced using the copper coin array, and instead of trying to imitate it, she followed that natural pull...

With a slight thought, Jiang Yi's divine sense wove an invisible net, precisely peeling away the thick earth elemental spiritual energy, guiding it to flow along a certain great path.

As the earth settles, deep within the resilient power of the earth element, a cold, sharp, and indomitable essence of metal is quietly 'nurtured,' like ore being stripped away in a furnace, converging into a pure and condensed white-gold spiritual stream.

This time, the metal energy no longer surged violently, but instead docilely clung to the end of the earth energy, as if it were its very essence.

Metal generates water... This is the last and most crucial step.

Jiang Yi's mind flashed back to the years when she had nothing to do and used her divine sense to trace and comprehend every subtle array pattern on the Five Elements Copper Coin Array again and again.

"Using divine sense as a guide, directing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, to trace the ancient formation..."

He whispered in his heart, and his powerful divine sense emanated from his body, gently yet firmly guiding the newly born platinum spiritual stream, causing it to slowly flow along the profound trajectory of the 'metal generates water' part of the Five Elements Forbidden Array in his memory.

One failure dimmed the platinum's brilliance.

On the second attempt, the trajectory deviated slightly and collapsed.

Third time, fourth time...

Jiang Yi focused intently on the complex array patterns.

Gradually, the platinum spiritual stream seemed to sense the pull from the ancient array patterns. Under the precise depiction of divine sense, the sharp and hard edges of the gold began to soften and become rounded.

This is the moment!

An indescribable enlightenment flashed through the fog of thought like lightning, and Jiang Yifu was suddenly enlightened!

At the end of the platinum-gold spiritual stream, a point of extremely soft and clear water light was born without warning.

It is not vast, but it is incredibly pure, with water vapor spreading out in a misty haze.

As this shimmering water was born, it was as if a gear had been fitted into its final joint, and the five colors of spiritual light surrounding Jiang Yi—gold, blue, black, red, and yellow—suddenly connected.

A perfectly continuous cycle of the five elements, with her golden core as its axis and divine sense as its aid, began to rotate around her, following an invisible trajectory.

The five elements of spiritual energy no longer clash independently with each other, but instead cycle and generate each other, flowing harmoniously to form a small world of the five elements centered around her.

Jiang Yi suddenly opened her eyes, her clear eyes radiating a captivating light.

Without any further prompting, as she took a step forward, the swirling clouds beneath her feet, drawn by the rotating ring, spontaneously converged.

A lotus platform, radiant and sturdy, took shape where she stood.

Despite a slight tremor and buzzing, it steadily supported her body.

Become!

Jiang Yi stepped firmly onto it.

There was no ecstasy on her face, only a calm and understanding that came naturally.

(End of this chapter)