The Qiankun Dao Classic was the cultivation method Ding Yan had immersed himself in for a thousand years in his past life. In that life, he had reached the height of the Nascent Soul stage with the help of this classic, and he was a Nascent Soul cultivator revered by thousands. After his reincarnation, Ding Yan never gave up trying to cultivate the Qiankun Dao Classic.
Because no one understood the power of this classic better than him.
It was said that the Qiankun Dao Classic was a legacy from the immortal world. Initially, it was discovered because a solitary cultivator, unaffiliated with any sect, had cultivated this method to the point of reaching the Perfection stage. Reaching the Perfection stage was basically reaching the pinnacle of the cultivation world. To achieve this level, a person, besides their own mental cultivation, couldn't have done it without the support of a sect.
However, a solitary cultivator reaching this level raised suspicions about whether he had encountered something extraordinary.
The Qiankun Dao Classic was discovered at that time.
After numerous battles, the solitary cultivator fell, and the Qiankun Dao Classic disappeared with him. Many years later, it was acquired by an ancestor of the Qiankun Sect by chance. It was said that the Qiankun Sect was not named as such at that time, and the sect's strength was very low, only considered a second-rate sect in the cultivation world.
The ancestor who obtained the Qiankun Dao Classic kept the news to himself. After going into seclusion, he emerged 2,000 years later and faced a heavenly tribulation that had not appeared in the cultivation world for ten thousand years!
A Nascent Soul cultivator!
Although that ancestor failed in crossing the tribulation, he successfully transcended and became a loose immortal.
With a loose immortal presiding, the Qiankun Sect rapidly grew, becoming the undisputed leader in the cultivation world. The sect's name was also changed accordingly. After numerous generations, the Qiankun Dao Classic became the sect's primary cultivation method, only available to the direct disciples of the sect leader. In Ding Yan's generation, there were only three people cultivating the Qiankun Dao Classic, including himself.
Holding the fairy element, Ding Yan continuously recalled the operating method of the Qiankun Dao Classic in his mind, over and over again.
It was uncertain how much time had passed before Ding Yan suddenly stretched out his hand, but soon shook his head in denial. Then he entered into a meditative state once again and, after a short while, lifted his hand to imprint another hand seal. This seal was intricate with only one form, shrouded in mist. Due to this mistiness, Ding Yan could only perfect it by relying on his experience and accumulated knowledge.
Second by second, the Qiankun Dao Classic in Ding Yan's body had reached its limit. However, the fairy element in his left hand remained unchanged, showing no signs of being refined.
As for the misty hand seal, Ding Yan derived more than a hundred incomplete imprints, each carrying a hint of fairy technique. Yet, he himself was not sure which one was correct and needed to be confirmed through one trial after another.
"If this last hand seal doesn’t work, I'll have to give up..." Ding Yan silently thought to himself.
He pressed the last hand seal that he had deduced in his mind.
The hand seal flew out, forming a light just like before, and then condensed into an ancient rune in the air.
Different hand seals produced different runes.
In Ding Yan's perception, the final rune somewhat resembled the ancient character "仙" from his past life, but not exactly. After a brief pause, the mysterious rune burst into countless starry points, radiating a semi-transparent circular light.
At the same time, there was a subtle change in the Qiankun Dao Classic within Ding Yan's body, which made him stand up abruptly. The fairy element he had in his hand had already disappeared.
Opening his palm, Ding Yan's thoughts moved.
A force, as small as a candle flame, appeared in his hand.
This was an unnamed force, neither elemental nor fairy element!
"I actually cultivated a force! How is this possible?" Ding Yan exclaimed in shock.
Originally, Ding Yan was just trying to see if he could strengthen his consciousness through refining the fairy element, but he inadvertently cultivated an unnamed force. Keep in mind that in the Illusory Nine Heavens, each person was only a consciousness. There was no force inside them, and the magical techniques used here were mostly superficial, unrelated to true magic. It was just like a martial artist's muscles, unrelated to internal energy.
However, in the Illusory Nine Heavens, Ding Yan cultivated a force!
Even though this force was currently extremely weak, it was full of potential for growth. This meant that in the future, if Ding Yan could cultivate this force to a certain degree, then in the Illusory Nine Heavens, no one would be his match. It was akin to a world where all ordinary people suddenly encountered a true master with inner strength. At that time, Ding Yan would be the only one in this world capable of using complete magical techniques.
"Could it be because of the last hand seal? Fairy technique, could this force be the power of the fairy technique?" Suppressing his emotions, Ding Yan began to recall the hand seal from before.
Again and again.
It was only after he had fully engraved this hand seal in his mind and ensured that he would not forget it, that Ding Yan opened his eyes again.
Waving his sleeve, he took out another fairy element from within and held it in his hand.
This time, Ding Yan did not enter a meditative state but stared unblinkingly at the fairy element in his hand. At the same time, the Qiankun Dao Classic within his body began running once again. His left hand turned over, and the incomplete hand seal appeared once more.
The rune appeared and then shattered.
In the instant the rune shattered, a green light burst out from inside the fairy element in Ding Yan's hand.
Ding Yan narrowed his eyes, and a hint of Yin and Yang flashed in his pupils. The fairy yuan in Ding Yan's palm rapidly diminished at a visible speed and, in just a few breaths, turned into a speck of dust, dissipating into the ice and snow. At the same time, an unnamed force within Ding Yan's body grew slightly once again.
"This power is obtained by refining fairy yuan!" a feeling of enlightenment flashed through Ding Yan's mind.
After understanding this point, Ding Yan simply took out all the remaining fairy yuan and refined them all at once.
As the last speck of fairy yuan was being refined, the force within Ding Yan's body had already grown to the size of a baby's fist.
"I should go collect some more fairy yuan."
With this in mind, Ding Yan leaped once again, expanding his spiritual awareness to search for the hidden fairy yuan within the snowflakes.
Half a day later, Ding Yan's figure appeared once again on a snowy mountain, this time with over twenty more fairy yuan in his hand. It was terrifyingly fast to collect over twenty in half a day. However, the reason Ding Yan could collect so many fairy yuan was mainly due to his incredibly strong spiritual awareness. If it were another person, they would definitely not achieve the same effect.
As he held the fairy yuan, he was about to refine them.
Suddenly, a phantom figure appeared in front of Ding Yan...
"The deeper you go, the greater the potential? This illusory Nine Layers of Heaven, actually holds such significance..."
Half a day later.
Ding Yan, atop a snowy mountain, discovered the vortex leading to the next level.
The moment he stepped into the vortex, Ding Yan felt as if his soul was about to shatter. Besides the endless burning sensation, even his consciousness was affected, and a flame between reality and illusion ignited.
A long passage.
Ding Yan sat within the vortex, surrounded by flames.
The excruciating pain of his torn soul made his complexion paler and, gradually, even his consciousness began to blur.
Puff, puff...
Ding Yan struggled to open his eyes and found that his lower body had completely vanished. The remaining body also became fuzzy.
"Qiankun Dao Scripture!"
Ding Yan realized that his consciousness would eventually be devoured by the nameless flame. Thinking this, he ceased resisting the flame with his consciousness and directly activated the Qiankun Dao Scripture within him. With his right hand, he formed an illusory handprint, which was a technique he had comprehended from the Ninth Layer of Illusionary Void Heaven.
As the scripture operated, the handprint flickered.
Suddenly, Ding Yan felt a hint of coolness within his body.
This was the nameless power!
Having discovered this, Ding Yan shut off his five senses and continued to cultivate the Qiankun Dao Scripture.
If someone knew that Ding Yan was cultivating while traversing the Nine Layers of Heaven, they would definitely think he was either an extraordinary eccentric or someone who cultivated to the point of being insensitive like a stone man. Because not only Ding Yan, but every wandering immortal, would feel the burning sensation originating from the soul while traversing the Illusionary Nine Layers of Heaven.
This burning sensation would intensify as one delved deeper.
The longer one persisted, the more resolute their mind was. This was why there was a saying that the deeper one went, the greater the potential.
After an unknown amount of time, Ding Yan opened his eyes and realized that he had already crossed the illusory vortex, arriving on a vast land.
"The Seventh Layer of the Illusionary Void Heaven..." Ding Yan stood up, preparing to move, but to his surprise, the terrifying vortex appeared again right in front of him and directly sucked him in.
Entering the passage to the Sixth Layer of the Illusionary Void Heaven!
...
Inside the passage to the Sixth Layer, the burning of the flames became even more intense, almost materializing into purple flames.
Without hesitation, Ding Yan once again cultivated the Qiankun Dao Scripture.
To reach the Sixth Layer of the Heaven!
Similarly, without a moment's pause, the vortex appeared once more...
The Fifth Layer of the Heaven.
At this point, Ding Yan had already traversed the Five Layers of the Illusionary Void Heaven!
However, just as Ding Yan had just stepped into the Fifth Layer of the Void Heaven, the vortex appeared once again.
"Ah!!"
The moment he entered the vortex, Ding Yan clearly heard a terrifying scream and, upon opening his eyes, he saw a handsome young man, not far in front of him, being turned to ash in the vortex, a faint trace of consciousness vanishing through the vortex, disappearing into the heavens and earth.
"That person... is just like me..." At a glance, Ding Yan saw that the handsome young man, just like him, was traversing the Illusionary Nine Layers of Heaven for the first time.