Chapter 743: Chapter 743

The Humanity Sanctum.

Yuan Guang was the first to receive information from Liang Qiu.

He glanced at the number, his expression reflecting both regret and relief. "The sixty-sixth step?"

The regret stemmed from the fact that Li Pin's performance had barely exceeded their expectations. He wasn't the kind of prodigy capable of stunning the world.

The relief, however, came from the same reason—he could still be considered a human prodigy. He had earned the qualification to become a Sacred Monarch's disciple.

In fact, if some of the Heavenly Emperors were in a good mood and took a liking to him, they could very well accept him into their ranks.

But... it still fell short of their initial expectations for a bargain.

Then again, how easy could it be to snatch a deal from a Highlord? Who could honestly think their judgment could surpass that of a Highlord? Especially one like Black Abyss, who was said to also be cultivating the Transcendent path.

Shaking his head, Yuan Guang turned his attention to another application. "Primordial Disk."

This level of talent... granted this kind of Top-Tier Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon...

Even accounting for Li Pin's merits, this still barely skirts the edge of acceptability. This was also the reason why Vice Hall Master Zhen Ming had strongly opposed it.

"Sigh, if only Li Pin could break through to the sixty-ninth step of the Supreme Ladder... Zhen Ming, Wan Gujie, and Shi Xing would definitely have no objections. But now... it seems there will be plenty of disputes."

Yuan Guang pondered, but he hadn't given up on fighting for Li Pin just yet.

After all, not long ago, Zhen Ming had said that if Li Pin could reach the sixty-fifth step, he would no longer oppose it. Now, Li Pin had one-upped him and achieved the sixty-sixth step. He shouldn't have anything to say anymore.

Having pushed things this far, Yuan Guang knew he had to hold on a little longer to cash in on this favor.

"Endless Reincarnation."

In the cultivation chamber, Li Pin's expression remained calm and serene.

He sensed the figure deep within his inner spirit, walking toward him step by step, until it finally merged with him.

His past had shaped his present. It was the sum of everything from his past that had guided him to the path of life's evolution, bringing him to his current achievements.

In that moment of merging, Li Pin's inner spirit ascended to a new realm.

"True Spirit..." muttered Li Pin.

He could feel his inner spirit evolving. It had become free of confusion, clear and bright, as if it could reflect everything.

This was the True Spirit, the next step in the inner spirit's evolution, following the completion of its cycle. It marked the pivotal transition of a cosmic lifeform into an ultimate lifeform.

From this point forward, a cultivator would almost never be troubled by the confusion of their inner spirit.

At this stage, all it took was one more step to keep the True Spirit in a constant, activated state. Even if one left the Astral World and returned to the cosmos, their inner spirit would remain steadfast, ensuring immortality.

The limitations of an epoch's lifespan would no longer apply.

Li Pin let out a heartfelt sigh. "I've finally condensed my True Spirit."

It hadn't come easily. In fact, the breakthrough arrived so suddenly, without any warning signs. It was with the help of the Supreme Ladder and a sudden moment of enlightenment in the midst of a life-and-death battle that he managed to make a direct leap into this realm.

It's no wonder so many found it difficult to explain how the True Spirit was condensed.

This realm completely followed the cultivator's heart. Only when the inner spirit was stirred and awakened could it complete its evolution and condense into the True Spirit. But no one could predict what might awaken it.

Li Pin reflected in silence. "I didn't expect the trigger to come not from a limit-breaking breakthrough in a fierce battle, but from just the words "My Dao is not one of solitude."

He focused inward, delving deep into his inner spirit.

What had once been a tranquil lake had transformed. Now, at the core of his inner spirit stood a person—a being of pure light.

He could vaguely make out its figure to be his own.

This was the True Spirit.

When his inner spirit reached its peak, the power of his True Spirit activated and radiated brightly.

As Li Pin felt his True Spirit, he vaguely sensed something different from his previous understanding of it.

He activated his True Spirit directly using the Endless Reincarnation Secret Art, and an indescribable, wondrous sensation surged through his heart.

It was as if he had separated from his True Spirit. Everything around it no longer felt real, as though the real world had transformed into a movie or a world of paintings and calligraphy. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novelꜰire.net

Yet, this movie-like world, this world of art, felt so real that it became the very experience he was living in that moment.

Li Pin focused his attention on the area surrounding his True Spirit.

At that moment, his True Spirit reflected everything around him. Though he was still in the cultivation chamber, something extraordinary happened.

When he interacted with the world mirrored by his True Spirit, the concept of "the past" ceased to be a practical term. It transformed into a dimension that could be written.

In this dimension, as he focused on the world reflected by his True Spirit, he suddenly realized that time seemed to freeze. Not just the present, but everything from the previous second, minute, ten minutes, hour, day, month, year, and decade—everything had come to a standstill.

His past, everything he had experienced, was laid out before him like books or paintings, clearly visible. He could ignore the influence of "time" and freely navigate through this world made entirely of the past, these books and paintings.

Most of these books and paintings were centered around him, showing events that involved him. In this moment, he could transform into the master of this past, peering into secrets that had never been revealed before.

If he were to put this ability to use in battle, when an enemy's lethal strike was about to land, he could activate his True Spirit and enter a state where time seemed to stop.

In this state, everything that had already occurred, including the enemy's strike, would be frozen, allowing him to freely analyze the power within the attack and figure out a counter. He could continue this process until he found a solution or until his True Spirit could no longer be sustained. Only then would the flow of time resume.

In such a battle... unless the enemy's strength was overwhelmingly superior, no matter how powerful they were, they would inevitably be defeated before him.

This was a true, dimensional strike.

It directly manipulated the outcome of events and the course of battle by controlling the flow of time, forcing everything to unfold as he desired.

Li Pin sensed the changes. "My True Spirit... it's different. Other Cosmic Radiances' True Spirits break down and predict their opponents' moves by sensing fluctuations in their inner spirits, but I... I fully comprehend the past—everything that has already happened, everything that is a completed fact."

There was the clear difference between the two.

The divine phenomena brought forth by his activation of the True Spirit clearly surpassed those of the other Cosmic Radiances, which reflected inner spirit power.

"Now that I have the True Spirit, the next step is to use it as the limit and elevate my energy and level once again. Compared to inner spirit power, the True Spirit's control and capacity for power are much greater.

"The Starshine and Solar Flare's energy capacity are capped at 4 million, and their level maxes out at 10. But for the True Spirit... the maximum level is 100. If I were to achieve the title of Tyrant, the energy I could harness would increase from 4 million to 100 million."

The power gap was evident just from the multiplier difference.

Not to mention, the True Spirit had the advantage over inner spirit power in its ability to comprehend everything.

However... a maximum energy of 100 million and a level of 100 were the limits of control within the realm of Cosmic Radiance. Even Sacred Monarchs and Heavenly Emperors were no exception.

Why did a Tyrant need to ascend from level 80 to 90 on the Supreme Ladder to become a Sacred Monarch, yet only need to rise from level 90 to 95 to become a Heavenly Emperor?

That was because the advancement from Cosmic Radiance to Tyrant represented a leap in energy control, while Sacred Monarch and Heavenly Emperor merely amplified their combat power exponentially by wielding spatial and temporal forces—powers that Tyrants have not yet mastered.

In reality, the energy strength and level controlled by the most powerful Tyrants and Heavenly Emperors remained limited to 100 million and level 100.

Setting aside the powers of space and time, there was no fundamental difference between a peak Tyrant and a Heavenly Emperor.

"The two prerequisites for achieving Cosmic Radiance are: first, to condense the True Spirit, and second, to comprehend the power of singularities. Only by using the wonders of the True Spirit and then understanding the power of singularities can energy be further compressed, breaking the 10-fold level limit and elevating it to a 100-fold level. I don't know how other True Spirits will proceed at this step, but I..."

Li Pin waved his hand.

Using the cosmic singularity realm he had already comprehended, the two energies before him collapsed and merged into a cosmic singularity.

When the process became unstable, he activated his True Spirit and, by observing the "past," he meticulously refined and optimized it.

Through repeated trial and error, the two energies soon fused more tightly, forming a dark particle.

If he were to throw this dark particle into the Material World, it would easily devour a planet, leaving no trace behind.

Li Pin focused his mind and glanced at his attribute panel.

[Energy Level: 10.01]

The almost insurmountable barrier for peak Solar Flare... had been effortlessly broken.

Almost as soon as Li Pin's energy level changed, Sasha appeared in the cultivation chamber, in the form of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl.

"Your Highness, what is this...?"

She looked at the two energies condensed by Li Pin, her delicate face filled with astonishment.

"As you can see," Li Pin sighed regretfully. "I've ascended to Cosmic Radiance."

Despite the clear evidence before her and the data in her database confirming that the signs matched the achievement of Cosmic Radiance, she still gasped in shock.

"You... broke through to Cosmic Radiance with just one challenge on the Supreme Ladder?"