Chapter 1247: The Crisis of Shen Pojun
The next morning, Bai Yunfei left early to the materials depot to see if he could find any material to supplement the pyrium meteorite. Something as rare as this meant he absolutely had to succeed. He even asked Xiao Binzi for advice, but the man had none. The meteorite was so rare that not even he or any of the other crafters knew what to do. Not even Shen Pojun knew. All they had to go on were from the records of the crafters of before.
The pyrium meteorite was said to be an object from beyond the world and contained the flames of the sun as well as the Law of Fire. Thus, the pyrium meteorite was a truly precious and invaluable material to craft a soul armament. It might even be possible to advance one’s comprehension into the Laws of Fire. In that case, Bai Yunfei was more than willing to prepare for such a case.
For extra preparation, Bai Yunfei headed into the Core World to prepare his heart. He wanted to be in the best state of mind before he could begin crafting.
However, an unexpected situation occurred before Bai Yunfei could actually begin his crafting plans…
“Bzz…”
It happened right as Bai Yunfei closed his eyes to meditate. A tremor ran through the Core World, jolting him awake.
“What’s going on!?”
Eyes wide open, Bai Yunfei looked around the Core World, but nothing different could be seen. He sent a pulse of soulsense outward and immediately felt a powerful wave of elemental fire.
“Ancestor!!”
The source came from outside. Disappearing from the Core World, Bai Yunfei immediately appeared back into the real world and teleported straight to the main peaks.
Several people were already gathered at the plaza such as Chu Yintian, Xiao Binzi, and Kou Changkong were among those gathered. More were on the way to this place, but for the most part, everyone was looking at the skies above.
Up high in the sky stood a pillar of flames. Raising so far up into the sky, it seemed as if the pillar was attempting to reach the highest point of the heavens so it could scorch it. Even from the ground, the heat was practically unbearable to most.
“Is…” Bai Yunfei’s eyes widened as the realization hit him, “Is he going to breakthrough?!”
This was definitely a sign of a breakthrough—Shen Pojun was trying to become a Saint!
“My senior lost quite a bit of power in his battle against Gu Lianhun, but the experiences he gained were also quite substantial. After two days of reflections, I’m sure he thought he’d be able to break the bottleneck and ascend. If he can’t, then I’m afraid he’ll never get another opportunity to try. We can only hope he succeeds…”
Chu Yintian confirmed Bai Yunfei’s suspicions, much to his joy. But amidst his expectations was also a sliver of concern.
Shen Pojun appearing when he did definitely had to hinder his path to Sainthood, and that battle certainly didn’t do anything to expedite his path. Even if he rested and his body was back to normal, that didn’t mean his training would be back to normal.
On the other side, the battle certainly had been beneficial to Shen Pojun’s understanding. Because of how Bai Yunfei wielded the Law of Chaos, Shen Pojun was able to determine a few important points on how to handle chaotic energy. Compounded with his own understandings, Shen Pojun was able to grab hold of this important moment to breakthrough.
An attempt to become a Saint was many times more dangerous than attempting to become a Soul Emperor. Only two outcomes could be had:
Success or death.
There was no such thing as a ‘Half-Saint’
This was the main reason why Shen Pojun and Gu Jimie spent multiple years in isolation. Every Peak Late-stage Soul Emperor Would spend countless years training so as to avoid failure. The only time they would even attempt to breakthrough was when the end of their natural life span was here.
The number of soul cultivators in this world numbered in the millions, but hardly a handful of them could become a Soul Saint. And in any given generation, only a single digit amount could be counted.
If not for this crisis, it was possible Shen Pojun would’ve been able to continue training in peace without obstruction. Perhaps several decades later, he could’ve been able to succeed and be a Saint without an issue. But because of this incident, that opportunity was no longer available. He’d have to make sure to grasp any opportunity when he could now.
……
As of right now, Shen Pojun was high up in the sky, where the Ninth Heaven was. All sorts of elemental energy was gathering where he was, allowing everyone, Bai Yunfei included, to watch anxiously if he would succeed or not.
Time trickled by slowly. Despite not being able to see what exactly Shen Pojun was up to, no one left the place. They were far too anxious to see if Shen Pojun would ascend or not.
But as time went on, the expressions on Chu Yintian and the other elders hardened—too much time had passed…
“Eh?!”
Suddenly, Chu Yintian whipped out an item from his space ring. It was a jade tablet the color of fire. Something from within the tablet was flashing a bright red light that seemed ready to explode at any second.
Immediately, Chu Yintian was filled with horror and regret. Likewise, the other elders reflected his emotions.
The tablet Chu Yintian held in his hand was Shen Pojun’s life slip!! And judging from the current state of it, Shen Pojun’s health wasn’t in a very good condition!
“Is he going to fail to ascend?!”
Bai Yunfei’s heart skipped a beat as he debated the worst-case scenario. To fail here meant Shen Pojun would die—was that really going to be the end result?!
What should he do? What could he do?
Practically grinding his brain to dust as he raked his mind, Bai Yunfei paced around nervously for an idea.
“Sealer, Core, do you think I’d be able to help him if you bring me up there?!”
“What?!”
Saeler’s voice called back to him. “Are you joking!? The chaotic energy will tear you to pieces right now, do you really think you can help out?!”
“Maybe! You forget, I have an understanding of the Law of Chaos, remember? Since becoming a Saint requires an understanding of chaotic energy, maybe I’ll be able to share some of my knowledge with the ancestor, it might be able to help him out!”
“Eh?!”
Sealer remained quiet for a moment, “There is some logic there, but we can’t be too sure….I’ve never heard of something like this before. If something goes wrong…it’ll be you that’ll be in danger…”
“If we do attempt this, Yunfei can return to the Core World if a problem arises. There’ll be no risk in that case…” Core supplemented.
“Okay! We’ll have to try it then, let’s go!!”
And that was that. Settled on his decision, Bai Yunfei spurred his soulforce into action and made use of the Core Stone to teleport him far away from the Crafting School.
“Eh?!”
His disappearance caught the attention of Chu Yintian and the others, but not fast enough for them to stop him. They only noticed it when Bai Yunfei appeared briefly higher up in the sky before teleporting again farther away from them.
“Yunfei!! What is he doing?!”
Chu Yintian cried out. He had wanted to stop Bai Yunfei, but he was nowhere near enough to do so. Thus, he was forced to stay behind and look after Bai Yunfei’s shadow.
……
Countless kilometers above the ground, Bai Yunfei shot through the last layer of clouds before flying into the first layer of chaotic energy. He could sense a tremendous source of soulforce pushing and pulling everything in a chaotic matter near him.
Protecting himself with a layer of energy, Bai Yunfei hastened his journey towards this source of energy. It was already hard for him to withstand the energy being radiated by Shen Pojun, and Bai Yunfei was forced to enter Berserk Mode in order for him to even properly endure the force. Soon, he was at the center of the chaotic energy.
Droves of chaotic energy were being agitated by soulforce in this place. At the center of it all was the same pillar of fire as could be seen from below. And it was this pillar of fire that was on the verge of collapse under the machinations of the chaotic energy here.
Shen Pojun sat inside the pillar of fire, his face twisted up in pain. The soulforce in his body flowed erratically as if he was having a hard time controlling the powerful energy around him.
The flames were trying to form a whirlpool around his body in a contradictory manner. Parts of it were trying to drive away chaotic energy while other parts of the whirlpool seemed as if it was trying to absorb chaotic energy. In the case of the latter, the flames would burst apart whenever it tried. The attempt of absorbing chaotic energy seemed to be far too much for Shen Pojun’s flames to handle.
And every single time his flames absorbed a sliver of chaotic energy, the soulforce within Shen Pojun’s body would stabilize for just a brief moment before running amok again.
The pain on Shen Pojun’s face grew worse and worse. The trembling of his body became more and more pronounced, and the flames around him weakened in intensity. It wouldn’t be much longer before Shen Pojun would be unable to endure any longer. And when that happened, his soulforce would lose control and the chaotic energy around him would tear his body to pieces…