16 Immortal Nirvana Code

Celestial Palace, Banquet Hall

Already over six month had gone by since the selection had started, the number of participants was dwindling at a lightning fast speed. There are only slightly over 30,000 ascendants left and even this number would have been much lower if the more heaven-defying ones amongst them were not locked in a very peculiar trial.

The three most powerful Marquises were still were seated at the same table, enjoying the delicacies presented to them all the while being busy gossiping. One of them then brought out an interesting topic.

"Brother Yi, so far there are only a couple hundred of those little devils that were able to enter the trial space to obtain the Immortal Nirvana Code. I maintain that this trial is far too much as three quarters of these talented candidates would not be able to successfully clear it; burying that many good seedlings is pointless." the ever drinking Netherworld Marquis complained to his junior.

"The Immortal Nirvana Code is simply too astounding of an immortal-ranked art to be handed casually; reconstructing a body after the effect of the trial itself is no easy feat either. Those who failed and died during the trial would serve to nourish and strengthen those who passed so it's a win-win situation. One truly powerful astral cultivator will always be better than many above average ones." Consequently even the Heavenspan Marquis also gave their earnest opinions.

"I agree that the trial is somewhat too tyrannical, Brother Lin. I can still remember how I nearly died that year but the rewards are absolutely worth it. The successful ones will come out of this trial with a reinforced dao heart, a powerful physique as well as brand new astral souls if they so desire. Those three things alone would drive countless other ascendants absolutely crazy." The Redcloud Marquis in turn gave his unfiltered opinion at last.

The Immortal Nirvana Code was a truly inconceivable immortal art.

Those who were already immortal had no use for the Immortal Nirvana Code but Celestial Phenomenon ascendants would raid the heavens to have a chance to practise it as they could not hope to find a more attractive and suitable treasure.

This secret immortal art allowed one to get rid of one's already condensed astral souls and connect with new ones.

It's obvious that there was a limit to the heaven-defying properties of the Immortal art or else the Darknorth Immortal Dynasty would already be the absolute hegemon of the Azure Mystic Immortal Realms.

In fact, the astral souls would still be of the same order as what the ascendant had prior to practising the Immortal Nirvana Code.

Nevertheless, one cannot underestimate the immense opportunity that changing one's astral souls were; even among the same heavenly layer some astral souls were rarer and more outstanding than others. Ascendants who had great bout of good fortune after the start of their cultivation could change for these immensely powerful attribute energies instead of their earlier one.

"Currently only five of the hundred selected ascendants had successfully achieved their nirvana after practising the immortal art. Many have already fallen, robbed of their blood essence and flesh." Netherworld mumbled.

He then went on to gaze at one of the floating obelisks which was broadcasting the various ascendants as it showed five youngsters he was referring to.

"That little devil Han Youdi is one of your selected participants Brother Yi, right? He was the first to pass the trial, he still chose to reconnect with the same astral souls though. He is impressive to say the least. If he makes it to the top 10, I don't mind recommending him to my master." Netherworld was like a senile grandpa, he never missed an opportunity to talk.

Lin Ming, the Netherworld Immortal King, was the disciples of one of the most powerful Immortal Emperors within the Dynasty. If Han Youdi joined his master's tutelage then as long as he doesn't die halfway then he would at least reach the same heights as Netherworld.

"Indeed he is. We can see that he has a strong dao heart just as the one who won my trial back then, the monk Meng Hao. The latter also completed the trial but chose to completely recast new astral souls. He seems to have found a way that suits him better during his nirvana." Redcloud eyes shone with a content light as he talked about the two ascendants of his city.

"The number one ascendant of your city did not disappoint either Big Brother. He chose to reconnect with two of his original astral souls and recast three new ones." Heavenspan spoke with a soft smile painted on her face then paused, seemingly to think about something, before further adding on.

"The second one to have passed the nirvana trial successfully is that kid named Pei Qing, his dao heart is only slightly weaker. There is also that girl Pei Yun'er who succeeded in passing the test right after him. Perhaps they are from the same clan and if this is the truth then it is truly impressive. They both chose to condensed brand new astral souls."

The number one ranker from the Netherworld City was a ninth level Celestial Phenomenon ascendant; he was the one who previously dazzled the crowd of onlookers before the trial with his frigid flames. Pei Qing was a true genius with sinister dark eyes and Pei Yun'er was the sword wielding fairy that clashed against Ji Bolin. A trio of outstanding chosen of the heavens.

"That little girl chose to purely become a sword cultivator. I guess she found her path. Anyways, let's keep an eye on all five of them, they are bound to accomplish great things." Netherworld added a last comment before going back to his drinking as the other two Marquises continued to discuss.

All of the 100 Marquises had been at the banquet for quite some time already but to them what was 'a long time" really?

They all will live for hundreds of thousands of millennials unless they fall in combat. This banquet was quite short in their perspective.

𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀

Nirvana Trial Space, Cultivation Cave 101

A crimson cocoon of blood essence and vitality enveloped the bare tattooed skull of Ji Bolin. The latter's soul was extremely weak after facing near destruction but was already on the recovery road.

An intense light shot over, directly gushing into his skull within the protection of the cocoon. Bolin could not resist at all as he was not conscious. The bloody cocoon trembled violently as that beam of light seemed to induce the cocoon into manifesting an incomparably powerful energy within itself to nourish the weak soul of Ji Bolin.

The powerful immortal force generated by the cave first started by nourishing the blood cocoon which in turn strengthened the soul of Ji Bolin until he regained a degree of consciousness.

Then the immortal force was diverted to his physique, his skeletal structure entered a rapid regeneration process starting from the only remaining piece, his skull. As the skeleton was being fully reconstructed many small runes could be seen inscribed onto it.

Once all the runes were successfully carved on, then they connected with each other to form a supremely powerful formation. The formation was akin to a voracious saint beast and devoured loads of the ambient law energies to strengthen Bolin's newly reconstructed skeleton.

Inside the spacious cultivation space there was an uncanny floating cocoon made up of blood; a skeleton hugging its knees and shining with resplendent runic light could be perceived from outside the cocoon. This odd phenomenon was akin to witnessing a naked immortal foetus, the birth of a supremely powerful child.

At last the blood which made up the cocoon was thoroughly absorbed by the one within. The blood essence was thoroughly used to completely re-forge a brand new body for Ji Bolin. However, a direct consequence was that Bolin was no longer an ascendant but a mortal.

Yet this was not meant be taken as a predicament since Bolin could easily regain his cultivation base. The one who created that trial had made perfect preparations; there were an overwhelming amount of astral energy within the cave's space to allow for lightning fast cultivation.

Ji Bolin who had already regained consciousness contemplated his successful nirvana, a wide grin was painted all over his face. He was now vastly different from five months ago, he had become a full 193cm tall and now had a lean yet staunch physique much more imposing than before. Unless one were someone who spent much time with him then they would have a difficult time recognising him.

"I guess I need to re-cultivate. Then so be it!" The first thoughts of Ji Bolin after he woke up were already all directed at cultivation.

The butt naked ascendant sat cross-legged as he prepared to assault the nine heavenly rivers of constellations within the boundless astral space to recast new and more suitable astral souls.

Ji Bolin's perception rushed up to the Nine Heavenly Layers as he wanted to lose no time. Bolin's perception naturally grew even stronger as he cultivated so even now as he was reduced to a mortal it was incomparable to the initial time when started his cultivation.

Now, his tyrannical perception could remain in the 7th Heavenly Layer almost indefinitely.

Ji Bolin's perception continued floating in the starry space of the 7th Heavenly Layer. He saw many strange-looking constellations that exuded a fearsome aura. However, Ji Bolin's perception didn't remain and continued stretching out towards the furthest reaches of this starry space. He wanted to condense a constellation from the 8th Heavenly Layer as he knew all too well how powerful these constellations could be.

Ji Bolin's heart burned with anticipation but a terrifying pressure pressed down on him and denied him entry to the 8th Heavenly Layer. All of his dream of having countless astral souls from the 8th Heavenly Layer were crushed.

No matter how he tried, he could not go past the 7th Heavenly Layer boundary. He immediately understood that there was no point in forcing his way as the whole starry space seemed to forbid his entry so he decisively chose to give up and roam within the 7th Heavenly Layer.

This was something that the Ji Bolin of five months ago would have never done, changing his mind of that matter. He was more mature.

After his enlightenment about why he was on a cultivation journey, Ji Bolin had a whole new perspective. He now had a precise idea over what attribute energies he should cultivate.

Bolin had realised that he desired terrifying strength which would allow him to roam free throughout the immortal realms.

Throughout the many cultivation novels he had read in his previous life as well as the experience he had obtained during those twenty or so years of cultivation, he knew that cultivation had its basis in three principles.

One needed to cultivate one's body, soul and essence to truly have a shot at arriving at the absolute peak of strength. There were those who decided to cultivate a single one of these three aspects to an unprecedented limit and those who choose to simultaneously cultivate all to their known limit.

Ji Bolin chose the latter, cultivate well and steadily until he reach the end of each roads.

Therefore Bolin had decided that his first three astral souls should cater to these three aspects of cultivation. As someone who dreamt about cultivating day and night, he had his own conviction that this was the most suitable way for him to go.

This was now that Ji Bolin decided to put all of his experiences of two lives in use and not only the knowledge of the original book. He was not going to copy Qin Wentian so he could not only do things as the future Ancient Godly Monarch would. He had to be more extreme and unique. He had to find his own path.

So Bolin remembered. He remembered one of his all time favourite novel, Lord Xue Ying. If he had went to that universe, he would have for sure been a bloodline cultivator. He would have merged with 108 supremely strong bloodline then refined & synthetized them together to create 3 transcendental bloodlines. These beyond supremely strong bloodlines would have allow him to became an Overlord.

Ji Bolin believed that the universe had children which they favoured, those with special bloodlines such as Saint Beast. All one had to do was observe the world and they would come to a similar conclusion.

Within Heaven & Earth, who had a more terrifying physique than Saint beasts, who could arrive to the Immortal Emperor realm or beyond by simply growing up. They were the true darling of the skies and could perform heaven defying feats with their fleshy body alone so obviously they were to be emulated.

Ji Bolin's first astral soul would be a Saint Beast.

At last after numerous days of roaming, Ji Bolin found a suitable constellation. That was a constellation in the form of an ominous creature. It was a beast that looked like an ape but with a white mane, crimson hands and feet. On its chest was a single runic character intricately carved into its flesh that changed every few seconds; once it read "Demon", then "Battle", then "Emperor'' and so on. The ever changing character permeated the atmosphere with a blackish flowing light that promises absolute tribulation to the world.

"An ape-type Saint Beast constellation! The law energy it contains should correspond to the law of demons yet it's weird and ever changing. It is unique enough to satisfy my needs."

That towering constellation in the form of an ominous Zhuyan hung majestically across the sky. The fluctuations around it was extremely terrifying, if one could condense an astral soul from this, their attacks would contain an inherent demonic heaven turning might. The Mandates and Laws one could comprehend from this would naturally be related to demons or even something more incredible. One thing was certain, this constellation would undoubtedly augment one's physique, granting them boundless might in combat.

Due his incomparably resolute will, Bolin had no problem whatsoever connecting with the constellation.

A beam of astral light finally cascaded down from the 7th Heavenly Layer breaking apart everything, descending onto Ji Bolin. Immediately after the cultivation cave took effect and forcefully fed his body with gargantuan amounts of astral energies. Even the Hundred Beast Refinement sutra which he was not able to access due to the trial ground formation automatically activated.

Ji Bolin could not help think that this nirvana cave was exempt of such rule. How could he know that a mysterious figure was the one who allowed such things to be possible. Of course, all ascendants within the Nirvana trial space had the same circumstances from that mysterious figure.

Ji Bolin's body was constantly being broken down and repaired by the astronomical amount of astral energies and Body tempering art respectively. This was where a marvellous phenomenon occurred as the terrifying formation carved onto his bone activated. Ji Bolin's newly reformed Hundred Beast Physique merged alongside his formation physique to create a truly supreme new physique.

"What the hell is going on? I can sense something absolutely sky-defying being bred, is it my physique?" the stunned Ji Bolin contemplated.

After a few hours, the two physiques perfectly integrated with each other. A now peak body refinement Bolin was ready to attack the condensation of his second astral soul. He was ready to break through the Arterial Circulation realm. But all of that only came after renaming his newly acquired physique, "Hundred Asura Physique".

Once more Ji Bolin went on to roam within the 7th Heavenly Layer, this time he would choose a constellation related the soul. The one that interested him was an extremely tiny one, immeasurable small when compared to the other constellation in the Nine Heavenly Layers. However no other constellations dared to be near so it could only mean that it was a truly tyrannical one.

The constellation was in the form of a chibi devil statue with human appearance. It had a large round belly, limbs covered in dragon scales, two pairs of horns and a divine ring floating behind his back. The constellation looked funny and menacing at the same time. (A/N: Quite similar to Sinbad in Zepar Djinn in magi.)

As Ji Bolin's perception approached the constellation, the devil opened its eyes, immediately Bolin was put into a samsara as he experienced illusions about ninety-nine lives. The devil's eyes were the source origin of its laws. After difficultly breaking through the samsara then Ji Bolin could feel his perception was slightly stronger, his soul had been enhanced.

So he resolutely tried to connect with the Samsara Devil constellation.

Only a month later, after several attempts was Bolin able to condense his Samsara Devil astral soul. Immediately after, the cave presented Ji Bolin with an immeasurable amount of appropriate astral energy to raise his cultivation base to the peak of the Arterial Circulation realm. The third astral soul was already accessible to him.

Bolin was freely searching through the 7th Heavenly Layer for a much needed third astral soul. He wanted to find a suitable attribute energy that would match his specific needs. He was fond of every type of elemental attribute energy but knew that he needed to choose an increasingly suitable one. Bolin finally opted for the most omnipresent one during one's cultivation journey, Thunder & Lightning.

After a few rounds of looking around, Ji Bolin found the perfect lightning constellation. The constellation was in the form of a massive Garuda with three long feathers as tails and cracking purple coloured lightning. The fluctuations around it were extremely brutal, if one could condense an astral soul from this, their attacks would contain an inherent destructive might and speed of Thunder & Lightning. The Mandates and Laws one could comprehend from this would naturally be related to lightning and heavenly punishment.

A single bolt of lightning as massive as it comes targeted Ji Bolin's perception as he successfully condensed his Heavenly Punishment Garuda astral soul. Now he had lightning attribute energy at his disposal. He would in no time be able to travel at astounding speed as well as fry his enemies under rain of calamitous lightning bolts.

The cultivation cave acted once more and abruptly Bolin already had his nine floored Yuanfu crafted.

No time for rest as he must prepare to break through the Heavenly Dipper realm by condensing a fourth astral soul. This time Bolin went for an undying attribute astral soul as survivability was a must when cultivating. The astral soul he chose was in the form of an Undying Tree that towered the heavens. In the boundless starry space, the tree dwarfed all the other constellations of the 7th Heavenly Layer.

Ji Bolin could already imagine the days where he would be fighting headless like a certain existence. Indeed with an undying attribute astral soul as long as the enemy doesn't eradicate either the whole body or soul then death was not an option. Of course for those way stronger than the undying one then a single attack would completely erase them.

Another quick round of blitzing to the peak of the Heavenly Dipper realm with the aid of the Nirvana cave.

At last Ji Bolin was going to re-enter the Celestial Phenomenon realm. Whilst he was safely cultivating, many ascendants were madly killing each other as in only two months the deadline for the culling down to 20,000 participants would have to be met.

Already a peak heavenly dipper sovereign, Ji Bolin continued his aesthetic cultivation as he prepared to condense an astral soul from a constellation of the 8th Heavenly Layer.

Cultivation knows not of the passing of time. In the blink of an eye, the deadline of a year had been reached. However, the Ji Bolin now was still in a state of total focus, he simply didn't know nor care of the passing of time. He has forgotten everything in the external world, and was completely immersed.

At this moment, he was still cultivating in the cave.

Not far from him, a mysterious immortal sense quietly sat there. It was unknown when he had appeared. The imperceptible immortal sense of the mysterious figure behind the Nirvana trial was simply quietly staring at Ji Bolin, they were contemplating how this little ascendant had already condensed four astral souls from the 7th Heavenly Layer.

At this moment, lightning attribute energy frenziedly circulated around Ji Bolin, akin to a long river of divine punishment, emitting cracking noises. The river continued permeating the entire cave as his astral soul glowed with resplendent light. That majestic Garuda-shaped astral soul was emanating a fearsome lightning-attribute astral energy.

Ji Bolin's body shimmered with the runes of thunder punishment, causing the nearby churning energy to gather on his body. Under the light from his astral soul, he now resembled a god of Divine Punishment, evoking fear in the hearts of all who saw him.

"Not bad." A voice rang out but Bolin could not hear any of it.

The mysterious immortal sense disappeared as Ji Bolin woke up from his cultivation. He was ready to finally condense his fifth astral soul.

In the boundless starry space amongst the nine heavenly layers, the powerful perception of Ji Bolin was breaking through through the barriers with ease and directly appeared in the 8th heavenly layer. Although the pressure here was great, it wasn't able to do much damage to him. He had once possessed a broken astral soul that had been condensed from a constellation in the 8th heavenly layer after all.

Since that was the case then the Immortal Nirvana Code could not obstruct his new astral soul to also be condensed from the 8th heavenly layer. The constellations here weren't as many as the layers below, and they were all spaced extremely far apart from each other. The vast auras of these constellations were able to cause heaven and earth to crumble.

Despite the vast distances, Bolin now could clearly sense the attribute energy fluctuations of the constellations. It was as if as he re-cultivated then his affinity with constellations grew stronger.

This time around, Ji Bolin's perception was able to roam the 8th heavenly layer more freely. Although the pressure was fearsome, he was able to endure it. He might not be able to go up to the 9th heavenly layer for now, but he was able to freely choose his constellation in the 8th layer.

The constellations here all emitted vast amounts of attribute energy and if Bolin was stronger he would have been able to directly feel the law energies of those constellations but he wasn't to such a level yet.

A stellar martial cultivator's energy source all came from their astral souls. Without powerful astral souls, their potential would naturally be lower compared to others. Thus this 5th astral soul's power needed to be compatible with the others as well as extremely overbearing.

The perfect constellation appeared within Ji Bolin's perception range; it was a Divine Staff.

That was a constellation in the form of an archaic staff with intricate carvings. The staff permeated that region of the 8th Heavenly Layer with a dark-red flowing light that promised absolute calamity, it was simply mesmerising.

A weapon-type constellation with the attribute energy corresponding to the law of calamity. That specific attribute was quite similar to destruction or disintegration attribute in nature but also was more than that. Calamities were not simply the act of destroying but also the act of inflicting harm and misfortune.

Ji Bolin sensed that if he merged the attribute energy of calamity with his other attribute energy then their power would be boosted to an unreal amount, then all his other attribute energy would be as powerful as their counterpart from the 8th Heavenly Layer.

He could muster Lightning calamities, Soul Calamities as well as Demon Calamities upon his enemy. This very thought made Ji Bolin smile with glee.

𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀 𝛀

Celestial Palace, Inside a spacious cultivation cave.

In the Celestial Palace, a Azure-robed figure stood there with his arms behind his back. He was the mysterious figure spying on Bolin back then. That figure was staring at the skies as a terrifying azure light shimmered in his eyes.

"The 8th Heavenly Layer." That figure murmured. Although his tone was calm, his heart was buffeted by huge waves. A moment later, he retracted his gaze as though nothing out of the ordinary happened and did not look at the skies again. If that little fellow was ranked among the Top Ten of the selection then he would go out of his way to take him in as a disciple.

He was the Azure Yang Patriarch, a powerful peak stage Immortal Emperor.