Chapter 64: Divine Ability?

After rejoicing for a bit, Xiao Hong directed her attention to her Essence Cultivation.

Inside her Dantian, the red-gold pool of Zhenqi had expanded greatly - by almost 3 times. Moreover, that wasn't all. 

'There seems to be more space for more expansion?' Xiao Hong analysed, 'Around 3 times the current amount?' 

So that meant it would expand to about nine times the amount she had before! What was more absurd was that she would only be part of the way to the mid-stage Divine Sea when she completely expanded her Divine Sea! 

'Huh. The difference between the initial- and mid-stage Divine Sea is not supposed to be this great, though?' She was quite surprised, 'For the ordinary Cultivator, the difference between initial-stage to peak stage should only be around 50 times, right? Even for the most monstrous of geniuses, the difference is only 100 times. 

'However, for me, it seems to be around 1000 times?' 

Xiao Hong took in a sharp breath! Her eyebrows rose dramatically.

'The growth limit of my Divine Sea is around ten times that of the most monstrous Divine Sea Cultivator ever recorded!'

'What's even better is that, when I stepped into the Divine Sea Stage, I automatically had Zhenqi that was slightly higher than the monstrous geniuses when they stepped into the Divine Sea themselves!'

'All in all, by the time I reach the peak of the Divine Sea Stage, my Zhenqi will be around 12 times the strongest ever recorded! Even if I consider those that kept their talents hidden, I would still have 5 times greater Zhenqi.'

Her eyes shone brightly. 'As expected of the Celestial God's Essence Cultivation Method! Even though it doesn't have any natural Divine Abilities like other Cultivation Methods, it makes up for it with the sheer quantity and quality of Zhenqi.'

Divine Sea Stage was the first Stage in the process of establishing an Immortal Foundation. The initial-stage to the peak-stage focused completely on increasing the quantity, density and purity of Zhenqi, creating an immense 'Divine Sea'. The initial to mid-stage of the Divine Sea had the maximum. 

The Disaster Stages evolve the Zhenqi itself to a higher level and quality by using the principles of Elemental Interaction to strengthen its versatility, Yin-Yang Interaction's balancing to make it more enduring and Wind-Thunder to increase its destructive ability. The Wind-Thunder itself is to imitate the principles of Heavenly Tribulation and thus 'taking on power the Heavenly Way'.

Of course, it was nothing more than a cheap imitation that wasn't even worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence. But it is more than enough to achieve the goal.

Then, through the Life Disaster, the Cultivator transforms all that accumulation into an innate property of themselves, finally taking the first step in establishing the 'Immortal Foundation'. 

It is only at this point, that the 'Divine' Sea is truly formed. And this is why, the Nirvana Stage is the absolute peak of a Divine Sea.

Xiao Hong took a deep breath before letting it out.

She opened her Status Screen in what seemed like ages.

[

Name: Xiao Hong

Age: 17

Lifespan: 750 years

Primary profession: Cultivator

Secondary Profession(s)

 Alchemist (Grade 2)

 Formation Master (Grade 2)

Inventory (27m3): 50001 Spirit Stones

Divine Abilities: Heavenly Convergence (Yuan) - Beginner

Cultivation Base:

 Essence: Initial-stage Divine Sea

 Physique: 6-star Ancient Godling (6th Disaster equivalent in Battle Power)

 Soul: 3rd stage Red Soul (3rd Disaster Equivalent in Battle Power)

Skills:

 Heaven Swallowing Roc Breathing Method (Heaven) - Uncultivated

 Spirit Transformation Art (Earth) - Small Accomplishment

 Dark Flame Serpent (Profound) - Grand Completion (Perfection)

 Earth Shell (Profound) - Grand Completion (Perfection)

 Earth Burrow (Profound) - Grand Completion (Perfection)

 Star Shifting Steps (Profound) - Grand Completion (Perfection)

 Heaven Concealing Method (Heaven) - Small Accomplishment

 Golden Ape King Kong Fist (Profound) - Great Accomplishment

 <Several Normal, Yellow and Black Rank Cultivation Techniques omitted>

Cultivation Method: 

 Celestial God Essence Cultivation Method

 Ancient God's Physique Scripture

 Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method

Battle Prowess: High (low 7th Disaster Equivalent)

Automatic Cultivation Slots: 5 (Details: 333x of Normal Speed)

 Slot 1: Heaven Concealing Method (798 Days)

  Slot 2: Formation Master [Grade 3] (7 hours)

 Slot 3: Ancient God's Physique Scripture

 Slot 4: Spirit Transformation Art (95 Days to Great Accomplishment)

]

Xiao Hong's eyes widened as she looked at the Status Screen - there were many more changes than she anticipated!

'Heavenly Convergence? As in the convergence of the Three Pillars of Essence, Spirit and Body?' She raised her eyebrows in surprise. She instantly thought back to that strange state she had been in when she punched Fang Jin flying. 

'Ah, that was so fucking satisfying!' Xiao Hong's body felt like it was floating like clouds in the sky when she recalled that memory! After being smacked around like a tennis ball by Fang Jin, she had finally given him a taste of his own medicine! 

'What a happy memory~!' Her face involuntarily stretched into a wide grin. 'Sadly, there are no amortal happiness-devouring, Soul-sucking, ghost-like beings, otherwise, I would have shown them a thing or two!'

After indulging herself in satisfaction for a short while, she refocused her attention on the Status Screen.

Divine Abilities: Heavenly Convergence (Yuan) - Beginner

'Hmm, so Yuan is the rank above Heaven?' She hummed thoughtfully. 'Primordial above Heavens, huh? Interesting.

'Well, that doesn't matter.' She grinned again - she now had a Divine Ability! Finally, there was one less torturous 'Empty' field in her Status Screen! One less field to selectively ignore! 

It was truly a cause for celebration!

'Hehehehe~' Weird giggles echoed across the room for a long while.

It was only after some time that she managed to school her thoughts.

'Ahem.' She cleared her throat and concentrated on the Divine Ability. She mused, 'In retrospect, it does seem like some sort of fusion between the three Pillars of a Living Being - the Essence, the Body and the Spirit.'

Xiao Hong could remember how her Qi, Spirit and Body resonated with each other and harmoniously fused and somehow empowered her Body to a standard that was beyond her comprehension. 

However, her memories were a little blurry. The terrifying injuries she had suffered along with the single-minded drive to tear Fang Jin a new one left little room for anything else, and every other feeling was pushed to the very back of her mind.

'Though, the level of power it allows me to exert is quite absurd.' she thought in wonderment. 'Even if the power gained through the fusion of the three Pillars is much more than the sum of its parts, it should not be able to hurt a being at the Nirvana Stage!'

Immortal Cultivation had rules, and these rules established that no matter how overpowered her Foundations were, with her 6th Disaster Stage equivalent Physique, 3rd Disaster equivalent Soul and her puny initial-stage Divine Sea Essence, such power should have been impossible!

'Even if a dozen 8th Disaster Stage worked perfectly in tandem and used extraordinary Formations to seamlessly fuse their powers together, they would still be handily defeated by a veteran Nirvana Stage True Demon like Fang Jin.'

Then she recalled even more carefully, 'Ah, wait. Is it because it used all my power in a single instant?' 

She recalled the intense feeling of tiredness that washed over her after punching Fang Jin away and breaking out of the state of Convergence. She had initially thought it was due to her injuries, but it was now evident that this Divine Ability played the greatest role. Back then, she had indeed been greatly injured but her Zhenqi was still mostly full. 

The corner of Xiao Hong's eye twitched in irritation, 'Won't I become a one-stroke champion if I use this or something?' 

The usefulness of this Divine Ability would immediately drop if all it could do was allow her a single attack. While it was a great trump card, she wanted something more enduring.

'My style of battle focuses on endurance more than anything else. With my Zhenqi quantity and quality, overpowered Physique and extraordinary mobility granted by the Star Shifting Steps, long-lasting battles are my ball game.' 

In the several beatings - ahem, battles - she had experienced in this Mystic Realm, she had already gained a good understanding of her capabilities in battle.

'No.' She suddenly thought, 'Divine Abilities are far more versatile than Spell Arts or Battle Techniques, allowing for a control far beyond what is possible. It wouldn't be called a Divine Ability, otherwise!'

Therefore, she decided to test it out later when she had recovered completely. She threw it into a slot.

Automatic Cultivation Slot 5: Heavenly Convergence: (266 Days)

'Oh? That's much quicker than what I expected!' Her willowy eyebrow raised in surprise. With the Heaven Swallowing Roc Breathing Method as an example, she was totally prepared for it to take decades!

'Is it because it is a Divine Ability that I awakened on my own, therefore allowing me to gain information on it much quicker?' She pondered thoughtfully.

'Well, I will understand when I actually start practising it!'

Then she moved her attention to the next rows.

'My Formation Mastery is pretty close to reaching Grade 3! I should be able to start researching Arrays to break the limit pretty soon!' Xiao Hong's eyes flickered with anticipation. 'I hope those Demonic Cultivator prisoners survived…'

Xiao Hong's thoughts seemed really kind but the reason behind those thoughts was anything but. 

'Sadly, I can't actually use Grade 4 Formation without a Soul Palace Stage Cultivation.' Just like Grade 4 Alchemy, Grade 4 Formation Mastery also required the Formation Master to imbue the Formation with a 'Spirit'. Of course, this 'Spirit' wasn't a Spirit in the proper sense, it was just a tiny sliver of Soul Power extracted from a Beast Crystal Core - which required the control over Soul Power which only Soul Palace Cultivators had. 

Unlike Grade 4 Spirit Pills which also had Spirituality for targeted application of medicine, Formations of Grade 4 and above required a Spirit due to the sheer complexity of it. Even the creator of the Formation would have a massive headache trying to manage the flow of Essence and Energy! So they directly offloaded the task to a Formation Spirit.

'I wonder…' Xiao Hong suddenly had a thought, 'Would I be able to achieve the same control over Soul Power?

'I do have the ability to enter and exit my Sea of Consciousness and control my Soul Power.

'Then there's also the Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method…

'I might just be able to use Grade 4 Formations before I reach the Soul Place level!

Xiao Hong's eyes shone brightly!

'It's worth a try!' Just as she was thinking intensely, she heard a knock on her door.

"May I come in, Junior Sister?" A voice sounded from the other side of the door.

A preoccupied Xiao Hong instinctively. "Sure, come in."

"I see you're doing well Junior Sister," a familiar voice sounded.

Xiao Hong turned towards the guest only to freeze for a moment, "A-ah. Hello there, Senior Brother Gu…"