Chapter 42
"I want you to look inside yourself and tell me what you see inside of your dantian," Shanggu Feng said to Chen Zhen.
Chen Zhen took a really good look inside of himself, something he just realized he hadn't done in a while. As his mind's eye looked under his skin he saw his muscles that looked like flexible steel fibers. They interwove together around his skeleton which looked like white jade crystal. His heart beat with a steady rhythm as it pumped his blood thru his body. Every cell of his now had a power of its own that fortified his body. A gaseous spiritual energy flowed thru his meridians and congregated in his dantians. The dantians were all full of this gaseous energy.
"Our dantians are full of a gaseous spiritual energy. I can see if coursing thru my meridians." Chen Zhen said still looking inside himself.
"What you first need to do is compress that gaseous energy until it becomes a fine mist. Lou Tian and I will be compressing the energy in our corresponding dantians also. This is were your elemental affinity comes into play. As you compress you energy you need to choose which element you plan to focus on. Then as you compress that gaseous spiritual energy you need to feed it the element you choose." Shanggu Feng explained.
"Do I really have to choose one or the other? I don't want to lose out on the benefits of using both elements. Plus there is the void element I've not had the chance to investigate yet. I feel that my strength would be handicapped if I don't utilize everything at my disposal." Chen Zhen said feeling anxious about having to make a choice.
"You are correct, this is a very hard decision for martial artist such as yourself who have multiple affinities. I never had the problem your facing, so I can't truly advise you on the best option. For Lou Tian and myself, because we are descendants of Sacred Beast, our bloodline carry only a single affinity."
"Can you give me some time to think about this?" Chen Zhen asked Shanggu Feng.
"Sure no problem there is no rush right now. You have been able to produce quite a few miracles. Just don't act before consulting us first. We promise to not hold you back, but you have to remember to include us in whatever you decide to do." Shanggu Feng told him.
"No problem I will not do anything rashly like I did before." Chen Zhen said to rea.s.sure them.
"Is there a way to not lose any of our abilities when we progress to the Liquid Core Stage?" Chen Zhen asked the clone.
[I haven't been able to research everything yet. I know that we can combine the fire and lightning affinities, but the void affinity has never been used. I don't have enough information to make an accurate answer. I do have a theory about the void affinity.] the clone explained, [I believe the void affinity isn't so much an affinity as it is an innate ability. The fire and lightning affinity you gained when you combined with Shanggu Feng's and Lou Tian's souls. I believe the void ability was something you had before you met them. If this is true then you will not have to worry about losing it after you advance to Liquid Core Stage. Unfortunately the only way to test this theory is after you have
Chen Zhen didn't like his options, but at least what the clone offered him was more hopeful. He could only begrudgingly accept the clones method over losing everything.
"So what do I have to do to test your theory?" Chen Zhen asked the clone.
[As they convert the gas in their dantians into mist you need to use a little bit of there mist as a catalyst to create Thunderfire mist in your dantian. But you must got very, very slow. This is a very dangerous process. I will try to help but you MUST do the majority of the work yourself. I can't communicate with Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian. You must stay in constant contact with them throughout the entire process for this to work right.] the clone implored him.
"OK I think I have a solution, but it will require both of your help." Chen Zhen said to Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian.
"Sure what do you need us to do?" they replied.
"As you guys convert you gaseous spiritual energy into mist, I will take a small drop of mist from each of you to act as a catalyst to create Thunderfire mist in my dantian. I will be taking things very slow and communicating with you guys along the way. I believe that working together we can make this possible." Chen Zhen explained to them.
Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian were both skeptical on whether this would work or not, but since Chen Zhen had been doing the impossible this entire time, they would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian were both very powerful warrior before, so they had already done this process before. It took them no time at all to create mist in their dantians. Taking a deep breath to steady himself Chen Zhen took a drop of mist from each dantian. As soon as that drop of mist entered his dantian it felt like a miniature explosion went off in his dantian. Chen Zhen coughed up a mouth full of blood, but he stayed focused. The mist energy was extremely potent. Even though it was a small amount it actually held as much power as a quarter of all the gaseous spiritual energy in his dantian.
The mist spiritual energy was taking all the spread out and tiny gas particles and pus.h.i.+ng them tightly together until they began to bond to each other. As more and more particles bound together they would form a vaporous mist. This mist was hundreds of times more powerful than the gas.
As Chen Zhen stabilized his dantian, that tiny drop of Thunderfire was slowly rotating in his dantian. He took another drop from their dantians, but he was ready for the force of combining them in his dantian. The second drop was still volatile, but it didn't harm Chen Zhen this time. As Chen Zhen slowly continued the process Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian replenished whatever he used from their dantians.
They were all so focused on what they were doing that no one payed attention to the time. The next day when Chen Zhen didn't come to breakfast Mei Ling went to check on him make sure he was okay. Before she even got close to Chen Zhen's shack she could feel enormous energy fluctuations. The fluctuations felt as heavy as a mountain pressing down on Mei Ling, making it hard for her to move. She realized that Chen Zhen was making his breakthrough, she quickly left that oppressive aura and headed back to her shack. Her little family didn't have many things, but she still collected them together in the spatial ring that Shanggu Julong gave her in preparation for they departure.
As the hours flew by like a flowing river, the aura coming from Chen Zhen's shack began to stabilize. Chen Zhen had converted his entire dantian into Thunderfire mist. His body was cover in sweat showing how exhausting the process was.
"You are doing great Chen Zhen. Now that you have completed the first step you have gotten the hardest part out of the way. Now that your dantian is full of a mist that consist of your elemental affinity, to truly step into the Liquid Core stage you must compress that mist into a small liquid pool inside of your dantian." Shanggu Feng told him.
Right now Chen Zhen's dantian was about a third of the way full of Thunderfire mist. Do to the immense size of all of their dantians this third was still as much as a normal cultivators when it was full. Chen Zhen didn't know this, so he was feeling b.u.mmed when he realized he would have so little energy when he was done. If any normal cultivator knew what he was thinking they would have cough up blood in frustration.
Chen Zhen finished the rest of his breakthrough process smoothly and ended up with a tiny pool of Thunderfire energy that only fill about one-fifth of his dantian.
[Try circulating your energy,] knowing that Chen Zhen was looking down on the amount of energy he had in his dantian, the clone asked him to do this.
Chen Zhen was completely exhausted, but he still did as the clone asked. As soon as he began circulating his energy he was instantly invigorated. He had more energy now then he ever had when all three dantians were full. Chen Zhen looked at his body in astonishment! He didn't even use any martial techniques yet all he did was circulate his energy.
[Now when you absorb energy and cultivate it was automatically create Thunderfire for you. This is one of the benefits of entering the Liquid Core Stage.]
"This is amazing! This is more then I ever hoped for." Chen Zhen said to everyone.
"You still have our dantians to use as an energy source also. In this way you can continue to learn our martial techniques while you create you own along the way." Lou Tian said feeling very happy with Chen Zhen.
"Even though you just entered into he Liquid Core Stage you are currently about as powerful as a level 3 Liquid Core Stage cultivator. This will by no means make you invincible, but you will at least be able to protect everyone better." Shanggu Feng said also giving his approval.