Chapter 1049: Spiritual Transformation

Far beyond the planet where Xiao Nanfeng resided, to the back of a distant star, twenty massive starships had gathered. Inside one of these starships, in a grand hall, sat a horned man.

Surrounding the horned man were six glowing projections, each depicting a man or woman. These individuals had unique features—some had snow-white hair, while others had a third eye on their foreheads. They were having a virtual meeting.

These seven individuals were naturally the Darkborn who were rushing to Earth.

The horned man took a deep breath and said, "Everyone, what are your thoughts now?"

A white-haired woman sneered. "We've all seen the battle footage recorded by Sibyl's star ship and transmitted to us. What else is there to think about?"

A man with a third eye on his forehead nodded and said, "This planet seems to be experiencing a resurgence. It's already produced three Stellar powerhouses. We can't afford to take risks lightly."

Another Darkborn added, "That's right. When Sathia arrived, a Stellar powerhouse from this planet took him down in a kamikaze attack. By the time Sibyl arrived, that same Stellar powerhouse had somehow resurrected—and then three more Stellar powerhouses appeared by the third wave. Just how many Stellar powerhouses does this planet have? We haven't figured out the situation yet. How can we attack?"

The Darkborn in the projections all shook their heads. None of them were willing to act now. After all, five Darkborn had already died.

The horned man asked again, "Do you remember the footage from Sibyl? At the end of the battle, a golden tree appeared."

The Darkborn all turned serious as they nodded. The three-eyed man said, "That must be our king's golden tree. Has our king's consciousness managed to escape from the primordial altar? It's very strange—how could a native of this planet be controlling the golden tree?"

The horned man replied, "Our king might be planning something. It's best if we can establish contact beforehand."

The three-eyed man said, "A large quantity of dark matter is flowing toward that planet, a novel change. There's also a tri-colored barrier around the planet, isolating it from the outside. We can't observe what's happening inside, and neither can we contact the king."

The horned man frowned. "Are we simply going to wait, then?"

The three-eyed man nodded. "To avoid repeating Sibyl's mistakes, we have no other choice. Once more of us arrive, we can attack the planet together."

The other Darkborn fell silent.

The white-haired woman frowned. "And are many going to show up?"

The horned man's eyes flashed with fury. "The king has only been imprisoned for a few hundred thousand years. What's a few hundred thousand years to us Darkborn? Do they no longer consider our king the true king?"

The white-haired woman frowned. "Even within our faction, things aren't stable. There are traitors aplenty who don't want the king to return."

The Darkborn fell silent again. After a while, the horned man said, "Let's not worry about that for now. The priority is to rescue the king. Once our king is free, everything will be resolved. We'll deal with the traitors then. For now, contact everyone who can come. Those who come will prove themselves as loyal subjects. Those who don't will be our enemies in the future."

"Agreed!" The Darkborn all nodded.

Though the Darkborn had arrived from beyond the heavens, their fear kept them from attacking immediately, buying more time for the world.

Two months later, in Yongding, within Xiao Nanfeng's world of the heart, behind Madam Rouge, Liu Miaoyin, and the Divine Emperor, nine branches of the world tree appeared. As they infused the golden tree's energy into them, their nine branches each merged into one, forming the projection of three nine-colored trees. However, the projections were extremely unstable, trembling violently as if they would collapse at any moment.

"Resonate," Xiao Nanfeng commanded his own nine-colored tree.

Nine-colored light burst forth from it, shooting toward the projections behind the three women and helping to stabilize them all.

Amidst the rumbling, the void trembled and the projected nine-colored trees gradually stabilized. Overwhelming power radiated from them. Though they weren't as solid and tangible as Xiao Nanfeng's own, given time and cultivation, they would eventually manifest in full. Of course, they would need more planets to nourish them for them to reach the same level as Xiao Nanfeng's.

Even so, the three women's strength would skyrocket. With the projection of the nine-colored tree alone, they were more easily able to manipulate the planet's laws and could even fight Sibyl one-on-one.

Nearby, Xia Yu'er, Zhang Lingjun, and Lan Yaoguang had also made significant breakthroughs.

Behind Zhang Lingjun, a red light emerged, within which a red world tree was growing increasingly solid. The tree began to emit a faint golden light as the golden tree's energy merged with it, giving it a metallic sheen. Gradually, the burnished red world tree took shape.

Behind Xia Yu'er, a burnished purple tree took shape, and behind Lan Yaoguang, a burnished blue tree.

The birth of the three world trees required an immense amount of energy.

"Resonate," Xiao Nanfeng commanded his own nine-colored tree.

He channeled the power of the nine-colored tree into the three women to help them materialize their trees in full.

Amidst the rumbling, the three new world trees slowly manifested in full. As the trees took shape, they rapidly filled the three women with energy and enhanced their spiritual power.

Xiao Nanfeng's own spiritual power was attached to their moons, allowing him to sense the changes in their souls, moons, and world trees.

He was consuming vast quantities of fortune to cleanse his karmic consequence and deepen his understanding of the details of their manifestation.

Another month passed in the same manner.

With a rumble, the three women's world trees materialized in full. The red, blue, and purple world trees radiated with dazzling light, as magnificent as when the three Qing Grandmasters had summoned them.

Zhang Lingjun immediately asked Xiao Nanfeng, "We've manifested our world trees. Were you able to intuit what you needed from it?"

The other women were also looking at Xiao Nanfeng with concern.

Xiao Nanfeng closed his eyes and considered the knowledge he had gleaned. "More or less. I'll have to focus on secluded cultivation now—I'll leave things in the world at large to all of you."

The women nodded fervently, leaving Xiao Nanfeng's world of the heart and the hall in which they were conducting their secluded cultivation.

There were numerous defensive formations and guards stationed around the hall, but the women still didn't feel quite secure. They each chose a nearby hall in which to reside temporarily as they waited for Xiao Nanfeng to break through.

In the six palaces, they continued to familiarize themselves with their world trees while guarding Xiao Nanfeng.

Inside the main cultivation hall, Xiao Nanfeng entered his world of the heart. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and simulated the upcoming breakthrough in his mind countless times before finally entering a meditative state.

His physical body remained aside, while his soul floated with his three moons behind it, radiating dazzling light. He drew what energy remained from the golden tree and slowly infused it into the three moons.

With a resonant hum, the three haloes of moonlight intensified. The light didn't scatter but instead converged into three glowing orbs. The orbs pulsed rhythmically, as if they were breathing. Then, they began to absorb spiritual energy voraciously.

The birth of a world tree required not only spiritual aether but also spiritual power, heart force, and emotions.

Rooted in the planet as it was, Xiao Nanfeng's nine-colored tree could not only draw in spiritual aether but also collect the emotions of all living beings. Though these emotions didn't yet amount to much, it was enough for Xiao Nanfeng to nurture three world trees.

The orbs gradually took on the shape of world trees themselves. The three world trees seemed to repel each other; after all, he was trying to nurture all three simultaneously. However, this didn't stump Xiao Nanfeng. Thanks to the data he had collected from Xia Yu'er, Zhang Lingjun, and Lan Yaoguang, he had already simulated the optimal method to get around this obstacle.

Though the three world trees appeared to be manifesting simultaneously, there were actually subtle differences in their growth frequencies. As long as he controlled them all properly, the repulsion among them wouldn't grow to significant levels.

Three months later, the three world trees finally materialized behind Xiao Nanfeng. They trembled slightly before releasing a pulse of void ripples that intersected and created a shimmering, wave-like effect.

The energy channeled into Xiao Nanfeng by the three world trees continuously strengthened Xiao Nanfeng's soul, allowing it to approach the peak of the Deific Yin realm.

However, he knew it wouldn't be enough. He would need to make a spiritual breakthrough so that his soul could match his physical body in strength.

He once again retrieved his Divine Seal of Dazheng and sensed the primordial purple qi within.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Rather than enter that space, he used the power of his newly mature red, blue, purple, and nine-colored world trees to enhance his soul. Then, he generated a suction force toward the interior of the seal, slowly drawing out the primordial purple qi that lay within. Though the process was slow, and only a small trickle of qi was released at any given time, this was already his limit.

He slowly guided the primordial purple qi into his soul.

With a resonant hum, the primordial purple qi erupted within him, instantly freezing his entire body with a wave of pure yin. However, this time, his soul didn't crack under the cold.

As he absorbed and refined the primordial purple qi, he sensed something unusual. The primordial purple qi wasn't just a source of energy—it also projected a scene of creation in his mind. He seemed to see tranquil darkness, within which a purple arc of light suddenly flashed. The arc exploded into countless rays of light, as dazzling as the Big Bang. But after a moment, the scene reversed. The light condensed back into a purple arc before disappearing, leaving nothing but darkness once more.

The scene was profound, and seemingly contained the fundamental truths of the universe's origin and destruction.

He realized that this might be the key to his soul's breakthrough. He began to channel the fortune of Dazheng into his body, using it to help him comprehend the cosmic truths within the scene.

Gradually, he entered a state of selflessness as he underwent a spiritual advancement that no one on this planet had ever achieved before.