Chapter 148: The Spatial Prison

The two sets of array formations had long been destroyed by the lightning. Liu Junhuai would undoubtedly have to set them up again, but fortunately, he was already thoroughly familiar with both arrays. With a wave of both hands, the formations were successfully cast once more.

Now that he was already in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Liu Junhuai could feel a heaven-and-earth overturning transformation in his overall strength. His meridians had expanded and grown stronger, and only in this way could they accommodate a greater storage of spiritual energy. "With all kinds of means at my disposal, I should probably be able to put up a fight against a cultivator in the Deity Transformation stage, right?" he thought to himself.

The Spirit Pupil Pill could not be consumed just yet, as the primordial spirit's task of devouring the heavenly consciousness was still incomplete. Liu Junhuai sat cross-legged within the array formation and slowly circulated the Nine Transformations Heart Sutra.

As the true essence flowed freely through his limbs and bones, Liu Junhuai looked inward to observe the progress of his primordial spirit.

In his elixir field and sea of qi, the Nascent Soul sat cross-legged, floating mid-air. Directly beneath it was a lake of true essence. The five-colored hue surrounding the Nascent Soul reflected brightly upon the lake water, painting it in a kaleidoscope of colors. Countless dazzling specks of light slowly rotated across the lake's surface, as beautiful as a starry sky.

Entering the sea of consciousness, that formless and colorless primordial spirit was still continuously devouring the power of heavenly consciousness. It seemed much larger than before, with thin streaks of golden light flashing across its surface from time to time—likely the color absorbed after consuming the golden heavenly consciousness.

At this moment, the golden sphere was spinning rapidly, and what lingered around the sphere was no longer mere threads of light, but had transformed into wisps of mist.

After the true essence had completed several cycles within his body, the devouring by the primordial spirit was finished. With a shift of Liu Junhuai's will, the power of the primordial spirit completely replaced the heavenly consciousness, condensing around him as a protective aura of defense.

Suddenly, a massive roar echoed through Liu Junhuai's sea of consciousness. Immediately following the disappearance of the roar, he felt his field of vision instantly open up into a vast expanse. A momentum as majestic as shattered mountains and rivers and sinking earth surged into the heavens. In that instant, Liu Junhuai's consciousness no longer contained the universe and the heavens, nor all things in the world, not even himself.

At this moment, Liu Junhuai only felt his soul merge as one with all things between heaven and earth; you were in him, and he was in you. There was no trace of the breath of life, only the eternal existence of heaven and earth itself.

Liu Junhuai's consciousness roamed freely and unhindered within this vast expanse, as if heaven and earth were himself. This was his true original mind, his most authentic heart. At its largest, it could contain all things in the universe; at its smallest, it was like a single grain of dust in the void. Yet all things in the world were born from him and extinguished by him.

With a soft, muffled "pop," Liu Junhuai was pulled out from that realm of non-birth and non-ego. It was the sound of his body's formless and colorless protective primordial spirit bursting like a water bubble, scattering like mist to drift freely through the void. It scattered into vapor when dispersed, condensed into form when gathered; it could enter water without drowning, fire without burning, and metals and stones without obstruction. Following the movement of Liu Junhuai's will, it arrived wherever his mind went and departed wherever his mind left—sometimes as still as a virgin, sometimes as swift as a startled rabbit.

The golden sphere within the sea of consciousness transmitted information through consciousness. The moment Liu Junhuai's will stirred, the primordial spirit drifting in the void instantly condensed into a single mass. After a burst of trembling, it transformed into a crimson golden elixir, which darted abruptly into Liu Junhuai's sea of consciousness and vanished.

When Liu Junhuai's will stirred once more, that crimson golden elixir abruptly reappeared in the void, dissolving into mist, condensing into form, and transforming into a human figure that matched Liu Junhuai's height and facial features without the slightest error.

Filled with extreme joy, Liu Junhuai raised his head and let out a long whistle. The piercing sound shot straight into the sky, diffusing into the void and echoing endlessly!

It took a full half-incense stick of time for Liu Junhuai's emotions to gradually calm down.

With a shift of his will, the detection range of his primordial spirit's power astonishingly covered a radius of five thousand li, dozens of times greater than the heavenly consciousness detection capability of the Golden Core stage.

Amidst his joy, Liu Junhuai was even more astounded by the sheer vastness of the chaotic space. With a single thought, his figure abruptly vanished on the spot, reappearing five thousand li away.

"Hahaha..." Liu Junhuai laughed wildly with excitement. His teleportation ability had actually increased alongside the expansion of his primordial spirit's detection range. It seemed that the evolution of the primordial spirit had brought about a thorough rebirth, transforming him fundamentally in every aspect.

Suddenly, Liu Junhuai's primordial spirit detection sensed something. Following the feedback from his primordial spirit, his mouth dropped open in astonishment for a moment, and then he burst out laughing.

It turned out that Ah Jiu, seeing him disappear, had suddenly been overcome by a playful urge and tracked Liu Junhuai's aura all the way here.

Just a few breaths later, Ah Jiu's massive body descended silently from the void right in front of Liu Junhuai, without the slightest sign of panting or breathlessness.

Liu Junhuai praised sincerely, "Well done, Ah Jiu! Five thousand li! It took you less than ten breaths to catch up. This speed is simply too fast!"

Hearing this, Ah Jiu couldn't help but wag all nine of its heads, an expression of complacent pride written all over its demeanor.

Liu Junhuai was tempted to use his teleportation divine ability to dampen Ah Jiu's pride a little, but seeing Ah Jiu's thoroughly satisfied expression, he couldn't bear to do so.

Originally intending to explore the actual boundaries of the chaotic space, he had to give up due to Ah Jiu's arrival. Still惦记著ing (keeping his mind on) the Spirit Pupil Pill, he gently leaped onto Ah Jiu's back. Ah Jiu flapped its twin wings, and ten breaths later, they had returned to the shores of Qingyun Lake.

Walking into the array formation, Liu Junhuai sat cross-legged, briefly regulated his breathing, took out the Spirit Pupil Pill and swallowed it, then lightly clasped his hands together and entered a state of meditation.

As the medicinal pill melted in his mouth, the golden sphere in his sea of consciousness began to spin rapidly.

Liu Junhuai used the power of his consciousness to closely monitor the location of the Heavenly Eye between his eyebrows, peacefully sensing the world of the Heavenly Eye.

At first, the Heavenly Eye was a ball of white light that expanded or contracted, before finally stabilizing, much like a large mirror.

White light gradually formed within the large mirror, then turned red, until a vibrant red saturated the entire surface of the mirror.

This mirror surface had only appeared after the previous upgrade of the Heavenly Eye communication ability. Knowing that all kinds of illusions would appear within the mirror in the next step, Liu Junhuai had prepared himself psychologically well in advance, remembering how he had almost lost himself in it last time.

Within the span of a single breath, the illusions—coming from nowhere and leaving no trace—manifested one by one like a slide show: sorrow or joy, life and death, survival or destruction, union or parting...

All kinds of mundane concepts accumulated and manifested. Liu Junhuai passively endured the various psychological fluctuations brought by these illusions, unconsciously allowing his various thoughts to immerse themselves in the unfolding scenes.

Gradually, the illusions in the mirror caused Liu Junhuai's mind to scatter, bringing him close to being lost!

Just at this moment, the five-colored hue covering the body of the infant-like Nascent Soul in his elixir field suddenly burst forth with a brilliant five-colored radiance. In an instant, the elixir field was filled with glowing rays of light, as magnificent and brilliant as blooming fireworks.

This beam of five-colored light shot straight towards the primordial spirit in the sea of consciousness. As if receiving an order, the primordial spirit abruptly overflowed out of his body from the Yintang acupoint between his eyebrows. Liu Junhuai immediately felt his sea of consciousness clear and bright; all illusory perceptions vanished into nothingness, and the mirror before his eyes revealed a spatial tunnel of sorts—profound and void-like.

The power of the primordial spirit probed into this tunnel, reaching an entirely unfamiliar world. Liu Junhuai seemed to catch the fragrance of flowers like a dream, cutting off all ties with past and present lives, yet also feeling as if he were walking among a crowd embroiled in worldly strife, quietly sensing a certain irreparable sorrow.

On the other side of the world, Liu Junhuai could not see his own shadow; only the wind blew incessantly. Amidst the haze, a figure was slowly walking towards an unknown world.

Liu Junhuai struggled to peer through the distorted light, gazing for a long time at that receding figure in the extreme, icy temperature.

He seemed to see the road ahead of that person, as ferocious as a blood-thirsty beast. Fear and loneliness rushed head-on toward that figure.

Amidst his bewilderment, Liu Junhuai seemed to hear some voice murmuring in his ear, and suddenly felt wisps of light piercing through, just as if the moon in the sky had shattered.

Without seeing that person turn his head, Liu Junhuai clearly saw his resolute face; his facial features were identical to his own.

Liu Junhuai instantly felt a chill run down his spine, evoking a terror akin to seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

At that moment, the face that was identical to his own suddenly blossomed with a hint of a smile, and then his lips moved slightly. Dozens of numerical symbols darted out from his mouth, executing a light turn in the void and shooting straight toward Liu Junhuai.

Before Liu Junhuai could react, those symbols had already rushed close. However, the protective barrier of Liu Junhuai's primordial spirit autonomously dispersed, clearing a path for them, and the symbols drilled straight into Liu Junhuai's sea of consciousness.

Immediately, the spatial symbols in his mind began to flash, and then a profound power of spatial Dao patterns enveloped his entire body, melting into his very soul.

While Liu Junhuai was still in a daze, the illusory mirror shattered with a crisp crack. After a flash of white light, everything vanished without a trace.

At this moment, his will suddenly gained a trace of awareness, and Liu Junhuai immediately calmed his mind to comprehend this sudden spatial profound mystery.

Two days passed within the time array, and he began to comprehend a special kind of energy—this special energy was spatial energy.

Another day passed, and Liu Junhuai had already grasped the basics of the spatial Dao patterns. He believed that as long as he continued his comprehension, this spatial profound mystery would surely bring him immense surprises.

A few hours later, a supremely magical and abstruse thought suddenly welled up within his sea of consciousness. The moment this thought arose, Liu Junhuai abruptly opened his eyes.

That sensation was akin to space instantly zooming in and out; the spatial symbols suspended above the primordial spirit in his sea of consciousness seemed to be right before his eyes, within touching distance. This feeling was exceptionally magical.

This was the supernatural power gained by comprehending the spatial symbols. Although it was only at the primary level, the vague, illusory sensation of the previous days was completely gone, replaced by a hard-won reality.

Filled with extraordinary joy, Liu Junhuai couldn't wait to stand up and leap into mid-air.

Silently chanting the incantation in his mind, his hands rapidly formed countless hand seals, and the dozens of spatial symbols in his sea of consciousness swiftly organized themselves into countless permutation sequences.

As Liu Junhuai swept both hands across his front, an invisible pressure space instantly appeared in the void before him. A mass of chaotic energy within that space was compressed into a clump by that formless pressure.

Following a rapid rearrangement of the spatial symbols in his sea of consciousness, the mass of chaotic energy within the space was compressed smaller and smaller.

A deafening explosion echoed from within the space, and the mass of chaotic energy, compressed to its absolute limit, finally could no longer withstand the pressure and burst apart violently within the space.

The very instant the explosion occurred, the invisible pressure space vanished instantly, leaving only the violent energy to twist and deform the empty space, sending ripples radiating outward to spread across the void.

At the very moment Liu Junhuai succeeded in his practice, his will perceived three words: Spatial Cage!