Translator: AnubisTL
Jieming habitually closed his eyes and focused his spirit inward.
Even during this period of relaxed cultivation, he hadn't neglected nurturing his magic artifact, and his efforts had not been in vain.
He could sense the heart mirror's connection to his spirit growing deeper, as if it were becoming a sixth limb.
This sensation intensified until, just moments ago, Jieming felt it was time for his first attempt.
Eager to experience the core function of the Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror—Light Transformation—he prepared to test its capabilities at the late stage of qi refining and his own limits.
Given the mirror's extreme speed, the academy's training grounds were no longer sufficient.
Jieming left the academy again, flying for several days until he found a vast mountain range with open terrain suitable for testing.
Far from towns and rarely visited by humans, this secluded location ensured any extraordinary phenomena would go unnoticed.
In a mountain valley, Jieming took a deep breath, calming his mind.
He focused his divine sense entirely on the heart mirror within his dantian.
"Light Transformation!" he silently commanded.
In an instant, the heart mirror within his dantian erupted with a dazzling light.
This light didn't spread outward; instead, it instantly contracted, transforming from tangible substance into an invisible force that surged from his dantian and enveloped his entire body.
It was an indescribably peculiar sensation.
His body seemed to lose its physical solidity, becoming weightless and ethereal, like pure light itself.
A layer of iridescent, shimmering "light armor" fused seamlessly with his skin, radiating a soft, multicolored glow.
He could sense that this armor was composed of the five intertwined concepts of light swirling within the heart mirror.
His body felt no pain or discomfort, only a strange sense of liberation.
He felt as though he had broken free from the constraints of his physical form, ready to surge in any direction at will.
"Light Evasion Technique!"
With another mental command, he locked onto a prominent rock formation in the distance as his target.
There was no roar, no thunderous boom, not even the slightest tearing of the air.
Jieming felt his body erupt in a golden-crimson stream of light. The surrounding landscape shattered into fragments, as if cleaved into countless pieces by a colossal axe.
Time twisted completely, and space seemed to fold and compress.
Everything before him dissolved into blurred streaks of light and patches of color. He could barely catch fragmented images—the phantom silhouettes of trees rushing backward, the fleeting outlines of mountain peaks, brief flashes of ground vegetation... These scenes overlapped and jumped in illogical patterns, moving so fast that his eyes and brain couldn't process them at all!
He felt not like he was "flying," but "teleporting."
He wasn't controlling light; he had briefly become light itself!
Without feeling air resistance or sensing the distance to the ground, Jieming only knew he was hurtling forward at an unimaginable speed!
He tried to control his direction, to adjust his trajectory, but his body refused to obey.
He was now like a driven arrow, once shot, could only hurtle forward along its predetermined path at maximum velocity!
How long did the Light Transformation last?
Perhaps a ten-thousandth of a second.
Perhaps even shorter...
The distorted sense of time caused by the extreme speed made it impossible for Jieming to judge.
Without any deceleration or warning, one moment he was experiencing that ultimate speed, and the next, a massive impact slammed into him!
The Light Evasion vanished instantly, his body abruptly materializing in the physical realm. Then...
He felt himself crash into something hard!
Boom!
A massive force recoiled, and his body emitted a muffled groan of pain.
He tried to steady himself, but his legs went weak, and his vision darkened.
It took a long moment to regain his senses. Jieming finally realized he had slammed violently into a massive boulder!
Half his body, from the waist down, was embedded in the solid rock.
He struggled to free his arm, gripped the rock wall, and gasped for breath.
Within his dantian, his true essence was like a dried-up riverbed, utterly depleted.
This single, fleeting moment of Light Evasion had consumed all the true essence he had accumulated in the late stage of qi refining!
His soul felt as if it had endured torture. He could feel his very spirit trembling, his brain throbbing with exhaustion, on the verge of collapse!
He wrenched himself free from the rock, the pain forcing a low growl from his throat.
Fortunately, the magic artifact had been refined with an extremely comprehensive safety system. Upon ending the Light Transformation, the user wouldn't carry the momentum of flight.
Jieming had become embedded in the rock purely because he hadn't properly controlled his power during his first attempt. When he deactivated the Light Transformation, residual energy surged back, causing a backlash that injured him.
With a few more practice sessions, this problem would no longer occur.
Yet far more terrifying than the physical damage from the backlash was the brief, overwhelming sense of emptiness that followed the end of the Light Transformation.
In that instant, Jieming felt as if his life force had been completely drained. His limbs refused to obey his commands, leaving him utterly unable to dodge or retaliate for several breaths.
If this test had been conducted in front of an enemy, he would have been nothing more than meat on a chopping block, ripe for slaughter!
Summoning every ounce of strength, he crawled out of the rock and collapsed to the ground, leaning against the human-shaped indentation he had carved into the stone.
His body was utterly drained, making even standing up a struggle.
His inner core felt hollow, his divine sense weakened, his body ached, and an indescribable stiffness gripped him...
Only after lying on the ground for a long while did he begin to regain his senses. Trembling, he reached into his robes and retrieved a meticulously protected potion vial. He uncorked it and poured the liquid into his mouth.
As Jieming savored the magic potion's cool sensation rapidly restoring his physical injuries and mental power, he finally had time to reflect on the sensation of transforming into light.
Too fast!
The speed of Light Transformation flight was so overwhelming that he barely comprehended what had happened before it was over.
So fast that he completely lost control!
But... it was also incredibly powerful!
At just the late stage of qi refining, using the nascent form of his magic artifact, he had achieved such astonishing escape velocity!
He probed his dantian with his consciousness. The Five Aggregates Rainbow Transformation Mirror now appeared somewhat dimmed, its radiant glow circulating sluggishly, clearly indicating a massive energy expenditure and the need for recovery time.
Panting heavily, he gazed back at the mountain range that had vanished from sight, then glanced down at his disheveled state.
The fact that the mountains were no longer visible meant he had flown at least a thousand miles in that single instant.
Still, his limited true essence had only sustained the Light Transformation state for a fleeting moment.
If he could maintain the Light Transformation for a longer duration, the distance he could cover would increase exponentially.
(End of the Chapter)