The moment the Five Elements Astral Qi completely settled within his twelve Innate Acupoints...
The true transformation finally began.
Unlike the previous step, there was no longer any danger of the Astral Qi escaping his control.
Nor would it suddenly erupt and tear his body apart.
Instead...
The twelve acupoints themselves began changing.
Lin Sheng immediately felt a sharp stinging sensation spread throughout his body.
One acupoint...
Two...
Three...
Until all twelve Innate Acupoints pulsed simultaneously.
The pain wasn't explosive.
It wasn't the violent agony from forcing the Five Elements Astral Qi through his meridians.
Rather...
It resembled countless tiny blades slowly scraping against the inside of each acupoint every single second.
Individually...
The pain wasn't particularly unbearable.
But when twelve separate parts of the body experienced the same sensation continuously...
It became a form of torture few could endure.
Lin Sheng slowly inhaled.
His breathing had already entered an almost imperceptible rhythm.
Using Introspection, his consciousness descended into his own body.
Within his perception...
The twelve Innate Acupoints appeared like brilliant stars suspended throughout the Heavenly Circulation Network.
Each one glowed with dense five-colored brilliance.
More importantly...
They were expanding.
The originally fixed walls of every acupoint slowly stretched outward, becoming broader and sturdier under the nourishment of the Five Elements Astral Qi.
It reminded him of another breakthrough.
Foundation Establishment.
When immortal cultivators stepped into that realm, their dantian underwent a qualitative transformation, expanding several times over to accommodate liquid spiritual essence.
Purple Palace cultivators experienced something similar.
Their Niwan Palace expanded continuously until it could support the birth of an entire Sea of Consciousness.
The Astral Gang Realm followed the same principle.
Only...
Instead of expanding one dantian...
A martial artist had to expand every Innate Acupoint.
Lin Sheng possessed twelve.
Three more than ordinary martial artists.
Naturally...
He also had to endure three additional transformations.
The Five Elements Astral Qi continuously circulated through the acupoints.
Every circulation widened them a little further.
Every expansion allowed them to accommodate greater quantities of Astral Qi.
Only after completing this adaptation...
Could they resonate with the corresponding Astral Qi naturally existing between Heaven and Earth.
Only then...
Could a martial artist truly begin cultivating within the Astral Gang Realm.
Lin Sheng finally understood why this process existed.
Immortal cultivators awakened Spiritual Roots from birth or during childhood.
For years...
Their bodies gradually adapted to absorbing elemental spiritual energy.
By the time they cultivated, their meridians and dantian already possessed natural compatibility with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Martial artists were different.
From the very beginning...
Everything depended upon themselves.
Acquired Realm refined Qi and Blood.
Innate Realm transformed Internal Qi.
Xuan Gang fused Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi with one's own Gang Qi, producing a unique power that still belonged primarily to the martial artist.
Even then...
The Gang Qi remained something refined through the body.
Astral Qi was different.
It belonged directly to Heaven and Earth.
Absorbing it without adaptation would simply destroy the body.
The expansion of the Innate Acupoints was precisely that adaptation.
The body slowly acknowledged the Astral Qi.
The Astral Qi slowly accepted the body.
Only after both reached equilibrium could future cultivation proceed safely.
Crystal calmly displayed the latest analysis.
•[Acupoint adaptation progressing normally.]
•[Overall expansion: 19.4%...]
•[Estimated completion time: One hour fifty-eight minutes.]
Lin Sheng simply closed his eyes once more.
This stage required no forceful guidance.
Nor could it be accelerated.
The only thing he could do was endure.
Time slowly passed.
Outside the concealed formation...
The Heavenly Phenomena had begun fading.
The magnificent Dao Rhythms filling the sky gradually disappeared.
The four symbolic beasts dissolved into countless streams of light.
The manifestations of the Five Elements returned to ordinary spiritual clouds.
One after another...
The streaks of opportunity vanished completely.
Only scattered fragments remained within the heavens.
Countless cultivators slowly emerged from meditation.
Some wore expressions of ecstasy after comprehending something.
Others sighed in disappointment.
Many more...
Immediately looked toward everyone around them.
Eyes filled with vigilance.
No one knew who had obtained opportunities.
No one knew who had merely pretended to meditate.
At a time like this...
Everyone appeared suspicious.
Several hundred meters away...
An argument suddenly erupted.
"I saw you receive a streak of golden light!"
"Nonsense!"
"You must have mistaken someone else!"
"If you have nothing to hide..."
"Then open your storage ring!"
The surrounding cultivators instantly surrounded them.
Greed quickly overwhelmed reason.
Within moments...
Spiritual techniques erupted.
The sky that had only just regained its tranquility descended into chaos once again.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the Heavenly Phenomena.
Some cultivators attempted to flee.
Others immediately became targets.
The opportunities granted by the heavens...
Had now become opportunities for robbery.
Yet none of it disturbed the seemingly insignificant five-colored cloud hidden within the heavens.
Protected by layers of Void Imprinted formations...
Lin Sheng remained completely unaware.
Or perhaps...
Even if he knew...
He wouldn't care.
At this moment...
Nothing mattered more than completing the final transformation of his twelve Innate Acupoints.
Only then...
Could he truly step into an entirely new realm of martial cultivation.
---
Nearly two hours later, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
The violent pain that had accompanied the expansion of his twelve Innate Acupoints had completely vanished.
Only an indescribable feeling of fullness remained.
Closing his eyes once more, he entered a state of introspection.
Within his body, the twelve Innate Acupoints had undergone a complete transformation.
Compared to before, every acupoint had expanded by several times. Their inner walls shimmered with faint five-colored radiance as though they had become miniature stars embedded throughout his body.
The Five Elements Astral Qi quietly circulated between them, maintaining an astonishing balance.
Five completely different attributes coexisted peacefully, neither suppressing nor rejecting one another.
A faint smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
"The adaptation is complete."
From this moment onward, his body had finally gained the qualifications to communicate directly with the Heaven and Earth Essence.
The next step was comparatively simple.
As long as he drew the Five Elements Astral Qi from his twelve Innate Acupoints, merged it with the Gang Qi residing within his Baihui Acupoint, then guided the transformed energy through the Mysterious Pass, his Gang Qi would undergo its final evolution.
Astral Gang.
Once that transformation was complete, his body would naturally resonate with Heaven and Earth.
From then on, whenever he cultivated, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Essence would automatically separate traces of Five Elements Astral Qi for him to absorb.
Unlike the single portion he had obtained from the celestial phenomenon, this would become a continuous source.
It was the true beginning of the Astral Gang Realm.
Lin Sheng slowly exhaled.
There was no hurry.
His current state was extremely stable.
Rushing the final fusion served no purpose.
Just as he was preparing to dismiss the protective formation...
His expression suddenly changed.
Crack...
A tiny fracture appeared on one of the Void Imprinted runes floating around the cloud.
Then another.
And another.
His eyes narrowed.
"Someone is attacking the formation."
The continuous bombardment had already begun exhausting the energy sustaining the defensive array.
Without hesitation, Lin Sheng waved his hand.
The runes dissolved into countless streams of light before returning to the surrounding space.
The defensive formation disappeared.
His figure stepped calmly out of the five-colored cloud.
Outside...
Five figures were suspended in midair.
Each of them radiated the unmistakable aura of the Purple Palace Realm.
Although only Early Purple Palace cultivators, they were more than enough to intimidate almost any independent cultivator.
The moment they saw Lin Sheng emerge, their eyes lit up.
One of them stepped forward.
"So you finally decided to come out."
His gaze swept across the dissipating five-colored cloud before returning to Lin Sheng.
A greedy smile slowly appeared.
"We've waited here for two hours."
"Hand over the opportunity you obtained."
"We may leave you with an intact corpse."
The remaining four cultivators slowly spread apart.
Without saying a word, they surrounded every possible escape route.
Their intentions were obvious.
Lin Sheng glanced around before looking back at the five of them.
A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes.
"Opportunity?"
The leading cultivator sneered.
"Still pretending?"
"You hid yourself inside a defensive formation the moment the celestial phenomenon appeared."
"You remained inside for nearly two hours."
"If that wasn't to refine a supreme treasure..."
"What else could it have been?"
Another cultivator coldly added,
"We've already checked."
"No one else entered that cloud."
"Whatever appeared inside..."
"...belongs to you."
Lin Sheng immediately understood.
The misunderstanding wasn't difficult to figure out.
Throughout the celestial phenomenon, countless cultivators had been chasing streaks of light and fighting over treasures.
He, on the other hand, had concealed himself inside a defensive formation for nearly two hours.
From an outsider's perspective...
It truly looked as though he had monopolized some extraordinary inheritance.
Looking at the undisguised greed in their eyes...
Lin Sheng couldn't help letting out a soft sigh.
"So that's what you believe."
None of them noticed that his expression had become unusually calm.
The leader impatiently stretched out his hand.
"No more nonsense."
"The opportunity."
"Or your life."
Silence followed.
Lin Sheng slowly raised his head.
His gaze swept across the five Purple Palace cultivators one by one.
Five Early Purple Palace cultivators. He scoffed; he almost thought they were peak purple Palace with that attitude.