Chapter 1686 Mirror Descent （1）
Simultaneously cycling and cultivating all Five Elements.
The power of this cultivation method undeniably lay in its boundless, immense accumulation of True Essence; its shortcoming was the excruciatingly slow progress unless, like Sun Hao who had undergone Spiritual Root rotation, no other Cultivator would dare to be so reckless. Putting aside other factors, the pace alone would be painfully slow.
Only the Lunar Rabbit Cold Jade Energy, a Witch Clan secret art, utilized an Array Pill. The other techniques were top-tier, single-attribute methods Sun Hao had acquired at auctions, belonging to subservient races, and they came at considerable expense, almost exhausting Sun Hao's reserves.
Moreover, even though Sun Hao only needed to replenish True Essence, even though he spent heavily on training in Secret Realms, it still took him a full hundred plus years just to align the Five-Element True Essence. Like pouring water into buckets, he laboriously raised each of their accumulations to meet the standard of the 'Five Elements Return to Metal' Divine Sword Art Technique, all gradually building up to Soul Division Stage levels.
Achieving Mid-stage Soul Division still required more accumulation.
The sheer difficulty was evident: for a Cultivator like Sun Hao with Five Attribute Sky-grade Spiritual Roots, each element enhanced by exotic treasures, progress was this slow—other Cultivators likely didn't even need to consider attempting it.
Upon reaching the Soul Division Stage, a Cultivator's Lifespan Vitality was measured in tens of thousands of years, so a few centuries truly wasn't very long.
Sun Hao wasn't particularly anxious either, cultivating steadily without hurry.
Before Sun Hao fully advanced his cultivation base to Mid-stage Soul Division, Gerlane emerged, jubilant after finishing her seclusion. This session had propelled her successfully into the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, and she had already overcome four major tribulations, achieving truly astonishing progress.
The Witch Clan hoped Gerlane could pass nine grand tribulations to advance to Soul Division. Hence, they released her at this point for further accumulation, preparing her for subsequent tribulations.
After sitting alone in a special environment for over a hundred years, Gerlance emerged and, upon seeing Sun Hao, was overjoyed, hugging him tightly and sobbing and laughing like a little girl.
Missing threads of her Divine Soul, Gerlane was innately simple-hearted and genuinely regarded the towering Sun Hao as her closest, most trusted Guardian Knight. Barely out of seclusion, she sought him out and clung to his side.
Sun Hao was also quite happy about Gerlane's return.
With Gerlane around, Sun Hao gained many conveniences; numerous solutions now seemed within reach.
Naturally, after years apart, Sun Hao truly felt a touch of longing for the simple, uncalculating Little Lan. Seeing the pure, unreserved expression of her missing him welled up a warmth within him.
The greatest benefit Gerlane brought upon her return was that Sun Hao could finally embark on true Soul Division Stage cultivation and also possessed the opportunity to acquire Grade-Seven or higher potion formulas.
His time in the Middle Void, especially compounded by over a hundred years of cultivation and constant travel among the various sub-races of the Witch Clan, had gradually enriched Sun Hao's cultivation knowledge. He now had significantly more concepts and ideas regarding understanding and cultivation methods for the Soul Division Stage.
If following conventional slow refinement methods at the Soul Division Stage, it would unquestionably take a very long time.
Particularly for Sun Hao. Just refilling his depleted Five-Element True Essence alone had already taken such an extended period. If he genuinely aimed to progress from Mid-stage Soul Division to the later stage, and then to peak, it would likely require millennia to tens of millennia without coming down, even though considered average compared to the Soul Division Stage's long Lifespan Vitality.
However, through gradual understanding over the years, Sun Hao learned that the Soul Division Stage actually possessed a unique cultivation method.
The defining characteristic of the Soul Division Stage, the greatest difference from previous cultivation stages, was the formation of Primordial Spirit – the Nascent Soul transforming into Primordial Spirit. The reason this stage was called "Spirit Division" (Divine Separation) rather than "Primordial Spirit Stage" stemmed from the fact that a Cultivator's Primordial Spirit was fundamentally determined by the number of Spirit Divisions, dictating its strength and cultivation level.
Ranked from low to high: Onefold Primordial Spirit, Twofold Primordial Spirit, Threefold Primortal Spirit… all the way up to Ninefold Primortal Spirit.
Similar to how a Cultivator's Tribulation Transcendence Stage involved nine major calamities, grouped in sets of three, the strength of a Cultivator's Primordial Spirit was also tiered by sets of three.
A Threefold Primordial Spirit with one to three Divined Souls was a Young Weak Primordial Spirit, the lowest tier. Essentially, if only attaining Onefold of Divined Soul, the Primordial Spirit was too weak, barely differing from the Nascent Soul stage. Anything above Twofold was considered weakly young. Upon achieving Threefold, a Cultivator could cultivate all the way to the peak of the Soul Division Stage and forcibly advance to the Unity Stage.
This kind of advancement required an immensely long time and resulted in an unsteady foundation; it was the lowest tier.
A Sixfold Primordial Spirit with four to six Divined Souls was a Strong Primordial Spirit, the middle tier.
A Ninefold Primortal Spirit with seven to nine Divined Souls was a Great Primortal Spirit, the highest tier.
In actual cultivation, those truly capable of achieving Ninefold were uniquely termed—Sacred Soul.
When Sun Hao first encountered the concept of a Ninefold Primortal Spirit, he instinctively received a fright, mentally questioning if beyond Ninefold, some Twelvefold Primordial Spirit might appear.
Sun Hao had become wary of the number nine: Qi Refinement Ninth Layer led to the existence of Qi Refining Flawless Great Perfection twelfth-layer Foundation Building. The Tribulation Transcendence Stage brought its own twelfth-layer Purple-Gold Grand Thunder Ring.
Would there be some Twelvefold Sacred Soul above Sacred Soul as well?
But after seriously contemplating the "Spirit Division," Sun Hao put his mind at ease. This time, Ninefold truly was the maximum; Twelvefold absolutely wouldn't occur. Especially for Human Cultivators, it was utterly out of the question.
Spirit Division divided the Divine Soul, yet accurately speaking, it was the process of fortifying a Cultivator's Divine Soul. From Sun Hao's perspective, it aligned with his Soul Refinement, something he was already cultivating and constantly advancing.
For example, Sun Hao now had manifested five Souls: the "Primordial Thunder Beast, Chenxiang Sword, Ghost Soul, Heaven Silkworm Soul, and Xingtian Witch Spirit." This essentially meant he had inadvertently completed the fortification of five major Spirit Divisions. By following specific cultivation techniques to gradually manifest these enhanced five Divine Souls onto his Nascent Soul, empowering it, Sun Hao could immediately become a Fivefold Primortal Spirit Cultivator.
The reason his "Headless Savage" state could forcibly push his Qi Refining Cultivation base to Mid-stage Soul Division stemmed precisely from his own Divine Soul having already grown to considerable strength.
Therefore, proceeding from here, Sun Hao simply needed to complete the Soul Refinement of his "Three Souls and Seven Spirits," specifically the other two Souls and seven Spirits besides his Primary Soul (self-consciousness). Upon achieving this, he would smoothly attain the "Ninefold Primortal Spirit" stage. This cultivation path thoroughly reassured him.
Above his Sea of Consciousness, indeed only nine stars shone. Human Cultivators couldn't possess extra souls. Thus, Sun Hao's peak naturally lay at "Ninefold Great Primortal Spirit." There would be no need to cultivate anything like Twelvefold.
That signified, due to fortunate encounters, Sun Hao had essentially been laying the groundwork and preparing for Spirit Division back in the Lower Realm. Now, he just needed to enter certain special domains within the Witch Clan to generate a Fivefold Primortal Spirit – a straightforward task – and he also had the full opportunity to form a Ninefold Primortal Spirit.
However, feeling the power of his five existing Spirit Divisions, Sun Hao also understood that achieving Ninefold would be extremely difficult for him.
The reason lay not elsewhere but in the sheer strength of the Spirit Divisions he'd already manifested, particularly the Primordial Thunder Beast, Chenxiang Sword, and Xingtian Witch Spirit. These three were terrifyingly potent. The direct consequence was that the two Souls he needed to transform—the Subsidiary Souls beyond the Primary Soul—had to be extraordinarily robust. They needed to be strong enough to potentially command the Seven Soul Aspects, even overpowering the Xingtian Witch Spirit and Primordial Thunder Beast; otherwise, manifestation would be impossible.
Over the years, Sun Hao had scoured vast volumes of information, even identifying prospective candidates for the Seven Soul Aspects. But the two Subsidiary Souls remained completely elusive. Finding Souls more formidable than the Primordial Thunder Beast and fiercer than the Xingtian Witch Spirit was genuinely rare.
Perhaps Sun Hao’s maximum achievable was manifesting the Seven Soul Aspects, attaining a Sevenfold Primortal Spirit, and aiming for Unity. At least, Sevenfold Primortal Spirit belonged to the Great Primortal Spirit tier.
After Gerlane emerged, Sun Hao possessed the requisite conditions and opportunities for Primortal Spirit cultivation.
Disciples of the Male and Female Shaman Clan would practice Primortal Spirit manifestation methods before advancing to Soul Division. Of course, they needed continued cultivation after manifesting. Their training method was the long-awaited "Mirror Descent."
Through special Formations, disciples could project Mirror Images into specific Lower Realm scenarios, just like the Demon Race Divine Transformation Great Masters who once sent images to Tianling Continent. This was aimed at tempering and strengthening their Divined Souls and Primortal Spirits.
While Guardian Knights were theoretically eligible for this cultivation method, the prerequisite was Gerlane's return. Now that she was back, Sun Hao finally had his chance.
For several decades prior, Gerlane's brother, Germain, had already organized his own followers, even warriors and Heroes recruited from the Ancient Barbarian City, engaging in this Mirror Descent cultivation.