Jiang Ming activated his Grand Formation so that he would not be disturbed.
Subsequently, he placed two Enlightening Tea Leaves without swallowing them. The Nature Fluid trickled down his throat into his belly, refreshing his mind immediately. With that, he was incredibly focused as his brain began to process information at top speed.
He cleared his head of distracting thoughts and began to cultivate the Grand Path Almighty Method Sutra. After many trials, he had grown familiar with the sutra. He activated the cultivation method and brought his Golden Core to the nine-story pagoda, crossing the heaven and earth bridge, and rammed it against the wall of his sea of consciousness.
Rumble!
It sounded as though it was thundering in his mind as he continued pushing against the wall of his sea of consciousness. Alas, the wall of his sea of consciousness barely shook. He was still some ways from breaking it.
"System, extract 20 years of cultivation."
Jiang Ming was not discouraged. With just a thought, a stream of many surged from his Dantian. The mana was so pure that it seemed to have come from nature itself. It provided his Golden Core with a fresh surge of power as it attempted to break the wall again.
The wall of his sea of consciousness shook again.
Boom!
With the sound of an explosion, cracks began to form on the wall.
"System, extract 50 years of cultivation!" Jiang Ming roared inwardly.
His Dantian grew, threatening to burst. He hurriedly used his Grand Path Almighty Method Sutra to control his mana. He quickly ingested the two leaves in his mouth to boost his mind. It helped him calm down and stabilize his mind.
"Again!" Jiang Ming roared like a dragon. He was so focused at this moment that he was unaware that he had levitated. The air within a foot of him began to distort with ripples as he emitted a strange light. The terrifying force raged within a foot of him with the force of the mountains and roaring seas.
If it were not for the System's concealing function, countless Visions would have manifested around him, alerting the experts of Jiuyang Sect of his true ability.
At this moment, there was 70 years' worth of mana in his body. This was equivalent to the mana an ordinary cultivator would amass after cultivation for three or four centuries. The mana surged and crashed through the wall of his sea of consciousness like tens of thousands of warhorses galloping across a battlefield. It was truly a sight to behold.
He knew he had reached a crucial stage. He did not proceed with caution, his sea of consciousness would shatter. If he were lucky, he would lose his mental faculties; if he was unlucky, he would die immediately.
Usually, an elder would watch over a cultivator at this stage. However, Jiang Ming was not worried that no one was watching over him. After all, he had the Enlightening Tea Leaves to clear his mind, focus his thoughts, and strengthen his will. Coupled with the Grand Path Almighty Method Sutra, he firmly restrained the torrent of mana.
After he broke the wall of his sea of consciousness, it resembled the world in its infancy where chaos and nothingness reigned supreme. However, in just a moment, a sudden and violent change occurred. Heaven and earth parted as things began to take form.
His sea of consciousness expanded swiftly as it absorbed his mana. It was a swift and intense process. This was also a crucial part of the process. The moment of breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Realm was an important moment for the sea of consciousness to expand. His foundation, potential, and energy would burst and help him to expand his sea of consciousness as well. If he stopped now, it would be difficult for him to expand his sea of consciousness in the future. It would be almost impossible to do so without a stroke of luck.
At this time, Jiang Ming felt slightly nervous. He used the extreme states of the Golden Core to strengthen his foundation. He could not hold back now. After all, the expansion of his sea of consciousness would impact his future.
As he maintained his cultivation method, his sea of consciousness continued to greedily absorb the mana to expand. Even his Golden Core dissolved in this space that emerged from the void. His mana would run dry soon.
Ordinarily, a cultivator would ingest medicinal pills at a time like this to strengthen themselves. This was a perk of belonging to a major sect. However, Jiang Ming did not intend to rely on the pills.
"System, extract 20 years of cultivation."
With this, a surge of mana appeared in his sea of consciousness again. It was so vast that he could not tell which way was up or down, or left or right. All he could see was a grayness that stretched for eternity.
The moment the surge of mana appeared, it was instantly distributed to the four corners and eight poles.
"System, extract 20 years of cultivation again!"
Jiang Ming's mind went into overdrive. He maintained his cultivation method as he kept an eye on the changes in his sea of consciousness. He noticed that as it expanded,
It was spacious and wide here. He could not tell which way was up or down, or left or right. All he could see was a never-ending mass of gray. The moment the torrent of mana appeared, it was immediately distributed to the four corners and eight poles.
"System, extract 20 years of mana again!"
Jiang Ming's mind went into overdrive. As he maintained his cultivation method, he kept an eye on the changes in his Sea of consciousness. He noticed that as it expanded, Origin Element began to trickle into his body.
At this moment, his body was experiencing dramatic changes as well. Toward the end, he channeled half of the torrent of mana into his body to intensify the changes in his body.
Within his sea of consciousness, the nature of his mana was improving as well. It underwent a great change and sublimed, giving rise to a turbulent surge of mana.
…
When dawn arrived, the eastern sky began to brighten. It did not take long for the sun to emerge and illuminate the lands.
Jiang Ming left his room and went to the roof to look at the sun in the east. He stretched his arms and smiled, thinking about the bright future ahead of him. At this moment, he had an otherworldly air about him that seemed inviolable. He looked like an immortal who had descended to the mortal realm.
He had finally broken through to the Purple Mansion Realm and successfully expanded his sea of consciousness. With this, he was now set firmly on the path of longevity.
"Currently, I'd be able to obliterate the 81st Extreme Golden Core me with just a punch."
This was not something he thought about on a whim after breaking through. It was an honest comparison.
He did not know how powerful an 81st Extreme Golden Core cultivator was previously. All he knew was he was able to kill a veteran Purple Mansion cultivator with a single strike of his Great Akasa Formless Sword Qi. He knew he could kill his master within a breath as well. One could only imagine how powerful, almost unreasonably so, he was now.
"It feels great to be so powerful. It feels better than a massage after soaking in a hot spring!" Jiang Ming smiled.
He inspected himself again. Now that he broke the wall of his sea of consciousness, it would be referred to as his Divine Sea; the sea of divine power, Divine Source; the source of divine power, or Purple Mansion; the abode of immortals.
Usually, the expansion of a sea of consciousness was not very exaggerated. An ordinary sea of consciousness, which was the source of mana; the origin of the spirit; and the root of the soul, would have a diameter of one meter.
If one's sea of consciousness spanned five meters, one would be deemed as a rare genius. The Ten Gifted Children of Jiuyang Sect were distinguished by this.
On the other hand, only core disciples of major sects or the Sacred Land would possess seas of consciousness with a diameter of ten meters.
If one wanted a sea of consciousness with a diameter of 20 meters or more, they would have to possess unique bloodlines, a God Body, or a Saint Body.
According to the records in the sect, the limit of the Purple Mansion was only 100 meters.
Saying that, when Jiang Ming checked his sea of consciousness, he discovered it had a diameter of 10,000 meters!
'It's 100 times bigger than the recorded limit! That's just the diameter alone. What about its capacity? It's a sphere so…"
After a moment, Jiang Ming inhaled sharply. "It's a million times greater?!"
Jiang Ming was in disbelief. "I might have reached the 81st extreme of the Golden Core Realm with the Grand Path Almighty Method Sutra and have amassed profound strength, but isn't this too much?"
When he calmed down slightly, he activated his cultivation method. The spiritual qi in his surroundings instantly surged into his body and his Purple Mansion where it was converted into mana. It was so fast that he had to stop immediately.
At this point, it seemed like it was more apt to refer to his mana as divine power. Jiang Ming did not trouble himself with this. They were just names, after all.
Jiang Ming had noticed his body had been tempered until he was several times stronger than before.
He clenched his hands into fists and heard a loud crack. He wanted to see how powerful he had gotten. Alas, in the end, he had no choice but to dismiss that idea since he could make too much of a commotion on the mountain.
Finally, he turned and looked in the direction of Zhiyang Peak. His hands could not help but itch when he thought about Yue Cheng.
He shook his head before he called up the system to check his information.
He exclaimed in surprise, "I gained a new attribute!"