The Hardship of Advancing the Spiritual Sea to Level Ten

Joe Di grew increasingly anxious. He couldn't sense the boundary to the Seabreaker Stage at all, leaving him with no way to break through.

Did he really need a Breakthrough God Pill? But he didn't have one to begin with.

Five months had passed, and Joe Di was still stuck at the peak of the ninth layer of the Void Spirit Stage. He forced himself to calm down. By now, he'd spent two and a half years in this snowy mountain land. With so much time spent in seclusion, he should have gained a lot, but it still fell short of his goal—breaking through to the Seabreaker Stage.

He had to figure out a way to break through the Void Spirit Stage and reach the Seabreaker Stage soon.

When he advanced from the Golden Core to the Soul Ancestor Stage, it was because he had refined Dao Fire, which let him succeed in one leap. When he broke through from Soul Ancestor to Void Spirit, he relied on the Ninetieth Tier of the Fivefold Dao Tower, and used the Firegod Herb to push his Spiritual Sea to the seventh level, shattering the barrier of the Void Spirit Stage.

Now, as he tried to step from the Void Spirit Stage to the Seabreaker Stage, he ran into the same issue—he couldn't even sense the barrier.

Thinking back to how he broke through in the past, Joe Di came up with two possible ways to reach the Seabreaker Stage. One was to find a place to temper his body, push his physical form to the Venerable Stage of the Tri-God Realm, and use the breakthrough to attempt the leap to Seabreaker.

The other was to push his Spiritual Sense from the ninth to the tenth level, using the surge from his Spiritual Sea's breakthrough to try for Seabreaker.

Ever since he obtained the Spirit Shift technique, Joe Di had been tempering his Spiritual Sense. He understood just how hard it was to make a major leap in the levels of one's Spiritual Sea. Advancing from the sixth to the seventh level was a major breakthrough, while seventh to eighth was just a regular progression. Back then, when he pushed his Spiritual Sense to the seventh level, his Spiritual Sea nearly shattered.

Advancing from the ninth to the tenth level would be an even greater leap—almost a complete transformation.

That was why he preferred to try breaking through to Seabreaker when his body reached the Venerable Stage. But good places for body refinement were even harder to find. It was nearly impossible to locate a sanctum nearby that could help him reach the Venerable Stage of the Tri-God Realm.

At least he still had a pile of Firegod Herb, giving him a slim chance to push his Spiritual Sense up another level.

Joe Di knew his time was running out, so he acted immediately. He moved the pool from the Geomark Gold House and placed it beside the only Prime Ley Line. The ley line fragments torn apart by the blade array were scattered around the pool, then he poured two-thirds of the Divine Wash Essence from his spatial bottle into it.

Advancing one's Spiritual Sense in Divine Wash Essence was much safer. Joe Di kept a third in reserve, worried that if his Spiritual Sea advanced and broke through to Seabreaker, the Lightning Tribulation might hit too fast for him to recover the Divine Wash Essence.

He swallowed three Green Firegod Herbs at once. A faint warmth spread through his Spiritual Sea, and under the Soul Tempering Technique, he felt his Spiritual Sense rise slightly.

Joe Di couldn't help but sigh. In the past, just one Firegod Herb nearly tore his Spiritual Sea apart. Now, with three at once, he barely felt a thing.

Tempering his Spiritual Sense and pushing it to the next level couldn't be rushed. On his second attempt, he swallowed ten Firegod Herbs. The warmth was stronger, but compared to his ninth-level Spiritual Sea, it was still insignificant.

After several days and refining over two hundred Green Firegod Herbs, the breakthrough from ninth to tenth level in his Spiritual Sea was still nowhere in sight.

This time, Joe Di pulled out a Half-Red Firegod Herb and swallowed it. A line of searing heat shot into his Spiritual Sea, and he immediately felt his Spiritual Sense surge with activity. Some Spiritual Sense even appeared out of nowhere. Just one Half-Red Firegod Herb was more potent than hundreds of the green ones.

Half a day later, after refining the Half-Red Firegod Herb, Joe Di swallowed two more. To his disappointment, they weren't as effective as the first.

Joe Di decided to take out the remaining eight Half-Red Firegod Herbs. Without a second thought, he crushed them together and swallowed them all. His earlier attempts had proven that taking them one by one wasn't enough.

The moment the eight Half-Red Firegod Herbs went down, it was as if his Spiritual Sense caught fire—just like when he first condensed Dao Fire. His Spiritual Sea seemed to erupt in flames.

"Pfft!" A jet of blood shot out, and Joe Di almost blacked out. Flickering flames danced around his brow as he frantically channeled the Soul Tempering Technique.

This way of breaking through was incredibly dangerous, but he didn't have any other choice.

The Soul Tempering Technique and Divine Wash Essence proved invaluable. The eight Half-Red Firegod Herbs were swiftly converted into Spiritual Sense, expanding his Spiritual Sea. As a faint tenth ring began to form, the Firegod Herb's effect faded. Joe Di gritted his teeth and swallowed two Red Firegod Herbs.

"Crack!" A sharp, splitting pain tore through him—his Spiritual Sea had shattered.

......

Deep in a canyon on Aurora Continent, after the last arc of lightning struck, Sherry Jing dropped to her knees in excitement. She had never imagined she'd reach the Soul Ancestor Stage, let alone so quickly.

It had taken her just over two years to reach this stage.

"Congratulations on reaching the Soul Ancestor Stage, Sister Sherry! Back in Starstream School, no one ever made it to this level. It's such a shame..." Shannon Wei ran over, eyes shining with excitement as Sherry Jing stabilized her cultivation. But as she finished, her eyes reddened, memories of their late master and the many lost elders of Starstream School surfacing once more.

Sherry Jing performed the Purification Technique, changed into a clean set of clothes, and said, "Senior Brother Joe Di has already avenged Starstream School. If we can reach the Central Realm, we'll rebuild it together."

"Sister Sherry's right, but who knows when Senior Sean Zell will come back?" Yu Jie said, joining Violet Zane as they walked over.

[Non-narrative meta note omitted for clarity and immersion.]

After two or three years cultivating in the Spirit Marrow Pool, Sherry Jing wasn't the only one who had progressed quickly. Yu Jie and Violet Zane had reached the seventh layer of Golden Core, while Shannon Wei and Tyler He had advanced to the eighth.

Actually, the fastest progress wasn't made by Sherry Jing, but by Garrett. He was now at the peak of the ninth layer of Soul Ancestor Stage, just one step away from reaching the Void Spirit Stage.

A white Spirit-Seeking Fox, quick as lightning, leapt onto Sherry Jing's shoulder.

This was the very Spirit-Seeking Fox Garrett had chased years ago. He'd cultivated here for years without ever finding it, but Sherry Jing had only been here two months before encountering the fox. What drove Garrett crazy was that, after all his chasing, the fox now stuck to Sherry Jing like her shadow.

"Sister Sherry, Brother Garrett, we've drained the Spirit Marrow Pool with our cultivation. Should we keep waiting for Senior Sean Zell, or head up?" Tyler He asked as Garrett approached.

In fact, the Spirit Marrow Pool had dried up a week ago. With no more spiritual essence, there was no point in staying here to cultivate.

If Senior Sean Zell hadn't told them to wait here, they would have left long ago.

Garrett scratched his head, completely out of ideas. Tyler He had only asked him because Garrett was the strongest among them.

Sherry Jing hesitated, then said, "Senior Sean Zell promised he'd come, so let's wait here for three more months. If he still doesn't show up, we'll leave..."

"I'm already here..." came a hoarse voice, as a figure tumbled down from above.

"Senior Sean Zell..." Garrett, being the strongest, was the first to rush forward and support the fallen figure.

Garrett was covered in blood, his aura chaotic—he was clearly gravely injured.

"Let me heal first. We'll talk after." Sean Zell said, pulling out a pile of spirit stones to begin his recovery.

After most of the day had passed, Sean Zell finally stood up. His injuries hadn't fully healed, but his aura was much steadier.

"Senior, what happened?" Sherry Jing asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Sean Zell had told them his cultivation was at the third layer of Truth Transformation. For someone so powerful to be gravely injured here on Aurora Continent was almost unbelievable.

Sean Zell sighed and said slowly, "We need to leave here at once and head to the Central Realm."

"But Senior, we still haven't found Brother Joe..." For Garrett, nothing mattered more than finding Joe Di.

Sean Zell waved his hand. "I found the place using your contact pearl—the very Darkstar Ruins I mentioned before. Joe Di's array skills are exceptional; he set up a responsive array there, probably to let you know he went to the Central Realm..."

"Senior, can we really reach the Central Realm from there?" Garrett asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

Sean Zell nodded. "Yes, there's a Portal Array there, and I'm certain it leads to the Central Realm. Outside the ruins, there's even a sign for the Darkstar Teleportation Hall. I've heard of it, but never expected it to be in the Western Domain. Let's go—now."

"But Senior, your injuries..." Sherry Jing asked, worry evident in her voice.

Sean Zell said gravely, "That's exactly why we need to hurry. Someone ruthless has arrived on Aurora Continent. I've never seen him before, but his strength is mid-stage Truth Transformation—far beyond mine. If I hadn't had some means of escape, I wouldn't have survived."

"Ah..." Everyone gasped at the news that a mid-stage Truth Transformation expert had arrived on Aurora Continent. Even Void Spirit Stage cultivators seemed impossibly distant to them.

Sean Zell continued, his tone even more serious, "More importantly, that person is here searching for Joe Di. From his demeanor, it can't be anything good. We must get to the Central Realm and warn Joe Di immediately."

Joe Di was now his only hope—Sean Zell would never let his whereabouts be exposed.

"But what if he follows us to the Central Realm?" Tyler He asked, anxiety clear in his voice.

Sean Zell replied solemnly, "As long as he can't find the Portal Array in the Darkstar Ruins, he won't be able to reach the Central Realm anytime soon."

"We'll do as Senior says." Sherry Jing was even more anxious than Sean Zell after learning a Truth Transformation expert was after Joe Di. No matter what, they had to warn him as soon as possible.

[Author's note omitted for immersion.]