Xiao Ning sat cross-legged as the newly formed Quantum Core pulsed steadily within his dantian. Its rhythm was strange, neither fully spiritual nor purely physical. To him, it felt both familiar and foreign, exciting yet slightly unsettling.
"A Quantum Core…" he muttered, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Not what the Asura Scripture was meant to create... but it's better. Much better."
He could feel that the Codex had interfered, but the result was beyond anything he had seen or read about.
"This might be for the best," he whispered. "If I had simply formed an Asura Core, then releasing the Paradox Meridians might not have pushed my cultivation forward like it used to."
With that, Xiao Ning took a deep breath and released the final seal on the Paradox Meridians.
A tidal wave of spiritual energy erupted inside him. It surged through every meridian like a roaring flood. The Quantum Core trembled violently, glowing with flickering patterns of gold and crimson. In just a few breaths, he had broken through to the peak of the Core Formation Realm.
But he didn't stop there.
"It's time... to split the core."
He guided a stream of Asura Qi into the Quantum Core's strange structure. Unlike traditional cultivators who cleanly split their core to form a Nascent Soul, Xiao Ning's core resisted. It was chaotic, full of conflicting energies.
He forced the Asura Qi deeper, twisting it into a spiral. Then—
Crack!
A loud sound rang through his body as the core split apart, releasing a huge surge of Asura Qi. The pressure was intense, almost unbearable.
Within that chaos, a new soul was born.
At that moment, Xiao Ning's cultivation ascended fully into the Nascent Soul Realm.
This was the step that separated true experts from the masses.
Even a peak Core Formation cultivator could only refine their essence and condense a core. They possessed immense strength, longevity, and resilience—but they remained bound to the mortal shell.
A Nascent Soul cultivator, however, was fundamentally different.
Their soul was no longer tied to their flesh. They could survive outside the body for a time, pass through soul formations, and travel thousands of miles with a thought. Their divine sense extended far beyond the physical senses, and they could manipulate the heavens with hand seals alone.
A single Nascent Soul cultivator could destroy an entire sect full of Core Formation experts without suffering injury. The difference in power was like that between a mortal with a sword and a dragon in the clouds.
A shadowy figure began to take shape in his dantian—a soul formed entirely from Asura Qi. Its presence was fierce and wild, as if it had been forged in endless battle.
It's the newly formed Asura Nascent Soul.
It came to life with a roar, struggling against his spiritual control. But Xiao Ning didn't falter. His mind was sharp, and his will unshakable. He held firm, taming the violent energy.
All around him, the valley darkened. Yin Qi surged in thick waves, circling him like a storm. His cultivation soared higher and finally broke through into the Nascent Soul Realm.
He could now sense it clearly—his strength was enough to match mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
But it wasn't over yet.
"Now... the original."
He deactivated the last function of the Paradox Meridians.
Suddenly, a blinding light exploded from his dantian.
Floating beside the Asura Nascent Soul was his original golden Nascent Soul. The two stared at each other, their energies reacting instantly.
Crimson and gold clashed.
The Asura Soul lunged forward, attacking. The golden soul struck back. Their battle shook his entire body. His meridians groaned, and blood poured from his lips. He was on the verge of collapse.
Then he saw it.
At the place where the Quantum Core had split, a faint, shimmering thread lingered. It flickered in and out of existence—not gold, not crimson, but a glowing haze of starlight and shadow.
What is that…?
Somehow, he understood. The thread existed in a quantum state, both there and not there. Only now, with the two souls clashing, could he sense its presence.
A wild idea flashed through his mind.
"Let's see what you really are."
Without hesitation, Xiao Ning sent his spiritual sense into the thread.
His surroundings vanished.
He floated in a strange space between his two souls. His vision had changed—he could now see both souls from a higher perspective, their energy patterns perfectly mirrored. Only now did he truly understand the Paradox Meridians' purpose: they had allowed him to form two complete souls at once, without one replacing the other.
"If that's the case... then they don't have to fight."
He reached out and carefully moved the quantum thread between the two Nascent Souls.
The moment it passed through them, the fighting stopped.
> [CODEX ALERT: QUANTUM FUSION INITIATED]
Xiao Ning ignored the Codex's voice. His focus was locked onto the two souls.
The golden soul's brilliance poured into the Asura Soul's darkness, while the crimson flames of the Asura Soul wrapped around the golden one. They weren't fighting anymore—they were merging.
The thread pulsed again. Their energies twisted and spun, drawing closer. Soon, their shapes blurred, and the space between them rippled like water.
Then it happened.
The two souls resonated—no longer enemies, but reflections of each other. Their combined power collapsed inward, condensing into a new form in the center of Xiao Ning's dantian.
A single soul emerged.
It was neither gold nor crimson, but both. Its surface shimmered like starlight passing through flame. Its presence dwarfed the others, filled with unimaginable potential.
> [QUANTUM FUSION COMPLETE: NASCENT SOUL RECONFIGURED]
The wild Yin Qi around him suddenly calmed. As if recognizing a superior force, it rushed into the new soul like water flowing into a vessel.
> [CODEX ALERT: QUANTUM NASCENT SOUL FORMED. RECALIBRATING...]
Countless lines of information poured into Xiao Ning's mind. The Codex itself struggled to define the transformation he had just undergone.
His cultivation began to rise again.
First, the early Nascent Soul stage. Then the middle.
And then—
Boom!
A powerful wave burst outward. His soul settled, and his body stabilized.
Xiao Ning had reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
> [CODEX UPDATE]
Host Designation → Updated
Soul Integrity: 40% → 100%
→ The host has fully assimilated Li Fang's soul and body. Full ownership confirmed.
Xiao Ning opened his eyes slowly. His face was pale, but his gaze was deep, unshakable.
He had succeeded in doing what no one else had.
He had not only stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm—but had forged a path entirely his own.