The Legend of Min Hong

Then, it was water's turn and afterwards came earth, then wind and so on.

Many Universal Laws and Daos were present, but none of them could withstand the disintegrating ability of this pitch-black liquid.

They all crumbled or dissipated out of existence.

"Hm… basically, when it comes in contact with any form of matter, it dissipates it… Just like 'Antimatter'... That's a very befitting name, and that is what I shall call you from now on." Concluding with his comprehension of his new divine ability, Min Hong returned to the battle. 

When he opened his eyes, everything was just as he had left it.

"Just as I thought, they are both stronger than Time Law, so the concept of time doesn't exist within both dimensions. Good, then let's end this…" Min Hong spoke as he smiled faintly at the trapped dragon. 

Immediately, he initiated his new divine ability as Min Hong's left eye went pitch-black and chaos energy surged out.

The moment the Antimatter energy came in contact with the black sphere, it abruptly became unstable. 

The black sphere began to hum and vibrate violently as the oblivion energy within the sphere tried to reject the incoming chaos energy.

The moment this happened Min Hong's right eye turned golden-green as Primus energy then flowed into the black sphere. 

The Primus energy momentarily stabilized the rejection within the two energies.

After all, they were both stronger than it, so it couldn't stabilize them permanently.

But that slight moment was all that was was needed. 

The black sphere stabilized as its rate of devouring the dragon energy surged whilst the 'Antimatter' energy also ate away at the dragon, completely nullifying the lightning around it.

But for Min Hong, his mental force dried up instantly and he lost control of the black sphere. 

The moment this happened, the sphere grew extremely unstable and hot as it exploded, sending all the energy it had previously absorbed rippling outwards.

The dragon was blasted into oblivion as Min Hong's soul was also hit by the aftershock. 

The moment that happened, the tear in the sky healed up as a massive energy surged in the outside world.

The momentum of this energy was so massive that the Elder Yun trio had to move further away. The energy kicked up a raging wind that swept up all the sand around Min Hong. 

Then, massive amounts of mental energy descended, creating a vortex that was about half a mile in diameter around him, before surging into his Mind Palace.

Instantly, Min Hong's ragged and parched Mind Palace began to greedily and voraciously absorb the incoming energy. 

The mental energy began to fill up the huge dry sea of consciousness, where Min Hong's mental energy was usually stored.

After about an hour, it was finally filled up and was even much more massive. It was now much bigger than a lake but still not enough to be called a sea. 

The moment his mental force was restored, Min Hong who had fainted earlier woke up.

He saw Little Wu smiling faintly at him whilst shaking his head.

He quickly sat up to look around him and sighed in relief when he noticed that though everything around him was ragged, the tribulation had now ended and the single-horned dragon was nowhere to be found.

Then he looked towards Little Wu and smiled;

"How did I do?" He asked.

"You did great, you did really great. I never had any hopes that you could survive that last tribulation. After all, it was on a level meant for experts in the spirit realm. But you faced it with a mortal realm mental force and still overcame it. I truly began to look at you in a new light…"

"Moreover, that was one bold and cocky move you made back there. Even if I was going to be beaten to death, I would have never believed, if someone told me that a person had the audacity to meditate when faced with a tribulation. Not to even talk of one on such scale…"

"Furthermore, those two divine abilities were truly outstanding and mysterious. I wonder how it would look like when you eventually power it with your Qi. Perhaps, they would both transform and become much more physical and stronger than normal…" Little Wu praised.

"I had underestimated that tribulation a lot, and I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't made that risky decision to go and pluck the Chaos Dao-fruit and obtained a divine ability?" Min Hong stood up and looked at the destruction around him as he spoke.

"I had to leave because, if I had stayed and the tribulation sensed my presence, it would seem like I was here to help and the danger it posed to you would have multiply significantly. But if push really came to shove, I was already prepared to have that demon soul take your place…"

"Or at worst, I would have intruded into the tribulation and we would have faced its wrath together." Little Wu declared his intentions, and that really filled Min Hong's heart with warmth. 

Whilst they were both chatting amongst themselves, the in-surging mental energy had begun to repair Min Hong's ragged Mind Palace.

It cleared the deep gullies the dragons had torn across its landscape as they were once again returned to their former glories.

The greenery outside the 'Yuan Wonder Gate' were much more vibrant and lusher. Then, it reached the spot where the crumbled remains of the gate were, and began to rebuild all of it. 

After that, it washed over the Mind Palace, making the walls and structure very much sturdier.

The features of every part of his Mind Palace also became more detailed as a tiny light began to appear in the previously blank eyes of the four beasts etched at the gate of his Mind Palace. 

The Dragon's scales began taking a more tangible form, as the feathers of the Phoenix danced lightly at the smallest contact with the mental energy.

The Tiger's furs also shimmered as several runes began to appear on the Tortoise shell. 

Their cries reverberated across every part of Min Hong's Mind Palace as the rest of the mental energy surged into the barrier, and began to form a new one.

This one however, had the image of one flood dragon and one ancient dragon slithering around it.

After the entire process, Min Hong checked his mental force and found out that he had broken through into the Low-grade Black Rank level.

This was equivalent to the strength of a 2-Star Emperor or Dan Formation stage expert.

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[Thoughts: Min Hong] – "Despite the fact that I haven't even begun to cultivate yet, my soul and mental force have been seeing a rise in levels. They would be my strongest attributes for now."

"If my soul and mental force were combined, they would both be equivalent to the strength of a Peak Dan Formation stage. Then my physical body strength alone with the tempering of the ancient aura has surged to the level of a Peak Warrior stage, even without cultivating."

"If only I had access to soul and mental force techniques, then I wouldn't need to fear anyone within the Mortal Realm. After all, I can't really split my soul out of my body yet, and moreover both my divine abilities would only work within my Mind Palace."

"What if I initiate the divine abilities within my Mind Palace, the 'Eye of Infinite Dao' should be able to project them into the physical world, no? I guess I can only test that theory once I have reached a level of understanding of the nature of the 'Eye of Infinite Dao'."

[Little Wu] – "He had achieved such level in the soul and mental path which are the most difficult to cultivate. Other experts usually dabble in forbidden techniques to increase their soul force, but his methods are as upright and clean as the heavens."

"With his potential, he surely has a very bright future ahead. Not many could have reached this level at such a young age. I wish is the heavens will allow him grow old enough to get to reach his ambitions. He had already ticked all my boxes, and truly worthy of becoming my master."

"What would have been better, was if I could obtain a physical body. Then will I be able to truly protect him long enough till he achieves all his ambitions. (Sighs deeply) … Well, I guess all I can do for now is to passively help him grow, and I will do everything possible to achieve that."

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Since they were thoughts, everything took less than one minute…. 

By the time he finished, Little Wu returned to the 'Bridge of Ancestors' located within the 'Realm of Creation' as he continued to meditate in front of his ancestor's statue.

Min Hong was still busy looking at the satisfying upgrade his Mind Palace and soul just underwent. 

He also looked into the depth of his soul and stared at the two Dao flowers for a while before nodding his head with a grin.

He then touched his forehead as the 'Eye of Infinite Dao' trembled slightly in response.

Then after seeing that everything within him was going great, he left. 

The moment he opened his eyes in the outside world, he noticed it was still night time.

Apparently, only a few hours had passed since he began his breakthrough up till now.

He noticed his sand-soaked clothes and the blood stain at the corner of his mouth. 

Then he cleaned his mouth and stood up from his cross-legged position.

He shut his eye and released his mental and soul force from within and the ensuing shockwave rippled out of his body, blasting every grain of sand within his clothes and body.

"Hong-ge, are you alright?" Min Qing was the first to react as she ran over to Min Hong with deep concern plastered all over her face.

"Don't tell me that was from the people you're running away from?" Little Ming slithered off Min Qing as she landed on Min Hong's head, lowering her head to look him straight in the eyes.

"Hmph! The ones we are avoiding can never conjure that sort power. That was a tribulation lightning that results when one breaks through in cultivation." Elder Yun gazed at Min Hong.

She was a little bit unapprehensive and baffled as to why Min Hong kept cultivating his soul force rather than his physical body or Qi. But she didn't want to be the first to ask him either.

"Breakthrough?" Little Ming scrutinized Min Hong trying to sense his level of cultivation but couldn't sense any cultivation aura from him other than an abnormally sturdy and tensile body.

"Hong-ge, what is going on. This is the second time this is happening?" Min Qing didn't seem to understand what Elder Yun meant by 'breakthrough', and she wasn't the only one because Little Ming was just as confused.

"It's just as Elder Yun has said. It was a tribulation that comes after one breaks through in the mental path of cultivation. I achieved true inner peace when you were sleeping and it stimulated my mental and soul force and thus, I had a breakthrough." Min Hong explained.

"Don't worry, I will explain in more details later. You will come to learn more about it the more we travel and gain experience. But for now, we need to get to 'Sunfire Desert City' as soon as possible." Min Hong added.

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[Thoughts: Little Ming] – "So, one can cultivate mental and soul energy too? I thought those two can only grow with increase in cultivation and Law comprehension… I guess there is still a lot I have yet to experience and learn."

[Min Qing] – "How did Hong-ge discover the mental cultivation path? Even I, only learnt about it from the occasional voice that keeps speaking to me and guiding me… or does Hong-ge also have someone speaking to him like me? Giving him guidance on cultivation?"

[Elder Yun] – "His soul force just now was very stifling… I was only able to sense it because of my affinity towards anything pertaining to the soul… I also never knew one could cultivate in the mental path… Has this child been possessed by an ancient expert or something?"

"If he has, then that will explain his sudden knowledge about these other cultivation paths and the ancient aura he had been leaking. But I can sense his soul, and it is still the same as the one I sensed before the tragedy of the Min Family."

"There's are a lot of unknown variables; did he take control of the intruding soul? That would explain the abnormal strength of his soul force. Or is he an awakened one? Or the reincarnation of an ancient expert?"

"Urgh, there's no use brooding over it for now. I will just observe him for a bit longer and see how everything turns out. But I have to be on guard at all times. So, I can at least save the little girl first, then see if anything can be done to save him afterwards." 

[Min Hong] – "Unh… is Elder Yun scanning my soul? I felt her soul sense wash over me just now. But thanks to the Oblivion Dao sucking away her soul sense, she couldn't glean much from her probe. I don't want anyone to know about the 'great creator' or 'Eye of Infinite Dao.' for now"

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An awkward silence suffused the atmosphere as everyone became caught up in their thoughts.

Though Min Hong couldn't pinpoint what exactly they were thinking about, but his paranoid nature could give him a wild guess. 

To him, Little Ming was only thinking about the two foreign cultivation paths she had just heard.

Min Qing was probably thinking about the reason why he didn't explicitly tell her about him cultivating the two paths. 

Then Elder Yun is probably thinking he was being possessed by another soul, hence the reason why she had tried to probe him with her soul sense.

After all, if a random person were to look at it, he was still too young to know about these things. Then there's the ancient aura.

"Elder Yun, we need to speed up our plans. Though Lu Chen might have kept what happened at the Soaring Cloud Village under wraps, we have still killed some Royal Guards guarding the border and news of that might have gotten to the King of Tiandou Kingdom by now."

"If I was Lu Chen, I would have linked the happenings at the Soaring Cloud Village to it and branded us traitors. With a little bit of some additional false accusations, it is only logical that the King must have relayed the news to the Emperor." 

"If the Min Clan hears about it, they would most likely not stick their necks out for us, after all, we are only a branch family founded by someone who they had once banished. In fact, it won't be far-fetched to say they might deny any form of relationship with our Min Family."

"This means we are on our own. We have nobody to bank on other than ourselves, so our first priority would be to find a very strong and stable backer. Thus, we must make haste before the hands of the Emperor reaches us."

"We don't know the situation between the two Empires. If the East Wind Empire is on good terms with the Dogon Empire, we might be in big trouble. But if we somehow show our talents and draw the interest of any high ranked Official, we might just be able to survive this ordeal."

"So, we will be cultivating within the Sunfire City for the next two months, and we must all reach the peak of Dan Formation by then. That way, when we enter the Dogon Empire, we would be able to at least find a sect to take us in." Min Hong dispelled the silence as he voiced his plans.

Wasting no further time, Min Hong and Min Qing landed atop Elder Yun as they soared towards the city just outside the Dogon Empire borders; the Sunfire City.