Chapter 276: The Man Abandoned by the Heavenly Calamity

In the vast void, Ye Feng slowly opened his eyes.
“My physical and spiritual strength have both reached their peak. Over these past ten-odd years, I’ve made little progress at all,” Ye Feng frowned. “It must be due to limitations in my cultivation level.”
“Unfortunately, there are no heavenly calamities in this area. My cultivation can only remain at the pinnacle of the Calamity Crossing stage. It’s been three hundred years—without the trials of a heavenly calamity, I’ve never been able to break through this barrier. If I stay here, my strength won’t improve further.” Ye Feng understood why his body and soul couldn’t be strengthened any more. Without experiencing a heavenly calamity, he couldn’t advance from the Calamity Crossing stage to the Great Vehicle stage, and his cultivation would remain at its peak. His physical and spiritual strength would also be restricted by his insufficient cultivation level.
“What if I force a breakthrough?” An adventurous idea suddenly crossed Ye Feng’s mind.
Although his physical and spiritual strength had hit a bottleneck, he possessed that purple-gold bead containing immense spiritual power. He could release some of that power to strain his soul and force an increase in its strength. In theory, this method could work—breaking through the limitations of his cultivation level through forced enhancement.
Without hesitation, Ye Feng summoned the purple-gold bead again. He directed his mental energy toward the bead, guiding its spiritual energy into his body…
His already saturated soul was unwilling to absorb additional spiritual energy, so the absorption progress was slow. The excess spiritual energy wrapped around his soul, with a small portion being transformed and channeled into his physical body and Yuan Ying.
Three days passed quickly. Ye Feng’s face turned purplish-blue—he was nearly at his limit. His soul could no longer absorb any more spiritual energy, remaining completely saturated, yet he refused to give up.
At that moment, a white light suddenly emanated from the “Martial Canon” in his mind. The white light soared through his mental sea, instantly illuminating it entirely.
Ye Feng felt his soul tremble slightly. Then, his mind became utterly clear, as if his soul had been purified. His body also seemed to be freed from some constraint, becoming lighter.

At that moment, a faint figure appeared in Ye Feng’s sea of consciousness. It was a man in green clothes. Ye Feng didn’t know how to describe the man’s unique aura—was it simply strength? Just by standing there, Ye Feng could sense that he seemed to have existed since ancient times. His energy was suppressed to the extreme; Ye Feng couldn’t detect any energy fluctuations from him at all. Yet, his eyes, as bright and profound as the starry sky, revealed a confidence capable of destroying everything. Ye Feng had no doubt about his strength.

The man also sized up Ye Feng from head to toe before speaking, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Ye Feng!” Ye Feng replied truthfully.

“Alright, my name is Hong Jun. From today onward, I will be your guide,” the man said with a slight smile at Ye Feng.

“Guide?” Ye Feng was clearly still puzzled.

“That’s right. In your world, you might call them masters, but we don’t use that term,” Hong Jun nodded.

“You want to take me as your disciple?” Ye Feng was surprised.

“No, I’m not qualified to be your master!” Hong Jun shook his head. “Void Walkers take the Heavenly Dao as their teacher but ultimately break free from it. So, we have no masters—we only have ourselves.”

“What then is a guide?” Ye Feng continued to ask.

“A guide merely serves to provide direction when necessary. Between you and me, there’s no difference in status, even though our cultivation levels are currently worlds apart,” Hong Jun said with a smile. “Because there’s a chance you might cultivate to my level.”

“Then, senior, what’s your current cultivation level?” Ye Feng couldn’t help asking.

“Don’t call me senior. Just call me Hong Jun,” Hong Jun shook his head slightly. “It’s better if you don’t ask about my cultivation level. Knowing it won’t benefit you at all and might even cause you mental obstacles.”

“The Martial Canon is a set of martial arts techniques I created myself. I gathered all the martial skills and techniques I’ve seen and combined them into one, hence the name ‘Martial Canon,’” Hong Jun continued. “You can use this as a reference and gradually create your own techniques.”

“Hong Jun… big brother, could you please tell me what exactly a Void Walker is? Why did I suddenly become one?” Ye Feng raised his doubts.

“The Void Walkers are a group of travelers who seek ultimate power by moving through different times, spaces, and universes. They represent the pinnacle of cultivators.” Hongjun’s words filled Ye Feng with excitement. “You didn’t suddenly become a Void Walker either. You were born with a special physique; it’s just that the conditions for becoming one have only been met now.”
“You mean I can become like you in the future?” Ye Feng asked excitedly.
“There’s a certain chance!” Hongjun smiled. “Don’t ask me what that chance is—I know that’s what you want to ask.”
“Well…” Ye Feng wanted to ask more, but Hongjun stopped him.
“Don’t ask about your parents. Some secrets must be discovered on your own.” Hongjun also knew what question Ye Feng was about to ask.
“Oh…” Ye Feng seemed disappointed at this answer.
“Then can I ask how I met the conditions to become a Void Walker? I don’t even know what happened.” Ye Feng posed a new question.
“It’s because the strength of your body and soul has broken free from the constraints of cultivation levels. The existing cultivation system can no longer allow you to continue practicing, so the cultivation system of the Void Walkers was activated,” Hongjun explained. “The cultivation system of the Void Walkers has no fixed rules. You can keep cultivating your body to make it extremely powerful, or you can keep cultivating your soul to make it extremely powerful—none of these are affected by other factors. In short, you can set your own rules for cultivation, though it’s much harder than the existing rules.”
“Then can I continue to replenish my spiritual energy to reach the Mahayana stage or the Immortal stage?” Ye Feng couldn’t help asking.
“You can continue to replenish your spiritual energy, but you won’t be able to reach the Mahayana stage!” A teasing smile appeared on Hongjun’s face.
“Why?” Ye Feng asked in confusion.
“Look at your dantian!” Hongjun pointed at Ye Feng’s dantian.
Ye Feng immediately sent his mental energy into his dantian. After a while, he let out a cry, “Where’s my Yuan Ying? Where’s my Yuan Ying…”
“Don’t panic!” Hongjun’s voice carried a calming force that helped Ye Feng calm down slightly.
“What’s wrong with my dantian? Where did my Yuan Ying go? And what’s that white bead?” Ye Feng asked three questions in a panic.

“There’s no problem with your dantian; you no longer need a yuanying. A yuanying is just a form of energy storage, while that pearl is a new form of energy storage within your dantian. It’s just a different shape—there’s no need to worry.”
“Of course, this new form will also increase your capacity to absorb various types of energy. You no longer need to go through a heavenly calamity to transform your yuanying into a xianying. Once the pearl has absorbed enough energy, your cultivation level will rise automatically.”
“You mean I won’t face any heavenly calamities?” Ye Feng widened his eyes and looked at Hongjun.
“There will still be calamities, but usually not heavenly ones—human calamities are more common,” Hongjun nodded.
“Human calamities?!” Ye Feng had no idea what this term meant, as he had never heard of it before.
“A human calamity, as the name suggests, is a calamity caused by humans,” Hongjun explained. “Just like the predicament you’re in now—trapped here to save others—is also a type of human calamity.”
“I see. You mean such troubles will happen to me frequently from now on?” Ye Feng felt even more depressed. If it were just heavenly calamities, he could handle them easily with his strength. But if such troubles kept arising, he wouldn’t be able to deal with them, as no one could predict what would happen next.
“In fact, everyone faces human calamities; you just need to let things take their course,” Hongjun added. “As a Void Walker, what you need to be most careful about isn’t these calamities but the mental calamities brought by external heart demons. If you fail against such mental calamities, you won’t die immediately. In severe cases, the external heart demons will invade your mind, turning you into a puppet. In milder cases, it will leave lingering issues in your heart, making it difficult to progress further.”
“How then can I prevent mental calamities?” Ye Feng felt even more uncertain after hearing this.
“Everyone’s mental calamities are different, so the solutions also vary from person to person. But one thing you must remember: trust your true heart.” Hongjun extended two fingers of his right hand and pressed them against Ye Feng’s chest. A white light sparkled from his fingertips, instantly illuminating the entire void.
By the time Ye Feng regained his senses, Hongjun had disappeared. Only faint white spots remained on his chest, which eventually vanished as well.
“Uh, why didn’t you help me get out of this place before leaving?” Ye Feng muttered under his breath. But he roughly guessed the reason—this was his own human calamity, and he had to overcome it on his own. Hongjun couldn’t help.

“The Yuan Ying has turned into a bead. From now on, it’s abandoned by the heavenly calamity, so its cultivation progress should no longer be restricted. Let’s focus on improving our cultivation first!” Ye Feng said as he sent his mental energy into his dantian…