by <unknown>
While the godly statues on the altar were in a position that grossly belied their divine status – kowtowing with their knees on the ground, and facing towards the center of the altar in worship!
The aloof and remote gods … now reduced to lesser beings kowtowing in abject obeisance. What exactly was going on?
Zhong Yue’s eyes twitched for a few seconds, he then took in another long, deep breath of air before continuing his path up to the altar. Even Xin Huo was visibly growing increasingly anxious with every step he took.
And finally, he reached to the top and casting his gaze forwards. Their eyes were met with a scene that simply but utterly left them stunned.
Chapter 136: The Saint Spirit Forged from a Thousand Gods |
On the altar, the spirits of the gods that were sealed in the ball were morphed innumerable prismatic light rays, converging in the middle of the altar to form into the images of the sun and moon. There were clouds waving and dancing around, stars twinkling and glittering the sky, and also a strange vine, a godly tree, the mountain god Hebo, the god of the sea, the gold spirit….
They were joined by an ever-increasing assembly consisting of gods, an ox-headed dragon, a three-legged golden toad, phoenixes, Qilin, a thousand-hand demon god, an eight-headed god, a hydra….
In the middle of the altar, where the rays converged together, were hovering the over thousands of divine specters!
The spirits of the gods were taken as nourishment, siphoned away and turning into various kinds of abstract images before being pushed into a little jade pool below them.
The jade pool was very small, no bigger than a washbasin. The gods turned into tiny droplets of jade liquid as they were callously tossed into the jade pool.
The amount of the jade liquid in the pool was not much, barely filling up half of the washbasin. In the middle, there was a lotus waiting to bloom gracefully, but what was weird was that it was only a lotus that was bereft of any lotus leaves.
“Thousands of celestial gods and demon gods nourishing the Saint Spirit….”
Xin Huo sucked in a breath of cold air and mumbled, “Gathering so many god spirits only to groom a Saint Spirit. Whoever placed down these Devil Soul Forbidden Lands ... is trying to overturn the sky!”
Zhong Yue gazed at that lotus and could see its roots wobbling in the jade liquid. He asked curiously, “This lotus is also a spirit?”
Xin Huo nodded, “A spirit that has ingested the spirits of thousands of gods! This lotus absorbs the spirits of the gods to nourish itself. Look at the spirits of gods it is siphoning, there’s even the moon spirit and sun spirit! A spirit that is nourished by so many gods’ spirits, it can surely be called as saint. That’s why it’s called the Saint Spirit! The one that had arranged this must’ve had a heart of wild ambition, trying to nurture a Saint Spirit to transcend the level of the gods to ascend into the sainthood!”
Expectedly, he was all thrilled and excited, hovering around Zhong Yue energetically as he continued, “Such a mad and insane brat, so rare and so hard to come by. He must be the owner of the tomb, that’s why he could’ve been able to make so many gods die along with him! He must’ve possessed a shockingly terrifying identity! And his plan will be even more terrifying!”
Zhong Yue gave it a thought. Every ten years, the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium would erupt, it must be the unresigned will of the devil souls driving them to reunite with their lost spirits!
He frowned and asked, “Xin Huo, there is one Saint Spirit here in the underground Devil Soul Forbidden Land of Black Mountain. Doesn’t that mean that there will also be another Saint Spirit in the Devil Soul Forbidden Land of Swords Gate? These two places were sacrificial tombs, while the main tomb has yet to be found. And if there is also a Saint Spirit in the main tomb, wouldn’t that make it a total of three of them? The one that made such arrangements, can he coalesce those three Saint Spirits into one?”
Xin Huo was stunned and ran the thought through his mind for a brief moment before his eyes suddenly gleamed with a burst of clarity, “His ambition must’ve been beyond what I initially thought. It seems like he also wanted to merge the Saint Spirits into one! The main tomb might not have a Saint Spirit, only his atman. And there wouldn’t only be two sacrificial tombs! The sacrificial tombs are the places he used to nourish the Saint Spirits. And when the Saint Spirits are ripened and ready, then they will coalesce with his atman in his main tomb. En, that must be it!”
The little flame flickered with agitation, jumping and hopping on Zhong Yue’s shoulder, he yelled, “This brat, he is even shrewder than any other ambitious and ruthless characters that I’ve met before. Not only he is trying to surpass the level of gods and ascend into the rank of saints, was he also trying to achieve immortality?”
Zhong Yue pondered for a few moments before saying, “Xin Huo, can this tomb’s owner still be living now? He should’ve been dead for at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands years right? Wouldn’t his atman have dispersed by now? Would there even still be living beings still sustaining him through worship?”
Xin Huo became startled and answered, “Through worship, the atman can be preserved and live on. But how could there be souls that live eternally? After the death of the gods, even with the worship of the living, they would only be able to sustain themselves for at most ten or twenty thousand years. After some time, their souls would inevitably dissipate into thin air. If the tomb owner has been dead for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years, then his soul would surely have long perished by now. Or could it be that he has some secret techniques that allow him to preserve the soul?”
Even Xin Huo was baffled.
“Saint Spirit….”
Zhong Yue gazed at the lotus that was still yet to bloom. He asked, “Xin Huo, between the Saint Spirit and the Sun Moon Twin Spirit, which is stronger?”
“The Sun Moon Twin Spirit is the strongest spirit, the best among the godly spirits; while the Saint Spirit is a level above the godly spirits. It is indeed much stronger than the Sun Moon Twin Spirit. But don’t you ever think about it, this Saint Spirit is nourished by the spirits of thousands of celestial gods and demon gods, it is not ripe yet and it still can’t be considered as the Saint Spirit. Within it are still the residual resentment and grievances of the gods it absorbed. Whoever dares to claim it would surely die!”
Xin Huo continued, “The thousands of celestial demon gods were stripped of their spirits, how could they simply accept such a fate? This Saint Spirit gathers the spirits of the gods but also their resentment. With your little, tiny, weak body as it is now, you can’t possibly withstand the accumulated vitriol of the gods. Hence, it’s best if you cast off this fantasy of snatching the Saint Spirit for yourself.”
Zhong Yue sighed in resignation, it was true that he was thinking of snatching away the Saint Spirit. The Saint Spirit, one that was nurtured with the spirits of thousands of celestial gods and demon gods, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine its abominable strength, and effort he would save if he were to cultivate with such a spirit!
“Even acquiring the Saint Spirit doesn’t mean you’ll surely surpass the gods to ascend into sainthood. In the same vein, the holders of ordinary spirits are not necessarily condemned to a fate of mediocrity. How far one goes ultimately depends on their effort and will. Ages past, during the era of Tai Hao Fuxi, there were also a few Saint Spirit holders, but the end, the one that held the throne in the end was still the Sun Moon Twin Spirit holder, Tai Hao.”
Xin Huo said, “Moreover, didn’t the Sui Sovereign also just manifest a sun spirit? And yet, with that, he still created a new era, the Fire Order! The Saint Spirit is indeed nice, but it is also beleaguered by its own flaws. Not even a god would be able to withstand the accumulated resentment of the thousands of celestial gods and demon gods. In the end, you wouldn’t be able to benefit from it at all! Plus, it’s still not ripened yet, taking it away now would be useless. However, the jade liquid in this jade pool is indeed some good
stuff that is rarely seen — condensed from the energies of the gods’ spirits, it is the best material to nourish the atman and nurture the Yuan Shen, a supplement of the highest caliber to nourish the Yuan Shen!”
Zhong Yue’s thoughts moved, his psyche formed into a big water bucket as he walked to the side of the jade pool. Xin Huo quickly said, “Not the psyche, the psych-formed bucket wouldn’t be able to contain a single drop of jade liquid at all. You have to use something physical, and also, this bucket you formed is too big. Pouring all of the jade liquid in wouldn’t even fill the bottom of the bucket.”
Zhong Yue blushed in embarrassment, but he did not have any containers on him at all. He had no means to store the jade liquid.
Xin Huo’s eyes brightened up before suggesting, “Drink! Brat Yue, drink mouthfuls of it, take a big sip and run, don’t ever turn back!”
Zhong Yue winked his eyes, and asked, “Take a sip and run?”
“Although the Saint Spirit has still not fully ripened yet, it is after all, the Saint Spirit. How could it be willing to stay idle if you’ve drunken its jade liquid?”
Even Xin Huo himself was uncertain about it, “Drink one mouthful and just run. You should be able to dodge its attack. En, the Saint Spirit nourished by thousands celestial gods and demons must be very strong, but not to the extent that it can break through the space right? As long as you reach to the teleportation portal, and destroy the array formation, this Saint Spirit shouldn’t be able to do anything to us anymore….”
Zhong Yue turned around and walked down the altar. He walked into the teleportation door and reached the other side.
Xin Huo was perplexed, he asked, “Brat Yue, what are you doing?”
Zhong Yue removed the Fang Blade and thrust it into the ground. With a thought, the seven Sword Qi flew out and revolved around the stone pillar, forming into the sword array of the【Seventh Sword Style】. He said, “Prepare the weapons first, and get them ready to destroy the teleportation array formation, just in case I’m too preoccupied with running for my life to have time to destroy it.”
Too many times has Xin Huo shown his unreliable nature. Hence, Zhong Yue now decided to act preemptively so that he wouldn’t be forced into an impossible situation later on.
Zhong Yue finished his set up and returned back to the altar through the teleportation door, carrying himself to the side of the jade pool.
“Take a mouthful and run, don’t hesitate, don’t delay and don’t drag your feet!” Even Xin Huo was getting anxious, staring fixedly at the lotus in the middle of the jade pool.
Zhong Yue leaned his body forward, and abruptly, he took in a mouthful of jade liquid, sucking it into the air and down into his mouth, visibly lowering the waterline in the jade pool!
This one mouthful, ended up being no smaller than the water bucket. It was as if he was intending to gulp up the whole jade pool!
Xin Huo was also shocked, he quickly prompted, “Run!”
Zhong Yue never turned around, instead, he channeled all his strength to his legs and sprung himself away from the altar, down to the teleportation door like a nocked arrow let loose!
Almost instantaneously, the lotus in the jade pool suddenly flared up, and an incredibly terrifying godly aura rumbled through the air, billowing out from all directions. Zhong Yue found his psyche instantly suppressed, rendering him unable to visualize nor utilize his psyche!
At this moment, all his skills and arts were rendered impotent, and the surroundings turned into a space devoid of any trace of power or energy!
Shou——
Zhong Yue launched himself into the teleportation portal. He took a split second to raise his head and looked over to see the winter-white roots submerged in the jade pool extruding out, growing thicker and thicker with crazy speed. It was as if they were giant white dragons dancing in the air, thrusting right at him!
In next moment, Zhong Yue passed through the teleportation portal. He tried to move his psyche and cast the【Seventh Sword Style】, but found that his psyche was still oppressed. Without even thinking much, he reached out to the Fang Blade and slashed it over at the stone pillar of the teleportation array formation!
Dang——
Fire sparked out from the stone pillar and crushed rocks burst out from it. But, the stone pillar was, after all, put in place by the monster god Ming King, Zhong Yue was naturally unable to break it off with one slash, and the totem patterns were still gleaming in operation.
“Break off!”
Zhong Yue yelled out, the muscles on his body bulged up, mustering all of his strength into the saber, as he slashed it down heavily.
Dang——
And the stone pillar was finally crushed away!
Meanwhile, the winter-white roots blasted over through the door, the roots were even paved with dragon scales, carrying an immense aura on them while they were piercing over at him!
Krong——
The teleportation door crumbled, and the space collapsed, the door vanished in an instant. Just when the winter-white roots were about to extrude out, they were then repressed back by the collapsing dimensional space!
The space bounced for awhile like jelly and then returned to its usual peacefulness.
Zhong Yu heaved a breath of relief and wiped off the cold sweat that was percolating on his forehead. But all of a sudden, the space before him shuddered violently, and then out of nowhere, it was as if a black curtain appeared and within it, a tentacle-like object pierced out of it and towards him!
“Xin Huo, didn’t you say that the Saint Spirit wouldn’t be able to break through the dimensional space?”
Zhong Yue’s hair bristled up and his scalp tingled. He quickly leaped and stomped into the air to run desperately back towards the pathway!
The distorted black curtain fiercely lashed on the pathway and the tunnel started to crumble. The collapsed space was like a quivering pricked black cloth, one after another, tentacle-like objects pierced out through the spatial curtain. The pathway behind Zhong Yue was crumbling down and he was nearly hit by the weird tentacles!
Hu——
He mustered all his strength and leaped out of the tunnel, the pathway was already ruined, even the door left behind by the ‘big guy’ above was also crushed by that otherworldly power. Zhong Yue was unable to even remove the key in time before it vanished along with the door!
Chapter 137: Getting Away |
“This Saint Spirit does not have the ability to break open the dimension.”
Xin Huo flew into his psyche ocean and said quickly, “It launched its attack from another dimension! Strong ... such tremendous power! To already command such terrifying power, this Saint Spirit must be nearing adulthood!”
Zhong Yue dashed out of the palace with lightning speed and he soon reached the hundred and eight stairs shortly after exiting the palace. The stairs did not manage to slow him down due to his ability to seal the totem carvings on the stairs with his own, just as he did when he went up the stairs previously.
At the same time, the spirit power of the jade liquid he absorbed began to take effect, causing an unbridled energy to surge towards his soul and Zhong Yue could feel his soul and spirit strengthening with extreme speed!
Soul is also referred to as the Yuan Shen and it is difficult to strengthen. The only reason Zhong Yue was able to do so with such rapid speed was that he had been absorbing the essence of the Beast God Inner core for the past half year. Yet despite this, his soul only increased up to twelve feet and there was still quite a gap for his soul to reach the average Yuan Shen level that the other stronger Qi Practitioners have!
Especially for those kind of Yuan Shens that was of a length of twenty feet, Yuan Shens that have reached that level would require increasingly disproportionate amounts of energy for even miniscule increased of merely an inch. The time need to strengthen them would also prolong the process by a few hundredfold!
However, the spiritual power from the jade liquid miraculously increas
ed Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen up to sixteen feet long in just a moment!
Zhong Yue dashed towards the portal and swiftly destroyed the portal leading straight to the Ming King palace before running out of the palace. In just that short period of time, his soul had been increased by over two feet and it was still increasing!
The benefits didn’t just stop at his soul, it also posed benefits to his spirit as well. In his two eyes, the sun and moon spirit was also nourished by the jade liquid, increasing the energy within them, causing them to grow even more powerful!
Other than that, Zhong Yue could feel that a Pure Yang Spirit Qi and Pure Yin Spirit Qi being born in his eyes!
Those were the Qi of Yin and Yang!
It was almost impossible for a Qi Practitioner to acquire the Qi of Yin and Yang; the sole reason Xin Huo forced him to cultivate both spirits was to acquire the Qi of Yin and Yang. Zhong Yue would supposedly only be able to achieve this once he had reached the level of Awakening. However, due to this unexpected boon, he was able to acquire the Yin and Yang Qi much earlier than expected!
“Visualize your Sui Sovereign, quick!”
Xin Huo urged him and said, “The jade liquid is a type of magical elixir that is a concoction of thousands of spirits. The water cannot be exposed to the air for long as the power contained within the elixir would eventually fade if left unsealed. If you wait any longer, the power of the elixir will fade so you must take this opportunity to direct all of the elixir’s power into your soul!”
Zhong Yue stepped onto the stone steps and dashed towards the bottom while his spirit in his psyche ocean turned into the form of Sui Sovereign as he visualized the Sui Sovereign. At the same time, rapid changes occurred in his psyche ocean and a huge and magnificent palace began to emerge from the ocean. Golden rays shined upon the palace and fire circled around it while countless totem carvings appeared on the surface of the palace – it was the Flame Order Palace!