Chapter 1155: A New Path from the Ashes of the Old
Chapter 1155: A New Path from the Ashes of the Old
Li Fan's clone, Li Ping, saw with perfect clarity that the limbs Yin Shangren had torn to shreds with his teeth didn't bleed at all.
Instead, they oozed a black, viscous pus.
Within the ichor, countless tormented faces, like writhing tentacles, let out sharp, bloodcurdling wails. Yin Shangren, however, paid them no mind, swallowing them whole.
A wet, tearing sound echoed.
Yin Shangren's skin split apart as if sliced by a razor-sharp blade. The very tentacles he had just devoured now burst forth from his body anew.
This time, however, every single one of the tormented faces now bore the likeness of Yin Shangren himself.
Tucked away in a corner of this warped space, Li Ping watched the scene unfold in silence.
On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than Yin Shangren's frenzied, cannibalistic rampage.
This was different from the fusion of laws within the Abyss of Roars, however. The fragments in the abyss had been carefully selected, destined for integration into the Xuanhuang Realm.
But here...
It was chaos, disorder, and annihilation.
It was like watching creatures thrown onto a scrap heap, tearing each other apart in a desperate frenzy for the faintest glimmer of survival.
The conflict between the World Ghosts was brief.
Perhaps because this domain lay outside the Xuanhuang Realm proper, or perhaps due to the protective fortune of the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty, the ghosts that had descended were considerably weaker than Yin Shangren.
Once he had devoured every last limb littering the ground, a change began.
The cracked, ravaged surface of his body slowly started to mend.
"It's been far too long since I've enjoyed such a delicacy," Yin Shangren mused. "I truly have missed it."
Yin Shangren's voice was no longer the strange, layered echo it had been; it had returned to that of a normal man.
And yet, the aura he now casually radiated sent a chill down Li Ping's spine, making him feel as if needles were pricking his back, despite his own combat strength being at the peak of Soul Transformation.
Yin Shangren, however, showed no hostility. Having dealt with the threat of the ghosts, he sat down and immediately began to cultivate the technique, Foundation Establishment Through Oneself.
Li Ping narrowed his eyes. From his vantage point, he could perceive the fluctuations of law around Yin Shangren rapidly diminishing.
They weren't simply vanishing; they were being slowly drawn into Yin Shangren's body.
Yin Shangren's form flickered like a column of smoke, constantly shifting. The faces he had absorbed began to resurface on his skin.
They writhed in terror, struggling to break free from his flesh.
It looked as though hundreds of grotesque tumors were bulging from his body simultaneously, each one threatening to burst at any moment. The sight was hideous and terrifying.
Yet Yin Shangren remained utterly resolute.
He sat perfectly still, not a hint of panic on his face.
Slowly, as if pulled by some invisible force, the faces began to retreat back into his body.
The tumors vanished one by one, and Yin Shangren's features gradually returned to normal.
When the last vestiges of overflowing law that Li Ping could sense had completely vanished, Yin Shangren's eyes snapped open.
His gaze was no longer crazed or possessed as it had been before. Now, his eyes were like a deep pool of water—clear, and utterly serene.
"Foundation Establishment Through Oneself," he murmured, staring at his hands as if in a trance.
"How does it feel?" Li Ping asked.
Yin Shangren didn't answer. Instead, he simply pointed a finger at Li Ping.
Instantly!
Nine golden dragons materialized out of thin air, roaring as they coiled protectively around Li Ping.
Unseen, a mire had formed beneath his feet.
It was silently swallowing him whole.
From Li Ping's perspective, he could feel the collective fortune of the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty draining away, as if pricked by a tiny needle.
The flow was slow, but for a moment, he couldn't find any way to stop it.
The golden dragons circled, their protective radiance holding him suspended above the mire.
He didn't counterattack, but clicked his tongue in admiration. "A truly impressive technique, sir."
With a wave of his hand, Yin Shangren dispelled the mire. "That," he explained, "is the most vicious curse born from the dying resentment of a world."
"In the past, to manifest such a curse would have taken a heavy toll on me. I would have lost my sanity for at least half a year. But now..."
Yin Shangren held his finger up before his eyes.
At the tip, the mire reappeared in miniature.
It was now perfectly contained, swirling harmlessly within the confines of his index finger.
"Everything within the body becomes the foundation for cultivation."
"I can command it as I please, with but a single thought," Yin Shangren murmured.
Yin Shangren then proceeded to give Li Ping a detailed explanation of his experience with Foundation Establishment Through Oneself, as well as his understanding of this "new method" of cultivation.
"The new method of the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate, in essence, placed an invisible shackle upon every cultivator, built upon the foundation of the old system. As long as you cultivate, that shackle becomes a part of you. Every bottleneck on the path ahead was carved into a specific shape."
"Only by wearing that shackle, by conforming to that pre-determined shape, could one pass through."
As Yin Shangren spoke, characters materialized before him, spontaneously arranging themselves to record his words.
"But the path of Foundation Establishment Through Oneself is about taking that shackle and integrating it into your very being!"
"Then, no matter the obstacle ahead, you can adapt and overcome it by transforming yourself..."
Yin Shangren's explanation was meticulous, and Li Ping listened with rapt attention.
"For example," he said suddenly, "if you wished to cultivate this technique, you would likely need to refine this entire dynasty and absorb it into your body..."
Li Ping pondered this for a moment, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. "If I did that, my Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon, and the countless subjects of the Great Qi, would be frozen in time, forever trapped in the moment of their absorption."
"Foundation Establishment Through Oneself... burying your entire past to forge a path to an infinite future..."
Yin Shangren clapped his hands in approval. "Precisely!"
The characters before him finally coalesced into a thin booklet. Yin Shangren took the collection of insights in his hands, a look of profound joy on his face.
Even though they were his own conclusions, and he knew them intimately, Yin Shangren still flipped through the pages several times with delight.
But as he gazed at the blank pages that followed, a troubled expression crept onto his face.
"The Mixed Origin Golden Core. But what defines Mixed Origin?"
...
Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters.
Since Yan Huan's departure, no other outsider had visited the Deduction Jade's space.
Clearly, the effects of the last curse attack still lingered; Yan Huan's visit had been an exception, a matter of special urgency.
Five hundred years of guard duty was not a period of time one could easily while away.
Thus, the two guardian elders, Zhang Xu and Hua Yueye, each had their own unique methods for passing the time.
Zhang Xu would create an entire mortal world within his sea of consciousness.
Then, he would seal the senses of a sliver of his consciousness and immerse it within, experiencing countless fascinating lives through the cycle of reincarnation.
Hua Yueye, on the other hand, would split himself in two.
The 'two' of them would sit and discuss the Dao, sparring and debating with one another.
No one understood him better than himself, and so their discourse was always in perfect harmony—a source of endless enjoyment.
Li Fan's methods, however, were not nearly so elaborate.
He spent his time studying the latest formation deductions from the Final Dissociation Disc, while simultaneously monitoring the experiences of his Holy Embryo and various clones.
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