Chapter 802: Self-Loss and Dao Transformation
Chapter 802: Self-Loss and Dao Transformation
"Azure divine power, a single step to heaven?"
Lord Xu looked at this scene, as if wiping his eyes in disbelief, then ordered, "Quick. . . tell them to immediately leave the Black Cloud Mountain Range! We cannot make an enemy of the Black Cloud Mountain God!"
Only he, a former high-ranking official of the Dao Court, truly understood the terror of azure divine power.
Such an existence, even within the Dao Court, was a major figure!
"How could a mere Black Cloud Mountain Range possess such virtue and capability to foster such a profound fortune?"
Lord Xu had a hundred thousand unanswered questions in his heart, but that didn't stop him from immediately retreating.
"Your son obeys. . ."
Even if the middle-aged man gnashed his teeth to powder, there was nothing he could do.
Any aristocratic family encountering such a situation would surely have the urge to kill. . . no, to kill a god!
—If the Black Cloud Mountain God had merely been a seventh-rank or probationary seventh-rank divine official, Lord Xu might have directly intervened!
If he had slain the Mountain God, seized the Divine Talisman Decree, and then personally refined the divine position to ascend to godhood, as long as the Dao Court acknowledged it afterward, everything would have been negotiable.
But now, with a single thought from that Mountain God, the entire Xu family would face utter annihilation.
"The fortune of Black Cloud Mountain, it was originally ours. . ."
The middle-aged man complained, somewhat daringly.
"Now, I'm afraid it will become the Dao Court's. . ."
Lord Xu, however, had clear eyes, seemingly seeing through worldly affairs: "No matter what fortune the Black Cloud Mountain Range holds, if the Black Cloud Mountain God cannot keep it, neither can we. . . Our Xu family will not get involved in this muddy water."
As the saying goes, "old folk become sly," and Lord Xu had experienced many ups and downs within the Dao Court; he still possessed that much decisiveness.
No matter how much they had invested, no matter how reluctant he was. . . compared to the collapse of his family, it was all nothing.
Not long after, the entire Xu Family Village began to mobilize, not even caring about the winter sacrifice.
Lord Xu slowly walked out of the village, gazing at the mountain range where the anomaly slowly faded. A cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: 'You stole my fortune, yet you also shielded me from a disaster. . . Black Cloud Mountain God, I truly don't know whether I should resent you or thank you. '
If the fortune of Black Cloud Mountain had fallen into his hands, Lord Xu was perfectly clear that he absolutely could not have kept it!
...
"To actually ascend in a single step, becoming a Great God of the fifth rank or higher?"
Above Panlong Lake, all the water-tribe deities were speechless.
After a long while, a turtle attendant murmured.
"Such a situation is truly rare. . . With merely a hundred miles of territory, Black Cloud Mountain could at most support the position of a seventh-rank or probationary seventh-rank Mountain God. . ."
The Lord of Panlong Lake's dragon eyes gleamed with sharp light: "If it were a decree from the Dao Court, or formed from the collected incense offerings of mortals. . . then it would likely only be probationary seventh-rank. Only with a heaven-bestowed divine position, or if the Mountain God itself was the mountain's innate spirit and thus received preferential treatment, would it be possible to instantly ascend to true seventh-rank. . . But the current situation is vastly different."
"Lord Dragon, I fear there's a great secret beneath this Black Cloud Mountain Range."
On the narrow, elongated face of a water serpent spirit, a flicker of envy appeared.
"If there were a hidden grand dragon vein beneath Black Cloud Mountain, how could the previous Mountain God possibly not have discovered it? " The Lord of Panlong Lake scoffed at this.
Mountain Gods and Water Gods like them possessed an exquisite and meticulous perception of the territories under their divine authority; they wouldn't miss a single treasure or anomaly. . .
Within the formation, a certain black loach yawned, lazily turning over. Beside it, a clam-maiden whimpered as if she had been utterly. . . exhausted.
"According to this Lord's estimation, I fear there's something amiss with the Black Cloud Mountain God itself. Either it's the reincarnation of a being of immense merit, or it possesses an exceptionally profound innate talent and disposition, or it carries a supreme treasure. . . Of course, it's more likely to be all three combined."
The Lord of Panlong Lake suddenly burst into hearty laughter: "Such a momentous event! A decree from the Dao Court will likely arrive within days. There will be quite a show to watch. . ."
A strong sense of anticipation appeared in its eyes.
...
Fang Xi's Shinto avatar was in a state of profound meditation.
His consciousness soared infinitely, as if merging with the entire Black Cloud Mountain Range.
For others who ascended to godhood in a single step, this might be an incredibly novel experience, but for him, transforming into a mountain was commonplace.
The entire mountain was like his own body.
This was naturally due to the 'Mountain Pearl'.
This item was left behind by a peak seventh-rank Black Market Master; it was the culmination of this alien's entire essence.
If it were merely used to refine an External Avatar, it would be a complete waste of its immense reputation.
'The Mountain Pearl avatar is a born Earth Spirit Body. It is sixth-rank from birth, and with a bit of cultivation, breaking through to seventh-rank poses no problem at all. . . '
'And this Shinto world, it seems there's no concept of heavenly tribulations. . . '
After all, deities conform to heaven and earth, tending to the people on behalf of the heavens. How could heaven and earth then send down calamities?
'When I face the Mahayana Immortal Lightning Tribulation, this world might serve as a safe harbor. . . '
For cultivators at the peak Integration stage attempting tribulation, or rather, the greatest danger of the Grand Heavenly Tribulation, is that the inner demon tribulation arrives almost simultaneously with the heavenly lightning tribulation!
Not even giving the cultivator a moment to breathe!
But if one were to transfer to the Shinto world during tribulation, perhaps the lightning tribulation could be eliminated?
At that time, he could first focus on overcoming the inner demon tribulation, then recover from his injuries, and familiarize himself with the rapidly surging magical power and divine abilities.
Then, when fully recovered, he could return to the Earthly Immortal World, and even if the heavenly tribulation converged, his chances of passing would increase by at least fifty percent!
More effective than any tribulation-transcending treasure or secret art!
An idea faintly surfaced in Fang Xi's mind—perhaps he could give it a try in the future.
At this moment, a cyan-gold Divine Talisman Decree appeared in his sea of consciousness.
Its entire body was azure like jade, bearing golden divine script, as if dragons were soaring and phoenixes dancing, inscribing—'Probationary Fourth-Rank Black Cloud Mountain God'!
"Only probationary fourth-rank? Is the Heavenly Dao looking down on me?"
A faint smile played at the corner of Fang Xi's mouth.
With his current early Return to Void stage strength, perhaps only the Son of Heaven in this world could compare.
Furthermore, the Son of Heaven's divine power largely depended on his divine position; every action had to follow the established rules. If he incurred the disgust of heaven and earth, or was demoted by the Heavenly Court and lost his divine position, he would be even worse off than a common mortal.
How could he compare to a cultivator whose power originated from within himself?
"A probationary fourth-rank divine position is naturally due to my restraint. . . Otherwise, if my magical power surged to the heavens, I might have directly soared to true first-rank, perhaps even startling the Heavenly Court into directly bestowing a Heavenly Peerage?"
"Being forced to ascend and become a celestial immortal at that point would be truly problematic."
"Now, being only a probationary fourth-rank divine official, though it still brings some trouble and makes me easily suspected of possessing great fortuitous opportunities, the covetous gazes will at least be confined to this world. . ."
Inside a cave in Black Cloud Mountain.
With a flash of golden light, Fang Xi's figure appeared.
He snapped his fingers, and a golden divine light shimmered, transforming into a full-length mirror.
Reflected in the mirror was a young deity.
He had broad shoulders, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and an air of majesty.
He was also clad in a cyan-gold ceremonial robe, with an azure glow above his head, from which divine might emanated.
"Besides this, there are divine arts. . ."
Fang Xi briefly closed his eyes, and various divine arts appeared vividly in his mind, like innate divine abilities.
However, these mainly consisted of enlightening spirits, commanding fierce beasts, earth evasion, earthquakes, conjuring flying sand and rolling stones, and pushing mountains to fill seas—their power could only be considered ordinary, far inferior to the innate talents that came with the Mountain Pearl avatar.
Of course, if other probationary fourth-rank Mountain Gods knew that Fang Xi inherently possessed the divine ability to 'push mountains and fill seas,' they would likely not be so calm.
"The Mountain Pearl inherently provides an 'Earth Spirit Body. ' Beyond that, its most important innate divine ability is the 'Five Peaks True Form,' which allows one to transform into a mountain range to suppress all enemies, or to shapeshift into a mountain giant. . . In this minor realm, I fear there will be no adversaries."
"Furthermore, with the Five Peaks True Form imprinted on my being, my defense is also top-tier. . ."
Fang Xi looked at his chest, his gaze passing through the cyan-gold ceremonial robe. He could see five mountain talismans on his chest, shimmering with iridescent light, profound and extraordinary.
"Aside from divine abilities, how to promote lower-ranking Mountain Patrol Envoys, or enlighten Yin Soldiers and Yin Generals, construct a divine domain, and even gather incense offerings or refine divine artifacts—all of this is perfectly clear. . ."
"And indeed, does the Shinto path inherently possess weaknesses?"
As Fang Xi sensed the information contained within the probationary fourth-rank divine position, his expression involuntarily grew solemn.
The information contained within this high-rank divine position was immeasurably more extensive than that of the previous low-rank divine offices.
There was also a certain introduction regarding the drawbacks of the Shinto path.
"Firstly, for pure incense-offering deities, if they lose their incense, their divine power may greatly diminish, possibly even causing them to fall from their divine position. . . Moreover, their strength will drastically decrease if they leave the scope of their divine authority."
"These are merely common issues. More crucially, there's the 'poison of incense'!"
Fang Xi had actually sensed some of this long ago, but now, after the divine position's infusion, he understood its meaning even more profoundly.
"The faith of the common people is both the source of a deity's great power and a constraint, or even a poison. . . Faith will gradually mold a deity into the image the people hold in their minds. Even more terrifying, the deity itself will unconsciously change, coming to believe that this is how they always wished to be. . ."
"Such is the case for incense-offering deities. Other Mountain Gods and Water Gods, who receive nourishment from the spiritual energy of their territory, might fare a bit better, but some influences still exist. . . For instance, Mountain Gods tend to enjoy raw meat and blood, and Dragon Lords might not originally be lecherous, but due to folk legends depicting dragons as inherently lustful, most Dragon Lords end up with countless wives and concubines, and are fond of taking many women. . ."
"Even if one accepts no incense offerings or worship, and solely draws spiritual energy from mountains, rivers, and water veins through their divine position, it is still not ideal."
"Firstly, the spiritual energy in any given place is limited and often insufficient to sustain a deity. Even famous mountains and great rivers, though capable of providing sustenance, make it difficult to advance to higher divine ranks. . ."
"Alternatively, deities who solely adhere to their true selves, forgo incense, and rely on the nourishment of heaven and earth, also face risks. This is because the Heavenly Dao itself is the most terrifying form of incense; when nourished by the Heavenly Dao, one will naturally suffer Heavenly Dao erosion. This is called 'Dao Transformation'. . . Simply put, if a Mountain God serves for too long, their thoughts may become sluggish, they may dislike going out or moving, and eventually, they might even truly transform into a stone. . ."
"'Self-loss' and 'Dao Transformation' are the most feared things for deities. . . Some naturally born deities are even more prone to 'Dao Transformation,' and to avoid it, they will even intentionally accept some mortal incense offerings to create a counter-balance."
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