Chapter 1153: Laws Embodied |
Tang San had entrusted her with no fewer than five of his bloodline imprints, one of them even a transcendent bloodline. That level of trust moved Crystalline deeply. It strengthened her resolve to accompany Tang San through the Emperor Tribulation at any cost, to step with him onto the path leading toward another world.
With Crystalline taking over part of the delicate work, Tang San simply kept channeling yin and yang energy into the Crystal Transformation imprint while keeping three other bloodline imprints under his own direction.
After a few moments, things started to change.
For as long as Tang San had been cultivating in this world, his bloodline imprints had been clusters of light spinning around his dantian. The exact arrangements differed, but they were always like satellites orbiting around whatever imprint happened to be the strongest at the time.
But now, they were gradually rearranging themselves… into a humanoid figure.
The Chaos Blue Silver Emperor imprint became the chest, the Discerning Eye of Heaven the head, and the Spacetime imprint the arms; the Crystal Transformation became the lower torso, and its five subordinate yin-yang imprints formed the legs.
A tiny human shimmering with rainbow-colored light appeared within Tang San's dantian.
The bloodline imprints evolved stably under the constant adjustment of chaos energy. The upper body was under Tang San's control, while Crystalline dealt with the lower body. At first the figure was faint and blurry, but it gradually grew clearer, until it became apparent that it was identical to Tang San. It was a miniature version of himself sitting cross-legged in the dantian.
Strange lights radiated from behind it: a seven-colored halo behind the head, a pure white glow radiating from the chest, silvery light that shifted in odd, distorted ripples around the arms, and blue and red lights from the abdomen and legs. These lights blended around the little figure into a fantastical, kaleidoscopic scene.
Here, the vast reservoir of chaos energy became critical.
Each bloodline imprint held enormous power, and their energy attributes all differed. Tang San had forcibly integrated them, divided them into yin and yang, and set them under unified command. Such a colossal undertaking not only battered his body but also made the imprints clash to the point where they threatened to explode.
By giving part of the control to Crystalline while he acted as the main controller, pouring his divine consciousness into every corner, Tang San balanced the turmoil. The chaos energy mediated, nourished, and wove the newborn core of Tang San's power—a little homunculus woven from the very Laws themselves.
Every bloodline imprint was deeply compatible with chaos energy, even yin-yang. With this support, the newly formed Law Homunculus[1] just barely held together. As it was nourished further, its stability increased.
At the beginning, parts of the Law Homunculus would flare with sudden bursts of light. Tang San had to immediately focus his divine consciousness and chaos energy, use the Spacetime Ring to slow down the flare, and calm down the turbulence. All the while, chaos energy flowed inside, probing, connecting, trying to make the different bloodlines resonate and interweave.
With the Sea God's divine seat suppressing from without, chaos energy harmonizing from within, the Spacetime Ring ensuring nothing went out of control all of a sudden, and Crystalline helping Tang San with the multitasking, the miraculous Law Homunculus gradually took shape.
Without doubt, this was power far beyond what this plane should produce. Without the foundation of chaos energy, Tang San himself could not have controlled it. Yet as the Law Homunculus stabilized, he began to undergo a rebirth. His whole being radiated strange brilliance. The Law Homunculus drew out the essence from each bloodline imprint and discarded the useless parts, refining and integrating everything into a seamless whole.
Mei Gongzi observed everything from afar with her divine consciousness. To her mind's eye, Tang San glowed with shifting light. At first it flickered unevenly, but gradually it steadied. A seven-colored halo gleamed behind his head, a white radiance spun at his chest, red and blue yin-yang glowed below. Even his closed eyes shimmered faintly at the corners.
She did not know what he was doing, but she could sense his state growing more stable by the minute. More importantly, through the Lifebond Necklace, she felt his life level steadily climbing. Her own body was nourished in turn, and she was filled with comfort. She felt as if, in some mysterious way, she was inching ever closer to ascension, yet the Laws of the plane were not stirring in response.
She sighed in relief. The earlier flares of light had revealed dangerous instability. Now that the glow steadied, it meant he was stepping firmly toward success.
He did not need any external help at this point. Even with all the resources the Ancestral Court had given them, Tang San and Mei Gongzi had used very little for themselves. Most went into constructing the Tower of Life. What resource could compare to the lesser immortal energy in the Blue Gold Palace? That was their most important asset.
Mei Gongzi closed her eyes to conserve her strength, keeping herself ready. She knew that once Tang San finished, they would immediately face the tribulation.
Day by day, time passed. In the Ancestral Court, every denizen basked in the brilliance of life. The Emperors, too, were in high spirits. Though the tower's effects no longer increased, the steady flow of high-level life energy kept increasing their lifespan.
Like this, three months slipped by.
***
The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze clouded with uncertainty. He rose at once and left the palace, stepping out into the skies and looking toward the Blue Gold Palace and the Tower of Life
The Ancestral Court had been shrouded in clouds for many months now; they couldn't see the sun, but they didn't miss it all that much. Things were looking normal on the surface. From the outside, nothing seemed changed at the Blue Gold Palace. But the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's expression betrayed the tension he was under. He felt destiny itself stirring, the Ancestral Court's fortune surging and trembling.
Something is happening… and it's affecting the entire Daemon Continent.
Suddenly, the Tower of Life brightened, a soft blue-golden halo spreading outward. Then it bloomed with seven-colored radiance. From all around, elemental energy of every attribute poured toward it in frenzy.
In the next instant, figures of Emperors appeared in the sky. They had not noticed the signs as early as the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, but once the Life Tower's energies shifted, they too sensed it.
The Sunborne Nymph Emperor flew to the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's side. "Looks like a tribulation, right? But why is it drawing in all the elements?"
The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor shook his head. "I don't know. We have to wait and see. It should be his tribulation, yes."
The tower's seven-colored light was dazzling, drawing the eyes of all citizens. Strangely, the life energy in the air diminished, as though the tower was drawing it back in.
Overhead, the oppressive pressure grew. The clouds above the Court collapsed and vanished, swept away by this pressure. Life energy from all around surged like rivers into the Tower of Life.
1. The original here just means "law body" or "dharma body" if interpreted in a Buddhist key. However, "dharma" cannot work here because there is no Buddhism in this universe, and using "body/physique" might be misconstrued as Tang San's actual body, which is not the case. Hence, we decided on this translation. ☜