Chapter 529: Soulforce
"First, let’s help Deng Wu into the Formation of Life," Hui Yue said with a sigh as he cloaked Deng Wu in his Ancestral Worldpower. "Cai Jie and I were able to enter the Formation of Life on our own. However, it was filled with pain, and it was not easy. I doubt that the rest of you can depend on your own power to enter, and to be honest, there is no real reason for you to force your way through the dangerous and powerful gale of the essence of the heavens and the earth so let me help you out."
Having said this, Hui Yue looked at Deng Wu and smiled gently, "You will have to stay within this formation beneath the mountain. Unfortunately, you will not see the sun again until you reach the God rank, but you will have complete silence to focus on your cultivation. If you’re not entirely sure you want to go through with this, then now is the last time to say so," Hui Yue said with a wry smile causing Deng Wu to just scoff in disdain.
"I am your brother. A few years without sunlight is nothing," he said decisively and cloaked in Ancestral Worldpower, he flew directly into the Formation of Life.
Reaching the formation the speed with which he was flying decreased quite a bit, but even so, he kept pushing forward. The more he pushed through the barrier, the smaller his cloak of defensive Ancestral Worldpower become. After pushing with all his power, Deng Wu finally reached the inside of the formation. Sitting down, he looked up at Hui Yue and gave a decisive nod before he closed his eyes.
Looking down on Deng Wu, Hui Yue felt gratitude in his heart. With a wave of his hand, the entire area rumbled as the mountain closed once more.
Hui Yue kept looking at this mountain and said nothing before he was certain that the area was as silent and natural looking as it had been before they arrived. Spreading out his soul, he looked to see whether or not there were any living creatures close by, but no matter how far he searched, all he found were weak magical beasts and no signs of stronger beasts or humans which could pose a threat to Deng Wu during his cultivation.
After this, Hui Yue looked at Huli and Cai Jie.
"I am afraid that I don't understand the world of Gods very well," he said with a sigh. "I don't know what it means to be considered a God nor a weak one. What is the average level of a God ranked cultivator? What am I really up against in these upcoming trials?"
Hearing these questions, Cai Jie and Huli looked at one another and nodded their heads. It was clear that they both felt that Hui Yue needed an answer to the questions that he asked.
"For Gods or Immortals as they also are called there are two different ways to rank them. One is by how much Ancestral Worldpower they possess while the other is by how many daos they have comprehended." Huli started to explain.
"Ancestral Worldpower might seem like it is not a very important energy to gather now that you know about the dao, however, if you want to go from a Primordial Immortal to an Immortal of Creation you need to absorb an enormous amount of Ancestral Worldpower."
"Although Ancestral Worldpower is not as important as the dao, it is still important for your stamina. To activate the dao in combat, you need Ancestral Worldpower. The more Ancestral Worldpower you have, the better your stamina will become. So although you focus on the dao, do not forget to cultivate and absorb Ancestral Worldpower as well."
"A God who has been a God for thousands of years will naturally have a great advantage over you even if you have mastered many daos. As you are now, you will not be able to defeat someone who has such a big reserve of Ancestral Worldpower that they can draw upon."
"Of all the Gods out there only one percent manage to become Immortals of Creation. Although it sounds simple to merely absorb Ancestral Worldpower, it is not as simple as one might expect. Out of a hundred Gods, only one will advance. An Immortal of Creation who has understood one complete minor dao can rival a Primordial God who has comprehended up to five minor daos. That is how much of a difference the amount of Ancestral Worldpower one has makes, so never underestimate it!"
"The other way to rank someone is by how many daos they have comprehended."
"Daos are the most direct way to raise your strength! Of the Primordial Immortals around about three out of ten are stuck comprehending one dao, five out of ten have comprehended two daos, one and a half out of ten have mastered three daos, and the rest have comprehended more than three daos."
"Only one in ten thousand have comprehended five daos, and one in every hundred thousand have comprehended a major dao."
"If you are a Primordial God and you have comprehended six or more minor daos you can compete against a God of Creation."
"As a Primordial God you are incapable of comprehending a major dao, and the moment you do you will instantly gain so much Ancestral Worldpower that you will be promoted to a God of Creation. One needs an enormous amount of Ancestral Worldpower to be able to use a major dao."
Huli paused for a moment, and Hui Yue, who had been listening to her speaking turned serious.
Seeing that he understood what she was saying, Huli sighed and continued, "Although it sounds like not many have comprehended four or more daos, don’t think that they are that rare. There are countless Gods throughout the galaxy, and these Gods are everywhere. In total there are so many that one would never be able to count them all. Because of this, there are actually quite a few who have comprehended so many daos, so it’s not unexpected to encounter a God of Creation going about their business."
Hui Yue nodded his head in understanding. He understood that although it was the minority which had understood quite more than a few daos, these experts were likely to have been invited directly to Diyu. He also finally understood exactly what strength the different Gods had and which ones he needed to be wary of.
Hui Yue was silent for a long time as he thought about what he had just learned. Both Huli and Cai Jie were unaware of what Hui Yue was thinking about, but neither interrupted him. All three experts just floated in the air above the mountain as silence enveloped the area.
After a long time, Hui Yue finally nodded his head and sighed. "It seems I truly do have a very long road ahead of me," he said as he looked at his two friends, but despite his depressed tone, he smiled at them.
"There is one more thing I want to know," he said after a bit. "After I became a God my soul seems to have undergone certain changes. I can scan large areas with my soul or consciousness, and I can sense when people lie to me. Also, I am aware of even the most minute changes to people’s expression. I can feel people without seeing them, and I can sense a lot of things I have never been able to sense before. What is this magnificent power, and how come it keeps evolving together with my understanding of the dao?"
This was something which had confused Hui Yue for quite some time. He had never heard about this strange power of the soul before, and thus, he had no other option than to ask about it.
Hearing what Hui Yue had just said, both Huli and Cai Jie's eyes widened in surprise before they looked at each other and a manic but excited smile appeared on their faces.
"It’s soulforce!" Huli said excitedly, "Soulforce is an amazing ability that some Gods gain insight into as they comprehend the dao. Only one out of ten thousand can sense and use soulforce!"
"At the start, it does just that! Soulforce allows one to feel the changes around them using their soul. It’s as if you have eyes that can sense everything that happens around you. As you train and increase your soulforce, it becomes stronger and possible to attack with it. You will be able to overturn mountains with but a thought and create invisible attacks that no one else can sense, unless they too have soulforce. It is perfect when fighting."
"I don't know much about soulforce, since I don't have it myself, but as far as I know, the only way to increase your soulforce is to comprehend the dao. The more your mind expands, the stronger your soulforce will become!"
"I see," Hui Yue said clearly not as excited as Cai Jie and Huli were. This was because he knew that it would take an amazing amount of time and effort before he could use this ability in combat. Still, the ability to scan one’s surroundings and know whether or not you were being followed, if there were dangers around, and if people were lying to him was quite a beneficial ability. But since he had yet to develop this ability to any degree of mastery, he was quite calm about it.
'There is another way to strengthen your soul,' Lan Feng suddenly commented from within his core. 'You did it once already… This is by consuming the souls of others, you will become much stronger,' he said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. 'I am not telling you to absorb souls wantonly, but you could absorb the souls of the most heinous people you come across. This way you will be able to increase your soulforce much faster.'
Hearing this, Hui Yue nodded his head slightly. That was indeed a possibility, but as Lan Feng had said, Hui Yue was not going to wantonly consume souls. He was not willing to do so just yet.
"Both of you, thank you," Hui Yue said with a smile as he looked at his two friends. "Thanks to you I finally understand just how weak I am currently. Let’s return to the mansion so I can completely devote myself to comprehending the dao of the sword! I cannot waste any more time!"
Together the three friends flew as fast as they could towards the mansion, and since all three of them were Gods, their speed was astonishingly quick. It did not take them long to reach the mansion, and as soon as they did, they noticed that a banquet had been prepared. Sha Yun was standing smilingly as she saw the three of them return and the mansion was filled with their friends. All of them lifted their glasses to Cai Jie.
"Congratulations on finally reaching your rank once more. May you gain enlightenment on the dao and may you be a great asset in our fight against An He!"
Hearing the words, Cai Jie felt rather confused at first, but when he saw all the smiling faces, he could not help but be filled with warmth.
"Although we need to train, it seems that tonight will be spent together with friends," Cai Jie said with a smile as he landed on the grass, and Hui Yue just nodded his head. Although he was in a hurry to train, he also understood that his friends needed time to celebrate, especially when something as amazing as this happened. Having an extra God on their side was indeed something worthy of celebration, especially since this God was not a Primordial God but instead a God of Creation.
"Let us enjoy ourselves for once," he said with a smile to Cai Jie. "Although we need to train we will celebrate tonight. It is indeed a great thing to celebrate!"
Having given his consent, everyone was filled with happiness as they entered the dinner hall.