Chapter 326 - Curse of the Gods
Zhong Yue had to split his concentration between the Great Sun Demon Crow that cast the【Monster God Ming King Art】and his true self that visualized the Sui Sovereign Fire Order Place. He would be absorbing the medicinal efficacy on both fronts so that his Yuan Shen would not explode due to the excessive energy.
At the same time, he was trying to make use of the abundant medicinal efficacy to condense his own inner core; as such, he would be able to consume a substantial amount of the excessive medicinal efficacy.
Totem patterns were waltzing around him, threading through one another and revolving around him as he tried to condense the inner core.
All of a sudden, Zhong Yue's face changed drastically, and he felt an abnormality emerged from within the medicinal energy. A cacophony of godly voices sounded in his ears, seeming saintly yet nefarious. It significantly hampered his cultivation progress by steering his concentration off track, causing the nearly-condensed inner core to dissipate.
This was no doubt the remnant hatred of the dead gods that were hidden in the inner core. It felt as if they only existed to destroy everything they could!
These negative emotions rushed into his Yuan Shen, and although it was not possible to kill Zhong Yue with only this, it was enough cloud his thoughts and throw him into a state of mental disarray. If this continued, he would only be slowly destroyed by the incessant distractions
Zhong Yue's mind turned muddled, and he growled, "Xin Huo, can you not be so unreliable. Really … please…."
"Quick, go up to the upper lightning zone!"
Xin Huo quickly said, "Use the lightning to smite away the hatred!"
“It’s fine now.”
Zhong Yue ran a full check on his Yuan Shen and said puzzlingly, “I think they are gone already.”
"No, they are still in you, they are feeding you illusions to deceive you into thinking you are safe!"
Xin Huo said anxiously, "Those that were infected would not realize it until it is was too late. Your mind has been clouded by it, and now, you should have felt like you have full control over the medicinal energy, but the last thing you will see at the end of that would be your own Yuan Shen exploding and yourself dying! So quickly go to the lightning zone and let the Pure Yang lightning banish their hatred out of you. Refine your Yuan Shen and exhaust the excess medicinal efficacy!"
Indeed, Zhong Yue felt as if he had control over the medicinal efficacy, just like how Xin Huo described. He was even initially surprised by this as he understood well how difficult it was to control.
He knew that the medicinal efficacy was more than sufficient to fill his Yuan Shen to the brim and cause it to ultimate. Even now, his Yuan Shen and the incarnated spirits were still growing bigger and seemed like they would continue to do so until they completely burst apart. If it wasn't due to the gods' remnant hatred, how could this have happened?
Although these curse and hatred of the gods were only scarce emotions lingering in the mortal world after the gods' death, they were still deadly enough to kill without its victims even realizing a thing at all!
Zhong Yue rocketed straight up toward to the sky and disappeared into the thick clouds. As soon as he entered the lightning zone, the thunder started rumbling, and lightning could be seen flicking past the sides.
Xin Huo was shocked, and he quickly said, "Too high, too high! You've been deceived again, you've lost your usual keen judgment. This level of lightning can kill you in just a single flash! Quickly get down, go lower, lower! Stop, here, right here, this is the spot, don't go any higher or any lower."
The little flame was very nervous, the gods' resentment was now influencing Zhong Yue; he couldn't make any right decisions, and a single mistake at a time like this could cost him his life. It was a dangerous period he was in right now!
"This whole affair seems way more difficult than I initially anticipated…."
The little flame was in a gloomy mood, he mumbled softly to himself, "I expected that visualizing the Sui Sovereign would be sufficient to smite the curses and resentments away, but now we had to use the Pure Yang lightning. Sigh, it seems like Brat Yue will have to endure some bitter times … En, I think it's best to just keep quiet and chalk it up to him being too weak to endure it rather than admitting that it was my fault … Mhmm, let’s do that….”
The lightning zone was divided into several levels according to the intensity of the Pure Yang lightning. The Pure Yang Lightning Zone was the strongest, even stronger than the lightning zone he was in with the 36 Xiao Mang experts during the South Barren interception battle.
The lightning here was of a higher purity. There were little to no impurities in it, and they were said to be capable of smiting all evil away.
All of a sudden, a flash of lightning struck down right at him and charred him black. His hairs stood up like bristles, and his skin ruptured open.
But the gods' resentment also controlled his senses, numbing his sense of pain and causing him to cast his Yuan Shen out to be willingly struck by lightning.
This also meant that even if he were beheaded now, he wouldn't feel any pain. Without that sense of pain to guide him, there would be no sense of danger. He wouldn't feel his life being threatened, and as such, there would be no countermeasures he could take to prevent death.
How disastrous, Brat Yue's cultivation base is still too weak to reap the benefits of enduring the Pure Yang lightning. But with the medicinal efficacy of the saint herb, he will only have to suffer a little bit. He wouldn't die.
Xin Huo whistled as he thought, and he turned his head to the other side and acted as though he didn't see anything at all.
They were at the outermost rim of the Pure Yang Lightning Zone, and the Pure Yang lightning striking onto Zhong Yue was also the weakest; but even so, this was still too much for Qi Practitioners like Zhong Yue to endure.
Ka-cha … Ka-cha ——
The Pure Yang lightning rained down on him, and one after another, Zhong Yue became charred black like charcoal.
But the energy of the lotus was incredibly strong, even if his mortal body were severely damaged, he was still kept alive. His blood and flesh regenerated at rapid, rate and his blood essence remained bursting with vitality.
Under the saint herb's nourishment, he was like a magnate who had cultivated the Immortal Body. His mortal body was recuperating with its medicinal efficacy, and every time it regenerated, his mortal body would become stronger than before!
It was only the weakest Pure Yang lightning that struck on him, but they still managed to inflict such heavy damage to his mortal body. Let alone his mortal body, if his Yuan Shen were to suffer such harm, the consequences would be disastrous.
Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen was 300 feet tall; but when the first lightning bolt struck him, his Yuan Shen nearly exploded. In just one strike, his Yuan Shen had been shrunk by over 30 percent, leaving it only two hundred-some feet tall!
Meanwhile, the Great Sun Demon Crow and the Star Toad Monster Spirit were reduced to only tens of feet tall!
When the second lightning bolt struck down, his Yuan Shen had already grown to two hundred and forty-some feet, but when it was struck, it returned to being only over a hundred feet tall. His other two incarnated spirits only now nearly five feet tall.
When the third struck, his Yuan Shen was 140 feet tall, and the other two spirits were the size of a washbasin.
When the fifth came, the Great Sun Demon Crow and Star Toad Monster Spirit became the size of a little cup.
Um … the Pure Yang lightning is a little too strong. His Yuan Shen will be struck into nothingness if it keeps on going like this.
Xin Huo was shocked, and he quickly said, "Brat Yue, quick, take out that lotus and absorb the medicinal efficacy in it, else you will be struck to death by the lightning!"
Zhong Yue quickly took out then lotus and sat on it, absorbing the energy in it. His Yuan Shen suddenly inflated at an appallingly rate again.
But when the Pure Yang lightning struck it, his Yuan Shen was shrunk again!
The Pure Yang lightning is too strong; they strike down like divine swords. Every strike could diminish a considerable portion of his Yuan Shen. But the silver lining was that he resulted in the rapid strengthening of his Yuan Shen and the speedy growth of his other two incarnated spirits. The rate of improvement he was experiencing was, without doubt, much faster than cultivating on his own.
At the same time, Zhong Yue could feel the gods' resentment being eradicated with every strike of the Pure Yang lightning.
His full consciousness started to return, and his thoughts regained its usual clarity. Knowing where he stood now, he quickly absorbed more energy from the lotus to nourish his Yuan Shen while he was also casting the totem patterns of the Immortal Body, trying to make use of this golden opportunity to successfully cultivate the Immortal Body.
This lotus was the medium in which the Saint Spirit was nurtured. The Saint Spirit was stolen, but the lotus still had an incredible energy in it. Even though Zhong Yue was now sucking away the energy in it, it seemed like there wasn't any reduction of energy at all. Indeed, it was worthy of being called a saint herb.
His Yuan Shen, along with the Great Sun Demon Crow and the Star Toad Monster Spirit, was growing at an alarming rate. Even his mortal body was being strengthened to a new level. Zhong Yue could feel the muscles in his mortal body being disintegrated by the lightning, and in the next second, the tissue would regrow even stronger than before with the help of the saint herb. With each cycle of decomposition and regrowth, his mortal body would become even stronger!
The Great Sun Demon Crow and the Star Toad Monster Spirit were weaker in comparison, but with them undergoing the same process, they were also becoming stronger, clearer, and more corporeal!
If he had cultivated the【Mystic Duplication Technique】at his usual pace, he would have taken ages to cultivate it to the end successfully; but now, with the help of the Pure Yang lightning and the medicinal efficacy of the saint herb, he would be able to save years of time!
The Pure Yang lightnings should have stricken him dead in just one strike, while the gods' resentment in the saint herb should have given him with a tragic death.
And yet with these two destructive forces attacking him together, his strength and cultivation base grew by leaps and bounds!
As time passed, the two incarnated spirits were now filled with an abundance of arcane energy. Zhong Yue could even tell that these two incarnated spirits of his now already had 30 percent of his true prowess.
Now the two incarnated spirits were at the peak of the Rebirth level, and they were on the brink of achieving their third forms.
At this rate, it wasn't even an issue for the Great Sun Demon Crow and Star Toad Monster Spirit to ascend to the levels of Atman Body, or even condense their own inner cores to ascent to the Inner Core level!
But without a demon cultivation method, Zhong Yue couldn't make the Great Sun Demon Crow condense a demon inner core. While on the other hand, he had the【Monster God Ming King Art】for the Star Toad Monster Spirit to condense a monster inner core.
After condensing the inner core, he could then try to cultivate a second Yuan Shen and nurture it with his blood to ultimately transform it into his Long Yue incarnation!
After a while, the Great Sun Demon Crow suddenly shuddered violently, it flared its wings out and transformed into its third form — a three-taloned, bird-headed celestial being. While at the same time, the Star Toad Monster Spirit also achieved its third form — a six-eyed, three-legged celestial creature.
These two spirits didn't have any true mortal bodies, so as such, achieving the third forms would be considered as breaking through to the level of Atman Body.
After breaking through to the Atman Body level, the Great Sun Demon Crow's cultivation speed was clearly slowing down, while the Star Toad Monster Spirit was still improving rapidly. It even had enough momentum to charge right into the inner core level on the spot!
“Now, I should grasp this chance to condense the inner core!”
Zhong Yue sat on the lotus, absorbing its energy while he converged all of his blood essence and arcane energy together. Totem patterns came together and formed a net, wrapping all of the blood essence and arcane energy before condensing them into an inner core!
Krong——!
Right at this moment, a Pure Yang lightning struck down and crushed the inner core away; Zhong Yue's blood essence withered, and his arcane energy was drained, but the medicinal efficacy of the saint herb gushed over and restored his blood essence and arcane energy.
….
Another lightning bolt struck down, and another inner core was pulverized. This continued for 49 times, and as he started to condense his inner core again for the 50th time, another lightning bolt struck down on it. However, this time, it was only reduced to the size of a speck of dust, rather than destroyed like his first 49 attempts.
Despite the miniature size, it was undoubtedly an inner core. Zhong Yue could feel it become a part of his own being, although it was tiny, it seemed to house an incredible power. Not only that, but it had a certain quality that set it apart from others – a tiny surge of Pure Yang Qi that lurked within it.