Chapter 108: Burning Out (Dedicated to Yu Sheng Jiang Xiang Luan, Leader of the Alliance)
Chapter 108: Burning Out (Dedicated to Yu Sheng Jiang Xiang Luan, Leader of the Alliance)
"I have failed..."
"The spirit is inherently perfect, and in a short time, I was ultimately unable to comprehend the wondrous method of altering my spirit root..."
"My lifespan is coming to an end, and I have no choice but to rely on a secret ghost cultivation technique that I supplemented with a 'Netherworld Vein' I discovered in the secret realm, to transform into a ghost cultivator..."
"Although ghost cultivation has many restrictions, such as being unable to stay away from the netherworld for too long and the tendency to lose memories and become muddle-headed, I used a secret consciousness technique to divide my spirit and soul, mutually consecrating them to barely maintain my obsession..."
"I refined a 'Soul Lamp' and succeeded in transforming into a ghost cultivator, enduring endless pain and loneliness. Yet, it also finally granted me the time to contemplate a secret technique to enhance my spirit root, which I named the 'Blood Sacrifice Technique'... As long as there are relatives with spiritual roots of the same bloodline, the spiritual root aptitude can be enhanced after the blood sacrifice."
"But almost all my relatives are dead, and even if they aren't, the probability of a spiritual root appearing among mortals is too low... Even if I established a cultivation family and worked hard to cultivate my descendants, it would be too late, not to mention that I have already transformed into a ghost cultivator and will never be able to have offspring."
"I gave up on that path and turned to research another method, which is 'Body Snatching'!"
"Body Snatching means taking another body as one's shelter. If I could obtain a body with an excellent spirit root, it would also solve my dilemma..."
"However, only a Nascent Soul cultivator can snatch bodies, occupying the bodies of other cultivators... If I were a Nascent Soul cultivator, I wouldn't need to change my spirit root... For me, this is a dead end."
"After pondering for hundreds of years, I finally broke through this deadlock and comprehended the 'Ghost Infant Technique', which can temporarily transform a ghost body into a 'ghost infant' similar to a Nascent Soul, thus also achieving body snatching..."
"Since it was difficult for me to leave, I patiently waited for the secret realm to open, releasing inheritances and treasures to attract outsiders. By going through layers of tests and bestowing a large number of resources, my goal was to find a cultivator with the most outstanding spiritual root aptitude, the most suitable for my body snatching!"
"Finally, I found someone with a Heavenly Spirit Root... Heaven is indeed blessing me, and I will live a second life!!"
"But just as I was making the final preparations for the ghost infant body snatching, three Core Formation cultivators actually broke into the secret realm..."
...
A flood of memories poured into Fang Xing's mind, making him feel dizzy.
Fortunately, these memories weren't his own, but rather like watching a movie, a passing glance.
Otherwise, he would have gone insane or, at the very least, developed a second personality.
However, with such great risk came great reward.
At the very least, secret techniques were appearing one after another in his heart.
From the 'Blood Sacrifice Technique' to enhance the spirit root, to the 'Ghost Infant Technique' that could simulate Nascent Soul body snatching...
Of course, this included the Five Elements Technique and even the self-created techniques of the Man of Ten Thousand Laws!
This person was indeed a genius, with astonishing comprehension. The few techniques he had comprehended were extremely powerful yet consumed very little.
Each one, if released, had the potential to drastically change the landscape of the cultivation world!
"However..."
"The prerequisite for the Blood Sacrifice Technique is to possess spiritual power, and one's relatives must have spiritual roots!"
"As for the Ghost Infant Technique, it requires a ghost cultivator who has reached the perfect Core Formation stage to perform. Once performed, if the cultivator fails to snatch a body within a short period, the ghost infant will swiftly perish!"
"No wonder the Man of Ten Thousand Laws was in such a hurry to snatch my body... But he never expected that my sea of consciousness isn't a cozy nest, but a hellish crucible!"
How much experience is a Core Formation ghost cultivator worth?
Fang Xing didn't know.
He only knew that the proficiency level of his Mahavairocana Dharani was still rising!
Although it was much slower, it was steady.
Finally!
The Mahavairocana Dharani crossed another threshold, reaching the 'Proficient' level!
"A Proficient-level Mahavairocana Dharani... The Mahavairocana Furnace has been upgraded, and it can now fuse, transform, and upgrade martial arts or secret techniques?"
With a slight sense of enlightenment, Fang Xing understood the purpose of this new function.
For example, if he were to put the Ghost God Blade and the Extreme Emotion Sword into the furnace, they might evolve into a new martial art—'Dual Blade and Sword Extremity'. If he were to add the twelve styles of the Military Body Fist, it could become something like the 'Three Extremes of the Star Martial Arts'... It might even upgrade the level of the martial art, and if enough was invested, it could possibly become an S-level or even a terrifying martial art beyond S-level!
"Of course, this kind of fusion and enhancement consumes energy, and this special 'energy' can be either proficiency level or external 'fuel'..."
"There seems to be a lot of potential here. Some martial arts don't have much use when fused, but once certain martial arts are fused, all warriors will go crazy, like the Dragon and Tiger Intent!"
"If I break through the Golden Core of Martial Arts in the future and fuse the Great Dragon Stake with the Supine Tiger Stake, wouldn't I be able to overcome this difficulty... Wait, am I not destroying my own Great Wall? After all, this is a foreign martial art bestowed by the Evil God; who knows if there will be any backlash?"
"Martial will is the only thing a warrior can rely on!"
"Instead of taking the well-trodden path of proficiency, he chose to walk down this treacherous path, not knowing how he would meet his end!"
"Once the martial arts of my will are corrupted by the Mahavairocana Dharani, will the martial will that emerges truly be my own?"
"So, what can I improve upon now?"
Fang Xing fell into deep thought, and suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck him. He poured all the memories of the secret techniques he had obtained from the Man of Ten Thousand Laws into it.
"Take from you and use it for yourself..."
In an instant, he felt that the Man of Ten Thousand Laws' ghost infant was burning a thousand times faster! On the attributes panel, the marks of the 'Blood Sacrifice Technique', 'Body Snatching', 'Ghost Infant Technique', and other secret techniques appeared one by one, transforming from a semi-blurry state to solidifying rapidly before being thrown into the Mahavairocana Furnace...
With this, the rapidly increasing proficiency of the Mahavairocana Dharani finally slowed down and even came to a gradual halt.
Finally.
After a resentful roar, the ghost infant of the Man of Ten Thousand Laws in Fang Xing's sea of consciousness turned into a wisp of black smoke and was quickly devoured by the crimson Mahavairocana...
At the same time, a brand new piece of information appeared on the attribute panel:
[Mahavairocana Dharani: 13/200 (Proficient)]
[Heavenly Mother Weide Golden Lotus Twin Safeguard: 1/100 (Introductory)]
...
"'Heavenly Mother Weide Golden Lotus Twin Safeguard'?"
Fang Xing paid no heed to the 'Mahavairocana Dharani', which had reached the Proficient level, and instead began to carefully ponder this new ability.
In a daze, a large amount of information surfaced in his mind.
This ability was a secret technique that involved using one's own body as the 'Great Vajra Ox-Headed Wisdom King', visualizing a 'Heavenly Mother Consort', and then refining this 'Heavenly Mother Consort' into a 'Great Vajra Twin Safeguard'.
In simpler terms, it was a 'Clone Technique'! Of course, compared to ordinary clone techniques, this method had many advantages. Firstly, by visualizing a "Guardian Spirit" and refining her into a safeguard, one did not need to split their own divine soul or origin.
Strictly speaking, this was merely creating a projection of one's own will.
And the biggest benefit was that it circumvented the restriction of a cultivator's spiritual power, allowing even warriors to cultivate this ability!
"This 'Great Vajra Twin Safeguard' is like a primordial infant, capable of performing a body snatch and obtaining a true fleshly body!"
"Of course, although the safeguard can perform a body snatch, in terms of true power, it pales in comparison to a primordial infant by a huge margin. It's merely a body-snatching secret technique... but it bypasses the restriction that only those with a primordial infant can perform it."
"This is also a way for me to obtain a spiritual root... If I use this secret technique to snatch a body with a spiritual root, won't I be able to cultivate immortality?"
"It's a pity that a safeguard can only perform a body snatch once. But once is enough. In this world, only those at the Golden Core stage and above are capable of body snatching. What more could I ask for?"
Fang Xing was aware of some of the ironclad rules of the cultivation world, such as the fact that cultivators could not perform a body snatch on those without a spiritual root.
But what if someone without a spiritual root performed a body snatch on a cultivator?
"It feels a bit odd... Oh well, as long as it works, that's good enough."
"After all, it's a branch of evil martial arts related to the Evil God. It's normal for it to be sinister, bloody, and cruel..."
If he could cultivate immortality, Fang Xing would be quite interested.
Moreover, having a cultivator clone would allow him to better explore the path of immortal martial arts.
"Wait... a body with a spiritual root?"
Fang Xing took quick steps towards the white jade coffin and looked at the boy inside. "No wonder his cultivation is so low. He was chosen by the Man of Ten Thousand Laws as the target for his body snatch. His spiritual root aptitude is a Heavenly Spirit Root, a top-grade one... What a waste."
Even the best target for a body snatch had to be alive!
Even the Man of Ten Thousand Laws, who had selected this person using the secret realm, had only frozen him as a backup.
Who would have expected Fang Xing to be so ruthless, striking him down without hesitation? Snatching the body of a dead person would result in nothing but another dead person.
However, Fang Xing did not regret his actions, as his reaction had been instinctive.
At that time, he had no choice. He had never tolerated threats in his life, always choosing to shatter rather than compromise.
"Moreover... what's useless to others may not be useless to me."
Fang Xing quickly took out a test tube and collected the boy's blood and bone marrow...
"The most developed industry on Planet Ying Eagle is cultivation!"
"In this interstellar age, cloning a person with the exact same appearance is definitely not difficult! It's even better that there's no karma or memory involved, making the body snatching process smoother!"
"It's just that the cultivation pod is a bit tricky... I wonder if there's any stock in the black market?
"The level of prohibition on this thing seems even higher than firearms."
Fang Xing stroked his chin.
However, he had already decided to go through with it.
And since he was already cloning one, there was no harm in making a few more.
With that, the 'Blood Sacrifice Technique' deduced by the Man of Ten Thousand Laws would also prove useful.
No matter how close the blood relation... could there be a perfect match to himself?
And from a scientific perspective, this method would eliminate any possibility of rejection and future complications.
Of course, the prerequisite for doing so was for the Dharma-protecting clone to successfully possess another body! Otherwise, without a spiritual root and spiritual power, they would be unable to cultivate that secret technique, rendering the additional clones useless.
"What level of aptitude is above a Heavenly Spirit Root? In the cultivation world... there probably hasn't been such a case, right?"
"If it's an aptitude of that level, breaking through realms would be as easy as eating and drinking, barely enough to keep up with the growth of my main body..."
Fang Xing rubbed his chin, his expression turning solemn, "The Man of Ten Thousand Laws might not be completely dead... When he transformed into a ghost cultivator, to preserve his memories, he divided his spirit and soul, consecrating them mutually. Now, only one of them is dead, so where is the other? In the Secret Realm of Ten Thousand Laws?"
"But with my current strength, going to the Secret Realm where a Golden Core cultivator died is just asking for death."
...
Time returned to the moment when the ghost infant was melted by the Mahavairocana.
Inside the Secret Realm of Ten Thousand Laws.
In the underground space, the original coffin had disappeared, and in its place sat a man with a slender figure, a goatee, and a black daoist robe - it was the Black Sky Daoist, Elder Wu!
Fang Xing had only seen two Nascent Soul escape lights and assumed that a Nascent Soul ancestor had died in the secret realm, but he had overlooked the possibility that the person could have been trapped.
At this moment, Elder Wu's expression alternated between ferocity and calmness as he held a bronze lamp in his hand.
The bronze lamp had lotus patterns on its surface, and a wick was slowly burning, emitting a colorful halo.
Under the cover of the halo, the ferocity on Elder Wu's face was quickly fading.
"I... died?"
Suddenly, Elder Wu opened his eyes, a hint of murderous intent flashing in them, "Those two Nascent Souls, once I completely master this body and leave seclusion, I must crush them to ashes!"
"A divided spirit and soul, which is the main and which is the subordinate?"
"From today onwards, there will only be one Man of Ten Thousand Laws in this world..."
...
Chick Eagle Planet.
Happy Home Community.
Fang Xing put on a mask and took out his long-sealed black market communicator to call Zhang Jiarui, aka Meat Bun.
It didn't take long for the call to connect.
"Hey? It's a rare guest..."
Zhang Jiarui sounded a bit resentful, "The guest hasn't contacted me in a long time..."
"Cough cough, the black market in Maple Leaf City has been under strict investigation lately, so it hasn't been convenient..." Fang Xing immediately got to the point, "Can you buy an incubation chamber from your connections?"
Although the incubation chamber was meant for cultivating bio-humans, which was slightly different from cloning, he could modify the program.
"Cough cough... Do you know that I've been transferred to the black market in Yuan Yu City? Also... only one faction would be interested in incubation chambers, are you a part of the Resistance? Which branch?"
Zhang Jiarui was a little surprised.
"You're in the Yuan Yu City black market?"
Fang Xing suddenly felt like he had been struck by a pie, and quickly denied it, "I'm not a member of the Resistance, I just need an incubation chamber for some scientific research... Can you get your hands on one? I'll pay a high price!"
"No!"
Zhang Jiarui refused bluntly, "The Federation keeps a tight watch on these. Only those crazy rebels who dare to attack the cultivation bases can get their hands on them..."
"Alright, I'll contact you again later."
Fang Xing nodded and hung up the call.
"If I can't find it on the black market, then... the Resistance?"
He stroked his chin, "Come to think of it... I have quite a wide network, unknowingly reaching this level?"
Indeed, he had a friend in the Resistance, Liu Wei! Of course, contacting him now would be a bit troublesome, and it had to be kept confidential!
"It's a pity... if I couldn't get this incubation chamber through normal means, why would I bother with all this?"
Fang Xing shook his head and sighed helplessly.
(End of Chapter)
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