After giving away the tribal energy of the Black Bird, Fang Yuan felt as light as a feather. It was as if he had removed an entire layer of chains from his body. He had a vague feeling that he had experienced another breakthrough in his cultivation.
“Does this feeling have anything to do with my bloodline?”
Fang Yuan suddenly understood.
“What did you…do to us?”
Er and Lian were both shocked. Although they were mortal and could not see the tribal energy of the Shang, it was obvious that this Fang Yuan had done something to them.
“Er…would you be willing to become my disciple?”
Fang Yuan’s eyes shone with a strange light and asked his question suddenly.
“Kaboom!”
As Fang Yuan was speaking, his body began to sizzle. The wind blew his shirt up to reveal his toned physique.
This was a sign that his Ultimate Witch Body was fully developed! If Fang Yuan had not deliberately suppressed its development, who knew how far ahead he could have been.
Nevertheless, the aura that he gave off was extremely potent.
Er was astounded. He felt like he was dealing with a huge beast and could not help but fall to his knees.
“I would!”
“Good!”
Fang Yuan nodded and squeezed out a drop of blood from his fingernail. With a flick of his fingers, the drop of blood entered Er’s body.
“Ah!”
Er screamed and dropped to the ground. His whole body was now covered in blood.
“Jie…you…”
Gentleman Jiu was horrified and rushed forward but he faced unexpected resistance from a strong force.
“Father… don’t worry about me. I’m fine!”
After a short time, Er got to his feet and examined his hands with an incredulous look on his face.
He had been a large man to begin with but now, he had grown taller by an entire head. His muscles bulged and had a golden sheen.
“You were born with an uncommon strength and are suited for the cultivation of witch dao. I have given you a drop of witch blood, which has altered your physical form. From today onwards, your body will be impervious to weapons and the elements. You will also unlock several divine techniques…”
Fang Yuan said matter-of-factly.
“Thank you, Teacher!”
Er bowed down to Fang Yuan immediately. Even Lian looked delighted. After all, the battlefield was an extremely dangerous place to be! There was no saying if he would survive the war with the Dongyi but he was comforted to know that Er would.
“I’m leaving. Don’t tell anyone about what you have seen today…you will get through the war with the Dongyi safely but a tribulation awaits you in the future. I will look for you when the time comes…”
Fang Yuan walked away after saying his piece, leaving Er and Lian behind with their unanswered questions.
…
“I’ve fulfilled the requirements for the divine body?”
After leaving the yard, Fang Yuan fled from Shangyi into the wilderness.
“Kaboom!”
Fang Yuan could no longer conceal the suppressed witch aura and let it shoot up into the skies. The clouds disintegrated and vaguely revealed the outlines of 12 savage and huge figures.
“Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 100 (100)
Spirit: 100 (100)
Magic: 60 (100)
Profession: Dream Master
Cultivation: Illusionary Divine (2nd Tier), True Divine
Technique: Ultimate Witch Body (100%), Creation Sword Array [Second Sword (100%)]
Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 6)(Peak)], [Fiery Golden Eyes (Level 3)], [Body Seal (Ultimate form)]”
“I’ve regained my True Divine abilities!?”
Fang Yuan glanced at his stats board.
“Also…my mastery of the Fiery Golden Eyes divine technique has increased by one level?”
This meant that his observational skills had become more powerful. These skills, when fully developed, would give him insight into the past and future as well as allow him to see the three worlds: the heavens, the human world and the netherworld.
Fang Yuan had not yet attained these abilities but through the Fiery Golden Eyes, he sensed that something was watching him.
It was prying at his bloodline and Fang Yuan traced its source to a deity.
“The War God…Chi?”
Although the two gods of heaven and earth made up the orthodox faith, the barbarian peoples prayed to lesser deities and devils as well, including Chi.
Fang Yuan had sensed a supernatural force that was weirder in nature than Nuwa’s power.
“Such a fast reaction…it must have detected the witch blood flowing through my veins. A pity… that the Chi of today is entirely different from the Chi of his newly ascendant days.”
Fang Guan was not afraid of Chi at all.
Chi’s powers were also limited by god dao and were much weaker than Nuwu in terms of strength. Fang Yuan had nothing to fear.
The presence was merely spying and left immediately upon Fang Yuan’s detection of it. It was very decisive.
Through the Fiery Golden Eyes, Fang Yuan had discovered that there was something more powerful looking at him. Its gaze penetrated the clouds and fell strongly on Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan quickly flew away.
‘Strictly speaking, although it was through the killing of Xing that I acquired the blood of the witches, I am the only one who can inherit the legacy of the witches. Even the War God Chi would not allow me to die unless he wants to witness the extinction of the witch race!”
The deities of the god dao, like those of the heavenly dao, had rules to follow.
Take the Ancient One for example. Before the Tai God undergoes anthropomorphisation, the Ancient One would not be despised or ostracised by virtue of the abandonment of his own body in order to enter the Ancient World. He had even taken a gamble on Western Zhou’s destiny and fused his own destiny to the state’s.
It was because he had seen the limits of the heavenly will!
‘Besides, even when the heavenly will of the Ancient World becomes personified, it probably would not do anything to the Ancient One. Although the Ancient One had stolen some energy from its source, he had more than repaid this debt by giving himself up to the Ancient World…even if he ever becomes a Sage again, he would be a Sage of the Ancient World, subject to regulation by the heavenly dao!’
The Sages of the Da Qian World and the Ancient World were different deals.
The Ancient One was now a child of the Ancient World and would be treated well. He had been forgiven for his past transgressions.
“What a pity. Although I am a True Divine, the Ancient One has attained the status of True Elemental and is about as powerful as I am. He is also under the protection of the Ancient World and even if I become a higher being, I still wouldn’t be able to deal with him!”
Fang Yuan’s mood darkened whenever he thought about the Ancient One.
Fang Yuan had only been a higher being at his peak. The goddess Nuwa was a Sage! Similar to the five great Sages of the dream masters, who had never fallen off the altar before! Fang Yuan was no match for her!
Thus, Fang Yuan chose to retreat when he sensed Nuwa’s presence.
“Nuwa seems to be on the side of Western Zhou and can be considered an ally of the Ancient One…I cannot challenge her directly!”
Fang Yuan had not broken through to the Sage state yet. Challenging Nuwa would be suicide.
Nevertheless, the more powerful the deity, the more they were bound by the rules of the heavenly dao. Thus, Fang Yuan still had quite a lot to work with and was free to test the limits of the heavenly will.
At that point, Fang Yuan would attempt to replace the commander-in-chief of the Shang army and support the line of the Qin monarchs for the sake of the future.
“Dongyi…Jiuxiong…”
Fang Yuan gathered his spiritual aura about him and disappeared beyond the horizon with his eyes twinkling.
“Perhaps…it is time that I meet with the War God…”
…
“Buzz!”
The mountain winds blew on for a long time. Suddenly, there was a moment of turbulence in the void, followed by the materialisation of a beautiful woman with the tail of a snake.
“A higher being has achieved a breakthrough over here …”
Nuwa said with certainty.
“Also…I sense Chi’s spiritual aura! Are you still unable to let go of the glorious memories of the witches?”
Nuwa sighed and stared into the void.
As a god, she had to detach herself from worldly affairs. Beings like her and Chi had no physical form to speak of and were the manifestation of the faith of humans. As a result, they faced restrictions on their behaviour.
Nevertheless, Nuwa was worshipped all over the world and was the national religion. She had powers that were at the level of the Sage state.
Chi, on the contrary, was doing badly. He was only being worshipped by a few tribes in the wilderness and was barely able to maintain his powers at the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage.
Fang Yuan did not see Chi as a threat at all.
“I know that you were very indignant about the destruction of the Jiuli tribe…however, there was nothing that anyone could have done if the heavenly will favoured the rise of the Shang.”
Nuwa thought she had heard a reply and went on with a sweet and serene voice.
“Was that one of your descendants? I thought I smelt witch blood…a pity that the heavenly will has decreed that the Zhou will replace the Shang. Even if you are a god, you are powerless to alter this course!”
Nuwa spoke solemnly.
“I don’t want…to see the fall of my own kind again!”
“Swish!”
As if in reply to her words, dark red flames flared up in the void and died down just as quickly.
Nuwa could feel Chi’s spiritual aura leaving into the distance until it disappeared entirely.
“He’s gone…”
Nuwa closed her eyes and interacted with the information in the void until she received a confirmation.
Later, she stared up at the iridescence of the clouds with a helpless look on her face.
“A descendant of the witches has managed to achieve a breakthrough at this time. Is the world going to be plunged into chaos?”
Nuwa did not have a good feeling about the emergence of this person with the bloodline of the witches.
However, this person was moving about carefully and covertly. He had managed to remain mostly undetected and there were barely any traces of his activities. Nuwa did not know what to make of this.
Even if she had found him, she would not be able to act against him explicitly, like how she was not able to do anything about the annoying Purple Phoenix!
Although she was well aware that the Purple Phoenix was a troublesome creature, it had fused its fate with that of Western Zhou. This greatly worried Nuwa.
“Although it was heaven’s will that the Phoenix appeared over Qi Mountain, the Five Elements Purple Phoenix was supposed to play only a minor role!”
Nuwa looked in the direction of Western Zhou.
“Judging from the gamble that the Phoenix took, I’m sure that it has a big secret… it’s a pity that I can’t do anything about it!”
“Hoot! Hoot!”
The gates of Shangyi opened and an army of men in black uniforms streamed out. The host numbered in the thousands and looked vast and mighty.
“The Shang army is setting off?”
Nuwa flew up into the clouds to get a better view of the Shang army.
“The Shang King isn’t at the head of the army. It’s Prince Pan instead. Also…”
Nuwa could see that the Shang army had a stable aura. It was also being protected by the aura of two swords and two star-like presences.
“According to the heavenly will, this will be one of the last battles that the Shang can win…still, why do I feel so uneasy about this!”
As Nuwa watched the procession, she could not help but frown slightly.