Chapter 304 - Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen
Just as the last bit was drawn, the whole Sui Sovereign statue came to life. Wave after wave of totem patterns pulsed out in every direction with the statue at the center.
This statue was sculpted with the totem patterns of Zhong Yue's sun spirit, moon spirit, and was imbued with the effects of the【Sun Moon Prodigious Emanation Art】. The totem patterns would let out pulses of waves that would passively strengthen the villagers' mortal bodies and souls, cleansing away the impurities within them.
However, the process was incredibly slow, it was inconsequential when considered against the physique-refining arts of the Qi Practitioners, but it could last for a long time. As long as the Sui Sovereign totem patterns existed, the villagers' mortal bodies would continuously be strengthened, and their souls would be purified. They would be stronger and healthier, and moreover, their genetic constitutions would be better than before!
Under the subtle influence of the Sui Sovereign totem patterns, the Zhong Shan Tribe would steadily lowly grow stronger; the men could hunt with greater ease, and the children would be stronger from birth!
Even more, the newborns would receive even more benefits, and the benefits would accumulate over generations until the Zhong Shan Clan becomes one of the strongest in the future!
All of this was true even without the Sui Sovereign statue being worshipped by the tribesmen, albeit the effects would grow even more pronounced if they did!
Furthermore, when worshipped, the statue could unleash skills and have access to a myriad of means to defend the tribe from dangers!
This was the primary purpose of the totem pillars and totem statues!
The moment the statue was completed, Zhong Yue's aura turned barbaric, and clouds of blood essence emerged above the sky while right beneath it was the Zhong Mountain. The Zhong Mountain was shaped like a bell and covered a hundred miles of land. It looked like a maroon cloud was hovering above a bell on the ground – it was a truly marvelous scenery when viewed from afar.
In the tribe, the tribesmen looked up, and their hearts palpitated with awe, they felt like as if they have stepped into one of those legendary tales people always spoke about.
Qiu Jin'er was also not much different than the tribesmen, she mumbled, "Senior martial brother's cultivation base has taken another leap again … can sculpting increase the cultivation base as well?"
She was puzzled. In truth, when Zhong Yue was immersed in sculpting the Sui Sovereign, right before the last move that finished the statue, he gained a sudden insight that allowed him to attain the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen, giving his cultivation base a huge push.
It was an oddly serendipitous situation that even Qiu Jin'er, who was also a Qi Practitioner, couldn't understand.
If Qiu Jin'er couldn't understand, then surely the tribesmen wouldn't be able to; they only felt the scene to be incredibly picturesque, as if a legendary tale had just taken place before them.
Moments later, the blood essence clouds slowly stopped swirling and dove into Zhong Yue's body.
Meanwhile, behind Zhong Yue, the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen had grown even more imposing, like a saint and a solemn emperor who possessed tremendous power.
After a long time, Zhong Yue's aura finally calmed down, the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen entered his body and disappeared away. He was back to the figure of an ordinary young man, a mediocre young man who felt no different to the other tribesmen.
Zhong Yue looked at the Sui Sovereign statue, an expression filled with satisfaction spread across his face.
The Sui Sovereign statue was sculpted based on his own Yuan Shen's totem patterns. It was a masterpiece of his painstaking effort, and it was truly his most magnificent artwork by far.
The statue was like part of him, even if he couldn't stay in the tribe forever, the statue could. It could be left here to receive the tribesmen's worship and return its blessing to them.
Worshipping the statue was tantamount to worshipping Zhong Yue. They would be blessed with safety and ideal weather.
Furthermore, if the time was long enough, and the worship was sufficient, the structure of the statue would change over time, and turn into flesh and blood.
"When I die in the future, my atman will come back to the statue. It would be like a second vessel for me," he thought in his heart.
The second vessel was actually a statue that was sculpted in the image of one's Yuan Shen. It would have to be continuously worshipped by the tribesmen, and after the Qi Practitioner's death, the atman would infuse itself into the statue. Hence, allowing the atman to stay in this world of mortals and achieve longevity in another sense.
Other than the Qi Practitioners, there was also the godly spirits that resided in the Void World. Their people would forge a second vessel for them, worship the statues for centuries and during the outbreak of a war, the godly spirits of their respective races would descend from the Void World into the statues to fight in battle for them.
However, the second vessel was not equivalent to a second body, as the second vessel wasn't truly a mortal body. It was merely a statue that their owners could find refuge in; it was an item that allowed the soul and spirit to linger in the mortal plane. They would usually be imprisoned in a slumbering state when the statue was not called upon for battle.
And if the tribe were to be annihilated, the worship would stop, and the atmans would eventually dissipate. Hence, this was only a last resort for Qi Practitioners to protect their people after their deaths.
Zhong Yue recalled his thoughts; he instructed the tribesmen on how to worship the statue, and how they could use beast blood to nourish it. After that, he dove into his research on his Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen.
He had only attained the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen from a flash of inspiration while sculpting the Sui Sovereign statue. Now he had to focus on deepening his attainments in order to consolidate its foundation fully.
The Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen wasn't a spirit; his spirit was still only the sun spirit and moon spirit which he hid in his eyes. The only reason for the emergence of the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen was because of the【Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art】.
He had cultivated the【Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art】and the strength of his soul was far beyond most other Qi Practitioners. Moreover, his soul was now even stronger than his sun spirit and moon spirit!
This was the crux to successfully acquiring his Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen!
The others reached out to the spirits and coalesced the spirits with their souls into the Yuan Shen. Along the process, the spirit became dominant over the soul, which was why the Yuan Shen appeared in the form of the spirits, and that the mortal body would morph into the spirit's form when in the state of [Atman Body as One].
The【Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art】morphed the soul into the form of Sui Sovereign, placing the soul in the position of dominance. Whether it be the sun spirit or moon spirit, they were just ancillary aides to the core of the soul!
This cultivation technique had brought Zhong Yue enormous benefits, and now, the benefits have taken a huge leap. His soul was able to supplant his sun spirit and moon spirit to form his third Yuan Shen!
This completely flew in the face of the common knowledge of the world. To embark on a path that none had walked before would be deemed absurd, but it was this uncertainty that pushed Zhong Yue through his journey of cultivation!
With the spirit predominating, the Qi Practitioner's soul wasn't as strong, and if the said Qi Practitioner died, the spirit could be saved through worship, but the soul would disperse regardless. In order to preserve the soul, one needed to be as strong as the gods. Even True Spirit magnates couldn't preserve their souls after their deaths, and only their spirits would remain.
This was also the reason why the memorial tablets of the ancestors were commonly known as the spirit tablets instead of the soul tablets.
If the soul was predominating, then the soul and spirit could be retained together after death.
Qiu Jin'er didn't interrupt him, she sat beside and stared affectionately at her senior martial brother. After a few days, Zhong Yue finally stood up and tried to morph into the state of [Atman Body as One] to transform his mortal body into Sui Sovereign form. But he failed miserably even after countless attempts.
In the end, Zhong Yue eventually stopped and pondered deeply, When Xin Huo was controlling my mortal body into the Sui Sovereign's form, he did it by first morphing into the Fuxi true form before the Sui Sovereign's form. Probably, the Fuxi true form is a prerequisite for the Sui Sovereign Yuan Shen's state of [Atman Body as One]?
He had yet to master the Fuxi true form, which was a massive hindrance to him achieving the state of [Atman Body as One].
Furthermore, the Fuxi bloodline in me is still considerably faint. The Fuxi true form can only last for a few moments; it'll be tough to achieve the state of [Atman Body as One] with the Sui Sovereign's Yuan Shen!
He heaved out a breath of helplessness and stopped pushing for it. He thought, Xiao Yuan's markings must have been scraped away from the mirror by the godly aura in the copper lamp by now? Such a long time, I wonder if the mirror will be crushed away by the Divine Wing Saber's divine aura?
He quickly took out the copper lamp while Qiu Jin'er stepped forward, the two of them looked into the lamp, and Qiu Jin'er asked curiously, "Senior martial brother, why is there a little banner in your lamp?"
She was puzzled, the banner was small and triangular in shape, it looked like one of the three banners the Zhong Li Celestial Race experts were waving in the Lesser Void World.
All of a sudden, a possibility flashed across her mind, and she stammered, "Senior martial brother, you … you…."
She thought of the times they were in the imperial palace. She recalled the fight Zhong Yue and herself had with the Zhong Li Celestial Race's Martial Divine Masters over the Azure Dragon Banner. Her eyes were blinded by the divine rays from back then, while Zhong Yue dashed out and came back like a sneaky thief.
Now that she came to think of it, her senior martial brother must have rushed over and kept that Azure Dragon Banner, which explained why the Zhong Li Celestial Race locked down the Lesser Void World!
"The Zhong Li magnates were waving the other three banners. They must have been trying to recall the Azure Dragon Banner?" Qiu Jin'er was stunned, her heart was palpitating in shock with her mouth agape, thinking back to it made her terrified.
“This is the Azure Dragon Cloud Marked Banner, it requires the cultivation base of a magnate to use it, so we can’t use it yet.”
Zhong Yue cast out his Golden Peng Sword, and the golden sword turned into a feather into the copper lamp, he said smilingly, "But we can use Xiao Yuan's mirror now. Something is odd about this mirror, how is it not crushed by the godly aura…."
The Golden Peng Sword flew into the galaxy-like lamp oil, it came to the bottom of the mirror and lifted it up, bringing it out from the copper lamp.
Moments later, the mirror was brought out, Zhong Yue kept the Golden Peng Sword, but the mirror didn't fall. Instead, it hovered on its own in the air, and it was really bizarre.
"What material is this?" Zhong Yue looked carefully at the soul weapon and found out that the material it was crafted from was strangely odd. It wasn't any known metals nor jades. It was something he had never seen, one that could glimmer in moonlights on its own.
Qiu Jin'er hadn't seen before either, she placed her hand on it, and she instantly felt a cold sensation. She could even sense the immense energy it concealed.
“Ey?? This is … the moon’s core!”
In Zhong Yue's psyche ocean, Xin Huo suddenly exclaimed, "This is a piece of the moon's core. Moreover, this piece was gilded with the aura of a god, no wonder it can withstand the godly aura of the Divine Wing Saber!"
“Moon’s core?”
Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat, "Xin Huo, is this moon's core very valuable?"
"Of course, it is, it is a crafting material for the divine weapons. It's not something easily found!"
Xin Huo's voice suddenly turned solemn, "Furthermore, this moon's core is glided with the moon god's aura, it is even more precious than normal. If the moon spirit has ascended to the level of gods, she will then be an innate god. Just imagine how strong a natural god's aura would be. This moon's core has her innate godly aura. It's now a few more grades higher than the ordinary moon's core. Let's put it this way, the material that the Divine Wing Saber is crafted from is not even worthy of being compared to the ordinary moon's core. Do you understand the value of this moon's core now?"