Chapter 472 - 388: New Life
"There are only two ways for a Void Refining to descend to a realm." Chen Sheng’s heart stirred, and two beams of light and shadow emerged within the Star Map: one showed the scene of breaking into a realm with the true body, the other portrayed the shadow of an incarnation being born. "Bringing the true body down to the realm uses the Great Void Domain as a springboard, breaking the barriers with brute force. It requires precise coordinates and is easily counteracted by the realm’s source, posing a great risk of falling with just a slight mistake." "Descending with an incarnation is an exclusive method for cultivators in the late-stage of Void Refining and above. It involves splitting into countless Yang Spirit thoughts, casting into the Great Void, changing between reality and illusion, and scattering across the heavens like dandelion seeds." "If encountering a Small Thousand World, these thoughts coalesce and scatter at will, integrating into the operation of heaven and earth, dissolving the essence of the Yang Spirit, either reincarnating as a mortal body or attaching to reincarnate, experiencing the illusions of samsara." "Only by cultivating to the Divinity Transformation Realm, making use of the Primordial Spirit Transformation, breaking through the illusions of samsara, and awakening the original memories, can one consider the descent to be successful." "At that time, whether responding to the true body’s descent or continuing to cultivate into Void Refining, to harvest with the incarnation, both would be possible." "However, the vastness of the Great Void is limitless, and the probability of Yang Spirit thoughts entering a Small Thousand World is extremely low, let alone successfully reaching the Divinity Transformation Realm within one, which is incredibly slim." "Both methods have their pros and cons: descending with the true body requires specific coordinates, offers high efficiency, but bears high risks." "Descending with an incarnation is inefficient yet carries minimal risk; even in failure, it just costs a Yang Spirit thought." "Ordinary Void Refining Great Powers typically adopt both methods." Thinking this, Dao Rhyme circulated within Chen Sheng’s eyes, and his true body, like tides, receded from physical form—not into emptiness but sinking deeper into the Great Void Domain. There, chaotic air currents rolled, countless fragments of time and space floated, yet they automatically parted three feet around him. A gray, hazy termination domain isolated the turbulence outside; this was his exclusive Great Void Domain, stable like a micro Small Thousand World. He raised his hand and summoned, and a White Jade Ruyi flew from the Nine Sun Realm’s altar to his palm. The red gem had transformed into a miniature star gate, behind which green light flickered—the coordinates of a new realm. "Positioning locked, the realm’s dao path is stable, ready for casting incarnations." Golden radiance surged between Chen Sheng’s brows, and a red-golden light point slowly floated out, within which a miniature silhouette of Chen Sheng coalesced visibly. "Go." Chen Sheng flicked his finger, and the light point turned into a red-golden stream, its surface instantly covered by a layer of green light homologous with the new realm’s source, and plunged into the miniature stargate. As the stream passed through the realm’s barrier, it silently transformed into countless thoughts, merging into the new realm’s operation like a drop of water into the sea, leaving no trace. The star gate closed slowly, the White Jade Ruyi returned to tranquility, only a trace of Divine Soul Seal remained deep within the ruby for Chen Sheng to perceive the incarnation’s state. He looked towards where the stargate disappeared, and his true body turned within the Great Void Domain. ... In the Southern Ling Kingdom, Jiangbei County, within the Outer Sect of the Pan Sword Sect, sat a secluded cottage. Chen Sheng slowly opened his eyes, a young face with thick eyebrows and big eyes occupying most of his vision. The youth looked about fifteen or sixteen, with dark skin. Seeing him open his eyes, the youth’s dark face erupted with surprise: "Zhang Ling! You’re finally awake! I feared you’d sleep forever!" Chen Sheng looked at him without speaking, merely nodding slightly, inwardly noting with certainty. "For ordinary Void Refining Great Powers, breaking through the illusions of samsara requires achieving Divinity Transformation; for me, it crumbles with a mere thought!" After previously understanding the drawbacks of descending with an incarnation, Chen Sheng had considered that with the Hundred Generations Book treasure, having experienced several cycles, the illusions of samsara might not hinder him. An experiment confirmed it! As soon as he possessed the body of this youth named Zhang Ling, he shattered the illusions and awakened his memories. For regular Void Refining cultivators, after embodying an incarnation, complete integration with the original host’s life is expected due to the illusions. Only when reaching Divinity Transformation, during Primordial Spirit metamorphosis, can one break through the illusions and awaken the origin. Chen Sheng pondered inwardly: "This is my advantage; even without the heavenly treasure for precise positioning, I can divide thousands of incarnations, casting them like a net into the Great Void." "While awakening an incarnation is arduous for ordinary Great Powers, I can grasp control upon embodiment, multiplying the success rate of harvesting." "And should an incarnation fall, it would but cost a wisp of Yang Spirit thought, bearing nearly no risk." While contemplating, the youth opposite had already dragged a low stool to sit by the bed, excitedly slapping his thigh, raising his voice further: "When the Sword Immortal Elder arrived, only you and I were left breathing in the crypt; you were still unconscious." "It’s great you’re awake! Just great!" "Sadly, Yue Die, Chen Wen, Bai Yi... they didn’t make it." "Yue Die," "Chen Wen," "Bai Yi"... these names unlocked Zhang Ling’s floodgates of memory in an instant. Chen Sheng’s expression remained unchanged, yet within his mind unfolded vivid scenes—those of Zhang Family Village three months prior. A village shrouded in cooking smoke was suddenly enveloped in black mist. A Demon Cultivator in black robes, pallid-faced, descended from the heavens. A skinny hand waved, transforming countless black mist into claws, tearing the screaming villagers apart. Zhang Ling hid behind a woodpile, witnessing his parents pierced through the chest by black mist in their attempt to protect him, blood splattering onto his face. Three hundred and forty-nine souls, a village turned to ash in a single night—only he, possessing a Lower Grade Fire Spirit Root, was captured by the Demon Cultivator and thrown into a chilling crypt. Deep in the crypt, a blood pool the size of a square foot glowed with eerie red light, its edges etched with twisted runes. In the days that followed, the Demon Cultivator continued capturing youths, including the boy named Zhou Ming before him. Zhou Ming was the Young Master of the Black Wind Village, a bandit’s child by birth, trembling uncontrollably when faced with the Demon Cultivator—his village met the same fate, over five hundred killed, leaving only him. Chen Wen was a quiet girl with twin buns, her father a village schoolteacher. Yue Die, a huntsman’s daughter, with a knife on her waist, attempted to assassinate the Demon Cultivator but got her arm torn off with a flick. Bai Yi, a silent boy, reportedly from a minor cultivation family. Chained to the crypt’s walls, they drank only murky water, watching the blood pool’s ominous red light grow as their despair deepened. Ultimately, the day of the blood sacrifice arrived. The Demon Cultivator chanted an eerie spell, causing the blood in the pool to surge, transforming into bloody threads coiling around everyone’s necks. Zhang Ling felt his mind turn hazy, ears filled with the wails of the oppressed souls, vaguely seeing a pitch-black Flying Sword emerge at the blood pool’s center. At the instant the bloody threads threatened to pierce his brow, dazzling white light rent the crypt, Sword Light slicing through like a meteor, merging the Demon Cultivator’s screams with the Flying Sword’s wails. The last sight he saw was a figure in white, bearing a long sword, descending, before losing consciousness entirely. "What are you thinking?" Zhou Ming noticed his daze, reaching out to pat his shoulder: "I’ve got great news! We’re now at the Pan Sword Sect! Jiangbei County’s number one Immortal Sect, far superior to those small sects!" "The one who saved us was Qingfeng Elder from the sect, reportedly a Golden Core Realm expert!" Zhou Ming grew more excited as he spoke, his dark face full of anticipation, gesticulating wildly: "The Elder saw that we both have Spiritual Roots, so he took us in as Outer Disciples! Now we can learn Dao spells, train with Flying Swords, once we become Sword Immortals, not just one Demon Cultivator, even facing ten or eight, a single sword slash would do!" "By then, we brothers could drink big bowls of wine, weigh and split gold, and deal with all who’ve wronged us!" Chen Sheng watched his exuberant manner, unable to help a silent smile. The bandit origins indeed left a deep mark; even upon entering an Immortal Sect, he still longed for days of "drinking and splitting gold." But Chen Sheng could understand the excitement—from the despair of extermination to the hope of becoming an Immortal Sect disciple, the contrast enough to make any youth lose composure. Chen Sheng did not respond, merely gazing out the window. Through the cracks, he could see the distant blue mountains, shrouded in mist, vague ancient pavilions revealing the location of the Pan Sword Sect’s gate. Chen Sheng pondered: "Pan Sword Sect... Golden Core Sword Cultivators..." "I’ll start here, mapping out this world’s power distribution, then plot for the original source harvest."