Wang Yue sat cross-legged in the Essence Chamber, his hands forming seals as he guided the pure vital essence around him into his body. Ever since learning of the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body divine ability, he had wanted to try condensing a Vital Essence Body.
At first, the vital essence in the chamber had been as thick as mist, easily drawn into his body. But as time passed, the essence around him grew thinner and thinner, changing from "within reach of an outstretched hand" to "seemingly there yet seemingly not." In the end, only wisps of smoke remained, curling around his body, making it difficult even to maintain the absorption speed.
What irritated him even more was that the remaining vital essence contained small amounts of impurities. These impurities had not come from outside, but were mixed, murky energies left behind by the long accumulation of vital essence. Once absorbed into his body, they scraped through his meridians like tiny grains of sand, leaving his mind restless.
"Hold on a little longer..." Wang Yue's eyes were bloodshot, cold sweat covered his forehead, and his teeth ground together. The twelve streams of qi and blood within him circulated madly, forcibly drawing the final thread of vital essence into his lower abdomen.
He could clearly sense that the vital essence in his dantian had already gathered into a clump of golden mist. It only needed one final step to take shape. If he gave up now, all his earlier efforts would have gone down the drain.
Another quarter-hour passed. Wang Yue's vision began to darken, and the Blood Qi in his body stirred faintly from excessive depletion. Unable to help himself, he cursed, "What the hell, why isn't it done yet?!"
The moment his words fell, the golden mist in his dantian suddenly trembled violently. Strands of golden light poured from every pore across his body, gathering before him like flowing water.
With a soft buzz, a figure identical to him surged from the golden light. When it landed, it stirred a faint breeze, and a dim halo of vital essence still lingered around its body.
Wang Yue raised his hand in shock, his gaze fixed firmly on the person before him. The other was exactly like him—his face, build, even the sharpness in his eyes were identical. The only difference was that a faint golden aura drifted around the other's body. It was clearly formed from vital essence.
What shocked him even more was that half his Blood Qi had vanished at once. The emptiness in his meridians made his heart clench. Without vital essence, it would take him quite some time to recover on his own!
"This is the Vital Essence Body?" Wang Yue tried moving it with his consciousness, and a marvelous sensation immediately came over him. He could control both his true body and the Vital Essence Body at once. Their senses were completely shared, even the feeling at their fingertips was identical, without the slightest sluggishness.
Yet upon closer examination, he could detect an extremely subtle difference. The Vital Essence Body's perception of vital essence was sharper.
Wang Yue and the Vital Essence Body simultaneously swelled their Blood Qi and threw a punch at each other.
Bang! Their fists collided, and the two forces entered his consciousness at the same time. Their power, sensation, and strength were completely identical, without the slightest deviation.
Wang Yue coughed lightly and withdrew his fist, then looked around the chamber. The once dense vital essence had become so thin it was almost invisible. Only a few wisps of smoke floated through the air, leaving the entire chamber empty and desolate.
His expression instantly darkened. He had used up every last bit of vital essence. Once Wang Hezheng came inside, how was he supposed to explain it?
He stepped forward and pinched the Vital Essence Body's arm. It felt exactly like his true body, warm with body heat, nothing like something illusory formed from vital essence.
"What's there to touch? Aren't I the same as you?" The Vital Essence Body suddenly spoke. Its voice was exactly the same as his, though its tone carried a trace of disdain, startling Wang Yue's true body.
He quickly calmed down, took a spare set of gray fitted clothes from the side, and handed them to the Vital Essence Body. "Put these on, quickly.
"Leave the Wang Clan first and stay in the county town."
"You don't need to say it. Anything you can think of, I can think of too."
The Vital Essence Body accepted the clothes and muttered while dressing. Then its eyes suddenly lit up. It waved a hand through the air, and a familiar panel appeared before it, still displaying the divine ability description of the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body.
"Wow, I can open the panel too!" The Vital Essence Body poked excitedly at the panel, its tone full of wonder.
Wang Yue's face twitched. Seeing the Vital Essence Body looking like it had never seen the world, he could not help grumbling inwardly, Am I usually this stupid? Why does my clone act like a child?
"Right, how should that strand of Unwavering Golden Nature be used?" The Vital Essence Body suddenly put away the panel and asked seriously. "Should it be used on the Blood Dragon Secret Method to strengthen the cultivation method? Or should it be used on the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body to improve the divine ability?
"I think it would be better to use it directly on ourselves and strengthen our talent. That would be more practical!"
Wang Yue frowned. "No rush. We'll wait until I understand the properties of Unwavering Golden Nature before deciding. It would be a pity if I used it incorrectly and wasted it."
"I can sense everything you think. Aren't you simply afraid of 'using it wrong'?
"Actually, you also think 'strengthening ourselves' is the safest option. You just don't dare take the risk!" The Vital Essence Body curled its lip, its tone carrying a hint of exposing him.
Wang Yue's expression darkened as he stared at the Vital Essence Body. "Were you reincarnated as some contrarian? Did you come here specifically to pick a fight?" He had not expected his own clone to be so good at arguing.
The Vital Essence Body smiled awkwardly and rubbed its nose. "I'm just telling you the truth... Alright, alright, I'm leaving. Don't miss me. I'll cultivate properly in the county town."
At the end, the Vital Essence Body's expression abruptly turned solemn, and its tone grew heavy. "There's one more thing I need to remind you of. Don't casually cancel the divine ability of the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body.
"I can sense that if I am too far away from you and you forcibly remove the divine ability, causing me to dissipate, something inexplicable on your body will permanently disappear in part. I cannot say exactly what it is, but it definitely won't be a good thing."
Wang Yue's heart trembled, and he nodded. "I understand. I won't experiment recklessly.
"Be careful outside. If anything happens, contact me through our consciousness."
The Vital Essence Body answered and swayed, drifting toward the chamber door like green smoke. After confirming no one was outside, it swiftly flashed out and soon vanished into the shadows of the courtyard.
Wang Yue looked at the empty Essence Chamber and was briefly lost in thought. With a thought, he could still see through the Vital Essence Body's eyes. Then he dismissed the vision.
The warm sensation from touching the Vital Essence Body still lingered on his fingertips, while its words echoed repeatedly in his mind.
"Unwavering Golden Nature... The Vital Essence Body was actually right."
He murmured softly, his gaze gradually firming. "I may not be unable to obtain better martial arts cultivation methods in the future. I still have not completely understood the divine ability of the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body, and strengthening it rashly would only be a waste.
"Only strengthening myself is the safest choice, and the one least likely to become outdated."
His earlier hesitation had merely been caution born from fear of using it incorrectly. But upon thinking carefully, compared to strengthening cultivation methods and divine abilities, improving his own foundation was the true root. After all, whether in cultivation or battle, what he ultimately relied on was still his own body and soul.
Having made up his mind, Wang Yue no longer hesitated. He sat cross-legged on the cushion again, closed his eyes, and focused all his consciousness into his dantian.
Deep within his dantian, a tiny yet exceptionally condensed stream of golden airflow floated quietly. It was precisely the Unwavering Golden Nature obtained from the soul of the Three-Headed Buddha.
It differed from the crimson of Blood Qi and from the lustrous white of vital essence. It was a gold so pure it seemed absolute, as though it contained an indestructible quality. Even merely sensing it brought a sense of peace to Wang Yue's soul.
"Go!"
Wang Yue shouted in his heart. His consciousness became invisible threads, guiding that strand of golden nature upward. It flowed through his meridians before finally entering the Sea of Consciousness between his brows. That was the core of his soul, and also the most fundamental place to strengthen himself.
The instant the golden nature touched the Sea of Consciousness, it melted like ice and snow beneath the blazing sun. It transformed into a warm golden radiance that slowly flowed along the patterns of his soul, like spring rain nourishing the earth as it seeped bit by bit into every corner of his soul.
Buzz
A soft hum suddenly echoed through the Sea of Consciousness. Wang Yue's panel immediately appeared, and a line of golden text entered his awareness:
Fusion with Unwavering Golden Nature successful. Trait obtained: Undying
Before he could examine the properties of Undying, a vast and ancient voice suddenly rang out from within his body. It seemed to come from the beginning of heaven and earth, carrying an unquestionable majesty:
"Those who do not fall shall remain beneath an azure sky for eternity."
The voice exploded through his meridians like thunder. Wang Yue's vision went black, and his soul abruptly left his body, falling into boundless slumber.
Within that chaotic perception, he could not tell whether he was ascending to heaven or descending into the earth. He only felt his consciousness pulled by an invisible force, rapidly flying through a golden space.
After an unknown amount of time, the chaos before him suddenly faded. Wang Yue's consciousness slammed onto the ground, and he found himself in a boundless golden world. Both sky and earth were covered in dense golden radiance. Countless strands of golden light, large and small, floated in the air like stars, emitting an aura from the same source as Unwavering Golden Nature.
At the highest point of this golden world, a vast sunlike golden radiance far surpassing all the others floated silently. Its light was blazing but not dazzling, as though it were the core of this world and contained a power that made one's heart tremble.
"What... is this place?" Wang Yue was completely stunned. He had never seen such a sight in any ancient record. Was this a space within Unwavering Golden Nature? Or had he entered some other place?
Just as he was filled with doubt, a series of crack sounds suddenly came from the sky. One strand of golden light—not the smallest, yet exceptionally bright—began to sway precariously. Dense cracks appeared across its surface, as though it could shatter at any moment.
The next second, that strand of golden light abruptly broke away from the heavens and crashed toward Wang Yue like a golden meteor, moving so fast that he had no time to react.
Bang!
The golden radiance struck Wang Yue's consciousness precisely. There was no impact as he had expected. Instead, it merged into his soul like water, and a golden power even more majestic than before instantly swept through his entire being, making even his soul tremble violently.
"Ah..."
Wang Yue could not help letting out a low groan. His consciousness felt scorching, as though it had been thrown into a furnace. Yet strangely, there was no pain in that heat—only the comfort of transformation.
At that moment, a force suddenly tugged at his consciousness. The golden world before him receded like a tide. The next instant, he abruptly opened his eyes, gasping for air. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and his chest rose and fell violently. He had already returned to the Essence Chamber, as though his journey through the golden world had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Yet the text that suddenly appeared on the panel told him that what he had experienced was real:
Your soul has been nourished by the origin of Unwavering Golden Nature, triggering a physique transformation. New physique obtained: Devouring Body Physique: Devouring Body. Any living being personally slain by you will have a small amount of its refined flesh and blood, along with part of its pure soul power, automatically devoured by you and converted into your own Blood Qi and soul power, feeding back into your growth. Note: This is one of the foundational talents of the Nine-Eyed Divine Phoenix of Devouring Extinction.
Wang Yue's eyes abruptly narrowed, and stormy waves surged in his heart. "What does it mean, 'all those killed by me will be devoured'?"
He subconsciously clenched his fist, and the scene of killing Li Fang flashed through his mind. If he had possessed this physique back then, would he not have gained additional power from Li Fang?
But on second thought, this devouring ability was far too tyrannical. If word got out, he would likely be treated as a demonic fiend.
He might not be a good man, but he would never slaughter the innocent!
Forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Wang Yue finally looked at the detailed description of the Undying trait:
Trait: Undying. Blood Qi and vital essence possess an immortal quality. Injuries sustained in battle can recover at extreme speed, and recovery speed increases with the strengthening of physique. Fatal injuries not affecting the soul will no longer exist for you. So long as your soul remains undying, you may rely on Blood Qi and vital essence to repair your body anew.
Wang Yue sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes filled with shock.
The Undying trait was equivalent to giving him the confidence of immortality. Even if he were beaten into a grievous state, he could recover quickly.
The Devouring Body physique gave him another path of growth. The more he fought, and the stronger the opponents he killed, the faster he would grow.
He lowered his head to look at his hands, then thought of the divine ability of the Unworldly Buddha Three Lives Body. For a moment, he could not tell which was more precious.
Was it the divine ability capable of condensing three bodies, or the Unwavering Golden Nature obtained from the soul of the Three-Headed Buddha?
"No matter what, this time, misfortune has turned into fortune."
Wang Yue slowly rose to his feet and moved his limbs. Though the Blood Qi within him had only recovered halfway, it carried an unprecedented vitality, as though it could erupt with even greater power at any time.
He looked toward the door of the chamber, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes.
Still, how was he supposed to explain the vital essence he had exhausted in the chamber... Wang Yue's expression fell again. Scratching his head, he could only pray that Wang Hezheng was busy dealing with the Spirit Seeking Prefecture recently and had no time to inspect the amount of vital essence in the chamber.
He gathered the clothes from the floor and strode toward the chamber door. Since the Vital Essence Body had already gone to the county town, he should remain in the Wang Clan to see how the Spirit Seeking Prefecture's investigation was progressing, while also finding a way to explain the disappearance of the vital essence.
Before you continue