But this time, it wasn't just his Death Rule that had reached godhood. Jie Ning could feel that his comprehension of the Life Law had improved considerably as well.
"Jie Ning, did you find the method you were looking for?" Arannis looked at Jie Ning curiously.
She knew that the reason Jie Ning had always cared so much about the Elf Race's Sacred Tree was that he truly wanted to find a way to strengthen the soul.
"Of course I succeeded." Jie Ning's tone carried a hint of joy.
"From now on, my soul will no longer be my weakness. It may even become my strongest aspect."
"And perhaps I can also help all of you strengthen your own souls."
"A powerful soul can also be of great help in comprehending the Heaven and Earth Laws."
"That's wonderful." Arannis smiled happily as well. If she could become stronger too, she could stay by Jie Ning's side forever.
After finishing his cultivation, Jie Ning's main body spent a leisurely period with his family before preparing to enter a formal period of seclusion.
This time, his goal was to strengthen his soul.
Jie Ning and Arannis went directly to an uninhabited stretch of wilderness, a remote corner of the entire Life Duke's Territory.
Jie Ning scattered the collected seeds of various plants across the ground in an orderly fashion. As the earth churned, the soil had already been loosened, and the seeds fell neatly into it at suitable distances and positions.
Jie Ning had based this arrangement on certain discoveries from the Elf Race's valley. Though he still could not understand the fundamental principles, that did not stop him from using it as a reference.
This time, Jie Ning divided a large amount of soul power and infused it into the seeds. Then Life God Power swept over them, and all kinds of plants sprouted and grew as though they had received an order.
However, unlike before, Jie Ning did not choose to force all the plants to maturity in a single step. He knew that the process of natural growth was what mattered most to the soul. Quality was more important than speed.
If he relied entirely on Life God Power to ripen them, not only would it waste divine power, but the overall effect on soul growth would not be particularly ideal.
Like fertilizing, only the proper use of divine power could produce the greatest effect.
The plants in the forest slowly grew, and vines gradually wrapped around Jie Ning's Life God Avatar.
Arannis and Jie Ning's Sanctuary Main Body built a small wooden cabin nearby and settled down there.
Time passed.
The plants' roots retained more and more Water Element beneath the land, and lakes and rivers gradually began to gather across the ground.
At the same time, some trees gradually grew taller. A newborn forest slowly took shape, and when the Wind Element entered the forest, it was as if it had lost its way and could no longer find an exit, stirring breeze after breeze within the woods.
Water Element and Wind Element continuously interacted. The wind moved the earth, while the water nourished it...
The soil gradually became fertile, the Earth Element grew increasingly active, and the plants became healthier.
Jie Ning sensed the changes in his soul and comprehended the mysteries of life. From time to time, he also merged into the Earth Element...
Only one Death God Avatar would occasionally send its consciousness into the Undead Realm. This was an unexpected discovery he had made after studying the fluctuations that occurred when souls vanished. As long as one found the method, souls or spiritual power carrying the aura of death could enter the Undead Realm with exceptional ease.
Thus, from then on, Jie Ning's Death God Avatar often kept its attention within the Undead Realm.
Just as he had guessed, the undead could not strengthen their souls on their own. They had to continuously absorb the souls of other undead to maintain and strengthen their own souls, and this process basically relied on instinct.
But once they reached the Saint Realm, the process of absorbing souls allowed them to gain a certain comprehension of the Death Rule. With those insights, they could reduce the depletion of their own souls.
As for completely avoiding such depletion, Jie Ning estimated that these undead would need to become gods for that to be possible.
These were the conclusions Jie Ning reached after "researching" some undead.
However, the Undead Realm truly was part of the Underworld. Jie Ning found that comprehending the Death Rule here was far clearer than in the Material Plane, so his Death God Avatar devoted more of its energy to this place.
Arannis had also found a direction for her cultivation during her previous enlightenment. She comprehended the changes in the Wind Element within the forest, occasionally chasing after it as she darted through the woods. It gave her a joy she had never experienced before.
If anyone had been watching, they would often have seen Arannis's figure vanish in one place, only to appear in another. The entire process looked like teleportation...
The two immersed themselves in the wonder of cultivation. Occasionally, when they awoke, they would go out together to visit the nearest town, or try fishing in the lake that had appeared in the forest, though the fish themselves had been put there by the two of them...
The forest also gradually gained animals and even magical beasts that had accidentally discovered this paradise...
In the blink of an eye, more than ten years passed. As the forest's area continued to expand, Jie Ning could feel that his soul's growth had reached a limit.
Arannis had also successfully cultivated the Spirit Nourishing Technique with Jie Ning's help many years earlier, and her soul had likewise reached her current limit.
The wilderness of the past had now become an enormous forest. It even contained many fruit trees that should not have been able to grow here, all of which Jie Ning had deliberately selected and kept.
Jie Ning occasionally used divine power to "fertilize" the forest, creating its flourishing abundance.
Most of the life within this forest had once carried Jie Ning's soul. But this time, Jie Ning did not harvest them when they entered death. Instead, once they had passed their growth period, he allowed that portion of soul power to return directly to his body before choosing new "bodies." That was how the forest came to flourish...
I'm still missing one opportunity. Jie Ning felt that his Life God Avatar was only one opportunity away from becoming a Middle-God.
The Life Law had no specific divisions of Mysteries in Coiling Dragon, but Jie Ning had instinctively divided it while comprehending it.
For example, he had first called the direction of his godhood comprehension "the growth of life." Later, he also gained some insight into "the soul of life" and "the end of life."
However, "the end of life" had unexpectedly led him to comprehend the Death Rule. For a time, he could not find a new direction and fell into stagnation.
On the other hand, after years of research, his comprehension of "the soul of life" had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Using the Mystery Fusion method of elemental Mysteries as a reference, he had also studied how to fuse the different directions of the Life Law while comprehending them. By now, all his insights regarding life had completely fused together.
And a faint intuition told him that his comprehension regarding "the soul of life" was still lacking by just a little. Once he found that missing piece, his Life God Avatar would be able to advance to a Middle-God.
Come to think of it, spending time to study the mysteries of the soul was indeed worthwhile.
Having a powerful soul really does make comprehending the Heaven and Earth Laws much smoother. Sharpening the knife does not delay the cutting of firewood.
Then, following their usual habit, Jie Ning and Arannis, both having fallen into bottlenecks, naturally decided to leave the forest and go out to see the world.
The two first made a general tour of the continent to observe its changes over the past few years. After traveling around for some more time, they finally returned to the City of Life.
And that day happened to be the Gods' Festival of a new year.
After returning to the Hall of Life, Arannis pulled Kaixi aside for a discussion, then discovered in surprise, "Kaixi, you've become a Saint Realm expert. Congratulations!"
"I only broke through not long ago." Kaixi smiled modestly.
In truth, not long after Jie Ning and Arannis had left more than ten years ago, she had accumulated enough Battle Qi to become a Saint Realm expert.
It was simply that she now felt there was nothing worth taking pride in about becoming a Saint Realm expert who had not comprehended any Heaven and Earth Laws.
Looking at the changes in Kaixi, Jie Ning could not help sighing at the power of time.
The impulsive elf of the past had now become steady and composed.
Leaving Arannis and Kaixi to continue their discussion, Jie Ning went to the garden alone.
He stepped forward and checked on the Tree of Light's growth. It seems it is about to recover completely.
At this point, the Tree of Light's soul had mostly recovered. By Jie Ning's estimate, it would awaken in around ten more years. This was far faster than the time he had promised the Elf Race.
Just as Jie Ning was inspecting it, a letter happened to arrive at the Hall of Life residence from Duke Darut's Territory.
Sure enough, the more I keep thinking about rushing things, the more inspiration dries up.
Fortunately, I set the general direction, so I can still write a little.
My cousin is getting married. There probably won't be any more today.
Finally, please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.
Before you continue