The Azure Flood Dragon watched as Li Yi suddenly split into two people. Though he knew this was one of his master's supreme divine abilities, he still didn't know how to react.
Especially when he looked toward the Main Body: those cold, emotionless eyes and that aloof face brought to mind eternal ice in an instant. A chill swept over him, making him shiver involuntarily.
Li Yi tested out his newly acquired body. It still didn't quite fit; it felt somewhat awkward, and it would probably take over a million years to achieve true unity of soul and body.
This was normal. Even with an ordinary vessel, it would take thousands of years to become fully compatible, let alone with an extraordinary vessel like the Twelve-Petal Azure Lotus.
As the saying went, every gain came with a loss. The more advanced the vessel, the more complex its structure was bound to be, and the greater its potential. Naturally, it took longer to become accustomed to it. After all, the body wasn't his own, and fully understanding and integrating with it would take a long time.
If Li Yi only wanted to control the body, he wouldn't need to spend over a million years. But while cultivating in seclusion, he had analyzed his own strengths and weaknesses and realized that the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm wasn't perfect. There was much he understood only in terms of what happened, not why.
It was like how many people knew exercise could improve the body without understanding how it worked, while professional athletes could train every muscle.
Cultivation allowed no shortcuts. The more thoroughly one understood oneself, the firmer one's foundations and the deeper one's reserves. That meant greater momentum when breaking through to a higher realm.
So Li Yi would rather spend over a million years thoroughly understanding and acclimating to the Azure Lotus than rush to advance his clone. After all, a meal had to be eaten one bite at a time; rush too much, and you might make yourself sick. The last time he'd discovered a problem with his realm, it hadn't mattered much, since the Main Body focused on cultivating the physical body and devoted itself to laws related to immortality, such as life and death. It didn't need to study the others in depth.
After checking his own condition, Li Yi looked at the Main Body. He had known that once his split soul left, the Main Body would turn into an iceberg, but facing it for real still left him smiling wryly. He'd long known that while his split soul and Main Body coexisted, even when the Main Body controlled the body, the split soul had some influence on it, making it less cold.
Sure enough, once the split soul left, the Main Body's absolute rationality came fully to the fore. Its aloof face was like a carved stone statue, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. Once the many emotional traits had departed along with the split soul, this quality had even begun to affect the body's appearance: its eyes turned silver, and its hair became white as snow.
After the split soul left, the Main Body's realm fluctuated a little, but its deep reserves meant the impact was minor. It remained at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level, while the Green Lotus Clone was only at the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm. Once the Green Lotus Clone united body and soul and comprehended its origin, it would likely attain the rank of Golden Immortal. Compared with others, who still had to refine their acquired true spirits into innate true spirits, Li Yi had it much easier.
In fact, this was also beneficial for Li Yi. If the clone became a Golden Immortal from the outset, who knew how long it would take to make up for its weak foundations? After all, it would have missed out on tempering and understanding, and foundations were difficult to repair.
The Mystic Immortal realm was a little low, but this way Li Yi could make his foundations even more solid.
"Main Body, it looks like you'll have to guard this place for another million years or so. Once I've acclimated to the Azure Lotus Body, you can carry out the plan."
The Main Body merely nodded indifferently, tossed the Green Lotus Ancient Sword to Li Yi, and flew toward the summit of the main peak without looking back.
"Th-this... sigh." Li Yi was speechless. Facing the Main Body, even a stranger might have been angered to death. "I wonder if the Main Body could ever get a girlfriend if he showed up in the future." Li Yi imagined a pretty girl chattering beside an absent-minded man with a perpetually blank expression, and found the thought bizarre.
He shook his head, casting aside these pointless thoughts, then noticed the dazed Azure Flood Dragon nearby. It had been almost three hundred years since Li Yi had taken him as a mount. Ever since giving him a cultivation technique, Li Yi hadn't had time to pay him any attention. He felt a little guilty about that.
"Azure Flood Dragon, why haven't you transformed?" Li Yi asked curiously. The Azure Flood Dragon was already at the peak of the Heavenly Immortal realm and could have transformed long ago.
"I think I'm fine like this. I'm nice and sturdy," he said, deliberately swaying his long, sinuous body and stirring the water elemental energy into a frenzy.
"Fine. If you like it this way, then so be it. You mainly cultivate your dragon body, so this should help you comprehend the nature of water." Li Yi patted his head and sighed helplessly.
The Azure Flood Dragon had his own little scheme. With his not-so-quick mind, he figured Li Yi had taken him as a mount largely because of his unusual dragon body. Otherwise, why hadn't Li Yi taken Golden Scale as a mount? Golden Scale's true form was pretty big too.
Besides, what if he transformed and Li Yi made him a servant? There was a story going around among mounts: once, a mighty cultivator had seen how long his mount had followed him and how hard it had worked, so after it transformed, he took it on as a servant and had it cultivate at his residence. Then he took another mount. The next mount was cleverer; it stubbornly refused to transform, and with its master's frequent guidance, it soon surpassed the first mount by far. The mount that had transformed regretted it so much that it nearly spat blood.
So, even though the Azure Flood Dragon had reached the peak of the Heavenly Immortal realm, he stubbornly refused to transform, determined to become the greatest mount of all time.
Li Yi had no idea the Azure Flood Dragon was harboring such a strange thought. He only felt bad for neglecting him for so long and thought he should offer him some guidance.
And so Li Yi stayed on Penglai Island, acclimating to his body and comprehending the sword insights carried within the Green Lotus Ancient Sword, while occasionally offering the Azure Flood Dragon some pointers.
Meanwhile, the Main Body quietly pondered the questions of the soul, divine sense, will, rules, and laws. After a long period of deduction, it finally sorted out how they were related: divine sense and will were both parts of the soul, merely expressed in two different forms, like water's other two forms, vapor and ice.
Divine sense focused on scanning and perception, and was highly receptive, while will focused on fixation and was fiercely single-minded. That was why some people seemed filled with murderous intent, while others gave off a sinister air.
Rules were offshoots of laws, like the relationship between a constitution and local laws: the constitution laid out the general principles, while local laws were specific and detailed.
These days were peaceful and fulfilling, but beneath the surface, the Primordial Continent seethed with undercurrents, as if a storm were about to break.
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