Desolate God Body

Inside the Fourth Secret Repository, Second Senior Brother stared dumbstruck at the Burning Heaven Earth Furnace. Divine light streamed forth in ten thousand rays, brilliant flames blazing within. A figure seemed to be tempering his own body amid raging fire, like a Divine Being being nurtured within a great sun.

Ten thousand rays of light shone as Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind surged. Yin and Yang parted. Lin Huang drew a deep breath, and the medicinal liquid fused from hundreds of divine materials slid into his stomach. It instantly felt as though a great sun had exploded within him. He let out a muffled groan as his sinews and bones shattered, his muscles tore apart, and in the blink of an eye his entire body was riddled with holes. Yet it soon healed and was reborn within the divine liquid.

This was an ordeal of extreme agony: destruction, then rebirth. Every inch of muscle, every sinew and bone, every internal organ was crushed by the medicinal effects of the divine liquid, then gathered anew under Lin Huang's powerful soul force, healing and being reborn.

Sever the mortal body and forge a Divine Body.

Ordinarily, people cultivated Divine Bodies step by step, securing every foothold. Though painful, it was still bearable. Yet Lin Huang intended to sever away his mortal body in one burst and directly forge a Divine Body. A single word's difference was the distance between heaven and earth; the pain involved was beyond description.

Only someone like Lin Huang, who had already passed the Heaven and Earth Two Tribulations, possessed an unwavering heart, and wielded formidable soul force, would dare attempt such a method. If it were someone like Second Senior Brother, his fleshly body would be destroyed and his soul torn apart in an instant.

"First, replenish my blood and vitality! Cleanse the marrow!"

Lin Huang suddenly roared, stirring the divine liquid. The God Blood Grass, Blood Phoenix Bone Marrow, and True Dragon Blood floating within were all crushed apart. With a fierce inhale, he drew them all into his body. The overwhelming power of blood and vitality instantly destroyed Lin Huang's marrow and blood vessels. Blood that had settled into a golden hue gradually replaced his original dull crimson blood.

Lin Huang closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The pain had reached its absolute peak; even someone as powerful as him found it difficult to endure.

But Lin Huang merely persevered, persevered, persevered. Only after all his dull marrow had transformed into gold, filled with an immortal luster, did he draw a deep breath and clench his hand. The Black Tortoise Shell, Earth Dragon Shell, and Mysterious Yellow Grass all shattered.

"This step—strip away the hair!"

With a roar from Lin Huang, those divine materials entered through his pores like streams of air. Like drills, they bored into the grain of his flesh, scouring through one meridian after another, tearing them apart and remolding them.

Gradually, Lin Huang's pores began to contract, eventually fading away. His skin became smooth as crystal, without a single pore left. The meridians within his body also expanded and widened, becoming crystal-clear, forming their own cycle. This was the stripping of hair, the forging of a Flawless Body. From then on, he would become a world unto himself, taking in but never releasing.

Cleanse the marrow, strip away the hair, and forge a Flawless Body.

But that was still not enough.

"The next step—replace the bones!"

Lin Huang growled. Divine light suddenly erupted from the Burning Heaven Earth Furnace. Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire hummed, while ten thousand rays of rosy light burst forth: earth, divine water, hurricanes, and heavenly fire.

Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk, Heaven One True Water, Primal Wind Crystal, Great Accomplishment Fire Seed, and a segment of Divine Spirit Finger Bone were all crushed apart. The Divine Spirit Finger Bone suppressed Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, reopening heaven and earth. This heaven and earth was engraved into his bones, using an entire world as the spine of Lin Huang's Divine Body.

This was Lin Huang's Divine Body, his Desolate God Body alone.

Second Senior Brother watched, utterly dumbfounded. Using the Divine Spirit Finger Bone to crush Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, taking the true meaning of opening heaven and splitting earth, then engraving it into bone—how powerful would such a Divine Body be? Second Senior Brother simply did not dare imagine it.

He truly dared to think it? He truly dared to do it? And yet, he actually succeeded.

Although Lin Huang had only forged a section of spine thus far, given time, Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire would churn and all the bones in his body would gradually transform into the same divine bones. That would be the day Lin Huang's Divine Body reached great accomplishment.

"The divine bones are forged! Now, shed the womb! Shed the womb! Cast off this mortal shell!"

Lin Huang laughed heartily. He brought two fingers together like a blade and slashed across his chest. The Sun God Stone was forcibly branded deep into his heart, beating with blazing heat. Thump, thump, thump—the clamor of that heartbeat stirred Second Senior Brother's blood and vitality, forcing him to retreat three paces. He did not dare draw close.

"Let Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind form the bones; let Yin and Yang become the womb!"

Lin Huang murmured. He forcibly pressed another Moon God Stone, utterly opposite to the Sun God Stone, into his abdomen. Golden blood filled with an immortal luster surged forth. Expressionless, Lin Huang completely pulverized every divine material in the divine liquid, then submerged himself within it. Ten thousand rays of rosy light shone as Yin and Yang intertwined and trembled. Gradually, all the divine liquid slowly solidified and froze, completely wrapping Lin Huang like a silkworm's cocoon.

Lin Huang knew, and Second Senior Brother knew as well, that the moment Lin Huang broke free from the cocoon would be the moment he successfully cleansed his marrow and stripped away his hair, shed his mortal shell and replaced his bones, and brought his Divine Body to minor accomplishment.

This Divine Body was not the famed Taiyin Divine Body, Sun God Physique, Innate Dharma Body, nor was it any known kind of Divine Body. This was a Divine Body belonging solely to Lin Huang, the Divine Body most suited to Lin Huang. This body could be called Desolate—the Desolate God Body belonging to Lin Huang alone.

From then on, Lin Huang only needed to weave the laws and Dao he comprehended together and engrave them within his body to bring his Divine Body to great accomplishment, Eternal and Unwearing through ten thousand tribulations. Even if his soul decayed, this body could decay alongside the world, never rotting away.

"If one hears the Dao in the morning, one may die at dusk."

Second Senior Brother suddenly murmured, then bowed three times toward Lin Huang. He was not bowing to Lin Huang, but to the Dao.

The process of Lin Huang forging his own Divine Body had shocked Second Senior Brother beyond measure. He had originally walked the path of a single body, cultivating the renowned Indestructible Sword Body among Divine Bodies. Unfortunately, he had failed to comprehend the Indestructible True Meaning, unable even to cultivate it to the perfection of minor accomplishment. Left with no choice, he had chosen the Six Paths method, hoping to find a breakthrough through sword practice.

But witnessing with his own eyes how Lin Huang had risen from an ordinary mortal body to the minor accomplishment of a Divine Body had affected Second Senior Brother profoundly. He could find all manner of excuses, but he knew that cultivation required not excuses, but examining oneself three times each day.

At the very least, Second Senior Brother knew that the pain Lin Huang had endured just now was something he himself had never suffered.

Only after enduring hardship upon hardship could one become a High Person.

If you had never endured the hardships others had endured, the hardships they dared to endure, what right did you have to claim you had truly worked hard?

At this moment, Second Senior Brother was deeply shaken. It could not be called a blow to the head, but it had the effect of enlightenment pouring over him. That was why he could not help bowing three times to Lin Huang just now. But after bowing, Second Senior Brother suddenly came to his senses.

An opportunity—this is an opportunity. As long as I can remove these restrictions, capturing him will be effortless.

As that thought flashed through Second Senior Brother's mind, he remembered the more than one hundred restrictions placed upon him and immediately wilted. "That damned bastard. There's no other way. I can only hope Xiong Renjie moves quickly enough."

Muttering to himself, Second Senior Brother turned his gaze toward the Water Mirror's image. At a single glance, Xiong Renjie's stupidity nearly made him cry in rage.

"Xiong Renjie, you bastard! Why don't you call yourself Fool Renjie instead?! You've truly made me cry with your stupidity!"

Second Senior Brother was on the verge of tears. He dropped onto the ground in utter dejection, feeling for the first time that the greatest mistake of his life had been losing last year's contest to Xiong Renjie and allowing that fool to become Eldest Senior Brother.