240 The Vermilion Bird's Divine Core

Terrifying!

Shuya forced himself to calm down, letting the Power of Will overwhelm his thoughts without paying attention.

This state is dangerous; a slight misstep could lead to being assimilated into this ocean of Power of Will.

A flood of distracting thoughts washed over him, but Shuya's body, imbued with the icy nature of his inner energy, kept his mind calm and focused as he continued drawing the talisman.

Below the Three Pure Ones Talisman Head, Shuya smoothly drew the Talisman Aperture and Talisman Foot representing the Vermilion Bird Holy Beast.

The cryptic text and symbols combined form a divine bird that seems to truly exist!

This Talisman is undoubtedly the most successful Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman that Shuya has created in his cultivation of Talisman to date.

But Shuya felt no joy, because it wasn't finished yet.

Shuya Talisman, and the black and white Talisman ignited, and then...

A clear bird song rang out, and a magnificent, crimson-gold fiery bird spread its wings in the air.

The Vermilion Bird has descended!

Its wingspan was half the size of Mountain City, and its size was no less than that of Shuten Doji.

The Vermilion Bird was surrounded by flames, its feathers made of fire fluttering in the wind, and sparkling embers scattered everywhere.

Handsome.

But before the Monster could look any longer, they saw the Vermilion Bird cry softly, then turn and rush towards...

Shuya?

Vermilion Bird crashed into Shuya and was absorbed by his Ghost God Body.

"Snort!"

An extraordinary heat surged within the Ghost God Body, Shuya to bend over abruptly, his entire body turning red.

Shuten Doji finally woke up and swung his staff at him.

"Get out of here!"

Shizuka Hiratsuka and Tsuruko leaped into the air, their gauntlets and katana blocking the attack. The two jumped over and entangled Shuten Doji, buying him some time.

At this moment, Shuya's physical body, soul, and power are all suppressing the rampaging Vermilion Bird.

The instant the Vermilion Bird entered his body, his consciousness, which was still floating in the aggregate of Power of Will, witnessed a violent tremor.

Most of the Power of Will disappeared, revealing the vast and boundless universe.

A second later, starlight intertwined, crimson flames ignited, and Vermilion Bird Holy Beast, whose wingspan and body were unknown, appeared in the starry sky!

A deity has appeared!

Section 256, 240 Vermilion Bird Divinity

This Vermilion Bird Holy Beast, is a collection of human beliefs in the Vermilion Bird accumulated over many years; it is a composite of the Vermilion Bird's essence.

This is the true "god"!

Gods are all without intelligence; those who possess intelligence have stolen the authority of the true God to become gods!

Stealing the authority of the gods is what Shuya is about to do next.

Even though Shuya had anticipated this, he still went blank for several seconds when he actually saw the true god.

Shuya couldn't even sense where the Vermilion Bird's wings ended; all he knew was that all he could perceive was the Vermilion Bird's body burning with crimson-gold flames.

From the Vermilion Bird, only unconscious divine power and destructive energy fluctuations emanated.

These fluctuations were calm, like a stagnant lake.

Because He has no intelligence.

Even so, if Shuya hadn't possessed Ghost God Body or god, he probably would have fainted just from facing the Vermilion Bird directly.

Shuya floated to the front of Vermilion Bird's head; Suzaku's head alone was much larger than his.

It could probably swallow itself whole in one bite, without even needing to chew.

Shuya took a half step back.

He composed himself and looked into Vermilion Bird's eyes.

His pupils held no light, only a deathly stillness.

Shuya carefully approached and gently reached out to touch His head.

The flames didn't burn him; instead, they were very warm.

Shuya touched Vermilion Bird's head and felt a vast yet calming power slowly flowing within Vermilion Bird's body.

But within this unclaimed power, there was a faint, strange aura that did not belong to the Vermilion Bird.

Those are marks left by other people or gods.

For example, the Fire Virtue Star Lord of Daoism is a deity separated from the Vermilion Bird, and it is their means of stealing the power of the Vermilion Bird.

Shuya's consciousness was immersed in one of the sources of this Strange Arts.

He pondered carefully and realized that the Vermilion Bird was merely a branch of "fire" in the original belief.

There are many branches of "fire," such as the Sun God and Prometheus.

In the Great Hua, the Vermilion Bird is not the only branch of "fire"; there are also Zhurong, Flame Emperor, and so on...

But the Vermilion Bird is different from those gods. Those gods were established by other sects of Strange Arts, Shuya cannot use them.

Only the belief in the Vermilion Bird constellation is safe.

Surely no one with Strange Arts would dare to arrogantly claim this infinitely vast starry sky as their own home?

... Okay, except for the Great Universe Empire. (laughs)

By now, Shuya's purpose is quite clear.

He possessed only half of Divine Body; he had not yet condensed Godhead.

He can use Divine Power and the Power of Faith, but he does not possess his own unique Power of God.

Godhead is not something easily obtained.

As mentioned before, converting deities can easily lead to being programmed with additional settings, and one can gradually become lost in the Power of Faith, no longer becoming oneself, and losing one's sense of self.

Creating a virtual deity to borrow power, like a Daoist priest would be a waste of Shuya's Ghost God Body.

Since neither of these two paths worked, Shuya began to think about how to use the characteristics of his Ghost God Body to solve the problem.

They actually came up with a solution for him.

Talisman.

He learned Strange Arts skills early on.

While other gods directly condense their Godhead within their own bodies, Shuya chose to use Talisman instead, establishing a transit station.

This step was successfully completed. Shuya used the Power of Faith and Power of Awe to draw a perfect Talisman, and by fusing the Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman into his body, he connected his soul, mind, and body to the Vermilion Bird's true form.

The next question is, how can we truly harness this power?

With Shuya's cultivation level, it's impossible for him to directly use the power of the Vermilion Bird; doing so would only cause him to explode and die.

He needed to control the Talisman first.

Shuya already had a plan in mind; all that was left was to put it into practice.

This is not something that can be figured out through imagination alone; there is no other way but to actually try it out.

Shuya has already made his decision.

With a slight thought, he appeared before the Vermilion Bird's true form, and the Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman projection, made from the power of Power of Awe and Power of Faith, appeared before him.

Shuya sent the Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman, which carried his soul's essence, into the Vermilion Bird's body, placing it alongside the other marks.

The first step in seizing power has been completed.

When the Vermilion Bird Fire Talisman was placed into the Vermilion Bird's body, Shuya felt an aura erupt that made his heart palpitate.

Vermilion Bird's lifeless eyes gradually brightened, and he met Shuya's gaze.

Time seemed to stand still.

They had only locked eyes for a second Shuya felt all sorts of knowledge about fire-based Strange Arts flood his mind.

This knowledge came in completely without regard to whether Shuya could handle it; it just flooded in all at once.

Shuya could only struggle while clutching his head, unable to utter a sound.

At the same time, he could feel the surging firepower erupting from the Ghost God Body in reality.

Pulled by his body, Shuya's soul and consciousness successfully detached from this starry sky and escaped from the knowledge of Strange Arts.

But that doesn't mean he's safe.

"!"

Shuya knelt on the ground, bent over, trying to struggle, but then realized what was happening and didn't dare to move a single finger.

He was afraid that if he moved, he would ignite the fire.

Shuya managed to introspectively examine his Ghost God Body and saw a talisman floating within him, shimmering with crimson-gold flames and possessing a texture like precious Talisman.

The runes on the Talisman were no longer the ones he had written, but rather a genuine Vermilion Bird Totem.

This Talisman is a symbol of Godhead.

Vermilion Bird Divinity!

He summoned the Vermilion Bird's true form with Talisman, then absorbed the Talisman into his body. Using the connection between his consciousness and the Talisman, he projected the Talisman in reverse into the space where his Power of Will gathered, and then projected the Talisman into the Vermilion Bird's body to steal its power.

He used Talisman to contact the Vermilion Bird in his place, thus completing his Godhead.

The Godhead Talisman successfully isolated a layer of influence, preventing Shuya from being directly immersed in the power of the gods, while still allowing him to connect with the immense Power of Will of the Vermilion Bird's will.

This is theoretically feasible because he possesses the Ghost God Body, which is a prerequisite for wielding Godhead power.

But this raises a problem.

How can one control Talisman?

The layer separating them protects Shuya from the influence, but it also means he has less control over the system.

There are gains and losses in everything.

Now, the aggregate of Vermilion Bird's Power of Will has discovered Shuya's empty Ghost God Body. The Power of Will has accumulated over many years pours into his body from the connection channel of the Deified Talisman. This is a natural phenomenon, just like water flowing downhill.

If this continues, there will only be two consequences.

One is that he exploded on the spot.

Secondly, the Talisman were crushed, Shuya completely became a god. Several years later, he lost himself and became the Vermilion Bird God in people's imagination.

However, this change was expected.

Shuya's entire body was engulfed in flames, with tongues of fire erupting from his body, but he endured it with his powerful willpower.

He used his Power of Will to control the Deified Talisman drifting towards the heart of the Ghost God Body.

He merged the two together.

The heart of the Ghost God Body is not real flesh and blood; all his internal organs are made of the Power of Will.

This shares commonalities with Godhead Talisman.

Only when the Deified Talisman merges with the heart of the Ghost God Body does the Talisman truly bear his mark.

Shuya, and the Red Gold Flame burning within his body contracted sharply, drawn back by the heart that had become like a gemstone, swirling back from his limbs.

This heart is like a work of art carved from a red-gold gemstone, magnificent and exquisite.