The Gold Soul Clan Bloodline

"A single 'Buddha' character gave birth to this new body for me, and I even look like Buddha himself."

"Then could this new 'Demon' character provide me with another body or form?"

Qi Tian pondered. He had gained a new body because of the secret manual called Buddha Karma Twin Bodies. It had appeared in his sea of consciousness when the Buddha Pendant disappeared.

"Since the secret art's name includes 'Twin Bodies,' it must mean that once I master it, I'll have either two bodies or two forms."

According to the information that had entered his mind, the Blood-colored Sanskrit Phantom also needed to absorb Blood-colored Mist to fill up. But what would speed up the process was no longer faith—it was killing.

"So this is forcing me to become an executioner," Qi Tian mused.

Looking at the Blood-colored Sanskrit Phantom, Qi Tian knew he couldn't rush the birth of his Demon Body. First, he refined the bracelet Blood Cloud Palace Master had left behind.

To his surprise, the moment Qi Tian imprinted his consciousness on the bracelet, he finished refining it. It then vanished from his hand and entered his sea of consciousness.

Qi Tian probed his sea of consciousness and discovered the bracelet floating above the Lotus Throne Demon Buddha Statue. A gentle aura that guarded the soul spread out from it, making his soul feel slightly more substantial and filling him with a sense of security.

After refining the bracelet, he tried to control it, hoping to see if it had any other uses besides guarding the soul.

But no matter how deeply he sent his consciousness into it, he couldn't move it at all. He also couldn't make sense of the mysterious patterns carved into the beads. It seemed that, for the time being, the bracelet would have to remain in his sea of consciousness.

Even if he couldn't use it, a treasure like this deserved a name. After thinking for a while, Qi Tian decided to call it the Soul-Suppressing Buddha Bead.

After taking one more look around his sea of consciousness, Qi Tian withdrew his awareness, then controlled the Life Crystal Core to shed its golden-body form.

In the next instant, his ten-meter-tall golden Buddha body transformed into a two-meter-tall flesh-and-blood one. His golden skin returned to its original yellow hue, and he looked exactly as he had in his previous life.

His eyes were clear and serene, and his handsome features held a hint of gentleness. Long black hair fell down his back, while the golden kasaya draped over both shoulders became a simple, slightly fitted white robe. At a glance, he inspired goodwill.

Standing on the altar, Qi Tian looked at Jin Shi and the other two kneeling below him. Smiling, he raised one hand, and an invisible force "helped" the three men to their feet.

"Rise."

Hearing Qi Tian's heavenly, ethereal voice by their ears and feeling a force gently lift them, the three hurriedly thanked him.

"Thank you, Buddha Lord."

Looking at Jin Shi and the others, Qi Tian felt a wave of emotion. After years of change, the primitives who had once worn animal skins around their waists and gone barefoot and bare-chested now wore fine silk and draped sable furs over their shoulders.

He hadn't watched them grow up, but he had watched them change over the decades—from weak people struggling to survive the planet's beasts to the three strongest beings on the entire planet.

From years of observing them, Qi Tian knew that the three men had very different personalities. Jin Shi struck him as upright and steady, and he acted swiftly and decisively.

Yet as the clan's leader, he never resorted to excessive cruelty. Without Qi Tian, Jin Shi would have been the anchor of their tribe.

Iron Hand had a fierce temperament and loved fighting. He devoted himself to studying combat techniques and wasn't good at managing his people. Unless Qi Tian gave him an order, he paid little attention to most outside affairs.

Mulberry Leaf was gentle-tempered and likewise ignored everything unless Qi Tian spoke.

He often wandered alone around the planet, traveling among its mountains and rivers. Unless he was at the Holy Temple worshiping Qi Tian, he was usually a disheveled, carefree wanderer.

Back when Qi Tian had been a Stone, he hadn't felt this way. Now, his new body was no longer the one from his previous life. It had instead been reconstituted from Golden Liquid.

This gave him the feeling that the three men before him were all his sons: they had been transformed by his blood and were descendants who carried his bloodline. The ten thousand Gold Soul Clan members on the planet were no different.

Among those ten thousand Gold Soul Clan members, some had belonged to the original clans. He had transformed them all by giving them diluted Golden Liquid, granting them golden bodies and making them members of the new Gold Soul Clan.

Others had been born over the past few decades through marriage and union. They, too, carried the Gold Soul Clan bloodline.

At first, Qi Tian had transformed these people partly out of self-interest, wanting them to spread his faith and strengthen him.

But after the terrifying pressure of will had caused his old body to collapse and he had replaced it with a new one, he had developed a sense of responsibility that came from his "bloodline."

Through their bloodline, Qi Tian sensed the depth of their faith. Of all the believers on the planet, the three of them were the most devoted. If Qi Tian gave the word, they would face death without hesitation.

There were many others across the planet whose faith came close to matching theirs. For example, the current clan chief, who managed the Gold Soul Clan's affairs large and small, was almost as devoted to Qi Tian as Jin Shi and the other two.

The Gold Soul Clan's chief was Stone, the frail child who had been born with a heart condition.

After being transformed by Qi Tian's Golden Liquid—which, given the circumstances, could now also be called Qi Tian's blood—Stone had regained his health decades ago. Now, only Jin Shi and the other two surpassed him in strength.

Qi Tian had given Stone a new lease on life, bringing his faith in Qi Tian almost to its peak. Even after he grew up, Stone continued to spread that faith.

Once Jin Shi and the others felt the entire planet had been unified, they began to withdraw from public life and stay by Buddha Lord's side. The management of the Gold Soul Clan and the planet's development thus fell to Stone.

The planet's civilization was underdeveloped. Without Qi Tian's influence, its people would probably still be living in the tribal era. They would never have built city after city as they had now.

That was why none of the people here had surnames. They named their children simply so they could address one another more easily. Most names were formed by clan elders arbitrarily combining an object with a time or number.

Even after decades of development, the Gold Soul Clan had become the strongest species on the planet, yet it still kept to the old naming customs. Most names were chosen quite casually.

Now that Qi Tian was the Father God who had created them, he couldn't let them keep naming themselves so casually. So he decided to bestow his own surname upon them.

"Clan members, gather at the Holy Temple."

Through their bloodline, Qi Tian sent a command to the minds of the ten thousand Gold Soul Clan members on the planet, summoning them to the Holy Temple where he was.

"It's Buddha Lord! That's Buddha Lord's voice!"

"Buddha Lord has descended! He's calling us!"

The instant Qi Tian spoke, every Gold Soul Clan member heard his voice in their mind. They hurried from every corner of the planet toward the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Land.