Igniting the Will Divine Fire

Qi Tian's consciousness settled into the Consciousness Sea Space, and he examined its interior.

The distinct regions of golden mist and Blood-colored Mist had changed very little. Only the Golden Liquid in the golden mist region had liquefied a little faster.

Then he turned his attention to the Life Crystal Core and carefully recalled the information about the Innate Secret Technique, Indestructible Golden Body.

When the bloodlines of ten thousand Gold Soul Clan members had resonated earlier, this new innate ability had suddenly appeared in the Consciousness Sea Space. He had learned how to perform one Innate Secret Technique, but understood none of its mysteries.

The Golden Body was very simple to perform. Its process seemed engraved in the consciousness of every Gold Soul Clan member, and the transformation could be completed with a mere thought, as naturally as breathing.

Qi Tian used the innate ability again, transforming into the Golden Buddha Form. His strength and consciousness were amplified threefold. He had known this from the start, and it was true for every Gold Soul Clan member, including himself.

But now, as he examined the transformation closely, he noticed a slight difference. In Golden Buddha Form, not only were his strength and consciousness amplified, but his perception of the world around him also became much clearer.

To test his impression, he released golden energy that enveloped his body and sensed how well he could control the world within its range. Sure enough, his control over it had also increased threefold.

Qi Tian then calmed himself and carefully sensed the changes in the golden energy. He could vaguely detect a strange fluctuation!

It was a fluctuation from the vast Universe Origin!

But the strange fluctuation seemed to be hidden beneath layer upon layer of gauze, making it extremely difficult for Qi Tian to sense.

He could detect it only because his perception had tripled in Golden Buddha Form. The moment he left that form, the strange fluctuation vanished.

Over the next few days, Qi Tian devoted himself entirely to sensing the strange fluctuation. During that time, he slowly increased the density of his golden energy and improved his control over the surrounding space.

This discovery showed Qi Tian the direction he should take to grow stronger, so he no longer had to grope around blindly.

Then he stopped his attempts to sense the fluctuation and turned his attention to the other aspect of his Innate Secret Technique: Undying.

According to the information in his consciousness, Undying was a method for strengthening his will and soul. It did not act directly on either of them, but provided a way to train and temper them.

"Light the Will Divine Fire?"

Qi Tian murmured softly. Then, following the process that seemed engraved in the memories of his Consciousness Sea, he began to meditate.

As his consciousness slowly quieted, a faint glimmer appeared above the head of the Lotus Throne Buddha-Demon Statue in the Consciousness Sea Space.

Qi Tian sensed the glimmer too. It flickered like a candle in the wind, but as he focused his will, it grew brighter.

One minute... ten minutes... one hour...

"Whoosh!"

As Qi Tian concentrated his will, the glimmer took tangible form in an instant, becoming a tiny flame.

"It's so warm."

Qi Tian felt the heat radiating from the faint flame. The golden mist in his Consciousness Sea Space made his body feel comfortable and his mind clear.

But the Will Divine Fire now made him feel as if his soul had found a haven. For the first time, his otherwise formless will seemed to have found somewhere to belong.

"Now that I've lit the Will Divine Fire, the next step is to let it burn my will..."

Qi Tian controlled the Life Crystal Core that housed his soul and slowly brought it closer to the faint Will Divine Fire.

Then he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the extreme pain of having his soul burned, as described by the innate ability.

"Boom!"

The moment the Life Crystal Core entered the Will Divine Fire, an unimaginable, terrible pain surged out of it. It was as if some monster were trying to claw its way out of his soul.

They were the fear, unease, confusion, and other negative feelings he had accumulated in his previous life as an ordinary person.

Qi Tian had always thought that, as he grew older in his previous life, the unpleasant memories and emotions from his childhood had all faded away.

Only now did he realize that he had merely hidden those negative emotions deep inside, where the hardships of adult life had dulled them and the immense pressures of society had buried them.

Qi Tian felt the negative emotions in his soul being burned away, little by little. Those unpleasant feelings surged through his memories again and again, forcing him to relive how he had felt back then.

"They were just worries from when I was weak, fears from when I was ignorant. Get out of me!"

Qi Tian endured the pain in his soul. As his will was worn away, it also grew, becoming stronger bit by bit.

During that time, his consciousness could catch its breath between waves of pain. To distract himself from the terrible agony of his soul burning, he tried to find something else to do.

Sensing the wondrous fluctuation in the world around him was out of the question, so he could only turn to some kind of physical activity. After thinking it over, the only way he could think of to vent his strength was the most primitive one.

And so he flew out of the Gold Soul Clan Sacred Hall at top speed, heading to the other side of the planet, far from the mainland. Then he plunged into the unfathomably deep ocean.

Beneath the sea, Qi Tian floated in a chasm on the ocean floor that seemed like an abyss. The pain of his burning soul made him radiate a terrifying aura, sending the enormous fish sleeping in the chasm fleeing in every direction.

"Thud!"

Qi Tian threw a full-force punch at the chasm wall. The tremendous shock traveled hundreds of kilometers, stirring up a small undersea current.

The punch used no energy and controlled none of the world around him; it was purely the strength of his body. It gave Qi Tian a faint sense of relief, and the pain of his burning soul seemed to ease a little.

Seeing that it helped, Qi Tian kept throwing punches to wear out his physical strength. Gradually, he switched to palm strikes, whipping kicks, and headbutts...

He did whatever came most naturally and felt best. Before long, he even began to sense something else, something wondrous.

"Throwing punches like this seems to draw more strength from my muscles. No, that doesn't feel right. I have to do it this way."

"Whoa, that headbutt shook my brains around a little, but it felt great. I hope I'm not awakening something weird."

"Take this, Great Heavenly Creation Palm! No, wait, it's the Buddha's Palm!"

As he threw punches and kicks, Qi Tian's consciousness unknowingly sank into a peculiar state of enlightenment. Again and again, he experimented with the ways of attacking that felt "right" to him.

"Add energy to it, then punch like this. Too far off. Change it to this..."

"Ha... that's the feeling. This is right. Very right."

As Qi Tian attacked again and again, he unconsciously stopped limiting himself to the strength of his body. He began to channel the energy inside him too, and eventually even summoned golden energy to envelop and empower himself.

With each succession of punches and palm strikes, energy surged outward. The currents on the ocean floor became waves tens of thousands of meters high, each wave piling on the next like a world-ending catastrophe in the making.