Divine Soul

Three months later, the moon hung high at midnight, its cold radiance spilling everywhere.

Yu Chen sat upright at the center of the ritual ground, his fingers forming a hand seal as he meditated upon emptiness. This was where the spiritual currents of the ritual ground converged. With every breath Yu Chen took, vital energy flowed into his mouth and nose, following his meridians into the inner circulation of his mana.

When one reached the middle stage of the Human Immortal realm and condensed essence to open the meridians, the greatest difficulty was clearing the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians. Yet for Yu Chen, who had been born with all hundred meridians open, this was no problem at all. Instead, the precise control required to form an inner circulation of mana had held him up for quite some time.

Today, Yu Chen had finally brought the circulation of his mana to perfection. Through repeated meditation, his soul had also washed away every stray thought born of acquired emotions, and he began attempting to sublimate his soul into a divine soul.

He closed his eyes. Seeing nothing and hearing nothing, he rectified his heart and clarified his intent, calmed his breath and preserved his thoughts, gathering in his acquired emotions until he gradually reached a state where his heart was like still water. Then, from the utmost stillness, wisdom arose; within that spiritual wisdom, he contemplated the Dao.

Spirituality merged into his soul along with his divine sense. At once, threads of light came from every direction, flowing without end into Yu Chen's soul.

At first, Yu Chen's soul had blurred features that could not be seen clearly. But as thread after thread of light merged into it, its brows and eyes gradually solidified, and its features became clearer bit by bit.

At the same time, a snake pattern emerged between his brows, while two serpent shadows gradually gathered in his hands. One was black and one was white. The black serpent had long, narrow scales that carried a faint resemblance to crow feathers. The white serpent's scales around its neck were smooth and supple, somewhat like fur. Yet before either could fully take shape, several hundred talismanic characters appeared out of thin air, descending from above like a meteor shower.

Some of these talismanic characters were as large as stars, dazzling with brilliance; others were like fireflies, dim and faint.

Yet they shared one thing in common: once they merged into Yu Chen's soul, a glassy radiance appeared upon it.

Encircled by the talismanic characters, the two serpent shadows were twisted out of shape and transformed into black-and-white patterns. Woven by the talismanic characters, they became a yin-yang Daoist robe draped over Yu Chen's soul. Within the serpent shadows, two specks of faint light intertwined and merged into the snake pattern between Yu Chen's brows, becoming a serpentine mark flowing with black-and-white glimmers.

Then, talismanic characters interlaced above and below, forming a Daoist robe embroidered all over with them and draping it over Yu Chen. Mysterious patterns upon the robe intertwined, merged, and shifted, eventually forming linked wholes under the influence of the serpentine mark between Yu Chen's brows. Upon closer examination, these patterns were precisely the incantation texts and treasure talismans of the spells Yu Chen knew.

Yet six talismanic characters hovered to one side, each standing on its own. Seeing them, Yu Chen reached out and beckoned.

Of the six talismanic characters, one shone with dazzling brilliance, one glimmered dimly, and the other four were difficult to rank above or below one another. They were the six great incantations Yu Chen cultivated: the Golden Light Mantra, Purifying Heart Incantation, Purifying Mouth Incantation, Purifying Body Incantation, Purify Heaven and Earth Spell, and Incense Offering Mantra.

Answering Yu Chen's summons, they immediately gathered around him. The Golden Light Mantra shone the brightest and was the first to merge into Yu Chen's soul, becoming a halo behind the head of his divine soul, like the radiance blooming from between the brows behind the heads of gods and Buddhas. It illuminated his sea of consciousness with brilliant light.

The Purifying Heart Incantation, Purifying Mouth Incantation, and Purifying Body Incantation shone somewhat less brightly, but they influenced one another and followed close behind the Golden Light Mantra. They transformed into a lotus crown that settled atop Yu Chen's divine soul.

The Purify Heaven and Earth Spell was not much weaker than those three. It merely fought alone, making it slightly slower than the first three, but the changes it brought about far surpassed those of the Purifying Heart Incantation, Purifying Mouth Incantation, and Purifying Body Incantation.

Once the Purify Heaven and Earth Spell descended, a layer of glassy radiance immediately emerged across the surface of the sea of consciousness beneath Yu Chen's feet, where it was illuminated by the Golden Light Mantra. It spread outward at a visible speed, covering all directions.

Beginning beneath Yu Chen's feet, each inch the glassy radiance spread caused a trace of the waters of his sea of consciousness to solidify. In the end, the sea of consciousness around Yu Chen condensed into a treasure ground, emitting a faint glow of wisdom.

Finally, the dimmest Incense Offering Mantra descended upon the treasure ground and transformed into curling wisps of smoke. They coiled around the feet of Yu Chen's divine soul, flowing over the treasure ground, rolling and shifting like auspicious clouds, yet also like a lotus dais.

Seeing this, Yu Chen was overjoyed.

According to what Yu Chen knew, a person's sea of consciousness was generally formed from the accumulation of acquired awareness, thoughts, and memories.

In theory, an ordinary person's memories, five senses, and thoughts from birth to death all existed within the sea of consciousness. Some sank to the seabed and were difficult to trace, while others floated upon the surface and could be recalled with ease.

Ordinary people could not control all of their own consciousness. Those forgotten and settled memories would, with the passage of time and under the influence of other memories, become disordered. This was why people often felt they had seen something somewhere before, or confused one thing for another, putting Zhang's hat on Li's head.

Moreover, memories of sorrow, rage, and pain were more likely to leave a deep impression and influence related memories. After experiencing certain events, people could easily be suddenly stirred and fall into extreme emotions.

As a result, the depths of an ordinary person's sea of consciousness were usually exceedingly murky and dangerous.

This was also why cultivators often practiced sitting in oblivion and meditation, emptying their minds: to strengthen their control over their own sea of consciousness.

Now that Yu Chen's soul had transformed into a divine soul and taken command within his sea of consciousness, the mental power accumulated by the Golden Light Mantra was like a great sun illuminating that sea. It pressed the surface of the sea until no waves arose, firmly guarding his mind and reducing the interference his memories caused him.

But the Golden Light Mantra's power was ultimately limited. Although it could illuminate the surface of the sea of consciousness with incomparable clarity, dark currents still surged in its depths. Should it be eroded by external forces in the future, it could still easily be affected. This could not be considered an effective defense.

At this point, the treasure ground formed by the Purify Heaven and Earth Spell became exceedingly important. In Yu Chen's perception, this glassy treasure ground was itself an accumulation of his mental power and his comprehension of countless principles. Within the sea of consciousness, it was nearly material. This also meant that even if Yu Chen's mind were struck and his divine soul fell asleep in the future, he would not need to worry about others entering his sea of consciousness at will and probing his secrets.

As for the final Incense Offering Mantra, it had originally been a method for conveying one's thoughts and sending messages to ancestors, patriarchs, the gods of the heavens, exalted sages, and perfected beings. But after Yu Chen obtained a fragment of the White Lotus Sect's secret transmission, the Free and Easy Treasure Scroll, he had incorporated part of divine path cultivation into it. This extended some profound mysteries of treating oneself as a god and praying to oneself, allowing it to nourish the soul and protect the divine soul with incense offerings.

Though the Incense Offering Mantra's radiance was dim now, Yu Chen's improved realm, along with the extreme sensitivity to talismanic characters and talismans granted by the Earthly Fiend Art: Talisman Water True Intent, had greatly accelerated its progress. In merely half a month, it had equaled the Golden Light Mantra after half a year of recitation.

After bringing every change from his breakthrough under control, then drawing in vital energy to complete his first internal refinement, Yu Chen suppressed the joy in his heart and slowly opened his eyes. During his cultivation just now, the spiritual currents around him had been washed and purified by the vital energy. The ritual ground had also gained a trace of profundity, becoming more closely attuned to Yu Chen's own aura as a whole.

If this continues, won't my ritual ground be sublimated along with my cultivation into a spiritual realm, perhaps even becoming the embryonic form of a grotto-heaven blessed land? The thought flashed through Yu Chen's mind. Then he extended a finger and lightly tapped the air. Within his sea of consciousness, one talismanic character on his divine soul's ritual robe faintly shone, and a large bluestone rose into the air.

The Transportation Technique recorded in the Yin Talisman Treasure Register is originally just a worthless thing among the unorthodox side paths. Its structure is simple, and its limits are low. Even after my optimization, it can at most move something weighing sixty jin. To move anything heavier, the mana and mental energy consumed will increase geometrically with the weight.

Yu Chen summoned the bluestone before himself, propped it up with one hand, and roughly estimated its weight.

But now, with a single thought, I can move a bluestone weighing over a hundred jin without feeling much consumption. This has already exceeded the changes brought by the Earthly Fiend Art: Talisman Water True Intent. It should be a change brought by my cultivation method and realm. It seems the bonus my newly integrated cultivation method provides for talismans has increased again. If I use this for Foundation Establishment, I wonder whether it will affect my future qi refinement.

Thinking of this, Yu Chen sighed inwardly. In the end, I have too few qi refinement methods at hand. Even with a cheat helping me deduce them, I cannot create something from nothing or mold it out of thin air. It is time to leave as well.