Although Nahida could indeed use her authority over Dendro to help ordinary people without soul power undergo a second awakening, she could not awaken someone halfway across the continent through the dream world.
Thus, Nahida's approach was to directly spread the mental power cultivation method she had developed, the Pure Good Heart Sutra.
She would have them work hard to cultivate spiritual imprints themselves, both to make it easier for Ji Feng to kindly borrow their martial souls and to let them connect to Nahida's dream space and contribute soul power and mental power.
Kokomi pointed out that if a foreign deity openly promoted a cultivation method, practically desperate for everyone to start cultivating it immediately, the major factions and even ordinary people would certainly become suspicious. But if she imposed all sorts of barriers, they would stop doubting her and actively seek to cultivate it instead.
Ji Feng was willing to dub her devious, scheming little Kokomi.
The restriction Nahida had designed did indeed prevent cultivators from actively teaching it to others, but anyone who wanted to learn could simply examine it with soul power and imitate the cultivation method. That made the barrier to secretly learning it very low!
Nahida had deliberately simplified it in many ways for precisely that reason. She had even developed it directly from the most widespread cultivation method on the Douluo Continent, all to make it easy to learn in secret. Ideally, one glance would tell people how to practice the Pure Good Heart Sutra.
Even so, it was still a mental power enhancement technique capable of producing spiritual imprints, and its inherent requirements were simply too difficult to lower. Ji Feng could only pray that the people of the Douluo Continent were clever enough. If that really did not work, he would have to consider taking on another identity and spreading it himself.
The first batch of inheritors of the God of Wisdom's teachings numbered roughly a thousand, which was already Nahida's limit. To honor her proclamation, Nahida had given eighty percent of those places to ordinary people with zero innate soul power, while the remaining twenty percent had all gone to soul masters with grass-attribute martial souls.
After all, this cultivation method worked best for soul masters with grass-attribute martial souls.
If ordinary people persistently cultivated the Pure Good Heart Sutra, not only would their mental power improve, but there was indeed a chance their martial souls would transform through a second awakening. That chance was very low, however. Nahida estimated it at only around two percent, though a grass-attribute or mental-attribute martial soul should raise the success rate to twenty percent.
But even a second awakening did not guarantee that the resulting martial soul would be powerful.
Nahida also offered another path, however. Those who spread her teachings to enough people could exchange their contribution points with her for an awakening opportunity.
Nahida had even thoughtfully set aside the Dendro Archon's Vision martial soul. If an ordinary person formed an imprint through their own efforts, Nahida would directly transform their martial soul into a Dendro Archon's Vision martial soul. Their innate soul power would range from rank two to rank seven, depending on the strength of their faith in her.
Its actual strength should be similar to a weakened Dendro martial soul, but its possibilities had been expanded, making it compatible with more soul beasts.
In short, the Sanctuary of Surasthana's groundwork was complete. Ji Feng only needed to wait for it to bear fruit, and he would gain not only mental power and soul power, but also a myriad of martial souls. He could even get an organization of followers and their faith for free.
Ji Feng declared this the most satisfying experience he had had since awakening his Genshin Impact martial soul. A divine character really was on a different level from a certain Miss Sangonomiya who preferred to remain anonymous.
Returning with breakfast, Kokomi could not help asking the moment she walked through the door, "Why are you still using Nahida's body?"
Some time had already passed since Nahida had convened the dream gathering, yet Ji Feng was still wearing Nahida's appearance. With those two delicate, pale jade legs crossed in a jaunty pose, the little goddess lounged bonelessly on the sofa.
"It took a lot out of me, so I'm taking a break. Besides..." Nahida gave an adorable, mischievous grin. "A mortal like you could never understand the joys of being a god!"
Kokomi could not be bothered to respond and sat down in the living room to enjoy breakfast.
Seeing this, Nahida asked in surprise, "Wait a second, why are you eating?"
"Why can't I eat?" Kokomi had not expected to be criticized merely for having a meal. She immediately narrowed her watery eyes. "You're not planning to treat me like a slave, are you?"
"No, no!" Realizing Kokomi had misunderstood, Nahida hurriedly waved her little hands.
The exquisite, aloof child goddess from the sky screen really looked like a adorably clueless little girl now.
She hastily explained, "Don't misunderstand! I mean, you're a summoned character. Your body is a projection constructed from soul power, so you don't need to eat at all!"
"..." Kokomi stopped what she was doing, seemingly only just realizing that herself, then said, "There's nothing wrong with eating if I want to, though!"
"I never said you couldn't! I was just asking!" Nahida said in a sweet, soft, coy voice. Then she walked over to Kokomi on her short little legs, climbed into her lap, and opened her cherry-like mouth with an "Ah," signaling for Kokomi to feed her.
Kokomi was a little overwhelmed by how cute she was. Blushing faintly, she picked up a small steamed bun with her chopsticks and fed it to Nahida.
Ji Feng felt utterly delighted. Sitting in a beauty's lap and being fed-now this was the proper start for a transmigrator. Although he was a little beauty himself right now, if he turned back into a man, how could Kokomi's slender little limbs possibly accommodate him?
After eating and drinking his fill, Ji Feng decided to begin his martial soul awakening! He had spent quite enough time as a woman! He was going to build a harem!
Being a beauty was nice, but having no style simply would not do!
Kokomi elegantly crossed her beautiful legs and watched from a distance.
Ji Feng controlled two bodies alone. Nahida floated in midair with a focused gaze, while Ji Feng's eyes on the other side were unfocused. To give his martial soul form, he had transferred almost all his consciousness into Nahida's body.
Nahida drew a deep breath, her expression composed. She needed to completely sever a portion of her own authority, and the pain was easy enough to imagine. Even Nahida herself would probably not devote her all to reducing herself to nourishment.
But who could help it when Ji Feng was Nahida right now?
By the same token, he would also have to bear all that torment, enough to overturn his divine soul and drive pain into the very marrow of his bones!
"All right! Here we go!"
Nahida's expression was grave, yet incomparably resolute!
For the sake of having style, for the sake of building a harem-what did he have to fear from any amount of pain?!
A brilliant, lustrous, pale green glow abruptly emerged around Nahida, enveloping both figures in an instant.
The vitality of plants flowed unrestrained, interwoven with the ethereal haze unique to the laws of dreams, staining the entire space with a bewitching green light.
Rooted deep within her divine soul, Nahida's exclusive laws of dreams, along with a strand of pure primordial power, were forcibly shaken, torn, and ripped free by an unyielding will.
The agony of her divine soul's upheaval seared itself into her bones and heart. Nahida clenched her teeth, revealing Ji Feng's resolute determination!
Hold on!
The essence of Nahida's divine soul began to separate. Every tug and every severance brought agony like her soul was being ripped apart. Her eyes nearly rolled white, saliva gathered at the corners of her mouth, and she was almost insensible, yet she forced the ritual onward with the last thread of her stubborn resolve.
Just then, however, an unexpected change occurred.
With the soul nearly shattered and no longer whole, the consciousness belonging to the real Nahida herself actually began to emerge.
She watched the scene from a third-party perspective, a little curiosity on her face and a faint smile on her lips.
She could have interfered immediately and made the ritual fail, but Nahida was kind by nature, and she also did not think making him hate her was a good choice.
Through Ji Feng's memories, Nahida already knew what this summoner was doing. After summoning her, he had occupied her consciousness without so much as a word and now wanted to separate her authority from her. Seeing him reap what he had sown and receive this retribution, Nahida could not help feeling a little secret delight.
When she thought of how Sangonomiya Kokomi could freely use her body while her own was occupied all day, leaving her without even the freedom to think, even the good-tempered Nahida could not help resenting his failure to recognize what stood before him.
I'm the real God of Wisdom! Could I possibly lose to some little shrine maiden as a strategist?
Even Kokomi could realize that this body was only a projection, so how could Nahida fail to realize it? Even for the summoner's sake alone, she would never do anything to betray him. At most, she would simply offer him plenty of encouragement to do good.
Nahida felt she did not particularly mind having a portion of her authority taken away. She was only a projection, after all. She even felt that if Ji Feng had asked properly, she would have been willing to help of her own accord.
That way, the process would not have been so painful, either. As a deity, Nahida's ability to endure pain far surpassed Ji Feng's. Seeing him in this state, she could only think he had brought this suffering upon himself.
Nahida had thought Ji Feng would soon cancel the ritual because the pain was too great. She had even planned what to say during the negotiations afterward, confident that a few words would make Ji Feng bow his head in submission.
Because of the extreme pain, Ji Feng's extraction process had already become severely distorted. Nahida even doubted he could successfully complete it. Ji Feng himself should also have known that persisting now was utterly meaningless.
Whether separating authority or bestowing a martial soul, both were exceptionally delicate operations. Attempting them while in extreme pain was incredibly foolish, and Nahida knew she would never proceed in this manner.
"Your persistence is meaningless. What puzzles me is that you clearly don't need to do this, do you?"
Yet amid that extreme agony, Nahida discovered that the precision of Ji Feng's work was actually recovering little by little. She could scarcely believe it. What kind of obsession was supporting him this far?
"With my authority, you should know that whether it's changing your sex or anything else, this process needn't be so difficult. Rather than separating my authority and giving it to your original body, wouldn't it be better to simply abandon that body and turn mine into an adult man's?"
Nahida's soul floated beside the Nahida possessed by Ji Feng, utterly puzzled.
This was the optimal solution reached by the God of Wisdom. He could fulfill his wish without enduring any pain. She did not understand what there was to cling to along this mistaken path of suffering.
In the next instant, the young divine body, which had been trembling faintly as it endured the agony, abruptly went still.
"Should I give up on building a harem with my original body just because it hurts?"
"Maybe that's the right path, but it's also-"
"A coward's choice!"
The eyes that had just rolled white from the tearing of his divine soul instantly shed all their weakness and unfocused haze. Within those clear emerald irises, only a sharp light of unflinching resolve remained.
"I'm going to build a harem with my own body!! And turning a beautiful girl into a man-how could I possibly accept that?!"
Watching her own body shout those words, Nahida felt it was very hard to keep a straight face.
"I, Lesser Lord Kusanali, am willing to call you a marvel among men," Nahida said, rather speechless.
Then she saw Ji Feng truly wrench himself out of the pain. After that, as though aided by a god, he forcibly crammed her dream authority into his original body.
Yes, he had crammed it in very crudely. All she could say was that, fortunately, martial souls were one of the Douluo Continent's fundamental laws, and the world's will had helped stabilize his martial soul. Otherwise, Nahida would have doubted whether it could succeed at all.
Immediately afterward, however, Ji Feng lost consciousness and fainted, allowing Nahida to return to her own body.
Before you continue