Chen Changsheng looked at Ouyang reluctantly and said, "Senior Brother, I don't want to draw that filthy stuff anymore!"
"What are you saying? What kind of talk is that? When would I ever make you draw anything filthy? I'm talking serious business!" Ouyang looked at Chen Changsheng, his face dark with exasperation. He had only asked him to draw a few educational picture books. Did he really have to hold on to that until now?
Ouyang said solemnly, "I have a plan. Let me explain it to you two, and you can see whether there's a way to make it work."
"Although Junior Brother Xiao had his root bone dug out and his dantian destroyed, neither actually had much effect on his innate aptitude. Rather than cultivating immortality, Junior Brother Xiao could absolutely take the path of body cultivation!" Ouyang said after considering his words.
Xiao Feng gave a bitter smile. "Eldest Senior Brother, even if I didn't take the path of body cultivation, no other path is open to me. The main problem is that body cultivation methods were lost back in the Elder Ancient Era!"
"The body cultivation method I'm talking about is one I came up with myself," Ouyang told the two of them smugly.
Even if they had no cultivation method, there was a reincarnated Ancient Sword Immortal sitting right in their courtyard. What cultivation method would a Sword Immortal not know? At worst, he could fish a little information out of Bai Feiyu and pry a few peerless cultivation methods from his mouth.
Seeing Xiao Feng and Chen Changsheng's puzzled expressions, Ouyang said with some pride, "I want Junior Brother Changsheng to use Junior Brother Xiao Feng's body as a canvas and tattoo several divine beasts representing the different attributes onto him. I'll awaken the intelligence of the divine beasts you draw, letting them replace Junior Brother Xiao Feng's dantian, absorb Heaven and Earth Essence, and feed it back into his flesh!"
Xiao Feng and Chen Changsheng were utterly stunned!
Why did awakening intelligence sound as commonplace as cabbages when the words slipped so easily from Ouyang's mouth?
Xiao Feng, who had only just joined the sect, still had no idea how difficult it was to awaken intelligence in an inanimate object, but Chen Changsheng knew perfectly well.
It was as bizarre as a rock growing a pair of legs all on its own, without any human intervention, and starting to run!
But having witnessed Ouyang do something like that before, Chen Changsheng did not find it quite so hard to accept.
Still doubtful, however, Chen Changsheng said, "Senior Brother, we experimented with awakening divine beasts' intelligence before, but it always brought down heavenly punishment. The newly born divine beasts were blasted into ash, and we suffered quite a bit along with them. Can we really awaken intelligence in inanimate objects?"
Ouyang nodded. "Honestly, I'm not too sure either. But I got the inspiration from the Paper Cranes the sect leader made and the Stone Lion I accidentally created before. When we awaken the intelligence of a divine beast we draw, it naturally can't survive the lightning tribulation without a corresponding physical body. But this time, the divine beasts we draw will already be one with Junior Brother Xiao. If they have a physical body, wouldn't they be able to pass the heavenly tribulation safely?"
Ouyang's idea was bold, but not without reason. Putting it into practice, however, would be far too dangerous. Once they drew down a heavenly tribulation, they would either survive it safely or perish, their cultivation extinguished with them. There was no third possibility.
They would be gambling with a life. It was simply too dangerous!
Chen Changsheng refused outright. "No. Although there's nothing wrong with the theory, Junior Brother Xiao will die if it fails. There won't be any way to undo it!"
"I want to try!" Xiao Feng said instead.
From a peerless genius to the useless wreck he was now, Xiao Feng had already suffered far too much injustice.
After losing his dantian, he had never again sensed Heaven and Earth Essence. Although Heaven and Earth Essence automatically nourished his flesh when he trained his body, he had no ability to perceive it!
Now that he had heard there was a chance to sense Heaven and Earth Essence again, Xiao Feng would try even if it killed him!
"No! You'd be staking your life on this! I won't agree!" Chen Changsheng flatly refused once more. He did not want the future Humanity’s Great Emperor to accidentally die at his hands.
The Humanity’s Great Emperor who would one day lead the Human Race out of the Despair Abyss could not be allowed to perish so easily at his hands. Even for the sake of the Human Race's future alone, Chen Changsheng could never agree to this.
Xiao Feng dropped to his knees with a thud and looked earnestly at Chen Changsheng. "Third Senior Brother, a man's knees are worth their weight in gold. He kneels only to heaven and earth, his parents, and his teachers. But if you agree to this, then to me, Xiao Feng, it will be a kindness equal to giving me a second life!"
Chen Changsheng looked at Xiao Feng kneeling before him. Seeing the future Humanity’s Great Emperor begging him on his knees like this, he could not help feeling a pang of pity.
Ouyang stood to one side without joining in. After all, his idea was far too wild and unrestrained, with nothing to use as a precedent. He was gambling entirely on Xiao Feng's status as a Child of Heaven's Will, so he could not insist on sending Xiao Feng to his death.
The room fell silent, but Chen Changsheng still could not make up his mind.
Just then, the door to Ouyang's room was suddenly pushed open. Bai Feiyu walked in, looked at the three of them, and said with a smile, "I've heard of a body cultivation method from the Elder Ancient Era. Eldest Senior Brother's idea isn't entirely without precedent!"
It really is wonderful having a reincarnated Ancient Sword Immortal at home!
Look, he's delivering cultivation methods right to our door!
Ouyang could no longer be bothered about Bai Feiyu eavesdropping outside. He hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Xiao Bai, you've heard of body cultivation methods from the Elder Ancient Era?"
Bai Feiyu nodded. "When I was still in the mortal world, I met an old beggar. He once told me that in ancient times, mighty body cultivators used the essence souls of Fierce Beasts as vessels to temper their own flesh. That happens to coincide with the idea Eldest Senior Brother just proposed."
An old beggar met by chance, a wandering vagrant...
Listening to Bai Feiyu spin his story out of thin air, Ouyang did not expose him. He simply turned to Chen Changsheng and said, "Third Junior Brother, why don't we really give it a try?"
Chen Changsheng glanced at Bai Feiyu, who nodded back at him. Only then did he reluctantly say, "What does Eldest Senior Brother want me to draw?"
Ouyang answered without hesitation, "Divine beasts corresponding to the five elements, of course. Azure Dragon on the left, White Tiger on the right, Vermilion Bird above, Black Tortoise below. The old ox... no, Qilin in the middle."
"Holy shit! So this is where the Five Directional Divine Beasts came from!" Chen Changsheng was aghast!
In the future, after Xiao Feng became Humanity’s Great Emperor and led the Human Race against the great calamity of heaven and earth, the Five Directional Divine Beasts would gather at his side. With their help, Xiao Feng would turn defeat into victory time and again, leading the Human Race to one triumph after another!
Only then would Xiao Feng's name, as one of the Five Directional Emperors, shake the universe!
Fuck! The future Humanity’s Great Emperor's Five Directional Divine Beasts were actually drawn by me!
Chen Changsheng's eyes widened involuntarily as he stared blankly at Xiao Feng kneeling on the floor, unable to wrap his mind around it.
The Humanity’s Great Emperor of my previous life, who had been so far beyond my reach, was actually my own creation?
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