[Leave your brains here]
[Before you read]
[A mindless power fantasy with a chaotic timeline-after all, the author is a hopeless illiterate!]
[But the author has done everything possible, just hoping to write a power fantasy everyone will enjoy!]
[Dear readers, if anything displeases you, please forgive me. (I'll get on my knees first!)]
"If there truly is a god-"
"Please open your eyes and look upon these suffering souls!"
"Please have mercy and grant me the power to save my mother!"
The boy's hoarse, grief-stricken cries echoed through the dilapidated Mountain God Temple.
He was drenched in blood.
An unconscious girl was bound tightly to his back with cloth straps, and both his knees slammed heavily against the cold floor.
He pressed his forehead hard against the flagstones.
Once.
Then again.
Blood trickled down his brow and dripped into the cracks between the stones, blooming into dark crimson flowers.
"I, Yang Jian-"
"Would willingly sink into Tribulation Ash forever, beyond redemption through ten thousand calamities!"
Upon the altar, within the clay idol, a wisp of consciousness slowly awakened.
Gu Changqing.
He had transmigrated to the Primordial World during the Investiture of the Gods era and become the clay idol in this ruined temple.
Countless years had passed.
He had heard far too many cries like these.
Farmers praying for favorable winds and timely rain, scholars praying to see their names on the imperial honors list, travelers praying for immortal destiny to descend upon them...
Without exception.
The incense-fueled Vow Power of their prayers was as feeble as a guttering candle in the wind, utterly incapable of activating the system bound to him.
Over time, he had grown numb.
Like a prisoner sealed inside a shell of clay, he could only watch and listen.
Watch the myriad faces of mortal life, listen to the silence of passing years.
Until today.
This boy who called himself "Yang Jian" was different.
The hatred and defiance within him had almost taken tangible form.
Intense.
Scalding.
Like a wildfire forcibly crushed into his chest, it made the temperature throughout the ruined temple sink several degrees.
More importantly-
The half-burned stick of incense he had lit was no ordinary object.
Its smoke carried the aura of divine bloodlines, mingled with endless karmic resentment.
Karmic Incense.
"Yang Jian..."
Gu Changqing's consciousness trembled slightly.
The Investiture of the Gods era.
His surname was Yang.
His family had been shattered.
He wanted to save his mother.
He knew this name all too well.
The future True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage.
The foremost of the Chan Sect's third-generation disciples.
The Heavenly Court God of War who would attain fleshly sainthood.
Gu Changqing's consciousness, deathly still for countless ages, suddenly boiled to life.
This might be his only chance to escape his clay body.
No-
This was his only chance.
Just as Yang Jian's kowtowing left his head split and bleeding, and his consciousness began to blur, the half-burned incense finally reached its end.
Boom!
An unprecedented torrent of Vow Power, laden with bloodshed and bitter hatred, surged wildly into the idol, flooding the clay figure that had lain dormant for countless ages!
[Ding!] [Incense-fueled Vow Power of sufficient strength detected. Binding requirements met!] [Myriad Worlds Incense-and-Faith Transmission System officially activated!]
The cold, mechanical voice exploded within Gu Changqing's sea of consciousness, like the august decree of the Heavenly Dao.
[Host: Gu Changqing] [Physical form: Clay idol in a ruined temple (immobile)] [Ability: Incense-and-Faith Transmission]
The system's introduction contained only a single sentence, yet it brought Gu Changqing's consciousness to a complete standstill-
[Core rule: After establishing Master-Disciple Karma, you may teach disciples supreme cultivation techniques that transcend the Great Dao framework of the Primordial World. All cultivation, insights, and power of laws generated through a disciple's training will be returned to the host's physical form at a critical multiplier of up to ten thousand times.] [Beginner mission: Accept your first incense-offering disciple and teach him a supreme divine technique.] [Mission reward: Initial fusion of divine soul and idol; a massive increase in cultivation.]
Gu Changqing fell silent for three breaths.
Then an irrepressible smile surfaced deep within his consciousness.
Ten-thousandfold returns.
His disciple would cultivate out in the world while he sat in the temple and reaped the rewards.
The stronger his disciple became, the stronger he would become.
After enduring endless years, his damned cheat... had finally arrived.
His gaze fell upon the blood-soaked boy lying prostrate below.
Yang Jian.
Right now, he was merely a child hunted by the Heavenly Court, a stray dog driven from his home.
But his talent, his innate aptitude, his destiny-
They were worth the gamble.
Gu Changqing made his decision.
"Child."
An ancient, majestic voice drifted out from within the idol.
It was not loud.
Yet it was like a pebble cast into the depths of Yang Jian's muddled consciousness, sending a ring of ripples bursting outward.
Yang Jian abruptly raised his head.
He saw it.
Upon the altar.
That clay idol covered in cobwebs and dust.
Within its eyes-
Two points of golden light flared to life.
Crack.
Crack, crack-
The idol's surface began to fracture.
Streaks of golden radiance burst from the cracks.
The light swept over the cobwebs, the dust, the crumbling walls, and the rotting doors and windows.
The entire ruined temple shone as though a Divine Realm had descended upon the world.
With it came an indescribable, supreme divine might.
The instant that divine might bore down, every bone in Yang Jian's body creaked at once. His spine felt as though an invisible giant hand had pinned it down, and his forehead struck the flagstones again.
He lacked even the strength to raise his head.
He could not even summon the slightest thought of resistance.
Yet his eyes-red and bloodshot-remained fixed upon that golden light, the fractured outline of the idol reflected in his pupils.
"A god... a god..."
Yang Jian's voice had grown utterly hoarse. The words scraped out of his throat like shattered gravel.
"You... have truly manifested?!"
The majestic voice sounded again.
Calm.
Unhurried.
As though discussing some utterly
insignificant trifle.
"I know your wish."
"To defy heaven and alter your fate, you must shoulder supreme karma and cultivate a supreme art."
Yang Jian's breathing abruptly quickened.
The girl on his back remained unconscious.
His fingers dug fiercely into the gaps between the floor tiles, his nails snapping and blood seeping out.
"This disciple... wishes to take you as his master!"
Without hesitation.
Without a moment's doubt.
Yang Jian exhausted the last shred of strength in his body to knock his forehead against the ground.
Boom!
Another surge of Vow Power erupted from within him, entwining with the ashes of the spent incense to form an invisible karmic chain that linked Yang Jian to the idol.
[Ding! Master-Disciple Karma successfully established!] [Beginner mission progress: 1/1]
Gu Changqing's consciousness trembled slightly, and then he spoke.
His voice was measured, each word seemingly carved into Yang Jian's marrow.
"I possess an art called the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force."
"This art uses the flesh as a furnace and the divine soul as its fire, developing divine elephant particles within the body."
"With each particle formed, you gain the raw strength of a Primordial Divine Elephant."
Yang Jian raised his head slightly. Blood obscured half his face, but it could not hide the sudden light blazing in his eyes.
Gu Changqing's voice paused for an instant. His next words fell with unquestionable weight-
"When you have perfected this art, even those gods in heaven will have to clear a path for you."
"Are you willing to learn?"