Soul Shackles
Lei Chong could naturally hear the doubts in Shi Hao's heart.
"Don't worry. Later, spread the word that a month ago, a giant spider was seen fighting the divine statue outside Medicine Capital. In the end, both vanished together, and no one knew where they went. Who would have thought the statue would appear again today?" Lei Chong said calmly.
Lei Chong had killed the Demon Spider, and he alone knew the details. No matter what he said, no one could refute him.
Shi Hao's eyes lit up as he considered whether the plan would work.
Given Demon Spirit Lake's overbearing ways, it would certainly come here to investigate once it heard about this.
It might even enter the imperial capital and question the Rain Clan about the details.
"All right, it's time I left. Be careful here. Demon Spirit Lake will come sooner or later," Lei Chong warned.
Those so-called warnings were actually completely unnecessary.
With Little Pagoda on Shi Hao, what could hurt him?
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Shi Hao said with a slight nod.
As for Little Pagoda on him, he did not want to reveal too much.
"Young man, leave some of the divine decree behind before you go. You've already become entangled in too much karma. You should pass some of it on," Little Pagoda said, slowly floating up.
"Aren't you afraid of karma?" Lei Chong studied Little Pagoda carefully, feeling that he had recognized his identity and wanted to lend him a hand.
"This pagoda became entangled in karma the moment I appeared here. You, on the other hand, have far too much karma on you. It will affect you somewhat," Little Pagoda said, swaying gently.
"All right," Lei Chong agreed with a natural nod.
He took out several pieces of the divine decree and gave them to Shi Hao and Little Pagoda.
He had far too much of the decree in his possession. Most of the entire decree had ended up in his hands; he had not left the Rain Clan even a corner of a fragment.
The decree was, after all, an external aid, and using it too much really was not a good thing.
Shi Hao took the pieces of the decree and ate several of them himself. He affixed several more to the Indestructible Golden Body and began repairing the treasure.
Even Little Pagoda glowed and swallowed several pieces of the decree.
"Little Pagoda, you've taken my decree, so I'm passing some of the karma to you. You'll have to watch my back in the future," Lei Chong said.
"This pagoda does not become entangled in karma. Your karma has already been passed on," Little Pagoda said, swaying gently.
"?" Shi Hao cursed, feeling that Little Pagoda had tricked him again.
Lei Chong did not press the matter further. He left behind a spirit body, while his true body stepped onto the teleportation array and returned to Medicine Capital to continue cultivating.
Medicine Capital!
In a secluded inn, Lei Chong was refining the divine decree.
The decree contained a Divine Being's spiritual imprint, which had a miraculous effect on the primordial spirit once refined.
Hum!
The decree trembled violently, resisting Lei Chong's refinement.
Crack!
Sparks flashed from Lei Chong's palm like countless fine golden needles, piercing the pieces of the decree in his hand and extracting the spiritual imprint within.
Bang!
The decree radiated mystical power. Its special characters slammed into Lei Chong's palm, making it ring with metallic clangs.
But the decree had already been put through an ordeal, and its power had long since been exhausted. The little that remained naturally could not break free of his grasp.
Hum!
The golden decree quivered violently, and strands of golden power seeped out, dancing ceaselessly in his palm like golden threads.
A prison of lightning formed in Lei Chong's palm, containing the power of his primordial spirit and completely sealing off the threads.
The lightning prison kept shrinking, compressing all the threads into a clump.
Bang, bang, bang!
The threads shook violently and coiled within the lightning prison like dragons and snakes, charging against it again and again, but to no avail.
Crack!
The purple lightning continued to compress, grinding over the golden threads and stripping away some of the will within, transforming them into the purest nourishment.
After all, he intended to temper his primordial spirit. If he did not remove the Rain God's will before merging the imprint into his primordial spirit, he would never feel at ease. It would be like planting a time bomb in his own primordial spirit.
Now, a drop of golden liquid floated in his palm.
It was a pure spiritual imprint, and a potent tonic for the primordial spirit.
Boom!
Lei Chong swallowed the golden liquid. His primordial spirit jolted violently within his mind, and a terrifying presence erupted, making the void rumble.
The next moment, golden flames surged from his primordial spirit. One moment they became a golden lotus, the next a tiny golden figure, and then other forms.
The golden flames shifted constantly, hissing as gray wisps of smoke rose from them and vanished into the void.
Those were impurities in his primordial spirit. Entangled with it, they were the rules of an Immortal King of the Foreign Realm. Even after an entire epoch, some still remained.
Fortunately, the original body's soul had been utterly annihilated, leaving little of the Immortal King's rules behind. With an epoch of dissipation on top of that, they had almost completely vanished. Otherwise, a Divine Being's spiritual imprint could never have resisted the Immortal King's residual rules.
It was these residual rules entangling his primordial spirit that had suppressed some of his potential and slowed his cultivation.
Otherwise, at his age, he would already have been approaching the Heavenly God Realm.
Take the Heavenly Horned Ant: after cultivating for twelve years in the Immortal Ancient residence, he was already approaching the Heavenly God Realm. As a descendant of the Thunder Emperor, who had the greatest potential among the Ten Fiends, why couldn't he do the same?
Even if the laws of the Lower Realm were incomplete, that was no reason for him to have fallen behind.
Take Red Dragon Ge Gu: he too had been born in the Lower Realm, yet had reached the Venerable Realm in only a few years.
As the golden flames continued to burn, his face gradually turned pale.
His primordial spirit was burning, being refined by the golden flames, and he had to bear that pain that reached deep into his soul himself.
As time passed, the golden flames gradually grew smaller.
Hum!
The void trembled slightly. The last embers of the flames were all that remained; Lei Chong had completely refined the Divine Being's imprint.
Pop!
A faint sound rang out, and the last of the flames went out completely.
Above Lei Chong's head sat a transparent little figure, incomparably pure and solemn in bearing, radiating wisps of pressure.
Hum!
Just then, Lei Chong's primordial spirit glowed. It was the manifestation of the Divine Being's imprint, taking shape within his primordial spirit like strands of rules.
Lei Chong silently closed his eyes and comprehended the Divine Being's imprint.
This was the imprint's final manifestation before it vanished. If he could grasp some of the rules within it, they would greatly benefit his current cultivation.
At that moment, images flashed through his sea of consciousness.
Lei Chong silently contemplated those images, continuously reenacting them with his hands.
Now, in his sea of consciousness, he became a Divine Being, comprehending a Divine Being's rules and experiencing a Divine Being's methods.
It was an unprecedented experience, allowing him to feel this power ahead of time and helping his future cultivation to some extent.
Of course, most importantly, it contained the Divine Being's insights and the methods the Divine Being had once used, all of which he was now contemplating.
Lei Chong silently contemplated them, without simply copying those insights.
He still had his own path to walk. He would only comprehend the wonders within them, absorb their essence, and discard their dross.
Not only that, but as time passed, he felt his primordial spirit grow stronger, and his perception suddenly sharpened considerably as well.
This contemplation lasted a long time. Before he knew it, three whole days had passed, yet he still showed no sign of waking.
Hum!
The moment Lei Chong opened his eyes, his primordial spirit high above him also moved. The little figure shot forward and punched at the void before it.