Flying West
"The soul dissipated?"
"Yes, his soul vanished in an instant, thus achieving his escape!"
The Heavenly Throne is somewhat mysterious, but if you think of it as the greenhouse of a giant tree, the concept of the soul's journey becomes clear.
Donghua even suppressed the 'white' piece, fixing it within the Heavenly Throne as a pivotal chess piece.
Just as Donghua could travel out of the secret realm, he could also travel back from the distant throne.
However, Zhang Xuezhou felt that Donghua would not wait in the same place, but was most likely far away from the throne of the Human Emperor. Their trip was just to check for any traces that the other party might have left behind.
On the Imperial Shuttle, the new emperor asked a few questions, then fell into deep thought.
If the war between the Great Han Dynasty and the Xiong State was a clash between the world's strongest armies, then the battle of magic between Zhang Xuezhou and others represented the ultimate contest in the Three Realms.
Almost all the top cultivators in the Three Realms have intervened, and they will inevitably demonstrate their strongest methods of competition.
It's a good thing that the great cultivators didn't choose to compete within the territory of the Great Han Dynasty; no emperor would welcome an uncontrollable battlefield appearing on his territory.
The snow-capped mountains below flew past rapidly, and the Jade Emperor's dragon chariot sped by. The Eight Views Chariot soared high in the sky, with Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Yuanshi Tianzun traveling in sync.
No one was competing in flying; everyone's speed remained relatively balanced, and no one stood out.
Looking at the large group of cultivators soaring through the sky, the new emperor took a deep breath after learning the situation. He felt that this struggle was more complicated than that in the imperial palace.
The fighting techniques used by both sides were nothing special, but their methods of combat were stronger and more unpredictable.
If you're targeted by such an opponent, you'll inevitably have sleepless nights and restless days.
Even the most powerful cultivators in the Three Realms, the Emperor, could not escape his clutches; other great cultivators may one day suffer the same fate.
This incident even delayed the campaign against the Western Sect.
"A soul without a physical body is like a rootless duckweed; why would it abandon the advantages of a physical body?" the new emperor asked, puzzled.
I don't understand either!
Zhang Xuezhou shook his head.
He had considered this several times: if he could start his life over again, or create a new body, could he still be here today? After repeated analysis, Zhang Xuezhou found that it was completely impossible.
This is not merely a theoretical deduction by Zhang Xuezhou; the current situations of cultivators such as Zhang Hao, Zhang Huang, and Xu Lu also confirm this.
People may achieve something in the future, but they cannot replicate their past selves, nor can they reach the same heights by following the same path. They can only choose a different path of growth based on their own circumstances, and the answer to the future remains unknown.
The same applies to Donghua. Donghua cannot become an ascendant of the previous world, nor can he become an emperor. He can only seek a path to adapt to this world.
Zhang Xuezhou found it difficult to imagine how Donghua would grow.
"That's the Kingdom of Supi!"
Vast nomadic dynasties like the Xiong State Kingdom are rare in the Three Realms, and states with stable development like the Great Han Dynasty are also uncommon.
The Supi people developed a social structure that combined nomadic and urban development, but neither was fully developed, and their progress lagged behind that of larger states by almost a thousand years.
The Supi Kingdom had a small number of sheep herders, and its cities were mainly composed of mud and straw houses.
Even the main hall used for sacrifices within the secret sanctuary was a thatched hut, and the clay statues used for offerings were extremely abstract.
But as abstract as it may be, upon closer inspection, these soil samples do possess a certain lifelike quality.
The first thing the new emperor noticed was the large sleeves of the statue, and the image of someone riding a demonic bird and using a gourd to collect the bird's blood to feed the sick.
As they descended on the Sky Shuttle, before anyone could utter a sound, more than a dozen Supi people around the sacrificial hall had already knelt down, not daring to raise their heads.
"This statue looks somewhat like Zhenyuan!"
"Um?"
Zhang Xuezhou looked at himself, half-lying on the ground consuming the blood of the demon bird, and felt that the Supi people really hadn't presented him with a good image.
He glanced at it sullenly, then turned his gaze to the bronze chair in the center of the hall.
The Nine Dragon Cauldrons of the Great Qin Dynasty have been transported to the secret land of the Xieluosi River, so it is not surprising that the former throne of the human emperor ended up in the Supi Kingdom after a thousand years.
This treasure was discovered by Donghua, who then used Bai's soul for travel, effectively squeezing every last drop of Bai's essence out of him.
If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't achieved near-perfect physical sainthood, he would have been suffocated by Donghua in the secret realm, rendering even the most exquisite Technique Method useless.
He's not here!
Yuanshi Tianzun surveyed the surroundings and found no trace of any remaining divine souls around the main hall.
"What was originally enshrined here?" the Jade Emperor asked, pointing to the main hall.
"The Supi people worship the Mingwang Pengqu," the Emperor and Empress said. "That is a demon god sent by Kunlun to protect the Supi people!"
"Where's the music?"
The Jade Emperor pointed to the bronze throne.
There is no seated clay figure on the bronze throne, but there are traces of clay on the throne, suggesting that a statue may have been sculpted on the seat for worship.
"The high priest said that the gods appeared to him, and then he spread his wings and flew away!"
Divine Lord Zhenyuan simply asked the kneeling priest and received the answer easily.
How can a clay sculpture fly?
The Jade Emperor was slightly taken aback, feeling that this situation was somewhat strange, which also corresponded to Donghua's strange and profound Technique Method.
He had hoped that Zhang Xuezhou and Donghua would take the lead in a head-on confrontation, but his inability to be present put him in a very passive position, and things were now somewhat unpredictable.
"Where did he fly off to?" the Jade Emperor asked in a deep voice.
"If he relies on clay to seal his body, this situation cannot last," said Yuanshi Tianzun. "He will inevitably find someone to possess his physical body!"
"Possessing a body would Lower Vehicle," the Empress frowned. "He doesn't even want Haotian's body, how could he possibly want anyone else's!"
Even now, though the Emperor and Empress still cling to a sliver of hope, she has changed her form of address and no longer regards the other party as the Haotian Emperor.
The Haotian Emperor's demon body is already a top-tier physique in the Three Realms. It would be difficult to find a better physical body if he gave up such a top-tier physique, let alone stir up trouble in the Three Realms with a body of average strength.
"Is it possible that he faked his death and is now seeking an opportunity to create his own physical body?" Zhang Xuezhou wondered.
Decades ago, Donghua chose Zhang Xuezhou to create a physical body suitable for him. Zhang Xuezhou felt that Donghua might be reincarnated in the present day as well, thus allowing the physical body to be in harmony with the soul.
He presented his viewpoint, and while some nodded in agreement, others, including Xuan Nu, shook their heads.
"If he needed to be reincarnated, why didn't he do it sooner, instead of at this time?" Xuan Nu shook her head and said, "He was previously building the Western Heavenly Gate, intending to join us in attacking Mount Ling. There's no reason for him to suddenly be reincarnated!"
"It's possible that he could be reincarnated," the Jade Emperor pondered. "But the time it takes to be reborn as a human and then cultivate to reach one's True Self is quite long. He would need to wait nine months to be born as a human. If he wants to gain a share of the spoils by conquering the Western Sect, he won't be able to make it in time!"
"Is there any way to instantly grant him a physical body superior to that of the Emperor?"
Yuanshi Tianzun asked in confusion, and after Bixia Niangniang whispered a few words, everyone turned their gaze to the west.
In the normal process, no one can immediately obtain a physical body that suits them and also possess Tongtian cultivation.
However, there is an Eight Treasures Merit Pool in the Western Sect. The Sect Master Jieyin used the Eight Treasures Merit Pool to create a body and quickly stood among the top cultivators in the Three Realms.
If Donghua obtains the secret of the Eight Treasures Merit Pool for shaping a physical body, this might be the best way for him to possess a body of his own.