Chapter 570: Unknown Domain (II)
Within his sea of consciousness, Lin Zheyu's vivid golden soul hovered in the void, a slight frown on its face. With a thought, he drifted toward the location of the energy mark.
A savage fury rose within Lin Zheyu's heart. Get the hell out of here!
He extended his right hand, and a vast torrent of golden soul energy surged forth, enveloping the energy mark. The mark seemed completely unaware of the approaching danger. It appeared incapable of sensing Lin Zheyu's actions and existed solely as a tracking mark.
Seeing this, Lin Zheyu relaxed slightly. The golden soul energy successfully wrapped itself around the formless mark. At his command, the energy began to boil and churn, relentlessly grinding away at the invisible imprint.
"This mark is rather strange, and the quality of its energy is incredibly high. Even golden soul energy has difficulty erasing it." Lin Zheyu frowned slightly, his wariness toward Fan Hongwei deepening further.
His soul had undergone a transformation. The golden, almost tangible soul was far more powerful than that of an ordinary cultivator. Even so, the speed at which he could erase the tracking mark was painfully slow. Completely eliminating it would likely require two or three full days.
Let's try using martial true intent. Perhaps certain attribute-based intents will produce unexpected results.
At a thought, the soul energy surrounding the mark suddenly crackled. Blue arcs of lightning danced rapidly through the energy. This was the manifestation of Thunder True Intent within the spiritual soul.
Lin Zheyu muttered softly, "It works a little, but the effect isn't significant. Let's try Fire True Intent..."
One after another, he began testing every martial true intent he had mastered. In the end, Lin Zheyu discovered that Ice True Intent and Fire True Intent produced the best results when used together.
Lin Zheyu chuckled darkly, though his expression remained grim.
The stronger the mark proved to be, the stronger his desire to kill Fan Hongwei became. Although he suspected the mark served only for tracking, what if it did more? Lin Zheyu refused to believe that the token Fan Hongwei had specifically instructed him to carry possessed no other purpose.
***
Time slowly passed. Lin Zheyu's aura diminished to its lowest point as vast quantities of life energy and blood qi energy flowed into the void spaces beyond his divine repositories.
Sitting cross-legged in the void, he remained unmoving while violent rule energy raged around him and black winds roared through the darkness, yet none of it could inflict significant harm upon him. His eyes remained shut, his brows slightly furrowed. Then, suddenly, he snapped them open, a faint golden gleam flashing across his gaze.
"After making me treat you to ice and fire for so long, you're finally gone. Still, damn it."
Lin Zheyu opened his eyes with obvious irritation.
Even after employing martial true intents, it had still taken him nearly a day and a half to completely erase the mark. The problem was not that his soul lacked strength. Rather, he simply possessed too few soul-related techniques.
Aside from martial true intents, he had no other powerful methods for dealing with the soul. In the past, the immense golden energy accumulated within his sea of consciousness had been sufficient to protect him from other cultivators' soul attacks.
As a result, he had never paid much attention to this weakness. Then again, it was hardly a flaw unique to him. Almost all martial practitioners were poor at soul-based offense and defense. After all, they were just rough and uncultured martial artists.
"I guess it's time I learned a few techniques that can be used by the soul," Lin Zheyu said softly.
Although martial artists were crude and generally lacked soul-related methods, this was, in many ways, the optimal path. Cultivators capable of inflicting fatal harm upon martial artists through soul secret arts usually possessed powerful secret treasures or cultivation realms far above those of the martial artist. Even without relying on soul techniques, such people could easily defeat ordinary martial artists. Moreover, soul secret arts were far from easy to learn.
Not only did they require exceptional talent, but they also demanded enormous amounts of time and effort. To spend years cultivating soul techniques merely to prepare for the rare cultivator who possessed powerful soul treasures or had mastered suicidal soul secret arts was an extremely poor investment.
Lin Zheyu, however, felt it was absolutely necessary. Only after being targeted by someone far stronger than oneself could one truly appreciate the value of possessing powerful soul techniques. He carried too many secrets and too many treasures coveted by others. Those weaker than him could be killed with a wave of his hand. What he feared were people like Fan Hongwei, individuals stronger than him who sought to exploit him for their own ends.
A trace of hesitation appeared on Lin Zheyu's face. "I've been inside this space-time node for quite some time now, and the tracking mark has already been erased. That old bastard, Fan Hongwei, probably thinks I'm dead by now, doesn't he?"
He was debating whether to leave immediately. If Fan Hongwei truly believed he was dead, then the old man would most likely have departed long ago instead of continuing to stand guard outside. Of course, Lin Zheyu had no idea whether Fan Hongwei had actually remained there all this time.
Shaking his head, Lin Zheyu abandoned the idea of venturing out to hunt Fan Hongwei. "There's no need to take such a risk. Someone capable of wielding methods like these is definitely no ordinary Golden Core realm cultivator. I've only just advanced to the Divine Repository realm. My strength will increase dramatically before long. When that time comes, I'll simply march straight into Soaring Cloud Pavilion and kill him there."
Fan Hongwei's strength had already reached a bottleneck, whereas Lin Zheyu still had tremendous room for growth in a short period of time. Going out now would be an extremely foolish decision.
I should return to the demon realm and continue studying that mysterious formation, Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
He slowly rose to his feet. With a flicker, his figure vanished from the spot. Erasing the tracking mark had consumed a substantial amount of soul energy, leaving his spirit somewhat exhausted. This was not the right time to continue using Origin Force for further breakthroughs. Besides, there were currently no techniques left for him to enhance. The Yellow Springs Nirvana Scripture had already reached Perfection, while the third stage of the Primordial Golden Body had yet to be fully refined and completed.
As for the Spirit Martial Universe Secret Art—Advanced[1], Lin Zheyu had not even considered it. This soul-cultivation technique for martial artists could only strengthen and expand the soul itself. His soul was already powerful enough. What he lacked were potent secret arts that the soul could actually employ.
Lin Zheyu stopped before the node fissure and pondered, Right, the golden energy in my sea of consciousness has been completely exhausted. If I transform into my yao form again, will I be affected by the corruption of the yao will?
Whenever he entered the demon realm, he could feel a terrifying will—powerful, chaotic, and violent—constantly attempting to invade his body. Fortunately, the vast golden energy accumulated within his sea of consciousness had always blocked it. Now, however, that golden energy was gone. All that remained was his powerful golden soul form, so solid that it seemed almost tangible.
"Why am I wasting time worrying about this? I'll just refill my sea of consciousness with golden energy," Lin Zheyu said with a faint laugh.
After all, he was a man who possessed Origin Force. The demon realm was filled with dangers, and he had no intention of using himself as a test subject to conduct potentially hazardous experiments there. The will permeating the demon realm was no joke. It might even contain the unique Heavenly Dao will of that world itself.
Although Lin Zheyu felt that his nearly tangible golden soul would probably not be endangered, the absence of golden energy within his sea of consciousness meant there was nothing left to prevent that will from entering. The will contained within the demon realm's pervasive influence was chaotic, violent, and saturated with murderous intent.
Lin Zheyu suspected that the different wills spread throughout the entire demon realm must have a master behind them. What he did not know was whether that master was the Heavenly Dao will of the demon realm itself or some unimaginably powerful being. If that will were to invade his sea of consciousness, uncover the secrets he carried, and trigger unforeseen consequences, the loss would far outweigh any potential gain.
With a light flap of the wings on his back, Lin Zheyu suddenly shot toward the energy lake below. After entering the lake, a thought stirred in his mind, and the information of a newly created technique appeared within his consciousness.
[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]
[Name: Lin Zheyu]
[Origin Force: 342]
[Skills: Earth Shrinking Technique (Perfection), Primordial Concealment Technique (Perfection), Seven Absolute Sabers (Fifth Stage: 3%), Golden Ocean Secret Manual (Initiation Dormancy), Primordial Golden Body (Second Stage: 100%), Spirit Martial Universe Secret Art—Advanced (Perfection)]
"Golden Ocean Secret Manual sounds a little lacking in grandeur... Forget it. It'll do," Lin Zheyu muttered.
This technique had been created specifically to control the golden energy within his body and channel it into the sea of consciousness. Lin Zheyu had developed it long ago, but because there had been no need to waste Origin Force on cultivating it, he had never put it to use. Now, however, it was the perfect time.
Closing his eyes, Lin Zheyu sent out a thought. Use 2 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Golden Ocean Secret Manual.
1. Previously known as Spirit Martial Universe Secret Art: Advanced Edition ☜
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