Chapter 571: Puppet (I)
In the demon realm, the black earth resembled cracked skin, crisscrossed with countless fissures that exposed the scorching purple-red magma beneath. A man shrouded in purple-black radiance quietly stepped out from a pitch-black chasm as deep as an abyss. Looking upon this familiar world of deathly silence, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Vast demonic qi drifted through the void. The omnipresent yao will swarmed toward Lin Zheyu like moths drawn to a flame, burrowing into his body and rushing toward his sea of consciousness. Although he had disguised himself with the purple-black energy generated by the corrupted golden runes covering his body, he could not deceive the all-pervasive yao will.
As a creature of flesh and blood, entering this world was like lighting a candle in complete darkness. There was simply no way to hide. That was why Lin Zheyu always used the Yao Transformation to assume a yao form whenever he entered the demon realm. Once transformed, the omnipresent yao will would no longer throw itself at him with the same frenzied fervor as moths rushing into a fire.
Faint wisps of black smoke drifted out from Lin Zheyu's body. The yao will that surged madly toward his sea of consciousness was utterly insignificant before the boundless golden energy within. It was like ants trying to topple a great tree.
Looking at the vast golden energy filling his sea of consciousness like a limitless ocean, Lin Zheyu felt an overwhelming sense of security.
"Now it's completely foolproof."
The yao will was simply too strange. Its true master might possess power beyond imagination. For an existence of that level, even the slightest connection could lead to unforeseeable consequences. Lin Zheyu had no intention of taking such a risk.
The purple-black wings on his back beat once, and Lin Zheyu vanished from where he stood. While in the sky, his powerful perception spread outward. After opening the divine repository, his long-stagnant martial cultivation perception had finally undergone a tremendous leap. It continued to expand farther and farther, all the way until twenty kilometers.
Twenty kilometers? That's actually astonishing, especially since this is the demon realm, where I'm heavily suppressed. If I were back in the original world, my perception would probably be able to cover a radius of forty to fifty kilometers.
Even cultivators in the peak Golden Core realm would likely be unable to extend their spiritual sense over such a vast area. Only a handful of peerless prodigies, or cultivators who had mastered special soul secret arts, might be capable of such a feat.
In other words, Lin Zheyu's martial cultivation perception had already reached the threshold of Nascent Soul realm cultivators in terms of coverage.
Lin Zheyu could clearly sense that the explosive growth of his martial cultivation perception was closely tied to the awakening of the golden Heavenly Eye. Through his research, he discovered that the golden Heavenly Eye between his brows was a unique divine ability formed from the fusion of his physical body and spiritual soul energy.
Although it combined both aspects, the Heavenly Eye was fundamentally rooted in the body, with spiritual soul energy serving only as support. It was, at its core, a bodily divine ability. More precisely, it seemed to be a special divine ability that had evolved after his martial cultivation perception merged with his spiritual soul and the golden energy within his body.
Lin Zheyu found a secluded location with no yaos stronger than six-pattern within a twenty-kilometer radius. With a thought, the golden Heavenly Eye between his brows began to open. Since he was in the demon realm, he did not reveal it outwardly. During his time in the void space within the space-time node, he had long since mastered the ability to activate the Heavenly Eye while keeping it concealed.
A golden eye devoid of any emotion, slowly opened deep within his forehead and turned its gaze upon his body.
Then, with another thought from Lin Zheyu, vast amounts of demonic qi surged into his body, and the golden runes covering him instantly transformed into purple-black ones. Under the gaze of the Heavenly Eye, his body rapidly shifted from human form toward that of a yao. The flesh, blood cells, blood qi, and vitality within him were eroded by the overwhelming demonic qi and yao will. Using the purple-black runes as a medium, they were swiftly converted into yao flesh and blood. Every detail of the transformation unfolded with perfect clarity beneath the Heavenly Eye's gaze.
So this is how the Yao Transformation actually works... The flesh, vitality, and blood qi of a human form are consumed as nourishment by the purple-black runes, which then give birth to a lifeform in the shape of a yao... Lin Zheyu pondered silently.
The awakening of the golden Heavenly Eye was, for Lin Zheyu, like a primitive civilization inventing the microscope for the first time and suddenly discovering an entirely new world. Through the Heavenly Eye, the way he viewed reality had fundamentally changed. Many truths that countless predecessors had tested and accepted during cultivation appeared riddled with flaws when examined from the Heavenly Eye's perspective.
Previously, after extensive research, Lin Zheyu had believed that the Yao Transformation was simply the process of a human being being demonized by demonic qi and the yao will, and gradually turning into a yao. Yet from the perspective of the Heavenly Eye, he discovered that the truth was entirely different. The original body was consumed as nourishment, and from that nourishment a brand-new yao body was born.
More than ten minutes later, Lin Zheyu had completely transformed into a gigantic yao before instantly shrinking down to a height of three meters. Looking at the demonic patterns that had formed within his body, his expression turned complicated. These patterns had originated from the golden runes. After absorbing vast amounts of demonic qi and yao will, they had shattered and reformed several times before finally condensing into their current state.
"Yaos... how incredibly domineering," Lin Zheyu could not help murmuring.
Both the yao will and demonic qi possessed terrifying aggressiveness. They rejected every trace of flesh-and-blood energy that belonged to Lin Zheyu as a living being, devouring it outright as nourishment before giving birth to this powerful yao body.
Those cultivators who practice demon arts may very well be making wedding garments for the yao by the end of their cultivation, Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
Only after observing the entire transformation through the Heavenly Eye did Lin Zheyu truly understand how terrifying the yaos were. Had he not possessed Origin Force, then after cultivating so many powerful demon arts in the past, he would have long since been devoured by the yao will and transformed into either a yao or a demon puppet.
After assuming his yao form, Lin Zheyu did not leave immediately. Deep within his forehead, at the location corresponding to his sea of consciousness, boundless golden energy churned, resisting the surging demonic qi and yao will. Although he had transformed into a yao, two parts of his body still retained their human nature: his heart and his sea of consciousness. They were the very foundation that allowed him to return to human form.
At that moment, within his sea of consciousness, at the singular point that had absorbed immense amounts of golden energy after the spirit divine repository was opened, a golden eye slowly opened.
After testing the Heavenly Eye, Lin Zheyu made an assessment.
After transforming into a yao, the golden Heavenly Eye is somewhat suppressed, but the effect isn't too significant.
The golden Heavenly Eye existed because of the singular point within his sea of consciousness, not because of the spot between his brows. As long as his sea of consciousness was not completely consumed by demonic qi and the yao will and transformed into yao flesh, the Heavenly Eye could continue to function.
However, the sea of consciousness was still part of the human body. Since nearly all of Lin Zheyu's body had already transformed into a yao form, with only the sea of consciousness remaining independent, it was impossible for the Heavenly Eye to remain entirely unaffected.
By his estimate, it retained only about sixty percent of its original power. Even so, that was already quite good.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Lin Zheyu's mouth. "With the golden Heavenly Eye, studying the yaos' demonic patterns or that mysterious formation has become much easier."
Under the Heavenly Eye's scrutiny, countless secrets and mysteries hidden within his yao body were laid bare. At the same time, numerous flaws became apparent. After all, this was only an incomplete yao form created when his golden runes absorbed immense amounts of demonic qi and yao will before shattering and reforming. It did not take long for Lin Zheyu to spot several inconsistencies among the demonic patterns within his body.
Suppressing the urge to immediately modify and perfect the demonic patterns, Lin Zheyu carefully considered the matter.
"Huff... The yao form is merely a byproduct of the Primordial Golden Body. I can't refine the yao demonic patterns while in this state. I need to return to human form first. Only by improving the golden runes can I improve the yao demonic patterns."
He had no desire to become a yao. If he altered the demonic patterns while in his yao form and those changes ended up affecting the golden runes of his human form, the gains would not be worth the risk. Shaking his head slightly, Lin Zheyu stopped dwelling on the matter.
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