Chapter Sixty-Four: Divine Wanderings

Yan Mengdie, having successfully stepped into the Primordial Spirit Realm, had evidently undergone another transformation. She now weighed nearly five hundred pounds; by weight alone, she was like a young elephant. Most members of Jade Toad Palace became uglier after their metamorphosis, but she simply kept gaining weight. Her original clothes could barely cover the essentials; her massive belly was exposed, coated in a layer of dark, tough hair.

Fuming in silence for a moment, Yan Mengdie produced the remnant soul of a Xia Dynasty martial cultivator and said, “Sacrifice him, and you should be able to enter the Primordial Spirit Realm!”

Why did this behemoth’s voice sound soft and girlish? As Xu Cheng pondered, he opened the Gate of the Netherworld, activating the sacrificial function.

With the opponent’s primordial spirit dissipating completely, golden light descended inside the Gate of the Netherworld. This was no ordinary light, but the golden radiance of merit. Xu Cheng, ignorant of these mysteries, took it for heavenly light, and his own soul merged with his Dao embryo as the light poured in.

His cultivation surged wildly; the golden Dao embryo within him began to take on the form of a human infant, with clear features and plump hands and feet.

This was the state of a half-step Primordial Spirit. Next, the skin of the Dao embryo in Xu Cheng’s body began to crack inch by inch, as if porcelain had shattered upon the ground.

A humming sound filled the air as Xu Cheng leapt forth from his body.

Primordial Spirit accomplished, his spirit could now roam the eight directions.

From his current perspective, his physical body lay below, and the world unfolded before him from all angles. Snowflakes from the sky passed through his primordial spirit unhindered; at a thought, Xu Cheng floated upward.

“Hey! You’ve just formed your Primordial Spirit—what are you running around for?” Yan Mengdie called out not far away.

If not for the protective talisman of the primordial spirit’s own magic, one could not roam so freely. Relying only on the soul, a gust of wind or a ray of sunlight would scatter it like snow, and a sudden thunderclap could erase even the chance of reincarnation.

Thus, the ghosts of those who die naturally either reincarnate or hide in the earth, waiting for a chance to possess another body, so they might continue to exist.

Xu Cheng, now in the Primordial Spirit Realm, was surrounded by faint golden patterns—traces of the Netherworld Forgetting River Immortal Technique and the Boundless Radiance Enlightenment Immortal Technique. The original ghost path and Netherworld Dao techniques, as well as the section of the Source Transformation Immortal Technique, all became black patterns, while the Minor Five Elements Creation Technique appeared in silver, standing out uniquely.

Feeling the magic safeguarding his soul, Xu Cheng grew bolder. He ignored Yan Mengdie, circling outside several times.

Only when a massive jade toad leapt before him, poised to swallow him whole, did he obediently return to his body.

Clearly, that was Yan Mengdie, incensed, manifesting her own Dharma form.

Back in his body, Xu Cheng lost the floating, ethereal sensation and felt warmth, as if returning home.

It is said that in the human world, the body is the vessel, and the soul the helmsman, journeying across the bitter sea—unless, of course, one reaches the other shore.

And when the primordial spirit leaves the body, it is as if one abandons the ship to swim in the bitter sea, where monsters lurk below, and immense waves threaten to overwhelm you.

Only a robust primordial spirit and a sturdy body can withstand the forging of the mortal furnace.

The path of cultivation is long and arduous.

Xu Cheng sat cross-legged, consolidating his primordial spirit.

Before long, Chrysanthemum and the others arrived, bringing with them another person—Tang Guomeng.

“Right Envoy, we have slain all those from the magistrate’s office!” Chrysanthemum bowed, chains trailing behind her with several souls—the officials, presumably.

As her words ended, Xu Cheng opened his eyes and drew them all into the Gate of the Netherworld.

He distributed Dao-forging pills to Chrysanthemum, then turned to Tang Guomeng. “Guomeng, did you know there were two Primordial Spirit Realm cultivators hidden among the magistrate’s men?”

“Two? I had no idea! This little town is neither strategic nor endowed with rare treasures. Why would there be two Primordial Spirit experts? No wonder the casualties among my mouse brothers have lately exceeded the norm—the inadvertent pressure from those two must have killed them!”

Tang Guomeng pondered briefly before bursting into tears. “My dear mouse brothers! How could you die so miserably?”

As Xu Cheng came to his senses, he saw Tang Guomeng rush to a nearby mouse, its body bloodied and covered in ice chips, barely palm-sized, clearly dead.

“My darling! How could you die so wretchedly? How am I supposed to go on?”

His wailing was enough to drive anyone mad.

“All right, all right—it’s just a mouse! Why grieve so bitterly?” Cen Ningyue patted his shoulder in consolation.

“Actually—well, ahem—this is a spell to probe the souls of my kin. It reveals that every town nearby has at least two Primordial Spirit experts stationed there; in the city twenty miles off, there are as many as eighteen.”

Tang Guomeng’s words startled Xu Cheng—how could so many Primordial Spirit masters suddenly appear?

“Guomeng, you can learn the affairs within a hundred miles just by crying... That’s incredible!” Niu Dazhuang marveled.

“Of course! The techniques of my Millet Sect are ever-changing. Brother, you look so dashing—why not join us?” Tang Guomeng rose and slung an arm over Niu Dazhuang’s shoulder.

“Mouse Sect?” Niu Dazhuang shook his head like a rattle drum.

“Not mouse as in rodent, but millet—a kind of grain!” Tang Guomeng explained earnestly.

“So, mice who love millet! Old Ox and you aren’t even the same species!” Too straightforward, Niu Dazhuang’s words prompted Tang Guomeng to roll his eyes. “Casting pearls before swine!”

He snorted and squatted off to the side.

“I am an ox, after all,” Niu Dazhuang muttered.

Ignoring their bickering, Xu Cheng spoke solemnly. “It seems I underestimated the foundation of the Xia Dynasty. There must be over a hundred Primordial Spirit experts in all of Luzhou!”

“Guomeng, is there a quiet place nearby where we can further our cultivation?” Chrysanthemum asked.

“The local earth temple up ahead—few people go there. Will you challenge those Primordial Spirit experts head-on after advancing your cultivation?” Tang Guomeng stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide, following Xu Cheng’s logic to its conclusion.

“Of course! We’ll ambush them first—every sneak attack counts—then confront them openly!” Xu Cheng gestured as he spoke.

“Well... I’m afraid my cultivation is too weak, so I won’t join you. But here’s the token of my Millet Sect! If you want to seek information, come find us!”

Tang Guomeng was still a step away from forming a Golden Core; facing Primordial Spirit masters, all he could do was flee, and flee he would. He handed Xu Cheng a green millet grain, half the size of a palm, and promptly burrowed underground and away.

Xu Cheng had never expected him to face so many Primordial Spirit experts head-on—intelligence was all he required.