What Is a Divine Ability? A Mighty Being's Summons

Inside the cultivation chamber. Fine wisps of spiritual qi gathered together, coalescing into tiny vortexes that swirled around Luo Chen's fingertips. This sight appeared entirely ordinary. In truth, it was vastly different from when Luo Chen normally cast the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger! This was because the gathered energy did not consist solely of the fire spiritual qi under his control; it also held a substantial amount of spiritual qi of every other attribute. The Five Elements, the dichotomy of Yin and Yang, the power of wind and thunder... Every single one was present. Though the total amount was minute, it encompassed myriad phenomena, leaving nothing out. For such an energy that encompassed spiritual qi of all attributes, the cultivation world shared a collective name—origin qi! Never in his wildest dreams had Luo Chen imagined that casting the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger in a state of exhausted magic power would allow him to perceive origin qi, channel origin qi, and even manipulate heaven-and-earth origin qi! At the time, profound shock had gripped his heart. Could a divine ability actually leverage origin qi? Because of that shock, he had not rushed to restore his magic power afterward, maintaining that state of depletion instead. Only in that depleted state was he able to perceive the turbulence of origin qi from the direction of Lingtian Pass alongside Black King, deducing that a Soul Transformation mighty being had taken action. Vaguely, it felt as though he had made a new discovery regarding divine abilities that stood above ordinary spells. Right now, he wanted to put it to the test! Luo Chen took a deep breath and continued to draw upon the heaven-and-earth origin qi. More and more vortexes spun at his fingertips! Spiritual qi of diverse attributes coalesced continuously, burgeoning and expanding along the true intent of Wither-Bloom. The underlying principle of this technique Luo Chen had created was not particularly complex. Drawing out every scrap of vitality between heaven and earth, driving it forward in an unrelenting climb to amplify its power to a peak dozens of times beyond his own output of magic power—this was called "bloom." Once struck outward, upon landing on an enemy, the attributes would suddenly invert to the extreme, causing the foe's physical body to wither and their magic power to recede—this was called "wither." If the enemy already bore injuries, their condition would deteriorate violently, causing their own power to backlash against them. That was why he had simply named it the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger back then. At this moment. The immense vortex of spiritual qi almost completely enveloped Luo Chen, his face fading in and out of view. Throughout this process, Luo Chen's main soul remained constantly vigilant over the changes in the Nascent Soul within his body. With the purple mansion's barrier wide open, the originally listless Nascent Soul gradually showed signs of confusion. The world outside and the inner world of the purple mansion blended like milk and water. The tiny infant seemed to have returned to a womb filled with amniotic fluid. Luo Chen's narrowed eyes slowly relaxed, a look of comfortable ease surfacing in his gaze. Suddenly! "Open!" Within his sea of consciousness, Luo Chen's strongest split soul formed a hand seal and barked a low command. The Kai Mao Art struck directly at his main soul. Instantly, the clouds parted, and Luo Chen awakened as if from a grand dream. As if shocked by lightning, Luo Chen abruptly released the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger held tight in his right hand. "Huu... huu... huu..." The white-robed Daoist collapsed onto the prayer mat, drenched in sweat, his eyes brimming with lingering dread. A thought surfaced in his mind, and he breathed out a single word: "Assimilation!" Just moments ago, with the purple mansion's barrier thrown wide, inner and outer worlds had connected until there was virtually no distinction between his purple mansion and the outside world, and an immense volume of origin qi had attempted to fuse into his Nascent Soul. This phenomenon was identical to the "world assimilation" recorded in countless ancient texts! Swallowing hard, Luo Chen slowly lifted his right hand. Lurking dread, shock, panic flitted across his face in succession... until finally settling into deep contemplation. "A cultivator refines qi from the inside out. Starting from refining essence into qi, spiritual energy liquefies into extreme purity, then condenses into a Golden Core, fusing with spiritual awareness to form magic power. Then, shattering the core to form the nascent soul, one uses the Nascent Soul to grasp heaven-and-earth spiritual qi of the corresponding attribute, gaining a measure of control and establishing one's personal domain. When the Nascent Soul grows into an immense primal soul, one is no longer limited to heaven-and-earth spiritual qi of a single attribute; instead, one can leverage the aggregate of all spiritual qi—heaven-and-earth origin qi—in combat!" "Divine ability... what truly defines a divine ability?" "Resonating and communicating with heaven-and-earth origin qi through the primal soul, and taking command of it." "Therefore, a divine ability is a spell through which a Soul Transformation mighty being leverages heaven-and-earth origin qi by means of their primal soul." "Powerful though such techniques are, the threshold for cultivators is extraordinarily high—the foremost requirement being a mighty primal soul." "When my magic power was drained, my Nascent Soul became listless. Casting a divine ability under those conditions was no different from a toddler brandishing a sledgehammer; it would only harm me!" After working through these thoughts, Luo Chen decided against taking any further risks. Although he had discovered that the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger wielded through heaven-and-earth origin qi was vastly more powerful than when cast with a single attribute of spiritual qi, his Nascent Soul would easily be assimilated by heaven and earth in that state, stripping him of his self-will. Such a path was far too perilous. For a Nascent Soul cultivator, divine abilities were something to dabble in lightly—never to plunge into deeply! At this thought, Luo Chen suddenly remembered the Tianyuan Dao Sect. If his intelligence was accurate, Fu Qinglan, Shi Ju, and Gu Daosu were the final victors of the Grotto-Heaven Tournament and had each been bestowed one of the three Great Divine Abilities. Was the Tianyuan Dao Sect not afraid that their disciples would sink too deep into those divine abilities and suffer world assimilation? With no answer in sight, Luo Chen ceased pondering the matter. He readjusted his posture and resumed a cross-legged meditative pose. First, he swallowed a top-grade Hongyuan Pill, then took a sip of Golden Wind Jade Dew Wine. Circulating the Wither-Bloom Dao Scripture, he set to swiftly restoring his magic power. Leaving the Luotian Sect and fleeing far to the Dieyun Domain had not been Luo Chen's wish. Yet he had been left with no choice. When Di Tu led his forces to attack Baili Qingchuan, Luo Chen had fallen into a dilemma. Killing him was out of the question—his father was a Soul Transformation powerhouse. Releasing him was even more out of the question. In the midst of war, who would dare let a Demon Emperor roam free? Even after subduing him, Luo Chen found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Killing him would still offend Ancient Demon Di Tian. Releasing him would invite condemnation from the cultivators of the Eastern Desolation, potentially destroying overnight the prestige he had cultivated for decades. Moreover, Di Tu did not look like someone who would let a grudge go; he might well seek revenge later, becoming a persistent thorn in Luo Chen's side. Yet keeping him close at hand was an unrelenting slap to Ancient Demon Di Tian's face. Even though Di Tu guessed that Di Tian would not come to rescue him, what if? Whether out of paternal sentiment or mere pride, what if? After racking his brains, Luo Chen had found no way to break the deadlock. So he had departed the Luotian Sect, leaving Di Tu behind at Mount Daqing. That way, even if Ancient Demon Di Tian descended in person or dispatched subordinates, the cultivators of the Luotian Sect would not be dragged into the fallout. Meanwhile, his true body stayed far away from Di Tu, leaving only a puppet clone behind. If Ancient Demon Di Tian arrived in person, the worst-case scenario would be releasing Di Tu and detonating the puppet clone, thereby offering an accounting of sorts. That puppet clone was far more complex than it appeared on the surface. When Luo Chen refined it, he had blended Han Zhan's methods with ancient puppetry Dao, incorporating his own flesh and blood into the creation. Its appearance could shift, its vital blood was identical, and the divine soul bore his own presence. Even its cultivation realm was at the mid Nascent Soul stage! It was formidable in battle and more than capable of serving as a sacrificial scapegoat. Naturally, Luo Chen hoped it would never come to that; after all, he had poured immense effort into nurturing that split soul and puppet. "Let us wait until a victor emerges between the humans and demons of the Eastern Desolation!" Murmuring softly, Luo Chen entered a deep meditative trance. Surging waves of spiritual qi were swallowed into his body, continuously refined and purified into pure, domineering magic power. *** "Greetings, Martial Uncle Kang!" "Good morning, Martial Uncle Kang!" As Kang Ledao walked along Mount Liuyun, disciples sweeping the grounds greeted him from time to time. He responded to each with a genial smile. Yet the moment he walked past them, the smile on Kang Ledao's face turned bitter, his bulbous red nose twitching from time to time. How had the once-flourishing Dieyun Sect fallen to such a state? Across this vast sect, he was the sole Core Formation cultivator holding down the fort, with his lifespan near its end. "I wonder how many of the junior brothers conscripted to Lingtian Pass to resist the demons will return alive?" Weighed down by gloom, Kang Ledao eventually halted outside a cave abode veiled in drifting clouds and mist. Inside lay the cave abode of Supreme Elder Master Liuyun! Yet guarded by this bewildering mist grand array, even the Core Formation cultivators of their Dieyun Sect could not step foot inside. "I hope to crack this grand array soon, claim the Supreme Elder's legacy, and revitalize our Dieyun Sect. If there are resources for core-shattering and nascent soul formation, all the better." Clinging to hope, Kang Ledao stepped into the misty grand array. A day later. A dazed figure stumbled back to the starting point. "Failed again?" Pale-faced, Kang Ledao slouched and trudged back toward his own cave abode. Among the Dieyun Sect's Core Formation cultivators, he was already the formation master most skilled in cloud restrictions. Yet before the grand array left behind by Master Liuyun, a mid Nascent Soul expert, he was still powerless. "Next time, I must break this formation and enter the cave abode!" Meanwhile, within the cave abode. A figure stood quietly before a bookshelf, absorbed in an ancient text. The white-robed Daoist had naturally noticed the disturbance in the array outside. In just one year, that old fellow had come no fewer than thirty times. Each attempt took anywhere from a single day to ten-odd days. And every single time, he left empty-handed. "The Dieyun Sect's cloud pattern restrictions are truly marvelous!" Luo Chen set the book down. This Library Pavilion was the most important and valuable place within Master Liuyun's cave abode. In between recovering his magic power, he occasionally came here to "borrow" some reading material. He did not care much for the cultivation methods and secret arts. They did not suit him, making them useless to learn. Yet Luo Chen read the books concerning formations and restrictions with great relish. In the Dao of Formations, Luo Chen had already advanced to a Tier 4 formation master! Even across the wider cultivation world, that was a rarity. As for the Seven Basic Restrictions of formations, he was thoroughly versed in them. Yet among these texts, he discovered that the foundation he possessed was not fully comprehensive. Especially when it came to cloud pattern restrictions! Clouds had shape and form, yet gathered and dispersed unpredictably. The Dieyun Sect possessed the art of turning the illusory into the tangible and shifting the tangible back to the illusory, allowing cloud pattern restrictions to permeate formations omnipresently. Through continuous reading, Luo Chen's understanding of cloud pattern restrictions deepened. His formation attainments advanced by leaps and bounds. Furthermore, a concept had been growing increasingly distinct in his mind. A book suddenly appeared in Luo Chen's hand. It was not taken from the shelf, but retrieved from his storage ring. It was the relic left behind by Jinling—the Gold Escape Art. "Earlier, I attempted to use the Gold Escape Art to create my own Fire Escape Art, but I couldn't grasp the method, only borrowing a bit of the Gold Escape Art's concept of spirit fusion and explosive burst." "Seen now, the Fire Escape Art is actually far more compatible with the concepts of cloud pattern restrictions." "Clouds have shape and form, gathering and dispersing unpredictably. Fire behaves the same way." "If I combine the strengths of both to create a Fire Escape Art, can it surpass the Ninety Thousand Miles at Great Circle?" Luo Chen lapsed into contemplation. *** Fierce winds sweep the white sun, time rushes westward like a stream. Three years had slipped by unnoticed since Luo Chen arrived at the Dieyun Sect. Inside the chilly, desolate cave abode. Coiled on Luo Chen's shoulder, Black King was abruptly roused from a long slumber. Lying on the ground, he blearily peered at the white-robed Daoist. "Master, has something happened at Mount Daqing?" Luo Chen smiled and shook his head. "Three years, completely peaceful." "Oh." Black King mumbled in confusion, then asked, "Then why did you wake me up?" "Nothing. I just saw you sleeping so soundly and felt like waking you." "Uh." While Black King was still stunned, a jar of wine landed before him. "Have a drink with me!" Luo Chen gave a faint smile, raising the wine gourd in his hand. Black King could not fathom why his master wanted to drink with him out of nowhere. Was he in a foul mood? Yet upon breaking the mud seal and inhaling the wine's fragrance, Black King's eyes lit up. It was sweet-bitter wine! Among the batch of spiritual wines obtained back then, this was his favorite. And when his master said to have a drink, he had given him an entire jar! Then again, with his massive frame, wasn't one jar just one cup? Licking his lips, Black King prepared to drink his fill. Just as the wine touched his mouth, a sudden flash of inspiration prompted him to say, "May Master enjoy immortal fortune forever, his longevity rivaling the heavens!" Luo Chen paused, then burst into laughter. "Cheers!" Tapping his gourd from afar, he took a sip of the bitter wine. Instantly, both Luo Chen and Black King scrunched up their faces. Yet a moment later, an endless lingering sweetness flooded the taste buds of their tongues. "Burp!" Black King let out a wine burp, wearing an expression of pure relish. A jar of sweet-bitter wine like this would leave him savoring the aftertaste for a very long time. "Go back to sleep. I'll call you if anything comes up," Luo Chen said. Once Black King obediently returned to his left arm and drifted back to sleep, a trace of wistfulness surfaced on Luo Chen's satisfied face. This drink held a certain significance after all. For today was an important, yet not-so-important milestone. He had reached three hundred years of age! For high-ranking cultivators, particularly Nascent Soul experts, major birthdays were usually counted by centuries. Back then, the birthday banquet held by the Northern Sea Zhou family's ancestor, Zhou Yunshen, had celebrated his eight-hundredth birthday. Yet at this moment, Luo Chen was secluded inside a chilly, lonely cultivation chamber. No fair maiden accompanied him, no close friends offered congratulations; only the innocent Black King shared a drink with him. Of course, even if he were not in hiding from Ancient Demon Di Tian, he likely would not have held a birthday banquet out in the open. Simply because, in the minds of those who knew him, he was nowhere near three hundred years old. At most, he was around two hundred and fifty or sixty—roughly the limit of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's lifespan. The discrepancy stemmed from the extra fifty years Luo Chen had spent within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven. "Xiao Hei's congratulations were quite fitting after all." Luo Chen chuckled softly, then glanced at his status panel. Just as he expected, the lifespan column clearly read three hundred. Meanwhile, the realm he cared about had quietly reached Nascent Soul 4th Layer [10/100]. Facing this result, Luo Chen was both satisfied and slightly discontented. Counting from his return to the Eastern Desolation, it had been exactly twenty years. After undergoing multiple major battles, his cultivation had advanced instead of regressing—an achievement anyone would deem worth celebrating. Luo Chen was proud of it as well. Yet a flaw marred the perfection. With Luo Chen's extraordinary natural endowments and the aid of Tier 4 superior-grade pills, his realm had only advanced by ten points of progress. By his estimate, it would take at least another forty to fifty years to reach the 5th layer of the Nascent Soul stage! For ordinary cultivators, that was already blazingly fast. Yet for Luo Chen, it was not fast enough—nowhere near fast enough! The mid Nascent Soul stage held three minor layers, and the late stage held three more. Even with simple multiplication, it would take three to five centuries to reach the Great Circle of the Nascent Soul stage. This fell far short of what Luo Chen had envisioned when he broke through to the Nascent Soul realm. A mighty divine soul, a terrifying physical constitution, a thick purple mansion barrier, paired with cultivation resources that had never run dry—his cultivation foundation undeniably surpassed ninety-nine percent of the world's Nascent Soul peers. Where had things gone wrong? Was the spiritual land lacking? Was the self-created Wither-Bloom Dao Scripture deficient? Or had mundane worldly affairs distracted him? There was no clear answer; perhaps each of them was part of the answer! Luo Chen sighed. Once things settled down, he would address them one by one! He cast a glance at his body refinement realm. At this, a bright smile spread across Luo Chen's face. His body refinement realm had stalled after reaching the mid Ancient Desolate Tier 4 stage, unable to advance further. Yet unexpectedly, thanks to that massive batch of thousand-year Five Temples Immortal Brew, his stalled progress had slowly begun to climb again. In just a few years, it had already advanced to Ancient Desolate Tier 4 [50/100]. Though it was merely five points of progress, it was already an immense surprise. At this moment, Luo Chen's magic power was fully restored, his Nascent Soul plump and vigorous, his source force circulating through his entire body, and his five viscera pulsing powerfully. Compared to three years ago, Luo Chen had made substantial strides forward! In particular, he had created his very own Fire Escape Art! From now on, he had another method to protect his Dao. Just as Luo Chen was basking in satisfaction, his expression suddenly turned solemn. With a flick of his hand, a jade token appeared in his palm. As magic power poured into it, the token melted away, transforming into a jade slab that stood upright before him. Lines of text slowly surfaced upon its face: [In the battle at Lingtian Pass, Ancient Demon Di Tian and Old Ancestor Heize of Mingyuan clashed briefly, fighting to a draw. After agreeing on a three-year truce, Di Tian withdrew at his leisure.] [The vast beast tide receded in turn, leaving nine domains, including Jueling and Azure Sky, as a buffer zone between humans and demons.] [Three years have passed in peace.] [During this time, people have repeatedly sought an audience with you, including cultivators from Mingyuan. We turned them all away under the pretext that you were in secluded cultivation to heal from the grand battle.] [A few days ago, Castellan Lingtian came in person to Fenghua Palace, instructing me to relay a message: you are to proceed to Lingtian Pass to pay your respects to Old Ancestor Heize.] [Return with haste!] Crack, crack... The jade slab shattered into fragments, and the message gradually dissolved into nothing. The precious ten-thousand-li voice transmission jade token was thus used up. Luo Chen felt not a shred of heartache for the loss; only gravity settled upon his face. "They want me to go pay respects to Old Ancestor Heize?"