Chapter 197: Eyes are the Windows to Soul (1)
Read 60 advance chapters and support the novel @
Patre on.com/Fanharem
(Link also in the synopsis.)
***
And please vote~
***
*Grrhhhh*
"Hmm? Let's see, we actually want you guys to grow. Strong enough that you can protect the region on your own and take out the outsiders who enter for your spirit rings. But then again, affection of community isn't something you're born with so all of you can strive to be stronger individually, attack each other if you like, and become the best version of yourself," Ja Sun mused.
He was sitting under the tallest tree of the Giant's Forest at this moment.
*Graagg*
"Oh, if you're angry, attack me," Ja Sun smiled. He looked peaceful as he silently meditated while shockingly, the area of 50 kilometers around him was packed to the brim! A large number of gigantic creatures with boorish faces and humanoid bodies gathered around him and those within the purplish domain of his didn't mind having their senses suppressed. In fact, these tens of giants were the strongest this forest had to offer.
Ja Sun's words silenced those around him.
*Snort*
At this moment, one of the giants in the 'inner circle' stood up. He held a tree trunk as his naked body made Ja Sun feel bleak.
'Would I get a dick as an external bone if I kill these giants long enough?' Ja Sun wondered and sighed deeply. The loss of Ah Yin's touch gave him a weird thought process.
"Hey, if you're gonna get those fishes, bring one for me, too," He chortled and the Giant, unexpectedly, waved his hand in a human-like manner before leaving. His spot was quickly filled up by a weaker member but others didn't care, fully knowing that once the particular giant returned, this one would have to return.
This is what Ja Sun revealed to Bibi Dong. The ability to cultivate quicker for others.
Knowing that their group can't regroup in a short period of time and how valued this ability and Ja Sun's form are to other spirit beasts, Bibi Dong asked the 'original' Ja Sun to increase the growth of the Giants. It has been a month since that talk already and Ja Sun hadn't moved an inch from his position after arriving in this location.
The fact that there were no 100000-year-old beasts meant that Ja Sun practically dominated this forest. Under him grew numerous blades of Blue Silver Variants. Seeing this, Ja Sun smiled slightly and flicked one of the strands as it coiled around his fingers.
Once Ja Sun spread the area of effect of his ability after Spirit Transformation, the forest had entered into a period of chaos that deeply disturbed the Clear Sky Sect but it only lasted for three days. A hierarchy was built instinctively through individual might and while others could have an increase of 15% in the pace of cultivation, some even weak enough to not reach this region, the strongest of the beasts that Ja Sun personally subdued were all within the True Fantasy and had the benefit of a total of 45% increased pace of cultivation!
Bibi Dong was a bit fearful of the knowledge of this ability going out and had the security tightened around the forest. This gave her a chance to think about what would Qian Xunji do in her place if he knew that the individual who was the cause of his scar also had the ability to push Spirit Hall to its greatest height ever. Just the enhancement of cultivation speed is startling not to mention the ability to converse with Spirit Beasts and have a greater chance at persuading them to the user's will.
'But these guys really are like tribal humans... just bigger. What would happen if there is a modern civilization of giants?' Ja Sun imagined male and female giants with their leathery and various colored skins in suits and dresses while holding giant pens to complete office work.
'The variations of this race are largely divided into cyclops and numerous headed giants.
Aside from the three twin-headed giants, there were seven Cyclops in the inner circle calmly sleeping. Their bodies and strength grew naturally and being at their most peaceful state would make their speed of cultivation even quicker.
Not to mention the fact that the Giant's Forest's environment was suited to these giants or they wouldn't have lived here. Their state of growth was the best in this forest.
'Man... I've run out of medicine refining arts... but still haven't gotten anything fruitful aside from a few vials of medicine from poisonous immortal plants...' Ja Sun mused. It didn't take Ja Sun long to figure out a few tricks due to his base in arrays already. There was also the Spirit Bestowal Array he managed to gain in the Slaughter City.
This formation had the ability to control soul origin. Soul Origin directly meant an increase in cultivation for his spirit souls. Soul Origin was also the focus in the Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique. However, the former needed a Divine Intent for the formation to work and the latter needed the Rakshasa Scythe that was within Bibi Dong and still not controlled by her.
So, it was clear that his study of the two rewards had also come to a standstill. By now, Ja Sun already had the speculation that the 'Divine' in this aspect was directly related to the path higher than rank 99— Rank 100 and possibly above. But these were thoughts far away from a Spirit Emperor like him.
'Time to try and push some boundaries,' Ja Sun sighed deeply. The forest was growing, his teammates were growing, too. Oscar had found a rather convenient Spirit Ring from the Giant's Forest that belonged to a 16000-year-old Giant, entering the realms of a Spirit King directly at rank 53 and now, his pseudo-core had stopped siphoning off his energy. Instead, it entered a period of slumber while passively increasing Oscar's speed of cultivation that surpassed what any auxiliary spirit master can achieve!
After almost two months, Tang Yuehua had pushed her rank by 3, making her a 28 Spirit Master. Bibi Dong was still preparing based on Ja Sun's information regarding the Death Spider Emperor since she didn't want to underestimate a 100000-year-old poison-type spirit beast. Ah Yin had finally increased her rank by 1, always sneaking into the Ja Sun's direction to increase her pace of cultivation. She was now a rank 68 Spirit Emperor.
In fact, once Bibi Dong completed her hold of the forest, and had a personal footing without Qian Xunji in the Spirit Hall, she wished to return to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to probably develop her own stay. That place was simply amazing for Ah Yin and every moment apart was a wasted opportunity.
Xie Xan had absorbed the spirit bone and had his rank increased by 1 before breaking through again using the momentum of it. Right now, he was a rank 64 Spirit Emperor.
This use of momentum was even greater in Jun'er's case as her Spirit Bone had a resonance with her element, increasing her rank by 2 directly. Now, she solidified her base at the bottleneck of rank 60 and similar to Liu Erlong, reluctantly waited for their trip to wither Sunset Forest or the Star Dou Great Forest for their sixth spirit rings.
Hu Lana was taking a break so aside from some randy gossip through Bibi Dong, nothing noteworthy came aside from the fact that she was due in two and half months.
Sighing softly, Ja Sun waited patiently until the giant returned with the corpse of a shark and placed it in front of Ja Sun deferentially. Nodding with a grin, Ja Sun cooked the fins for himself and left the remaining in his Spirit Ring to use the beast as a material. There were a dozen shark corpses already in his storage ring.
"Alright, I'm going to sleep!" Ja Sun glared at the giants as the strands of the Blue Silver Variants around him grew and turned into a sturdy tent. The act made the giants vary. If Ah Yin was the strictest entity to the humans, then she was the same for the Giants, too. She didn't discriminate. Even now, in some corner of the forest, especially the western region where Ah Yin resided most of the time, there are many pitiful giants struck by blue silver vines as they try to break the restrictions.
It was nothing personal. Giants, for the most part, obviously wanted their freedom and others, too, wanted them to grow so that their worth can be exploited.
Once covered by the tent, Ja Sun took out a leg bone.
Usually, he would only look for either Evil-attributed spirit bones which... wasn't found even once. Or feline-type spirit bones, preferably tigers or lions for his slots.
But this...
Looking at the pitch-black leg bone, Ja Sun had his thoughts stirred.
This ability was too good.
The use of spirit bone abilities for clones meant distant use of the Nightmare's Fantasy Skull Bone and even the combined skill of his arm bone. Coupled with the fact that he could give away his Sigh of Immortal, his clones could wreak as much havoc as they wish or even use the enhancement of cultivation in other regions.
This time, the compatibility was trumped by the use of the spirit bone. Ja Sun wasn't stubborn regarding this. Yes, he would be thrilled by the idea to use a spirit bone with the same ability that comes from a feline beast but there isn't any! How hard is it to come across a spirit bone? Even now, Ja Sun only had spirit bones that he looted or traded. He hadn't gotten a single one from a spirit beast except for Ground Devil.
'But... should I still give it a chance? We'll be going to the Star Dou Great Forest two months after Hu Lana gives birth. I can wait that long...' Ja Sun pursed his lips. He really wanted to get his hands on this ability.
Sighing softly, he placed it away and took out a white left arm bone with claws for hands.
The 80000-year-old Hell White Tiger Left Arm Bone!
"Well, I really hope this works," Ja Sun mumbled to himself before closing his eyes.
Even if his spirit bones were stuck at the realm of 99999 years, the benefits to his spirit rank would be amazing in itself!
---
"There's something deeply wrong here," Ja Sun finally broke his pose. Another week had passed away and he now lied under the tree while other Giants followed his pose and sprawled on the ground.
He took the matter in numbers. The gap between 80000 and 100000 should be 20000. Yet, after 19999 is filled, the last gap couldn't be pushed despite the remaining 60001 years of cultivation of the spirit bone.
Both of his spirit bones had reached the age of 99999 but they wouldn't just take the next step. On the other hand, his cultivation had broken through by three ranks in this week itself. He was now a rank 68 Spirit Emperor and caught up to Ah Yin. But of course, if she had the same number of spirit bones, she would have even surpassed Bibi Dong so it was all a relative point of view.
'Just what the hell am I missing? All directions indicate that neither physical, spiritual, or mental energy can affect the growth of the spirit bone. Only the same spirit bone can be fused but apparently, it cannot break through to the next realm.'
Ja Sun could only conclude this since he had three 99999-year-old spirit bones at this point.
'Other spirit masters, too, balance the three forms of energy and grow. As I push through, my situation will get better until I recover my ability to quickly cultivate since my spirit energy will no longer be suppressed by my physical and mental energy. But... the only thing I lack is this divine. Can only god reach this energy? But Bibi Dong's words hinted that to become a god... one must already possess divine energy... so did that white mist that protected the slaughter egg. This divine energy comes through inheritances and such...
But doesn't that mean to become a god... one must be a god in the first place. It's stupid, but many hints indicate this matter to be true,' Ja Sun groaned internally. He was stuck in a loop here.
The only written hints he had on the Divine Energy is based on the Spirit Bestowal Array and even that wasn't too enlightening.
'So... aside from these breakthroughs, I'm still stuck in arrays and the knowledge on the path ahead. Even Violet's problem isn't solvable at this point... I wonder if she's alive,' He thought back at the Medusa spirit beast with a human mutation that caused her to reach her bottleneck early, too. She could very well be the beast version of Tang Yuehua in this aspect.
Right now, he had three remaining points of interest.
The first one, of course, was the Bloodline Core of the Three-eyed Golden Lion. Holding this core would always give Ja Sun a sense of unease, the cause of which was still unknown. Then there are two strange Spirit Guidance Tools— Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud and the Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Eye.
Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud's use, according to the envoy of the Heaven Dou Empire, could only be seen after the blood of the user is absorbed but this didn't look like a Blood Artifact similar to Vajra Gauntlets. From the looks of inactivity, the Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Eye seemed to be the same.
If it was before, Ja Sun would have eagerly used his blood already. Yet, his mental energy was close to the peak of what a Titled Douluo can achieve and he could sense something strange within the two items.
So, his next three points of interest seemed to carry a fair amount of risk. Maybe it was all his imagination, but if he could sense something wrong, why act like a blind fool knowingly?
Of the two items, Ja Sun chose to inspect the Evil-Eyed Sage's Third Eye. This item was rewarded during the battle with Dai Taiyin and would surely have connections to the so-called god of the White Tiger Clan— Evil-Eyed Sage Tiger. With his affinity to this group, choosing the eye over the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was a no-brainer.
Ja Sun silently played with a round gem. Its size was similar to an infant's fist with a dark luster on its surface. Within this darkness were two orbs of light— red and blue. This made Ja Sun speculate if this item was related to the eyes then the red and blue would signify the heterochromia of the White Tiger Lineage.
"Certainly strange... what a curious thing. Every strand of mental energy is absorbed... and it even devours the death aspect related to my mental energy," Ja Sun narrowed his eyes. Spirit Energy had no effect, mental energy is absorbed. This left physical essence in the form of blood which Ja Sun was unwilling to use at the moment.
But he had already tried everything. he had used the little arrays based on inspection abilities and it amounted to nothing, too, the same was true for the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
'Not taking action will only delay the inevitable... that being my curiosity taking the better of me,' Ja Sun hummed softly. Sigh of Immortal didn't come with any problems. It also used his blood and in return, provided him with a near-infinite storage of spirit energy!
The prospect of gaining yet another ability... was certainly motivating enough.
Taking a sharp breath, Ja Sun was about to drop his blood on the dark gem when he had a thought.
Why blood?
'Could spit work?'
'Would some other fluids work? Or another part of the body?'
This idea kept him busy for a while until he returned to the same act again.
Without wasting another moment, Ja Sun dripped his blood from his right thumb onto the lustrous gem and it was absorbed in an instant.
*Voom*
An extraordinary undulation of energy instantly woke up the surrounding spirit beasts. Surprising yet, was the fact that without even roaring, they clamored to escape.
The area around Ja Sun began to vibrate while the strands of blue silver grass around him were torn to shreds. The energy seemed to be forming its own will around and far off in the distance, in her room within the western entrance that was being fortified to make a permanent base, Ah Yin suddenly opened her eyes and spat a mouthful of blood.
'My domain... is forcefully broken?'
She glanced in the direction where it broke and the sight of the energy gathering around Ja Sun made her feel a hint of fear. She, who had reached the level of a Titled Douluo in the form of a tree, could only fear the energy of an entity that surpasses the peak of mortality.
---
"Ughhhh!"
In Dai Laohu's office, Dai Taiyin dutifully recounted a report when his vision swam and blood burst forth from his forehead.
A dark gem escaped the middle of his forehead yet aside from blood, there was no wound. Dai Taiyin instantly collapsed and without missing a beat, Dai Laohu roared and attacked the strange pearl but one burst of energy instantly suppressed the Titled Douluo. The Gem stayed in place until it slowly turned Translucent and then disappeared.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone