Chapter 4: Divine Stone
While leaving through the fog a sudden stream of purple-mist left the duo and entered Weodrothis. From there it quickly dispersed into its core.
Daozi had been watching the whole ordeal, so he naturally saw what had occurred. With his current capabilities nothing could escape his gaze.
'This mist actually seems like a weaker version of my Divine Merits?'
He couldn't help but be taken aback. There was no record of such a thing in his inherited memories.
Could it be the influence of that Nascent Soul cultivator? Did the previous Heavenly Dao fail to completely rid itself of the intruder during its self-destruction?
Whatever the reason, the presence of unknown variables definitely struck a blow to his confidence.
Ah, he only hoped things didn't stray too far from the information he knew.
As for the purple-mist, it was like spiritual energy in that he wasn't able to manipulate it. Other than possessing a similar aura to his Divine Merits, its exact effects were beyond him.
'With its similarities to my power, why not call it faith energy?'
He wondered where this new power system would fit in the previous cultivation realms, which went from smallest to largest: body tempering, qi-refining, foundation establishment, shattered crystal, core formation, soul consolidation, nascent soul.
The influence of this faith power would need to be closely monitored.
For now, his goal was to quickly get these people cultivating. Having them channel raw spiritual energy would convert it into useable Divine Merits. This was also the reason he desperately needed sapient life, as there didn't seem to be another method to consistently produce merits.
'How should I go about teaching them?'
At this stage the absolute last thing he wanted to do was to make his presence obvious. If they started scheming against him then it'd really be a pitiful sight.
'Engraving the fundamentals on a piece of solid stone could work. I'd just need to be able to guide them towards it.'
[Consumed 1 Divine Merit]
The Forest
Bluog and Auopi suddenly felt a ghastly chill course through them. They almost immediately froze in place, casting quick glances at one another with terror-stricken faces.
"Did you feel that as well?" Auopi was the first to speak out. Its rotund body drenched in a layer of sweat.
"Yea, I've never felt such an ominous sensation before!" Bluog wasn't doing any better, its legs barely holding up under the fear.
Auopi stayed silent for a moment before speaking; "Maybe we should head back to his grace, we should be saf-"
A sudden flash of golden light tore across the realm. Everything beneath the heavens was suddenly cast in an ethereal glow.
Let alone Bluog and Auopi, even Weodrothis was affected by the phenomenon. The large tree shook its leaves and hurriedly utilized its core to engulf itself with fog. A few of its larger roots were even pulled from the soil and used as shields.
Fear, shock, and awe. Bluog and Auopi were directly paralyzed by the light. The aura it emitted was terrifying! Had it carried any malice they would have surely died before anyone could rescue them.
Unfortunately, it seemed like their troubles had just started.
As the light began to fade, cracks tore through the soil as the earth beneath them shook. The duo was forced onto their knees as the unsteady ground rendered standing up impossible.
Thankfully the tremors didn't last long. After five minutes the shaking had finally stopped, and they were able to stand up again. Other than a bit of nausea they were otherwise unharmed.
"Let's run back, I'm afraid if we delay our return any longer, we'll cease to exist." Bluog collected his bearings and spoke in a quivering voice.
Auopi nodded its body in acknowledgement. The last thing it wanted was to fail its creator, but they clearly weren't qualified to be roaming about. Continuing to venture through the forest was no different from embarking on a suicide mission.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Alarmed by the sudden clattering the duo quickly scanned the surrounding woods. In the direction they originally came from they saw three silhouettes hidden beneath the vegetation. As the creatures walked out from under the foliage, the suns harsh rays revealed their figure.
They walked on all four legs and possessed a bulky stature. A long snout protruded from their neck, with rows of a glistening teeth openly displayed. Their bodies were covered in a rough brown grit, as if they were sculpted from the earth.
"Run!"
Without wasting a second Bluog and Auopi rushed in the opposite direction, heading towards the perimeter of the forest.
The earthen canines followed suite, their clattering jaws spurring the duo into a sprint. Oddly, these creatures seemed to keep a steady distance behind the pair, being careful to match their speeds.
Spatial Boundary
Daozi had decided to use a Divine Merit to conjure vicious earthen dogs to lead the pair towards a recently erected stone monolith.
He actually summoned a lot more than the three currently in pursuit, the flash of light affected the entire realm, creating a total of five hundred canine. Their strength was around the mid-stage of body tempering, and coupled with their high numbers, would serve as an effective source of danger for the foreseeable future.
Sadly, the dogs weren't sentient. If he didn't give them orders, they'd continue to stand around in one place for eternity.
Daozi watched as the duo, now short of breath, finally reached the neighboring grassland and laid their sight on the monolith.
It dwarfed the fruit folk, standing at an impressive thirty meters tall. The surface had a glossy finish, and the sides were perfectly cut into a rectangular shape.
Murals were engraved on the front. They depicted a humanoid figure undergoing rigorous exercise, harnessing energy from the air, and condensing their power into a liquid. Each step correlated to the body-tempering, qi-refining and foundation establishment stages respectively.
There were actually numerous cultivation methods in the previous myriad realms, but he only included foundational theory on the stone. There weren't many nonhuman cultivators, so how these fruit people applied the teachings was something he wanted to see.
He had also considered including the subsequent realms but changed his mind so as to not overcomplicate things. After that big tree consumed half the world's spiritual energy, just reaching foundation establishment was already a massive undertaking.
Focusing some attention on Weodrothis, he saw it re-entrenching its roots and dispersing the fog. Looks like he really spooked it.
Despite Weodrothis having a core, its powers didn't seem to match its realm. If he had to rank it, then the tree was probably around the late foundation establishment realm in strength.
Ah, he'd just attribute the mystery to the newly discovered faith energy.
Back at the monolith, Bluog and Aupoi were resting by the stone. The dogs had fulfilled their purpose, so he had ordered them to enter seclusion within the woods. This stone would double as a sort of safe zone, allowing them to comprehend the illustrations in peace.
Ever since their pursuers had left, the duo had been carefully scrutinizing the intricate murals which lined the stone. Their eyes laced with an unmistakable trace of curiosity and wonder.
As living fruit, they didn't seem to need food in the traditional sense, instead they gathered energy from sleeping under the sun. Besides rest and the occasional small talk, the two of them spent the following few days immersed in thought.
Bluog was the first to experiment. It put its arms to the side, curled its fingers, and went into a squat. The pose was reminiscent of a modified dragon stance that one could find back on earth, its purpose here was to awaken the bodies latent potential.
Following a series of kick and punches that mirrored one of the depictions in the mural, other than being short of breath nothing seemed to change. Bluog couldn't help but curse its stubby body for being so impractical.
The stalemate lasted another week, with both Bluog and Auopi trying all sorts of methods to mimic the results in the engraving.
It wasn't until Auopi tried executing the technique before bed that a breakthrough finally occurred.
Unlike Bluogs dragon stance, Auopi adopted a modified tiger stance. While going through the routine motions, Auopi felt a sudden vibration from inside.
Its eyes shot open. This was the result demonstrated on the stone! But what had it done differently?
Looking at the sky Auopi saw the sun approaching peak brightness, shrouding the world in a warm light. The red fruit quickly sank into thought.
Could it be that the missing requirement was the sun? Although they did occasionally practice outside the stones shade, it was always when the sun was dim and the thought of absorbing solar energy non-existent.
But right before bed, where the sun was at peaks levels and it was getting ready to gather energy, the breakthrough had occurred! How could it have been so stupid, it all made sense now!
Auopi quickly resumed its stance, this time putting extra attention on harnessing the solar rays. As expected, when it finished going through the series of kicks and punches an even bigger vibration rocked its innards.
Daozi watched as the pair finally overcame the underlying issue. Thanks to his insight as the Heavenly Dao, he had already understood the need for sunlight early on but had held off telling them. Not only would it be difficult to subtly push them in the right direction, but struggle was also an inherent part of life.
If they cracked at this stage, then they simply had no fate as cultivators. Though if it really came to that point, he wouldn't have much choice but to be a hypocrite and hold their hands, as they were his only means of producing Divine Merit right now.
Thankfully everything worked out in the end.
The denizens of his world had successfully embarked on the path of cultivation.
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