Chapter 735: Life Flame (I)
"The void? Are you saying that while inside the divine repositories, you sensed another, even larger void hidden beyond the void within them?"
The two conversed for a while. When Lin Zheyu mentioned that another, larger void seemed to lie hidden beyond the void within the divine repositories, Xia Ping's eyes widened, and excitement spread across his face.
"Yes, but it is only a suspicion. Through a fortunate coincidence, I experienced a sudden flash of insight and vaguely sensed something unusual about the void beyond the divine repositories," Lin Zheyu replied with a nod.
Within the entire Martial Alliance, Xia Ping was indisputably the foremost authority on the divine repositories. Even Lin Zheyu himself fell slightly short. Lin Zheyu merely possessed a stronger foundation, but in terms of research and understanding of the divine repositories, he still lagged far behind Xia Ping. Otherwise, he would not have sought Xia Ping out to discuss the Dao whenever he had time.
"Another void hidden beyond the void within the divine repositories... Immortal cultivators cultivate the spirit and ultimately condense a divine soul. They strengthen their souls through various means to prepare themselves to find the Origin Life Flame hidden deep within their souls. We martial artists, however, cultivate the body. We enter the Dao through martial cultivation, train our bodies down to the marrow, and strengthen our physical forms. The physical body is the foundation of every martial artist.
"There are countless Great Daos, and although the paths of cultivation vary, they ultimately lead to the same destination. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into two categories: cultivating the soul and cultivating the body, though some cultivate both. Those who cultivate the soul possess an Origin Life Flame hidden deep within their souls; igniting that flame allows the soul to undergo a fundamental transformation and become a divine soul.
"Perhaps we martial artists also possess a Life Flame within our physical bodies. Many martial cultivation seniors once shared this conjecture and devoted their entire lives to searching for it. However, despite generation after generation exhausting every conceivable method, none of them could find the so-called Life Flame of the physical body. As a result, later martial artists abandoned the conjecture of a corporeal Life Flame..." Xia Ping explained gently and at length.
Some of what he described touched upon the level of the Deity Transformation realm, leaving even Lin Zheyu engrossed. In particular, he had never heard of the soul's Origin Life Flame or the physical body's Life Flame.
Does an immortal cultivator's divine soul only emerge after they ignite the Origin Life Flame deep within their soul? Then what of the nearly corporeal soul within my sea of consciousness? Could such a powerful soul still be vastly inferior to the divine soul of a Deity Transformation realm expert? Lin Zheyu wondered.
He suddenly recalled Jing Xinyue's divine soul, which he had seen in the demon cave. Compared to her unfathomably mysterious divine soul, his own nearly corporeal soul truly seemed rather unimpressive.
Which stage of the Deity Transformation realm is Jing Xinyue at again? Lin Zheyu felt that he should inquire about it so he could gain a clearer understanding of his own soul's strength.
"...The three great divine repositories are the foundation and origin of a martial artist's essence, qi, and spirit. I devoted so much time and effort to studying them because I suspected that if a Life Flame truly exists within the physical body, it must be hidden within the three great divine repositories."
Xia Ping turned toward Lin Zheyu, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "If a larger void truly lies hidden beyond the three great divine repositories, then the Life Flame must be hidden there!"
Xia Ping's voice rose involuntarily as his momentum qi abruptly erupted, and his eyes shone with unprecedented brilliance. He had nearly given up, never expecting Lin Zheyu to bring him such an extraordinary revelation.
"Did you discover anything else? Tell me exactly what happened at the time!" Xia Ping hurriedly asked, suppressing his excitement.
"Yes. It happened when I broke free of the third shackle. At the moment the shackle broke, I entered an indescribably profound state of enlightenment. In that state, I..." Lin Zheyu continued, mixing truth with falsehood.
He could hardly admit that he had sensed the vast void hidden beyond the divine repositories when he first opened the three great divine repositories. Too many things would become impossible to explain. Thus, Lin Zheyu shifted the timing and claimed that he had discovered it while breaking free of the third shackle.
Although his shackles were many times stronger than those of an ordinary martial artist, the experience of breaking free from them should be similar. An ordinary martial artist should also enter that special state when breaking free of the third shackle, though not as distinctly as Lin Zheyu had.
"I see. When a martial artist breaks free of the third shackle, they enter a... Wait? You broke free of the third shackle?" Xia Ping's eyes widened as he stared at Lin Zheyu in disbelief.
Good heavens. He knew Xiao Yu possessed extraordinary aptitude and was an absolute prodigy, but this was simply too monstrous! How long had it been since the young man broke free of his first shackle? Not even seven years, if he remembered correctly.
"Yes. I was fortunate enough to encounter an opportunity, but it still took me over a year to barely achieve the breakthrough. If I had failed, I might never have returned." Lin Zheyu lied through his teeth. After cultivating the Heaven-Deceiving Art, his lies had become even more practiced and flawless.
"The new generation truly surpasses the old! I'm getting old, I really am..." Xia Ping laughed ruefully, but his eyes were filled with admiration and anticipation as he looked at Lin Zheyu.
"All right, let us end our discussion here for today. I can hardly wait to investigate the void you said was hidden beyond the divine repositories!" Xia Ping said with a cheerful laugh.
"I should take my leave as well. I wish you every success!" Lin Zheyu rose and departed.
He cultivated too many different things across far too many fields. If he relied entirely on himself, even with Origin Force, it would take an enormous amount of time. Lin Zheyu preferred to learn while standing on the shoulders of giants. When the day came that he became a giant himself and there were no longer any shoulders left for him to stand upon, it would not be too late to rely entirely on himself.
The Origin Life Flame and the Life Flame... Is it possible for me to ignite both at once? Lin Zheyu wondered after leaving the Library Pavilion.
Although he cultivated Martial Dao, the strength of his soul was no weaker than that of an Immortal Dao cultivator and might even surpass it. Within the Immortal Dao, immortal cultivators believed that the physical body was a boat and the soul was its passenger. The physical body was merely a tool that carried the soul across the sea of suffering to the far shore of the Great Dao. That tool could be a dharma treasure, a spirit treasure, or something else entirely.
The physical body was therefore dispensable. Martial cultivation, however, had thus far focused primarily on cultivating the physical body, refining the martial cultivation will while devoting only a small amount of attention to the soul. Yet martial cultivation was incomplete. No one knew how its future path should proceed or whether it could even be successfully forged. Since everything remained unknown and martial artists had to explore and create the path themselves, Lin Zheyu saw no reason why martial cultivation could not cultivate both the soul and the physical body.
Lin Zheyu sat cross-legged beneath a large tree in the courtyard and sank deep into thought. A physical body without a soul is merely an empty shell, a walking corpse. Martial cultivation cannot completely discard the soul as the Immortal Dao does to the physical body. It must either merge the soul into the physical body, as the Shamanic Dao and yao do, or advance the soul and physical body side by side. Which path should martial cultivation take...
Time passed as the sun rose and set. Lin Zheyu suddenly opened his eyes, awakening from his contemplation.
He let out a long breath, his eyes filled with exhaustion.
"More than a month passed before I even realized it," Lin Zheyu murmured.
As his strength increased, his awareness of the passage of time grew increasingly faint. What had begun as a simple period of contemplation had lasted more than a month in the blink of an eye.
It is still too early for me to consider such matters. I can think about them after I have broken free of all my shackles, Lin Zheyu thought, shaking his head.
With a turn of his right hand, a communication talisman appeared in his palm. It contained a message from Fan Hongwei.
𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"I've kept this fellow waiting long enough. I suppose I shouldn't stand him up again," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.
After being stood up so many times, Fan Hongwei was probably grinding his teeth in frustration. However, Lin Zheyu had no favorable impression of him. Fan Hongwei had harbored ill intentions toward him from the beginning.
Had Lin Zheyu not remained sufficiently vigilant and improved his strength so quickly, he might have suffered a serious setback at Fan Hongwei's hands long ago.
After glancing at the message on the communication talisman, Lin Zheyu flickered and vanished from the spot. At his current level of strength, he was normally free to do as he pleased as long as there were no urgent missions. That, however, was only if he disregarded the need for spirit stones, Divine Power Crystals, and other cultivation resources. To accumulate sufficient cultivation resources, Bai Lin and the others frequently accepted missions from the Martial Alliance.
At times, they also accepted missions issued by other factions. They were unlike Lin Zheyu, who frequently wandered outside on his own. However, everyone cultivated differently. Some martial artists disliked accepting missions and preferred to travel widely, exploring secret realms and dangerous regions.