Chapter 194 Life-Giving Fire

Several days later.

Red flames swirled atop the Divine Shrine Mountain. A wisp of fiery light darted across the black mountain sky, accompanied by dancing black flowers from all directions.

Gu Shen sat atop the Divine Shrine Mountain, as still as an old monk in meditation.

Behind him, the flower garden that had once been filled with black blossoms was now empty. All of those black flowers had become fuel for the fiery light!

After returning from Central Continent and escorting his senior sister to the capital, he had returned to the Divine Shrine Mountain and begun his cultivation.

He had been stuck on the seventh layer of the Deep Sea for too long.

Now, he could finally condense his own embryonic domain!

Gu Shen no longer suppressed the fire in his glabella. To condense an embryonic domain, the fiery light had to be fed until it was full—

He released the fiery light, beginning a sweep of the Divine Shrine Mountain!

This small wisp of flame began to devour everything in its path between the black mountain mists… Like a bottomless pit, it continuously gnawed at the black flowers covering the mountains and fields.

He had never expected that this time, his comprehension and his act of releasing the fiery light would lead to such a spectacle—

Li Qingsui sat on the edge of the cliff, dangling her bare feet.

The shattering of the black flowers meant the return of order.

Over the past two years, the Divine Shrine Mountain had gradually regained its vitality. As Gu Shen cleared away the flowers of shattered order from the mountaintop, streams began to flow and the waterfalls that had been dry for centuries gradually revived.

Now, the sky was ablaze with red clouds, a truly rare and magnificent sight.

Li Qingsui couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene.

The little girl muttered, "Just what is that Gu doing? Did he lose control of his powers? I didn't see such a commotion when that White family kid broke through…"

The higher the level of an extraordinary, the greater the amount of extraordinary power they could command.

Super experts who had broken through the twelfth layer could summon vast domains with a wave of their hand, destroying half a city without breaking a sweat.

But Gu Shen was probably only at the third level, right?

The commotion caused by this fiery light breaking through was a little too terrifying!

"Qingsui, don't talk nonsense."

Li Qingci, standing quietly beside her, immediately scolded her. "Mr. Gu is an benefactor to both the Divine Shrine Mountain and the Li family."

"Sister, you know that's not what I meant…"

Li Qingsui stuck out her tongue, explaining, "It's just that this commotion is indeed a bit scary."

Yes, it was indeed scary.

Li Qingci looked at the fiery red sky in the distance.

She asked with some worry, "Goddess, is this commotion alright?"

If the Divine Shrine Mountain wasn’t a closed, wondrous realm shrouded in thick fog, the extraordinaries outside would have sensed it long ago!

Li Qingci and Li Qingsui were both shaken by this sight, but there was one person on the mountaintop who remained unmoved.

Chu Ling, draped in a red and white priestess robe, was scooping water from the mountain spring with a wooden ladle…

She didn’t even raise her eyes to look at Gu Shen’s location.

With the black flowers removed and life returning, the Divine Shrine Mountain naturally grew many small white flowers representing hope. She had taken care of the black flower garden on the mountaintop, gradually turning it into a pure white space. Chu Ling watered the new flower garden as she smiled and said, "Don't worry."

Her mind was connected to Gu Shen’s.

Their spirits were almost linked together as "co-frequency bodies." She could sense any disturbance in Gu Shen’s spirit immediately… Although the current spectacle was frightening, Gu Shen’s spirit was very stable.

Like a bedrock!

Even if he failed to break through in the end, he wouldn’t lose control in this state.

If Gu Shen were to undergo a mental test by the Federal Security Committee right now, he would probably still score above 95!

So, Chu Ling wasn’t worried about Gu Shen’s breakthrough at all.

As for the so-called spectacle.

In her eyes, this spectacle couldn’t even be called a spectacle!

Gu Shen was chosen by Mr. Turing. His fiery light was a genuine S-rank ability. The scene of its outbreak in the Cage of Specters was far more shocking than this.

Being able to devour the black flowers on the mountaintop and set the sky of the Divine Shrine ablaze was what Gu Shen should be able to do!

To put it bluntly, the Pure Land that Gu Shen had previously relied on was the divine creation gifted by Mr. Gu Changzhi!

In the end, it was a support method.

Gu Shen’s own true Great Dao had to be the fiery light!

The Pure Land determined the lower limit of Gu Shen’s strength, while the extent of his fiery light cultivation determined his upper limit!

……

……

This spectacle continued for several hours.

Li Qingsui grew tired of dangling her legs. As the current head of the Li family, she had to manage many affairs. Being able to take half a day off to watch the flowers bloom, fall, and fill the sky on the Divine Shrine Mountain was already a rare luxury.

Uncle Gao climbed to the top of the Divine Shrine Mountain. He was slightly shocked by the sight of Gu Shen’s breakthrough, but he quickly recovered.

He hadn’t come to the mountain to watch the scenery.

It was time to leave. He politely asked the future head of the family to descend the mountain. Time passed quickly within the Divine Shrine Mountain. It was time to go down the mountain and deal with worldly affairs.

The little Qingsui sighed, reluctantly leaving, turning back every few steps on the way down…

Unfortunately.

She didn’t get to see the real breakthrough.

After the little girl left, the mountain became much quieter.

No one was constantly chattering and asking all sorts of questions.

Li Qingci quietly accompanied the goddess in tending to the snow-white flower garden.

She knew that each of the goddess’s descents was very difficult and time was limited. For the Li family, it was best to take this opportunity to ask the goddess some questions…

Chu Ling was the new gravekeeper of Nagano.

She possessed true divination, a divine art that everyone wanted to master!

But Li Qingci simply stayed by Chu Ling’s side, saying nothing.

As the protector of the Divine Shrine, she was extremely intelligent. Through her interactions during this time, she had already guessed the rough outlines of Chu Ling’s identity.

What kind of special existence could survive in the spirit world without a physical body of its own?

Outsiders didn’t understand the story between Mr. Gu and Chu Ling.

But she could guess a thing or two.

In her heart… Chu Ling wasn’t a "program" to be exploited to satisfy one’s desires. Her relationship with Chu Ling was very simple. After all these years, she had spent ten years on the Divine Shrine Mountain to earn this "hope" and "result." Moreover, the Li family was willing to spend six hundred years arranging this "divine embryo".

If the Li family really needed divination one day, she would speak up.

But not now.

The tranquility of the pure white flower garden didn’t last long.

Chu Ling suddenly asked, "Do you want to learn divination?"

This question took Li Qingci by surprise.

She paused, not answering.

The question was so "inopportune" that she felt like her thoughts had been seen through by Chu Ling.

"If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Chu Ling said sincerely, "But it’s not easy to learn, and… divination requires a great price."

After a moment of silence.

Li Qingci looked into Chu Ling’s eyes and said seriously, "I want to learn."

Where was there any forbidden art that didn’t require a price?

Fate was fair.

To gain, one must first lose.

"Alright."

Chu Ling nodded and asked, "This isn’t a transaction. I don't want to exchange anything for divination… But I have a question. Would you be willing to teach me the Art of Prayer?"

Li Qingci paused once again.

She blinked.

Chu Ling’s face was full of sincerity. If one didn’t know her, they would probably think this was an "exchange."

Using divination to exchange for the Art of Prayer.

But Li Qingci knew Chu Ling. She knew that Chu Ling was willing to teach her regardless of whether she knew the Art of Prayer… She was willing to teach her because she saw through her thoughts and believed that she could teach her.

"These are two different things."

Chu Ling repeated once again, "I want to collect the Forbidden Arts of Ancient Texts. The only one in this world who knows the Art of Prayer… should be you."

The Art of Prayer was forbidden from being passed on. This was a requirement from the Li family’s ancestors to the protectors of each generation—

To sit on the Divine Shrine, water the black flowers, and pray for protection.

Giving everything without asking for anything in return!

Every protector needed to swear before entering the mountain that they would dedicate their life to the Divine Shrine and never violate the rules of their ancestors!

"Alright, I’ll teach you the Art of Prayer."

Li Qingci thought for a long time before finally speaking.

Her decision shouldn’t be considered a violation of her ancestors’ rules… After all, the ultimate goal of the protectors all these years was only to cultivate a "divine embryo" and clear the black flowers of the Divine Shrine!

In her generation, she was finally able to complete this ultimate mission!

The meaning of the Art of Prayer must also have come to an end… If she still held back from the goddess that the Li family had cultivated for six hundred years, then what was the point of passing down this art?

"This isn't a transaction."

Li Qingci said seriously, "Chu Ling, even if you didn't have divination, one day, I would have taught you the Art of Prayer anyway."

She knew that Chu Ling was a life form more suitable for forbidden arts than she was.

Each descent was a complete and short life cycle.

The price that needed to be paid for the Art of Prayer or divination… Chu Ling could avoid it to the greatest extent. Perhaps fate would still chase after the goddess.

But at least, she was different from others!

The two sat in the pure white flower garden, the small white flowers drifting in the wind. They both waved their sleeves, spreading their minds in front of them. A series of obscure ancient texts floated in the air.

The forbidden texts of divination and the Art of Prayer floated slowly in the air, arrayed, emitting waves of mental energy.

……

……

On the other side, Gu Shen was at a critical moment in his breakthrough.

He was in his own sea of consciousness.

Right now, the Pure Land world was covered in a blanket of wind and snow.

In the midst of great cold, the four seasons reversed.

Snow filled the sky. He sat on the cold Iron Throne, looking down at his world, studying the wisp of flame that swirled around his fingertips.

The advancement from the seventh to the eighth layer of the Deep Sea shouldn’t have been this difficult.

But he had already completed three transcendences.

This was equivalent to a kind of premature overdraft. In a "mental realm" that didn’t belong to him, Gu Shen had already gained great benefits… Fate was fair to all living beings in the world.

The reason why geniuses were powerful was because their path was more difficult than the path of ordinary people.

Now, it had become extremely difficult for him to comprehend the fiery light.

The mental level of the Pure Land was much higher than the fiery light. A high and a low naturally formed a strong and a weak, a primary and a secondary… Gu Shen could feel the fiery light’s gluttonous plunder in the real world. He had deliberately chosen to cultivate in seclusion on the Divine Shrine Mountain to ensure that his resources were sufficient for the breakthrough, but he had never expected that the originium the fiery light had swallowed was all taken by the Pure Land world as soon as it entered his stomach.

The Pure Land was now a "power" of a higher level than the fiery light!

It took a huge amount of originium to evolve the entire spirit world!

But in this way, the speed of the fiery light’s transformation became extremely slow… Most importantly, this was his own ability. If it was in a state of being suppressed by another ability for a long time, then Gu Shen’s own extraordinary level would become very slow.

Indeed.

After three transcendences, Gu Shen could fight beyond his level!

He could face many fourth-level extraordinaries head-on, using his methods to be evenly matched. He could even kill strong people like Meng Xiao!

But the slower the fiery light leveled up, the harder it would be for him to advance to the true fourth level…

If he wanted to become a top-level fourth level like Lu Zhexue and Jia Wei, he couldn’t have any weaknesses.

He had to comprehend the domain of the fiery light!

"I’ve read countless materials. The extraordinaries’ domain is the second transformation of their own strength."

Gu Shen sat on the throne, deep in thought.

Extraordinary abilities had strengths and weaknesses.

But this couldn’t determine an extraordinary’s true limit—

Abilities had ratings, but the small group of extraordinaries standing at the top of the world weren’t all those with the highest-rated abilities.

Taking his teacher, Zhou Jiren, as an example, this East Continent Grand Arbiter had awakened his ability very late. He wasn’t favored at the beginning of his cultivation and was a model of the "late bloomer" type.

In fact, the path of extraordinary cultivation was a competition of who had the strongest endurance. The one who laughed last might not be the genius who was far ahead at the start, but also a "monster" who became more powerful the more they cultivated!

If the first watershed in the strength of an extraordinary was "ability awakening."

Then the second watershed was "domain development."

This was a truly controllable power that belonged to the extraordinary themselves.

"The same ability, based on different visualizations of mental abilities, can develop different practical domains." Gu Shen murmured, "Suzaku’s domain has a clear burning characteristic. If I’m not wrong, when his domain is fully unfolded, endless flames will surge out and incinerate people."

This was the type of "domain" that magnified one’s own ability.

This type of "domain" was the easiest to use for geniuses.

Their own abilities were powerful enough.

If they wielded flames, they would turn their domain into a purgatory.

If they held ice and snow, they would turn their territory into an ice cave.

But not everyone’s domain was like this… Mr. Tree’s sacred wood could achieve extremely powerful restraints, and he had also developed a second additional ability, healing.

Zhou Jiren’s Sacred Wood Domain could heal most physical injuries.

His title, "Towering Tree," was also derived from this!

"A domain can be developed according to the extraordinary’s will…"

Gu Shen tapped his finger lightly, muttering to himself.

The fiery light flitted back and forth in the great cold and snow.

The reason why he was stuck at the bottleneck wasn’t just because the fiery light was suppressed by the Pure Land, but also because he had lost his way at this step, not knowing how to build his own domain next.

This was a question of choice.

Even a heart as still as a watching bystander couldn’t help Gu Shen make this important choice.

"If I condense a domain… I want to condense a domain that is no less powerful than Pluto’s Pure Land…"

Gu Shen’s muttered voice carried some confusion, slowly rippling through the snow.

He looked at his wisp of fire.

The inspiration he had accumulated these days surged up at this moment.

The fiery light domain that he wanted to condense wasn’t a simple burning.

The reason why his fiery light could become an S-rank wasn’t because of its high temperature or heat.

Ian was desperately searching for the art of longevity.

Pluto was having a mental breakdown, wanting to create a land of eternal life.

This Pure Land world now possessed a very high standard of eternal stillness. The end of the reverse journey was the sweltering heat where everything grew wildly. It was clear that the last hurdle he would eventually face was the transformation from death to life!

At this moment, Gu Shen suddenly realized.

"If the fiery light can undergo a transformation…"

"Then the new attribute I want to give it is…"

"Eternal life!"

Countless memories and countless inspirations finally had a direction to burst forth in this moment.

On the Divine Shrine Mountain, the wind and clouds changed abruptly.

The fiery light absorbed a large amount of originium. Under the infusion of Gu Shen’s will, it began to undergo qualitative changes. The Pure Land was still plundering this massive amount of originium, but this time, the fiery light resisted.

Countless tiny flames surrounded Gu Shen.

In the snow-filled sky.

Gu Shen’s Iron Throne was ignited by the fiery light. His glabella was like a great sun, giving birth to boundless blazing light, illuminating the entire snowy world. This cold world full of the power of stillness now had a new meaning of resistance.

Gu Shen’s fiery light, after finding its direction, began to transform—

This was a long process.

But at this moment, the fiery light already possessed a new trait!

……

……

"Boom!"

The changes in Gu Shen’s mental world were reflected in reality, equally grand.

Chu Ling and Li Qingci, who were engaged in mental communication in the pure white flower garden, opened their eyes at this moment. The red clouds in the sky all fell on one person… The thin figure who had been sitting for a long time now seemed exceptionally tall.

Gu Shen stood up and clenched his fist.

The shackles of the seventh layer of the Deep Sea had been broken by him… The fiery light, although it hadn’t yet formed a domain, already had a wisp that had transformed into a new trait.

He squatted down and reached out his hand, directly picking a black flower.

This scene shocked Li Qingci.

This was a disaster symbolizing the shattering of order. Ordinary extraordinaries would quickly cause the collapse of their mental sea upon touching it—

In the past, Gu Shen had taken precautions when eating flowers.

At least he would wrap his hands in flames.

But this time, Gu Shen directly reached out with his bare hands!

With a "chi" sound!

Just as Gu Shen’s fingertips were about to touch the black flower, a wisp of flame burst out from within his skin. This was a sign that the embryonic domain had been formed. He could spread the domain in his body at will. The coverage of this internal domain was quite limited, barely able to leave the surface of his body, and its quality couldn’t be compared to a real domain.

The cultivation of extraordinaries was like this. If they wanted to become a fourth level, they needed to constantly accumulate their will, using quantitative changes to cause qualitative changes.

The real hurdle was to cultivate a powerful domain!

This was also the reason why the fourth level was called the biggest watershed.

The more powerful the domain, the harder it was to cultivate.

Being able to infuse one’s will didn’t mean success. If one wanted to make the embryo grow into a complete domain in accordance with one’s will, it might take dozens or hundreds of times more effort, and it might not even be successful.

"This is… a breakthrough?"

Seeing this scene, Li Qingci couldn’t help but rejoice for Gu Shen.

But in the next second, she became nervous.

What were the characteristics of Mr. Gu's embryonic domain?

This was a step that determined the future!

"Whirring…"

On the mountaintop, a gentle breeze flowed by.

Gu Shen picked up a black flower, his expression calm and composed. He walked towards Chu Ling, who was sitting in the pure white flower garden, with the flame in his palm wrapping the black flower… As before, the flame gnawed at the black petals.

Then.

He bowed slightly and placed the small black flower in Chu Ling's hair.

A gentle, clear flame burned in the goddess’s hair, not scorching at all. On the contrary, the temperature was just right.

Chu Ling quietly sniffed.

A faint fragrance lingered in the flower garden…

After the flames burned away, the black flower turned white.

All the chaotic power within this black flower, symbolizing the shattering of order, had been removed.

This time, Gu Shen didn’t eat it, but transformed it into a white flower symbolizing hope.

"Truly… an amazing domain ability."

Chu Ling took off the white flower and said softly, "Is this the result of your comprehension?"

"Yes."

Gu Shen said gently, "This is my second domain, the exact opposite of the Pure Land’s Great Cold… This is the Fire of Life."

"Fire of Life…"

Li Qingci looked at this scene in a daze, her eyes flickering.

Gu Shen’s embryonic domain was too unbelievable.

As far as she knew, the embryonic domains cultivated by many geniuses were amazing, but the domains that eventually grew out were very different from the embryos…

What would a domain that could reorganize order and give life look like when it truly grew?

Li Qingci suddenly remembered a dream she had long ago. She not only dreamed that all the black flowers and cloudy mists on the Divine Shrine Mountain had been cleared… but also dreamed of countless snow-white flowers blooming in the mountains and fields.

So.

Was that not just a dream?