Chapter 743: Chapter 168: Choice
Xiao Fei felt as though she was light as a feather, as if surfing the clouds, or still immersed in that state of sudden enlightenment she had experienced before.
This feeling was delightful, peaceful and detached, yet utterly captivating.
The warmth of Lei Yan King Zhou Yan’s palm still lingered in her hand, while his teachings of powerful, profound secret techniques echoed in her ears—all that she had ever longed for had suddenly come true.
But Xiao Fei’s heart remained calm, savoring this rare tranquility amidst ethereal happiness.
She wished time could stand still at this moment, with Zhou Yan taking care of her forever in his calm and gentle way, but she knew time would still pass, an aspect of time’s laws that even Supremes could not grasp.
She also hoped such teaching could last longer, to taste more of this blissful happiness. But she equally knew that if Lei Yan King lived through this life, strength would be needed at every moment. If he could not rise quickly, then later on, even the Netherworld Demon Soul Palace, which belonged to her master, would not smoothly return to his hands.
Living in the Demon Soul Palace, she knew well the importance and ruthlessness of strength for a Sovereign.
Xiao Fei had trusted the Demon Soul Palace’s Palace Master Xiao Wanting wholeheartedly, which was why she hadn’t questioned Zhou Yan’s every move, so set in her belief. Now that she was aware of Zhou Yan’s true identity, looking back, she immediately understood the cause and effect.
Thus, she instantly grasped the painstaking efforts of Palace Master Xiao Wanting and simultaneously realized how Zhou Yan had cared for her emotions in every aspect, enduring the smear she had cast upon him in silence...
Remembering all this, despite her wish for this short-lived happy atmosphere to last longer, she diligently embraced the Supreme Dao Zhou Yan taught, conflictingly eager to master everything faster. It was only by doing this that she could aid Zhou Yan more quickly.
This mood was complex and contradictory. But then, most women are riddled with contradictions.
Xiao Fei was also such a woman.
Xiao Fei displayed all her talents, rapidly cultivating everything Zhou Yan had passed on to her to a minor accomplishment, which even made Zhou Yan take notice with surprise.
And Zhou Yan’s expression made Xiao Fei incredibly happy, like a child awaiting praise after performing well in an exam, showing a cute and proud demeanor.
...
"Holy Daughter’s Life Soul."
Everything was ready. Zhou Yan took out the Holy Daughter’s Life Soul and placed it in the palm of his hand, gazing at the pulsing Pure Soul with a hint of Divine Emergence.
Xiao Fei’s intelligence had taken him by surprise, and since she had confirmed his identity, she took everything he did as natural, with reason and purpose, almost blindly so.
But there is no denying that she was a very lovable young woman.
Perhaps she was not young, or maybe the path of cultivation she had trodden was even longer than Zhou Yan’s in this life, but her innate purity remained hidden beneath the icy facade she presented to other cultivators.
Or rather, she had reined in all her warmth towards others, only to bestow it entirely upon him, Zhou Yan.
This was Zhou Yan’s perception and feeling, and so, when teaching the Tai Chu Rune and the Soul Slash Venerable Dao, he held nothing back.
It was not just because Xiao Fei was truly adorable and warmed his heart, worthy of being taught, but also because she was someone whom Xiao Wanting cared about deeply. Even if she was not as important to Xiao Wanting as Xiao Ziyi, it must be very close.
And when Xiao Fei clearly yearned to spend more time with him and was extremely eager to be with him, she still practiced diligently to save more time.
Such behavior also made Zhou Yan hold her in even higher regard.
At this moment, coming out of his reverie, having made all preparations, Zhou Yan immediately followed Ping’er’s taught method, gently divided half of the Life Soul with Soul Power, stored a part of it, then infused the other part into his own soul.
Half of the Life Soul, like Clear Spring poured into the soul, made Zhou Yan feel wrapped in the power of Divine Medicine, undergoing an indescribable transformation.
It was as if he were emerging from a chrysalis into a butterfly, or as if the soul was fundamentally changing at its core.
Within Zhou Yan’s very soul, the golden Dantian that had once been of its innate form now resounded with the sound of waves from the Soul Sea, flickering in and out of existence, like thunder, always audible.
Zhou Yan’s entire soul was enveloped in a sacred light, with the ethereal figure of Lei Yan King floating above his brow, slowly coalescing into completeness, materializing as if Lei Yan King were resurrecting.
At the Soul Dantian, the golden Sword Body’s core emanated bursts of Life Chart power. The aura of the Heavenly Dao scattered in all directions, restless, as if sending up smoke signals to the four corners of Heaven and Earth.
Upon those smoke signals of life, flickered a golden ring of light, circulating as if forming a cycle of Reincarnation, representing an indescribable Dao.
Within the Vajra Circle were memories too vast for Zhou Yan to know, memories of Lei Yan King that had not been passed down, as if sealed within the circle of light.
With the infusion of the Holy Daughter’s Life Soul power, the figure of Lei Yan King at Zhou Yan’s brow gradually flew into Zhou Yan’s soul. As the Vajra Circle broke bit by bit, Zhou Yan began to unlock another portion of memories.
And at this time, Zhou Yan finally felt a sense of wholeness—the memories of Lei Yan King were becoming complete. The fragmented parts, the lost memories, all lay within the Vajra Circle, which could only be released by him, Zhou Yan, and could no longer be passed down.
Because Lei Yan King had fallen, his memories were trapped within the Vajra Circle, and it was only through the Holy Daughter’s Life Soul that they could be gradually unlocked.
In Zhou Yan’s soul Dantian, aside from the Vajra Circle, the once Xuanyuan Sword Fragment also seemed to have been tempered, bursting forth with a brand-new golden luster. However, the Xuanyuan Sword absorbed very little energy, and it wasn’t even absorbing the energy of the Life Soul; it was merely drawing upon Zhou Yan’s own energy—as if it were simply sustaining a basic thread of vitality. Beyond that, at the core of the soul Dantian, a transformation began, like an undersea volcano, with the outline of a Soul Sea taking shape within the Dantian, its bottom contouring progressively like that of a volcano.
Before long, the Soul Sea emerged with soul liquid, and beneath the soul liquid, an undersea volcano appeared, nurturing as if ready to erupt at any moment.
With a thought, Zhou Yan severed a piece of his soul, evolving the strength of a Dragon Soul from the Xingyi Dragon Form and cast it into the base of the soul volcano.
After nurturing and fermenting, it erupted with force, and with a "puff", it was reborn from Nirvana—a Dragon Soul in the form of an Ancient Fire Dragon flew out from Zhou Yan’s soul.
At that instant, the heavens and earth turned fiery hot, as the Fire Dragon’s soul was incredibly powerful.
But after the Fire Dragon soul flew out, it transformed the extreme yang flames into extreme yin chills, with the Fire Dragon turning into an Ice Dragon, guarding at the side.
At this moment, watching this scene, Xiao Fei was completely dumbfounded, taking quite a while to regain her senses, looking incredulously at what unfolded before her.
That’s because the soul of the Fire Dragon that flew out had instantly transformed from an Extreme Yang Sword Body into an Extreme Cold Sword Body! Moreover, this Fierce Beast Soul had been derived from Zhou Yan’s own soul and possessed a very pure Sword Body on its own—and all of this had come from the derivation of Tai Chu Runes! It completely overturned her understanding of the world.
Xiao Fei continued to watch, meanwhile remaining extremely vigilant and guarding all directions, using the Tai Chu Runes she had just mastered to control and set up a Rune Ancient Array for protection.
Another moment passed, and from within Zhou Yan, like a volcanic eruption, out sprang a White Tiger Soul.
The White Tiger Sword Soul, just like the Fire Dragon Sword Soul, was identical in all aspects, yet the White Tiger Sword Soul also possessed a unique aura of a Wild Beast. Even though it shared the same divine essence as the Fire Dragon, it held an eerily different temperament.
Xiao Fei couldn’t understand, but she knew one thing clearly—every one of these Sword Souls was terrifyingly powerful.
"White Tiger Sword Dao, White Tiger Sword Soul. Divinity immortal, Supreme Tai Chu accomplished," Zhou Yan murmured to himself. After his soul became clear and whole, another Sword Soul was tempered into being. This was the transformation of the soul, like the transformation of Xingyi, every Divine Beast Soul possessing its own fledgling Soul Sea, each Xingyi Beast Soul beginning to embody Zhou Yan’s individuality.
That meant every Xingyi Sword Soul spat out by the soul Dantian was a separate avatar!
The avatars of the Twelve Battle Beasts Sword Soul were about to become true reality!
But the process of tempering, with every step forward, consumed an enormous amount of energy, and Zhou Yan was worried about one thing—the insufficiency of Life Soul energy.
So, with every tempering, Zhou Yan focused his entire being, devouring the energy between heaven and earth, while also consuming all the resources and Elixirs he carried with him to aid the inflow of energy into the soul.
Unfortunately, these actions were still just a drop in the bucket.
Half of the Life Soul’s energy was still diminishing.
"Thunderhawk Sword Dao, Thunderhawk Sword Soul. Heavenly Divine Thunder, Heavenly Punishment without life,"
The third Sword Soul quickly condensed into being, the born-sovereign Thunderhawk Sword Soul.
Following that, the fourth Sword Soul also immediately coalesced into the Fierce Horse Sword Soul.
The Life Soul had shrunk considerably, and the four great Sword Souls, like the most loyal servants, guarded the four directions around Zhou Yan, even Xiao Fei was repelled.
Then, that remaining half of the Life Soul suddenly shattered, and two more Sword Souls were directly expelled by the soul Dantian.
"Puff, puff—"
Like the Creation of Heaven and Earth, like a tsunami tearing the sky.
The Divine Monkey Sword Soul and the True Turtle Sword Soul flew out simultaneously.
The Divine Monkey Sword Soul turned into a golden macaque wielding a shimmering golden staff and in the instant it flew out, it casually swung the staff, distorting this realm and creating a void platform for itself to stand and guard.
"Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart, Destruction Sword Body, Perfect Venerable Soul Power, the birth of the Divine Monkey is the Six-Eared Macaque, communicating the heart of all creations. This ’Devil Suppressing Stick’ is a weapon I have saved, I shall bestow it upon it," the voice of Xuanyuan Ancestor suddenly came through, snapping the stunned Zhou Yan back to reality.
At the same time, the ’True Turtle Sword Soul’ turned into a massive Xuan Turtle, like an immovable Wannian Xuanwu, its defenses appearing impervious to all the calamities between Heaven and Earth.
Zhou Yan involuntarily inhaled a breath of cold air, these Sword Souls, only now truly revealing their formidable nascent forms, would assuredly become entities that caused others to lose their nerve at the mere mention in the future.
"Now, your Life Soul has been depleted by half, just right for the derivation of six great Xingyi Divine Beasts. Not bad, their souls have transcended the God Realm and achieved the Divine Level, a truly astonishing feat. So you have a decision to make, either immediately consolidate the remaining six and expend all your Life Soul energy, or leave this place, missing the opportunity, saving half your Life Soul for the Red Face lady,"
"Now, it’s time for you to make a choice," Xuanyuan Ancestor suddenly transmitted his voice to Zhou Yan, advising him on the choice for the path ahead.