Chapter 381 - 25: Simulating Divine Spirit Personhood

Chapter 381: Chapter 25: Simulating Divine Spirit Personhood

"Furthermore, after invading the Celestial Cloud Kingdom, they held several great sacrificial rituals, creating even more Barbarian Ghosts, Barbarian Ghost Captains, and Barbarian Ghost Commanders."

"They are so powerful that even after the Silver Moon Legion arrived as reinforcements and joined forces with the remnants of the Celestial Cloud Kingdom, they still couldn’t retake the royal city."

"This is why the Silver Moon King urgently needs the Celestial Patrol to provide support."

The situation at the front lines weighed heavily on Prince Qinghe.

Upon hearing they were backed by an Evil God and could rapidly increase their strength through sacrifice, a cold glint appeared in Zhong Ming’s eyes.

Fortunately, not all of Prince Qinghe’s news was bad. He had something positive to add: "Even for Evil Gods, bestowing power comes at a cost, and not just anyone can withstand the power granted by a Divine Spirit... Our opponents now have plenty of basic combatants, and quite a few Barbarian Ghost Commanders at the Foundation Establishment Stage. But they are lacking in Barbarian Ghost Kings who can contend with Golden Core Daoists."

"For this reason, the Silver Moon King has already made an agreement with them. The conflict within the Celestial Cloud Kingdom will be handled by those below the Golden Core level. Daoists at the Golden Core level and above, as well as the Barbarian Ghost Kings, will not interfere lightly."

"When you arrive in the Celestial Cloud Kingdom, you won’t have to worry too much about being ambushed by Barbarian Ghost Kings."

These words did not make Zhong Ming happy. Instead, his brows furrowed tightly. "If the enemy is short on Golden Cores, why don’t we dispatch a large number of our own Golden Cores, or even higher-level Nascent Souls, to quickly eliminate the Quanrong?"

"..."

This question gave Prince Qinghe a moment of pause. Finally, he sighed and gave his reasons. "We can’t mobilize them. Many of our Frost Moon Immortal Dynasty’s Golden Cores are needed to hold down key locations and cannot be easily redeployed."

"Furthermore, the imperial court worries that the Evil God on the other side will invest more power... Although the distance between worlds causes significant attrition to any power they send, and the Evil God is unlikely to aid the Quanrong Barbarian Race with its full strength, it’s still a risk. If an Evil God were to act recklessly, or if the Quanrong Tribe brutally sacrificed too many of their own, even a Nascent Soul Cultivator could be in mortal danger."

"Finally, there are other voices within our own court... Some believe it isn’t worth expending so much of our strength on a vassal state when the coming calamity is so near."

"Others see the Evil God and the Quanrong Barbarian Race as a power that could be won over, or even collaborated with... Some are even using this as an opportunity to preach the many benefits of siding with the Outer Evil Gods..."

Zhong Ming was left speechless by the chaotic state of the Frost Moon Immortal Dynasty.

But he also knew that in times of turmoil, such a situation was only to be expected.

His only consolation was that he was not fighting alone.

The Frost Moon Dynasty had its appeasers and peace-seekers, but it also had its hawks.

The Silver Moon Legion’s charge into the Celestial Cloud Kingdom to fight the Quanrong Barbarian Race the moment trouble started was a clear sign of the hawks’ influence.

Although the Silver Moon King had made an agreement with the Quanrong Barbarian Race, Shen Wanshang, who had been listening in for a short while, provided Zhong Ming with another piece of information.

"The Silver Moon King’s actions aren’t a retreat. Part of his reasoning is to buy time, allowing my father to quickly assemble the Celestial Patrol and send them as reinforcements."

"The other reason, according to his communications with my father, is that he wants to use this opportunity to conduct a large-scale military drill before the calamity arrives."

"The newly formed Celestial Patrol must ultimately be baptized by blood and fire to become a truly powerful army."

Zhong Ming said, "...I understand."

...

After their conversation, Zhong Ming had a general understanding of the situation on the front lines.

And having clarified everything, Zhong Ming realized that the battlefield was perfectly suited for him.

’If the battles were centered around Golden Cores, despite my abilities, having just succeeded in Refining Evil, I could only play a support role at best.’

’But if it’s a war fought at the Foundation Establishment level, then it will be my stage!’

Thinking of his unrivaled power within his own stage, Zhong Ming no longer feared dispatching troops to the Celestial Cloud Kingdom. Instead, he felt a sense of anticipation.

After getting a full picture of the situation, Zhong Ming stopped going out and focused all his energy on integrating and comprehending his abilities.

Completing the process of Refining Evil did more than just boost Zhong Ming’s defenses.

The Divine Fall Evil also provided a tremendous boost to his Magical Power.

Furthermore, the Thought of Divine Fall within the Divine Fall Evil even allowed Zhong Ming to achieve something he had long dreamed of—Practice Makes Perfect.

Ever since awakening Great Dream of Thousand Years and becoming a Dream Dominator, Zhong Ming had harbored a grand ambition: to project the authority he wielded in his dreams into the outside world.

However, this was no easy step.

Even with the Mirage Dragon Illusion Qi, Zhong Ming’s progress was incredibly slow.

But the existence of the Divine Fall Evil led to a breakthrough. Born from the resentment of a fallen Ancient God, this Sha Qi was not only overwhelmingly powerful but also contained fragments of the Ancient God’s knowledge and comprehension.

During the fusion process, Zhong Ming had felt the Ancient God’s oppressive might.

But at the time, his focus was entirely on refining the Sha Qi. ’The chance to absorb an unlimited amount of Sha Qi, and for free at that... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I absolutely cannot let it pass.’

He hadn’t split his focus, and the fragments of the Ancient God’s knowledge within the Divine Fall Evil were brief and indistinct, so Zhong Ming failed to capture them.

Normally, at this point, Zhong Ming would have had to regretfully forget the entire matter.

But he had Great Dream of Thousand Years. After returning home, this ability allowed him to use the subconscious power of his dreams to reassemble those blurry, fragmented Divine Thoughts.

Then, Zhong Ming realized what he had found: the perspective of a Divine Spirit looking down upon the world.

For an ordinary Cultivator, such information would be of little use.

But Zhong Ming was different. Everything in his dream world was under his control and could be fused with him.

Therefore, Zhong Ming integrated the information—the perspective of a Deity looking down upon the world—into his own Divine Soul.

Then, for a brief instant, Zhong Ming possessed a god’s-eye view—at least, within his dreams.

A god is an aggregate of the world’s rules, a natural-born master of them. Their every casual move can influence heaven and earth—this perfectly aligned with Zhong Ming’s own plans to command a domain in the outside world.

’A Deity’s perspective... or rather, a Deity’s Personhood. This is the key to bringing the authority of my dreams into the real world...’

’But while I can grant myself Personhood in a dream, how do I elevate my Personhood in the outside world?’

This question didn’t trouble Zhong Ming for long. He remembered that his Roots were that of an Innate Spirit, so his Personhood was already extraordinary. And within his Sea of Consciousness, he also had the Ziwei Emperor Star.

’Through cyclical rotation, I can focus the power of my Dao Foundation—the Morning Star Dragon of the Year Rings—onto the Ziwei Emperor Star. Then, by stacking my Supreme Sword Heart and the Triple Great Sun Crown on top of that... by gathering all these powers as one, can I simulate the might of a Deity’s Personhood? I don’t need to simulate it completely, just capture some of its rhythm.’

This was Zhong Ming’s plan: to do everything in his power to elevate the Personhood of his Soul Spirit, then, in imitation of a Deity, use that Personhood to bear the authority of his dream world and trick the heavens and earth of reality into acknowledging it.

Of course, an idea was just an idea. Turning it into reality would require countless experiments.

Thus, for the next period of time, Zhong Ming’s entire Heart Spirit was focused on simulating the Personhood of a Divine Spirit.

The Thought of Divine Fall was a great help in this endeavor—it was, by its very nature, a power related to gods, and Zhong Ming had already integrated it into his body.

By using it to envelop his Soul Spirit and simulate its fluctuations, the chances of the world acknowledging him would be much higher.

However, even though his Divine Soul had once Broken the Norms and he possessed an advanced Dao Foundation, each simulation still consumed so much of his Divine Soul Power that it took him a long time to recover.

These long experiments meant that by the time the Celestial Patrol had finished assembling and was heading for the Celestial Cloud Kingdom, Zhong Ming still hadn’t emerged from his seclusion. Instead, he boarded a particularly magnificent Flying Ship that was also bound for the kingdom.

This Flying Ship was provided by Shen Wanshang.

In fact, Ji Qingyue, Ji Qingque, and even Ji Yao had all offered him a Flying Ship. Under normal circumstances, Zhong Ming would have taken Ji Qingyue’s.

Unfortunately, with his mind completely preoccupied with simulating a Deity’s Personhood these past few days, Zhong Ming had no energy to spare for such trivial matters.

After a quick glance, he determined that the Flying Ship Shen Wanshang provided was the most secure, so he boarded it.

This, in turn, brought a faint smile to Shen Wanshang’s face as she watched Ji Qingyue and Ji Qinglian follow him aboard.

However, that was all. She didn’t offer any further taunts, nor did she try to drive them away or cause conflict with the others.

If one looked closely, they would even notice that she was very kind to the other women, almost as if she were trying to win them over.

There was, of course, a reason for her actions.