Chapter 1354: Dao Resonance?
Chapter 1354: Dao Resonance?
Translator: CinderTL
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Ying Wu led Song Wen directly to the center of the island, which was similarly riddled with pits and holes.
Standing at the edge of one of these pits, Ying Wu said, "Fellow Daoist Ye Hua, please observe. This monster was created through my own post-natal modifications. What do you think?"
Song Wen lowered his gaze into the pit and saw:
At the bottom stood a hundred-zhang-tall ape-like monster.
But the creature had no hands. Its left arm was a thick tentacle, while its right arm was a massive spider leg. Above its neck rose a serpentine body over thirty meters long, topped with an enormous snake’s head.
Song Wen immediately recalled that when Jian Xiao had gathered several Body Integration Stage cultivators to attack the Six Fiends Hall deep within the Primordial Qi Death Zone, Ying Wu had summoned this very monster to assault the hall’s defensive array.
At the time, Ying Wu had claimed to possess eight other similar monsters. Yet after thoroughly examining the entire island, Song Wen had found no trace of them.
As expected, the human heart is treacherous, he thought. No one’s words can be trusted!
"This demon beast’s physical form is composed of several demon creatures, yet it moves with perfect fluidity. Such a feat is truly unprecedented and defies all conventional understanding. I am genuinely curious, fellow daoist, how did you achieve such a heaven-defying feat?" Song Wen exclaimed in astonishment.
Ying Wu smiled faintly. "A mere trick, not worth mentioning. Though this demon beast combines the strengths of various demon beasts, greatly enhancing its power, its potential has been exhausted. It cannot absorb heaven and earth spiritual qi to cultivate further, making any further progress in strength impossible."
She soared into the air, leaping hundreds of feet to land beside another pit.
"Fellow daoist, please come examine this demon beast."
Hearing this, Song Wen immediately moved to Ying Wu’s side.
Within this pit was a spirit plant-type demon beast.
Its roots, dark green and black, were firmly embedded in the solid rock, piercing through the stone and extending deep into the earth veins, seemingly drawing spiritual qi directly from the earth’s core.
Its main trunk was a massive tree, dozens of feet thick and over sixty feet tall, radiating a cold, metallic sheen. Above this trunk, countless vines writhed ceaselessly in the air.
Earlier, it had been one of these vines that had coiled around the jade slip Song Wen had thrown.
"Is this a Strangling Dragon Vine?" Song Wen asked, his tone uncertain. "But... why does this vine’s aura feel so strange?"
Ying Wu didn’t answer, instead wearing a shallow, enigmatic smile.
Song Wen frowned slightly, his gaze shifting across the vine. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"How... how does it possess the aura of a void fiend?"
Ying Wu’s smile bloomed fully, like a masterpiece long hidden finally being appreciated.
"It is a fusion of a seventh-tier Strangling Dragon Vine and a seventh-tier void fiend."
"Fellow Daoist, how did you achieve this? Void fiends are creatures of Primordial Qi, beings of flesh and blood. Strangling Dragon Vines, on the other hand, thrive on Spiritual Qi and belong to the plant kingdom. How could these two possibly merge?"
"Primordial Qi? Spiritual Qi? Flesh and blood? Plants?" Ying Wu’s eyes gleamed with an inexplicable fervor. "All things in this world are manifestations of the Heavenly Dao. These artificial boundaries are merely self-imposed shackles for the ignorant!"
Song Wen’s heart jolted with alarm. He turned to Ying Wu, who now radiated a soul-stirring aura.
This aura wasn’t a sharp, domineering pressure, but rather an indescribable, ineffable, profound resonance, like a spring breeze nurturing rain, reaching directly into the heart.
It was as if she had truly grasped the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, earning the favor of the Heavenly Dao, inspiring a deep reverence and longing from the depths of one’s being. One dared not profane her, yet couldn’t resist the urge to draw closer.
"What kind of heretical cultivation technique has this woman mastered? How could she evoke such a bizarre sensation?"
Song Wen quickly averted his gaze, daring not to look at her again.
Earlier, he had engaged her in lofty discussions about the Heavenly Dao and debated the mysteries of creation. Yet, deep down, Song Wen fundamentally disbelieved in such ethereal concepts as the Heavenly Dao and the forces of creation. He even scoffed at the soul oath, a sacred pact sealed with one’s divine soul before the Heavenly Dao.
He trusted only in his own power!
In his view, the soul oath was merely a self-imposed constraint upon cultivators, a foolish vow to the heavens and earth. Though revered as inviolable by the world’s cultivators, it held no real power.
Song Wen wasn’t sure if the Heavenly Dao truly existed in this realm. But even if it did, the Heavenly Dao was merely the set of rules governing the world’s operation.
Sunrise brings light, sunset brings darkness; fire burns hot, ice freezes cold; water nourishes, stone endures...
These are all rules of the Heavenly Dao!
And the Heavenly Dao cares nothing for the life or death of any individual or living being.
The seasons change, spring brings life, summer brings growth; humans die, beasts perish; when a whale falls, a thousand creatures thrive...
The cycle of all things is the principle by which the Heavenly Dao operates.
The life or death of an individual is utterly irrelevant to the Heavenly Dao.
Therefore, Song Wen scoffed at the mysterious ’resonance’ emanating from Ying Wu. It stirred within him only a primal urge to ’conquer’ it, leaving no other impression.
The ’resonance’ surrounding Ying Wu faded quickly, vanishing within a few breaths.
"I’ve never spoken of these things to anyone before," Ying Wu said apologetically, her voice tinged with embarrassment. "I became a bit carried away. Please forgive my momentary lapse, fellow daoist."
Song Wen observed that Ying Wu seemed completely unaware of the ’resonance’ that had emanated from her earlier.
Thus, the ’resonance’ had arisen naturally, not through any conscious effort on her part.
"Fellow daoist, you flatter me," Song Wen replied. "Might I trouble you to enlighten me on how this Strangling Dragon Vine was fused together?"
"Fellow Daoist, have you ever slain a void fiend? Or personally witnessed the corpse of one?" Ying Wu countered.
After Song Wen nodded, Ying Wu continued, "Then you must know that upon death, a void fiend’s corpse contains neither blood nor flesh like living creatures. Instead, it assumes a woody, petrified form."
Song Wen nodded again.
He had first discovered this phenomenon when he killed a void fiend on Qicang Island.
"It was upon witnessing this that I conceived the idea of merging void fiends with spirit plants," Ying Wu said, gesturing toward the Strangling Dragon Vine in the pit below. "The void fiend race can etherealize their bodies, evading many spells and weapons. When I modified this demon, I exploited this very trait. First, I forcibly etherealized the void fiend’s body, and then..."
Suddenly, a reddish-brown spirit grass appeared in Ying Wu’s hand.
"This herb is called Pigeon Feather Grass, a sixth-tier Spirit Herb containing potent poison that poses a threat even to void fiends. I refined the Pigeon Feather Grass into a medicinal liquid and dispersed it within the void fiend’s ethereal body. This caused the fiend to slowly solidify, exhibiting signs of petrification. Once its body had petrified by thirty percent, I introduced the root system of the Strangling Dragon Vine into the fiend’s body. I then nourished the vine with various spirit liquids and provided it with a variety of spirit mines to absorb. After several years, the two were finally fused into one."
"However..." Ying Wu’s tone shifted as she continued, "this Strangling Dragon Vine still has a flaw. I invited you to the island, fellow daoist, hoping you might be able to resolve this issue."
"How could a demon comparable to a peak seventh-tier demon beast still have a flaw?" Song Wen asked, puzzled. "Is it like that previous monster, unable to improve its strength?"
(End of the Chapter)
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