Book 08 Chapter 038: Hunger Pearl

Borderless Heavenly Capital:

In a large hall, Gu Hai took out three coffins, each containing a part of Chiyou’s corpse.

Standing at the side, the Unborn Man carefully took out the dismembered corpse. Using the special methods of a lifespan cultivator, he began to piece the body together.

Gradually, Chiyou’s form took shape, radiating faint Shaman Energy as if alive, yet the absence of his head made it appear particularly grim.

“Your Reverence!” Once the Unborn Man finished piecing everything together, he stepped aside.

Gu Hai approached, looking at the body in the coffin, and clenched his fist.

“First Brother, this younger brother is incapable and can only retrieve your body. In the future, I will find your head so you may have a dignified burial. If I can, I will surely find a way to revive you!” Gu Hai declared solemnly.

Buzz!

Chiyou’s corpse trembled, and black energy emerged from his dantian and coalesced in the air; the resulting energy clump looked like it would scatter at any moment.

“This is…?” the Unborn Man suddenly exclaimed.

The Unborn Man quickly waved his hand, and a mist of white energy enveloped the black energy clump.

“Your Reverence, this is Chiyou’s remnant will. Perhaps it was stimulated by your voice and burst out! However, it will scatter soon,” the Unborn Man explained.

“First Brother? Is that you?” Gu Hai asked expectantly.

Glop! Glop!

The black energy clump churned, then slowly calmed down.

“Gu Hai? My brother, have you returned?” Chiyou’s voice emerged from the black energy.

“Yes, I have returned, First Brother, and I will surely revive you!” Gu Hai exclaimed with excitement.

“Revive? Your concern is comforting, my brother. I—Chiyou—have not sworn brotherhood with you in vain. However, it’s futile. Ji Dihong shattered my three spiritual souls, and only some remnant will is left. No one can revive me!” Chiyou’s voice rang out.

“First Brother, if I am that capable someday and find the time laws, perhaps…,” Gu Hai said.

“The time laws? Hah! They are not so easy to obtain. I know Jiangchen has them, but even he dares not use them casually. Even Heaven Cang did not dare to. Whether I can live or not doesn’t matter anymore!” Chiyou’s voice carried a note of desolation.

“I will strive to do it, no matter the outcome!” Gu Hai vowed.

Chiyou’s remnant will fell silent for a moment.

“Hearing Second Brother’s words, I can depart without regret. Ji Dihong not only destroyed my three spiritual souls but also scattered my seven physical souls. He also tried to clear out my remnant will. What’s left is merely a small portion of my remnant will. It may scatter at any moment!” Chiyou’s remnant will eventually said.

Gu Hai was at a loss for words of comfort.

“Everyone else in the hall, leave!” commanded Chiyou’s remnant will.

“Huh?” the Unborn Man exclaimed in surprise.

Gu Hai paused for a moment, then nodded. “Unborn Man, please wait outside the hall for a while!”

“Yes!” The Unborn Man nodded, then slowly left the hall.

Creak! Bang! The doors to the hall slammed shut with a thunderous noise.

“First Brother, did you send everyone out because you have something to say that you cannot let others hear?” Gu Hai asked in confusion.

“Second Brother, peel back the skin of my left palm,” Chiyou’s remnant will said.

“The left palm?” Gu Hai parroted, slightly bewildered.

Then he reached out and made a cut.

At that moment, Chiyou’s skin was extremely delicate, the once impenetrable body impenetrable no longer.

The skin broke, and a dark red pearl slipped out of Chiyou’s left palm. The character for “hunger” was inscribed on that pearl.

“What is this?” Gu Hai inquired, puzzled.

“This is the key to cultivating world devouring. Ji Dihong thinks he has taken my world devouring, but he’s wrong; he made this out to be simpler than it is. He only took my invulnerable physical body and my Spiritual Progenitor deity king’s energy. The real world devouring comes from this Hunger Pearl!” explained Chiyou’s remnant will.

“Hunger Pearl?” Gu Hai repeated, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“I see your body is also extremely robust, as strong as a consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator’s. What an excellent foundation!” Chiyou’s remnant will said.

“Yes. I received the stimulation of a peak energy and had an immeasurable number of spirit stones to strengthen my physical body.” Gu Hai nodded.

“How does it compare to my body?” Chiyou inquired.

“It is not as good!” Gu Hai shook his head.

His body’s foundation was strong, but he could not use it as a weapon like Chiyou. After Ji Dihong took Chiyou’s divine Dao secret technique, Ji Dihong could break Xingtian’s ax and catch Hou Yi’s divine arrow. Gu Hai knew that his physical body was still far inferior.

“The three souls are the method, and when they are strong, your strength grows. However, the body is the container for the method. The stronger the body, the more powerful your method will be. Second Brother, why are you stronger than others at your level? It is because your physical body surpa.s.ses other experts of the same level, bringing out more from your method compared to others. If you did not cultivate the physical body, the results from your method would simply overflow and spill out. With an invincible physical body, your methods can destroy the sky. Second Brother, you must not underestimate the physical body!” Chiyou’s remnant will urged.

“Thank you for the guidance, First Brother. I will do my best!” Gu Hai nodded.

“No, you still don’t understand. Here’s a question. How can you strengthen your physical body now?” Chiyou’s remnant will asked.

“Uh…? By tempering it with my own energy, I suppose!” Gu Hai frowned.

“No. Tempering with your own energy is too slow; it will take too long. You have to devour. Devour the world. Devour everything that can strengthen your physical body!” Chiyou’s remnant will said.

“Huh?”

“World devouring is one of the shaman race’s five main lines of inheritance. However, it is merely a means to an end. The ultimate goal is to forge an invincible body—a body so powerful it can rival the world—a body so robust, it can even traverse the void for ten thousand years unscathed!” Chiyou’s remnant will declared.

“Oh?”

“The four zombie ancestors tempered their bodies with Zombie Energy, strengthening their physical bodies. How does that compare? Although Jiangchen birthed the shaman race, it has long surpa.s.sed Jiangchen’s control. Jiangchen’s physical body is very strong, but the first pract.i.tioner of the world devouring line had an even stronger physical body. Furthermore, he could have grown even stronger through this secret technique,” Chiyou said seriously.

“World devouring?”

“Yes, Second Brother. Ji Dihong and others have various secret methods, including a heavenly gift cultivation technique. However, can it compare to my powerful physical body that transcends the world? When people cultivate the five types of cultivation, they are actually cultivating the three thousand Great Dao. However, world devouring cultivates the self. If the self is strong, one can disregard all Dao,” Chiyou declared confidently.

“One can disregard all Dao?” Gu Hai echoed in shock.

“Of course, every cultivation comes at a price. When I practiced world devouring, I nearly went crazy. Jiang Lianshan, that old fool… Never mind, it really wasn’t his fault. Back then, when he and Ji Dihong sealed me in the Eastern Sea, it was because I had gone crazy, experiencing great changes in my character. He sealed me to help me suppress that madness,” Chiyou explained somberly.

“Madness?” Gu Hai asked, confused.

“That’s right. The first-generation pract.i.tioner of world devouring lost to Jiangchen because he could not suppress this madness. Otherwise, it would have been a matter of time before he surpa.s.sed Jiangchen, perhaps even devoured Jiangchen. I’m sure of it,” Chiyou said.

“First Brother, are you going to teach me world devouring?” Gu Hai asked, frowning.

“I’ve already pa.s.sed it on to you!” Chiyou announced.

“You have?” Gu Hai was taken aback.

“Indeed. It’s this Hunger Pearl. Once you incorporate it into your body, you’ll feel hunger, and you will eat. The more you eat, the stronger your physical body will become!” Chiyou said.

“If I keep eating, my physical body will grow stronger?” Gu Hai said with some disbelief.

“Don’t you have your various physical souls?” Chiyou asked seriously.

“That’s right. I have the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth deities. Then there’s the Spiritual Progenitor deity king and the seventh physical soul that I have not fully formed yet.” Gu Hai nodded.

“The seventh physical soul does not matter; the metal, wood, fire, water, and earth deities will do. The energies of the five deities combine to form a furnace that burns all things, after being guided through the Hunger Pearl, to form Created Spiritual Progenitor, which will flow into the deity king. You did well, skipping the advancement of the deity king. That will save you a deal of cultivation, as you already have a Spiritual Progenitor deity king. The Created Spiritual Progenitor will strengthen the Spiritual Progenitor deity king, making the deity king stronger,” Chiyou explained.

“Created Spiritual Progenitor? How is that different from Spiritual Progenitor?” Gu Hai asked, slightly puzzled.

His Spiritual Progenitor deity king was created by using a vast amount of Spiritual Progenitor, something Gu Hai took pride in.

“If we were to liken Spiritual Progenitor to mist, Created Spiritual Progenitor would be a river. They are of the same quality, but Created Spiritual Progenitor is over a million times vaster in quant.i.ty,” Chiyou chuckled.

“Will the Spiritual Progenitor deity king be overwhelmed and explode?” Gu Hai asked, alarmed.

“Explode? You worry too much. It’s the deity king. Why is it called the deity king? It is the king of the various deities. How could it explode? It’s the very foundation of the physical body!” Chiyou said seriously.

“The foundation of the physical body?”

“Yes. Most people only strengthen the three spiritual souls before using the three spiritual souls’ energy to temper the physical body when they cultivate. They don’t realize the Spiritual Progenitor deity king is the manifestation of the body. Most of the energy that doesn’t go through the deity king to temper the body will go to waste. All energy must be offered to the deity king first; a strong deity king means a strong physical body. The physical body is like a nation, with the Spiritual Progenitor deity king as the sovereign. A strong king means a prosperous kingdom. That’s the fundamental truth!” Chiyou explained solemnly.

“Is everyone else cultivating wrong, then?” Gu Hai frowned.

“No, others have their ways. However, for world devouring, this is how you must cultivate. Second Brother, if you want to strengthen your physical body, this is the best way. The Hunger Pearl can enhance your body to the extreme!” Chiyou said.

“Many thanks, First Brother. However, didn’t you say one would go crazy from cultivating world devouring?” Gu Hai asked in puzzlement.

“The madness? It’s primarily because one can also devour the three spiritual souls when devouring other lifeforms. The will of the three spiritual souls is the strongest. If you take in too many wills from other people, you will become disoriented. However, when those wills are obliterated, you’ll return to your true self. I was sealed for thousands of years before I eradicated all those wills. If you can, avoid the three spiritual souls and directly devour the seven physical souls. The Hunger Pearl can eradicate the remnant will of the seven physical souls. Unfortunately, that’s not as easy as it sounds,” Chiyou explained.

“What about First Brother’s eighty-one brothers? Did they have Hunger Pearls too?” Gu Hai asked.

“No, they only had some of the Hunger Pearl’s energy, which I transmitted to them. They could devour to cultivate, but not as directly as me,” Chiyou said.

“Thank you, First Brother. I will make good use of the Hunger Pearl!” Gu Hai promised, nodding.

“Second Brother, my remnant will is about to dissipate. Ji Dihong caught me off-guard that day, and I fell into his trap. However, there’s a spiritual light in my head that can reverse Ji Dihong’s plunder of my physical body’s energy, which is Created Spiritual Progenitor. If you can retrieve my head and subdue Ji Dihong, that spiritual light will transfer my Created Spiritual Progenitor to you to support your Spiritual Progenitor deity king…,” Chiyou’s remnant will trailed off into silence. Chiyou’s remnant will had completely scattered.

Gu Hai looked at Chiyou’s headless body, lost in thought for a moment before vowing, “First Brother, rest a.s.sured. I will avenge you!”