Chapter 1755: Variant Body (I)

Li Ximing gave the golden scroll in his hand a shake, and the several lines of multicolored words immediately began to shine brilliantly.

This scroll was an exceedingly profound and mysterious artifact from ancient times. Even a [Stored Metal] cultivator like Liu Changdie, whose Dao lineage was exceptionally sophisticated, had needed considerable effort to deal with it. Its texture was soft and supple to the touch, and its form bore some resemblance to the [Qilin Radiant Yang Divine Scroll].

The [Wondrous Scroll of Divided Spirit and Variant Body] was primarily meant to preserve one's life while cultivating, allowing one to evade tribulations and calamities. To cultivate this wondrous art, the first thing one had to master was [Divided Spirit and Variant Body].

[Divided Spirit and Variant Body] was cultivated using various treasures. The materials required differed according to the cultivator's divine ability, demanding constant adaptation and placing great demands on the cultivator's Dao conduct. Broadly speaking, it was divided into three grades.

The superior practitioner refines metal to pursue the Dao, wholly forgetting the self. The middling practitioner nurtures spirit within a ritual corpse, evading calamity and warding off evil. The inferior practitioner shapes an image from clay, preserving only a limb or a body!

The highest grade involved using ancient spirit items to cultivate a Dao body for pursuing the Dao. The next grade produced a body that could act in one's place in the mortal world and be used to evade calamities. Both possessed boundless power and wondrous mystics. Not only could they be used for reincarnation, they could even become an external incarnation.

However, what the author of the scroll looked down upon most was using this art merely to withstand disasters of blade and battle. At the same time, that was precisely what Li Ximing intended to use it for.

The requirements of this art are simply too high. Or perhaps the cultivators of ancient times just had far more abundant resources! I don't have materials of that quality... The only thing I can use is [Soul-Tuning Mulberry Wood]. It's rare nowadays, but in the eyes of ancient cultivators, it would hardly have counted as anything special...

The scroll called it Gloom-Seeing Mulberry, a type of [Transforming Wood], though in the present age it had become [Banished Essence]. After comparing the descriptions, Li Ximing determined that this material was indeed the [Soul-Tuning Mulberry Wood] in his possession, though it only just met the minimum threshold for cultivation.

Li Ximing felt no regret over this. On the contrary, he was delighted. Even what ancient cultivators regarded as the method of an inferior practitioner required a Fate Divine Ability as its entry threshold. Without [Radiance Under Heaven], he would not even qualify as that so-called inferior practitioner.

A method considered inferior in ancient times was still among the very finest things in the present age! Back then, even the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Dao had been regarded as lowly heterodox traditions!

Moreover, now that he had broadened his knowledge, he had also come to understand what the middling practitioner's 'warding off evil and evading calamity' truly meant. Such a body could not escape the discerning eyes of other Purple Mansion Realm cultivators.

It was most likely meant to travel through the mortal world in place of the cultivator, while the true body remained within the great void and watched from the sidelines. This both reduced one's entanglement with the mortal world and helped distance oneself somewhat from the karmic burden of the killings one committed, allowing greater composure when the Thunder Palace came to pass judgment.

However, now that even the Thunder Palace had fallen, the method of the middling practitioner held little use for Li Ximing. He had only one thought in mind, Preserve a limb or a body!

He might not possess much else, but he had plenty of [Soul-Tuning Mulberry Wood]. As soon as he returned from the sea, he had taken out a head-sized portion and begun cultivating [Divided Spirit and Variant Body].

Li Ximing had spent most of the past two years on this [Divided Spirit and Variant Body]. It had required various spirit items and spirit pills as nourishment, but he had accumulated quite a few such pills over his many years of alchemy. He took several cultivation-enhancing pills from his sleeve and left the variant body within the Realm of Sun and Moon Radiance to recuperate and mature.

Li Zhouwei's warning from years ago remained vivid in his mind, so he had placed a pill furnace here and used the aura of its Pill Flame to permeate the [Divided Spirit and Variant Body], preventing anything about it from appearing unusual.

After two years, this thing has finally crossed the threshold of entry. I can give it a try now...

The more he looked at it, the more satisfied he became. He immediately reached into his sleeve and took out a small box. Opening it, he revealed a thumb-sized white flower petal resting in the center, veiled in a hazy layer of gray light.

It was none other than the [Soul Convergence Hundred Hearts]!

He lightly traced a line across the chest of the 'Li Ximing' before him, revealing the dark, beating heart within. He then placed the [Soul Convergence Hundred Hearts] in his palm and blew gently, turning it into a stream of white wind that swept into the body.

The [Divided Spirit and Variant Body] demanded a great many materials. Even the crudest method had cost Li Ximing considerable effort, and only after placing this [Soul Convergence Hundred Hearts] into the body was it finally fit for use!

He formed a hand seal and forced out a drop of dharmic blood from his fingertip. Then, he summoned the [Light of the Six Directions] and tapped it against the brow of the seated 'Li Ximing.' All the multicolored radiance immediately withdrew, and the body transformed into a delicate palm-sized figurine that fell into his hand. As soon as he connected to it with his spiritual sense, delight appeared on his face.

The incorporation of the Soul Convergence Hundred Hearts is already showing results. When activated, it transforms into a clay shell that envelops my dharmic body and can take injuries in my place to a certain extent...

The problem is that it fears Fire and Metal, especially Merging Fire and Geng Metal... Merging Fire's ability to damage one's innate nature and life is no exaggeration. On top of that, I used [Soul-Tuning Mulberry Wood]. If it encounters Merging Fire, not only will it fail to offer any protection, the variant body itself might even be burned apart.

I have heard that Guangchan uses a heavenly light pagoda and a spear of Radiant Fire. Those should still be manageable. For now, I need to use my Fate Divine Ability to establish a connection with it and continue nourishing it... If that connection becomes deep enough, the effect should be even better.

How capable this object ultimately became depended entirely on its master's nourishment and Dao conduct. If it was to be used to withstand injuries, however, the key lay in its connection to the original body, which required the involvement of a Fate Divine Ability. Li Ximing had already planned for that.

[Radiance Under Heaven] has a particular advantage in this respect. It can save me a great deal of effort.

He then descended to the lower realm and traveled through the great void to the great hall by the lake. Three large words gleamed in gold upon the plaque above it, [Crimson Radiance Hall].

As the various descendants of Bright Yang began pursuing their own paths and Li Jiangzong emerged from seclusion, both the title and authority of family head at Moongaze Lake had passed fully into Li Jiangzong's hands. To show that he placed himself beneath Bright Yang, he chose to reside in a side hall, namely the [Crimson Radiance Hall].

Li Jiangzong had gradually grown into his role, and after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, his presence had become even more imposing. Sitting in the hall, he possessed an air of natural authority even without anger. Yet at this moment, this direct descendant of the first lineage, normally so respectful and composed, was furious. He stood in the hall with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes filled with disgust and loathing.

A half-gray-haired man, Li Zhoufang, stood off to the side, looking somewhat at a loss. Li Zhouda stood nearby as well, his expression grim. Below the steps knelt a young man, his face lowered and his eyes fixed stubbornly on the ground, unwilling to raise his head.

In the next instant, heavenly light shone down and Li Ximing's figure abruptly appeared upon the main seat. The Daoist Master rested one hand on the armrest, raised a brow, and asked mildly, "What is going on here?"

The expressions of everyone present immediately changed as they dropped to their knees from where they stood, calling out, "Greetings, Daoist Master!"

Li Ximing lowered his brows slightly. Only then did Li Jiangzong raise his head from the floor. He now wore a beard and looked much more mature and steady.

"Daoist Master... I have failed in raising my son properly... I was disciplining a junior and did not expect to disturb your honored presence..."

Li Ximing smiled faintly. "So it is Suiqing."

Li Zhoufang, kneeling below, was already drenched in cold sweat. He risked shuffling two steps forward and said respectfully, "We would not dare disturb matters concerning you. I will have the boy taken to Qingdu at once!"

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