Upon hearing these baffling words, Kuang Yan Qi understood clearly. Although the phantom before him bore the likeness of Tu Du's Yin Spirit, and spoke with a tone identical to Tu Du's, he was no longer Tu Du. He called himself the "Shadow Puppet", a fragment of some "important figure's" soul, parasitically residing within Tu Du's Yin Spirit.
On the day when Xie Yan tested his sword against Yu Ci, Kuang Yan Qi, as a bystander, encountered this creature on his way home.
He could not fathom what this shadow-driven monstrosity was, nor did he understand when and how a master like Tu Du had been possessed! All he knew was that, on that night, he was forced to "swallow" a shadow. What did the creature say?
"You promised me."
Even to his own ears, his voice sounded weak to the extreme. Hence, it was only natural for "Tu Du" to sneer coldly:
"Remember, remember, I promised you. As long as you are willing to accept this Heavenly Demon Seed, and follow me to the north once our business here is done, I will guide you into the world's topmost Sect, where you can practice the indestructible Demon Technique, and perhaps even become a Sky Demon in the future. What an ungrateful brat you are! If we were in the north, thousands, if not millions, would vie for the opportunity to accept this Heavenly Demon Seed. Yet here you are, hesitating and mumbling, just like a woman!"
Kuang Yan Qi's face turned red. He wanted to retort, but he didn't have the courage. It was only on that night that he truly understood that there were absolute powers in the world that could rob people of their courage and will. In the face of this "Tu Du", he lacked the courage to resist.
At this moment, the battle in the sky above the Cinnabar Cliff was becoming increasingly fierce. Kuang Yan Qi recognized the unique radiance of the "Ten Thousand Rays Piercing the Clouds Bead", and his attention was inevitably drawn there. "Tu Du" ignored him and also observed, but his focus was in a completely different direction.
He was observing the nearby Sky Wing Tower.
***********
On top of the Sky Wing Tower, Yu Ci gestured to Geng Fu, who obediently retreated. Unbeknownst to him, Yu Ci watched his retreating figure with a complex expression. Perhaps, just as his name suggested, this chubby fellow was a lucky star?
Brushing aside the inexplicable thought in his head, Yu Ci took out the Divine Bronze Mirror, carefully sensing the feeling of Yin Spirit Manipulation.
Without the need to manipulate Primordial Qi for support, the Divine Bronze Mirror floated before his eyes as if it were alive. He had experienced similar scenes before, but this time there was an irreplaceable sense of reality. With his Divine Soul in the Yin Spirit State, Yu Ci could distinctly feel the inner Original Soul radiating Divine consciousness and Divine Sense, penetrating the outer layer to unleash its unique power.
The Yin Spirit extended an invisible hand — no, that's not quite accurate. The true sensation was that Yu Ci felt the Yin Spirit attach itself to the Divine Bronze Mirror. It had found a new "flesh body", commanding the Divine Bronze Mirror, from cumbersome to agile, slowly adapting.
Of course, the Yin Spirit was not astrally projected; what was attached to the Divine Bronze Mirror was merely a projection of the Yin Spirit, which was also the most crucial step in Yin Spirit Manipulation: "Hosting the Spirit".
After hosting the spirit, everything naturally fell into place.
He touched the accumulated power within the Divine Bronze Mirror, grasping the route of the power's operation. To be honest, he still couldn't understand the intricately complex and pinnacle operation pattern inside. Perhaps for a long time to come, he would struggle to comprehend it.
Now, he could only master a general direction, experiencing the power of the Yin Spirit seeping into the central meridian point, following the mirror's power operation route, transforming into countless strands, radiating towards the edges of the Divine Bronze Mirror, radiating, radiating, radiating...
Compared to before, this was a significant improvement. At this moment, Soul Sensing suddenly activated.
The sensing originated from the Divine Soul, but upon activation, it first passed through a medium, the Divine Bronze Mirror.
If Soul Sensing was described as a beam of light, then this light first passed through the Divine Bronze Mirror, like penetrating a transparent but uneven piece of glazed glass.
In this process, the Divine consciousness emitted by the Divine Soul inevitably got influenced by the Divine Bronze Mirror, following the complex power operation route inside, radiating towards the edges of the Divine Bronze Mirror. At the same time, the power within the Treasure Mirror seeped in, causing some changes in the nature of the Divine consciousness and Divine Sense.
Then, atop the Divine Bronze Mirror, a starlight was shot out!
Yu Ci seemed to hear a faint "swoosh" sound, very low and thin, as if it were an illusion. The starlight didn't interact with the surrounding air, like a phantom shadow. However, the starlight was connected to his Aura, fluctuating with the expansion of his sensing range.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The sensing was like an expanding water surface, and the starlight was like a river lantern floating on the water, flickering and extinguishing, attracting Yu Ci's attention.
What use is this thing?
Yu Ci had this thought, and this thought directly caused a reaction. The "river lantern" floating on the "lake surface" flickered greatly, suddenly caught a target, another "swoosh" phantom sound, the starlight flashed, and plunged into the location of a nearby individual's Aura detected by Soul Sensing.
The starlight descended, shimmering in its brilliance, and figures began to materialize, almost identical to the scene before the banquet. However, this time, it was not Geng Fu, the rotund man, who appeared, but the beautiful maiden standing respectfully outside the Cloud Bamboo Garden.
The starlight sank into her crown, and soon vibrant colors began to spread, illuminating her jade-like face, raven hair, her white blouse and yellow skirt. Even the bamboo by her side seemed to come alive, vibrant and fresh. With a mere thought, Yu Ci could even see the woman's delicate and exquisite figure, every detail revealed, incredibly captivating.
"Oh."
Yu Ci felt that his exploration could go deeper, but that would be less interesting. Moreover, at this moment, within his sensing range, there was another burst of color, not the result of the starlight, but something that had been there all along.
It was Geng Fu.
Yu Ci turned his attention there, and as expected, through Geng Fu's skull, he could see the starlight twinkling, two points of light echoing each other, extremely conspicuous. But this was only for Yu Ci.
Neither Geng Fu nor the beautiful maiden showed any reaction to the starlight entering their brains. They continued with their own tasks, oblivious to the fact that they had become unusual sources of light and color. The range of their "spreading" was not large, with Geng Fu's covering about two yards, and the maiden's only seven or eight feet. Moreover, the range was not a perfect circle, always larger in the front and smaller in the back, with reductions on both sides. This led Yu Ci to speculate that the range of this "spreading" might be related to the limits of their perception.
Regardless, the once monotonous Soul Sensing had greatly changed.
Yu Ci finally understood that there was nothing peculiar about Geng Fu. The reason he triggered the change in the Divine Bronze Mirror was that before the banquet, a starlight that had been transformed by the Treasure Mirror had already remained on him.
Starlight is divine intent.
It originated from Yu Ci's Divine Soul. When it passed through the Divine Bronze Mirror, its nature was changed by the Treasure Mirror, but its source remained the same. It was projected out, but still maintained a clear and close connection with Yu Ci, transmitting external information back to him, all under Yu Ci's control.
In this process, Soul Sensing was the source, and the Divine Bronze Mirror was the key to change. They worked together but had clear roles. Wasn't this the "combination" that Yu Ci had been desperately seeking but could not attain?
Before the banquet started, Yu Ci had already succeeded, but that was under the state of "Inner Void of the Heart". His overall thinking integrated Soul Sensing and the Divine Bronze Mirror more closely and naturally, making it more difficult for Yu Ci to grasp.
At this moment, the third starlight shot out from the mirror.
The Divine Light floating in the "Heart of the Lake" encountered resistance this time. It didn't hit its intended target, a "foreigner" sitting in the banquet hall, who was at the Beginning Stage of Golden Elixir Cultivation. Around him, there seemed to be a strong vortex, flinging the starlight away. Not just him, the other seated guests, all Golden Elixir Cultivators, also resisted the penetration of the starlight.
Naturally, they had not noticed anything unusual, and this led Yu Ci to think of the Golden Elixir Haze on the Divine Map.
He did not lose heart. At this moment, the third starlight ricocheted off one obstacle after another, finally shooting out from the roof that had been blown open. It traced an arc in the night sky and fell towards the distant bridge. This was the limit of Yu Ci's perceptual range, but this time, a captivating array of colors successfully spread from that area. Yu Ci almost immediately "saw" the confused and anxious people there, their postures and expressions all around the target, nothing was overlooked.
Then came the fourth starlight. This one pierced through the floors of the building, flew down three levels, and successfully infiltrated the crown of a Nature-Connecting Cultivator's head, making a home in his Brain Palace.
From this point on, the starlight shot out uncontrollably.
Three or five, seven or eight, then a dozen, dozens, hundreds, even thousands! In Yu Ci's perception, the gushing starlight was like a waterfall of flying jade and splashing crystals, continuously shooting out from the mirror surface. This was a beautiful sight that only Yu Ci himself could appreciate, like the most intense fireworks turning into a splendid star shower in the night sky, scattering in all directions.
The sound of the scattering starlight, a continuous "sizzling", first low and soft, then loud, and finally silent. During this process, Yu Ci clearly felt that the power of the Yin Spirit and the Divine Bronze Mirror were quickly harmonizing. The reduction of the "sizzling" phantom sound was the process of this harmonization from rough to delicate to mature.
As for the thousands of starlights, they didn't need Yu Ci to deliberately find targets. They clearly had a spiritual nature, spontaneously seeking the breath of living beings and infiltrating them. His perceptual range lit up piece by piece, clear colors layered and spread, intersecting and merging with each other, gradually restoring to a reality that could be felt.
Each point of starlight illuminated an area, injecting "color" through the living being at the center of the area. There were separate, overlapping, and perfectly aligned ones. Moreover, because they were centered on individual living beings, the perspective of each color area was different. If these fragmented areas were pieced together, and the perspectives unified, wouldn't it be a bit like a
Divine Map?
As this thought flickered through his mind, Yu Ci's attention abruptly shifted. Just now, through the shooting starlight, he discovered that there were people not only on the Sky Wing Tower but also on the sheer cliff outside the building. The starlight was breaking through this person's crown of the head, spreading color.
Wait, no, there were two!
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The direct confrontation is about to begin. Today there will be two updates, please support generously, brothers and sisters.
Also, nightmare! "Don't want" in the last chapter, why did I write "don't want"? I want it, I want it, I want it! Click, collect, vote, premium book review, I want them all!
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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e