Seeing the naked desire on the shuras’ faces, Zhunti allowed a pleased smile to surface on his face. The Profound Immortal shuras and below were nothing, but the Golden Immortal shuras were another story.
After the Titan-Demon Tribulation ended, Golden Immortals that were once as common as the clouds in the sky had disappeared. Golden Immortals had become rare experts, much less Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament.
Zhunti's gaze focused on the sole Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament not affected by his Sublime Golden Light of Liberation. Unlike the subtle effect of his senior brother's Exquisite Golden Light of Eightfold Resplendence, his Sublime Golden Light had a more direct effect. Only those with strong daohearts would remain wholly unaffected by it.
"So it's King Sakra," Zhunti said as he clapped his hands together and flew over.
"Saint Zhunti," Sakra said as he endured the holy coercion of the Saint of Heaven.
Zhunti only smiled at Sakra's lack of courtesy. His eyes drifted to the kneeling shura next to Sakra and narrowed his eyes into crescents.
Unlike the usual shura covered by Karmic Sin due to being the reincarnations of killers and slaughterers, the female did not possess any Karmic Sin on her. This didn't mean it was impossible for shuras to not possess Karmic Sin. They just needed to gain merit by killing other shuras. However, to reach the point that it canceled the amount of sin on them would require a tremendous amount of dead shuras or merits. Not even the Golden Immortal shuras or Sakra had rid themselves of their Karmic Sins, although Zhunti suspected that Sakra simply deigned it too troublesome.
The female shura hadn't even reached the Golden Immortal Realm, yet she exuded a faint aura of Karmic Merit. Zhunti secretly calculated. He couldn't figure out her origins because the Way of Heaven hid her, but he did discover her name, Dishitian, and she possessed a tremendous amount of Karmic Luck.
By his guess, she should have been someone related to the previous tribulation and reincarnated into a shura because of her karma. The nine golden crows slayed by Houyi, Lunar Goddess Xihe, or maybe even a fallen demon sage; all of them would qualify.
If Zhunti could get Dishitian to join the Liberation Sect, then the rate of the West's rise would come sooner. Her luck might not be enough to raise the overall Karmic Luck of the West, but countless tiny streams merging into one would form a raging river.
"I feel that King Sakra isn't suited for the Blood Sea, how about joining the Liberation Sect," Zhunti asked. Dishitian would improve the West's future potential, but Sakra would immediately raise the West's current power.
"I thank Saint Zhunti for your offer, but I prefer it in the Blood Sea," Sakra rejected calmly.
"No, no," Zhunti said. "Perhaps you'll change your mind after visiting Mount Sumeru."
Without waiting for Sakra to react, Zhunti reached toward him and Dishitian. An illusionary palm condensed in the air and reached for the two shuras.
Dishitian immediately froze from the sheer difference in power, but a drum appeared in Sakra's hand. He slammed his palm on it, and a thunderous roar erupted, but the palm continued on its path, unaffected by a puny Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament's struggles.
Still, Zhunti narrowed his eyes in appreciation. He could sense the Law of Thunder contained within the attack. It wasn't just the drum's powers; it was also amplified by Sakra's own understanding.
It seemed that Minghe Ancestor had quite a powerful shura under his command. Zhunti just didn't know if Minghe Ancestor knew or not and whether he would be angry or happy if he discovered it.
Seeing his resistance achieving no results, Sakra stored the drum and took out a golden phurba. The spiritual artifact resembled a cross between the upper half of a vajra connected to a tri-edged dagger. Golden electricity crackled across its surface as runes lit up throughout it.
'Interesting,' Zhunti thought. His gentle smile remained on his face even as Sakra pointed it at the illusionary palm and unleashed a bolt of lightning.
Unlike the previous time, the lightning connected with the palm. It splintered and shrouded the palm, slowing it down for a split second before the palm absorbed all the lightning and continued on its path.
Now, this surprised Zhunti. True, it was a casual strike that didn't even utilize a hundredth of strength, but it was still a strike that a mere shura at the Great Firmament Realm should not be able to resist at all. Despite possessing the realm of a Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament, it seemed that Sakra could contend with Quasi-Saints!
Zhunti decided. He must take Sakra back with him to Mount Sumeru. His Sublime Golden Light of Liberation couldn't convert Sakra, but Jieyin's Exquisite Golden Light of Eightfold Resplendence could. It would just take a bit more time, but the gains were well worth it.
The illusionary palm grasped Sakra and Dishitian in its palm. Just as Zhunti prepared to take all the shura he captured away, the Blood Sea surged. The Redsin Bloodwater erupted and encased the shuras and dragged them into the bloody depths.
Not far from Zhunti, a pillar of Redsin Bloodwater erupted from the Blood Sea and condensed into a humanoid figure with a sickly pallor and bone-white hair wearing blood-red robes. "Do you not have any dignity as a Saint of Heaven? Shamelessly bewitching my creation?"
Zhunti's smile did not waver. "Fellow Daoist Minghe. The shuras are embroiled in sin. I couldn't watch as they walked down the wrong path. Thus, I am willing to take them to Mount Sumeru and wash their sins away for the greater good of the world."
"Stop trying to hide your shamelessness behind moral righteousness," Minghe Ancestor coldly said. He didn't care much about the regular shuras, even the ones in the Golden Immortal Realm. He had turned a blind eye for many years, but he couldn't allow Sakra to be taken.
Sakra was one of the four vice sect masters of his Shura Sect, which meant that he held and represented a large portion of the Shura Sect's Karmic Luck. If Zhunti successfully took Sakra away, then a large chunk of his luck would be absorbed by the Liberation Sect of the West.
Zhunti naturally knew this, which made Minghe Ancestor gnash his teeth together. "Taste my Blood God Formation!"
Minghe Ancestor didn't play around, activating his strongest method. Although he lost the Twelfth-Ranked Red Lotus of Karma and his Yuanti and Abi Sword, it didn't affect his strongest technique. As the first lifeform of the Blood Sea, Minghe Ancestor refined it and became its master. Under his control, the Blood Sea was not one whit inferior to a top-grade cardinal spiritual artifact.
A hundred copies of Minghe Ancestor rose from the Blood Sea, and each bloodgod incarnation had a different cultivation base. Aside from the first one formed that radiated the aura of a Quasi-Saint, the second most powerful bloodgod incarnations only exuded the aura of a Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament Realm.
A bloody glow erupted from all the bloodgod incarnations that connected each other and the Blood Sea itself. Soon, a blood-red view covered the sky as far as Zhunti could see, almost as if he had been teleported into the core abyss of the Blood Sea.
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"Last time, I could only take a portion of the Blood Sea and form the Blood God Formation," Minghe Ancestor coldly said as all his bloodgod incarnations' aura rose and reached the peak of the Quasi-Saint Realm. "This time, it's different. I can fully unleash the power of the Blood God Array in the Blood Sea.
"Zhunti, I'll teach you that there are some people that you can't mess with even if you are a Saint of Heaven!" Minghe Ancestor roared as all the bloodgod incarnations charged at the western Saint.
With his Blood God Array, Minghe Ancestor could truly be said to be invincible under the Primordial Origin Realm. Just the fact that each one of the hundred bloodgod incarnations could possess the power of a peak Quasi-Saint was amazing enough. Not even a Saint of Heaven could replicate such a feat.
Still, Zhunti kept his smile even under the onslaught of Minghe Ancestor. The phrase "All under Saints are ants'' was not an exaggeration. Even if Minghe Ancestor increased his bloodgod incarnations from one hundred to a thousand, Zhunti would still remain unafraid.
"Allow me to show you the power of a Saint of Heaven," Zhunti said. He only formed a single hand seal and waited.
Minghe Ancestor's eyes turned insidious upon seeing how lightly Zhunti took him. All one hundred of his bloodgod incarnations launched blood-based attacks, and a few directly charged forward with their fists. However, without fail, all of the attacks harmlessly phased through Zhunti's body.
"What?" Minghe Ancestor asked aloud, almost disbelieving his senses. He frowned and checked if he had fallen under some trick, but he couldn't sense anything wrong. So then, why could he clearly sense Zhunti, but all his attacks passed through the Saint as if he was a hallucination?
"Daoist Minghe's attainment in the Law of Blood makes me admire him very much," Zhunti said. "But you haven't completely mastered it. You are far from my opponent."
Zhunti formed a hand seal, an upturned hand with his thumb and index forming a circle. His figure became magnified over a thousand times until Minghe Ancestor could fit in his palm. Not only that, but Minghe Ancestor started to sway as if he had become intoxicated.
Minghe Ancestor tried to rid himself of the wooziness, but he had more pressing concerns. All the bloodgod incarnations disappeared, and he felt as if his true body had appeared in front of Zhunti. No, the bloodgod incarnations didn't just disappear, but so did the Blood Sea. Now, only Zhunti and he was left in this world.
Zhunti smiled at the struggling Minghe Ancestor in his palm. It was not an illusion but reality. Well, a certain definition of reality: a dream reality. Using the Law of Dream, Zhunti pulled Minghe Ancestor's consciousness into his dream world.
Did Minghe Ancestor think that he was safe just because his true body was in the core of the Blood Sea? He looked down on Saints too much.
Sublime Golden Light of Liberation filled the dream world. Minghe Ancestor continued to sway as he resisted the golden light's infiltration. Despite his woozy state, Zhunti found it hard to progress in converting Minghe.
Zhunti sighed as cracks filled the dream world. Not long later, a sword-shaped light burst through and shattered it. Aside from Tongtian, he could also sense Laozi, Yuanshi, Nuwa, and Redcloud Ancestor paying attention to the situation. None of them wanted to see the West absorb the Shura Sect and gain a peak Quasi-Saint. If Tongtian hadn't taken action, the other would have instead.
To Zhunti's surprise, the spatial boundaries around the Blood Sea shifted and condensed into a giant hand. The giant hand didn't attack Zhunti or anyone else but reached toward Dishitian.
An illusionary hand materialized and stopped the giant hand. He had already lost the chance to convert Minghe Ancestor, Zhunti wouldn't let Sakra and Dishitian slip through his fingers.
Both Zhunti and Tongtian were Saints of Heaven, and although Zhunti didn't know who was more powerful between them, he was currently in the Blood Sea while Tongtian was still in the Thirty-Three Heavens. He turned his attention to grab Sakra and Dishitian before Tongtian used the Law of Space to arrive.
His eyes narrowed when he saw that Sakra had disappeared. He turned toward the core of the Blood Sea to see a streak of lightning fleeing away. He sighed and grabbed Dishitian. One new recruit was better than nothing.
Zhunti didn't remain anymore and left. His figure dissolved into the air like a disappearing mirage.
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Dishitian blinked. The battle had been too shocking, too powerful for a little Profound Immortal shura like her to react to. By the time she regained control of herself, she had already arrived at a mountain. The golden aurora continuously shined down, encasing it in a golden glow.
"Dishitian greets Saint Zhunti," Dishitian immediately said as she bowed to show her respect to the Saint of Heaven.
Zhunti smiled amiably at Dishitian. He was clear that she wasn't affected by the meritorious light above Mount Sumeru. "Dishitian, you possess a spiritual artifact."
Dishitian's heart skipped a beat, but after thinking it through, she realized that it wasn't strange a Saint of Heaven could perceive what treasure she possessed. She felt a little unwilling. Before she even had the chance to use it, it would disappear from her possession. However, she dared not lie, so she directly summoned the Twelve Sea Calming Pearls out of her dantian.
The Twelve Sea Calming Pearls floated into Zhunti's hand, and he inspected them. "No wonder, no wonder."
Dishitian's eyes revealed confusion and curiosity. Zhunti waved his hand and returned the spiritual artifact, much to her surprise. "The Heavenly Venerable of Numinous Treasures possesses a high-grade innate spiritual artifact known as the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Pearls. I had always thought it was strange, but now I realized the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Pearls was incomplete."
'No wonder,' Dishitian thought. She had always thought it was strange that she somehow received half of the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Pearls. It turned out that she didn't receive half of it but the missing parts that were left out of the myths.
"The Heavenly Venerable of Numinous Treasures must have sensed the aura of the Sea Calming Pearls on your body and wanted to take it back to form the complete Thirty-Six Sea Calming Pearl," Zhunti continued. "Perhaps she even sensed that there was fate between you two and wanted to accept you as a disciple."
Dishitian inwardly shivered. Accepting Tongtian as a master? Although the myths diverged from her memories, she still knew that the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Pearls belonged to Zhao Gongming. Perhaps Tongtian wanted to snatch her treasure without accepting her as a disciple. Even if Tongtian wanted to accept her as a disciple, Dishitian didn't want to become Tongtian's disciple.
Although the Interception Sect was created by Redcloud Ancestor, Dishitian still thought the chances of Tongtian being ganged up by four Saints during the Investiture of the Gods was still very likely. After that, the Dao Ancestor would lock Tongtian up in Violet Heaven Palace. Dishitian didn't want to become the disciple of such a sad existence.
Zhunti naturally perceived Dishitian rejection for becoming Tongtian's disciple. He was puzzled by Dishitian's thoughts, but that didn't stop his next words. "It seems you are not keen on becoming the Heavenly Venerable of Numinous Treasure's disciple."
Dishitian opened her mouth, but no words came out. What should she say? Saints of Heaven possessed lofty status, and to reject the chance to become one's disciple could only be considered the height of folly.
"Since that is the case, are you willing to become my disciple and join the Liberation Sect?" Zhunti asked.
Dishitian's eyes widened in surprise and shock. "Yes! Yes, disciple is willing!"
"Disciple greets Master." She immediately got on her knees and kowtowed nine times. Although she planned to possess enough strength for when Zhao Gongming or Daoist Randeng came for her Twelve Sea Calming Pearls, having any Saint except Tongtian as a master only had advantages. In addition, even if Daoist Randeng got the Twenty-Four Sea Calming Pearls, he could not attack her, a fellow member of Buddhism or the Liberation Sect as it was still currently called.
Zhunti smiled in satisfaction. For years, most potential disciples would always seek to join a sect of the East Saints. Few, if any, were willing to come to the West. Dishitian's action could be said to appease Zhunti's stifled heart.
"Good disciple," Zhunti said. "I will now transmit to you the cultivation method of the Liberation Sect, the Dharma Canon."
Dishitian didn't resist as Zhunti poked her forehead, and a burst of information flowed into her head. Her eyes lit up with delight. She had thought the Sinforge Body Tempering method was amazing, but compared to the Dharma Canon, it was like comparing a pebble to jade.
The Dharma Canon resembled the Sinforge Body Tempering method in that it relied on external force to temper the body. Unlike the Sinforge Body Tempering method, the Dharma Canon didn't stop there. It used external force to refine the internal and raise the cultivator's realm, unlike the Immortal Path, which relied on using the internal to affect the external. Furthermore, any external force could be used, from Karmic Sin to Karmic Merit and even the five elements. The possibilities were endless.
Dishitian's eyes shone with confidence. When the Investiture of the Gods arrive, she would be ready.