Chapter 16: The Fountain of Life

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Li Yao was enveloped in blazing divine radiance. His black hair whipped wildly about him, while his robes billowed and snapped in the wind. An indescribable aura emanated from him, making him resemble a demon god descended into the mortal world.

There was no doubt that everything atop the mountain had been wrought by Li Yao’s own hand. For the past two months, he had been cultivating the Divine Radiance of the Vast Sun and the Vast Sun’s Protection.

Without the assistance of the Heavenly Tome, he had relied entirely on his own comprehension and study.

“Whew. I’ve finally achieved a little something. Compared with the speed at which I comprehend things with the Heavenly Tome, this is truly far too slow.” Li Yao reflected inwardly.

The difficulty of the Divine Radiance of the Vast Sun and the Vast Sun Divine Shield could certainly not compare with that of the Shaking Light Scripture. Yet with the Heavenly Tome’s assistance, he had mastered the latter completely in an instant. The difference between the two could hardly have been greater.

Even so, Li Yao felt that there was a deep sense of fulfillment in learning through his own efforts.

The Heavenly Tome was his greatest advantage, but Li Yao felt that he could not rely on it entirely. Whatever he was capable of accomplishing himself, he still had to do with his own hands.

“Now that I possess divine arts—one offensive and one defensive—my strength has increased by far more than a little. If my current self were to face my former self, the victor would be beyond doubt.”

Cultivation was the foundation of the Great Dao, and the thing a cultivator ought to value most. At the same time, however, combat prowess could not be neglected. Without formidable battle strength, mere cultivation would never carry one to the end.

Li Yao had no desire to become a cautionary example of someone defeated by an opponent several realms above his station. Moreover, in the Shrouding Heavens world, powerful will and a steadfast mind were simply too important to cultivation.

Yet will and temperament were often built upon the foundation of overwhelming combat strength.

After descending the mountain, Li Yao returned to the small courtyard. As was his habit, he sat cross-legged upon the meditation cushion, allowing his mind to enter the Sea of Bitterness as he began forging his own weapon.

After two months, the forty-nine divine patterns had been tempered into something roughly resembling a furnace. Its exterior, however, was still extremely crude, as though a child had casually molded it from clay.

The furnace had three legs and a round body. On either side of the body were two handles, while a circular lid rested atop it.

At present, the furnace was absurdly plain. It bore no patterns of any kind, not even a single Dao mark. It was still a hundred thousand miles from being truly forged.

Li Yao was in no hurry. Forging a weapon was undoubtedly a process that required a great deal of time. Furthermore, as his cultivation advanced, more divine patterns would be born in the future.

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Compared with forging his weapon, what now made Li Yao most impatient was charging the Heavenly Tome. Two months had passed, and he had obtained fourteen hundred pounds of Pure Origin. Added to the more than twelve hundred pounds he already possessed, he now had nearly twenty-eight hundred pounds of Pure Origin on his person.

“Over these three months, the Heavenly Tome has also been absorbing essence on its own. Converted into Origin, it should amount to at least three hundred pounds of Pure Origin. Added to what I have now, it should be more than enough to illuminate the second page of the Heavenly Tome.”

Li Yao had waited far too long for this moment. For two whole months, he had refrained from cultivating any scripture to improve his cultivation.

The unenhanced Shaking Light Scripture was already extremely powerful. It was among the very finest scriptures at the Great Sage level, and after mastering it, traversing the Eastern Wastelands would pose no problem.

But Li Yao wanted more. He did not wish to sacrifice long-term gains for short-term benefits. A Great Sage scripture was indeed formidable, but compared with an Emperor Scripture, the disparity remained enormous.

Knowing that did not make his wait any easier. At times, Li Yao had even counted the days. Now that he could finally deduce the Sea of Life chapter, he did not want to waste a single moment.

With a gentle wave of his hand, Li Yao filled the room with Pure Origin. Brilliant light burst forth, dazzling and splendid, as radiant as a blazing sun.

At the same time, the concentration of essence within the entire room rose by an unknown number of times.

Although the essence was securely locked within the Origin and only wisps escaped, nearly three thousand pounds of it had been piled together in the room. Even if each piece released no more than a single wisp, the combined result was still astonishing.

Boom!

As Li Yao’s thoughts stirred, the Heavenly Tome suddenly trembled. In an instant, essence surged into his body like an ocean pouring backward into the sky. After circulating once through him, it flowed into the Heavenly Tome.

Rustle, rustle!

The Heavenly Tome turned to its second page. As essence poured into it, the tome radiated blazing light. The more of the page that was illuminated, the more resplendent it became.

At last, as the pieces of Pure Origin in the room exploded one after another, leaving only around a hundred pounds, the second page of the Heavenly Tome was completely charged.

A divine gleam flashed through Li Yao’s eyes. Using his divine sense as a brush, he inscribed the Sea of Life chapter of the Shaking Light Scripture into the Heavenly Tome amid a faint, rustling sound.

A radiance of enlightenment suddenly appeared. Li Yao felt his mind become extraordinarily clear, and an entirely new Shaking Light Scripture emerged within his sea of consciousness.

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It was like an infusion of enlightenment from the crown of his head. Although the scripture had only just been deduced, he felt as though he had comprehended it hundreds or thousands of times, and he instinctively began circulating it.

As the Shaking Light Scripture circulated, dense essence began converging toward Li Yao. Every pore across his body opened wide, drawing essence into him. His flesh and organs were nourished by it, while his divine power surged like tumultuous waves.

Two months had passed since he broke through into the Sea of Life realm. During that time, he had never cultivated, as though a raging river had been dammed. Now, with the circulation of the scripture, the dam collapsed in an instant, and the great river thundered forward in a furious torrent.

He felt his powerful divine energy. His life essence boiled and surged like immense waves. Divine radiance shone from his organs, flawless and immaculate. His bones glittered brilliantly, condensed with divine splendor, while his skin flowed with dazzling light. He no longer seemed like a body of flesh and blood, but rather a deity formed through the devout worship of countless mortals.

The black waves of the Sea of Bitterness surged toward the heavens, its edges gradually expanding. It had originally been only about the size of a fist, but now it was somewhat larger than one.

The gurgling divine spring at the center of the Sea of Bitterness, connected to the Wheel of Life, was expanding as well. From the bottom of the spring, auspicious radiance occasionally erupted, incomparably brilliant and filled with powerful vitality.

Bang!

A fist-sized piece of Pure Origin exploded. The essence within had been completely depleted and absorbed.

After breaking through into the Sea of Life realm, his speed of absorbing essence was no longer remotely comparable to that of the Sea of Bitterness realm. It had increased by an unknown number of times.

In the past, he would have needed several hours to absorb all the essence within a piece of Pure Origin this size. Now, however, it took less than half an hour.

Li Yao opened his eyes. Three-foot-long beams of divine light shot from them, illuminating the entire room. His aura had grown stronger once again, clearly as a result of cultivating the Sea of Life chapter of the Shaking Light Scripture.

“The Sea of Life has expanded by at least twenty percent. It seems these two months of repression really did leave me pent up.”

During these two months, although Li Yao had not cultivated, the Heavenly Tome had circulated through his body each time it absorbed essence. As a result, a tremendous amount of essence had accumulated within his flesh and blood.

Once he began cultivating this time, that immense flood of essence was refined in a single burst, directly elevating his cultivation by another step.

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