Chapter 77 The Everlasting Sun
The surrounding moonlights was drawn in by the giant stone teleportation portal, and in but a fleeting moment, the moon regained its usual luminosity. No one would ever know that a young human boy wreathed in the moonlight was heading towards the sun within this fifteen-minute span of time.
It was a marvelous and fantastical journey, it only took the blink of an eye to teleport from the volcano to the moon; but the journey wasn’t as simple as that when traveling from the moon to the sun. The time spent was much longer, and Zhong Yue could tell that he was traveling in the light, his speed was incredibly fast!
It was so unimaginably fast that it no longer felt as if he was traveling through space, but rather, directly warping space itself to jump from point to point – planet after planet flashed by him like a blur.
“That is the Golden Celestial Star, on it, there is the Golden Celestial Palace, the abode of the fallen Gold God. An innate god birthed by the worship of living beings. Those with Golden Innate Spirits were the lucky ones that were born during the eruption of the Golden Celestial and the planetary force of the Golden Celestial glutted their bodies.”
Xin Huo pointed at one of the celestial bodies that flashed past them and said, “The Gold God on the Golden Celestial Star was a god from the era of the Sui Sovereign. During every dynasty, there would be a Gold God guarding this star. Same as the era of the Fuxi Earthly Sovereigns, there would be generation after generation of Golden Celestial Monarchs, but I wonder if they still exist now. Other than the Golden Celestial Star, there are also the Fire Celestial Star, Earth Celestial Star, Wood Celestial Star and Water Celestial Star. In addition to the moon and sun, there are a total of seven celestial stars. The sun is undoubtedly the strongest, following by the moon, and the other five are more or less the same. Look, that’s the Water Celestial Star.”
Zhong Yue was enveloped in a clump of light rays, he flew past the Water Celestial Star and flew closer to the sun.
The sun was close at hand, it was getting bigger and bigger, heat waves struck out from it and turned into flaming creatures with incredibly strong powers.
The omnipotent power of the natural totems, they were preeminent in strength; with a slight surge of force, they could easily crush the moon!
Not only that, Zhong Yue could feel the overpowering energy contained in the rays from the sun, if he could harvest and manifest them into his Sword Qi, it would induce a qualitive increase in its strength!
The radiant rays!
Zhong Yue knew that there were quite a number of Swords Gate Qi Practitioners that harvested the radiant rays and manifested them into Sword Qis. One of the eminent sword skills to utlize this was the Aurora Metamagnet Sword Skill. One would have to reach the ends of the earth, to the magnetic poles where one can then harvest the rays of auroras, ultimately consummating the aurora rays into Sword Qi of incredible power.
Other than this, there was another profound art of similar type in Swords Gate, the Great Void Diffraction Sword Art. In order to consummate its Sword Qi, the cultivator would have to ascend to the upper limits of the atmosphere and harvest rays from the void in the galaxy.
Sword skills like these were fairly hard to practice, especially the Great Void Diffraction Sword Art. Even the efforts put forth over of hundreds of years may not guarantee one’s success in cultivating the skill.
But Zhong Yue had a feeling that, if one ever cultivated beside the sun, a few days time would allow the abstruse Great Void Diffraction Sword Art to a be raised to a very strong stage!
“The sun spirits are the strongest among the seven celestial spirits, taking a multitude of forms. According to their own character and personal perceptions, each and every cultivator will manifest a different sun spirit to others.”
Xin Huo said, “Such as Zuo Xiangsheng from Swords Gate, a sun spirit holder; the spirit he manifested was a fire crow god, he can turn into a crow-headed human, and strictly speaking, he is considered to be very good to be able to cultivate to such a stage. Although I’ve seen better ones, such as those that have manifested a Golden Crow God, which is way stronger than the fire crow. There’s also the fire dragon, fire phoenix, fire snake, fire ox and all the other weird and peculiar creatures.”
The moonlight wreathing around Zhong Yue brought him close to the sun, the sunlight started to burn through the moonlight, obliterating its gentle luminescence.
Zhong Yue was getting anxious and nervous, if the moonlight were to be completely eradicated, he would either be instantly evaporated by the torrid heat force or blasted into ashes by the rays of sun!
The moonlight environed around him, and thrusted him towards the sun without any sign of slowing down!
Zhong Yue gazed at the sun as he was getting closer to it, suddenly, a black spot appeared on the surface of the sun. It grew bigger and bigger in his eyes and soon, he rammed right into it!
Zhong Yue’s body shuddered in fear, he immediately braced himself for the impact, but all of a sudden, beams of light shot out from the black spot, the light beams flashed right at him drew him into a light pillar.
His speed slowed down, and slowly, he alighted onto the ground.
That light beams were emanated from a palace floating in the air above the black spot on the sun’s surface.
Zhong Yue’s heart could not stop from palpitating in terror, he gazed around and realized that he was in the middle of the palace; the air around was cold, chilly and refreshing, the immense heat from the scorching sun felt as if it were never there.
The palace, it had the ability to repel the heat waves from the sun, one would not be able to feel the high heat at all, it was certainly more than what just ‘fascinating’ could describe.
“This is the godly palace left behind by the previous Xin Huo inheritor, it was meant for the next inheritor so that he can manifest a sun spirit. But now, you are in luck, you can enjoy such a luxurious service that was meant for the exclusive use of the Xin Huo inheritors.” Xin Huo said.
“I’m really on the sun?”
Zhong Yue was dumbfounded, he walked to the palace gate and casted his gaze forward. An ocean of a billion miles was burning in fire; the sun’s surface was an ocean of flame, containing an unmatched sum of power in it.
He could see the coalescence of the flames into fire trees, fire mountains and fire clouds, He could see fire dragons soaring through the sky and swimming in the ocean, shuttling about and proudly roaring and whistling. All of these breathtaking phenomena were engendered by the charm of the natural totem carvings. !
If I ever step out of this palace, I suppose I’ll probably be vaporized into ashes? Or maybe not even ashes will be left behind….
The unbounded sun.
There were no boundaries to the sun’s vastitude, nor were there any limits to its power.
For a mortal that was not yet a Qi Practitioner to ever step foot on the sun, not a single living being in the world would have believed it even if they had said it out!
Even the Swords Gate headmasters could not do it, and yet here he was.
Of course, it’s all thanks to Xin Huo, without him, I’m afraid I would’ve been long dead in the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium.
“It is way more easier to manifest a spirit here than in the Great Wilderness. Right here, the resonance with the spirits is greater, allowing you to easily reach out to the them!”
Xin Huo then quipped, “What is Swords Gate, what is Xian Kong City, how can the spirits they have be comparable to the spirit of the great sun? The spirit of Sui Sovereign was also a sun spirit, with it, he became a leading light, the vanguard that ushered in a new era, a sovereign among the gods! Young Fuxi, what kind of sun spirit can you harvest, depends upon yourself!”
Zhong Yue recollected his thoughts, he sat down in the lotus position in front of the palace and reached out his senses to manifest a sun spirit.
The heart of a fierce tiger and the body of a Jiao Dragon. Am I strong enough to be able to contain a sun within me?
Zhong Yue released a protracted and clarion whistle, his soul lunged out from his body and his psyche burst out from his psyche ocean, the two entities converged into a Sui Sovereign of over hundreds feet that stood staunchly behind him.
The Sui Sovereign also sat down in the lotus position, he lifted his arm and Zhong Yue was sitting in the middle of his palm; facing right at the burning flame of the blazing sun, he cautiously extended out his perception.
Reaching out the senses was meant to establish a link between the cultivator and the spirit, a connection that would become the medium through which both sides can interface with each other.
Swords Gate had various books and records that described such phenomena.
“With the five Qi of the world, everything will come into place; the soul will merge with the spirit, giving birth to a saint!”
The sentence spoke of a mortal that reached out to the spirits, a link between them was established, a connection that they interacted through; and when the spirit was manifested, the mortal ascended to a Qi Practitioner. A saint was hence born. Of course, it would be an over exaggeration to equate a Qi Practitioner to a saint.
“The divine and the mortal, the essence that burgeon!”
This sentence describes the moment where the spirit was sensed, and that inexplicable feeling gleaned within. When the spirit and soul coalesced, an ineffable force would draw them together and amalgamate them as one. This fusion would engender the atman; only a soul that had consummated with the spirit can be acknowledged as the Yuan Shen.
Zhong Yue had his own understandings and perceptions when it came to manifesting a spirit, most of the Swords Gate Qi Practitioners visualized with their soul and used their psyche to reach out to the spirit; but he deemed it wrong. The right way to do it was to reach out with the soul, using the intrinsic charm of the soul to attract the spirit, and allow for the spontaneous coalescence of the two together.
He is not bad.
Xin Huo hovered around in the palace, gazing at Zhong Yue with praise in his heart, What a pity that he is not a pure-blood Fuxi Celestial Race. But honestly, even a pure-blood Fuxi celestial race might not be able to so quickly realize the quintessence of manifesting a spirit….
Zhong Yue slowly reached out, he established a link with the sun beneath him; he could see the spirits that swarmed around the sun, and the languid ambling and the graceful dance of the uncountable spirits that were as strong as the gods.
Some fluttered their wings, they were the fire crows; some coiled in the sun, they were the fire dragons and fire snakes; there was one that took the form of the Sui Tree; and a Golden Crow that was slumbering in its nest on the trees.
There were also Fire Kirins, Fire Vermilion Birds, fire grasses, lotuses, fishes and a myriad of other living manifestations of fire; they existed in the form of plants, creatures, and the vast host of peculiar objects.
What did the Sui Sovereign choose? Probably the Sui Tree?
The Sui Tree, also known as the Fire Tree, the same kind as the towering Fire Tree that stood tall right outside of the palace in the Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art.
In this great sun, what is the strongest spirit? And which spirit should I manifest and merge with my soul?
Zhong Yue pondered deeply, he reached out further and deeper in an attempt to explore more spirits. Moments passed and time continued to slip away, but he still could not find the one.
After the consummation of a spirit and the ascension to a Qi Practitioner, the cultivator would eventually reach the stage of human-spirit as one. And clearly, under such a form, the Sui Tree was not the strongest in terms of combat capability. But the Sui Sovereign had his own reasons in choosing the Sui Tree.
Sui Sovereign needed a light source, a torch of flame that could cast off the darkness that had once shadowed his race. He needed to enlighten the world with a glimpse of hope, hence, the gentle Sui Tree was the most suitable spirit.
We humans are naturally weak – our endowments poor and our lifespans fleeting. What I need is not to simply ward off the darkness, but to be the strongest and most powerful human to have ever existed; rather than being a shimmering beacon of hope, I will be the raging fire that blazes the path to glory. I will carve open a way and illuminate a path for humanity to usurp the highest throne in the world, – to make the humans ... the supreme leader of all races!
Zhong Yue opened his eyes abruptly, his decision was made, it was the Golden Crow nesting on the fire tree.
In the sun, fire crows fluttered in flocks, fire lotuses littered the land and the fire dragons and phoenixes frolicked in company. But there was only one Sui Tree, atop which was resting only one rest, within which, was a solitary Golden Crow!
That meant, that the Golden Crow was as unique as the Sui Tree – a singularly peerless existence!
A sun would give birth to only one spirit that took the form of Golden Crow!
He calmed his mind and concentrated, his mind and soul reached out to the Golden Crow sitting in the nest on the Sui Tree, but it was unmoved. After a long time, Zhong Yue suddenly felt a surge of heat wave gushing right at him, that Golden Crow eyes were finally beginning to crack open.
An immense burst of air, filled with scorching brutality, gushed towards him and engulfed his soul!
That was the atrocity and brutality that was inherent to the Golden Crow – the air of a fierce and dreadful creature!
The Golden Crow extended its wings out and released a clarion cry, it beat its wings out of the Sui Tree and flew down to grasp onto a fire dragon. With a single peck, the fire dragon disappeared into its mouth.
Immediately after, it shifted and transmuted into a three-legged, winged celestial being; a human-bodied creature with a crow’s legs. He lifted his hand and came directly for Zhong Yue!
His palm was getting larger in Zhong Yue’s vision; suddenly, Zhong Yue was struck by a wave of vertigo and the three-legged celestial being disappeared, while at the same time, a miniature sun rose behind his soul and the mini sun was emanating eye-catching radiant lights!