A New Form
Its body was like a vast world, entirely crimson, with flames surging. It had eight pairs of enormous wings, and its four gigantic clawed feet seemed to support the entire world. Its massive single eye, cold and emotionless, was fixed on Luo Feng.
"Rumble~~~" Every movement it made was laborious, for chains bound it, chains that extended from the void, penetrating its body, soul, and every part of it, rendering it unable to resist. It stared at Luo Feng with intense killing intent in its eye.
Luo Feng could even see the "traces of past time" on its body, witnessing the beast's growth from a small, insignificant creature into its current form—a progression that mirrored the process described in the "Three Thousand Void Calamity Beasts Diagram." However, the traces he saw now were far more detailed and terrifyingly oppressive compared to the diagram.
"This is the image of a powerful entity observing the calamity beast," Luo Feng realized. "This powerful being could see the beast's traces in past time and recorded this image for posterity."
If a weaker individual had seen the calamity beast, they would likely have their mind destroyed instantly. The ability to see the beast's past time traces was beyond Luo Feng's comprehension.
Even the emperors of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom could only observe the shadows of the calamity beasts and create diagrams from those observations. The diagrams were only partial representations of the real calamity beasts.
"The calamity beast is actually bound?" Luo Feng was shocked. The chains emerging from the void clearly prevented the calamity beast from breaking free.
"My mental will, at the second level of God King, is just barely capable of watching this calamity beast's shadow. The beast's power must exceed that of even God Kings at the Ultimate Realm, and yet it is still bound," Luo Feng thought, astonished.
He quickly deduced that the one binding the calamity beast had to be a more powerful existence, likely from the side of the cultivators, as the image of the calamity beast had been passed down to the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom.
"From the beast's growth trajectory, it doesn't seem to belong to the cultivator faction," Luo Feng reasoned. "It must be some terrifying life form from the Caged Realm."
Even the emperors of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom must show respect for such beings. Just witnessing the beast's growth filled Luo Feng with awe, yet there was a higher existence capable of binding it.
"Maintain a sense of reverence," Luo Feng reminded himself. "Such creatures, even at the level below the Ultimate Realm of the God Kings, can still be bound. And I... am just at the Chaos Realm."
Luo Feng carefully memorized the image. Since watching it had cost him 100,000 merit points, the Inheritance Hall allowed him ample time for this observation. The previous "Eight Thousand Void Calamity Beasts Diagram" was merely a painting, while this was a time-space image, far more detailed and realistic.
As Luo Feng immersed himself in the image, he realized, "Without a will to face death, one cannot overcome the ultimate tribulation."
The image deepened Luo Feng's understanding of the calamity beast's will to face death. "To abandon everything, even one's own life, is the only way to reach this point... but it also means abandoning former friends."
"It even devoured the companions who had gone through hardships with it."
Luo Feng saw far more detail in the beast's growth than what was depicted in the "Calamity Beast Diagram." In its later stages of growth, the beast became overwhelmingly powerful, but it no longer needed companions. To grow stronger, the beast systematically killed and devoured its friends.
In the end, one day, it was captured! Without even knowing who had captured it, time-space twisted, and it was imprisoned in a world of chains, never able to escape.
"Is this the fate of the calamity beast?" Luo Feng thought, feeling a sense of melancholy. "It was captured with a mere change in time-space, without even seeing its captor?"
"Its mental will was strong, but in the end, power prevails. Strength is paramount, but even it became a prisoner."
This served as a reminder to Luo Feng. Defeating enemies with mental will alone was extremely difficult. One needed a massive advantage in both mental will and the associated secret techniques. As Luo Feng's strength increases, the advantage of the "Lie Yuan Technique" will become less pronounced.
Luo Feng could easily annihilate some Chaos Realm beings because their will was much weaker, and the "Lie Yuan Technique" had significant advantages. However, the ancient beings in the Origin Continent had cultivated secret techniques of willpower, gradually closing the gap with "Lie Yuan Technique."
"Even the emperors of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom and the rulers of the Thunder Ancient Kingdom are rumored to have killed God Kings using their willpower," Luo Feng realized. "In the end, willpower is just one aspect of cultivation. Comprehending the Tao... that is the foundation of cultivation."
The viewing of the calamity beast's shadow reinforced Luo Feng's determination to follow the path of cultivation and reminded him that there were no shortcuts. The "Lie Yuan Technique" would continue to provide increasing benefits, but ultimately, true cultivation required reverence and continuous progress.
Time passed, and Luo Feng devoted himself even more to comprehending the Tao.
In a blink of an eye, Luo Feng had been in Chu Capital for seventy-one epochs.
In the hidden space of the Origin Universe's Source, Luo Feng's divine power clone faced the fragmented Primordial Path of Life, able to see the eight branches of the path clearly.
"I have yet to cultivate the Life Body branch to the transcendant Chaos Realm," Luo Feng observed. "Even though I've collected some perfect Chaos Realm biological materials, I still can't fully comprehend the 'eightfold trinity form.'"
The first tribulation of the "Eight Tribulations of Lifeforms" records eight branches: Life Spirituality, Life Body, and Life Source among them. Life Spirituality and Life Body had both been raised to the pinnacle of the Chaos Realm.
Once Luo Feng became a God King, he would no longer be able to improve these aspects.
"I've been studying for so long, yet I still can't fully comprehend it. Do I really need to become a God King to grasp the eightfold trinity form?" Luo Feng pondered. "Perhaps I should try consuming a Hunyuan Essence Fruit."
Originally, Luo Feng planned to reach the pinnacle of the seven branches he was focusing on before consuming the Hunyuan Essence Fruit. There were six fruits left to help him break through to the God King level.
So far, only two branches had reached the pinnacle of the Chaos Realm.
"As Master said, seven fruits should be used at the Chaos Realm and three at the first stage of the God King Realm," Luo Feng thought. "For the sake of perfecting the transformation technique, using one now would be worthwhile."
Improving his transformation technique would deepen his understanding of the two branches.
"Come to my palace, Luo He."
Suddenly—
Luo Feng's heart and mind received a transmission from his master, Emperor Chu.
"This is the first time in seventy epochs that Master has summoned me," Luo Feng was surprised and immediately made his way to the Emperor's palace.
**
In Emperor Chu's palace:
The Emperor sat cross-legged, his massive figure slightly frowning.
"The Ancestor has sent back a batch of resources, meant for our clan," Emperor Chu mused. Not long ago, the thirteen emperors of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom had been summoned by the Ancestor, each receiving a share of the resources.
These resources were divided into thirteen portions, one for each branch of the royal family.
As per the Ancestor's instructions, these resources were intended to nurture the family members. The Ancestor's nature was to nurture his kin while outsiders, even guest ministers, had to earn their merits through hard work.
Training disciples? Whoever trained disciples had to provide their own resources.
"This time, the royal elites will each receive a batch of resources," Emperor Chu thought. "My three disciples, only two of them come to see me often, asking for guidance. But as for my disciple Luo Feng... seventy epochs, and he hasn't come once."
Compared to the royal elites, Emperor Chu was equally close to his direct disciples.
Since the royal elites were receiving resources, Emperor Chu felt it was only right to give his direct disciples some as well.
"Master."
Luo Feng entered the palace, bowing respectfully.
"Since becoming my disciple, you haven't sought me out once in seventy epochs," He looked at Luo Feng. "Are you facing no difficulties in your cultivation?"
Luo Feng respectfully replied, "Master, I do have some difficulties in understanding the Primordial Path of Life."
Emperor Chu's eyelid twitched.
Primordial Path of Life?
He didn't understand that path at all!
"What about the Primordial Path of Destruction? Are you progressing well in that?" He asked, as destruction was his specialty.
"It's going quite well for now," Luo Feng replied.
Although the "72 Blades of Annihilation" recorded two branches,
Emperor Chu nodded and asked, "What difficulties are you facing with the Primordial Path of Life?"
Luo Feng waved his hand, and a gray particle appeared in front of him. It split open, revealing two particles fused in a yin-yang balance.
"This is the basic particle form of perfect Chaos Realm creatures—the eightfold trinity form," Luo Feng explained. "I've gained some insight, but I still can't fully comprehend it."
The Emperor looked at the particles and felt a headache coming on.
He had focused all his energy on cultivating the Primordial Path of Destruction, with only minimal exposure to the Primordial Paths of Matter, Causality, and Space. Even so, his understanding of those was barely at the God King level.
As for the Primordial Path of Life? He didn't understand it at all.
"I'm really confused," Luo Feng confessed, having spent the better part of seventy epochs studying this. "I would appreciate any guidance from Master."
"The eightfold trinity form? That's a relatively shallow form of body structure," Emperor Chu said, thinking quickly. As an emperor, his mental speed was extraordinary.
With a wave of his hand, a golden armored insect's corpse appeared in the palace.
"This is the corpse of a Chaos Realm creature. Its body structure is even more advanced than the eightfold trinity form—it's the 'Ten Directions World Form.' With this body, it could battle against God Kings. Study this form carefully, and perhaps when you return to the eightfold trinity form, you'll understand it better."
Luo Feng stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the golden armored insect's corpse.
The corpse radiated immense power.
"What kind of creature is this?" Luo Feng asked, confused, as he had never heard of such a being.
"Thunder Ancestor devoted his efforts to researching various Hunyuan bloodlines. This is one of the ordinary creatures he created," Emperor Chu explained. "Take it back and study it. Once you've accumulated enough understanding, you can consume a Hunyuan Essence Fruit and perhaps comprehend the eightfold trinity form in one go."
"I understand, Master," Luo Feng acknowledged and immediately stored the corpse.
"Go on, then," Emperor Chu waved him away.
Luo Feng respectfully left the palace.
"I was going to give him some resources, but this golden armored insect corpse is worth a million merit points. It counts as a resource," Emperor Chu thought, satisfied. Since he had taken on disciples, he didn't want to treat them poorly.