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Was the Sea God doing this on purpose, or was it an accident?
Regardless of the motive, Su Wen focused entirely on perceiving the current resonance of the Seven Sacred Pillars and the process of converting the power of faith into divine power.
Previously, he had only sensed the existence of faith through the immense quality of his Martial Soul Fusion technique with Ning Rongrong. However, sensing it was a far cry from utilizing it. Su Wen couldn't even mobilize the power of faith, let alone wield it. He could feel it, but he could neither convert it nor command it.
Even after applying his past experiences in developing elemental powers—believing that perception was the perfect beginning—he hit wall after wall. Eventually, he stopped wasting time on fruitless attempts; these failures made it clear that the mobilization and application of faith likely required specific conditions he hadn't yet met.
Now, with the Sea God demonstrating the application of faith power right before his eyes, Su Wen refused to let the opportunity slip by. This wasn't just a lesson in faith; it was an exposition of divine power itself. For a Spirit Master like Su Wen, who intended to create his own Godhood, this was a beacon pointing toward his future path.
The Seven Sacred Pillars radiated a brilliant blue-gold light. These rays intertwined and converged in the sky above Sea God Island, condensing into points of intense, formidable energy. This energy then descended, striking Su Wen as he sat within the Sea God's Light in the Forbidden Land.
It was an energy imbued with a unique, profound artistic conception (yijing).
As this potent force flooded his body, Su Wen began to analyze its essence.
"It carries the conception of the vast ocean," he noted.
It felt as though the very essence of the sea had been bestowed upon soul power, then perfectly fused with heaven-and-earth energy and mental strength. Of course, this was only an initial deduction. Within this energy, Su Wen detected the characteristics of every energy type he already knew. Whether it was mental energy, blood energy, soul power, or natural energy, all were present within this so-called "divine power."
Strictly speaking, it was a synthesis of all energies, yet it belonged exclusively to the Sea God—controllable only by him.
"Is it the conception that binds them?"
Su Wen's mind raced, his thoughts flashing as he analyzed the nature of this conception and the method of fusion.
"No, it's more than just a simple conception. it represents the Sea God himself—a unique artistic conception belonging solely to him."
It wasn't something gained by meditating on external nature, but rather an internal manifestation of the Spirit Master's own essence. As for the method of fusion...
"It's like how a Martial Soul grants characteristics to Source Soul Power to turn it into Spirit Power."
"This 'energy aggregate' isn't a fusion of multiple energies, but rather the result of tracing all power back to its source..."
Su Wen sensed no discord between the various energy characteristics within the divine power. Rather than believing the Sea God had achieved a "perfect fusion" of disparate elements, Su Wen suspected this was a single, primal energy that happened to possess the traits of all others.
He hypothesized that this energy was the result of "Source-Tracing."
It wasn't that the Sea God had traced every individual energy back to its origin; it was that all energies shared this single "root." Therefore, the divine power naturally overlapped with the characteristics of all of them.
"To simplify it: one must trace heaven-and-earth energy back to its source, refine that primal energy, and then imbue it with one's own internal conception. That becomes Divine Power."
The only puzzle Su Wen had yet to solve was how to realize that personal conception—the one that served as the total embodiment of the Spirit Master's self.
"The power of faith, perhaps?" Su Wen speculated, recalling how the Seven Pillars resonated with faith to manifest divine power.
Hiss—!
Su Wen had little time left for quiet contemplation.
As time passed, the divine power began to temper his physique, bringing with it an agonizing pain. The path to true strength is always paved with suffering, and divine body-tempering was no exception.
Su Wen relied on his mental techniques to keep his consciousness anchored within his "Meditative World," ensuring his thoughts remained clear and intact. However, as the process intensified, the pain pierced into the very depths of his consciousness. Even the Meditative World could no longer fully isolate the sensation of agony.
He immediately activated his "Illusory Spirit Eye."
Above his Sea of Consciousness, the magnificent vertical pupil radiated waves of mental energy. This was the external spirit bone Su Wen had obtained years ago when he first absorbed a thousand-year Three-Eyed Illusory Fox ring. Since then, it had undergone numerous transformations.
The two most critical evolutions occurred during his absorption of the Void Silver-Moon Tapir ring and the refining of the Evil God Orb. In truth, the essence of this eye was no longer just the spirit bone of an Illusory Fox; it had been reshaped by the Void Tapir's Illusory Realm, granted spatial attributes, and tempered by the Dark Devilgod Tiger's Evil God power. It would be more accurate to call it the "Void Illusory Evil God Eye," though Su Wen still called it the Illusory Spirit Eye out of habit.
Driven by the eye's power, ripples of mental energy preserved a sliver of clarity within his mind amidst the infinite pain. Even though the tempering had reached a threshold that should have shattered his sanity, the dual protection of his Meditative World and the Illusory Spirit Eye held his consciousness together.
He could still think.
"Divine body-tempering... this is a deep-level experience of the physical form and a comprehensive contact with divine power. I cannot let a single second go to waste!"
He projected his Meditative World outward.
Above Su Wen's head, the Heavenly Book emerged. Golden light flowed across its pages, spreading rapidly to form a miniature "World Within the Book."
Flickers of golden light began to weave in and out of Su Wen's body. This golden light was an ability he had realized within the Forbidden Law Domain of his fusion with Ning Rongrong. It served as a medium for his various techniques, allowing him to achieve immense effects while assisting him in perceiving and analyzing all things.
Now, he used this golden light to analyze the divine power within him and the cellular changes occurring during the tempering.
Time flowed on.
The process of divine tempering was grueling and far longer than Su Wen had anticipated. However, immersed in his analysis of the divine power, Su Wen lost all track of time.
Three days.
For three full days, the light of the Seven Sacred Pillars blazed on Sea God Island. Finally, the last of the blue-gold divine power descended from the sky, bringing Su Wen's tempering to a close.
Divine Realm, Sea God Temple.
The Sea God wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long, exhausted breath.
"That kid... just how did he temper his body before this? Even with me using divine power to help him, it was this much of a struggle."
(End of Chapter)