61: Lotus root incarnation and innate secrets - the connection between the broken lotus roots and the lingering silk thread

Ten days later.

Inside a desolate mountain cave.

A puppet made from white jade lotus root sat cross-legged on a lotus pedestal.

Opposite him, Gu Changsheng manipulated hand seals, embedding various profound Restrictions into the lotus root body before him.

Visibly, the aura of the white jade lotus root Incarnation gradually strengthened, its face transforming into Gu Changsheng's likeness, though an eerie lotus mark appeared on its brow.

Pfft—

Gu Changsheng suddenly clutched his chest, spitting out a mouthful of vital blood, which landed on the lotus root Incarnation.

The vital blood seeped into it, instantly absorbed completely.

Its originally jade-like arms now displayed a fair, rosy complexion, indistinguishable from a living person.

“The most crucial step... severing the Divine Soul...”

Gu Changsheng pondered for a moment, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

The Nine Nether Soul-Seizing Underworld Light Divine Ability, imprinted on his Golden Core, transformed into a Flying Sword, slashing towards a corner of his vast, ocean-like Soul Sea.

Instantly, a fragment of Divine Soul was peeled away from the enormous Soul Sea.

It contained most of the main body's memories.

Of course, within these memories, Gu Changsheng had deliberately erased certain secrets.

For instance, the existence of the Heaven-Ranked Method and the Golden Finger, and the main body's identity as a Transmigrator... Even an Incarnation carried the risk of rebellion or being captured and soul-searched by enemies.

The deepest secrets should remain buried in the main body's heart alone.

At this moment, Gu Changsheng's face was pale, large beads of sweat soaking his forehead. Enduring the intense pain, his finger touched the lotus root Incarnation's brow.

Whoosh—

A profound and mysterious connection was born from the depths of his heart.

The lotus root Incarnation opened its eyes.

Its gaze was intelligent, its aura gentle and warm, like an ordinary jade-faced scholar.

“netherworld extinguishing lotus, truly a Earth-grade spiritual plant.

The Incarnation refined from it possesses pure and incomparable Wood elemental essence Qi.

If one were to refine demons, Refined Corpses, or even Cultivators, the resulting Incarnation's Divine Soul aura would be Miscellaneous and impure.

It might even immediately turn on its master.”

“Furthermore, this Incarnation seems to have a special talent...”

Gu Changsheng wiped the sweat from his forehead, vaguely sensing it.

Hearing this, the lotus root Incarnation opposite him nodded with a smile and said, “Indeed, main body, please observe...”

Saying this, the lotus root Incarnation suddenly extended its right hand, grasped its left wrist, and twisted forcefully, severing the entire arm at the root.

Visibly, numerous lotus fibers emerged from the severed end of the arm.

As the severed arm moved closer to the shoulder, the lotus fibers frantically wriggled, gradually reattaching.

A flash of green light, and the arm was instantly restored to its original state.

There was no trace of it ever being broken.

“This is this body's innate secret art — Lotus Root Severed, Fibers Connected.

Even if I am chopped into a hundred and eight thousand pieces, as long as my Divine Soul is not extinguished, given some time, my body can recover to its original state.”

The lotus root Incarnation said.

Immediately, Gu Changsheng's face showed surprise.

To be able to recover even after being chopped into a hundred and eight thousand pieces.

That was almost comparable to the Divine Ability — Resurrect from a Drop of Blood, wasn't it?

That was an existence ranked very high on the Divine Ability list.

Gu Changsheng's eyes rolled, and a thought emerged.

If he were to sketch a portrait of the Clone, would he have a chance to obtain this secret art?

Thump thump—

His heart pounded wildly.

He immediately took out his sketchbook.

As the final stroke was completed, a portrait of a jade-faced scholar appeared on the paper.

Unfortunately, the panel remained unchanged.

Gu Changsheng lamented, “Indeed, the Incarnation is considered a part of me. Sketching myself naturally won't be recognized by the panel.”

“Well, fine. Anyway, all the hard fighting in the future can just be left to the Incarnation...”

Gu Changsheng adjusted his mindset and stepped forward to test the Incarnation's strength.

Soon, his brows furrowed.

“Although the Incarnation is based on the lotus root of the netherworld extinguishing lotus, and its body strength far surpasses that of Human Race Cultivators, it is still too inferior compared to me... And, most importantly... its cultivation is too low, only at the Foundation Building Realm.”

It would be one thing if its Body Refining strength wasn't high.

But if its cultivation was below the True Core Realm, the Incarnation's usefulness would be greatly diminished for Gu Changsheng.

After all, the minimum threshold for exploring the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains required True Core Realm cultivation.

“If I were to refine an Incarnation using demons, Refined Corpses, or True Dan Cultivators, I could forcibly seize a portion of their cultivation.

But the hidden dangers are too great.

Aside from the burden on the split Divine Soul, once the Divine Soul clashes with the original remnant soul, the possibility of refinement failure greatly increases.

The most troublesome part is that the Incarnation is very likely to develop rebellious consciousness.

There truly is no perfect solution in this world, with every gain comes a loss...”

Gu Changsheng's gaze shifted. He opened his mouth and spat out a black demon Core, which flew into the lotus root Incarnation's body.

Instantly, the Incarnation's aura surged, its entire body radiating a chilling black Qi.

“Just as I thought... The Outer Core secret art is indeed feasible.”

The Yellow Springs Free and Unfettered Wonderful Method naturally considered situations where the Incarnation's cultivation couldn't keep up with the main body's.

Therefore, it recorded two secret arts.

One was the False Core method, and the other was the Outer Core method.

The former required the Incarnation to use Core Formation spiritual materials to refine a False Core Magic Treasure with a compatible attribute.

After refining it, it could exert True Core Realm combat power.

The latter involved forcibly seizing another's True Core and refining it into the body.

The False Core method's advantage was that the Incarnation could continuously nurture the False Core Magic Treasure to improve its Realm.

Its drawback was that it was time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The Outer Core method's advantage was its speed, but it couldn't improve the Realm.

Whatever the Realm of the refined Outer Core, that would be its Realm for life.

Unless, it refined a higher Rank Outer Core again.

Of course, the limitation of both secret arts was that the Incarnation's cultivation could not exceed the main body's.

“The lotus root Incarnation is of the Wood attribute.

The False Core or True Core it refines must also be of this attribute.

The best method would be to kill a True Core Realm tree demon.

Its tree heart could be refined into a False Core Magic Treasure, and its True Core could be directly refined into an Outer Core.

It's just a pity...”

Gu Changsheng glanced behind him.

The roots of the five qi gathering tree were gnarled and intertwined, embedded throughout the entire mountain.

However, compared to the one on Lake Heart Island back then.

The difference was like heaven and earth.

Besides lacking sufficient Five Elements Qi nourishment, the most crucial factor was its age.

A mere decade or so, for such a spiritual plant, wasn't even considered its sapling stage.

“It seems I can only search outside for a True Core Realm tree demon...”

Gu Changsheng's palm sucked, and the Divining Turtle, which was far away eating demon meat, was pulled before him, landing on its back.

Even so, the thumb-sized turtle head still stubbornly bit onto the skewer of meat in its paw.

“Woo woo—”

The Divining Turtle protested.

“These past few days, you've eaten so much of my demon meat.

It's time for you to do your job...”

Gu Changsheng nudged it with his foot, and the Divining Turtle landed upright.

Then, he drew a line on his index finger with his nail, forcing out a drop of crimson blood, which fell onto the turtle shell.

Visibly, the blood gradually seeped into it, transforming into an eerie Bagua pattern.

“Divining the Heavenly Secrets... Manifest the Luoshu... Open!”

The secret art Gu Changsheng performed was called Divination Art.

It was precisely obtained from the Divining Turtle.

This art was different from fortune-telling; it could not only predict good or bad fortune but also possessed the effect of deducing Heavenly Secrets.

Of course, it had two drawbacks.

One was the need for the Divining Turtle's shell as the medium for deduction.

The second was that the user needed to consume Lifespan.

The more Lifespan consumed, the better the deduction effect.

For this deduction, Gu Changsheng invested a full eight hundred years of Lifespan.

For an ordinary Cave Profound Old Monster, they would likely die of old age instantly.

But he merely glanced silently at his panel.

‘Divination Art is too much of a scam... For non-Divining Turtle clan members, it actually consumes Lifespan.

Wait... I still have over ten thousand years of Lifespan.

Oh, then it's fine...’

At the same time, a shimmering blue light emerged from the Bagua pattern on the turtle shell, wriggling and transforming, taking the form of a dilapidated temple.

The temple was in ruins, the Buddha statues inside had hideous faces, and a chilling ghostly Qi permeated the air.

In the distance, a giant demon tree grew, its gnarled roots enveloping the entire temple.

And above the temple's doorway, hung a worn-out plaque.

It read — Lanruo Temple.