Free Web NovelChapter 657: Chapter 77: Possession
After his breathing returned to normal, with no discomfort in his body and his mind clear and tranquil, Chen Tang’s thoughts gradually grew nimble again.
If he couldn’t break through to the Innate Realm in a short time, perhaps there was another way for him to face a Grandmaster!
That was to find a way to remove the Vajra Relic from his Dantian and cultivate an Inner Core.
Back in Nanxia, the Sword Sect had once given him this guidance.
If he wanted to challenge a Grandmaster across realms, he either had to achieve a breakthrough in his Divine Soul,
or elevate his strength to another level.
The method was to extract the Vajra Relic from his Dantian and cultivate two Martial Arts Dharma Gates at the same time.
Body Refining and Qi Refining in dual cultivation—perhaps then he could, in terms of strength, contend with a Grandmaster across realms.
But relying on his own power alone, Chen Tang simply could not remove the Vajra Relic.
Just now, a scene had suddenly flashed across his mind.
Back in Nanxia, he’d been hunted by a Second Grade Celestial Concealment expert, fled all the way to the riverbed, and used the Vajra Relic in his Dantian to shock his pursuer into injury, then seized the chance to counterkill him.
But in truth, the situation had been somewhat different from what he’d imagined.
At that instant, the Vajra Relic hadn’t reacted much at all.
When that Celestial Concealment expert’s Innate True Qi had just entered his Dantian, the mysterious mighty power from the two Divine Artifacts of the Celestial Cauldron Continent, stimulated by an external force, circled once around the Vajra Relic inside his Dantian and suddenly burst forth with a bizarre suction force, drawing in all of that Celestial Concealment expert’s Innate True Qi!
It was precisely this change that caused that Celestial Concealment expert to die at the bottom of the river.
At the time, Chen Tang had been fleeing for his life and hadn’t thought much of it.
Now, as this scene resurfaced, a flash of inspiration streaked through his mind.
Perhaps, there was no need to remove the Vajra Relic.
There was another method—to devour and dissolve the Vajra Relic, transforming it into his own!
Countless thoughts flashed through Chen Tang’s mind, and he faintly grasped a solution.
Only, there were so many tangled threads that he still couldn’t sort them out for the moment.
Emperor Wu had once said that the falling and blooming of flowers, the rise and fall of the tides, the course of sun and moon, the changing of the four seasons—all contain the supreme principles of heaven and earth. Taking people as your teacher, how could it compare to taking heaven and earth as your teacher?
Emperor Wu had encouraged Chen Tang to create his own Cultivation Technique in the future and walk his own path.
In truth, Chen Tang had already created the Kun Breathing Technique.
But it seemed this Cultivation Technique had not yet reached its end; it could still be supplemented and perfected.
All the Exotic Beasts under heaven have their own distinct breathing methods.
Whale gulping, tiger swallowing, dragon inhaling, eagle’s cry...
Using the Visualization Method, Chen Tang once again entered that wondrous Mental Realm.
It was as if he had already left Tianshan Peak, sitting cross-legged on the edge of a cliff, gazing at the vast, surging sea before him.
He saw flowers, grass, and trees, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, the transformation of Kunpeng, the course of sun and moon, the brilliance of the stars...
Among these, the images of the Kunpeng’s transformation seemed to unfold vividly before his eyes.
Again and again...
The suction that had appeared in his Dantian earlier actually came from the interaction between the powers of the two Divine Artifacts.
The power in these two Divine Artifacts—one came from the Moonlit Sword, cold as yin and icy,
and one came from the Celestial Mirror, blazing hot.
Yet Chen Tang had been utterly unable to control these two powers.
But the Dapeng Breathing Technique he had just comprehended had refined within him a strand of Inner Qi, pure yang and utterly firm, somewhat similar to the power within the Celestial Mirror.
Under his control, it slowly seeped into his Dantian.
Sure enough, that strand of Inner Qi merged into that mighty power belonging to the Celestial Mirror.
That mighty power then grew a fraction stronger.
With a thought, Chen Tang switched back to the Kun Breathing Technique and soon condensed a strand of pure yin, supremely gentle Inner Qi, which merged into his Dantian and fused with the power of the Moonlit Sword.
Originally, he had no connection at all with these two mighty Divine Powers in his Dantian.
But in this moment, he could already sense the state of the two Divine Powers.
He still couldn’t control them, however.
Chen Tang continued to use the breathing methods, constantly accumulating Inner Qi.
First the Dapeng Breathing Technique, then the Giant Kun Breathing Technique, alternating back and forth...
Yet the constant switching between the two breathing techniques made him extremely uncomfortable, and his body found it hard to adapt.
One breathing technique refined Inner Qi that was pure yang and utterly firm.
The other breathing technique refined Inner Qi that was pure yin and supremely gentle.
They seemed diametrically opposed.
But in Chen Tang’s mind, the images of the Kunpeng’s transformation in the Sea of Wisdom Enlightenment Map surfaced again and again.
The Giant Kun and the Roc were two kinds of Exotic Beasts, yet as could be known from the immortal classic Xiaoyao Wanderings of his previous life, Kunpeng could freely shift its form.
"In the Northern Netherworld there is a fish, its name is Kun. The Kun is so great, no one knows how many thousand li it measures; it transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The Peng’s back is so vast, no one knows how many thousand li it spans; when it rages into flight, its wings are like clouds hanging from the heavens."
Between Kun and Peng, there was no inherent mutual incompatibility like water and fire.
If so, why couldn’t the two breathing techniques be fused into one?
Chen Tang strove to find the point of harmony between the two breathing methods.
Whale gulping, eagle’s cry...
His eyes lit up in sudden realization!
The core of the Giant Kun Breathing Technique lay in inhalation.
Whereas the core of the Dapeng Breathing Technique lay in exhalation.
So-called exhalation and inhalation is merely expelling the old and drawing in the new.
One inhalation to clear the passes, one exhalation to flood the crown.
One bending and one stretching, one turbid and one pure.
Thunder roars, earth quakes, and the clear and turbid are divided.
One rising and one falling, one yang and one yin.
Up and down, with and against, yin and yang give birth to each other.
This was the very reason the two Kunpeng breathing methods condensed Inner Qi of utmost yin and utmost yang!
Thus Chen Tang used the Kun Breathing Technique to inhale, and the Peng Breathing Technique to exhale.
With each inhale and exhale, two strands of Inner Qi—one utmost yin and one utmost yang—were condensed within his body and flowed into his Dantian.
As the Inner Qi Chen Tang refined grew more and more abundant and merged with those two clusters of Divine Power, he gradually became able to mobilize them.
The two powers of yin and yang spun within his Dantian, like a black and white pair of fish chasing each other.
Boom!
Chen Tang’s Dantian trembled, as if emitting a thunderous crash!
He once again felt that powerful, terrifying suction force.
But this time, as the Yin and Yang Qi chased each other, what they absorbed was not external power, but the Vajra Relic itself!
The two kinds of power within the Divine Artifact had originally been suppressed in the Dantian by the Vajra Relic, unable to move.
But after Chen Tang used the Kunpeng Breathing Technique to cultivate Yin and Yang Qi, he gained control over the two types of Divine Power and claimed them as his own.
All things under heaven contain within them the Dao of Yin and Yang.
All things bear Yin and embrace Yang, and through the clash of Qi, harmony is born.
Heaven and earth are Yin and Yang.
The sun and moon are Yin and Yang.
Day and night are Yin and Yang.
Cold and heat are also Yin and Yang.
Movement and stillness are Yin and Yang, male and female are Yin and Yang, life and death are also Yin and Yang!
Even the Twelve Main Meridians that Chen Tang cultivated spoke of Yin Meridians and Yang Meridians.
When Yin and Yang Qi intermingle and respond to each other, they give birth to all things; things grow and flourish, and transformations are endless.
One Yin and one Yang is called the Dao.
The Yin and Yang Qi chased each other like Yin Yang Fish, in perfect accord with the supreme principles of the Great Dao.
Though the Vajra Relic was a thing of the Outer Realm, containing the mighty power of the Buddhist Sect, it still could not withstand the obliteration of the Great Dao of Yin and Yang!
This clash of power on the level of the Great Dao was naturally far beyond what Chen Tang’s current Realm could comprehend.
Yet as the Yin and Yang Qi revolved around the Vajra Relic, they continuously stripped away and absorbed the power within it, thereby strengthening themselves!
As time went by, the Vajra Relic’s size was constantly shrinking.
Its radiance also gradually dimmed.
When the Vajra Relic completely vanished, that would be the moment the Inner Core was condensed!
A surge of joy rose in Chen Tang’s heart.
With the hidden threat in his Dantian removed and the Inner Core condensed, it would mean he now had the capital to contend with a Grandmaster!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Just then, as if unable to withstand the pursuit and gnawing of the Yin Yang Fish, the Vajra Relic began to show crack after crack, rapidly spreading across its entire surface.
Before long, the Vajra Relic suddenly shattered.
The next instant, a sudden change erupted!
An extremely powerful strand of will broke free from the Vajra Relic, and by borrowing the instant of its explosion, it pierced through the obstruction of the Yin and Yang Qi and rushed straight upward.
At the same time, from Chen Tang’s chest came another fluctuation of will.
The two strands of will, almost neck and neck, shot into Chen Tang’s Mud Ball Palace at nearly the same time.
"Hm?"
Chen Tang’s expression changed.
This scene was completely beyond his understanding.
But soon, he recalled a term he’d heard in his previous life—seizing the body!
In that instant, many things became clear to Chen Tang.
The Sanskrit chants that occasionally emanated from the Vajra Relic before had come from this strand of will!
Likewise, within that drop of purple Demon Blood from the Outer Realm, there was also a strand of will.
When the Demon Blood first entered his body, the Vajra Relic had become unusually quiet, perhaps because it had sensed the existence of the strand of will within the Demon Blood.
Perhaps the strand of will within the Vajra Relic would have continued to hide indefinitely.
Until one day, it would make a move against him.
But today, after Chen Tang comprehended the Kunpeng Breathing Technique and condensed Yin and Yang Qi, he ground the Vajra Relic away completely.
Seeing that it, too, was about to be devoured by Yin and Yang Qi, it struck in advance!
In the blink of an eye, one strand of will transformed into a middle-aged monk, golden light bursting from his entire body, Dharma Aspect solemn, as he lunged toward Chen Tang.
The other strand of will instantly transformed into a man shrouded in purple Qi and blood, who likewise charged at Chen Tang.
Before these two strands of will, Chen Tang’s Divine Soul appeared incomparably weak.
In an instant, the two strands of will pounced onto Chen Tang.
Chen Tang let out a miserable scream as a splitting pain tore through his head.
The will of the Buddhist Sect and the will of the Demon Sect both wanted to seize his body and devour his Divine Soul!
Under the tearing and devouring of the two strands of will, Chen Tang’s Divine Soul simply could not resist.
He felt his consciousness gradually sinking into an endless abyss of darkness!
Once he was swallowed by that darkness, he would never wake up again.
This was truly a moment where his life hung by a thread.
The threat was even greater than what the Bashish Red Peak had brought him!
Unwillingness burned in Chen Tang’s heart; within his Mud Ball Palace, his Divine Soul was still roaring and struggling, desperately resisting.
Whether Demon Sect or Buddhist Sect, none of them were trustworthy after all!
The only thing he could rely on was the saber in his chest!
"You want to seize my body? Then be destroyed, all of you!"
Raging flames of fury roared in Chen Tang’s chest; his eyes bulged wide as the mass of saber light in his chest suddenly burst forth, shot into the Mud Ball Palace, and cleaved down upon the three intertwined Divine Souls!
Since its condensation, this was the first time the Eternal Saber Intent had been unleashed.
Yet it was a saber slash aimed at himself.
Under normal circumstances, with Chen Tang’s Power of the Divine Soul, he absolutely could not have driven the Eternal Saber Intent.
But at this moment, the three strands of will were entangled together, and the Divine Soul had become incomparably powerful.
And in the end, this was Chen Tang’s Mud Ball Palace, with him as the master.
With the resolve to die, Chen Tang swung the saber against himself.
"Ah! Ah!"
Within the Mud Ball Palace, two miserable screams rang out.
The next instant, the two strands of will from the Buddhist Sect and Demon Sect completely dissipated.
Only two remnant souls were left, which merged with Chen Tang’s Divine Soul.
Fortunately, the Eternal Saber Intent he had condensed did not inflict a fatal wound upon him.
Chen Tang’s Divine Soul still remained.
Moreover, after fusing the two remnant souls, it was far stronger than before!
But he had still taken the Eternal slash; his Divine Soul was damaged.
