“I’m from the Moon Watching Mountain,” said Su Ping.
“The Moon Watching Mountain? Humph. Unbelievable; how could they raise such a disrespectful disciple? Looks like I have to teach them some more when I get the chance,” said the old man with a snort, then observed Su Ping carefully. “Brat, how exactly did you come here? Tell me the truth, or I will dispel the protective shield immediately.”
“I’ve already answered you; I flew here. How else could I have come here?”
“That’s bulls*it!” roared the old man, “You’re too weak to have flown all the up!”
“Believe it or not, it’s the truth.”
Su Ping wasn’t scared of the old man, at all; he would have been scared if he were in the outside world, but he would be completely fine since he was in a cultivation site.
“You’ll die immediately without my protection. How could you fly in such conditions?” asked the old man furiously.
“It’s not like I can’t resurrect after I die,” replied Su Ping matter-of-factly.
“??”
The old man was shocked by the answer.
It wasn’t until two seconds passed that he finally digested what Su Ping said, while still in shock.
“What did you say? You can resurrect after you die? Also, you spoke as if it were nothing surprising…” The old man was definitely shocked; such an insignificant brat had challenged his understanding of the world.
Su Ping asked, “What are you doing here? Cultivating? Meditating?”
The old man snapped out of it and solemnly gazed at Su Ping. “Can you really resurrect?”
“Old man, let’s do this in turns; I’ve answered your question, but you haven’t answered mine yet,” said Su Ping angrily.
The old man’s lips twitched; he was even more convinced that the Moon Watching Mountain needed some teaching.
To think that his years training in seclusion would spawn such a disrespectful disciple. It would be disastrous if other mountains were to do the same.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you what I’m doing; not everybody is qualified to learn.” The old man scoffed and narrowed his eyes at Su Ping.
The latter looked back, realizing he was actually considering whether or not to remove his power. The situation was slightly surprising. If it were anyone else, they probably would have removed their power to test whether or not the one questioned was telling the truth. However, the old man is still considering it; it was obvious that he was worried about Su Ping finding an untimely death.
This old man…
Su Ping’s eyes glittered. Shedding his cheeky behavior, he said, “Senior, I’m hoping to go to the places above the nine skies. Can you go there? Or rather, can you take me there?”
The old man frowned and asked, “Why do you want to go there?”
“I’d like to explore the deity rivers, then find and understand the origin of deity aura,” said Su Ping frankly.
The old man felt dazed, unable to avoid looking at Su Ping with a mix of shock and suspicion. He had speculated that Su Ping was an expert from another sect pretending to be a disciple of the Heaven Asking Church, plus hiding his real strength. There was no other way for such a weak brat to enter such a place.
However, the guy wouldn’t have needed to explore the origin of deity aura if he were capable of hiding his real strength from him. Rather, he could have left for the deity rivers anyway, not needing to risk himself by taking off from the sky right above the Heaven Asking Church’s headquarters.
“Of course I can go there, but why would I help you?” asked the old man.
Su Ping said, “Like you said, I’m a disciple of the Heaven Asking Church. You’re the leader of this sect, so you should give me a hand. Besides, I will certainly return your favor in the future if you help me!”
“Well, well..!”
The old man sneered. “Who do you think I am? How exactly are you going to return my favor, considering how weak you are?”
There was first a moment of silence, before Su Ping said, “Maybe you’ll find the answer in the future.”
The old man raised his eyebrows and glanced at Su Ping. “I can help you, but I must tell you that you’ll encounter grave dangers above the nine skies, even with my help. You could be killed at any moment. Are you ready?”
Su Ping nodded. “All I need is your help, senior; I’ll take care of the rest.”
“All right, let’s give it a try.” The old man was not one to hesitate; he waved a hand, then Su Ping flew towards him while covered in golden light to enter the dark eighth sky.
The golden light drove away the darkness, revealing the void.
“Follow me.”
The old man turned around and dashed forward. Su Ping—still shrouded in golden light—was being drawn to him by a power from some sort.
There was nothing but a boundless darkness; the old man and Su Ping would simply rush into the darkness, one in the lead and the trailing behind.
Su Ping then recalled what Mu Xuefeng had said. Going to the rivers was dangerous, even for a Deity Emperor to go to the rivers. The old man was clearly a Deity Emperor, if not even stronger.
A long while later—
The darkness before him was suddenly gone. Su Ping saw infinite colors in the area ahead of the old man; each color seems to be a manifestation of some sort of power.
“This is the ninth sky.” There was solemnity in the old man’s voice as he stepped into the beguiling space and time. “The concepts of time and space don’t exist in the ninth sky. Laws and power that you know don’t exist, either. Only one kind of power can be found here…”
“What kind of power?”
“The power that belongs to ‘Heavens’!”
After taking a deep breath, the old man continued, “You can’t leave this place without enough power, even if you fly for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.”
The old man was at the moment covered in flowing silver light. The golden light wreathing Su Ping also turned silver, carrying exactly the same aura as the old man’s.
The elder pushed with his hands and his body turned silver, glimmering and emanating a magnificent aura; his body seemed to have been infinitely expanded all of a sudden.
Su Ping felt that he had suddenly become an ant underneath the old man’s feet. To be more precise, he was even more insignificant than an ant at the moment.
“Well…”
Su Ping’s eyes widened as he watched. The power harnessed by the old man was beyond his understanding; he was absolutely shocked.
The next moment—Su Ping saw the old man make a grab for him with an enormous hand. He then felt he had been enshrouded by the sky itself.
All the glamorous colors around him turned silver. Su Ping was gradually rendered unable to see anything else, except for the silver space. A long time passed, then the silver space disappeared. Su Ping felt he had just been rescued from drowning all of a sudden; his every pore was inhaling at a fast pace.
The thing they were absorbing was the purest deity aura!
Su Ping could feel as more deity aura was accumulated in his body with each breath taken.
The silver color was gone. Su Ping saw nine long rivers above him, much akin to giant dragons; the sight was quite awe-inspiring. All of them were exclusively made of deity aura.
He could even see the surging deity aura in the long rivers with the naked eye. The rivers were flowing and circulating; the deity aura from those rivers sank into the mortal world down below.
“Is that the origin of deity aura?”
Su Ping turned around and looked at the nearby old man, who was currently catching his breath, as if exhausted. Still, the silver light around him was just as bright.
“Brat, those are the deity rivers you wanted to see. However, you must enter the rivers so you can really feel the origin of deity aura, and they are the most perilous places. Even I wouldn’t dare enter them easily,” said the old man to Su Ping.
The latter glanced at him. “Then, why did you bring me here?”
“Because I want to find out what you’re going to do,” said the old man.
“…”
Su Ping was rather lost for words. He currently felt that the silver energy circumventing him was fading away, while a freezing cold was surging towards him. Meanwhile, a tremendous amount of deity aura was also floating toward him; his body was so full he was almost about to explode.
Damn it. Too much deity aura could be lethal?
Su Ping slightly changed his expression; the deity aura present was too dense. Even though he was trying to stop absorbing, his body was still going at it instinctively. Or rather, the deity aura seeping through!
It was looking for a host, as if it were a parasite!
The deity aura here is thousands of times denser than in any cultivation holy land I’ve been to; definitely one of the most dangerous places… Su Ping’s face was pale due to the invasive deity aura, which was too overwhelming for him to properly absorb; his body was about to burst.
His endurance to take in energy was greater thanks to the Solar Bulwark. Once the external deity aura filled up his body, his cells were honed and tested again.
Five seconds. Ten seconds.
Su Ping was unable to hold for much longer—his body exploded.
The old man frowned at the sight. “Are you truly dead?”
He didn’t do anything, since he wanted to see how Su Ping would cope with the danger. Still, he didn’t expect such an outcome.
Surprisingly, Su Ping reappeared out of nowhere.
The old man was stunned, eyes wide as saucers.
Resurrection?
I didn’t feel any ripples in space and time. Such a resurrection is too weird!
This is impossible! Where is this brat from? The old man was greatly shocked, as Su Ping’s resurrection method went beyond his understanding.
Su Ping no longer had time to dawdle; he quickly charged at one of the deity rivers.
Deity aura became more abundant as he drew closer, his body exploding soon after. Even so, he chose to resurrect and move onward.
Again and again, he exploded and resurrected, puzzling the old man to no end.
“This deity aura…”
Su Ping’s body was continuously filled up by deity aura; all his cells were stretched to their limits. His body was quickly changed and adapted with every attempt.
Without him realizing it, his body had gradually been transformed into that of a real deity!
He had been transformed by deity aura!
Deities were a species born with deity bones. The capability of cultivating spiritual energy came inborn.
This trait was enabled thanks to their deity bones, which were the essence of deity aura.
Su Ping’s entire body had been transformed into the essence of deity aura; not just his bones, but his blood, veins and even hair had been turned into deity aura too.
Su Ping’s new body no longer needed the transmuting vortices inside his body to absorb and produce deity aura anymore. Other types of energy he absorbed would automatically transform into deity aura.
The old man watched as Su Ping resurrected and evolved time and again. He could not be more shocked when he saw the silver light on Su Ping’s body. This brat… has actually developed the ancient deities’ constitution…
The ancient deities were the first of their kind in creation.
Apart from deity bones, they had deity structures all over their bodies.
Su Ping’s new body was comparable to those of the very best among all ancient deities. His every cell was constructed with deity aura!
Such conditions would bring him infinite benefits, like drastically speeding up his cultivation, and easily exceeding the unparalleled geniuses among deities in ways they couldn’t possibly imagine.
Su Ping had been completely transformed into an ancient deity after two hundred rounds of resurrection. He currently felt that the lethally abundant deity aura couldn’t hurt him anymore. As a matter of fact, his endurance increased, managing to stay alive for a couple of minutes each time.
The reason for his dying was no longer related to the excessive deity aura, but the mysterious power coursing the deity rivers.
Su Ping was currently in one of the deity rivers. He was genuinely frightened as he looked at the currents.
Is this what the origin of deity aura looks like?
Why is it in the shape of rivers?
Su Ping was as insignificant as a drop of water in front of those streams. He stared at their splendid nature in a trance, and saw countless things in them.
He seemed to be hallucinating due to some sort of power.
Perhaps it wasn’t a hallucination, but an ability brought forth by deity aura.
“Structure…”
Su Ping was gradually lost in his observation, standing before the rivers in a daze.
He wasn’t woken up until his body was torn apart. He then chose to resurrect, devoting himself to his contemplation once again.
Once he was transformed into an ancient deity, he was then able to see the tiniest changes and the infinite possibilities brought forth by deity aura. It was possible to construct anything with that power.
He didn’t have to be a Star Lord. Anyone in the Fate State would have the ability to create lives, as long as they were familiar with deity aura!
It was incredible!
When it came to battle pet warriors, creating lives was a method that only Star Lords and Ascendants were capable of using. However, it wasn’t the same for ancient deities.
While Su Ping was lost in his reverie—one of the rivers surged and consumed him.
Hardly had he entered the river when Su Ping woke up and felt the excruciating pain coming from every part of his body, as if his body was being dismembered and absorbed by the river.
He unleashed the Solar Bulwark and his three small worlds, but he was melted in the river only two seconds later.
Su Ping quickly resurrected and resisted with all his strength once again.
I should fight deity aura with deity aura!
Su Ping tried to protect himself with the deity aura inside his body, but he could hardly resist the substantial permeation of deity aura from the river, which was more abundant and condensed. Su Ping felt that his body was being squeezed.
The deity aura inside his body and that found in the river were clearly of different qualities. Just like comparing cotton and iron.
Su Ping tried absorbing the deity aura flowing in the river. However, one tiny bit of said deity aura had almost torn apart the ocean inside his body.
Is this the most genuine deity aura? I don’t believe it! Su Ping became ruthless. His body exploded another time, then he resurrected and kept absorbing.