“Give to receive. First, the power of the Rock Dragon blood!”
A group of golden yellow clouds spinning into a vortex appeared on his palm. It rose slowly into the air, floating beside him and stopping there.
“Second, the willpower of dark energy.”
A second vortex, jade green, slightly smaller than the golden one earlier, appeared in his palm. This was the condensation of his entire dark energy. Likewise, the group of energy floated in the air, stationary, beside Lin Sheng
“Third, the Chaotic Soul Power, absorbing the messes of energy.”
The Chaotic Soul Power, unlocking the power of the Chaotic Blood, the high-end ingredient used in physical training, and the hidden tiny energy. Lin Sheng forced these various energies to condense, putting them together, and turning them into a colorful vortex in the air.
“Fourth, the holy power!”
Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes as a group of terrifying white light rose behind him, turning into a sun-like huge light ball. At five or six meters in across, the difference was plain to see as compared to other energies.
Now Lin Sheng started to focus his attention on the only remaining power in his body: the soul power. He had only forced the energies out of his body using his soul power. As soon as he relaxed his soul power, those powers would return to his body. That was because those powers, in reality, were still inside him. Even if he expelled them, with his body and soul remaining unchanged, those expelled powers would be restored. Just like the power of the dragon blood which originated from his body and blood, even if he expelled all of his dragon power, it would regrow in no time.
“How to change, how to refine…” Lin Sheng was deep in thought, gazing at the four groups of powers floating beside him.
Time ticked by. Some monsters had appeared around the perimeter. But as soon as they came close to within a hundred meters, the oppressive force field would drive them away.
Lin Sheng waited quietly. At last, he reached to catch one of the vortexes.
Burn! He willed in his mind, and the power of the Rock Dragon that represented the dragon blood power went up in furious golden flame. It meant that the Rock Dragon blood inside his body was also changing, not just the burning of the power outside. He felt the violent exhaustion of his Rock Dragon blood in him. The exhaustion turned into a massive amount of energy, forcing every single impurity out of his body. It was as if burning banknotes to get warmth; it was pure wastage. But this was what Lin Sheng needed now.
“Again!”
He reached to catch a second group of power: the dark energy. It burned in a jade green flame. This second energy rushed into his body, speeding up the purification of his body. It was followed by the third energy, the Chaotic Soul Power, and fourth energy, the holy power. Four distinct types of flames in distinct colors started to circle Lin Sheng. The released energy was no less intense than when he burned all this energy at once. It was no different from burning away the result of his cultivation. But Lin Sheng was unruffled.
So long as his foundation was there, the Tidal Gate could let in an endless amount of Chaotic Soul Power in an instant. As long as he willed, he could use the infinite conversion ability to convert the Chaotic Soul Power into holy power. By doing this, he could restore his cultivation of the holy power in a short time.
While the Chaotic Soul Power and holy power were restorable, the burning of the Rock Dragon blood and dark energy meant he would lose them for good. He was turning them into fertilizer and fuel to purify his body and mind.
Lin Sheng still sat outside the Divine Pillar with different colors of air rose around him. The air above his head was distorted and rising, driving away those red clouds and turning the air above into a round space of clear sky.
Lin Sheng had lost count of how long it had been. Probably it was ten days. Maybe twenty, or even a month. The pale red pattern on his body twisted slightly and turned black all of a sudden. The four groups of fire floating around him finally burned out.
The abilities that once he had were disappearing as those energies vanished. But this did not mean Lin Sheng had weakened. He had heard it—the most essential voice of his soul power hidden deep inside his soul. The voice buried deep behind the sea of soul fragments and memories of the foreign souls called out to him.
“Can hear it!”
Lin Sheng closed his eyes, focusing his mind on listening to the faint voice. His mind and soul started to sink as if he was plunging into a bottomless abyss, coming to the deeper part of his soul.
If his initial understanding of the soul was only limited to the five categories of angels, then with the help of the burning of his powers, he had gotten rid of the messiness in his power, burning and releasing the impurities in his soul. So he could finally hear the voice from the deepest part of his soul.
At that moment, Lin Sheng saw himself falling into a body of lake water floating with black petals. He plunged into it, but there was no water splashing. It was all quiet as if he did not fall into it, but it was the lake that embraced him.
“Can you hear?”
A voice came from the bottom of the lake again. Lin Sheng turned to face down.
At the pitch-dark bottom part of the lake, there were many black ice crystals surrounding and covering a white gold body.
“Who are you?” Lin Sheng asked as he dived. As he got closer, he saw a figure was sitting at the bottom of the lake with his leg crossed.
“That’s not a human!”
He suddenly recognized the figure. It was a set of strong, thick armor; white-and-gold, exquisite and luxurious, exuding an air of holiness. It came complete with a helmet, visor, shoulder guards, core plate, leg and knee guards. Armor plate covered even the boot parts. There was also a pair of pure-white light at the eye positions.
Lin Sheng took a closer look. From the armor, he saw the pattern of the Rock Dragon, the lines of the dark energy crystal warrior, and also the patterns of the virtualizing and burning of the holy blood. Then it was the holy and exquisite armor, like the Armor of Dawn. But compared to the Armor of Dawn, the exquisiteness and complexity of this armor was far more advanced. The figure sat with his leg crossed like a king, also looking like a hideous yet majestic monster that suppressed everything.
“Who are you?” Lin Sheng stared at the figure, whom he found so familiar yet so strange.
“Me?” The armor looked up at him. They stared at each other through the water, the armor at the bottom, him above it.
“I am the real you,” the armor said.
Lin Sheng was startled, as if he had suddenly understood many things. He held out his hand. So too the armor. Their hands touched each other’s.
