Chapter 28: Silent Heaven

  One day, two days, three days, perhaps a bit resistant to this sudden identity, Ji Tian did not want to wake up for a long time.

  "I'm just the faint divine consciousness, slowly giving rise to a spiritual intelligence, I am the soul of this 'Heaven Devouring Halberd'. My scattered divine consciousness along with that person's right arm bone remnants were sealed away, must I stay in this dark and endless place forever?"

  A sound as if from ancient times echoed in the depths of his heart, slow and low.

  "You've woken up, after tens of thousands of years, the world must have changed a lot."

  "Who are you and why have you appeared in my divine consciousness."

  "You and I can be said to be one, it can be said that we are now just a wisp of residual soul. I am the wisp of residual soul left in this bone arm when I was sealed. You are also the wisp of residual soul left in the weapon by that person, and later gained consciousness."

  "No, I am not that person, I am myself, I am the life born of this spear. Why should I continue that person's pain and helplessness? I want to be myself, even if it's just a vessel spirit."

  "What's the point of this, what can we change?" A black skeletal arm appeared before Ji Tian's eyes, emitting a power that seemed capable of destroying the world, causing his newly condensed soul to become slightly unstable.

  The divine sense of the bone arm transmitted a sigh: "Even if we can break this seal, it may only be the first layer. This seal is indeed weak. I always feel that we won't just be sealed in a simple forbidden area and formation, I can still sense an existence that makes me feel terrified."

  "It's better to have a colorful life than a dull one. As long as I try my best, even if the outcome is death, I will have no regrets."

  "Alright, maybe I've been thinking too much and worrying too much. That Tao is indeed too powerful, even my intact body... has made me disheartened and living a muddled life until now. Since you have such grand ambitions, why should I begrudge this bit of soul power? I'll help you; at worst, my soul will scatter. First, let me transmit to you the 'Mysterious Ghost Yin-Yang Technique', to help you solidify your spiritual awareness and first cultivate a Linggui body."

  Ji Tian followed the Xuan Gui Yin Yang Jue, repeatedly running through it, continuously absorbing the energy and spiritual power within the formation, continuously solidifying his physical body. This was a body condensed from spiritual power, between illusion and reality, able to gather or disperse.

  The Xuan Gui Yin Yang Jue is actually a cultivation method for the ghosts born from heaven and earth, later used by some powerful practitioners to cultivate ghosts using this altered method, then forcibly infusing them into magical artifacts to create artifacts with instrument spirits.

  The first step is to attain a spiritual body, refine one's essence and transform it into energy, absorb all the energies that can be absorbed from the world, including heavenly elements, the power of the five elements, as well as negative energies, yin energy, and resentful energy, which is called "drawing in energy". Only after drawing in energy and condensing it into one's body can one's soul and spirit be protected, preventing them from scattering.

  Then you can condense the yuan dan, refine and protect the soul's own energy, make it substantialize, form a core that can continuously provide energy, called yuan yuan. Until your yuan dan grows up and forms a yuan ying, then enter the second step of refining qi and spiritualizing. But at this stage of yuan yuan, there is already a means and ability to attack.

  Ji Tian had just taken this step, and it was the soul power that had passed through the black bones. He stood up, bowed to the Taoist who had condensed his arm, and said, "Thank you!" Then he turned into a ball of light mist and merged into the Xī Tiān Jǐ.

  That figure transformed into its true form, a broken black arm with five fingers open, grasping the Heaven-Devouring Halberd. He raised it and slashed at one point in all directions, this slash was not just one, but in an instant, he had slashed nine times!

  Nine rays of light merged into one, forming a blood-red ray that was hard to imagine. It landed directly on the weak point that had been formed over thousands of years, instantly creating a dazzling curtain of light in front of it, dispersing the incoming force, but a crack appeared at the connection point.

  Even if cracks appeared, they were cracked but not broken. At this moment, the Taoist let out a loud shout, mobilizing all his soul power, and strange syllables echoed from his mouth, as if communicating with the power of the Heaven-Devouring Halberd. Suddenly, one of the dragons in the halberd raised its head, making a gesture to fly. With the swinging of the long halberd, nine powerful forces burst out of the Heaven-Devouring Halberd, like nine red giant dragons. Under the strong momentum of the red light, the light screen hesitated for a moment, and then tore apart from the crack, cutting off the crack and directly entering it. With a loud crash, it landed on the light screen. Immediately, large ripples appeared, spreading along the light screen, and everything inside became distorted. The nine giant dragons madly swam around in all directions, almost instantly. The originally connected ring-shaped cracks were actually pried open with a gap.

  A deafening sound that shook the earth and caused tiny cracks in the surrounding walls to collapse, suddenly echoed through this narrow space.

  The desolate sky gazed blankly at the world around, where the outside was a sea of red, endless killing intent, and churning blood. This only added to the loneliness and chill in his heart. In order to break through this seal, the black arm once again sank into deep slumber. The world was left with only his solitary figure. He was determined to defy the heavens, unwilling to be sealed away, but what could he do, how could he change?

  How powerful was Tao that day, and how could I resist it myself?

  Ji Tian knew that cultivating a ghost fairy was the most perilous path, completely defying heaven. Even more so than the most evil of demons. The Heavenly Way is balanced, often with calamities piling up one after another, and with just a slight carelessness, it would be a disaster from which there would be no return in ten thousand kalpas.

  Gazing blankly at the blood-red sky, muttering to himself, a wave of sorrow surged from the bottom of his heart. Should he beg heaven for a way out, or plead with the heavens for mercy? He never thought that after escaping one cage, he would enter an even larger prison.

  The heavens actually used a sea of blood to suppress themselves, they tried to float up, but there was always a force that pulled them down, involuntarily falling to the bottom of this bloody sea.

  Was it supposed to be sealed and quiet, or was it refined by someone with a predestined relationship, continuing the mission of the weapon? Its original body remained in that seal, waiting for someone with a predestined relationship? Fate really made itself deviate from its original trajectory, walking another path. But how did it feel like something was still missing?

  This arm, which had lost its vitality and shrunk to the size of a pendant, was now a blackened stump. Ji Tian wandered aimlessly, questioning his own heart, perhaps due to the loss of memories, he became increasingly less confused and perplexed.

  The blood light shines, is endless quiet and calm. At the bottom of this bloody sea, there will be a piece of strange space, is it a comfort to me, is it a gift from heaven?

  The quiet sky turns into a mass of energy that moves with the wind, and everything around seems to have nothing to do with oneself.

  These are the spirits of death between heaven and earth, all weak and small ghosts, they were attracted by the bloody sea and drifted here, struggling to survive in this space.

  These ghosts are not so quiet, where there is life, there will be survival of the fittest, everywhere is murder and arson, robbery. There are also evil fox spirits and malevolent ghosts harming people.

  What does all this have to do with oneself, and what can one change? It's just a ghostly thing. Also abandoned by the heavenly way, unable to enter the six paths of reincarnation, but now who knows if there is such a thing as the six paths of reincarnation.

  "Hah... hah, a mindless specter. Good luck, devouring him will surely increase my power again, and I can expand my territory even further, haha..." A dark shadow suddenly pounced towards the dazed Ji Tian.

  At this time, a black bone arm floated out of Ji Tian's arms and rushed towards the dark fog, devouring it frantically. The dark fog suddenly struggled, making strange calls, trying to escape. The black bone arm was like a whale sucking water, sweeping away the dark fog in an instant. In mid-air, a voice suddenly appeared: "Although the soul power is somewhat mixed, it's much better than nothing. This time, using strong soul power will make me sleep for a while again."

  Ji Tian was still drifting forward in a daze, and even the black bone arm flying out and back didn't register with him. The black bone arm also knew that sometimes one's own heart knots needed to be opened by oneself, or else it might have the opposite effect. At this point, Ji Tian was more trapped in his own escape than before. If he could understand himself, he would then have the mentality of a strong person and have value; otherwise, there was no need to awaken him.

  The ghosts that were still wandering around were frightened, what was this thing, how could it be so terrifying, they fled, the instinctively thought of devouring the quiet sky ghosts, one by one escaped in all directions.

  Quietly he suffered a calamity for no reason, and vaguely escaped another calamity. He continued to drift aimlessly, unaware of day or night.

  Fate will always be on a normal track, even if it deviates, there is a corrective force.

  In the daze of the quiet sky, I saw again the familiar red light that had been with me for thousands of years, which had accompanied my carefree years, but its oppressive power over me remained unchanged. My divine consciousness began to impact and condense involuntarily once more.

  This is a gloomy space, slightly different from the dark space it was in before, but the suffocating and oppressive atmosphere that makes one's heart anxious remains the same.

  Jì Tiān muttered in his heart: I want to go out...

  Ji Tian's divine consciousness repeatedly impacted the space he had constructed, and the roar in his heart grew stronger. What was I afraid of? Why did I want to stay here? The oppression here seemed to have a sense of security.

  Why is my heart not at peace, what am I looking for after all.

  Freedom, I have obtained freedom, why am I imprisoning myself again?

  What am I confused about anyway.

  Failure, I didn't even try, how could I fail?

  I want to control my own destiny, even if it means going against the heavens and defying the natural order. Cultivators are all about going against the heavens, so why bother with gains and losses? Even if one's body is damaged in the process of going against the heavens, what is there to fear? Haha.

  If the heart has no place to rest, it will be wandering everywhere. My heart is to control my own destiny, cultivate myself, and ignore heaven and earth.