Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 146 The True Nature of Evil Spirits
He slowly recounted:
"Most of them...are only around the fifth rank."

"Even if one obtains a suitable body, one can only barely recover to about 70-80% of their original strength, which is around the third rank."

“Of course…” His tone shifted, taking on a hint of gloomy mockery:
“Thunderous Body, Primordial Body, like yours... are the ‘Ultimate Yang Shell’ they dream of. If they can parasitize within it, they might be able to return to the peak of the First Rank.”

Chu Ning was stunned.

His throat moved slightly, but he couldn't utter a word.

This was the first time he truly realized it.

In the eyes of these evil spirits, I am not a "person".

Rather, it is a perfect vessel, a body that is walking and has not yet resisted.

“I see,” he murmured. “So those gazes that seemed to be ‘watching me’ were actually selecting flesh and blood.”

After a moment of silence, he looked up and gazed into the distance.

"If we don't improve our strength, we won't even have the qualifications to step into the Azure-Eyed Snow Fox Ancestral Realm."

With this thought in mind, Chu Ning took a deep breath and resolutely spoke:
"The Primordial Divine Token...it's time to use it in advance."

Chu Ning turned around and flew across the snowfield, the ice and snow exploding beneath his feet.

Before long, he found a secluded ice cave, a hidden valley naturally formed after the ice field collapsed. The terrain was as if it had been carved by a knife and axe, hidden under a layer of snow tens of feet thick, making it extremely difficult to find.

He stepped inside, his footsteps light, closing all the cold stone cracks at the entrances and exits.

The surroundings were like a sealed, cold jade coffin, so cold that even one's thoughts seemed to freeze.

He took out the Spirit Bell.

This is a concealment artifact given to him by Li Jing'an. At this moment, he hangs it on the top of the cave. The bell emits a silent fluctuation, erasing all surrounding aura, spiritual pressure, and traces, as if entering nothingness.

Deep inside the ice cave.

Chu Ning slowly walked deeper into the narrow ice path. The surrounding temperature continued to drop, and even his spiritual energy began to stagnate.

The further you go, the quieter the world becomes, with only the echoes of your heartbeat and snowdrops falling on the ice wall.

He suddenly stopped.

Above the ice wall, an ancient, peeling rock surface appeared, with dozens of strange totems engraved on it. Each line was soaked in black and red, as if it were not carved but blood seeping from the rock, never drying for thousands of years.

A poem was inscribed before the totem:
Once, a king's sword shattered the heavens, and a golden-feathered fire ape slept within its bones. A palace maid's song severed the path of the gods, and a red child's weeping rain turned to blood. A thousand eyes peered into the truth of the calamity, and the sleeping deer remained asleep, its dream turning into years. The wind sacrifice did not return, turning into a howling evil spirit, and a green locust tree hung by its neck, crossing the River of the Underworld. The painted prison imprisoned souls, the ink cold and broken, and the Corpse King's broken flute echoed in the night. The Feathered Maiden wept, stars sank, and feathers fell away; the old woman slept in sorrow, her tears falling as she cursed.

Chu Ning's gaze sharpened slightly as he examined the totem more closely.

The first picture is shown:

A tall swordsman, clad in golden armor, stomped through mountains and shattered peaks, causing all living beings to flee in his wake. He raised his longsword high, cleaving the sky with a single strike, but in that instant, black chains appeared behind him, piercing his shoulder blades. The spiritual light of heaven and earth reversed, and his body rapidly collapsed, transforming into a black shadow wreathed in bone fire, resembling an ape with bared fangs.

"Bone-Burning Ape Marquis".

Second picture:

She was a female entertainer, dressed in magnificent robes, singing and dancing above the masses, her music and music harmonizing, moving all to tears. However, in the darkness of night, her shadow detached from her body, transforming into a phantom with long hair veiling her face, uttering a wordless hum, and wherever she passed, all spirits were to leave their bodies and plummet to the underworld.

"A female entertainer with a deep, resonant voice."

Chu Ning stared at the blurry face in the totem, his heart trembling. Just now, he had sensed this person's soul aura in his sea of ​​consciousness on the icy plains, like a ghostly chant, elusive and difficult to understand.

He reached out and lightly touched the "Ghostly Throat Diva" engraving on the ice wall with his fingertips. In an instant, a soft yet captivating melody suddenly reached his ears, a wordless song, like a curse or a lament.

His mind was jolted, and he felt his soul tremble, as if a wisp of his consciousness was almost pulled away by the melody.

In the blink of an eye, the Primordial Qi Cultivation Method within his body automatically activated, forcibly pulling that wisp of soul back.

He abruptly took half a step back, breathing rapidly, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

"...Sound Soul Resonance".

"Her musical talent was divine in life—now it has become a murderous lament."

This is evil spirit.

A twisted divine skill, a decaying genius, an undying obsession.

It is neither a demon nor a human.

Rather, it is a way to survive after being sealed away by the Heavenly Dao.

The third picture:

A naked child stands in the pouring rain, his eyes vacant, draped in tattered cloth. As he weeps, the rain falls from the sky, turning to blood, each drop carrying the lingering shadows of departed souls. The place where he stands is barren, and the wailing never ceases.

“The weeping red child.”

The twelve murals, arranged on this ice wall, seem like a seal of some kind of heavenly secret, or an eternal footnote to the fall of the gods.

In the lower left corner of each painting is a line of ancient seal script inscription, weathered and worn:

"A soul of the highest rank cannot return to heaven."

"The only way to avoid falling to the ground is to refine blood."

Chu Ning's throat moved slightly as the words Tun Yuan had once said came to mind: "They are not evil, they are just trying to survive."

At this moment, however, these murals allowed him to truly see the momentary fall of those "strongest" individuals, which was neither ferocious nor grotesque, but rather a desperate situation with nowhere to retreat.

"You... finally saw what they looked like when they were alive."

Within his mind, Tun Yuan's voice was deep and distant, "Do you think evil spirits are born this way? They are not evil spirits, but fragments of the old gods."

"These paintings are the remnants of the truth in the far north. Unfortunately, the world has long forgotten them."

"The Blood Refining Hall is not a sect of slaughter, but an alliance of desperate situations."

Chu Ning remained silent.

He gazed at the twelve totems and suddenly understood:
"They are not just enemies, but also a mirror for the future."

If one day I also stand at the peak, this world will still be without a door.

Which path will I take?

Chu Ning sat upright like a monument, unmoved by the falling frost, as if he had been in meditation for a long time.

He focused his mind and silently gazed at the slowly rotating Primordial Divine Decree deep within his sea of ​​consciousness.

After repaying the price of the divine decree last time, it has already been upgraded.

Now: [Advance Access: Martial Arts Techniques - Level 3] Chu Ning took a deep breath and whispered:
"If the Divine Decree is upgraded... will it be able to break free from the dependence on 'cultivation manuals' and directly 'obtain the method' from the Divine Decree?"

A surge of madness welled up within him, a kind of rebellious desire to "borrow the way from heaven".

This is a path no ordinary person can attempt. Cultivation techniques are "the recorded Dao"; while directly drawing upon unrecorded methods is "forcibly seizing a moment's true meaning from the origin of the Dao." The cost is immeasurable, and one might even suffer divine retribution.

But right now, the enemy is in the far north, and we ourselves have not yet achieved our goal.

He has no choice.

Chu Ning slowly sank his consciousness into the deepest part of his sea of ​​consciousness. In this chaos, the Primordial Divine Decree transformed into a thunder-gold ring seal, which slowly opened.

Twelve rings, nine layers of divine patterns, three halos, like the whispers of ancient gods, like the rotation of a celestial book.

"Use the cultivation technique in advance," Chu Ning ordered in a low voice. "Without the support of any scriptures, the goal is to raise your cultivation level."

The divine command trembled instantly, all twelve rings resonated, and the entire sea of ​​consciousness fluctuated violently.

Bolts of lightning burst forth from the cracks in the divine decree, sketching blurry patterns in the air. These were not pages of a book, nor incantations, but shattered battle scenes and the flow of martial intent evolving from the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth.

A skeletal war god unleashed a powerful punch amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, shattering the sun and moon.

A somber, lightning-infused shadow traversed the void amidst the thunderous sea of ​​lightning, looking down upon the heavens.

A lone figure walked through the snow and ice, with silver hair, a long sword in hand, and entered the enemy's sea alone; it was none other than Chu Ning's own battle image.

Chu Ning was shocked.

He understood:

"This is not a pre-emptive strike from traditional techniques..."

"Therefore, I use my own fighting spirit, cultivation, and will to draw back the rules of Heaven, transforming thought into form and forging the soul into move!"

"The Primordial Divine Decree... is already 'creating cultivation techniques'!"

In that instant, a strange illusion arose in Chu Ning's mind.

It was as if the entire sea of ​​consciousness was no longer a spiritual realm, but rather the nascent form of a truly existing divine realm. Those fragmented battle scenes were no longer just afterimages, but rather projections of some kind of "past reality," like out-of-control celestial books drifting in broken chapters from the abyss of time.

He could feel himself being watched by an invisible "gaze," a gaze that was ruthless and nameless, yet precise to the very marrow of his bones.

A dryness rose in his throat, not from fear, but from awe.

If one's mind wavers even slightly at this moment, the resulting cultivation technique may very well backfire on oneself.

Although the wind and thunder above the sea of ​​consciousness remained still, the void seemed to swell to its limit, all things were still, and only he stood suspended in it, as if he were gambling with the heavens.

All of this happened too fast and too violently.

He silently gathered his thoughts, closed his eyes, and let his soul, like a boat, welcome the surging light of the divine command.

In an instant, wind and thunder clashed within the sea of ​​consciousness.

Chu Ning abruptly closed his eyes, letting the divine command dissect, analyze, piece together, and forge his own battle imprints one by one.

His whole body trembled violently, his blood surged, his skin burned, his internal organs throbbed like thunder, his bones cracked slightly, and his soul energy surged.

Outside the ice cave, snow suddenly began to fall heavily.

Dark clouds gathered rapidly on the horizon, and a faint purple lightning bolt appeared high in the far north, like a sheath of judgment, hanging down from afar.

Chu Ning coughed up a mouthful of blood, his breathing becoming disordered.

In his sea of ​​consciousness, the Primordial Divine Decree transformed into a sword, a stele, an array, and a tiger.

Sword intent severs cause and effect, inscription determines destiny, array patterns bind all phenomena, tiger soul controls thunder spirit.

The four elements converged into one, ultimately gathering within his body.

【Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Mantra】

—The divine command created itself, and the way of heaven deviated from its course.

At that moment, he felt his bones vibrate like forged iron, his soul solidify like crystal, and his blood surge like a tide.

Chu Ning slowly opened his eyes, and a faint purple-gold divine pattern appeared in his eyes.

He understood:

The Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Technique uses one's own thunder bones as a guide and soul intent as fire to compress, fuse, and condense all the thunderous energy one has ever mastered: Yang Thunder, Yin Thunder, Frost Thunder, Heart Thunder, Soul Thunder, and the five different types of thunder, into a tiny thunder ball, which is stored in the palm of one's hand.

In the abyss of consciousness, wind and thunder intertwine, and the void trembles like a drum.

Chu Ning sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the core of the divine command, and the surroundings instantly shattered into a chaotic realm. He felt five familiar yet unfamiliar streams of lightning energy, like a torrent of water, surging forth from his internal organs, soul, and divine platform.

At that moment, he finally saw that the source of the Five Thunders was not qi, nor light, but form.

Yang Lei soared into the sky, transforming into a three-legged golden crow with fiery red feathers, its golden eyes wide open in fury, and flames covering the sky.
Thunder rumbled, and a snake's shadow lurked, like water cracking ice, solidifying into a dark, mysterious serpent, its scales as black as night, its eerie light captivating the soul;
The most violent of the frost thunders, amidst the roaring wind and snow, a silver-white snow fox emerges from the snow, its nine tails curling, its icy soul soaring in the air, its frost radiance never dissipating.
The thunderous explosion caused a streak of blood-red light to burst forth from the Soul Platform, condensing into a crimson-horned Soul Lion whose divine roar shook the entire domain.

The soul lightning arrived silently, quietly coalescing into a purple-striped nightmare tiger, its body invisible, its claws silent, devouring divine souls.

The five beasts appeared, and their aura changed drastically.

Although Chu Ning sat motionless, his soul was in grave danger atop the Abyss of Five Thunderbolts. Each burst of thunder seemed to be tearing at the edge of his consciousness.

Outside the ice caves of the far north, heaven and earth also suddenly resonated.

Above the sky, the snow curtain suddenly stopped, the wind pressure plummeted, and invisible ripples spread outwards from the ice cave. The former members of the Zhenwu Division felt a strange chill rise from their spines, as if five otherworldly gods were opening their eyes in slumber.

In Chu Ning's own perception, he was as if standing at the chasm between heaven and earth, half of his body immersed in the chaos of raging wind and thunder, while the other half sank into the abyss called "fate".

"This... is the source of the Five Thunders?"

He asked himself this question softly, but no one answered.

Although the Five Thunders were his own creation, they seemed no longer to obey his commands. He watched as the three-legged golden crow streaked across the sky in his sea of ​​consciousness, the black serpent churned the waters, the snow fox howled over the icy river, the soul lion angrily crashed into the soul platform, and the nightmare tiger silently slithered forward…

Each divine form was resisting the existence of the others, as if proving to him:
"If you are unable to bear them, you cannot become their master."

Chu Ning's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood—

This is not just the manifestation of the Five Thunderbolts, but also a test.

If he does not integrate the Five Thunder Minds, he will be devoured by himself.

He closed his eyes and paused for a moment.

Then I opened my eyes, my heart as firm as if it had been stabbed.

(End of this chapter)