Xue Ying investigated the detailed strategic plan and could not help but nod. His two seniors had made sufficient preparations in the aspects of assault, defense, and even escape.
"Your preparations might be more than enough,;your opponents are a Great Demonic God at the stage two realm, as well as the Sorcerer God, who is the Lord of a mortal world. Their wealth is likely not one bit worse than ours," Ge Bai said. "Furthermore, they can select all sorts of war weapons from the Deity world to send down. This is not a war you can say you have any certainty of winning. The only thing I can say is that the possibility exists."
"I understand." Xue Ying nodded.
"The best case scenario would be you succeeding in destroying the spatial passage," the thick-robed youngster began. "If you lose, however, you must make sure to retreat to the Infernal World as soon as possible! The Infernal World will be re-constructed to be more stable according to our arrangements, so they will find it impossible to break through! In that situation, your Xia Clan can stay in the Infernal World to gather strength, while you would return to Crimson Rock Mountain to continue cultivating. You would have to do your best to reach the peak of the Deity stage in terms of your comprehension and then refine the World Heart.
"Should you fail to refine it, you can either remain inside Crimson Rock Mountain forever or go to the Deity world. Either way, you won’t ever be able to return to the Xia Clan world.
"The Xia Clan world was already quite lucky to bring forth a genius Transcendent like you. It’s very unlikely for another such spectacular talent to appear in the Infernal World, or rather, they would not have much chance to become a Deity. After all, such a genius would still be forever trapped in the Infernal World," the thick-robed teenager cleared up.
Xue Ying nodded.
He was already clear on the fact that failure would result in him being trapped. If that were to be realized, the only other way for him to succeed was to refine the World Heart.
"To refine World Heart in your ten thousand year-long lifespan would be really hard," He Fei Yun took over. "On top of that, the requirement in terms of your comprehension—reaching the peak of the Deity realm, or even to be a half-step World Deity—are quite harsh. Unless you meet those, you would have no hope of refining the World Heart. That is exactly why it is so rare for a Lord of a mortal world to appear. Your talent might be good, but it is hard to say if you would really succeed in refining the World Heart within ten thousand years."
"I understand. It would still be best for me to attain victory in this war by destroying that spatial passage." Xue Ying smiled. He then added, "I’ve already succeeded in cultivating the "Great Chaotic True Force", so it’ll be difficult for me to further increase my strength. If so, why wait for the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God to begin the war? It might be a better idea to begin the war right now and hold the initiative."
"In other words, I want to attack the Oceanic Forest World and destroy their castle. Seniors, do you think I would have any chance of success if I were to proceed with this idea?"
The castle within the Oceanic Forest World most likely contained the fleshy bodies of the Great Demonic God avatar and Sorcerer God’s avatar! On top of that, they would likely have a space passageway built there in preparation for the war.
If he managed to destroy them, the war would already be over!
"You’re overthinking it." Ge Bai shook his head. "Once you fortify the Infernal World, they will no longer be able to destroy it. In the same vein of though, you can put the matter of laying siege on their Oceanic Forest world to rest."
He Fei Yun stepped in to explain, "The Oceanic Forest world will certainly have been refined using a Space Deity treasure, which has likely already merged to become a single entity with that castle. Since the Oceanic Forest World is also attached to the Xia Clan world, any attack on the Oceanic Forest world will be weakened by the Deity treasure, causing it to dissipate throughout the entire Xia Clan world. Unless you have the strength to directly destroy that Transcendent world directly or even the entire mortal world, you’ll find it impossible to shake that castle."
"Ai." Xue Ying felt his head ache.
He knew that it would not be so simple.
"Then, is it perhaps possible for my Xia Clan to cultivate Deity avatars for you two seniors, as World Deities, to come and help?" Xue Ying could not help but ask.
"If that were possible, we’d have been terribly happy to do so. We’ve been locked here for far too long." The thick-robed teenager shook his head. "But refining an appropriate Deity avatar would take too long a time in the Xia Clan world and would have to be done using the fleshy body of a native of your Xia Clan. Only that way would it be pampered and protected by the World Heart. The earliest we could descend, even if you were to rush to refine them, would still be at least a hundred years from now. By then, it would simply be too late."
Xue Ying shook his head.
There was no hope in laying siege on the Oceanic Forest World!
And there was not enough time to refine Deity avatars of their own!
"I have heard of the existence of a way to cultivate avatars," Xue Ying began, "but despite having been on Crimson Dust Island for so long, even becoming an inner disciple, I’ve never heard of such techniques…"
He had been told about the method to cultivate Avatars by the Temporal Temple.
"It exists." The thick-robed teenager nodded.
"Then is it possible for me to practice this technique? With it, I’d be able to have both my true body and my avatar during the war. That would increase the overall combat power for my side," Xue Ying followed up.
"The teacher has already set a rule in place: the disciples of Crimson Rock Mountain who have yet to attain a grade one True Meaning or are not yet World Deities are forbidden from cultivating such avatars," the thick-robed teenager explained.
"Ah." Xue Ying was startled. "Why is that?"
"That is because the avatar technique will require you to split your soul in two," He Fei Yun took over to explain from the side. "The original source of the soul is incomparably important. Losing even the smallest part of it would be unbearable, while the method of forming an avatar actually requires you to lose half! Such a split will cause your cultivation speed and natural comprehension ability to both drastically reduce. You can clearly feel that your cultivation is already much slower than in the past. Your talent is still high, and you even have a chance to refine the World Heart within ten thousand years, but the moment you split your soul into two, your cultivation speed will drastically reduce in spite of your combat power increasing. Your chance of refining the World Heart would plummet."
A feeling of helplessness overcame Xue Ying at that moment.
He had tried to think up any way to rapidly increase his strength, but none of them were viable. It now made sense to him why his two seniors had not mentioned them before.
In the months following that.
Xue Ying continued his cultivation on Crimson Dust Island, trying his best to increase his comprehension in hopes of reaching the Deity Heart realm! At the same time, he was doing his best to improve his secret skills.
At the same time, Jing Qiu’s Magic avatar had to come over to Crimson Rock Mountain every once in a while to replenish its magic power. Each time this happened, the avatar would also take back large amounts of treasures to start fortifying the Infernal World! The Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God would then no longer have any chance of breaking it apart. After all, the moment they were defeated, the Xia Clan would have to hide in the Infernal World.
Year after year passed by.
Xue Ying had already been on Crimson Dust Island for a total of fifteen years.
Back on Crimson Dust Island.
Xue Ying and Jing Qiu were in the middle of sending the Meishan Clan Master and Chen Jiu off.
"Our 20 years are almost up. The Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God might attack some time soon, so we have no choice but to leave." Chen Jiu looked toward Xue Ying. "I do not have any more worries. Dong Bo, when danger falls upon your Xia Clan in the future, you must be careful! As soon as you find it impossible to keep going, you have to focus on surviving. You can then become a Deity and go to the Deity world! Should you become a powerful existence of the Deity world, you could even easily bring back those who died from the river of time. So, no matter what, don’t fall so much into anguish as to suicide. You must live on!"
"I understand. Thank you." Xue Ying laughed. "Rest assured, my Xia Clan will certainly be the one triumphing in the end."
"Right, my Flying Sword Mountain Manor is located within the territory of the Bloodshed God Palace, in the Heavenly Star Prefecture, on the Scarlet God Planet of the Wholewater Starfield. If you’re presented the chance in the future, do come and find me." Chen Jiu smiled.
"Definitely!" Xue Ying nodded.
"From my knowledge of the Deity world, of the three great powers—the Bloodshed God Palace, the Myriad God Palace, and the Temporal Island—the Bloodshed God Palace is the strongest. If I get the chance, I’ll most likely also find a place for myself inside the Bloodshed God Palace territory." The Meishan Clan Master laughed. "Xue Ying, we’ll be leaving now. My hope is that your Xia Clan will be victorious, but regardless of the result, remember to not give up easily. Only in life will you find opportunity."
"Why aren’t you two talking about nicer things? Rest easy, my Xia Clan will certainly win." Xue Ying laughed out loud.
"Disciple sister, take good care of Dong Bo. Let’s meet again in the Deity world," Chen Jiu said to Jing Qiu.
"Mn. Don’t worry, senior brother Chen Jiu," Jing Qiu replied.
The Meishan Clan Master and Chen Jiu exchanged a glance and then said, "Senior Crimson Rock, please send us off."
Weng!
A wave covered the two of them as they smiled toward both Xue Ying and his wife.
Shua.
The two disappeared.
Xue Ying watched the two of them leave. Almost twenty years had passed since Chen Jiu and the others arrived, which meant the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God would likely be starting the war soon. In truth, it could be as soon as three to five months in the future.
"Xue Ying, relax. Right now, the Infernal World is much more stable than it used to be. No matter what happens in the war, we can always hide in the Infernal World. You have already contributed the most you could to the Xia Clan," Jing Qiu consoled Xue Ying. She had an inkling of what he was thinking of.
Xue Ying looked toward his wife and laughed. He was actually looking forward to the war. I hope it won’t be too long until I reach achieve the Deity Heart realm and the Blood Creeping Flower’s combat power further strengthens. Once that happens, we’ll have a greater chance of winning the war. The further the war was delayed, the more beneficial it was to his side. But the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God were afraid that that delaying too much could spawn too many possibilities, so they would most likely begin the war as soon as they were done preparing,.
******
Xue Ying investigated the detailed strategic plan and could not help but nod. His two seniors had made sufficient preparations in the aspects of assault, defense, and even escape.
"Your preparations might be more than enough,;your opponents are a Great Demonic God at the stage two realm, as well as the Sorcerer God, who is the Lord of a mortal world. Their wealth is likely not one bit worse than ours," Ge Bai said. "Furthermore, they can select all sorts of war weapons from the Deity world to send down. This is not a war you can say you have any certainty of winning. The only thing I can say is that the possibility exists."
"I understand." Xue Ying nodded.
"The best case scenario would be you succeeding in destroying the spatial passage," the thick-robed youngster began. "If you lose, however, you must make sure to retreat to the Infernal World as soon as possible! The Infernal World will be re-constructed to be more stable according to our arrangements, so they will find it impossible to break through! In that situation, your Xia Clan can stay in the Infernal World to gather strength, while you would return to Crimson Rock Mountain to continue cultivating. You would have to do your best to reach the peak of the Deity stage in terms of your comprehension and then refine the World Heart.
"Should you fail to refine it, you can either remain inside Crimson Rock Mountain forever or go to the Deity world. Either way, you won’t ever be able to return to the Xia Clan world.
"The Xia Clan world was already quite lucky to bring forth a genius Transcendent like you. It’s very unlikely for another such spectacular talent to appear in the Infernal World, or rather, they would not have much chance to become a Deity. After all, such a genius would still be forever trapped in the Infernal World," the thick-robed teenager cleared up.
Xue Ying nodded.
He was already clear on the fact that failure would result in him being trapped. If that were to be realized, the only other way for him to succeed was to refine the World Heart.
"To refine World Heart in your ten thousand year-long lifespan would be really hard," He Fei Yun took over. "On top of that, the requirement in terms of your comprehension—reaching the peak of the Deity realm, or even to be a half-step World Deity—are quite harsh. Unless you meet those, you would have no hope of refining the World Heart. That is exactly why it is so rare for a Lord of a mortal world to appear. Your talent might be good, but it is hard to say if you would really succeed in refining the World Heart within ten thousand years."
"I understand. It would still be best for me to attain victory in this war by destroying that spatial passage." Xue Ying smiled. He then added, "I’ve already succeeded in cultivating the "Great Chaotic True Force", so it’ll be difficult for me to further increase my strength. If so, why wait for the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God to begin the war? It might be a better idea to begin the war right now and hold the initiative."
"In other words, I want to attack the Oceanic Forest World and destroy their castle. Seniors, do you think I would have any chance of success if I were to proceed with this idea?"
The castle within the Oceanic Forest World most likely contained the fleshy bodies of the Great Demonic God avatar and Sorcerer God’s avatar! On top of that, they would likely have a space passageway built there in preparation for the war.
If he managed to destroy them, the war would already be over!
"You’re overthinking it." Ge Bai shook his head. "Once you fortify the Infernal World, they will no longer be able to destroy it. In the same vein of though, you can put the matter of laying siege on their Oceanic Forest world to rest."
He Fei Yun stepped in to explain, "The Oceanic Forest world will certainly have been refined using a Space Deity treasure, which has likely already merged to become a single entity with that castle. Since the Oceanic Forest World is also attached to the Xia Clan world, any attack on the Oceanic Forest world will be weakened by the Deity treasure, causing it to dissipate throughout the entire Xia Clan world. Unless you have the strength to directly destroy that Transcendent world directly or even the entire mortal world, you’ll find it impossible to shake that castle."
"Ai." Xue Ying felt his head ache.
He knew that it would not be so simple.
"Then, is it perhaps possible for my Xia Clan to cultivate Deity avatars for you two seniors, as World Deities, to come and help?" Xue Ying could not help but ask.
"If that were possible, we’d have been terribly happy to do so. We’ve been locked here for far too long." The thick-robed teenager shook his head. "But refining an appropriate Deity avatar would take too long a time in the Xia Clan world and would have to be done using the fleshy body of a native of your Xia Clan. Only that way would it be pampered and protected by the World Heart. The earliest we could descend, even if you were to rush to refine them, would still be at least a hundred years from now. By then, it would simply be too late."
Xue Ying shook his head.
There was no hope in laying siege on the Oceanic Forest World!
And there was not enough time to refine Deity avatars of their own!
"I have heard of the existence of a way to cultivate avatars," Xue Ying began, "but despite having been on Crimson Dust Island for so long, even becoming an inner disciple, I’ve never heard of such techniques…"
He had been told about the method to cultivate Avatars by the Temporal Temple.
"It exists." The thick-robed teenager nodded.
"Then is it possible for me to practice this technique? With it, I’d be able to have both my true body and my avatar during the war. That would increase the overall combat power for my side," Xue Ying followed up.
"The teacher has already set a rule in place: the disciples of Crimson Rock Mountain who have yet to attain a grade one True Meaning or are not yet World Deities are forbidden from cultivating such avatars," the thick-robed teenager explained.
"Ah." Xue Ying was startled. "Why is that?"
"That is because the avatar technique will require you to split your soul in two," He Fei Yun took over to explain from the side. "The original source of the soul is incomparably important. Losing even the smallest part of it would be unbearable, while the method of forming an avatar actually requires you to lose half! Such a split will cause your cultivation speed and natural comprehension ability to both drastically reduce. You can clearly feel that your cultivation is already much slower than in the past. Your talent is still high, and you even have a chance to refine the World Heart within ten thousand years, but the moment you split your soul into two, your cultivation speed will drastically reduce in spite of your combat power increasing. Your chance of refining the World Heart would plummet."
A feeling of helplessness overcame Xue Ying at that moment.
He had tried to think up any way to rapidly increase his strength, but none of them were viable. It now made sense to him why his two seniors had not mentioned them before.
In the months following that.
Xue Ying continued his cultivation on Crimson Dust Island, trying his best to increase his comprehension in hopes of reaching the Deity Heart realm! At the same time, he was doing his best to improve his secret skills.
At the same time, Jing Qiu’s Magic avatar had to come over to Crimson Rock Mountain every once in a while to replenish its magic power. Each time this happened, the avatar would also take back large amounts of treasures to start fortifying the Infernal World! The Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God would then no longer have any chance of breaking it apart. After all, the moment they were defeated, the Xia Clan would have to hide in the Infernal World.
Year after year passed by.
Xue Ying had already been on Crimson Dust Island for a total of fifteen years.
Back on Crimson Dust Island.
Xue Ying and Jing Qiu were in the middle of sending the Meishan Clan Master and Chen Jiu off.
"Our 20 years are almost up. The Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God might attack some time soon, so we have no choice but to leave." Chen Jiu looked toward Xue Ying. "I do not have any more worries. Dong Bo, when danger falls upon your Xia Clan in the future, you must be careful! As soon as you find it impossible to keep going, you have to focus on surviving. You can then become a Deity and go to the Deity world! Should you become a powerful existence of the Deity world, you could even easily bring back those who died from the river of time. So, no matter what, don’t fall so much into anguish as to suicide. You must live on!"
"I understand. Thank you." Xue Ying laughed. "Rest assured, my Xia Clan will certainly be the one triumphing in the end."
"Right, my Flying Sword Mountain Manor is located within the territory of the Bloodshed God Palace, in the Heavenly Star Prefecture, on the Scarlet God Planet of the Wholewater Starfield. If you’re presented the chance in the future, do come and find me." Chen Jiu smiled.
"Definitely!" Xue Ying nodded.
"From my knowledge of the Deity world, of the three great powers—the Bloodshed God Palace, the Myriad God Palace, and the Temporal Island—the Bloodshed God Palace is the strongest. If I get the chance, I’ll most likely also find a place for myself inside the Bloodshed God Palace territory." The Meishan Clan Master laughed. "Xue Ying, we’ll be leaving now. My hope is that your Xia Clan will be victorious, but regardless of the result, remember to not give up easily. Only in life will you find opportunity."
"Why aren’t you two talking about nicer things? Rest easy, my Xia Clan will certainly win." Xue Ying laughed out loud.
"Disciple sister, take good care of Dong Bo. Let’s meet again in the Deity world," Chen Jiu said to Jing Qiu.
"Mn. Don’t worry, senior brother Chen Jiu," Jing Qiu replied.
The Meishan Clan Master and Chen Jiu exchanged a glance and then said, "Senior Crimson Rock, please send us off."
Weng!
A wave covered the two of them as they smiled toward both Xue Ying and his wife.
Shua.
The two disappeared.
Xue Ying watched the two of them leave. Almost twenty years had passed since Chen Jiu and the others arrived, which meant the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God would likely be starting the war soon. In truth, it could be as soon as three to five months in the future.
"Xue Ying, relax. Right now, the Infernal World is much more stable than it used to be. No matter what happens in the war, we can always hide in the Infernal World. You have already contributed the most you could to the Xia Clan," Jing Qiu consoled Xue Ying. She had an inkling of what he was thinking of.
Xue Ying looked toward his wife and laughed. He was actually looking forward to the war. I hope it won’t be too long until I reach achieve the Deity Heart realm and the Blood Creeping Flower’s combat power further strengthens. Once that happens, we’ll have a greater chance of winning the war. The further the war was delayed, the more beneficial it was to his side. But the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God were afraid that that delaying too much could spawn too many possibilities, so they would most likely begin the war as soon as they were done preparing,.
******
