Chen Sheng's consciousness awoke once more, only to feel a sudden wave of warmth and heaviness enveloping him, akin to the comfort of soaking in warm water, surrounded by gentle energy.
With each "breath," he could feel the energy flowing along invisible meridians, as if being gently nurtured by the entire world.
"Is this... an embryo?"
Chen Sheng's consciousness gradually cleared, and he was somewhat surprised, evidently not expecting that he would break through the obscurity while still within an embryo.
At this moment, he could clearly perceive his form—a curled body, limbs not yet fully developed, and an "umbilical cord" connecting him to the outside, transmitting energy.
The sensation was immensely wondrous, both unfamiliar and primitively intimate, as if returning to the very origin of life. Everything started from zero, yet concealed infinite possibilities.
As he was adjusting to the embryonic form, a more peculiar perception emerged—a connection of his consciousness with another "existence."
Like a person possessing two pairs of eyes and ears, he could distinctly sense the presence of another embryo. Both shared the same core of consciousness, yet had entirely different physical states.
"[Yin Yang Divine Soul]!"
Instantly, Chen Sheng recalled the new talent bestowed upon him by the "Hundred Generations Book" at the end of his fourth life.
He attempted to mobilize his consciousness, and both embryos responded subtly—the left embryo gently quivered, the right embryo slightly relaxed.
This meant that he now possessed two divine souls, two bodies, yet shared a single consciousness. Like two sides of the same coin, both independent and unified.
"It's similar to the technique of external incarnation, but in my case, the two bodies share one consciousness, eliminating the risk of rebellion."
Nascent Soul cultivators often cultivated external incarnations as a means of self-preservation. In the previous life, Chen Sheng worried about rebellion and dared not cultivate it. This life was a perfect complement.
De parasieten verlaten het lichaam! Doe het voor het slapen gaanOpen
Meanwhile, detailed information about the [Yin Yang Divine Soul] talent automatically surfaced in his sea of consciousness:
If one of the bodies dies, as long as the other body still exists, he could use the "Yin Yang Transformation" technique to nurture a new body with the remaining divine soul and bodily energy, restoring completeness.
Additionally, it had numerous uses, such as preventing memory leaks and resisting manipulation...
"Such a life-saving method... not even mentioned in the Tier Six inheritance of the Four Seas Wanderer!"
Chen Sheng was full of amazement. Holding the "Four Seas Void Transformation Atlas," he had seen countless exquisite divine techniques and life-saving secret arts but had never heard of such a peculiar divine soul talent.
This meant that unless both bodies perished simultaneously, he had the potential for infinite rebirth. Such a life-saving ability could dominate the cultivation realm of the Great Wilderness Four Domains.
Startled, he began to meticulously perceive the differences between the two bodies.
The left embryonic body was slender and frail, with a slow flow of energy. The texture of its skin carried the warmth of humanity, clearly a human embryo.
The right embryo, however, was entirely different—its body more robust, enveloped by an aura of violent energy. Within its flesh, the faint perception of intricate runes indicated the unique bloodline power of the Demon Race!
"Demon Race bloodline power?"
A trace of astonishment arose in Chen Sheng's consciousness:
"My descendants have quite an unusual taste, combining with the Demon Race and leaving behind such a bloodline..."
As he pondered, a surge of energy suddenly came from the direction of the "mother," rushing along the umbilical cords of both embryos like a flowing river.
The energy was warm and pure, filled with a rich breath of life. The two embryos, like saplings receiving rain after a long drought, instinctively began to absorb nutrients.
The human embryo absorbed energy at a slower pace, like a gentle stream. The energy from the mother was also relatively dilute.
The Demon Race embryo, however, drank the energy voraciously, akin to a tiger quenching its thirst. Its body visibly became more condensed, and the runes within grew even clearer.
The comforting warm flow enveloped his consciousness, and the tingling sensation from the energy circulation, akin to spring rain nourishing the earth, completely relaxed Chen Sheng's tense heart spirit.
He could distinctly feel the vigorous growth of life, with every cell in both bodies cheering with joy. This joy, emanating from the essence of life, was something he had never experienced in his several lifetimes of cultivation.
"Well, since I have been reborn, I might as well enjoy this time nurtured by heaven and earth first."
Chen Sheng's consciousness gradually became lazy, as if immersed in a warm dream:
"Once I am born, I'll explore the identity of this life and reclaim the Four Seas Bead inheritance..."
As the energy continued to pour in, the breathing of both embryos gradually stabilized. Chen Sheng's consciousness, like being gently caressed by feathers, unconsciously fell into darkness once more.
This time it wasn't the silence of annihilation but the stillness of rebirth, like accumulating the power to break through the earth for the new life to come.
And those two completely different embryos quietly nurtured within the warm mother, waiting for the day of their birth.
...
A flick of the finger, three years passed. The summer heat of the Jiang Country in the Eastern Domain permeated like indelible ink, enveloping the Path of Emotion Destruction's foundational cultivation dojo in oppressive dullness.
This dojo, situated within the Sect's Black Wind Valley, was surrounded by pitch-black rocks, covered with twisted demon runes that shimmered with a faint gray light in the sunlight.
At this moment, in the open space at the center of the dojo, hundreds of three- or four-year-old children dressed in uniform brocade training robes stood in a circle around an instructor with a face full of flesh.
The instructor held a whip, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's, continuously issuing commands:
"Stand firm in a horse stance! Knees must not bend!"
"Press your palms tightly against the stone slab! Only when they bleed is the task complete!"
The children dared not slack off in the slightest. Some had faces flushed red, their legs trembling slightly yet maintaining a straight back. Others rubbed their palms against the coarse black stone repeatedly, blood seeping out and staining the slab, yet they gritted their teeth and refused to stop.
There were also some wielding wooden short swords, their movements awkward but filled with a fierce determination, as if what they held were deadly weapons, not toys.
Just then, a gray-black escape light suddenly descended from the sky, like an arrow shot from a bow, smashing onto the edge of the dojo's open ground, causing debris to fly.
The escape light dispersed, revealing a middle-aged cultivator in a black brocade robe, exuding the aura of a late-stage Foundation Establishment and responsible for the affairs of this dojo as the steward.
As soon as he landed, his gaze swept across the children present, his voice cold and hard:
"At the hour of Chen tomorrow, the sect's Spirit Testing Grand Ceremony, all children under the age of four must attend. Those who are late will receive a hundred lashes according to sect rules!"
With these words, the previously silent dojo instantly became lively.
The pain and fatigue on the children's faces vanished, their eyes filled with anticipation. Some clenched their little fists, eyes full of dreams for the future.
Others nervously rubbed their hands together, fearful that their aptitude was too poor, and they'd be abandoned by the sect.
In the Path of Emotion Destruction, the Spirit Testing Grand Ceremony was the chance for children to change their fate. The better the Spiritual Root, the more resources they would receive, and the higher their survival rate would be.
Among the crowd, Chen Sheng also timely raised his small face, a hint of "anticipation" similar to the other children flashing in his eyes, widening them slightly as if longing for the good life after the Spirit Testing.
Yet, deep down, Chen Sheng remained calm, even a bit grave. He quietly exhaled a turbid breath, silently thinking: "It's finally here."
Over the past three years, he had long understood his life's circumstances thoroughly.
In this world, his parents were Outer Sect disciples of the Path of Emotion Destruction, but only at the Foundation Establishment Early-stage. When he was a hundred days old, they were sent by the sect to the borders to quell loose cultivators and have not returned since.
And he was thrown into this subsidiary dojo, like a cage, where there was no warmth, only endless grinding and selection, any mistake met with the lash.
This is the survival law of the demonic influence, the weak are prey to the strong, obeying the powerful, ingrained into the bone from the earliest stages of life.
"The Path of Emotion Destruction..."
Chen Sheng's gaze swept past the black archway at the entrance of the dojo, the words "Emotion Destruction" written in dried blood-red cinnabar, enduring the wind and rain yet still exuding a cold and murderous aura.
According to the information he gathered, three hundred years ago, the Path of Emotion Destruction was merely an obscure small sect, founded by a loose cultivator named "Master of Emotionless."
No one expected that this ancestor would break through to Nascent Soul within a hundred years, then swallow up surrounding small powers with thunderous means.
In just three hundred years, the Path of Emotion Destruction became a Nascent Soul level demonic influence in Jiang Country capable of rivaling the "Black Evil Sect" and the "Blood Soul Sect." Such expansion speed is unknown to have bathed in how much blood.
And Jiang Country, located in the northern part of the Eastern Domain, is a severe disaster area where "demon flourishes and dao declines." Righteous sects are either eradicated or huddled in remote mountains, while demonic influences grow like wild grass.
The Path of Emotion Destruction can rise in such a chaotic environment, and internal competition is extreme to the point of cruelty.
Inner Sect disciples vie for resources and kill each other. Outer Sect disciples are casually dispatched as if they were consumables. Those who can survive in the Path of Emotion Destruction are either extraordinarily talented or have schemes deep as the abyss.
For Chen Sheng, tomorrow's Spirit Testing Grand Ceremony is not an opportunity, but a hidden crisis.
"Celestial Grade Spiritual Root..."
This top-level aptitude granted by the "Hundred Generations Book" could become a death warrant at any time in the Path of Emotion Destruction.
Since inheriting the Four Seas Wanderer's Tier Six Inheritance, Chen Sheng had long become indifferent to Spiritual Root aptitude. With the secret techniques in the inheritance, even with a Lower Grade Spiritual Root, he could steadily achieve Nascent Soul.
Instead, the Celestial Grade Spiritual Root is too conspicuous, especially in a place like the Path of Emotion Destruction, which regards talent as a "resource," easily attracting covetous eyes.
Forced to grow up in the dojo, being watched by others, he dared not expose the slightest abnormality, and at this time, having no cultivation made it difficult to hide.
Chen Sheng's gaze deepened:
"If the ancestor of Emotion Destruction happens to have his Dharma Body damaged, my body might end up in collapse."
Nascent Soul Cultivators seizing bodies is not uncommon. Once a Dharma Body is damaged, in order to extend the dao path, they often stop at nothing to find a body with excellent talents to seize.
The ancestor of Emotion Destruction could enter Nascent Soul as a loose cultivator, indicating his cultivation aptitude is at least Earth Grade, possibly Celestial Grade. Normally, he would not waste a century of time to seize a body.
But if he happened to encounter severe injuries at this moment, with only his Nascent Soul escaping and in dire need of a body with a Celestial Grade Spiritual Root to reshape his Dharma Body, it would be another matter.
Chen Sheng pondered:
"As long as my luck is not too bad, I'll most likely be kept as a Nascent Soul Seed and a backup vessel for possession, which leaves room for turning things around."
Meanwhile, thinking of another life, he couldn't help but feel that not everyone's fate was the same.