Chapter 1421: Six Paths Reincarnation, Living a Second Life

"The essence of a Celestial Being's divine soul…"

Jiang Ding looked at the pale-blue fragments scattered across his Sea of Consciousness and could not help but feel a chill in his heart.

Instinct told him these things held tremendous benefit for his divine soul — like a Taotie starved for ten thousand years seeing fine food, like a lecherous ghost seeing a peerless beauty half-hidden, half-revealed — an overwhelming greed welled up within him, as if the hope of his divine soul's evolution, of his foundation drawing one step closer, lay right before his eyes.

Jiang Ding loathed this kind of uncontrollable instinct.

"Instinct is not always correct."

Jiang Ding murmured.

"If instinct were always correct, this entire universe and starry sky should belong wholly to Innate Bloodline beings, and have nothing to do with humanity."

"Instincts from when one is weak have many flaws…"

He possessed the complete inheritances of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion and Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, and naturally knew the terrifying aspects of this kind of foreign, high-grade divine soul essence.

Celestial Being divine soul essence.

Indeed, in the eyes of Soul Transformation cultivators — even the Soul Transformation cultivators of the upper realm's Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong sect-prince level — Celestial Being divine soul essence was pure and flawless, far more precious and pure than eighth-grade divine soul heavenly materials and earthly treasures found in nature, with not the slightest impurity to be found.

Let alone Soul Transformation cultivators — even Void Refinement cultivators, even Dao Merging Divine Monarchs could not find any impurity in it.

By many definitions, these Celestial Being divine soul essences were peerless fortuitous encounters, capable of letting a cultivator's divine soul transcend, of elevating their essence, of soaring to the heavens, of never being ordinary again from that day forth.

However, on the level of becoming an immortal, on the level of forging an immortal or Jiang Jiang Jinxian-grade foundation — what were these Celestial Being divine soul essences?

The most terrifying poison!

In an instant they could contaminate a cultivator's divine soul, staining it with the aura of this deceased Celestial Being, making it impossible for the rest of their life to ever break through above the Celestial Being realm.

Was this consequence terrifying?

For some people, it was not terrifying at all — a smile and they moved on.

For some people, it was no less than the most vicious curse in the world; the remaining hundred-plus thousand years of their life would be spent in resentment, cursing this so-called fortuitous encounter that left their cultivation unable to advance an inch.

"No."

"I absolutely cannot let these things stain my Sword Soul."

Jiang Ding formed hand seals, laying down Six Paths seals one after another.

One after another, Six Paths worlds appeared in the air — the Celestial Being world, the Hungry Ghost world, the Animal world… each one descended to suppress, ring within ring, sealing these divine soul essences to prevent any accident.

Although these things were vicious, they were likewise extremely precious.

They could be used to study beings of the Celestial Being realm; for Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong they were a peerless fortuitous encounter, and held major significance for the further evolution of the Central Array Spirit Computer.

They could also be refined into divine soul pills, and after further grinding away impurities, bestowed upon family and old friends.

—Many family and old friends

were originally unable to break through above Celestial Being for their entire lives anyway; the vicious consequences of this kind of pill did not exist for them.

Of course, this was a measure of last resort.

If many friends originally had the ability to break through, Jiang Ding naturally would not take out this kind of thing and disorder their Dao hearts.

Jiang Ding carefully finished sealing them, then began reading the scattered memories within these divine soul fragments.

For a wisp of a Celestial Being's remnant soul, he had no qualification to speak of Soul Search.

However, this wisp of a Celestial Being's remnant soul had actively burrowed into his Sea of Consciousness, and was then defeated, shattering into many divine soul fragments — these scattered, unsystematic memories were now his spoils of war.

Jiang Ding's divine sense poured into a slightly larger pale-blue fragment, which carried a trace of Six Paths Reincarnation's aura.

"Six Paths reincarnation, rebirth, the wheel of rebirth…"

The moment Jiang Ding's divine sense poured into it, his heart gave a jolt.

The Ancient God Path's Six Paths Reincarnation was completely different from his own — their research direction was the reincarnation and rebirth from mythological tales, exhausting every method to let themselves live on, to live a second life, a third life.

By contrast, his and Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Art focused entirely on the present — the most efficient energy utilization, the most efficient concealment ability — possessing a heroic ambition of achieving immortality in one life, or dying in the attempt.

"Reincarnation, rebirth, the wheel of rebirth…"

Jiang Ding was greatly shaken.

This was practically the near-immortal ability from myth!

Had the Ancient God Path achieved it?

Had the Ancient God Ancestor truly died?

Jiang Ding's divine sense swiftly spread in all directions, using his innate perception of the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Art to specifically gather those memories containing the Ancient God Path's Six Paths Reincarnation, reading through them one by one.

The memories within these divine soul fragments were extremely scattered and broken, jumbled and incoherent; if it were anyone else, even a Dao Merging cultivator would grow dizzy and muddled — but for him, as long as he connected them slightly above and below, he could understand them completely; there was no difficulty.

Not long after, Jiang Ding finished reading all the memories related to the Ancient God Path's Six Paths Reincarnation, a look of delight appearing on his face, along with some disappointment.

"The Ancient God Path did not achieve the reincarnation and rebirth of legend, the True Spirit's indestructibility."

"Even the Ancient God Ancestor only lived through a second life — that is, the second-generation Dao Lord of the Ancient God Path — and in a mere hundred thousand years met with ill omens, dying suddenly before even half a Celestial Being's lifespan, the reincarnation art harboring enormous flaws…"

Jiang Ding showed a look of deep regret.

These Ancient God Path Six Paths Reincarnation studies held tremendous value for him; there was a great deal to draw from, almost like encountering a kindred spirit, a fellow Daoist.

"From what we can see now, the Ancient God Path's reincarnation art has many major flaws."

"First, after reincarnation, the reincarnated person is in fact only a 'pseudo-reincarnation' — merely using the Six Paths Reincarnation to let their main divine soul slumber

?? greatly delaying the passage of their lifespan. This Six Paths Slumber technique holds major value for Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong; it should allow Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's slumber techniques to achieve a major breakthrough, with reduced costs."

"Second, during the reincarnation process, the cultivator's divine soul will be contaminated, developing attachment and bonds to the new body and new relationships, carrying a great risk of losing oneself — which is why back then the Ancient God Ancestor slaughtered the powerful races he had reincarnated into, again and again, to complete the self-purification of his divine soul."

"Third, the possibility of divine soul aberration increases dramatically…"

Now, Jiang Ding understood the reason the Ancient God Path's Ancient God Token was divided into 'Yin Token' and 'Yang Token' — the Yang Token belonged to true Ancient God Path disciples; the holders of the Yin Token were reserve bodies for the high-level members of the Ancient God Path to reincarnate into.

This was a life-extending Body-Snatching secret art further developed by the Ancient God Path cultivators after the Ancient God Ancestor, whose cultivation of the Six Paths Reincarnation art was not yet perfected — it could extend a cultivator's lifespan by twenty to thirty percent, with the best Body-Snatching targets being the prodigies within the realm domains, and they would forever lose the hope of advancing further.

"Reincarnation… I do not need it."

"This method has too many flaws; even the Ancient God Ancestor died because of it."

Jiang Ding shook his head slightly, disliking the Ancient God Ancestor's path.

All in all, he was fairly satisfied with this haul. He had obtained more of the Six Paths of Reincarnation's legacy, which carried enormous reference value and would inevitably push forward the structure of his own Six Paths of Reincarnation. The order of the Six Paths would grow stronger, and his foundation would be further consolidated.

Jiang Ding sorted through these fragments of knowledge concerning the Six Paths' turning, then continued examining the memories contained in the other divine soul fragments. He focused especially on searching for the history of the ancient god patriarch and the fourth-generation Lord of the Ancient God Dao, to determine whether, in this cluster of worlds, there had ever existed living beings above the level of Merging with the Dao.