Chapter 197: Absorbing Golden Nature, The Book of Hundred Lives Changes!

"Golden Core..."

Watching Master Chongguang True Person and his Cave of Blazing Fortune rise higher and higher, soaring toward Fu Deng Huo, Lu Yang withdrew his gaze with no small amount of envy.

'No rush; I will have my day eventually.'

With the Book of Hundred Lives in his possession, Lu Yang had never doubted his own future; as long as he proceeded step by step, leaving solid footprints, he would inevitably reach the peak!

Of course, that was a matter for the future.

"It's too far off to be thinking about the Golden Core now; better to examine the spoils first." Lu Yang shifted his gaze to the golden nature left behind by Master Chongguang True Person.

Then he froze.

For at that very moment, the illusory panel of the Book of Hundred Lives suddenly materialized out of thin air and, like a starving dog pouncing on food, directly swallowed that strand of golden nature!

'Holy crap!'

In that instant, Lu Yang was nearly scared out of his wits; golden nature was conspicuous enough as it was, not to mention that since Master Chongguang True Person was currently breaking through, at least two-thirds of the True Persons under heaven were observing, either openly or secretly, yet the Book of Hundred Lives had directly swallowed the golden nature—wasn't that blatantly admitting something was wrong!

Thinking of this, Lu Yang instantly felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

He feared someone would suddenly appear behind him and ask, "What are you doing?" only to be seized by a giant hand descending from the heavens and refined on the spot.

A moment later, Lu Yang finally let out a breath so faint it was barely perceptible.

No one had come.

'It really has to be you, Book of Hundred Lives!'

A cheat was indeed different! Swallowing a strand of golden nature right under the noses of so many True Persons without being detected undoubtedly put Lu Yang much more at ease.

However, after the relief came confusion; ever since he transmigrated, the Book of Hundred Lives had never shown the slightest interest in anything other than himself, making this its first time actively swallowing an external object, which involuntarily sparked a thought in his mind: Could golden nature replenish the book's pages?

A hundred lives were simply too few!

In this wretched place, every step of cultivation was like walking on thin ice; with merely a hundred lives, Lu Yang was confident he could achieve the Golden Core, but he had not the slightest confidence regarding the Nascent Soul.

But if golden nature could replenish the page count, then it wouldn't matter.

After all, even now, he had two refresh points for golden nature: "Master Chongguang" and "Innate Dao Calamity," allowing him to harvest a wave every single life.

It was equivalent to infinite life extension!

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately looked excitedly at the interface of the Book of Hundred Lives, but as information flowed into his mind, his expression turned strange.

The bad news was that golden nature could not replenish the page count.

The good news, however, was—

'Settling another person's life?'

Lu Yang looked at the data on the Book of Hundred Lives interface, an odd expression on his face: 'Golden nature is useless to the Book of Hundred Lives; what is useful are the experiences contained within.'

So-called golden nature was the essence of a person's soul, the true self-nature refined by stacking a lifetime of thoughts, ideas, and countless experiences; it contained that person's entire life, and this was what the Book of Hundred Lives wanted to swallow, equivalent to a virtual simulation!

'After swallowing, the Book of Hundred Lives can settle that life.'

'This settlement differs from the one after each of my restarts; I cannot bring back treasures or cultivation base; the only thing I can bring back is talent based on that life.'

'... ood stuff!'

In an instant, Lu Yang's eyes lit up brightly; although being unable to bring back cultivation base and treasures was somewhat regrettable, being able to calculate talent was still incredibly powerful!

He had always been very clear about how strong the talents provided by the Book of Hundred Lives were.

Alas, every time he reborn, he had more important things to redeem, so he had never drawn for talents until now, but this time was different!

'Master Chongguang's talent must be golden!'

He was, after all, a Great True Person at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment; the richness of his life experiences absolutely qualified him as a legend of his generation, surely yielding a golden talent.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately moved his mind.

'Settle!'

The next second, a faint glow began to emerge on the Book of Hundred Lives, transforming into streams of data that finally coalesced into dense lines of text.

【Settling experiences for "Master Chongguang"...】

【As a strand of "Xin Metal Qi," one of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha, you obtained a great opportunity, unexpectedly giving birth to spiritual wisdom and becoming a celestial spirit born of heaven and earth.】

"... elestial spirit?"

Lu Yang's gaze paused; he knew of this thing, for previously, Blood Demon True Person had suffered heavenly punishment precisely because he accidentally slew a celestial spirit.

Celestial spirits were beings born of heaven and earth, possessing innate status; as long as they gave birth to spiritual wisdom, they would receive the support of heaven and earth, making them natural Foundation Establishment True Persons, while their strength was also fixed, depending on their roots before awakening wisdom, with the strongest celestial spirits even comparable to those at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

Could Master Chongguang True Person actually be a reincarnated celestial spirit?

"No wonder his Daoist title is 'Master Chongguang,' which is itself an alternative name for Xin Metal Qi; with such profound roots, no wonder he gained the high regard of the Holy Sect's True Persons..."

Meanwhile, the settlement content of the Book of Hundred Lives continued to appear.

【As a celestial spirit, you were highly ambitious; unwilling to accept that your strength could not improve, after deep consideration, you reincarnated and joined the Chusheng Sect.】

【You gained the high regard of the Holy Sect's True Persons.】

【At the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, you finally reached the most critical step of your life: ascending to seek gold; success meant transcendence, failure meant continued sinking.】

【Thinking of this, you were filled with determination.】

The data stream halted abruptly here, perhaps because the time when Master Chongguang True Person refined this strand of golden nature ended here, leaving no further text.

Soon, all the data streams began to collapse and converge, and finally—

Brilliant golden light burst forth!

'Wow! A golden legend!'

Lu Yang instantly perked up, staring fixedly at the information on the panel:

【You have obtained the Golden Talent: Innate Celestial Spirit.】

【Innate Celestial Spirit: When you restart and reincarnate, you can use this talent to change your roots, designating the acquisition of a "Celestial Spirit" identity status.】

'A talent only usable upon reincarnation...'

Lu Yang almost immediately realized the power of this talent; a celestial spirit! Receiving the support of heaven and earth, with comprehension, talent, and luck all maxed out!

However, soon he furrowed his brows again.

'It's not without flaws; changing roots means I must start from scratch? With a celestial spirit body, won't the starting location also be different?'

Currently, his starting locations were only two: the day he first entered the Holy Sect, and Mount Luofeng after Foundation Establishment, while this golden talent, "Innate Celestial Spirit," in a sense, opened a temporary starting point for him, usable only once, unable to restart again.

At first glance, it seemed useless.

However, Lu Yang saw the key point: designating the acquisition of a "Celestial Spirit" status meant he wouldn't necessarily start within the Holy Sect anymore!

There was plenty of room for maneuver here!

'After all, if I want to primarily cultivate toward achieving First Grade True Qi in the future and walk the path of Empty Proof, I must inevitably seek collective wisdom and draw on the strengths of various schools.'

But his current roots were too rigid.

Starting as a disciple of the Holy Sect, with roots red and sprouts black, aside from the Pure Land being willing to accept him, the Sword Pavilion and the Dao Court would absolutely never accept his defection.

However, with "Innate Celestial Spirit," everything would be different.

After all, being born of heaven and earth, who could have a cleaner background than a celestial spirit?

Overseas, the Sword Pavilion, the Dao Court—as long as he wished, he could completely start from another faction and then, through restarting, return to the Holy Sect without any karmic ties!

Thinking of this, Lu Yang felt somewhat excited.

However, just at that moment.

"Boom!!!"

Suddenly, a earth-shattering clap of thunder exploded in the dome of the sky, echoing not only in the present world but also spreading within the Foundation Establishment realm riding the Bi Wind.

Immediately after, everyone heard a shrill, desperate roar filled with indignation:

"No——!!!"

(End of Chapter)