Chapter 424: External Incarnation, Achieved!

Is this Cloud Sorrow Mountain?

Gazing at the distant towering mountain that pierced the clouds, even Yunhe was somewhat surprised.

A mountain ten thousand zhang high, but it's not merely an exaggeration.

Almost half of the entire mountain is hidden within thick cloud layers, and above the waist it is already covered with thick snow.

As for how to sneak in, for Yunhe it's not difficult.

He first suppressed his cultivation base, concealed his aura, and silently entered Yun Chou Mountain.

Afterward.

Following the mountain path straight up, he avoided the many so-called demon beast 'outposts'.

Actually, for a place like Yun Chou Mountain, who would expect a Fourth Level early-stage demon beast to be so bold, sneaking in silently?

Ordinary Fourth Level demon beasts, hindered by Yun Chou Mountain's strength and the power of the three demon kings, dare not even approach, let alone learn to infiltrate; thus Yunhe's passage was so smooth that even he felt surprised.

On his person at this moment, two streams of completely different magical power fluctuations entwined.

Yunhe, having infiltrated Yun Chou Mountain, discovered in a relatively secluded corner that five Fierce Wind Pythons were bullying a late Second Stage spirit tortoise, which could only curl up in its shell and grit its teeth in endurance.

On the mountain, most demon beasts are distributed in a ladder-like manner according to strength; the closer to the foot, the weaker they are, but even the weakest are Second Stage demon beasts.

And another category is the Fierce Wind Python clan.

The cultivation world.

The other side is pitch-black, filled with rolling corpse qi, as if countless corpse souls wail faintly.

Originally.

Even.

The reason Yun Chou Mountain can simultaneously host three great Fourth Level demon beasts is that its own spiritual energy is quite abundant.

"Little guy, want revenge?"

Soon he arrived at the mountainside of Yun Chou Mountain.

Thus.

Funny enough, this spirit tortoise shows a bit of spine; it shrinks into its shell, silently memorizing the appearance of those few Fierce Wind Pythons, adopting the posture of 'a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late'.

But the spirit tortoise clan can do little about it.

Obviously, the Fierce Wind Python clan belongs to the group of mid-Fourth Level Three-Headed Fierce Wind Pythons; its numbers far exceed those of the spirit tortoise clan. If the spirit tortoise clan were not the 'landlord', given the strength of the Three-Headed Fierce Wind Pythons, the spirit tortoise clan's living conditions would likely be heavily exploited.

One side shines with five colors, emanating the light of the Five Elements, surging with strong Five Elements magical power.

Yunhe, sitting cross-legged upon the azure lotus, had a tranquil mind, his brows furrowed, and a hint of pain showed between his eyebrows.

Faced with the powerful and domineering Fierce Wind Python clan, the spirit tortoise clan could only repeatedly yield, yield again and yield.

It must be said.

The closer to the summit, the more abundant the spiritual energy.

The demon sense spread out extremely covertly.

It is the spirit tortoise clan that originally occupied Yun Chou Mountain; this clan is governed by an early Fourth Level Black Tortoise, belonging to its subordinate groups, and also because the heavenly pool native to this mountain resides here, its status is rather special.

Such a situation made Yunhe feel both annoyed and amused.

Besides, there are two types of demon beasts that are exceptions.

Even the Heavenly Pool that the spirit tortoise clan relies on for survival has now been occupied by the Fierce Wind Python clan for about half.

Yunhe sat cross-legged upon the congealed fat ice-clear lotus, his eyes tightly closed.

After Yunhe had consolidated the matter of condensing the earth-traveling spiritual body and drawn the talisman for that earth-traveling spiritual body, it was time for him to choose to leave seclusion.

To be honest, among those five Fierce Wind Pythons, only one had reached late Second Stage; the rest were merely mid Second Stage or even early Second Stage, yet that spirit tortoise had little intention to resist.

A single person's body actually displayed two completely different streams of magical power fluctuations; if others saw it, they'd likely think he'd gone berserk from cultivation, or even suspect he was being possessed.

One type.

Infuriatingly, this spirit tortoise is clearly not weak, its talent and ability not inferior to those Fierce Wind Pythons at all, yet it dares not resist in the slightest, making him, a fellow tortoise-type demon beast, feel quite speechless.

Moreover.

Regarding this, the spirit tortoise clan's interior already harbors considerable resentment, even part of it directed at that early Fourth Level Black Tortoise clan chief; but even so, it cannot change the spirit tortoise clan's current awkward situation.

Moreover, the commotion here is not small by any means, yet no demon beast dares to approach.

At this moment, it is actually a divine ability he has been cultivating that has reached its most critical juncture.

Inside the cultivation chamber of the Fan family's estate.

But even so, the Fierce Wind Python clan now occupies most of Yun Chou Mountain's valuable resources.

Because their current chieftain, that early Fourth Level Black Tortoise, is no match for the Three-Headed Fierce Wind Python, and furthermore they must maintain a superficial 'friendly' situation.

Yunhe silently stood aside, watching for a long time, when suddenly his mind stirred.

Just like now.

Just.

When he was preparing to leave seclusion, he discovered.

The assimilation process of the second Yuan Ying with his own Yuan Ying had actually reached the final critical moment.

He immediately discarded all distracting thoughts and exerted himself fully to assimilate the second Yuan Ying.

Cultivating the divine ability of the second Yuan Ying.

Actually, the assimilation of Yuan Ying, while taking the longest time, is also the safest and lowest-risk process; as long as the primary Yuan Ying is not overly depleted, causing the second Yuan Ying to overturn the guest-host relationship, no major mishap will occur.

The most troublesome part is that condensing the second Yuan Ying cannot, like condensing the first Yuan Ying, naturally break the elixir to form the infant; thus there is no gradual progression.

The only viable method is to invade and seize the Yuan Ying of other Yuan Ying cultivators, erase their divine awareness, then use one's own divine awareness to assimilate the Yuan Ying.

Let alone discussing how difficult it is to seize a Yuan Ying cultivator's Yuan Ying without damage; even a late-stage great Yuan Ying cultivator cannot easily do so when facing an early-stage Yuan Ying cultivator.

Simply speaking, after seizing the Yuan Ying, how great is the risk of the secret art to erase the Yuan Ying's divine awareness, and how low is the success rate.

The second trouble is that after the second Nascent Soul finishes assimilating with the primary Nascent Soul, the divine sense, divine soul, and consciousness diverge.

In short.

For the second Nascent Soul to possess an autonomous consciousness identical to that of the primary Nascent Soul, it must have a small portion of its own divine sense and divine soul infused into it.

The pain of splitting one's own divine sense and divine soul can be imagined.

Only someone ruthless enough toward themselves can achieve this.

Moreover, if any mishap occurs during this process, not only might the second Nascent Soul fail to fully form, but the primary Nascent Soul could also suffer irreparable damage.

Fortunately.

Because Yunhe cultivated the "Thousand Insects Myriad Worms Art," his divine sense and divine soul have always been his strengths.

After studying and practicing part of the Abyssal Tribe's divine sense secret arts, his control over his own divine sense became even stronger.

Most importantly.

Cultivating the "Thousand Insects Myriad Worms Art" is essentially a repeated torment of the divine sense and divine soul; thus, while splitting off a small portion of the divine soul might be difficult for other cultivators, for Yunhe it is actually within an acceptable range.

And when he employs the secret technique to split off a portion of his divine soul and infuse it into the second Nascent Soul,

Buzz—

In his dantian's qi sea, two infants nearly identical in appearance but differing completely in attire, expression, and aura suddenly opened their eyes.

The primary Nascent Soul is a Five Elements Nascent Soul, wearing a five‑colored patchwork robe, surrounded by phantasmal Five Elements spirit beasts, stepping on the Subduing Demon Armor, clutching a Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword, with snow‑white ice‑wind wings sprouting from its back, and five‑elemental mana surging over it, imposing without anger.

The second Nascent Soul is a Corpse‑transformed Nascent Soul, clad in a black robe, its complexion pallid, bearing an evil, cunning smile, holding a black‑white banner, and corpse‑kill qi roiling over its body.

The two Nascent Souls gaze at each other, their relationship alternating between intimacy and estrangement, even repulsion.

Meanwhile, Yunhe, with his eyes tightly shut, suddenly felt his complexion change as a flood of crazy thoughts surged into his heart.

This is the strangeness brought about by condensing the second Nascent Soul and the split divine soul suddenly accepting another identity, compounded by the fact that the path his second Nascent Soul cultivates is not a benevolent one, which only exacerbates the situation.

For a moment.

Endless madness seemed about to surge from that second Nascent Soul, tugging at Yunhe's Dao heart, truly giving rise to signs of qi deviation and demonic possession!

"For one person's thoughts to split into two people, even if they are completely identical, this is inherently a mad thing."

Yunhe suddenly opened his eyes.

At this moment he appeared extremely uncanny.

In one eye five‑colored radiance flowed, while the other eye had no white at all, only endless blackness, as if it could devour everything.

But Yunhe remained extremely composed, even unable to restrain a burst of hearty laughter twice.

"Whether it is a backup left by the Yinyin Old Ancestor or something left by the so‑called 'Woodcutter of Hanging Mirror Lake,' this Nascent Soul is now completely under my control—how could you departed ones still have any say?"

"Pfft!"

Behind him, a pair of snow‑white wings suddenly appeared.

Beneath him, the congealed‑fat ice‑clear lotus coiled, sending up wisps of green silk that spiraled upward.

Yunhe's thoughts gradually grew clear, his consciousness ever more lucid, as he formed seals with his hand signs.

The corpse‑kill qi that welled forth was forcibly pressed back by his own five‑elemental mana with absolute force.

Moreover.

He used the "Return to One" secret art from the "External Incarnation Technique" to completely eradicate all thoughts born of the second Nascent Soul, achieving a "formatting" effect.

This "Return to One" art guarantees that the second Nascent Soul will not betray nor give rise to any thoughts of overthrowing the host.

As long as the second Nascent Soul does not stray too far or remain too long from the primary Nascent Soul, periodically casting the "Return to One" art to synchronize their memories can reduce the risk of betrayal to a minimum.

One could even say it completely erases that risk.

Yet those who possess such a second Nascent Soul's divine ability and aid but do not employ it are exceedingly few; no matter how one puts it, this is an extraordinarily profound divine ability, which causes most cultivators who train in it to perish because of it.

However, Yunhe's goal is very clear.

He cultivates the second Nascent Soul solely to assist his own cultivation.

"Come out!"

Yunhe slapped his storage bag.

A corpse‑refined Nascent Soul with a dull, vacant gaze appeared before him.

Immediately thereafter, he hesitated not at all, slapped his dantian, and instantly a black‑robed infant was kicked out.

Yet this was done by the primary Nascent Soul.

It wrinkled its little face, gazed at its own feet lifted mid‑air, and twitched its nose.

Meanwhile, the black infant that had been kicked, under Yunhe's spell, fled into the opposing corpse‑refined Nascent Soul.

Although this corpse has already been refined into a corpse‑refined body, it is ultimately the flesh most compatible with the second Nascent Soul—the very body originally belonging to that Nascent Soul.

Thereafter.

The two utterly different mana fluctuations that originally entwined around Yunhe now wound around the two separated bodies.

Moreover.

With the infusion of the second Nascent Soul, the appearance of that corpse‑refined Nascent Soul also began to change bit by bit.

Time passed, unknown how long.

Buzz—

Yunhe suddenly opened his eyes; a flash of light passed, and in his pupils reflected a figure almost identical to himself.

He looked up.

The person before him indeed looked exactly like him, except that his brows bore a hint more of gloom, the smile playing at his lips tinged with a touch of evil, he wore a dark‑wide robe, his complexion slightly pallid, yet his aura was unmistakably that of an early‑stage Nascent Soul!

Gazing at his external incarnation, Yunhe felt a strange sensation, as if there were two of himself.

It was somewhat like looking in a mirror, but because the external incarnation cultivates a different law from the main body, this "mirror" feels somewhat uncanny.

"I am Yunhe; pleased to meet you, fellow Daoist."

Yunhe suddenly felt mischievous, and, laughing, performed a salute toward his external incarnation.

His external incarnation, sharing the same thought, also laughed and returned the salute with clasped fists, saying, "I too am Yunhe; nice to meet you, fellow Daoist."

The two bodies looked at each other and smiled.

From then on, he no longer needed to worry that his cultivation would be too much for his energy to keep up.

Moreover.

In a Dharma battle, his external incarnation is also a tremendous aid, and under unexpected circumstances it can accomplish many things.

The only real hassle is probably the cultivation method practiced by his external incarnation.

Sin-Buddha Sword Canon.

This cultivation method originates from the Cloud Realm; although his external incarnation need not worry about the method before reaching mid Nascent Soul, if he wishes to advance further he will likely have to make a trip to the Cloud Realm to find the continuation of the method.

Of course, switching cultivation methods is also an option, but it is a last resort; he would consider it only if he truly could not find a continuation of the Sin-Buddha Sword Canon.

Besides that, the external incarnation's Dharma treasure and natal Dharma treasure also pose a problem.

Yunhe could first lend the Beast Soul Banner to his external incarnation for use, but without a natal Dharma treasure that matches the cultivation method, the external incarnation's strength could never be fully exerted.

"However, there's no need to rush the matters of Dharma treasures and later cultivation methods; you first supplementally cultivate this method to increase your means."

He threw out a Jade Slip.

It records the "Desire" chapter of the "Ultimate Bliss Seven Emotions Technique" cultivated by the Extreme Joy Elder Ancestor.

Within this technique, there are still many secret arts that catch Yunhe's eye.

If he truly decides to switch cultivation methods in the future, this "Ultimate Bliss Seven Emotions Technique" will be Yunhe's first choice.

Just the "Desire" chapter alone gives the Extreme Joy Elder Ancestor such strength; it's hard to imagine how powerful the technique would be if all seven emotions were gathered.

"Understood, true self." The incarnation took the Jade Slip, nodded, and replied.

(End of chapter)