Divine Emperor of Death

Chapter 4429: The Divine Exalt Grade Cultivation Manual

”Elder sis!”

Stella was one of the first ones to spot Natalya.

She joyfully rushed over and slammed into Natalya, but with the power of yin, Natalya gracefully caught Stella and spun around with her, their peals of laughter echoing throughout the entrance to the Second Void Dust Sanctuary.

”Elder sister Tanya!”

She then jumped to Tanya and kept jumping before her.

Tanya smiled lightly, ”You’re not a kid anymore. Be more mindful.”

”Hehe~”

Stella giggled. She then looked as though she suddenly realized something.

”Ah... did you all travel all the way from the Frozen Wasteland Lower Realm? You could’ve just gone to the Seventh Void Dust Sanctuary, and I would’ve teleported you from there to here.”

”Obviously, we didn’t want to go to the Lust Garden Lower Realm.”

Natalya shrugged. She then gazed at the entrance, expectant.

She wondered if he would be rushing out by now or if he was somewhere else. Tanya also looked there while Bing Luli held a complicated expression on her face, knowing it wasn’t her place to be waiting for anyone or interrupting their reunion.

So she didn’t go before them.

Stella noticed the atmosphere, ”Ah, big brother is in closed doors seclusion deeply. We have strict orders to not disturb him if it’s not too dangerous.”

Natalya turned to look at Stella with shock, ”I see...”

She smiled, ”He’s improving his cultivation as expected. Guess I should also seclude myself and fully study the intricacies of my manual.”

”When did he enter?” Tanya asked.

”It’s been five months already.” Stella responded, ”Only elder sisters Everlight and Myria are allowed to see him during this time since they can help him cultivate.”

”I see.”

Tanya lowered her head.

”Don’t worry. At least we made it back home safely instead of going to the Upper Realms.” Natalya comforted her.

”Mhm.” Tanya nodded.

Certainly, waiting for him was better than longing for him in some place that wasn’t near him.

The two of them then entered the mini-realm.

Bing Luli also entered. She didn’t know if she felt happy or sad since she also wanted to talk to him but wasn’t ready to do so. She felt nervous and afraid of being rejected again. However, she also agreed that Davis was a busy man with his cultivation and women.

She felt the chances that he would agree was very low, making her reconsider facing him this year.

’Maybe next year...’ She thought to herself, feeling her nervousness fade.

After Natalya and Tanya returned to the mansion, they were welcomed by Evelynn and Fiora, their expressions joyous.

They didn’t expect Natalya to return just like that without informing them. It was a pleasant surprise, so everyone was happier than the norm. They had a lot of fun talking about the events that happened for nearly two days.

Many other women from the harem joined them too.

Natalya did take a break to leave and meet her parents. However, she came back soon and joined in the conversation.

Finally, there were only Natalya, Fiora, Myria, Evelynn, Mingzhi, and Tanya left.

They all looked at the jade slip, going through the Divine Exalt Stage cultivation manual one by one, while Myria also specifically read through the manual and the divine art, trying to find if it had any strange mnemonics that controlled or hypnotized a person.

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her opinion.

Myria kept the jade slip down and first prefaced by saying, ”This is my first time looking through anything that is from the next grade, so please don’t fully believe my words, as what I’m going to say is nothing but my speculation.”

Natalya and the others nodded.

Myria took a breath. She found it highly interesting that she wanted to read more about the Divine Exalt Stage.

She leaned back slightly, her starry eyes shimmering with intrigue as she spoke slowly and clearly.

”At the Divine Exalt Stage,” she began, ”the cultivation systems of the body, essence, and soul... begin to truly unify. The Empyrean Vessel is the amalgamation of the Immortal Vessel and the Immortal Soul Vessel. There’s no longer a serious difference between the two. But in the Divine Exalt Stage, that difference completely fades away. I presume it is also the same in the Exalt Stage since there shouldn’t be much difference between the two except-”

The others leaned closer, their expressions serious.

Myria pointed to the jade slip, tapping lightly.

”-the Godskull. This manual explains that a cultivator, upon reaching the Divine Exalt Stage, must begin the process of condensing what is known as a Godskull.”

She paused, allowing the others to consume the knowledge before she continued.

”The Godskull is a core divine construct that forms within the north of the Empyrean Vessel where the upper dantian is located. It’s something akin to a divine nucleus of faith, a focal point for containing the divinity and Will of oneself.”

”Godskull...?” Fiora murmured, frowning slightly, ”That sounds ominous.”

”It’s not meant to be morbid,” Myria said with a slight smile, ”The skull symbolizes divinity taking a mental form, a deity’s command, vision, and doctrine all fused into a spiritual vessel. Once formed, this Godskull allows a cultivator to directly convert faith energy into strength.”

”Faith energy?” Mingzhi blinked, ”Like what deities from ancient myths used to consume to grow and expand their influence?”

”Exactly,” Myria nodded, ”Except this system doesn’t rely on worship in the traditional religious sense of mortals. Even simple admiration, reverence, or even obsession from one’s followers will do. Those who believe in you... whether out of love, fear, or devotion will tend to empower you.”

Natalya narrowed her eyes, ”That sounds... dangerous. Isn’t it easy to become a tyrant that way?”

”It is,” Myria said solemnly, ”That’s why this cultivation method was banned. The Godskull doesn’t distinguish between righteous and wicked faith. It only cares about sincerity and strength of belief. We could assume those with unstable hearts are often devoured by their own Godskulls, either mentally or spiritually. They could go insane, but at the same time, their Will is also incredibly dense, unable to be penetrated.”

Tanya’s brows furrowed, ”So what happens if you don’t have followers?”

”Then I assume your Divine Exalt cultivation stagnates, or worse... collapses. Without enough faith, the Godskull withers, cracking the Exalt Vessel and fracturing your inner world.”

Myria paused before adding, ”Or that might not happen. But if it did happen, there should be other ways to supplement it. We just don’t know what it is then.”

Mingzhi sneered, ”So this is the stage where people start building religions around themselves?”

”Yes, but not always,” Myria responded, ”The most common path among those who wish to stay in control is to gather faith from massive amounts of people, but the other method is to cultivate a tight circle of faithful, like family, lovers, disciples, or soul-bound followers. The Forsaken Yin Lotus Manual is the latter where it collects faith energy from the numerous practitioners who follow the path of severance using the Forsaken Yin Lotus Manual.”

”Oh.” Mingzhi reacted, ”So that’s why the Forsaken Yin Divine Priestess was too strong. She was just an Empyrean but used faith energy to become so powerful. Wait... wasn’t she just an Empyrean? How did she form a Godskull already?”

”She couldn’t have formed a Godskull. I think it was just the secret realm gathering the faith and placing it into her.” Natalya said, ”Besides, it might also have something to do with the Forsaken Yin Divine Art’s third scripture, a technique to gather and use faith energy with even more severance, making it powerful.”

”I see...” Mingzhi nodded.

She wondered what method to go with next when Myria suddenly said.

”That’s why the bond Davis shares with us... can become a solid foundation for his rise. We all have faith- worship him in one way or another.”

Everyone fell silent.

”But he’s not going with that cultivation manual, is he?” After a pause, Mingzhi asked.

”Yes, he said he didn’t want to take the Divine Exalt path.” Myria lightly smiled.

”That prideful rogue.” Mingzhi’s lips curled, ”He thinks he doesn’t need the help of others.”

”No,” Natalya giggled, ”Darling just has enough confidence in his own powers. Besides, if he really does follow the Divine Exalt Stage, then creating a Godskull suitable to the Unfettered Earthly Reincarnation Scripture would be practically impossible in this decade or half a century at best. Isn’t that right, elder sister Myria?”

”That’s right.” Myria nodded, ”Creating a Godskull isn’t an easy matter. It takes an incredible amount of time to research, especially for us since our powers concerns reincarnation. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it can never be researched due to some karmic burden or a blockade from the heavens. Even if we Divergents could break it, the time it would take would be astronomical. It is better to follow the path of an Exalt rather than a Divine Exalt-”

”-not to mention finding the resources required to create the Godskull. Each and every one of them is unique for each Divine Exalt Grade Cultivation Manual, and it is no different for the Forsaken Yin Lotus Manual.”

”So what does Natalya need to create the Godskull at the Divine Exalt Stage?”

Everyone except Natalya stared at Myria. They had read the name but didn’t know what it was or where it could be found. They had never heard about it.

They doubted Myria knew of it either but they still wanted to know.