Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 296: Chapter 164: Fleecing a Sheep, Divine Soul Shield Skill

Merging spirit and soul is simple. Forging one’s physical body and qi and blood in a single crucible isn’t difficult either. But to merge all four? The difficulty is on a whole other level.

Spirit and soul; body and qi and blood.

It wasn’t as if these four concepts were completely unrelated.

In fact, given that they all combined to form the “human body,” they were inherently connected.

But to unify all four—one could sense the difficulty just by thinking about it.

Li Chang’an had pioneered the use of acupoints through the Martial Scripture.

Each time he refined an acupoint, his strength would take a qualitative leap.

But this was merely building on the work of others, and the increase in strength was still largely confined to the physical body. Only a very small number of acupoints could affect his soul and spirit.

His opponent, however, was even more incredible. He had actually managed to forge the four aspects of his entire being in a single crucible, creating the Divine Soul Flame that could incinerate anything!

Cultivators were powerful because Spiritual Qi itself was a superior form of energy.

Cultivators who practiced by absorbing Spiritual Qi already held a great advantage over Evolvers on other paths, and the Cultivation system itself was inherently powerful.

These two factors combined to create an evolutionary path with an extremely high ceiling.

But now, this Power of the Divine Soul—cultivated by forging a Martial Artist’s spirit, qi and blood, soul, and body in a single crucible—showed Li Chang’an a brand-new, wide-open path for the Martial Dao!

That Child of Destiny named Lu Shang didn’t seem particularly bright, and he loved to show off and act tough. But who would have thought he was actually a true genius!

’Then again, if he weren’t a supreme genius, the kind rarely seen even in tens of thousands of years, the Will of the world wouldn’t have invested so much in him, nor would it have singled him out for such special favor among the countless masses.’

At this thought, Li Chang’an forced himself to calm down.

’To be perfectly honest,’ Li Chang’an thought, ’when it comes to the Martial Dao, even if the Martial Scripture isn’t enough to establish a whole new school, it’s definitely one of the strongest evolutionary paths out there.’

’Now, if I can learn the method for coalescing a Divine Soul in this world, I might be able to add a whole new Chapter to the Martial Scripture!’

The thought made Li Chang’an’s heart pound, and his breathing grew ragged.

Unfortunately, although the Divine Soul Flame was right in his palm, it only allowed him to grasp the principles of the Divine Soul’s existence; it couldn’t help him immediately reverse-engineer the Cultivation Method.

To deduce the Cultivation Method for the Divine Soul, he could either find Lu Shang and force him to hand it over through rigorous interrogation, or he could deepen his understanding of spirit, soul, the physical body, and qi and blood, and then make repeated attempts using his Heaven-defying Comprehension.

The latter would be a lengthy process.

Still, this was already a significant gain for Li Chang’an.

Just by knowing what the Divine Soul was composed of, he could develop corresponding defenses targeting its characteristics.

As for the Cultivation Method itself, even if he couldn’t obtain it in this world, Li Chang’an was confident that he would deduce it sooner or later with his Heaven-defying Comprehension.

It was only a matter of time.

Taking a few deep breaths, Li Chang’an calmed himself once more. He stared at the tiny wisp of flame for a long time, carefully observing its every contour and any trace of energy that spilled out as the different energies mixed within it.

He waited until his Heaven-defying Comprehension had completely unraveled all the pathways within the flame.

Only then did Li Chang’an retract his gaze.

For some reason, he sensed that someone nearby was spying on him.

He had a faint inkling of their presence, but he let no sign of it show on his face. Instead, with a flip of his wrist, he tossed the wisp of flame directly onto the back of his hand.

Having clearly seen the composition and structure of the Divine Soul Flame’s energy, Li Chang’an now needed to probe its operating principles.

The more he understood, and the more profound his comprehension, the better the results would be when his Heaven-defying Comprehension reverse-engineered the Cultivation Method and forward-engineered defensive techniques.

The moment the Divine Soul Flame touched the back of Li Chang’an’s hand, it flared up and began to burn furiously, as if it had just met a flammable substance.

Plumes of black energy rose from the point of contact.

Li Chang’an once again felt that searing pain in his mind.

This was an attack on his soul.

Li Chang’an felt as if his Divine Soul were being roasted, sizzling under the heat.

Forcing himself to endure the intense agony, Li Chang’an widened his eyes, observing the trajectory and energy fluctuations the flame produced as it burned him.

[Heaven-defying Comprehension activated. You have been attacked by Soul Fire targeting your soul. Through careful observation, you have comprehended a partial method for resisting the Soul Fire’s incineration!]

[Heaven-defying Comprehension activated. You have been attacked by Soul Fire targeting your soul. Through careful observation, you have comprehended a partial method for resisting the Soul Fire’s incineration!]

[Heaven-defying Comprehension activated. You have been attacked by Soul Fire targeting your soul. Through careful observation, you have comprehended the Divine Soul Shield Skill!]

The tiny wisp of Soul Fire on Li Chang’an’s hand burned more and more intensely.

At first, it was just a tiny sliver the size of a fingernail, but as it continued to roast Li Chang’an’s soul, it seemed to be gradually growing larger and stronger.

Previously, when the area of the burn was smaller, Li Chang’an had been able to endure the pain.

But now, as the flame’s reach expanded, sweat began to bead on Li Chang’an’s face, his expression on the verge of contorting into a mask of pure agony.

Finally, his Heaven-defying Comprehension hadn’t disappointed him. He had comprehended a method to resist the Soul Fire’s attack.

Although he was eager to test just how effective this so-called Divine Soul Shield Skill was against the Soul Fire, the feeling of being watched was growing more intense, so Li Chang’an ultimately abandoned the idea.