Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Watching the blue carp disappear without a trace, as if it had never existed in this world, everyone wore a bewildered expression.

’What the hell? Where is the Lanji Tribe’s Guardian God?’

’Could it have been vaporized by that unbelievably bizarre attack just now?’

’How the hell could a Guardian God that had not achieved its Transformed Form use such a powerful attack?’

It was simply outrageous!

With the suspected death of the Lanji Tribe’s Guardian God, the battle instantly became one-sided. The allied tribal army, so full of fighting spirit moments before, had little real cohesion to begin with.

Now, seeing things were going south, many of them scattered and fled, terrified that the Fusang Tribe’s Guardian God with its bizarre methods would turn on them.

The reversal of fortunes was so swift that the ones who found it hardest to accept were not the enemy, but the Fusang Tribe itself—the very people who had summoned their Guardian God.

This was especially true for the core leaders of the Fusang Tribe, who thought they knew the true extent of Li Chang’an’s power. They hadn’t even summoned Li Chang’an to resist or fight.

They had only wanted Li Chang’an to preserve the last spark of the Fusang Tribe for them.

They had never imagined that Li Chang’an could so easily defeat the enemy’s Guardian God, let alone frighten the massive allied army into a full-scale retreat.

Among everyone present, only the Lanji Tribe was still organizing its men to press forward. Compared to the other tribes, their involvement in this matter ran the deepest.

Now, the fate of their Guardian God was unknown.

Their only recourse was to charge forward and try to rescue their own Guardian God from the enemy’s.

Seeing this, the stunned Fusang Tribe finally snapped back to their senses.

Their morale skyrocketed.

Without the help of the other tribes, without the protection of their Guardian God, the mere Lanji Tribe could pose no threat to the Fusang Tribe.

This was true even though the Fusang Tribe had already suffered heavy losses.

But as long as the Fusang Tribe held the geographical advantage, every step the Lanji Tribe’s soldiers took uphill would cost them dearly.

Not to mention, under the threat of Li Chang’an, the fighting Will of the Lanji Tribe’s soldiers was already extremely low.

…

The Lanji Tribe launched a frenzied counterattack for a while, trying to save their Guardian God.

It was only when Li Chang’an spat fire again, burning dozens, even hundreds of people to ash, that the Lanji Tribe’s fighting Will finally collapsed, and they too scattered and fled.

Thus, the war that had threatened the very survival of the Fusang Tribe concluded with an outcome that not even the tribe itself could have predicted.

Li Chang’an took stock of his gains.

The ordinary people he had killed with the Soul Fire no longer provided him with much of a boost to his spirit or qi and blood, but the blue carp gave Li Chang’an a pleasant surprise.

Because after he used his Soul Fire, Bone and Flesh Fire, and Qi Blood Fire to burn the blue carp to dust, he discovered that within its body, besides its soul and flesh and blood, there was a kind of gray, misty Energy.

—It was the Power of Incense the blue carp had accumulated.

There was a considerable amount of this Power of Incense, and it was extremely pure. For Li Chang’an, it was a great restorative. After devouring it, wisps of Incense began to rise from the surface of his body.

Li Chang’an felt it.

He was now only a step away from his Transformed Form.

He yawned and said casually to the Fusang Tribe’s chief, Cang Shan, “Alright, if there’s nothing else, have someone carry me back. Next time something like this happens, just call me to take care of it for you!”

Hearing his languid voice,

Cang Shan, as if waking from a dream, hastily fell to his knees and kowtowed respectfully. “Thank you for taking action, Lord Guardian God! It is the greatest fortune for the Fusang Tribe to have you protecting us. In a little while, I will have the tribe hold an even grander sacrificial ceremony for you to repay your life-saving grace!”

Seeing him kneel, all the other members of the Fusang Tribe nearby quickly knelt as well. The entire mountainside became a dense, kneeling mass, a truly spectacular sight.

Li Chang’an said nothing.

He had Banyue summon dozens of people to carry him down the mountain.

…

「Back in the Temple once more.」

Li Chang’an once again carefully sensed the current state of his body.

Although he had not yet achieved his Transformed Form, the increased amount of Incense aura swirling around his body made him look almost no different from how he would appear after the transformation was complete.

And in fact, that was the case.

He was now 1,350 years old.

He had spent a full thousand years accumulating power for the sake of his Transformed Form. If not for the fact that a creature like a ’dragon’ was so complex, and that he had never even seen another of his kind,

Li Chang’an would have likely achieved his Transformed Form a millennium ago.

After such a long delay, he was finally about to see the result.

The thought was actually a little exciting.

And so, Li Chang’an began to adjust the state of his body, concentrating all the Spirituality and Power of Incense he had accumulated over the years.

These were all necessary for the process of achieving his Transformed Form.

The more he accumulated, the higher the probability of successfully achieving his Transformed Form.

After the Fusang Tribe’s army came down from the mountain, the chief, Cang Shan, had Banyue inform Li Chang’an of the time for the next sacrificial ceremony.

It was tentatively set for half a month from now.

Because they had been dragged into the quagmire of war for all these years, the Fusang Tribe had never had much grain or livestock on hand.

If they wanted to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony for Li Chang’an,

the Fusang Tribe would have to fleece the Lanji Tribe.