Chapter 510 - 479: The Nascent Soul is Like a Pregnancy, A Good Deed a Day

To be constantly filled with Fury while Cultivating Immortality was, of course, abnormal.

Song Ciwan could imagine that during the Nascent Soul Stage, an Immortal Seeker would merely be somewhat capricious, their reason often clouded by Fury, making it easy to lose control.

But this influence shouldn’t be insurmountable. If a Cultivator’s will was strong enough, and they diligently used various Dharma Gates or treasures to maintain control, their human nature should still be able to suppress the insect nature.

But upon reaching the Soul Emergence Stage—

’That’s right,’ she thought. ’The Nascent Soul I collected with the Heaven and Earth Scale must have been from the Soul Emergence Stage.’

Inside a Nascent Soul of the Soul Emergence Stage, the Insect Eggs wouldn’t just be starting to hatch—they would have already hatched successfully, transforming into larvae of the Ancient Divine Insect Race.

At that point, the insect nature would clearly begin to overpower the human nature.

Song Ciwan then recalled the visions she had seen on the Demonized Jian Wood. In those visions, quite a few people had voluntarily dug out their Golden Cores, but she hadn’t seen a single one voluntarily dig out their Nascent Soul!

Perhaps it wasn’t that no one did, but that her own visions were limited, and she simply hadn’t seen it.

From this, she could surmise that by taking the Insect Race’s Foundation Establishment Pill and practicing the Golden Core Method, a "Human" might still be salvageable during the Golden Core Stage. But upon reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, they had likely embarked on a path of no return, with no hope of ever looking back.

The stages of the Golden Core Technique: Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Emergence, Divine Separation, Integration, and Ascension!

The analogy was clear. The Foundation Establishment Stage introduced the seed of the Ancient Divine Insect Race, like a seed entering a host, combining with it to form an embryo.

In the Golden Core Stage, the seed developed into a complete Insect Egg, like an embryo successfully implanting in a womb.

In the Nascent Soul Stage, the Ancient Divine Insect began to hatch, like a fetus taking shape within the core, its organs and limbs gradually developing from the embryonic state.

In the Soul Emergence Stage, the insect larva fully formed, much like a human fetus developing over ten months into a complete infant, finally ready to emerge from the body!

However, a human baby becomes an independent person after birth. Though it shares an unbreakable bond with its mother, this is a natural continuation of bloodlines, a principle of nature.

But the Insect Race’s Nascent Soul, after Soul Emergence, would not truly leave its host!

On the contrary, the Nascent Soul simply gained the ability of Soul Emergence. After leaving the body, it would return to the host to absorb its nutrients and continue to grow.

By the Divine Separation Stage, it would seem as though the Cultivator gained the ability to split their Divine Soul. But in reality, would the soul that split off still be a human’s Divine Soul?

Divine Division allows the Nascent Soul to split into two, roaming freely outside the body as if it were a second physical form, a second spirit. Even if the original body were to die, as long as the divided soul survived, the Cultivator’s spirit could endure, perhaps even gaining a second life—

This was what the fisherman had told her back in the Spirit Realm Secret Realm, when she and he had discussed the Golden Core Dao.

When she first heard all of this, despite her doubts, Song Ciwan had found the Golden Core Dao to be quite miraculous.

But now, as her thoughts spiraled and she reconsidered the meaning of "Divine Division," where was the miracle?

The miracle was gone, leaving only terror!

’Divine Division, Divine Division... If it truly is a division of the soul, then it must be the moment the human soul is devoured by the Insect God!’

Then, at the Integration Stage, the human and insect would merge into one. The mind, soul, nature, spirit, and even the body of flesh and blood... everything would transform into an insect...

As for Ascension... would there even be an Ascension?

This line of speculation sent a chill down Song Ciwan’s spine.

She stood silently for a moment before walking over to inspect Zhang Ping’s corpse.

This time, she didn’t put everything of Zhang Ping’s into the Heaven and Earth Scale at once. Instead, she first inspected the body with her Spiritual Eyes, then used the Qi Absorption Technique to remove the ten Storage Talismans from the corpse. She placed the talismans into her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven before finally putting the body into the Heaven and Earth Scale.

At the same time, the Heaven and Earth Scale registered a mass of Death Qi: [Death Qi, from the death of an Insect Race Cultivator who dual-cultivated Soul Emergence and Refining Spirit. Three jin and nine taels. Tradeable.]

Previously, while Zhang Ping was in the throes of her Heart Demon, the Heaven and Earth Scale had also collected several masses of her human desires.

[Human desires. The Fury, confusion, and pain of an Insect Race Cultivator who dual-cultivated Nascent Soul and Refining Spirit. Two jin and nine taels. Tradeable.]

[Human desires. The pain, bewilderment, and regret of an Insect Race Cultivator who dual-cultivated Nascent Soul and Refining Spirit. Three jin and six taels. Tradeable.]

...

Finally, as Zhang Ping’s emotions peaked under the influence of her Heart Demon, she cried out, "Soul Emergence!" and the Heaven and Earth Scale registered another mass of qi: [Human desires. The pain, remorse, and exhilaration of an Insect Race Cultivator who dual-cultivated Soul Emergence and Refining Spirit. Five jin and one tael. Tradeable.]

Qi Over Five Jin!

The first Qi Over Five Jin from a Cultivator at the Earth Immortal Level!

And Zhang Ping wasn’t just an Earth Immortal; she also dual-cultivated the Nascent Soul path.

In the end, at the moment she produced a mass of human desires that was "Qi Over Five Jin," she had even broken through the Nascent Soul Stage to reach the Soul Emergence Stage.

The Heaven and Earth Scale’s description of her was also unique. She was referred to as an "Insect Race Cultivator."

This was different from Ye Sheng. He was only at the Golden Core Stage, and the Heaven and Earth Scale’s description of him had been: Celestial Pride Level Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

It only mentioned the Golden Core Stage, not the Ancient Divine Insect Race.

Clearly, the transition from the Golden Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage was a massive watershed.

Zhang Ping’s body was stored in the Heaven and Earth Scale. As for the ten Storage Talismans in the Vast Sea Grotto Heaven, Song Ciwan gave them a cursory inspection and found they contained a large quantity of Five Elements Crystal Pearls.

They were of various levels. The majority were Two-star Level, while the Three-star Level ones filled three of the Storage Talismans, and the Four-star Level ones occupied a single Storage Talisman by themselves.

Song Ciwan swept her Spiritual Sense over it. Without needing to count, she could clearly tell there were a total of one hundred and sixty-seven Four-star Level Five Elements Crystal Pearls.