Chapter 99 - 98: The Descent of a Great Power

Chapter 99: Chapter 98: The Descent of a Great Power

Li Ye had experimented before. He couldn’t bring teammates with him during Time Acceleration, which was why he had to risk rushing in alone.

He had managed to take down Mao Xiu, an opponent two realms above him, thanks to his skyrocketing physical prowess and his Demon Qi-enhanced Divine Weapon. Otherwise, with his Divinity Transformation Realm cultivation, even if he could have gotten behind the Harmonization Realm expert, he likely wouldn’t have been able to break through his Spiritual Shield.

Usually, when he thrashed his teammates, he had them willingly lower their Spiritual Energy Defense, which also saved him some effort.

’If the Energy Body Nascent Souls could travel through time with me, wouldn’t that mean I could bring people to gang up on enemies?’

If Li Ye wanted to create Derived Skills, he couldn’t stick to a single fighting style.

Moreover, his enemies were now at the Void Refinement and Harmonization Realms, increasing the difficulty exponentially. ’Even if the Nascent Souls were just used to protect me, that would be fine!’

...

In this world, the Golden Core and Nascent Soul were more like a cultivator’s engine, providing them with greater power. Most cultivators still relied on their physical bodies for combat.

If the body was destroyed, leaving only the engine, the Divine Abilities one could muster would be limited.

’But thrashing my teammates can help them increase their combat strength.’

’And who said teammates have to be human?’

A pure Energy Body Nascent Soul, once developed and paired with a suitable weapon, could absolutely serve as combat support.

The most crucial point was that thrashing his teammates increased their combat strength. A living person’s combat strength was limited by their physical body, but a Nascent Soul was an Energy Body, which theoretically had no upper limit.

...

Having figured this out, Li Ye’s gaze on the two Nascent Souls grew even more fervent. He nodded and said, "It is indeed a Spatial Technique. I have traveled between two worlds and comprehended the Path of Space when I broke through the boundary."

"So the story about crossing worlds is actually true?" Mao Xiu and the other man were stunned. Without their physical bodies, their expressions were clearly visible on their Nascent Souls’ faces. They looked like figurines that had suddenly gained expressions, which was actually a little cute.

"What do you think? Does your world have a Cultivation Method like mine?" Li Ye said proudly. "I’ll ask one more time. Are you willing to join the Wenda Alliance?"

The battle was still raging. Originally, the Divinity Transformation Realm experts on both sides were evenly matched, but after the two Demon Sect Elders joined in, the situation became completely one-sided.

Soon, they had slain several of the Demon Sect’s Divinity Transformation Realm experts, even annihilating their Nascent Souls. Having tasted the sweet reward of a massive boost to their Skill Level, the two Demon Sect Elders were single-mindedly focused on putting on a good show for their new Alliance Leader.

Li Ye was counting on forming a Nascent Soul guard unit; he couldn’t let them kill everyone. He quickly said, "Elders, leave the Nascent Souls. Heaven has a virtue of cherishing life. We shouldn’t be so ruthless as to wipe them out completely."

Hearing this, the two Demon Sect Elders immediately became much more careful. When fighting, they even made a point of destroying their opponents’ bodies just to extract their Nascent Souls.

This move thoroughly enraged the Demon Sect’s Divinity Transformation Realm experts.

"Lv Jun, Lei Yiheng, you two traitors! You’ll die a dog’s death!"

"Lv Jun, I never would have thought you were such a sycophantic bootlicker! What kind of poison did the Wenda Alliance feed you to make you serve them so desperately?"

"Elder Lei, that kid is only in the Divinity Transformation Realm! He just has a strange Divine Ability. How did he scare you witless? If you’d fled back to the Demon Sect to report, wouldn’t we have been able to kill him?"

"If the Sect Leader finds out what you’ve done, you’ll both die without a burial place..."

"I’d rather die than leave my Nascent Soul for you to torture!"

...

A clamor of voices suddenly erupted.

Some cursed the Elders, some tried to persuade them to repent, and others tried to use the Demon Sect to intimidate them...

There were also resolute individuals who directly self-detonated their Nascent Souls, and thunderous booms rang out from time to time.

After all, the chances of a Nascent Soul successfully possessing another body were too low. As members of the Demon Sect, they knew exactly how painful it was for a Nascent Soul to be tortured by others. Rather than suffer the humiliation of leaving their Nascent Souls behind to be tormented, it was better to die cleanly.

The two Elders were unmoved, continuing their ruthless slaughter. They couldn’t even be bothered to offer a single word of explanation.

The two shared a common thought: ’The Alliance Leader’s secret must be taken to the grave and never be known by outsiders.’

’Otherwise, how would such a great opportunity ever fall to us...’

Watching the Nascent Souls self-detonate one after another, Li Ye felt a pang of pity, but there was nothing he could do. He urged, "Elder Mao, time is short. What have you decided?"

"I agree to join the Wenda Alliance. I can also pass on my life’s knowledge to the cultivators of the Wenda Alliance." Mao Xiu mulled it over and over, but he couldn’t figure out why Li Ye insisted on pulling them into the Wenda Alliance. He could only assume Li Ye valued his knowledge as a Harmonization Realm expert.

After all, the Wenda Alliance’s foundation was too weak. Its cultivation techniques and methods didn’t match the realms of most of its cultivators.

Convinced he had guessed Li Ye’s intentions, he continued, "But you must find a suitable body for me to possess as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’m afraid I will dissipate from this world before long."

"And you?" Li Ye turned to the remaining Elder.

"My request is the same as Elder Mao’s." The Elder sighed dejectedly and emphasized, "The person to be possessed should preferably be someone muddle-headed who has not yet developed their intellect. That way, the memory loss will be less severe..."

’Good, as long as they agreed!’

Li Ye smiled, and without another word, dragged them directly into the battlefield.

To their horror, he stabbed each of them with his sword.

The two tried to dodge but failed. For a moment, they thought their souls were about to be utterly destroyed, but soon they discovered that not only had their Nascent Souls not dissipated, they had actually grown a size larger.

’A Nascent Soul, once separated from the body, can only dissipate without the constant supply of energy from the meridians and Dantian. How could it possibly grow?’

The incredible scene shocked Mao Xiu and the other elder so much that their minds went blank. They stared dumbly at Li Ye, having lost the ability to think.

Li Ye pulled them away from the battlefield and asked, "How do you two feel?"

"My Spiritual Power increased by nearly twenty percent," Mao Xiu said blankly.

"What kind of Divine Ability is this?" the other Elder asked, staring at the sword in Li Ye’s hand.

"The Path of Loose Immortal," Li Ye said with a smile. "Besides possession, there is another Path of Growth for a Nascent Soul: cultivating on its own, separate from a physical body, to eventually become a Loose Immortal."

"Loose Immortal?" Mao Xiu was stunned.

Lei Wenjie and the others stared at the two Nascent Souls of Mao Xiu and his companion, their eyes burning with fervor.

The path of cultivation in this world was severed, so anything even remotely related to Immortals would pique their intense interest.

"Yes, a Loose Immortal," Li Ye said. "It’s another path to immortality I read about in ancient texts. It’s the path of ’martial dissolution’ that many cultivators take when they know they cannot achieve Ascension with their physical bodies. After succeeding, they can roam freely between heaven and earth. Besides having slightly weaker combat power, they are not much different from true Immortals. Unfortunately, I only know that a Nascent Soul can become a Loose Immortal; I don’t know the Cultivation Method."

It was like a basin of cold water had been dumped on them, instantly extinguishing the enthusiasm of Mao Xiu and his companion. It also extinguished any thoughts Lei Wenjie and the others had of undergoing martial dissolution to become Loose Immortals.

"Elder Mao, paths of cultivation were created by people in the first place. Don’t always think about relying on others," Li ye frowned. "Even I managed to ascend step-by-step from a Mortal World and forge my own Path of Ascension. You’ve cultivated for a thousand years, yet you don’t even have the will to create your own unique Cultivation Technique?"

Mao Xiu shook his head. "Create a unique Cultivation Technique? Easier said than done."

"Before, a Nascent Soul that didn’t possess a body would quickly dissipate. It’s naturally not easy to create a Cultivation Technique in such a short time," Li Ye said with a smile. "But now, my Divine Ability can forcibly boost your strength. With your Nascent Souls no longer dissipating, you’ll have plenty of time to create a technique..."

"Alliance Leader, your Divine Ability can let us keep growing indefinitely?" Mao Xiu asked excitedly.

"What do you think? How else did Lei Wenjie and the others reach the Void Refinement Realm in just a few days?" Li Ye let out a soft laugh. "All things in the world inherently have infinite possibilities. You’re the ones who insist on stubbornly walking down a dead-end path. There are no paths in the beginning; paths are made by people walking them."

He shook his head. "Sometimes I even wonder if I’m some Great Power who has descended to the Mortal World to enlighten you all..."

At that, Lei Wenjie and the others’ eyes lit up. ’He founded the Wenda Alliance, taught the Cultivation Method for Wish Power, and pioneered the Path of Loose Immortal. If that’s not enlightenment, what is?’

"Why are you all looking at me?" Li Ye asked, feigning ignorance.

"Alliance Leader, I think you really might be here to enlighten us!" Lei Wenjie chuckled. "Perhaps Heaven saw us struggling so bitterly, repeatedly failing to find the correct Cultivation Method, and had no choice but to send you down to the Mortal World to guide us back onto the path of cultivation."

"Exactly, exactly," Qu Hao chimed in. "Alliance Leader, who knows? Maybe you were a Celestial Emperor in your past life!"

"You’ve been reading too many storybooks!" Li Ye couldn’t help but laugh at their fervent gazes. "By your logic, I might as well have descended to the Mortal World to face a tribulation. Soon, a great calamity will befall this world, and only I can resolve it. After I do, my Merit will be perfected, I’ll ascend to the heavens, and leave behind countless myths and legends in the Mortal World..."

As soon as he said this, Lei Wenjie stopped thinking about him being the reincarnation of a Great Power. He chuckled and joked, "Well, it’s not impossible."

"Don’t overthink it." Li Ye shot them a look. "I’m just an ordinary person who struggled his way up from the Lower Realm. Compared to being the reincarnation of some Great Power, I believe more in the idea that man can conquer heaven. If heaven blocks the path, we’ll smash a new one open with our own hands. Even if I ascend, it will be through my own efforts..."

"Yeah, smash a new path open." Lei Wenjie and the others were inspired. Their gazes became resolute again as they all echoed Li Ye’s words.

"I have been taught a lesson," Mao Xiu sighed deeply. "The Alliance Leader is right. Paths are made by people. Since predecessors have walked the Path of Loose Immortal, we can find our way too. Before that, however, we must trouble the Alliance Leader to help us stabilize our Nascent Soul bodies."

With that, he bowed deeply to Li Ye.

The other Elder followed suit and bowed. "We must trouble you, Alliance Leader."

"No need to be so polite. It’s mutually beneficial," Li Ye said with a smile. "The Wenda Alliance will face many enemies in the future. At that time, I will certainly need the two of you Elders to take action."

"It is our undeniable duty," Mao Xiu and the other elder said in unison.

Li Ye and the others hadn’t been hiding their conversation.

The Divinity Transformation Realm experts all had sharp ears and had long since overheard everything about the Path of Loose Immortal.

As a result, the extracted Nascent Souls stopped self-detonating. They obediently let Lv Jun and the others hold them, ready to switch to cultivating as Loose Immortals at a moment’s notice.

Seeing that Lv Jun and Lei Yiheng had already procured more than ten Nascent Souls, Li Ye felt it was about time. He took a step forward and said, "I’ll give you one more chance. Are you willing to join my Wenda Alliance?"