novelraw Chapter 440 - 356: Brief Joy, Divine Path Upgrade
Chapter 440 - 356: Brief Joy, Divine Path Upgrade
After Zhang Kui saw the appearance of the Moon Palace, he realized that although there was a cultivation path in this world, some cosmic laws were similar to those of his previous life.
The most direct aspect was the law of celestial body movement.
The Divine Remnant Soul of the Ancient Divine Spirit Fusheng, hidden in the Divine Island City, once said that each system orbiting the Sun Star is mostly named after the primary Life Star. For instance, the one they were in was called the Celestial Essence Star Zone.
The Celestial Essence Star Zone had seven giant planets, surrounded by numerous asteroids, and beyond that lay the distant starry sky, even unreachable in the Underworld.
Zhang Kui estimated that having learned the Immortal Skill of Soaring Clouds and Mist, the first layer requires leveraging the gravitational law ripples between stars to leap, as the star zones are vast and empty, offering no support, and it might take centuries to reach.
The Immortal Sects in various places had severed. To reach the Celestial Essence, the Red Pigeon Divine Son must have used a method to cross the star zone, but regardless of the origin, it was within the monitoring range of the Stargazing Disc, thus reducing the fear of a sneak attack...
Thinking of this, Zhang Kui immediately activated the Yin Yang True Fire to dismantle the Deceptive Immortal Starship into pieces. After collecting the divine materials, he again transformed into a stream of light, hopping and shuttling among the celestial bodies, quickly returning to his original location and steering the Dragonbone Divine Ship toward the Moon Palace...
...
"The Divine Dynasty has achieved a great victory, and the enemies in the Moon Palace have been completely annihilated!"
News spread like a storm through the Divine Continent, and from top to bottom, the Kaiyuan Divine Dynasty was in a state of jubilant celebration.
The Divine Dynasty had always grown amidst blood and fire, and this time the significance was even greater as it was their first battle into the starry sky.
In the cities at the foot of each Spirit Mountain, various celebrations were held, with Holy Temple fairs, operas, and night parades with flower carts. Even at night, the dragon and fish lantern festival kept the night sky bright.
Lai State, Helian Family.
Amid brightly lit surroundings, the sound of drinking games was constant as little kids scampered under the tables, occasionally looking up at Helian Wei, the prodigy of the Helian Family competing in drinking games with the men, their small eyes full of admiration...
Qingzhou, Celestial Water Palace.
Ling Qiushui, dressed in white, with numerous younger sisters, launched countless lanterns on the lake to honor the fallen cultivators...
Underworld Divine Island City.
The Zhu Sheng couple relentlessly served dishes to Ye Fei. After tonight, their proud disciple would embark alone to dangerous places across the Celestial Essence Star to hone his Sword Dao...
Anqing State.
In front of the grave of Imperial Uncle Li Xuanji at the ruins of the Qian Dynasty, Elder Huayan looked at the myriad lights below the mountain, drank a cup, poured a cup, and laughed heartily...
On this special day, everyone found their own joy, and even Zhang Kui disguised himself as a dark-faced man, with a fat cat beside him, relishing the feast in the city’s tavern.
Alcohol may not intoxicate, but the person becomes intoxicated. Zhang Kui shook the wine jug, watching the laughter and lights filling the sky outside the window, feeling at peace inside.
Guarding is not an easy task; it can even delay cultivation, but it is precisely because the Great Path is chaotic and the starry sky is dark that this peace is even more precious.
The comings and goings of the mortal world, the gains and losses, are they not also cultivation?
At least he lived with peace of mind, never knowing what a Heart Demon was.
...
The celebration was merely an interlude, and the journey ahead still lay afar.
After the banquet, the next day, the Divine Dynasty once again busied itself.
People across the land began to accelerate production because they knew that the nation’s migration to the Moon Palace was not far off; having grain at hand brings peace of mind.
Shazhou, Siling Mountain, the Profound Pavilion was frantically recruiting people, even setting up their own Starship Academy. As long as one was willing to learn, they were willing to teach, for the starship wrecks on the vast desert had piled into continuous mountains, with more arriving every day.
Between the Celestial Essence Star and Moon Palace, countless starships shuttled back and forth; for Divine Dynasty cultivators, starship cultivation had become common practice, with even the youngest students in Mengxue beginning to learn the relevant knowledge.
Zhang Kui set forth the Divine Dynasty’s future plans, prioritizing the migration of the Moon Palace before refining the entire Celestial Essence Star, so the first step was to rebuild the Moon Palace Array. But before that, there was an even more crucial matter.
The Human Race Divine Path needed an overall upgrade!
It’s said that Zhang Kui inadvertently established the Divine Court Bell, slew the Locust Demon, created the Human Race Divine Path, the Merit System, the Divine Path Network, and Talisman... these unprecedented things dazzled the Divine Dynasty.
The short-term development of the Divine Dynasty couldn’t have been achieved without the assistance of the Divine Path.
The Merit System stabilized the Divine Dynasty’s order; the Divine Path Network connected the world; the Divine Path Talisman endowed even ordinary people and cultivators with self-defense abilities, not to mention the Divine Land Array protecting myriad living beings.
However, upon entering the starry sky, the Divine Path seemed somewhat stretched.
The Divine Path Network became less smooth, causing the Merit System to encounter loopholes, and Yellow Pavilion was too busy to keep up, while the Starship Plan also encountered obstacles...
Under these circumstances, upgrading the Divine Path became an absolute necessity!
...
The Human Race Divine Path was unintentionally established by Zhang Kui, merging the characteristics of divine paths from two worlds, and under Zhang Kui’s philosophy, it ceased to be aloof, becoming a foundational system serving the development of the Divine Dynasty.
How should the Divine Path be upgraded?
If Zhang Kui previously had no ideas, the Immortal Ship, Ancient Bronze Mirror, and Reincarnation had given him some clues.
The Kunlun stood majestically, with clouds floating and countless scenes of natural wonders.
Between the mid-mountain was the ten-layer Earth Demon Bronze Hall, with an endless stream of cultivators coming and going, learning skills by earning Merit Points.
At the highest peak, the Earth Evil Silver Lotus formed its own space and became a barrier. After a period of intense tribulation-crossing, it was now mostly deserted.
After all, it was accumulated over thousands of years; the masters without alternatives had reincarnated, while those with some leeway were in seclusion, carving their mana.
Of course, there were also three who, out of fear, had become Corpse Dissolving Immortals.
As Zhang Kui expected, although they attained Longevity, without a fleshy body to evolve a Little World, their combat power was similar to a Half-Immortal, all joining Yellow Pavilion in charge of the Merit System.
Atop the mountain peak, the air was cold and thin. Zhang Kui gazed at the sea of clouds below and waved his hand, causing the Divine Court Bell to burst forth with a thunderous sound, its golden light penetrating the sky.
Although the upgrade of the Divine Path was not as defiant as the Earth Evil Silver Lotus, it was still exceptionally miraculous, becoming more stable within its own space.
Tai Shi, Shen Xu, and Yin Bai, the two Dharma Guardian Generals, along with the Dream Demoness and the illusions of a hundred thousand Dharma Guardian Divine Soldiers, filled the sky and earth, saluting together:
"Greetings, Sect Leader!"
Zhang Kui nodded and said solemnly, "Everyone, begin."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and released a copper ring, which immediately enlarged in midair, ancient and majestic, with dark white mist roiling at its center.
This was the Central Star Map obtained from the Ancient Bronze Mirror.
This artifact not only possesses the power to turn dreams into illusions but also stores extremely precious star maps from the cosmos.
"Protective Spirit Stele, emerge!"
With Zhang Kui’s authoritative voice, nine Heaven-Reaching Stone Pillars flew out from the Divine Court Bell, shrouded in a haze of white mist with faint appearances of pavilions and towers.
This Protective Spirit Stele was used to stabilize and integrate the Black River Water Mansion’s Dreamy Immortal Realm into the Divine Path, serving as the space for the Dharma Guardian Divine Court.
The nine Spirit Pillars nailed to the Ancient Bronze Well in the Nine Palaces formation, the tumultuous divine power injected by Tai Shi’s golden body caused the mist in the Spirit Pillars and the mist below to slowly merge, revealing starry skies and interconnected palaces, creating a dazzling play of light and shadow.
Zhang Kui narrowed his eyes, quietly waiting.
If this artifact can be integrated with divine power, each Divine Court Bell can manifest both light and star maps.
More impressively, it can create a dream space, allowing citizens of the Divine Dynasty to enter the dream realm at any time based on their divine path registry, engaging in commerce, learning, or even simulated combat training.
In modern terms, it’s like directly loading satellite maps, a 3D imaging system, and a large virtual world.
Sounds powerful indeed, but with the mystical Incense Fire Divine Path, and the Dream Realm of the Central Star Map in the Ancient Bronze Mirror infused with Zhang Kui’s Immortal Path Array Layout, everything becomes possible!
Three two-hour periods later, the nine Protective Spirit Steles completely fuse the ancient and modern central hub, becoming a spindle-shaped divine artifact component, retracting back into the Divine Court Bell, suspended in midair like clappers within the bell.
Zhang Kui’s eyes, with Tai Chi Light Wheels spinning, examined once more, then moved a spell, causing Tai Shi among the True Gods to suddenly look up, eyes flowing with boundless lights and shadows.
Clang!
The resonant sound of the Divine Court Bell instantly echoed across the Divine Continent.
Within the Central Extreme Hall of the Kaiyuan Divine Dynasty, Elder Huayan and Helian Boxiong showed a hint of excitement and slowly stood before the Divine Court Bell.
Instantly, throughout the Divine Dynasty, from Northern Border State to Zezhou, from the Mortal World’s Kunlun City to the Underworld Divine Island City, at all places before the Divine Court Bell’s avatars, divine statues, the duo’s figures vividly appeared, as if standing nearby.
Countless citizens of the Divine Dynasty, already informed, were stunned, seeing Elder Huayan smile slightly: "Citizens of the Divine Dynasty, today is a day worth commemorating..."
Elder Huayan, known for kindness, held a reputation second only to Zhang Kui, delivering a generous speech that stirred the people’s hearts, though it was mostly words of encouragement.
Previously, while the Divine Path Network could transmit images, it consumed a lot of divine power, used only during urgent high-level communications.
Now, it reached the ordinary households, spanning north and south without distance, freely usable as long as no laws were infringed.
Many merchants sensed opportunity; even a storyteller in Lai State City considered investing heavily in a channel to narrate his "Profound Sect Leader’s Demon Suppression Record"...
Of course, the Dream Realm won’t be opened for now, as it remains immature, only planned for initial testing with the Northern Border State’s military.
On Kunlun Mountain, Zhang Kui watched Tai Shi’s returned test results, nodding slightly. He felt no great joy, as the mission was far from complete.
Buzz!
A grand sacrificial altar suddenly appeared, 200 meters tall, with sun, moon, and stars engraved below, yin and yang Eight Trigrams sculpted above, constantly emitting invisible ripples, exquisitely mystical.
Originally the nine-layer altar for sacrificing the Celestial Capital Banner aboard the Immortal Ship, made from rare divine material Cyan Profound Jade, it holds the domain amplification ability. Zhang Kui has re-refined it, adding numerous Immortal Arrays, enhancing its might multiple times.
Tai Shi and Zhang Kui, their thoughts interlinked, simultaneously moved spells, causing the Divine Court Bell to descend onto the altar.
Both began to resonate in synchrony, their frequencies gradually harmonizing, as the Divine Court Bell integrally connected to the grand sacrificial altar.
Zhang Kui’s eyes narrowed with concentration, reaching out his hand in an air grip, causing the Divine Court Bell along with the altar to vanish into Kunlun Mountain.
The true Human Race Divine Path also encompasses the Divine Land Array, with plans to incorporate the Earth Evil Silver Lotus Array in the future, forming the true central hub.
Clang!
Within Kunlun Mountain, the sound of the Divine Court Bell resonated.
Buzz!
The entire Kunlun Mountain emitted a pleasant roar like the sound of the Great Path, spreading first throughout the Divine Continent, then disseminating from the Divine Land Array, instantly reaching across the Celestial Essence Star, finally extending into the Star Sea.
"It has begun, it has begun!"
"Step aside, let me!"
On the Celestial Essence Star’s orbit, amidst the starry sky, even atop the ruined Moon Palace, numerous cultivators aboard Starships excitedly began connecting with divine thoughts upon hearing their ship’s Divine Court Bell.
Buzz!
White mist rapidly spread, a resplendent starry sky emerged, marked with the location of their Starship, even showing red dots for other Starships.
Numerous squad members instantly boiled with excitement, shouting wildly, some with tearful eyes, waving their fists toward the stars.
They knew that an unprecedented era was about to dawn!