novelraw Chapter 404 - 397: God and Mortal
Chapter 404 - 397: God and Mortal
The spectators from Bosha Country all watched from afar in fearful reverence, bowing in worship toward Ludi’s figure.
No, rather, they were worshipping the figure of the god Shiva. At this moment, Ludi looked almost identical to the depictions in Bosha Country’s religious texts and paintings!
A towering frame, a Celestial Eye opened between his brows, a handsome face, pale purplish-blue skin, and near-perfect musculature. An old man who could have been called ugly had, in a mere moment, transformed into a handsome Divine Being.
It was simply unbelievable.
For a moment, a dazed look filled Shiva’s eyes, but he quickly recovered. His pale purple eyes slowly locked onto Zhou Yuanjue.
"Hmm, so you are my opponent this time?"
"An ordinary human, twenty-six years old, to have reached such a level... truly..."
A faint smile touched Shiva’s handsome face.
"Interesting!"
The next moment, BOOM!!
An almost boundless, terrifying aura erupted from his body. Tendrils of light from his magnetic field, resembling both lightning and beams of fire, coiled around him.
From hundreds of meters away, the Donghua spectators could faintly feel the earth tremble. The sky grew overcast, with dark clouds and lightning appearing in the heavens. A gale howled through the canyon, scraping against the cliff faces and producing a sound like the wailing of Ghost Gods.
Shiva is the symbol of destruction, said in legends to possess the power to destroy the world. His magnetic field was likewise related.
This magnetic field, while not as vast as the one Chen Qingmu had displayed with his infinite stacking, was far more chilling in its nature and essence.
And Zhou Yuanjue, standing opposite Shiva, felt it even more clearly.
He narrowed his eyes, carefully sensing the changes in his opponent’s body.
He was beginning to understand his opponent’s abilities.
’My opponent’s transformation was so abrupt that it seems unbelievable, almost beyond human capability. But in truth, all of these changes can be traced back to a source.’
’He claims to have awakened memories of a past life, believing he was the legendary god Shiva. I don’t buy that for a second.’
’It’s impossible to know if Shiva even exists, let alone so-called past-life memories, which are a profound and mysterious concept.’
’It’s all most likely just his own conjecture.’
’And all of these changes have a logical explanation.’
’The so-called Chakras are actually seven vital connection points in the body. Unlocking them allows one to gain a degree of mastery over their body and remove its limitations.’
’And the so-called Eighth Chakra, which lies outside the body and isn’t a part of it, must in reality still be connected to it somehow.’
’It’s the node connecting the human body to nature.’
’In other words, by unlocking and mastering this node, one can control a powerful Natural Magnetic Field and gain the ability to commune with heaven and earth.’
’The magnetic field corresponding to the Chakra Ludi unlocked is precisely the belief in Shiva—a faith that has persisted for countless years in Bosha Country and has become a kind of collective consciousness.’
’The converging will of millions of people has made fiction into a reality. Shiva lives within the faith of these countless beings, becoming a massive magnetic field that blankets the skies over all of Bosha Country.’
’In fact, this is similar to the Chief Commissioner’s Divine Dao. Both involve shouldering the wishes of the masses, using a mortal body to bear the power of a collective current.’
’However, Ludi doesn’t understand the true nature of the Divine Dao. After connecting to the Shiva faith through his Eighth Chakra, his Spirit experienced the "fabricated" life of Shiva, a narrative woven from the willpower of countless believers. He mistook this for his own past-life memories.’
’And this misconception is precisely what set him on a different path.’
’Unlike the Chief Commissioner, who uses his body to bear that collective consciousness and becomes a "God" with his awareness immersed in the void, Ludi believes he *is* Shiva reincarnated. Consequently, with himself as the core, he has begun to reverse the flow, absorbing the magnetic field of faith related to Shiva to temper his own body.’
’While this method doesn’t grant immense power in a short time, through years of accumulation and using this magnetic field to progressively alter his body, his physical form and Spirit have been completely transformed over time.’
’It’s just like how after I activate my Star Cells, my transformed cells emit Starlight, making me look like a Star God. When Ludi opens his Eighth Chakra, his body’s cells change in accordance with that magnetic field.’
’The magnetic field within his cells is activated, and the faint light it emits neutralizes the melanin, causing his skin to rapidly lighten and take on that strange, purplish-blue hue.’
’A cellular stress response causes his muscles to expand, and his body enters a Wishful Size state. His bones elongate, and his physical form changes drastically. It’s exaggerated, but not beyond the realm of possibility.’
’The most important factor is a form of self-hypnosis. In the process of convincing himself that he possesses Shiva’s past-life memories, a second personality was born within Ludi. When the Eighth Chakra opens, this Shiva personality emerges to take control of his body.’
’The concept is very similar to Divine Strike—or rather, it’s an advanced version of it.’
In a sense, at this moment, Ludi wasn’t inviting Shiva to possess him. He believed that he *was* Shiva, from his body to his very soul!
"A descended Divine Spirit, is it?"
A look of interest also appeared in Zhou Yuanjue’s eyes.
He had been interested in the Divine Strike Skill from the very beginning. Back when he fought Wu Tianhe, who had channeled an ancient, peerless general, he had realized that cultivating Divine Strike to the level of Great Success was no simple feat. Unfortunately, he had since found it difficult to encounter another Martial Artist who cultivated this technique.
But now, he had finally met one. And given Ludi’s current abilities, he could be considered the absolute pinnacle of the Divine Strike concept since ancient times!
THUMP!! THUMP!!
A surge of adrenaline rushed through him as his heart pounded violently. Dueling a being of legend... there was nothing more romantic in the world.
At the same time, as his Star Cells proliferated, a gleam of Starlight spread from his heart, gradually enveloping his entire body.
BOOM!!
Simultaneously, as the Southern Dipper Immortal Seat flickered, a vast magnetic field emanated from his body. Behind him, the colossal Starlight Phoenix spread its wings and soared.
The magnetic fields emanating from the two men began to collide violently, churning the surrounding air and whipping up powerful gusts of wind.
The purplish-blue light and the silver-red light divided the world in two along the border, painting the heavens and earth in different colors.
Zhou Yuanjue slowly extended his fist toward the handsome man before him.
Shiva responded in kind, slowly extending his own fist.
Their knuckles met, pressed together above the border line separating their two nations.
God and mortal.