With this new body, you seem to have regained your fighting spirit, just like a thousand years ago.” Yun Shang boasted. Although Hunyuanzi’s appearance was no longer the same as before, the painstakingly acquired, newly-formed body indeed brought astonishing changes. This transformation was precisely what Hunyuanzi had longed for over the past thousand years. “If you had a bit more time, you might even replace ‘that person’—not only seeking revenge, but even seizing control of the entire universe.”
“If I remain immortal, there’s naturally a chance,” Hunyuanzi replied, his eyes gleaming with determination. This was a far cry from his usual lecherous old man image. After his rebirth, he had become hundreds of years younger in spirit and vitality.
“What about your apprentice?” Yun Shang asked with concern. “After all, we still rely on him to gather the ten divine weapons and ultimately become the savior.”
“He’ll have to rely on himself from now on,” Hunyuanzi said. “I still have much to teach him, but he has the strength to carve out his own path.” Just thinking about his beloved apprentice brought a smile to Hunyuanzi’s face. He had never seen anyone so gifted. Although every step of the boy’s growth had been forced upon him, his progress had been astonishing.
“So you’re determined to seek revenge yourself and won’t give up your current power as a Free Immortal?”
“Give up?” Hunyuanzi’s eyes widened. A thousand years ago, he had nearly ascended to become a Free Immortal, but a fierce battle had destroyed his promising future. It had taken him a thousand years to regain what was rightfully his—how could he possibly let it go again? Yun Shang’s suggestion was simply unreasonable.
How many cultivators in this world successfully ascend to become Free Immortals? They were practically few and far between. Among the countless talented cultivators, all regarded becoming a Free Immortal as their ultimate goal. They didn’t care about higher realms like Celestial Immortality or Golden Immortality—just reaching Free Immortality was considered a complete success.
But how many actually succeeded? Among tens of thousands of cultivators, only a few managed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. And among those who reached the Nascent Soul stage, only a rare few could ascend further. Thus, among ten million cultivators, only one might become a Free Immortal. Therefore, anyone who ascended to that level would be revered as a sect leader, a figure of worship among all sects.
Hunyuanzi had endured so much hardship to finally achieve this honor, and now had the chance for a decisive strike in his revenge—how could he possibly give it up? Not even if heaven and earth reversed their order.
Yet Yun Shang remained calm, eyes lowered in contemplation. This god possessed the power to control time—could he perhaps glimpse into the secrets of time and foresee what was about to happen?
Hunyuanzi’s face was filled with confusion, but he no longer wished to wait. Once Yang Hao officially broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, he planned to leave the Divine Realm immediately and confront “that person” in a final battle.
Perhaps just a few minutes would be enough.
But a few minutes could change the fates of many.
Night and dawn both hung in the balance of those few minutes. Hunyuanzi would later recall this moment, and the brilliant instant he became a Free Immortal. He would also remember those words:
“And as bright as dawn, now it is night once more.”
Dawn had turned into darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A strange cry came from Yang Hao’s room. It was definitely not the voice of either Xin Mei or Yang Hao himself, but something peculiar, like the wailing of a newborn infant.
One cry, then another. The sound continued, surging like waves. A cultivator’s Nascent Soul did indeed resemble an infant in appearance, but since it was a virtual form without physical substance, to hear such a sound was indeed very strange.
Hunyuanzi had originally thought everything was settled and was about to leave. But upon unexpectedly hearing the sound, he turned back, wanting to peek into the room one last time.
But Yun Shang blocked him, refusing to let him take that final glance. “An apprentice has his own fortune. If you’ve decided to leave, then leave cleanly.”
“There’s something wrong inside,” Hunyuanzi insisted. He listened closely to the increasingly mournful cries of an infant coming from within the room, and his suspicion that something strange was happening grew stronger.
“If you truly wish to leave, then don’t look,” Yun Shang’s expression was serious. His hand pressed gently against Hunyuanzi’s chest—not forcefully, but as a clear gesture of refusal.
But at the thought that his apprentice might be in danger, Hunyuanzi ignored everything else, shoved Yun Shang aside, and looked into the room. He shouldn’t have looked—but he did, and the sight left him feeling as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over his head, leaving not a trace of warmth in his body.
Before, Yang Hao and Xin Mei had been fine. But now, between them, something new had appeared—a white, infant-shaped form, obviously the Nascent Soul that Xin Mei had cultivated for Yang Hao. Yet for some unknown reason, the Nascent Soul was crying loudly, desperately trying to burrow into Yang Hao’s body.
Yang Hao, however, was completely powerless to resist. His face was pale, drenched in sweat, and his only effort was to maintain his consciousness. The situation looked dire, as if once the Nascent Soul entered his body, Yang Hao would perish.
Such a phenomenon was so rare that it might not have occurred even once in ten thousand years.
“Soul Possession!” Hunyuanzi nearly collapsed. He muttered the words with difficulty, as if pulling them from a deep swamp. His expression now was no better than Yang Hao’s—his entire body felt icy cold, trembling as if he had witnessed a nightmare.
It was no wonder Hunyuanzi reacted this way. Even someone like Yun Shang, a god who had lived for over ten thousand years, had only heard of “Soul Possession” in stories. It had never actually occurred—not in the Alchemical Dual Cultivation Sect, nor in any other cultivation sect. It was merely a theoretical possibility recorded in ancient texts, because the probability was so astronomically low that it was practically impossible.
Yet now, it was happening before their eyes.
“Soul Possession” referred to a phenomenon where, during a cultivator’s breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, the newly formed Nascent Soul became too powerful—so powerful that it exceeded the cultivator’s own strength by many times. As a result, the cultivator lost control, and the Nascent Soul seized control of the body.
Once the original consciousness was overtaken, it would perish. And since the Nascent Soul itself lacked consciousness, it would not last long either, eventually dying along with the body.
In cases of “Soul Possession,” if the cultivator failed to reclaim control of the body within twenty-four hours, both body and soul would be completely destroyed—consciousness, physical form, and Nascent Soul all dissolving into oblivion.
The reason “Soul Possession” had never occurred before was simple: no cultivation sect allowed the Nascent Soul to grow stronger than the cultivator’s own power. In fact, it was nearly impossible to achieve. For the Breath Cultivation sect, which relied on seated meditation to slowly gather Nascent Soul energy, control was always in their hands.
The Alchemical sect was slightly more complex, as they cultivated the Nascent Soul using a female cultivator who had already surpassed the Nascent Soul stage as a “furnace.” The Nascent Soul was then transplanted into the male cultivator’s body. This theoretically allowed for the possibility of “Soul Possession.” But in practice, it had never happened. This was because the number of women who had surpassed the Nascent Soul stage and were willing to serve as a “furnace” was extremely rare. Even if such women existed, they were usually only slightly above the Nascent Soul stage, and their husbands were often at a similar level. Therefore, the Nascent Soul, although refined, rarely exceeded the male cultivator’s strength by much, making the entire process very safe.
But now, Hunyuanzi regretted deeply that, despite all his calculations, he had overlooked this possibility.
Yang Hao was merely a novice who had only recently broken through to the Harmony Stage. If he had used a female cultivator who had just reached the Nascent Soul stage as a furnace, there might have been no problem. But this was the Divine Realm, where every deity possessed boundless divine power. Even Xin Mei, the weakest among them, already possessed the strength of a Free Immortal, far surpassing the Nascent Soul stage.
Thus, the Nascent Soul cultivated by Xin Mei as a furnace had exceeded Yang Hao’s own power by many times, causing the Nascent Soul to surge with vitality. Yang Hao, unable to control it, now faced the crisis of “Soul Possession.”
Even worse, the Alchemical sect’s ancient texts only recorded the possibility of “Soul Possession”—there were no known solutions. According to ancient legends, the only way to resolve such a crisis was to rely on Yang Hao’s own inner strength.
But judging from the current situation, Yang Hao was utterly unable to resist the Nascent Soul’s invasion. All he could do was protect his consciousness, holding on for as long as he could. Meanwhile, as Xin Mei continuously poured her divine energy into the Nascent Soul, its radiance grew stronger and stronger, and its penetration of Yang Hao’s body became unstoppable.
“What should we do!” Hunyuanzi trembled in fear, grabbing Yun Shang’s hand. “You’re a god—hurry and stop it!”
Yun Shang shook his head with a sigh. “You know better than anyone—it’s impossible. ‘Soul Possession’ is an internal crisis of the cultivator, a battle between one part of life and another. No external force can interfere. Only Yang Hao’s own inner strength can resolve this crisis.”
“But you can stop time! You can control everything!”
“I can reverse time, but what good would that do?” Yun Shang’s beard and hair flew as he spoke, his aura formidable. “Yang Hao is already beyond saving. Nothing can rescue him. If ‘Soul Possession’ has occurred, it can only be said that his luck has run out and his fate has come to an end.”
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