Chapter 967: Arrangement of Fate
Xiang Shaoyun woke up. He felt like he had just dreamed a long, long dream. His entire body was aching as though he was still suffering from the injuries he had in the dream. He had never imagined that a dream could feel so real. There, he fought with all his strength, exhausting all his trump cards. He suffered grievous wounds, and at the final moments, he managed to sever the enemy leader's head by relying on his invisibility. With the death of the enemy leader, the enemy army's morale dropped, allowing him to obtain a pyrrhic victory.
While looking at the retreating enemy army, he fainted from his serious injuries and was returned to the coffin. He was still in a state of confusion. He stared at the coffin lid blankly as though his soul had left his body. After a long while, light returned to his eyes. He jumped up from his lying position only to knock into the lid. He hissed in pain.
"Pooh! How inauspicious! Why am I lying in a coffin?" he cursed as he tried pushing the lid off. However, he failed to move the lid even after pushing with all his strength. He grew gloomy.
"I refuse to believe I can't open you!" Xiang Shaoyun remained stubborn and was about to use a saint weapon to cut through the coffin. Right that moment, a voice that seemed to have traveled from ancient times suddenly rang out, "Stop wasting your strength. Without my permission, you won't be able to leave."
"Wh-Who's speaking to me?" Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed as all his hair stood on end.
Probably only ghosts would speak in a coffin, so he instinctively wrapped Yun Flame around himself the moment he heard the voice.
A phantom suddenly appeared before Xiang Shaoyun and said, "Don't worry. I am you, and you are me. You're my reincarnation."
The phantom greatly resembled Xiang Shaoyun, with their age being the only difference. The phantom had a more steadfast appearance and looked exactly the same as the corpse Xiang Shaoyun saw when he was being dragged into the coffin.
Xiang Shaoyun started shaking in fear. If this was just a regular ghost encounter, he wouldn't be so scared. But seeing a ghost that looked exactly like him was horrifying. And when he heard what the ghost had to say, he felt even more confused. Wasn't he Xiang Dingtian, the Overlord in his previous life? Why was there a different previous life now? Did he have several previous lives?
"If you're speaking the truth, why did you bring me here? Do you have anything to tell me?" asked Xiang Shaoyun.
The phantom replied, "I know you have a lot of questions. As a matter of fact, I have a lot of questions as well. The only thing I know is that my sole purpose is to wait for you here. However, you have arrived too late, and much of my power has dissipated over the years. Perhaps all this is the arrangement of fate as well."
"What do you mean?" Xiang Shaoyun was still confused.
"Don't think about it too much. There are things that you will eventually learn. For now, just accept what I have for you. Otherwise, even this thing will completely dissipate. That grand aspiration should be accomplished in this generation. I see hope in you," said the phantom as it slowly faded.
After the phantom vanished, a clump of nine-colored radiance appeared above the coffin. The radiance flooded the coffin with a power that gave one an intense sensation of comfort, a power that made one feel like floating.
"Is this the primal inception energy?" Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed in alarm.
The nine-colored radiance greatly resembled his nine-colored fog, but there were still some differences. The nine-colored radiance did not seem like a fusion of powers. Rather, it felt like the purest of powers separated from each other.
He blanked out slightly and focused on sensing the powers. Soon, he understood that these were all origin energies that were similar to the dark origin energy in his body. All nine origin energies were present here.
And the moment Xiang Shaoyun thought of absorbing these energies, a formation appeared in the coffin and pushed the energies into his body. Strands of different origin energies converged in his body, giving him a sensation that his entire body was being forcefully flooded with power.
"Since I can't resist, I'll accept it," Xiang Shaoyun decided to go with the flow. He started concentrating on circulating his cultivation method, sending the energies into his nine stars.
These were origin energies, the purest of energies. They were much denser in power than the ambient energies in the air, and absorbing them could allow one to grow in cultivation faster. Thus, as Xiang Shaoyun absorbed them, his cultivation base started growing.
Soon, he reached peak eighth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm, and there were no signs that the growth was going to stop. Eventually, he reached the completion phase of the eighth stage.
He had only reached the eighth stage not long ago. Breaking through so soon felt unreal, but the energies he was absorbing were too pure. There wasn't even a worry that this rapid growth would destabilize his foundations. Thus, he continued absorbing the energies without worry.
Before long, he broke through into the ninth stage. The energies did not even need to go through his astral cosmos sea to convert into draconic aura. Perhaps it was because of their purity.
Even after breaking through into the ninth stage, there was still a lot of energy remaining. His draconic aura continued growing, and his strength continued rising and reached the apex of the Emperor Realm. Even then, a lot of energy was still left.
That was when he started panicking. His increase in cultivation level had also increased the amount of energy he could store. Even so, his stars were still completely filled, and he was pushed to the verge of another breakthrough. However, he had yet to form his soul foundation, so he wouldn't be able to properly enter the Soul Foundation Realm.
The energies continue flooding his body, threatening to kill him with an overabundance of energy. This was so ridiculous that if it happened, he would leave his name in the annals of history.
He tried his very best to suppress the energy, but all his efforts were to no avail. Ultimately, he was forced to redirect the excess energy into his astral cosmos sea. Fortunately, the energies listened to his command and moved as he wished, saving him from a fate of certain death.
When the energies entered his astral cosmos sea, they quickly and directly transformed into primal inception energy instead of staying still at a random corner, unlike the dark origin energy.
That was not bad news. At the very least, his primal inception energy supply had grown much larger, allowing him to fight with it for an extended period of time if he so wished. As his cultivation grew, his soul clone also grew, gaining a strength comparable to a seventh-stage Sovereign.