"How come it takes so much?!" Yan Zaizen angrily complained. This wasn't the first time and unlikely the last.
After the event with Pinaka where their souls linked, their relationship didn't undergo a massive shift. Instead, it was like a rope had appeared, subtly and silently connecting the two. This feeling was miraculously deeper than their normal connection, but it still didn't change much.
Pinaka was still Pinaka.
Yan Zaizen was still Yan Zaizen.
To think they would become love-sick was only a fool's thought.
Off to the side, Pinaka calmly stared at the pyramid that was Yan Zaizen's heavenly shrine. She looked at the first three floors. They were filled to the brink with dense heavenly mist. This mist was the heavenly aura state within his heavenly shrine. For others, this may not come off as mist, but a glob of liquid or a jelly-like substance.
Regardless, mist was an exceptional state for heavenly aura! In this state, more can be gathered with less effort. Although this didn't benefit overall power, it enabled for a quicker accumulation of heavenly aura.
For a pyramid, each floor became smaller and smaller as one ascended. But as it did, the mist within became thicker and thicker.
The walls and decorations within each floor were misty white. It was ever-shifting, as if it contained anything in this world, yet so white that it could also be nothing in this world. He had thoroughly completed the first three floors.
However, Yan Zaizen's current expression was not one who directly ascended to the third-floor Heavenly Genesis Realm in one go. Instead, he looked as if he was robbed with an unsightly facial expression.
"An entire heavenly law crystal! AN ENTIRE HEAVENLY LAW CRYSTAL FOR THREE FLOORS!" He gripped his hair and felt like pulling it all out. An entire heavenly law crystal was worth one million heavenly drops.
ONE FULL MILLION!
That was an unfathomable amount of wealth. This could easily cultivate someone to the fifth-floor with an upper-tier Mortal Dao from nothing! This may seem underwhelming, but it was by no means so.
If Yan Zaizen gave this crystal to Lang Xue, she could become a Heavenly Commander, a seventh-floor Heavenly Genesis expert at the very least! That's because her foundation was the lowest possible, but it took that much to reach three floors. If it took that much for three, imagine all nine.
He felt helpless. When he recalled the heavenly materials devoured by his heavenly shrine, he felt even more bitter despite being extremely lucky. The swirling mixture of black and white seemed only intent in absorbing other heavenly material and nothing else. This meant it wouldn't hinder his progression, but it wasn't all good.
About ninety-five percent of the heavenly materials he had 'received' from others were consumed to complete his three floors. Even if he wished to construct another floor, he couldn't.
"With the materials I had...it's not as bad as the heavenly drops usage, but it still hurts. The future cost will be..." As he muttered in indignation, he felt more and more upset.
The only thing that left him feeling at ease was the pebble-sized amber-gold egg in his soul. Despite his False Grand Dao merging with the Heavenly Shrine, it suddenly started regrowing from nothing. He could tell that it'll take a while before it fully recovers, but this set his heart at ease.
"Forget it," only after a long while did he finally calm down about the cost. With a wave of his hand, his heavenly shrine merged into his dantian. All heavenly shrines typically resided in the dantian. They would constantly nourish the true-essence within the body. This was how true-essence became heavenly aura-infused true-essence.
When it settled in his dantian, he felt a surge of power rush through his pathways, funnel into his meridians, and enter his dantian. It was heavenly aura! This aura continued to cycle in a never-ending flow with the heavenly shrine as the origin.
With this, Yan Zaizen's true-essence no longer leaned towards the life-attribute but was misty white representing the mimicry-attribute. After an acclimation period, Yan Zaizen felt his cultivation base settle. He could feel his Essence Path was no longer at the forefront of his cultivation.
Pinaka was watching closely, her eyes never leaving Yan Zaizen as he adjusted. To her, Yan Zaizen's situation was rare. Therefore, she needed to ensure no major issues occurred.
Looking at Pinaka's hawk-like eyes, Yan Zaizen chuckled inwardly. He knew what she was waiting for, what she was truly waiting for.
Closing his eyes, he interacted with his heavenly shrine in much the same way he interacted with his dantian. The first three floors of this originally misty-white pyramid slowly shifted to the color purple. It radiated the aura of destruction, of pure destruction, and his true-essence swiftly followed.
Pinaka saw this and her eyes radiated light of pure elation. However, Yan Zaizen didn't smile, only furrowed his brows.
"Is there something wrong?" Seeing his reaction, Pinaka asked.
"..." Yan Zaizen was slightly lost in thought, unable to answer. After a minute of thought, his heavenly shrine shifted from its purple color to a blazing red. This color represented Yan Zaizen's fire law.
Over the course of Yan Zaizen's life, he had unintentionally picked up many, many laws. That being said, they would often be placed aside.
He had even comprehended the Mortal Law of the Axe after his battle with Yun Baili in the Sirius Titan Realm. However, it wasn't something he fancied nor decided to focus on in regards to arts. As for the law of fire, he comprehended the Blazing Flame of Fire. It was a powerful law that emphasized temperature and emission of heat. It had remarkable similarities to the Unyielding Flame of Life.
By consuming other materials or energy, it can produce a higher degree of heat! Supposedly, it could reach the point where it could burn an actual sun! However, Yan Zaizen didn't feel too strongly about it. In truth, he didn't feel strongly about any laws outside of Spacetime, Rebirth, Soul, Mimicry, Destruction, and Archery.
At least, he hasn't come across a law that he felt connected to. However, this could easily be explained.
In his life, chaotic space was more his home than anywhere else. His body was refined with life, death, soul, and mimicry regalias. While Pinaka's soul form embodies the conceptual fusion of Archery and Destruction.
If you consider these factors, it made sense why all other laws felt disconnected to him.
This Blazing Flame of Fire was at the minor-Manifestation level. Despite not feeling strongly with these laws, his insights never truly ceased and he had gained comprehension into fire sometimes by looking at meat grilling.
A curse and a blessing of a Non-Entity.
After all, sometimes the meat would burn.
He attempted to use the second-floor of his heavenly shrine. However, the situation shocked him.
The second and third floor was misty white!
This was a truly shocking yet intriguing revelation.
Even Pinaka couldn't help but exclaim.
"..." Yan Zaizen's brows furrowed deeper. With a thought, the blazing red shifted to an aquamarine blue! However, this time, it was only two-floors that changed. The third was still misty white!
"My concept of fire is at the minor-Manifestation...but my concept of water is at the major-Manifestation. Am I limited by my comprehension? Can I only access higher floors if my comprehension reaches the prerequisite of that floor?" His words were both grand and troubling.
For heavenly shrines, floors can only be constructed when a law reaches a certain level and stage. It goes like this:
First Floor: minor-Manifestation.
Second Floor: major-Manifestation.
Third Floor: perfect-Manifestation.
Fourth Floor: minor-Domain.
Fifth Floor: major-Domain.
Sixth Floor: perfect-Domain.
Seventh Floor: initial-Sovereign.
Eighth Floor: minor-Sovereign.
Ninth Floor: major-Sovereign.
From what he understood, reaching the perfect-Sovereign level is one of the requirements to gain the qualifications to rival the heavens and establish a Minor Heaven!
Then, the Heavenly Creation realm is divided by four stages: Minor Heaven, Grand Heaven, Original Law, Original Path.
Xiha, the White Sirius Heavenly Monarch was at the Origin Path before his death! At this realm, one could live for tens of millions of years!
After some more testing of his limitations, he verified it. When he did, his eyes emanated a radiant light of profound excitement! Yan Zaizen's conceptual law of mimicry was at the initial-Manifestation level! This meant there was nothing wrong with his heavenly shrine, but it also meant that if he wanted to build nine floors, he could in one go!
Even if he may not be able to draw power from them via laws, he could still develop them to evolve his true-essence into heavenly might and heavenly essence! All he needed was the resources to do so!
The moment this thought entered his mind, it echoed. It echoed endlessly!