Form and Spirit

The grassland violently shook, as the mountain-sized Golden Horned Beast crashed onto it. Its scales were covered in seeping golden blood, with cracks even appearing on some of them. Golden blood also seeped from its eyes, mouth, and nose. Immediately, surging world energy rapidly spread out, enveloping the entire Golden Horned Beast, beginning to repair its injuries. Meanwhile, in the Beast God Canyon of Lasiao World, Luo Feng, who had been meditating like the hundreds of millions of other ascetic cultivators sitting cross-legged, suddenly let out a painful groan. His hands gripped the loose stones on the ground so tightly that he crushed them into powder. “Your Highness?” “Luo Feng, Your Highness, what’s wrong?” Dilun and Sifanqi, also meditating cross-legged nearby, were greatly startled. They both noticed the look of pain on Luo Feng’s face. Luo Feng didn’t answer, merely gripping the ground tightly with both hands, veins bulging and twisting on his forehead. “Hoo.” Exhaling, Luo Feng opened his eyes and looked at Dilun and Sifanqi with some weariness. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.” Dilun and Sifanqi exchanged glances. Nothing? “Nothing” my foot! He was sitting there perfectly fine, and under the vigilant watch of two Immortal Gods like them, Luo Feng absolutely couldn’t have been attacked in any way. Yet, in such circumstances, Luo Feng displayed such a pained expression. This was truly bizarre. Luo Feng was a cosmic powerhouse; it was impossible for him to suddenly fall ill for no reason. “It seems His Highness has a secret,” Dilun mused inwardly. “This human Luo Feng also has some unknown secrets,” Sifanqi likewise thought. Luo Feng sat there, looking up at the colossal sleeping Beast God statue in the distance, his heart churning. “Why?” “I was merely carving the scale patterns of that small Beast God statue, yet I was subjected to an invisible pressure that not only affected the Golden Horned Beast’s body but even its soul. This caused both my Demon Killer Clan clone and my Earthling original body’s souls to be affected. How could this be?” Luo Feng found it incredible. He had also carved the sleeping Beast God statue, so why did problems arise when carving the small Beast God statue? Moreover, the Golden Horned Beast was in his inner world, his own territory; it was impossible for it to be attacked by any other super-powerhouse. Not to mention Dilun and Sifanqi were right beside him… “I wasn’t attacked by other powerhouses, so who was attacking me?” “Without an attack, I couldn’t have been severely injured for no reason.” Luo Feng’s brows furrowed deeply. “The Golden Horned Beast, within my inner world, was heavily injured by the pressure. That invisible, terrifying pressure, simultaneously affecting both body and soul… it was incredibly dreadful.” Luo Feng recalled the previous sensation, trembling slightly. It was a feeling of utter helplessness. “Then there are only two explanations!” “First, there’s a super-being whose power far exceeds my imagination, preventing me from carving the small Beast God statue, and thus punishing me,” Luo Feng mused. “Second, if it’s not a powerhouse stopping me, then it’s the operating rules of the universe itself suppressing me.” The universe was suppressing Luo Feng. Yes. According to Luo Feng’s understanding, the entire universe operates by certain rules. For instance, if cosmic space is shattered, it will naturally be repaired. Once a speed reaches light speed, one is transported to the dark universe! These are all manifestations of the universe’s inherent operating rules. If his recent actions touched upon these cosmic rules, he could very likely face a backlash. Within the primordial universe, one must abide by its operating rules. “The universe operates with unique rules; anyone who defies them will face a backlash,” Luo Feng thought. “I’ve seen things that defy cosmic rules, such as the nameless secret manual on the metal plate I obtained on Earth, which clearly broke the fundamental rules of genetic evolution.” That super-powerful being was able to create a secret technique that defied rules yet could be passed down. But Luo Feng… Clearly, he only had a superficial understanding of the universe’s operating rules and couldn’t avoid the backlash of those rules. “Two possibilities.” “Which one is it?” Luo Feng wondered. “A super-powerhouse punishing me? That possibility is extremely low, because to do so without Sifanqi and the others noticing anything, and to attack the Golden Horned Beast through my inner world… to achieve that, it would have to be a truly great existence beyond my imagination. And would such an existence… need to constantly monitor me?” Luo Feng was confident, but not arrogant. He wasn’t yet important enough for such an existence to constantly monitor him. “Moreover, I faced this backlash when carving the scales of the small Beast God statue,” Luo Feng thought. Considering everything, there was a 90% chance it was the universe’s rules suppressing him! “Hoo.” Having made his judgment, Luo Feng breathed a sigh of relief. The universe was vast and boundless, nurturing billions of races and countless powerful lifeforms. The operating rules of the universe were the most just, without any bias. Even in the Golden Horned Beast’s inherited memories, only the existence of these cosmic operating rules was described, but it was clear that such rules… were for the stability of the entire universe. It wouldn’t, for example, directly kill a certain lifeform. At least in the inherited memories, there was no mention of cosmic rules killing anyone. “Did my actions just now touch the bottom line of the cosmic rules?” Luo Feng looked up at the colossal Beast God statue in the distance, his heart stirring with excitement. What did the bottom line of the cosmic operating rules represent? It meant that the secret contained within the Beast God statue was a pinnacle secret of the universe, one that could even be interfered with by the cosmic operating rules. “If I can unravel this great secret, as Xiluoduo said, and become an invincible existence, then it truly might be possible,” Luo Feng mused. “No wonder for billions of years, no one has ever been said to have fully comprehended this sleeping Beast God statue before me. After all, this sleeping Beast God statue… is the same lifeform as that small Beast God statue.” “A pinnacle secret of the universe.” Luo Feng was truly excited. Because he realized… he had stumbled upon an extraordinary opportunity! The Beast God statue might be a guiding light leading him to an invincible existence in the universe! Even someone as confident as Luo Feng knew how incredibly difficult it was to become a super-being in the universe. Races like humanity and the Golden Horn Clan had existed for an incredibly long time, yet Cosmic Venerable-level powerhouses were already so rare. So, how rare were super-beings like ‘Xiluoduo’, who alone could lead an entire race to stand firm in the universe? At least, the Golden Horn Clan had only one such being in its history. “My small Beast God statue is clearly more precious than this large Beast God statue,” Luo Feng mused. “I was fine carving the large Beast God statue, but carving the small one resulted in suppression from the cosmic operating rules. Furthermore… the small Beast God statue clearly possesses a unique spirit, as if it were a true Beast God. And this small Beast God statue was obtained from the ‘Xueluo World’, the Beast God’s former habitat, so it should be the original. As for the large Beast God statue… it was probably carved by some super-being.” After realizing the implications of the two Beast God statues, Luo Feng understood clearly that he had to seize this opportunity! “The large Beast God statue should be considered a lower-tier statue.” “The small Beast God statue should be considered a higher-tier statue,” Luo Feng judged in his heart. “Carving the large one was fine, and while the large Beast God statue’s aura is strong, it lacks spirit.” “Then!” “One bite at a time,” Luo Feng mused. “I’ll first meticulously study the scale patterns of the large Beast God statue. Once my strength is sufficient, I’ll then study the small Beast God statue. This small Beast God statue was also left behind by some existence; naturally, if they could leave it, resisting the cosmic operating rules is clearly not impossible.” Luo Feng knew that within the human race, he was merely a small ant, and the human race itself was just one of a few pinnacle races among billions. Compared to the cosmic operating rules, he was too insignificant. “Let’s begin.” Luo Feng looked at the colossal Beast God statue in the Beast God Canyon, releasing his mental force to carefully sense the scale patterns of the sleeping Beast God statue. Although he had successfully carved the sleeping statue, it lacked any aura, so Luo Feng needed to understand why. “Hmm?” “Fluctuations?” When Luo Feng’s mental force meticulously probed the scale patterns, unlike last time when he merely quickly scanned the entire sleeping statue, he now carefully sensed and experienced them. Gradually, Luo Feng felt that the scale patterns were causing some fluctuations in the surroundings. These were fluctuations of cosmic rules, yet they weren’t the fluctuations of any fundamental law like metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, time, or space. However, these fluctuations were even more heart-stopping. The invisible pressure was caused by these fluctuations. “So, this is where the mystery lies!” “How could scale patterns cause fluctuations? Hmm, these scale patterns seem to be interconnected…” Luo Feng gradually discovered something substantial. In fact, what Luo Feng discovered, previous powerhouses of the Golden Horn Clan and human powerhouses had long since found. Otherwise, so many powerhouses wouldn’t have gathered here to continuously study it. Within the inner world, as the Earthling original body meticulously observed the colossal Beast God statue, on a vast grassland within the inner world, the Golden Horned Beast once again carved the scales of the sleeping Beast God statue onto a mountain. “I was wrong before.” “The carving should be done in one go; over 90,000 scales should be carved with a single stroke, forming a mysterious pattern similar to a law secret pattern, which then draws upon cosmic fluctuations not related to any of the fundamental laws like metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, time, or space.” Demon Killer Luo Feng also stood by, watching the Golden Horned Beast’s carving. Demon Killer Luo Feng watched the Golden Horned Beast carve. The Earthling original body observed the sleeping Beast God statue itself. From time to time, Demon Killer Luo Feng would go to observe the ‘small Beast God statue’ to experience its spirit, allowing his other two clones to also understand that divine charm. As the saying goes, “Practice a technique a thousand times, and its essence will become clear.” Similarly, in terms of comprehending laws, there’s a very tedious method: continuously practicing and imitating a secret technique created by a powerhouse, following the trajectory and methods of their technique, once, ten thousand times, a hundred million times… As one becomes increasingly precise, one will naturally sense certain law fluctuations. This was a foolish method. It didn’t aim to comprehend the true mysteries, only to be able to execute the technique. This method was destined not to allow one to fully grasp a law. But Luo Feng understood that the secret contained within the Beast God statue might be far more difficult to comprehend than simply grasping the law of space or time to become a Cosmic Venerable. Even becoming a Cosmic Venerable was still very distant for him. So, wanting to comprehend this profound mystery was even further out of reach. Since that was the case, he would use the foolish method: imitate it once, ten thousand times, a hundred million times. “Others who imitate it won’t have an accurate standard, because the sleeping Beast God statue makes it impossible to find its true divine charm and artistic conception,” Black-Clad Luo Feng said, looking up at the Golden Horned Beast carving repeatedly. “But I have an accurate standard.” Black-Clad Luo Feng lowered his head and looked at the small Beast God statue in his hand. It was simple. While carving, he would guide the feeling of the carving towards the ‘divine charm’ of the ‘small Beast God statue’, continuously experiencing that spirit in his heart, while simultaneously carving… With form, and with spirit. Only then could he gradually achieve something. This was what Luo Feng considered a foolish method for comprehending the Beast God statue’s mystery, but for someone of his strength, it was the most realistic and reliable approach. “I don’t seek to fully unravel the mystery; I only seek to gain even a tiny bit from it, and that will benefit me immensely. When my strength is sufficient in the future, I can slowly ponder it then.” That was Luo Feng’s thought process; self-awareness was a valuable trait.