Chapter 93: Prerequisites

"I see..." Han Li murmured to himself with a contemplative expression.

With that, it was confirmed that not only was an Earthly Deity Avatar able to manifest the power of laws using the power of faith, it could also convert the power of faith into magic power.

Hence, if he were to begin pursuing the path of an Earthly Immortal and refine an Earthly Deity Avatar of his own, there was a chance that he would be able to use that avatar to assist him in removing the restrictions on his nascent soul.

Furthermore, judging from the faint resonance that the power of faith in the statue head had displayed with the chains in his nascent soul, it seemed that refining an Earthly Deity Avatar was going to have some additional unexpected benefits that would aid him in his endeavor to free his nascent soul.

However, this was still going to be quite a troublesome path to pursue.

After all, once he embarked on this path, the risk of his magic power being contaminated by the power of faith would arise, and if he weren't careful, he could be permanently reduced to an Earthly Immortal.

However, it certainly wasn't impossible for him to pursue this path until his nascent soul was freed, taking measures to ensure that his magic power remained uncontaminated by the power of faith during this process, then abandon this path and pursue other paths of cultivation.

On the surface, Han Li appeared to be quite calm, but internally, he was feeling intensely conflicted.

After a while, Han Li turned to Luo Feng and said, "There were quite a few resources pertaining to Earthly Immortals in the scripture library, but most of them were only introductory texts that don't actually describe how one can pursue the path of cultivating as an Earthly Immortal. Do you know anything about this subject, Chief Luo?"

Luo Feng was rather taken aback to hear this. "Could it be that you're also interested in pursuing this path, Senior Liu?"

"Just tell me what you know for now," Han Li replied in an ambiguous fashion.

"Generally speaking, most Earthly Immortals will choose to become an entity similar to the Ancestral God of our tribe, then over time, through generations upon generations of reproduction, an Ancestral God will slowly accumulate the power of faith through their followers, and only after a process of accumulation and acclimation is completed will they truly be able to pursue the path of cultivating as an Earthly Immortal," Luo Feng explained.

"Can the power of faith only be provided by one's direct descendants?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Other people can also provide the power of worship, but generally speaking, the power of worship that they provide will be rather impure, making it virtually impossible to harness for Ancestral Gods who are still yet to become Earthly Immortals. In contrast, the power of worship from one's direct descendants will be most devout, and it'll also have the highest level of compatibility with the Ancestral God.

“As time passes, the number of one's descendants will naturally increase, so most people who pursue this path will choose to spend some time to expand their clans first," Luo Feng explained.

"I see. Go on," Han Li prompted.

"Due to the fact that an Earthly Immortal's rate of cultivation and potency of the power of laws that they manifest is dependent on how much power of faith they're able to harness, in order for them to accelerate their progression, they have to constantly expand their territory while also securing as much resources as possible. Only then will they be able to produce more descendants and expand their clans as quickly as possible."

Luo Feng currently possessed the most advanced cultivation base out of all of the local residents of Dark Veil Island, and he had already been cultivating for a very long time in the Black Wind Sea, so he was quite knowledgeable about the process of becoming an Earthly Immortal and the steps that had to be taken for future progression.

However, Han Li couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after hearing Luo Feng's description.

Pursuing the path of an Earthly Immortal wasn't as easy as he imagined, and given his current situation, there was no way that he would dedicate an extended period of time to developing a large clan.

As for future expansions of territory, that was undoubtedly going to encroach upon the interests of other Ancestral Gods, so he would inevitably find himself swept up in a constant cycle of conflicts, and that was definitely not something that he wanted to have to deal with.

"Are there any other ways to pursue this path, Chief Luo?" Han Li asked.

"There is a way that allows one to become an Earthly Immortal without having to go down the Ancestral God path," Luo Feng replied after a brief hesitation.

"I'm assuming some special requirements must be met, right?" Han Li asked.

"Indeed. Almost all of the high-grade cultivators in the entire Black Wind Sea have heard of this method that allows one to directly cultivate as an Earthly Immortal, but barely anyone has ever successfully gone down that path because two prerequisites have to be met first," Luo Feng replied with a wry smile.

"Go on," Han Li prompted.

"The first prerequisite is that the Earthly Deity Avatar used by the cultivator cannot be cultivated using normal materials. Instead, it must be refined using something that is inherently imbued with the power of laws.

“The second prerequisite is that the Earthly Immortal cultivation art used must be one that can allow the cultivator to directly skip over the Ancestral God stage, so essentially, it has to be a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art that directly harnesses the impure power of worship of normal people," Luo Feng explained.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Truth be told, not only does our tribe not possess a high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation art, there most likely aren't that many even in the entire Black Wind Sea. As for the materials required to cultivate an Earthly Deity Avatar, Ancestral God Luo Meng has left some materials on the island in the past, but with my limited knowledge, most of them are materials that I don't recognize, so I'm not sure if any of them contain the power of laws. I can take you to inspect those materials in person if you'd like," Luo Feng offered.

"Please lead the way, Chief Luo," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, the two of them quickly left the restricted zone, and shortly thereafter, they appeared in an underground secret chamber.

The secret chamber wasn't very large, and there were around a dozen wooden shelves inside, upon which were placed many materials, including demon beast materials, some spirit medicines, and some types of ore.

These items seemed to be quite rare, but that was only for Spatial Tempering and Body Integration cultivators.

Luo Feng was clearly also aware of this, and he led Han Li straight to a green jade shelf at the very back of the secret chamber. The jade shelf was completely enshrouded beneath a layer of blue light, and there was a small collection of items visible on the shelf.

"These are all of the things that Ancestral God Luo Meng left behind, Senior Liu," Luo Feng said.

He then pulled out a blue badge to release a burst of blue light, which instantly dispelled the blue light barrier around the shelf in a flash.

With the removal of the blue light barrier, it was revealed that most of the items on the shelf were a type of round black ore that was giving off peculiar glacial fluctuations, indicating that it seemed to be some type of special material.

Aside from these pieces of ore was a miscellaneous collection of items, including several orange pieces of wood that were giving off a faint fragrance, a piece of golden ore, a pair of broken halberd treasures, and a palm-sized white jade badge.

Han Li picked up these items one by one, and after a careful examination, he couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

He was able to identify the orange wood and golden ore as two types of precious tool refinement materials. He didn't recognize the black ore, but there was clearly no power of laws imbued within them anyway.

As for the pair of halberds, they would've been a powerful set of spirit treasures in the past, but for some reason, their spiritual nature was severely diminished, so they weren't anywhere near as powerful as they once had been.

Luo Feng couldn't help but heave a faint sigh at the sight of Han Li's disappointed expression.

He was hoping that Han Li would be able to become an Earthly Immortal. That way, he wouldn't be able to leave the Black Wind Sea and would have to remain on Dark Veil Island. Given enough time, the Luo Clan would be able to produce a new Ancestral God.

If it weren't for this possibility, there was no way that he would’ve brought Han Li here so easily.

Right at this moment, the white jade badge on the shelf seemed to have caught Han Li's interest.

Luo Feng was rather taken aback to see this. "Is there something special about this badge, Senior Liu?"

He had examined all of the items here countless times before, and he had never noticed anything special about the jade badge.

Han Li didn't immediately offer a response. Instead, he carefully examined the jade badge for a while longer before replying, "I can't quite put my finger on it right away, but there seems to be something strange about this badge. I'll take it back with me for further examination."

"That's not a problem at all," Luo Feng immediately replied.

"Also, I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye out for high-grade Earthly Immortal cultivation arts and materials imbued with the power of laws. Notify me right away if you find anything," Han Li instructed.

"Rest assured, Senior Liu, you can count on me," Luo Feng replied.

……

A short while later, Han Li returned to the secret chamber in the courtyard that he was staying in, and he sat down onto his futon with a contemplative look in his eyes.

If he wanted to remove the seal on his nascent soul in a short time, it seemed that the only possible solution was to pursue that unorthodox Earthly Immortal path.

However, he had to satisfy the two prerequisites first.

The Black Wind Sea was a vast place, and there were several secret regions in it. Those regions were extremely perilous places, but they were also home to some rare materials and exotic demon beasts, so perhaps it was possible to find some materials imbued with the power of laws in there.

With that in mind, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and a flipped a hand over to produce a certain object. It was the eye of the one-eyed giant that he had slain in that mysterious bubble.

The light released by the eye was able to significantly slow down the target, and that had left a deep impression on him.

He had examined this object before, but back then, he had been quite pressed for time, so he wasn't able to conduct a very thorough examination.

If this eye contained a hint of power of laws, then that would save him a lot of effort.

He began to chant an incantation, and blue light flashed within his eyes, while his Law Destruction Eye emerged on his glabella.

The three eyes lit up in unison before each releasing a beam of light, two blue and one black, which converged at a single point before slowly fusing together.

Han Li then began to make a series of hand seals, and the three beams of light quickly completely fused as one to form a black and blue eyeball that was releasing waves of black and blue light, which enshrouded the eye that he was holding.

At the same time, he also released his spiritual sense, manifesting a series of threads of spiritual sense that enveloped the eye before seeping into it.

Moments later, a hint of elation welled up in Han Li's heart.

Through the examination of his spiritual sense, he had made some encouraging discoveries.

Deep inside the eye were several extremely faint specks of white light.

After making this observation, Han Li immediately transformed his threads of spiritual sense into a cloud of mist so that he could better examine these specks of white light.

A short while later, he opened his eyes, and there was more than a hint of excitement flashing within them.

It was very faint, but was certain that those specks of white light contained a hint of law fluctuations.