Legendary Clan Chief
Chapter 1072 - 1055: Spirit Reincarnation and Life Extension!

Chapter 1072: Chapter 1055: Spirit Reincarnation and Life Extension!

In the Sea of Suffering, the fog became denser, and amid the heavy mist, ripples formed on the water. A Dragon of Blood lineage, nearly thirty feet in size, partook in the soul power of the vast Sea of Suffering as it roamed into the distance.

Standing on the Dragon’s back was unmistakably Xiao Chen.

Now submissive, the Dragon rendered the use of the awkward, barely-functional bamboo leaf boat Xiao Chen had employed up till now unnecessary; moreover, the Dragon’s speed surpassed that of the boat by incomprehensible multiples within the Sea of Suffering.

With the gods in this era extinct, this Dragon, which possessed a Divine Beast Bloodline, was likely one of the few remaining of its kind. Had it not been trapped in the Sea of Suffering due to a twist of fate, it perhaps would’ve perished alongside the ancient gods.

Of course, the cost it paid was that only its Dragon Soul remained; its Dragon Body had likely been annihilated in that era.

Equally, Xiao Chen had realized why the Dragon’s powers were so meager. In the legends of all heavens, spiritual beings possessed the power to destroy heavens and the earth. The power of the Dragon at its birth was no different from that of the current day’s junior kings.

Even in this era, possessing the power of a king from birth was exceedingly fearsome!

However, back then, with both spirit and body present and after being trapped in the Sea of Suffering for so long, its strength had fallen.

The spiritual beings did possess the power to destroy heavens and the earth; this refers to those true congenital deities born at the genesis of the world.

Later generations of gods also proliferated, but the strength of the progeny weakened over time. To become powerful, they had to cultivate like the present, effectively making that era one of Cultivating Divinity.

Cultivating Divinity, much like the current cultivation of Martial Realm, differed only in terminology and the grade of divine power, which was much higher than in this era.

With the Dragon’s assistance, Xiao Chen significantly advanced his pursuit of Soul Nightmares and the acquisition of Soul Crystals of the Sea of Suffering, each crystal absorbed into his body.

His Soul Body had turned semi-transparent and grayish; thus, the Dragon, carrying Xiao Chen, continued to hunt Nightmares and cleanse the turbidity from his spirit, all the while searching for the Other Shore.

However, he also harbored doubts in his heart because, according to the Dragon’s memory, throughout these long years, it had never witnessed this so-called Other Shore.

What exactly was the Other Shore; could it truly be an island within the vast ocean of suffering?

Legend has it, the Other Shore leads to the Great Dao of Enlightenment!

Buzz!

Without needing Xiao Chen to act, the Dragon, with a wide open mouth, shattered a Nightmare, several yards in size, turning it into a fist-sized soul crystal that landed in his hand.

Buzz!

The soul crystal entered Xiao Chen’s soul body, instantly causing his soul body to overflow with radiant light, translucent and impeccable as jade—the deeper within the soul body, the more flawless and clear it appeared.

Sizzle!

Deep within his soul body, Xiao Chen began to feel wrenching pain, a sensation emanating from the soul, unbearable to withstand.

Unavoidable, one must endure; turbidity accompanies one from birth and is integral to the soul. Removing it now was nearly akin to ripping the soul apart!

Every shred of soul power within him was torn and reorganized. Xiao Chen even felt as if his divine sense had split into countless pieces.

It seemed as though countless selves were contemplating, each torn thought distinctly his own.

He was inherently unique, yet now this singularity had transformed. The reorganized soul power did not merge again but instead split into independent thoughts.

His thoughts, all these independent thoughts comprehended them.

Unable to prevent the thoughts from diverging, but in the next moment, it seemed he entered a different space-time.

On a water-blue planet, Xiao Chen, serving as a university professor, was assigned to teach archaeology to the students in the department, yet the department had very few people. Just then, a young-looking student interrupted the lecture.

"Professor Xiao, here is your invitation."

Xiao Chen signaled for a pause in the lecture and accepted the invitation, opening it casually.

But to his surprise, the text on the invitation was in the script of the Desolate Wilds, and he understood its meaning at a glance.

The invitation read, "Professor Xiao is cordially invited to participate in the excavation of an unidentified ancient tomb..."

Thus, days later, Xiao Chen, along with a group of scholars, entered the ancient tomb, which contained only an altar,

and atop the altar was the Bronze Ancient Seal, eerily familiar to him...

This was merely one of the thoughts experienced; the Dragon, at Xiao Chen’s command, roamed atop the Sea of Suffering, continuously hunting Soul Nightmares, with soul crystals constantly fed into his body.

Yet he was oblivious to the transformation ongoing within his soul body.

Streams of turbidity were forced out; the crystalline soul body became increasingly transparent, yet it conveyed a sense of spiritual diffusion.

Unbeknownst to when, Xiao Chen had wholly immersed himself in the evolution of different scenes.

In the Border Wasteland, the Gu Yuan Clan held a position in the Legendary Marquis Department, governing a region. Xiao Chen, leading War Masters, returned from a conquest of foreign tribes, went directly back into the Blue Stone Garden in the tribe, but he could not hide the voices from the entire tribe.

"Our Chief spends his days either waging wars or in seclusion for training. The Gu Yuan Clan has long been a formidable force in many domains, but doesn’t our Chief care at all for his personal matters?"

"Exactly, which woman in the tribe doesn’t wish to enter the Blue Stone Garden, but our Chief pays them no heed."

In this alternate reality, the Gu Yuan Tribe was stronger than its counterpart in the real world; however, it distinctly lacked two individuals, Mu Qing and Nianhua, who seemed never to have existed at all.

In another scene, Xiao Chen had just returned from a conquest against a foreign tribe and had just stepped into his own tribe when several children hurriedly ran out from the Blue Stone Garden.

"Daddy," ’Daddy.’

Five little ones threw themselves at Xiao Chen, clinging to his legs, tilting their little faces upward, and calling out with their tender voices. The smallest girl, running slower than the others, was blocked by her siblings and began to cry frantically.

Soon, two beautiful figures stepped out of the Blue Stone Garden. As he was about to call out to Mu Qing and Nianhua, he realized that the figures emerging were two people he did not recognize.

...

Illusion, reality!

Each scene was exceedingly real in Xiao Chen’s perception, as though he had been reborn, yet they were so ephemeral; his neural thinking had already been thrown into disarray, with countless scrolls of paintings continually manifesting.

In the evolution of each scenario, the outcomes remained uniquely different; some could not advance to kingship and had to resign themselves to death, some died on the battlefield against foreign tribes, and some were annihilated by the invasion of powerful foreign beings.

All emotional fluctuations seemed infinitely magnified, stirring his mind and spirit.

In the Sea of Suffering, Xiao Chen stood on the back of a giant pepper, and after absorbing countless soul crystals, his soul body had turned translucent.

Yet, this translucent body emitted a bizarre aura, as if it was a layering of numerous illusions, manifesting in turn on the soul body.

Each illusion represented a strand of thought, having purged the turbidity and consequently tearing his soul body into innumerable parts, thus transforming into numerous thoughts, which then evolved into countless Xiao Chens sharing the same thoughts.

The fog in the Sea of Suffering grew denser, engulfing Xiao Chen’s body, seemingly filled with unknown elements.

Hitherto transparent, the soul body started turning black, not the grey of initial turbidity, but like a pitch-black ink.

In an instant,

the black had spread to his knees.

After three breaths, everything below Xiao Chen’s neck had turned black. He was lost!

Drawn into innumerable chaotic scenes, the descent of a spiritual tribulation left Xiao Chen utterly incapable of resisting.

His brows were tightly furrowed, seemingly struggling, but he was completely unable to open his eyes to sense other energies, only the utterly chaotic scenes before him.

Which one is the real me? It seemed that in this short time, he had experienced countless reincarnations, each scene like living anew.

Hum!

The next moment, blackness filled Xiao Chen’s entire body, occupying it from the inside, and just as the blackness was about to annihilate every last bit of his spiritual sense, another lost soul would be added to the boundless Sea of Suffering.

The black miasma rushed into the depths of his soul’s skull, beginning to obliterate the last bit of spiritual light!

Hum!

Just then, within the boundless blackness, that slight bit of spiritual light suddenly ignited a fierce, translucent flame!

The Annihilating Soul Purification Flame!

It was the spiritual flame that Xiao Chen forcibly integrated into his Soul Sea when he ascended to the rank of a venerable during his ordeal through the triple fire tribulation!

Having lain dormant within Xiao Chen’s Soul Sea, it erupted explosively just as Xiao Chen was about to be obliterated by the darkness!

The Annihilating Soul Purification Flame, annihilating all dark impurities.

Hum, hum, hum!

The dark miasma was burnt by the Annihilating Soul Purification Flame into black smoke, pouring out from his body.

Not only burning away the darkness, Xiao Chen’s original chaotic thoughts—negativity, violence, resentment—were all burnt into nothingness, followed by the disappearance of those illusory scenes.

A purified, impure soul!

It was the same soul; the derived scenes were merely Xiao Chen’s stray thoughts, magnified infinitely by his mixed emotions.

Surely these stray thoughts could be named as desires, fears, resentments... akin to the secrets of that water-blue star eternally clung to in Xiao Chen’s heart, which had turned into his tribulation, from which all these scenarios originated.

Exhale!

In an instant, Xiao Chen came to his senses; now his body was flawless and translucent like jade, his thoughts flowing more smoothly and roundly.

"Is this the spiritual reincarnation, where each scene is like being reborn?"

Perhaps it was a mere moment, yet to Xiao Chen, it felt as though he had been in a timeless silence for an unknown duration. Now awakened from the grand dream, he had gained insight.

Spiritual reincarnation is but a continuation of life; regardless of what time space it goes through, life remains constant, and what reincarnates is the original life.