Chapter 92: Struggling in the Sea of Bitterness
Chapter 92: Struggling in the Sea of Bitterness
In the desolate mountains, Li Si felt helpless. He was entirely shrouded in black energy, no longer looking like a human. Countless cries, wails, and curses merged together, forming a massive wave of resentment that surged into his soul. He felt he was going to explode.
In truth, he could not control it on his own anymore.
Only the information from the Fate Forge gave him a one-second break.
Flash!
“You have been exempted from 500% Soul Alienation Contamination. One of your Statue Avatars has taken on all of it and is turning corrupt…”
Great, now the third Statue Avatar had fallen.
The only thing Li Si could do was to seize the time. Within that one second, he frantically cast one hundred Divine Grace Baptisms on the first corrupted Statue Avatar, pulling it back from the brink of corruption. One hundred Divine Grace Baptisms meant one hundred pieces of Black Fate Fuel. A whole allowance was gone.
In the boundless sea of blood, countless people were torn apart, separated from their families, and died unjustly. This suffering turned into waves of resentment, surging violently.
For a moment, Li Si felt numb. It was too bitter. His mental defenses were collapsing. He felt he had become one of those countless suffering beings, experiencing their pain one by one. He could not see the shore, nor any hope.
“You have been exempted from 500% Soul Alienation Contamination. One of your Statue Avatars has taken on all of it and is turning corrupt…”
Another piece of information appeared, rescuing Li Si from the ocean of suffering. He had nearly drowned.
At this moment, he cried. With his remaining clarity of mind, he continuously cast two hundred Divine Grace Baptisms, purifying the second and third Statue Avatars.
That was all he could do. He truly could do nothing more. His body felt like it did not belong to him, let alone being able to use Divine Abilities or Dao Techniques.
The sea of bitterness had no shore; turning back did not lead to the other side.
All living beings suffered; letting go did not bring freedom.
Struggling to cross, struggling to cross, he was but a mayfly.
In the gap between the Mortal Realm and Illusory Realm, boundless resentment continued to erupt without end.
Li Si was swimming naked in the sea of suffering. Giant waves towered, and he could only endure. No one could save him, not even himself.
Meanwhile, in Kao Mountain Town, the abnormalities of the four Divine Idols had long alarmed Wang Wu and the others, but they were helpless. The only thing they could do was to keep everyone away from the Divine Idols spewing black energy.
Except for Zhang San.
“The Divine Idols of the Kaoshan Patriarch seem to be entangled with resentment. I might have a way!”
Zhang San said gravely, then cast a Golden Radiance Chant. A golden halo covered one of the black energy-spewing Divine Idols. Visibly, the black energy reduced by one-third.
“It works! It’s working! Zhang San, hurry! Don’t let the Patriarch blame us.”
Everyone else was overjoyed. No wonder the Kaoshan Patriarch had always valued the Lanshan Sect the most. They really were amazing.
Zhang San was also excited. Life was comfortable now, so he was willing to do his part. Of course, he had no idea that the seemingly omnipotent Ancestor Kaoshan was on the verge of drowning at any moment.
He thought that it was probably some outside evil spirits causing trouble while the Kaoshan Patriarch was away. How could he tolerate that?
Flash.
He cast another Golden Radiance Chant. For now, Zhang San only mastered this one technique, but it was effective enough.
After three Golden Radiance Chants, this Divine Idol returned to normal. Hmm, the Kaoshan Patriarch’s Divine Idol looked so kind…
“Trouble! Trouble! Sect Leader Zhang, the Divine Idol in the west has been attacked by evil spirits again! It’s spewing black smoke all over. Lord Song asks you to come quickly.”
A Temple warrior ran over, panting heavily, tongue hanging out like an old dog.
“Okay, I’m going!”
Zhang San hurried off. Soon, with three Golden Radiance Chants, this Divine Idol became kind again.
“Disaster! Disaster! The Divine Idol in the north, for some reason, is covered in black smoke.”
This—
Zhang San, Wang Wu, and Song Qiao looked at each other, then flew into a rage. Damn, what evil spirit dares to bully Kao Mountain Town, thinking we have no one?
Open the door, release Zhang San—oh, please, Sect Leader Zhang!
“Prepare a sedan chair!”
Wang Wu had experience. He could tell that the evil spirit today was very tricky. Maybe the southern Divine Idol would grow black hair next. So, when the Kaoshan Patriarch returned, Zhang San would surely be a great hero. So now was the time to build a good relationship, offer early favors, and form a good bond.
“This… isn’t appropriate, is it?”
Zhang San felt flattered, but Wang Wu insisted without listening. He personally carried the sedan chair—how else to show sincerity? Zhang San had the main credit, so he, the carrier, should at least get an assisting merit.
Xu Sen saw this and thought, “Old fox, just you being clever?”
So Xu Sen immediately gathered men to clear obstacles on the town’s cross streets, ensuring Zhang San’s sedan chair could pass quickly at a moment’s notice. Anyway, it seemed the evil spirit wouldn’t give up anytime soon.
For a while, the entire Kao Mountain Town was in an uproar. People stood by the road, confused about what was happening, only thinking the man on the sedan chair looked so handsome…
Meanwhile, in the wilderness, Li Si had turned into a mushroom king. One after another, Seven Emotions Mushrooms bloomed on his body, attracting massive resentment, tormenting Li Si. Tsk!
Most of the bodily aberrant corruption brought by these Seven Emotions Mushrooms was resisted by his Heart-Clearing Domain and Disaster-Averting Domain. His Fetal Breathing Dao Body and Flawless Dao Body were quite strong after all.
But the Soul Corruption was truly terrifying.
At first, Li Si could temporarily escape the suffering and resentment with the help of information from the Fate Forge. But after several rounds, even as information flooded his mind, he could not wake up.
Submerged in it, he completely lost his own consciousness, leaving only suffering, suffering, suffering, and more suffering…
The Fate Forge, his external aid, was completely powerless.
It could only let his soul float and sink there, like a corpse.
The only saving grace in all this misfortune was that he still had four Statue Avatars, one town, and one Zhang San.
By this time, Zhang San was exhausted like a dog. Wang Wu was also exhausted like a dog. The sedan chair carriers had been replaced three times, yet the four Divine Idols kept acting up. If this continued, Zhang San would not even be able to cast Golden Radiance Chants anymore.
“Go get… get my family treasure…”
Zhang San’s face was pale, his breath weak. Casting Golden Radiance Chants consumed not Magic Power but soul power. Now he felt his head was about to explode.
But the Divine Idols were still acting up, so he had to go all out.
What if this was the Kaoshan Patriarch’s test? What if the Kaoshan Patriarch was watching us?
Work hard! Strive!
As for the family treasure, it did not matter.
Two Temple warriors ran until their boots flew off, finally bringing Zhang San’s family treasure—a seemingly ordinary hourglass. Zhang San held it, and his energy visibly recovered.
“Trouble! The southern Divine Idol has grown black hair and is shedding black tears of blood…”
“No problem, watch my Golden Radiance Chant…”
“Trouble! The northern Divine Idol is spewing black smoke, its surface cracked, and it’s crying like a child…”
“No problem, hold on a little longer!”
…
They did not know how much time had passed. Zhang San cried, crying like a child too. He had even used up his family treasure, so why…
“Great! The Divine Idols are back to normal! No more black hair! But the cracks on them look like boiled tea eggs…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. As long as there’s no black hair, it’s okay.”
Zhang San, Wang Wu, Song Qiao, Xu Sen, and the others collapsed on the ground, nearly exhausted to death. This time, the Kaoshan Patriarch should be satisfied, right?
But Li Si did not know any of this.
He was still swimming naked in the sea of bitterness, but the boundless resentment from the Seven Emotions Tribulation was gone, completely gone.
The huge gap between the Illusory Realm and Mortal Realm disappeared. A total of nine Seven Emotions Mushrooms bloomed on his body, like a beautiful wreath.
But now these nine Seven Emotions Mushrooms held no danger at all, purely harmless.
A gust of wind blew, and they shattered like petals, turning into colorful lights that merged into Li Si’s body.
The terrifying waves of the sea of bitterness had dissipated, and the Soul Alienation Contamination had been exempted. But he still needed to find the shore of this sea of suffering with his own power.
Suddenly, in the sea of bitterness that only had black and white colors, a layer of colorful light descended, and the sea instantly gained color.
Then came another layer of colorful light. Everything in the sea of bitterness began to become real.
Then another layer of colorful light.
When nine layers of colorful light had fallen, everything transformed into a bustling, colorful world of human affairs.
But the more real it became, the clearer Li Si’s mind grew. When the barren mountains and blood-colored clouds reappeared before his eyes, everything he had experienced before felt like a fleeting dream, never to return.
Only his heart remained, like towering mountains, unshakable as a rock.
“Successfully passed the Seven Emotions Tribulation. Acquired Bedrock Dao Heart.”
“Bedrock Dao Heart: One of the seven great Dao Hearts a Cultivator can obtain. Can be acquired by undergoing the Seven Emotions Tribulation, being in the sea of bitterness, enduring the resentment of a hundred thousand souls, remaining unshaken, not losing one’s true heart, not falling into demonic paths.”
“After acquisition, one will no longer fear disasters of emotions and desires. Speed of comprehending techniques and learning Dao Techniques and Divine Abilities increases by 500%. Success rate of breaking through to the next cultivation realm increases by 100%. Has a chance to comprehend and master a Primal Divine Ability.”
“Reduces physical aberrant corruption by 50%. Reduces Soul Alienation Contamination by 500%.”
“You have overcome the resentment of a hundred thousand unjustly killed souls, empathized with their suffering, talked with the resentment, and finally delivered them. You have acquired 100,000 pieces of Black Fate Fuel.”
“From now on, wherever you are, Seven Emotions Mushrooms will avoid you.”
…
“Is this a one-time buyout for me?”
Li Si felt greatly relieved, but also thought it was a bit of a loss. Still, being able to gain a Bedrock Dao Heart, he should be content.
With a thought, he learned what had just happened. He could not help but feel fortunate. Zhang San, truly a treasure, must be rewarded.
Flash.
He directly sent a wave of Divine Grace Baptism, including the four nearly shattered Divine Idols. They were great heroes, though the repair cost was a bit high.
Each required 100 pieces of White Fate Firewood. Why not just rob me?
Huh?
“Acquired Elementary Numinous Idols ×4.”
“Explanation: Numinous Idols can automatically absorb believers’ Faith Power and convert it into divine power. Divine power can be used to activate Divine Arts.”
“What does this mean? From now on, Kao Mountain Town’s Divine Arts can finally be self-sufficient!”
Li Si was overjoyed and decisively repaired them.
So good!