Sect Master’s Immortal Journey
Chapter 805: Strengthening
After discussing with the elders, Meng Zhang, alone, found a quiet room and closed the door to contemplate how to enhance the top-level combat power of their faction. After thinking for a while, he felt the need to communicate once again with Netherworld's Ghost Deity, Shou Zheng, to see if he could obtain assistance from him. Based on their previous contact experience, even though Shou Zheng had become a Ghost Deity in Netherworld, he still cared deeply about Taiyi Sect.
Being the Taiyi Sect Master, Meng Zhang couldn't possibly get no face at all. Deciding to act on his thoughts, Meng Zhang immediately began setting up an altar and preparing offerings. The most challenging aspect of communicating with Ghost Deity was to see if Shou Zheng would be willing to respond; the offerings were of secondary importance.
Soon, a simple altar with a few basic offerings appeared in front of Meng Zhang. He sat cross-legged before the altar, concentrated his mind, and began reciting incantations. After reciting the incantations for a while, there was no response from the altar. Undeterred, Meng Zhang made some adjustments and began his spellcasting to communicate with Ghost Deity Shou Zheng again.
This time, Meng Zhang was resolute; if Shou Zheng continued to be unresponsive, he would persist in his spellcasting. After all, Shou Zheng was an elder of Taiyi Sect, and the sect was facing a crisis that required his help. He couldn't just hide away and ignore it.
Meng Zhang remained patient and didn't show any signs of impatience, continuing his earnest spellcasting. Perhaps due to his perseverance or maybe because he had no other choice, Ghost Deity Shou Zheng finally couldn't help but respond. The offerings on the altar shook violently and then disappeared into thin air, and the room was filled with chilling winds and howling sounds.
After a moment, a grand idea entered Meng Zhang's mind. It turned out that during their last contact, Meng Zhang had caused some trouble to Ghost Deity Shou Zheng by damaging one of his avatars. Now, Shou Zheng had a powerful enemy to deal with in Netherworld and couldn't spare the resources to create a new avatar to send to the mortal world.
In response, Shou Zheng conveyed a secret technique through his idea. This technique allowed the consumption of offerings to summon Shou Zheng's divine power across realms. A sufficiently resilient Gold Core stage cultivator who accepted Shou Zheng's divine power could temporarily possess strength close to that of a Primordial Spirit level. With enough intelligence and combat experience, this cultivator could contend with enemies at the Primordial Spirit level.
Of course, accepting such power came with a cost. The cultivator would need to spend a considerable amount of time afterwards to gradually expel the residual divine power from their body, ensuring the purity of their True Essence. Furthermore, if the cultivator's willpower was not strong enough, they would be influenced by the will of the Ghost Deity contained in the divine power, leading to adverse consequences.
Compared to directly summoning Shou Zheng's avatar, summoning his divine power was undoubtedly less potent. Additionally, each time, it could only enhance one cultivator. However, Shou Zheng had made it clear to Meng Zhang that within the next few decades, he might not have any spare avatars to send to the mortal world.
Although the assistance from Shou Zheng didn't meet the initial expectations, it would still be barely sufficient.After concluding the communication with Shou Zheng, Meng Zhang carefully examined the secret technique for summoning the divine power. Apart from the relatively high requirements for offerings, there were no other difficult aspects. Given Taiyi Sect's size and resources, gathering these offerings would only require some time.
Meng Zhang first made a list of the required offerings and tasked the disciples of the sect to collect them. Then, he summoned the senior disciple of the sect, Yang Xueyi, who had already reached the Gold Core stage and was one of the most skilled practitioners in the sect, proficient in the art of making talismans. She was a rare Third Rank Talisman Master and had contributed significantly to Taiyi Sect by ensuring a relatively abundant supply of talismans.
Without beating around the bush, Meng Zhang informed Yang Xueyi about the plan to call upon Shou Zheng's divine power and asked if she would be willing to accept it. He didn't conceal any of the dangers associated with the process. Yang Xueyi didn't hesitate and agreed to receive Shou Zheng's divine power willingly.
Having been brought into Taiyi Sect by Meng Zhang during a time of peril, Yang Xueyi had witnessed the growth and development of the sect over the years. For her, taking some risks for the sect, which had become deeply intertwined with her life, was nothing compared to the importance of the sect's well-being. This kind of commitment, where the sect's honor and disgrace were shared, and life and death were faced together, was precisely the attitude expected of all disciples.
Meng Zhang taught Yang Xueyi the secret technique and informed her that she could use it to communicate with Netherworld and summon Shou Zheng's divine power before the war began. At that time, Yang Xueyi would possess the power of at least half a Primordial Spirit True Monarch.
After Yang Xueyi left, Meng Zhang made a certain decision. He spent several days preparing and then summoned his second disciple, An Xiaoran, and third disciple, An Moran. He took out his natal spiritual tool, the Yin Yang Spirit Gourd, and pulled it open. Two streams of black and white energy shot out from the gourd and started to revolve around it slowly.
Meng Zhang pointed with one hand, and the two streams of energy respectively entered the bodies of An Xiaoran and An Moran. He taught them a Qi Refining method and urged them to practice diligently. By gradually cultivating this Qi Refining method, they would be able to refine the black and white energies infused into their bodies by Meng Zhang.
These black and white energies were the essence of the accumulated Yin and Yang from the Yin Yang Spirit Gourd over the years and the capital for the gourd to ascend to a Fourth Rank magic tool. Now, Meng Zhang felt extremely reluctant to consume them on his disciples. Deprived of these energies, the chances of the Yin Yang Spirit Gourd ascending to a Fourth Rank magic tool would be greatly delayed.
However, with the upcoming major battle, Meng Zhang had to use all available means to enhance the top-level combat power of Taiyi Sect. After An Xiaoran and An Moran refined the Yin and Yang energies within them, they would be able to jointly deploy the Yin Yang Formation during the battle. This not only greatly increased the power of their own Divine Abilities but also allowed them to barely contend with opponents at the Primordial Spirit level and pose a certain threat.
Until the Yin and Yang energies in their bodies were depleted, the two of them, working together, could be considered as half Primordial Spirit True Monarchs. Combined with the strengthened Yang Xueyi and the An siblings, it should be enough to make up for the gap in their top-level combat power.