Chapter 44

At this moment, Hua Xiaji deeply realized the importance of spirit stones. From the memories of the five cultivators he absorbed, he learned that in the cultivation world, most cultivators felt that spirit stones were insufficient, which to some extent constrained the improvement of their cultivation realms and strength. Otherwise, the three half-old men wouldn't have taken such risks to commit murder and robbery.

Hua Xiaji looked at the spirit stone in his hand, which had turned to ashes, and recalled the cultivation speed he had just experienced. His eyes became increasingly bright. A hint of greed gradually sprouted in his pure heart, and it seemed as if countless spirit stones were flickering in his eyes.

At this moment, he had elevated the importance of spirit stones to the level of electricity when he was a robot. His desire for spirit stones had reached the level of a wolf's need for meat. Even his mind began to rapidly运转, calculating how to quickly obtain spirit stones.

In fact, in the cultivation world, there is another type of mineral called soul stones that are also used as currency. However, because soul stones are even rarer and more precious, they rarely appear among ordinary sect cultivators and independent cultivators.

Soul stones, as the name suggests, are used to increase soul energy and replenish soul consumption. Because their origin is extremely special and harsh, they are extremely rare, and their relationship to spirit stones is somewhat like the relationship between silver and diamonds in the secular world.

Hua Xiaji's current location is less than two days' journey from Wuling City, and there are still ten days until the entrance selection for Ziyu Sect. Therefore, he plans to cultivate here for seven days before heading to Wuling City.

In the cave, Hua Xiaji began to close his eyes and ponder.

There was no need to sort through the contents of the storage bags of the woman and others, as he had already categorized and stored their memories. He only needed to transfer all the items to the largest storage bag.

What he was now pondering was the statue that the half-old man had used in their earlier battle.

Through the half-old man's memories, Hua Xiaji learned that the statue was something the half-old man had obtained unintentionally from Qingyun Temple. The half-old man was naturally sensitive to energy fluctuations, which was why he was the only one to notice Hua Xiaji's feigned death and the attack with the Gengjin Needle.

Ten years ago, on a certain day, the half-old man was fleeing from his enemies and arrived at the mountain range where Qingyun Temple was located. Coincidentally, several secular people came to the temple to worship. Among them, an elderly man who appeared extremely devout suddenly had a very faint energy fluctuation emanate from his body during the worship. One end of the energy fluctuation was connected to the elderly man, and the other end was connected to a mysterious statue several meters high in the main hall of Qingyun Temple.

Upon discovering this phenomenon, the half-old man speculated that there might be some treasure inside the statue. So, after the worshippers left, he began to study the statue.

As a result, he really did find a treasure inside the statue's head—a palm-sized statue. This statue resembled the one worshipped in the temple but was slightly different, especially in its facial features, which the half-old man could not clearly see. This made him realize the extraordinary nature of the object.

After extensive research, the half-old man discovered that this small statue contained a vast amount of energy, which was different from the true essence of cultivators and more similar to soul energy, but clearly distinct.

After years of research and consulting materials, the half-old man roughly deduced that the energy contained in the small statue was the faith power collected by the practitioners of the divine path, who were said to have vanished long ago. This small statue was likely placed there intentionally to collect the faith power of believers and transmit it to some entity. However, it seemed that the entity had either fallen or for some other reason could no longer absorb the faith power, but the believers still existed. Over countless years, the faith power had nowhere to go and was stored in the small statue, gradually undergoing some mysterious changes, giving the statue a hint of spirituality.

From the books in Qingyun Temple, Hua Xiaji learned that 800 years ago, Qingyun Temple began to decline, but because of its beautiful location, it still attracted many tourists and did not completely fall into ruin. However, the number of worshippers greatly decreased.

Recently, Hua Xiaji had learned a secret from Liu Zhongyuan, which made him think of other things.

Eight hundred years ago, the human, demon, and sea races of the Dao Soul Continent fought a war that lasted a hundred years, sweeping across the entire cultivation world of the Dao Soul Continent. In the end, the humans won a Pyrrhic victory, driving the demons into remote and desolate mountains and completely eliminating the sea race.

However, this war severely weakened the human race. Most of the Dao Inquiry and Ascension Realm experts were killed, and even the few who survived were severely injured and entered long-term seclusion to recover. Many sects even closed their gates and focused on cultivation to restore their strength.

At this time, the divine path took the opportunity to rise in the secular world. Various so-called deities emerged like mushrooms after rain, spreading faith, competing for believers, and collecting faith power. However, almost all of these deities were influenced by the negative emotions contained in the faith power, and over time, their personalities became insane, twisted, and extreme. Many deities with weak wills turned into madmen, becoming irrational evil gods and demons, randomly slaughtering living beings, and even attacking the gates of cultivation sects.

This situation lasted for over a hundred years, finally causing dissatisfaction among the cultivation world. Various sects sent experts to jointly hunt down these deities. Within a few years, most of the deities were killed, and the few remaining ones fled to remote islands and deep mountains.

From then on, the divine path was completely weakened. Over time, except for some secular temples and shrines that the cultivation world did not take seriously, the divine path almost disappeared for hundreds of years.

From this secret, Hua Xiaji deduced that Qingyun Temple was a remnant from the time when the divine path was thriving 800 years ago. The small statue used by the half-old man was likely used by a deity at that time to collect faith power.

Additionally, the dark god altar under the Tang family cemetery in the Cangman Plain, according to Hua Xiaji's speculation, was also from the same period. Even the colorful meteorite that somehow ended up on Earth and was obtained by Hua Xiaji might be the source of faith power and divine magic of a very powerful deity, known as a divine core in the divine path.

According to legend, the divine magic of powerful deities not only included the ability to control the elements and move mountains, but also had miraculous effects that cultivation techniques did not have, such as reviving the dead and regenerating flesh. This was the reason why the divine path could rapidly grow in the secular world and still had some believers to this day.

According to Hua Xiaji's speculation, his ability to form a colorful light ball in his mind using the colorful meteorite and to use faith power to cast a dragon body was a manifestation of the divine magic of the divine path.

Hua Xiaji clarified this matter in his mind. Although he knew that faith power was incredibly powerful, he also knew that the amount of faith power in his soul was too small to be of much use. Therefore, he did not dwell on it and put it out of his mind.

This book's loyal fan, Ming Tuo, is currently taking the college entrance exam. I wish Ming Tuo success and a place on the golden list! Additionally, today is Monday, and I thank everyone for their support, which has kept this book in the top ten of the new book list. I hope everyone will continue to support Xiao Jiu. Xiao Jiu will not disappoint you. Finally, I shamelessly ask for your collections, red tickets, and positive reviews.