Chapter 11

Having achieved the state of a spirit, Feng Ye was now considered a practitioner, and could even be called a half-immortal. However, he was not at all pleased with the success of his spirit.

Indeed, his spirit had condensed, and not only that, the Taiji he had visualized had also materialized, forming a rune above his spirit. This Taiji True Rune was a manifestation of his understanding and insight into the Taiji, and could be considered a Dao fruit and a fundamental seed of his Dao, equivalent to his life-bound magical treasure. It was worth noting that even the dragon bone did not provide a complete description of alchemy, and Feng Ye had to figure it out on his own. Even now, he did not have a life-bound magical treasure of his own.

The reason Feng Ye was still unhappy after achieving his spirit was that he sensed his tribulation in the unseen.

Miscalculation! Miscalculation! Feng Ye silently lamented. He had thought that the three calamities and nine tribulations were set up to limit the number of practitioners when the primordial energy of heaven and earth became scarce, but he did not expect them to appear at this time.

The path of cultivation involves three calamities and nine tribulations, but the three calamities come from heaven, and the nine tribulations are man-made. In this era, there were no man-made nine tribulations, but since cultivation was a defiance of heaven, the three calamities were still inevitable. There was a wind tribulation when one reached the Golden Core stage, a fire tribulation when one reached the spirit stage, and a thunder tribulation when one reached the Celestial Immortal stage.

Without secret methods or magical treasures to transcend the tribulation, how could he pass it? Moreover, since Feng Ye had directly advanced from the Qi Condensation stage to the spirit stage, both the wind and fire tribulations were triggered simultaneously. Given that his spirit foundation was not yet stable, this was a tragic situation.

Feng Ye played with a flame in his left hand, pondering a solution.

This flame was the Three Purest Flames, which he naturally possessed after forming his spirit. The Three Purest Flames were a type of flame that every cultivator had. As one's cultivation improved, the power of the true flame would also increase, eventually rivaling the top-tier flames like the Sun True Flame and the Flame of Zhu Rong.

In essence, the Three Purest Flames referred to the life-bound true flame that a cultivator refined using essence, energy, and spirit as the catalyst, but it was sometimes also referred to as the fire in stone, the fire in wood, and the fire in the air.

I wonder how the Three Purest Flames compare to the earth fire of the fire tribulation, Feng Ye thought silently, and how they compare to my own Su Fire. With this thought, he summoned a flame with his right hand, and the temperature around him immediately rose.

The Su Fire was a divine ability that Feng Ye had discovered in his bloodline. The Su Clan revered fire and was a direct descendant of the Su Emperor, who had the bloodline of the Su Emperor. Feng Ye believed that this divine ability was likely passed down from the Su Emperor.

The Su Emperor had brought back the source of the Su Fire from the Bright Country, which was still preserved in the Su Clan. Feng Ye had also visited the Ancestral Fire Cave to see the holy fire left by the Su Emperor, which shared the same origin as his Su Fire.

The reason Feng Ye could awaken this divine ability was related to his promotion of the virtue of fire when he was the leader. Additionally, his invention of the Golden Su method, which brought him great merit, led to the awakening of this divine ability.

According to the dragon bone, there was another important element within the Su Fire, which was divinity.

Yes, divinity, the divinity possessed by deities. In the ancient prehistoric era, humans and deities coexisted, and the land was filled with witch deities and demon deities. Moreover, the human race was created by the Holy Mother, and humans carried the blood of Nüwa, making the inheritance of divinity not so rare.

In ancient China, there was the concept of the Five Clan Deities, referring to You Chao, Su Ren, Fu Xi, Nüwa, and Shen Nong. The term "clan" referred to deities.

The latter three, Fu Xi, Nüwa, and Shen Nong, were often depicted in mythology and could be considered the ancestral deities of China. However, the first two, You Chao and Su Ren, were rarely mentioned in historical myths, as their eras were too distant. Nevertheless, since they were listed alongside the latter three, they were certainly not ordinary figures.

The divinity of the Su Clan was the virtue of fire. After the Su Emperor's death, the divinity was passed down through the bloodline to the entire Su Clan, and Feng Ye naturally possessed it as well.

When Feng Ye awakened the Su Fire after inventing the Golden Su method and discovered the divinity within, he had once considered using it to become a deity. After all, the dragon bone recorded the path of deities, and practicing the path of deities was naturally convenient.

However, upon further thought, if this was truly the prehistoric world, then in the future, the path of immortals would flourish, and the immortals would surpass the deities. The immortals of the Daoist sects were each stronger than the last. Moreover, compared to the path of deities, which controlled the laws of heaven and earth, Feng Ye preferred to be a carefree immortal.

Furthermore, the land was currently controlled by the witch clans. Among the twelve witch ancestors, Zhu Rong was the god of fire. The Su Fire that Feng Ye cultivated was a human fire, not under Zhu Rong's control. What would happen if Zhu Rong discovered a flame outside his control?

The Su Emperor was no ordinary figure, and the subsequent leaders of the Su Clan were not fools. Feng Ye did not believe that none of them had awakened divinity. However, they did not use it to become deities, so why should he succeed?

Even if he did succeed, if the witch clans discovered it, would he have to become a subordinate deity of Zhu Rong and drag the entire Su Clan into the upcoming war between witches and demons? Even the eternal holy fire that the Su Clan revered would be taken by Zhu Rong.

The core of the Su Clan's totem light shield was a Su Fire essence left by the Su Emperor when he "drilled wood to make fire." This Su Fire had burned for thousands of years, fueled by the faith and merit of countless people in the Su Clan, becoming a holy fire of human virtue. The Su Fire essence represented the fortune of humanity, symbolizing light and illuminating the entire Su Clan. Under the power of this holy fire, a light shield protected the Su Clan, preventing beasts and demons from easily invading. The elders of the Ancestral Fire Cave, who held high status, were also associated with the Su Fire.

After the leaders of each generation died, they would infuse their divinity into the Su Fire, ensuring that the holy fire would never extinguish. This holy fire could be considered the guardian deity of the Su Clan, enjoying all the offerings and wishes of the Su Clan. However, under the management of the Su Clan, this Su Fire did not have the opportunity to truly become a deity.

If Feng Ye wanted to become a deity in the future, he would first need to obtain the Su Clan's holy fire. However, the holy fire was guarded by several elders, and Feng Ye had no way to take it. Moreover, if he took the holy fire, causing the Su Fire shield to collapse, he would be a sinner to the Su Clan. Furthermore, if enemies invaded, without the shield's protection, even Feng Ye himself would be in danger.

However, thinking about the Su Fire, Feng Ye suddenly had an idea.

The so-called heavenly tribulation was due to the absorption of spiritual energy, defying the laws of nature, and violating the natural order of life. If one passed the tribulation, they would achieve a vast sky; if not, they would be annihilated. However, merit and fortune were the rewards of heaven and earth, and could presumably offset the tribulation. At the very least, they could weaken the great tribulation. Otherwise, why would cultivators constantly seek to accumulate merit and fortune?

Feng Ye did not lack merit, as he had done some good deeds for the human race, promoting human development. His major merits included the Golden Su and the symbol. As a former leader of the Su Clan, Feng Ye also had some fortune. However, this might not be enough to transcend the tribulation. What if he created a merit-based magical treasure?

The dragon bone did not provide much information about merit-based magical treasures, but it was known that there were generally two types. One was a common object infused with merit to become a merit-based magical treasure; the other was a merit-based spiritual object directly refined into a merit-based magical treasure. However, regardless of the type, these merit-based holy treasures had the ability to suppress tribulations and turn misfortune into good fortune.

Feng Ye did not know how to infuse his merit into a magical treasure, but he did have a merit-based spiritual object, which was his Golden Su stone.

The Golden Su was a method of making fire that Feng Ye had invented.

In this era, the methods of making fire that came to mind were the "drilling wood to make fire" and "striking flint to make fire" methods of the Su Clan. Feng Ye had created a third method, which greatly benefited the human race and brought great merit. After all, the "drilling wood to make fire" method required a sharp branch and dry wood, while the "striking flint to make fire" method required flint, which was not always available. Both methods had limitations.

Thus, Feng Ye's invention of the Golden Su method supplemented these methods. However, it was more accurate to say that Feng Ye had plagiarized the wisdom of his ancestors from the future. In simple terms, the Golden Su method was the "focusing light to make fire" method from the future, which used sunlight. To put it even more simply, it was the use of a magnifying glass to focus light, a concept familiar even in elementary school.

Of course, magnifying glasses did not exist in this era, but there were natural transparent objects like glass and various gems and crystals.

Thus, the merit was easily obtained, and it was because of the Golden Su merit that Feng Ye received the name "Ye" during his coming-of-age ceremony. In this era, not everyone had a personal name, and children were raised collectively, with even their parents unknown. Therefore, names were granted by the elders during the coming-of-age ceremony.

These elders not only possessed divine abilities but also controlled divine scripts, which the Su Clan used as their names. However, Feng Ye had used the Golden Su merit to impress the entire clan and then claimed the name "Ye" as his own, pretending it was a divine will.

"Besides my Golden Su stone, doesn't the Su Clan have two other merit-based spiritual objects?" Feng Ye's mind turned, and he set his sights on the Su Clan's heritage.

The Su Clan's heritage included two relics left by the Su Emperor: the wooden Su drill and the fire Su stone, also known as the wooden Su and the stone Su.

The wooden Su was a piece of Su wood left by the Su Emperor when he "drilled wood to make fire." It was said that the Su Emperor brought back a branch of Su wood from the Bright Country and had received a bit of merit, becoming a merit-based divine object.

The stone Su, or the fire stone, was the two stones used by the Su Emperor to "strike flint to make fire." They had also received a bit of merit, becoming a merit-based spiritual object.

If his Golden Su stone was not enough to refine a magical treasure, he could try to obtain these two objects, Feng Ye thought.

Although Feng Ye was the former leader, he still had influence, and ordinary clan members would not oppose him. The new leader was his disciple and successor, and it would be inappropriate to contradict him.

However, the elders were a different matter. How could the clan's heritage treasures be given to him for refining a magical treasure? They were stubborn old men, and he did not want to deal with them. They might not even care about this matter.

Moreover, if he were refining a magical treasure for the clan, it would be one thing. But since it was clearly for his own use, who would give him the clan's heritage treasures? After all, to them, he was no longer the leader.

But thinking about refining a magical treasure, Feng Ye's eyes twinkled, and he immediately went to the Ancestral Fire Cave where the elders resided. Time was short, and he sensed that the wind and fire tribulations were only twenty days away.

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**End of Chapter**