Chapter Eighty-Seven: Immortal Arts and Divine Powers (Fifth Update)

Zhou Bai did not know just how immense his natal ghost artifact had become by now, but dense leaves had sprouted along its branches, each one as large as a palm.

The number of leaves had leaped from ninety-nine to nine hundred ninety-nine at a stroke, and with that came an equal increase in how many ghost-path divine powers it could contain. Regrettably, at present there was still only the Yin-Yang Eyes.

Once the ghost tree completed its transformation, it very obediently returned to the lower dantian and began expanding its size once more.

This time, however, the disturbance was much smaller. Zhou Bai only felt a faint tingling around his lower abdomen, and before long it had vanished. The lower dantian had expanded by more than double yet again.

The ghost tree took root once more in his flesh and blood, but it still seemed dissatisfied. Its branches began to tremble, and a great quantity of yin energy poured forth.

That yin energy settled within the lower dantian and gradually formed a layer of black-gray soil. Only then did the ghost tree finally stop its fussing.

The one who suffered was the salted fish. Surrounded by yin energy, it felt miserable all over, yet the only thing it could do was thrash its body a few times before being mercilessly suppressed by the elder brother.

Zhou Bai set the two natal treasures aside for the moment, then began preparing to advance the twenty-one martial arts techniques.

This time he was far more straightforward about it. Each one cost only around four points, and after raising all of his martial techniques into divine powers, he had used exactly eighty points.

And even after that, less than half of that windfall had been spent. What remained was still enough to raise his two foundational methods once more.

Each time Zhou Bai successfully advanced a divine power, his body underwent a cleansing, so it did take a little longer. Two full hours passed before it was over.

This time, he gained ten ghost-path divine powers, nine demon-path divine powers, and two human-path divine powers.

Most of them were rather useless, like the ghost-path power of night vision, whose function completely overlapped with the Yin-Yang Eyes, though the two could still complement one another to some degree.

There were also ghost-path powers that increased yin-energy recovery at night, demon-path powers for breathing underwater, and demon-path powers that slightly increased strength.

Still, there were a few divine powers that seemed decent at first glance, such as "Ghost Smoke."

Ghost Smoke was a thick fog formed from yin energy. Its destructive power was not great, but its ability to bewilder was extremely strong.

However, this divine power was clearly more suited to the ghost tree than to Zhou Bai himself. He could simply let his natal ghost artifact use it on his behalf.

Among the demon-path divine powers, there was also one called "Water Control" with decent potential. Zhou Bai tested it with the tea in the secluded chamber, and with his shallow demon power, he was still able to control a water globe the size of a fist.

There was another demon-path divine power that was a little strange. It was useful, but Zhou Bai somehow found it odd. It was called "Drum-Belly."

It could instantly amplify sound severalfold, or compress it to the point where only a specific person could hear it. It was basically a demonic form of telepathic transmission through the air.

The remaining two human-path divine powers were both quite useful: "Wine Refining" and "Disguise."

Wine Refining not only filled Zhou Bai’s mind with a great deal of knowledge about brewing spirit wines, but also allowed him to turn ordinary water into wine. The longer it sat, the mellower and more fragrant it became.

Disguise was exactly what it sounded like. Although it was not very useful for increasing strength, it could alter one’s aura and appearance, which was extremely important to Zhou Bai in preserving his life.

However, he could clearly feel that compared with the Buddhist divine power Great Treasured Lapis Medicine, both the demon-path and ghost-path divine powers fell short by more than just a little.

As Zhou Bai’s awakening of divine powers came to an end, the changes in his two natal treasures were only just beginning.

Each divine power split off a rune and merged it into the bodies of the ghost tree and the salted fish.

On the ghost tree, patterns corresponding to the divine powers appeared on ten of its leaves, and many mysterious lines also grew across the trunk. Its yin energy became more and more refined.

With a flick of its branches, the ghost tree subconsciously unleashed Ghost Mist.

At once, a swath of black-gray dense fog surged up within the dantian, and Zhou Bai felt that the spell cast by his natal ghost artifact flowed far more smoothly than when he did it himself.

The salted fish changed no less. Nine scales grew on its body, its demon power surged wildly, and then it opened its mouth and spat out a great deal of clear water.

A faint trace of demon energy mingled within the water, and before long Zhou Bai’s dantian had turned into a pond.

The salted fish swam in the water, while the bottom of the pond was covered by a layer of yin soil.

Half of the ghost tree’s body was submerged in the water, and it soon became dissatisfied again. Yin energy churned, transforming into a mass of yin soil that fell downward, quickly raising a small island in the pond.

It rooted itself on the island, while the salted fish swam in the water. The two did not interfere with one another, but Zhou Bai’s dantian had become rather peculiar.

"What is this supposed to be, a little world inside the body?"

Zhou Bai did not know whether to laugh or cry, but he made no move to stop it. In truth, he had complete control over both the dantian and his two natal treasures.

So long as Zhou Bai wished it, the yin soil and demon water within the dantian could be cleared away entirely. But since they did not affect him, he simply left them alone.

What remained were the advancement of the Daoist divine power and the Buddhist divine power.

The first to be advanced was the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva Original Vow Scripture. The divine power it became after advancement bore the same name as before: Earth Treasury Bodhisattva Original Vow Scripture. It took the form of an extremely heavy, weighty book.

The book landed beside Great Treasured Lapis Medicine, and Zhou Bai tried to open it, but there was no reaction at all.

Last was the Daoist technique he had obtained from Taoist Hou, called Pure One Method. This technique required even more points than the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva Original Vow Scripture.

After Pure One Method advanced into a divine power, it transformed into a treasure pearl called the Dao Pearl of Spiritual Resonance.

This divine power directly settled into the Muddy Pellet Palace of Zhou Bai’s upper dantian. Its form was faint and elusive, so subtle that one would not find it without looking carefully.

The Dao Pearl of Spiritual Resonance enveloped his divine sense, and Zhou Bai immediately felt the Muddy Pellet Palace become considerably more stable.

As for the divine powers gained by advancing a Daoist technique, no one seemed to have mentioned them, and there was no record of them in the books of the Underworld Records Bureau. Thinking it over carefully, the name "Immortal-Path Divine Powers" was probably the most fitting.

However, just like the Buddhist divine powers, he knew nothing of the effects of these immortal-path divine powers either. He would have to explore them little by little in the days to come.

There were still 275 points left on the system interface. Zhou Bai chose to raise his two foundational methods by one more level.

After spending 208 points to bring them up to the fifth layer, he was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps because the improvement from the fourth layer had been so obvious, the fifth layer instead seemed plain and unremarkable.

The ghost tree grew a little more, and the patterns on its trunk became even more profound and mysterious, but the number of leaves did not increase.

The salted fish had become even more elongated in shape. By now it resembled a snake more than a fish, as though it had already reached the growth limit of a flood-dragon.

With the remaining 67 points, Zhou Bai intended to try advancing ordinary divine powers.

...

The Nine Provinces, too, were shaken by Zhou Bai’s advancement of divine powers. The Buddhist treasure released Buddhist radiance twice in succession, and this time the light scattered in all directions.

The Daoist order seemed calm on the surface, but at the summit of Mount Grand Purity, a stone man opened his eyes.

"In this age, with spiritual energy gone and even spirit roots no longer appearing in the world, how could a single immortal root suddenly emerge? Strange indeed."