Chapter 338: 160: The Power of Nine Breaths Qi Absorption!_1
The nominal master of an immortal artifact is the wielder of the artifact, but essentially it can only be considered as a vessel carrying the power of the immortal artifact.
The so-called baptism of Immortal’s Spirit Qi might seem wonderful, but if the recipient’s cultivation is insufficient, the Immortal’s Spirit Qi will only squander the cultivator’s foundational potential.
A genuine Immortal’s Spirit Qi Baptism should occur after the cultivator ascends to the Immortal Realm, where their mortal impurities are cleansed by the Immortal’s Spirit Qi, thus transforming their physical body into a body of Immortal Spirit, bringing it closer to the Heaven and Earth Dao.
To rashly seek such a baptism before ascending to the Immortal Realm may give the appearance of enhancing one’s talent, but in actuality, it is merely an advance on potential, void of any use beyond bearing the power of an immortal artifact.
Whether it be Shen Yuan or Great Divine Immortal Minghao, their true goal was to become the master of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda and not merely a flesh puppet host to an immortal artifact.
The true master of an immortal artifact is dominated by human will, whereas the host of an immortal artifact is dominated by the artifact; there is a fundamentally significant gap between the two.
Great Divine Immortal Minghao had left behind numerous contingencies to prevent anyone from controlling the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda, but if the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda chose a puppet host, Great Divine Immortal Minghao wouldn’t have any regard for it.
Essentially, an immortal artifact host is just a slave to the immortal artifact and poses no threat to Great Divine Immortal Minghao.
In the eyes of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda, if Shen Yuan wanted to become the master of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda, the pagoda spirit would most likely hesitate.
But if Shen Yuan’s goal was merely to become the immortal artifact host, the pagoda spirit would agree without hesitation, as evidenced by the Immortal Spirit Qi descending from above the Ninth Heavens.
Yu Ke and the others had been mistaken about the target the entire time.
What Shen Yuan aspired to become was not merely as simple as an immortal artifact host.
In front of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda, as the heavenly Immortal Spirit Qi dispersed, the myriad cultivators gathered there fell into a dead silence.
In everyone’s eyes was an irrepressible shock; no one had imagined that someone would refuse to become the host of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda.
It is common knowledge that the host of an immortal artifact is essentially a flesh and blood slave to the artifact, yet countless individuals throughout history have flocked to such a fate.
Being an immortal artifact host and undergoing the Immortal’s Spirit Qi Baptism could elevate a cultivator’s talent by several levels, with every immortal artifact host at least having the future potential to ascend to the Tao Harmony Taoist Doyen Stage.
An immortal artifact host at the Tao Harmony Taoist Doyen Stage, while in control of an immortal artifact, might even be able to briefly contend with a powerful expert of the Immortal Realm and join the ranks of the most powerful in the world.
Candle Dragon Sword Masters who held the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, and Supreme Emperors who controlled the Supreme Emperor Bell, have all been formidable figures whose names shook the world, and no one dared to look down upon them even with the knowledge of their status as immortal artifact hosts.
Moreover, the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda is a supreme treasure birthed by the Primal Chaos Realm, ranked among the top of many immortal artifacts, and no immortal artifact host has been born in tens of thousands of years.
Many powerful experts speculate that becoming the host of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda would qualify one to travel the Immortal Realm and enjoy eternal life.
This is almost a sure path to the blissful way of eternal life, yet Shen Yuan declined it with such casual indifference.
Even the four Void Refining True Monarchs in the loft could not believe what they witnessed when they saw this.
“Fool!”
“Arrogant!”
“Gutsy!”
“A formidable junior!”
Four distinctly different assessments were simultaneously voiced by Yu Changming, Mo Zhenhai, Pingxi King, and Shentu Ming.
Yu Changming and Mo Zhenhai revealed an expression of grievance, wishing they could take Shen Yuan’s place.
Pingxi King and Shentu Ming, on the other hand, had more wariness and emotion in their eyes.
If the path to the Heaven-reaching Eternal Life Dao was laid out before them, they probably wouldn’t be able to refuse themselves, after all, the difference between the Void Refining Stage and the Tao Harmony Stage is a concept apart, not to mention the chance to glimpse into the Dao of the Immortal Realm.
Shen Yuan was able to resist such temptation, at least in terms of his mental state, already far surpassing those Void Refining True Monarchs.
The previous casual indifference and disdain in everyone’s eyes began to gradually transform into solemnity.
At least after Shen Yuan rejected becoming the host of an immortal artifact, he had been placed in a position worth paying attention to by the four Void Refining True Monarchs, no longer simply regarded as a junior with good luck.
In Yu Changming’s eyes, besides the anger wishing to take his place, there was also an increasing joy.
The stronger the talent Shen Yuan exhibited, the more important the secrets he carried on him were proven to be.
For Yu Changming, who had already viewed the secrets within Shen Yuan as something within his grasp, this was naturally a good thing.
The events that transpired in front of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda were witnessed by numerous cultivators, and the one-sided support for Yu Ke originally expressed began to shift.
“Didn’t he reach the highest layer through cunning schemes? How did he gain the recognition of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda?”
“Could he really be the peerless exceptional talent of all ages?”
“Is what the sacred sage said really the truth?”
Doubts began to arise, and Yu Ke immediately snapped back from the shock caused by Shen Yuan.
He had no way of knowing how Shen Yuan managed to surpass the Immortals on the eighteenth layer and gain the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda’s recognition, but he was very clear on one point—Shen Yuan’s accumulated reputation had to be suppressed once more, or it would interfere with subsequent plans.
His face reflecting indignation, Yu Ke pointed at Shen Yuan and angrily declared:
“In the trial, I and Sacred Sage Hea Zhen have been plotting together with the goal of gaining favor from the spirit of the immortal artifact, to prepare for becoming the host of the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda.
I never expected that after you ambushed me and took the results, you too inherited the fondness of the spirit of the immortal artifact, and so you could so easily trigger the Immortal’s Spirit Qi Baptism.”