Chapter 990 Sagehood Path
990 Sagehood Path
"Now that our business is done and still have some time, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" asked w.a.n.g Wei.
"You can ask, but there is no guarantee that I will answer."
"That"s fair. My question is regarding Emperor Kong; no, he should be Empyrean Kong now.
What"s his relations.h.i.+p with your movement?"
"Empyrean Kong? From my knowledge, we have tried to contact him, but he has always rejected our offer," replied Pei Lang calmly, and w.a.n.g Wei gave him a look.
"This guy can decide about this trade so easily, so his status and power in the rebellion should be critical. So, he should know the answer to my question."
In a moment, he concluded the latter was probably lying.
"Alright, let me ask the question in another way.
Based on the little information I"ve gathered, I"ve deduced that Empyrean Kong should have a unique status in the world, to the point that none of the seven moons wish to harm him and even treat him with some respect.
"Can you tell me why?"
"Oh, that"s easy. It"s because he is an Empyrean with a second-level Golden Body of Merit," replied Pei Lang.
"Golden Body of Merit?"
"As the name implied, it"s a unique blessing for people who have accomplished great things in the world and acquired a significant amount of merit,"
explained Pei Lang.
"The Golden Body of Merit is divided into three levels, corresponding to the tiers of the Immortal Stage. A first-step body will be extremely useful for any Immortal Path, granting them protection and blessing.
"Of course, that is not its greatest use. Anyone who kills someone with a Golden Body of Merit will be cursed by terrible bad luck."
"How bad?"
"Let me give you an example. If an Emperor has a third-level Body of Merit, even a Paragon will be cursed to death after killing them."
"So strong?"
"Yes."
"So, a second level could cause the death of an Empyrean?"
"Correct."
"So, what about Empyrean Kong?" asked w.a.n.g Wei.
"The merit body system is also based on a person"s cultivation. For example, Kong is an Empyrean with a second-level body, so even early and middle-stage Paragons must be wary of the backlash for killing him.
"If he were only a Great Emperor with a second-level body, he would not be a threat to them???unless he had a third-level Golden Merit Body."
w.a.n.g Wei processed the information he received, "So, what will happen after he becomes a Paragon?"
"By then, even late-stage Paragons won"t be able to bear the backlash for killing him."
"So, only Peak Paragon can kill him?"
"Yes, and even they might suffer if not careful."
"What if he had a third stage Golden Body of Merit?"
"Do you know how difficult it is to achieve such a thing?"
"I don"t know, but my question still stands."
Pei Lang looked directly at his eyes, trying to understand why he wanted to know so much. He wondered whether there was a secret behind this.
"With a third-level Golden Body of Merit, no one could touch such a supreme Sage???even Primal Paragons."
"Primal Paragon?"
"You don"t need to know about this."
w.a.n.g Wei nodded and did not ask. After hearing these terms, the book that Wu Hong left for him changed as many of the seals were lifted. The new pages contained more information about Primal Paragons and the Golden Body of Merit???including the benefits like a blessing in cultivation and excellent effect against dark creatures or cultivators with negative karma.
"You mention the word Sage?" continued w.a.n.g Wei.
"The path of [Sagehood] is another alternative path of immortality. Individuals can dedicate their lives to improving the world and gathering merit.
Once they succeed, they can summon a Heaven Will to prove the Dao and eventually condense a Golden Body of Merit.
"This path is arduous as it involves increasing cultivation level and the Golden Body of Merit."
"An interesting and potent path," commented w.a.n.g Wei. "It was probably more popular in ancient times when the world was new and more easily influenceable."
"According to ancient records, that was the case,"
replied Pei Lang, elevating his evaluation of w.a.n.g Wei to a higher level.
"Is Empyrean Kong walking the path of Ancient Sage?"
"Most likely."
"How did he condense a second-level Golden Body of Merit? I don"t think the concept of Academy is enough for that since the upper dimension should already have it."
Although Emperor Kong revived the world with the Academy, he was not the only one who created it in the lower dimension. So, this thing should have long existed in the upper dimension.
"Empyrean Kong first became famous after convincing these people to revive the concept of the Academy."
"Revive?"
"Yes, they had previously destroyed it to prevent ordinary people from gaining access to cultivation. But he revived it."
"How did he do that?"
"What do you think?" asked Pei Lang instead of answering.
"He convinced them with benefit, allowing them to use the Academy for their benefit."
"Correct."
The Earth Emperor was the first to support this decision since the Academy was vital for cultivating talent for the Great Chu Divine Dynasty.
"The fact he could convince them was a testament to his ability," praised w.a.n.g Wei, convinced by Emperor Kong"s diplomatic abilities and iron will and state of mind that he was willing to be in bed with the enemy.
"Well, no Eternal Emperor is ever simple, let alone the ones from the Myriad Emperor World that are blessed by the world," thought w.a.n.g Wei.
"Was the revival of the Academy enough for him to condense a second-level merit body?"
"No, but that"s where his scheming mind takes place," explained Pei Lang. "The revival only allowed him to condense the first grade. However, he became low-key immediately, almost disappearing from the world.
"When he reappeared, he was one of the youngest Everlasting Empyreans in the world and with a second-level Golden Body of Merit. No one actually knows what he did to achieve this, and it has been a great mystery that even these people wish to discover."
"Hehe, a wise move," commented w.a.n.g Wei. "He now had protection against these people.
However, his every move was monitored. That sounds like a bad thing, but if they focused too much on him, it should give room for others to move and do things."
w.a.n.g Wei gave Empyrean Jimin a look, and the little one had to make a great effort to control himself and prevent his microexpressions from revealing any information.
The latter was correct, as their movement benefited immensely from the era when Emperor Kong was in the limelight. w.a.n.g Wei saw his reactions and confirmed Emperor Kong was related to their cause???even if it was indirectly.
"This kid is definitely a Dao Lord and even a Dao Overlord. Now that I think about it, he did not even reveal his proper name, which could have revealed his Dao. Is that what he was trying to hide?"
"Is there any else you would like to know?"
Pei Lang suddenly felt it was not the best idea to continue this conversation; otherwise, he might reveal too much information. Although they were now allies, today was their first meeting, so being cautious was a good thing.
"Yes, I want to know whether Xu Junyao is connected to your cause."
Pei Lang almost thought they had traitors amidst them. If this person was not in the lower dimension and the current Dao Opening Sect was not in the situation to intervene in the world, he would have thought his resistance was already infiltrated.
"How do you even know this name?" he asked instead of answering.
"A while ago, a few geniuses from the upper dimension came here, one of whom was her apprentice."
Pei Lang frowned as he remembered this event.
The Earth Emperor sent his secret daughter to the lower dimension on a mission. However, the latter never revealed the purpose of the mission.
"If I remember correctly, his apprentice disappeared around this time."
Some events finally made sense to Pei Lang.
"Why are you asking about her? How did you come to this conclusion?"
"Well, she"s the most beautiful woman in the world; what man would not be tempted?"
Pei Lang did not believe these words. He did not see any desire in this man"s eyes, only curiosity, and most of it was properly due to his wish to gather information.
"As for how I came to this conclusion, it was more of a guess."
"A guess?"
"Yes. She was such a beautiful woman, and yet, none of the men of these seven forcefully took position of her. Furthermore, she could protect her apprentice to live for a long time despite his talent; she would never be simple."
"Many people believe Xu Junyao is indeed a vase, but she was indeed not a simple woman."
Pei Lang knew Xu Jinyao, including one of the biggest secrets she hid from the world, including these eight people???she was an Everlasting Empyrean.
"Sadly, she has nothing to do with our cause. We do not want to be entangled with her???she"s too much trouble."
Xu Junyao was the embodiment that the extreme of something may not be a good thing. Her beauty was the source of too much trouble.
"Is that so?" muttered w.a.n.g Wei. "Well, thank you for answering my questions."
"It"s fine. This experience was a great way to strengthen our partners.h.i.+p."
"Indeed."
The two briefly chatted before ending the conversation. Immediately afterward, w.a.n.g Wei no longer contained his excitement.
"That"s it. That"s how I can protect myself from him," he thought. "If I can condense a third level Golden Body of Merit, or even create the fourth level, maybe even Half Step-Transcendence will not dare easily kill me.
"Plus, there is also the possibility that merit could directly lead to Half-Step Transcendence."
The idea was not as easy to accomplish as it sounded. By the time he ascends, he has an absolute belief he will condense a third-level Golden Body of Merit. The issue is to go beyond that.
"The issue"s core is whether I can drastically change the upper dimension as I did the lower dimension. However, in such a vast and ancient world, things will not be as easy as they sound."
Now that he had a direction, w.a.n.g Wei created many possible ways to achieve his goal.