“Tan Chen ge and Prince Tianyu are discussing profound mysteries and the Dao. Miao Tong won’t join in! Miao Tong will just stay here and listen to the wonderful words from Prince Tianyu and Tan Chen ge!” Tan Miao Tong smiled sweetly and politely declined Tan Chen, which made Tan Chen pause slightly in surprise. Tan Miao Tong had always been obedient, yet now she was gently refusing him in front of everyone.
Although Tan Chen felt astonished, he kept his expression gentle. He nodded at Tan Miao Tong, withdrew his gaze from her, and turned it back to the crowd.
“In truth, the primal spirit is the materialisation of the soul. When a powerhouse becomes strong enough, the primal spirit can leave the body, manifesting profound principles and Dao laws, achieving the status of a world-shaking expert.” Tan Chen continued speaking calmly. “Cultivating the primal spirit relates to one’s own realm and the strength of intent, which comes from the primal spirit. A person’s talent is influenced by many factors, but the deepest influences are the primal spirit and the physical body.”
“Brother Chen, I agree with everything you said, but is it possible for someone to have an extraordinary physical body talent while the primal spirit is weak, or a remarkable primal spirit while the physical body is poor?” one cultivator asked curiously.
“What Brother Mu mentioned does exist. In our era, there are quite a few beings whose physical bodies inspire awe. They may seem clumsy, yet they possess innate divine strength and astonishing physiques. Even if their primal spirit is not strong, they remain peerlessly extraordinary.” Prince Tianyu smiled from the side. “I have met such a person and even fought him. Back then, I only narrowly won by a single move.”
That single sentence shocked everyone. Prince Tianyu was such a figure, yet he had only won by one move. One could imagine just how astonishing that person’s physical body must have been.
“What about the opposite, where the primal spirit far surpasses the physical body?” someone continued to ask.
“For cultivators, the talents of primal spirit and physical body are usually comparable. People like Brother Tianyu are extremely rare. One might search a lifetime and never meet another. As for those whose primal spirit vastly outstrips the physical body, such individuals are even fewer. But for a cultivator, the most important thing is still the physical body. If the physical body is not strong enough, even if the primal spirit truly has heaven-defying talent and is peerlessly extraordinary, it cannot withstand the influx of external spiritual energy. In my view, having a primal spirit far stronger than the physical body is not necessarily a good thing. Of course, this is just my personal opinion.” Tan Chen said with a smile.
“Brother Chen speaks reasonably, but nothing in the world is absolute. Talent only represents one aspect. It means cultivation is easier and faster compared to others, but it does not guarantee that one’s achievements will surpass those with lesser talent. In this world, there is no shortage of people with extremely average or even very poor talent who still become peerless powerhouses. Even those with supreme talent can be extremely weak at times, yet they still dominate the nine heavens and ten lands. Everyone should not belittle themselves or sigh in regret. Life’s circumstances are hard to predict. Who can know what step they will reach in the future?” When Prince Tianyu said this, a trace of emotion stirred in his heart. Back then, he had looked down on those with extremely poor talent, but he had once encountered a cultivator who did not even have intent patterns, yet could exchange a hundred moves with him without defeat.
“So the path of cultivation involves cultivating the physical body and the primal spirit. The physical body comes first. Only when the physical body is strong enough can it bear the influx of external spiritual energy. The primal spirit is intent realm. For a person to transform, to seize life from the heavens, the soul must undergo sublimation. The two complement each other to achieve great success and become peerless existences.”
“Of course, there are exceptions. Those who are煞 spirit cultivators go the opposite way. They cultivate the primal spirit first, then the physical body. However, for them, cultivating the physical body is ten thousand times easier than for ordinary cultivators. Because煞 spirit cultivators can borrow煞 energy in their practice. With a strong enough primal spirit to control煞 energy for cultivation, they can quickly bring the physical body up to match the primal spirit. Naturally, they do not need to worry about the body being unable to endure!” Prince Tianyu continued. “This is precisely why every煞 spirit cultivator progresses several times faster than ordinary people. It is often said that every煞 spirit cultivator has astonishing talent for this reason.”
“But becoming a煞 spirit cultivator is extremely difficult. The world is vast, and there are countless cultivators, yet among a thousand cultivators, it is hard to find even one煞 spirit cultivator.” Tan Chen sighed. This path was extremely hard to enter. As a genius himself, he had studied the possibility of becoming a煞 spirit cultivator, but in the end he gave up. It was not that he could not become one, but that for him the effect would be minimal. Some people are naturally suited to be煞 spirit cultivators, but for others, even if they become one, they may not progress faster than normal cultivation!
“What exactly is the primal spirit?” While Tan Chen and Prince Tianyu were discussing the primal spirit, Ji Die, who had been by Ye Chu’s side all along, suddenly spoke.
Everyone’s gazes turned to Ji Die. They looked at that face which possessed the charm of a heavenly immortal, with skin as delicate as congealed fat and faintly flushed in a way that stirred thoughts. Ji Die had a pure and otherworldly appearance. Her long hair fell to her waist, faintly radiating a layer of lustre that made her skin appear translucent and jade-like, dreamlike and illusory. Her white dress was as white as clouds, as white as snow, outlining her exquisite and infinitely beautiful curves. It invisibly exuded a holiness that could not be profaned. Her face was coldly beautiful, transcendent above the mortal world, like an immortal descending to earth.
Many people were captivated by Ji Die’s beauty. Tan Chen and Prince Tianyu also looked towards Ji Die, astonished by her.
Prince Tianyu had met Ji Die before and knew her strength. He realised this woman might not be inferior to him, yet defeating her would probably be just as difficult for him.
This woman was a heavenly pride in her own right and naturally qualified to discuss the primal spirit with them.
What is the primal spirit? This seemed like a simple question, yet it made both Tan Chen and Prince Tianyu fall silent, unwilling to answer lightly. In the eyes of people at their level, the explanation of the primal spirit naturally differed from that of ordinary cultivators. Answering too superficially would be unworthy.
After pondering for a moment, Tan Chen finally spoke. “Ordinary people often say the primal spirit is the soul. But in my view, the primal spirit is merely a part of the soul. The primal spirit can carry the soul, yet it is not the entirety of a person’s soul. A person has consciousness and thoughts, which come from their soul. The primal spirit is only a vessel. What the soul gains, such as personal insights or the profound laws and principles of the world, is carried upon the primal spirit. The primal spirit is tangible substance, while the soul is ethereal and hard to trace!”
Prince Tianyu shook his head at this moment. “In my opinion, the primal spirit is the soul itself. The soul’s insights merge with the primal spirit, allowing your soul to grow infinitely, to comprehend heaven and earth, to swallow the essence of sun and moon, and to seize the creation of the universe. The sublimation of the primal spirit represents the sublimation of the soul. The two are one and the same. If the primal spirit perishes, how could the soul still exist? I wonder what Your Excellency thinks!”
Ji Die remained silent. Both Prince Tianyu and Tan Chen were geniuses and stubborn in their own ways, each believing in their own truth. Ji Die was also a proud person, yet she had never fully explained what the primal spirit truly was.
Seeing both of them looking at her, Ji Die slowly spoke, her voice ethereal and enchanting. “Most ordinary people in the mortal world emphasise past and future lives. They believe the soul can reincarnate and be reborn. This is a kind of hope. But we all know that if the primal spirit is destroyed, that is true death, with no reincarnation. If we calculate it this way, the primal spirit is not the soul.”
Prince Tianyu frowned. “The talk of reincarnation is nothing but nonsense. How can it be taken seriously?”
Ji Die ignored Prince Tianyu and continued. “Cultivating the primal spirit involves comprehending the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, then transforming oneself. If we say it is the cultivator’s cultivation, it is more accurate to call it the cultivation of the primal spirit. The intent of the primal spirit is the true foundation. Without intent, even the strongest powerhouse will fade into darkness. If I must say what the primal spirit is, I do not believe it is the soul, nor do I believe it is not the soul. But in my view, the primal spirit is intent. It is one’s own Dao and laws, one’s own profound principles and truths. The primal spirit carries one’s own will and thoughts.”