Yūn Zhōngzǐ originally thought that Dèng Chányù's arrival was already troublesome enough, and now involving Hóng Wén was obviously a matter of greater magnitude than the sky.
As such a minor figure, I'm not worth this grand display. There must be something else. I had previously planned to pretend to be confused, but now I must ask for clarity: "What do you, my friend, desire?"
He did not ask "The Supreme wants what?" because firstly, the entire Honghuang universe is under the control of the Supreme, and secondly, he dared not ask too many questions.
Deng Chanyu took out the measure of heaven and earth, and a fleeting moment of doubt appeared in Yun Zhongzi's emotions. Soon, it was seen that the measure of heaven and earth pointed to the ground at the back of the mountain, first left and then right, each with a light tap.
A mass of clear air appeared on the left, a sky blue hue. These clear gases seemed to rise upwards but were restrained by Deng Chanyu's raised hand.
On the right, there was a large mass of turbid air, a blood red hue. These turbid airs tried to merge into the Honghuang earth vein, but were stopped by Deng Chanyu.
"I specifically ran a trip to the blood sea and found these things. It was not easy. Do you know what these things are, friend?"
Yun Zhongzi calmly said, "These must be my body from my previous life. The measure of heaven and earth truly deserves to be a treasure in the Honghuang universe. It has been decomposed so cleanly."
He looked at his former body as if it were a stone, showing no fear, anger, or irritation.
His previous dharma body had been decomposed into clear air and turbid air by the measure of heaven, a process that is irreversible. Now showing him these two masses of "cadavers" was completely useless; his true spirit had merged with the auspicious clouds around, and clouds are different from air.
Deng Chanyu said, "I can help you transform into another form and also help you absorb some of the cultural heritage from your 'former self'. In return, you hand over your part of the spirit soul belonging to the Red Cloud. How does that sound?"
Yun Zhongzi is a fragment of the Red Cloud's spirit soul, with some of its memory and merit, but the Red Cloud's spirit soul is not him. He has his own experiences, thoughts, and goals. If it weren't for all the calculations by various parties, he would have liked to continue being a True Immortal of Fortune and Benefaction. Isn't it good enough for me to refine instruments and elixirs peacefully in Zongnanshan? Avenge the Red Cloud? Please stop joking!
Nowadays in the Honghuang universe, aside from all-powerful sages, only Yun Zhongzi knows Red Cloud the best.
If he is willing to help, he can indeed completely separate the part of Red Cloud's spirit soul that belongs to him.
He worried that the two sides had different goals and might end up with misunderstandings, so he said, "It won't be easy to separate out the part of Red Cloud's spirit soul from the clear and turbid airs. Even if it is separated out, that Red Cloud spirit soul won't have any consciousness. Are you aware of this?"
"I know, that's okay."
"Alright, friend. Assist me in transforming my appearance, and I will help you separate the Red Cloud's spirit soul."
Before transforming, Deng Chanyu asked an additional question: "Who is holding the nine-nine soul dispersing gourd of the Red Cloud Ancestor? Do you know?"
Yun Zhongzi thought carefully and said, "If there is no unexpected situation, it should be in the hand of the Dark River Ancestor in the Blood Sea."
Deng Chanyu felt a headache coming on.
In this ultra-long mission chain, some tasks can be completed by oneself, while others require help and might need to form a team. It might even require a team-up. Seizing the nine-nine soul dispersing gourd seems like a task that requires a team to handle! As for Deng Chanyu, she might be able to persuade the Dark River Ancestor, but she definitely can't defeat him in combat. If things escalate to that point, it would either be the Heavenly Court's turn to send out its troops or the Buddhist School's turn. There is still much thinking required before deciding which path to take.
What a hassle!
She raised her palm, and the clear Qi bestowed by Hongjun immediately merged into the auspicious cloud where Yun Zhongzi was residing.
In a flash of time, Yun Zhongzi felt as if the seas and rivers had changed.
Heaven's will no longer obstructed him, and he seemed to have returned to the state of a True Immortal of Fortune and Benefaction, encountering difficulties that turned into blessings.
He was left with only a true spirit, which meant he had neither fortune nor virtue.
The reason why there is a sense of liberation from the shackles is entirely because Hongjun has relieved him of his restrictions.
All the hurdles, bottlenecks, and doubts he would normally encounter during the transformation process were all resolved one by one, taking him straight from the first step to the final step of transformation in one go.
This at least saved him tens of thousands of years of arduous effort.
Transformation is most important in the word "transform."
His dharma body needed to "transform", as did his fortunes, temperament, and foundation.
Using a metaphor, it's like having 90 free attribute points in his hand that he can distribute among various attributes. He can choose to have a dharma body with great strength or one with deep roots and fortune, all at his own discretion. With limited points, one attribute might be emphasized while the others are not as satisfactory. But what if he distributes them evenly? The worst thing in transformation is to be average.
Deng Chanyu held the measure of heaven and earth and said, "This is transformation? I've never seen it before. It seems some fortune is needed now."
Yun Zhongzi immediately replied, "Then I am grateful to the Dao Friend for your assistance."
Deng Chanyu lightly tapped with the ruler, and the power of merit transformed the decayed into the miraculous. A white mist was separated from the clear Qi of Yun Zhongzi's previous life, both stemming from the same root and source. The white mist connected the past and present, and Yun Zhongzi felt an extremely familiar sense of fortune return to his body.
This was essentially against the heavens, consuming the merits of the measure of heaven and earth at every moment. The loss during this forced connection was also huge, with only one-tenth of the original fortune absorbed in the end, if even that much.
However, even if a 70-level character's merit is only one-tenth, it's still a significant number when given to a level 1 beginner. At least in the early stages of cultivation, it would be more than enough.
Yun Zhongzi calculated for a moment. The clear Qi allowed by Hongjun was still in effect, and the fortune he absorbed from his previous life was about 1.5 times.
"Friend, I need some foundation as well."
"Okay."
Deng Chanyu pointed at the group of blood-red turbid air and another pitch-black mist connecting the past and present. Yun Zhongzi's root bones in this life began to rapidly grow.
Helping Yun Zhongzi to reverse heaven's will and change his destiny, adding his previous life's "attribute points" to this life, Deng Chanyu was tired enough. What was even more crucial was that the Grandfather of the Measure of Heaven and Earth protested vigorously. The consumption was too high. She stopped her actions and moved away at a distance, letting Yun Zhongzi transform on his own.
Half a year later, Yun Zhongzi transformed into his new form.
Thanks to the accumulation of his previous life, Yun Zhongzi's new form looked like a young man.
As soon as he transformed, Yun Zhongzi was already at the stage of True Immortal. The process of separating the Red Cloud's spirit soul was also quite difficult. Fortunately, Yun Zhongzi and this entity shared the same roots and origins. Moreover, he had some of Red Cloud's memories. With Deng Chanyu's cultivation and various treasures, it took another six months before the pure and turbid qi that had been forcibly separated by the measure of heaven could be merged again, and a mass of blood-red mist could be extracted from it.
Yun Zhongzi was exhausted. It was not easy for him to separate the Red Cloud's spirit soul, and it caused him some harm. However, from a purely heartfelt perspective, he wanted to get rid of this troublesome thing and help Deng Chanyu was also helping himself.
"Thank you very much, Dao Friend. Deng Chanyu bade farewell using her Thousand Miles River and Mountain Map to collect the Red Cloud's fragmented soul."
It was originally a fragmented soul left after being attacked by Kunpeng. When it became Yun Zhongzi, it was forcibly separated by the measure of heaven and earth. Now it had to be merged again and then extracted. The process went back and forth repeatedly.
In the end, the Red Cloud's spirit soul that emerged was tattered and looked like a ball of tattered cotton. The thing had no intelligence at all. Fortunately, Deng Chanyu didn't need it to have any intelligence.
