Chapter 501: Seventy-two Transformations

Translator:

Lordbluefire

Editor:

Lordbluefire

As the incantations were being chanted, a strange phenomenon occurred in the skies.

Spiritual qi of heaven and earth gathered as clouds began their descend from above. The Heavenly Imperial Palace appeared in mid-air with celestial maidens dancing on it.

Seeing such an exchange between mortals and celestials, one couldn’t help but immerse themselves in fascination.

Despite the audience, the inheritor of the art was but a mere monkey.

Witnessing this, others couldn’t help but feel envy and hatred, but none dared to let even the slightest hint of annoyance slip through their expression.

At that moment, the master and disciple took their roles; one chanting while the other listened. It was unclear if this was intentional or not, and no one took notice of such menial detail.

The monkey floated amidst the occasion, overjoyed. Listening to the subtle chanting, he rolled his head and scratched the back of his ears. He couldn’t help but break into a little dance, revealing his innate monkey nature.

This technique had seventy-two transformations, a multiplication of eight and nine; there was nothing in the world that it couldn’t transform into.

With a s.h.i.+ft of the mind, a cultivator would be able to make corresponding changes, attaining abilities that seemingly matched their body.

(What is the Art of Transformation?)

(This is the true Art of Transformation!)

The heart monkey could change his spirit but did not possess the ability to make changes to physical appearances.

Seventy-two Transformations, on the other hand, allowed one to transform into something with utmost precision. It was known to be the first-rate transformation technique across the three realms, having similarities to Truelord Erlang’s Eight-Nine Mystic Art.

If the Grand-grade Heavenly Immortal Art was a fundamental cla.s.sic, then Seventy-two Transformations would be the first-rate divine art.

The monkey floated in the midst of it, dancing in glee.

That was, until a deafening sound boomed from beyond the heavens, shocking him out of his trance.

“Do you understand now?”

Ancestor Subhuti sat atop the cloud, looking warmly at the monkey.

It was only then that the stone monkey snapped out of it, kneeling on the ground as he bowed. “Thank you, ancestor, for pa.s.sing on the technique!”

The ancestor nodded slightly and spoke no more, his body vanis.h.i.+ng before the audience’s eyes.

With this being the first time he acquired such a mystical technique, he could hardly contain the excitement. Stretching his body, he transformed into a streak of light and disappeared from where he stood.

…

Transform, transform, transform!

At the peak of the mountain, a silhouette behind the fog tumbled ceaselessly, its body taking on thousands of different shapes.

Light as a bird, a lion roaring through the forest, a dragon cutting through the skies…

The heart monkey transformed into anything his heart desired.

Since he did not understand the technique previously, he could only transform based on his own abilities.

Now that he learned the first-rate transformation technique of three realms, he was like a fish in the water. He mastered it in just a moment, understanding the true meaning of transformation.

He had the material and spiritual transformations in his control.

With each transformation, he could turn something unreal into reality, and it did not seem to be any inferior to the original. In fact, through the other forms, he gained the essence of life and complement the transformation further, becoming even stronger than the original.

Was this the true meaning of transformation?

Hidden in the depths of the monkey’s heart, what the eyes could see was equivalent to the technique bestowed upon Feng Lin, allowing transformations to appear before his eyes one by one, turning it into his own legacy.

This was the greatest treasure in the mythology illusion-scape. He was deeply affected by it as he received the divine cultivation experience of ancient times.

This was an experience that others could only dream of having.

Naturally, Feng Lin did not have any intention of wasting such a precious opportunity. It wasn’t long before he unraveled a deeper secret to the Art of Transformations in his stone monkey form.

While Art of Transformations was capable of combat, it was not its core ability. It was merely a naturally acquired ability from mastering the Art of Transformations.

Rather, the true usage of Art of Transformations was actually for…

Averting crisis!

The world was not a kind place, and every living being was treated like a dog.

It was merciless and filled with calamities. The lives of all creatures were worthless.

Heavenly thunder, fire, flood, plague—every type of disaster could wipe out countless of lives.

Yet, despite it all, there was always a glimmer of hope.

No matter how miserable life was, it was limitless in its possibility to evolve.

Life could adapt to any disastrous environment in order to counter it.

The camel in the desert, flood dragons in magma, black tortoise in the frozen land…

The world was a scary place, but life would never become extinct.

And the true essence of Art of Transformations was in…

Natural selection, the survival of the fittest!

Only living creatures that could adapt to disasters would be able to survive.

Art of Transformations tapped on the insight into the fine evolution of living things and allowed the users the innate ability to adapt quickly to their environment and calamities.

Immortal cultivators cultivated against the heavens.

That was because immortals had eternal life and lived alongside heaven, and that was something intolerable to the natural laws.

Hence, every time one reached immortality, Heavenly Calamity would be upon them. If they did not survive it, everything, even their chance at reincarnation, would be reduced to ashes

The Art of Transformations was the first heavenly tribunal art of the three realms that could go against the three disasters: Heavenly Lightning, Yin Fire, and Vile Wind. Only a true cultivator would be taught it.

Before this, the monkey had experienced a great sense of horror during his breakthrough. The world had been sensing activities of qi, and a calamity was about to befall.

If one crashed through rashly, then Heavenly Lightning would fall with no survivors.

The monkey only understood the immensity of the opportunity now and was beyond happy. He couldn’t help but howl toward the sky.

The howling of the ape reached beyond the clouds and echoed through Fangcun Mountain, attracting countless attention.

…

Boom, boom, boom!

Dark clouds loomed overhead.

In just a month, the monkey mastered Seventy-two Transformations completely and could change as he willed.

By now, his body’s true origin energy had been increased to the brim.

Since that was the case, then why wait any further?

The monkey was never a coward. With his confidence at that moment, he did not hesitate and began gathering his true origin energy toward the crown of his head.

As his spirit freed itself from the confines of his body, he connected with heaven and earth immediately.

The saying ‘inescapable doom every 500 years’ did not refer to the literal number of years but the state attained in practicing Dao.

It was just that, according to the usual practice of cultivation, most cultivators would need at least 500 years to sufficiently deal with the inevitable doom.

Even so, it differed among people.

With the vastness of the world, there were bound to be some monster-level existences who could make leaps of progress in a day and improvements that were comparable to at least a year’s worth of cultivation.

Lu Dongbin took three years to attain enlightenment, Ne Zha succeeded in Lotus Body within a day, Truelord Erlang became Battle G.o.d of Three Realms in 10 years… All of them had a great reputation!

The monkey in front of them was not an ordinary one either!

With heaven as his father and earth as his mother, his cultivation in a day was worth more than a year!

Even though he practiced for only three years, the monkey’s cultivation had long surpa.s.sed his peers by a mile.

At this moment, strange occurrences to the environment happened immediately as tribulation qi took shape.

Wind howled, clouds gathered, and thunderclaps resounded!

With the looming dark clouds, Fangcun Mountain was engulfed in mere moments. As multiple claps of thunder rang out, all cultivators felt the impending doom.

The tribulation clouds seemed boundless ahead of them. With the clouds covering the sky, all signs of life diminished as they vanished from sight.

So, was this monkey going through the heavenly tribulation?

What kind of horrifying tribulation was that?

This was simply unheard of!

And how strong was this monkey’s cultivation?

…

Before this, they were already discontented by the sight of a mere monkey receiving the ancestor’s techniques over and over again.

It was only now that they realized that every action of the ancestor had deep meaning behind them.

Among the people in Fangcun Mountain, who would possess such astounding cultivation apart from this monkey?

Those who were not their kind were sure to be of a different heart.

It was inevitable that the human cultivators of Fangcun Mountain would discriminate against the monkey. Yet, even so, they respected Dao the most and couldn’t help but be impressed by the monkey at this moment.

Boom, boom, boom!

Lightning struck down like a divine sword, the G.o.d above was furious. Plants, rocks, flowers—all of which were burned. The sight was terrifying.

Even so, a seemingly hunched figure began to straighten its back and tilted its head toward the sky. Golden eyes reflected a black spinning tribulation eye. It spun ceaselessly as he let out a devastating howl.

Wind and clouds collided and a golden glow gathered. Suddenly, it turned into a heaven-splitting divine sword and struck.

The Heavenly Calamity…

Is upon them!