Martial God Asura

“Dugu Lingtian?”

Sima Xiangtu sieved through his memories, thinking that ‘Dugu Lingtian’ must have been a formidable figure given the Ox-nosed Old Daoist's earnest tone. However, he had no recollection of that person at all.

“You have never heard of him? I don’t blame you for that. You’re still young and immature, after all. I can tell you that I was much more satisfied with my life as Dugu Lingtian than Zhuge Guangyao.

“If I didn’t obtain the Godsoul Formula by coincidence and made up my mind to cultivate it, I would have already become a respected powerhouse in the world of cultivation by now. If so, the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect should have become known throughout the world of cultivation.

“What a pity that things never go as one intended them to. I ended up choosing the Godsoul Formula,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

He was the most satisfied with his time as Dugu Lingtian, but that life was also filled with regrets for him. No matter how many times he reincarnated, the only identity he truly recognized was Dugu Lingtian. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t use the name anymore.

He didn’t want to disappoint some people.

This was simply how life was. A single choice could dictate the trajectory of one’s future, and there was no way to reverse it.

“You said that you spent a lifetime as Zhuge Guangyao, but why did you do that? What’s your goal?” Sima Xiangtu asked.

He was much more interested in Zhuge Guangyao than Dugu Lingtian since Zhuge Guangyao was known to be a prodigy who had awed the entire Nine Souls Galaxy back then. He was also interested to know what the Ox-nosed Old Daoist was aiming for.

“Xiangtu, what’s your goal for preparing the Pill Dao Immortal Sect’s Immortal Cauldron and turning me into a cultivation resource?” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist posed a question of his own instead.

“Why ask the obvious? We are both cultivating the Godsoul Formula,” Sima Xiangtu replied.

The Godsoul Formula was an incredibly powerful skill that he and the Ox-nosed Old Daoist discovered in their younger years in an ancient remnant. The two of them made the decision to cultivate it together. It was through the Godsoul Formula that Sima Xiangtu was able to continuously strengthen his soul and eventually reach his current height.

His previous goal was to use the Immortal Cauldron to refine innumerable souls and use them as fodder for a breakthrough in his Godsoul Formula. He thought that he could reach Half-God level if he succeeded.

That was how powerful the Godsoul Formula was.

“The Godsoul Formula is demanding on not just one’s hard work but one’s aptitude too. The strength of a person’s soul is decided from the moment of birth, but only a perfect soul is capable of cultivating a true Godsoul. So, the creator of the Godsoul Formula came up with a method that allows one to reincarnate with his full memories so as to construct a perfect soul,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

“Reincarnate? Why didn’t I see that in the Godsoul Formula I cultivated?”

Sima Xiangtu glared at the Ox-nosed Old Daoist hatefully. He realized that the Godsoul Formula he had cultivated was incomplete, which meant that he had been duped by the Ox-nosed Old Daoist.

“Needless to say, what you have cultivated isn’t the Godsoul Formula,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist replied.

“You planned it all. You lured me to that ancient remnant so that I would discover the Godsoul Formula. What’s your motive for doing that?” Sima Xiangtu asked.

He knew that he was likely to die here, but he still wanted to know where he had gone wrong.

“Calm down, I’ll explain everything to you. It’ll be a long story,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said with a smile.

“I have already realized that my soul wasn’t perfect enough back when I first obtained the Godsoul Formula. I didn’t want those around me to know about the Godsoul Formula since it was an unorthodox skill, so I decided to reincarnate and cultivate it under a new identity.

“Thanks to my thorough preparations, my soul was able to approach perfection in my first reincarnation. That was during my life as Zhuge Guangyao. But I swiftly realized that ‘approach perfection’ and ‘true perfection’ were two entirely different concepts,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

Sima Xiangtu suddenly interjected and said, “Zhuge Guangyao was famed for his talent in the Nine Souls Galaxy despite his young age. He was afflicted with a terminal disease and died prematurely… But that isn’t true. You simply wanted to die and start anew.”

“The goal of reincarnation is to obtain a perfect soul. Since I didn’t achieve my goal, it goes without saying that I’d have to start anew. My greatest flaw is that I value relationships too much. My parents in the Zhuge Clan weren’t my true parents but simply people whom I have chosen beforehand, but I still got attached to them. That’s why I feigned sickness so that they could quickly come to terms with my departure and forget about me.

“Before I left, I constructed a defensive formation for them and gave them a treasure as compensation. I simply didn’t expect that the descendants of the Zhuge Clan would be so lacking in talent. Even with my treasure and defensive formation, they still fell into decline.

“Well… I guess the current generation’s Zhuge Feiluan is still not bad. If he matures, the Zhuge Clan could rise to prominence once more. That’s why I couldn’t allow the Wretched Black Demon to kill him,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

He glanced at the Wretched Black Demon as he spoke, but the latter stared back at him vacuously, as if he couldn’t understand what the Ox-nosed Old Daoist and Sima Xiangtu were talking about. Seeing that, the Ox-nosed Old Daoist burst into laughter.

He knew better than anyone else how the Wretched Black Demon ended in his current state.

“Who else did you reincarnate into?” Sima Xiangtu asked.

“I reincarnated many times in the future, but the time I spent cultivating grew shorter and shorter. I was still living for decades each lifetime, but it soon reduced to just a couple of years.

“I realized no matter how close my soul comes to perfection, imperfections would still appear as I age. I kept reincarnating and reincarnating, but the outcome was the same. That was the first time that I experienced true despair. I regretted having chosen to cultivate the Godsoul Formula. But there was no turning back. I have already chosen my path. I’d have to walk to the end of it.

“So, I began researching the Godsoul Formula. It took a while, but I eventually comprehended its crux. Reincarnation is a crucial step to attaining a perfect soul, but it isn’t enough. External nourishment is required for a soul that is approaching perfection to reach true perfection.

“When I finally became Zhuge Yuankong, I decided not to reincarnate anymore. There’s no need to since I have already found a way to perfect my soul,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

“What is it? Is normal cultivation not sufficient?” Sima Xiangtu asked anxiously.

The Godsoul Formula he had cultivated wasn’t perfect, but it did make his soul stronger. He had a profound reverence for the Godsoul Formula, viewing it as a divine skill that had changed his life. Even if he was doomed to die, he wanted to know what the true Godsoul Formula was like.

“Normal cultivation? Xiangtu, why are you suddenly uttering such foolishness? Haven’t I already told you that the Godsoul Formula you have cultivated isn’t real?” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.

“Zhuge Yuankong, what do you mean by that?” Sima Xiangtu asked in agitation.

The words from the Ox-nosed Old Daoist pricked at his nerves.

“I thought that I was already being direct, but you still don’t get it?” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist asked.

“If what I have been cultivating wasn’t the real Godsoul Formula, what could I have been cultivating all this while? What are you driving at?” Sima Xiangtu spoke with increasing rage in his voice.

He initially thought that the Godsoul Formula was incomplete, but the Ox-nosed Old Daoist was saying that what he cultivated wasn’t even the Godsoul Formula at all. This was unacceptable to him since the Godsoul Formula was the faith that had been pushing him on all this while. How could he accept this turn of events?