Chapter 116: A Universe Within a Pot, the Terrifying Might of a Dou Zong (Part I)

Feeling the incredible changes in his own body, Luo Zu could not help but exclaim:
"Could it be that I am the protagonist?!"

Three hundred and sixty-five strands of primordial god-demon energy were intricately fused together. He felt that the power of heaven and earth he could now manipulate was comparable to... well, there was no perfect comparison, but he felt it was about the same as Shi. Although Shi had never revealed his full strength, Luo Zu sensed that the power he currently possessed was similar to the day Shi had drawn upon the metal-attribute elements within a thousand-mile radius.

Now, Luo Zu could freely draw any type of spiritual energy he understood from within a thousand-mile radius. Moreover, he was not limited to just metal-attribute elements; he could draw upon the other four elements and all kinds of spiritual energy.

It would be easy for him to battle ordinary creatures now. With a single thought, he could dissolve their physical bodies into countless strands of basic spiritual energy, truly leaving not a trace of bone behind. If he were to face beings below the level of a True Immortal, he wouldn't even need such methods; simply standing there, the pressure of his high-level existence would be enough to make them tremble in terror. A single glare could shatter their hearts and cause them to perish on the spot.

His mastery of supernatural powers had also grown. His "Mediation of Creation" and "World Within the Pot" had both advanced by three tiers, reaching the level of sixth-tier Daoist arts. With sixth-tier "Mediation of Creation," Luo Zu could now easily create a mindless creature with strength comparable to an expert at the stage of "Refining Qi into Spirit." As for intelligence, that required more effort; he had to craft a superior brain and then use physical energy to stimulate it, gradually giving rise to consciousness.

This was the method Luo Zu had developed for crafting intelligent beings; he no longer had to copy his own brain structure. He could sculpt any type of unique, intelligent brain he desired. As for how wisdom would accumulate, that depended on the individual's observation and experience of their environment. Memories and thoughts would eventually coalesce into something known as a "True Spirit." Of course, this was just Luo Zu’s own summary. He could not be certain if other practitioners in the Great Desolation used this term. He wasn't entirely sure about the precise distinctions between "soul" and "True Spirit," but since the reality existed, he felt he could simply define his own terminology. Once the Lich War was over and he was the one in charge, the right to define these concepts would fall to him.

But he was getting ahead of himself. After the Liches were gone, there would still be the Three Purities, the Heavenly Court, the Buddhist sects, and a whole host of other powerful factions. If he wanted to be the master, he would have to overturn them all.

Stay strong!

Luo Zu exhaled softly, casting these unpleasant thoughts aside. His other innate supernatural power, "World Within the Pot," had also undergone marvelous changes upon reaching the sixth-tier. The world now spanned a thousand miles in diameter without any visible boundary. A thousand miles of deep clouds stretched above, while a thousand miles of heavy earth lay below, with primordial chaos lurking beneath it all. This was the Mortal Realm.

Below the Mortal Realm lay the Nine Serenities, a world of stagnant yin malice and rampant "calamity energy," where countless ghosts and phantoms swarmed like ants. It, too, spanned a thousand miles, just like the Mortal Realm.

Above the Mortal Realm was the "Immortal Realm," where spiritual energy swirled in restless, whistling currents. It was as if this realm were articulating the laws of nature. Luo Zu was experimenting with a new method of deduction, using an entire world as an abacus to evolve the pure laws of spiritual energy. It could truly be considered "celestial music"; if someone could grasp the patterns within it, it would be an unprecedented fortune, perhaps not enough to become an immortal on the spot, but still a profound transformation. These were just his initial steps in this method; it would require long years of operation before it could truly amaze both himself and the beings of the Mortal Realm.

However, the true marvel of the "World Within the Pot" lay in the sun and moon of the Mortal Realm. The two clusters of spiritual energy that had previously resembled reflections in a mirror had now taken shape, becoming true celestial bodies. This was the result of Luo Zu sensing the natural laws of the Taiyin and Taiyang, which then reflected into his internal world. With this, it became all the more natural for the beings in his world to absorb the essence of the sun and moon.

Furthermore, Luo Zu could now generate this essence himself, though the energy contained within was only one-millionth of that found in the Great Desolation. While thin, it was entirely under his control. In the future, he could have the practitioners of his Mortal Realm absorb the essence of the Great Desolation’s sun and moon, but the essence he distributed to them would be released by his own internal sun and moon. Though the quality was lower, he could compensate with quantity. If one strand wasn't enough, he could provide a hundred or a thousand. As for where the essence for his internal sun and moon came from, it was generated by Luo Zu himself from the spiritual energy of his world. In this way, he no longer needed to share even a single strand of the Great Desolation's solar or lunar essence.

"What a conscientious capitalist I am," Luo Zu muttered to himself.

However, these were not his primary concerns. What he truly cared about was that the "World Within the Pot" could now hold more living beings, including those of much greater size—beasts up to ten meters long and weighing a hundred tons, by the standards of the Great Desolation. This meant his "cave-dwelling" tribe members could now survive inside the world. Should any natural or man-made disaster strike, Luo Zu could simply bring them into his internal world and escape, ensuring the tribe would never face extinction.

Additionally, he had discovered new applications for the "World Within the Pot," most notably regarding space. He could now casually open up small pockets of space for others to carry—in other words, he could create the classic storage artifact: the "storage ring."

"From today on, I am also an expert of the Dou Zong realm!"
"Wait, was it the Dou Zong or the Dou Zun who could control space?"

It didn't matter. What mattered was that he could now mass-produce storage spaces for his tribesmen, allowing them to travel and hunt as lightly and conveniently as the Wu tribe.

As Luo Zu pondered, his tribesmen were already walking quickly toward the cave. Seeing this, he took a deep breath, drew in a vast amount of spiritual energy, and with a flick of his "Mediation of Creation," wove it into a black silk robe. His previous armor had been ground to powder by the spiritual energy when he broke through to the True Immortal realm. If they saw him naked, it would be quite embarrassing—though they might not care, as many in the tribe still went about without clothing.