After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 12

Ding Qin ultimately stayed.

This young girl possessed a tenacious spirit of charging headlong toward her goals. When there was no food in the desolate manor, she dug up wild vegetables and picked wild fruits herself. When the windows were damaged, she found dry grass to twist into straw rope and wove a grass curtain to block them.

She also cleaned up the weed-overgrown flower beds, keeping only the edible wild vegetables. Jin Yan secretly brought her a small handful of wheat seeds, which she planted in the ground. Every day she went to the pond to fetch water for irrigation, and now the wheat sprouts had already emerged several inches from the soil.

Seeing her attitude of long-term settlement, Li Chi had no choice but to call her over.

“Following me is not a good choice. You could find deities far more powerful than I,” Li Chi said.

“But when I was about to die, when I prayed, only you saved me,” Ding Qin’s gaze was stubborn and earnest.

Li Chi was silent for a moment. “I am a deity, yet I have no believers, living in seclusion here. I may not necessarily be able to protect you.”

“Then let me become your first believer,” Ding Qin said.

She looked up at the deity with black hair and dark eyes before her, murmuring repeatedly. “You saved me.”

Li Chi did not speak. He closed his eyes, and knowledge about divine messengers rose from the depths of his heart.

——Divine messenger, messenger of the deity.

Li Chi raised his hand, divine power flowing at his fingertips.

——Accept the deity’s power, act on the deity’s behalf.

His wrist turned, and a brilliant solar disc condensed into a seal.

——Share prosperity and decline, honor and disgrace together.

The deity’s fingertip touched her forehead.

A brilliant light bloomed between Ding Qin’s brows, illuminating the entire room.

She instinctively closed her eyes. She felt vast power surging into her body—luminous and clear, illuminating her internal organs, transparent and pure.

Under this radiant illumination, fatigue dissolved, hidden injuries healed, and gloom dissipated.

This warm and clear power filled her, making her bones dense, her flesh strong, and her skin lustrous.

She had never felt so relaxed and comfortable.

The power transmitted from the divine seal also entered her eyes, causing two spiritual essences to vibrate within them, suddenly leaping out from her eyes and converging at her forehead.

With her eyes tightly closed, Ding Qin saw things she could not see when her eyes were open.

She saw the deity, saw the vast radiance upon the deity. But this time, she also saw beneath the radiance.

She saw a magnificently radiant solar disc, but the center of this solar disc… was actually empty!

Suddenly, unease arose in Ding Qin’s heart. No matter how she looked, the solar disc only had its outer ring releasing pure and clear radiance, while the center was empty, leaving only a deep shadow.

Those two spiritual energies separated at some point and returned to Ding Qin’s eyes. Her vision suddenly became dim and blurred, until it returned to the normal darkness of closed eyes.

She urgently opened her eyes, her gaze worried and uneasy.

“What did you see?” Li Chi asked.

“I saw a great sun, but the center was empty, leaving only black shadows,” Ding Qin said. She hesitated for a moment, then carefully asked, “Are you… alright?”

“I told you I have no believers and live in seclusion here,” Li Chi raised his half-lowered eyes to look at Ding Qin. “I am a deity who has suffered severe injuries. My divine body is now ethereal, my divine power weak, already extremely frail.”

Ding Qin was momentarily confused, because she had just personally experienced Li Chi’s power, and that power was so vast. Could such power also be considered extremely frail?

But the deity had no need to deceive her. Perhaps… it was because she herself was too weak?

She was just a mortal; any demon could easily kill her. Precisely because of this, even a tiny bit of weak power would seem vast to her.

“I will work hard to help you recover!” Ding Qin spoke very earnestly.

“Good,” Li Chi smiled gently. “Go back and adapt first.”

Ding Qin pressed her lips together and obediently turned to leave.

She felt the deity hadn’t taken her words seriously. Was it because she was still too weak now?

She would definitely work hard to become stronger!

Li Chi’s reason for sending Ding Qin away was not this.

When the divine seal fell and the spiritual energies converged in Ding Qin’s eyes, he had gained a divine ability.

Li Chi looked down at the karmic threads on his own body. Now, he seemed able to trace back the causes from these karmic threads.

There was movement outside the door. A small mouse with purple-gray fur lay at the threshold, peering inside.

Li Chi beckoned with his hand, and the small mouse nimbly leaped over the threshold, climbing up the table leg.

It had been staying in the great manor for several days now, and the few karmic threads on its body that had solidified due to “fear” were gradually showing signs of becoming ethereal again. It seemed that in a few more days, there would be no problem.

It appeared that although the fine threads transformed from karmic threads could trigger karmic threads on others, they couldn’t necessarily make those consequences mature. If avoided properly, imminent consequences could still be returned to their original state.

Li Chi focused his gaze on a solidified karmic thread on the small mouse, and suddenly blurry images appeared in his eyes.

In the bushes, the small mouse held its breath motionlessly. In the sky above, an eagle circled, its gaze sharp as it watched below, waiting for the right moment to hunt.

It seemed this eagle was the being connected to the other end of the karmic thread.

Li Chi withdrew his gaze. He could continue watching, but there was no need.

Tracing karma also required consuming divine power, though his estimation showed the consumption wasn’t much. This might be because he hadn’t watched for long, or because the subjects he traced were just a mouse and eagle with only rudimentary intelligence.

This ability was undeniably powerful, but in this mountain forest manor, it could only trace the karmic past between forest beasts—truly a waste.

This was an ability destined to develop among people…

Li Chi lightly tapped his fingers on the armrest.

So be it. The fine threads plucked from karmic threads were related to healing his injuries. For this reason, he would eventually need to seek out others to verify how to pluck karmic threads.

Seclusion was to avoid disaster, not to cower. Since solving the source of disaster required him to seek externally, he would venture out.

Moreover, having decided to keep Ding Qin, he couldn’t continue letting her live like she had been surviving in the wilderness.

Conveniently, at the foot of the mountain was Liquan Village where people gathered. Li Chi had asked Jin Yan—the territory protected by Great King Yishan wasn’t limited to just Liquan Village, and this wasn’t his permanent residence, just a place where he had made some arrangements.

Having decided to visit Liquan Village, he needed to prepare for the journey in advance.

No matter what, safety came first. Before departing, it was best to improve whatever strength could be improved.

As for Ding Qin, Li Chi had already transmitted the divine arts he had pondered during this time to her through the divine seal—undeniably, the divine seal was very useful in this regard. The only thing that made Li Chi slightly guilty was that he had no memories and knew no orthodox cultivation methods, so he could only pass on the spiritual essence techniques to Ding Qin.

For Li Chi himself, there was still a fine thread plucked from karmic threads that could be utilized.

The humming sound after plucking the thread could not only trigger corresponding karma but also evoke corresponding emotions in beings’ hearts, just like the fearful trembling of the small mouse after hearing this sound.

This thread worked through the resonance after plucking—it would be suitable for making a qin…

On the other side, Ding Qin was studying the power she had gained from the divine seal.

Learning how to convert divine power into life force and how to condense sword energy was relatively easy. With several attempts, she could successfully use them, though her sword energy lacked sword intent, making it somewhat less powerful.

What troubled Ding Qin was the use of spiritual essence from the divine seal.

After Li Chi re-sealed her eyes, she could see the spiritual essence between heaven and earth, but she didn’t know how to manipulate these spiritual essence.

Although there were teachings in the divine seal, she couldn’t touch the spiritual essence no matter what, so she couldn’t even complete the simplest wind-calling technique.

Spiritual essence was everywhere yet had no physical form. It had been two days, and though she could see them, when she pointed her finger at them, it always fell on empty space.

Jin Yan flapped his wings and landed on the courtyard wall, curiously watching Ding Qin condense divine power at her fingertips and repeatedly brush through the air.

“What are you doing?” He flew over and landed on Ding Qin’s head, bending his head forward to look at her.

Ding Qin extended her left hand to receive Jin Yan on her finger. “I’m calling wind, but I can’t succeed.”

“Calling wind?” Jin Yan said in surprise. “That’s simple! How haven’t you succeeded yet?”

Ding Qin felt even more dejected. “Am I too stupid?”

“Try again for me to see,” Jin Yan said.

Ding Qin nodded, gathering spiritual essence in her eyes, looking at the floating spiritual currents in the air, condensing divine power at her right fingertip and brushing forward.

Nothing happened.

“What kind of wind-calling is that?” Jin Yan stared mockingly, spreading his wings to stir up a breeze. “Look at mine, I’ll teach you how to do it.”

As he spoke, he prepared to share his technique with Ding Qin. “Combine…”

“Jin Yan.” Hou Li suddenly materialized from the manor.

Jin Yan stopped speaking, looking at Hou Li curiously. This was the first time Hou Li had called his name. Although after his protests, Hou Li had stopped calling him “bird demon,” he had never called him by name either.

“Why did you come out?” Jin Yan asked. “How strange, I thought I’d never hear you, you stubborn stone, call my name in this lifetime.”

“I’m telling you to be cautious with your words. I don’t know who gave you this name, but it was well-intentioned,” Hou Li said. “Don’t give random guidance. Do you dare call your meager abilities ‘wind-calling’? At most it’s ‘fanning wind.'”

Jin Yan protested indignantly. “At least I can stir up wind!”

Hou Li glanced at him and said, “Can’t High God Li Chi do that? First figure out how others use their divine arts, then see if you’re just causing trouble.”

Jin Yan looked at Ding Qin, blinked, and asked, “Why were you gesturing in the air just now?”

Ding Qin explained everything honestly.

Jin Yan was completely confused. “Spiritual essence? What’s that? Something similar to spiritual qi?”

“With your meager abilities, you’re not at a level where you can contact spiritual essence, so naturally you don’t know,” Hou Li said.

Jin Yan wasn’t angry. “I don’t know, so why don’t you explain it to me.”

Although Hou Li was now weak, he came from a high background and had broad knowledge. He said:

“Most spell-casting in the world relies on techniques. Take wind control as an example. Lower-grade methods mostly use one’s own power to forcibly move air currents to produce wind. Fundamentally, this is no different from how birds without intelligence fly—one uses physical strength to propel, the other uses cultivated magical power. Such techniques are crude and simple, easy to learn but consume much energy, often achieving half the result with twice the effort.”

“Middle-grade methods respond to heaven and earth, coordinating one’s own power with the power of heaven and earth, like traveling with the wind, borrowing heaven and earth’s power to accomplish twice what one’s own power could achieve. Such techniques are both spell-casting methods and proper cultivation practices.”

“Cultivating such techniques requires comprehending heaven and earth, and their power varies tremendously between different people. Those who only know the techniques but understand them poorly can still produce effects, but the power won’t be much stronger. For those with some comprehension, such techniques can be several times more powerful than the former.”

“So upper-grade techniques are related to spiritual essence?” Jin Yan interjected.

“Upper-grade techniques have no fixed methods,” Hou Li said.

Jin Yan’s eyes widened.

“There are countless techniques in the world. The techniques in lower-grade methods are the poorest, while techniques in middle-grade methods can be ranked high and low. The creation of these techniques depends on the creator’s comprehension of corresponding heaven and earth forces. The deeper the comprehension, the more excellent the created techniques, and the deeper the principles of heaven and earth they contain.”

“And upper-grade techniques…” Hou Li sighed deeply. “Those who understand their principles can see their spiritual essence. Every movement and thought can trigger spiritual essence. This is true wind-calling and rain-summoning, naturally harmonious when performed, like heaven and earth naturally producing wind and rain. Not only does it consume almost no personal power, but its might can be like the overturning of heaven and earth.”

Jin Yan’s mouth hung open.

Hou Li looked at Ding Qin beside them: “Although you haven’t reached the corresponding realm, you were born with spiritual eyes that can observe heaven and earth’s spiritual essence. I imagine High God Li Chi didn’t teach you techniques but instead instructed you in manipulating spiritual essence because of this. Your process of observing heaven and earth’s spiritual essence is the process of comprehending heaven and earth—this is your fortune.”

“Thank you for resolving my confusion,” Ding Qin thanked him.

Hou Li accepted her gratitude but said, “You are High God Li Chi’s divine messenger and shouldn’t use the honorific ‘you’ with me. Just call me by name.”

“Mr. Hou Li,” Ding Qin thought and addressed him.

Hou Li accepted this. “Mister” it was then. This young girl had just stepped onto the cultivation path. Although she had received High God Li Chi’s fortune, the High God’s realm was too elevated for her.

Having accepted the title of “mister,” he should do corresponding deeds.

After thinking, he gave another pointer. “If you don’t know what wind is, how can you touch its spiritual essence?”

Ding Qin seemed to understand. After a moment, she again extended her hand to brush through the air.

A gentle breeze arose.