Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

With his Nascent Herculean Physique fully formed, his physiology was primed to enter the next phase of development: Grand Herculean Physique.

To start, he had to fuse his regalia into his physiology and merge it into one, becoming a perfect whole. The Flame of Life and the Shadow of Death had been his first regalias. They originated from Ezekiel’s Meteor Ring, and they were in a natural state of perfect synchronicity. Therefore, Yan Zaizen had achieved a feat that had never been completed before: Merging two Regalias of the Heavens into one body.

Then, he shattered that record once by sheer luck. The Regalia of Soul had reluctantly agreed to enter his body and survive the tyrannical nature of the Siphoning Shadow of Death. It was intent on consuming everything in its path, and it had no choice.

With three World-Level Regalias in his physique, he had given birth to Samsara-type Herculean energy. This made his body and the soul that occupied it essentially immortal. Furthermore, every attack of his body shattered souls and the body. He was beyond the word fearsome.

Unfortunately, his Herculean cultivation had been unable to keep up with his Soul and Heavenly Cultivation.

Now, he was about to perform another first in history: Refine an Imperial-level Regalia into his heart.

Slowly, while he floated above the clouds of the Xiantu Continent, his breathing commenced a strange cadence. The rhythm was nearly musical, and it matched his heartbeat. His powerful body and lungs caused the clouds around him to disperse or be pushed away.

Within the depths of his body, originating from his cells, and perhaps even deeper than that, his body started to radiate a faint golden glow. This glow was the result of a miraculous power that had been formed during the Nascent Herculean Physique. Before, Yan Zaizen didn’t know what it was, but he now felt that It could be termed Herculean DNA.

His Herculean DNA was activating, calling upon its source in the omniverse, the True Origin of the Herculean Path. Regardless of distance, it was as if it had arrived and entered his body bypassing all limitations of time and space.

This power emitted an endless, vast suppressive aura. If Yan Zaizen hadn’t taken to the skies, far away from everyone, the scene of Tao and Bai Lufeng undergoing an immense mental change would happen once more. They had cried, curled up into the fetal position, and roared endlessly in reluctance and defiance. Yet they were unable to resist.

It was not only vast, but beyond the imagination of normal mortals. It was as if a tinge of aura originating from a Heavenly God had descended. It was far too divine.

Yan Zaizen’s Dao Light ravaged his amber-gold eyes endlessly. The Dao of Sovereign Ascension kneeled to no man, ruler, or god. He felt no reverence or relegated himself to a submissive mindset. With a casual shrug, he remained unaffected.

When his Dao Light exploded from his eyes, the vast suppressive aura that could cause an entire planet to tremble was suppressed without resistance. It was not allowed a single foot away from Yan Zaizen’s body. He didn’t allow it.

ROAR!!!

A chaotic roar filled with boundless power and rage echoed from within his soul, from within every last cell. This was the True Origin of the Herculean Path resisting, refusing Yan Zaizen’s right to cultivate it! It wanted to shake Yan Zaizen’s existence and force him to abide by its laws, abide by its will!

Yan Zaizen’s amber-gold gaze narrowed sharply. "Are you any different than the heavens? Hmph! How hypocritical!" Yan Zaizen admonished the True Origin’s Will. It wanted to exceed the heavens, shatter the skies, suppress all lifeforms, yet unwilling to be subjected to the same treatment?

Shameless!

Yan Zaizen’s entire body exploded with a torrential aura that formed a storm of pure Dao Light. "Concede! You are a Path that I, Yan Zaizen, have chosen to embark. You will accept it!" He did not give this will a choice, forcefully using his Dao to combat its intent.

"..." The True Origin’s Will went silent. It was unknown whether it was stunned due to anger or thoroughly confused by Yan Zaizen’s words. After a few seconds, it stopped resisting.

Yan Zaizen coldly snorted. His eyes lifted to the starry skies above. "When I see you, I’ll correct your ill-mindset." This was a promise.

With that aside, Yan Zaizen brought the orb of misty, indistinguishable mist to his chest. Slowly, the regalia was absorbed into his heart. There was no resistance on the regalia’s part. It quietly and willingly allowed itself to enter his heart. In fact, the refinement was almost instant.

His originally blood-red heart became the color of grey-white, but only for a moment as it once more regained its blood-red color. Within his heart were strings like gossamer of grey-white. These were the quintessence of the Regalia of Mimicry.

Grand Herculean Physique Achieved!

"Such perfect compatibility!" Yan Zaizen was somewhat taken aback by the sheer ease.

Then, he frowned. "My body isn’t changing?" When he had refined the regalias of life and death, his body had morphed into a perfect male specimen. This meant flawless skin, immaculate masculine facial features, perfectly distributed muscles and a greater height! However, his body remained the same as before.

While he had features like this, they weren’t as prominent. This caused him to be unable to not frown. However, upon the thought, his heart started to rapidly beat.

The strings of grey-white circulated from his heart, and coursed through the entirety of his body. His body had undergone an almost instant change, reclaiming the looks of his original body exactly.

"What!" His eyes contracted into needles as he regarded his body. "How is this...is it that..."

He closed his eyes and imagined his original self, far before the Herculean Method had entered his sights. He was sixteen, slightly taller than normal, and skinny. When those eyes of his opened, his body had now returned to that time.

However, the inherent vital energies and physical composition of his body hadn’t changed. He was as strong as he had always been.

"The Law of Mimicry allows me to change my body’s form at will?" This shocked him as he tested this further. Even his lifeforce aura started to change, the age of his bones, and his vital energy aura. From the outside, it was as if he was sixteen years old without a lick of body-type cultivation.

Even his Qi Aura had returned, becoming that of a mid-Qi Cyclone Realm. This...

"Was this an ability of the...The Herculean Physique merged with the Imperial Law of Mimicry?!" As he tested it more, he soon became unable to even determine his own cultivation. This was insane! This wasn’t normal concealment but an entire true change that had no real tangible effect.

"...Could it?" He thought of Tao. Within moments, he had gained his physique and physical traits. His life and soul aura unique solely to him was emitted from his body. It was as if he had cloned his body to be Tao’s.

Then, he thought of something. The Immortal Herculean Method was in the category of healing and recovery, enhancing one’s rejuvenating abilities. He returned to his original body’s features and with a palm as a blade, mercilessly sliced off his forearm at the joint.

It was instantly severed with little to no resistance. For what was a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a microsecond, Yan Zaizen saw it and felt it. His heart throbbed and the arm that was severed transformed into a grey-white mist.

Then, his forearm had seemingly returned.

There was no evidence of an injury.

Yan Zaizen then shouted, building up his vital energies into his left leg and then detonated it. It sent him flying upwards for several hundred feet before he stopped. When he looked down, there was no rain of blood or mangled flesh. In fact, there was no missing leg.

While the explosion was real, his leg had mysteriously returned without a sign of injury. This even included the clothes he wore. For some reason, they too had returned, but when he inspected them, they had a faint power emanating from them that only he could sense.

His heart fiercely pounded with awe, a tinge of confusion, astonishment, and excitement!

The Immortal Herculean Physique of Mimicry!