전생검신 94권19화

Divine Phenomenon?

I asked the Necronomicon in confusion.

“What do you mean by that?”

The Necronomicon, munching on a snack, replied, “The divine potential dormant within you is reacting to your demon path and is starting to merge. On top of that, a new divine potential is trying to awaken in response as well.”

“Whoa! Is that really true?”

“Well, you’re progressing at quite the rapid pace. I didn’t think you could make this much headway in just a day.”

“Rapid, you say?”

The Necronomicon squinted at me.

“I was actually aiming to grant you a couple more insights before giving you a clue to extract the Spirit Poison. The more insights you have, the easier it is to gain answers. But since you’re already close to the answer, I can only say you’re progressing fast.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. For a typical demon sorcerer, this is certainly not an easy task. It could very well take a hundred years of research.”

Wiying

As the Necronomicon spoke, it tossed the snack into subspace and summoned a staff instead. Pointing it forward, the Necronomicon said slowly, “Now, it’s time to perform the Thunder God Sword Dance.”

I was taken aback and quickly restrained the Necronomicon.

“Whoa, hold on.”

“Why?”

“I think I just barely figured something out, you know? I appreciate the insights, but mixing in more here would just confuse me… so, um… could you not?”

At that, the Necronomicon chuckled.

“A glutton for knowledge, huh? Each insight traditionally carries decades of cultivation of a typical demon sorcerer, and you’re turning it down?”

“It’s not that it’s bad, but… it’s hard to explain…”

“I get it without needing an explanation. You’re training to extract Spirit Poison using only your innate abilities, without reliance on artificial treasures or divine blood, right?”

“…! How did you know that?”

“Seeing is understanding. I’m aware of everything about your progress in the demon path and your worries.”

“…”

How could it possibly know all of that? This creature truly has some limits to its abilities, huh?

As I was left speechless, the Necronomicon continued, “Okay. It’s true that discovering something yourself is more valuable than being spoon-fed insights… So, I won’t perform the Thunder God Sword Dance today. Instead, I’ll teach you about divine beings. That alone should be sufficient for you right now.”

“Teach? Is there still more to say about divine beings?”

“The world of demons is boundless. Your current understanding of divine beings is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Clang

The Necronomicon set down its staff and, placing both hands together, exclaimed, “Question! You as a human create divine beings that match the human form. Then what do divine beings like tentacle creatures or me, who take on animal shapes, consider as their divine beings?”

“Uh…?!”

That was a totally unexpected question.

“Now that I think about it…”

How do tentacle creatures or monsters form divine beings when they probably have no hands or cant move their fingers easily?

Completely baffled, I turned to the Necronomicon, trying to grasp the mystery.

“I don’t know. How do they do it?”

“Ha ha ha. I thought you understood divine beings quite well, but it seems you still don’t grasp the essence.”

“…”

“The answer is this.”

In that moment, the Necronomicon’s eyes turned blue as its tail stood straight up. Simultaneously, an overwhelming aura emanated from the Necronomicon, and I flinched.

“Ugh!”

The magical power soared suddenly!

As I recoiled, the Necronomicon stated, “The physical transformation that aligns with your race’s characteristics. For other races, that serves as a substitute for the human form of divine beings.”

“What? Raising a tail counts as a divine being?”

“What is a divine being? It’s a vessel for condensing the insight of sorcery and releasing it efficiently. For humans, their hands are the most versatile and responsive part, making it the conduit for divine energy. In other words, as long as it can hold the insight, it doesn’t necessarily have to be hands.”

“…!”

Oh, I get it now!

I felt like I just learned something I never expected. As I was in awe of this newfound knowledge, I tilted my head.

“… But why does it matter? Replacing divine beings with physical transformation doesn’t help me. I’m human.”

“You know only one but not two. Didn’t I tell you that as long as you can contain the insights, it doesn’t have to be limited to hands? This means you can hold insights throughout your entire body.”

“Ah!”

“Seems like you’re finally catching on.”

The Necronomicon grinned with delight.

“In the world of magic, divine signs and dance essentially share the same roots. Because before the concept of divine signs, it was indeed dance. You can’t always be dancing while casting magic, so the motions were simplified into divine signs.”

“…!”

Dance!

The unexpected mention of dance threw me into contemplation. Would I actually hear about dance while learning about divine signs?

Finding it an oddly entertaining topic, I began asking the Necronomicon.

“So, are you saying that dancing can also trigger magic?”

“Exactly. In fact, even among the countless alien tribes across the universe, there are many primitive tribes that unleash magic through dance. As you’ve likely sensed, since divine signs and dancing have that fundamental connection, executing a sequence of movements can activate magic without needing the other four elements.”

“Ahh.”

So, it’s just like when I activated the Maoshan Sect’s ten divine signs in a chain and omitted the other elements!

Since dancing involves a lot more movements than divine signs, it should actually be way easier.

“Moreover, when casting magic through dance, there are unique benefits that come solely from dancing.”

“The benefits of dance? What does that even mean?”

“It means that through dance, you can embody the divine.”

“…? What do you mean by that?”

“I bet it’s better to show than to explain. Just watch closely.”

Saying that, the Necronomicon slowly began to move its body, executing a dance. The graceful curves and motions were anything but clumsy.

…

In my life, I never expected to see a cat dance…

Watching the tricolor cat sway to the rhythm, I thought it was adorable, but soon I felt a slight chill.

“Huh? Why am I feeling cold…?”

“Focus on the essence!”

Startled by the Necronomicon’s scolding, I refocused and gazed intently at its dance. As I observed, I suddenly realized why I felt that chill and gasped.

“Wha… Divine Power!”

Exactly.

While the Necronomicon danced, it summoned divine power within itself!

And upon closer inspection, that divine power was tinged with chill, likely related to the dark attributes wielded by a demon god.

Bang!

Wrapping up the dance with a loud clap, the Necronomicon announced, “As you can see, a perfect divine dance can summon immense divine power. You must know that the divine power I summoned through my dance is comparable to that of an apostle.”

“…!”

It turned out the Necronomicon was right. Although it wasn’t visibly substantial, the amount of divine power summoned during its dance was indeed apostle-level. One would be hard-pressed to find a sorcerer on the ground with that kind of power!

“Divine beings linked through dance. Therefore, the element of dance cannot be underestimated in magic. As I mentioned earlier, the essence of magic is borrowing power from higher entities, so a dance that allows for such direct borrowing is naturally powerful magic.”

“…”

Listening to the Necronomicon, I mulled it over before finally speaking.

“So that’s why worshippers dance during ceremonies to the demon god. They try to increase the success rate of summoning even just a little bit through dance.”

“Exactly. Well done.”

“Hold on… then why don’t divine signs have the capability to summon divine power like dance does?”

“Ultimately, divine signs were simplified versions of dance. Expressing insights through the entire body in dance contrast with using only parts of the body with minimal movement in divine signs… there’s bound to be a huge difference in the level at which they can summon divine abilities.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I let out a quiet sigh. I fully grasped the connection between divine signs and dance, as well as the limitations of the power within divine signs. Given that divine signs have been reduced to a simplified means of executing the techniques, they inherently lag behind in potential compared to dance. However, it didn’t mean I could simply dance in every battle; the existence of divine signs was still necessary.

The Necronomicon continued to speak.

“Then here’s a question for you. Is there a way to use divine power just as effectively with divine signs as you can with divine dances?”

I thought for a moment before answering.

“There’s gotta be a way.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because of what you said at the beginning. You have to master the fundamentals to reach the true realm of magic… And since divine signs are one of the five essential elements of magic, there must be a way.”

“Haha, you’ve got a clever mind.”

The Necronomicon nodded cheerfully.

“Indeed. Divine signs also have methods for summoning strong divine powers. It’s known as the No-Name Stage. Conventional demon sorcerers rarely reach this stage, and even among those called divine beings, only a select few have grasped this secret.”

“…! There’s such a level?! Teach me!”

“Hmm…”

The Necronomicon chuckled and suddenly pointed at me with its finger.

“You already have the qualifications to use the No-Name Stage.”

I was taken aback by the Necronomicon’s words.

“What? Me?”

“The main reasons conventional sorcerers fail to reach the No-Name Stage boil down to three prerequisites… First, you must have extensive experience summoning spirits. Second, you must grasp the essence of what ‘divinity’ means. Third, you must be able to communicate with the divine through the skill of dance. All these requirements aim to embody the essence of dance into divine signs.”

The Necronomicon seemed to find the situation amusing and chuckled.

“But most who identify as sorcerers are typically wicked individuals trying to summon deities for their own gain. How could they possibly fulfill these three requirements? The path of a sorcerer and that of a divine practitioner are worlds apart, so they’d need to rebuild their divine capacity all over from the very beginning to reach the pinnacle. Most of them wouldn’t even know of the No-Name Stage, let alone strive to meet its conditions. But…”

The Necronomicon stared at me.

“You, without even realizing it, have already met all three prerequisites for the No-Name Stage. Isn’t that funny? Haha.”

“…?!”

I met all three conditions?

I was flabbergasted but started contemplating the Necronomicon’s words.

“First… Summoning experience… I do have quite a bit… Second… Did you say I grasp what divinity is? I don’t know about that… Third… Dance skill?”

While I couldn’t deny the first condition, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the second and third conditions.

“Hey! I don’t really understand what ‘divinity’ is, and I have no idea about the skill of dance!”

The Necronomicon shot back, “Divinity isn’t anything grand. It’s about communicating with the divine and earning their favor. Thanks to your innate talent of being ‘Loved by the Ten Thousand Demons,’ you’re already among the best shamans across the entire universe.”

“…”

Wait… I’m among the universe’s best shamans?

Now that I think about it, it kind of makes sense…

“And regarding the third condition, I bet you already possess that without realizing it?”

“What? I learned the divine dance?”

“The dance that communicates with the divine. You must already intuitively know this.”

“What are you talking about…? Oh!”

In the next moment, I experienced a jolt of realization and shivered.

“Wait… The Thunder God Sword Dance?!”

The dance I offer to the Thunder God as their priest!

The signature martial art of the Thunder God lineage that anyone serving it must learn!

Since I had spent hundreds of years training in the Thunder God Sword Dance, there was no way I wouldn’t know it. At that point, the Necronomicon chuckled once more.

“You finally pieced it together. You must have mastered the Thunder God Sword Dance at its highest level, right? Then the qualifications to reach the No-Name Stage already exist for you.”

In a panic, I quickly exclaimed, “Wait… wait a moment!”

“What’s bothering you now?”

“It’s just… weird! The Thunder God Sword Dance is a martial technique! Sure, it has a connection to the divine, but it’s still strictly martial arts! But dance is sorcery and magic… So, how can martial techniques and magic coexist?!”

“Hmmm… Why wouldn’t that make sense?”

I firmly replied, “Martial arts deal with the Primordial Void while magic deals with Chaos. They can’t coexist at all! I just can’t reconcile that the Thunder God Sword Dance could also be a prerequisite for mastering higher-level magic!”

The Necronomicon sighed deeply, “Sigh… You should consider yourself lucky to have met me.”

“What?”

“If you were still as stubborn as you were now, even a hundred million years wouldn’t make you break free from this weak mindset…”

With the Necronomicon’s next words, I froze.

“What if there exists magic that can manipulate the Primordial Void?”

“`

 

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