What exactly was Divine-Possession Art?

Back during the clashes between the major celestial gates of the thirteen qi planets, a powerful cultivator once descended upon the Fengli Sect's sect master, who was merely a paper puppet. That was considered a form of Divine-Possession Art.

However, the spell Wang Sheng intended to use was far more refined. The initiative remained entirely in his hands.

In its original form, it required five experts. They would perform a series of rituals with the caster, and when the caster required power, those five would channel their strength into them.

However, that version came with many risks. The most obvious one was the impact of the five participants' Primordial Spirits and consciousness, which would violently clash with the caster's own mind.

Hence, Xu Zhongliang and several great experts devoted immense effort to refining the spell in every aspect. First, they replaced the five experts with five Illusory Souls, which were essentially fake deities.

Drawing from the Heavenly Court's long-promoted method of cultivation through incense offerings, they created five massive statues that weren't modeled after anyone. Five experts from the Heavenly Court then continuously infused immortal power into these statues, filling them to the brim.

People were sent to remote and hidden celestial bodies to spread tales of these five fabricated divine spirits, allowing them to receive incense offerings. After several decades or, at most, a century, they would become Illusory Souls. They had no personality, only divinity. Formed from incense power and the prayers of countless beings, they would possess true divine power.

Using them as the source for the Divine-Possession Art, Wang Sheng could draw on their power with no risk of backlash.

This idea came from Xu Zhongliang. After spending so many years with the old monk and the young monk, he really had not wasted his time.

Still, the method was not without flaws.

Once Wang Sheng had used the Divine-Possession Art, he could not just stop midway. He had to completely exhaust the immortal power stored within all five statues first.

Moreover, since the statues had no cultivation realm of their own, five immortals were still required to guide the flow of power. They would have to pull five Taiyi Golden Immortals, who were all valuable to their combat strength, out of the frontlines.

Even so, empowering Wang Sheng through the Divine-Possession Art and allowing him to shock the world was the core element of their plan. They had to make the great inhabitants of the Immortal Saint Realm feel a sense of threat. To achieve that goal, they wouldn't mind losing the fighting strength of five Taiyi Golden Immortals.

After all, they had many more experts who had reached that realm.

Wang Sheng named the five Illusory Souls Strength, Agility, Body, Life, and Skill. Each one granted him different enhancements in enchanted power and cultivation realm.

The naming was nothing more than a moment of playful mischief from Wang Sheng. Strangely enough, though, the immortals of the Heavenly Court found it rather fitting.

Right now, the five enormous statues were advancing slowly through space. They had to maintain a certain distance from Wang Sheng, or the Divine-Possession Art connection could be disrupted.

At the right moment, Wang Sheng rose into the air under the protection of several experts. With a single slash of his Dragon Sword, he signaled forward. Wang Shan, who had long been prepared for this moment, immediately activated a Heaven-Earth Displacement Array that was far beyond the ordinary teleportation arrays of typical celestial gates.

A massive gateway opened in space, revealing an entirely different space within.

Over a dozen Heavenly Court generals led several thousand vanguard troops, charging through first. Tens of thousands followed in steady formation, while the five statues acted as the rearguard.

With a long, piercing cry, two flood dragons flew in from the side, pulling a massive chariot. Wang Sheng and several experts flew aboard and took their seats.

He was seated higher than the rest, causing him to quickly draw attention. In the event of an ambush, he would be the first to be targeted.

Style always came at a price.

Fortunately, they were the ones launching the ambush right now.

The flood dragon chariot surged into the array along with the army. Even with Wang Sheng's Golden Immortal Realm cultivation, he still felt a faint tearing sensation.

Such pressure was unavoidable when traversing space.

Once the gateway closed, the tens of thousands of troops advanced silently toward a distant celestial body. Wang Shan, who was already near it, stretched out his hand and pressed down with all five fingers. Instantly, all teleportation arrays in the area were severed, and communication jade talismans lost their effect.

Boom! Boom boom—!

Dozens of bare-chested men began to beat war drums. Wang Sheng planted his longsword and rode the flood dragon chariot to the very front. Beside him, Xu Zhongliang and Wu Tianshou rose at the same time. The two members of the Twenty-Eight Constellations concealed Wang Sheng's presence with their own aura.

The massive planet ahead was a key stronghold in the Northern Sky Region of the Heavenly Court's enemies from the Immortal Saint Realm. Hundreds of thousands of celestial soldiers were stationed there, all of whom were elites dispatched across the four sky regions.

It also lay not far from the northern gateway into the Immortal Saint Realm, making its strategic importance undeniable.

More than a dozen figures appeared above the celestial body. Some were Grand Dao Golden Immortals, while others were Taiyi Golden Immortals. They all fixed their gaze on the flood dragon chariot. Though the enemy force arriving from space seemed small, they dared not be careless.

An old man frowned. "Radiant Devil-Suppressing Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Court!? Who is that? I have never heard such a title. And where did these tens of thousands come from?"

"They are immortals of the Heavenly Court! A great expert has cut off the surrounding space!"

"Have all divisions assemble at once! Find a way to call for reinforcements from the Immortal Saint Realm. The enemy has a master of the Dao of Heaven and Earth. It is likely the Grand Divine Guardian. We might be no match for them."

Before they could finish speaking, Wang Shan flickered and vanished outside the celestial body.

Far beyond, on a blazing sun tens of thousands of li away, Wang Shan suddenly appeared. He threw a punch into space, and ripples spread across the fabric of space. The flames surrounding the qi planet were nearly blown out in an instant.

Several dark figures tumbled out of nowhere. They locked onto Wang Shan, and radiant light from treasured artifacts shimmered around each of them.

"Wang Shan, what are you trying to do now?"

"Do you really think we cannot defeat you?"

"Your opponent today is me," Wang Shan replied calmly. He drew out a golden wooden whip from his sleeve. "Either you die by my hand, or I fall by yours."

The four exchanged glances, then attacked at once. Divine abilities and treasured artifacts came crashing down toward Wang Shan.

Wang Shan laughed coldly and advanced. The whip in his hand blazed with light, and the surrounding space trembled violently.

***

Back at the main battlefield.

Wang Sheng had already received a voice transmission from Xu Zhongliang that Wang Shan had engaged the experts from the Immortal Saint Realm, who were rushing to reinforce this place.

He had confidence in Wang Shan's strength as the Grand Divine Guardian, but he still felt uncertain. After all, his forefather had once easily defeated the man. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Lifting the Dragon Sword, Wang Sheng shouted deeply, "Destroy this place! Cripple the foundations of those who surrender! Show those who fight back no mercy!"

Tens of thousands of celestial soldiers roared in unison, "No mercy!"

At his side, a three-colored banner appeared in Xu Zhongliang's hand. When it was waved gently, the army surged forward and swiftly assumed a formation that resembled a white crane spreading its wings.

The soldiers unleashed a stream of Daoist power. They then turned into a rain of radiant arrows and shot toward the planet ahead.

The enemy forces had just assembled within the planet's atmosphere and were preparing to march out when the rain of arrows struck them head-on. In mere moments, over a thousand wounded and dead combatants fell to the ground like scattered dumplings.

"Our numbers are ten times theirs!" an old Daoist roared. "Wipe out these remnants of the Heavenly Court! Kill one, and you earn one merit! Kill ten, and you earn one great merit!"

The celestial soldiers on the planet answered with a thunderous roar. Their momentum surged as they flew like a rising torrent to meet the crane formation.

The crane unleashed two more waves of light before Xu Zhongliang waved the banner again, signaling the army to change formation. The tens of thousands of celestial soldiers condensed into the phantasm of a massive azure dragon and pressed onward.

Two flood dragons roared. With Spiritless in his right and the Dragon Sword in his left, Wang Sheng shot out from the chariot. He reached the neck of the azure dragon in moments.

Clad in golden armor and riding the dragon, he looked like a divine war god descending from heaven.

Wang Sheng then chanted an incantation. Golden light burst from him as five brilliant beams shot in from space and converged upon him. Right after, he turned radiant gold. Streams of starlight gathered from all directions and wrapped around him.

The spectacle alone was overwhelming.

Riding the dragon, Wang Sheng raised his sword and plunged straight into the vast enemy ranks.

Starlight exploded. A flowing galaxy moved alongside the azure dragon, sweeping through hundreds of incoming combatants. When sword radiance flashed, hundreds of Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals fell at once.

"Bold brat!"

Two old Daoists charged toward Wang Sheng from opposite sides. However, as soon as they moved, Wu Tianshou and Jingwu intercepted them, blocking one each mid-charge.

Xu Zhongliang issued more commands through voice transmissions as the Heavenly Court immortals joined the battle in sequence.

Whenever an expert tried to target Wang Sheng, someone of equal strength would appear beside him and intercept the attacker.

Before long, the entire sky had turned into a chaotic battlefield.

The azure dragon that the army had formed kept pushing forward. However, the galaxy above it stole all attention from the tens of thousands of soldiers.

Wang Sheng, who had only just advanced to the early stage of the Golden Immortal Realm through alchemical pills, had temporarily reached the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm through the Divine-Possession Art.

His Heavenly Ziwei Sword, which he had now truly mastered profoundly, became a weapon of pure slaughter. The galaxy poured down as Wang Sheng became one with the sword, allowing him to act without hesitation.

Wang Sheng stirred the Myriad-Slaying Sword Intent within his heart, and Spiritless unleashed pure spiritual power. Wherever the galaxy passed, only wreckage remained. Even the nearby sun looked dim in comparison.

A Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm general clad in black armor broke through the chaos and charged straight at Wang Sheng. Xu Zhongliang's warning reached him at once.

This was his actual opponent for this battle. He had to win this duel on his own for the ambush to truly succeed.

Wang Sheng felt a trace of tension. He knew his own limits. At most, the Divine-Possession Art could only keep him in the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm for half an hour. His opponent, however, was a true Taiyi Golden Immortal.

Let's end it with one strike.

Wang Sheng's gaze sharpened. He placed the Dragon Sword and the Great Dao sword case on his back. Fully merging with Yaoyun, he gripped Spiritless and charged through the galaxy, rapidly approaching his opponent.

He was ready to hit him with the Green Lotus Ultimate.