Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 602: Four Eight Four: Sea of the Soul

Chapter 602: Four Eight Four: Sea of the Soul

Upon raising the Tao mirror, Jiang Chen traversed through the vast void, intending to return to Cang Mountain. However, as he passed through the gap between two realms, a strange transformation occurred.

Within Jiang Chen’s body, the incense willpower from all sentient beings suddenly began revolving uncontrollably, rushing towards his eyes.

The next moment, the world in front of Jiang Chen’s eyes completely changed.

What did he see?

He saw that within the boundless void, a great sea had suddenly appeared, a colored sea that was endlessly vast, even more vast than the world of mortals. It radiated a myriad of colors, dreamlike and illusory, creating an intense sense of unreality.

"This is..."

"The Sea of Spirits!"

In a moment of realization, Jiang Chen came to understand the origin of this colored sea. It was the Sea of Spirits, an ocean transformed from the mental power of all beings.

This was not the material world, but a spiritual world like the Divine Territory of the Divine Dao or it can be directly referred to as a naturally occurring Divine Territory.

Mental power, or willpower, all originated from the heart of all beings. It is a power conjured by their thoughts.

Mortals are not cultivators and lack extraordinary power to restrain their thoughts and transform them into their own strength. Therefore, their mental power is constantly being expelled.

Among the expelled mental power, an extremely small portion would be transformed into incense willpower through prayer and utilized by cultivators.

The vast majority of the remaining mental power would wander in the realm of nothingness, forming all sorts of fantastical scenes. For example, the Sea of Spirits in front of Jiang Chen was formed by the convergence of countless thoughts of sentient beings.

"Sea of Spirits?"

"So, unbeknownst to me, my understanding of the Tao of True Void has reached such a realm? I can see through physical obstructions and reach the other shore of the soul."

As he looked at the dreamy Sea of Spirits before him, endless divine light flowed in Jiang Chen’s eyes.

The power of the soul, or the willpower of all beings, can be said to be the most mysterious power in this world. It is not an innate power, yet it is more profound than innate power, possessing the ability to turn falsehood into reality.

What does it mean to turn falsehood into reality?

It means to turn the false into the true!

All beings’ willpower has the ability to materialize all things. In other words, as long as there is enough willpower of sentient beings, everything they desire could be materialized.

Even an Innate Treasure could be materialized with the will of all beings. However, the amount of all beings’ willpower required for such a feat would be immense.

It would probably require all the creatures in the Prehistoric World to pray together for a thousand years. The willpower produced in this way would be enough to create something out of nothing and materialize an Innate Treasure out of thin air.

Jiang Chen’s Incense Fire Divine Path was born out of this concept.

Although mortals in reality are just mortals without any extraordinary power, in their imaginations they can move mountains and fill seas, ride the clouds and the mist, travel through the earth and sky, and control wind, rain, and thunder, there is nothing they cannot do.

An unending desire will always find an echo.

The dreams and expectations of all beings in this world with extraordinary powers are not powerless. They are like a huge treasure floating in the void, waiting for a discerning person to discover them.

And Jiang Chen is that discerning person. He discovered this power from the hearts of sentient beings, consolidated it and drew conclusions from it.

Thus, the Incense Fire Divine Path was born.

The power of the Divine Dao can move mountains and fill seas, can ride clouds and mist, can traverse the sky and earth, and even manipulate wind, rain, and thunder. There is nothing it cannot do.

These powers were all imagined by sentient beings and are perfectly manifested on a divine entity.

From this, it can be seen that the so-called Incense Fire Divine Path is the materialization of the imaginations of sentient beings. Materializing themselves in their imagination as the image of a god.

A so-called god is a collection of the dreams of all beings, the embodiment of their imagined selves in their dreams. Thus, they are born great.

Whose dreams do not portray them as great?

"The Sea of Spirits, a world completely built from the spirit, devoid of any physical power, can be said to be a naturally formed Divine Territory. Venturing in and experiencing it, if there is any comprehension, it must be able to provide me with considerable assistance in perfecting my Incense Fire Divine Path."

With a thought, Jiang Chen stepped forward, heading in the direction of the Sea of Spirits, intending to venture in and explore.

However, another strange change occurred. As Jiang Chen walked, no matter how fast he moved, the distance between him and the Sea of Spirits remained unchanged. He was unable to shorten the gap, making it seem like an unreachable dream.

"Huh?"

"Is the level of this Sea of Spirits so high that I cannot cross the boundary between reality and illusion to get close to it?"

The scene before him left Jiang Chen utterly astonished. He had originally thought that with his strength, nothing could hinder him between reality and illusion, and the boundary between reality and illusion should merely be a thought away.

Whether it’s an illusion or reality, he could traverse both in an instant, turning reality into fantasy, and fantasy into reality.

Yet it doesn’t seem to be the case now. Jiang Chen might have overestimated himself. Before him, this sea of mental power was something he couldn’t bridge with his own strength and enter into.

"I refuse to believe that as a future progenitor of the Divine Dao, I would be stopped by a mere sea of mental power."

Determined, Jiang Chen ran the scriptures of the Boundless Void Great Dao. His heart became one with Heaven and Earth, and his body merged with the void. In an instant, he surpassed the boundaries between reality and illusion, transforming his body into nothingness and arriving near the sea of mental power.

Yet, that was all he could manage. The sea of mental power seemed nonexistent. No matter how Jiang Chen tried to make contact, he couldn’t touch it.

"Looks like I did overestimate myself after all."

At this point, Jiang Chen had to admit that he had overrated himself. His comprehension of the true illusion Dao was not as profound as he had imagined.

This sea of mental power before him was beyond his physical reach.

Shaking his head, Jiang Chen cast aside his redundant thoughts and, without further hesitation, released his soul towards the sea of mental power.

This time, without any accidents, Jiang Chen’s soul easily entered the sea of mental power.

The soul — as a high manifestation of mental power — does not exist in the material world. It shares the same origin as the power in the sea of mental power. The sea of mental power repelled Jiang Chen’s physical body but not his soul.

Jiang Chen’s level was still too low. Should he take another step forward and reach the realm of flesh and blood creatures where the physical body and soul are completely unified and seamlessly transition between different states,

He could then easily enter the sea of mental power without necessarily releasing his soul.

As he stepped into it, Jiang Chen saw numerous small worlds. This sea of mental power was a vast ocean composed of countless small worlds.

Jiang Chen remembered someone once said that a person harbours countless thoughts, and each thought can be seen as a world. In this world, the owner of the thought is omnipotent.

This statement found perfect embodiment in this sea of mental power.

In Jiang Chen’s eyes, each of the numerous worlds that comprised the sea of mental power had a supreme deity, each one different in power and appearance.

Some were similar to mortals, but they were supreme emperors commanding imperial courts and luxuries. Some were merchants controlling infinite wealth and beautiful wives.

Some were power-brokering courtiers, some were famous generals who had made their mark on the battlefield.

Some were noble immortals who could summon clouds and fog, move mountains and seas, and master thunder and lightning...

And some transformed into mighty True Dragons roaming the Four Seas. Some became Six-Armed Divine Humans and enjoyed the worship of the world...

All these beings — although different in power, appearance, and status — shared a commonality— they were manifestations of individual thoughts and dreams.

When a person harbors the thought of becoming an emperor, a world where that person is the emperor would reflect in the sea of mental power.

The thought of becoming an immortal will cast a reflection in the sea of mental power, creating a world where that person has become an immortal.

The power of mental energy is so mysterious, the manifestation of every thought is certain.

At that moment, Jiang Chen suddenly realized that the sea of mental power and the Divine Territory are distinct. While both are transfomations of collective willpower, they have a fundamental difference.

The sea of mental power is a direct convergence of individual thoughts. The Divine Territory, on the flip side, is a pure transformation of collective willpower, where the mixed thoughts of individuals have been filtered.

Hence, in the sea of mental power, one sees innumerable small worlds. Yet, in the Divine Territory, one sees only a whole.

This fundamental difference made the Divine Territory superior to the sea of mental power, and could be seen as an advanced version of the latter.

However, the quality of all the Divine Territories that Jiang Chen has opened up is indeed better than the sea of mental power. But none of them matches its power.

The power of this sea of mental power is genuinely so massive that it surpasses Jiang Chen’s. If he could refine it, perhaps his comprehension of the Dao of truth and illusion could reach a higher level.

Similarly, transforming such a massive sea of mental power into a Divine Territory could potentially provide Jiang Chen with an enormous amount of divine power, which could aid him in further improving the Incense Fire Divine Path.

Moreover, since the advent of the Prehistoric World, there were numerous dissipative mental powers. They wandered around the Realm of Nothingness, forming an array of bizarre scenes that was not limited to the sea of mental power.

One could even say that this sea of mental power is merely the tip of the iceberg of the massive Spirit World. Only by mastering this sea of mental power can Jiang Chen catch a glimpse of the Spirit World’s truth and dabble in the Realm of Nothingness.

Using this sea of souls as a base, Jiang Chen could gradually devour the remaining seas of souls. Eventually, he could even incorporate the entire Realm of Nothingness into his control.

As such, Jiang Chen could become the God of Nothingness, transforming into the ruler of souls, and gaining control of the spirit world of all creatures.

This path is indeed a supreme Great Dao.

Upon becoming the God of Nothingness, the next step would be to turn false into true, and illusion into reality, interfering with reality using mental power.

Ps: There will be another Chapter tonight.