Chapter 374 : Landscape Immortal Art
Chapter 374: Landscape Immortal Art
“An extremely special Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi?”
Chen Beiwu became interested.
The Golden Core was utmost Yang, yet solitary Yang did not endure. It was difficult to form the Purple Mansion Nascent Soul. A cultivator had to gather the pure and numinous Qi of Heaven and Earth to transform and give birth to endowed spirit. Only then could the core shatter and the Nascent Soul form, attaining the position of True Monarch.
This type of pure and numinous Qi of Heaven and Earth was far rarer than Earthly Sha Essence and was called Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi by cultivators of the Immortal Alliance.
As Chen Beiwu knew, for a prodigy of the Immortal Alliance to achieve a Pure Yang Nascent Soul, one of the great opportunities required was Heavenly-Gang Essence Qi. One could imagine how important it was, capable of greatly influencing and even determining the grade of the Nascent Soul a cultivator forged.
But in truth, Chen Beiwu did not lack Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi.
Because before breaking through to Nascent Soul True Monarch, the Sect Chief Disciple could apply in advance to enter the Heavenly-Gang Grotto-Heaven for secluded cultivation.
The Heavenly-Gang Grotto-Heaven was one of the Thirty-Six Minor Blessed Realms. Within it were stored many high-quality strands of Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi, available for cultivators who entered to refine and break through.
However, the Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi mentioned by Ye Xinya seemed somewhat extraordinary.
“That’s right. It is said that the Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi contained within the fifty-four Supreme Scenic Steles were all left behind by successive Sect Masters. This kind of Heavenly-Gang Clear Qi is also called Heavenly-Gang Dao Source. Its profundity is unfathomable, possessing inconceivable properties.”
Ye Xinya nodded slightly. “According to records in the sect’s ancient texts, a Nascent Soul forged with such essence is called a ‘Dao-Seed Nascent Soul.’ The depth of its foundation even faintly surpasses that of a Pure Yang Nascent Soul.”
“So you came for the Heavenly-Gang Dao Source as well?” Chen Beiwu’s heart stirred.
“Yes. I just wanted to try my luck and see if I had a chance. Unfortunately, there was no reaction at all.”
Ye Xinya smiled, making no attempt to conceal her intention of testing her fortune.
“We’ve arrived. This is the Scenic Stele.”
As she spoke, Ye Xinya halted and pointed toward a rather lively giant stele not far away.
Following her fingertip, Chen Beiwu saw a sky-reaching monumental stele standing majestically. Around the inscriptions, brilliant silver light flowed, as though countless miniature worlds were being born and extinguished.
“This is!!!”
Chen Beiwu’s pupils contracted. He could clearly sense the stirring of the embryonic Yang Spirit and the trembling of the Yuanshi Golden Core.
The feeling was extraordinarily unusual, yet he could not fully describe it in words.
Clearly, the old gatekeeper had not deceived him. The true intent carried by this Scenic Stele was extremely compatible with him.
“You seem very interested in this Scenic Stele?”
Seeing Chen Beiwu momentarily lost in thought, Ye Xinya probed.
“Perhaps.”
Chen Beiwu nodded, his mind already entirely focused on the 【Supreme Scenic Stele of Bi’an Qiongqi Striving to Cross】.
However, the three meditation cushions before the giant stele were already occupied. Though he was eager to try, he could not sit down to observe and would have to wait.
As if perceiving his thoughts, Ye Xinya chuckled lightly and proactively activated her escape light, stepping forward.
Near each of the three cushions hung a fist-sized magical artifact called the Clear-Soul Bell.
Its function was simple: to gently awaken the cultivator meditating upon the cushion.
“Ding!”
With a graceful movement of her hand, the melodious bell rang.
A square-faced cultivator trembled slightly, his brows knitting together.
‘Which blind fool dares interrupt my comprehension of the Supreme Scenic Diagram!’
He abruptly opened his eyes, anger undisguised within them.
But when he followed the source of the bell and looked up at Ye Xinya, the anger in his eyes was instantly replaced by instinctive respect.
“Greetings, Senior Sister Ye.” He quickly stood and bowed, revealing a fawning smile.
“Junior Brother Zhao, I need to use this place. Would you mind…”
Before Ye Xinya finished speaking, he answered at once.
“No problem, Senior Sister. Please feel free. I’ve been comprehending for quite some time and was just about to return to consolidate.” The smile never left his face as he hastily stepped aside.
Though he was a Golden Core of the Immortal Alliance, he dared not offend Ye Xinya, nor the Lingyuan Ye Clan behind her.
“Thank you. I owe you a favor, Junior Brother Zhao.”
“Not at all, not at all. I was planning to leave anyway.”
The square-faced cultivator departed swiftly, not daring to linger.
Looking at the vacated cushion, Ye Xinya turned to Chen Beiwu with a sweet smile. “Senior Brother Chen, come quickly. There happens to be an empty seat.”
Chen Beiwu: “……”
What “happens”? He had clearly just witnessed a forceful appropriation.
Yet one thing was obvious: Ye Xinya and that square-faced cultivator knew each other. Otherwise, the latter would not have reacted so dramatically.
“Why does he seem afraid of you?” Chen Beiwu raised a brow with interest.
“Hehe. Junior Brother Zhao and I are distantly related. According to actual seniority, he should call me Great-Aunt. But within the sect, since we’re both Golden Cores, it’s more convenient to address each other as senior sister and junior brother.”
“In that case, many thanks.”
Chen Beiwu did not refuse her kindness.
Cultivators of different realms spent varying lengths of time comprehending the Scenic Stele. A Golden Core True Person fully immersed could meditate for at least a month. He did not have that much time to wait.
“By the way, I have a Dragon Saliva Incense Stick. After lighting it, it calms the mind and slightly enhances comprehension. It might be useful for you, Senior Brother Chen.”
Her storage ring glimmered faintly, and a brown-black incense stick appeared in her hand.
“No need.” Chen Beiwu waved it off.
Heavenly materials and earthly treasures that enhanced comprehension were extremely rare. Especially the well-known third-tier treasure Dragon Saliva Incense Stick—one stick cost twenty high-grade spirit stones, equivalent to two hundred thousand spirit yuan.
He had no intention of accepting such a costly gift for no reason and giving Ye Xinya false hopes.
“It’s fine. Just light one and see the effect.”
Ye Xinya was a woman of action. With a swipe of her fingers, the incense ignited, and a clear fragrance that clarified the Spirit Platform slowly spread.
This was the extravagance of a second-generation cultivator of the Immortal Alliance.
Rare treasures countless cultivators could only dream of obtaining—often risking their lives—were merely daily cultivation expenses for someone like her.
“Junior Sister Ye, my heart is set on the Great Dao. For now, I have no…”
Chen Beiwu began to refuse but was interrupted.
“Senior Brother Chen, I understand what you mean. But what I decide to do, I never give up on—even if I end up battered and bloodied.”
She smiled sweetly, speaking the firmest words in a joking tone.
Even Chen Beiwu, whose heart was set on the Great Dao, felt moved. Yet he knew clearly that being stirred and being in love were two different matters.
Thus he said nothing further and simply took his seat, answering with action.
Seeing this, Ye Xinya showed not disappointment but a determined smile.
Even a stone would warm if held against the heart long enough. She refused to believe she could not move Chen Beiwu.
……
“Buzz!”
Sitting upon the meditation cushion and directly observing the Scenic Stele were entirely different experiences.
After sitting for a while, Chen Beiwu meditated upon Tai Xuan Guarding the One, clearing his Spirit Platform of all distractions. Once his mind was utterly still, his divine sense left his body and carefully sensed the true intent upon the stele.
Instantly, within his perception, the indistinct worlds upon the giant stele began collapsing one by one, then converging, faintly forming a mysterious colossal beast.
The beast sat in boundless void, explaining the true intent of the 【Supreme Scenic Stele of Bi’an Qiongqi Striving to Cross】 in absolute stillness.
Yet Chen Beiwu found it difficult to comprehend. His mind could not fully immerse, as though some medium were missing.
Over time, the immense stirring without glimpsing its true form caused his brows to knit tightly.
Fortunately, the landscape upon the stele was not static but progressed layer by layer with boundless profundity.
Under his divine sense, the mysterious beast vanished, transforming into intangible ripples of space.
These ripples interwove into chaotic and violent spatial turbulence.
Soon, as the turbulence gathered into a vast Sea of Void, the stele’s image changed once more. The mysterious beast reappeared.
This time it did not remain still but surged upstream across the Sea of Void, charging forward in defiance.
Until it finally reached the end of the Sea of Void, attaining the Dao-explaining state of ‘I am the void, and the void is me.’
“Indeed. This Scenic Stele expounds the Space Great Dao!” Chen Beiwu’s eyes flickered.
Though he could not see the beast’s exact appearance, his astonishing comprehension allowed him to perceive its entire crossing.
Its claws tore, space ruptured and annihilated; its feet descended, space compressed and folded; its wings spread, space extended and vibrated; wherever its gaze fell, worlds were born and destroyed.
Yet that was all.
He could sense that the mysterious beast embodied the Sea of Void and the Space Great Dao itself, but he grasped only its vague outline, not its essence.
Let alone carrying the Scenic True Intent and forging his own Beast-Taming Landscape Path.
“Hu.”
After a long while, he exhaled turbid air, his divine sense still observing.
As time passed, though the landscape was abstract, he gradually understood portions of it. What he did not know was how to push his Heaven-Bestowed Middle Scene 【Five Qi Riding Three Aspects Ascending to Xuandu Guangyuan Yuanshi Connecting the Three Realms Landscape】 further, transforming it into a Heaven-Bestowed Ultimate Scene.
Meanwhile, as his divine sense observed the Landscape Intention Diagram, Golden Egg, Iron Egg, and Five Qi Vine, through the Companion Contract, also perceived what he saw.
“Roar.”
Golden Egg raised its three dragon heads, seemingly seeing the shifting landscape condense into sharp and domineering Three Absolute True Gang.
“Na!”
Five Qi Vine’s eyes glazed over, seeing Five Qi Origin Forests rising one after another, forming an endless forest that shrouded the void. Within it bloomed spatial-attribute treasures and mystic herbs, bearing space fruits.
“Woof?”
Iron Egg blinked in confusion.
Through the contract, it saw what Chen Beiwu and the others saw—but it did not see any unique vision of its own.
Wasn’t the Great Dao said to have three thousand paths, leading to the same end? Why could its Great Heaven Pure Prison Aspect and the Crimson Radiance Nine Luminaries Sun-Swallowing Nirvana Scripture not connect to the Sea of Void?
Time flew. Two months passed.
Chen Beiwu frowned and opened his eyes.
He could not penetrate it.
Comprehending immortal arts normally required only a month. Yet this Heaven-Bestowed Ultimate Scene had consumed over two months with little progress—only some additional understanding of the Space Great Dao.
For example, ideas on how Nascent Soul True Monarchs shifted stars, created True Realms, or laid fourth-tier spatial mystic formations.
“Woof.”
Iron Egg quickly set aside the pill scripture in its paws and wagged its tail eagerly.
Bored. Utterly bored.
Unlike the others, it gained nothing and could only read third-tier alchemy manuals to pass the time.
“I’ve understood!”
Golden Egg opened its six dragon eyes, filled with delight.
Its dragon claw clenched. Unlike before, the Three Absolute True Gang around it now contained faint distortions and folds at the edges.
Henceforth, by borrowing void power, it could strike enemies from afar without moving its body, vastly increasing ambush efficiency.
“Na!”
Five Qi Vine clapped its hands proudly. Its Five Qi Origin Forest expanded by about half, allowing it to secretly cultivate and store even more treasures.
Iron Egg let out a low growl, choosing silence.
It was not the scarcity that troubled it, but the inequality.
Seeing this, Chen Beiwu rubbed its head. Iron Egg instantly brightened.
‘Heaven-Bestowed Ultimate Scene is indeed not easily achieved.’
He glanced at the stele, the Guarding-the-One Mirror of the Spirit Platform shimmering to extinguish stray thoughts.
No need to rush.
Generally, both Heaven-Bestowed Ultimate Scene and Heavenly-Gang Dharma Aspect were profound abilities mastered by Nascent Soul True Monarchs.
He was merely at Golden Core Perfection. Achieving any progress within two months already placed him above many prodigies.
“Continuing to grind at this won’t help much. Better to study the Three Pure Ones Marvelous Method of Companion Landscape Immortal Art.”
With that thought, he rose. Ye Xinya was already gone.
……
The Three Pure Ones Marvelous Method of Companion Landscape Immortal Art was not publicly recorded. Its power rivaled that of the Five Great Grotto-Heavens’ methods and was stored in the Scripture Pavilion of the Taiyuan Heavenly Realm, requiring personal instruction.
Arriving at the pavilion, Chen Beiwu descended and walked respectfully, presenting his identity jade token.
“Buzz!”
The restriction rippled open a silent spatial portal.
Inside sat a white-haired elder.
“The Three Pure Ones are not three; their origin is one. Companion cultivation does not lie in parallel practice but in tracing back to the source.”
The elder glanced at him, nodded slightly, then pointed a sword-finger at his forehead.
Chen Beiwu did not evade. Scriptures poured into his Spirit Platform Sea of Consciousness.
The next day, he opened his eyes thoughtfully.
“Have you understood?” the elder asked.
“Only three parts,” Chen Beiwu answered honestly.
The elder smiled faintly and pointed again.
Three days later, the elder asked once more, “And now?”
Chen Beiwu opened his eyes and shook his head. “Now only one part.”
“Good.”
The elder smiled.