Chapter 420 - 347: Descent of a Realm
The figure of Dharma Master Hong Jue transformed into a thread of starlight and disappeared at the palace gate, just as the soft sound of the vermillion palace door closing reverberated gently.
The solemn aura around Yuan Qing suddenly dissipated, and with a casual flick of his green robe, two strands of hair became untied from his previously meticulous hairstyle.
He took two steps forward as if in one, his voice brighter than before:
"Your Highness, Your Highness, you’re finally here!"
"When the Palace Master came to make the arrangements, I guessed it immediately. Anyone who could make him open the Qingxiao Palace would surely be a key heir to cultivate!"
"You wouldn’t know, but this palace has been desolate for 180,000 years, and I didn’t even have anyone to talk to."
...
Chen Sheng had just reached the jade desk when he was startled by this barrage of words. He truly didn’t expect this Artifact Spirit, who seemed gentle and as warm as jade, to have such a personality.
He smiled helplessly and asked smoothly:
"Friend Yuan Qing, Master just mentioned a Star Tower behind the palace. What is the difference between this sub-tower and the external mother tower?"
He was thinking of steering the conversation back to the main topic but unexpectedly provided Yuan Qing with a new conversation starter.
Yuan Qing slapped his thigh and excitedly pointed towards the stone door behind the palace:
"The sub-tower, ah, behind each Seven Stars Palace there’s a sub-tower, four layers fewer than the mother tower, with only thirteen layers, but its pressure is no less impressive!"
He paused and added:
"Back then, my master relied on the sub-tower to thoroughly understand the thirteen lower layers of the Star Tower’s mother tower, but alas..."
Chen Sheng caught the key information and interrupted his sighing: "Your master?"
Yuan Qing nodded vigorously:
"Indeed! The Palace Master resides in the Purple Palace, and each of the six direct disciples have their own palace, the Qingxiao Palace was the abode of my master, the Qingxiao Heavenly Lord."
"Back then, when my master cultivated in the palace, the other lords often visited, it was lively, unlike the later desolation..."
"Six direct disciples?"
Chen Sheng’s heart stirred. Currently, in the Daoist Palace, only three direct senior brothers remain. The other three must have already fallen or their lifespan exhausted.
"That’s not right! 180,000 years!"
"If the six direct disciples hadn’t stepped into the Integration Realm, they’re probably all gone by now! The three present must have been newly accepted later."
As this thought arose, he heard Yuan Qing sigh:
"What a splendid figure my master, the Qingxiao Heavenly Lord was back then. Surviving through twelve Longevity Dao Tribulations, ranking among the top three Void Refining cultivators in the Antarctic Immortal Mansion."
"Sadly, he was stuck before the thirteenth Longevity Dao Tribulation, unable to take that final step, and when his twelve thousand years of lifespan were exhausted, he was still holding an unfinished Sword Manual."
As he spoke, he pointed to the wall beside the jade desk, where an image of a sword’s shadow appeared at an unknown time:
"That is the heavenly lord’s legacy, perhaps it will be useful if you comprehend the life and death, reincarnation, and Path of Ending Sword."
Following his indication, Chen Sheng looked at the image of the sword shadow, where sword qi crisscrossed, faintly revealing the wonder of reincarnation, and he couldn’t help feeling a sense of reverence.
The Longevity Dao Tribulation is extremely perilous — Void Refining cultivators go through a tribulation every nine thousand years, and with twelve crossings, that’s a lifespan of one hundred twenty thousand years.
It is said that the thirteenth Longevity Dao Tribulation is powerful enough to annihilate Integration level cultivators, and throughout history, almost no one with a Void Refining cultivation could withstand it.
"One hundred eighty thousand years..."
Thinking of Yuan Qing’s earlier words, Chen Sheng looked at him with more understanding in his eyes.
Such a long time spent guarding an empty palace in solitude, it’s no wonder one would be repressed like this.
Artifact Spirits like Yuan Qing, once reaching Tier Six, similar to Refining Void Great Powers, possess infinite lifespan.
Though they also face the Longevity Dao Tribulation, it occurs only once every ninety thousand years, and with sufficient foundation, having a lifespan of a million years is nothing extraordinary.
Chen Sheng interrupted Yuan Qing’s impending new topic:
"Friend!"
"Please adjust the Dao Principles for me, I wish to begin cultivation immediately."
His gaze landed on the crystal ball on the jade desk, where the circulating Annihilation Dao Principle subtly summoned his Sword Heart.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Qing immediately straightened his demeanor and respectfully saluted: "Understood!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the virtual images of Dao Principles on the four walls of the Qingxiao Palace suddenly brightened.
The Five Elements Dao Principle slowly converged around the jade desk, while the Yin Yang Dao Principle transformed into a pair of fish diagrams hovering above Chen Sheng’s head...
Chen Sheng felt the Spiritual Qi around him instantly become gentle and pure. He sat cross-legged in front of the jade desk, as the trajectory of the Dao Principles became increasingly clear in his mind.
The resonance of the astral river’s magnetism outside the hall, the flow of Dao Principles inside, and the faint pressure from the sub-tower intertwined to compose a unique cultivation symphony.
Time slowly passed.
Chen Sheng sometimes focused intently, comprehending Dao Principle Secret Techniques; other times, he practiced Swordsmanship, and when tired, he would venture a few levels up the Sub-Tower to hone his combat strength.
With Yuan Qing always adjusting the Dao Principles and explaining insights from previous owners’ cultivation experiences, a crystal ball illustrating the essence of legal principles, and the Sub-Tower serving as a touchstone.
As long as one could endure the loneliness, this Palace of Azure Heaven was undoubtedly the pinnacle treasure land of the Cultivation Realm!
...
In the Celestial Abyss Realm, at the heart of the Great Wilderness, within the Demon Court’s center, inside the Yin Yang Treasure Bottle.
Spirit Veins sprawled across the ground like silver snakes, with numerous Tier Five Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures scattered casually on the Jade Platform, and dense Spiritual Qi nearly condensing into liquid form, slowly trickling along the bottle’s walls.
In the center of space, a Golden-Winged Roc with wings outspread for tens of thousands of feet was hovering mid-air.
Its golden wings were covered with profound Yin-Yang patterns, slowly opening and closing with its breathing, resembling a cloud shadowing the sky!
When its wings closed, the surrounding void abruptly contracted, the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures on the Jade Platform seemed to be drawn by invisible giant hands, flying toward its body.
At the instant its wings spread open, the Golden-Winged Roc’s form suddenly changed, transforming into a giant Yin-Yang grinding disc, on which black and white celestial patterns flowed, absorbing all those Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within.
"Crack—Crack—"
Crisp breaking sounds echoed continuously, as the flesh of a millennia-old Vermilion Fruit and the petals of a Nine Heavens Snow Lotus were ground to dust by the spinning disc, then drawn by the vortex at the disc’s center, refined into threads of extremely pure Spiritual Qi.
These spiraled into its body along the grinding disc’s patterns at the edges, causing the radiance around it to blaze even more fiercely.
In the shadow of the Treasure Bottle’s inner wall, the figment of Elder Ping silently emerged.
He stroked his goatee, his cloudy eyes fixed intently on the layer of circulating Dao Principle light above the grinding disc, his face filled with uncontrollable amazement:
"In just over three hundred years, to have cultivated the Yin-Yang Dao Principles to the Third Layer Perfection, such speed truly makes one a genius born of heaven!"
He recalled sharply that the Golden Feather Demon Venerable of old took three thousand years to comprehend the Third Realm of the Yin-Yang Dao Principle to Perfection.
Yet the Demon Venerable before him not only took merely a tenth of that time but even more remarkably, had no sign of hesitation during the Dao Principle’s operation, as though naturally in harmony with the Yin-Yang laws.
The speed of the grinding disc gradually slowed, while the light of the Yin-Yang Dao Principle continued to thicken.
Amidst the originally flowing black and white celestial patterns, traces of gold began to emerge — signs of the fusion between the bloodline Dao Principles of the Golden-Winged Roc Race and the Yin-Yang laws.
Suddenly, the grinding disc trembled sharply, and the Spiritual Qi around it surged inward like a tide. Elder Ping only felt the entire Treasure Bottle Space violently quaking, with the liquid-condensed Spiritual Qi drawn instantaneously.
"Boom!"
After a low, deep explosion, the Yin-Yang grinding disc vanished, revealing Chen Sheng’s human figure.
He wore a brocade robe interwoven with black and gold, with faint golden glimmers still lingering in his hair, and although his aura had not fully retracted, it had surged several times over from before.
Chen Sheng flexed his wrist: "Finally, Late-stage Divinity Transformation."
Elder Ping’s figment hastily approached, bowing respectfully, with awe in his voice:
"Congratulations, Demon Venerable, on your breakthrough!"
"For over three hundred years in a Lower Realm with such scarce resources, to advance from Divinity Transformation Early-stage to Late-stage, while also cultivating the Yin-Yang Dao Principles to Perfection,"
"The talent of the Demon Venerable is peerless, and with fortuitous luck, upon your ascension to the Spirit Realm, you are destined to create a world-shaking marvel!"
In his view, the remarkable speed at which his Demon Venerable cultivated, apart from the swallowing talent of the Golden-Winged Roc Race, owed much to heaven-defying fortunes.
Previously, when the Demon Venerable was just patrolling the Great Wilderness, he unexpectedly discovered an ancient Secret Mansion, from which he brought out countless resources. Such luck is not something everyone can have.
Chen Sheng chuckled lightly at this: "Elder Ping, you’re exaggerating."
The "Ancient Secret Mansion’s grand opportunity" Elder Ping spoke of was, for him, merely transferring resources from his left hand to right.
Back then, after the Human Race’s Yang Soul ascended, it took with it the Four Seas Bead, yet left behind all the accumulated resources in the Four Seas Profound Mansion Treasure Vault.
One reason was to leave a safety measure, in case of encountering disaster post-ascension, to avoid losing both people and wealth.
The second was to allow the Demon Race’s Yin Souls to, in the Small Thousand World, both comprehend the Dao and enhance their cultivation, even progressing all the way to Void Refining!
Now, whether it’s the Human Race’s Yang Souls or the Demon Race’s Yin Souls, they are both advancing in a positive direction!
...
However, a few days later.
At the Great Wilderness Demon Court, with Chen Sheng’s cultivation breakthrough, he had the rare opportunity to spend time with his wives and children, fulfilling the duty of the Father of Myriad Phenomena Beasts.
Yet unexpectedly received an urgent message from a Demon Emperor at the outskirts of the Great Wilderness:
"Demon Venerable, an abnormal void fluctuation has appeared over a large area at the edge of the Great Wilderness. Upon investigation, this fluctuation is not a spatial rift but resembles the overlay of different worlds’ interfaces, possibly indicating a Descent phenomenon!"
Chen Sheng’s brow furrowed: "Descent?"