Chapter 458 - 377: Taiyi Law
In the Calm Heart Teahouse at the southeastern corner of Dongming City, Chen Sheng chose a window seat. With a flick of his fingertips, a jade slip the size of his palm appeared in his hand.
This was the "Outline of Cultivation in the Taiyi Realm" he had just purchased from the "Myriad Law Pavilion" in the city.
Chen Sheng’s Yang Spirit thought scanned over it, and the jade slip suddenly emitted a faint azure glow as countless streams of information surged into his sea of consciousness like a tide.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, immersing his divine sense into the contents of the jade slip, his brow occasionally relaxing and sometimes furrowing slightly.
"Mortal Transformation Realm, refine Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, temper the body, strengthen the origin, condense Divine Techniques..."
A scene of cultivation by the Mortal Transformation cultivators of the Taiyi Realm appeared in Chen Sheng’s mind.
A cultivator with a bare upper body meditating in molten lava, drawing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to wash over the body, bones emitting a crisp sound like thunder, and faint divine runes gradually appearing on the surface of the body.
"It’s quite similar to the path of the Body Cultivators in the Spirit Realm."
However, the lineage of Body Cultivators in the Spirit Realm, delving into latent divine abilities in their bloodlines, was very limited. Most body cultivators could only awaken one or two divine abilities in their lifetime.
But the Mortal Transformation Realm in the Taiyi Realm was entirely different.
The jade slip recorded that cultivators in this realm did not need to adhere to bloodlines; every mountain and river, flower and bird, fish and insect, even lightning and fire, could be used as templates for condensing Divine Techniques.
"Reputedly three hundred million divine techniques; each path can lead to mastery."
The Mortal Transformation cultivators in the Taiyi Realm, some by invoking tides to craft the ability to "Turn Rivers Upside Down," others by observing stars to develop the technique of "Stars Falling Across the Nine Heavens."
Some cultivators even mimicked the withering and thriving of vegetation, comprehending the divine technique of "Endless Regeneration," a scope that the Body Cultivators in the Spirit Realm could hardly reach.
"Divine Techniques achieved, open the Primordial Spirit gate, divine abilities elevate to Primordial Spirit Dao Seed, then refine the Heaven and Earth Dao Principles, enhancing the Dao Seed..."
The divine abilities condensed by cultivators in the Mortal Transformation Realm are not the end, but the foundation for advancement.
When divine abilities are cultivated to the pinnacle, one can invoke the power of the Primordial Spirit, sublimating the essence of divine abilities into a "Primordial Spirit Dao Seed."
This Dao Seed not only contains the explosive power of the divine abilities but also carries the dynamism of the Primordial Spirit. Cultivators must continue to travel between heaven and Earth, refining various Dao Principles into the Dao Seed, making it ever more refined.
"Longevity Realm, the Dao Seed completely merges into the body, transforming into a Longevity Dao Embryo, opening up a Grotto Heaven within, with the Primordial Spirit reflecting on the Grotto Heaven, thus transforming..."
Reading this, Chen Sheng finally opened his eyes, a flash of understanding in his gaze, seeing a resemblance between the Longevity Realm in the Taiyi Realm and the Void Refining Realm in the Spirit Realm.
He raised his hand and took a sip of the cooled tea, downing it in one go. At this moment, he gained a clearer understanding of the cultivation systems of both realms.
"At the end of the path, different routes, same destination."
Chen Sheng sighed softly, noting how the stages of Opening, Creation, and Transcendence recorded in the jade slip were quite similar to the stages of Integration, Crossing the Tribulation, and Mahayana in the Spirit Realm.
Returning the jade slip to his Storage Ring, he silently praised in his heart:
"The harmony of essence, energy, and spirit is emphasized, meaning the cultivators in this realm must have considerable battle prowess."
Chen Sheng roughly estimated that before reaching the Golden Core stage, cultivators from the Spirit Realm at the same realm were likely not a match for those in this realm.
However, with a change in thought, he shook his head:
"But cultivation in this realm is also more arduous, as it demands simultaneous refinement of essence, energy, and spirit."
"Moreover, whether it’s condensing divine abilities or elevating to Dao Seeds, these are substantial leaps, which common people can hardly achieve."
"Whereas the Spirit Realm cultivation system has more division in the early stages, making the cultivation process relatively easier."
"Perhaps it is due to the difficulty in cultivation that there is an early establishment of a lineage of divine abilities, Dao Seeds, and Dao Embryo paths, to ease the rigors of cultivation."
Pausing a moment, Chen Sheng grew curious: "But with three hundred million divine abilities, how many paths can truly reach the end?"
...
Sitting in the palm of time, decades have flickered by, the turbulent North Hunhe Sea of Dongming State had entered deep winter.
Lead-gray clouds hung low over the sea, waves crashing against the hidden reefs, rolling up white waves over several meters high, but calming abruptly upon nearing a black dragon.
This was precisely the mount "Xuanbing Black Dragon" Chen Sheng had tamed after slaying a Longevity Realm giant years ago.
Chen Sheng sat cross-legged between the dragon horns on the black dragon’s head, his profound Daoist robe fluttering in the sea breeze.
He spread out three volumes of yellowed ancient texts on his knee, which he had obtained from slaying several short-sighted Longevity Realm cultivators in recent years.
The pages of the "Seven Killings Principles of Heavenly Gang" exuded a chilling murderous aura, the "Record of Taiyi Five Elements" circulated Five Elements Spirit Light, and the "Three Volumes of Nine Heavens Thunder" hid a latent rumble of thunder.
His divine sense enveloped the ancient texts like a fine web, his eyes sparkling with a gleam of understanding.
"These ancient texts from this realm indeed hold value."
Chen Sheng murmured, with Dao Domain transforming in his palm, at times manifesting the sword shadows of the Seven Killings, sometimes gathering Five Elements Dharma Seals, and in other moments, a myriad of celestial thunders.
"From the condensing of divine abilities in the Mortal Transformation Realm to the elevation of Dao Seeds in the Primordial Spirit Realm and the nurturing of Dao Embryos in the Longevity Realm, the steps are clear, and the transformations are orderly. Any scroll can be deconstructed and reorganized to form extraordinary secret techniques."
"These ancient texts must have been deduced from above, viewing from a high vantage point, otherwise, it would be hard to form such a complete system."
Chen Sheng could not help but think about the secret techniques taught to him by his master, which followed a similar rationale.
In recent days, using the "Five Volumes of the End" as a foundation, integrating the divine ability ideas from these ancient texts, he had already added more variations to the two secret techniques "Heaven in Palm" and "Zhou Tian Walking."
After a short while, he returned the ancient texts to his Storage Ring.
Although the three volumes were wonderful, they were not complete, stopping at the third level of Longevity, which was far too shallow for someone like him who had already touched upon the six tribulations of Void Refining.
Absorbing a few changes was already quite good.
"If I could obtain some ancient texts from the late-stage Longevity, maybe they could help me open the door to the second volume of the End."
Pushed by a large amount of Small Thousand World origin from the Yin Souls, his Enlightenment Realm was not low, only a fateful opportunity away from breakthrough!
"If I cannot find Original Treasures, collecting more ancient texts from the Taiyi Realm might also let me gain insights through analogy."
No sooner had the thought occurred than unusual ripples appeared on the Hunhe Sea in front of him—
The originally lead-gray sea surface suddenly glowed, with countless silver divine lights gushing out from the depths of the sea eye, shooting straight into the sky.
The divine lights converged in mid-air, forming an immense and magnificent bright full moon, where the vague shadows of a laurel tree swaying and a jade rabbit pounding medicine were clearly visible.
Moreover, numerous Taiyin runes circulated, interpreting the celestial path of waxing and waning.
The sea water for hundreds of miles around instantly froze into ice, the sound of waves ceased, and only the moonlight scattered on the ice, reflecting boundless clear radiance.
"Taiyin phenomenon!"
A sharp light flashed through Chen Sheng’s eyes.
He had seen in Dharma Master Hong Jue’s notes that when the Original Treasure of Chongli Heaven was nurturing, it would inevitably trigger a phenomenon in the world.
And this Taiyin phenomenon likely corresponded to the Taiyin Original Treasure, greatly beneficial for him in evolving his Yin-Yang Dao Domain.
"Go!"
He flicked his fingers lightly, and the Xuanbing Black Dragon let out a deep dragon cry, its massive body transforming into a jet-black stream of light, speeding towards the center of the phenomenon.