Chapter 173 : Trait: Heart of Nature
Chapter 173: Trait: Heart of Nature
“Formation Dao has reached Initiated. Trait derived: Heart of Nature.”
“Gained a trait upon reaching Initiated? Heart of Nature?”
Seeing the text flash before her eyes, Li Yunqing paused slightly, unable to fully comprehend it.
She could not quite imagine how this so-called Heart of Nature was connected to the Formation Dao.
“Boom!”
At that moment, a thunderous roar seemed to erupt within her consciousness.
In that instant, her awareness abruptly rose, detaching from her body and merging with heaven and earth.
Li Yunqing could no longer feel herself, nor any trace of life. Her entire being entered a state of absolute calm.
No thoughts, no desires, no emotions.
It was as if everything had drifted far away from her, leaving behind only a single notion—to calmly await the natural course of all things.
To wait for everything to happen naturally, without interference, without force—accepting all in stillness.
At this moment, her mind became like a mirror, reflecting the entirety of heaven and earth.
The sky resembled a vast dome—empty, illusory, a boundless void.
Instinctively, it absorbed endless currents from the void, causing them to gather, collide, disperse, and dilute.
All flowed and operated naturally.
Within that natural flow, those currents gave rise to various energies.
Wind, thunder, rain, lightning; earth, water, wind, fire; light and darkness alternating; the Five Elements circulating.
These became the origin of all energy, spiritual power, and motion in the world.
From the convergence and collision of these energies, stars were born within the void.
From emptiness, reality emerged.
Nonexistence and existence gave rise to one another.
The heavens were this void—illusory, empty.
The earth was the countless stars—solid, real, existence itself.
Heaven and earth resembled yin and yang—interwoven, mutually generating, moving together.
The world operated by natural instinct.
Void and reality giving birth to one another, yin and yang in motion, light and darkness alternating, heat and cold cycling, the seasons revolving.
Upon the earth, grass and trees gradually appeared, birds and beasts emerged, and all living beings came into existence.
In her thoughtless state, Li Yunqing seemed to become heaven and earth themselves, witnessing their formation and the birth of all life.
An indescribable realization filled her heart in an instant.
“Heaven is void, earth is substance. From the interplay of void and substance, all things are born.”
“The Heavenly Dao governs the rules of the void, circulating energy and allowing all things to flourish.”
“The Earthly Dao governs visible order and reality, drawing upon heavenly energy to nurture life and give rise to all beings.”
“Heaven and earth coexist like yin and yang—only then does the Human Dao emerge.”
“The Human Dao is the Dao of all living beings. When heaven and earth are strong, all beings are strong. When beings are strong, they evolve countless Daos, strengthening heaven and earth in turn.”
“Heaven and earth have no intent—only fundamental rules and order. This is the Dao of Nature.”
“The Formation Dao is the communication with heaven and earth, the operation of rules and order—imitating the great world to form a small world, nurturing life within it!”
“The Heart of Nature is the natural state of heaven and earth.”
At this moment, Li Yunqing suddenly understood.
And as her thoughts flowed, she withdrew from that state of thoughtlessness and emotionlessness.
She saw the trajectories of heaven and earth’s operation converge, forming like a seed that sank into her forehead.
“Buzz!”
At that instant, she seemed to merge with heaven and earth, becoming a part of them.
The rules and order governing the world now left visible traces.
The stars in the sky, the mountains and rivers on the earth, the plants and trees—everything bore traces.
The rotation of stars, the formation and transformation of mountains, the flow of water, the growth of plants—
Even the formation enveloping Wuwang Mountain before her appeared clearly in her sight.
“So this is the Heart of Nature?”
At this moment, how could Li Yunqing not understand?
The Formation Dao imitated the great world, forming small worlds—or borrowing the power of heaven and earth to create formation spaces.
Heaven and earth operated naturally, without thought or desire.
Naturally, they would not hinder living beings from understanding, imitating, or borrowing their power to create formations and strengthen themselves.
Or rather, the strength of heaven and earth depended entirely on the Human Dao—the Dao of all living beings.
If beings grew strong, they would use the foundational rules of heaven and earth to develop great Daos, and as heaven and earth operated those Daos, they would naturally grow stronger.
In Li Yunqing’s understanding at this moment, heaven and earth were like a computer.
They existed as hardware, containing only the most fundamental operational rules.
The Daos created by all living beings were like software, allowing this “computer” to run faster and more smoothly.
Heaven and earth gave birth to all things to nurture life; life developed various Daos to strengthen heaven and earth.
Was this not another form of yin-yang mutual generation?
“What a Formation Dao—this is of great use to me!”
“The Heart of Nature will also allow me to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth faster!”
At this moment of realization, immense joy surged within Li Yunqing.
With the Heart of Nature aligning her with heaven and earth, her understanding of natural laws would accelerate, enhancing her cultivation speed.
If her Formation Dao reached perfection, she could make her inner world operate more smoothly—or even grow stronger.
“Pure Yin Force: Minor Completion → Mastery (5%)”
“Yang Spirit: Minor Completion → Mastery (1%)”
Not long after her realization, lines of text flashed before her eyes.
Over the past dozen days, she had focused almost entirely on cultivating divine abilities and techniques.
Yet merely through her Pure Yin Dao Body’s resonance with the Dao, both her Pure Yin Force and Yang Spirit had reached Mastery.
Now, with the addition of the Heart of Nature, it likely wouldn’t take long for both to reach Perfect Completion.
“True Intent, the momentum of heaven and earth, laws, the Great Dao…”
“Each step is a new world!”
“With less than a hundred years, I may truly reach the peak of the Human Dao!”
At this moment, with the enhancement of the trait, she realized her cultivation speed was rapidly increasing.
Perhaps she wouldn’t even need a hundred years to reach the Ninth Realm—or even become a Supreme Being.
Thinking this, Li Yunqing looked toward Wuwang Mountain before her.
“Formations imitate heaven and earth, connecting with natural rules and order—it shouldn’t be difficult to break them.”
“Indeed, destruction is always easier than creation.”
Glancing at the darkening sky, Li Yunqing willed it, and her nine incarnations turned into streams of light and merged back into her body.
She leapt down from the ancient tree and quickly approached Wuwang Mountain.
Seeing this, Xiaolan and Ying Qianqian hurried over, asking from a distance, “Junior Sister, how is it?”
“Can you break this strange formation?”
Hearing the question, Li Yunqing turned back with a smile and nodded. “I’ll give it a try.”
Standing before the formation, she directly activated the Heart of Nature.
At that instant, the operational pathways of the formation appeared clearly before her eyes.
She raised her right hand, Dao Power surging as it formed seals, imprinting them onto the various formation nodes around her.
“Buzz!”
The moment she placed over a hundred Dao seals, disrupting the nodes—
The empty space before her rippled like water.
In moments, a doorway two meters tall and three meters wide manifested in the void.
Through the doorway, the interior of Wuwang Mountain could be seen.
Ruined walls, overgrown weeds.
White bones and dark-red stains of blood—some areas were devoid of all vitality, filled with deathly aura.
Clearly, this place had once experienced a terrifying battle.
“It worked!”
Seeing everything within Wuwang Mountain, Li Yunqing spoke lightly, as text flashed before her eyes.
“Formation Dao experience +10.”
The Heart of Nature allowed her to easily perceive formation nodes and operational paths.
Creating formations might still be beyond her—but destroying them was simple.
This gave her confidence in facing any formation.
Moreover, the more formations she encountered and broke, the more her experience would grow.
Once her Formation Dao reached perfection, she might truly be able to summon supreme formations with a mere gesture.
“This doorway will last for one hour. Senior Sister, you can go find your parents now.”
As the doorway stabilized, Li Yunqing spoke softly.
The moment her words fell, light flashed from her body as a Five Elements incarnation emerged, following behind Ying Qianqian.
“I’ll have an incarnation accompany you. Go and return quickly.”
Hearing this, Ying Qianqian nodded firmly and rushed into Wuwang Mountain without hesitation.
Li Yunqing’s Five Elements incarnation followed closely, silently observing the entire mountain.
She was not fond of overly emotional scenes—especially reunions between parents and children.
Thus, she could only send an incarnation instead.
“The Azure Dragon True Form is truly difficult… is it because I lack the bloodline?”
Standing before Wuwang Mountain, Li Yunqing looked toward her panel.
“Azure Dragon True Form (Not Initiated 484/500)”
In over ten days, she had spent most of her time cultivating the Dao Scripture and the Azure Dragon True Form.
The Dao Scripture had gained over a thousand experience points, yet the Azure Dragon True Form hadn’t even reached half of that.
“But it’s almost there—probably within these two days, I’ll reach Initiated.”
“I also need to find the divine abilities of the White Tiger and Black Tortoise. Only then can they merge into an Immortal Technique!”
“And that half sword move must also be comprehended!”
“If only I had a few complete clones…”
At this moment, Li Yunqing felt somewhat overwhelmed.
Divine Intent Incarnations could only cultivate instinctively, gradually accumulating insight.
They could practice sword techniques or circulate basic cultivation methods, but comprehending divine abilities, sword moves, or formations—such complex tasks—was impossible.
Especially since many techniques could not be cultivated simultaneously. Practicing one meant pausing another.
Naturally, her progress could not be too fast.
Suddenly—
“Rumble…”
A violent rumbling sound echoed from the depths of the Immortal God Forbidden Zone, approaching from afar.
It was like thousands of troops charging forward—Li Yunqing could even feel the ground trembling.
“Miss, a large force of soldiers is approaching from the depths of the Immortal God Forbidden Zone!”
The six guards sensed it as well and quickly moved closer to Li Yunqing.
At this moment, Li Yunqing and Xiaolan both stared toward the depths of the Forbidden Zone.
“Whoosh…”
As the sound drew near, ten massive banners appeared, carried by ten armored soldiers emerging from the depths.
The banners, like those dyed in blood, fluttered violently in the wind.
Upon them was embroidered a single massive character—‘Xia’.
Seeing that character, Li Yunqing’s heart trembled.
“Xia? The Great Xia Imperial Dynasty of the Central Region!”
“They broke through the Immortal God Forbidden Zone?”