CH 164

Chapter 164 – Lord Taichu

Temporarily replacing the cyan jade flute was the long black flute which was condensed entirely from Soul Force and had changed from an illusory form to real form.

The black light glowing from it was extremely bright. The two Evil Spirit stage ghosts from the Zhao Territory that it had absorbed had already been sucked dry. The total amount of Soul Force Xu Disheng possessed had now reached a terrifying level.

The skull of the Soul Suppressing Evil Spirit’s form was distinct and real. It was floating in Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness, receiving the constant nourishment of the Soul Force from the black Soul Force flute.

Any time Xu Disheng wanted to, he could use this skull to cast several types of techniques from Soul Song. Only the second scripture, the Passing Soul Mantra, didn’t need to rely on the skull of the Soul Suppressing Evil Spirit to be cast. The skull that appeared when the Passing Soul Mantra was used was already just a phantom image of the Soul Suppressing Evil Spirit.

The Dao Foundation stage could only be reached by comprehending one’s own Dao Path and condensing a foundation from the profound laws.

This step wasn’t exactly difficult, but it couldn’t really be considered easy either.

In Spirit Origin Hall’s Cultivation Method Pavilion, there were many tips and insights recorded by people who had broken through to the Dao Foundation stage. But while it looked like there were a lot of tips, it could only be used as a reference.

Many peoples’ Dao Paths were extremely simple. For example, seeking strength, eternal life, or revenge and so on. These were all relatively common Dao Paths to comprehend.

But Xu Disheng’s Dao Path…

In his Shengong Meridian, the sea of profound qi within had already condensed to a peak. It had no way of expanding any further. There were countless strands of Shangqing profound qi cycling constantly within, regenerating endlessly.

Seeking strength?

No, becoming stronger was just a means, not an end in itself.

Living a long life or eternal life? It was true that after cultivating to the Primordial Spirit stage, one’s lifespan would become essentially unlimited. However, breaking through to the Clone Avatar stage was truly gaining eternal life in a more genuine sense. Only at the final stage of the Three Approaching Divinity Stages, the Divine Sea stage, could one truly become inextinguishable and live as long as the heavens.

This was the ultimate cultivation boundary that many people aimed to reach for all their lives. They would set this as their Dao Path and Dao Foundation, but this was a well-trodden path.

However, Xu Disheng had peered into his memories, and, seeing the fake portions of it, felt perplexed, even with his temperament.

If he went along with his previous life’s memories and continued to pursue the taboo Immortal Path, how could he ensure that he wasn’t a pawn on someone else’s chessboard?

Xu Disheng turned and looked outside the room, where there was a tall Earth Spirit Fruit Tree planted in the middle of the courtyard. These fruits weren’t cheap, but this tree was planted in this courtyard as a mere decoration.

There were many Earth Spirit Fruits on the tree that were already ripe, giving off a rich, fruity aroma. The people in this room could absorb its nutrients at any time.

This tree was only several thousand years old, which was still considered young. If it could survive longer until it had the opportunity to develop consciousness, it could transform into an indigenous monster.

But is that really what it wished for?

It didn’t have any consciousness at the moment, and at best, it could only be considered a tree with some spiritual nature to it. Even if people plucked its fruits, it was no bother to it.

If it developed spiritual awareness, it would be under the restrictions of the Shangqing Sacred Sect and be unable to truly transform for eternity and forced to stay as a mere tree.

Even if it developed a consciousness, the suffering it would have to undergo would be thousands or even tens of thousands greater.

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It would be just like the 10,000 year old pine tree next to Morning Night Hall on Morning Dew Peak. It had developed a spiritual awareness long ago, but it could only accept its fate of being used to constantly collect purple qi and essence dew for tens of thousands of years. It would forever be trapped in that spot, forced to silently bear this duty in lonesome solitude.

Even though the human beings thought that they were struggling free of their predetermined fates, they had no idea that they had never actually been free of this vague and illusory thing called fate. Every living being was still firmly bound by it.

The Immortal race was cruel, but more than that, they were fair. Under the heavens and earths ruled by the Immortal race, every living being would live for only several hundred years at most, no matter how strong they were.

There were very few beings who had the innate ability to quietly live on for a long time under the oppression of the Immortal race.

Even after the Immortal Court was overthrown and every living being of the three heavens and nine realms earned back the freedom they wished, allowing them to live long, prosperous lives, did they really ever break free of that thing called fate?

The Immortal race had been extremely cruel and selfish. They often used to slaughter and exterminate entire races, and their Immortal Techniques were incredibly vicious, directed specifically towards taking away the souls and true spirits of living beings. Admittedly, it wasn’t necessarily wrong for the countless beings to rise up and overthrow the Immortal Court for the sake of freedom and longevity.

However, throughout the three heavens and nine realms, there were more and more beings who had managed to cultivate to the Divine Sea stage over the accumulation of countless years. There were already too many divine posts conferred in the Heavenly Court to count, and the time until the next tribulation wasn’t far.

Should he abandon the memories of his past life and never speak of them again? Then what exactly was his Dao Path?

Xu Disheng was seated cross-legged, his eyes closed and brows furrowed tightly. But in his mind, the memories of the nearly twenty years of his life so far began to flash past.

The Ruyang Region, the Xu Clan. Xu Xiao, Jin Yu. Xu Qinying, Xu Chaoyang. Jin Yu’er. Daoist Lord Qingxin, Zhang Keyu. Emperor Chu, Ye Zhaixing, Xu Yan.

The faces of these people from the Chu Territory surfaced in his mind, but they were gradually becoming hazy and unclear.

The eastern region of the Human Realm, the Shan Mountain Territory, the Shangqing Sacred Sect.

This time, the memories were much clearer. The Human Realm was a real world, and although it was under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court, the rules of the world were very much intact.

The Dao Path.

His true Dao Path…

A sudden flash of enlightenment struck Xu Disheng’s mind. All of his memories flitted through his mind in an instant, and his eyes shot open, revealing a resplendent gaze. He had suddenly thought of something.

An abrupt change occurred!

An extremely terrifying aura began to emanate from the previously dead silent cyan jade flute.

This aura seemed to be ancient, from an era untold. It was desolate but grand, evoking terror.

An inexhaustible cold gnawed away at Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness, interrupting his memories. After a short moment, it returned back into the cyan jade flute and fell back into silence.

The youth closed his eyes. When he reopened them once more, his gaze had already returned to its usual calm indifference. He muttered to himself, “My Dao Path is to cultivate the Immortal Path once more, reestablish the Immortal Court, and reinstate the suppression of the living beings of the three heavens and nine realms.”

As soon as his words left his mouth, heaven and earth seemed to perceive his intent. From a mysterious, unseen space, a purple strand of immortal qi descended. The aura surrounding Xu Disheng rose sharply and the sea of qi in his Shengong meridian began to revolve crazily. The countless strands of profound qi in his sea of qi began to weave and entangle together.

The profound qi became even more condensed until the entire sea of qi evaporated, gradually transforming into a translucent, sparkling crystal. It hovered peacefully in Xu Disheng’s Shengong meridian, where his sea of qi used to be.

Half-step Dao Foundation stage!

This crystal was the fledgling stage for Xu Disheng’s foundation, formed from the profound laws. After comprehending his Dao Path, this profound law crystal had taken shape and he broke into the half-step Dao Foundation stage.

If he wanted to thoroughly break through into the Dao Foundation stage, he needed another hint of comprehension and destiny.

Some people, under the right conditions, would break through right to the Dao Foundation stage, extending their lifespan to 800 years. This also allowed them to control some of the power of heaven and earth, increasing their strength dramatically.

Others would stay trapped at this half-step Dao Foundation stage forever until they died. Even after wasting away hundreds of years of their lives, they would be unable to break through.

However, people with powerful backgrounds would never have these kinds of worries, since there were numerous pills like the Foundation Laying Pill, but they were just extremely expensive.

As long as there were sufficient cultivation resources, successfully comprehending one’s Dao Path was a foregone conclusion.

The purple immortal qi entered Xu Disheng’s Shengong meridian and wrapped itself around the crystal, where it gradually settled.

Meanwhile, in the First Mountain of the Shangqing Sacred Sect, Shangqing Mountain Range, in a vast domain located somewhere in the clouds…

“Lord Taichu, just now there seemed to be a hint of purple qi descending from the heavens to the Shan Territory. Did you perceive it?” An old man lifted his head and looked off into the sky above the three great suns. He seemed to be gazing off past the sky, to some distant place above the skies that couldn’t be seen.

A middle-aged man in a white Daoist robe was stroking an adorable white spirit beast. But he didn’t even look up and simply smiled. “In recorded history, it’s a bad omen when purple qi descends from the heavens. But what does that have to do with ordinary people like us?”

The white spirit beast shook its body, freeing itself from the white-robed man’s hands. It turned around and bared its clean, sharp fangs at him.

The old man shook his head and didn’t say more.

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… …

In the House of the Earth God in the Heavenly Court…

“Reporting to Lord Deity of the House. One incense stick before, a strand of Immortal race purple qi descended into the eastern region of the Human Realm. It is suspected to have descended from… from the utmost heavens,” Divine Elder Hanyin said, pausing for a moment before taking out a file. There was a painting on it, which seemed vivid to the point of being alive. It was a depiction of the Shangqing Sacred Sect in the Shan Mountain Territory.

The almighty, respected figure seated in the seat of honor didn’t say anything. He simply flicked his sleeves and Divine Elder Hanyin didn’t dare to say anything more. He immediately retreated and left the great hall of the Divine House.

The figure seated on high waved his hand and the file flew to him. After flipping through a few pages, a snort echoed throughout the vast, spacious great hall.

“Purple qi descended from the heavens? The Heavenly Court is the heavens.”

He didn’t give it any more attention, and simply destroyed the file about the Shangqing Sacred Sect with a wave of his hand.

… …

Before even ancient times, there was a legend.

Every being of the Immortal race was innate Xiantian beings. In accordance with the mandate of heaven, they would be born with innate Purple Immortal Qi and have vast power.

But after the Immortal race was overthrown and the rules of natural order were rewritten, these rumors, which couldn’t be confirmed as true or false, were lost in the flow of time.

The Heavenly Court had 72 Divine Houses, and the one that oversaw the matters of the Human Realm was the House of the Earth God. The deity that ruled over this House was the Rank 2 Divine Lord Diyuan.

Divine Lord Diyuan had ascended to his rank approximately ten thousand years ago. He originally came from the Human Realm, and when he first arrived in the Heavenly Court, he was like most Divine Sea stage beings from the Human Realm, who had been appointed as Rank 5 Heavenly Generals.

After he arrived, his cultivation progressed extremely rapidly due to his outstanding powers of comprehension. He was gradually promoted to a Rank 4 Divine General, and eventually Rank 3 Divine Elder.

(TL: Turns out each rank of deity has a different name. Previously, I called all of them Divine Generals. But from here on, Rank 5 is Heavenly General, Rank 4 is Divine General, and Rank 3 is Divine Elder, and Rank 2 is Divine Lord. Those are the known ranks so far.)

A little over ten thousand years ago, when he earned his title as Divine Lord, the Heavenly Court issued a decree, instating him as a Lord Deity of the House of the Earth God. The decree stated that he would rule over the House of the Earth God along with Divine Lord Nanhua. It was very rare for the House of the Earth God to have two Lord Deities presiding over it.

Rank 2 Divine Lords were on par with the arhats of the Great Sun Buddhist World, possessing overwhelming power and authority.

Although Divine Lord Diyuan had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, he was extremely disdainful of the Immortal race, which had already been destroyed and lost to time.

While it was true that before ancient times, the Immortal race did have innate purple qi within them, it was now considered nothing more than one of many strange phenomena in the Human Realm in this day and age.

Because of this, Divine Lord Diyuan was displeased with Divine Elder Hanyin.

After all, the Human Realm was boundlessly vast, and anything could happen. For Divine Elder Hanyin to make such a big fuss over some purple qi descending from the utmost heavens and even go so far as to alert the Lord Deity of the House, he was being far too indiscreet and overstepping his social bounds.