Chapter 221: The Marvels of the Divine Origin Realm and the Art of Merging with Light

Chapter 221: The Marvels of the Divine Origin Realm and the Art of Merging with Light

In the Mercury Palace, Tang Jinyan was furious that Jiao Ming and Ping'er had not returned with the person they were supposed to bring back.

She vowed to punish them severely when they returned, or else how could she maintain her authority? Little did she know that both Jiao Ming and Ping'er were already dead.

**Yu State**

One of the Eighteen States of the Spirit Realm.

The Zheng Kingdom was the foremost dynasty in the Yu State. While their strength was not the absolute mightiest in the state, the royal family of Zheng held a unique role as guardians of the Spirit Realm's gateway.

Due to this special duty, the Zheng Kingdom did not fall under the rule of any single Spirit Sect. Instead, they were directly governed by several transcendent Spirit Sects.

It was for this reason that despite not being the strongest power in the Yu State, no other force or sect dared to challenge the authority of the Zheng Kingdom.

Of course, the royal family of Zheng was also very mindful of their position. As long as the requests of the Spirit Sects did not violate their principles, they would agree to them.

They kept a low profile and appeared to focus solely on their task of guarding the Spirit Realm's gateway, obeying only the commands of the transcendent Spirit Sects.

Naturally, aside from these transcendent sects, no other sect dared to issue orders to the Zheng royal family, as this was an exclusive privilege of their status.

Any faction that dared to overstep this boundary would be seen as offending the dignity of the transcendent Spirit Sects.

And they would surely face destruction.

The opening of the Spirit Realm's gateway did not attract much attention in Zheng, as half of the martial arts world in the Yu State was captivated by a different attraction—a fabled treasure land.

Rumors spread that it was the burial ground of the Qing Tian Jiao, a legendary beast and the strongest of its kind. The location of its death had always been a mystery, until now.

Recent reports claimed that the tomb of the Qing Tian Jiao was within the borders of Zheng, and it was said that a third-grade spirit object, the Bijiang Tree, had grown within the tomb. Some even whispered that there might be a second-grade spirit object, the Dragon Jing Fruit, hidden within.

All at once, various factions turned their eyes towards the tomb, eager to claim the treasures within.

After a period of conflict, an agreement was reached under the mediation of the Zheng royal family: only young warriors would be allowed to enter the tomb of the Qing Tian Jiao.

There was an age restriction, but no limit on strength.

While nominally lower-tier factions were not prohibited from sending their warriors, in practice, they lacked the resources to do so effectively, and any of their members who entered would be swiftly eliminated by the more powerful competitors.

This was an unspoken understanding in the Spirit Realm.

During such significant events, warriors from the lower-tier factions would tacitly refrain from participating. They knew that the high and mighty Spirit Sect warriors would unite to target and eliminate them, denying any chance for the "mud-legged" to vie for treasures.

The tomb of the Qing Tian Jiao was surrounded by poisonous miasma, making it temporarily inaccessible. The various geniuses of the major Zheng factions were eagerly awaiting their chance to showcase their prowess and make a name for themselves in the Yu State.

Some even sought out lower-tier warriors to use as cannon fodder, to test the dangers that lay within.

The Dai family of Zheng was only a second-rate aristocratic clan. However, the current generation boasted an exceptional talent—Dai Yingying, granddaughter of the family's head. She possessed a superior natural gift, a rare body constitution, which brought significant glory to the Dai family.

Moreover, Dai Yingying was betrothed to the second prince of the Zheng royal family, establishing a connection between the Dai family and the transcendent Spirit Sects, albeit a distant and indirect one.

Even so, the Dai family felt immense pride and their stature rose in the eyes of others. After all, they now had a tenuous link to the transcendent Spirit Sects.

Other second-rate aristocratic clans and sects couldn't help but feel envious, and they greeted the Dai family with smiling faces whenever they met.

Although the Dai family did not currently have any apparent connection to the transcendent Spirit Sects, the betrothal to the Zheng royal family left open the possibility that, one day, fate might intervene and forge a true bond with the transcendent sects.

The ways of the world were often unpredictable.

Sometimes, when opportunity knocked, there was no stopping it.

In the past, there had been instances of third-rate aristocratic clans or sects suddenly rising to the top and dominating a region after a fortuitous encounter with a peak Spirit Sect.

Dai Yingying's exceptional talent and her betrothal to the second prince of Zheng had made her the apple of her family's eye. Naturally, this had fostered a haughty attitude within her, especially towards warriors from the lower tiers.

She, too, was drawn to the tomb of the Qing Tian Jiao and intended to enter it.

At this moment, she was searching for lower-tier warriors to serve as cannon fodder for her expedition, causing discontent and resentment to spread. Rumors even reached the ears of a certain rogue celestial warrior, who was said to be furious and determined to stand up for the dignity of the lower-tier warriors, even if it cost him his life.

Upon hearing this, the Dai family quickly dispatched their celestial elder to protect Dai Yingying and offered spirit crystals as compensation to the warriors they had recruited.

Thus, the situation gradually calmed.

Of course, the Dai family's strong warriors were now searching for the rogue celestial warrior, intending to kill him to ease their worries. How dare a mere mud-legged warrior threaten an aristocratic clan? He deserved death!

Dai Yingying was enraged when she heard about the opening of the Spirit Realm's gateway, and she came up with the idea of capturing natives from the inner realm to use as cannon fodder for her exploration.

She immediately set out to put her plan into action, heading towards the Spirit Realm's gateway.

...

On Canglan Island, Xu Yan was cultivating and trying to comprehend the martial arts technique.

To Li Xuan's surprise, Xu Yan had not yet comprehended the art of concealment, but he had managed to understand the martial arts of the Divine Origin Realm even before breaking through to the Divine Intent Realm.

This was an unexpected delight!

"Your disciple, Xu Yan, has comprehended the Divine Origin Realm martial arts that you fabricated. As a result, you've broken through to the Divine Origin Realm yourself."

On the Spirit Platform, the Golden Book of the Dao opened, radiating golden light.

In that instant, Li Xuan felt as if his entire being was undergoing a transformation.

He narrowed his eyes, carefully savoring the mysteries of the Divine Origin Realm. With a slight shift of his thoughts, he divided a portion of his divine origin and transformed it into a divine origin avatar.

An exact replica of himself stepped out from within his body and, with a single step, vanished from sight without attracting anyone's attention.

The divine origin avatar strolled along the Cangjiang River.

"So this is the divine origin avatar," Li Xuan marveled inwardly. "It's truly extraordinary. When exploring dangerous places, I won't need to risk my physical body. Even if I encounter peril, my true self will remain safe."

He was thrilled by the discovery.

The Divine Origin Realm that he had fabricated was incredibly profound, far surpassing the martial arts of Taicang.

As long as the divine origin avatar remained within a certain range of the physical body, its thoughts and perceptions were identical to those of its origin. Although Li Xuan was seated on Canglan Island, his divine intent was connected to the avatar.

The avatar continued its journey, moving farther and farther away from Canglan Island. Li Xuan wanted to test the limits of this connection and see how far the avatar could go before losing its link to his consciousness.

Once the connection to his consciousness was severed, the avatar would retain only the abilities and combat instincts bestowed upon it by the origin, devoid of independent thought or will, becoming somewhat rigid and inflexible.

Of course, after breaking through to the Spirit Communing Realm and refining one's primordial spirit, infusing a strand of it into the avatar would resolve this issue.

"Twenty li."

When the avatar reached a distance of about twenty li from Li Xuan's physical body, he felt the avatar's perceptions grow fuzzy in his consciousness, indicating that he had reached the limit.

In the blink of an eye, the avatar vanished from its location and transformed back into a strand of divine origin, instantly returning to his body.

"Twenty li is sufficient," Li Xuan thought.

After all, he had only just entered the Divine Origin Realm, and as his strength grew, so too would the distance that the avatar could travel.

The Thousand Martial God-Shadow didn't seem to undergo any drastic transformations; it remained as illusory as a shadow. However, after infusing it with the divine avatar, its strength noticeably increased.

Moreover, it also gained some power akin to the Divine Origin Realm.

"The more God-Shadows I have, the more divine avatars I can separate. This means I'll have more and stronger incarnations. Additionally, when exploring dangerous places, merging the God-Shadow with the divine avatar will allow me to discard the former and preserve the latter if I encounter peril."

Li Xuan's heart raced as he discovered the powerful synergy between the Thousand Martial God-Shadow and his divine avatar.

"Now that I've reached the Divine Origin Realm, I'm not afraid of even a Refining God Celestial!"

Li Xuan instantly felt a surge of security.

Even if a Refining God Celestial were to attack, he wouldn't fear them anymore. The power of the Divine Origin Realm exceeded his expectations.

With the might of the Divine Origin, coupled with the God-Slaying Strike and the Xun Wind Sword Intent, killing a Refining God Celestial shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Li Xuan looked up at the peak of Canglan Island, where Xu Yan continued to cultivate and comprehend martial arts techniques. He eagerly anticipated Xu Yan's breakthrough to the Divine Intent Realm, hoping that he would unravel the mysteries of the Divine Communion Realm as well.

Once he reached the Divine Communion Realm, he wouldn't need to claim invincibility in the Spirit Realm, but defeating a Refining God Celestial would be as easy as snapping his fingers.

Who could stand against the might of the Divine Communion?

"The Divine Communion Realm is something that can't be comprehended for now. Perhaps it's possible after breaking through to the Divine Intent Realm."

Li Xuan shook his head inwardly. No matter how gifted Xu Yan was, it was impossible for him to comprehend the mysteries of the Divine Communion Realm while still in the Penetrating Mystery Realm.

The Divine Communion Realm was simply too profound and abstruse.

Being able to comprehend the techniques of the Divine Origin Realm without breaking through to the Divine Intent Realm was already an extraordinary feat.

"I still haven't comprehended the Concealment Technique. Should I teach this concealment method to Xu Yan?"

Li Xuan pondered.

"Let's wait a little longer. This concealment technique is somewhat lacking."

Li Xuan decided to hold off for the time being.

Since Xu Yan could comprehend the martial arts of the Divine Origin Realm, he should be able to unravel some of the mysteries of the concealment technique as well.

On this day, Li Xuan was studying the second page of the Grand Desolate Book, meticulously researching it to commit the heavenly dao patterns to memory.

"Where did Chimeow go?"

He suddenly remembered that Chimeow hadn't made much noise these past few days. Usually, it would find excuses like "doing it for you" to help Shi Er refine his martial arts.

It would pester Shi Er, ask Su Lingxiu for pills, go to Xu Mu to act cute, and then come to him to be obedient.

Li Xuan spread out his divine sense, slightly surprised to see Chimeow staring at a third of the formation diagram, deep in thought about something.

Its little paw was holding a brush, and it was asking Xu Mu to teach it how to write and recognize characters!

It wanted to be a cultured cat—no, a cultured tiger!

"If you really understand something, that would be a pleasant surprise."

Li Xuan chuckled. It must have been Shi Er, annoyed by Chimeow's pestering, who used the formation diagram to distract it.

Xu Mu was happily teaching Chimeow how to recognize characters while curiously looking at the incomplete formation diagram. "Chimeow, have you understood something?"

Chimeow shook its head. Its little paw held the brush and wrote wobbly words on the paper: "I know too few characters, so I can't understand the true meaning."

Li Xuan watched with amusement as the tiger-sized Chimeow wrote with a brush; it was quite adorable and endearing.

Xu Mu was also delighted, rubbing Chimeow's chubby head while feeding it pills.

Chimeow happily ate the pills.

Since Chimeow was interested in the formation diagram, Li Xuan had an idea, hoping that Chimeow could make some progress in the Grand Desolate Beast Martial Arts.

Thus, he drew out the complete formation diagram.

"Chimeow, this is the complete formation diagram. Study it carefully. You are a grand beast, and if you can understand the intricacies of this formation and incorporate its mysteries into yourself, you will gain another opportunity for growth."

Li Xuan handed the formation diagram to Chimeow and patted its head.

Chimeow looked at the formation diagram, its head feeling bigger and bigger. But since it was its master's order, it couldn't refuse to study it. It felt that it might have been tricked by Shi Er.

Chimeow took the formation diagram and left, continuing to learn how to read and write, and also finding time to refine Shi Er's martial arts!

Li Xuan sat in his chair, sipping spiritual tea while studying the Grand Desolate Book and committing the heavenly dao patterns on the second page to memory.

The patterns on the second page were more difficult to remember and more profound than the first, evidently involving deeper heavenly dao laws.

"It's been quite some time since I sent out the formation diagram, and not a single person has understood anything from it."

Li Xuan sighed.

Finding a disciple to cultivate the mysterious martial arts would take some time.

Suddenly!

On the spirit platform, the Grand Dao Golden Book opened, and golden light surged forth.

"Your disciple Xu Yan has comprehended the Merging with Light Technique from the concealment method you fabricated. Thus, you have achieved mastery in the Merging with Light Technique."

Xu Yan had finally comprehended it!

Merging with Light Technique!

Li Xuan smiled. His senior disciple would never let him down.

Even with an extremely challenging cultivation technique, Xu Yan could still understand it!

Li Xuan looked up, and at that moment, Xu Yan on the mountaintop had changed.

If it weren't for his mastery of the Merging with Light Technique, one might have easily overlooked him, mistaking him for a mere rock.

Li Xuan's divine sense spread out, and he smiled. Xu Yan sat there, blending in with the grass, trees, and rocks, his aura indiscernible from that of the surrounding nature.

His aura was as one with the grass and trees, as one with the rocks.

This was the Merging with Light Technique!

Li Xuan retracted his divine sense, a smile on his face, as he continued to study the heavenly dao patterns of the Grand Desolate Book.

Xu Yan was about to enter the Spirit Realm!

With the Merging with Light Technique, even if he provoked a major power and was pursued, he could easily hide and escape.

"Master, the concealment technique is too profound and abstruse. I can't find a starting point, so how can I comprehend it?"

Su Lingxiu's hair was in disarray as she grasped Li Xuan's shoulder, her face full of frustration.

Li Xuan chuckled. It was understandable that Su Lingxiu, who lacked the necessary talent, would find it difficult to comprehend the technique. Even if Meng Chong were to comprehend it, it would likely take a long time, and the resulting concealment technique would probably be inferior to Xu Yan's.

"This concealment technique is quite ordinary. Give it a try."

Li Xuan smiled and transmitted the concealment technique he had fabricated to Su Lingxiu.

This concealment technique wasn't that difficult to comprehend, and with Su Lingxiu's talent, it didn't take long for her to understand it.

"Your disciple Su Lingxiu has understood the concealment technique you fabricated. Thus, you have achieved mastery in the concealment technique."

Su Lingxiu's aura became subdued, and she appeared ordinary, her very presence blending in and unremarkable, unlikely to attract attention.

"Master, I've learned it!"

Su Lingxiu narrowed her eyes and ran off. "I'm going to test if my senior brother can sense my presence."

Li Xuan shook his head. Now that Xu Yan had achieved mastery in the Merging with Light Technique, there was no need for Su Lingxiu and Meng Chong to continue trying to comprehend it.

After all, even if they did, it wouldn't surpass Xu Yan's, so why waste their time and effort?

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end