Chapter 310: Dao Lao Yin, Helra's "Nipping"

Chapter 310: Dao Lao Yin, Helra's "Nipping"

Within the evolving Dao Monastery, the myriad stars seemed like flickering candles in the wind, and as the world approached annihilation, they trembled on the verge of collapse. Chaos mist swirled in the void, devouring everything in its path.

Compared to the Yi Yuan Zhi Shi, the incarnation he created, the Wanxiang Zhongmo was indeed rather crude.

The true foundation of this path-establishing divine ability was mainly derived from the Jiyuan Zhongmo he had witnessed from the Xuan Youwei lineage in the past—the annihilation of a world.

The Dao rhyme he had failed to fully comprehend back then had now come to fruition, forming the Wanxiang Zhongmo's divine form.

And its divine essence was filled by the Bitter Sea.

Ji Jingqiu clasped his hands, his breath dark and mysterious. In an instant, the world beneath his feet rapidly underwent the process of decay and annihilation, as if the Bitter Sea had overturned, shifting by ten thousand paths, and everything was heading towards the final explosion in annihilation—the end of the era.

"I still feel that compared to the Yi Yuan Zhi Shi, it lacks a bit of Dao rhyme," Ji Jingqiu frowned.

"Then use external objects to fill it up and use it as a stabilizing object. Take this dead fish and go, entering the incarnation, as the core stabilizing object of your Wanxiang Zhongmo."

In the Neijing Tiandi, Helra flipped over a lotus leaf in the pond, and a certain lying-flat carp was picked out from the pool.

In mid-air, black mist surged, and a sinister red dragon head emerged, its slender body faintly visible within the black mist, like a jade sculpture, rising from the depths of hell. Between the dragon scales, a deep and mysterious flame burned.

Helra narrowed her eyes, noticing that the Dao rhyme emanating from this little guy was significantly denser than before.

Vaguely, on the jade-like dragon scales, scenes of withering and destruction, of mountains and rivers crumbling, were reflected, leaving behind only a desolate and lifeless aura.

It was unclear whether it was due to soaking in the bath for too long or being immersed in the Bitter Sea for too long, but the "flavor" had seeped into its body.

The lying-flat carp seemed dissatisfied with being disturbed, and the sinister dragon head that had emerged from the black mist sneezed, rolling out a deep and dark nose, carrying a sense of annihilation and nothingness.

"Did you see that?" Helra asked.

Ji Jingqiu seemed deep in thought and immediately refined the Tianmo Canian, enveloping it with his mind and returning it to his main body.

After returning to the Neijing Tiandi, he handed the Tianmo Canian to Helra, reached into the black mist, grabbed the ink dragon's neck, and returned to the incarnation.

Ji Jingqiu reactivated the Wanxiang Zhongmo and threw the little guy inside.

This time, with the ink dragon's presence, the Wanxiang Zhongmo's manifested Dao Monastery appeared a bit more profound and mysterious. Within, the aura of calamity was thick, and the air of death was profound, permeated with the principles of decay, destruction, corruption, and annihilation.

In the vast universe, a colossal dragon body, faintly visible, seemed to have been born from the depths of hell, piercing through the galaxy. It carried the nothingness of the end, and beneath it, the countless stars were as small as dust, and all the great suns dimmed.

"The end... Is the end of annihilation the beginning of rebirth? Or is it the purest form of 'nothingness'?" Ji Jingqiu muttered to himself.

At this moment, Ji Jingqiu hesitated.

Not long ago, he had comprehended the Yin Yang Er Qi Zhi Dao, the cycle of life and death, evolving into the Taiji, and everything in the world was in a delicate balance.

If he followed this line of thought, the end of the end should be rebirth, and the end of annihilation should give birth to the most vibrant rebirth.

But at this moment, if he wanted to evolve "rebirth," he still lacked an object similar to the ink dragon as a stabilizing object.

And to take on this role, Panghu definitely wouldn't do; Wuxiang Zhi Feng?

"Perhaps it's not necessary," Ji Jingqiu muttered to himself, "The Yi Yuan Zhi Shi itself represents the initial path, and in the future, when the main body and the incarnation merge, they will naturally evolve the fusion of the end and the beginning."

"For now, the purest end is what I need..."

Ji Jingqiu's thoughts were in turmoil.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but seek Helra's opinion, as she had experienced the true end of an era.

"Purity, the suggestion I can give you is purity."

"The annihilation of heaven and earth, the end of the era—this is the end you should pursue." Helra shook her head, "As for the opening of heaven and earth after the end, that's another great path."

"Seekers of the Dao most fear greed and excess. The Great Dao itself pursues purity, so don't be 'greedy for more,' especially since you initially followed the path of Wanxiang."

Ji Jingqiu nodded, which aligned with his original inclination.

His mind was made up.

The Dao Monastery beneath Ji Jingqiu's feet began to shrink, merging with his physical body and fusing with his heavenly physique, tempering his Dao form.

The so-called Dao form is the shape of the Dao after its establishment, seeking a deeper level, evolving into the shape of the Dao, and merging with the physical body and the mind.

Fang Shoubai of the Yin Yang Dao Palace had already taken this step.

However, Ji Jingqiu's incarnation had not tempered his Dao form due to the haste in establishing his path.

Up until now, he had felt that his path ahead was initially set, so he began tempering his Dao form, establishing the Wanxiang Zhongmo as the foundation of this incarnation's enlightenment.

In the future, when this incarnation ventured into the Tian Wang realm, it would follow the path of Wanxiang Zhongmo.

To make the journey easier, one would need to pay a tremendous price.

With Ji Jingqiu's current divine body, mind, and insights, tempering the Dao form was not difficult; it was just a matter of time and effort.

After seven days passed, Ji Jingqiu looked within his Neijing Tiandi, and the burgeoning vitality constructed from the innate Five Elements was heading towards its end, withering and decaying.

He watched as the Neijing Tiandi approached annihilation, and in the end, it welcomed new life and prosperity, almost forming a self-contained cycle, like the real world.

This made Ji Jingqiu's expression change slightly.

Unexpectedly, after tempering the Dao form and manifesting the Neijing Tiandi, when combined with the innate Five Elements, it actually evolved according to his previous thoughts.

"With the Dao form tempering complete, you can enter the Dharma Realm again and condense the Dao Lao Yin," Helra reminded him.

Ji Jingqiu nodded.

The Tian Wang Zongshi could either open the path and walk it or follow the path and ascend, but no matter which path they took, they couldn't escape the word "Dao."

Above the Dharma, there was the Great Dao.

In theory, Tian Wang had an absolute advantage over Tian Ren, and they were not on the same level of existence.

This was the difference between the Great Dao and the Dharma.

According to Ji Jingqiu's knowledge, even those who had inherited the supreme Dharma and had already embarked on the path of enlightenment, reaching Tianren Yuwan, were only capable of barely preserving their lives in front of the weakest Tian Wang.

The reason it was "temporarily" was because Tian Wang possessed Wu Suo Bu Zhi.

In the vast and boundless Dharma Realm, Ji Jingqiu's spiritual awareness briefly merged with the realm, aligning with the Dao. In his perception, the Dharma Realm resembled an endless sky, as vast as the starry expanse and as blue as the ocean.

Within this sky, countless unseen currents lurked, representing the traces of the Dao.

To embark on the Dao meant to forge a path acknowledged by Heaven and Earth, a path of the Dao's flow, also known as the Illusory Great Dao.

The Dao Lao Yin that Ji Jingqiu was about to forge was the predecessor of the Illusory Great Dao and a crucial step after tempering his Dao form.

Typically, one couldn't stay in the Dharma Realm for long. Ordinary Tianren warriors, when forging their Dao Lao Yin within the Dharma Realm, often had to make numerous trips back and forth, accounting for the losses, to avoid getting lost in the realm.

However, this time, with the support of the Wuliang Wisdom Light, Ji Jingqiu felt that the intangible erosion and sense of disorientation in the Dharma Realm were significantly reduced.

This allowed him to greatly extend his stay in the Dharma Realm, but it was still insufficient for a prolonged stay.

Nevertheless, this alone, combined with the completion of the "I am who I am" characteristic, greatly expanded the range of his "Wu Suo Bu Zhi."

A rough estimate suggested at least tenfold.

Ji Jingqiu was already considering finding a suitable opportunity, along with cooperative spectators, to demonstrate the "Wu Suo Bu Zhi" characteristic. Then, in front of everyone's astonishment, he would declare something akin to, "Only I, Ji Jingqiu, am allowed to be a genius; you are not permitted to have the talent and charm that I possess."

Ji Jingqiu began the process of engraving the Dao Lao Yin within the Dharma Realm.

This was a way to leave a mark, which could later serve as an anchor for himself within the Dharma Realm.

In the Dharma Realm, there was no concept of time, and Ji Jingqiu didn't know how long it had been when he finally condensed a Dao Fu Zhang, based on "Wanxiang Zhongmo."

But it wasn't over yet.

Next, he needed to condense two more Dao Lao Yin, one rooted in "Wu Fa Wu Tian" and the other naturally in "Hangwu Ji."

These two were much simpler.

He only needed to follow the traces bestowed by the Sage to engrave the relevant Dao Ze of these two divine abilities and methods.

After a busy period, Ji Jingqiu temporarily exited the Dharma Realm to alleviate the sense of disorientation, and finally, he managed to complete the task.

The condensation of the Illusory Dao Lao Yin brought about obvious benefits, the most direct of which was the corresponding Li Dao divine ability, now involving the power of the Great Dao, no longer limited to Fali.

His "Wanxiang Zhongmo" underwent a brand-new transformation.

The ink dragon rode the rolling black winds, wandering through the Tianren Daogong, its howling resembling the wails of countless spirits, capable of burying everything. This force was sufficient to easily tear apart the Tianren Fa Ti of those one level higher than Ji Jingqiu, disrupting their minds and melting their inner realms.

"The Dao Lao Yin is complete," Ji Jingqiu said, "With this, this divine form can go on 'auto-pilot,' and I should return to my main body."

Helra spoke, "By using this divine form to adapt to various transformations in advance, your main body can save a lot of time."

Ji Jingqiu nodded and murmured, "With the Dao Lao Yin already condensed, the next step is to condense the Illusory Great Dao, right?"

Helra let out a cold laugh, "That's one way to put it, but the gap isn't from 9 to 10, it's from 9 to 10,000."

Ji Jingqiu fell silent.

Just the single path of the Zhongmo Dao would take him a long journey ahead.

To forge a complete Zhongmo Dao involved destruction, decay, chaos...

In Helra's words, the more powerful the Dao, the more challenging it was to forge, and this was a fair exchange.

Simultaneously, this was also the reason Helra didn't believe Ji Jingqiu could catch up to those Tian Wang-level powerhouses who had spent thousands or even tens of thousands of years in cultivation within a short time.

Even within the Three Thousand Yan Futi, some Tianren Yuanyuan with deep accumulations weren't opponents he could match in a short time.

"By the way, can this Ritual Arsenal be used?" Ji Jingqiu asked, taking out the Ritual Arsenal he had obtained from the Magic Eye Empire.

"Find someone to send it back to the Federation and use it as fertilizer for your Bodhi tree."

"Okay."

This matter naturally fell to Tian Qingzi.

During Ji Jingqiu's tempering of his Dao form, Tian Qingzi had already delivered the "half-stalk of divine medicine" mentioned by Shouzhen Shengren to him.

The so-called "half-stalk of divine medicine" was actually half a divine medicine.

In terms of effectiveness, the half-divine medicine was not even a quarter as potent as the divine medicine.

Rounding up, he had lost out big time; it could only be said that the old Deng of the Three Thousand Yan Futi and the elders of the Five Great Pillars had no match.

Lacking martial morality, even the younger generation was being cheated.

Thinking of this, Ji Jingqiu swallowed a pill from Tiansheng Lake fiercely and began tempering the Wuji Fu Zhang.

Next, this divine form would face a period of silence and arduous cultivation.

The next moment, Ji Jingqiu returned to his main body.

As he entered the Neijing World, he looked at the white-haired doll in Helra's hand and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where did you get this little doll? Are you also working as Nuwa on the side?"

Helra smiled, holding the cute miniature doll in her hand and dangling it upside down in the air without a hint of mercy.

"Did you forget? Isn't this the Tianmo Canian you sent back?"

Ji Jingqiu was stunned and asked in disbelief,

"What did you say? Is this a Tianmo's divine form?"

Had his beautiful wish of "Four Demons Reunion" finally taken a groundbreaking step today?

...

...

"Tian Yingzi, why are we, your fellow disciples, assigned to investigate the Chaotic Abyss Sea?"

"This is Tai Sishuzu's arrangement. Does Tian Yinzi have any objections?"

Facing the aggressive questioning from his fellow disciples, Tian Yingzi remained calm, his voice tinged with confusion.

The visitor glared at him and suddenly took a step forward, his voice low, "You're settling a private grudge! Don't push me to report this to the sect, and we'll both perish together!"

"Settling a private grudge?"

Tian Yingzi shook his head, his expression cold, and he scoffed,

"Tian Yinzi, if I recall correctly, didn't you openly mention in the sect that Tai Sishuzu was brave but lacked wisdom, claiming that his plan to attack the Chaotic Abyss Sea would cause our sect to suffer a crushing defeat in the Grand Universe?"

Tian Yinzi's face darkened, "What are you trying to say?"

Tian Yingzi spoke solemnly,

"Tai Sishuzu is not a person who acts on his own whims. This time, by sincerely accepting advice, he aims to gather diverse opinions and insights. That's why he assigned you, Tian Yinzi, and the others to investigate the Chaotic Abyss Sea and produce a practical report to convince him to abandon this plan.

"Tian Yin Shixiong had the audacity to publicly question the Grand Master before, clearly having his own agenda. He must have had his suspicions about the Chaos Abyss Sea and wanted to fulfill his mission."

He suddenly took a step closer, whispering in Tian Yinzi's ear:

"Senior Brother, what if this matter is reported to the higher-ups? Do you expect Master Ping Yue and the others to stand up for you?"

"You...!" Tian Yinzi immediately flew into a rage, but his shoulders were held down by the two fellow disciples behind him.

One of them stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice: "Junior Brother Tian Ying, when you spare someone, spare them completely. Don't be too ruthless in your actions, and we'll have a chance to meet again in the future!"

Tian Yingzi's expression suddenly turned solemn: "If you senior brothers truly think this way, then you should stay out of trouble and strive to break through to the Heavenly Realm as soon as possible, serving the Grand Master instead of spreading rumors everywhere!"

Seeing that the others still had more to say, Tian Yingzi calmly spoke: "I have matters to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer. I hope you all set off soon, investigate the specific distribution of the Chaos Abyss Sea, and the Four Divine Temples' situation."

The others could only coldly harrumph before leaving.

Tian Yingzi's gaze remained calm, unperturbed.

Before, Master Pingqing had taught him that such people who couldn't distinguish between superiors and subordinates weren't worth his attention.

Not long after Tian Yinzi and the others left, another group of cultivators arrived, greeting him politely:

"Junior Brother Tian Ying, we are about to break through to the Heavenly Realm. We came to inform you that we will be taking a step ahead and leaving the Half-Cave Heaven. We're here to report this to you."

Tian Yingzi smiled and said, "I offer my congratulations to the senior brothers in advance. I hope you all travel safely and don't reveal your whereabouts, causing trouble for the sect."

"Of course, we will be discreet." One of them cautiously probed, "Junior Brother Tian Ying, we heard that the sect will be selecting disciples to form the Cosmic Constellation Array?"

Tian Yingzi's eyes gleamed with hidden meaning: "The Grand Master indeed has his intentions."

The cultivators who came together smiled and said, "We understand. We will take our leave for now and visit again in the future."

After sending off the group, Tian Yingzi shook his head. Managing the affairs of tens of thousands of people was indeed a headache, leaving him little time for cultivation.

A hint of worry crept into his expression.

...

Chaos Abyss Sea.

Four Divine Temples.

In an ancient temple floating in the starry sky, over a dozen people were seated.

Compared to the past, the cultivators present, regardless of their status or cultivation realm, were all close to the Heavenly Realm.

The powerful cultivators of the Four Divine Temples couldn't escape the chaos of the Grand Universe's rules.

Following the command of the Divine Lord, they had dispatched a large number of their remaining elite forces to infiltrate the vicinity of the Yan Huang Federation, leaving only a dozen or so Heavenly Realm cultivators in the temple.

The strongest among them were only a few in the Middle Heavenly Rank.

Fortunately, their actions were well-concealed, and being located in the Chaos Abyss Sea, they also worshipped the Divine Lord's statues. The surrounding forces couldn't expose their current state, as they were at their weakest point in defense in nearly hundreds of thousands of years.

At this moment...

In the hall representing the highest authority of the Four Divine Temples, a discussion unfolded.

"According to the intelligence from within the Magic Eye Empire, one of their Great Heavenly Rank cultivators has gone missing on Gusu Star. The timing coincides with the appearance of the Holy King's projection!"

"That time was when the Magic Eye and Blue Sea Empires joined forces with the Yaochi and Huang Xue Palaces, the two True Saint Monasteries!"

"I don't think there's any connection between the Holy King and the Tiansheng Lake."

"I suspect that someone might have inadvertently triggered the seals left by the Holy King's lineage. However, that Holy King still had the strength to manifest a projection..."

"This matter has already been reported to the higher-ups. They should be aware of it."

Upon hearing these words, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Not only was this the weakest moment for the Four Divine Temples, but even at their peak, they couldn't match a single finger of that Supreme Saint King.

With the greatest concern eliminated, the atmosphere among the group lightened, and someone even laughed:

"Gusu Star will be lively next. Those three True Saint Monasteries and several Grand Universe forces will likely fight to the death."

"Indeed, we can stay out of the fray and watch the spectacle."

"Haha, they're busy with their own affairs. Why would they come to provoke us?"

"I heard that a Divine Seal has arrived at Tiansheng Lake. I wonder if the other monasteries can withstand it."

"Hmm, according to the Divine Lord's instructions, we can lend a helping hand to those monasteries if necessary. A Divine Seal growing up within the next ten years in the Grand Universe will be an extraordinary existence, and we should eliminate it as soon as possible."

Immediately, some of the Heavenly Realm cultivators shook their heads: "Let those monasteries fight to the death. We won't get involved for now. Is the descent ceremony prepared?"

"It's almost ready. In half a month, we can welcome the arrival of the Divine Son and Divine Daughter."

Everyone's eyes lit up with anticipation. The forces of the Three Thousand Yan Fu Ti seized the opportunity to enter the Grand Universe, and the Divine Lords behind them also had their own plans.

Suddenly, someone spoke in a low voice: "It's a pity that Xuan Youwei and Shenmengjing have a high chance of becoming the Divine Chosen."

This generation of the Four Divine Temples had cultivated seven Divine Sons, each with the potential to become the Divine Chosen of the Four Divine Lords.

In the end, half of them died at the hands of Ji Jingqiu of the Yan Huang Federation!

"A necessary sacrifice," someone said coldly. "We don't have time for them to continue growing. It's their honor to become the vessels for the Divine Son and Divine Daughter."

"Everyone, make your preparations." Someone spoke up, "Although it's unlikely that anyone would dare to cause us trouble, we should still be on guard. We can't afford to disrupt the Divine Lords' grand plans."

"It's a pity... If only we could also go to the Yan Huang Federation to establish our own achievements."

A light sigh echoed, but the others' expressions varied. Some scoffed at the idea.

Establish achievements? That's if they return alive.

Even if they do nothing, just staying at their base is a meritorious act.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end