The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

What is "the end of the law"? As the name suggests, this refers to the end of the law when the spiritual energy is exhausted. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which is not felt by ordinary people but is the source of strength for practitioners, begins to become thinner at a certain period of time.

This is actually just a very simple natural phenomenon between heaven and earth, just like the tides in the sea. The concentration of vital energy rises and falls, and it is not because the practitioner absorbs too much vital energy, causing such bad consequences.

In other worlds, Zhao Qing also knew some reasons that could cause changes in the concentration and activity of the entire surface's vitality, such as changes in the distance from the upper realm, the solar system's travel through the Milky Way, fluctuations in the sun's internal energy reactions, and so on.

However, in this world, the conclusion given by the Gushan Sword Sect is that the planet where this world is located is breathing like a living organism.

When it exhales a large amount of heaven and earth vital energy, it will create a prosperous era of cultivation. When it absorbs the leaked vital energy, it represents the arrival of the spiritual wilderness era.

Practitioners absorb spiritual energy and convert it into their true essence. As the spiritual energy becomes thinner, the realm that they could easily reach in the past will become much more difficult. Their lifespan will also not be as long as that of previous practitioners of the same level. In addition, if the true essence is consumed too much, their realm will temporarily decline and they will need to find ways to recover.

As it became more difficult to sense vital energy, the number of new practitioners decreased sharply, now less than one-tenth of the normal number. Due to insufficient resources, only a few geniuses could receive normal training, but the training environment was still far from the abundant one in the past, making it extremely difficult to catch up with previous practitioners.

Not only humans, but also those elixir from heaven and earth that naturally absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and can be used to improve the cultivation of practitioners will grow slowly or even die directly due to the lack of spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If the seeds are not preserved, the end will be extinction.

When the You Dynasty, which once unified the world, was overthrown, the most powerful forces in the world were undoubtedly the super sects and local dynasties ruled by the eight-level powerful men. The original main force of the rebel army was headed by the four major sects of Jianzhong, Lingxu, Sanhuang and Gushan.

An ancient sect like the Three Emperors Sect, which has three Eighth-Realm Enlightenment Masters, has a lofty status and powerful influence far exceeding that of today's first-rate sects that have only a few Seventh-Realm Masters and are unable to confront the armies of the major dynasties head-on.

Even the Bashan Sword Field in its peak period was far behind, not to mention the slightly inferior Wei Yunshui Palace, Yanxian Fu Sect, Zhao Jianlu, and Qin Minshan Sword Sect.

After all, they are all comrades who jointly resist the tyranny of Emperor You, and for the powerful people in the Eight Realms, there are not many valuable things in the world, so there is no need to create conflicts and fight each other over trivial matters.

Therefore, for about a hundred years, the whole world was basically in a state of peace and stability, and both people's livelihood and cultivation resources in various places were recovering rapidly.

Then, the first "End of Dharma" in history came quietly, when countless people had never expected it, and it lasted for more than two hundred years.

At first, it was just a slight change. Practitioners felt that their spiritual energy was not as abundant as before during their practice, and they needed to spend more time and energy to make progress. But as the years passed, this situation became more and more serious, until all practitioners noticed that something was wrong.

When one after another, those who reached the peak of the sixth realm failed in their attempts to reach the seventh realm, the lifespan of the first great being in the eighth realm expired prematurely, and countless lush spiritual plants gradually lost their vitality, became withered and yellow, and turned into dust. The practitioners finally gave up their original hope and began to search for ways to save it all.

All the major sects began to tighten their resources, close their mountains and lock down their sects, reduce unnecessary consumption, and strive to preserve their strength in the adversity of the Dharma Ending Age. On the other hand, small and medium-sized sects, local dynasties, and powerful families were constantly fighting for resources.

The once peaceful and stable world is now a place of constant war and chaos. Non-mainstream practices such as cultivating Yin Qi by raising corpses, and practicing magic by using extraterrestrial life, have also quietly flourished.

Because there has never been a precedent, except for a few great masters in the eighth realm who had vague guesses and could absorb vitality from the outer space and remained calm, most of the others believed that the world of cultivation was about to face its end and fell into a state of madness.

In just a few decades, the history, memory, and heritage of countless sects and families were destroyed, thousands of hectares of palaces were razed to the ground, mountains of classics were burned to ashes, and the number of practitioners who died even far exceeded that of the years when people gathered to overthrow the You Dynasty.

The Gushan Sword Sect was originally known for its extremely small number of people and its disdain for anyone who had no potential to cultivate to the eighth realm. It seemed to be incompatible with the ordinary and increasingly declining cultivation world in the outside world. But at this critical moment, the two eighth-level top-grade ancestors in the sect formulated an extremely astonishing plan.

To put it simply, it is to arrange the "Twelve Yuanchen Myriad God-Descending Formation" and the "Twelve Cities of Heaven and Earth Evil Star-Gathering Formation" in the sky and underground respectively, to build a huge energy pipeline that connects the sky and the earth and is hundreds of miles thick, to draw the extraterritorial star energy and the underground Yin Sha energy to the surface, where they offset each other and continuously transform into regular energy.

They did it as soon as they thought of it. The Gushan Sword Sect, together with the nearby Lingxu Sword Sect, which had become much weaker due to the departure of the sect's founder, mobilized almost all the resources and manpower they could mobilize, and after decades of hard work, finally completed the construction of these two unprecedented huge magic arrays.

Although the lifespans of the two ancestors of Gushan and the only remaining eight realms of Lingxu had expired at that time, there was only one middle-grade eighth realm newly born in Gushan during the Linghuang era who presided over the formation. But in theory, the scale of the energy pipeline located in present-day Changling was enough to allow the cultivation world to usher in a true spiritual energy revival within a few decades.

However, something unexpected happened. After the two huge magic arrays began to officially operate, only a dozen days later, the orbits of the twelve Yuanchen golden men orbiting in low-Earth orbit deviated slightly, causing the guided and restrained star energy to surge violently.

However, in one day, except for the strongest eighth-level master, all the practitioners of Gushan Sword Sect and Lingxu Sword Sect were wiped out by a series of heavenly calamities such as star rays and Jinxuan Tianfeng.

The devastating thunderstorm swept across an area of ​​hundreds of miles centered on Changling, affecting a large number of surrounding practice sites. It also accumulated a huge amount of nitrogen fertilizer for the area, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the dynasty that would build its capital there in the future.

This man, the only remaining eighth-level powerful being in the entire sect, was the one who was later known as the last practitioner of the Gushan Sword Sect.

He spent the rest of his life in endless regret and searching for the reason why the Yuan Chen Formation went out of control. He no longer had any intention of continuing the sect's inheritance. He just slightly rebuilt the Lingxu Sword Gate nearby and left behind the legend of the Gushan Sword Treasure.

The current Lingxu Sword Sect is vague and incomplete about the sect's top-level inheritance involving the Eight Realms of Enlightenment. It has completely lost its ancient peak strength and is not very clear about the early history of the sect. It can only be traced back to a certain "ancestor of revival" whose name has never been revealed, and it was all due to that catastrophic event in the past.

However, apart from this, there is no record of what happened to the Three Emperors Sect and the Sword Tomb that caused them to disappear in later generations without leaving any trace. Seeing that the Lingxu Sword Sect was able to rebuild after suffering such a great disaster, it is probably not that simple.

"It's a pity that the effort was wasted at the last moment." After deciphering the text in the Yuanchen Golden Man's eyes and learning about this forgotten history, Zhao Qing couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and roughly guessed the reason why the magic circle went wrong: the relativistic effect was not taken into account in the calculation.

As ancient people, the practitioners of the Gushan Sword Sect had already summarized the law of universal gravitation, Kepler's three laws, etc. with their keen observation and perception. However, they did not have the concept of relativity after all, and failed to realize that gravitational fields and high-speed moving objects would cause changes in space and time, and that mass, length, and time would change accordingly.

The "Twelve Yuanchen Universal Divine Array" arranged by the Gushan Sword Sect uses the twelve Yuanchen golden men in near-Earth orbit as the array base. They fly around the Earth at high speed while drawing in the vital energy of the stars outside the domain, making them converge above Changling and be sucked down by the twelve Disha golden men.

Zhao Qing thought to himself that each of the Yuanchen golden men had its own timing and calibration array hub inside. However, under the dual effects of gravity and high speed, a microsecond timing error would occur every day. If it could not be corrected in time, it would inevitably affect the synergy between the golden men and cause the array to gradually collapse.

"If the Gushan Sword Sect had taken this into consideration back then, or had changed to another calibration method so that the 'Twelve Yuanchen Universal Array' could be maintained for a long time, the history of the cultivation world would have been completely different." She sighed, expressing deep sympathy and regret for the Gushan ancestors who had sacrificed their lives.

In fact, with the long lifespan of the last disciple of Gushan who reached the eighth realm, he might have lived to the day when the Dharma Ending Spirit Exhaustion came to an end and the dawn of spiritual revival came. By then, he would have been heartbroken and alone. How dejected and sad would he feel when he saw everything he had given turned into a joke?

It can be imagined that the broken stele left in the last house on Gushan Mountain in Changling, which was destroyed by Wang Jingmeng, has no other inheritance except the "Gushan Great Sadness Sword". It is a reflection of this person's state of mind for the rest of his life, a summary of his life experience and a warning to future generations.

The stars are misaligned and Yuan Chen is angry; the thunderstorm rages and destroys the lonely mountain.

The sword hides the sorrow and hatred for eternity, the broken stele is covered with frost and carries the eternal memories.

The disciples of Gushan sat in the dark on the divine platform, and wept several times facing the cold moon.

The former prosperity has dissipated like mist, and the joy of the heyday has turned to dust.

The deserted steps are covered with dense moss and there is no trace of people. The wind is blowing and the birds are sleeping in the old house.

I recall that all my fellow students have turned into dust, leaving me alone to guard the wilderness.

Who can I tell about my regrets in my life? I drink a cup of wine all night long to dispel my sorrow.

In fact, in a sense, the main world is undoubtedly in the spiritual and wild era. The current concentration and activity of vitality are much lower than those in the current Sword Dynasty world. It is far from comparable to the glory of the three generations of Yu, Xia and Shang and the ancient mythology period. Cultivation seems quite difficult.

However, even if there is no spiritual energy at all, the strength training system can still be practiced normally. Although the progress will be significantly slowed down without the nourishment of vital energy and the refining of spiritual medicine, if one can successfully cultivate to the level of divine strength, there is still hope of breaking through to the sixth qi realm of self-generated vital energy. This shows the advancement and adaptability of the system.

Similarly, in addition to methods like the Changsheng Jue that transform light into Qi, the main world's Qi training is said to also have a means of practicing Qi that relies entirely on the refined Qi of ordinary plants and trees. It is also a heritage that can be maintained in the Age of Absolute Spirits, let alone the mere Linghuang.

But no matter how you put it, the two great magic formations of the Gushan Sword Sect can be regarded as two of the greatest creations in the world history of the Sword Dynasty. No matter in depth or breadth, they are not inferior to those super projects of the You Dynasty. Moreover, they also allow Zhao Qing to glimpse a lot of important information about the cultivation of the Eight Realms.

Different from the Black Water Scripture which only knew how to simply and crudely expand the total amount of true essence and divine consciousness and enhance the strength of both after breaking through to the eighth realm of enlightenment, the top practitioners of the Gushan Sword Sect, even if they are not as good as the Ghost Emperor in the past, are at least better than the God Generals of the Dead Land, and have a clear main cultivation direction of the eighth realm.

After Zhao Qing finished reading the historical records "engraved" on the surface of the Yuanchen Golden Man's pupils, she was basically certain that the "Da Dao Pattern", a unique divine pattern woven with divine thoughts and true essence, which represented the powerful people's comprehension of the vital energy of heaven and earth and the laws of heaven and earth, could be said to be the key to this realm.

Just as the sixth realm's main focus is on refining the natal object, the seventh realm's main focus is on using the natal true essence to attract the external heaven and earth energy on a large scale. It is an advancement based on the former. When it comes to the eighth realm's enlightenment, "natal" is still an extremely core concept.

To be specific, it is to use the "Dao Dharma Pattern" to define the unique law of vital energy, refine the world into an existence similar to the embryo of a magic weapon, and transform it into a part of one's own natal object, which can be stored in the sea of ​​​​qi and changed freely. It can be called "natal Dharma form" and "Dao Dharma domain".

Just like a middle-grade seventh realm master without a natal object may not be able to defeat an ordinary lower-grade seventh realm master who has refined a powerful natal object, a lower-grade eighth realm master who has condensed multiple great Dao patterns in his "natal Dharma form" is no less powerful than a middle-grade eighth realm master who only knows how to practice hard to accumulate true essence, and can definitely defeat them in battle.

According to Zhao Qing's comprehension and deduction, the Yuanchen golden man that she and Zhao Xiangfei and others discovered now, the countless phantoms of stars that it manifests, and the various runes curled up inside it, all represent a state of the operation of the heaven and earth in the Qi Tian realm itself. All put together, they are the dynamic changes of several great Dao patterns.

This kind of profound and mysterious pattern can be said to encompass the heaven and earth in one corner and gather all things in an instant. Without entering the eighth realm to open the sky, there is no possibility of successful cultivation at all. Even if you reach this realm, only a peerless genius can comprehend it thoroughly, and mediocre people will never be able to achieve it in their lifetime.

Why is it so difficult? Just look at the star runes in the projection of the galaxy, there are 12^8 of them, and you can see that if you are not a person with great perseverance and wisdom, and have enough luck, how can you grasp the mysterious rules and exhaust the mysteries?

Just relying on the clumsy method to comprehend one rune at a time, even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, you may not be able to get a glimpse of the full picture. What's more, you have to combine these complicated runes with the laws of vital energy and weave them into your own Dao patterns. The difficulty is so great that it is simply daunting.

Normally, one who can fly up to the starry sky and observe the Yuanchen Golden Man up close must be a cultivator of the eighth realm. After browsing, one can gain something. However, for a weakling who is only a seventh realm master, it is extremely difficult to gain anything from it. Once addicted to it, he will gradually die because of the loss of his mind.

Only someone like Zhao Qing has a chance to comprehend and condense the prototype of the Great Dao Pattern before reaching the eighth realm. Otherwise, even if Ding Ning is the reincarnation of Wang Jingmeng, due to the limitations of his cultivation level, he can only comprehend a corner of the Great Dao Pattern at most.

In fact, according to her judgment, this thing is essentially a collection of "Tao rhyme", which is one of the mysterious types of Qi that can be collected and refined during the practice of the Six Qi Realms. It can be used as a resource to increase one's cultivation at this stage.

There are also differences in high and low, strong and weak among the "Dao Dharma Patterns", and as personal understanding increases, they can be intertwined and integrated with more and more Taos and principles, constantly expanding the upper limit of their power.

"In the message left by the last disciple of Gushan, there are several types of 'Dao Fawen' involved in the twelve Yuanchen golden men, such as 'Xingxiu Xuanji', 'Yuanchen Zhisui', 'Lingxu Guiji', 'Wulian Tianlun', etc. I wonder how many strands of Dao rhyme can be converted into each of them?"

Zhao Qing secretly evaluated in his mind and planned to collect the remaining 23 golden men in the sky and underground. He also planned to let "Flying Sky" try to drag the golden men back to the ground. Otherwise, it would be impossible to fully comprehend the mysterious artistic conception and Taoism contained in them just by relying on photos.

Her practice before the Eight Realms of Qi Tian and the Six Qi Realm had already been complete and perfect. She only needed to wait for time to break through safely. Her focus now was on the subsequent practice. Collecting the scapegoat golden talisman, the Yuanchen golden man and other objects related to the Eight Realms would be the key matters in the future.

Of course, according to Zhao Qing's classification, there are not only the Eight Realms of Enlightenment, the Seventh Realm of Moving Mountains also belongs to the category of the Six Qi Realms, and Dao rhyme can also be collected, but the amount harvested is less - this is why she wants to design to obtain the innate vitality of many masters.

"So, the real Lonely Mountain Sword Collection should still be located somewhere in the Changling area."

Zhao Qing analyzed the information he knew: "But the jade talisman in Baishan Sailor's hand only contains a sword technique that can cause earthquakes. It is at most a small part of the Lonely Mountain Sword Collection that has been lost."

"If we want to find clues to the twelve golden statues of the Earthly Evils buried underground, Yuanwu should be the most likely person to know about it. After all, the Qin Dynasty has built its capital in Changling for a hundred years, and the Qin royal family's excavation and utilization of the ancient relics here should not be underestimated."

Perhaps some of the old powerful families in Changling once held the secret of the Gushan Sword Sect that even the Qin royal family did not know. However, after the reform, the four most powerful families in Changling, namely Gongsun, Lu, Li and Nangong, were all destroyed by the armies led by Yuan Wu and Zheng Xiu. So such secrets most likely fell into the hands of the latter.

Considering that Zheng Xiu spent a lot of effort trying every means to seize the Gushan sword treasure from Bai Shanshui, but was obviously kept in the dark, then Yuan Wu, this guy who hid himself very well, most likely made a fortune in silence and really got at least part of the Gushan treasure.

In the original plot, he took advantage of the opportunity to build the Afang Palace to secretly arrange some magic arrays involving giant golden men. At least one of them clearly came from the former Solitary Mountain. He hoped to use it to resist external attacks at the eighth level and delay the day of his own demise.

...(End of chapter)