Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Mingyue's face turned pale, clearly under immense pressure.

Although that trace of nightmare origin was faint, its essence was extremely strange. It was as if it were an aggregation of negative emotions and the deepest nightmares from all realms, filthy and twisted, with the terrifying characteristic of assimilating everything. It was more like a virus of "Dao", which eroded Mingyue's divine soul in the opposite direction along the chaotic puppet pattern.

In an instant, Mingyue's sea of ​​consciousness churned, and countless illusions surfaced in her golden sea of ​​divine soul: her as a puppet, adrift in the cold, lifeless galaxy for billions of years, her nascent intelligence emerging, her bewilderment and fear in the face of an unfamiliar world; the tragic scene of her puppet army shattering one by one in the annihilation of the laws...

These are all memories that Mingyue Daoxin was unwilling to touch in the deepest part of his heart, but now they are being magnified infinitely by the nightmare, turning into sharp blades that repeatedly cut through Mingyue's will.

"A mere inner demon dares to shake my Dao heart!"

Her bright, golden eyes were bloodshot, and a trickle of golden blood tears spilled from the corner of her eye. But her gaze grew ever more resolute, like eternal, unyielding ice.

The Chaos Seed spun rapidly in the center of the sea of ​​consciousness, radiating pure chaotic light that shattered illusion after illusion.

As the master of the Chaos Puppet Path, her will was forged from divine metal, and she was most adept at order and control; how could she be swayed by chaos? However, the erosion of the Nightmare's origin was not limited to her soul.

Outside, the enormous cage formed by the Chaos God of Extinction began to tremble violently. Strange dark purple patterns began to grow on the puppet laws that constituted the cage, as if divine metal was rusting, and order was being polluted and disintegrated.

At the bottom of the Ember Sea, the ancestral spirit of the Burning Heaven, which had just been suppressed, showed signs of rekindling its ferocious power in its giant lava eye! Clearly, the source of the Nightmare was trying to regain control.

With this ebb and flow, the pressure on Mingyue increased exponentially. Her body trembled slightly, and her long platinum hair moved without wind, each strand seemingly bearing the weight of a mountain.

The moon trembled slightly, its long white hair moving without wind, each strand seemingly bearing the weight of a mountain.

Xiao Jingtian, Zhenhai Wang, and the others were terrified. The eerie aura emanating from Mingyue chilled their very souls; even a single glance was like falling into a nightmare.

“Lord Mingyue…” Xiao Jingtian clenched his fist, but was powerless to intervene. This was a battle at the level of origin, far beyond their reach.

Just as the moon began to wane and was on the verge of collapse, Li Mu, who had been standing silently in the void as if detached from the situation, finally made his move.

Li Mu did not display any earth-shattering power or unleash any world-destroying divine abilities. He simply raised his hand calmly, pointing his fingers like a sword, and gently tapped the air.

This point seems to fall on the source of time and the veins of the Great Dao.

A wisp of seemingly insignificant yet containing the chaotic principles of birth, death, and the return of all things to oneness, disregarded the barriers of time and space, silently traversed thousands of miles, and entered the center of Mingyue's brow.

"Om..."

A Daoist melody, as if from the very beginning of chaos, resounded in Mingyue's sea of ​​consciousness.

The wisp of Dao entered the body and transformed into an ancient gray sword. The sword had no edge and flowed with the supreme intent of severing cause and effect and isolating all laws. It did not sever the soul or destroy illusions, but only aimed at the nightmare origin that was entangled with the chaotic Dao seed, and gently slashed it.

With a single stroke, it stands like a chasm.

The causal thread that had been entangled for countless eras between the Nightmare Origin and the Burning Heaven Ancestral Spirit was cleanly and decisively severed by this sword!
"Roar?"

At the bottom of the Ember Sea, the Ancestral Spirit of Burning Heaven let out a bewildered roar. The overwhelming rage and savagery in the giant lava eye dissipated like a bubble, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and the weariness of billions of years originating from the depths of the soul.

Like a giant awakening from a long nightmare, high in the sky, the nightmare origin that had been forcibly extracted lost its foundation and let out a shriek of resentment before being completely devoured and suppressed by the Chaos Dao Seed!

On the cage formed by the Chaos God of Ashes, the dark purple rust receded like a tide, returning to its pure dark gold luster, its power even surpassing that of the past.

"receive!"

Seizing the fleeting opportunity, Mingyue gave a soft shout.

The Chaos Cage suddenly contracted, compressing and organizing all the scattered power of the Ancestral Spirit. Then, it transformed into a stream of light and returned to the body of the Ember God. The ten-thousand-foot-tall divine body slowly dissipated, returning to a torrent of chaotic metal and Ember Fire energy, which swept back to the Moon's side.

The crisis has finally been resolved.

In the sky, the crimson, blood-red Burning Heaven Prison Domain, having lost the support of its ancestral spirit, shattered like a mirror, dissipating into a shower of light. The unique greyish-white warm light of the Ash Realm once again bathed the earth.

Deep within the Ember Sea, the giant lava eye gazed intently at Li Mu in the void, its eyes no longer filled with destruction, but with awe.

Immediately, the giant eye slowly closed, carrying the entire will of the ancestral spirit into the bottom of the sea of ​​embers, where it entered a truly peaceful slumber.

It surrendered.

High in the sky, the torrent of puppets converged upon her, and the bright moon could no longer support her. Her figure swayed, her golden eyes dimmed, and she fell like a kite with a broken string.

Before it even touched the ground, a gentle, chaotic current of energy appeared out of thin air, like a warm, gentle hand that steadily held up the bright moon and sent it back to the deck of the Rift Universe.

Li Mu had silently appeared beside Mingyue.

"My lord!" Mingyue tried to rise and bow, but even her knuckles were too heavy to move. The battle just now had exhausted Mingyue's soul and essence.

"Calm your mind and regulate your breathing." Li Mu said calmly, flicking his finger, and a drop of milky white liquid, shimmering with a chaotic luster, disappeared into Mingyue's brow.

This is the primordial sap of the Chaos Dao Tree, containing the purest life Dao aura. As the droplets entered her body, Mingyue's pale face quickly regained its color, her tense body relaxed, and she entered a deep state of recovery.

Li Mu's gaze swept past the bright moon, down to the scarred yet vibrant land below, and to the cultivators who had survived the calamity and were now looking up to him in awe.

"Xiao Jingtian".

"Your subordinate is here!" Xiao Jingtian bowed hurriedly.

"This realm is now settled, and the ancestral spirits have submitted." Li Mu's voice resounded throughout the land: "The foundation has been laid, and everything awaits rebuilding. From now on, you will be fully responsible for all matters of management."

"As you command, Master!" Xiao Jingtian replied solemnly, his heart surging with emotion, "I will certainly live up to your trust and transform this realm into the most solid foundation of the Immortal Dynasty!"

Li Mu nodded slightly, said no more, and disappeared without a trace. Only the vast Daoist charm that soothed all things still lingered in everyone's hearts.

Xiao Jingtian rose and surveyed his surroundings. Though the ancestral spirit had submitted, its remaining power still permeated the heavens and earth. Within the Sea of ​​Ashes, countless fire demons and vengeful spirits stirred restlessly.

The immediate priority is to establish a solid core and completely suppress this realm.

"Order: Take the 'Heavenly Core' ley line node and erect a 'Boundary Marker'!"

At the order, several array masters carried the hundred-foot-tall Chaos Star Iron Tablet and flew towards the roots of the Dao Tree.

"combine!"

As the incantation was cast, the boundary marker crashed to the ground, connecting with the core energy of the Earth's core. Instantly, the entire Xuan Yuan Jin Jie's earth veins seemed to be nailed down, and a grand will belonging to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty radiated out from the center of the marker.

"Using the boundary marker as a base, and in conjunction with the Ember Puppets under Bright Moon's command, we will build the 'Chaos Ember City'!"

The remaining thousands of Chaos Ember Puppets moved at the command, transforming into highly efficient craftsmen, moving divine metal, cutting boulders, and carving array patterns... A magnificent war city rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye. The city walls towered high, the puppet patterns and array lights intertwined, the layout subtly conforming to the heavens, echoing the thirty-six Heavenly Refining Towers in formation.

“Draw the earth’s fiery magma into the city’s central hub and erect the ‘Emberfire Refining Tower’!”

This is the core of Xiao Jingtian's strategy.

A colossal tower rises majestically in the heart of the city, its interior complex and inscribed with countless transformation runes.

"Open!" The earth cracked open, and milky white lava, as if tamed by a dragon, surged into the bottom of the tower.

"boom--"

The colossal tower roared, and runes lit up layer by layer. The magma was transformed and purified through each layer into "Chaotic Ember Flame," which contained the laws of fire and the aura of chaos.

"Reporting to the General!" the cultivator excitedly reported, "The Refining Tower is complete! Using this flame as a source, we can mass-produce fire-resistant magical artifacts and armor, and even construct 'Ember Flame Cultivation Chambers' for soldiers to temper their bodies and comprehend the Dao, increasing their cultivation speed by 30%!"

"Good!" Xiao Jingtian clapped his hands and laughed.

This is the true essence of the "farming" strategy—transforming the resources of an entire realm for one's own use, turning the frontline battlefield into a sustainable foundation. With the City of Ashes and the Tower of Refinement, the Xuan Yuan Ashes Realm truly becomes a strategic base.

Deep within the void, Li Mu's figure reappeared. He looked down at the majestic city, his eyes filled with approval.

But this is not enough.

The Heavenly Dao of this realm is fragmented and its laws are in chaos. Even with the Chaos Dao Tree tidying it up, its foundation remains unstable. To become fertile soil, it still needs one final step.

Li Mu spread his palms, and several faintly glowing points of light emerged from his palms. These were the "residual essence of the Dao Fruit" he had refined after slaying the Fire Elemental Demon. Each one contained the Demon's lifelong understanding of the Great Dao of Fire.

For Li Mu, this item was of little use, but for others it was an unparalleled treasure.

Li Mu flicked his fingers lightly.

The light points transformed into streams, silently merging into the earth's veins, flowing along the roots of the Chaos Tree towards the four directions of the Ash Realm.

"Rumble..."

The whole world seemed to murmur with satisfaction.

Deep within the earth's veins, the transformation of the laws accelerated dramatically. The originally violent path of destruction was neutralized and guided by the residual energy of the Dao Fruit, turning towards positive fire-elemental paths such as "Nirvana," "Refining," and "Growth."

The branches and leaves of the Chaos Dao tree stretched out, and its Daoist aura became more refined. On the scorched earth, the withered Chaos Fire Lotus bloomed again at an even faster pace, and the eerie light in the lotus heart was less deathly still and more full of vitality.

Even the chaotic flames within the Emberfire Refining Tower became increasingly vibrant, the violent and toxic energy of fire completely swept away, leaving only the pure power of creation and destruction.

After finishing his task, Li Mu disappeared again.

Li Mu was unaware that this casual act would, ten thousand years later, transform this realm into a renowned holy land for fire-elemental spiritual plants and weapon crafting. But that's a story for another time.

……

Time flies, and three hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Chaos City had long been built and expanded, becoming a giant city.

Within the city, cultivators moved about in an orderly fashion. Outside the city, the scorched earth was being cultivated, and various exotic fire-infused spiritual plants grew under the nourishment of the array. The Xuan Yuan Jin Realm was now thriving.

The city lord's mansion is a secret chamber, heavily guarded.

The bright moon, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened its eyes.

"Om-"

The instant she opened her eyes, her golden pupils seemed to contain the birth and death of billions of stars, and the endless turning of gears, constructing and destroying countless puppet worlds. A terrifying aura that blended order and chaos flashed out from Mingyue's body.

The laws governing the entire secret chamber were instantly distorted and reshaped, and everything seemed to want to become components of a puppet.

The aura arrived quickly and vanished just as fast. The strange phenomenon of Mingyue's golden eyes subsided, returning to its usual cool and calm state.

The bright moon has emerged from the pass.

After three hundred years of seclusion, aided by the Chaos Origin Elixir bestowed by Li Mu, his injuries had long since healed. His greatest gain, however, was the wisp of "Nightmare Origin" suppressed within his Dao Seed.

This substance is highly poisonous to others, but to Mingyue, who cultivates the Chaos Puppet Path, it is an immense blessing!

Chaos encompasses all things, and the Puppet Way governs everything.

Over the course of three hundred years, Mingyue used the Chaos Dao Seed as a furnace and the Puppet Dao Law as a hammer to thoroughly refine and analyze this wisp of Nightmare Origin, integrating its characteristics of "distortion," "contamination," and "control over people's hearts" into his own Dao.

After destruction comes construction. Mingyue's Chaos Puppet Dao has finally taken a crucial step, breaking through the ninth-order acquired limit and advancing to the "Dao Realm"!
"Chaotic Puppet Domain".

The bright moon whispers, extending a delicate hand.

On the palm of his hand, a miniature realm quietly unfolded, in which mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, and the stars were all composed of intricate puppet components, operating according to a profound order.

In this realm, the bright moon is the sole creator!
This domain can summon countless puppets at any time and forcibly transform real-world areas into puppet realms. All non-orderly and non-puppet existences within the domain are subject to extreme suppression, and some are even assimilated into puppets by the bright moon.

This is the greatest gain she made from this period of seclusion.

Mingyue got up and pushed open the door. Sunlight streamed in, making her long, silvery-white hair gleam. Her aura was even more profound and restrained than it had been three hundred years ago.

Xiao Jingtian, who was waiting outside the door, was amazed and quickly stepped forward to bow: "Congratulations on your great progress in cultivation, Lord Mingyue!"

"General Xiao, you're too kind." Mingyue nodded slightly. "How is the situation within the realm?"

"Thanks to the blessings of Master and Lord, everything is going smoothly." Xiao Jingtian's spirits lifted. "The Chaos Ember City has taken shape, the Emberfire Refining Tower burns day and night, and the magical artifacts and resources it produces are already benefiting the Immortal Dynasty. However..."

After a pause, Xiao Jingtian changed the subject, his expression turning serious, and said, "Deep within the Ember Sea and in some broken spaces at the edge of the realm, there are still a large number of fire demon lairs that awakened during the ancestral spirits' riot. These fire demons are fearless and extremely difficult to eradicate. I have sent large armies to encircle and suppress them several times, but the losses have been considerable and progress has been slow."

"The Fire Demon's lair..." A cold fighting spirit flashed in Mingyue's golden eyes: "Perfect, let's test my new methods."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mingyue took a step forward and arrived at the highest heaven.

"Today, I will cleanse the universe of the Ashes Realm!"

The voice was still ringing in his ears when he transformed into a streak of light and shot towards the most stubborn fire demon's lair.

As Xiao Jingtian gazed at his retreating figure, he sensed an aura that was infinitely stronger than it had been three hundred years ago. Overwhelmed with awe, he was also filled with boundless pride.

With such a powerful figure in charge, what is there to worry about in the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm!
On that day, astonishing news spread throughout the entire Chaos City.

The massive army of fire demons, which had once caused a 10,000-strong elite legion of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty to retreat in vain, along with the thirteen fire demon lords at the core of their lair who were comparable to the Divine Platform Realm, were all wiped out by Lord Mingyue, who had emerged from seclusion, in just one hour!
Legend has it that the entire Abyss of Vengeful Fire was once shrouded in a mysterious domain. Within this domain, the earth transformed into spinning gears, the sky into a cold, metallic dome, and countless fire demons were all turned into emotionless battle puppets, who then turned on their own kind.

On that day, all the cultivators in the entire Ash Realm witnessed the terror of Lord Mingyue.

Over the next month, Mingyue personally took action, sweeping away all the remaining fire demon lairs in the Ash Realm with lightning speed.

Then, Mingyue used her newly comprehended power of the "Chaotic Puppet Domain" to delve into the earth's veins and completely stabilize the thirty-six key earth vein nodes with the Puppet Dao Law, transforming them into thirty-six puppet fortresses that would never fall.

From then on, the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm was free from internal troubles and truly became a peaceful and fertile land. (End of Chapter)