Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Mingyue led the Illusionary Puppet Guards and the Sky Patrol Guards at a rapid pace to the border of the Three Realms.

The "Erosion Rift" torn open by the Ancient Realm of Eclipse continues to spread, its dark, corrosive power writhing like a living creature, attempting to corrupt the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree that extend here. The Dao patterns on the surface of the roots flicker, stubbornly resisting the strange power that seeks to corrupt all Daos from the very source of the laws.

"Start the formation!"

With a sharp shout, Mingyue's silver hair flew through the chaotic spiritual currents. She formed hand seals, and the Illusionary Puppet Guards and Sky Patrol Guards behind her moved in response, beams of divine light soaring into the sky and connecting all directions.

The "Four Realms Joint Defense Formation" started operating with a roar!
The illusory image of the Golden Puppet Realm's Myriad Mechanical Barrier materialized out of thin air, its thick metallic sheen transforming into an indestructible shield, blocking the forefront of the erosion; the Xuan Yuan Ash Realm's ash fire surged from the void, blazing and violent, condensing into billions of fire spears, actively piercing the churning darkness; the Time Ruins Realm's temporal chains, like invisible warp and weft, intertwined and forcibly slowed the flow of time in that area, curbing the spread of erosion; and the Illusionary Spirit Realm's mental barrier, like a light veil and mist, enveloped the entire area, cleansing away the pervasive spiritual pollution.

For the first time, the laws of the four realms worked together under the Chaos Dao Tree veins built by Li Mu to defend against the enemy. Golden light, firelight, ripples of time, and the clear light of thoughts intertwined to form a magnificent yet dangerous law domain, which barely managed to keep the first wave of erosion from the Ancient Realm of the Eclipse Moon outside the realm.

The Rift Universe hovered behind the great formation. Xiao Jingtian watched the battle intently, and just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a sudden change occurred!

In the direction of the Illusionary Realm, the originally stable mental barrier suddenly rippled violently, and ominous gray spots appeared inside.

"Oh no! Something has sneaked in!"

A Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the node of the Illusionary Spirit Realm urgently reported this.

Mingyue's golden eyes sharpened, and his divine sense swept across the illusory realm. He saw several extremely faint phantoms, like ink drops falling into water, rapidly moving around the foundation of the mental barrier. Their forms were uncertain, like shadows and smoke. Wherever they passed, the pure mental power was stained with corrosive ash, and the barrier structure gradually became weak.

“The Shadow Eclipse Demon…” Mingyue recognized the creature at a glance. This was a bizarre demon bred in the Ancient Realm of Eclipse Moon. It had no physical form and was adept at eroding energy cores and law structures, especially at breaking through mental barriers.

They dared to bypass the main battlefield and go straight into the "softest" part of the joint defense formation—the heart of the Phantom Realm!

"This place is under your command. Stabilize the line!" Mingyue left these words to the patrol guard general beside her, then her figure flickered and transformed into a silver streak of light, shooting straight towards the northern abyss of the Illusionary Spirit Realm.

The next instant, Mingyue appeared at the source of the mental barrier's turbulence. Sensing the approaching powerful enemy, the several Shadow Demons immediately abandoned their erosion, turning into wisps of gray smoke as they tried to scatter and escape.

"Want to go?"

Mingyue's eyes turned cold, and she spread her arms wide.

"Chaotic Puppet Domain, open!"

Centered on the bright moon, a realm woven from endless gears, cold laws, and dreamlike flowing light suddenly descended! Within the realm, the boundaries between reality and illusion blurred, and order was rebuilt.

The Shadow Demon was trapped in a quagmire, its speed suddenly slowed down, and its ability to become ethereal was also difficult to use under the suppression of the Chaos Puppet Domain.

"town!"

With a flick of her finger, Mingyue caused the chains of law within the Puppet Domain to soar like dragons, instantly binding the gray shadow. The Shadow Devourer shrieked silently, struggling frantically, its gray aura surging, attempting to defile the chains of law.

However, the Chaotic Puppet Domain, which blends the real and the illusory, and is further endowed with the Illusionary Spirit Origin by Li Mu, is extremely effective against spiritual energy bodies. The chaotic Dao patterns flowed on the chains of laws, and the power of the Nightmare was hidden within. Instead of being eroded, it was burned away like a branding iron, eroding the Shadow Demon's origin.

The gray mist rapidly dissipated, and the Shadow Demon's form gradually faded. Mingyue seized the opportunity; a flash of data appeared in her golden eyes as she manipulated a thin thread of puppet-like patterns formed from pure power of order, precisely piercing one of the Shadow Demon's cores.

"laugh!"

The fine threads trembled, forcibly extracting a wisp of extremely faint yet highly potent dark energy. That energy twisted like a living thing, radiating a sense of pure annihilation and nothingness.

—The Origin of Lunar Eclipse!
Almost instantly upon its source being stripped away, the Shadow Demon completely disintegrated. The rest were also annihilated under the strangulation of the chains of law.

Mingyue dared not delay, and immediately took a sealing talisman made of Chaos Jade Marrow, sealing the struggling eclipsing moon's essence within it. The talisman flashed with light, and finally stabilized.

"Quickly deliver this to its master!" Mingyue handed the talisman to a Phantom Puppet Guard who had followed closely behind. The guard accepted the order, his figure merging into the void as he sped towards the Chaos Treasure Palace.

……

The Chaos Treasure Palace, deep within the Spirit Garden.

Li Mu was discussing the Dao with Xue'er when he suddenly sensed something and looked up into the void. A stream of light pierced through the restrictions outside the mansion, fell into the garden, and transformed into the Illusionary Puppet Guard, who respectfully presented the sealing talisman.

"Master, Lord Mingyue has sent an urgent report: This is an alien source that was stripped from the body of the 'Shadow Eclipse Demon' that invaded the Illusionary Spirit Realm."

Li Mu took the talisman, lightly touched it with his fingertips, and the dark source was immediately drawn out, hovering in his palm. Xue'er also stared intently at it, her icy eyes reflecting that ominous energy.

"Such a pure sense of annihilation..." Xue'er murmured, a chill unconsciously spreading around her, as if instinctively resisting the power of nothingness.

Li Mu's gaze was calm as he carefully examined it. This source was not ordinary darkness or destruction, but rather a denial of "existence" itself, a manifestation of a law that sought to drag all things into ultimate nothingness. Its quality was extremely high, exuding an aura of ancient decay.

"The Ancient Realm of Lunar Eclipse... it really is following this path." Li Mu said calmly, "It maintains itself by devouring the foundations of all realms, like a malignant tumor parasitizing the starry sea."

With a slight thought, a wisp of chaotic energy overflowed from his fingertips, wrapping around the source of the Eclipse Moon like fine silk threads. Chaos, which encompasses all things, now resembled the most exquisite knife, dissecting the alien energy layer by layer.

The dark origin trembled violently, attempting to backfire and pollute the chaotic energy. However, Li Mu's control over the chaos had reached a state of perfection. As the energy swirled, he instead decomposed and peeled it away layer by layer.

Blurred images, reflected in the lake of my heart as energy is analyzed:

Endless smog shrouded the shattered continent. Nine dark, eclipsed moons hung high in the sky, casting a suffocating, gloomy light. The earth was crisscrossed with ravines, thick, murky currents devouring life. Countless twisted demonic figures traversed the smog, roaring as they tore apart and devoured fragments of laws and primordial light plundered from other realms to fill the decaying void of their own worlds. A vast and icy will enveloped the desolate land, filled with greed and hatred, seeking only to devour all "existence."

"Do you see that, Xue'er?" Li Mu said softly, the chaotic energy in his palm completely obliterating the source of the Moon Eclipse, turning it into nothingness. "This world has entered its end, its path is distorted, and only the desire to devour remains. Sensing the vast vitality and Dao charm gathered by our interconnected worlds, it is like a hungry beast smelling blood, and will never easily retreat."

Xue'er's expression turned grave: "So, the subsequent attacks will only intensify?"

“Indeed.” Li Mu nodded, his eyes deep. “Although this wisp of origin is faint, it has already revealed its roots. Its ‘Eclipse Law’ specifically corrupts all paths, turning existence into nothingness, posing a great threat to ordinary laws. It is already remarkable that Mingyue was able to withstand the first wave of attacks and even capture the origin.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “However, though this power is strange, it is not without a solution. Chaos can create all things, and it can also contain all things. Its path of annihilation and nothingness is precisely the opposite of creation and life, and it is also the opposite of destruction and rebirth. The key is how to use my ‘existence’ to suppress its ‘nothingness’.” Before he finished speaking, Li Mu pointed his fingers like a brush and used the principles of chaos as ink to outline profound patterns in the void—the solution he had deduced after analyzing the origin of the Eclipse Moon: there were array diagrams, talismans, and the key to operating supernatural powers.

"Pass this insight on to Mingyue and Xiao Jingtian." Li Mu condensed the information into a point of light and flicked it toward the standing puppet guard: "Instruct them to adjust the joint defense formation accordingly, focusing on strengthening the resistance to the 'Void' attribute, and to try to use the 'creation' of the embers and the 'reality' of the mind to erode the invading enemy in reverse."

"I will obey the decree!" The puppet guard caught the light and vanished instantly.

Xue'er looked at Li Mu, her eyes questioning, "Brother Li, do you need to go and oversee things personally?"

Li Mu shook his head slightly: "No need. Such trials are also an opportunity for them. The Four Realms are newly connected, and they need external pressure to temper their laws and hone their army. If I have to do everything myself, when will I be able to stand on my own?"

Li Mu's gaze swept across the void, seemingly piercing through endless barriers, landing on the three battlegrounds: "Moreover, this Eclipse Moon Ancient Realm is merely a slightly larger whetstone on our path to enlightenment."

……

The Northern Abyss of the Phantom Realm.

Upon receiving Li Mu's message, Mingyue's golden eyes suddenly lit up.

"I see... using the real to attack the unreal, using the existent to transform the nonexistent..."

She immediately ordered adjustments to the grand formation. The Barrier of Myriad Machines remained a shield, but the Dao patterns on its surface had been infused with the "order" power of the Void Realm, solidifying the foundation of its "existence." The Ember Spear contained a trace of "creation" essence refined from destruction; as it burned the darkness, it not only extinguished it but also sought to ignite a faint spark of life, disrupting the pure stillness of the Eclipse Moon's origin. The Barrier of Thought grew increasingly solid, emphasizing the true meaning of "I think, therefore I am," directly resisting the void will that denied existence.

The great array shone even brighter. Although it was still shaken by the dark waves, it was clearly stable. Occasionally, Shadow Demons or Corrupting Creatures were burned and forced back.

Mingyue personally led the charge at the forefront of the battle, her Chaotic Puppet Domain opening and closing intermittently to precisely suppress the lurking demons. Based on Li Mu's deductions, she continuously fine-tuned the attack methods of the Illusionary Puppet Guards, making their power of shifting between reality and illusion even more in line with the characteristics of the Eclipse Moon's origin.

The battle is currently at a stalemate. Although the erosion of the Ancient Realm of Eclipse has been contained, the rifts have not been healed, and the dark power continues to surge like an endless tide, one wave receding only to be followed by another rising.

On the Rift Universe, following Li Mu's guidance, Xiao Jingtian mobilized resources from the four realms and optimized the joint defense. He knew that this battle was likely to be a protracted affair. However, with his master's guidance and the profound foundation of the four realms linked together, his belief grew even stronger.

"Pass down the order: rotate shifts for rest and regrouping, and remain vigilant. The Eclipse Moon Ancient Realm has far more tricks up its sleeve; the real battle is yet to come!"

Not long after the order was given, on the western edge of the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm, outside the Ten Thousand Mechanism Barrier, within the enormous erosion rift, the dark power surged violently once more. A will far greater and more terrifying than before slowly descended.

Mingyue, Xiao Jingtian, and all the participating cultivators felt a chill run down their spines.

The Rift Universe hovered outside the western border of the Profound Abyss Realm. Xiao Jingtian gazed at the erosion rift that stretched across the void, his heart heavy. Dark power surged like a living thing, and in the viscous haze, a colossal shadow vaguely writhed, exuding a terrifying, decaying aura.

The Four Realms Joint Defense Array shimmered with light, its four principles of Golden Qi, Ember Fire, Time Sequence, and Mind Intertwined into a net, fiercely resisting the eroding torrent. However, the array walls trembled slightly under the continuous impact, emitting a low groan of unbearable strain.

"General, the Dao patterns on the third barrier on the west side have been worn down by more than 30%, and the embers cannot replenish them in time!" the monitoring cultivator reported urgently.

Xiao Jingxuan clenched his fists beneath his armor, about to mobilize his reserve spiritual energy, when a clear and cold divine thought suddenly entered his sea of ​​consciousness: "Hold your position firmly, lure it in three inches, use 'Time Lock' to slow its momentum, and wait for my command."

"It's Lord Mingyue!"

Xiao Jingtian's spirits lifted, and without hesitation, he transmitted his divine sense. The golden light on the surface of the myriad mechanical barriers in front of him slightly diminished, allowing the dark, corrosive power to advance a few more units. Almost simultaneously, the time-series chains hidden in the void silently wrapped around him, forcibly freezing the surging dark torrent for a moment.

In that instant, a figure in silver armor stepped through the void from the direction of the Illusionary Spirit Realm. Mingyue formed a hand seal with one hand, and five hundred Illusionary True Puppet Guards followed her like shadows. Suddenly, they scattered into countless flowing shadows and merged into the halo of the great array.

"The cycle of reality and illusion turns, and all laws return to stillness!" Chaotic Dao patterns suddenly lit up in Mingyue's golden eyes, and his hands pressed down sharply.

The entire Four Realms Joint Defense Array trembled violently. The four distinct Dao Principles suddenly merged, transforming into a chaotic and indistinct gray light domain. The dark power eroded by the Ancient Realm of Eclipse crashed into this domain, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea. The "Dao Principle of Nothingness" contained within it eroded and annihilated each other with the chaotic light domain, emitting a hissing sound that made one's teeth ache.

The immense will hidden behind the haze seemed to let out a muffled groan of surprise and anger, and the erosion slowed down.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Deep within the Chaos Treasure Palace, Li Mu stood quietly beneath the Chaos Dao Tree, a wisp of dark origin constantly twisting and struggling suspended in his palm. The Eclipse Moon Origin, enveloped by the chaotic energy at his fingertips, manifested countless intricate and eerie Dao patterns, containing the ultimate annihilation intent of "turning existence into nothingness".

"Devouring all laws and reversing cause and effect... that's quite a method."
.
Li Mu's gaze pierced through this wisp of origin, looking directly at its core. In his eyes, this dark energy was no longer merely a force of destruction; deep within it were countless broken causal lines, as well as a twisted law that greedily sucked the life force of all worlds to maintain its own existence.

With a slight thought, Li Mu's illusory image of the Chaos Dao Tree swayed behind him, and a crystal root reached into the void, following the faint connection between the origin and the distant Ancient World of Eclipse, traversing endless chaos, and quietly spreading a trace of perception over there.

In an instant, the scene flooded my heart.

Nine enormous, dark celestial bodies hung high above a desolate, shattered continent, radiating a dim, all-consuming light and heat. They were not real stars, but entities formed from the purest "Dao of Annihilation"—nine "Seeds of Annihilation"!
On the surface of the Dao Seed, countless agonizing and distorted faces appeared—the remnants of beings from the realms it had devoured, wailing in eternal annihilation. Like nine beating hearts, they transformed the primordial essence of all realms they absorbed into nourishment for this land of death through countless rifts in the erosion of the world.

"Based on nine seeds of annihilation, a graveyard leading to the end was constructed... The Heavenly Dao of this world has long been devoured by its own Dao principles, becoming an empty shell that only knows how to devour."

Li Mu withdrew his divine sense, his eyes revealing his understanding. This kind of being could not be destroyed by ordinary conquest. Its "Void Dao Principle" was almost instinctive, capable of corrupting all Daos and assimilating everything.

However, the Way of Chaos encompasses all things and can also give rise to all things.

Li Mu flicked his finger, and the wisp of Moon-Eroding Origin completely dissipated. Then, using his finger as a brush and the principles of Chaos as ink, he began to draw in the void before him. Countless profound runes flowed and died, gradually forming an incomparably complex array, yet at its core, a trace of reversal of life remained—the Chaos Reversal Array.

"Bright Moon." Li Mu's divine sense traversed the void and resounded directly through Bright Moon's sea of ​​consciousness, "Hold firm for three days and nights, let it erode, and show the enemy weakness. When its strength is exhausted, activate the two nodes of the great formation, 'Li Yuan' in the northwest and 'Kan Xu' in the southeast, and set up this formation."

The array diagram and a chaotic rune containing supreme will were then transmitted.

"When setting up the formation, use your Illusionary Puppet Guard as a guide, combining the real and the illusory, to quietly imprint this formation on the edge of the rift, without letting the other side notice. Once this formation is complete, it can temporarily reverse its corrosive power, turning its 'nothingness' into resources for my 'chaos,' and further reveal the reality within its realm."

"I obey Master's decree!" Mingyue responded, her attention diverted from the fierce battle. A resolute glint flashed in her golden eyes, and she immediately adjusted her tactics. The light of the Four Realms Joint Defense Array gradually subsided, seemingly retreating step by step under the relentless onslaught of the Eclipse Moon Ancient Realm. In reality, however, she secretly concentrated most of her power at the two nodes indicated by Li Mu. Countless tiny, dust-like chaotic array patterns, under the cover of the Illusionary Puppet Guards' shifting between reality and illusion, silently merged into the edge structure of the boundary wall's cracks. (End of Chapter)