Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Li Mu sat cross-legged, his hands forming a mudra.

The Chaos Dao Tree trembled violently, and the Primordial Dao Fruits on its branches shone brightly, absorbing the three clusters of Dao Source.
The refining process has officially begun!
The azure-green life force, like a torrent bursting its banks, surged into the meridians of the Chaos Dao Tree. Li Mu felt a throbbing pain in his acupoints. The life force flowed too rapidly, accumulating in his meridians and colliding with the unresolved thunderous Dao intent, causing his Dao foundation to tremble slightly.

The Void White Origin followed closely behind, and the ripples of spacetime disturbance spread out. A single thought felt like ten thousand years, and ten thousand years felt like a moment. Li Mu's Dao Heart swayed, and the refining rhythm became chaotic, causing his internal energy circulation to become sluggish.

Dark nightmares surged into the heart, and countless phantoms of inner demons rushed straight to the soul along the Daoist rhythm, stirring up the seven emotions and six desires.

Li Mu's Dao heart was firm and steady, but at this moment, he was injured and his mind was already weak. He was slightly disoriented by this shock.

The three sources, when refined together, unleash a powerful external force that surges like a tidal wave, impacting the already unstable foundation of the Chaos Dao.

Li Mu's face gradually paled, and the gray light around him flickered erratically. Sometimes it burst forth with azure vitality, sometimes it rippled with ethereal white light, and sometimes it rolled with dark mist. His Daoist rhythm was disordered, and his Qi fluctuated, completely triggering the injury to his Dao.

On the surface of the Chaos Dao Fruit, the newly fused purple lightning patterns surged wildly, colliding violently with the surging life force, void, and nightmare sources. The Dao Fruit trembled violently, and fine cracks appeared on its surface.

The three Dao Ancestors stood silently in the void, watching with smiles.

The Azure Origin Dao Ancestor's eyes shimmered with emerald light as he smiled and praised, "Fellow Daoist's Chaotic Dao Rhyme is indeed profound, and the speed at which you absorb the source is astonishing."

Dao Ancestor You Guang nodded repeatedly, praising in a playful tone: "Refining the three origins simultaneously, you handle heavy tasks with ease; the name of the Chaos Great Dao is truly well-deserved."

The Night-Scented Daoist Ancestor chuckled hoarsely, "Fellow Daoist Li, you seem to be in a bad mood? Is it because you've been refining too hastily? Do you need my assistance?"

Li Mu closed his eyes and did not answer, focusing all his energy on circulating the Chaos Dao Rhyme in an attempt to stabilize his Dao foundation.

The three Dao Ancestors exchanged a glance, their smiles deepening.

The Dao Ancestor Qingyuan advised with slight concern, "Fellow Daoist Li, do not be too hasty. Refining the external source should be done gradually."

Dao Ancestor You Guang looked unconvinced and praised, "Fellow Daoist Li's foundation in the Chaos Great Dao is profound. He will be able to refine our Dao Source in just a few days!"

“Indeed! Fellow Daoist Qingyuan need not worry!” Daoist Yeyan nodded and smiled.

The auras of the three Dao Ancestors seemed to linger around Li Mu, their expressions of admiration growing stronger, a cold glint flashing deep in their eyes as they quietly activated the wisp of their natal imprint left in their Dao Source.

The Azure Dao Source suddenly "grew wildly," causing the blood and spiritual energy within Li Mu's body to go out of control and rampage; the Void Dao Source spread faster, attempting to "exile" Li Mu's Dao body to the spacetime labyrinth, and the Nightmare Dao Source condensed into billions of mental demon illusions, shrieking and howling within Li Mu's Dao soul, pulling at his sanity.

Internal and external troubles struck simultaneously!
Li Mu clenched his teeth, forcibly stabilizing his almost collapsing mind.

In the blink of an eye, Li Mu focused his mind on the thirty-six radiant Chaos Dao Leaves on the branch of the Chaos Dao Tree. These were thirty-six carefully cultivated boundary embryos, containing the Dao foundations of Xue'er, Xiao Jin, Mingyue, and other close relatives. They were connected to the origin of the Chaos Dao Tree and formed their own cycle!
"Disperse!"

Li Mu resolutely activated the power, forcibly diverting and guiding the five streams of external origins from the Dao Fruit, dispersing them towards the thirty-six realm embryos!
Li Mu did not transfer the complete origin of the heretical path, as that would have caused the world embryo to burst and harm Xue'er and the others. However, the aftershocks of the Daoist rhyme and the disordered laws arising from the conflict could be shared and digested by the thirty-six worlds through the Chaos Dao Tree as a bridge.

This move is extremely dangerous, as it is tantamount to "infecting" one's own Dao injury to the derived realm. However, it is currently the only way to temporarily slow down the collapse of the Dao fruit.

The next moment, the branches and leaves of the Chaos Dao Tree trembled, and countless tiny void cracks suddenly appeared in the sky above the vast ice and snow fox realm of the Eastern Chaos Dao Tree, with cold winds blowing backward and the celestial phenomena in disarray.
In the Southern Chaos Dao Leaf - Vajra Ape Realm, the earth veins of the Hundred Thousand Mountains roared, and countless rocks inexplicably sprouted emerald green vines that frantically entwined the mountain bodies.
In the Western Chaos Dao Leaf - Myriad Manifestations Puppet Realm, a monstrous wave surged within the sea of ​​data light, countless puppet runes intertwined in chaos, and Mingyue let out a muffled groan as cracks appeared on the surface of the puppet's body...

At this moment, Xue'er, Xiao Jin, Mingyue and other realm masters all sensed a vast, chaotic external force surging from the depths of their realm's origin, each with its own unique Dao essence.

They were unaware of the reason, but knew that Li Mu had encountered an accident. Instinctively, they activated the boundary seal with all their might, mobilizing a boundary source to suppress, guide, and resolve these invading chaotic Dao rhythms, in support of Li Mu.

Xue'er's nine tails swayed together, activating the Nine Extreme Cold Meridians, which froze and shattered the invading void rifts.

Xiao Jin roared furiously, his Vajra Battle Blood boiling, his fists shaking mountains and rivers, crushing the wildly growing illusory grass and trees into dust;

Data surged to its limit in Mingyue's eyes, forcibly reconstructing the chaotic puppet patterns and stabilizing the sea of ​​light...

……

The thirty-six realms share this misfortune.

The pressure on Li Mu's Dao Soul decreased sharply, and the collapse of the Chaos Dao Fruit was temporarily slowed down. However, the five external origins were still hidden within the Dao Fruit, and the conflict was not fundamentally resolved, so it would eventually erupt again.

The three Dao Ancestors, Qingyuan, Youguang, and Yeyan, exchanged glances, all showing surprise. They had not expected that Li Mu could come up with such a quick and clever idea as "dispersing injuries throughout the realm," nor had they expected that the thirty-six newly formed realm embryos could withstand such a profound source of external Dao without immediately collapsing.

"This boy... does indeed have some skill," Daoist Youguang transmitted his voice.

"It's just a death throes." Nightshade Dao Ancestor smiled sinisterly, and a wisp of "Heart Demon Guidance" hidden in the Nightmare Heart Source was silently triggered.

The Qingyuan Dao Ancestor smiled gently, and the source of life force suddenly turned into "nurturing," drawing on the essence and blood of Li Mudao's body.

Li Mu's body swayed, his face turned from white to gold, and within the Chaos Dao Fruit, the five external Dao origins clashed again, the cracks in the Dao Fruit spread rapidly, and even some fragments began to peel off!
Li Mu's realm is unstable. His Dao foundation, which is at the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm, is shaky and there are signs that he may fall back to the initial stage!
Do not!
Li Mu's Dao heart remained unyielding, and his spiritual light stubbornly ignited; scenes from his past cultivation flashed by like lightning: the caution he exercised while farming in the Qiling Realm, the decisiveness he displayed while battling the Ghost Clan, and the strange origin that he had refined and incorporated into the Chaos Phase—!
"The bizarre is a manifestation of chaos... devouring, assimilating, distorting, returning to stillness..."

A flash of inspiration, like a thunderclap, cleaved through the fog in Li Mu's heart!

The Way of the Strange is most adept at forcibly absorbing and transforming external paths and their laws, making them its own and nourishing its own distorted nature! At this moment, the five external forces within the body are in conflict and chaos, just like the entanglement of various external paths? The True Meaning of Returning to the Source cannot be sealed, and the Chaos Furnace cannot refine it in a short time... Why not use the Way of the Strange to carry out the act of "devouring and transforming"?
This move is extremely dangerous!

The strange origin is refined, but its characteristic of "devouring and transforming" carries the risk of eroding the Dao heart and polluting the Dao rhythm. If one is not careful, instead of being overwhelmed by the external source, one will fall into the strangeness, the Dao heart will be tarnished, and one will become a monster that only knows how to devour.

However, at this moment, Li Mu had nowhere to retreat!

"Chaos is myriad forms, and strangeness is also within it... Today, I will use strangeness to control chaos and devour Nar and the others!" A strange white light suddenly appeared in Li Mu's eyes. The source of chaos transformed and strange Dao rhythm was activated, no longer suppressing the "strange source" that had been completely refined and incorporated into chaos within the Dao Fruit.

next moment,
A chilling, deathly still, and endlessly devouring white Dao source, originating from the Chaos Dao Fruit, emerged. Its aura was similar to the Chaos Dao Source, but its temperament was completely different. Like a hungry wolf smelling blood, it pounced on the five external Dao sources that were barely bound by the Gui Cang Chains.

The white Dao source was entwined with the azure vitality. The violent Dao rhyme of "wild growth" and "nurturing" within the vitality quickly "swallowed" it, transforming it into nourishment for its body; void rifts and nightmare black smoke were all devoured and transformed by it... The five external Dao sources no longer conflicted, and all turned their directions to entangle with the strange Dao source.

Li Mu used a trickery to forcibly "swallow" the five external sources. Unable to "digest" them temporarily, he used himself as a medium to twist and mix them into a temporarily balanced "external stream of liquid," which he then suppressed in a corner of the Dao Fruit.

Soon, the cracks spreading from the Chaos Dao Fruit abruptly stopped, and Li Mu's violently fluctuating aura calmed down.

As a result, a chilling, strange feeling of "hunger" for all existence arose deep within Li Mu's soul.

Li Mu suddenly looked up at the three Dao Ancestors, his expression returning to calm, even carrying a peculiar and strange look.

Li Mu cupped his hands to the three of them and said in a deep voice, "The gifts from the three fellow Daoists are indeed extraordinary. I have tried my best to refine them and have gained some insights. However, the source material given by the three fellow Daoists is extraordinary. I am afraid I need to go into seclusion and cultivate quietly to carefully comprehend this 'generous gift'."

The implication was crystal clear: I've accepted the gifts and "refined" them; you can leave now, I need to go into seclusion to digest them!
The Azure Origin Dao Ancestor's gaze lingered on Li Mu for several breaths, as if trying to penetrate his appearance and see the true state of his Dao Fruit.

However, sensing that Li Mu's aura had stabilized, and although his Daoist charm was slightly disordered but showed no signs of collapse, she vaguely sensed a Daoist charm that made her heart tremble slightly before it flashed by and returned to silence.

"Fellow Daoist Li is exceptionally talented. In such a short time, he was able to absorb the essence of our three origins and the Great Dao of Chaos. It is truly astonishing." Dao Ancestor Qingyuan suppressed his smile, pondered for a moment, and nodded, saying, "In that case, I will not disturb your meditation any longer. I hope you will achieve success soon, and that we can discuss the Great Dao again on the Starry Sky Platform five hundred years from now."

Dao Ancestor Youguang gave Li Mu a meaningful look, nodded, and said, "Take care, Fellow Daoist Li. The void is vast, and the path of cultivation is long. I, Youguang, will take my leave."

Nightshade Dao Ancestor hesitated, then, seeing that the two were about to leave, nodded helplessly and said, "Nightmare tempering of the heart seems to have been remarkably effective for Fellow Daoist Li. I look forward to the day when Fellow Daoist Li emerges from seclusion, his Dao heart even more serene. Farewell!"

Without another word, the three Dao Ancestors transformed into three-colored Dao lights and slowly dissipated, as if they had never existed.

A million miles away, Qingyuan, Youguang, and Yeyan reappeared, exchanging glances and their smiles vanished.

Dao Ancestor You Guang frowned slightly: "This child...did any of you sense that aura just now?"

Night-Sickness Dao Ancestor's face darkened, and he asked in confusion, "Cold and lifeless, devouring all things... It seems to share the same origin as the remnants of the 'Ghost Clan,' yet it is different."

Qingyuan Daozu stood silently, seemingly recalling the details just now, and pondered, "This child must have refined the origin of the Ghost Clan and completely integrated the strange origin into the Chaos Dao. The strange white Dao origin just now was the manifestation of his forcibly absorbing the external Dao with his strange characteristics."

Dao Ancestor You Guang said in surprise, "In that case, he temporarily suppressed the five external sources with the origin of the Ghost Clan, seemingly stabilizing the situation. At this moment, the seed of 'Ghost Transformation' has probably been planted deep within his Dao Soul. Over time, his Dao Heart will inevitably be eroded."

Night-Sick Dao Ancestor chuckled sinisterly, “Wouldn’t that be even better? If he were to degenerate into a monster that only knows how to devour, Gu Xi would be the first to not tolerate him! The Star Evolution Jade Book contract is still in effect, and the Chaos Hub Agreement will become empty talk. We can then devise another plan!”

Qingyuan Daozu shook his head solemnly and said, "Fellow Daoist Ye, you've oversimplified things. This boy's willpower is far stronger than we expected. He can accept the strange as a form without falling into depravity, and today he dares to take such a risky move. He must have something to rely on. Just now, his aura was stable, which is not the end of his strength. On the contrary, it seems like he is using our external force to temper himself."

Dao Ancestor You Guang's expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice, "Does Fellow Daoist Qing Yuan mean that... he deliberately induced us to give away our source, using the conflict to temper our Chaos Dao Foundation?"

“It may not have been intentional; it was probably a matter of taking advantage of the situation. This boy certainly has such courage and quick wit.” Qingyuan Daozu’s eyes deepened, and he said with concern, “Just now, that strange source disappeared quickly, and the chaotic Dao rhythm stabilized. Such speed of control could not have been achieved in a hasty battle. He must be using chaos as a furnace to slowly refine it.”

Night-Sickness Dao Ancestor's face darkened, and he said nervously, "If that's really the case, wouldn't we be helping him achieve Dao?"

Qingyuan Daozu chuckled and said coldly, "Help him? Not necessarily. The Deviant Dao Source is ultimately like drinking poison to quench thirst. The five external sources have different Dao natures. Forcibly combining them with Deviant Dao will only create deeper hidden dangers. If you are not careful, your Dao foundation will collapse and the Deviant Dao will devour you."

After a pause, Dao Ancestor Qingyuan said in a deep voice, "The Dao Sources we gave each contained a wisp of their natal imprint. Just now, we only activated them superficially. If we were to use a secret method to activate them again now, causing the five sources to clash and erupt within his Dao Fruit, he would definitely be unable to control it."

Dao Ancestor You Guang's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "Fellow Daoist agrees! Then why wait any longer!"

The three ancestors exchanged glances, simultaneously forming hand seals, and wisps of invisible Daoist energy spread outwards into the Chaos Dao Domain like a spider web.

-

The Chaos Treasure Palace, with its deep courtyards.

After seeing off the three patriarchs, Li Mu's forced calm instantly crumbled. He stepped into the heart of the mansion, and the Chaos Dao Tree suddenly manifested, its countless roots spreading out and completely enveloping the entire mansion.

The void outside the mansion folds and layers, with restrictions arising spontaneously, transforming into a "chaotic and desolate realm" isolated from the world.

"Seal the mansion!"

Li Mu gave a low shout, and the gate of the Treasure Mansion slammed shut. The chaotic Dao patterns on the gate flowed and connected with the roots of the Dao Tree, isolating the inside from the outside. Even the divine sense of the Dao Ancestor could not see through it.

Having done all this, Li Mu swayed and collapsed beneath the Chaos Dao Tree. The gray Dao Seal between his brows flickered violently, sometimes bursting forth with azure vitality, sometimes rippling with ethereal white waves, sometimes churning with dark mist, purple lightning patterns darting about, and the Dao intent of Gui Cang emerging and disappearing... Although the Devouring Dao Source could devour and suppress, it was also constantly eroding Li Mu's Dao Soul.

That "hunger" for the existence of all things gnawed at Li Mu's mind like a venomous snake, tempting him to abandon the Chaos Dao Root and instead fall completely into the demonic path of transformation.

"We must not... we absolutely must not fall into the path of evil!"

"Chaos is the furnace, all paths are the fuel... Today, I will use you heretics as firewood to ignite my foundation and refine my true nature!"

Li Mu gritted his teeth, drawing upon the origin of the Chaos Dao Tree. A hazy, gray Dao light cascaded down like a waterfall, nourishing him and allowing him to continue refining and tempering the five external Dao origins. (End of Chapter)