Born with immortal seed

Chapter 607 The Nine Luminaries Grotto-Heaven Survives

Bai Zichen, dressed in green, showed no emotion. Of the eight strange stones beside him, two were already ruined, and one was in imminent danger.

"Even the naturally born gods who left behind blood have varying levels of strength. The Thunder God Giant should be at the level of a fully-fledged Nascent Soul cultivator to be able to replenish all the source energy required for the Purple Star Thunder Sword to advance."

The Ziwei Xuanlei Sword, returned to the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box, formed a thunder embryo, rising and falling, with a heart-palpitating aura of destruction brewing within it.

Occasionally, bolts of lightning would spring up, forming streaks of lightning in the air.

Once the flying sword absorbs all the true essence of thunder, it can truly revive to the fifth rank.

This is also because the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword itself is of a high grade; although it has fallen all the way down, its essence still remains.

Once the sword spirit is revived and its essence is fully replenished, it will naturally advance to the next level.

Unlike other flying swords, which require going through countless hardships and trials to gain a chance, flying swords do not require such trials.

"The strange stone blood that manifested the sea of ​​fire and the golden lotus, and the Bodhi ancient tree that, although it triggered a strange phenomenon, only granted me the Jiamu Zhongchun Fudeng Technique, are much inferior, probably only at the level of the initial stage of the Nascent Soul realm."

After swallowing three balls of heavenly fire, the Sun's Copper Bone underwent a mutation, changing from its original golden-copper color to a dark copper color.

Before it had fully absorbed the power of the Heavenly Fire, this immortal bone was almost useless, and it could no longer freely enter and exit the Heavenly Fire.

However, after refining and absorbing it, the Sun Yuan Copper Bone will most likely advance to the next level.

The five metal essences within the golden lotus blossoms were divided among the five metal flying swords, who reaped considerable benefits.

The Abyssal Prison Demon Sword accounted for the largest share, but its improvement rate was the smallest. On the contrary, the progress of several fourth-tier flying swords was more obvious.

With the daily nourishment of the pure energy in the sword box, these flying swords have basically reached the limit among their respective ranks.

Even if there are any more extraordinary encounters in the future, it will be difficult to make any progress.

It was past Shen Shi (3-5 PM), but the sunlight in the Dou Shuai Cave Heaven still shone on Bai Zichen and the strange rocks, gilding them with a layer of gold.

Unlike the other strange stones, the last one was dark and gloomy, with blood slowly flowing from it.

The strange phenomenon was weak and powerless, and looked far inferior to the other strange stones.

"It couldn't possibly be the true blood of a naturally born god who hadn't even reached the Nascent Soul stage. The power in that blood wouldn't support it being preserved for hundreds of thousands of years. So, is it because it contains some special power?"

When Bai Zichen's consciousness touched the surface, he felt only emptiness, with no distinction between up, down, left, right, or back, and no difference between fast and slow.

"This feeling is that everything will eventually enter its twilight, and all will return to silence..."

The strange phenomenon, which was not a particularly powerful force and could be easily concealed by true essence, caused the divine sense to rapidly decline and degenerate.

A faint yellow hue rose, time flowed like water, and the power of the Great Dao within that pool of blood was fully unleashed. It first remained still, then dragged everything around it toward dusk at a speed a thousand times faster.

As darkness fell around the strange rock, everything around it, from the shrouded vegetation to Bai Zichen, exuded an ancient and weathered aura, as if it had been deliberately aged for over a thousand years.

The true essence of twilight continued to spread outwards, brushing past the golden lotus-shaped stone that was about to split in two, and with a crack, the stone was completely split in two.

Looking at the broken edges of the two strange stones, they are covered in gray and weathered marks, formed only after enduring wind, frost, snow and rain, showing the baptism of time.

"What kind of strange phenomenon is this? It's different from before... If this continues, won't all eight strange stones be ruined!"

Yu Ziliang was shocked and jumped back a step. Even from a distance, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, afraid of being affected.

"Hurry up and stop it! Without the Eight Wonderful Stones, how many disciples of the Dao lineage will resent me... When future disciples read this, they will all say that it was because Yu Ziliang mistakenly brought outsiders into the Tushita Cave Heaven that the Eight Wonderful Stones, which have existed since time immemorial, were destroyed!"

Thinking of the honorific title Bai Zichen was given, Yu Ziliang felt a faint sense of anticipation.

Just because others are helpless against the great path of time doesn't mean he's the same; he believes there's a way to break it.

In the dim yellow light, a sword light leaped up, illuminating the surroundings and breaking the sense of time displacement that was falling into dusk.

The sword light surged forth, full of vigor and self-reliance, like a glass mirror being shattered, with a few crisp cracking sounds, and time flowed merrily once more.

The drooping grass and trees regained their vitality, and the old and decaying blue clothes were wiped clean of dust, becoming bright and shiny again.

If the Great Dao of Time from the divine blood of the strange stone is the decaying and aged power of twilight, then the power of the rising sun is what his sword light displays.

Both belong to the path of time, yet they are two completely different branches.

Bai Zichen used the Fanghua Sword to manipulate the power of time, urging the sword light to shrink rapidly in a dim, yellowish light, as if he had encountered the thing he feared most.

A moment later, several tiny glimmers, the size of soybeans, were driven towards him by the sword light.

The little white nascent soul appeared, spreading its arms to welcome the arrival. The river of time behind it collided with the glimmer of light, quickly forming a single entity.

Upon closer inspection, he could see that the river was mixed with a dim, elusive yellow light, and many changes had occurred that he could not yet grasp.

But one thing is certain: his Path of Time has made great progress again after absorbing the power of twilight from the divine blood.

The owner of the blood on this strange stone is not only powerful, but may even be stronger than the ancient Thunder God, with a minimum of the Nascent Soul stage and possibly even reaching the Void Refinement stage.

The reason why Bai Zichen was able to easily subdue it with the power of time using the Fanghua Sword was mainly because too much time had passed, and the power of the Great Dao inside had become nothing more than power. Without anyone controlling it, it only looked terrifying.

When they encountered Bai Zichen, who also possessed the Dao of Time and could borrow the power of the envoy, they had no power to resist and surrendered.

As the embodiment of the Great Dao of Time, if the power of time possessed sentience, it would surely be most afraid of itself.

Therefore, when a vibrant force of time with self-awareness appears, even if it is far less than itself in quantity, it will seek out its origin like a moth drawn to a flame.

The power of the Great Dao on other paths will be more destructive, with strength and weakness competing to determine the winner.

As expected, the last piece of the strange stone weathered away, and before he could even open his eyes, it was blown away by a gentle breeze.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, you have truly given me a wonderful surprise!"

Yu Ziliang's face was grim, with a half-smile on his face.

The destruction of half of the eight extraordinary stones is a significant loss for the Dao lineage, as the magical arts and supernatural powers personally comprehended by the disciples are undoubtedly the most suitable for them.

It was precisely because he had taken the initiative to invite Bai Zichen to view the strange stones that it wouldn't be appropriate to hold the other party responsible if something went wrong.

"I didn't expect this either. It seems I have a special connection with the divine blood on the strange stone..."

Bai Zichen gave an awkward dry laugh. For many years, the Dao lineage had been filled with disciples sitting upright before him, comprehending the power of the Great Dao contained within the divine blood.

The most significant impact would be to dim the divine blood slightly, preventing it from triggering any extraordinary phenomena for a century.

Bai Zichen's case is unprecedented and cannot be explained simply by his superior aptitude.

It can only be said that a certain characteristic of his touched the true blood of a god, which is why he acted this way.

"I think we'll skip the Nine Luminaries Grotto for now and head straight to Huangting Peak to borrow some books."

Bai Zichen had already inquired and found out that the seventh level of the Nine Luminaries Cave Heaven mainly produces three high-grade spiritual materials: Heavenly Origin Ice Crystal, Innate Silver Mother, and Golden Flame Stone.

Simply refining weapons might not consume that many, but they all have other uses.

For cultivators practicing ice-based techniques, the Heavenly Origin Ice Crystal can achieve twice the result with half the effort. It is a crystal formed by chance from a wisp of pure cold air in an ice and snow world.

Regular refining allows that wisp of cold energy to remain within the body, serving an effect similar to a breakthrough artifact when breaking through bottlenecks.

Besides being used for refining artifacts, the innate silver mother is also an essential consumable for setting up fourth-order formations, which can reduce the loss of spiritual energy and is indispensable.

This makes it much more popular than other fourth-tier spiritual materials of the same level, and any quantity entering the market can be absorbed.

After being polished, the Golden Flame Stone can be forged into arrowheads for large-scale war artifacts, possessing astonishing power.

This use has far exceeded its original purpose as a primary ingredient in the crafting of several common magical artifacts.

Currently, the seventh level of the Nine Luminaries Cave Heaven is still in a wild and untamed state. If you go there and stay for several years, the spiritual materials you bring back can be exchanged for sky-high-priced spirit stones.

The luckiest ones find a ore mother and place it into the embryonic form of their own cave. Once it is fully integrated, it will evolve into a mineral vein, becoming an inexhaustible source of spiritual materials for the cave in the future.

These were merely material possessions, and no longer held much allure for Bai Zichen.

Unless it's said that there's a fifth-tier flying sword hidden in the Nine Luminaries Cave Heaven, and there's a chance to capture it, then I'd really be tempted.

It now seems that the Nine Luminaries Grotto-Heaven is more important to the development of the sect than to powerful individual cultivators.

"Very well, very well. Fellow Daoist Bai, do you intend to keep that drop of Nine Luminaries Mystic Pearl for now, or resell it to someone else? If you wish to sell it, I believe there are many people in our sect who would be willing to offer a suitable price to buy this opportunity from you."

Yu Ziliang breathed a sigh of relief. The trip to Doushuai Cave Heaven had destroyed half of the eight strange stones. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he went to Jiuyue Cave Heaven and several layers of cave heaven collapsed.

The importance of the Nine Luminaries Grotto to the Daode Sect far exceeds what outsiders imagine.

A vast array of war artifacts, complex and massive super warships, and standardized divine weapons that arm every Dao soldier to the teeth... The amount of spiritual materials needed each year is astronomical, and the Nine Luminaries Grotto Heaven alone can provide more than half of it.

The key is to use the harvested ore to establish new artificial ore veins in the first few layers of land that have already been developed, and to collect and hand them over regularly and at fixed points.

Otherwise, why would Yangxing Peak have devoted the entire peak to the Nine Luminaries Grotto-Heaven, with all its disciples treating it as a second world?

Logically speaking, the Nine Luminaries Grotto-Heaven is already very mature, so there shouldn't be any accidents.

But in Yu Ziliang's eyes, it was normal for anything unbelievable to happen wherever Bai Zichen went.

Just like the eight strange stones, which are placed there perfectly fine, disciples of the Dao lineage throughout the ages, as well as a small number of disciples of the five peaks of the Virtue lineage, have all applied to walk in front of them without any problems.

But when it came to him, it caused his divine blood to boil, and he swallowed all the energy of the four strange stones in one go.

"If I don't go now, I probably won't have the time in the future... I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Yu to help me find a suitable successor. All I need is top-grade spirit stones or definite clues about a fifth-tier flying sword. If the information is detailed and useful, I can give you more spirit stones or other spiritual treasures in return."

The great war between humans and demons has entered its most intense phase, and regardless of who wins or loses, it will continue for a very long time.

In the worst-case scenario, the demon race wins a great victory, and Bai Zichen leads the Qingfeng Sect disciples to flee to the dead end, or perhaps they can see if the Daode Sect has a safer route.

In the middle scenario, both sides suffered heavy losses, with the Nascent Soul stage experts on both sides severely injured or even killed, or at least unable to make a move.

At that time, top-tier cultivators like Bai Zichen, who fall below the Nascent Soul stage, will become extremely sought after.

Only a Nascent Soul cultivator at the peak of their cultivation, free to unleash their full power without restraint, can be the decision-maker in this situation.

In the best possible ending, the human race's god-level beings unleash their divine power and completely defeat the three demon lords of the demon race.

The allied forces of cultivators marched eastward to reclaim the fallen Eastern Region.

Even so, the process will not be short; it is normal for it to last for decades.

If they were to push back into the outer seas, it would be the most magnificent pioneering war in the history of the cultivation world, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of the Moral Sect's Cunsi Peak for tens of thousands of years.

Complete success will certainly take a century to achieve.

At that time, Bai Zichen must have already been making his final preparations before reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Why would he still covet the spiritual materials in the Nine Luminaries Cave?

"Okay, I'll try my best."

Yu Ziliang nodded slightly. If someone else asked him for clues about the whereabouts of a fifth-tier flying sword, he would only reply with a "wishful thinking."

With the foundation of the Moral Sect, the number of fifth-tier flying swords in the entire sect can be counted on one hand.

As far as he knew, the Demon-Slaying Sword in his hand was the only fifth-tier flying sword in the Dao lineage.

The Five Peaks of the Virtuous Vein might be slightly better. Even if it's not on the surface, who knows how many treasures the Five Peaks' predecessors threw into the Nine Heavens Cloud Sea?

But if it were Bai Zichen, he would now consider even the most unreasonable demands to be justified.

Such a prominent figure is indeed unworthy of a mere fourth-tier flying sword.

……

Huang Tingfeng, Qiuzhen Cliff.

With the decree of the Holy Emperor who propagates the Dharma, Bai Zichen successfully arrived at the location of the treasured books on Huangting Peak and was allowed to come and go freely.

Unlike Huang Tingfeng's disciples, who had to apply to the elders to borrow books that weren't on the restricted list, they could read the entire book with just a touch.

"Fortunately, the Dao Clan Master didn't blame me; otherwise, he would have had to sell me to compensate for the loss of those four rare stones..."

Bai Zichen carefully placed a piece of ancient, yellowed bamboo slip back into its original position, moving gently to avoid breaking the binding rope.

Before leaving the Tushita Heaven, they paid their respects to the Venerable One out of courtesy.

This time, he still couldn't see her true face, but he was given a few words of advice, reminding Bai Zichen not to fall into the trap of the Great Path of Time and become unable to extricate himself.

This path is mysterious and powerful, full of infinite possibilities, and has a fatal attraction for all cultivators.

Those skilled in water drown, and those skilled in riding fall; the same applies to the path of time.

At the very beginning, when merely touching upon and guiding the power of time, one must be extremely cautious, for fear of making even the slightest mistake.

But once you have the ability to control and steer the course of time, it's inevitable that your ego will swell, and you'll feel that time is entirely in your grasp.

Not only on the Great Road of Time, but at the very end of every road, one will experience a similar state of mind, feeling that one is the master of heaven and earth.

However, due to its unique nature, the Great Road of Time is more likely to lead one astray.

"The records of the Moral Sect are indeed very detailed. It seems that every sacred body that has ever appeared in the cultivation world has been included. The comparison of effects, the miraculous phenomena exhibited at different stages, and the representatives of cultivators who have possessed such sacred bodies are all included."

(End of this chapter)