Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

Truth and falsehood, reality and illusion, can change in an instant; the Moon Palace has once again faced another trial.

The battle between Taiyin Yuanjun and her own remnant soul and turbid thoughts ended in less than an instant.

Before Jiang Sheng could react, Taiyin Yuanjun shifted the battlefield to her own physical body, using her divine soul to fight against her own remnant soul and turbid thoughts.

Jiang Sheng looked at the Yuanjun's body on the cloud bed, which seemed to have lost its mind and was bowing its head like a puppet. He straightened his clothes and bowed deeply.

In fact, if it weren't for protecting Jiang Sheng, Taiyin Yuanjun could have relied on Jiang Sheng's physical body to fight the remnant soul and turbid thoughts a few times, weaken the remnant soul and turbid thoughts, and then compete with it for her physical body.

However, in order to protect Jiang Sheng, Taiyin Yuanjun chose the most ruthless method, using a golden hairpin as a means to directly enter his body and engage in a life-or-death struggle with his remnant soul and turbid thoughts.

This kind of resolute approach, though it may seem like a desperate measure to put oneself in a life-or-death situation, is actually the greatest protection for Jiang Sheng.

It's true that Taiyin Yuanjun and Jiang Sheng only met by chance. Whether it was to reclaim her physical body for future reincarnation or for other purposes, her help to Jiang Sheng was genuine.

The insights and guidance of a Daoist of pure Yang who holds the Taiyin position in the previous Yuanhui are not so easy to obtain.

Not to mention that Taiyin Yuanjun chose to protect Jiang Sheng at the last moment instead of using Jiang Sheng's physical body to fight, whether it was because Jiang Sheng's physical body was weak or something else, she deserves Jiang Sheng's respect.

“Yuanjun, seek your own path and contend with your own impure thoughts.”

"And I, too, must pursue my own path and prepare for the second tribulation of breaking through to the next realm."

"Lingyuan hereby swears that if Yuanjun is unfortunately defeated, Lingyuan will bow down before the Heavenly Venerable to give Yuanjun another chance."

With that, Jiang Sheng bowed again to the physical body of Taiyin Yuanjun, and then strolled out of the palace.

Just as Taiyin Yuanjun said, Jiang Sheng should go and find his own Taiyin Way.

Bamboo groves by a clear pool, the moon hanging high in the hazy sky.

Jiang Sheng sat cross-legged by the pool, listening to the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo forest, sensing the elegance and frosty chill of this world.

One day, two days, three days.
For seven consecutive days, Jiang Sheng simply sat cross-legged by the pool, sensing the power of the moon's essence.

This place is pure and clear, a rare place to sort out one's thoughts and gain insight into the Dao; if one could meditate and contemplate here for a hundred years or so, it would surely be of great benefit to Jiang Sheng.

But Jiang Sheng knew that he absolutely did not have that kind of skill.

Outside the Nine Provinces Realm, Daoist Kaiyuan is still battling with the Heavenly Demon Mo Xuan. Although the spacetime between the Nine Provinces Realm and the Xuanhuang Realm has been distorted and the flow of time in the two realms is different, it is impossible to allow Jiang Sheng to experience a hundred years here.

After cleansing his mind and clearing his soul with the cold light of the moon for seven consecutive days, Jiang Sheng slowly got up.

“The Primordial Lord once said that the Taiyin Illusionary Realm consists of thirteen domains. Only when these thirteen domains are combined can it be considered the true Taiyin Illusionary Realm.”

"In the true Taiyin Illusion, even those with pure Yang bodies will transform into Taiyin bodies if they traverse the thirteen domains."

"At that time, in order to maintain a state between life and death, Yuanjun deliberately separated her soul from her body. When she hid her soul, she also took half of the Taiyin Illusion with her. It was with that half of the Taiyin Illusion as her foundation that Yuanjun's soul has been able to survive until today."

"That remnant soul and turbid thoughts only have the physical body of the Yuanjun, and do not know the Yuanjun's true nature. They think that the Taiyin Illusionary Realm only has six domains, and that my journey through the six domains means I have traveled the entire Taiyin Illusionary Realm. They have already been controlled by the Taiyin cold energy, so they deliberately chose to wait for me here, so as to harvest my fortune and merits to help them stabilize the position of Taiyin Guanghan Yuanjun."

"Unfortunately, it was unaware of the Yuanjun's true capabilities."

As he spoke, a phantom map of the thirteen regions of the Taiyin Illusionary Realm appeared in Jiang Sheng's hand.

"The six realms hidden by the Primordial Sovereign must be entered using a secret method."

"With the insights I've gained over these past few days, coupled with the accumulation of good fortune and merit, I might as well give the Heart Fire Tribulation a try."

"However, before that, we need to go to the previous regions to find some resources."

After saying that, Jiang Sheng turned and walked back the way he came.

When Jiang Sheng traveled from the Cold Profound Prison Realm to this Clear Bamboo Palace, he passed through six regions, but due to caution, he did not explore these regions in depth.

Now that the master of this Taiyin Illusionary Realm has relinquished power to Jiang Sheng, Jiang Sheng will certainly not have come for nothing.

Every time Jiang Sheng traveled to a region, he would choose one thing from it.

The Ice Flame Realm collects the icy flames, the Radiant Illusion Realm gathers the illusory stones, the Moonlit Clear Water Realm scoops up the moonlit water, and the Frosty Radiance Elixir Realm takes the frost embers.

After traveling all the way back to the original Cold Profound Prison Realm, Jiang Sheng looked at the palace that he had cleaved open with his sword, pulled out a piece of cold jade from the ground, put it into his sleeve, and returned to Qingzhu Palace.

"The Frostfire Illusion Stone, the Moon Water Frost Ashes, combined with this Frost Jade Mine, plus the Frost Bamboo Moonlight unique to the Clear Bamboo Palace, is enough."

As he spoke, Jiang Sheng first cut down a few stalks of cold bamboo, then captured a wisp of moonlight, and after collecting it all, Jiang Sheng's figure disappeared into the Qingzhu Palace.

The wind rustles through the cold bamboo, the moonlight is hazy, and amidst the ripples on the water, only a distorted and vanishing phantom can be seen, like a dreamlike bubble.

Jiang Sheng, having left Qingzhu Palace, was now standing on an iceberg.

Looking around, six different scenes unfold in all directions from the iceberg as the center.

“Yuanjun once said that in order to protect herself during the final calamity of the Yuanhui transition, before separating her physical body from her soul, she set up a magic array on the Taiyin star, hid her physical body behind the Guanghan Palace, and sealed it with glaciers for thousands of miles.”

"Then the soul was hidden in the Taiyin Illusionary Realm, concealed by the Six Realms, and the remaining seven realms were combined to form this icy, frigid place, so that the soul could rest in peace."

"I have seen the eternal ice that is tens of millions of miles thick on the Taiyin Star. But even that eternal ice that has not melted after forty thousand years seems nothing compared to this iceberg."

Jiang Sheng murmured to himself, looking around at the six realms and six directions, sensing the unique coldness and tranquility of this world. He then sat cross-legged on the ice mountain and took out the things he had picked up earlier one by one.

"Using cold jade as material, filled with illusory stones, blended with frost and ashes, fused with moon water, sacrificed with cold flames, fueled with green bamboo, and tempered with the cold air of the six directions, gathering the spiritual energy of the six realms."

"Therefore, we must forge a magical artifact to help me overcome the tribulation of inner fire."

Without further ado, Jiang Sheng entered this place with the goal of breaking through to the second stage of the cultivation realm.

After activating the true fire, Jiang Sheng circulated the Taiyin cold energy within his body, transforming that wisp of cold flame into a raging inferno.

Immediately, Jiang Sheng placed the few bamboo stalks cut from the Qingzhu Palace into the cold flames. The mere bamboo stalks made the cold flames surge even more fiercely, and the icy coldness was enough to melt all the rare and precious materials.

Jiang Sheng sent the Cold Jade Mine and Taiyin Illusion Stone into the Cold Flame to burn and dissolve them. Then, under Jiang Sheng's magical power, they were stretched and elongated, transforming into the shape of a cloud bed. Subsequently, Jiang Sheng fused the Frost Essence Medicine Ashes with the Radiant Moon Water, using it as ink to engrave cloud patterns, spiritual restrictions, immortal marks, and Dao seal script on the cloud bed.

As the spiritual seals and immortal marks were completed, and as the array of restrictions covering the entire cloud bed took shape, the cloud bed began to take initial form under Jiang Sheng's refinement. Without even catching his breath, Jiang Sheng casually made hand seals to mobilize the spiritual energy of the six domains. Streams of pure, cold energy gathered and were continuously poured into the cloud bed by Jiang Sheng. Then, Jiang Sheng continuously infused the cloud bed with cloud seals from the Taiyin Cold Light Technique and the Moon Essence Heart Sutra to stabilize its foundation.

After more than thirty days of continuous forging, the cloud bed was finally completed amidst the cold flames.

This cloud bed was ten feet long and seven feet wide, adorned with auspicious clouds and flowing light, and engraved with bright moon and cold stars. The exterior was decorated with cloud patterns, while the interior contained spiritual seals and prohibitions. All kinds of magical prohibitions and cloud seals were hidden inside the cloud bed, so that the cloud bed was constantly filled with clouds that could purify the mind and calm the spirit, and gathered the cold and clear spiritual energy.

This cloud bed is one of the few artifacts Jiang Sheng has crafted since the great calamity of the Xuanmen sect.

Looking at the cloud bed in front of him with great satisfaction, Jiang Sheng nodded repeatedly: "The cold stars flow with brilliance and send forth the bright moon; the celestial mist and auspicious energy contain the treasures of immortals."

"With this cloud bed, I should be safe in my second tribulation."

As he spoke, Jiang Sheng continued to warm the cloud bed on the cold flames, while he left the ice mountain to select spiritual materials from the surrounding six domains.

"The Taiyin Danzang says that there is a pill that can freeze the heart and soul, and prevent the heart from being tortured by fire."

“Perfect timing. I obtained some of these medicinal herbs from Qingzhu Palace, and the rest are available in these six regions.”

As the Taoist's voice drifted further and further away, Jiang Sheng had already ventured deep into the Six Regions in search of great medicinal herbs.

Unlike the other six domains, the Frozen Land of the Primordial Goddess of Taiyin is a combination of the seven domains of the Taiyin Illusionary Realm. Centered on the Ice Mountain Soul Domain, it gathers the power of the six domains: Guihan Guangjing, Bingshen Cangjing, Hanlian Mingjing, Yuemian Dijing, Liuli Shuangjing, and Xuanbing Chanjing, in order to nurture and maintain the Primordial Goddess's soul.

Entering the vast realm of Guihan, Jiang Sheng gazed at the laurel trees on this frozen land and, sensing their age, murmured, "Guanghan laurels, these laurels grow and perish in an endless cycle. This batch of laurels is now three thousand years old, so we should have enough laurel stamens to take."

After carefully plucking the stamens of three laurel plants, Jiang Sheng entered the Ice God's Hidden Realm. There, beneath the glacier, he carved out ice pillars and stalactites, retrieving seven drops of jade marrow. Immediately afterwards, Jiang Sheng entered the Cold Lotus Bright Realm to pick the Cold Lotus fruit, and then went to the Moon Sleeping Realm to gather the Dragon Grass Cold Clothes.
After obtaining the great medicine from the Six Realms, Jiang Sheng returned to the Ice Mountain Soul Domain and began to nurture the Cold Flame and refine the True Fire atop the Ice Mountain.

"The Taiyin Ice God Pill uses the laurel stamen of Guanghan, the stalactite marrow of Bingpo, and the lotus fruit of Linglong as its main ingredients, supplemented with dragon grass cold clothes, snow soul toad molt, bright frost cicada skin, glass heart-clearing grass, flowing light moon dew and thousand-year-old pure ice water."

"The furnace is opened with cold flames, aided by the power of the moon's essence, to slowly refine the medicine and elixir. Yin must be used to balance Yang; the fire must not be excessive, and pure Yang substances must not be present."

Recalling the instructions in the pill formula, Jiang Sheng looked at the cold flames in front of him, nodded slowly, and casually withdrew the two streams of spiritual energy.

In true Taoist cultivation, single represents Yang, and double represents Yin.

One is pure Yang, three is extremely Yang, two is pure Yin, and four is extremely Yin.

Supplying the Cold Flame with four streams of spiritual energy is enough to keep it at a moderate level; too much or too little would be unsuitable.

As the cold flames stabilized, Jiang Sheng took out the alchemy furnace he had found in the alchemy realm and placed it on the cold flames to begin refining pills.

"This alchemy process will take me fifteen days. After that, I will nourish my soul and magical power and begin to temper my inner fire."

"At most three years from now, I should be able to overcome the inner fire and become a Second Tribulation True Monarch!"

With a focused mind, Jiang Sheng gazed at the alchemy furnace enveloped in cold flames and fed it one medicinal ingredient after another.

As the laurel stamens and the lotus seeds of the Moonlit Night turned into medicinal paste, Jiang Sheng then sent the Dragon Grass Cold Robe, the Snow Soul Toad Molt, the Bright Frost Cicada Robe, and the Glazed Heart-Clearing Grass into the alchemy furnace. He used his divine soul to sense the state of the alchemy furnace and confirmed that all the pills had turned into pure medicinal paste and fused together. It took three days just to stabilize the medicinal paste.

As the medicinal paste stabilized and solidified, Jiang Sheng sensed its state while dripping the Ice Soul Stalactite Marrow into the alchemy furnace, where it was incorporated into the pill.

One drop was melted each day, and it took seven days to integrate all the stalactite marrow into the elixir. During this time, in order to ensure the stability of the elixir's medicinal properties, Jiang Sheng also needed to constantly adjust the furnace fire and use the Flowing Light Illusion Moon Dew to stabilize the medicinal properties and harmonize the elixir.

As the alchemy process continued, a fresh, elegant, and refreshing fragrance, reminiscent of light frost, slowly wafted from the furnace.

In an instant, eight-colored clouds appeared above the alchemy furnace, and amidst the swirling clouds, there seemed to be a surge of thunder, indicating that the elixir was about to be completed and had triggered a heavenly tribulation.

Jiang Sheng remained calm and composed as he infused the last bit of Illusion Moon Dew into the Pure Ice Water, transforming it into a shimmering, iridescent ball of water. Then, as the moonlight began to fall, Jiang Sheng abruptly sent this shimmering, iridescent Pure Ice Water into the alchemy furnace, enveloping the pill and intensifying the refining process by increasing the furnace fire.

Suddenly, it seemed as if thunder roared and precious light was scattered.

Two flawless, round ice jade pills, each marked with five immortal lines, suddenly flew out of the alchemy furnace.

At the same time, the Heavenly Tribulation of Pill Lightning descended directly, with bolts of lightning striking down continuously. The precious pill released eight-colored precious light to protect itself, and as the lightning struck, the five immortal marks on the precious pill gradually changed and dissolved.

While sensing the power of the Pill Lightning Tribulation, Jiang Sheng also confirmed that the precious pill's rank had been raised due to the impact of the Pill Lightning.

When the immortal marks on the precious pill were completely shattered by the heavenly lightning and transformed into a somewhat broken seven-ring shape, Jiang Sheng flicked his fingers and a sword aura shot into the sky, slicing away the thunderclouds that filled the sky.

"That's enough. If you keep chopping like this, my precious elixir will probably turn to ashes."

As he spoke, Jiang Sheng casually waved his hand and retrieved the two precious pills that had survived the pill tribulation and were now eager to escape.

Looking at the two precious pills in his hand, Jiang Sheng nodded in satisfaction. After putting both pills into the cold jade box, Jiang Sheng dispelled the cold flames and sat cross-legged on the cloud bed to begin regulating his breathing.

Within the Taiyin Illusionary Realm, at the summit of the Cold Mountain Soul Domain, a Taoist sat cross-legged on a cloud bed, his breath long and deep, his figure seemingly both real and unreal.

As the days passed, after half a year, Jiang Sheng finally adjusted his energy and spirit to their peak state, and his Dao heart and soul were no longer tainted by dust.

On this day, Jiang Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, and blue lotuses bloomed in his eyes, with two beams of blue-gold light shooting out, illuminating the Taiyin Illusion.

"The time has come! Today the heavens are clear and bright; it is time for me to enter the pass and break through this calamity!"

After saying this, Jiang Sheng took out a precious pill and put it in his mouth, his aura rising continuously.

Within Jiang Sheng's body, the liver wood energy grew stronger and more vigorous, continuously surging towards the heart, making the tiny heart fire within it even more turbulent and intense.

As the heart fire burned intensely, Jiang Sheng's limbs and bones gradually ignited with raging flames. Heart fire ignited in his meridians, acupoints, muscles, and even his bone marrow. Under the scorching heat of the heart fire, Jiang Sheng's physical body quickly turned into black charcoal. At the same time, Jiang Sheng's long lifespan also diminished as the heart fire burned.

Jiang Sheng is only a little over 1,700 years old, not even 2,000 years old yet.

A Nascent Soul cultivator can live for three thousand years; after ascending to the Void Refinement realm, there are three Void Refinement tribulations, each lasting a thousand years. A True Monarch at the Void Refinement peak can live for nine thousand years, and at this point, one can climb to the Body Integration realm.

From the initial entry into the Fusion Realm to the passing of the Fusion Realm Tribulation, at least two thousand years of lifespan are added.

Logically speaking, with Jiang Sheng's cultivation level at the first tribulation stage, he should still have eight or nine thousand years of lifespan to live, which would be enough for him to stabilize his foundation and gradually climb to the peak of the fifth tribulation before ascending to the Pure Yang realm.

However, as the inner fire burned, Jiang Sheng's lifespan was being consumed like firewood, and he could even clearly sense the passing of his lifespan.

Gradually, as his lifespan continued to deplete, Jiang Sheng, scorched to a crisp by the heart fire, finally breathed his last, leaving only his charred, charred body sitting cross-legged on the cloud bed, radiating a chilling brilliance amidst the rising cold air. (End of Chapter)