Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 507 The Cauldron Contains the Secrets of the Dao, The Sword Before the Hall Proves its Profound Power (Seeking Rewards and Subscriptions!)

The mortal realm connects to the mystical realm, the Heavenly Palace of the Dao.

On this day, the heavens above were filled with the silent, swirling winds and clouds. A vast and powerful force descended, enveloping everything in their wake.

It was neither a sign of a tribulation nor an enemy attack.

A colossal vortex, seemingly existing in another dimension, quietly descended.

At the center of that vortex, high in the sky, Daoist Lu Cheng had already arrived there, for he was the only one in this realm who could clearly sense its existence.

At the center of the vortex, a single golden, blazing flame and a deep, heavy yellow aura pierced through the boundary wall, like rare treasures from outer space, falling into this realm.

A fire and a gourd landed lightly and accurately in Lu Cheng's outstretched palm.

It was that pure source of Samadhi True Fire, and the yellow-skinned gourd, one of the four-colored gourds.

Lu Cheng remained calm, showing no sign of reluctance.

The transformation of external avatars into the wondrous Qi of the Eye of Purification and the innate fiery Qi is not a loss for oneself, but rather a brilliant move.

Firstly, when external energy enters the body, there is always a barrier, so one must be cautious. What is honey to one is poison to another; this kind of thing is not uncommon in the world of cultivation.

Secondly, one should use the samples of refining external avatars as a clear "Dao mirror" to reflect oneself, so that one can carefully study them, deduce their trajectory of change, and decipher their true meaning and profound principles.

Only through such self-cultivation and refinement, proceeding step by step, can one truly transform the great power of the Great Dao into one's own.

This process of studying and comprehending is itself a highly difficult practice, a deeper development of the Way of Fire and the supernatural power of the eyes.

Moreover, the original body could not possibly abandon the Heaven and Earth Palace and ascend to the Upper Realm in a short period of time to participate in the Immortal Pool Sword Battle.

"I am already invincible in the mortal world, and I no longer need to take shortcuts by cultivating the Dao properly. If I can obtain the 'Male and Female Dragon Tiger Demon Refining Sword Scripture' by consuming my two energies, that would be the best thing for me. Even if I fail, it won't be a loss."

Thinking of this, Lu Cheng's gaze fell on the yellow gourd.

The words of Master Lu still echoed in my ears—"Gathering the seven treasures and seven energies may grant one the opportunity for Mahayana cultivation, or even the hope of becoming a true immortal…One furnace per realm…a contest of the Dao…"

"The laws of Heaven dictate that each realm has its own furnace? I will conceal this marrow-cleansing energy from the Book of Changes. Though I cannot refine the Seven Treasures, I can ensure that you cannot refine them either."

Lu Cheng himself had a considerable level of mastery of the Yi Suan Dao through cultivating the Heavenly Demon Algorithm, and he was well aware that the Nine Li Cauldron and the membrane between the two realms were acting as barriers.

Even if that powerful cultivator of unknown identity possessed exceptional divination skills, what he was currently calculating was likely a chaotic mess of celestial secrets, making it difficult to trace back to himself.

With a thought, the enormous and invisible vortex of clouds outside quietly receded, as if it had never appeared.

With a flick of his palm, Lu Cheng caused the true fire containing the essence of Samadhi and the remaining piece of the yellow gourd to disappear.

For all living beings in this world, the strange phenomenon that just occurred was like a dream, leaving no ripples.

Because what has just descended into this world is the inner world of the Nine Li Cauldron, not the real world, or rather, not the mortal realm.

Lu Cheng strolled back to his secluded meditation room at the core of the Heaven and Earth Dao Palace.

In the center of the quiet room, a majestic stone statue, with a powerful aura and a body as imposing as a mountain, stands silently. It is his protector and guardian deity—the Mountain-Suppressing God General.

At this moment, the surface of the stone statue was shimmering with a dark golden hue, carrying the weight of ancient mountains and rivers and the majesty of the divine way. Its eyes were slightly closed, yet it exuded an aura of dignified inviolability.

The Mountain-Suppressing Divine General, along with the Seven Luminaries Mystic Pearl, has been taken into the Nine Li Cauldron by Lu Cheng. To this guy, the Seven Luminaries Mystic Pearl is like his wife. As long as he can live a quiet life with his wife, he doesn't care too much about where they live.

On the other hand, the Seven Luminaries Pearl does indeed seem to be a type of precious mineral.

Lu Cheng sat cross-legged in front of him, holding Taoist hand seals in front of him. No further movements were made, but as time passed, wisps of golden mist appeared out of thin air.

These mists are neither spiritual nor malevolent, but rather pure and condensed faith and willpower, originating from his past efforts in spreading the faith of the Loyal God and protecting the lives of ordinary people in the mortal world. They contain the pure thoughts and hopes of hundreds of millions of believers.

This mental power is as scorching as fire and as heavy as a mountain. For cultivators who cultivate their primordial spirit, it is no different from a deadly poison unless absolutely necessary.

Lu Cheng had already used the Great Tribulation of the Demon God to temper his own soul, completing the "Divine Tribulation," and his Divine Refinement Technique had reached its peak.

At this moment, absorbing this vast and powerful will into oneself would not only be of no benefit, but would also create heavy karmic debts on his pure and flawless primordial spirit, forming a new "calamity of incense offerings," with the disadvantages far outweighing the advantages.

Since ancient times, gods and immortals have been mentioned, with gods preceding immortals. However, the path of gods does not precede the path of immortals, because the gods here actually refer to those innate deities who are born in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth, are naturally powerful, and are not bound by beliefs.

Such innate deities naturally rank ahead of ordinary immortals, since the path to immortality requires one to cultivate, comprehend, and study step by step.

Even if one is born an immortal, one's cultivation aptitude is only slightly better, and one is still far less powerful than an innate deity. There are still some living innate deities in the Earthly Immortal Realm, who can be described as extremely terrifying and incomparably powerful.

As times progressed, immortals gradually evolved into heaven, earth, humans, ghosts, and gods. They all comprehended the Great Dao but followed different paths: heaven and earth immortals who focused on cultivating their physical bodies and true nature, ghost immortals who focused on cultivating their souls, and immortals who were later consecrated through faith.

While reading the sect's scriptures in the Taiqing Sect, Lu Cheng learned that in the Earthly Immortal Realm where he lived, the mainstream cultivation path was the True Immortal Path of Heaven and Earth. In some remote areas, there were still a small number of people cultivating the Human Immortal Path and the Ghost Immortal Path, but cultivators cultivating the Divine Immortal Path were almost extinct.

However, this is not the case in other worlds of earthly immortals. Perhaps there are earthly immortal worlds that mainly cultivate the path of human immortals or even ghost immortals, or the path of divine immortals.

The paths of immortals and gods can merge, just like Lu Cheng's cultivation of the Divine Refining Technique. By relying on the faith and wishes of all living beings under the Red Heart Divine Lord, he was able to rapidly grow his divine consciousness cultivation in a short period of time, until he achieved great success.

However, this method is extremely dangerous, and very few people are suitable to cultivate it. Lu Cheng cultivated the Refining God Technique, but in the end, he had to accept the karma of the Great Calamity of the Demon God. In a sense, what he lost far outweighed what he gained, and the danger he endured was actually disproportionate to what he obtained.

"Divine General, this power is now at your disposal," Lu Cheng Daoist whispered, his fingertips finally forming a profound magic seal.

The vast amount of faith and willpower sealed within his divine sense space was instantly activated, transforming into a dazzling golden river that surged forth from the void above his head, carrying a thunderous sound of void vibration, and flowed ceaselessly into the core of the chest of the Mountain-Suppressing God General in front of him: the divine stone containing his innate spiritual essence!

"what--!"

The massive stone body of the Mountain Guardian General trembled violently, and as time passed, its entire body gradually emitted a dazzling golden light.

Beneath the stone armor, countless fine runes seemed to be lit up and flowing.

Those billions of fanatical, dependent, pleading, and grateful thoughts are like the most intense fuel thrown into the furnace!

Under the blessing of Lu Cheng's secret technique, the core divine stone within the divine general's body acted like the most efficient purification array, refining and purifying the "poison" contained in these impure thoughts, leaving only pure and boundless divine power!

These magical powers were quickly absorbed by the divine stone and then fed back to the limbs and bones of the Mountain-Suppressing God General, as well as the core of his Dao source.

Visibly, the lines of the originally somewhat bulky stone body of the Mountain Guardian General seemed to become smoother and more refined, the dark golden luster covering its surface became more profound, and the pressure it exuded rose steadily.

Although its tightly closed stone eyes remained closed, a powerful aura, seemingly capable of suppressing mountains and stabilizing the earth's veins, was faintly emanating from the quiet room, making the foundation of the entire mountain range where the Dao Palace was located seem even more solid.

Its essential power, under the catalysis of this immense will, is growing and transforming at an astonishing speed.

'This Guardian General of the Mountains has a simple and straightforward mind, which actually makes him excellent material for cultivating the acquired divine path. However, with this kind of personality, if he cultivates this path for a long time, he will inevitably be forever bound by the acquired divine path, with no possibility of breaking free.'

As Lu Cheng cast his spell, he thought to himself, "This is what I'm doing."

Meanwhile, in the Tongming Peak cave dwelling of the Taiqing Sect in the Earthly Immortal Realm, Lu Cheng had just awakened from meditation in a cave dwelling on the cloud-shrouded, ethereal mountain of the Taiqing Sect.

The purple gourd was successfully handed over to Master Yunjizi, a master craftsman, a few days ago. When the white-haired, vigorous Taoist touched the ancient texture of the magic gourd, his eyes shone brightly. He repeatedly praised its profound and mysterious contents, saying that he needed time to comprehend and deduce it before he could design a crafting plan that would maximize its power.

Lu Cheng was happy to have some free time. After explaining his design requirements to him in detail, he used this time to consolidate and refine the newly acquired Wonderful Eye Cleansing Qi and Innate Fiery Qi.

Time stands still in the mountains. On this day, suddenly, a soft, rippling light spread out from the protective barriers of the cave.

It is neither a talisman for transmitting spiritual power, nor a signal from disciples or fellow students requesting an audience.

That was an extremely pure and powerful thought, carrying a hint of divine might!
This thought directly pierced through the layers of restrictions in the cave, transforming into a phantom image of a ethereal, otherworldly talisman, hovering three feet in the air in front of Lu Cheng.

The talisman bore only one ancient seal character: 【玄】!
This is a divine message from my senior uncle Xuanjizi, the acting sect leader!

Lu Cheng's expression hardened, and he immediately stood up and focused his attention to receive the message.

As his divine sense flowed through his mind, Xuanjizi's gentle yet authoritative voice rang out: "Nephew Lu Cheng, come quickly to the 'Chengtian Hall' on Shuwu Peak."

The language is concise, yet leaves no room for argument.

Without the slightest delay, Lu Cheng immediately stood up, his simple Taoist robe gleaming slightly as it automatically changed into a cloud-patterned robe symbolizing the inner sect's true teachings.

The Taoist took a step forward, his figure transforming into a streak of condensed purple rainbow light. Ignoring the heavy spiritual mist restrictions of Tongming Peak, he pierced through directly and sped towards the "Chengtian Hall" on Shuwu Peak, one of the core and important sites of the Taiqing Sect.

Chengtian Hall.

This hall is hidden deep within the spiritual vein of Shuwu Peak. It is not a place of glittering gold and jade, but rather ancient and magnificent.

Huge stone pillars support the towering dome, which is engraved with the magnificent achievements of the Taiqing Sect's patriarchs in suppressing the earth's veins, purifying evil spirits, opening up spiritual veins, and ascending to immortality.

Exquisite and refined spiritual energy emanates from the spring in the center of the hall, the runes on the walls, and the star map on the ceiling. Taking a single breath in this spiritual place is comparable to the results of several days of arduous cultivation outside.

Of course, if one relies solely on the concentration of spiritual energy in a sacred place to cultivate magical power, one will inevitably be unable to break through the bottlenecks in one's future path of cultivation.

The purpose of these superior spiritual lands is to compensate for the cultivation time of high-level cultivators who are troubled by the trivial matters of the sect. The necessary efforts in cultivation are still indispensable.

When Lu Cheng stepped into the palace, several figures were already standing deep inside the empty hall.

On the first jade platform sat a man. He appeared to be middle-aged, but his eyes were as deep as an ancient well, as if he had witnessed countless ages.

He was dressed in the most ordinary dark blue Taoist robe, with no other ornaments except for a flawless white jade pendant at his waist. He was none other than the current sect leader, Xuanjizi!

He possessed no fierce aura, yet he naturally gathered the vast spiritual energy of the entire Chengtian Palace around himself, as if he were the center of a world.

On the jade futon slightly lower than Xuanjizi's seat sat three sect elders, their auras profound and their presence as imposing as ancient peaks and deep pools.

Their gazes occasionally swept over the five people standing solemnly in the hall, filled with scrutiny and expectation.

The five individuals, both male and female, possessed distinct temperaments and were all under five thousand years old. Their bodies radiated refined magical power and a faint, clear light, indicating that they were all outstanding contemporary Nascent Soul cultivators with considerable magical power. Clearly, they were top-tier figures among the current generation of disciples of the Taiqing Sect, representing the future of the sect.

The five people sensed Lu Cheng's presence as he entered and turned to look.

The newcomer was tall and composed, and although he wore the same inner sect disciple robes as them, his aura was as boundless as the ocean and unfathomable!

One of them, a young man dressed in crimson robes, with resolute features and a fiery temperament, had a glint of light in his eyes, full of a challenging intent.

A female Taoist priestess, with a cool and aloof demeanor and carrying an ancient, sheathed longsword, narrowed her eyes and unconsciously formed a sword incantation with her hands.

Another ordinary-looking, unassuming young Taoist priest in a robe had his brows furrowed, seemingly calculating something in his mind.

A petite girl in a Taoist robe, whose body was surrounded by intricate array patterns, looked on with curiosity and eagerness.

The last old man, a towering figure with bronze-colored skin, stood silently like a mountain, yet his gaze toward Lu Cheng carried a hint of solemnity.

Ignoring all the stares, Lu Cheng walked straight to the center of the hall, bowed respectfully towards the jade platform at the head of the table, and his clear voice echoed throughout the hall:
"Disciple Lu Cheng greets Master Uncle and all senior uncles."

Xuanjizi's gaze slowly fell on Lu Cheng, his deep eyes seemingly able to see into the depths of people's hearts. The three sect masters also looked over intently, and the vast spiritual energy within the hall rippled slightly.

"Hmm." Xuanjizi nodded slightly, his voice calm yet clearly reaching the ears of everyone in the hall. "Lu Cheng, are you willing to fight for my Taiqing Sect in the 'Immortal Pool Sword Battle'?"

Xuanjizi did not mention the dangers and opportunities behind the "Immortal Pool Sword Battle," nor did he exaggerate the sect's honor. He simply asked the most crucial question calmly.

Instantly, all eyes in the hall focused on Lu Cheng, and the five young disciples held their breath slightly.
Alone I entered the Yellow Clouds, my sword sweeping across eight hundred autumns.

Lu Cheng could not recognize all of them, but these young disciples could recognize Lu Cheng Daoist.

The sentence above was written by a busybody in the sect after Lu Cheng dealt with the affairs of Huangyun Prefecture, saying that he alone suppressed the alien races for Huangyun Prefecture of the Taiqing Sect and brought about nearly a thousand years of peace.

Although sword duels in the Immortal Pool are usually not life-threatening, for the Taiqing Sect to maintain its prestige, it is essential to at least place in the top five.

For the true disciples of the Taiqing Sect, this battle has both advantages and disadvantages, and not all true disciples are willing to participate.

Lu Cheng already has a foundation in managing the Black Mountain Market and Huangyun Prefecture, so it's not really appropriate for him to participate in this Immortal Pool Sword Fighting.

Lu Cheng met Xuanjizi's gaze without the slightest hesitation. His posture was upright, his eyes calm, revealing only the unwavering determination of his Dao heart.

"It is my duty to fight for the sect! I am naturally willing to go!"

"Good!" A faint hint of approval finally flashed in Xuanjizi's eyes: "We have been nurtured by the sect to have this level of Dao power, and this is our due responsibility."

His gaze swept over the five young cultivators standing solemnly below, and his voice rose slightly: "The Immortal Pool Sword Battle is a contest of geniuses, with each sect limited to three seats! You six are all pillars and outstanding talents of our Taiqing Sect. However, the number of seats is limited. Those who wish to represent their sects must be able to command respect and fully demonstrate their abilities! So, before the Chengtian Hall, you will demonstrate your skills through the Dao, each displaying your talents. The ultimate victor will be the Taiqing Sect's representative for this mission!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several mysterious runes lit up simultaneously on the floor in the center of the hall!

The immense spiritual energy of the entire Chengtian Hall was instantly activated, rapidly constructing a jade platform approximately 100 zhang in diameter in the central area.

The jade disc shimmered with light, isolating the inside from the outside, and is incredibly sturdy, capable of withstanding the full power of a cultivator at the Void Returning level in a battle!

Immediately afterward, Xuanjizi flicked his finger, and a point of light fell above the altar, transforming into an ancient bronze mirror that reflected the void:

"Observe the celestial mirror, which shines with impartiality and self-discipline. Which of you will go first?"

"Disciple Mu Xuechan requests guidance from fellow disciples!"

The clear, melodious sound suddenly broke the silence, like shattered jade striking ice.

The woman carrying a long sword and a Taoist robe took the lead and entered the dueling arena. She was like a lotus on a snow mountain, with an ethereal temperament and sharp eyes.

(End of this chapter)