The devil descended from the sky, and his fists suppressed the mountains and rivers

Chapter 338 Breaking Through the Sky, Who Can Rival the Heroes of Past and Present? (Part 2)
The woman's cold smile faded as she looked at the illusory lotus flower floating in front of her, enveloped in a life magnetic field, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

This is that guy's most common tactic: to leave behind seeds of divine thought with properties similar to spiritual treasures in certain places in some way. Ordinary people cannot see them; only truly powerful individuals can discover their existence.

As long as you connect with that person through your consciousness, you can establish a connection.

Of course, besides the truly powerful, there is another type of person who can see the true form of the lotus: those with extraordinary innate talent and willpower. It is said that this was a method that person once used to select reincarnations or pawns.

The woman is now considering whether to reconnect with the owner of the lotus flower.

Lotus, born in the Saha world, was once a member of the Donghua disciples. He probably knows the real reason why the disciples fell apart during his slumber, and he must also have a comprehensive understanding of the current secret world.

However, since they were already operating covertly, she was reluctant to reveal her own information, as she was well aware that the guy was not easy to use or get along with.

Although she, as a Sleeper, should despise all living beings active in the secular world, she would never dare to underestimate this person.

This person's understanding of the "long river" in the realm of consciousness is even superior to hers.

That was a different path, one she had explored to some extent, but ultimately stopped there, choosing instead to absorb the flesh and blood of an earth immortal and slumber. Therefore, she was well aware of how terrifying a figure like Padmasambhava was.

To some extent, they achieved a degree of "immortality," at least she had no confidence that she could truly kill the other party.

However, just as the woman was pondering, the lotus floating in the ball of light suddenly trembled slightly, and a faint fluctuation was transmitted out, causing the woman's expression to change slightly.

Ordinary people, or even ancient people, would probably find it difficult to sense and understand that fluctuation, but women were an exception.

That slight fluctuation means:

Your Majesty, now that you have met an old friend, why do you not want to see him/her?
Sensing this fluctuation, the woman did not hesitate any longer. She closed her eyes, and her own mental energy field intertwined with the lotus flower in front of her.

In the lotus world, a giant new lotus rose and bloomed. On the lotus platform stood a woman with pale skin, wearing a plain white robe with gold trim, her hair tied up high, and a face that was so beautiful it was almost demonic, yet she also possessed an inviolable sense of sacred elegance.

If the woman stands still, she seems no different from the goddess statues in temples.

"It has been more than two hundred years since we last met, Lady Sanyin."

A cheerful voice rang out, and when the Three Yin Goddess looked over, she saw Lotus standing on a lotus platform looking at her.

"More than two hundred years have passed. I never expected you to have reached such a level. Among so many seeds of divine sense, you were actually able to sense my presence?"

"Have you truly touched the threshold of 'true spirit'?"

The dark eyes of the Three Yin Goddess revealed an eeriness and desolation that sent chills down one's spine.

"Is it really effective?"

Upon hearing this word, a glint of light flashed in Lotus's eyes.

This is a term known only to a small number of powerful and ancient beings.

Over the long years, the hidden entity explored numerous ruins and summarized various clues to arrive at a path.

In their search for immortality, ancient practitioners did not seem to have only the path of becoming an earth immortal; there was another little-known path that the ancients called the "path of the true spirit."

The path of the Earthly Immortals is to break free of the shackles of the physical body and live forever in the world without dying, while the path of the True Spirit advocates that the soul is immortal and can even survive outside the physical body.

In the current cultivation system, cultivation methods such as astral body, yin body, and yang spirit are said to have evolved from the ancient true spirit path. Even the methods that the ancients relied on for reincarnation are related to the true spirit path.

However, unlike the path of the Earth Immortals, which has physical evidence such as the flesh and blood of Earth Immortals, this hidden existence has not found any clues related to the True Spirit to prove its existence.

The closest thing to this concept is actually "Lingbao".

It is an illusory body, formed by the condensation of magnetic fields, yet it can endure in the world for eternity.

Based on information obtained from ancient ruins, spiritual treasures were likely a byproduct created by ancient practitioners in their pursuit of the true spirit.

As far as ancient cultivators are concerned, the path of the true spirit is too ethereal and has been gradually abandoned and forgotten. There are very few who still persist in it. Even a great achiever like the Three Yin Goddess has turned to devouring the flesh and blood of earth immortals and sealed herself in slumber.

Lotus was no exception; he had already devoured a certain amount of the flesh and blood of the Earth Immortals to increase his own power, but he was unwilling to remain asleep for long.

In fact, with his qualifications and cultivation, he already had enough reserves of Earth Immortal flesh and blood, and could become a Sleeper at any time in a short period of time.

"Your Majesty is too kind. I have not yet achieved true spiritual power, but perhaps someone in this world has already succeeded."

Lotus shook her head and said.

"Who?!"

Upon hearing Lotus's words, the Three Yin Goddess's expression instantly hardened, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, and a thick black mist emanated from her body, filling it with a sinister and terrifying aura. The entire Lotus World began to deform and tremble under the erosion of the black mist.

"Your Majesty, please put away your supernatural powers. Do you still remember 'Dream Fairy'?"

Lotus spoke.

The black mist around the Three Yin Goddess slightly receded, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Chen Tuan, the Fuyaozi? That little guy who always adhered to the true path of the spirit, preferring to constantly bear the risks of reincarnation rather than devour the flesh and blood of earth immortals and be influenced by ancient earth immortals?"

"You say he attained true spirituality? What evidence do you have?"

The Three Yin Goddess inquired in a low voice.

"Perhaps he can no longer be called Fuyaozi. He abandoned his previous life and only lived this last one, using the pseudonym 'Youxian' and his real name is Hong Datong. The disintegration of the various schools is largely related to him."

"As for the evidence that he became a true spirit."

At this point, Lianhua couldn't help but recall the bizarre scene he had experienced not long ago.

That day, he and Beretta confronted each other in the River of Humanity. He originally held the absolute initiative, but at the critical moment, the River of Humanity suddenly surged and crashed into him, causing his consciousness to stagnate and giving Beretta time to break free of the restriction.

In his fleeting glance, he vaguely saw a "fish" diving into the river of humanity.

He didn't realize it at the time, but upon reflection, he increasingly felt that it was very likely that Hong Datong was the one who helped Beretta escape her predicament.

He has found Hong Datong's body and personally confirmed it in detail.

For someone who has abandoned their past life, reincarnation is almost impossible; it would be equivalent to mental derangement and could lead to a backlash of demonic possession. Therefore, Hung Tat-tung is truly dead.

If it was indeed Hong Datong who helped Beretta escape that day, a person who was already dead, whose soul should have dissipated, yet still alive and able to roam and manipulate the River of Humanity. This inconceivable event, coupled with the various doubts surrounding Hong Datong, led Lianhua to only consider one possibility.

That is the true spirit.

Freed from the constraints of the physical body, they exist in the world purely through the form of mental magnetic fields, preserving their self-awareness and transcending people's understanding of life.

Therefore, Lotus concealed some information about Beretta and told the Three Yin Goddess about her speculations about Hong Datong.

"In the end, you don't have any real evidence; it's just a guess."

The Three Yin Goddess spoke expressionlessly.

"Isn't a well-reasoned guess enough? At our level, we can't advance any further. A guess with a high probability is enough to make us devote all our strength, isn't it?"

"Even if this person has not truly achieved the status of a true spirit, he is probably not far off."

Lotus said calmly.

"So, you're telling me all this not just to give me a guess, are you? Assuming this person has already embarked on the path of the True Spirit to a certain extent, you should have already guessed some of the paths and methods, right?"

The Three Yin Goddess asked calmly.

"Of course, after all, we are both seekers of the true spirit, and we have traveled together in the past. We are very familiar with each other. I have investigated all his movements in detail and finally came to a possible direction."

"Your Majesty should know that there is such a thing as the 'Ancestral Realm' among those who are conferred the title of God, right?"

Lotus said with a smile.

"The Ancestral Realm? Of course I know about that. When we reach our level, we can travel freely through the myriad realms of the heavens and the void. We can come and go freely in the wondrous realms such as Heaven, Sumeru Realm, and the Nine Heavens. Only the Ancestral Realm is difficult for evil spirits to enter. It contains immense terror and is the foundation of the secrets of the lineage of those who were conferred gods."

"The clues you mentioned might not be related to the Ancestral Realm, right? Fuyaozi has entered the Ancestral Realm? You know, back then, Shakyamuni sought the path of the true spirit, using the power of all beings' wishes to create the true body of the Tathagata, and created the Sumeru Realm, attempting to prove the path of the true spirit, but ultimately he failed."

"But it cannot be denied that he was powerful at that time. He was the strongest spiritual cultivator in recorded history. Before he completely lost his self-awareness, he once used the power of the Sumeru Realm to attack an Ancestral Realm, trying to peek into its secrets and fight for a last chance of survival. As a result, he not only failed, but his last trace of self was also completely annihilated."

"Even such a person couldn't succeed, but Fuyaozi did?"

The Three Yin Goddess's eyes showed disbelief.

The Ancestral Realm is the foundation of the lineage of those who were enshrined as gods. Most ancient beings do not have a clear understanding of it, but for peak spiritual cultivators like Lotus and the Three Yin Goddess, the name of the Ancestral Realm is well-known.

With their abilities, they can freely enter and roam through many wondrous realms in the void. For example, the Sumeru Realm that Ding Huiyuan entered earlier could not stop their progress at all.

Only the ancestral realm of those who have attained godhood is a forbidden area for all spiritual cultivators.

This also involves a past event that caused quite a stir in the secretive world at the time.

It was the reincarnation of a powerful and ancient spiritual practitioner into a prince. He intended to create a sect, gather the wishes of all beings, forcibly elevate his own consciousness, and achieve true spiritual enlightenment.

He succeeded, but also failed.

He ascended to the void with an immense vow power rarely seen throughout history, created the Sumeru Realm, and achieved a Dharma body with imperishable vow power and an immortal body, which in some ways is no different from a true spirit.

This person was none other than the Buddha Shakyamuni.

However, the power of will can both bring success and failure. Every will contains the thoughts and emotions of its owner. The will of billions of beings is too much for even the strongest spiritual cultivators throughout history to bear. In the end, they are eroded by the will, lose their self, and become a "god".

It is no different from the natural gods that Yi Beidou has seen. Many of these gods are also formed from the power of their will. Their "actions" and "personalities" are entirely derived from the various "impressions" of the believers.

This also proves that the path of achieving true spirituality through willpower is not feasible, and later spiritual practices were no longer imitated.

However, before losing consciousness, Shakyamuni used the immense power of the Sumeru Realm to attack the Ancestral Realm, but ultimately failed, which made the Ancestral Realm a forbidden place for spiritual cultivation.

"The more dangerous the place, the bigger the hidden secret, and the bigger the secret, the greater the reward, isn't that right?"

"This is an excellent opportunity. The five lineages of the Investiture of the Gods have been declining, and now they hold the most spirit tokens, making them the target of everyone's attention. Many forces are eyeing them. What I want to say is that perhaps we can join forces. On the one hand, we can compete for the spirit tokens and the final control of the ruins; on the other hand, if we can capture the leader of one of the lineages of the Investiture of the Gods, we might be able to use him to glimpse the secrets of the Ancestral Realm. We can cooperate on both of these aspects."

Lotus said.

"Do you think it's possible to capture the leader of the Investiture of the Gods lineage alive? If those guys fight to the death and condense their true bodies into Heavenly Monarchs, they are said to be able to unleash an attack comparable to a true Earth Immortal. Have you ever seen a leader of the Investiture of the Gods lineage captured throughout history?"

"Back then, when Shakyamuni charged headlong into the Ancestral Realm, it triggered a riot in the Investiture of the Gods Alliance, which led to the 'Investiture of the Gods War.' No matter how many leaders of the five lineages of the Investiture of the Gods died, not a single one was captured."

The Three Yin Goddess said coldly.

"Just because we've never done it before doesn't mean we can't. Our paths are meant to be fraught with difficulties. This time, I've made ample preparations, and several fellow Daoists are willing to cooperate and assist us. If we can take advantage of the chaos, we might just have a chance."

Lotus said.

"The others? Who are they?"

The Three Yin Goddess asked.

"You should know about the Wheel of the World of the Bodhi Tree, which can stir up waves in the long river of humanity. There is also Fellow Daoist Huaqing, who is also from the School of Philosophy. His 'Heaven-Reaching Yang God' is enough to stabilize the universe. Fellow Daoist Dongwang has also agreed to cooperate. Although he was defeated by a mortal, his Penglai Daluo Body is still not to be underestimated. It is enough to suppress and entangle a Heavenly Lord in the physical body."

"If I can use my Lotus World to briefly counter the threat of the Ancestral Realm, and with Your Majesty's 'Soul-Capturing Bell,' we will have everything covered. What is there to fear about a major event?"

"By vying for the spiritual divination slips, we can explore the ruins together. As for what we get, that will depend on our own abilities. We can also share the secrets of the ancestral realm. It's a win-win situation. We must seize this opportunity, for it won't come again."

Lotus spoke slowly.

"King of Reincarnation! Immortal Hua Qing! I never expected that these two would also awaken and be reborn."

Upon hearing this, the Three Yin Goddess's expression changed slightly. She stopped speaking and her expression became somewhat uncertain.

If Lotus's words were true, then the struggle for the ruins this time is even more complex than she imagined.

Without seeking cooperation, she would likely find it difficult to gain any advantage on her own.

"Very well, I agree to cooperate with you. I hope what you say is true, otherwise..."

The Three Yin Goddess stared sharply at the lotus flower.

(End of this chapter)