Poor Taoist Qiu Chuji

Chapter 383 Escaping the Stubborn Stone, Uniting with All of Me

In terms of raw power, Qiu Chuji is currently at a level comparable to a Great Immortal. Perhaps as he digests the characteristics of the Great Luo Immortal, he will master some methods to break through limits and be able to compete with some weaker Golden Immortals.

However, if he wants to quickly reach the level of a Golden Immortal, he still needs an opportunity and accumulation of experience.

This time, Qiu Chuji really benefited greatly from the Heaven-Mending Stone; in a sense, he stole the future that belonged to the Heaven-Mending Stone.

Even though Qiu Chuji only attained a small part of the Great Luo realm, he hadn't even touched the threshold of the Golden Immortal realm.

But this saved him countless years of hard work.

Countless ancient immortals and Buddhas have been stuck outside this threshold, and even after many reincarnations, they have never been able to reach it.

In the myriad realms, the definition of a Great Luo Golden Immortal is actually quite broad and rather vague, and as the entire cultivation civilization spreads, this definition continues to be elevated.

For example, there are terms like "one certificate is eternal," "unique in all realms," "omnipresent," "words become law," and "every thought is answered," etc. But in reality, some of these standards have always existed, while others were added later in the development process.

After all, cultivation is also evolving; as lower levels expand, higher levels will naturally expand as well.

But tracing back to the source, and returning to the original purpose and meaning of cultivation, the initial standard for recognizing a Great Luo Golden Immortal was 'immortality and indestructibility'.

Immortality is the essence of metal; those who cultivate immortality become Golden Immortals.

What is immortality? It is the state of being truly free from the limitations of lifespan, where one's body and soul are inexhaustible.

It sounds simple, but how difficult is it?
Whether it is life or matter, as long as they exist in the world, they will be in a process of constant decay.

No matter how slow or lengthy the process may be, it will eventually come to an end.

Therefore, in many great worlds, possessing the elixir of immortality is an essential requirement for becoming a powerful figure in the Three Realms.

Even the most powerful cultivator will die if they do not possess immortality.

Pure strength cannot stop the approach to the finish line.

To prove immortality is tantamount to completely denying this decay, which is equivalent to severing certain direct connections with the world and the universe and forming a system on its own.

This is also commonly referred to as 'transcending the three realms and not being within the five elements'.

Qiu Chuji understands this principle now, but he can't see the direction or find any trace of it.

He controls the Five Elements, but he only feels that the Five Elements are deeply rooted in all the rules of the world and can interact with everything. How can he break free?
If we simply deny it, the world remains unchanged, but 'I' have been worn away.

Immortality is already so difficult to achieve, and immortality is even more elusive.

The indestructible is the Great Luo.

Although metal is immortal, it can be destroyed by human forces. Although it can achieve true longevity, it does not possess the attribute of immortality.

If the immortality of gold can still be traced, with a slight possibility of being achieved through the refinement of time and the accumulation of resources, then the ethereal and indestructible nature that transcends time and space and all the heavens is even more elusive.

The most common and applicable means today is nothing more than constantly expanding one's influence in the heavens, achieving the unity of the 'selves' in many worlds, and reaching the state of immortality through the sublimation of this 'collective' self.

This requires luck, or rather, destiny, which is one of the reasons why all the gods and Buddhas in the world value the orthodox tradition.

The transmission of Taoist traditions has the effect of gathering and concentrating fortune.

The ways and methods by which this tradition gathers fortune are actually diverse. They are not limited to popular methods of spreading the Tao and teachings and taking on disciples. Ultimately, they aim to expand fame and influence, thereby generating more "selves" and bringing these selves closer together so that they can interact and support each other.

For example, the movie "Ne Zha" was enough to push Ne Zha a long way on the path to becoming a Great Immortal.

Because this has led to the creation of many different worlds, the possibilities for Nezha have been greatly expanded.

From this perspective, although Qiu Chuji came from a small, low-level martial arts world, he actually had a far greater innate advantage than many unknown minor gods, immortals, and Buddhas.

Besides luck, the long period of time spent is also the foundation for achieving immortality.

Therefore, spiritual practice often begins with cultivating the immortal golden nature before aspiring to the indestructible Great Luo.

Once one reaches the realm of immortality, even the weakest Great Luo Golden Immortal is on a completely different level compared to Golden Immortals and those below them.

According to Nezha, to date, no Great Luo Golden Immortal has ever truly perished... Even those beings who were proven to have 'fallen' in the primordial era and ancient times can still be seen active in some worlds across the heavens.

Given the right opportunity, they could break free from certain limitations and rise to the top once again.

Even without this opportunity, they still exist in some parts of the world in an extremely great and magnificent way.

Therefore, for beings at the level of Great Luo Golden Immortal or above, their victories and clashes are not about completely annihilating their opponents, but rather about gaining higher-level authority to impose limited titles on their enemies and achieve a staged victory.

In the closed and independent space of the Heaven-Mending Stone, Qiu Chuji transcended immortality and saw the indestructible first.

This means that his body can be killed, but his soul lives on forever.

"I wonder if it's a good thing or not!"

"However, I must never let others know about my circumstances."

"Otherwise, if a cultivator who isn't even a Golden Immortal were to obtain the attribute of immortality, word would spread that many powerful cultivators who are currently stuck at the gate would be interested in me."

"At that time, even the name of Jade Void Palace probably couldn't suppress it. After all, no matter how much the Dao Ancestor mourns, he can only give a high-level title to a Great Luo Golden Immortal. For those beings stuck outside the gate, once they control me, seize my immortal attributes, and cultivate into Great Luo Golden Immortals, they can withstand any punishment from the Dao Ancestor." Qiu Chuji had long since traversed the darkness of human nature, so he naturally wouldn't have high expectations for certain things.

Within the space of the Heaven-Mending Stone, the physical body and the primordial spirit achieved complete fusion.

Having completely concealed the anomaly within his primordial spirit and resolved never to release it alone before achieving the Golden Immortal realm, Qiu Chuji stepped out, easily and freely escaping the 'lockdown' of the Heaven-Mending Stone.

Once he had completely subdued the primordial energy within the Heaven-Mending Stone, he realized that he didn't need to open the stone like the Monkey King to create a world-shaking event.

The birth of the Monkey King was another creation from the outside world, forcibly tearing apart and breaking the original creation within the Sky-Mending Stone.

It was the Buddha's supreme power that persuaded the goddess Nuwa to yield a little.

Qiu Chuji completely subdued the Qi of Creation and partially replicated the path taken by the Goddess Nuwa. He was already the master of the Stone of Mending the Sky, so why would he need to clash with it again?
······
If Qiu Chuji had taken a second look at the outside world when he stepped out of the Heaven-Mending Stone, perhaps he wouldn't be in such an awkward situation now.

Do not!
Don't misunderstand, the moment Qiu Chuji came out, it wasn't that his newly accepted apprentice Lin Daiyu was doing things like taking a bath or changing clothes, things that are common in third-rate novels.

In reality, the beautiful girl with straps tied around her shoulders was showing off her left, fair and smooth arm, and was working hard to bulge out the muscles in her arm. Those beautiful and well-proportioned muscles would definitely make many beauty-loving young girls scream if they were in modern society, but at this moment... it seemed a bit out of place.

After all, in this day and age, women with slightly exaggerated pectoral muscles are often ridiculed behind their backs, while genuinely well-developed muscles are enough to make women feel ashamed. In the picture, Lin Daiyu is seen puffing out one arm while half-leaning on the desk to paint with the other, occasionally glancing up at the bronze mirror standing not far away.

She was clearly trying to depict the state of her muscles when she exerted force, or perhaps she was trying to conceal something.

For example, one can use martial arts to conceal muscles without compromising their explosive power and combat effectiveness.

However, Qiu Chuji happened to witness this posture, which was somewhat...unexpected.

Therefore, when Qiu Chuji appeared, Lin Daiyu hesitated for a few breaths before realizing what was happening and immediately raised her fist in an attempt to break the wall of memory.

At that moment, she forgot everything else and only wanted to preserve her last vestige of her public image.

Qiu Chuji hesitated for a moment, then tacitly and considerately took the punch filled with shame and indignation, and fell backward with his head tilted back.

A qualified mentor should understand and respect his disciple's sense of shame.

She is, after all, a girl. If she doesn't have a plausible reason to comfort herself after being seen like this, she will likely suffer from psychological trauma for a long time.

If this makes her insecure, then it must be the fault of the teacher.

Qiu Chuji... was a good teacher!

Qiu Chuji, who had fallen asleep immediately, closed his eyes, intending to wake up reasonably two hours later, and then perfectly forget the scene he had just witnessed, so that this accidental first formal meeting would be completely erased and everything would start anew.

Even if Lin Daiyu knew he was pretending, and he knew Lin Daiyu knew he was pretending, having such a process would help their relationship as master and disciple later on.

Qiu Chuji, lying on the ground with his eyes closed, felt a little bit idle.

He wasn't in a hurry, but... real sleep was no longer a part of his life.

He always had to do something every two hours.

Therefore, Qiu Chuji attempted to use the secret of the Great Luo, and the threads of his primordial spirit penetrated the barriers of time and space, connecting to all the heavens and worlds along the hidden veins.

At the same time, Qiu Chuji sensed many 'selves'.

Furthermore, it has the ability to construct a virtual space where different "selves" intersect, for all of them to communicate.

"This is a bit like the 99 Stream!" Qiu Chuji thought to himself, having also brushed up on his knowledge of online novels.

The difference lies in the fact that the different versions of myself in the 99 streams are formed by the splitting of individuals and their projection into different worlds. In the common place where souls intersect, they can share things such as memories, experiences, talents, skills, and so on.

He uses his own Great Luo Secret as the core to gather different "selves" and guide them onto a more magnificent and extraordinary path.

All they can share here is experience.

But that's actually more than enough!

After all, with him as the 'big boss' leading the way, things will get better.

The so-called uniqueness of the Great Luo realm does not mean eliminating differences, but rather leaving a truly indelible mark on the heavens while growing and progressing together, full of possibilities.

From this perspective, the stronger he is, the stronger I am.

All that's left to compete for is that one spot to surpass others.

But this spot is not given by anyone, but depends entirely on one's own understanding and experience. Qiu Chuji is already standing halfway up the mountain, yet he still has to be wary of those 'others' who can't even see the mountain. Isn't that petty?
As his thoughts unfolded, Qiu Chuji attempted to recreate some of the settings of Chongyang Palace in the fictional scene where all his selves gathered.

Of course, the 'Qiu Chuji' that appears this time may not all be from the Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes.

After all, Master Qiu was a renowned Taoist master and the founder of the Quanzhen School.

Although the Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes are widely known and therefore the most famous, they are by no means the only ones.

······
Moss grew on the blue brick floor, and twelve bronze crane-beak lamps floated in the air, casting different colored halos of light onto the folds of the Taoist robe.

Six Qiu Chujis faced each other at the eye of the Bagua formation, the lamplight casting cracks of varying depths beneath their feet.

The white-robed Taoist priest on the far left gripped his gleaming longsword tightly, the spine of which reflected the afterimages of three of himself opposite him.

His doubts and uncertainty made it difficult for him to calm down.

The gray-robed Taoist on the right, holding a black iron whisk, suddenly revealed a cold smile. The silver threads of the whisk moved without wind, twisting the falling incense ash into spiral-shaped fragments.

The candlelight behind him suddenly surged, clearly indicating that he was circulating his true energy, intending to forcefully break through this 'illusion'.

"Amitabha! Greetings, everyone!" Qiu Chuji, who was standing in the fourth position clockwise, spoke up and at the same time began to use his true Taoist arts to try to break the 'illusion'.

However, none of the actions had any real impact on this space.

A bluish-gray mist flowed among the carved beams and painted rafters, and as arcs of light leaped, nine futons formed a ring, suspended in mid-air, and then slowly descended.

Qiu Chuji, dressed in a black crane cloak, held the hilt of his sword at his waist, but his longsword remained unsheathed. He had already seen that the other 'people' had failed in their tests, so he was simply holding back his attack.

As the sandalwood incense wafted from the gilded Boshan incense burner, all the copper bells that had been chiming suddenly fell silent, and the wind chimes on the eaves swallowed up their last hum.

Qiu Chuji, dressed in a blue Taoist robe, with a square face and no beard, and an ethereal air, appeared in the very center.

Are there two still missing?

"Oh! My mistake, they're all dead. I brought over fragmented souls!"

As he spoke, the man in the blue Taoist robe flicked his sleeve, and two half-body phantom figures appeared, both of them white-bearded old Taoists.

One of them, however, appeared strong and powerful, clearly indicating that he was also a person of exceptional martial arts skills in his lifetime.

The other was withered and emaciated, with little spiritual expression; when he was alive, he was just an ordinary person in terms of physical appearance.

Nine prayer cushions shimmered with spiritual light, and nine Qiu Chujis sat down... whether they wanted to or not.

"No need for further words, I will directly impart the cause and effect to you. Receive it carefully and do not be distracted!" Qiu Chuji said, sending out eight beams of spiritual light, which were then injected into the brows of the eight 'other selves'.

(End of this chapter)