Yefutidaolu

Chapter 368 The True Explanation of Transformation and Return to Origin

Yuan Lu's feet were not on solid ground, but on raging seawater! But under the pure and extreme power of his body, that sea area was as if it had been hit by billions of depth charges! The seawater was not pushed away, but squeezed, compressed, and then violently exploded!
A giant column of water, over 100 meters in diameter, shot straight into the sky! Its power was enough to instantly destroy a small island!
And so, he tore apart the turbulent waters of the ocean with his own body and trampled the devastating tsunami with brute force!

Each step triggered a terrifying water explosion, leaving behind a series of colossal water columns that reached the heavens and the earth! It was as if a raging demon god from ancient times had carved out a tyrannical passage amidst the immense power of heaven and earth unleashed by the Dragon King!

Gao Jian, who was firmly held in his hand, felt like a small boat caught in a hurricane! The violent tearing force, the water pressure that could crush mountains, and the suffocating pure physical pressure emanating from Yuan Lu made it difficult for him to even breathe! If it weren't for his solid foundation and the protection of Yuan Lu's power, he would probably have been seriously injured by the aftershocks.

Yuanlu's goal is clear—the entrance to the abyss.

His eyes burned with a burning desire for breakthrough that had been pent up for centuries, nothing else!

"Open it!!!"

With a roar that shattered the void, Yuan Lu's fist, imbued with boundless brute force, slammed fiercely towards the entrance to the abyss, which was now even more chaotic, riddled with cracks and turbulent currents, stirred up by the Dragon King's mighty power!

Boom!

The earth and abyss shattered on a massive scale, like fragile glass! The already perilous entrance to the abyss was forcibly torn open by Yuan Lu's terrifying punch—a punch powerful enough to suppress the seas and shatter the earth's crust—creating an even larger and more unstable crack! This revealed a dark, deep passage behind it, exuding an ancient and desolate aura!

No hesitation!

Yuan Lu grabbed Gao Jian and, like an angry arrow released from a bow, transformed into a black lightning bolt that tore through the void, plunging headlong into the passage he had blasted open with his fist!

The moment their figures disappeared, the entrance to the passage that had been forcibly blasted open groaned under the dual pressure of the raging spatial turbulence and the gravitational tsunami triggered by the Dragon King, and began to twist and collapse violently!
The immense power of heaven and earth unleashed by the Dragon King continues to rage, and the gravitational waves are still spreading wildly, destroying everything in their path.

But Yuan Lu, with his inhumanly ferocious body, had already forced his way into the Dragon Clan's secret sanctuary.

"Cough cough cough!" Gao Jianmeng coughed violently; the shock he had received was too great, so he couldn't stop coughing.

It wasn't until he fell to the bottom of the abyss that, under the protection of the water-repelling pearl, he finally regained some mobility and managed to stand up.

Damn... moving mountains and filling seas with a wave of the hand, is this what a celestial being is...?

When the vital energy is in harmony, the five internal organs are at peace, and the four limbs are strong and the bones are firm. Although one has not yet obtained the elixir of immortality, one can still live among mortals as an earth immortal.

These terrestrial immortals possess only immortality as a basic characteristic; their power is even more inconceivable...

He suppressed his surging blood and the fear in his heart, forcing himself to calm down. He raised his head and looked at the figure in front of him, shrouded in a black robe, whose aura was even more erratic and unstable than before—Yuan Lu.

“Senior,” Gao Jian’s voice was a little hoarse, but he tried his best to keep it steady, “We have entered. Where is the ‘True Explanation of Transformation and Return to Origin’ now?”

As he asked the question, he quickly looked around, taking in the sights of this secret dragon sanctuary.

This place was not the magnificent, shimmering, or spiritually rich place one might have imagined. They seemed to have pierced through the abyss and, with their previous immense force, had broken through the ground, perhaps even the earth's crust, arriving at some extremely deep place where ley lines converged!
"Could we have entered the mantle layer?" Takami couldn't help but wonder.

All around was a deathly darkness, with only the cold rocks beneath one's feet emitting a faint, star-like, ghostly blue phosphorescence.

Looking up, there was no dome in sight, only endless dark void, as if I were deep inside the earth.

Beneath their feet lay massive, rough, uneven black rocks, and beyond the edge of the platform lay a bottomless, dark abyss. Most peculiarly, the surroundings were not completely silent, but rather a slow, heavy thumping sound, like the beating of the earth's heart, could be heard.

That's the pulse of the earth's veins! Each pulse causes the surrounding rocks to tremble slightly.

Wisps of pure earth vein energy emanated from the surrounding area, containing some special power. This energy flowed in the darkness, outlining veins that meandered like blood vessels, emitting a dim red or blue light, making this desolate abyss appear bizarre and surreal.

Yuan Lu stood there, seemingly oblivious to the raging earth vein essence around him that was enough to kill an ordinary cultivator, and walked straight in.

He took a deep breath, and the rich earth vein energy was absorbed into his body like a whale sucking in water. His black robe fluttered without wind, and his aura seemed to calm down a little, but the fire of desire in his eyes burned even more fiercely!
He didn't answer the insightful question, but instead raised his withered finger and pointed to a rather inconspicuous spot in the area.

Gao Jian looked in the direction he was pointing.

There, in the place where the earth's essence was most concentrated, something was quietly suspended.

That wasn't a jade slip, a stone tablet, or a ball of light, but a... egg?

No, to be more precise, it was an enormous, broken eggshell!

It is about half a person's height, and its whole body is grayish-white. Its surface is covered with ancient patterns, as if it contains some kind of code.

The eggshell was incomplete, appearing to be missing a third, revealing an empty interior.

Above the eggshell, an indescribable, heavy pressure, as if choking you, emanated from the broken shell, making it difficult to breathe.

Just by gazing at it, Gao Jian felt the gravity on his body increase several degrees, as if he were looking up at an ancient divine mountain that supported the sky and supported the earth. This pressure even faintly surpassed the Yuan Law, carrying a kind of weight and vastness that came from an unknown source, but was definitely at a higher level!

With just one glance, Gao Jian confirmed that this eggshell was a treasure of the Earth Immortal level!
What kind of creature's eggshell is this? How can an eggshell be so powerful? And judging from the situation, what was gestating inside has probably already hatched, leaving only this remnant that carries the essence of the cultivation technique.

"This is... the object that carries the essence of the 'True Explanation of Transformation and Return to Origin'?" Gao Jian's voice was filled with shock.

This thing is really...

Yuan Lu's gaze was fixed on the broken eggshell, his voice slightly hoarse with excitement: "Indeed! This is a wonder of heaven and earth! When the dragons discovered it, the creature inside had already hatched and vanished without a trace. Only this half-shell remained, naturally imprinted with the divine essence of a fragment of the 'True Explanation of Transformation and Return to Origin'! The true dragons claim this is the shell of a true dragon from beyond the heavens... Hmph!" Yuan Lu let out a disdainful snort, "Even if there are wonders beyond the heavens, how could one possess such the aura of a celestial being from the moment of its birth? In my opinion, it is merely the remains left behind by some ancient dragon ancestor who has attained the pinnacle of creation during their transformation! Using the name of beyond the heavens to increase its mystery!"

He clearly scoffed at the dragons' explanation, but that did not diminish his desire for the divine image branded on the eggshell.

"Alright! Enough with the small talk!" Yuan Lu whirled around, his gaze burning beneath his black robes as he stared intently at Gao Jian, his voice carrying an undeniable command and urgency: "Begin! Start studying now! I will use all my strength to sense the divine essence on this eggshell! You too, use all your senses and your comprehension! Tell me immediately of any discoveries or insights, big or small! Help me fill in the gaps and point out the key points! Gao Jian, you are a genius, and I want to see the same level of understanding you displayed when you were studying the Yellow Springs."

His voice was urgent, his breath fluctuating. Hundreds of years of waiting, everything, had been for this moment! His path to becoming an Earth Immortal, the twelve realms that had bound him for countless years, his rage after the loss of Liangzhou's supplies, and the bloody plunder of the North in collusion with Gao Jian... Now he finally saw hope of breaking through!
He couldn't wait any longer! He couldn't wait even a second longer!

Gao Jian looked at Yuan Lu, who seemed to be going mad and was impatient, and then glanced at the broken eggshell that was radiating a vast and powerful aura.

His face was expressionless; he simply nodded. "Yes, senior," Gao Jian's voice was calm and even.

He then slowly closed his eyes as instructed, sat down cross-legged, as if he were truly preparing to devote himself wholeheartedly to enlightenment.

However, beneath his tightly closed eyelids, in the depths of his consciousness, an extreme, pure killing intent, like a lurking venomous dragon, quietly opened its scarlet vertical pupils.

Easy to say.

Easy to say.

Here's the "gap-filling" you're looking for.

The opportunity you want, I'll give you.

And the opportunity I've been waiting for... to deliver a fatal blow and send you, you old devil, on your way... has finally arrived!

Gao Jian's aura instantly became incredibly calm and focused, as if he had truly merged with the vast and ancient aura of the eggshell, and began to comprehend its divine essence.

But only he knew that his mind was already stretched to its limit, and he had turned his senses into invisible threads, wrapping them around the eggshell and Yuanlu, waiting for... that fleeting moment!

------------

Gao Jian sat down cross-legged as instructed, his eyes closed, his aura instantly becoming still and deep, like a stubborn rock thrown into a deep pool, incongruous with the surrounding violent, desolate, and deathly environment, yet strangely integrated into it. He did not use the sharpness of the rusty knife that could see through illusions and point directly to the source, but as Yuan Lu had said, and like a true, exceptionally talented cultivator, he relied solely on his own comprehension, perception, and accumulation to touch the divine essence on the broken eggshell.

Before taking action, Gao Jian couldn't let such a treasure slip by.

The essence of the art can be attached to almost any medium, so the practice itself is not limited to any particular medium. However, things like written language...

Consciousness sank into a chaotic darkness, with only the incomplete eggshell in front of it.

He emptied his mind, letting the aura of the eggshell envelop his consciousness.

At first, it was a suffocating heaviness, as if his soul had been pressed into the depths of the earth, in sync with the "thump...thump..." pulse. Gradually, some information began to flicker and condense in his consciousness.

"That which follows the spirit is called the soul, and that which comes and goes with the essence is called the vital spirit..."

Certain text fragments appeared out of nowhere.

This is not a message directly conveyed by the eggshell, because the divine essence does not contain such information. This was written by Gao Jian himself. In fact, it is his own understanding of "Yuan" based on his own Dao foundation. After colliding with the divine essence of the eggshell, the two intertwined and produced a resonance and a new interpretation.

When Yang energy rises, it cannot yet transform into Shen (spirit), so it first transforms Hun (soul)... When Yin energy descends, it cannot yet generate Jing (essence), so it first transforms Po (physical essence)...

The first is the beginning of transformation. The light and clear rises to become the heavens, the heavy and turbid sinks to become the earth, and the harmonious and balanced energy becomes humankind. Therefore, heaven and earth contain essence, and all things are born from it.

Is this what the so-called "transformation and return to the origin" means?
The essence of the eggshell seems to illustrate a grander, more fundamental process of "transformation." It is not merely the metamorphosis of an individual, but rather... a microcosm of the creation of the universe!

The broken eggshell no longer seemed like an inanimate object to him.

It speaks of all things mixed together, roots, stems, branches, leaves, lush greenery, vibrant foliage, flying insects, crawling insects, breathing insects, all of which can be traced, observed, and measured in quantity.

Those that exist or do not exist: cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be touched, cannot be reached, are stored and smelted, vast and boundless.

Between heaven and earth, within the universe, nothing can be stopped. For that which brings life does not die, and that which transforms things does not transform.

The number in the heavens is five, and the number in the earth is six; the two combine. Six represents emptiness, and five represents sound; they circulate throughout the six emptinesses.

The void represents the principles of Yin and Yang, their ascending and descending movements, arranged in twelve categories, thus harmonizing the musical scales. The primordial energy of Taiji encompasses the three into one.

"极" means "the extreme" or "the middle." "元" means "the beginning."

It moves through the twelve earthly branches, beginning at Zi (子). Adding it to Chou (丑), we get three. Adding it to Yin (寅), we get nine. Adding it to Mao (卯), we get twenty-seven. Adding it to Chen (辰), we get eighty-one. Adding it to Si (巳), we get two hundred and forty-three. Adding it to Wu (午), we get seven hundred and twenty-nine. Adding it to Wei (未), we get two thousand one hundred and eighty-seven. Adding it to Shen (申), we get six thousand five hundred and sixty-one. Adding it to You (酉), we get nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three. Adding it to Xu (戌), we get fifty-nine thousand forty-nine. Adding it to Hai (亥), we get seventeen seven thousand one hundred and forty-seven. This is the harmony of Yin and Yang, the concentration of Qi at Zi, which gives birth to all things. Therefore, it sprouts at Zi, grows in Chou, reaches Yin, flourishes in Mao, shines brightly in Chen, reaches its peak at Si, spreads out at Wu, becomes dim at Wei, strengthens at Shen, lingers at You, completes itself at Xu, and is contained at Hai. Emerging from Jia, striving in Yi, shining brightly in Bing, flourishing greatly in Ding, abundant in Wu, establishing order in Ji, gathering and changing in Geng, completely renewed in Xin, embracing responsibility in Ren, and presenting principles in Gui.

Those who create life do not die, but those who transform things do not transform!
This maxim struck like a thunderclap deep within Gao Jian's mind! How similar it was to the "Origin" he pursued—that primordial power that transcends concrete forms and is nearly immortal! Wasn't the "Origin" he pursued precisely the realm of a "Creator"?
At the same time, the essence of the eggshell takes that "primordial energy" from the "Zi" position, that is, the beginning, and according to specific laws, it participates in the Chou, Yin... Hai, to undergo fission, proliferation, and evolution, and finally reaches the "177,147" realm, simulating the complete process of all things being born, growing, flourishing, maturing, and returning to their roots! This is clearly a mathematical model of the evolution of primordial energy into the birth and death of all things!

This "True Explanation of Transformation and Return to Origin" perfectly integrates the laws governing the operation of heaven and earth, the time scales of the cycle of days and nights, with the process of the evolution of primordial energy—a process known as "the transformation of Yin and Yang"! Its explanation of "transformation" is based on a profound understanding of the laws of change!
“Transformation, transformation…” Gao Jian thought to himself, and suddenly felt a series of shocking waves. “Yang gives its energy, Yin transforms its things, and form and energy interact to create all things… This is the great cycle of creation and generation.”

He suddenly understood!
(End of this chapter)