Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 128 The Path of the Immortal Celestial Venerable
Before we knew it, thousands of years had passed. Ten thousand years had passed since Liang Yu disappeared from the world.

During this time, the Prison King departed early and fell into a deep sleep. The other three, however, were in high spirits. They would meditate and cultivate diligently, or exchange ideas, disagree with each other, and constantly come up with new ideas. Ultimately, they continuously improved the great formation and the immortal scriptures obtained from the wondrous land.

The ascension array and the secrets of these wondrous places were upgraded and perfected once again during this process. Liang Yu and the Underworld Lord discovered that they had been too arrogant in claiming that they had figured out the mysteries of these wondrous places. With the Lingbao Heavenly Lord's array pattern deciphering, the laws of these wondrous places had actually undergone new changes and revealed new mysteries.

Finally, they ended their exchange. Seeing that they had no new ideas left, they decided to travel to the ancient planet Yinghuo to make final adjustments to the ascension formation based on the actual conditions.

Just as Liang Yu and the others were preparing to leave the underworld, a divine thought interrupted their plan.

The divine thought said, "Great Heavenly Venerable, Fellow Daoist Netherworld Venerable, and Fellow Daoist Lingbao, come to the Immortal Mausoleum immediately."

Lingbao Tianzun frowned slightly and said, "Is he... Changsheng Tianzun? Why does his aura seem a bit strange?"

Lingbao Tianzun had seen Changsheng Tianzun before when he came to the Underworld, so he had a deep impression of Changsheng Tianzun's aura. It was a peculiar aura that was full of vitality and blood, but without any sense of oppression, giving people a feeling of being bathed in a spring breeze.

But now, the aura of the Celestial Venerable of Longevity has become extremely weak for some reason, as if he is about to pass away. That's not all; the most crucial thing is that this aura is full of the aura of heaven and earth, more like an inanimate object than a living person.

But when he looked at the Underworld Lord and Liang Yu, he found that they also looked astonished. Clearly, they didn't know either.

Although the three were puzzled, they did not hesitate and entered the Immortal Tomb together.

The Celestial Venerable of Immortality had been sleeping in the central hills of the Immortal Mausoleum, and now they naturally came directly to this place.

Then they saw a stone figure, a stone figure that was basically the same as the soil and stone of the Immortal Mausoleum, and of the same origin.

What's going on? Why is the Celestial Venerable of Immortality petrified? Could it be the method of transforming into a Holy Spirit?
Upon seeing the arrival of everyone, a divine thought emanated from the stone figure: "It's good that you've all come. Fellow Daoist Lingbao, it's been a long time. It's been a long time."

Liang Yu said, "There's no need for pleasantries at a time like this. Fellow Daoist Changsheng, what happened to you?"

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity, however, seemed unconcerned and calmly spoke through divine thought: "Great Celestial Venerable, do you still remember the symbiotic relationship between the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree and the Boundless Immortal Mountain that you once studied?"

Liang Yu frowned slightly and said, "This technique was used by the Enlightened Ancient Tea Tree to save itself. It is a method to merge and connect its own origin with the Wuji Immortal Mountain, turning it into one, thereby sharing its immortal divinity and making itself immortal even under severe damage."

"But it doesn't apply to other life forms. Could your condition be related to this technique, fellow Daoist?"

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, “Yes. Perhaps it is because I have gained a new understanding of the Ancient Scripture of Burial of Immortals. Recently, even in my slumber, I have been breathing in sync with the Immortal Tomb, almost in sync. It seems that I have become a part of the Immortal Tomb.”

"In this state, it seems that I can extend my life again with the Immortal Tomb, so I woke up again and found that the Immortal Tomb Laws in my body had become even denser, almost replacing all the laws I had cultivated before and becoming the dominant force."

"During this cultivation, I comprehended the symbiotic relationship between the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree and the Wuji Immortal Mountain, and from this, I derived the symbiotic relationship with the Immortal Mausoleum."

"I first relied on the secret of the character '者' to adjust my own life force to keep in sync with the pulse of the Immortal Tomb's laws. Then I used the laws of the Immortal Tomb as the absolute core to maintain my own operation and cultivation. In this state, I did have a deeper resonance with the Immortal Tomb, but I could never truly become one with it." "After much research, I discovered that my life force as a human is naturally incompatible with the Immortal Tomb, preventing me from establishing a deeper connection with it."

"So I thought of the method of transforming into a Holy Spirit. Of course, not the complete version that transforms one's entire life through this method, but rather the method of extending one's life by transforming oneself into a half-stone person."

"Since the Immortal Tomb rejects me as a human, if I use the laws of the Immortal Tomb and earth and stone to turn into a stone figure, will the Immortal Tomb still reject me?"

"So, I transformed myself into half a stone figure and planted myself in the earth veins of the Immortal Tomb, truly connecting my own origin with the origin of the Immortal Tomb. But in that instant, my consciousness was almost completely assimilated."

"Thanks to the secret of the former word and your immortal true spirit secret technique, Great Heavenly Venerable, I was able to maintain my self and awaken again after thousands of years of tug-of-war."

"And so, I became what I am now. I can hardly feel the passing of my lifespan anymore, as if I have truly become one with the Immortal Mausoleum. This can be considered a different kind of immortality."

"However, in this state, I cannot move freely, nor can I cultivate anything other than the Ancient Scripture of Burial Immortals. Moreover, I can feel that the Immortal Tomb is constantly eroding my consciousness and body, trying to truly turn me into a part of it."

Liang Yu and the Underworld Lord looked at each other. They had discussed this method before, but firstly, they didn't take it too seriously because it might create new forbidden zones for life, and secondly, it would take a lot of time and effort. Therefore, they hadn't made any progress yet.

Unexpectedly, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity had already figured out the basics of this method, which was beyond their expectations.

Lingbao Tianzun couldn't help but be amazed. After all, he had undergone a transformation and rebirth using the method of transforming into a Holy Spirit, and in just a few thousand years, he had gained a considerable understanding of the core laws of the Immortal Mausoleum. Therefore, he was well aware of how difficult this unconventional method of achieving immortality would be.

He had initially dismissed Liang Yu's desire to help these self-severing supreme beings, but now it seemed that at least self-severing supreme beings like the Eternal Heavenly Venerable were indeed very promising.

Liang Yu asked, "Fellow Daoist Changsheng, how are you feeling? Do you need our help to escape?"

The Celestial Venerable of Immortality said, “No, no need. I have never felt so good since I cut off my own flesh. I lived for millions of years after cutting off my own flesh, and only now have I truly found the way to immortality.”

"Great Celestial Venerable, I want to use this breakthrough to embark on my own path to immortality. If it fails, then you must remember to reserve a spot for me to be reborn. Of course, if I simply merge with the Immortal Tomb and die completely, then consider me as having no chance of immortality and no destiny to become an immortal."

In a daze, Liang Yu saw again the resolute, proud, and unyielding expression of the Celestial Venerable of Freedom. Although the Celestial Venerable of Longevity seemed to be leaving room for maneuver, Liang Yu knew that he would not give up if this path did not lead to a conclusion.

Liang Yu sensed that this breakthrough by the Celestial Venerable of Immortality might be a crucial turning point in his long-term research into these wondrous places. However, judging from his appearance, the risks were still considerable.

Even though he already had a comprehensive plan combining reincarnation and ascension, given the opportunity, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity still wanted to forge his own path instead of following the well-trodden road laid out by others.

Sigh, it's so hard for us nine Heavenly Venerables to gather enough people. Can't we all be a little less individualistic and arrogant?
However, without such a firm belief in the Dao and a proud personality, they probably wouldn't have become representative figures of the mythological era.

I just hope that the last one, the one who was the predecessor of the Emperor, can have some peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)