Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

As he spoke, Li Xiuyuan circulated two true scriptures, and the remaining energy in the Dragon Essence was also being rapidly consumed.

Chapter 96 The Primordial Spirit Realm

Li Xiuyuan's physical body is gradually recovering. It's all thanks to him; otherwise, how could anyone else at the Golden Core stage have a physical body that is no weaker than a Primordial Spirit True Person?

When the first rays of dawn broke through the sea of ​​clouds and pierced the vast fog, spreading across the earth, this calamity finally came to an end.

That vast, desolate power slowly receded, like a receding tide returning to its origin and disappearing.

The ordeal of the Yellow Springs has come to an end!

After Li Xiuyuan survived the first calamity, his physical body became faintly crystalline and radiant, and his primordial spirit became more spiritual!

The second calamity—the fire calamity—is about to follow!

Deep red, rather alluring flames are slowly rising, and as the flames leap up, they form patterns of red lotuses.

Fire lotuses filled the void, accompanied by bursts of angry roars!

This is the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. Every cultivator has karma, and if they cannot overcome it, they will be burned clean by the karmic fire and turned into dust to nourish the earth!

This Red Lotus Karmic Fire is the most terrifying existence in the world.

This thing is not good at burning tangible things; it is only good at burning intangible magical power, spirit, vital energy, and the most mysterious karmic forces.

This thing is related to cause and effect and karma. The heavier the cause and effect, the heavier the karma, and the stronger this fire becomes.

Li Xiuyuan's karma is considerable; this karmic fire is the most feared flame by every demonic cultivator, yet he possesses methods to protect himself.

Anyone who cultivates will be doomed if they come into contact with this flame.

Li Xiuyuan summoned the World-Destroying Black Lotus. He sat cross-legged on the ninth-grade black lotus. This top-tier innate spiritual treasure, despite losing three black lotuses, was still not to be underestimated.

The Black Lotus of Annihilation, the Red Lotus of Karmic Fire, the Golden Lotus of Merit, and the White Lotus of Purification are all top-tier innate spiritual treasures, capable of contending with each other.

The power of karmic fire was completely ineffective against Li Xiuyuan's world-destroying black lotus.

It was because Li Xiuyuan had a primordial spiritual treasure protecting his primordial spirit that even the Red Lotus Karmic Fire could not burn it completely. The karmic fire spread throughout his body, and his entire being was cleansed.

But Li Xiuyuan's body had disintegrated, revealing stark white bones and charred flesh, a truly terrifying sight.

The primordial spirit that protected the world-destroying black lotus activated its power, and immediately a golden light descended to cover the physical body. The flesh and blood were regenerated, covering the bones, and the body that had been destroyed by the calamity was restored to its original state.

After the fire calamity, the final calamity is the wind calamity.

A fierce wind roared in the void, a wind from the heavens, each strand weighing a million pounds. If one's physical body was not strong, one would be crushed instantly.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind from the heavens blew in, and Li Xiuyuan's physical body was cleansed once again. This time, there was no trickery involved; he relied entirely on his own willpower to endure it.

Li Xiuyuan's physical body was tempered by the tribulations of water, fire, and wind. For ordinary people, the order of the three calamities is wind, fire, and then water, but his was reversed, which shows that he was very different.

In half a day, Li Xiuyuan finally survived the three tribulations. At this time, his two primordial spirits were naturally formed. He sat cross-legged on the black lotus of world destruction, like a Buddha, with his eyes closed.

But atop Li Xiuyuan's head, on the crown of his head, were two tiny figures, each about an inch tall, climbing and playing on his hair.

The two figures, one gold and one black, were enveloped in a soft glow. Their appearances were identical to Li Xiuyuan's, except that their faces were full of excitement and laughter, a stark contrast to Li Xiuyuan's usual composure.

Ultimately, the primordial spirit is still like a child. If you look closely, you will find that the tiny nascent soul is incredibly radiant.

The little spirit figures had rosy complexions and peaceful expressions, as if they were fast asleep. After a while, they seemed to have gotten a little tired from playing, yawned, and then two beams of light flashed.

The primordial spirit entered Li Xiuyuan's body from the top of his head. His expression shifted, his eyelids trembled slightly, and he finally opened his eyes, revealing a pair of gentle and restrained bright eyes, exceptionally clear.

Upon waking, Li Xiuyuan did not leave immediately, but instead wore a complex expression that was a mixture of strangeness and ecstasy.

Having entered the primordial spirit realm, Li Xiuyuan also found a vast amount of memories within his divine soul.

This is information about the Venerable Dragon Subduer before and after his enlightenment, memories from hundreds of years ago, all of which suddenly came flooding out.

This also caused Li Xiuyuan's primordial spirit to swell. Fortunately, he had two primordial spirits, which he could withstand, and he had the cultivation techniques of the Dragon Subduing Sect in his memory.

Furthermore, the place where he used to hide his magical treasures was actually in the back mountain of Lingyin Temple.

First, let's talk about the cultivation method. The original main cultivation method of the Dragon Subduer was a technique called "True Dragon Overlord Body Technique". When practiced to its extreme, it can transform into a true dragon and become a master of the Great Luo Golden Immortal level.

This is also the main factor that enabled Jianglong in the original story to transform into a true dragon.

In addition, the Dragon Subduing Technique, the Arhat's Heaven-Turning Seal, is a must-learn skill.

Finally, in Jianglong's memory, he learned about his origins. It turned out that in Xiniu Hezhou, a dragon king flooded the country of Najie and hid Buddhist scriptures in the dragon palace.

Later, the Venerable Subduer of Dragons subdued the Dragon King and retrieved the Buddhist scriptures, thus making a great contribution, hence he was called the Venerable Subduer of Dragons.

The Arhat who subdues dragons was a disciple of the Buddha, possessing boundless magical power. He helped the Buddha subdue dragons and demons, and performed many extraordinary feats.

Although Jianglong cultivated for hundreds of years, he could never attain the Great Luo True Fruit. This was because his seven lifetimes of worldly ties were not yet resolved. So he descended to the mortal world to save all living beings and settle his unfinished worldly ties.

Li Xiuyuan successfully possessed the body by accident. Although the main cultivation method of the Dragon Subduing Technique had changed, he was originally a disciple of the Buddha Tathagata and had a lot of true scriptures.

It should be noted that the Buddha Tathagata is a figure of great stature in the Three Realms. In the absence of saints, unless there are a few veteran quasi-saints, probably no one can match him.

The Buddha Tathagata—also known as the Tathagata of Many Treasures—was a man of vast learning. He was originally the chief disciple of the Tongtian Sect Master, but the Jie Sect's fortunes were destroyed during the Investiture of the Gods.

As Buddhism flourished, in order to disrupt its fortune, Laozi, one of the Three Pure Ones, proposed that Duobao establish Theravada Buddhism to diminish its fortune.

Unfortunately, his attempt to steal a chicken backfired! In the end, Duobao completely turned to Buddhism and became the Buddha.

Chapter 97 The Dragon-Subduing Treasure

During Laozi's westward journey beyond Hangu Pass, Duobao received his instruction.

Furthermore, after entering the Buddhist order, Duobao obtained various Buddhist esoteric texts and compiled the scriptures of the three religions. He was incredibly learned, and who in the world could be considered proficient in the teachings of the three religions?

The Venerable Dragon Subduer was a disciple of the Tathagata Prabhutaratna and received much instruction from him, including scriptures from two other schools.

After Li Xiuyuan obtained the memories of Jianglong, in addition to his own cultivation techniques, he also possessed several classic techniques, such as: Nine Revolutions Yuan Gong, Eight-Nine Profound Gong, Great Sun Tathagata True Scripture, Nine-Character Mantra Technique, and Palm Buddha Kingdom.

Li Xiuyuan knew the principle of not trying to do too much at once. He was only missing a body-refining technique, and he could also learn those supreme skills.

Among the body-refining techniques, the most classic ones are naturally the Nine Revolutions Yuan Gong and the Eight-Nine Profound Technique.

Nine Revolutions Primordial Technique—a protective divine technique of the Xuanmen sect, created by the Three Pure Ones based on Pangu's memories, is a method for achieving physical sainthood.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts—a protective divine art of Buddhism—was created by Zhunti and Jieyin based on the Nine Revolutions Primordial Arts, incorporating the secrets of Buddhist body training.

Based on his memories from later generations, Li Xiuyuan could determine who was stronger. Whether you said the Three Pure Ones were more powerful, or whether Zhunti and Jieyin were more powerful, the answer was self-evident. The two Buddhist patriarchs were usually easily defeated.

The Nine Revolutions Primordial Technique was created by the Three Pure Ones based on Pangu's memories.

As for the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, it was actually based on the Nine Revolutions Primordial Arts. Zhunti had seen the Xuanmen's techniques and created a method for achieving physical sainthood based on this method, which he later used to glorify himself.

Anyone who has read prehistoric fantasy novels knows how shameless Zhunti is.

Li Xiuyuan chose to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Yuan Gong. As for sectarianism, he didn't care. Only strength was the foundation.

As for the main cultivation method, in the eyes of Buddhism it is the Great Sun Tathagata Sutra. Jianglong also has this cultivation method in his memories, but it is the method of visualizing Many Treasures Tathagata.

Li Xiuyuan practiced the Great Sun Tathagata Sutra, and the power of his visualization method was several times greater.

Aside from his cultivation techniques, Jianglong also possesses two acquired magical treasures hidden in the back mountain of Lingyin Temple, which he was supposed to retrieve immediately after his memories were awakened.

However, Li Xiuyuan's intrusion caused a delay; the two magical treasures were: the Wind Spirit Fan and the Ruyi Monk Robe.

Wind Spirit Fan: Contains the winds of the nine heavens, and with a single swipe, it possesses boundless power. Although it cannot compare to Princess Iron Fan's Banana Leaf Fan, it is still a rare treasure.

Ruyi Monk Robe: Its size can be changed at will, allowing the monk's robe to change its appearance at will.

After reading the memories, Li Xiuyuan thought to himself that they were indeed very poor, without even a single innate spiritual treasure. No wonder the Buddhists said they were poor and had to beg for alms.

The Buddhist practitioners' cultivation is no less than that of the disciples of the Three Pure Ones, but in terms of actual combat power, they are far inferior, because the latter have more magical treasures!

As for saying that winning with magic weapons is unfair, that's pure idiocy. Magic weapons are also a part of strength!

Fortunately, Li Xiuyuan possesses a Black Lotus of Annihilation, which is also an innate spiritual treasure. If he can complete it, it can become a top-tier innate spiritual treasure.

Aside from magic weapons and cultivation techniques, in Jianglong's memory, there were also many spiritual herbs on the back mountain of Lingyin Temple. After all, he was a Golden Immortal-level expert, so it was impossible that he only had two things.

If Li Xiuyuan could obtain it, his cultivation would likely advance by leaps and bounds. Thinking of this, he thought to himself, "It's time to go back to Lingyin Temple!"

For Li Xiuyuan, the things that Jianglong possessed were a rich treasure trove.

Li Xiuyuan put away the World-Destroying Black Lotus and placed it into his body. At this time, his physical body had reached the Great Perfection of the Primordial Spirit, and his cultivation had also entered the Primordial Spirit realm. With two Primordial Spirits, few could rival him at the same level.

After being baptized by the power of the calamity, Li Xiuyuan's physical body became even more radiant and translucent, almost transforming him into a pretty boy, with skin even better than that of a newborn baby.

Although Li Xiuyuan needed to rush back to Lingyin Temple, he didn't fly back immediately. After all, those things had been left unclaimed for several years, so a few more months wouldn't make a difference. He headed back towards Lingyin Temple along the way.

On this day, Li Xiuyuan sat cross-legged and practiced the Nine Revolutions Yuan Technique. With his original foundation, it was not so difficult to practice.

The Nine Revolutions Yuan Gong – in essence, is about using the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine the body.

Li Xiuyuan's physical body was already quite strong, and the first level of cultivation was as easy as drinking water for him. He broke through in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Although his realm hasn't changed and he's still far from reaching the Human Immortal level, his strength has increased by one level. After all, the higher the level of a cultivation technique, the more powerful it is at the same realm.

Li Xiuyuan understood from the two true scriptures he had practiced that no one could defeat him at the same level, and even challenging someone of a higher level was not difficult.

Li Xiuyuan continued to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Yuan Technique, but felt that his physical progress was slow. Thinking about it, it made sense. He was able to break through instantly before because he had a good foundation. If he broke through again, his physical body would enter the level of a human immortal. But it shouldn't be too far away.

At the same time, Li Xiuyuan not only cultivated his physical body, but also practiced martial arts in Buddhism. The Arhat Heaven-Turning Seal was indispensable, as it was the signature move of the Dragon Subduer. If he didn't know how to use it, wouldn't that be a joke!

[Note: This is a summary of the main character's personal stats to prevent readers from forgetting anything.]

Name: Li Xiuyuan (Daoji-Wutian)

Realm: Early stage of Primordial Spirit (Great Perfection of Physical Body and Primordial Spirit)