Divine Beast

Forget storage artifacts—things their owners could take back at any time. What family served medicinal cuisine by the vat? This would definitely end up in the stupid turtle's belly, wouldn't it?

And—when it came to eating a white tiger, this turtle had even fought her for it. From the looks of things now, the turtle was going to treat her to medicinal cuisine? So this turtle had more than one vat? The snake's heart ached.

Her tail tip trembled rapidly, and her voice shook. "Medicinal cuisine—where did it come from?"

"Ang!"

Su He replied as if it were only natural, "I stole it!"

?

The trembling snake raised her head in a daze, quietly stepped back. Could that stuff be stolen? Wasn't he afraid some senior from the sect would split him dead with a single palm? Yet even after she retreated two body-lengths, no punishment descended from the heavens.

The Green Snake's eyes lit up. So... robbery was allowed within the mountain gate too? Just like at Listening Sea Lake? Just as she was eager to try, a voice drifted over. "Green Snake, don't listen to his nonsense!"

The Fat Daoist walked down from the high platform. Pointing at the character "Su" on Su He Turtle Mountain, he said, "That was left behind by the Sect Leader's Wife. Try robbing someone else at Tranquil Peace Hall. If you dare go, you won't even make it out of the kitchen. The next meal of medicinal cuisine will be snake soup."

This turtle was truly lucky. Not only had he eaten Lu Ming's white tiger without anything happening, but he also had the Sect Leader's Wife protecting him. Even as a strange beast, he could run rampant through Azure Origin Sect without restraint.

The Green Snake nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed, before suddenly realizing something. "You understand Beast Language?"

The Fat Daoist burst into laughter. He looked around at the students, seized the opening, and went straight to the point, beginning today's lesson.

"My name is Ge Feng. You may call me Fat Senior Brother. The Dao technique I cultivate is called the 'Beast Transformation Scripture.' One realm, one beast body—I can obtain a beast body at every Great Realm. That is why I understand Beast Language."

He took a step forward, and with a shake of his body, transformed into a wild boar with bristling mane and ferocious tusks. With one charge, he smashed the massive boulder, three zhang tall, within the training ground to pieces. Amid the flying dust, he rolled once and became the Fat Daoist again.

He looked around once, satisfied as he took in the students' shock.

He did not interrupt them. Only after they gradually recovered did he ascend the high platform and begin teaching. "You have all already stepped onto the path of Dao. But do you know the realms of cultivation?"

A simple, honest-looking student raised his hand. "This old Daoist Priest by my house told me about Essence Refining Qi Transformation, Qi Refining Spirit Transformation, Spirit Refining Return to Emptiness, and also... also something else, but I forgot."

The crowd erupted in laughter. Another student laughed and said, "That's not right! A Master once said that the path of cultivation has countless realms—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core... layer upon layer, realm upon realm, endless and without limit!"

Longing rose in everyone's hearts as they listened.

Another student objected, "But I heard it was No Leakage, relic, Nirvana, and such."

Ge Feng did not interrupt. Only after they had all spoken freely did he say, "What you all said is correct, yet also incorrect! Some of it was fabricated by storytellers, while some were Ancient Realm Divisions long abandoned by cultivators.

"The path of cultivation has existed since ancient times for who knows how many thousands or tens of thousands of years. Each day brought renewal upon renewal, change never ceased—how could there be realms that remained forever fixed? Perhaps while you and I chat idly, some great being has already opened up a realm unknown to those before them in the freezing heights of the nine heavens."

Setting down his teacup, he declared passionately, "The world is no longer what it once was, and realm divisions naturally change. Today's realm divisions are utterly different from those of ancient times, changed beyond recognition. But no matter what, cultivation is the process of casting away falsehood to preserve truth and seeking the Great Dao. No matter what method is used to divide realms, all roads lead to the same destination. Find your own Dao, and walk it forward without hesitation!"

"Even if no one has ever walked your Dao before, even if the road ahead stretches long and you know not where it leads! Take the Beast Transformation Scripture I cultivate, for example. Before Eternity, when the path of Dao was severed, a great being created it by imitating divine beasts through immense perseverance and talent."

"Divine beasts?" someone exclaimed. These were all new disciples; only after entering Azure Origin Sect had they seen the world. Fish that floated through the air, birds that commanded water, monkeys that tunneled through earth... things they had never heard of.

Were these divine beasts? Everyone instinctively looked toward Su He.

Ge Feng smiled and shook his head. "Ordinary people cannot see divine beasts anymore."

"Strictly speaking, our current cultivation drew its inspiration from divine beasts." He tapped his heart with one finger, projecting his heart aperture. It was a patch of mysterious yellow space, with something floating up and down within, but he had censored it, so they could not see clearly.

"In ancient times, humans did not cultivate heart apertures. The realm divisions of that era can no longer be verified. All that is known is that the cultivation world once faced a crisis where the path of Dao was severed. At that time, great beings discovered how divine beasts purified their bloodlines and cultivated by returning to their ancestors, then brought that method into human cultivation. Only then did the cultivation realms of today come to be."

"Mortality Shedding, Demon Transformation, and Heaven Treading are the three Great Realms of cultivation today. There is No Need to speak of the latter two; they are still far beyond us. The Mortality Shedding realm has seven steps: heart aperture, divine treasure, true blood, intent aperture, bone sacrifice, spirit awakening, and origin gathering.

"The heart aperture realm needs no explanation. You must cultivate and nourish yourselves, tempering your bodies. Once tempered to the limit, you may use your qi and blood to blast open your heart apertures. The most important part of cultivation is the second step after opening the heart aperture—condensing a Heart Aperture Divine Treasure!"

He pointed at the censored object within the projection of his heart aperture.

"Depending on one's cultivation technique and disposition, different people can condense different divine treasures within their heart apertures. This is the foundation of cultivation! It is also the most important knowledge humanity learned from divine beasts."

He pointed at the Green Snake and the goat in the field. "In truth, the Demonic Race is the same. By consuming Demon Transformation Fruits, they condense human forms within their heart apertures—strictly speaking, these are not humans, but Innate Dao Bodies, one of the forms most suited to cultivation in the world. It is merely a coincidence that Innate Dao Bodies resemble humans."

"Humans themselves are Dao bodies, so there is no need for that extra step. In cultivation, one must condense within the heart aperture the 'Dao' most suited to oneself: Water, Fire, Lightning, Blades, Spears, Swords, Halberds..."

The crowd beneath the platform fell utterly silent, afraid of missing even the slightest detail. Su He had long since activated Turtle Mountain's recording function, preserving all of this.

Ge Feng said leisurely, "And this method of condensing 'Dao' within the heart aperture was first used by divine beasts. Within their heart apertures, they condense the forms of their ancestors or the perfect forms of divine beasts, using their Dao rhythm to purify their own bloodlines, step by step returning to their ancestors, even embarking upon a path that surpassed them."

"Thus, if beasts with Divine Beast Bloodlines can open their heart apertures, their heart apertures will naturally contain the phantom of the Divine Beast at the source of that bloodline. Occasionally, a beast consumes a Demon Transformation Fruit but cannot Transform into Human. That is because its bloodline is noble, and the Innate Dao Body within its heart aperture is not human-shaped. It is a Divine Beast!"

"Human form is the most suitable and most universally applicable Dao body, but it is not the only one. Snakes and fish have dragon forms, flying birds have phoenix forms, and land beasts have qilin forms. Such beasts are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns!"

The Green Snake turned her head frame by frame to look toward the stunned Su He, her eyes filled with undisguised envy. "Turtle... turtle!"

I thought you had eaten a defective Demon Transformation Fruit, leaving you pitifully unable to Transform into Human. So you had secretly embarked on the path of a Second Generation Ancestor.

Though Ge Feng had not stated it outright, the Green Snake understood. A 'Dao' that was itself a Divine Beast within the heart aperture, like Su He's, was the only one most suited to them. The Green Snake simply had no Divine Beast suited to herself, so she had settled for second best and taken the most universally applicable Innate Dao Body.

Snakes could become dragons too, but clearly her bloodline was insufficient to activate a Divine Beast Inheritance.

"Divine Beast..." the Green Snake murmured.

Ge Feng said with a genial smile, "Fellow Daoist Green Snake, there is no need to dwell on it. Whether one's Heart Aperture Divine Treasure is human or Divine Beast, there is no difference in superiority or inferiority. The one most suited to oneself is the best. Besides, beasts capable of Transform into Human are already few enough to count on one's fingers, while those who can become divine beast have not appeared for a thousand years. Rather than let it disturb your heart, better not to cultivate diligently and solidify your own path of Dao."

"None?" The Green Snake raised her head slightly, her eyes vacant as her tail pointed at Su He. "Turtle!"

Ge Feng smiled. "I know that is a turtle, and a rarely seen giant turtle—turtle... turtle? Ah!"

He suddenly realized it, and his voice cracked in an instant.