A Century of Seclusion, Zuo Qiyu's Test

The 157th year since entering the Primordial Beginning Realm.

Inside the Locust Willow Courtyard, in the dueling arena.

"Boom~ Boom~"

Bage Er, a martial artist at the Yin Yang Dao Domain Realm, is fighting three bronze-colored giants with his four arms outstretched, wielding weapons.

The giant was completely naked, with his upper body bare, wearing only a grass garment woven from green leaves.

Bage Er wielded three different weapons and dodged the attacks of the three giants. He was very agile, and the giants could hardly touch Bage Er. However, Bage Er was also very cautious and never went all out.

Because he knew that facing three Giant Yang Straw Man, especially one with the Great Divine Power Five Finger Mountain and the Giant Yang Straw Man power of Treasure Mountain Divine Ability, he only had one chance to make a move.

After sparring for thousands of moves, Bage Er finally couldn't resist any longer. His body swelled up, and he grew four more arms.

Like a wild beast transforming, it instantly charged towards the Giant Yang Straw Man.

At that moment, the three Giant Yang Straw Man disappeared, turning into figures only the size of rice grains.

"What? The Xu Zu's Divine Power, the Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art." Bage Er was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt a slight stinging sensation in his abdomen, the back of his knees, and his palms.

"Boom!"

Although he was still instantly defeated by the Eight Arms Divine Power, Bage Er's body was forced to kneel down, and a bloodstain appeared on his body.

The battle ended, Giant Yang Straw Man exploded and turned to ash.

"My lord, when did you learn the Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art? Isn't this something only martial artists can do?" Bage Er asked.

"Just learned this." A wisp of consciousness gathered from the ashes of the straw man, swirling like the wind, and drifted into the distance. "Bage Er, thank you for your hard work. That's enough for today's sparring."

"Yes, sir." Bage Er had no choice but to ask no more questions.

"That's outrageous." Xinda greeted Bage Er as he stepped off the stage, "The master only sent out three clones, yet he forced you to use your Eight Arms Divine Power."

The Eight Arms Divine Power is a martial artist's physical supernatural power. Each additional arm grants an additional supernatural power, and the power of each power is cumulative.

The first two levels of the Eight Arms Divine Power are considered Minor Divine Ability; only when all eight arms are gathered can it be considered Major Divine Ability.

Normally, martial artists can only excavate the fourth arm of their physical body and cannot go any further. However, after reaching the Yin Yang Dao Domain Realm, Bage Er has already excavated the treasures of his physical body up to the eighth arm.

It was precisely through this supernatural power that Bage Er was able to enter the Primordial Beginning Realm as a sparring partner.

Although Bagel defeated Zhao Xing's Giant Yang Clone, Bage Er was a proper martial artist, while Zhao Xing was Agricultural Official, and his straw man even possessed the Great Divine Power Five Finger Mountain and Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art, which was simply astonishing.

"Xinda, I've cultivated for so many years, yet I never knew that the Agricultural Official's Straw Man Art could actually utilize the Major Divine Ability of a martial artist."

"Then what am I?" Bage Er was somewhat doubting his existence.

Xinda hesitated, "To... to be considered trash?"

"Thank you, but you don't have to answer."

"Woolen cloth."

In the Hundred-Ren Void, Zhao Xing withdrew the straw doll's soul, while simultaneously absorbing today's 'combat experience'.

2

"Bage Er and Xinda's knowledge is still limited. They have seen the Straw Man Art, but they have never seen my kind of Void Ancestor Straw Man Art."

The Giant Yang Straw Man Art is part of the Void Ancestor Straw Man Art series.

Ordinary Straw Man Art are usually only compatible with magic spells, not with the secret techniques and supernatural abilities of martial arts practitioners.

However, the Straw Man Art of the Xu Zu series is different; it is compatible with all kinds of things.

After the Great Zhou was destroyed, Zhao Xing began to cultivate frantically, and nearly a hundred years had passed by then.

The greatest achievement is that the Giant Yang Straw Man Art has reached the perfection of Minor Divine Ability and has begun to integrate techniques and supernatural powers.

"The Giant Yang Straw Man is ultimately a form of magic, using materials from the Xu Zu Star System and combining two Major Divine Ability."

Aside from the Mountain Method Divine Power, there's also the Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art.

The reason Zhao Xing possessed the Mountain Method Divine Power was because he was very familiar with it and had practiced it for a long time.

The Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art is one of the Xu Zu. It was You Yitian used by Qi Sect Martial Practitioner of the Grand Mystic Power Realm under Du Yun, when he was exploring the Daoist Canon of scholars.

"When the Giant Yang Straw Man Art reaches its peak of supernatural power, it can merge with the Dao, but merging with two Major Divine Ability is already the limit."

"It's not that I lack talent or comprehension, but rather that the Giant Yang Straw Man Art itself is no longer suitable as the foundation for achieving Dao," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

If we consider the Giant Yang Straw Man Art as the foundation, and the Dao Integration Technique as building the house, the first layer is the Mountain Method Divine Power, and the second layer is the Rice Grain Sky Mixing Art.

The weight of the two Major Divine Ability has already reached the limit that the Giant Yang Straw Man Art can withstand. If it were to combine any further, it would definitely crush the foundation.

The Giant Yang Straw Man Art itself is not valid.

"The Straw Man Art in this series must be changed, and only Zuo Qiyu can teach this series."

"How can I learn magic from the Primordial Beginning Envoy, Zuo Qiyu?" Zhao Xing pondered. "Personal secret techniques—these aren't on the treasure vault's exchange list."

The Red Star Empire will not force others to selflessly contribute their secret techniques. Those who are willing to do so will naturally benefit, and those who are unwilling will not be forced.

Many unique skills require a stroke of luck to learn. For example, Wu Tian's Major Divine Ability included selling the Treasure Mountain Divine Ability, but he never sold the Five Finger Mountain.

Zuo Qiyu's Primordial Beginning Straw Man Technique is a closely guarded secret.

It's possible that I'll only consider passing on the teachings when my true spirit reaches its end.

"I'm not counting on Zuo Qiyu's clone technique, the Great Beginning Clone. Even if I learned it, there wouldn't be any Great Beginning series materials for me. Those are non-renewable resources, as rare as top-tier Reincarnation Dao Soldier."

"But we need to find a way to pry one of the three advanced Straw Man Art — the Grand Void, the Primordial Chapter, and the Annihilation Chapter— from him."

"Otherwise, my Giant Yang Clone will not be able to advance and will forever remain at the Minor Mystic Power Realm."

"Winning over Zuo Qiyu is difficult," Zhao Xing sighed. "It's been almost a hundred years, and we still haven't seen him."

In Zhao Xing's past life memories, Zuo Qiyu did not accept disciples.

The sudden appearance of this new generation, wanting to take him as a disciple, was all unexpected. After the Gu Luo River's intervention, Zuo Qiyu ultimately did not take any disciples, but the Five Poisons Emperor Lord did take two.

"The reason Zuo Qiyu doesn't accept disciples is because he was betrayed by one of his own. Can I settle for second best and just learn the skills without becoming his apprentice?"

In the Three Thousand Dao Seeds region, another avatar of Zhao Xing was comprehending the ' Sun Treasure Tree '.

"The Stem Fighting Divine Power has been perfected. Now, with this Four-Element Variant Method, the only thing missing is to fully comprehend the basic life structure diagram of the 'Great Tree' type."

Mushrooms, vines, trees, and Bamboo Root —these are four types of Variant Method, each with three 'primary life structure diagrams'.

Although it is named as the beginner level, once you understand it, you can grasp the "prototype of the Life Great Dao" and cultivate the Stem Fighting Divine Power to the Stem Grand Mystic Power Realm.

"The comprehension of the clone has reached a bottleneck. It remains to be seen whether the main body can impart some new insights."

The clone closed its eyes again.

Different clones cultivate and comprehend in different locations, and their insights will be transmitted at a certain point in time.

Inside the Gu Luo River's Internal World, Zhao Xing sat quietly in front of an Emperor-Grade Vine.

There were also two Resilient Vine beside Zhao Xing, but they were just Common Grade seedlings.

A sapling Flourishing Growth and covered the grass, completely dependent on the earth.

The other plant was much smaller, but it stretched out with all its might, standing tall and tenacious.

The surrounding grasslands are withered on the left and thriving on the right.

Then, at a certain point, the situation on both sides suddenly reversed.

The right side became sluggish while the left side prospered.

Zhao Xing, however, ignored this scene, his eyes fixed solely on the Emperor-Grade Vine.

"For 100 years, I have stayed here every day to watch this Emperor Grade Resilient Vine."

"Gu Luo River prepared twelve cultivation sites for me, all based on the Life Great Dao. The first cultivation site is to comprehend this Resilient Vine."

"In reality, it was to let me see the workings and flow of the Life Great Dao on the Resilient Vine."

Zhao Xing stared at the Emperor-Grade Vine; its dark roots had disappeared, and its leaves seemed to have become transparent.

"The Life Great Dao is full of infinite possibilities. The growth limit of this Resilient Vine is not even reaching the Source Origin Realm. What cosmic rule is hindering its growth?"

"How did the Gu Luo River manage to make these Resilient Vine break through the limitations of growth rules?"

Gradually, in Zhao Xing's eyes, the entire Emperor-Grade Vine completely disappeared; its leaves, branches, and roots vanished without a trace!

Only the Internal World the Gu Luo River remain.

Countless rules are intertwined, seemingly chaotic, yet they subtly follow some mysterious pattern.

Gradually, this chaotic network of rules converged into a perfect carving knife.

The carving knife is formed based on the Life Great Dao.

It was this carving knife that altered the life essence of the Resilient Vine, breaking the original rules that limited its growth.

Zhao Xing had a sudden realization. The surrounding grassland stopped changing, and he began to work on the Emperor Grade Resilient Vine.

Gu Luo River was comprehending the Dao Ancient Layer in the Hundred-Ren Void when he sensed a slight abnormality in his Internal World and couldn't help but open his eyes.

"He has taken the first step on the Life Great Dao."

There are many kinds of great principles in the universe, Five Elements Great Dao and the Yin-Yang Great Dao, but the True Self Faction reveres most is, of course, the Life Great Dao.

Zhao Xing had not yet shown the potential to catch Gu Luo River's eye in other aspects, but his comprehension of the Life Great Dao caught Gu Luo River's attention 157 years after entering the Primordial Beginning Realm.

On this day, Zhao Xing used magic for the first time to shake the inner vitality of the Resilient Vine.

Although it was just a grain of sand quarried from a mountain, it still shook the landscape.

Thus, Gu Luo River made his first public appearance before Zhao Xing.

"Teacher."

Zhao Xing stood up.

Gu Luo River did not acknowledge him as a student, but he always addressed him respectfully as teacher, even though Gu Luo River never responded to his request even once. However, Old Master Zhao was never lacking in this kind of tenacity.

Let's keep shouting it out; maybe one day the Gu Luo River will respond?

"Your clone cultivates techniques while your main body comprehends the Dao, practicing in a near-self-torturing manner like an Ascetic Practice. This is not a good thing," Gu Luo River stated the problem right from the start.

"The Straw Man Art has been overused. Without a matching soul spell, relying solely on willpower to suppress it will inevitably lead to problems sooner or later."

Zhao Xing listened quietly.

As expected of Demigod, Gu Luo River saw the hidden dangers in his cultivation at a glance.

Just as the Straw Man Art had its drawbacks during the Profound Yellow World era, the same situation still exists in the cosmic version.

The Straw Man Art always requires a powerful soul technique and willpower to match it.

However, the Minor Divine Ability power of the Three Gods Fate Palace was no longer sufficient to meet Zhao Xing's needs.

After all, the Giant Yang Straw Man Art alone is already a perfect supernatural power, and Zhao Xing is constantly exploring his potential, even using the Straw Man Art to cultivate Major Divine Ability.

Zhao Xing's ability to persevere is purely due to his solid foundation, astonishing comprehension, and remarkable potential.

"What you say is true, teacher," Zhao Xing said respectfully. "I would like to ask you for guidance."

Gu Luo River shook his head. "In terms of mastery of the Straw Man Art, no one can compare to Zuo Qiyu. You should ask him."

Zhao Xing was about to seize the opportunity to climb up the ranks when Gu Luo River interrupted him, "Since Zuo Qiyu's many Straw Man Art are not on the treasure vault list, it proves that these techniques are not easily obtained. For both public and private reasons, I will not let him come out and teach you."

Gu Luo River reiterated that he would not use his personal connections to get Zuo Qiyu to teach him.

As expected, Zhao Xing wasn't too disappointed.

However, Gu Luo River added:

"You can try going to his Great World City again. Zuo Qiyu of that time refused the harassment of many seekers of the Dharma."

A checkpoint was left in Great World City, with the declaration that those who could pass through it could choose one of the Straw Man Art to learn.

"Yes, the student council will give it a try."

Zhao Xing cupped his hands in greeting and then asked a few more questions about cultivation before revealing his Internal World.

Those who don't know Zuo Qiyu rarely remember this rule.

First, it's too harsh; no one can pass the test. At most, they can learn some spells of similar quality from the treasure vault, which can be exchanged with points. So there's no need to go through this ordeal.

Ink is too ancient and has gradually been forgotten.

Over time, Qiao gradually forgot about it.

Every time the Original World Conference is held, this rule is briefly remembered, only to be forgotten again.

However, this time, the situation has changed.

Because there are so many Reincarnation and countless extraordinary talents, everyone considers themselves exceptional, one in a billion.

As a result, Zuo Qiyu's rule was quickly uncovered.

When Zhao Xing arrived at Great World City via the Thousand Star Vine, there were already many people standing in front of the city gate.

"The Mushroom King is here."

"A student of Senior Gu?"

"Yes, Zhao Xing, the one who left the Beihe Star System."

Because of the existence of the Gu Luo River, Zhao Xing was very famous, and almost everyone in this session of the Agricultural Official knew him.

However, Zhao Xing was a cultivation fanatic who rarely socialized, so the Tian Duan people only looked at him from afar and rarely took the initiative to greet him.

"Brother Zhao, over here." Han Chuchen waved from a pavilion outside the city.

With a "whoosh," Zhao Xing landed immediately.

"Brother Han."

Upon entering the pavilion, they discovered four other people behind the curtain: Young Lotus Fairy, Yuan Qiusheng, and Miao Song Dao Ren.

Han Chiba.

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

While Zhao Xing was diligently Ascetic Practice without sacrifice, Han Chuchen, who was already adept at social interaction in his previous life, was now facing his own Calamity World in this life, so he naturally made friends everywhere.

The four people sitting in the pavilion included Yuan Qiusheng, who ranked first among the support-type Agricultural Official, and three others who ranked in the top ten among the combat-type Agricultural Official.

Their social skills are quite good.

"Brother Zhao," the other four replied Guest Qi in return.

Young Lotus Fairy joked, "Mushroom King, you've been in seclusion for over a hundred years. Have you made any new discoveries?"

When will we fight again?

Zhao Xing smiled slightly, "My strength is insufficient, and I dare not challenge the fairy for the time being. I will cultivate for a few hundred more years..."

"Then I'll go back to the fairy for more advice."

This wasn't just Guest Qi talk; in terms of the Daoist practice, Zhao Xing still considered it the Taiyin Dao Field.

Young Lotus Fairy, however, has already reached the Solar Yang Fifth Rank Realm.

In other aspects, Zhao Xing believed that they were not much different, but in the True Self Faction, the difference in their training grounds was significant, which made it clear who was superior, because it involved the World Method.

His sparring with Young Lotus Fairy was not about winning or losing, but about improving; using other schools of magic would have lost its original purpose.

"A few hundred more years of repairs will be enough?" Young Lotus Fairy's eyes lit up, and she raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll be waiting."

Seeing that the two had finished talking, Han Chuchen immediately invited Zhao Xing and the others to sit down and started a conversation, saying, "Brother Zhao, it just so happens that you came here to break into Great World City, right?"

?

"Indeed, I just emerged from seclusion and came to see what was on my mind," Zhao Xing said. "But what are the procedures involved?"

"Brother Zhao, you may not know this, but the original envoy Zuo Qiyu actually knows the Void Ancestor Straw Man Art of the Void!" Han Chuchen exclaimed. "And he also possesses the Great Beginning Enigma."

"The Tai Shi Jin Mi is a closely guarded secret of the martial arts path. Using the Straw Man Art to peek into the mysteries of the Xu Zu is even more remarkable. This is the first time I've heard of the Void Ancestor Straw Man Art."

"As for the trials within Great World City, I know very little about them, since I didn't even go through the city gates."

"As for Qiusheng and Qianye, they have already entered the city gate. If they want to learn more, they will have to ask the Mo people for advice."

As Han Chuchen spoke, he praised Yuan Qiusheng and Cheng Qianye.

Zhao Xing was somewhat surprised. It was one thing for Cheng Qianye to be able to pass the first test, but he was a top ten combat-type Agricultural Official. It was quite normal for him to pass the First Stage test.

Yuan Qiusheng was merely the Agricultural Official in the auxiliary division, yet he managed to enter the First Stage by sheer coincidence?

"My two fellow Daoists possess profound magical abilities. Would you be so kind as to offer some guidance?"