Earth Pulse Impact

"Right now, I'm perfectly suited to cultivate the Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra!" Li Jiusheng was delighted. He was currently at the mid-stage Grandmaster realm. This level was neither too high nor too low, just enough for him to come into contact with methods of Primordial spirit cultivation, gradually comprehend the Primordial spirit, and accumulate strength. When he reached the late Grandmaster stage and prepared to break through to Great Grandmaster, he would be able to condense his Primordial spirit in one stroke and advance to Great Grandmaster.

The first step in cultivating the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra] was visualization: forming a true image within the sea of consciousness, then tempering the Primordial spirit day and night to refine the power of the Primordial spirit.

This did not trouble Li Jiusheng. His comprehension had already helped him visualize the true image of the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra], so all he needed to do now was continue observing it.

He acted as soon as he thought of it. Li Jiusheng cleared away every thought, emptied his mind, and visualized the scene from the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra].

Before long, a grim Hell Illusion of a blood sea suddenly appeared within his consciousness. Inside that hell were mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and piles upon piles of white bones. At the center of the corpses and bones sat a White-Robed Monk with his back to all living beings, silently chanting the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra].

Li Jiusheng's consciousness took one look and immediately felt an unbearable pressure, as though Senluo Hell were crushing him. His head felt as if it were splitting apart. He hurriedly dispelled the image, only then feeling somewhat relieved.

"Sure enough, if a person's consciousness cannot be condensed and twisted into a single rope, it will scatter. Just one glance made me feel like I was about to collapse." Li Jiusheng sighed. No wonder the books said that Great Grandmasters and Grandmasters were worlds apart.

When ordinary people did things, it was difficult for them to remain focused for long. The slightest disturbance from the outside world could steal away their attention. That was the scattering of consciousness.

Only by gathering those scattered thoughts and consciousness together, continuously tempering them until they grew stronger, and cutting away all distracting thoughts could one possibly cultivate Pure Yang consciousness and an innate Primordial spirit, transcend the mundane world, and roam the nine heavens.

"I need to continuously temper my Primordial spirit every day and visualize the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra], little by little cutting away distracting thoughts so I can cultivate Pure Yang consciousness. When I break through to Great Grandmaster and condense my Primordial spirit, it will become Pure Yang consciousness." Li Jiusheng knew he could not rush this. He needed to settle his mind and persist in his visualization.

He emptied his mind, and after his consciousness recovered, he visualized it once again.

He did not need to make tremendous progress at once, but every visualization needed to bring improvement. Only through such accumulated effort would he gain enough in the end.

With that, Li Jiusheng had one more task to complete each day.

In the mornings, he brought Little Fox to practice boxing, cleansing her innate foundation and shaping her body. Then he practiced his cultivation methods, comprehended Dao Rhyme, and improved himself bit by bit. At night, he meditated and cultivated, absorbing spiritual energy while visualizing the [Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra] within his sea of consciousness.

His days became packed, and Li Jiusheng lived them fully.

Before he knew it, two months had passed. Early summer arrived, the air grew hot, and all things in the mountains and wilderness flourished in lush green abundance.

That day, Li Jiusheng rose early and brought Little Fox to practice boxing. At the same time, he guided vast spiritual energy to cleanse her body, continuously raising her physical potential.

Little Fox hummed comfortably. After her body had been nourished, she affectionately came to Li Jiusheng's feet, reaching out to tug at his robe hem to show her closeness. She was only three months old, and her diaphragm had not yet been refined, so she did not understand how to speak and could only express herself this way.

Just as Li Jiusheng was about to say something, a thunderous boom suddenly erupted from the depths of the distant sky. It was deafening, shaking heaven and earth. Even the Scripture Repository Pavilion, separated from it by an endless distance, trembled. Frightened, Little Fox leaped straight onto Li Jiusheng's shoulder, wrapping her tail around his neck as she shivered.

"What happened?" Li Jiusheng frowned and looked into the distance.

His eyes could now see extremely far, yet he still could not make out what had happened. It was too distant.

Boom!

Another roar rang out, even more violent than before. This time, Li Jiusheng saw a little more clearly. At the junction of heaven and earth in the distance, an enormous mountain had collapsed with a crash. Broken rocks flew everywhere, smoke and dust filled the air, and terrifying shockwaves spread outward without end. Layer upon layer, they had accumulated into something terrifying by the time they reached Shangqing Palace, crashing down as if they would tear the earth apart.

"Form the formation!"

At that moment, a cold shout rang out from Shangqing Palace's Golden Summit Hall.

It was Li Qingshan.

As the Sect Master of Shangqing Palace, he stood in midair with his aura surging. Centered on him, formidable power rose from every corner of Shangqing Palace. Then Li Qingshan brought forth a formation diagram and poured all that energy into it. The diagram abruptly expanded until it rivaled the sky itself, blotting out the sun and moon as well as the territory of Shangqing Palace.

"The Dragon Turtle Diagram! This is the sect-protecting treasure left behind by the Patriarch, a grand formation diagram at the Patriarch level. It requires the entirety of Shangqing Palace to activate. It has not appeared for many years. I never expected it to be brought out this time." Li Jiusheng recognized it at once and was greatly shocked. What exactly had happened in the distance to cause such an enormous disturbance that even the Dragon Turtle Diagram had been deployed?

The Dragon Turtle Diagram covered all of Shangqing Palace. A phantom Black Tortoise suppressed the earth, while a majestic Azure Dragon soared through the sky. Together, they exerted their power and blocked the terrifying impact.

Although Shangqing Palace was protected, the shockwave from afar spread in every direction. The four great mountains surrounding Shangqing Palace were blasted apart, and even the earth was plowed open into a terrifying abyss.

At that moment, smoke and dust filled the air, and the deafening echoes continued. The disciples of Shangqing Palace all watched in shock.

Fortunately, the Dragon Turtle Diagram hanging high in the sky blocked the impact, leaving the Shangqing Palace mountain gate completely unscathed.

"What is going on? Could this sudden impact be someone attacking Shangqing Palace?"

"I don't know, but the Sect Master and elders will handle it. We must not panic."

"Our Shangqing Palace has a Patriarch. Who would dare behave so brazenly?"

"This doesn't look like an enemy attack. It seems more like something erupted from underground."

The disciples of Shangqing Palace discussed it heatedly, voices overlapping as they offered their own opinions.

Before the waterfall at the Scripture Repository Pavilion, Li Jiusheng's domain was fully unleashed, his aura surging around him. He noticed those voices but paid them no mind. His gaze remained fixed on Li Qingshan at the Golden Summit Hall.

Li Qingshan seemed to notice Li Jiusheng's gaze as well and transmitted his voice to him. "Senior Brother, don't worry. This is an Earth Pulse Impact. If we fail to block it, dozens of peaks within Shangqing Palace will suffer."

"What exactly happened?" Li Jiusheng asked.

"Once I finish dealing with matters here, I'll explain it to you, Senior Brother. This is both a crisis and an opportunity." Li Qingshan did not elaborate. He focused entirely on controlling the Dragon Turtle Diagram and blocked the remaining waves of impact.

The enormous turtle, as massive as the Black Tortoise itself, suppressed Shangqing Palace's earth veins and protected Shangqing Palace from the impacts.

The Azure Dragon flew through the sky, scattering countless streams of emerald energy to support the turtle and protect Shangqing Palace together.

Shangqing Palace emerged from the remaining waves of impact without a scratch.

Li Jiusheng watched with a frown. Both a crisis and an opportunity?

What did that mean?