Golden Lotus Seed in the Sea of Suffering

The tea room was filled with wisps of smoke and the aroma of tea.

Li Jiusheng was overjoyed, not expecting to comprehend the [Invincible Golden Body] this way.

He immediately began to examine it.

The [Invincible Golden Body] was not created by Emperor Wu of Zhou. The founder of this technique was a disciple of the Buddhist Sect, who inherited the Buddhist Sect's Arhat Golden Body. Then, based on his lifelong learning, he successfully created the technique on his own.

Emperor Wu of Zhou merely obtained this technique and practiced it to an extremely high level.

The [Invincible Golden Body] itself requires transformation after transformation, pushing the physical body to its extreme, and then comprehending 'Aura/Momentum' to be considered initiated.

After initiation, one needs to undergo transformations step by step. This step has stopped many people because transformation is an extremely painful process, akin to severing one's past self.

After careful study, Li Jiusheng smiled and said, "For others, transformation is a difficult matter, but for me, transformation is actually very simple."

So simple, in fact, it was as easy as drinking water or eating food.

This was because Li Jiusheng had already embarked on this path.

[Mountain and Wild New Life Method] Li Jiusheng had long ago cultivated to the 'Aura/Momentum' stage, and his first transformation was already proceeding in an orderly fashion. Now, cultivating the [Invincible Golden Body] was like a fish in water.

He decided to act immediately. Li Jiusheng resolutely began cultivating the [Invincible Golden Body], initiating the process of tempering his physical body.

This step also served to lay the foundation for the [Mountain and Wild New Life Method]. After all, the more terrifying Li Jiusheng's physical body became, the more powerful he would be after rebirth.

One day, the mountains and wilds were bathed in sunlight, with a gentle breeze caressing his face, bringing the scent of spring.

After the snow melted, it flowed into the mountain streams and finally into the main river of the waterfall, increasing its volume. The waterfall had been roaring down continuously during this period, but Li Jiusheng had grown accustomed to it.

The grass and trees that had accumulated over the winter, unable to wait, absorbed nutrients, broke through the soil, and bloomed with new green.

The hibernating beasts and insects gradually revived and began to hunt. The mountains and wilds, silent for a season, once again teemed with life.

Li Jiusheng observed all this, feeling that this was the myriad creatures competing for freedom under the vast sky.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

The winter snow had melted, but the cold still lingered. However, green was increasingly appearing in the earth and forests. Spring, with its joyful steps, arrived before Li Jiusheng's eyes.

During these three months, the Shangqing Palace seemed to have undergone significant changes, yet also seemed unchanged.

The significant change referred to the great stir in the cultivation world caused by Li Qingshan's slaying of Zhang Wudao with a single sword. The names of Shangqing Palace and Li Qingshan echoed throughout the land.

The world clamored to know who Li Qingshan was.

How did he suddenly appear?

And how was he so powerful?

Furthermore, he wielded Li Tianxian's [Grass and Wood Sword Technique]. Had the Shangqing Palace left behind a copy, secretly nurturing disciples over the years?

The Shangqing Palace could not provide answers to these questions. However, it soon announced that the enthronement ceremony for the new Sect Master, Li Qingshan, would be held on the first day of early spring, three months later.

This announcement filled the world with anticipation, and their gazes turned towards the Luochuan Sect.

Zhang Wudao was a disciple of the Luochuan Sect's Grandmaster, Emperor Wu of Zhou. He was slain by Li Qingshan, and moreover, by the [Grass and Wood Sword Technique]. What would be the Luochuan Sect's reaction?

Rage!

The Grandmaster would emerge from seclusion, punish Li Qingshan, and wipe out the Shangqing Palace.

This was the consensus among the public, deduced from Emperor Wu of Zhou's vengeful personality.

However, to everyone's surprise, the Luochuan Sect made no comment on the death of Zhang Wudao or the news of Li Qingshan's impending succession as Sect Master of Shangqing Palace.

This left the world dumbfounded.

Emperor Wu of Zhou still wouldn't emerge from seclusion?

Could it be that what the world said was true?

Emperor Wu of Zhou's foundational cultivation was severed by Li Tianxian back then, and he had not fully recovered even to this day?

Was that why he swallowed this profound humiliation?

For a time, the outside world was abuzz with rumors and gossip. However, both the Shangqing Palace and the Luochuan Sect, at the center of the storm, remained tacitly silent.

However, none of this concerned Li Jiusheng. For the past three months, he had been immersed in cultivation, detached from worldly affairs. Even when disciples came to the Scripture Repository Pavilion to borrow texts, he let them choose for themselves, as he was wholeheartedly focused on his cultivation.

[Grass and Wood Sword Technique], [Mountain and Wild New Life Method], [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength], [Invincible Golden Body] – he cultivated them one by one.

He practiced techniques during the day and meditated to cultivate his Qi at night, accompanied by the sun and moon, improving on his own.

Each cultivation session brought gains, like accumulating bit by bit. Li Jiusheng stored these accumulations, waiting for the day they would blossom and bear fruit.

After three months, the Real Core in his Dantian had gradually taken on a golden hue. Every night, it absorbed Spiritual Energy, refining it into True Qi. The True Qi became liquid, encircling the Real Core, gradually tempering it, changing its color, and moving towards the next realm.

"I am only one step away from the Golden Core," Li Jiusheng murmured, not in a hurry.

During these three months, he hadn't comprehended anything new. This was mainly because he was immersed in cultivation and practicing techniques. He had already comprehended 'Aura/Momentum' in these techniques and had progressed far in that realm, ready to enter the next level, 'Essence', at any time.

Li Jiusheng was not in a hurry. He firmly believed in steady cultivation. Since he couldn't break through now, he would wait.

Haste makes waste; patience brings peace.

Li Jiusheng adhered to this philosophy, cultivating quietly.

The night was filled with stars like sesame seeds scattered across a baked flatbread, and the Milky Way was reflected in the stream, a truly beautiful sight.

Inside the Scripture Repository Pavilion, the lights glowed warmly. Li Jiusheng held an ancient Buddhist scripture, reading it slowly.

Shangqing Palace's Scripture Repository Pavilion held tens of thousands of books of all kinds, not just from the Daoist Sect, but also from Buddhist Sect, Demonic Sect, and Confucian schools.

The Grandmaster of Shangqing Palace had once said that learning in life is endless, and one should understand all knowledge that can be understood.

What Li Jiusheng was reading now was the final testament of a high-ranking Buddhist monk.

He wrote that the world was a vast sea of suffering, where people struggled. For mortals, a hundred years was not enough to escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

The high monk asked: "What is cultivation?"

The high monk answered: "Cultivation is escaping the sea of suffering and reaching the other shore."

But where was the other shore?

The high monk answered: "I don't know!"

His lifelong pursuit was the other shore, yet he had never seen it before his death.

Finally, the high monk summarized two principles.

People exhausted all their efforts to escape this great sea of suffering. Some used their physical bodies as boats, carrying their souls across the sea of suffering.

Others cast off their physical bodies, their primordial spirits transcending, to reach the other shore.

The high monk said much more, and as Li Jiusheng read, he gradually became engrossed.

If the world were a great sea of suffering, how should he cross it?

[You have been observing the Buddhist scripture and have gained some insight. The sea of suffering in the world, crossing it with the physical body, transcending with the primordial spirit—why not transform into a golden lotus and pass through the sea of suffering.]

[You have comprehended the phenomenon: Golden Lotus Seed in the Sea of Suffering.]

Li Jiusheng's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time he had comprehended a phenomenon.

Phenomena were special occurrences between heaven and earth, some born Xiantian, others imprinted postnatally, but without exception, they possessed immense power.

Li Jiusheng was very curious: what kind of phenomenon was Golden Lotus Seed in the Sea of Suffering?