Innate Dao Body

It had been less than half a cup of tea since Ye Jing left when a Daoist came strolling over.

The Daoist was filthy from head to toe, dressed in a tattered robe. His hair was a mess, tied up with nothing but a chicken-leg bone.

His beard had gone white, and his mouth was slick with grease. In his hand, he held a plump, greasy chicken leg, tearing into it again and again.

Arriving at the place where Ye Jing had undergone his tribulation, Sloppy Daoist gave a mocking laugh. "The one who underwent the tribulation was certainly cautious."

"But I'd like to see just what this person is capable of to make the heavens send down nine Tribulation Dragons!"

Radiance flowed over Sloppy Daoist, and Daoist rhythms stirred in his eyes. He wanted to glimpse a thread of Heavenly Secrets and find out what the person who had undergone the tribulation had done to make the heavens send down such a great calamity.

Suddenly, Sloppy Daoist seemed to have seen something unfathomable. His pupils widened, and he froze in place like a wooden post.

Then he plunged into a fit of madness, muttering nonstop.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible! The Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm has only just begun. How could a Time Domain appear in this world?"

"This is the most powerful domain in all creation. Anyone capable of comprehending it is an unparalleled genius who will shake the ages. Given how the world is evolving now, it's simply impossible for such a genius to be born!"

"Could those few have returned to the world? But that can't be!"

"According to the Heavenly Secrets, those few will only seize this final fruit when the world's evolution reaches its utmost limit."

"What's more, even if those few were to live another life, they would be born in the glorious Central Continent. How could they possibly appear in this barren Dali?"

Sloppy Daoist stared at the aura of the Time Dao Principle revealed before him and fell into thought.

After breaking through from the Innate Realm to the Grandmaster Realm, Ye Jing's strength had undergone a world-shaking transformation. Not only had he opened a Time Domain, he could also fly through the air.

Those in the Grandmaster Realm could fly. The journey that had taken an hour on the way there took him just the time it took to burn a stick of incense on the way back.

Upon returning to Ye Manor, Ye Jing hurried straight to his room, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing.

The nine Tribulation Dragons had been terrifyingly powerful. Even with the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation and the Indestructible Golden Body, it had been all but impossible for Ye Jing to withstand all nine without a scratch.

Fortunately, after cultivating the Indestructible Golden Body, he had gained immense physical strength, and he had used the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation to cut down four of the Tribulation Dragons.

Withstanding the remaining five had only sent his Qi and Blood surging. He had suffered no serious injuries, and a morning of sitting quietly and regulating his breath was all he needed.

"Ah! Young master, I've broken through to the second layer of Qi Refining!"

At dawn, as the horizon began to pale, Ye Jing was woken by Qiuyue's excited cry.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Qiuyue rush into the room, her face filled with joy.

"Second layer of Qi Refining!" Hearing that Qiuyue had broken through, Ye Jing was instantly wide awake. He leaped out of bed and went to her. "Qiuyue, circulate the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture for me."

Qiuyue's words had given Ye Jing quite a shock. Her astonishing comprehension the day before had already struck him as frightening, but he had never imagined that her cultivation speed would be just as extraordinary.

The Qi Refining Realm focused on accumulating spiritual energy in the dantian.

One had to understand that this was now the Age of Dharma's End. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth had dried up. It was nothing like the Golden Prosperous Era, when there had been countless treasures of heaven and earth and rare, peerless wonders that could boost one's cultivation.

In this Age of Dharma's End, ordinary disciples like Ye Jing could improve their cultivation only by absorbing the spiritual energy contained in the world around them.

But the spiritual energy in the world was so thin as to be almost negligible. As a result, ordinary disciples cultivated at an exceedingly slow pace in this Age of Dharma's End.

Only great clans, powerful sects, or members of the imperial family could set up Spirit Gathering Arrays and cultivate somewhat faster.

Even after Ye Jing awakened Heaven-Defying Comprehension, he had only broken through from the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the Innate Realm in a single day. Had it been the Golden Prosperous Era—

With Heaven-Defying Comprehension, and his astonishing speed at refining spiritual energy, Ye Jing would probably have needed only the time it took to burn a stick of incense to break through from the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the Innate Realm.

But Qiuyue had no system to help her, and yet she had gone from an ordinary person without a shred of cultivation—someone who couldn't even truss a chicken—to the second layer of Qi Refining. Her cultivation speed was almost on par with his own. It was truly frightening.

At Ye Jing's instruction, Qiuyue circulated the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture and began cultivating in front of him.

The moment Qiuyue began circulating the Imperial Pole Dao Proving Scripture, Ye Jing clearly felt the spiritual energy around them stir.

The spiritual energy seemed to be summoned from every direction, surging toward Qiuyue like a tide.

Though the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was thin, there was a great deal of it. Before long, a cloud of Spirit Mist enveloped Qiuyue.

Ye Jing stared in astonishment. He hadn't expected Qiuyue to turn the spiritual energy into mist just by cultivating.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was so thin now that even Qi Refining cultivators might not sense its existence unless they focused intently.

This showed just how scarce the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had become in this era.

And perhaps only the Supreme Spirit Gathering Array in the Great Li Imperial Family could turn spiritual energy into mist.

Qiuyue can turn spiritual energy into mist just by cultivating. Could she be an Innate Dao Body? Seeing the Spirit Mist, Ye Jing formed a theory.

In this world, some people could cultivate bitterly for a hundred years without ever stepping onto the path of cultivation, while others could make rapid progress even in their sleep.

These people were born with special physiques. They were children of the Great Dao. The bottlenecks that were as immovable as boulders to ordinary geniuses simply didn't exist for them.

Breaking through in cultivation was as easy as drinking water. They could effortlessly scale the peaks that others found so difficult to climb along the path of the Great Dao.

As long as they didn't fall before their time, these people were destined to become world-shaking figures who would one day stir the winds and clouds.

The Innate Dao Body was one such special physique.

Those who possessed this physique were naturally close to the Great Dao. They could master any cultivation method at a glance, with no need to rely on anything else.

Not only that, they were naturally attuned to spiritual energy, with all their apertures open. Their speed at absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth was astonishing.

Those who possessed this physique cultivated at an extraordinary pace, reaching heights that peerless geniuses might never attain, even over an entire lifetime, in only a short time.

Throughout the River of Time, every appearance of an Innate Dao Body had been earth-shaking.

Their talent was astounding, and they could hold their own even against ancient freaks.

It was said that during the Third Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, an Innate Dao Body had been born into the world. Its unmatched brilliance had nearly eclipsed every genius of that era.

The various traits Qiuyue was displaying now did bear some resemblance to the Innate Dao Body described in the records.

However, Innate Dao Bodies were exceedingly rare. Even across the six Heaven and Earth Cataclysms, they had appeared only three times. The historical records mentioned them in no more than a few brief strokes, offering little detail.

Ye Jing had only glimpsed a brief mention of them in the historical records and didn't know much about the Innate Dao Body. For a while, he couldn't reach a conclusion.