The night was hazy, and not a star was in sight.
Among the peaks shrouded in darkness, a thin veil of mountain mist rose from the valley floor, concealing an ancient-looking temple.
The temple walls were dark ochre, marked by patches of moss left behind by years of mountain fog and rain.
Halls and buildings stretched across several connected peaks.
Numerous disciples moved about the brightly lit temple, numbering some several hundred.
The Zhengyi Sect, also known as the Celestial Master Temple, was the most renowned Daoist Sect on Wangwu Mountain. In ages past, it had even stood at the head of the Daoist Sect, enjoying its moment of glory.
Compared to its past, the Celestial Master Temple was rather unimpressive now. Its scale could not compare with that of the other holy lands of the Daoist Sect.
It seemed that this orthodox Daoist sect had failed to seize the opportunity presented by this transformation of Heaven and Earth, to brush away the old dust and shine with the brilliance it deserved.
At the summit, Yuan Tianzong stood facing the wind, looking down at the Celestial Master Temple.
A moment later, he dropped from the high cliff, moving like a ghost as he silently slipped into the temple.
The instant he entered, he felt that the Origin Energy here was more abundant, filling him with a sense of ease.
The Daoist classics recorded that the world contained grotto-heavens and blessed lands, places rich in spiritual essence and ideally suited to cultivation. Some had even been visited by immortals, brimming with auspicious signs. Perhaps this was no mere rumor.
As far as he recalled, Wangwu Mountain was said to be home to the foremost grotto-heaven and blessed land, earning it the reputation of the Lesser Pure Void Grotto-Heaven.
He moved through the temple as if it were deserted.
Yuan Tianzong was searching for the Celestial Master Temple's collection of ancient scriptures, hoping to get lucky and discover some ancient secrets that might help him understand what the illusory white flame he wielded really was.
"Scripture Pavilion."
The Scripture Pavilion appeared often enough in Daoist sects that the moment Yuan Tianzong saw those three characters, he knew he had found the place.
"One, two, three, four, five."
Five elderly men with impressive auras sat in the shadows outside the pavilion, guarding it. Judging by their auras, they were all top-tier cultivators in China's Dragon Opening Realm. The Celestial Master Temple certainly lived up to its name; the Nine Great Mountain Gates could not compare.
Yuan Tianzong kept his aura concealed and took a few steps, slipping past the five men and into the Scripture Pavilion. None of them noticed a thing.
The Dragon Opening Realm and Grandmaster Realm seemed to be separated by only one level, yet the gulf between them was like that between heaven and earth. One could crush several Grandmasters with a single foot.
Wandering among the many Daoist scriptures, Yuan Tianzong rapidly flipped through one book after another, scanning ten lines at a glance.
Unfortunately, despite spending a long time searching, he found no information about the illusory white flame.
The Daoist classics described many kinds of fire, such as Red Lotus Karma Fire, Southern Bright Leaving Fire, and Samadhi True Fire, but none resembled the illusory white flame in Yuan Tianzong's possession.
He casually opened another Daoist book.
After reading a couple of lines, Yuan Tianzong slowed his page-turning and raised an eyebrow.
"I couldn't find anything about the illusory white flame, but I did find you, Dao seed."
The book described a seed that was identical to the one in his possession, which seemed to have withered and died. It was undoubtedly a Dao seed.
"The Dao seed is a medium for cultivation. Only it can open the path of cultivation."
The Dao seed was a medium, and only it could open the path of cultivation?
The moment he read that, Yuan Tianzong's mind immediately leaped to the unfamiliar term he had heard at the Celestial Master Temple not long ago: Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao.
The book's description of the seed bore a striking resemblance to the way they described the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao.
One said that only it could open the path of cultivation.
The other said that only it could break through the Shackles and step into the Grandmaster Realm.
Either one of them was spouting nonsense, their understanding lacking because they did not know that there were other ways to advance to the Grandmaster Realm and continue cultivating.
Or the two were connected: the seed was the divine smoke, and the divine smoke was the seed.
"No, no. Something's not right."
If the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao—or the so-called Dao seed—was the only medium that could open the path of cultivation, the only way to break through the Shackles and reach the Grandmaster Realm, then what about him?
He had never come into contact with anything like the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao or a seed.
Surely his Grandmaster Realm wasn't fake.
A long lifespan and an evolution of life—those were indeed the descriptions of Grandmasters in ancient texts. He had reached that level, too. His body had undergone a transformation, surpassing ordinary life.
Only by relying on the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao could one reach the Grandmaster Realm!
He had defied that rule and attained the Grandmaster Realm in the Dharma-ending era!
Those contradictory statements could only mean one thing: the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao was not the only path to cultivation in this world!
Yuan Tianzong still had no idea what the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao was.
But he could be certain that the path of entering the Dao and beginning cultivation through it was related to Heaven and Earth Origin Energy. One absorbed the energy into the body, refined it into one's own true qi, circulated it through the five internal organs, and achieved spiritual clarity and transformation.
In the Dharma-ending era, Origin Energy had withered away, making it impossible to refine it into qi.
Thus, Yuan Tianzong, in the Dharma-ending era, had not relied on an external force to break through the Shackles. He had relied on internal qi.
Internal qi was the source of power for martial arts in the Dharma-ending era. It lay within the flesh and blood of the human body. Its core principle was that "the human body is like a small world, containing mysteries of its own and naturally giving rise to internal qi."
Internal qi.
True qi.
These were two different paths!
At that moment, Yuan Tianzong had formed a basic understanding of the two paths.
Cultivating internal qi strengthened the body and transformed the flesh, but the flesh and blood contained Shackles that blocked this path.
Because of his own strange experiences, he had no Shackles, but others were still bound by them.
The path of true qi seemed viable, but one needed to possess the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao to embark upon it.
The differing rules of the two paths gave Yuan Tianzong pause.
One path was sealed off, a forbidden zone. You were not allowed to walk it.
The other was open, but required a ticket.
Strange.
Just as Yuan Tianzong was about to leave, voices suddenly came from outside the pavilion.
He darted to the window, gently pushed open a narrow crack with two fingers, and listened from the side without looking out.
The five elderly guards were speaking in low voices with a newly arrived man.
"Uncles, Master just sent word that he'll emerge from seclusion in a few days. You should make your preparations."
The five men exchanged glances.
"Don't worry, Sect Leader Nephew. The five of us old fellows will certainly help Senior Disciple Brother obtain the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao and enter the Grandmaster Realm as soon as possible."
The man chuckled. "Uncles, it's not just Master who needs to enter the Grandmaster Realm. You do, too."
"Haha, of course, of course. We'd all like to break through the Shackles and reach a higher level."
The Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao?
The Grandmaster Realm?
What was the connection between the two?
The men exchanged a few more words that held little substance, then the Celestial Master Temple's Sect Leader hurried away.
Yuan Tianzong had thought the five elders guarding the Scripture Pavilion would return to their own quarters once the Sect Leader left. Instead, they stayed together, talking at length.
"We don't know when the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao will appear in this world. Senior Disciple Brother is emerging from seclusion after many years for its sake. It seems this smoke truly is the only opportunity to break through to the Grandmaster Realm!"
"Indeed. Senior Disciple Brother is exceptionally talented, and even he can't break through the Shackles and enter the Grandmaster Realm on his own. The rumors must be true."
"What do you think? The opportunity to enter the Grandmaster Realm that the Mad Old Daoist spoke of has come to pass. Could the Mountain Sea World he spoke of also be quietly drawing closer?" asked another white-browed elder gravely, a hint of fear in his voice.
At those words, the other four fell silent.
After a long while, the burliest elder sighed. "If that's truly the case, the future is terrifying. When that day comes, who knows how many lives will be lost? The world will be plunged into disaster."
"The various Daoist sects have already begun preparing for trouble. Once Senior Disciple Brother emerges from seclusion, we'll discuss this with him."
"Let's hope the Mad Daoist was truly just raving."
At that, the five men each returned to their own quiet spot and sat cross-legged. They appeared to have closed their eyes in meditation, but Yuan Tianzong could sense that none of them could find peace. Their brows were clouded with worry and uncertainty about the future.
He was intensely curious.
Who was the Mad Daoist? How could he predict the future?
Before you continue