The True Opportunity

What was water?

The highest goodness was like water: it did not contend, yet benefited all things!

Purification was water!

Destruction was water!

One finger! One palm! One blade!

Within the stone chamber carved with water, Lin Huang took one finger strike, one palm strike, and one blade strike. His chest was pierced through, his shoulder blade shattered, his finger bones severed—yet he laughed with abandon.

"Good. Good. Good!" Lin Huang cried "good" three times in a row. Divine light surged in his eyes. With every opening and closing of them, he grasped the mysteries, quietly comprehending the Dao intent ravaging his body. He used his body to gain insight, his spirit to commune with spirit, directly enduring and grasping the divine path left behind by the ancient sages of Zhongnan Dojo through the cruelest, most shocking means.

To Second Senior Brother, such a method was simply insane.

"Is this fellow a madman? Sure enough, without madness, one could never truly live."

Second Senior Brother watched in dumbfounded disbelief as Lin Huang laughed and stepped into the Fire Chamber. He forcibly endured three swords and one blade, yet laughed in sheer delight. The more it hurt, the faster his comprehension became.

"Could this be the newest cultivation method?" Second Senior Brother felt a little tempted. He could clearly sense that Lin Huang was not going mad, but using this method to gain insight through his body and commune with spirit through spirit. The results of such cultivation were countless times faster than slowly comprehending the Dao rhythms on the walls.

"Forget it. Only a madman like him can play this way." Second Senior Brother gave a bitter smile. He knew he could not learn such a method. If he dared try it, he would be chopped into pieces in minutes.

Earth, water, fire, wind, yin, yang.

The six stone chambers were the very foundation of Zhongnan Dojo. For anyone else, any one of these six chambers would have been enough to study and comprehend for thousands of years. But when it came to Lin Huang, it was this brutal and direct—using his body to gain insight, his spirit to commune with spirit. After taking seventeen sword strikes, nine punches, seven palm strikes, six blade strikes, and three finger strikes, he swept away the essence of all six chambers.

When others cultivated, they first copied, then memorized, and finally comprehended.

But Lin Huang was overbearing. He forcibly memorized with his body and comprehended with his soul.

It was not that Second Senior Brother was too foolish, but that Lin Huang had brought his saint-level advantages into play to the fullest extent.

Once one became a saint, heaven, earth, and the path ahead all became completely different.

Otherwise, the saying would not have spread throughout the Myriad Worlds: beneath saints, all were ants.

"What a pity. Those six walls carved with True God's Handwriting are the true essence of this Third Secret Vault. What a pity." Lin Huang sighed. The wounds on his body slowly healed as he cast a greedy glance at the six stone chambers, his gaze sharp as lightning.

He had already tried. The walls carved with True God's Handwriting could not be touched recklessly, or they would alert a true god whose existence lay somewhere amid the vast unknown reaches of time and space, causing it to descend.

Though he dearly wished to battle a Divine Being and learn the gap between himself and one, Lin Huang was mad, not foolish. His Six Paths had yet to be completed, and he lacked the means. If he fought a Divine Being now, there was only one road ahead: death. He would not even have a chance to flee.

So Lin Huang could only suppress this mad thought. But as his mind turned, he thought, After accumulating for so long, I have finally become a saint. Yet no one can teach me how to walk the road ahead; I can only feel my way forward alone. If I can battle a Divine Being, perhaps I can see the path ahead clearly. I cannot miss this opportunity.

The moment this thought arose, Lin Huang's mind began calculating madly.

"The Divine Beings have withdrawn. Though I do not know exactly which time and space they exist in, they clearly cannot descend in their true bodies. At most, only an incarnation can descend."

"Damn it. The contract Hundred Sages Reform Heaven signed with the Gods was never passed down. I have no idea what restrictions there are when Divine Beings act."

"If a true god descends in person, I am dead for sure."

"Should I gamble?"

Second Senior Brother stared at Lin Huang in confusion, unable to understand why he had suddenly stopped. His expression kept changing, as though he had fallen into an agonizing dilemma.

"Gamble. Why not gamble? Since my heart has been stirred, if I do not act, how can my thoughts flow freely? If my thoughts cannot flow freely, how can I become a god? Mortals scurry like flies and hounds, fearing life and dreading death, only to end as a handful of yellow earth. To enjoy eternity and immortality, one must naturally endure the suffering others dare not endure and do what others dare not do."

"Having heard the Dao in the morning, I could die that evening."

"If I cannot do whatever I wish, doing what I want the moment I want it, then why did I come into this world?! How would I be any different from the oxen and horses of the masses?!"

"To become a god, first battle a god!"

"Come, come, come! Today, I shall seek the Future with life and death!"

Lin Huang's expression suddenly settled. He laughed freely and flicked a finger, removing all the restrictions on Second Senior Brother. "Kid, if I were you, I'd start running now. Run as far as you can."

Second Senior Brother froze, staring at Lin Huang without understanding. But Lin Huang no longer had time to pay attention to him and began calculating carefully.

Only after planning could one act.

Lin Huang's eyes shifted. His soul stirred, and in an instant, the Twelve Heavens Divine Array of Zhongnan Dojo was completely activated. Light surged as the twelve floating islands abruptly blazed with radiance, illuminating thousands of miles.

The Twelve Heavens Divine Array was activated in an instant, connecting to the Twelve Heavens.

This so-called Twelve Heavens Divine Array was a peerless divine array laid down by generations of patriarchs of Zhongnan Dojo, connecting twelve great worlds. Once activated, it immediately connected to those twelve great worlds. In an instant, the phantoms of twelve great worlds descended with a thunderous crash, their origins trembling as they formed earth, water, fire, wind, yin, yang, metal, wood, light, darkness, life, and death.

The forces of the twelve great worlds roiled, linking life and death, reversing yin and yang. In an instant, they sealed off all of Zhongnan Dojo. The change shook heaven and earth. Throughout Zhongnan Prefecture, a divine beam could be seen shooting into the sky, twelve colors staining the heavens.

"The Twelve Heavens Divine Array has been activated! Come, follow me up and capture Lin Huang. If we're too late, we won't be able to get in!" Spring-Autumn King roared. His figure flashed, and before the Twelve Heavens Divine Array was fully activated, he charged into Zhongnan Dojo.

Xiong Renjie gripped the Zhongnan Divine Sword, staring in stunned disbelief. "What is going on? I haven't activated the Twelve Heavens Divine Array yet, so how did it—? Could Lin Huang have triggered the restrictions left behind by the patriarchs?"

All sorts of thoughts flashed through Xiong Renjie's mind. In the end, he wailed, "I'm dead this time. You bastard! I'll definitely kill you!"

The Twelve Heavens Divine Array was fully activated. The elders and saints of Zhongnan Dojo, far away in White Jade Capital, immediately sensed it. With a thought, they connected to Xiong Renjie. "Xiong Renjie, what happened? Why did you activate the Twelve Heavens Divine Array?!"

"I demand an explanation!"

"Someone broke into the Twelve Secret Vaults. This disciple is capturing him. Right away, right away!" Xiong Renjie answered in panic. Gritting his teeth, he cut off the spiritual connection with the great figures and howled as he charged into the Twelve Secret Vaults. "Bastard, I'll definitely kill you!"

The great figure of Zhongnan Dojo seated at the center calculated with his fingers and snorted. "He is merely a clown leaping about. I shall suppress him."

As his words fell, his divine manifestation appeared across hundreds of millions of miles. A gigantic hand spanning a hundred miles abruptly appeared in the air, instantly locking onto Lin Huang before slamming down with one palm.

"That person was actually alerted. Lin Huang truly does not know the difference between life and death." Spring-Autumn King cried out in shock. He had never imagined that Lin Huang would provoke that person into acting. Once his surprise passed, he sneered.

The changes unfolded as swiftly as a hare taking flight and a falcon dropping upon it, all within the flick of a finger. Lin Huang remained expressionless. His gaze pierced through the Twelve Heavens Divine Array and looked toward the heavens. Watching the gigantic hand that had suddenly manifested, a brilliant smile slowly rose on his lips.

"I can only do this much. But it should be enough, shouldn't it? Then... let it begin."