The training hall.
Li Qingxu sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Sixty-three Wood Bud Crystals were neatly arranged before him, and streams of energy rapidly flowed into his body.
Although the energy in the Wood Bud Crystals was also cosmic energy, it was nothing like the extremely thin cosmic energy found on Earth.
The energy in the Wood Bud Crystals was exceptionally pure and refined, and its quality was extraordinarily high.
It was also full of vitality and intelligence!
At that moment, the Western Emperor Scripture began to circulate on its own. The Dao Palace seemed to contain five dragons soaring and coiling, with mist swirling inside and out as the five energies surged skyward.
In an instant, energy soared into the clouds, and golden essence rang like metal.
He was drawn into a field of golden divine light, sitting cross-legged beneath the heavens as his sea of energy surged forth like a tide.
The Lung Divine Treasury belonged to Metal in the Five Elements. It was the foremost of the five organs and was known as the Canopy.
A sharp aura shot skyward, ringing out as though ten thousand swords were singing in unison.
Metallic light shimmered across Li Qingxu's body. He was like a blade cleaving the azure sky, his edge so keen that none could withstand it.
The Lung Divine Treasury drew in all energies, stirring his essence, energy, and spirit and spreading them throughout his body.
It reached out to his skin and hair, inhaled the origin of Heaven and Earth, and brimmed with vigorous life!
At that moment, the turbid qi in Li Qingxu's Dao Palace vanished. His divine essence surged, crystalline and clear, reaching into every limb and bone, every muscle and pore.
All energies belonged to the Lung Divine Treasury. It connected with Heaven and Earth, and was chiefly responsible for transforming the essence his body needed.
With the Wood Bud Crystal energy replenishing him, Li Qingxu quickly completed his cultivation of the Lung Divine Treasury in the Dao Palace.
The Western Emperor Scripture was unfathomably profound and wondrous, revealing the secrets of Heaven and Earth and seizing the wonders of creation!
Why was the Dao Palace Secret Realm called the Dao Palace? It was like an eternal palace, containing boundless Dao power within.
The five Divine Treasuries were hazy and indistinct. Behind them, five eternal ancient temples loomed in and out of sight, towering and remote, mysterious and blurred.
When he entered a state of selflessness, with his body and mind tranquil and empty, he could hear the resonant tones of the Great Dao.
They were like Buddhist chants, yet also like ancient sacrificial hymns, as if they had crossed through time and space to drift here from the distant past.
The Dao Palace was like the heavens, giving rise to five halls.
Though hazy and indistinct, he could sense their existence. Buddhist chants and ancient sacrificial hymns pierced time and space, drifting in from afar.
The human body was like Heaven and Earth, corresponding to the vast world. The Dao Palace was called the Dao Palace because the Dao Self resided within it.
It was the aspect of a person aligned with the Dao, corresponding to the Dao of the vast world.
The Buddhist chants and ancient sacrificial hymns that sounded within the palace halls were actually the Dao Self resonating with the World Great Dao—a dialogue between the inner and outer worlds.
More precisely, it was a matter of tracing the Dao's imprints and comprehending the principles of the Great Dao.
The Dao Self's true nature did not manifest outwardly. It was nurtured within the five energies, silently stirring the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
The Dao Palace gave rise to the Five Elements, which secretly accorded with the principles of Heaven and Earth.
In other words, the Dao-aligned aspect of my own self was comprehending the Great Dao and the principles of longevity, nourishing the master of my life.
There were no Buddhist chants or ancient sacrificial hymns. I was comprehending the Dao.
For a full three months, Li Qingxu remained immersed in a state of spiritual clarity as wondrous changes took place in his body.
The Western Emperor Scripture was wondrous beyond compare, circulating on its own.
Within the Dao Palace, it was as though Buddhist chants and ancient sacrificial hymns pierced time and space, drifting in from afar.
At the same time, his Golden Bitter Sea stirred. The vision of Bitter Sea Planting Green Lotus appeared, shrouded in mist, while the Dao Scripture also began to circulate on its own.
At that moment, the profound arts ran side by side, harmonious and natural.
The Wheel Sea and Dao Palace pulsed together, divine power flowing through him from top to bottom as though Heaven and Earth were connected, forming a seamless whole.
Li Qingxu sat on the ground, spiritually clear as the Dao, yet it was as though he were perched among the clouds, transcendent and detached.
It was a wondrous, profound state born of his understanding and insight into cultivation. The Wheel Sea and Dao Palace resonated together, blending like milk and water, allowing his Dao power to flow without end.
It was also a baptism. His body shimmered with crystalline light, his spirit was vigorous, and his body and mind were tempered and elevated, bringing his original realm closer to perfection.
He was still at the Dao Palace Third Heaven, but everything was different. The Wheel Sea and Dao Palace pulsed in unison, and he had traced the Dao's imprints.
The Wheel Sea and Dao Palace resonated together, while the Dao Scripture and Western Emperor Scripture circulated side by side, flawless and harmonious.
His body and mind were clear and pure. Every movement of his hands and feet seemed to wield the Great Dao.
After the ninety-ninth day, the two Emperor Scriptures stopped circulating. The sixty-three Wood Bud Crystals had been completely absorbed.
Yet the cosmic energy that was everywhere on Earth surged toward him like a tidal wave, completely engulfing the training hall where Li Qingxu sat.
It continued for three full days.
Li Qingxu abruptly rose to his feet, two beams of Taiji divine light shooting from his eyes.
His black hair hung loose as he stood proudly. His vital energy surged like a great river, and immense power filled his body.
At that moment, he felt he could shatter a mountain with a single punch. His body brimmed with inexhaustible strength.
After cultivating for a full 102 days, he had finally reached the Dao Palace Third Heaven and cultivated the Liver Divine Treasury, which belonged to Wood in the Five Elements.
He had cultivated the Heart Divine Treasury first, then the Lung Divine Treasury, and now the Liver Divine Treasury. He was cultivating the Five Elements in reverse order.
When he eventually reached the Great Saint Realm, the Sacred Body would focus exclusively on the Dao Palace Secret Realm and cultivate the Five Elements in their natural order.
Cultivating the Five Elements in reverse and in their natural order was like the yin and yang of the Taiji, light and darkness.
When both reached their extremes, they would transform into the innate Five Elements, the Dao Palace would return to unity, and everything would be perfected.
Beyond Earth, stars dotted the cosmos.
"Whoosh!"
A golden streak of light cut through the starry void, flying straight toward Earth at nearly the speed of light.
The golden streak swiftly pierced the atmosphere and plunged toward Earth.
In the waters of the Pacific, several hundred nautical miles from a cluster of islands.
"Whoosh!"
The golden streak cut through the sky and plunged into the sea. Strangely, despite falling at nearly the speed of light, it did not cause the slightest unusual disturbance on the water's surface.
Not only did the ocean remain undisturbed, but none of the satellites or monitoring systems anywhere on Earth detected the golden streak.
Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean.
More than three thousand meters below the surface, the golden streak had vanished, leaving behind only an oval-shaped black egg about twelve meters in diameter.
Strange golden patterns shimmered across its black shell.
For the moment, all was silent!
The satellites of every country on Earth, even the special monitoring systems at the Ancient Civilization Ruins, continued operating as usual. Not one detected its arrival.
Ever since the Great Nirvana Period, the oceans had belonged to the monsters.
The oceans covered far more area than the land, and their boundless waters had given birth to all kinds of monsters.
The enormous oval-shaped Black Giant Egg remained perfectly still.
About twelve minutes after it had plunged into these waters, a fish-like monster, seven or eight meters long and covered in blue scales, swam up beside the egg.
The fish-like monster swam slowly. Possessing simple intelligence, it guessed that the giant egg before it was probably not a rock.
Suddenly, the fish-like monster opened its huge mouth. Its large, sharp teeth interlocked in two rows like a saw as it fiercely bit down on the black egg.
"Crack!"
The enormous fish-like monster jerked its head in pain. Several broken teeth fell from its still-open mouth.
Terrified, the blue-scaled fish-like monster flicked its tail and darted away.
The Black Giant Egg remained motionless on the seabed, its shell still pitch-black and streaked with mysterious golden patterns.
The monster's fearsome bite hadn't left even the slightest mark.
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