As the ancestral vein of all mountains, Kunlun Mountain was saturated with Innate Essence. Clear above and turbid below, it could evolve boundless phenomena, while its spiritual energy contained a trace of refined Ancestral Qi.
Xuan Qing sat cross-legged on a cushion in his cave dwelling. As he circulated the Supreme Clarity Heart Method, he also operated the Jade Clarity Divine Ability, using the Void Seal to capture the Innate Ancestral Qi between heaven and earth.
He then used the Inner Elixir Method of the Grand Pure lineage to refine both inner and outer, joining his primordial spirit with the heart of heaven and drawing Ancestral Qi into his body, treating himself as a furnace for refining a great elixir.
This was his unique path!
At this moment, eight Dao Seeds slowly rose and fell within his primordial spirit—three innate and five acquired. They corresponded perfectly to the Three Flowers and Five Qi cultivated by practitioners, arranged in accordance with the Three Talents and Five Elements. They shone brilliantly and continuously interwove before finally becoming eight Dao inscriptions branded upon his Golden Immortal Dao Fruit.
The three innate Dao Seeds were "wind," "thunder," and "fire." The wind and thunder Dao Seeds came from the Wind Thunder Immortal Apricot, while the fire Dao Seed had come after he drilled wood to make fire following his transmigration, reflecting the heart of heaven and receiving a reward from the Heavenly Dao. It had originally been merely an acquired Dao Seed, but he had shamelessly asked Taiqing Laozi for a strand of Sky Burning Violet Fire origin, thereby perfecting and elevating it until it transformed into an innate Dao Seed.
The Sky Burning Violet Fire came from the flame of the Eight Sceneries Palace Lantern. It was innate by nature, possessed the power to burn the heavens and boil the seas, and could even smelt the myriad Daos of the void.
As for the five acquired Dao Seeds, they were "elixir," "artifact," "sword," "formation," and "talisman." He had comprehended them from the Dharma Gates of the Three Pure Ones while listening day and night to the Sage's Great Dao.
The Elixir Dao originated from Taiqing Laozi, the Artifact Dao from Primordial Lord of Heaven, the Sword Dao and Formation Dao from Sect Master Tongtian, while the Talisman Dao was forged from the fusion of all three.
Though these Dao Seeds were merely acquired, their potential was limitless. If Xuan Qing used them to attain Daluo, he could naturally elevate them into innate Dao Seeds.
The Three Pure Ones were proof of that.
Sect Master Tongtian had reflected the Sword Dao upon the heart of heaven, engraving it into the Heavenly Dao Origin. Thus, the Sword Dao became an innate Great Dao, and with a mere lift of his hand, it was boundless and immeasurable.
The other four were the same. The potential of an acquired Great Dao was not the slightest bit inferior to that of an innate one.
What Xuan Qing needed to do now was unify these Great Daos and evolve a strand of Innate Ancestral Qi within his body, pushing his Golden Immortal Dao Fruit to its ultimate elevation, evolving boundless phenomena, and transforming it into a Grand Unity Golden Immortal Dao Fruit.
A true teaching took but a single sentence; false teachings filled ten thousand scrolls. The core of the Taiyi Realm was to turn the myriad into one, using Innate Ancestral Qi to evolve the embryonic forms of many Great Daos and construct Myriad Phenomena. In the end, one would temper the true self and the one-and-only self through endless time and space, preparing for the ultimate leap through time and space to attain Daluo.
Naturally, the firmer one's foundation, the better.
Cultivation in the Daluo Realm was precisely the opposite: it followed the path of turning one into the myriad. Once there was no further progress to be made, one could only sever the Three Corpses to align oneself with the Heavenly Dao and achieve another ultimate elevation.
Xuan Qing's Dao Fruit trembled, blazing with light against the backdrop of his auspicious cloud as it connected with the Great Dao of heaven and earth. "Only when medicine encounters its kind does it take form; when the Dao joins the subtle and indistinct, it becomes natural. Swallow one golden elixir, and only then do I know that my fate is not governed by heaven!"
The eight Dao Seeds immediately became eight Dao inscriptions, branded upon the Dao Fruit. Three were deep and five shallow, secretly conforming to the Three Talents and Five Elements, and they further evolved a ninth Dao inscription—"refine"!
This Dao inscription seemed innate, yet also acquired. It had been extracted from the eight Dao Seeds, and Xuan Qing intended to make it the focus of his future cultivation.
"Rumble!"
Countless bolts of lightning exploded, streams of primordial energy descended, endless immortal radiance interwove, and ripples spread through the void. A phantom Dao Fruit continuously rose and fell within the auspicious cloud above Xuan Qing's head.
He took a step through the void and left his cave dwelling, ready to face the heavenly tribulation of advancing into the Taiyi Realm. Ominous clouds gathered across the sky, and countless lightning serpents danced wildly in the void.
To others, this tribulation might have been nothing but a disaster. But he cultivated the Great Dao of Thunder, so he could use this lightning tribulation to strengthen his thunder Dao Seed!
This was an opportunity bestowed by heaven!
Sect Master Tongtian sensed something and looked toward the direction where Xuan Qing was undergoing tribulation. A faint smile appeared on his face. "In little more than a thousand years, he has comprehended the Dao of Taiyi! Not bad, not bad!"
Elsewhere on Kunlun Mountain, Taiqing Laozi and Primordial Lord of Heaven sensed it as well. However, after a brief inspection, they paid it no further attention.
After all, he was a Sage's direct disciple. A lightning tribulation for advancing into Taiyi was as simple as eating and drinking.
"Rumble, rumble!"
As if confirming the Sages' thoughts, Xuan Qing successfully passed the heavenly tribulation in less than a quarter of an hour. Both his physical body and primordial spirit entered the Taiyi Realm.
His Grand Unity Dao Fruit shone brilliantly and resonated with the myriad Daos of the void. Set against his auspicious cloud, it resembled a blazing sun rising through the clouds.
Afterward, Xuan Qing returned to his cave dwelling to consolidate his Dao Fruit and organize everything he had learned. A full hundred years passed before he emerged to visit his fellow disciples.
Over the years, Sect Master Tongtian had accepted quite a few more disciples. Not one possessed particularly profound foundations or great fortune, but every one of them was more capable than the last at stirring up trouble.
Daoist Duobao was deeply troubled.
As the Jie Sect's senior brother, he was duty-bound to manage the newly accepted disciples. Yet he was devoted to cultivation and truly did not wish to exhaust himself over such matters.
Therefore, he handed these matters over to Zhao Gongming, appointing him senior brother of the outer sect. He himself only occasionally asked after the situation of the sect's disciples.
Zhao Gongming had decent cultivation talent, and his realm was enough to suppress the many disciples. However, he was too honest and kindhearted, and was often deceived by some of them.
He truly was not a suitable choice!
Sure enough!
Only a few days after Xuan Qing emerged from seclusion, he heard that several outer sect disciples had eaten a spirit beast raised by True Man Taiyi of the Chan Sect, only to be beaten severely by him afterward.
The matter was neither major nor minor. However, Zhao Gongming placed great value on loyalty. He believed that even if those Jie Sect outer disciples had been at fault first, True Man Taiyi should not have struck them so heavily, so he went to reason with him.
True Man Taiyi was also filled with anger. The spirit beast he had raised had been eaten by others, and he had merely taught them a lesson. Was that somehow his fault?
In the end, it developed into a conflict between disciples of the Chan Sect and Jie Sect. True Man Taiyi called Daoist Nanji to back him up, while Zhao Gongming brought Daoist Duobao over to argue his case.
As the Chan Sect's senior brother, Daoist Nanji naturally could not yield to Daoist Duobao, the Jie Sect's senior brother, nor could Daoist Duobao yield to him. If either took a step back, how could he establish authority before his fellow disciples in the future? Eventually, the matter reached the Sages, and Primordial Lord of Heaven scolded Sect Master Tongtian a few times as his elder brother.
Sect Master Tongtian was stubborn by nature. If someone spoke to him properly, he might give them some face. But if they relied on their status as his elder brother to point fingers and order him about, he would not give them even the slightest face.
"So this was why Master and Second Martial Uncle argued?" Xuan Qing looked at Golden Spirit Holy Mother, sighed softly, and shook his head helplessly. "I should go persuade them. There is truly no need to let things reach this point!"
He had only learned of the matter after Golden Spirit Holy Mother told him about it, and he had not expected such a minor incident to spark conflict between two Sages!
A thousand-mile embankment could collapse from an ant hole. He knew that if some problems were not resolved in time, the contradictions would only grow larger and could eventually even turn into hatred.
Though Sect Master Tongtian and Primordial Lord of Heaven held different ideals, they had come from the same source. It was truly regrettable for them to fall out over such a trivial matter.
If the Three Pure Ones had not split apart, how could there have been the Investiture of the Gods Calamity? How could the West have risen to prominence? How could there have been four Sages breaking the Immortal Slaying Formation?
After all...
So long as that Dao Ancestor did not appear, three Sages were enough to determine the great course of heaven and earth.
With that thought, Xuan Qing did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately headed to the Supreme Clarity Hall to request an audience with Sect Master Tongtian.
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