Mastering three Great Daos, comprehending two complete Daos, and reaching the Great Dao Domain Realm—these were only the beginning. As Ju Hua delved deeper into the Star Scroll, more and more strange phenomena appeared around him.
It wasn't that Ju Hua had comprehended any new Daos. He had merely integrated everything he'd comprehended before into his Sword Domain. The sword was a Dao of slaughter and application, and it could easily be combined with other Daos.
But that was when combining it with a single Dao. Integrating five complete Daos all at once was so difficult that it was even harder than comprehending a new Dao from beginning to end.
After who knew how long, Ju Hua finally stopped.
Before Ju Hua could think further, the towering Yellow-Haired Great Bear suddenly appeared in front of him.
"What's going on with you? Were you once a True God Dao Ancestor, and have your memories awakened?" Da Xiong asked impatiently.
"I don't know either!" Ju Hua knew perfectly well that something was amiss with him, but he genuinely had no idea what was happening.
Comprehending the Dao was hard to explain. With strong talent and a stroke of good fortune, it wasn't strange to make tremendous progress all at once!
For instance, Desolate Era mentioned that when Patriarch Bodhi was in the Three Thousand Worlds of a Dream, he encountered a child who started from scratch and comprehended the entire Ink-Wash Dao in a single night.
The child's talent was indeed exceptional, but not so exceptional that comprehending the Dao was as easy as eating or drinking. Besides his talent, his stroke of good fortune had also played a vital part in his comprehending an entire Dao overnight.
If that child had really been able to comprehend a Dao overnight anytime, anywhere, he would have long since comprehended the Heavenly Dao and become a Dao Ancestor!
But Ju Hua's situation was clearly nothing like the child's stroke of good fortune. Someone might gain tremendous insight into a particular Dao by chance, but no one could gain tremendous insight one after another into several completely unrelated Daos.
The only reasonable explanation for something like this was reincarnation as an immortal—and not an ordinary immortal, either. The memories of an ordinary Earth Immortal, Loose Immortal, or even Celestial Immortal should have awakened long ago. Now he had already passed his tribulation, and only then were there signs of his memories awakening. That was clearly abnormal.
That was why the Yellow-Haired Great Bear had asked him that question.
In truth, Ju Hua knew perfectly well that he wasn't the reincarnation of any True God Dao Ancestor. The abnormality he was experiencing might have something to do with the time he'd spent unconscious!
"You don't know either?" the Yellow-Haired Great Bear asked, puzzled.
"Senior, I haven't recalled any memories from a past life. It's far too early to conclude that I'm the reincarnation of a True God Dao Ancestor!" Ju Hua said.
"Other than reincarnation as a True God Dao Ancestor, I can't think of any other possibility!" the Yellow-Haired Great Bear sighed, but he said nothing more.
A moment later, he vanished from in front of Ju Hua with another whoosh.
"..."
Ju Hua fell silent. He sat cross-legged and silently sensed his own condition.
His tribulation had failed, and Ju Hua's Earth Immortal Golden Lotus had sustained roughly twenty percent damage. But now he had comprehended the Great Dao Domain Realm of the Great Dao of the Sword and integrated five complete Daos into it: the Way of Flowing Water, the Way of Gale, the Way of Thick Earth, the Way of Rainwater, and the Way of Blazing Fire. His strength was clearly greater than before the tribulation.
"Before, my strength barely matched that of a top Loose Immortal. Now I'm definitely among the very strongest top Loose Immortals. Too bad I don't have any powerful immortal-ranked magic treasures; otherwise, I'd be even stronger."
After gauging his strength, Ju Hua turned his attention elsewhere. His increased power was secondary; what he wanted most now was to know what had happened to him.
He swept his entire body with his divine sense and heart sense, but discovered nothing. He then examined his soul inwardly, only to come up empty again.
"Actually, the feeling I had just now was unmistakable! My talent has definitely improved by a huge margin. Daos that used to be obscure and hard to understand, ethereal and elusive, are now crystal clear before my eyes!" Ju Hua thought silently. Then, unwilling to give up, he examined himself once more, but still found nothing.
"Something must have happened to me. I just don't know what it is yet!" Ju Hua pondered for a moment, then shook his head and set aside the idea of investigating further for now.
What he needed to know, he'd find out sooner or later. If it wasn't something he was meant to know, then even turning the heavens upside down wouldn't help! He'd be better off making good use of this unbelievable talent to increase his strength as much as possible!
"If I can keep comprehending the Dao at this speed, then before I face the Celestial God Tribulation, I'll have a real chance of comprehending a Great Dao—or even more!" The thought flashed through Ju Hua's mind, and his heart, which had only recently settled, began to stir once again.
Ju Hua quickly smoothed the ripples in his heart and returned to calm.
Comprehending a Great Dao and becoming a Celestial God was certainly thrilling, but those things had yet to happen. What he needed to do now was take each step on his current path carefully, lest he die and his Dao vanish before ever becoming a Celestial God.
His gains from entering the Star Hall this time had been far beyond his expectations. Although Ju Hua wanted to stay and continue comprehending the Dao, events in the outside world made it impossible for him to settle down completely and focus on it.
He had just woken from a coma, so there were bound to be plenty of matters to deal with in the clan. Besides, he would very likely be on Emperor Xia's conscription list this time. These were all things Ju Hua had to consider, so now wasn't the time to devote himself to comprehending the Dao.
Whoosh!
Ju Hua reappeared in his own room. He swept the area outside with his heart sense and immediately spotted his younger sister practicing her sword.
A smile unconsciously appeared on Ju Hua's face, and he headed outside.
A moment later—
"Big Brother? Take this!"
When Zhuanshui Qiu saw Ju Hua coming, she didn't hesitate. She swung her sword and thrust it at him.
Ju Hua smiled faintly. A light gray long sword appeared in his hand, and he casually parried Zhuanshui Qiu's attack.
"Big Brother, I'm going to get serious!" Zhuanshui Qiu warned him, then moved her sword again.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A vast amount of heaven and earth essence was stirred up, and Zhuanshui Qiu's sword began to grow elusive.
Like wind drifting through the world, Zhuanshui Qiu struck left and right, high and low. Her sword strokes were unpredictable, and her attacks followed no discernible pattern.
Faced with such a tricky sword style, Ju Hua simply stood there calmly, occasionally reaching out to block Zhuanshui Qiu's attacks and countering at just the right moment.
After a long while, Zhuanshui Qiu and Ju Hua stopped moving at the same time.
"Your Dao of Gentle Wind has reached the Domain Realm of the Dao, little sister. You just need a little more practice. Keep at it!" Ju Hua said with a smile. Then he lifted his sword and demonstrated the moves again.
Zhuanshui Qiu watched the streaks of sword light appearing in midair intently at first, but before long, she seemed to notice something and covered her mouth in surprise.
Only after Ju Hua stopped did Zhuanshui Qiu eagerly ask, "Is that the Dao of Gentle Wind? When did you comprehend it, Big Brother? How come I didn't know?"
"What if I said just now? Would you believe me?" Ju Hua laughed heartily.
"Don't brag!" Zhuanshui Qiu certainly didn't believe him.
"Whether I'm bragging or not, I've only just started learning the Dao of Gentle Wind, but with my level, I can still give you pointers!" Ju Hua said.
"I'll demonstrate it once more. Watch closely!"
"Got it!"