Comprehending a Complete Dao (Second Round Recommendation, Second Update!)

Marquis of the North Sea Mansion.

"What? Shenrong Chong is dead?" Baili Changfeng felt a jolt of surprise in his heart and immediately looked toward the servant who had come to report.

"Just half an hour ago, intelligence arrived from Tianbao Mountain... Shenrong Chong was indeed slain by Young Master Lei Zhan," the gray-robed servant said respectfully.

"Did the intelligence officers at Tianbao Mountain determine if Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan used any treasures, exotic items... or did he kill him independently?" Baili Changfeng asked.

One had to know that the Three Realms were filled with countless magical treasures and exotic items. It was entirely possible for a cultivator to enter an ancient God-Devil ruin and obtain some powerful artifact.

Those treasures possessed immense power; even if they could only be used once, even a mortal creature could potentially slay an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal by relying on them.

Therefore, the difference between having such a treasure and not having one was immense.

However, if external force had been used, while Baili Changfeng still considered Lei Zhan someone worth befriending, the level of importance he placed on him would naturally be lower than if he had achieved the kill independently.

At this thought, Baili Changfeng shook his head slightly. "Give me the intelligence sent by Tianbao Mountain."

"Yes." The gray-robed servant respectfully produced a bamboo slip. "The intelligence from Tianbao Mountain is contained within."

Baili Changfeng waved his hand gently, and after the servant departed, he opened the bamboo slip directly.

A moment later.

A trace of unconcealable shock appeared in Baili Changfeng's eyes. "He supposedly unleashed a powerful divine ability or secret technique that instantly stripped Shenrong Chong of his ability to resist, leaving him to be slaughtered?"

"To be able to render a late-stage Wanxiang God-Devil Body Refining cultivator completely helpless!"

Baili Changfeng picked up the bamboo slip and tapped it lightly against his palm. "This Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan is truly worthy of being a disciple of Immortal Juhua. It seems there will be a good show to watch next. Although Shenrong Chong's father, an Earth Immortal, is on good terms with my father, I wonder if he has the guts to personally provoke Immortal Juhua, a Loose Immortal of a million years."

For the late-stage Wanxiang Shenrong Chong to seek out Lei Zhan could still be passed off as a grievance between juniors, but if a Return-to-Void Earth Immortal were to personally step in and bully a Purple Mansion cultivator, it would be much harder to gloss over.

After all, the reputation of a Loose Immortal of several million years was not built on mud; it was a reputation Immortal Juhua had carved out with his own blade and sword!

North Dark Sea.

A Dragon-Head Warship wove through the clouds, flying rapidly at high altitude.

Lei Zhan sat cross-legged atop the Dragon-Head Warship, his body permeated with the profound aura of the Dao.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~"

Suddenly, wisps of azure water appeared in the air. The water flowed like a tide, surging with blue waves that circled around Lei Zhan.

The tide grew larger and larger, soon whipping up monstrous waves that completely engulfed the entire Dragon-Head Great Ship.

Under the seemingly endless torrent, the entire world appeared to have transformed into water. The massive Dragon-Head Great Ship seemed tiny amidst the waves, like a small boat swaying in a tempest.

Lei Zhan paid it no mind, allowing the Dragon-Head Great Ship to travel through this sea of waves. He felt an unprecedented closeness to this azure seawater that had appeared out of thin air.

The comfortable sensation of that closeness left him deeply intoxicated.

That inexplicable aura of the Dao grew increasingly dense, eventually shrouding Lei Zhan completely.

Enlightenment usually becomes more difficult toward the end. Even if Lei Zhan wanted to fully comprehend the Dao of the Azure Sea, that final bottleneck could very well have plagued him for a long time.

Yet, just now, only half a day after leaving that sea area, as he watched the endless surging waves beneath the Dragon-Head Warship, his heart was suddenly struck with inspiration, and the final bottleneck regarding the Dao of the Azure Sea quietly dissipated.

"Finally, I have comprehended my first Dao." Lei Zhan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with lingering joy. "If I integrate my insights into the Dao of the Azure Sea into the Great Dao of the Spear, my strength will increase by a significant margin."

The Great Dao of the Spear, along with the Dao of the Sword and the Dao of the Blade, were Daos of technique. One could channel all insights through the Great Dao of the Spear, and if insights from other Daos were integrated into it, the power would naturally be astonishing.

Whoosh.

With a thought, Lei Zhan brought his index and middle fingers together into a sword-finger, his entire arm feeling like a spear of terrifying power.

Suddenly, endless waves appeared in the surrounding space, surging and sweeping across the heavens. Every drop of seawater seemed to contain terrifying power, and the surrounding world felt as if it had solidified.

Once a cultivator mastered an entire Dao, they could fully command the power of that 'Dao,' allowing them to control the surrounding space. Compared to the Domain Realm of the Dao, this was a more thorough control of space, and the power mobilized was even more terrifying.

"Go!" Lei Zhan suddenly swung his arm.

As his arm swept out, a howling gale suddenly erupted in the world. An azure spear-light streaked across the sky, cleaving through layers of clouds, leaving a mark in the space that lingered for a long time.

"With my current strength, if I had sufficient resources, I could break through to the Primordial Spirit Daoist level in my Qi Refining Path as well," Lei Zhan smiled slightly.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, they would attempt to break through to become a Primordial Spirit Daoist once they had comprehended a Domain Realm of the Dao at the Wanxiang level. If they were children of a major tribe or power, they would generally choose to break through to the Primordial Spirit Daoist level as soon as they comprehended a complete Dao at the Wanxiang level.

As for those who comprehended multiple Daos at the Wanxiang level and chose to delay their breakthrough, they usually had other motives.

But as far as Lei Zhan knew, no cultivator in this era had yet made such a choice. After all, the God-Devil era had just ended, and the Great Xia Emperor had no intention of holding any Immortal Fate Assembly. Naturally, no cultivator would be foolish enough to remain stuck at the Wanxiang level.

Lei Zhan shook his head, collecting his thoughts. "Now that I have fully comprehended my first Dao belonging to the Water element, by analogy, I have also gained some insights into other Daos of 'Water'."

"The most pressing matter now is to obtain enough resources to allow my Qi Refining Path to break through to the Wanxiang level and to clear the third floor of the War God Hall."

"Secondly..." Lei Zhan thought of the headless corpse whose skull he had shattered with his Star-Plucking Hand. "If Shenrong Chong's father is as protective as he was, and crazy enough not to fear my master, Immortal Juhua, then I might actually be in some danger."

The intelligence gifted by Baili Changfeng contained records of Shenrong Chong's father, but what Lei Zhan never expected was that this Wanxiang True Person would take the initiative to come knocking.

"Shenrong Chong was seeking revenge for his younger brother, Shenrong Shui, who participated in the trial seven years ago. But the one who has been purchasing intelligence from Tianbao Mountain for a long time is their father, the Return-to-Void Earth Immortal of the Shenrong Clan, Shenrong Pingshan." Lei Zhan whispered softly, "A Return-to-Void Earth Immortal..."

"Forget it, thinking too much is futile. Let me see just how many treasures a child of a major tribe carries." Lei Zhan shook his head gently, then flipped his hand, and a wrist-guard style storage treasure appeared in his palm.

"Human-grade treasure." After a brief inspection, Lei Zhan felt a glimmer of anticipation. "Although Shenrong Chong didn't use his Qi Refining methods, he never displayed them from start to finish. I suspect his Qi Refining methods are inferior to his God-Devil Body Refining, but fortunately, this treasure is only a Human-grade one, which makes things much easier."

For cultivators, unless necessary, they generally wouldn't go out of their way to replace their storage treasures, so it was common for even a Wanxiang True Person to use a Human-grade treasure.

As for the precious treasures obtained, they were generally kept on one's person.

The most important reason was that only by one's side was truly the safest. Of course, if one were to unfortunately fall while out and about, then these treasures would lose all meaning to oneself. Therefore, cultivators generally carried all of their treasures with them.

Lei Zhan's heart stirred, and his incomparably vigorous Yuan Power instantly refined the storage magic treasure in his hand.

"Hm? Just the Essence Liquid carried on his person amounts to nearly three thousand jin?" Lei Zhan flipped his hand, and a jade bottle instantly appeared in his palm.

"These thirty-six flying swords..." Lei Zhan sensed a set of flying swords hovering within the storage magic treasure, "They share the same origin, and the power radiated by this set... it should be Earth-rank high-grade flying sword magic treasures!"

Lei Zhan's Divine Sense probed within the storage magic treasure. This piece of Human-rank high-grade storage magic treasure looked unremarkable, yet the treasures contained within were of extreme value.

"There is a whole stack of Small Teleportation Dao Talismans; no wonder he used spatial teleportation to come find me for revenge."

"These spirit pills... they should be for recovering Yuan Power."

"The Dao talismans... this power is truly terrifying; I estimate they are at the Primordial Spirit Daoist level."

Lei Zhan slowly investigated. The items packed inside Shenrong Chong's storage magic treasure were numerous, most with varying functions that required careful identification.

A long while later.

Lei Zhan stood up, a faint smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.

"Mm. This Shenrong Chong is truly worthy of being a disciple of a great tribe, and his father is even a Return-to-Void Earth Immortal. These treasures... even that so-called True Person Ying I slew earlier cannot compare by a long shot."

Having roughly finished counting the treasures within the storage magic treasure—some of which even Lei Zhan found completely impossible to identify—even so, based on Lei Zhan's preliminary estimate, this pile of treasures was worth at least two thousand jin of Essence Liquid. Added to the three thousand jin already contained within, that made a full five thousand jin of Essence Liquid.

"Five thousand jin of Essence Liquid could buy several inferior Heaven-rank magic treasures." Lei Zhan sighed with emotion, "Once I kill more of the demon race, it won't take long to gather the resources needed to break through to the Wanxiang True Person realm."

I previously mentioned adding two chapters for the second round of recommendations; this is the second chapter.

If nothing unexpected happens, I reckon this will be the last time?

Thanks to Yingyan112 for the 500 Qidian coin tip.