"This, this is..."
Immortal Juhua's calm, composed face changed color. He abruptly looked up at the countless stars overhead, his gaze settling on the very star Lei Zhan was watching.
Each star high above Star Hall shone brilliantly, and every one contained a different Dao.
That star contained the complete Great Dao of the Spear.
Of the 108,000 Daos, there were eighty-one Great Daos and 108,000 minor Daos. Naturally, there were differences in their levels.
The difference between a Great Dao and a minor Dao was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.
There was no doubt that the power awakened by comprehending a Great Dao was inherently many times stronger than that of an ordinary Dao.
"That's... a spear?" Immortal Juhua stared at the star blazing brilliantly within Star Hall, his eyes widening.
"This is... the Great Dao of the Spear!"
As the Water Mansion's third master, Immortal Juhua had often visited Star Hall, which aided one's comprehension of the Dao. He was also thoroughly familiar with the phenomena that appeared when a Great Dao manifested.
Yet among the Water Mansion's four core halls, he had seen a Great Dao manifest only two or three times in Star Hall.
Now, there was another.
"Juhua." Yellow-Haired Great Bear glanced at the astonished Immortal Juhua and said flatly, "Keep watching."
"Mm." Immortal Juhua nodded, never taking his eyes off Lei Zhan.
Rumble—
Before the thatched cottage, a mysterious aura completely enveloped Lei Zhan, and flashes of sharpness appeared in the air.
That was the aura of the Great Dao.
Lei Zhan rose and stepped away from the stone table before him. A spear as thick as a child's arm suddenly appeared in his hand.
The spear was exceedingly long, its entire length silvery white, its blade gleaming with a bone-chilling cold. Fine golden lines ran along its shaft, gathering into ancient patterns.
Whoosh.
Lei Zhan moved.
Beneath the countless dazzling stars in Star Hall, Lei Zhan gripped his spear and began to perform a spear art.
He performed it in an ordinary-looking manner, without using elemental energy or divine power. Even the spear art itself seemed rather simple to Yellow-Haired Great Bear and Immortal Juhua.
Yet this seemingly simple, even crude spear art contained boundless slaughter and boundless battle intent. The flashes of sharpness in the air grew ever keener, their power ever greater.
No one dared ignore the strands of astonishing Great Dao power stirred by the spear art.
"This, this, this... He really has reached the threshold of the Great Dao!" A barely perceptible look of anticipation appeared in Yellow-Haired Great Bear's eyes. "At the Purple Mansion level, he's reached the threshold of a Great Dao and comprehended a trace of its true meaning without any guidance from a good cultivation method or secret art... A monster. What a monster!"
The Water Mansion's first master had been Daoist Sanshou, one of the most battle-hardened True Gods in the Three Realms, with countless generals serving under him.
As the Water Mansion's Magic Treasure Spirit, Yellow-Haired Great Bear naturally had no shortage of knowledge. But precisely because he could see how simple the spear art Lei Zhan was performing really was, he valued him all the more.
"A pity..." Immortal Juhua sighed, then slowly shook his head.
"Hmm? A pity?"
Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked at Immortal Juhua beside him and said with displeasure, "A pity? What are you pitying? You're lucky enough to take on such an incredibly gifted disciple. Once this life of yours ends and you're reincarnated, you might even rely on this extraordinary disciple of yours to live another life."
"Senior Big Bear." Immortal Juhua was at a loss for words.
"That's not what I meant. When I first entered the Purple Mansion level, I could only comprehend the true meaning of a minor Dao. By the time I comprehended a Great Dao, I'd already reached the peak of the Myriad Phenomena level."
"What I regret is... that I'm best at the Way of the Sword." Immortal Juhua looked at Lei Zhan, completely immersed in his spear art, and said slowly, "The spear is something I've never studied..."
Immortal Juhua was renowned throughout the Great Xia World. He was an exceedingly rare Loose Immortal who had lived for several million years, and his true strength could rival that of the Celestial Immortal ancestors. Yet the path he had always excelled in was still the sword.
"Mm." Yellow-Haired Great Bear pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "That is a problem. Though you can teach him, you're not the best person to guide him in the Dao of the Spear."
Lei Zhan felt as if he were in an incomparably mysterious state, completely immersed in a world where there was only the spear.
With every movement, he could easily stir the incomparably mysterious power of the Dao between heaven and earth.
It even made his seemingly ordinary spear art terrifying.
If Lei Zhan were to attempt Immortal Juhua's three trials again now, he was confident he could pass even the final, most difficult trial with ease.
At the very least, he wouldn't end up in such a sorry state again.
"The spear... the Great Dao of the Spear," Lei Zhan murmured.
"So this is a Great Dao, one that many cultivators find extremely difficult to comprehend."
"But... the Daos I comprehended before seem as though they can combine with this Dao I've comprehended now."
Lei Zhan finally stopped, sinking into thought.
"Domain of the Azure Sea... true meaning of blazing fire... true meaning of the spear." Lei Zhan murmured, "If I combine them, it should become multiple Dao Domains..."
"No. Of the two minor Daos, only the Dao of the Azure Sea has reached the Domain Realm. Reaching the threshold of the Great Dao of the Spear should be comparable to a single Dao Domain..."
With the memories of his previous life, Lei Zhan was naturally unlike ordinary cultivators. Those memories had given him an exceptionally thorough familiarity with everything described in the books.
As Lei Zhan continued to ponder, a perfectly round black stone pearl in the Purple Mansion within his dantian suddenly blazed with boundless light.
At once, an intensely cool sensation welled out of the ethereal Purple Mansion Space and flooded into his soul.
Comforting and cool.
His entire soul and true spirit felt as if they were immersed in warm water.
"Hmm?" Lei Zhan froze.
Countless insights that had fallen silent in his sea of consciousness surged back to life. They rose and crashed against one another without end, as insights into the Dao of the Azure Sea, the Way of Blazing Fire, and the Great Dao of the Spear continued to merge.
"The Azure Sea... its waves are endless; it can bear a boat, yet it can also overturn one... Blazing fire roars..." Lei Zhan slowly closed his eyes and stood motionless.
Time passed, and the brilliant stars above Star Hall had long since returned to stillness.
The mountain, the stone table and stools, and even the plain thatched cottage still stood quietly where they were, unchanged since time immemorial.
"That little fellow, Lei Zhan..." Yellow-Haired Great Bear looked from afar at the young man sitting cross-legged, a smile in his eyes.
"This is his first time comprehending the Dao in Star Hall, and he's gained quite a lot."
"Mm." Immortal Juhua nodded too. "Given Lei Zhan's comprehension of the Dao, he'd be considered quite outstanding even among Myriad Phenomena True Persons. If he's properly taught and learns some profound divine abilities and secret arts... he might even be able to slay a Myriad Phenomena True Person while still at the Purple Mansion level."
"Slay a Myriad Phenomena True Person across a level?" Yellow-Haired Great Bear said flatly. "Juhua, look further ahead. Even your Great Xia World is just one of countless insignificant great worlds in the Three Realms. What does slaying a few weak Myriad Phenomena True Persons amount to?"
"You have to understand, Purple Mansion and Myriad Phenomena cultivators are the ones most likely to perish. Lei Zhan came up from the mortal world, so he's had enough of the battles he needed. What he lacks now is turning his extraordinary talent into strength of his own."
"Teach him well! If your disciple gets the chance to obtain the divine abilities my master left behind, he'll count as my master's nominal disciple too."
"When that happens, I'll find him a top-tier spear art!"
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