Time passed.
The Dao intent surrounding Lei Zhan grew ever more profound, refined, and pure.
Yellow-Haired Great Bear and Immortal Juhua simply watched him at their leisure.
They had both lived for countless years. There was no need to mention Yellow-Haired Great Bear, the spirit of the Water Mansion's magic treasure. Even Immortal Juhua, who had failed his tribulation and become a Loose Immortal, had lived for millions of years.
At their level, even an ordinary retreat could last a thousand or ten thousand years. A little wait like this could instead stir a trace of interest in them.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
"Oh?" Yellow-Haired Great Bear glanced at Lei Zhan, who sat cross-legged. "The Dao surrounding this little fellow... is becoming harmonious!"
"Mm. He's fusing them, bringing several different Dao together." Immortal Juhua watched Lei Zhan.
"This little fellow Lei Zhan truly has extraordinary comprehension. He's only just entered the Great Dao, yet he's already trying to fuse the two minor paths of Water and Fire into the Great Dao of the Spear. That's rather rare. Could this little fellow... be a reincarnated immortal?"
Understanding various Dao wasn't difficult. But if one combined the Dao one had comprehended, then when fighting other cultivators, the might of the Dao one invoked would be greater than that of a single Dao.
Immortal Juhua understood that unless a reincarnated immortal had regained memories of a past life, an ordinary cultivator could hardly manage this before reaching the level of a top-tier Wanxiang True Person or Primordial Spirit Daoist.
How profound was the Great Dao? Ordinary cultivators could hardly comprehend it.
"A reincarnated immortal..." Yellow-Haired Great Bear's gaze sharpened. If Lei Zhan was a reincarnated immortal, then he would have to lower his estimation of him a little.
After all, ever since the ancient Pangu World was destroyed and Goddess Nuwa established the Three Realms and Six Paths of Reincarnation, reincarnation had become much easier.
Most Earth Immortals who believed they couldn't survive the heavenly tribulation, as well as Loose Immortals who had barely escaped with their lives after facing it, ultimately chose to rely on the Six Paths of Reincarnation and live another life.
Though those cultivators became mortals after reincarnating, their memories obscured, once their memories awakened, they could cultivate anew with their understanding of the Dao and powerful souls. Naturally, their aptitude was extraordinary.
But while reincarnated immortals might be invaluable to other cultivators or factions, they meant little to Yellow-Haired Great Bear, the spirit of the Water Mansion's magic treasure.
After all, those cultivators had failed to overcome the heavenly tribulation in their previous lives. When they tried again in a new life, the tribulation would be even harder.
No matter how talented they were, if they couldn't overcome the heavenly tribulation, they would still struggle to attain freedom.
After pondering for a long while, Yellow-Haired Great Bear finally said slowly, "Lei Zhan shouldn't be a reincarnated immortal. His soul is stronger than that of ordinary cultivators, but only by a limited amount. Reincarnated immortals may all be failures, but even when they're ordinary mortals with no cultivation, their souls are naturally at least at the Divine Sense level."
"Mm." Immortal Juhua nodded.
In any case, having taken on such a disciple—his only disciple—Immortal Juhua placed great hopes in him.
Whether he was a reincarnated immortal or not mattered little to Immortal Juhua himself.
"Phew."
A smile appeared on Lei Zhan's handsome face as he sat cross-legged, and he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
"This Star Hall truly is extraordinary. It actually let me comprehend a trace of the Great Dao's true meaning directly. I also gained a great deal from the Dao of the Azure Sea and the Way of Blazing Fire."
"Not bad."
Immortal Juhua looked at Lei Zhan and nodded with satisfaction. "To comprehend a trace of the Great Dao's true meaning while only in the early Zifu stage of the God-Devil Body Refining Path, and even to bring one minor Dao to the Domain Realm of the Dao... You truly are my disciple."
"Only a handful of ordinary Wanxiang True Persons can reach your level. Even some Primordial Spirit Daoists have no deeper understanding of the Dao than this."
"Hm?"
Lei Zhan raised his head and immediately saw Immortal Juhua standing beside Yellow-Haired Great Bear.
"Master."
"Senior Big Bear."
After greeting them in turn, Lei Zhan smiled. "This disciple cultivates the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map. Before, I had only just comprehended the true meanings of two Dao: the Dao of the Azure Sea and the Way of Blazing Fire. If I hadn't studied the Dao in this Star Hall, who knows how much longer it would've taken me to reach my current level?"
"Lei Zhan, the Star Hall is certainly important, but the Star Scroll is only a guide. It guides cultivators into a state of extremely deep comprehension. The more of its writing you read, the deeper that state becomes!"
"What you can comprehend still depends on what you've accumulated in your daily life. They say that a deep store of knowledge bears fruit all at once. Only through ordinary, everyday accumulation can sudden enlightenment come. So your gains today are also entirely thanks to what you've built up over time."
"My daily accumulation?" Lei Zhan murmured. His first thought was of the mysterious Black Bead in his Purple Mansion Space.
He knew that his own accumulation was one factor, but the Black Bead, which had suddenly shone inside his Purple Mansion Space, had also played a crucial role.
Lei Zhan was no stranger to this bead.
In his previous life, Lei Zhan had died while escorting a treasure.
That treasure was this Black Bead. He hadn't expected it to come with him into the world of Desolate Era in this life.
"Without a doubt, the cool aura released by the Black Bead in my Purple Mansion has a tremendous effect on comprehending the Dao."
"But what other wonders does this bead hold? Will its effect on comprehension last? Can I keep using it?"
The more Lei Zhan thought about it, the more questions arose in his mind. But now that he was in the Water Mansion, this wasn't the time to investigate.
The time and place were both unsuitable.
"Forget it. Since the bead came here with me, there's still a long road ahead. Even with my cultivation at only the Zifu level, I can live for several hundred years. I can investigate it slowly."
Countless thoughts surged through his mind, yet only an instant passed in the outside world.
With a smile on his face, Lei Zhan looked at Yellow-Haired Great Bear and asked, "Senior Big Bear, what are my chances of breaking through to the second level of the War God Hall now?"
Earlier, in the Hall of Treasures, Yellow-Haired Great Bear had said that Lei Zhan had only a seventy percent chance of passing the first level of the War God Hall, and less than a ten percent chance of passing the second.
Now that his strength had greatly improved, he naturally had some new ideas. Passing the War God Hall would mean one more chance to exchange for treasures in the Hall of Treasures.
Lei Zhan knew all too well that any treasure from the Water Mansion Treasure Hall would be a rare gem among items of the same rank in the outside world.
"You, now?" Yellow-Haired Great Bear sized Lei Zhan up. He kept looking until Lei Zhan began to feel a little uncomfortable, then finally spoke. "The Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map you cultivate has reached the seventh stage, making you comparable to an ordinary late-stage Zifu cultivator on the God-Devil Body Refining Path. But you haven't cultivated the Qi Refining Path."
"Your soul hasn't reached the Divine Sense level, either."
"Your most impressive quality is actually your mastery of the Dao. As Juhua said, your understanding of the Dao can rival that of some Primordial Spirit Daoists."
Yellow-Haired Great Bear listed each point, and a faint smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.
"With your current strength, you should have a fifty percent chance of breaking through to the second level of the War God Hall."
"Fifty percent?" Lei Zhan nodded slightly. That was already quite a lot. After all, it had only been half a month since Yellow-Haired Great Bear had given him odds of less than one in ten.
Lei Zhan had started out as an ordinary mortal. He hadn't begun cultivating and become an Xiantian Being until he was sixteen. Now, in only four years, he had gone from an Xiantian Being to a Zifu cultivator.
He had become Immortal Juhua's disciple and the Water Mansion's fourth master, awakened memories of his previous life, and gained the aid of that mysterious Black Bead.
No one could say how far he might grow in the future—not even Lei Zhan himself.
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