A Dharma Estate, also known as a Dao Mansion, was a Small World landscape that cultivators opened within the unseen void after achieving foundation establishment through a Heavenly Register or Dao Register.
As the saying went, "Once the Dao Mansion opens, magical power springs forth."
Once a Dao Mansion was established, it could continuously generate numinous vitality, allowing a cultivator to continue cultivating even in a place utterly devoid of spiritual energy.
Isn't a Dharma Estate a cultivator's inner landscape? Why would it become a dungeon? Countless questions rose in Chu Mo's mind.
Information about superior methods of foundation establishment was scarce within the sect. Or rather, at the level he currently had access to, the secrets he could obtain were limited.
Moreover, he had been forced to leave the sect immediately after becoming an outer disciple, so he knew very little of the mysteries involved.
As for Mu Yun... he was even less help. He had never even visited the second floor of the Scripture Repository, and his access privileges were lower than Chu Mo's.
Chu Mo gazed at the flat rock on the seabed. No matter how he looked at it, it showed no sign of a dungeon.
How about going inside for a look?
He tentatively extended his divine sense to touch the dungeon's name.
[Dungeon not yet open. Stay tuned.]
"Uh..." He paused, slightly taken aback. The dungeon had not even opened yet. He could not enter even if he wanted to.
Chu Mo knocked on the floor of the fissure and found it exceptionally hard. No wonder the Ink Flood Dragon had been unable to smash through it.
High Person Xueying... since he was called a High Person, he must have reached foundation establishment.
He silently committed the name to memory, then turned and swam upward, intending to first seek out information about this foundation establishment cultivator.
On his way back, he picked up Lu Xiuyuan's treasured mirror.
Judging by its quality, it should originally have been a spirit embryo as well. Unfortunately, it was severely damaged, its spiritual radiance almost entirely dispersed. Repairs would likely be expensive; dismantling it for materials might be more worthwhile.
Passing Lin Feng's corpse, Chu Mo paused briefly. Lin Feng and Yue Mian appeared to have been close friends.
Yet at the critical moment, both had sold out their teammates without the slightest hesitation. They truly had... hearts that beat as one.
"Senior Brother Lin, the next time I want to see you, I'll have to look inside the Darkworld Grotto-Scenery Banner. As for your estate and remains, let this junior brother keep them safe for you."
Chu Mo observed a moment of silence for him. Senior Brother Lin probably had few good days ahead of him.
Within the Duo'e Sect, soul cultivators had no "human rights." After all, they had enjoyed few enough even while alive.
Only by successfully achieving foundation establishment and entering the inner sect could one barely count as someone above the common herd.
Chu Mo was just about to put away the spirit body tempered through the Myriad Forms Treasure Body Art when he suddenly noticed a streak of multicolored light spilling from its dantian.
Puzzled, he picked it up and placed it in his [Inventory] to inspect it.
[Thin Myriad Forms Treasure Qi] [Description: Refined by absorbing the essence of metal and stone and drawing upon the splendor of a hundred spirits. It can be light or heavy, gathered or dispersed, and possesses considerable power. Can be used to refine dharmic instruments and improve their quality.]
Reading the final part of the description, Chu Mo's eyes widened. "Good grief. The Myriad Forms Treasure Body Art really devours people down to the last scrap!"
Not only was the body an excellent spiritual material, even the mystical power cultivated through it could be used to refine dharmic instruments.
In that case, could the Dawncloud One-Qi Profound Cavern Scripture and the Black Serpent Molting True Heart Scripture have traps too? The more he thought about it, the more chilling it became.
Yet the vast majority of disciples cultivated one of these three methods when they joined the sect.
As far as he knew, High Person Zhou Huan, the man backing Jiang Yunya, had used the Dawncloud One-Qi Profound Cavern Scripture to receive a Dao Register and achieve foundation establishment.
It should be fine... right?
Chu Mo reined in his wandering thoughts. His current strength was meager; dwelling on it would do him no good.
He carefully collected the [Myriad Forms Treasure Qi] and properly sealed away the spirit body as well. These were all excellent spiritual materials that could not be wasted.
He glanced back over the battlefield and, after confirming that he had overlooked nothing else, immediately shot upward through the water.
After leaving the seabed, Chu Mo returned straight to Thousand Currents Prefecture, intending to report the deaths of Lin Feng and Yue Mian.
Unexpectedly, he learned that Island Lord Xu Yuan had injured himself again while attempting to break through his bottleneck and had been forced to enter temporary seclusion to recuperate.
"The island lord really is..." Chu Mo was momentarily speechless.
Still, his efforts were not entirely fruitless. After several days of consulting various records and texts and making discreet inquiries in different quarters, he finally gathered some information about High Person Xueying.
High Person Xueying, whose real name was unknown, was a rogue cultivator of the Turbid Abyss Sea. Generous and broad-minded, he loved making friends and even had connections with disciples of the Great Evolution Dao Sect.
His cultivation was at the late stage of foundation establishment. He was immensely powerful and possessed a wide range of methods, proficient in everything from pills, talismans, artifacts, and formations to divine abilities and spells.
Rumor even held that he stood only a final step away from the great path of the golden core, and he enjoyed considerable prestige among rogue cultivators.
Around a hundred years ago, he had suddenly disappeared, and nothing had been heard of him since.
However, most rogue cultivators of the Turbid Abyss Sea believed he was still alive. Foundation establishment cultivators could live for five hundred years, and High Person Xueying had only used up half his lifespan. In mortal terms, he was still in his prime.
"High Person Xueying really was extraordinary. He even had friends in the Great Evolution Dao Sect."
Chu Mo could not help feeling impressed. He had heard Luo Shan describe the Daoist Sect's ways before.
Unlike Heaven's Will Sect, whose members had heads full of "heaven's will" and "slaying demons and vanquishing devils," the disciples of the Great Evolution Dao Sect all held their noses to the sky, their arrogance overbearing, and denounced the outer dao.
As one of the Three Supreme Sects, its requirements for accepting disciples were also particularly unusual.
Heaven's Will Sect valued karmic affinity when accepting disciples; those with the right affinity could enter even with poor talent. The Duo'e Sect imposed no restrictions whatsoever, favoring sheer numbers.
The Great Evolution Dao Sect, however, divided people into rigid ranks. Whether admitting disciples or overseeing their subsequent cultivation, it placed immense importance on family background, bloodline, and origins.
To attempt foundation establishment, the first requirement was to come from an aristocratic clan of foundation establishment cultivators or have a master in the foundation establishment realm. The same applied to higher realms, each level building upon the last under strict rules.
It could be said that High Person Xueying's ability to make friends in the Great Evolution Dao Sect as a rogue cultivator was ample proof of his exceptional social finesse.
"How could a late-stage foundation establishment cultivator with extensive connections and so many methods vanish without a sound for a hundred years?"
Chu Mo sank into thought. Taking the dungeon he had discovered on the seabed into account, he deduced that the man had probably met with misfortune long ago.
And the dungeon connected to him surely held extraordinary potential value.
Yet despite returning to investigate many times and trying all sorts of methods, the dungeon still displayed the [Not yet open] notification.
Does it need a key? A specific time? Or... some condition to be fulfilled? Chu Mo sighed softly and temporarily suppressed his desire to investigate.
He raised a hand and brought forth the Profound Scenery Refining Truth Banner. Black mist instantly billowed out, and ten banner spirits lined up neatly before him.
Although he had lost two banner spirits in the earlier battle, the bandit cultivators had been "warm and hospitable" and "eager sponsors," quickly helping him fill the vacancies.
"How do you feel?" Chu Mo asked Mu Yun, who stood at the front. Two days earlier, he had tried having him absorb the yin energy within the Flood Dragon Pearl, and he wondered how effective it had been.
"Reporting to Senior Brother," Mu Yun began, speaking rapidly with some excitement,
"The yin energy contained within the Flood Dragon Pearl is exceptionally pure. For banner spirits like us, it is a rare and potent tonic."
[Level 4 · Slightly stronger yin spirit]