You're all good people

She was engraving Dao Patterns.

Over the past half month, she had committed all 108 basic Dao Patterns to memory, whether she understood them or not.

Dao Patterns are traces of the Dao left behind by human powerhouses in the Primordial Era as they observed the workings of heaven and earth.

I can't open my bitter sea or stir my fate wheel. I can only rely on true qi.

To grow stronger, I have to transform my true qi.

There's only one way: use Dao Patterns to simulate the workings of heaven and earth and temper my true qi!

And... my strength hasn't increased for several days, either!

Without stronger true qi, I'll inevitably stagnate.

Thoughts churned ceaselessly through Li Qingyue's mind.

Every human body had its limits.

Relying on her true qi, she had spent the past half month constantly devouring the sparse heaven and earth essence.

Ninety percent of the game Yan Wushuang brought back had ended up in her stomach.

She did not know how much her strength had increased, but she could faintly sense a limit.

In the Chaotic Ancient Era, human cultivators had to temper themselves with the blood essence of fierce beasts and various medicines, undergoing three baptisms before they could continue increasing their strength.

That means, before opening a grotto-heaven within the body, there are three limits to physical growth that must be crossed one by one.

Ultimately, they reach the limit of a hundred thousand jin of strength, or even break through it.

By that reckoning, my strength should be around thirty thousand jin.

Li Qingyue's brows furrowed slightly. Compared with cultivators who opened their bitter seas and tempered their bodies with divine power, her strength...

Was pitifully weak.

The bitter sea was the body's grotto-heaven, a world unto itself.

The fate wheel nurtured within it gave birth to divine power that nourished the flesh, naturally making it immensely powerful and allowing it to break through the body's limits step by step and keep growing.

There was no need to rely on external things.

This was the method of cultivating a grotto-heaven within the flesh: relying not on heaven and earth, but solely on one's own body.

Since she could not open her bitter sea, she naturally could not break through such limits easily.

In the Chaotic Ancient Era, fierce beasts had been extraordinarily powerful. They carried the bloodlines of the Ten Fiends and could nurture Treasure Bone Divine Arts, possessing astonishing effects for tempering the flesh.

But this was now the era of Desolate Antiquity, separated from that time by several million years.

The so-called Ten Fiends had long since vanished, and even the bloodlines of fierce beasts had grown exceedingly thin, no longer amounting to much.

Even if she wanted to take that path, it was no longer viable.

Everything still comes down to these Dao Patterns!

I have to use Dao Patterns to manifest the power of heaven and earth, temper my true qi, and increase my strength.

Step by step, I'll hammer my true qi into something on par with divine power.

Dao Patterns... the 108 basic Dao Patterns!

Li Qingyue grew increasingly focused, gripping a piece of stone between her fingers as she carefully engraved.

Before long, the bluestone was covered in Dao Patterns.

Yet not the slightest power radiated from them.

They were utterly unremarkable, like ordinary, disorderly lines crisscrossing one another.

"You need divine power to activate the power of Dao Patterns!"

Just then, Yan Wushuang and Yang Wuzheng, who had recovered after a brief rest, walked over and offered a reminder.

"Divine power?"

Li Qingyue felt dispirited. She had no divine power. This path... had been cut off, too.

"However, if you have source stones, the power within them can also activate the patterns!"

Seeing the dejection in Li Qingyue's eyes, Yang Wuzheng spoke again. With a turn of his hand, an amber-colored stone the size of an infant's fist appeared in his palm.

He then drew out the source power within the source stone and let it fall into the Dao Patterns Li Qingyue had engraved, merging with them.

Buzz...

The Dao Patterns instantly shone with radiance, releasing an invisible power. Like brands, they imprinted themselves directly onto the bluestone, as though they had grown upon it.

Even the surrounding space retained traces of the Dao Patterns, flickering ceaselessly.

At first glance, it looked like a ball of burning flame.

The temperature around them rose considerably.

This was a Fire-Element Dao Pattern, one of the 108 basic Dao Patterns.

The 108 basic Dao Patterns were divided among Yin-Yang and Five Elements, space, wind and thunder, and even the rudiments of life, death, and time.

There were far more advanced Dao Patterns, whose combinations and variations were even more complex.

They contained the rules governing heaven and earth and were closely guarded secrets of holy lands and immortal gates, seldom leaked to outsiders.

Ordinary people had no chance of obtaining them.

With divine power or the power of source stones as a catalyst, Dao Patterns can actually be imprinted on space and alter the workings of heaven and earth.

Of course. They're traces of the Dao to begin with, and heaven, earth, and space are all part of the Dao.

At the sight, Li Qingyue's eyes lit up, and ideas blossomed in her mind.

She only needed to use the power of source stones to leave Dao Patterns within her dantian and manifest the power of heaven and earth. Then she could temper her true qi.

Although the bitter sea she could not sense would absorb most of the source stones' power, she could still accomplish it as long as she had enough source stones.

At that moment, she immediately thought of the Primordial Ancient Mine they would soon reach.

There should be vast quantities of source stones there, enough to meet her needs.

But first, she had to be able to find and obtain them.

For her, that would be difficult and dangerous.

Even Yan Wushuang and Yang Wuzheng probably could not find and obtain them easily.

At that thought, Li Qingyue's bright eyes dimmed slightly. Without strength and opportunities, no one could defy fate.

Especially now, when the legacy of Source Arts had yet to emerge. This world did not yet have any Source Heavenly Masters or Source Earth Masters.

Source stones were all the scarcer as well.

In her memories, even the first-generation Source Heavenly Master would only gradually emerge many years later.

By the time of the Demon Race's Azure Emperor, 250,000 years later, the lineage had only reached the Third-Generation Source Heavenly Master.

No, wait... in the original course of events, after the Ruthless Great Emperor achieved Dao-Proving, that unscrupulous Daoist Duan De was also suppressed in this lifetime, with no path left to take.

Yet he retraced his old path, relying on his second lifetime's attainment as a Source Emperor Master to achieve an alternative form of Dao-Proving and begin his next lifetime.

Duan De had already attained the Dao of the Source Emperor Master in his second lifetime.

It had always existed between heaven and earth, so even if Duan De achieved Dao-Proving in his fourth lifetime, as long as he kept it suppressed, it would have no effect on later generations.

Perhaps I could find Duan De in this lifetime?

Li Qingyue's heart stirred, but she immediately abandoned the idea.

That unscrupulous Daoist Duan De swindled people without batting an eye. As a weak girl with no strength to speak of, she would truly suffer at his hands.

Besides, the world was too vast. She had no way of finding him.

"We'll reach the Primordial Ancient Mine in another ten days or so. If the opportunity arises, I'll find some source stones for you, Miss Qingyue!"

Seeing Li Qingyue's downcast expression, Yan Wushuang spoke to comfort her.

He did not have much on him, either. Even as the Sacred Body of the Nine Saints Gate, he possessed only a little over ten thousand jin.

That amount of source stones was not even enough for his everyday cultivation and a breakthrough through a minor realm.

If he had enough source stones, he could reach the Dao Palace Peak extremely quickly, enter the Four Extremes Realm, and attain minor Sacred Body achievement.

But source stones were exceedingly rare and precious. Especially in an age without Source Heavenly Masters, people relied on powerful cultivators' senses and eye techniques, digging deep into the major mining regions to search for them.

Only because he belonged to the holy land of the Nine Saints Immortal Gate and possessed a Sacred Body had he received enough resources to reach his current level.

Yet the amount of source stones a Sacred Body needed to enter the Four Extremes Realm was enormous: at least a million jin, if not more.

Their journey to the Primordial Ancient Mine was, in part, also intended to find source stones.

"Then I'll give this one to you, Miss Qingyue!"

"Once we reach the Primordial Ancient Mine, we'll find a way to obtain some source stones. That's also the purpose of our journey."

Yang Wuzheng spoke, his voice as calm and gentle as ever.

In the Age of Declining Dharma, things like source stones and treasure medicines were the greatest opportunities a cultivator could encounter.

As Yang Wuzheng finished speaking, the source stone the size of an infant's fist flashed with light and floated before Li Qingyue.

Looking at the source stone floating before her, Li Qingyue hesitated for a long time before slowly accepting it.

In the Age of Declining Dharma, when heaven and earth essence was sparse, she naturally understood how precious source stones were.

Li Qingyue looked at the two men with gentle eyes and said softly, "Thank you."

At this moment, aside from thanking them, all she could do was quietly remember their kindness.

"There's no need to be so polite, Miss Qingyue!"

Yan Wushuang spoke in his usual hearty tone, a smile on his face.

Even Yang Wuzheng nodded slightly and said calmly and warmly, "As long as it helps you!"

They had not investigated Li Qingyue's past.

But from her every movement, they understood very well that Li Qingyue's past had likely been extraordinarily difficult.

For someone with a waste body to reach this point, the hardships she had endured were likely unimaginable.

With every bit more they learned about the girl before them, their hearts softened toward her all the more.

Both of them, in particular, felt an inexplicable affection for this beautiful girl.

Now that they could help her, how could they refuse?

Hearing their words, Li Qingyue fell briefly silent.

She clearly had done nothing, merely traveling with them for half a month, yet the two treated her far too well.

It left her unsure how she could repay them.

Even though she could sense their affection, she could not reciprocate it.

And to grow stronger, she could hardly refuse their help.

At this moment, she could only offer a smile and say softly, "You're... all good people!"

At the same time, she added silently in her heart, Good people will be rewarded.

If heaven won't reward you... I will!

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