Yang Nine, Hundred Six

The One True Dharma Realm had two functions:

The first was "one day in the present world, ten days in the Dharma Realm." That needed no further explanation.

The second was to simulate others' mind images for combat practice, allowing him to grow stronger with every battle and improve with every bout! He could also harvest origin spirits and obtain the Dao arts and cultivation methods those mind images practiced.

But simulating another person's mind image was no easy matter...

After several months of investigation, Chen Heng had more or less worked out the rules.

The foremost rule was that the person being simulated could not be a major realm above him in cultivation.

Embryonic Breathing simulated Embryonic Breathing, Qi Refining simulated Qi Refining, and Foundation Establishment simulated Foundation Establishment. The same broadly held true for Golden Core, primordial spirit, and so forth.

For instance, the Mount Yang Daoist had been at the sixth level of Qi Refining when he died, while Chen Heng had only recently attained Embryonic Breathing. Though Chen Heng coveted his bodily Dao art, he could not simulate his mind image within the One True Dharma Realm and had been forced to give up.

Yet even this iron law was not without loopholes.

If the person being simulated harbored no wariness toward him and had also been wounded, leaving their qi weakened... then even if they stood a major realm above him, he could still invite them into the One True Dharma Realm.

Xu Zhi was a living example.

This time, Chen Heng and Tong Gaolu were both in the Qi Refining realm, so simulating his mind image within the One True Dharma Realm was naturally effortless.

After fighting Tong Gaolu a few times, Chen Heng could no longer be bothered to spend much time tangling with him.

The moment he summoned the mind image, he detonated all the talisman artifacts on his body and blasted them at him. However sturdy and indestructible Tong Gaolu's flesh might be, that explosion still cost him half his life.

He repeated this over and over, picking up who knew how many useless things from the origin spirits.

Finally.

Chen Heng at last obtained that bodily Dao art.

"Is this... the Tai Su Jade Body?"

When he grasped the origin spirit.

What flooded his consciousness first was no longer a dense mass of words, but a single image: an old man in Daoist robes, his head raised and his hands hanging at his sides.

He was short, yet possessed a majestic presence that looked down from on high upon the starry seas and the cosmos! Three hazy, chaotic divine halos encircled the back of his head, their radiant light illuminating boundless heaven and earth and all living beings. Like a Great Celestial Venerable, a Great Sage King gazing down upon worlds as countless as the sands of the Ganges, he sat at the utmost pinnacle of the Dharma and the Dao, supreme in victory and grandeur!

"Vast primordial murk, empty mystery; flowing without end, the true source. Splendid radiance not yet revealed, the mysterious wheel rounds itself. Harmony gathers at the first foundation, before the image of the Sovereign. In accord with time, ingest and refine; qi enters mystery upon mystery..."

The voice of the Dao thundered, pouring down like a waterfall and shaking his mind into wild upheaval.

At the same time, the old man in Daoist robes began moving his body, his form like a long dragon ascending into the heavens, ancient and strange.

The Tai Su Jade Body...

This Dao art-or rather, divine ability-was a method of bodily sainthood expressly created by Elder Tai Su.

In ancient times, while roaming the outer seas of chaos with Monk Longzang, he had happened upon a Ginseng Fruit Tree that had not yet matured.

To avoid harming their friendship, Elder Tai Su and Monk Longzang agreed on a period of nine thousand years. Each would take three disciples, and every three thousand years, they would have their respective disciples compete there.

The winner of two out of three bouts would determine who received the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

Suspecting nothing, Elder Tai Su carefully selected a mortal with good aptitude, accepted him as a disciple, and taught him qi refining, ingesting elixirs, visualization, sword consecration, and various other arts. When three thousand years had passed, he brought his disciple to the appointed place.

But after only half a day, Elder Tai Su's disciple fell into a disadvantage. Had he not used his sword escape technique so skillfully, he would almost have been beaten to death.

That was hardly surprising...

Monk Longzang's disciple was an Ancient Beast Dragon Elephant, the offspring of mighty figures among the ancient heavenly dragons and divine elephants. Possessing the marvels of both his parents' races and an extraordinary bloodline, the peerless force of his breathing alone could shatter all one hundred and eight thousand grades of minute dust. A single drop of his blood could smash an ocean abyss.

With such a bloodline, he had also received Monk Longzang's tutelage, which deliberately guided him along the path of a Dharma-Protecting Great Wisdom King. He had even visited the Eight-Treasure Golden Body Pool several times.

Though Elder Tai Su's disciple finally risked his life on a slash that severed half the Dragon Elephant's head, a punch still pulverized his body, leaving only his origin spirit in the world.

Thus, Elder Tai Su lost the first of the three bouts to Monk Longzang.

After returning to his sanctuary, he knew Monk Longzang would surely seek another innate giant beast as his disciple for the second bout. His competitive spirit stirred, and he deliberately created a divine ability for bodily sainthood called the "Tai Su Jade Body" to contend against those beasts with their supremely powerful bodies.

After creating the "Tai Su Jade Body," Elder Tai Su casually found a mortal woman and taught her this divine ability. When the appointed date arrived, he brought her before the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

Sure enough, Monk Longzang's disciple was once again an innate giant beast.

This time, Monk Longzang's disciple was a Kunpeng whose transformed wings hung across the heavens, who rode the wind for ninety thousand miles, whose scales swept across the sea, and who struck the waters for three thousand miles.

Yet the Kunpeng and the woman who had mastered the Tai Su Jade Body were evenly matched. Neither could overcome the other, and even after fighting to the brink of death, they still could not decide a victor.

The second bout thus ended in a draw.

Elder Tai Su rejoiced, while Monk Longzang could only smile bitterly.

Originally, another bout or two would have been enough to determine who received the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

But before another three thousand years had passed, a Heavenly Official of the Dao Court discovered the Ginseng Fruit Tree. Though Elder Tai Su and Monk Longzang did not fear that official, they could not help fearing the Dao Court.

Neither could defy the colossal power behind the official, which ruled over all the heavens. They could only sigh helplessly and present the Ginseng Fruit Tree with both hands.

At that time, the Dao Court was gathering all manner of methods to compile into a volume called the "Earth Palace Golden Chapter," intended to overawe myriad heavens and Daos, divinities, sages, immortals, and buddhas.

The "Tai Su Jade Body" created by Elder Tai Su also caught the eye of the Dao Court's Grand Astrologer, who included it in the "Earth Palace Golden Chapter."

Chen Heng naturally knew nothing of these secrets from ancient times. As the old man in Daoist robes shifted his form, countless pieces of information flooded into Chen Heng's consciousness alongside the thunderous voice of the Dao, leaving his head swimming.

Only after several cups of tea's worth of time did Chen Heng steady his mind. He reviewed everything from the beginning, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

The "Tai Su Jade Body"... was this method inspired when Elder Tai Su roamed the outer seas of the void and witnessed countless world-realms and continents collapsing and being born within chaos, sparking insight in his mind? What a profound conception!

One had to understand that in this star-filled universe.

Apart from the four kinds of mighty beings-immortals, buddhas, divinities, and sages-nothing existed eternally and imperishably.

Whether world-realms, continents, or celestial expanses.

None were creations that endured forever, indestructible through all ages.

Heaven and earth had greater yang nine, greater hundred six, lesser yang nine, and lesser hundred six.

Heavenly calamity was called yang nine, and earthly decline was called hundred six. These two disasters were the adversity and prosperity of heaven and earth, the upheaval and erosion of yin and yang.

With yang nine, heaven grew parched, the seas surged, and the land scorched; with hundred six, the seas dried up and the hills became abysses.

Heaven and earth overturned, rivers and seas burst forth, people perished and mountains sank, gold and jade dissolved, the six directions merged into darkness, pale corpses drifted across boundless waters, and lonely souls lamented amid the mighty waves...

As for the five elements slaughtering one another, the four seasons colliding, metal and earth drawing close, water and fire falling into strife, forests and flowers withering, and rivers opening or closing their courses-these were all commonplace.

Taking an ordinary world-realm as an example-

After one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years of heaven's cycle, the calamity of lesser yang nine arrived. After ninety-nine thousand eight hundred and twenty-five years of earth's cycle, the disaster of lesser hundred six came.

Once the periods of lesser yang nine and lesser hundred six arrived, all manner of calamities descended upon the world-realm.

Seas might collapse and lands sink, the void might cave in, trillions of heavenly demons from beyond the realm might descend to sever life and extinguish spirits, or evil buddhas and mad gods might take dominion, shrouding an entire region in their awesome radiance and dragging its living beings into endless perdition.

Though lesser yang nine and lesser hundred six were terrifying, they merely harmed the living beings inhabiting the world-realm and damaged its terrain and spiritual energies. They could not threaten the world-realm's foundations.

But when the periods of greater yang nine and greater hundred six arrived, that was the world-realm's true moment of life or death!

One million two hundred and ninety-six thousand years of heaven's cycle brought greater yang nine; nine hundred and ninety-eight thousand two hundred and fifty years of earth's turning brought greater hundred six.

These greater yang nine and greater hundred six were the true great tribulations of yin's upheaval and yang's erosion!

Once they arrived, the nine qi changed their courses, and the cycles of sun and moon contracted!

Just as a person's lifespan eventually ended, greater yang nine and greater hundred six marked the end of a world-realm's lifespan.

Disastrous karma surging to the heavens and myriad tribulations arising together were merely trifles.

Most terrifying of all, every trace of the world-realm's spiritual energies poured into the endless void. It could no longer retain or absorb them, and the world-realm itself gradually disintegrated and shattered, becoming the most primordial three qi of mystery, origin, and beginning, returning to the mother source of chaos.

Born from the void, it ultimately returned to the void.

That was all-

Worlds were originally fashioned from the three qi of mystery, origin, and beginning. When they finally collapsed, they reverted to those same three qi, feeding back into their source. This was the immutable supreme principle of the Heavenly Dao's harmonious cycles.

Ordinarily, the countless world-realms in the universe collapsed because of greater yang nine. Once one million two hundred and ninety-six thousand years had passed, everything within them was reduced to ash.

Some world-realms could not even endure until greater yang nine arrived. Greater hundred six alone consigned them to oblivion. After nine hundred and ninety-eight thousand two hundred and fifty years, they ceased to exist, their names lost forever.

The tribulations of yang nine and hundred six.

Did not affect world-realms alone.

Even continents and celestial expanses had to face these calamities.

But continents and celestial expanses were, after all, far beyond what mere world-realms could compare with.

Their tribulations of yang nine and hundred six generally took much longer to arrive. Usually, they faced these calamities only after several million, or even tens of millions, of years.

Correspondingly, however, their calamities were even fiercer and more unrestrained than those of world-realms!

The Tai Su Jade Body.

This divine ability for bodily sainthood created by Elder Tai Su drew upon the tribulations of yang nine and hundred six, together with his observations of the three qi of mystery, origin, and beginning fashioning worlds.

It was divided into three major realms: mystery, origin, and beginning.

Each realm contained nine levels, secretly corresponding to the number of yang nine and conforming to the celestial signs.

After perfecting the ninth level of the beginning realm, one could cultivate the Tai Su Jade Body to its ultimate attainment and transform into a flawless Tai Su form.

Once this realm was attained, strength capable of overturning rivers and continents, upending seas and shifting mountains, was merely commonplace. One could even wrestle a Kunpeng or pit strength against rare Dragon Elephants without falling into a disadvantage.

To match those innate divine bodies with a human frame-without question, this was a cultivation method and divine ability of supreme power!

In terms of value, perhaps only the "Primordial Beginning True Origin Scripture Spoken by the Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord" among everything Chen Heng possessed could compare with it.

As for which had the loftier conception, Chen Heng's present horizons were still too limited to judge.

Though this "Tai Su Jade Body" is extraordinary, it has several troublesome points...

Within the One True Dharma Realm, Chen Heng pondered, The spiritual energies it requires are immense. In the mortal world or a small sect like the Mysterious Truth Sect, even several hundred years of cultivation would probably leave me little stronger than Tong Gaolu. And the choice of an anchoring object needs some thought as well.

The Tai Su Jade Body.

This divine ability was not necessarily difficult to cultivate. Otherwise, Tong Gaolu and the Mount Yang Daoist could never have succeeded.

In essence, it merely refined the human body as though it were heaven and earth. Only nourishment from enormous quantities of spiritual qi could bring accomplishment.

But to cultivators, spiritual qi was already exceptionally precious, paving their path toward immortality.

Every extra portion used on the Tai Su Jade Body meant one less portion devoted to advancing their own cultivation.

After all, even cultivating the Tai Su Golden Body to its ultimate attainment could not grant immortality or extend one's lifespan. It was a classic case of attaining the art but not the Dao-a heterodox path.

With "primordial beginning true origin" in hand, I can use all one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred kinds of spiritual qi. Unlike Tong Gaolu and the others, I'm not limited to gathering a mere handful. That is one advantage I have!

Chen Heng chuckled softly.

The higher the grade of true qi, the more attributes of spiritual qi it could absorb!

But Chen Heng reckoned that even if other kinds of true qi capable of commanding a full cycle's worth of spiritual qi like "primordial beginning true origin" existed in the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, they would number no more than the fingers of one hand.

Secondly, the Tai Su Jade Body requires an anchoring object before cultivation can begin. Choosing that object...

The Tai Su Jade Body was, after all, a supreme divine ability that seized Heaven's power of creation.

What ordinary method allowed one to raise a divine ability's level merely by absorbing spiritual qi? Where else could such a wonderful thing be found?

Yet the Tai Su Jade Body could do precisely that!

Since it refined the human body as heaven and earth, would heaven and earth encounter any obstruction while absorbing spiritual qi and growing?

Naturally, they would not.

The first step in cultivating the Tai Su Jade Body was to find an object and refine it with the secret method within the "Tai Su Jade Body," making it an anchoring object to deceive heaven and earth's perception and merge all things into one undivided whole.

Only then could this divine ability continuously absorb spiritual qi and rise in level.

Yet this method had a flaw that even Elder Tai Su could not resolve.

If someone located the anchoring object through divination and broke its resonance, the practitioner of the Tai Su Jade Body would immediately lose the ability to deceive the void and be forced out of that undivided unity of all things.

In an instant, the tribulations of yang nine and hundred six would descend.

These calamities were meant for heaven and earth. If they fell upon a human body, how could anyone survive?

Cultivators skilled in divination and calculation could thus be called the natural enemies of those who practiced the Tai Su Jade Body.

They did not even need to act. A calculation on their fingers would bring heavenly tribulation and earthly punishment to chastise their enemies for them.

Moreover, when breaking through the three major realms of mystery, origin, and beginning within the Tai Su Jade Body, resounding boil and thunder shock would obstruct success. Without the protection of someone possessing great divine abilities, these could never be overcome.

Though the Tai Su Jade Body is good, its conditions are rather harsh. I can leave resounding boil and thunder shock aside for now; those are concerns for later. But this anchoring object?

Chen Heng hesitated.

The divine ability's scripture repeatedly mentioned that after choosing an anchoring object, one had to bless it daily with secret concealment arts, or ask a sect elder to apply a divine ability that disrupted divination.

Otherwise, if an enemy calculated its location and broke its resonance, no one could save the practitioner unless a divine immortal intervened.

No wonder a few annotations from the Dao Court remain beneath this divine ability's scripture... They say that anyone who is not a disciple of someone possessing great divine abilities must not cultivate the Tai Su Jade Body.

This method is very much a chicken rib: tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard. Among the thirty-four thousand methods of bodily sainthood, it ranks in the lower grade of the middle-lower tier. It may be viewed for interest, but offers little practical use.

Chen Heng's gaze flickered:

What an arrogant tone the Dao Court takes. Even a powerful divine ability created by someone like Elder Tai Su is casually appraised, and with such disdain and such a low assessment... Just what sort of power is it? It ought to be stronger than the Eight Sects and Six Schools, surely?

He pondered silently for a while longer. For once, he did not cultivate within the One True Dharma Realm, but instead began to wander uncertainly.

An anchoring object, heaven's secrets...

Chen Heng paced back and forth, frowning at the boundless, featureless space.

Before long, his expression suddenly changed. He clapped his hands excitedly and could not help laughing aloud:

"Of course! The Golden Cicada! I nearly forgot about you!"

In this world, he alone could see the Golden Cicada, and he alone could touch it!

This golden jade carving, naturally concealed from perception, was the finest possible choice for an anchoring object!

At that thought, Chen Heng did not hesitate. He immediately summoned the Golden Cicada and began experimenting within the One True Dharma Realm.

Once he confirmed that it could indeed be refined into an anchoring object, he wasted no more time and left the One True Dharma Realm.

What greeted his eyes.

Were rows of old books displayed on shelves, a warm brazier giving off fragrance, and gold and jade gleaming together-a scene of extraordinary wealth and splendor.

This was the meditation chamber in Tong Gaolu's residence. After killing Zhou Chuyu, Chen Heng had come here and simply taken over the entire Tong estate.

Now, Chen Heng had no interest in looking around. He took out the Golden Cicada and prepared to refine it according to the secret method in the divine ability's scripture.

As he dripped his blood onto it, he recalled the final line of the Dao Court's annotations.

-

Those who privately impart or receive this method without the Dao Court lifting its magic prohibition shall be punished severely without pardon, cast into the Nether Office to suffer nine cold torments and nine hot torments for a billion years!

-

Despite that explicit warning, Chen Heng hesitated for only a few instants before gritting his teeth and pressing on:

"I... can't worry about that now!"

As his blood fell into the Golden Cicada, a Dao chant faintly rose in the void, and celestial flowers flickered in and out of sight.

And in the boundless, unfathomably deep starry cosmos.

As Chen Heng's blood dripped.

Heavenly music suddenly burst into a wild crescendo upon a stretch of land.

A Dragon Radiance Ancient Bell rang of its own accord, its rumbling peals sweeping across a hundred thousand li of land and sea. The once-indigo sky abruptly darkened to pitch-black, and countless serpents of lightning darted wildly about, crackling and snapping.

"Why is it ringing again? How many times has it been today? Is it ever going to stop..."

Only after a long while did another voice ring out in bewilderment:

"Which Dao Lord or immortal is messing around with the Dao Court's magic prohibitions again, without even bothering to muffle the commotion? So annoying! Are they going to let anyone sleep or not!"

Two in one