Why was killing easy?
After Ao Ding returned, he carefully considered this question.
He rubbed his fingers together, and a ball of flame appeared.
Then, with a gentle sweep of true heaven golden gang exerting the same force, he sent a pale golden blade sweeping out, scoring a white mark directly across the stone wall.
Could a spell driven by this little magical power take a life?
Slashing a vulnerable place such as the neck could indeed prove fatal, but this was not the "life-taking killing curse" the Daoist had meant.
The drowning curse, life-ending curse, beheading curse, plague-death curse, soul-burning curse... these did not kill by controlling primal qi. Rather, the curses themselves imposed the outcome of "death" upon living beings.
The magical power they consumed was generally greater than that required to control natural phenomena.
"Why... did things become different at the True Person Realm? Because what one saw and knew had changed?"
As Ao Ding pondered, his hands never paused, entering the three cultivation methods into the Primordial Truth Mirror.
The formation ring composed of thirteen hundred true seals hovered quietly at the center of the sea of clouds, silently absorbing the seal characters formed from the three cultivation methods.
The Golden Light Method was currently Ao Ding's main cultivation method. To lay the groundwork for Ao Ding's future, Sun Chen had passed on not only the Mystic Gang Realm mental method, but also the subsequent jade palace mental method.
Three thousand golden true seals danced through the sea of clouds, dazzling as the sun. One by one, the "Mystical Perfection Formation Ring" absorbed them, converting them from "great unity pure yang seal registers" into "three heavens great grotto true seals."
Ao Ding had comprehended the Northern Yin Netherworld Hell Method while contemplating the Northern Yin Iron Writ in the kitchen garden. Through the "Thusness White Bone Contemplation Method" and five hell curses, he had touched upon the bare surface of the Nether Luo Great Method. Now, under the operation of the Mystical Perfection Formula, the Hell Method broke down into eighteen hundred dark red scarlet seals. Those scarlet seals were sinister, uncanny, and exceedingly vicious... after being entered into the Perfect Mystery Formula's formation, they gradually washed away their dark red killing intent as well, transforming into the Three Heavens True Seal Script.
Studying the circular formation disk composed of "Perfection Formula seal characters," Ao Ding could not help sighing. "Ah-although the Mystical Perfection Formula originated in the Guangfa Sect, mine must differ quite a bit from their Perfect Mystery Formula-at the very least, this Dharma artifact isn't based on the upper image nine mysteries seal registers."
The seal characters of the Great Dao could be regarded as a set of underlying code. Although all the Six Sects had developed from the foundation of the "three heavens great grotto true seals," each possessed its own set of code. Only after receiving the registers upon entering a sect could one be taught that sect's true seals and divine registers.
Ao Ding had not formally taken a master, so Sun Chen could hardly overstep his bounds and transmit the "Supreme Image Nine Mysteries Registers" to him.
Thus, the Primordial Truth Mirror's foundational true seals remained the three heavens great grotto true seals. Any cultivation method entered into it would first undergo translation.
Once the Hell Method's translation was complete, a blood-red treasure wheel hovered beside the sun.
As for the third method, the Immortal Nest Nine Palaces Scripture, Sun Chen had already considered Ao Ding's circumstances when teaching him this scripture, specifically translating it into the Three Heavens True Seal Script before passing it on. Ao Ding merely entered the scripture, and the formation immediately began operating and changing, arranging the Nine Palaces Scripture's twenty-four hundred seal characters into a nine-story pavilion with mortise-and-tenon construction.
It worked!
His purpose in preparing the Immortal Nest Nine Palaces Scripture was to make use of the sequential progression of its nine realms.
At first, the House-Building Technique could create only thatched huts, grass cottages, tiled houses, and mud dwellings. But with deeper study, it could create gardens and mansions. A step further, and it could produce the simplest spirit-platform meditation chambers, protected by spells to ward off evil creatures. After that, it could build golden halls and heavenly palaces, grotto-heavens and blessed lands...
Its distinct, progressive tiers were perfectly suited to automatically comparing the levels of the many cultivation methods Ao Ding entered and assigning them to their corresponding grades.
Rumble-
Suddenly, the Mystical Perfection Formation Ring rolled and turned. Using the three cultivation methods as their foundation, densely packed seal characters actively converged upon the formation. Under its operation, seal characters gradually peeled away to form entirely new formation rings.
With the original broad golden ring as the framework, three slender rings-gold, red, and white-appeared, constantly swaying left and right, up and down, and flipping over.
From a distance, this set of formation rings resembled a rotating "eye."
And Ao Ding could sense that this eye was mentally connected to him. His split spirit occupied the very center of the formation rings, serving as its pupil.
"So the logic of the Perfect Mystery Formula has something in common with my True Person's Eye."
If translated, the true seals on the "Mystical True Seal Formation Disk" would roughly concern concepts such as "spiritual intelligence," "illumination," "comprehensive understanding," and "computation."
Thus, this formation disk could awaken wisdom and break through obstacles. It was a cultivation method of great wisdom.
Ao Ding immediately aimed the Primordial Truth Mirror at the volumes of Daoist scriptures and secret texts scattered about the room.
"Draw in-"
From within the scriptures and treasured volumes, great numbers of true seals slowly rose, entering the Primordial Truth Mirror over Ao Ding's left eye of their own accord.
The Mystical Perfection Formula also had distinct tiers. Collecting three orthodox methods and twelve curses counted as the formation's preliminary application: the current formation-ring structure of one primary ring and three auxiliary rings.
After that, nine orthodox methods and thirty-six curses were needed as a foundation to upgrade the Perfect Mystery Formula.
In Ao Ding's understanding, this was "expanding computing power."
Then, using thirty-six orthodox methods and one hundred and eight curses as its foundation, the formation would expand further into a "heavenly pool."
The cultivation methods and resources Sun Chen had left Ao Ding were undoubtedly sufficient. Expanding the "heavenly pool," however, required a period of adjustment, and Ao Ding did not have that much time at present. Thus, he temporarily chose to maintain the second-tier "Perfection Sphere" state.
For the nine cultivation methods, he selected as appropriate orthodox methods such as the Pure Subtlety Heavenly Heart Five Thunder Method, the Azure Heaven Calamity-Delivering Spirit Chapter, and the Purple Mansion Primordial Sovereign Supreme Ultimate Golden Writ.
"I'm getting further and further from the Guangfa Sect."
Nine new rings of light appeared, including a thunder ring covered in lightning and an azure heaven immortal ring through which blue-green light flowed...
The many Dao rings were confined within the Mystical Perfection Golden Ring. Under the will of Ao Ding's split spirit, they began constantly filling in, translating, and interpreting scriptures and curses. The split spirit was one with Ao Ding, and whenever it gained something, its insights indirectly fed back to him, advancing his mastery of curses.
In just one night, Ao Ding interpreted and mastered twelve new Daoist arts through the Mystical Perfection Formula. According to the Immortal Nest Nine Palaces grading system, these Daoist arts fell between the second and third grades.
Yet he himself expended not the slightest mental effort, concentrating instead on the "homework" Sun Chen had left him.
"I understand!" Suddenly, Ao Ding sprang from the stone bed, went outside to rummage through a pile of discarded wooden building rods, and set about putting his conjecture into practice.
Early the next morning, Sun Chen appeared as usual, but Ao Ding did not come to seek instruction.
"Hm? He actually hasn't come today? Surely he hasn't gone to rest?"
For days, he had neither slept nor rested, looking as though he would never stop until he had wrung himself dry. Why had he suddenly given up?
Had he decided he no longer needed it now that he had mastered the Mystical Perfection Formula?
After some thought, Sun Chen still manifested his spirit projection at the tomb entrance to meditate.
Only when the sun stood high did Ao Ding finally arrive, carrying a wooden spear.
"Senior, sorry-I was making this 'homework,' so I'm late."
Sun Chen stared at the wooden spear, a measure of surprise in his eyes.
"You really figured it out?"
He had originally thought Ao Ding would rack his brains for a day, then tell him he had failed to figure it out and seek his instruction.
Sometimes, giving up was also an accomplishment.
Blindly racking one's brains until trapped behind a barrier of knowledge, by contrast, ran counter to the original heart of Dao cultivation.
This was what Sun Chen had intended to teach Ao Ding.
This question had never been something an ordinary cultivator could ponder.
But when Sun Chen saw the wooden spear Ao Ding had made and perceived the meaning of the Three Heavens True Seal Script within it, he knew clearly that Ao Ding did indeed know the answer.
"How did you figure it out-you actually managed to set aside cultivators' habitual, fixed understanding and willingly acknowledge their error in the first six realms?"
The higher cultivators climbed, the firmer their Dao hearts became, and the less likely they were to consider themselves mistaken.
Of all the great cultivators who had advanced step by step from the Seed Qi Realm to the Primordial Embryo Realm, which would believe their original understanding had been wrong?
Only upon truly ascending to become True Persons and viewing the question from an entirely new perspective would they understand their former narrowness.
"It isn't an error, merely a difference in the height of the realm one stands at. One sees mountains as mountains; another sees mountains as not mountains. That's all."
Ao Ding had been able to work out the answer to Sun Chen's question because he had experienced something similar on Earth. Some knowledge learned in elementary education would be overturned during higher education; this was commonplace.
Thus, Ao Ding differed from ordinary cultivators. He was not so stubborn.
Holding the wooden spear horizontally before him, Ao Ding smiled. "Ordinary cultivators generally believe that killing and taking lives consumes more power. That's because, to cultivators at large, summoning wind and rain, breathing fire, and controlling stones are applications of nature, manipulations of the primal qi of heaven and earth."
He gently shook the wooden spear without activating a single true seal, but with a light flick of his true heaven golden gang through the air, a continuous veil of moisture fell, turning into a fine, nourishing rain.
"Living beings, by contrast-the immortal Dao cherishes life... every living being, from divine beasts and gods and devils down to ants and mayflies, is more precious than a wisp of formless primal qi, so long as it lives. Commanding living beings is far harder than controlling primal qi."
Ao Ding swept out gently with true heaven golden gang of the same purity. A blade flashed out, but dissipated before long. With magical power like this, never mind bestowing "death"-even giving a cultivator a headache or fever was nearly impossible. The curse would be deflected by the protective mysterious gang as soon as it approached.
"This is because living beings are independent, each containing a small world with its own defensive mechanisms. The stronger a cultivator is, the harder it is to place a curse upon them."
At this, Sun Chen's eyes lit up. "Go on, keep talking!"
Correct. This was how ordinary cultivators understood it.
Because living beings possessed the ability to defend themselves, placing curses upon people incurred greater backlash, especially curses that caused death.
Seeing that he had guessed correctly, Ao Ding swung the wooden spear.
"Senior, I can demonstrate with an experiment."
The House-Building Technique constructed a wooden storehouse before them.
The storehouse was vast and empty.
"Suppose this is a world."
Another point of the wooden spear, and palm-sized wooden boxes appeared inside the storehouse.
"If these little boxes represent the world's living beings, ordinary cultivators can use their own boxes to stir the air inside the wooden storehouse."
"Boxes? Wait? Houses?" Sun Chen could tell that Ao Ding was still casting the House-Building Technique; the houses he made were merely palm-sized.
Ao Ding smiled without speaking.
Who said an urn for ashes was not a house?
The wooden spear swung, and the wooden boxes hummed. As they shook, the air inside the wooden storehouse vibrated with them.
Sun Chen nodded repeatedly.
"Go on, go on."
This method of demonstrating through experiments-come to think of it, he truly had never seen it before.
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