The Daoist aura within the hall grew increasingly intense, gradually condensing into tangible radiance and auspicious colors, illuminating the entire celestial palace as if it were a fairyland.
The ethereal music, like a clear spring cascading from the heavens, cleansed every inch of the Jade Pool Pure Land.
The female disciples of Jade Pool, dressed in plain white gauze robes, danced gracefully in the hall. Their flowing robes stirred up a hazy mist, and white clouds supported their feet, making them seem like fairies from the moon palace descending to earth.
Outside the Heavenly Palace, the Azure Luan and the Colorful Phoenix sang in harmony, their clear cries piercing through the clouds and intertwining with the celestial music inside the palace to create an ethereal and otherworldly melody.
Before the steps of the white jade palace, rare herbs and flowers bloomed everywhere, exhaling auspicious clouds;
In the Immortal Pool, koi carp leap and ripple, their scales refracting seven-colored light, drawing dazzling arcs in the water.
This Lifetime's Flat Peach Gathering was less turbulent than in the original story, because Eastern Exalt Li Qingshan was in charge of Jade Pool, several troublemakers had become docile, and Ye Fan was no longer a rogue cultivator without much backing.
The journey to the Myriad Dragon Nest was out of the question, and no one dared to play tricks on this being.
The event proceeded exceptionally smoothly and without any major incidents.
During the banquet, amidst the clinking of glasses, powerful rulers from the Five Regions and extraordinary individuals engaged in lively discussions, naturally centered on the ever-changing global landscape.
All eyes were fixed on the man in black robes at the east end.
In recent years, Eastern Exalt has dominated Big Dipper, like a blazing sun in the sky, making people dare not look directly at it.
However, today's Peach Banquet was originally a platform built by Jade Pool for cultivators from the Five Regions to exchange ideas. Therefore, all the Holy Lords and Emperors put aside their usual dignity and came forward with jade cups to toast and discuss the Dao.
Li Qingshan sat quietly on the jade throne, listening to everyone's conversation without interrupting.
As the discussion at the banquet progressed, several old royal uncles from an Ancient Emperor began to argue endlessly about an ancient secret.
The topic involves a sage from Desolate Ancient Era who used the Five Elements Reincarnation Technique to suppress a rebellious ancient dragon at the Eye of the North Sea.
"That senior used the Qi of the Eastern Wood element as a guide, activating the Southern Fire element. Li Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, and the five elements interact and flow, transforming into a five-colored divine chain that sealed the dragon for three thousand years." The Great Xia Imperial Uncle stroked his beard as he recounted, his eyes filled with reminiscence. "Unfortunately, this method has long been lost, and no one in later generations has been able to reproduce the wonder of the five elements' mutual generation."
Upon hearing this, the Ji Family Holy Lord pondered and said, "The Way of the Five Elements, though seemingly basic, is in fact profound and complex. Their mutual generation and restraint, their endless cycles, all align with the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. However, most cultivators today specialize in only one element, and very few can truly integrate all five. The Peacock King's attainment of the Way of the Five Elements, enabling him to roam freely throughout the universe, is a testament to this."
The topic shifted to this point, and several holy masters who cultivated the Five Elements Technique joined the discussion.
Some cultivated the Way of Li Fire, some specialized in the Geng Metal Sword Technique, and some delved into the Mysterious Water Secret Method. Everyone expressed their own opinions, but they all lamented that the Great Dao of the Five Elements was difficult to perfect.
"Perfect in all five elements?" The female palace master of the Arctic Ice God Palace gently shook her head. "Even though my Ice God Palace has studied the Way of Ice for generations, belonging to the Water element lineage, we only dare to say we've glimpsed its basics. To be proficient in all five elements simultaneously, and to balance their mutual generation and restraint, requires great wisdom and extraordinary opportunity."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Just then, Li Qingshan, who had been listening silently, suddenly had a barely perceptible flash of understanding in his eyes.
Just now, when everyone was discussing the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements, they mentioned that the Desolate Antiquity Great Saint used the rotation of the five elements to suppress the dragon, which touched a certain key point in his Five-Colored Divine Light Great Divine Power.
At this moment, listening to everyone's discussion, it was as if a ray of light had pierced through the fog.
"I see," Li Qingshan muttered to himself.
He put down his wine cup, closed his eyes slightly, and quietly entered another state amidst the noisy celebration.
Five-colored light rose from the Dao Palace and naturally began to evolve around him.
At first, it was just a very subtle phenomenon: in the jade cup beside him, the emerald green tea soup moved on its own without any wind, and ripples appeared on the surface.
The trajectory of the spreading ripples subtly corresponds to the generating cycle of the Five Elements: wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood again, in a continuous cycle.
Immediately afterwards, natural patterns began to appear on the white jade ground beneath him.
At first, there were only a few tiny cracks, but those cracks quickly extended and intertwined, outlining a miniature Five Elements cycle diagram on the smooth jade surface!
Five colors of light—blue, red, yellow, white, and black—flowed out from Li Qingshan's body like a gentle stream.
He did not deliberately urge it, but instead his mind was completely immersed in that moment of enlightenment, letting the Dao evolve naturally.
This process was noticed by several nearby holy masters.
At first, only a few holy masters sitting nearby noticed the abnormality. The jade cups in their hands suddenly became unusually warm and smooth. The wine in the cups moved on its own without any wind, and subtle ripples appeared. The trajectory of the ripples spread in accordance with a certain rhythm of the Great Dao.
The Ji Family Holy Lord was the first to focus his mind, his Eye of the Void quietly opening, their silver light swirling within. When he looked at Li Qingshan, his pupils constricted sharply!
In his vision, the place where the man in black robes sat was not a "person," but a small world in the making! The five Dao principles of blue, red, yellow, white, and black were like five azure dragons coiling around each other, intertwining, generating and restraining each other, and transforming into infinite phenomena.
That is not a simple art of the Five Elements, but the Innate Great Dao of the Five Elements that points directly to the origin!
"This is it!!" The Jiang Family Holy Lord also sensed it. As someone who cultivated the Hengyu Scripture, he was most sensitive to the Dao of Fire.
At this moment, he clearly felt that the crimson Dao principles surrounding Li Qingshan contained a fire origin that was more ancient and purer than the Sun True Fire.
Immediately afterwards, the Queen Mother of the West, the Yaoguang Holy Lord, the Great Xia Imperial Uncle, and more than ten other people with the highest cultivation levels present successively noticed the anomaly.
Some of them possessed the divine eye, while others had extraordinary spiritual perception; all of them, in a certain instant, glimpsed the Great Dao being performed within three feet.
" The Eastern Exalt is performing magic!" an old royal uncle of the Ancient Hua Dynasty exclaimed in a low voice, and the half-eaten spiritual fruit in his hand fell "plop" onto the jade table.
This low exclamation was like a pebble dropped into water, creating ripples. More Saint Lord-level figures focused their attention on it, and their expressions immediately changed.
Those who can sit in this celestial palace are at least powerful rulers of the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform, possessing extraordinary insight and knowledge.
At this moment, they finally realized that Li Qingshan was not resting with his eyes closed, but was deducing some supreme Dao!
"The Five Elements of the Primordial Chaos, this is the Great Dao that points directly to the origin!" The female palace master of the Arctic Ice God Palace trembled. She cultivated the Dao of Ice, belonging to the Water element branch, and at this moment, she felt it most strongly. In the black Dao principles surrounding Li Qingshan, she saw the true meaning of "water" that was even purer than ten thousand feet of ice.
Splash!
A holy ruler accidentally knocked over a wine jug, spilling the fine wine, but no one bothered to clean it up.
All eyes were fixed on the man in black robes at the east end.
The once noisy banquet became so quiet you could hear a pin drop within moments.
Even the fairy maidens of Jade Pool, who were dancing in the palace, noticed the change in atmosphere and quietly retreated to the sides.
They finally understood that the difficult question about the Five Elements that everyone had just discussed had touched the heart of this Eastern Exalt, causing him to enter a profound state of deducing the Great Dao on the spot!
The five-colored radiance initially appeared as a hazy halo, but gradually solidified into five dazzling divine rings of blue, red, yellow, white, and black.
The divine rings slowly rotated, intertwining with each other and evolving into endless mysteries.
Within the azure divine ring, the phantom of a towering ancient tree grows, its branches and leaves sprawling out the essence of Yi wood;
Within the crimson divine ring, Li Fire, and the phantom of a phoenix, bathed in fire, flapped its wings.
The yellow divine ring, as heavy as a mountain, carries the pulse of the earth;
The white divine halo was as sharp as a celestial sword, exuding the murderous aura of Geng metal;
The black divine halo was as deep as an abyss, with surging black water that nourished all things.
This is precisely the supreme divine power evolved from the Innate Great Dao of the Five Elements that Li Qingshan comprehended! Five-Colored Divine Light!
When the divine light first appeared, it only circulated around his body.
But as time went by, the five-colored radiance began to spread outwards, condensing into a five-colored auspicious cloud about ten feet in diameter above Li Qingshan's head.
Within the auspicious clouds, the five elements Dao patterns evolved on their own, sometimes transforming into the five sacred beasts of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Qilin, and sometimes condensing into the five elemental talismans of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, endlessly regenerating and repeating.
Even more mysteriously, tiny fragments of light scattered from the edge of the auspicious cloud, landing on the white jade ground and giving those inanimate objects a faint sense of life!
The natural patterns emerging on the surface of the jade become increasingly clear, resembling the veins of plants stretching out, or the ripples of water flowing, subtly forming a miniature innate Five Elements diagram.
The patterns changed slowly with a certain rhythm, sometimes like a winding Azure Dragon, sometimes like a vermilion Vermilion Bird flapping its wings, mysterious and indescribable.
The noise inside the hall gradually subsided.
All the holy lords, emperors, and living fossils unanimously put down their jade cups and spiritual fruits, sat upright, and looked solemn.
Some even close their eyes and concentrate, focusing all their attention on perceiving the changes in the Daoist principles within that three-foot-wide space.
What an incredible opportunity it is to witness the Eastern Exalt!
Those powerful rulers who cultivated techniques related to the Five Elements were especially excited and could hardly contain themselves.
The Innate Great Dao of the Five Elements evolved by Li Qingshan was nothing short of an unparalleled ancient scripture unfolding before their eyes!
"The Wood element gives rise to life, the Li Fire civilization, the Earth element carries all things, the Metal element brings death, and the Water element brings moisture. The Five Elements cycle endlessly!" A leader of a major sect in the Central Continent murmured to himself, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
He practiced an ancient earth-based method, and watching Li Qingshan perform the technique, he felt a slight sense of his bottleneck loosening.
The Queen Mother of the West and Lin Qingyao exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
They were sitting closest, so their sensations were the clearest.
Lin Qingyao finally understood that the mysterious change in the Dao she had sensed earlier was actually her junior brother deducing this astonishing Dao.
Gradually, strange phenomena began to "overflow" from within a three-foot radius around Li Qingshan.
It wasn't that he couldn't control it, but rather that the Dao evolved to a certain degree, naturally triggering a resonance between heaven and earth.
The five-colored radiance was no longer completely contained, but transformed into a hazy halo, enveloping him within a radius of about ten feet like the morning mist.
Within the halo, faint phantom images of the Azure Dragon soaring through the clouds, the Vermilion Bird bathing in fire, the White Tiger roaring to the heavens, the Black Tortoise Black Tortoise, and the Qilin treading on auspicious treads could be seen appearing alternately.
Each illusory figure that appears triggers a corresponding surge of the essence of heaven and earth.
The concentration of the Inner World began to surge.
The spiritual fruits and celestial wines displayed on the jade table, illuminated by the five-colored halo, seemed to revive, the withered fruits regaining their vitality, and the wines becoming even more mellow and fragrant.
Even more miraculously, the previously withered auras of several elderly cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans began to show signs of warming up.
"The power of the Five Fortune has touched the very essence of life!" An old monk from the Western Desert clasped his hands together, his eyes gleaming with Buddhist light, as if using this to confirm the Dharma.
All the holy masters held their breath, afraid of disturbing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe.
Even the young prodigies who were waiting outside the hall noticed the strange occurrence inside and gathered at the entrance, staring in disbelief at the scene.
Ye Fan stood in the crowd, his golden blood energy flowing naturally.
He cultivated the Source Arts and was keenly sensitive to the essence of the earth's veins. At this moment, he clearly felt that the essence of the entire Jade Pool Pure Land was slowly converging towards this Heavenly Palace, and at the center of the convergence was that figure in black robes.
Time passed little by little.
From the first light of dawn until the sun was high in the sky, Li Qingshan remained seated with his eyes closed, his body constantly radiating five-colored Dao principles.
Inside the hall, not a single person rose or spoke; they were all completely absorbed in observing the profound mysteries of the Great Dao's demonstration.
Until noon, sunlight streamed through the skylight and fell directly on Li Qingshan.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The five-colored halo, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, instantly merged into the body. All the strange phenomena dissipated, and the rich essence within the hall gradually calmed down.
Li Qingshan glanced at the solemnly seated crowd in the hall, paused for a moment, and then understood.
He picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and spoke in a calm, unchanging voice:
Please excuse my poor appearance.
The holy masters in the hall then seemed to awaken from a dream, exchanging glances and seeing the shock and lingering impression in each other's eyes.
It is unclear who led the way, but they all bowed solemnly towards the east.
This salute is to pay homage to the Great Way, and also to those who expound the Way.
The grand event proceeded without a ripple, and time flowed like water.
The Flat Peach Gathering has always lasted for five days, and the cultivators who came from all over the Five Regions would naturally not disperse in just one or two days.
Since they were all cultivators, there was no such thing as a break. From the moment the Immortal Bell rang, the banquet and discussions on the Dao never stopped.
Until the dawn broke on the fourth day, when the morning light pierced through the windows of the celestial palace and cast the first rays of golden light!
Just as the discussion on the Dao was reaching its climax and the Daoist spirit permeated the entire Heavenly Palace.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
A series of hurried footsteps came from the jade corridor outside the hall, breaking the mysterious atmosphere inside.
Immediately afterwards, the light and shadow at the palace gate dimmed, and a female disciple from Jade Pool entered.
"Reporting to the Queen Mother! Your Eastern Exalt!"
"An ancient creature has arrived! It claims to be from the Primordial Ancient Mine and wishes to enter the Jade Pool!"
"Clang!"
With a crisp sound, the glass cup in the hand of one of the holy lords slipped and shattered on the white jade floor.
The fine wine was spilled, but its rich aroma went unappreciated.
"What?!"
" Primordial Ancient Mine?!"
The gasps of surprise did not come from a single person, but rather swept up from every corner of the hall like a tidal wave.
Then came the clattering of more cups and saucers falling to the ground, a chaotic and terrifying symphony.
The mysterious Daoist aura that had just filled the hall was instantly dispelled by an invisible chill.
Everyone's expression changed, even those living fossils who had lived for thousands of years showed disbelief and fear in their eyes.
Primordial Ancient Mine.
That was no ordinary ancestral land of the Primordial Royal Clan, but one of the seven Life Forbidden Zone in the Big Dipper, a place of annihilation on par with the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land and the Undying Mountain!
Throughout history, even ancient sages have avoided discussing it.
Now, a creature has emerged from there and even sought out the Jade Pool?
Countless gazes turned to the east end of the main hall.
There, Li Qingshan slowly put down the jade cup in his hand.
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