The lingering echoes of the Chaos Dao Platform still reverberated deep within the Qingwei Blessed Land, but Li Qingshan had already concealed all his aura, like an ancient sword returning to its sheath.
The black robe brushed against the blue stone, leaving no trace.
The mists of Jade Pool gradually gathered behind him, as if no one had ever set foot in this secret realm. A few thousand-year-old Yao herbs bowed slightly, the only evidence left by the wind as he passed by.
After six months of seclusion, he has mastered the Way of the Heavenly Emperor, but the path back still needs to be paved.
" Primordial Ancient Star, Earth,"
He stood atop a solitary peak outside the Jade Pool, his gaze piercing through the sea of clouds and reaching deep into the Big Dipper constellation.
The night wind filled my sleeves, bringing with it the earthy scent unique to the Northern Region and the faint ripples of the earth's veins.
Five fingers gently caressed a warm jade slip inside the sleeve. It was a fragment that had been unearthed from the pile of ancient books in Jade Pool half a year ago. Combined with the traces in the original book's memory, it pointed to the coordinates of an ancient planet in the Feathered Divine Dynasty that might contain other Ancient Life Star.
Five years.
From the initial Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin Dragon Transformation Realm where the Nine Dragons Pull the Coffin to the Big Dipper, he broke through all the barriers to reach the peak of the Dao-Slaying King at the third level of the Immortal Platform, where he could trigger Saint Tribulation at any time.
Such progress would even make the Ancient Great Emperor pale in comparison in their youth.
Before the Tai Shang Elders of Jade Pool went into seclusion, their last glance at him was filled with a mixture of awe and wonder.
Throughout the millennia of history, they had never seen anyone break through cultivation realms as easily as drinking water. This was beyond reason and almost a manifestation of the Dao itself.
However, Li Qingshan remained unmoved.
For him, advancement in cultivation was merely the inevitable result of "cognition" reflecting reality. With an Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, and Stone Gate connecting all heavens to forge the origins of all realms, it would Union with the Dao if he could not achieve such rapid progress.
"I originally intended to follow Ye Fan's path and return to our home planet together," he murmured, his voice fading with the wind, "But now it seems unnecessary."
With fingers loosely clenched, the jade powder flowed from between the fingers and was swept away by the mountain wind.
However, before heading to the former site of the Feathered Divine Dynasty, let's retrieve the other one of the Nine Secrets first.
Qinling Mountains, Qin Sect, the Nine Secret: Bing ).
" The Nine Secrets have already mastered the arts of movement, combat, all, and advance; the Four Secretaries should now complete their mastery of the art of controlling troops."
The Nine Secrets: Xing grants him extreme speed, the Nine Secrets: Dou enables offensive attacks, Nine Secrets: Jie amplifies his combat power tenfold. The Nine Secrets: Qian allows him to foresee fortune and misfortune. With these four secrets at his disposal, he has already benefited immensely.
The Nine Secret: Bing, the Way of Controlling Soldiers, is said to command the submission of all soldiers and is the supreme art of weaponry. It is also a matter of great opportunity. Now that we have the strength, taking it is easy, so there is naturally no need for any hesitation.
Qinling Mountains, Qin Sect.
As he uttered those four words, the temperature on the mountaintop plummeted by three degrees. The laws responded to his will, subtly adjusting the energy flow in that area.
Three days later, deep in the Qinling Mountains.
The mountains, rugged and winding like a dragon's spine, are covered with ancient trees reaching for the sky. A pale purple veil of miasma hangs over the surrounding area. The terrain here is treacherous, with underground dragon veins intertwined like the roots of an old tree, forming a natural domain. Occasionally, a cultivator's sword light flashes by, but they always avoid this area. The Qinling Mountains have been known for their strange occurrences since ancient times. The elders say that even Mighty Figure would stop in some places.
" Qin Sect,"
Li Qingshan stopped at a cliff edge and looked towards the palace deep in the mountains.
A misty haze enveloped the area, obscuring the view of green-tiled roofs and flying eaves. The sound of the morning bell, carried from ten miles away, was muffled, like a humming sound emanating from underwater.
The gate is simple and ancient, and the two characters " Qin Sect " on the plaque are mottled, but every stroke exudes a strange and harmonious Daoist charm. After looking at it for a long time, it even makes people feel a sense of obedience that "this is how it should be" and "this is how it should be".
Traces of the Deity-Deliverance Art.
The legacy of the Ruthless Great Emperor can convert all living beings and turn enemies into friends. Legend has it that a Saint Lord-level figure once broke into the Qinling Mountains, and emerged three days later with a smile, voluntarily joining the Qin Sect to sweep the grounds. Since then, no one has dared to underestimate this hidden sect.
"Using sound to guide the spirit, using rhythm to transform the heart," Li Qingshan's eyes flickered slightly, "That's quite a method."
He continued on his way.
As they entered the mountain gate, two gatekeepers were dozing against a stone lion. One of them suddenly opened his eyes, rubbing his eyes, and asked, "Did someone just pass by?"
The other person mumbled, still half-asleep, "There's not a soul in sight. You must be dreaming."
"But I clearly felt a gust of wind,"
"It's just the mountain wind. When doesn't it get windy in this godforsaken place?"
Li Qingshan was already standing at the edge of the main peak training ground.
It was the morning class, and hundreds of disciples in gray-blue Daoist robes sat cross-legged on the bluestone square, facing the high platform. On the platform was a white-haired elder with the cultivation of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm. His voice was as gentle as a spring, and each word he uttered was accompanied by faint golden runes that floated down and landed between the disciples' brows.
"The Great Dao is formless, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao is without emotion, yet it governs the sun and moon."
The scripture was quite ordinary, the Daoist foundational text, the * Scripture of Purity and Tranquility *. But combined with the elder's unique pronunciation rhythm, each word was like a small hammer, gently tapping the listener's soul. Li Qingshan saw that the eyes of the disciples in the front row gradually became glazed, and their auras began to resonate in sync with the elder's—signs of the subtle influence of the Deity-Deliverance Art ).
What you hear is the Way; what you plant is the Seal.
Listening for one day is fine, listening for ten days will make you feel close, listening for a hundred days will make you yearn for it, and listening for a thousand days will make the Way of the Qin Sect the Way and your heart the heart of the Qin Sect.
Li Qingshan shook his head silently and looked away.
Divine thoughts spread silently, like mercury spilling onto the ground.
It instantly covered the entire main peak.
Every blade of grass, every brick and tile, the rhythm of the disciple's breathing, the flow of the elder's blood and qi—all this information surged into his sea of consciousness like a torrent, only to be instantly analyzed, categorized, and have redundant information eliminated by the divine soul at the peak of the third level of the Immortal Platform.
Found it.
Behind the main peak, there is a cave dwelling located at a node of the dragon vein.
The cave was not large, only about three zhang square. The central jade platform was entirely black, seemingly cast from some kind of meteorite iron, with natural flame patterns on its surface.
An old man in black robes sat cross-legged on it, surrounded by solid black flames, with runes appearing and disappearing within each wisp of flame.
With each breath, the essence of Inner World the cave rose and fell like the tides, and he breathed in sync with the entire Qinling Mountains range.
This was actually a reclusive immortal King of the Immortal Three rank.
Even more surprisingly, this old man had already progressed extremely far in the King Realm, and was only a hair's breadth away from the Great Completion Realm.
In this era where the Great Dao is suppressed and Saint are not emerging, such cultivation can be considered unparalleled.
It's quite interesting that such an old monster is hidden deep within the Qin Sect.
However, for Li Qingshan now, there is no difference between King and a mortal. If someone were to actually appear and obstruct him, it would be a matter of a flick of the wrist, and he could be wiped out in an instant.
The old man's face was etched with wrinkles like those carved by a knife and axe, and his eyelids drooped, giving him an appearance of decay and impending collapse. But Li Qingshan's divine sense could "see" it clearly: beneath that aged body, blood and qi surged like magma from the earth's core, and every drop of blood contained the terrifying power to burn mountains and boil seas.
"Guarded for eight hundred years, man and mountain are one," Li Qingshan read the information on the cave wall.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes.
Black flames leaped in his eyes, the temperature in the cave rose sharply, and the stone walls glowed with a dark red light. He frowned, his withered hand pressed on the jade platform, and his divine sense exploded, sweeping across every inch of the main peak like a tsunami.
Disciples, elders, birds, insects—everything was as usual.
"An illusion?" the old man murmured, his voice hoarse like the grinding of gravel. "Or has something come in?"
He pondered for three breaths, then suddenly sneered, "So be it. Even if there are truly villains, the Qinling Mountains Great Formation was laid out by the Source Heavenly Master Lineage. Even King would perish here."
He closed his eyes again, and the black flames subsided.
Three zhang outside the cave, Li Qingshan stood with his hands behind his back, his black robes remaining perfectly still amidst the ebb and flow of the heaven and earth's essence.
When that tsunami-like divine sense swept over him just now, it was like the wind passing over a mountain ridge. In the "detection logic" of the old man's divine sense, there was no target " Li Qingshan ".
It's like a person using their naked eye to find ants, but ignoring the dust in the air.
Difference in dimensionality.
The search for the Nine Secret: Bing" took a full three days.
On the third day at dusk, he stopped in a remote valley.
Nestled between three peaks, the valley is perpetually shrouded in darkness, damp and cold. The stone walls are covered in dark green moss, slippery and cool, with a sticky feel when touched. The walls are carved with simple patterns: tripods, bells, pagodas, mirrors, furnaces, spears, swords, and clubs, the lines crude and twisted, like a child's scribbles, completely out of place with the exquisite stone carvings of other parts of the Qin Sect.
But Li Qingshan stopped.
He placed his hand on the center of the stone wall, and felt a very subtle tremor in his palm. Something inside the stone wall was "breathing," and its frequency gradually synchronized with his heartbeat.
"There's more to it than meets the eye."
He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and waited quietly.
The last rays of the setting sun swept across the mountaintop, and the night sky was as dark as ink. The night in the Qinling Mountains was eerily quiet; even the chirping of insects was rare, except for the whistling of the wind as it passed through the cracks in the rocks, like the weeping of countless wronged souls.
At midnight, the moon is high in the sky.
The bright moonlight cascaded down like a silver waterfall from the gap between the three peaks, precisely illuminating the stone wall. The rough carvings began to change, the lines decomposed and reassembled, and the "meaning" shifted.
Li Qingshan did not open his eyes.
But within his sea of consciousness, the image of the stone wall clearly appeared.
The cauldron is no longer just a cauldron; it transforms into a cosmic panorama of the Dao giving birth to One, One to Two, Two to Three, with primordial chaos pervading and all things beginning to emerge. The bell becomes the river of time, its pendulum Eternal scale, each swing marking the passing of an era. The tower is divided into nine levels, each a world unto itself, where space infinitely expands and collapses. Mirrors, furnaces, spears, swords, and clubs—each crude weapon—evolve a law, expounding a great Dao. They are not mere "tools," but the "Dao."
The carrier of rules is their manifestation.
The ethereal Daoist voice came from deep within the stone wall; it was a stream of information directly imprinted on the soul.
The voice was ancient and desolate, each syllable carrying the weight of Mythological Era, as if it were a lingering echo from the sermon hall of a celestial being, traversing countless ages.
Li Qingshan realized that this was one of the Nine Great Heavenly Lords of the Mythological Era, the creator of the Nine Secret: Bing.
The sound of the Dao became increasingly clear.
All the patterns on the stone wall began to rotate, decompose, and reorganize, and finally collapsed into one word, soldier!
The moment those words appeared, the flow of time in the entire valley changed drastically.
The moonlight solidified in the mid-air, forming a silver band of light; the wind stopped, and the rolled up dead leaves hung three feet above the ground; the bells of Qinmen in the distance were lengthened into a dull buzzing that lingered for a long time. The field associated with the word "bing" was too heavy and too ancient. Just its appearance made the surrounding time and space freeze.
A thunderous roar exploded in Li Qingshan's ears.
No, it wasn't thunder, it was the word itself that was "speaking." Every stroke trembled, like a peerless divine weapon striking down:
The first sound was like Heavenly Blade piercing the sky, severing Cause and Effect;
The second sound was like a spear piercing the sun, cutting through the cycle of reincarnation;
The third sound was like a giant hammer striking the ground, solidifying the laws;
The fourth note was like a divine bowstring drawn, shooting down stars; each word pierced the heart, each sentence severed the soul!
The core of the Nine Secret: Bing " is "controlling soldiers," and to control ten thousand soldiers, one must first sever the dependence on "weapons." This sound is specifically created to sever the "attachment to soldiers" in one's heart; if you cannot withstand it, you will die; only if you can withstand it are you qualified to comprehend it.
Li Qingshan's consciousness was jolted.
The two natal artifacts roared simultaneously, the Pangu Banner and the Central Wuji Apricot-Yellow Flag vying for supremacy with the Dao Sound!
"Quiet."
With a thought, Li Qingshan calmed both weapons down.
He didn't need to fight against the sound; he never relied on the "instrument."
They are extensions of his Way, manifestations of his will, but not his essence. His essence is himself, the Way that is already taking shape. I am the law, I am the will of Heaven.
Therefore, that sound could not cut him.
Instead, it became a tempering process.
Each word was like a hammer blow, striking the very foundation of his teachings.
After an unknown amount of time, the Daoist chanting gradually subsided.
The word "bing" on the stone wall slowly dissipated and turned back into those clumsy patterns. The moonlight returned to flowing, dead leaves fell to the ground, and the bells sounded normally. The valley returned to dead silence, as if everything just now was just a dream.
" The Nine Secret: Bing' has been completed."
The complete scripture has been imprinted deep within my soul.
The ancestor of all weapons, the sole arbiter of the Dao.
To control ten thousand soldiers, one must first master one. This one soldier is not an external object, but the cultivator's own "tool for proving the Dao," known as the " Weapon Ancestor." It is both the starting point and the end point of the Nine Secret: Bing. Only by using the Weapon Ancestor to command ten thousand soldiers can one follow the right path.
Li Qingshan pondered.
Which of his two natal weapons should he choose as the Weapon Ancestor?
The Pangu Banner governs warfare, Central Wuji Apricot-Yellow Flag governs protection.
He thought for a moment, then smiled.
Why choose this option?
The Nine Secret: Bing "unique" is from the perspective of "tool." But for Li Qingshan, he himself is the "tool," the " Weapon Ancestor."
They are all part of him, like his arms, eyes, and heart. Who would hesitate about whether to use their hands or their eyes to prove the truth?
"The true uniqueness is the uniqueness of the Tao."
Two torrents of energy intertwined in his palm, eventually collapsing into a single point that merged into the Immortal Platform between his brows.
From then on, every gesture he made was that of a soldier.
His five fingers are spears, his gaze is swords, his hair is ropes, his breath is bells, and even his very existence is an ultimate weapon capable of severing all paths and splitting space and time!
"This is the true essence of the Nine Secret: Bing '." Li Qingshan's eyes were as deep as an ancient well. "He who controls ten thousand soldiers will ultimately be controlled by them. Only by becoming a soldier himself can one attain true freedom."
He rose, his black robes fluttering in the mountain wind, his figure about to blend into the night.
Deep in the Qinling Mountains, at the main peak of the Qin Sect Cave.
The old man in black robes suddenly opened his eyes. This time, black flames erupted completely from his eyes, and the stone walls of the cave instantly melted into crimson magma under this intense aura, dripping down in a stream.
"Someone has disturbed the legacy!"
The withered hand slammed heavily onto the jade platform, causing the entire main peak of the Qinling Mountains to tremble violently. The underground dragon veins, like a sleeping ancient dragon, suddenly awoke, and the boundless power of the earth veins surged wildly along the ancient array patterns, all rushing towards that remote valley.
"Whoever dares to touch anything belonging to the Qin Sect, shall die a worthy death!"
The old man transformed into a black torrent of flame that tore through the Void, breaking through the cave's restrictions and rushing straight towards the valley. Wherever he passed, space distorted and collapsed, and the vegetation and rocks along the way instantly turned to ashes.
However, when he arrived at the valley in a fit of rage, the sight before him made him stop abruptly.
The stone walls remain mottled, the moss still slippery, and the moonlight still cold.
Everything is as usual.
Only a faint trace of Daoist charm remained in the air, as if someone had gently plucked the strings of the Great Dao here, the lingering sound not yet dissipated.
"How is this possible?!" The old man's face turned ashen, and his divine sense swept across every inch of land within a hundred miles like a raging tsunami.
He suddenly remembered the warning sign that had struck him on a whim three days ago.
That's not an illusion.
Something really did enter, and under the protection of this supreme King, and in his perception of breathing with the Qinling Mountains vein, it was as if it were entering an empty place.
Even the ancient formation in the Qinling Mountains remained completely undisturbed.
The old man stood in the valley, the night wind brushing against his aged face, and a long-lost chill rose up his spine.
Meanwhile, three thousand miles outside the Qinling Mountains, atop a desolate mountain.
Li Qingshan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the boundless starry sky.
The Big Dipper hangs high in the sky, its brilliant starlight cascading down like a waterfall from the heavens, swirling around him in a soft halo.
The aura of the peak of the third level of Immortal Platform was released without reservation, resonating with the laws of heaven and earth, causing the winds and clouds in all directions to change color.
" The Nine Secret: Bing is complete; it's time to go to the Feathered Divine Dynasty."
97
He muttered to himself, the ancient coordinates recorded on the jade slip appearing in his mind: the western part of the Central Continent, a land of ruins long buried by the yellow sands of time.
The Feathered Divine Dynasty, once a colossal entity that ruled the entire Central Continent, was the supreme power of the Big Dipper Ancient Star of the Big Dipper. Although it has been destroyed for over two hundred thousand years, countless secrets are still hidden deep within its ruins. Among these secrets are the star coordinates leading to other Ancient Life Star.
Li Qingshan needs those coordinates.
Earth, Primordial Ancient Star, was his homeland, the place he had to return to.