Taking Innate in Reverse
The Origin of Beginnings, the Origin of Flourishing, the Mystery of Suspension and Concealment, the Concealment of the Ruins of Return!
Four mysterious and spiritual energies intertwined and shone deep within the Qi Yun Purple Mansion [Great Luo Heaven], slowly Lunzhuan to form a perfect circle.
It elucidates the rudimentary form of the Great Dao's cycle from birth to prosperity, through uncertainty, and finally to return to nothingness.
At this point, Qi Yun has obtained three of the "Four Spirits of Domain Heaven" required to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
Only one item remains - [Innate].
He will then be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!
" Of the Four Spirits of Domain Heaven, [Yin and Yang] and [Clarity and Turbidity] are the easiest to obtain, as they are the foundation of the manifestation of Heaven and Earth. All things in the world contain them. As long as one's Law Power is pure enough and one's understanding is profound enough, it is possible to absorb and refine them. Although it takes effort, there are ways to do so."
Cai Shen, the Wealth Connects to the Divine, sat on Qi Yun's shoulder and saw that Qi Yun was currently preparing to break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
"And the [Four Seasons] and the [Innate] are the true gateways to the Great Dao."
[Four Seasons] Outside, concerning cause and effect, one must personally enter the tribulation, plucking the flowing light of inspiration amidst the chaos. The difficulty lies in fortuitous opportunity and courage.
It paused, turned its head to look at Qi Yun, whose face was still pale but whose eyes were clear, and a strange expression appeared on its golden face. "As for [Innate] -- it is included."
It is said to be difficult, as difficult as ascending to heaven, because it concerns the beginning of the Tao and the origin of things, which is ethereal and elusive, leaving no trace. Countless brilliant talents have been trapped and died before this barrier, unable to obtain it despite their efforts.
It's easy to say—but it's also incredibly easy.
"What do you mean?" Qi Yun circulated his Law Power to calm the internal tremors caused by the aftershocks of his clash with the True Lord's probing. He wiped away a trace of pale gold blood from the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but ask.
This Imperial Weapon Spirit possesses vast knowledge; even during the Great Tang, some True Lord were likely inferior to him, and he has profound understanding of some obscure cultivation techniques.
Cai Shen's golden statue straightened its back slightly. "Others who seek [the Innate] must cultivate diligently without ceasing, travel in spirit through the vast void, and capture that first ray of spiritual light in the boundless sea of Dao."
Returning to Innate from the acquired state, and striving upwards against the tide, is extremely difficult.
But you are different.
Its gaze seemed to pierce through Qi Yun's physical body, looking directly into the vast [Great Luo Heaven] deep within his Purple Mansion: "You are the [Supreme Dao Foundation]!"
What is the supreme being?
It transcends all laws and governs all paths; its very foundation has touched the source of the Great Dao, secretly aligning with the wonders of the Innate!
Your Dao Foundation, in a sense, is a Innate manifestation of your innate nature in this world.
Or rather, the Supreme Dao Foundation is one of the forms of the "Innate".
Therefore, you yourself are [Innate]!
You are inherently [Innate]!
This short sentence was like a thunderbolt, a sudden awakening, instantly dispelling the many doubts and fears in Qi Yun's mind about this challenge.
The treasure I had been desperately seeking outside had always been within myself!
He immediately became solemn, respectfully cupped his hands to the small golden statue of Cai Kun on his shoulder, and said sincerely, "Your words, senior, have cleared away the clouds and revealed the sun."
Please teach me, senior.
"Of course, of course."
Cai Kun smiled generously, shifted his little bottom on Qi Yun's shoulder to find a more comfortable position, and then opened his mouth.
A secret script syllable containing unique Daoist rhythms, like a babbling brook or the harmonious sound of ancient bells and chimes, directly entered the depths of Qi Yun's Sea of Consciousness.
This is not a lengthy discourse, containing only a few hundred syllables, yet each one carries immense weight, pointing directly to the origin of the Great Dao.
It contains the key to how to reverse the Innate.
Qi Yun closed his eyes and concentrated, immersing his entire mind in this secret incantation.
The Dao Foundation of [Great Luo Heaven] operates spontaneously, rapidly analyzing and digesting its infinite mysteries with its unparalleled capacity for inclusiveness and deduction.
Time seemed to stand still in the outside world.
Only when the Daoist voice resonates in the Sea of Consciousness does spiritual light bloom.
After about half an incense stick's time, Qi Yun suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were bright and clear, and a primordial scene of chaos being created and nebulae being born flashed in his depths.
He let out a long breath.
The aura was initially turbid, but after leaving the body for three feet, it transformed into a wisp of pure Spiritual Qi, without any acquired impurities, and disappeared into the void.
"Truly, True Disciple three sentences, while false teachings fill countless volumes." Qi Yun sighed, his gaze towards Cai Shen filled with undisguised gratitude. "Without your guidance, I fear I would have spent over a decade, or even longer, groping in the dark before barely grasping the basics, encountering countless perilous detours along the way."
Sensing the sincere gratitude in Qi Yun's eyes, Cai Kun waved his hand, his tone relaxed and casual. "No need for that. You helped me escape my predicament, giving me a new life. This is an immense favor, and I should repay it."
Besides, you are a decisive and bold young man, but not reckless, cautious but not timid.
His temperament suits my taste perfectly; he has a resemblance to an old friend of mine.
Let's just consider this a case of friends helping each other out.
It chuckled, a hint of mockery on its golden face. "Perhaps one day you'll achieve enlightenment and become a remarkable figure, and I'll have to shamelessly beg you to help me get that wooden body back from Southern Yin."
The last sentence, spoken lightly and clearly as a joke, also implies a faint expectation for the distant future.
"Hmm." Qi Yun didn't say much, just nodded slightly.
Immediately, his expression turned serious, and he didn't delay any longer.
Seated cross-legged atop the Black Cliff of the West Sea, with the ancient, desolate, dark ocean and Ruins Qi behind him, and the barren, endless Gobi Desert before him.
Qi Yun slowly raised his hands and placed them on his knees, forming a simple and ancient mudra that resembled a fetus curled up in the womb.
This is the initial seal in the Secret Method passed down by Cai Kun, which activates one 'Innate nature.
"The Great Way is silent, and all things return to its origin."
"With my method, I awaken my beginning—"
A deep and clear chanting voice flowed from Qi Yun's mouth; it was not ordinary language, but a Daoist sound of the same origin as the previous secret inscription.
As he chanted, a mysterious change began to occur in his aura.
First, the void behind them rippled again, and the [Great Luo Heaven] phenomenon manifested.
This time, however, it was not the overwhelming expansion seen when facing an enemy, but rather a contraction and condensation inwards, ultimately transforming into a crystal bead with a diameter of only three feet, yet more solid, with chaotic internal air currents swirling like a vortex, enveloping Qi Yun's upper body within it.
On the surface of the jewel, the phantoms of the sun, moon, stars, earth, water, fire, and wind are created and destroyed at an extremely slow speed, as if enacting the profound truth of the very first moment of creation.
Immediately afterwards, within Qi Yun's Purple Mansion, the newly gathered [Four Seasons] spiritual energy shone brightly, with four-colored radiance emanating from his body and merging into the [Great Luo Heaven] light sphere behind him.
"Buzzing--"
A deep Dao resonance emanated from Qi Yun's body; it was not the cracking of his bones, but rather the resonance between his Dao Foundation and the Great Dao!
His skin began to radiate a warm, jade-like luster, his bones faintly glowed with a precious Baoguang, and the sound of his blood flowing was like the rushing of rivers, or like the profound pronouncements of the Great Dao.
Tracing back!
Qi Yun suddenly opened his eyes wide, and there was no longer any distinction between pupil and white of the eye, only a deep and endless expanse.
He opened his mouth, facing the empty space in front of him, and uttered an ancient syllable.
Boom!
The space in front of me wasn't shattered, but the scene suddenly twisted and reversed!
Centered on him, within a radius of a hundred feet, the drifting Ruins Qi and debris rose upwards; the faint air currents that swept across the cliff walls swirled in the opposite direction.
Even the eternally still, inky surface of the West Sea seemed to ripple with converging ripples—
Everything presents an image of "returning to the origin"!
This is a localized extraordinary phenomenon triggered by the eruption of his own Innate energy!
Using himself as an anchor, he forcibly carved out a small piece of land in this acquired world, a place of "reversing the Innate"!
"Condense!"
The second syllable is pronounced with even greater emphasis.
Qi Yun's pores suddenly opened, releasing countless tiny specks of light, as fine as dust, with a chaotic color, yet radiating the most primal and pure aura of the Great Dao!
The light burst forth like mist, but instead of dissipating, it converged, collided, and fused wildly above his head, at the center of the [Great Luo Heaven] Orb!
In the beginning, there was only chaos.
But as the light spots gathered more and more and merged more and more deeply, the chaotic light mist began to collapse and solidify inward.
Gradually, a radiance that could not be described by any acquired color was born.
It is neither black nor white, neither blue nor purple, seemingly encompassing all the possibilities of color, yet also seemingly transcending the concept of color.
The light grew brighter and more solid, eventually transforming into a strange "crystal" about the size of a pigeon's egg, perfectly round, with a smooth, mirror-like surface, and seemingly containing a miniature chaotic universe within.
The crystal rotates slowly, and with each rotation, it emits a strange, invisible wave that soothes all acquired agitation and returns all things to their tranquil origin.
At this moment, the [Innate] spirit, under Qi Yun's guidance—using his own Supreme Dao Foundation as a furnace, the [Four Seasons] as fire, and the supreme Secret Method as a catalyst—successfully gathered and Manifestation!
The instant the crystal took shape, the reverse flow phenomenon and bursting light spots behind Great Luo Heaven Qi Yun converged.
The confusion in his eyes faded, and he regained his clarity, but his face became even paler, and his breath weakened once again.
But as he gazed at the [Innate] crystal floating before his eyes and slowly descending into his palm, feeling the pure, ancient, and eternal Daoist essence within it, his eyes were filled with only burning desire and satisfaction.
The Four Spirits of Domain Heaven are now complete!
The gateway to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage has been completely opened before him.
Once he has recovered from his shock, we can try to break through his defenses!