Visualizing the Ancestral Diagram, the Heavenly Peng Bears the Azure

Zhou Tianchen's gaze darted back and forth between Yu Tunzhou and Daoist Shouxin, his brows knitted into a deep furrow.

Could this great figure of the Supreme Purity Dharma Lineage have taken a fancy to accepting a disciple?

But then Yu Tunzhou and young Mr. Li should have been martial nephew and martial uncle... Accepting a disciple on his master's behalf? No, that was absolutely impossible...

Then had this man done it deliberately, making Li Jingxuan call Yu Tunzhou senior brother, only to accept the latter as a disciple later and arbitrarily knock Li Jingxuan down a generation?

No, that wasn't right either. Who would do something so pointless... But was this man really above doing something so pointless?

Zhou Tianchen felt his brain simply couldn't keep up. The two halves of his mind battled it out; one idea would pop up, only for another to overturn it, until his thoughts were a mess of paste.

He couldn't fathom the slightest part of the Daoist's thinking.

He had entered the Dao Embryo realm and forged a Dao heart, and he was no weakling among those of the same realm. Yet before this man, he was still like a young child facing the heavens themselves: every guess he made was wrong.

Since ancient times, heaven's will had been lofty and hard to fathom, but none more so than the man before him.

"Hm? Little Zhou, why haven't you left yet?" The old Daoist looked at him in puzzlement. "Surely you don't expect this old Daoist to keep you here for a vegetarian meal?"

Zhou Tianchen abruptly came to his senses. He glanced first at the breeze still lingering around Yu Tunzhou, then at Li Jingxuan.

The former showed no intention of returning with him.

Li Jingxuan said, "Mr. Zhou, I'll be staying at the Daoist temple for a while to sort out the matter of the Daoist Temple's fortune. Please allow me a few days before I go there."

Zhou Tianchen glanced at the Daoist. This time, the Daoist did not object, so he nodded and said:

"No problem."

With that, Zhou Tianchen cast a reluctant glance at Yu Tunzhou's shoulder and solemnly added:

"If you have any questions about cultivating the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram, you can come find me at the Daoist Temple at any time."

Once the youth came to the ancestral residence, the ancestral spirit should return home of its own accord...

Zhou Tianchen went down the mountain and left.

Yu Tunzhou also took his leave and went to prepare dinner.

Inside the Daoist temple.

Sandalwood incense curled through the air, and candlelight flickered, casting the Daoist's and Li Jingxuan's long shadows against the mottled walls.

Li Jingxuan said helplessly, "Senior Brother, you seem to think highly of Senior Brother Yu, but getting him involved with me may not be a good thing."

As he saw it, his senior brother's scheme this time had been far too childish. It was as though, on a whim, he had insisted on getting under Li Jingxuan's skin. When one plan failed, he had made him bow his head to a youth from the countryside with an ordinary background and call him senior brother.

In truth, he cared about none of that.

With the Great Dao before him, these were all merely branches and leaves.

But it truly was no good for Yu Tunzhou to become involved with him. If Yu Tunzhou died because of him someday, that would be a sin.

"You can stay if you like. Sleep there." Daoist Shouxin pointed toward the study at the side, then gave a snort of laughter. "Having you call him senior brother was indeed partly meant to give him a little more good fortune, but how do you know this isn't your own fated opportunity?"

Li Jingxuan's expression turned serious at once. "Could Senior Brother Yu be hiding some secret?"

"A secret? There's no secret. He comes from the countryside, his parents died young, and his background is ordinary. Everything is clean and clear, or the thirty-nine households would have swallowed him alive long ago."

Li Jingxuan was silent for a moment, then asked, "How did Senior Brother Yu catch your eye these past three years? Enough for you to seek out a fated opportunity for him?"

Leaving cultivation realms aside, few in the Supreme Purity Dharma Lineage could match the breadth and reach of his senior brother's vision.

A youth of Senior Brother Yu's background should never have caught his eye, much less made him take such pains to lay out a fated opportunity for him.

The old Daoist shook his head. "He didn't do anything. In all his dealings with us, he held to the principles he took for granted. If you insist on saying he did something, it was being the best version of himself."

Li Jingxuan nodded gently. Indeed, if Senior Brother Yu had done nothing but fawn over him, this senior brother of his would not have spared him a second glance.

Yet in such circumstances, he had remained true to his heart. It seemed this newly acknowledged senior brother of his was a rare and remarkable person.

The old Daoist looked out at the night beyond the temple, standing with his hands behind his back. He sighed softly. "In this life, why go out of your way to please others at every turn? First be the best version of yourself, and please yourself."

Li Jingxuan considered this for a moment. "After you leave, Senior Brother, I can look after Senior Brother Yu a little, mediate the hostility he faces from the various households, and ensure he can leave this grotto-heaven alive someday."

The old Daoist smiled. "Is that what a resident sage should do? What about the rules?"

Li Jingxuan said calmly, "Wherever my Great Dao lies, that is where the rules lie."

The old Daoist had to admit that if Li Jingxuan truly represented the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple in this Dao contest, it would be an overwhelming calamity for the disciples of all thirty-nine households taking part.

That was even more true for Yu Tunzhou.

The old Daoist shook his head. "He doesn't need you to look after him yet. If he can't even get out of this grotto-heaven on his own, what use would there be in getting out?"

Li Jingxuan did not pursue the subject. He glanced at the roof beam where the wooden sword had hung before; it was now empty, and his expression suddenly turned somewhat helpless.

"How about a wager?" the old Daoist suddenly said with a beaming smile. "Do you think Yu Tunzhou can master that visualization diagram?"

Li Jingxuan smiled. "I believe Senior Brother Yu can do it."

"You little rascal, being that sly?" The old Daoist clicked his tongue. "Then let's change it. We'll bet on how many days it takes him to master the diagram."

How many days...

Li Jingxuan fell into thought.

He believed Yu Tunzhou could do it naturally because he placed even greater trust in the judgment of the man beside him.

But exactly how many days...

"Why don't you name a number first, Senior Brother?"

"Then, within three days."

"Three days?"

Li Jingxuan was astonished. That was far too confident. After all, it was only half a visualization diagram with an incomplete True Intention left in it. Leaving aside gathering the True Intention, even shaping a Primordial Spirit Inner Form was no simple task.

As far as the path of utmost yang and unyielding strength was concerned, the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple's Dharma lineage could rival a core inheritance of any great martial sect under heaven.

To master the visualization diagram, Yu Tunzhou would inevitably have to face the impact of its True Intention and the Heavenly Peng's questioning.

That intention of utmost yang and unyielding strength would be hard to endure. If he failed to guard his mind even slightly and damaged his Primordial Spirit, he would have to rest for three to five days.

Tame the Heavenly Peng True Intention within three days?

"Then I'll wager six days. Whoever comes closest wins. How about it?"

"All right. I'll let you have a little advantage. We'll do as you say." The old Daoist looked as though he were doing him a favor.

"What are the stakes?"

The old Daoist chuckled. "Let's not talk about money. Talking about money hurts feelings, so let's talk about feelings instead. If I win, you, Li Jingxuan, must treat Yu Tunzhou as your true senior brother for three lifetimes, even if he dies and is reincarnated."

Li Jingxuan was silent for a moment. He let out a soft breath and said, "Then if I win, shouldn't you acknowledge me as your junior brother, Senior Brother?"

"Agreed."

Li Jingxuan nodded and remarked, "This is quite a gamble."

The stakes on both sides were no small matter.

Just then.

Yu Tunzhou came from the kitchen carrying a wooden tray.

Li Jingxuan's gaze suddenly sharpened and fixed on the wooden tray.

The tray was very plain. On it were two servings of rice and two small bowls of stir-fried greens. The greens were emerald green, so plain that not even a sheen of oil could be seen.

Li Jingxuan was silent for a moment, realizing he had been tricked after all. He remembered seeing quite a few dried fish hanging under the neighboring eaves when he arrived...

He sighed. In the end, Li Jingxuan couldn't hold back and complained with a wry smile, "What you eat... really is plain, Senior Brother."

He said silently to himself, Senior Brother, I lost this round to you, but I won't lose the next one.

After all...

That was no ordinary visualization diagram.

Had he not happened to read the notes left behind by Heavenly Peng Daoist, he would never have imagined that the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple had actually preserved an ancestral diagram in Luofu Grotto-Heaven.

If he was not mistaken, it was the one the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple's ancestral spirit had personally delivered into Senior Brother Yu's hands.

Subdue that ancestral Peng in three days?

Even Heavenly Peng Daoist reincarnated couldn't do it.

The old Daoist chuckled. "I'm old. My appetite isn't what it used to be, and I can't eat rich fish and meat anymore."

Yu Tunzhou set down the tray and said warmly, "Junior Brother Li, what would you like to eat? As long as it's in the vegetable garden, I'll make it for you."

The vegetable garden...

Looking at the warm and cheerful Senior Brother Yu before him, Li Jingxuan immediately abandoned his earlier thought of looking after him.

His reason was perfectly sound-

Senior Brother Yu came from humble beginnings, so he should strive ceaselessly to better himself!

Only then would he have a chance to subdue that unruly Heavenly Peng someday.

The moon rose above the treetops.

Yu Tunzhou sat alone on his bed, thinking over his plans.

He intended to tell Old Mo tomorrow that, starting next week, Li Jingxuan's share would have to be included too, and that this week's share should also be made up.

With no residence to clean, he would no longer have to go down the mountain every day.

Apart from distributing the weekly Dragon Fish, he could devote all his time to cultivation.

He couldn't practice the Qi Ingestion Method or the Great Spirit Courtyard for too long, or his body wouldn't be able to bear it.

Thinking of his earlier exchange with Cao Jianjia, Yu Tunzhou reflected that his attainments in martial arts were still too low.

He ought to practice his punches and kicks more.

Besides that, there was the visualization diagram.

The Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple's visualization diagram was called the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram, and this visualization diagram was also said to be of utmost yang and unyielding strength.

Counting this visualization method, all three methods he currently cultivated seemed to follow a domineering, fierce path...

Should he find a gentler, yin-aspected method to balance them?

After all, only when yin and yang complemented each other was there Dao.

Having settled on a plan, Yu Tunzhou circulated the Spark Instruction and began practicing his Qi Ingestion Method for the night.

Soon, a small swirl of Qi formed with him at its center, gathering the clear Qi from his surroundings.

Inside his body, the Dragon Fish's strange energy was nourishing the inner Qi in his Dantian.

With the inside and outside working together, the Spark Instruction, driven at full force, was already showing signs of exceeding the scope of the Higher Vehicle.

After an unknown length of time, the vortex centered on Yu Tunzhou suddenly expanded violently!

Then the swirl of Qi slowly contracted until it stabilized.

Yu Tunzhou slowly exhaled a breath of turbid Qi and opened his eyes.

Third layer of the Spark Instruction, mastered.

Sensing the inner Qi growing stronger in his body, Yu Tunzhou directed it at will, sending it through his limbs along the Great Spirit Courtyard's route. Like rivers bursting their banks, his Blood Qi surged and rolled, his arm muscles swelled, and his strength increased greatly.

He marveled inwardly. This was only the Qi Ingestion Realm and the third layer of the Spark Instruction; he was still nowhere near Form Refinement.

He truly had no idea what heights the eleventh layer of the Spark Instruction and Form Refinement would reach.

After stabilizing his inner Qi, Yu Tunzhou did not continue cultivating in the Qi Ingestion Realm. Instead, he lit the oil lamp in the room and took out the visualization diagram.

To be honest, the diagram had really been battered by wind and frost. Only a vague outline could be made out...

Yu Tunzhou examined it carefully by the candlelight and could roughly see that at the very center of the diagram was a huge Peng bird, as though it might spread its wings and soar at any moment. Behind it should have been a vast, boundless azure sky.

"Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram... Makes sense!"

Having made out the general appearance of the visualization diagram, Yu Tunzhou emptied his mind and passed from stillness into Meditative Concentration.

Soon, the visualization diagram before him took on an entirely different appearance...

The faded, indistinct paper seemed to have been infused with life. A vast, primordial Qi flowed across it, as though veiled in a thin mist. Behind the mist, a huge Peng bird flickered in and out of sight, its enormous body covered in golden feathers.

It was as if someone had truly imprisoned a Heavenly Peng bearing the azure sky within the paper!

Lamentably, a painting so lifelike that it seemed close enough to touch was marked by stark cracks and had long since shattered into pieces. The flowing, primordial Qi represented the missing spaces.

Fortunately, the Peng bird's outline was still distinct, its head held high and its outspread wings bearing the azure sky.

This should be the remnant True Intention he needed to try to capture.

Yu Tunzhou pondered. He had seen where the True Intention lay, but how was he supposed to capture it and gather the remnants together?

He had no idea where to begin...

Although he could pass from stillness into Meditative Concentration, without cultivating a visualization diagram, he could not possibly draw upon the power of his Primordial Spirit.

No wonder Old Xie had said that cultivating a visualization diagram often required the assistance of an elder from one's sect.

Just as he found himself at a complete loss.

The shriek of a fierce bird, piercing clouds and splitting stone, came from far to near and exploded in Yu Tunzhou's mind in an instant!

In that instant alone, it overawed the unprepared Yu Tunzhou.

Immediately afterward, billowing, primordial white mist surged out of the visualization diagram, spreading in every direction like a tide and enveloping the surrounding world.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Tunzhou felt as though he had been pulled into another world, falling into a vast expanse.

He was no longer sitting on his bed. The surface beneath him was cold; he was on the edge of a cliff, with a sea of clouds churning all around and a vast, boundless azure sky overhead.

Within the billowing white mist, an enormous, slender body moved slowly. The parts occasionally revealed were covered in snow-white scales, and even the vast sea of clouds could not conceal its pair of majestic golden eyes.

It seemed to coil between heaven and earth, neither head nor tail visible, the sea of clouds existing because of it.

Is that... a dragon?!

Yu Tunzhou was already overcome with shock.

He didn't even have time to wonder why a dragon had appeared when he was viewing the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram.

The next moment, a fierce bird's piercing shriek suddenly rang through the void, carrying an incomparable savagery!

A talon so enormous it defied description descended from the sky and, in an instant, seized the dragonlike colossus in the sea of clouds. Immediately afterward, a huge Peng's head appeared and, with a single peck, blasted the dragon's head apart!

Dragon blood splashed across the sky, spattering Yu Tunzhou's face as well.

With a single toss of its head, the Peng bird that had appeared from nowhere swallowed the white dragon hidden in the sea of clouds, as though sucking down a tiny insect.

When the sea of clouds dispersed, Yu Tunzhou finally saw the creature's true form in its entirety and felt the utmost yang and unyielding strength that ran through heaven and earth.

It stood tall beneath the azure sky, head raised, its imposing presence reaching the heavens, its body vast, its wingspread boundless, golden feathers covering its form.

Now it lowered its head, its gaze cold, as if looking down at the youth before it with icy eyes.

A vast and majestic will used its gaze as a conduit and surged into Yu Tunzhou's mind.

Mighty and boundless, violent and fierce, unrestrained by heaven and earth, standing above all things, transcending everything!

This was the Heavenly Peng's will!

Understanding dawned on Yu Tunzhou.

If he wanted to master this visualization diagram on his own, he had to subdue the Heavenly Peng's will pouring into his mind.

At that moment.

Yu Tunzhou's consciousness left the illusion formed by the True Intention of the visualization diagram and returned to himself.

A question had just arisen in his mind: had gathering the remaining True Intention been a little too easy? He had not done anything yet, and the remaining True Intention had surged toward him of its own accord?

Just then, he sensed the dwelling place of his own Primordial Spirit with absolute clarity.

It lay between his brows, governing all the spirits.

It was the Niwan Palace.

"Ni," or mud, represented the state of primordial chaos, substantial yet soft;

"Wan," or pellet, represented its rounded, refined, and central nature;

"Palace" meant a palace or residence, emphasizing that it was the solemn dwelling place of the Primordial Spirit.

This was also Yu Tunzhou's first time reaching this place.

It was like a primordial void, filled everywhere with a pale golden mist, and that mist was the power of his Primordial Spirit.

To shape a Primordial Spirit Inner Form was to mold this Primordial Spirit power, spread out like chaos, into a shape and bring its spirit to life with the finishing touch.

At that moment, a Heavenly Peng spread its wings in the void. With a body of utmost yang and unyielding strength, it flew with the heavens on its back. Above the Peng's back was no ordinary blue sky, but the azure firmament transformed from the Dao!

It deliberately swooped over Yu Tunzhou's head, wild and untamed, as if challenging the youth below, as though saying-

So you're the one who wants to subdue this venerable one?

With a thought, Yu Tunzhou made a brief attempt. A length of golden chain pierced through the void and, amid the Heavenly Peng's furious screeches, bound it fast, leaving it unable to break free!