Big Dipper Soul-Returning Seven Po Heavenly Grotto

As soon as the Daoist's appearance was fully revealed, everything in the suite's living room suddenly blurred.

The illusory flame between Teacher Little Yuan's brows extinguished, leaving only the Daoist's phantom image, hanging alone in mid-air.

Chu Tianshu's suspended hand was also affected; his forearm trembled slightly, and he looked surprised.

"The Spirit Realm..."

The blurry scenery just now wasn't due to any magic the Daoist priest used, but rather because the real world was rejecting him.

Chu Tianshu had experienced similar situations several times.

When he breaks through the Overflow Zone, the real environment will repel the main Spirit Realm energy of the Overflow Zone back.

I had that feeling back then.

This Daoist priest doesn't seem to be Evil Spirit; could he also be a spirit from the Spirit Realm?

Chu Tianshu secretly channeled his inner energy and solemnly asked, "What species are you? Why are you haunting my friend's dream?"

"I am, of course, a human being."

The female Daoist priest spoke in a cool tone, but there was a hint of surprise in her eyes, and she couldn't help but wave her whisk.

"Time has changed, hundreds of years have passed, and now someone has actually been able to step into the Taboo in the present world?"

Chu Tianshu made a grasping motion from a distance, using only a portion of his own power and not demonstrating his ability to mobilize the essence of heaven and earth.

The female Daoist priest could see through his cultivation level at a glance; she was probably someone who had also crossed that threshold.

"I am not the first person in the world to step into Taboo."

Chu Tianshu remained unmoved. "Regardless of your identity, you have disturbed my friend without cause; you deserve an explanation."

The female Daoist priest lowered her eyebrows, as if deep in thought.

Her appearance was cool and aloof, and her temperament was even colder. When she was deep in thought, it was easy to mistake her for arrogance and disdain to reply.

Thanks to Chu Tianshu's keen senses, there was no misunderstanding, and he waited quietly for about ten seconds.

"My name is Chen Ying, a disciple of the Golden Elixir Southern School."

The female Daoist priest turned to look at Yuan Zhonglü, a hint of tenderness on her face.

"I did not mean to harass this child; it is simply because she is destined to be with me, and the Grotto-Heaven Treasure Ship has chosen her as my Incense-Bearing Child."

"I had no choice but to try my best to cultivate him."

"However, the Golden Elixir Southern School has always been self-reliant, achieving perfection without flaw, and is not adept at communicating with outsiders. I chose the True Person Foundation Establishment, which was passed on to me in a dream, but I'm afraid I'll still be the slowest to progress."

Her words revealed a great deal of information.

"Incense-Bearing Child" is a term similar to "spirit medium" or "shaman."

This refers to the practice of highly skilled individuals who, due to their limited worldly experience, choose individuals with special physical characteristics or preordained connections as their anchors.

The Incense-Bearing Child can call upon a wise person for help, and also needs to do things for that wise person.

As for the Golden Elixir Southern School, which is perfectly harmonious and flawless, there's not much to say about that.

The Dao of Alchemy is a practice that emerged later than "spiritual communication." Compared to the spiritual path that relies heavily on sensory perception, the Dao of Dao of Alchemy is more independent and therefore less likely to communicate with outsiders.

"True Person Foundation Establishment?"

Chu Tianshu didn't know much about this word.

"The so-called 'True Person Foundation Establishment ' is actually the method of the Golden Elixir Northern School."

Chen Ying remained calm and composed as he spoke, "Our Northern and Southern schools share many commonalities. Although some of our seniors disagreed, others were close friends."

"The method of True Person Foundation Establishment was created by Wang Chongyang, a senior of the Northern School. It is also known as the Living Dead Method.' It uses a state of mind of clarity and harmony to overcome the fear of life and death, and disperses the internal alchemy skills throughout the limbs and bones to regulate the body."

"I hope to emulate the body of an ancient True Person, one who, though lacking True Qi, possesses a vitality that can reach the heavens, with lively blood and qi, and whose physical body, in every detail, is perfectly aligned with the workings of heaven and earth."

"If this method can be mastered, it will be the most effective way for our Golden Core sect to communicate with external objects."

This perfectly matches the cultivation situation that Yuan Zhonglü mentioned.

Chu Tianshu also sensed it when he took Chu Tianshu's pulse.

Yuan Zhonglü is known for her mastery of internal energy cultivation, but her approach differs from that of typical internal energy cultivation methods.

Because she is too normal, too healthy.

Those who practice internal energy cultivation are not actually that normal.

Chu Tianshu himself had a deep understanding of this. Unless one reaches a level similar to that of the Martial Stove God of the Kitchen, the body of a cultivator will have some indicators that far exceed the normal level and will not be balanced.

Only Martial Stove God can return to simplicity and authenticity, leaving no trace of his true nature.

Teacher Little Yuan's physical strength clearly hasn't reached that level, which can only mean that her cultivation method has some hidden secrets.

"It sounds like you're only giving her the benefits."

Chu Tianshu laughed, "But since you mentioned differences in progress, it means that you gave her these benefits, which also forced her to compete with certain people, right?"

Chen Ying has not yet answered; she is simply staring at Yuan Zhonglü.

Teacher Little Yuan suddenly woke up, looking somewhat bewildered. She then patted her forehead and gave a complex smile.

"This is really..."

She looked at Chu Tianshu, "Let me explain."

"My connection with this Senior Chen was almost there, but you pulled her projection into reality just now, which actually helped her out."

"Once the bond is fully formed, the power of the Grotto-Heaven will allow me and her to share some of our common knowledge."

Teacher Little Yuan clearly understood better how to tell this story from the perspective of a modern spiritual practitioner.

First, we must address the separation between the Spirit Realm and reality.

In the eyes of the ancients, the upheaval that separated the real world from the Spirit Realm, and made people afraid to step into Taboo ever again, was called the "Wind of Dao Dissolution."

That wind makes the Great Dao clearer, fuller, easier to comprehend, and easier to transform into the Dao.

When the wind first began to blow, it actually allowed some unparalleled experts to advance even further, and they were also the first to realize the danger of this wind.

Therefore, they found those natural secret spaces between the two worlds, and further transformed them to create Grotto-Heaven.

The Wind of Dao Dissolution have no effect on mortals. As long as those above the Taboo hide in their Grotto-Heaven, they can reconnect with the outside world when the winds weaken.

The transformation of the Grotto-Heaven involved not only Immortal but also deities, who indeed made the Grotto-Heaven extremely secure.

However, the isolation between the inside and outside was too tight, which caused problems.

The secret realm itself, like the two realms of heaven and earth, will be easily penetrated and swept away by the Wind of Dao Dissolution.

The Grotto-Heaven, by completely isolating the excess power of transformation from the Dao, transforms the wind force into a thrust.

During the era when the Wind of Dao Dissolution were at their most intense, many Grotto-Heaven were blown away by the unparalleled force of these winds!

"Blown away?"

Chu Tianshu couldn't help but repeat it.

He had also imagined what the ancients meant by "Grotto-Heaven," and even speculated whether it might be a large Overflow Zone.

But now it seems that this so-called Grotto-Heaven was really just a windbreak in some sense.

However, the wind was so strong that it blew the entire windbreak tunnel away.

"Yes, natural secret realms have the characteristic of moving around on their own. When our ancestors created these Grotto-Heaven, the better they isolated themselves from the outside world, the less they were connected to it."

"It's unexpected, but also understandable, that it will be blown away."

When Yuan Zhonglü read these messages, he also found them somewhat absurd.

But if one were to actually live in such an era, even knowing the potential dangers, the only option would probably be to achieve the highest level of internal and external isolation.

Being blown away is still better than being completely annihilated.

"However, there was a sect that flourished during the Han Dynasty, known as the Big Dipper Soul-Returning Dao ' or the Immortal School of Governing Death and Life.'"

"Their Grotto-Heaven structure was unique; it was originally a two-layered structure, and after the main Grotto-Heaven was blown away, a layer of ruins remained."

"This site is like a treasure ship, still in operation for thousands of years, intermittently choosing its successors, until recently, when it experienced a significant revival."

Teacher Little Yuan sighed as she finished speaking.

"The Big Dipper Soul-Returning Dao is both righteous and evil. They have two philosophies: one is that a person's three souls come from the sun, moon, and water, while their Seven Souls are bestowed by the seven stars of the Seven Stars."

"Secondly, it is believed that the Seven Souls of a person originate from the father's essence and the mother's blood. After a baby is born, it is exposed to local customs, hears human voices, and senses the earth's energy, allowing the Seven Souls to be nourished and transformed by the earth, thus giving rise to the spirit."

"The main structure of the Grotto-Heaven that was blown away represents the Seven Stars, while the remaining foundation represents the concept of the earth's energy giving rise to the soul."

"Senior Chen Ying is one of the chosen Seven Souls."

"After the Grotto-Heaven Treasure Ship is fully revived, within one hundred days, a single victor must be chosen from among the Seven Souls to become the soul of the Grotto-Heaven Grotto-Heaven inherit it."

Chu Tianshu understood upon hearing this.

The so-called Seven Souls transform into spirits, which need the nourishment of the earth's energy, presumably requiring the earth's energy in reality.

Therefore, this decisive battle within 100 days must be carried out in reality.

However, people like Chen Ying are still rejected by reality.

The Grotto-Heaven Treasure Ship helped the seven choose Incense-Bearing Child whom they had a deep affinity, allowing them to sneak into the real world.

Chu Tianshu, intrigued, asked, "Daoist Chen Ying, you address Wang Chongyang as a senior. So, your earliest era couldn't be earlier than the Southern Song, right? How did you manage to break through the Taboo in your dynasty?"

"I did not break through in the mortal world, but was unintentionally chosen as one of the Seven Souls of the Grotto-Heaven, which led me to this realm."

Chen Ying said, "But with this breakthrough, I also became part of the Grotto-Heaven. Before the Grotto-Heaven was fully restored, for hundreds of years, every time I was awake, I could do nothing but ponder cultivation techniques and supernatural powers."

She smiled slightly, looking at Yuan Zhonglü.

"In recent years, being able to send dreams to those with whom I have a connection has become a second thing I can do."

Teacher Little Yuan rubbed her face.

Yuan Zhonglü didn't particularly like those strange dreams, but after sharing common sense, she felt a little sorry for this "veteran".

"The Seven Souls may all originate from different dynasties."

Teacher Little Yuan's expression turned serious. "However, among the Seven Souls, there may be more than one who has already transformed into Evil Spirit."

"The Big Dipper Soul-Returning Dao is a sect that cannot distinguish between right and wrong. If the Evil Spirit wins the hundred-day decisive battle, I'm afraid this Grotto-Heaven Treasure Ship will not resist and will only be completely transformed into an evil object."

Chu Tianshu's heart stirred slightly. "Evil Spirit."

He asked, "From which day exactly does this 100-day decisive battle begin? Are there any regional restrictions?"

Yuan Zhonglü said, "Once all Seven Souls have completed their bond formation, the timer will begin. I will be the last one to complete it."

"As for the location, the ruins of that Grotto-Heaven have been adrift for many years, and their current influence does not exceed that of this city; none of the Seven Souls can leave this city."

"Furthermore, within one hundred days, the Seven Souls will become increasingly interconnected, and it will be impossible for anyone to escape these one hundred days."

Chu Tianshu, seemingly lost in thought, chuckled.

"Daoist Priest Chen, if you win, can you control the Grotto-Heaven ruins and bring them back to China?"

"Return to China?"

Chen Ying was puzzled, but after recalling the common knowledge they had just shared, she suddenly realized, "So this place is now a foreign country. If I win, I will naturally return home."

Even if any one of the six wins, they should still go back.

Chu Tianshu chuckled upon hearing this.

"If this thing can float overseas, how do you know exactly where the other six people's hometowns are?"

"The relics of the Han Dynasty should naturally return to their homeland."

As Chu Tianshu spoke, he looked down at his palm, "I also want to see how far the masters from different dynasties can go, given their boredom and seclusion."

(End of this chapter)