Taixuan Expounds the Dao and Passes On Immortal Arts; the Heart Ape Rebels Against Heaven and Rampages Through the Jade Emperor's Palace

Heng Hua's consciousness slipped into the Dragon Gate. The majestic spiritual energy of heaven and earth washed over his Divine Sense, and the agitation stirred by the Heart Ape gradually subsided.

Without realizing it, he calmed down and savored the peace of the present moment.

"The motion of the all-encompassing heavens knows neither day nor night. The Two Principles give rise to forms, and the Three become all things..."

A clear, resounding voice of the Dao suddenly echoed by his ears. Heng Hua looked up.

A Daoist sat upon the Eight Trigrams Platform, with more than ten disciples seated around him. Meanwhile, Heng Hua himself was in a lotus pond.

Looking to either side, his current self seemed to be a fish?

"That's right, a koi. This is the memory of the Dragon Gate's master."

Heng Hua settled himself and concentrated on listening to the Daoist's lecture.

The Daoist first spoke of the transformations of yin and yang, then of circulating breath and drawing in energy, followed by sword arts and Dao arts. Finally, he taught a passage of the Spirit-Sensing Communion Mystic Art. This art used Divine Sense to perceive heaven and earth; once mastered, it could Call the Wind, Summon the Rain, and control celestial phenomena.

"How strange! This is actually the practical section of the Supreme Mystery Sect's secret, the Grand Profound Sensory Communion Art?"

Among the countless books in Langhuan Hall, there had been mention of a certain sect from the era of Donglai Divine Continent.

The Supreme Mystery Sect had once been the foremost sect of Donglai Divine Continent. It was also one of the only two sects Heng Hua currently knew of that had inherited Heavenly Scripture Dao Arts.

During the great upheaval fifteen hundred years ago, Donglai Continent sank beneath the sea, while the Supreme Mystery Sect lifted its entire mountain gate and ascended. Yet throughout Donglai's Ten Thousand Isles, many sects derived from the Supreme Mystery Sect still remained.

"This senior's 'spirit-sensing art' is plainly a method for applying the Grand Mystery Heavenly Scripture. And for me—"

Heng Hua secretly pondered it. It seemed that Creation's Epoch-Reunion Art could be used this way as well?

Crack—crack—

Heng Hua felt his body changing. His fish bones gave muffled cracks, and amid a peal of thunder, he transformed into a fish dragon.

This too was a memory belonging to the Dragon Gate's master.

The Daoist abruptly stopped teaching. Seeing the fish dragon fly out of the pond, he clapped his hands and laughed. "Creation, Creation."

With a casual point of his finger, a Dragon Transformation Secret Method was imprinted into the fish dragon's sea of consciousness.

"I grant you the Daoist name Xuan Yu. Cultivate diligently from this day onward. Once you become a True Dragon someday, you may enter under my tutelage."

As Heng Hua comprehended this Dragon Transformation Secret Method, he found that compared with the incomplete technique within the Dragon Gate, it was closer to his own revised Grand Mystery Jade Dragon Formula.

"Of course. How could a cultivation art bearing the name 'Grand Mystery' be mere coincidence? This High Person Xuan Yu was actually an unregistered disciple of the Supreme Mystery Sect."

The illusion vanished there, and Heng Hua's consciousness returned to the Dragon Gate.

This time, he had not only heard a senior of the Supreme Mystery Sect expound the Dao, but had also obtained a Spirit-Sensing Communion Art. Heng Hua was quite pleased.

Looking around again, he saw many withered, broken spirit herbs and spirit stones placed throughout the ruined Dragon Gate space.

"Could these be High Person Xuan Yu's spatial treasures?"

Spatial treasures were the most special category among magical treasures.

Only Golden Core Cultivators possessed the means to carve out space and create magical treasures such as Qiankun Rings and Qiankun Bracelets. The Dragon Gate before him was High Person Xuan Yu's life-bound magical treasure, painstakingly forged over five hundred years.

It contained a spatial realm within, possessed the wonders of offense and defense alike, and could also deduce High Person Xuan Yu's path of Dragon Transformation.

"Judging by the weathering of these spirit stones and spirit herbs, no one has tended to them for roughly seven or eight hundred years. In other words, that senior died seven or eight hundred years ago?"

He looked up at the golden orb of light in the center of the Dragon Gate space.

Clearly, that was the Dragon Gate's core inheritance.

Yet Heng Hua knew where to draw the line and voluntarily withdrew from the Dragon Gate.

The Dragon Gate had been left behind by a dragon cultivator at the Soul Formation level, so it naturally favored dragonkind. Human Race cultivators would have to expend several times the effort to obtain its inheritance. Heng Hua currently lacked no cultivation art inheritance; with the Heavenly Book in hand, he had no desire to waste effort on the Dragon Gate's inheritance.

When he opened his eyes, he found Fu Danwei pressed close, scrutinizing him without pause.

Heng Hua jumped in fright and leaned backward, nearly falling into the water.

"Old man, could you not scare people like that?"

Gripping the edge of the lotus leaf, Heng Hua barely managed to steady himself.

Standing atop the lotus leaf, the old man asked directly, "You brat, did you succeed?"

"Hmph—evil cannot triumph over righteousness. Even if someone used a few crooked and heretical little tricks, they could not obstruct my true and righteous path of cultivation."

Fu Danwei ignored his veiled barbs. "What did you see in the Dragon Gate?"

"High Person Xuan Yu's inheritance."

Heng Hua recounted his experience within the Dragon Gate.

After pondering for a moment, the old man slowly said, "Do not tell outsiders about this. Once this old man leaves, try to contend for the Dragon Gate's inheritance—forget it, give it to Beidou instead. Your level is still somewhat lacking."

Seeing Heng Hua about to speak, Fu Danwei shook his head. "You intend to let this old man try? Impossible. That seal requires methods at the Soul Formation level to slowly grind it away. I cannot do it, and you will not be able to accomplish it anytime soon. Let your Seventeenth Uncle do it. What a pity your father is not here. Otherwise..."

Heng Hua's expression darkened. Knowing he had misspoken, Fu Danwei hurriedly changed the subject. "Enough, no more of this. Quickly refine that True Dragon Aura."

Fu Danwei lightly tapped Heng Hua on the forehead, then flicked his sleeve and departed from the Dragon-Transformation Pool.

A dragon's roar suddenly rang out, and the True Dragon Aura within Heng Hua's body slowly began to stir.

It was Dragon Aura nurtured by the spirit vein of Coiling Dragon Island over a hundred years. As the Dragon Aura circulated, Heng Hua's cultivation rose step by step.

The seventh step: face the Heavenly Palace, proclaim oneself Equal to Heaven.

The eighth step: swallow the Golden Core, refine the Heart Ape.

The ninth step: rampage through the Heavenly Palace, shatter the Heaven Gate.

The True Dragon Aura contained a century's worth of spiritual power, restoring Heng Hua all the way to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, reaching the level of "Heavenly Palace Rampage."

Nourished by the Dragon Aura, the Heart Ape not only condensed into substance itself, but the staff in its hand also danced like a Golden Dragon, with wind and thunder in its wake.

"Next, one blow of my staff will shatter the Heaven Gate, break the shackles of heaven and earth, and lay down my supreme Dao foundation."

Foundation Establishment was also called Heaven-Gate Foundation Establishment.

When ordinary cultivators established their foundations, they glimpsed the mysteries of heaven and earth, stole a spark of the Dao's spiritual mechanism, and established the foundation for their own cultivation.

But the Heavenly Book and Earth Canon were different.

Earth-Canon Foundation Establishment required one to condense an Immortal Root at this stage. Once the Immortal Root was formed, even the most ordinary aptitude would gain a sliver of hope for immortality.

The Heavenly Book was even more profound. During the Qi Refining stage, it condensed a Dao Seed. After passing through Foundation Establishment, the Dao Seed would ascend into the foundation of the Great Dao. Not only was the chance of immortality higher than with the Earth Canon, but there was also a sliver of opportunity to glimpse eternity and indestructibility.

With Heavenly-Scripture Foundation Establishment, this stage was no longer about stealing or pilfering heaven's secrets, but forcibly seizing a foundation of the Great Dao from heaven and earth. The tribulations of this method were exceedingly severe.

Thus, Heng Hua had experimented with all kinds of methods and spent ten years researching a corresponding method to evade tribulations.

At present, constrained by his family's resources, he could only choose Turtle-Burial Reef, a place innately suited to evading tribulations, for his Foundation Establishment.

"Finally, I've returned to this step."

True qi brimmed within his body, while the Heart Ape in his mind kept leaping about, nearly bursting through his mud-pellet palace to seek independence.

This was Heavenly Palace Rampage.

Rebel against the Heavenly Palace; I shall be the Jade Emperor.

This was the Heart Ape's backlash, the inevitable tribulation faced by Creation's Epoch-Reunion Art.

The Jade Emperor, the chief deity of the heavenly court within the mind, symbolically referred to the cultivator's true Spirit Soul self.

When the Heart Ape rampaged through the heavenly court and fought for the Jade Emperor's throne, it meant the demons of stray thoughts within the heart were battling the Spirit Soul for control of the body.

Thus, after cultivating the ninth layer, one had to immediately begin Foundation Establishment and forge the Five Elements Divine Mountain to suppress the Heart Ape. If the Heart Ape could not be suppressed, then once it defeated the Jade Emperor, it meant Heng Hua's body would change masters, and the heart demon would become the true self.

But Heng Hua currently had no way to reach Turtle-Burial Reef. He formed hand seals with both hands, and an Eight Trigrams Furnace wreathed in flames flew from his mud-pellet palace, stuffing the Heart Ape back inside.

He severed his own realm and returned to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

Yet Heng Hua still retained the mana of the peak Qi Refining stage; only the progress of his cultivation and circulation had been slowed by one step.

After meditating and regulating his breath in the Dragon-Transformation Pool for a while, Heng Hua returned to Langhuan Hall.

He first went to inspect the guest room where Fu Heyi was staying.

Fu Heyi himself was unharmed, but when Heng Hua saw the dirt ash at the head and foot of the bed, his expression turned stern.

The two clumps of dirt ash appeared unchanged, but—

They bore traces of having been adjusted.

With a sweep of his hand, Heng Hua activated the spell he had left behind. The clump of dirt ash at the foot of the bed scattered apart.

"Have the two of you come here these past few days?"

Xiaoyu said, "We came twice, but seeing that Nineteenth Master was unchanged, we never went near."

Then it was not Xiaoyu. Did Hengshou accidentally touch it?

Heng Hua immediately imitated Fu Heyi's handwriting and left behind a letter.

"Xiaoyu, place it in Nineteenth Uncle's room and remove the plaque saying he is in seclusion."

"Hengshou, pick out a larger ship. Hide Nineteenth Uncle inside it tonight. Be careful; do not let anyone notice."

After making the arrangements, Heng Hua headed straight for Fu Xiangfeng's residence to discuss leaving the island the next day.

Someone on the island knows Nineteenth Uncle is with me. Please don't let it be the old man himself! Otherwise, making a run for it will be difficult.

Xiaoyu went to Danruo Courtyard and placed the letter inside Fu Heyi's room. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly saw Fu Liuhui standing in the courtyard, admiring the pomegranate blossoms.

Alarm surged through her heart, and she hurriedly turned around. "Eighth Miss? Why are you here?"

"Seeing that the 'in seclusion' plaque outside had been removed, I came to chat with Nineteenth Uncle. What? Did he leave the island immediately after coming out of seclusion?"

The young woman wore a goose-yellow dress patterned with small flowers and a kingfisher-blue floral crown atop her head. Smiling sweetly, she looked at Xiaoyu.

Seeing those bright eyes so similar to Heng Hua's, Xiaoyu's heart began to pound.

Eighth Miss was meticulous in thought. If she noticed the young master's intentions and informed the old patriarch...

Fu Liuhui looked into the room past Xiaoyu's shoulder. It was empty inside.

With a beckoning gesture, the letter Heng Hua had written flew into her hand.

Before Xiaoyu could dissuade her, Fu Liuhui opened it and read.

"Nineteenth Uncle was certainly in a hurry. Once his formation was completed, he did not even spare the time to bid Grandfather farewell before leaving the island outright. No wonder I just saw a thread of yellow qi flying through the sky. That must have been Nineteenth Uncle's Huang Qiong."

Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat. Wait... Huang Qiong left?

Huang Qiong was the immortal crane raised by Fu Heyi.

According to Fu Henghua's plan, when they took Fu Heyi away, they would bring Huang Qiong along as well. But why had Huang Qiong left when everything was perfectly fine?

Fu Liuhui raised her head to look at the pomegranate blossoms blooming in the courtyard.

The flowers clustered in glorious profusion, red as blazing fire.

The young woman sighed. "This courtyard Nineteenth Uncle chose is truly quite lovely. What a pity that the flowers have bloomed and fallen for more than a month, yet no one has admired them."

With guilt in her heart, the more Xiaoyu listened to Fu Liuhui, the more she felt there was meaning beneath her words.

"Xiaoyu, return first and report to Sixth Brother. I wish to admire the flowers here."

"Yes."

Xiaoyu's heart felt heavy as she hurried back to Langhuan Hall.

Fu Henghua had already settled the matter of leaving the island with Fu Xiangfeng and returned to Langhuan Hall, selecting books to take with him after departing the island tomorrow.

Xiaoyu quickly told him about encountering Fu Liuhui.

"You ran into Eighth Sister there?"

Fu Henghua connected this with what had happened in the guest room and finally understood.

"These past days, when I had you falsely claim that Nineteenth Uncle was in seclusion, did you throw spirit jade or talismans into Danruo Courtyard to create the illusion of someone cultivating in seclusion inside?"

When cultivators entered seclusion, their aura fluctuated. Even with formations concealing it, some would inevitably leak out.

"No... I did not."

Xiaoyu added, "But no one suspected that Nineteenth Master was not there. Normally, Second Madam does not allow anyone to visit Danruo Courtyard. They probably never paid attention."

"..." Heng Hua rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Liuhui said Huang Qiong flew away. Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"I did not. But Eighth Miss would not lie about something like this, would she?"

Heng Hua let out a melancholy sigh.

"You girl have studied with me for decades. What exactly did you learn?"

This girl was far more simple-minded than Liuhui.

Heng Hua crouched down and pulled three books from the pile. "Take these to Liuhui. She will find them useful."

Xiaoyu did not understand why, but she still took the books and went out.

Heng Hua rose and went upstairs to search through Fu Heyi's things. Sure enough, he did not find Huang Qiong's beast-controlling spirit plaque on him.

"The spirit plaque controlling the immortal crane was taken away. Coupled with no one noticing for over a month..."

"That girl... did it deliberately, didn't she? She had to choose this moment... Fine. If I don't give her a hand, I won't be able to leave afterward either."