Chapter 736 - 526: The Immortal Spirit Clan
"Jiao Qi has fallen!"
Chen Sheng slowly opened his eyes, a sense of indescribable elation arising within him.
Though Jiao Qi’s downfall seemed unrelated to him, Chen Sheng, in reality, his presence was behind all of it.
Though he had not acted personally, he had pushed hard from the shadows.
A glimmer of profoundness flashed in his eyes, and his thoughts slowly traced back.
Since the news of Jiao Qi’s emergence from the Su Tian Realm came forth, he had keenly noticed this as a perfect opportunity to eliminate Jiao Qi.
The Flood Dragon would most likely head to this realm!
Thus, he began scheming secretly.
The first step was to liaise with the Tribulation Crossing Daoist Monarch Jiao Li of the Dragon Race.
Jiao Li harbored a deep hatred akin to an ocean for Jiao Qi, constantly marking Jiao Qi’s name on the Cause and Effect Platform of the Immortal Mountain, wishing to grind his bones to dust...
Following that, Chen Sheng found the Corpse Forest Buddha Master.
The Corpse Forest Buddha Master was a formidable native of the Su Tian Realm, specializing in the Great Dao of Cause and Effect. Manipulating cause and effect was the core of the scheme.
Under Chen Sheng’s arrangement, the two sides came to a swift agreement, setting up a killing field as intricate as the Heaven and Earth Net.
"At least it resolves a minor concern in my heart..."
At this moment, Chen Sheng closed his eyes again, his inner elation gradually settling into a serene calm.
With Jiao Qi’s fall, the minor concern is eliminated, and the grief of losing a great disciple has somewhat dissipated.
...
Time flies.
Opportunities at the Immortal Mountain arise one after another, with experts from all sides eagerly cultivating.
On this day, within Tiānbǎo Palace, a sudden phenomenon erupted.
Within the originally quiet palace, spirit light surged, and multicolored illusory fog materialized from thin air, streaming like rosy clouds, cascading like a galaxy, slowly gathering at the center of the palace, transforming into a dream-like world!
In that world, the sun and moon shone together, mountains and rivers were splendid, pavilions and towers stood in harmony, celestial birds and exotic beasts moved among them... the winds and clouds turned, and the seasons changed.
Everything appeared so real, yet it was imbued with an intangible and ethereal sense!
Illusory as a dream, transient as lightning, as though reaching out to touch it, yet at a pinch of the fingertips, it would dissipate.
At the very center of the dream world, Qin Zhào Yú sat upon a crystalline Illusory Lotus Platform, dressed in a plain white daoist robe, her garments fluttered lightly, hair cascaded like a waterfall, her visage pure and absolute, exuding an aura of transcendent detachment.
Her eyes slightly closed, surrounded by faint illusory and extinguishing aura, softly reciting the supreme Spell of the Nine Horizons Illusory Truth, like celestial music flowing, penetrating through the dream world:
"Nine Horizons converge into one thought, myriad illusions return to emptiness... neither birth nor extinction, only the Dao within."
"Illusion arises from the heart, emptiness from the cessation of thoughts... when the heart remains unmoved, illusion doesn’t arise, when thoughts aren’t grasped, appearances naturally empty."
"Observe heaven and earth as phantasms, see the sun and moon as fleeting dust. View mountains and rivers as dreams, see life and death as drifting clouds. Regard all beings as reflections, see the Great Dao as true essence..."
"Gaze once, myriad forms are silent; gaze twice, Nine Horizons are void; gaze thrice, illusion returns to truth; gaze four times, Dao forms by itself!"
With each utterance of the Spell, every word was a gem, containing boundless truths of illusion and extinction.
As the Spell slowly circulated, the illusory light around Qin Zhào Yú grew increasingly intense, resonating with the dream world at the center.
The originally vivid dream world, under the Spell’s influence, trembled abruptly, mountains collapsed, the sun and moon vanished, pavilions and towers disintegrated into scattered fragments.
The entire world, like bubbles swept by a fierce wind, shattered in pieces, giving rise to a trace of the ultimate Power of Destruction, circulating and gathering within Tiānbǎo Palace.
This Power of Destruction was not an aggressive aura, but the source energy of the doctrine of illusion and extinction, the ultimate embodiment of "illusion arises and ends."
It gradually gathered above Qin Zhào Yú’s brow, amidst flickering spirit light, a Treasure Bead exuding a faint illusory glow quietly emerged.
Dharma Seed prototype!
This Dharma Seed, shaped like a lotus platform, with illusionary light seeping through, held countless tiny dream-like worlds floating within, possessing both the ethereal nature of illusion and the clarity of emptiness.
Once the Dharma Seed prototype emerged, it began to voraciously absorb the surrounding Power of Destruction, growing at a visible speed, its aura climbing steadily...
At the same time, the tribulation of wills descended as expected.
Those illusory worlds, under the impact of the Power of Destruction, transformed into dream-like bubbles, each fragment shattering produced two figures.
One was an illusory form, shaped like Qin Zhào Yú, dressed in colorful attire, filled with worldly obsessions between its eyebrows and eyes...
The other was an extinguishing form, also shaped like Qin Zhào Yú, clad in black, surrounded by death qi...
The illusory form disturbed the heart, and the extinguishing form destroyed the Dao; one illusion, one extinction, complementary and intertwined, were the necessary challenges of the doctrine of illusion and extinction.
Countless illusory and extinguishing forms encircled, intertwining spirit light and death qi, proliferating illusions, danger lurking.
Yet Qin Zhào Yú’s heart spirit remained as steadfast as a rock, unmoved.
"Illusion arises from the heart; without removing mixed thoughts, the illusion can’t fully disperse!"
...
Time slowly passed.
The Dharma Seed prototype grew increasingly solid, only one final step away from complete Great Success.
At this moment, the aura around Qin Zhào Yú had reached a critical point, she slowly opened her eyes, clear as autumn water, deep as the starry sky.
Within her eyes, not a single distracting thought or ripple existed, only the ultimate comprehension of the doctrine of illusion and extinction.
Her red lips parted slightly, murmuring unfalteringly, her voice ringing clear and resolute through the cosmos:
"After all splendor has ended, true silence is seen, illusion and extinction return to one, forming the Dao Heart!"
The instant the words fell, everything in heaven and earth abruptly quieted.
All the Power of Destruction within Tiānbǎo Palace was drawn over, encircling Qin Zhào Yú.
The countless illusory and extinguishing forms around her transformed into radiant streams of light, rushing to enter the Dharma Seed.
With each illusory and extinguishing form’s integration, the Dharma Seed’s radiance became increasingly brilliant, the lotus platform form ever more perfect, emitting infinite radiant light.