Chapter 711 - 706: Who Can Kill Me?
The Sea of Suffering.
Lü Yang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sundered Dao of Arcane Body before him. A splendid light flickered in his eyes as the Immortal Core Survival Guide immediately popped up.
[Safe. No pitfalls detected.]
’Very good... Just as expected of my unparalleled Talent Skill!’
Lü Yang smiled in satisfaction. Behind him, the Past Dust Appearance and the Rebirth Appearance fanned out, initially occupying only a small portion of the Dao of Arcane Body.
However, as time passed...
Lü Yang exhaled deeply. His main body remained motionless while his Past Dust Appearance and Rebirth Appearance walked outward, gradually expanding in a triangular formation.
His three bodies, three aspects, thus carved out a sizable space within the Dao of Arcane Body. During this process, the mighty power of the Dao of Arcane Body continuously poured into his Past Dust Appearance, Rebirth Appearance, and his main body—the Present World Appearance—elevating his existing Position.
’This is completely different from the Body Unity Fruit Position. This is... Swallowing the Dao.’
A realization dawned in Lü Yang’s mind. He could feel his already formidable Dharma Body strengthening even further, as if there were no end to its growth!
With the Body Unity Fruit Position, the Fruit Position remains just a Fruit Position.
But now, by devouring the Dao of Arcane Body, he was truly making it his own—something he could take with him when he restarted with the Centome!
’I imagine that long ago, the original Dao of Arcane Body must have been born naturally within the Sea of Suffering. It was a natural manifestation of imagery that occurred after all cultivators tempered their qi and blood to enhance their Dharma Bodies. That is, until Si Chou appeared. He used his own Dao of Arcane Body to devour the original.’
’Thus, the Dao of Arcane Body became Si Chou’s Dao of Arcane Body.’
’And then, to obtain the Pocket World Technique, that old undying from the Saint Sect laid a trap, slayed Si Chou, and sundered the Dao of Arcane Body, leaving it to languish in the Sea of Suffering to this day...’
Gradually, Lü Yang’s expression grew solemn.
’This isn’t good.’
’Under these circumstances, if I reconstruct the Dharma Body and return the Dao of Arcane Body to the Sea of Suffering, won’t that old undying from the Saint Sect strike me down and turn me to ash?’
After all, he was different from the Taiyin Immortal Venerable.
The Taiyin Immortal Venerable wanted the Dao of Arcane Body to feed her own Great Dao of Money, which she had created through the Void Certificate. This didn’t conflict with the old undying from the Saint Sect.
In fact, it was even beneficial to him.
Although the Dao of Arcane Body was dormant, it still posed a risk of revival. Once it was fed to the Great Dao of Money, it would be gone for good.
He, on the other hand, was a genuine cultivator of the Dharma Body.
Although his goal of using the Dao of Arcane Body to ascend to the Nascent Soul realm and re-establish the Dharma Body as the foundation for cultivators was as difficult as ascending to heaven, it wasn’t entirely hopeless.
’Besides, given the Saint Sect’s style, their favorite pastimes are challenging those of higher levels and nipping potential threats in the bud...’
The more Lü Yang thought about it, the uglier his expression became. After a long while, he let out a deep breath, having made a decision. ’Forget it. If I can’t afford to provoke him, can’t I at least afford to hide?!’
’Fortunately, I now have the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness as a safe house. I can just hide in here and not go out. Or even if I do go out, I won’t stir up trouble. In any case, that old undying from the Saint Sect can’t possibly be watching the Current World all the time. As long as I don’t cause a scene and attract his attention, I can slowly cultivate and lie low to survive!’
With this realization, Lü Yang burst into loud laughter.
That’s right, in this life, I’ll be a Gou Dao Cultivator! As long as I don’t stir up trouble, don’t attract unnecessary attention, and keep a low profile, with my current Cultivation—
"Who can kill me?"
.......
「At this moment, in the Void Sea of Light.」
Throughout the Great and Small Boundary Heaven, wherever Cultivators existed—be it the Celestial Mansion, the Immortal Pivot, or elsewhere—all witnessed the same vision.
The lower their Cultivation, the blurrier the vision.
The higher their Cultivation, the clearer it was.
This was especially true in the Celestial Mansion. On the 9th Layer, the Taiyin Immortal Venerable was jolted from her Meditation. She looked up at the sky and could almost make out a towering human figure.
’The Sea of Suffering...’
For no reason at all, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in the Taiyin Immortal Venerable’s heart. The space between her brows twitched as she felt the figure was incredibly familiar.
The next second, she realized what it was and shot to her feet in horror.
’The Dao of Arcane Body? Impossible!’
She could hardly believe her eyes, but as time passed, her vision grew clearer. It was the Dao of Arcane Body she had coveted for so long!
But why?
How did they do it?
Sichou’s Residual Thought was still with her, and she had long since completely transformed the Celestial Mansion inside and out, making it impossible to escape her control. Why had things turned out this way?
The Taiyin Immortal Venerable gritted her teeth, wishing she could charge to the Dao of Arcane Body that very instant. However, the Sea of Suffering was Boundless; she had no way of finding the Dao of Arcane Body’s specific location unless she could chase the waves it stirred up. But if she were capable of that, why would she have needed Si Chou for the Void Certificate in the first place?
And so now, she had only one thought:
"Who is it!?"
「Meanwhile, in the Immortal Pivot.」
The great battle had ended not long ago. The various Perfected Lords had all calmed down and were now looking up at the vision of the Great Dao that covered the sky.
Most of them didn’t actually recognize what it was.
After all, Si Chou had died too long ago, and the Dao of Arcane Body had been lost for too long. Almost no Cultivator of the present age recognized this former foundation of cultivation.
Except for a select few.
Overseas, the Old Dragon Monarch had vanished without a trace, now coiled in the depths of the Vast Ocean. Under his protection, a small dragon was curled up.
It was the Celestial Python.
At this moment, a powerful Water Element Imagery was flowing from the Dragon Palace Crown Prince’s body, and his Position had ascended to an extremely high level.
A Golden Core Perfected Lord!
He had succeeded!
But that was all. On the other side, Exorcist Zhenren of the Sword Pavilion had failed at the last moment, unable to seize the only chance of his lifetime.
’But that’s to be expected!’
The Old Dragon Monarch thought smugly. ’Although that fellow Gangxing chose a good time, how could a rushed attempt at Seeking Gold compare to my meticulous planning?’
The difference was clear just from looking at the Gold-Seeking Device.
Exorcist Zhenren’s attempt at the Fruit of Pewter Metal was a hasty affair, relying entirely on the Sword Pavilion’s support. The device was also set up temporarily and couldn’t achieve the best effect.
The Celestial Python, however, was different.
’Or rather... the device for the Fruit of Sky-River Water is fundamentally different. The foundation of the Gold-Seeking Device for the Fruit of Sky-River Water lies not in the Cultivator themself, but in the other Water Fruit Positions... The more Perfected Lords of other Water Fruit Positions there are, the closer to Perfection the device for Seeking Gold for the Fruit of Sky-River Water becomes!’
This was the imagery of the Fruit of Sky-River Water.
Rain and dew from the heavens, giving rise to all things; the celestial river cascading down, flying from the cerulean heavens... This Water Element Supreme Venerable, in essence, was actually a supportive Fruit Position.
’In other words, it should never have been an Emperor Fruit!’
’Forcibly making it a Supreme Venerable only creates an adverse effect. The Fruit of Sky-River Water is the source of all waters; as a Supreme Venerable, it only diverts its power to strengthen the other Fruit Positions.’
’This results in its own depletion.’
’A true Water Element Supreme Venerable needs to gather the power of all waters to elevate itself. Only the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water, which embraces a hundred rivers, is qualified for this role.’
This was all part of the Cultivation of the Water Element.
It was also the difference between the Old Dragon Monarch and True Monarch Gangxing. The Old Dragon Monarch was proficient in the entire Water Element, and his arrangements for Seeking Gold were flawless.
True Monarch Gangxing, however, was only proficient in the Cultivation corresponding to the Fruit of River-Sand Gold. While not completely ignorant of the Fruit of Pewter Metal, his knowledge was extremely limited. He couldn’t provide perfect assistance to Exorcist Zhenren, leaving the latter to gamble with his life.
The result was obvious: Exorcist Zhenren lost the gamble.
’I am still a cut above the rest!’
The Old Dragon Monarch was deeply satisfied. After all, this was the first time in many years that the True Dragon Race had gained such an advantage, not to mention it concerned his own path of the Dao.
’But then again...’
The Old Dragon Monarch raised his head and looked at the towering figure in the vault of heaven. ’This thing... it’s the Dao of Arcane Body, isn’t it? Someone actually managed to dig it up again?’
’Who has such guts? To take control of the Dao of Arcane Body... Do they have a death wish?’
’Or... could it be that he doesn’t actually know that when the Dao of Arcane Body re-emerges and is taken control of, it manifests for the whole world to see? There can’t be someone that clueless, can there?’
Just then, a burst of laughter suddenly rang out:
"HAHAHAHA!"
The laughter came from the heavens, from the towering figure reflected in the Sea of Light. It sounded high-spirited and triumphant, as if announcing to all the Cultivators in the entire Sea of Light:
"Who can kill me?"
Upon hearing these words, the Old Dragon Monarch sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
Holy crap! That’s way too arrogant!
I thought it was already arrogant enough when Fortune laid out his plans for the world and even won his long-distance Combat against Ang Xiao, but I never expected someone even more audacious.
Which fellow Daoist is this?