Chapter 176 - 110: The Dao Mansion Acknowledges Its Master
「In the Underground Palace, on the Cold Jade Platform.」
Shangguan Luoxue, who had been immersed in meditation, suddenly opened her clear, cold purple eyes.
Starlight seemed to flow in their depths, betraying a hint of astonishment.
"Hm?"
’That kid Jiang Mu actually succeeded? This quickly?’
According to her initial predictions, even if Jiang Mu’s talent and comprehension were decent and he had the guidance of the Purple Mansion Agreement, he should have needed at least a month of study and experimentation.
But now, only a few short days had passed.
Yet she could clearly sense that he had drawn out the Waters of the Ravine from within her Dao Mansion.
The Waters of the Ravine were one of the fated divine treasures from the sixty-year elemental cycle.
It was a fundamental substance for constructing a supreme Dao Foundation and nourishing the Great Dao.
For a Cultivator of Shangguan Luoxue’s level, opening one’s own Grotto Heaven Dao Mansion required finding a fated divine object that was compatible with one’s own Life Chart.
Only by integrating it into the Dao Foundation could one establish a supreme base.
She was born in the Ding Chou year of the cycle.
Ding is Yin Fire, and Chou is Yin Earth. Fire and Earth generate each other, but they require water for nourishment.
Therefore, she had seized the Waters of the Ravine back then to fortify and nourish the foundation of her own Great Dao.
An ancient text reads:
"The Waters of the Ravine are gentle waves ringed by mountains, a rushing torrent in a cascading waterfall. They are the streams connecting north and south, confronting the positions of water and fire."
"This water is clear and pure. It thrives when nourished by Metal and is not tainted by dust or filth."
Within her Dao Mansion, because the water had completely merged with her Ding Chou Life Chart, it was also known as the Ding Chou Waters of the Ravine.
Her current Dao-related injuries stemmed from a damaged Dao Foundation.
To put it more simply...
Her Great Dao was like a celestial flower that needed careful cultivation. The Dao Foundation was the pot and soil, and the Waters of the Ravine were the sweet dew it required daily.
Now, the flowerpot was cracked, the soil was washing away, and most of the sweet dew leaked out whenever it was poured.
Naturally, the celestial flower was withering day by day.
Only by mending the flowerpot could the Waters of the Ravine be collected once more to nurture life anew.
That was why she was so desperate to use the Purple Mansion Agreement to repair it.
’This kid’s comprehension is freakishly high? It seems I underestimated him. But...’
The light in Shangguan Luoxue’s purple eyes dimmed, returning to their usual coldness.
’But... being able to draw out a mere trace of the Waters of the Ravine is only the first step.
The real key is whether he can actually push open the gates of the Dao Mansion and step inside. And even if he’s lucky enough to get in, there are still restrictive trials to overcome...’
Shangguan Luoxue slowly clenched her fists.
’Jiang Mu... I hope you don’t disappoint me. My time is running out.’
「Before the gates of the Dao Mansion.」
"It smells so good..."
Jiang Mu sniffed the air in surprise. "What is this stuff?"
He tried scraping some off with his hand and tasted it.
It was very cool.
With a very light, delicate fragrance.
In a daze, fragments of mysterious Dao Rhyme seemed to flood his senses.
They were scattered and indistinct, impossible to comprehend immediately, but the profound Daoist Intent that pointed directly to the origin of all things still shook him to his core.
"I get it!"
Jiang Mu’s spirits lifted.
"This stuff is intrinsically linked to the Great Dao of this Grotto Heaven Dao Mansion’s master. It’s like the crystallized essence of Daoist Intent."
"This is some seriously potent stuff."
Absorbing even a little bit would bring immeasurable benefits for comprehending tranquil, mind-calming types of Daos.
Jiang Mu immediately began to absorb it.
A short while later, he burped.
He couldn’t drink any more.
Now that the Waters of the Ravine had been drawn out, the repulsive force from the once-impenetrable gates of the Dao Mansion had weakened considerably.
Seeing this, Jiang Mu immediately began to push and shove with all his might.
"Open up!"
Sure enough, as he applied more force, the tightly sealed gates of the Dao Mansion began to slowly widen at a visible rate.
Joy filled Jiang Mu’s heart.
He turned sideways, struggling to squeeze his shoulder and half his body through the opening.
An even more tyrannical blast of white, cold qi surged out from the crack in the gate.
"HSSS—!"
𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Caught off guard, Jiang Mu shivered violently.
’So cold!’
’But compared to the freezing sensation of holding Ling Ye in the real world, this level of cold was still tolerable.’
However, his joy was premature.
As he forced his body further inside, the cold qi rushing at him instantly intensified exponentially!
Jiang Mu didn’t even have time to see what was inside the gates.
"CRACK!"
In an instant, his conscious form was frozen into an ice sculpture.
This was not surprising.
Shangguan Luoxue possessed the exceedingly rare Nether-Essence Immaculate Grand Yin Dao Body. With the aid of the Cold Moon Sect’s exclusive secret scriptures, the Grotto Heaven Dao Mansion she refined was built upon a foundation of "extreme cold."
It contained the True Essence of Grand Yin within and manifested Profound Frost Evil Qi without.
This was the very source of her Great Dao.
For Jiang Mu to try and force his way in, he was bound to face the Dao Mansion’s instinctual backlash and assault.
Of course, Jiang Mu wouldn’t actually die here.
His consciousness was linked to his physical body. With a single thought, he could forcibly exit this space of consciousness and return to reality.
Unfortunately for him, in the real world, he was also facing a great crisis.
「In the post station room.」
Jiang Mu, holding Ling Ye tightly, was already covered in a layer of white frost from the prolonged exposure to her Jade Cicada Cold Qi.
He had practically become a frozen snowman.
The result was—
the fundamental cold qi of the Waters of the Ravine, seeping in from his consciousness, unexpectedly met the Jade Cicada Cold Qi from the real world inside his body.
Jiang Mu was caught in a pincer attack from within and without, doubly frozen.
As the saying goes, one mountain cannot house two tigers.
These two streams of cold qi were like two peerless, ferocious beasts fighting for territory. They instantly entangled and began to attack each other.
And Jiang Mu’s body had become their battlefield.
Jiang Mu was completely screwed.
His body was immobilized, his consciousness was trapped, and he was stuck in the crevice between life and death.
Unable to move a muscle.
However, as the battle between the two cold energies grew increasingly fierce and violent, a strange suction force slowly began to form in the depths of Jiang Mu’s Dantian.