Chapter 193 - 186: Venerable Dao Foundation
"Master, is there something... about this?"
Qi Yun didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.
The Holy Sect has always treated everyone the same.
It schemed against outsiders.
And it didn’t go easy on its own, either.
A pie this big and seemingly sweet had been laid before him without any warning.
He couldn’t help but suspect a deadly hook was hidden inside.
The Elder Master didn’t answer his doubts directly. Instead, in a placid tone, he stated a fact so cold it was suffocating:
"Since the [Daluo Myriad Skills] was added to the Holy Sect’s secret inheritance vault, a total of... twenty-three people have attempted to attain it."
He paused for a moment, as if giving Qi Yun time to digest the number, then continued. His voice was not loud, but every word landed like a hammer blow:
"Not a single one... made it halfway."
Twenty-three people!
None made it halfway!
Behind those few short words was the fall or utter destruction of the cultivation paths of twenty-three dazzling, peerless prodigies of the Holy Sect who had dared to challenge the supreme Dao Foundation!
This was a dead-end path paved with the bones of countless geniuses, with no end in sight!
The Elder Master lifted his gaze, his eyes cloudy yet seemingly able to see through a person’s heart, and stared quietly at Qi Yun.
"This matter concerns the very foundation of your Dao path. The dangers far surpass any trial you have experienced before.
I... will offer no advice."
He had returned the choice entirely to Qi Yun.
"Will you obediently continue to pursue the [Primordial Heaven Extreme Skill Dao Foundation]—a path whose future is severed, yet is relatively safe—and secure a place in the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to live out this life in peace?
Or... will you be the twenty-fourth challenger, stepping onto this path of near-certain death, to gamble for a slim, supreme possibility?"
"You must think it through yourself."
The question was thrown back at him, so heavy it felt like a weight on his shoulders.
He looked at the Elder Master before him, whose face was like a withered tree and whose aura was more obscure and profound than before.
He tried to find a hint of guidance on the man’s face but saw only a bottomless calm.
He then turned his gaze to Qian Xin Master at the side. When Qian Xin Master met his gaze, he almost imperceptibly shook his head slightly, letting out an inaudible sigh.
Under the cover of his sleeve, he gave Qi Yun an extremely subtle wave of his hand.
Qi Yun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He bowed solemnly with cupped fists to the two Masters.
"This matter is fundamental to my Dao path. I understand the gravity of it.
Please... allow me some time to consider it carefully."
"One month." The Elder Master didn’t press him and gave a clear deadline.
"From the moment it’s confirmed that the [Primordial Heaven Extreme Skill Dao Foundation] has been attained by another, you have one month to make your choice.
If you cannot make up your mind within a month, the Holy Sect will, according to the rules, revoke your special status as a [Secret True Cultivator] and its corresponding privileges."
"At that point, you will no longer even have the right to choose."
This was both a form of pressure and a way of drawing a line in the sand.
"Rest assured, Master. I will weigh my options and make a decision as soon as possible," Qi Yun replied in a low voice.
After seeing the two Masters off, the courtyard returned to silence.
Qi Yun did not return to his meditation chamber, but silently went to the stone pavilion in the courtyard and slowly sat down.
He did not brew tea or fiddle with anything as usual, but just sat quietly, his gaze vacant, looking towards some unknown distance.
But his mind was far from as calm as his appearance suggested.
It was a battlefield of fierce deliberation, a life-or-death calculation.
[Option One: Attain the [Primordial Heaven Extreme Skill Dao Foundation]]
Advantages: Relatively safe and reliable. Although the [First Certificate] was snatched away and his path’s upper limit is locked at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, he could at least step securely into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
He would gain several hundred years of life and secure a place in the Inner Mansion.
With his skills and temperament, he could become a top expert even among those in the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, enough to live freely and uncontested.
Disadvantages: His Dao path would be severed! He would never glimpse the realms of Foundation Establishment Late Stage or the Golden Core Dao.
For a cultivator who aims for Longevity and is proud and ambitious, this is no different from a form of castration.
Furthermore, since Black Mountain Master has already acted against him, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t continue to trip him up after he achieved Foundation Establishment.
With only the potential of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, would he have the power to resist?
[Option Two: Attain the Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation]
Advantages: Limitless potential! If successful, not only would he achieve the [First Certificate], but his Dao Position would be half a rank higher, and his foundation would be far more profound than his peers.
He would also have the chance to peer into higher Realms.
The Holy Sect will provide all the Foundation Establishment Objects, saving him immense trouble and risk.
Disadvantages: Extremely high mortality rate! Twenty-three predecessors, none of whom made it halfway. The success rate is despairingly low.
This was not something that could be overcome simply by piling up resources or having exceptional talent. There had to be unimaginable strangeness and danger involved.
The Holy Sect being so "generous" must have extremely harsh conditions behind it, or require him to pay an unbearable price, and he might even be some kind of "test subject."
If he failed, it would most likely mean instant death, his soul scattered.
His fingers unconsciously traced lines on the cool bluestone tabletop.
He remembered his eight-year struggle for survival, climbing step by step from the bottom of the Outer Mansion to become an Inner Mansion True Cultivator, surviving countless brushes with death.
The fight in Pot Valley Yin Ruins, the strangeness of the Divine Silkworm Sect, the undercurrents of Black Death Peak... every time, he got through by relying on caution, planning, and a bit of luck.
He thought of the Elder Master’s protection, offered multiple times despite his apparent indifference.
He thought of Qian Xin Master’s subtle wave, filled with unbearable pity.
He thought of his own desire for the Great Dao of Longevity, for control over his own destiny.
’My trump cards... The infinite optimization potential of the [Magic Technique Panel], the life-saving miracle of [Gathering Form and Scattering Qi], the ability to glimpse heavenly secrets with [Blood-Drawn Profound Mechanism]...’
’Can these things make me the one exception?’
Time passed bit by bit, the afterglow of the setting sun stretching his shadow long in the stone pavilion.
Qi Yun’s gaze went from vacant to gradually becoming profound, like a cold pool with a surging undercurrent.
He did not make an immediate decision.
But the scales in his heart, driven by extreme rational analysis and a nature that refused mediocrity, had already begun to tip in a certain direction—extremely slowly, yet with unwavering certainty.
...
Leaving Qi Yun’s residence, walking on the winding mountain path back to Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple, Qian Xin Master looked at the withered yet straight back of the Elder Master in front, hesitated again and again, but couldn’t help speaking again:
"Senior Brother, you... really want to let that child go and attain that [Venerable Dao Foundation]?"
This question had been lingering in his heart for a long time, and he didn’t know how many times he had asked it.
The Elder Master’s steps did not stop. He just turned his head slightly, the corner of his cloudy eyes glancing at Qian Xin Master, a faint, elusive smile playing on his lips:
"Qian Xin, I see... you think unusually highly of this child."
Hearing this, Qian Xin Master made no attempt to hide it. He sighed and said:
"The child’s aptitude, comprehension, and temperament are all top-notch.
What’s even rarer is his decisiveness, ruthlessness, and cunning ability to assess situations.
He’s a natural for cultivating the techniques of our Holy Sect!
If you hadn’t secretly stopped me several times, I would have already taken him as my disciple and carefully taught him."
His brows were tightly knitted, his tone filled with regret and confusion. "Such a good seedling... if he were to fall in ordinary struggles or trials, it would be a pity but also unavoidable.
But to let him go and fill that ’great hole’ of the [Venerable Dao Foundation] that has swallowed countless prodigies...
Isn’t it too much of a waste?
This is like throwing a piece of uncarved jade directly into a furnace, a path of certain death!"
The Elder Master slowly turned his head, his gaze level with the mist-shrouded mountains ahead, his voice flat but carrying a kind of indifference that came from seeing through the world:
"Whether he fills the hole or seizes this opportunity to soar, breaking free of his cage and rising to the heavens...
nothing is set in stone.
Qian Xin, since you think so highly of Qi Yun and have such high hopes for him.
Why, on this matter alone, do you insist he will fail and cannot be the exception?"
"An exception?" Qian Xin Master almost laughed in exasperation. "Senior Brother! If it were any other Upper Grade Dao Foundation in the sect, no matter how profound or obscure, I’d think that with a child of Qi Yun’s temperament and luck...
he’d have at least a forty to fifty percent chance of success!
But that’s the [Venerable Dao Foundation]!
It is recognized as the supreme inheritance of our Holy Sect since its founding, and also the most brutal path to death!"
His voice unconsciously rose a few notches, carrying the weight of history:
"In the tens of thousands of years of our Holy Sect’s history, peerless geniuses have been as common as carp crossing a river. Yet, in all of recorded history, only two people have ever managed to attain this foundation!
One was the founding patriarch of our Holy Sect.
The other was..."
At this point, Qian Xin Master’s voice came to a sudden halt. It was as if the name itself carried some unspeakable taboo, some terror that made him swallow the rest of his words. He could only let out a heavy sigh.
He then turned to stare at the Elder Master, his tone tinged with a questioning accusation:
"Senior Brother, do you truly believe... that this boy, Qi Yun, can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Founding Patriarch?"
The Elder Master’s expression remained as tranquil as an undisturbed ancient well.
"He couldn’t before, and he can’t now, but that doesn’t mean... he won’t be able to in the future."
He paused, his withered fingers unconsciously tapping the air, as if sketching some invisible trajectory.
"Deep in his bones, this child hides an ’evil nature’ that even he might not fully comprehend.
An ordinary path might only hold him back.
If we push him, perhaps... he will succeed."
"And what if..." Qian Xin Master raised an eyebrow, posing another possibility.
"He weighs the pros and cons and ultimately chooses the relatively safe [Primordial Heaven Extreme Skill Dao Foundation]?
After all, it’s better to live a poor life than to die a good death. For many Cultivators, the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage is already a coveted goal."
Hearing this, the Elder Master’s steps paused slightly. He then continued forward, his tone carrying an almost prophetic certainty, as if he had already seen through the young man’s very essence:
"He won’t."
...