Chapter 21: Fortune, Merit, and the Restoration of Lifespan (Please Follow and Read)

Just two hours later.

Chen Daoxuan had completed his comprehension of this Green Thunder Scripture, and along the way had also cultivated the art 【Green Thunder Observation Art】—which could observe merit and glimpse fortune—to the Perfection realm.

With a thought, Chen Daoxuan activated this 【Green Thunder Observation Art】, which had reached the Perfection realm, to observe his own merit and fortune.

In an instant, azure light flowed, and Chen Daoxuan saw, in the void three chi above his head, his fundamental fortune taking the shape of mountain and sea, and his merit taking the shape of clouds.

And beyond that fundamental fortune, there were also a few scattered strands of external fortune gathered from the Green Thunder Sect.

……

According to the records of the Green Thunder Scripture.

Fortune is divided into five colors.

Merit manifests in two hues.

Fortune: white, red, gold, azure, and purple—five colors.

Merit: gold and azure—two hues.

……

Under normal circumstances, a mortal's fundamental fortune is gray-white.

The fundamental fortune of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment is, in its main body, white fortune.

Core Formation and Nascent Soul is red fortune.

Divine Transformation (Soul Egress) and Returning to Void (Soul Separation) is gold fortune.

Combined Body and Great Vehicle (the Crossing Tribulation Stage of the Great Universe) is azure fortune.

Tribulation Crossing (the Great Vehicle Stage of the Great Universe) is purple fortune.

……

In the void three chi above Chen Daoxuan's head, the fundamental fortune taking the shape of mountain and sea was, in its main body, gold.

Beyond that main body of gold fortune, there was also a wisp of azure fortune contained within.

The main body of gold fortune represented his current cultivation realm of Soul Egress (Divine Transformation).

That wisp of azure fortune, on the other hand, represented his potential to achieve the Combined Body Stage.

……

It was just that the grade of the Green Thunder Observation Art might be somewhat low; even when Chen Daoxuan observed his own fortune, he could not see the full picture of his fundamental fortune.

The vast gold fortune, and that wisp of azure fortune, filled his entire perception after activating the Green Thunder Observation Art.

……

As for the merit in the void three chi above his head, Chen Daoxuan saw the full picture clearly.

There were a total of ninety-nine Merit Clouds.

Azure merit was Heavenly Dao Merit.

Gold merit was Human Dao Merit.

Heavenly Dao Merit Clouds: sixty-six.

Human Dao Merit Clouds: thirty-three.

Each Merit Cloud was one zhang in diameter and contained three thousand strands of merit.

Just by observing these Merit Clouds, Chen Daoxuan instinctively knew their origin.

All of them were obtained by him, through the unseen workings of fate, after saving the Primordial Spirit Realm.

As for having merit upon himself, Chen Daoxuan had already anticipated this in his heart after soul-searching Qian Qianyun.

Merit, separated by endless realms, remained with him just like his fundamental fortune.

But having this much merit was beyond Chen Daoxuan's expectations.

……

According to the soul-search of Qian Qianyun, and the records in the inheritance jade slip in his hand.

For someone like him, saving a Mortal Realm could yield at most a double-digit number of Heavenly Dao and Human Dao Merit.

That is, at most nine.

And that was the result of combining Heavenly Dao Merit and Human Dao Merit.

……

"Why ninety-nine Merit Clouds?"

His thoughts turning, Chen Daoxuan shook his head slightly; this was a good thing, and not knowing the reason for the moment was of no consequence.

He began to circulate the Merit Path methods within the Green Thunder Scripture.

To cultivate the Merit Path.

The Green Thunder Sect, as a sect, naturally took the Merit Path as primary and the Fortune Path as secondary.

Fundamental fortune could not be lightly touched.

External fortune was nearly nonexistent.

These ninety-nine Merit Clouds, however, were just right for Chen Daoxuan to cultivate the Merit Path.

With this merit, given his cultivation realm, and the Merit Path methods recorded in the Green Thunder Scripture.

Three days should be entirely enough for him to step onto the threshold of the Merit Path, plant a Merit Lotus Seed, and manifest the rhyme of the Merit Path.

This was also why Chen Daoxuan was preparing to meet those Core Formation Cultivators of the Green Thunder Sect only after three days.

The Green Thunder Ring alone, this one Inheritance Numinous Treasure, was not enough to gain the recognition of the entire Green Thunder Sect.

As for whether the Green Thunder Scripture he had cultivated contained hidden dangers he had not comprehended, or whether it was some kind of "bait," Chen Daoxuan was not afraid.

He cultivated the Mountain-Sea Immortal Scripture, which could contain thousands of scriptures and myriad arts; a transmission like the Green Thunder Scripture, weaker even than the Black Tortoise True Scripture, unless it came from someone more formidable than the Mountain-Sea Ancient Immortal who passed down the Mountain-Sea Immortal Scripture, whatever hidden dangers lay buried within would be dissolved away by the Mountain-Sea Immortal Scripture.

And it was merely a supplementary method, which could be discarded at any time.

……

The Merit Path and Fortune Path of the Tianling Great Realm, although in theory can be cultivated at any realm,

in practice, there are thresholds.

If one cultivates the Merit Immortal Scripture, or the Fortune Immortal Scripture,

then during the Qi Refining Stage, one can step onto the Merit Path or Fortune Path.

But if one does not cultivate an Immortal Scripture, then even with the most Upper Vehicle of Near-Immortal Merit Scripture or Fortune Scripture, one still needs to at least reach the Core Formation Stage before attempting to step onto the Merit Path or Fortune Path.

As for something like the Green Thunder Scripture, the method it contains for stepping onto the Merit Path requires the cultivation realm of Nascent Soul Stage before it can be attempted.

But for someone at Chen Daoxuan's Soul Egress (Divine Transformation) Stage cultivation realm, as long as merit is sufficient, there is a hundred percent certainty.

……

This cultivation session unfolded just as Chen Daoxuan had anticipated.

In merely two days' time,

as a golden Human Path Merit Cloud was absorbed by Chen Daoxuan, ten wisps of merit drawn out, a corner missing,

a golden Merit Lotus Seed was condensed into being by Chen Daoxuan.

Three chi above his head in the void, with this golden Merit Lotus Seed as the core, an illusory lotus pond manifested.

The instant the Merit Lotus Seed successfully condensed, Chen Daoxuan vaguely felt a sense of lightness, perceiving that this world's rejection had vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Chen Daoxuan nodded in satisfaction.

Not only was the hidden danger dispelled, but according to the records of the Green Thunder Scripture, this counted as formally stepping onto the Merit Path.

He only needed to slowly irrigate this Merit Lotus Seed, wait for the Merit Lotus Seed to grow and bloom, bearing a Merit Lotus.

Then that illusory lotus pond could solidify, transforming into a Merit Dharma Realm.

By that time, he could establish a branch of the Merit Dharma Lineage, using it to gather merit.

……

Merging a wisp of golden merit into the golden Merit Lotus Seed, completing today's irrigation,

Chen Daoxuan did not continue cultivating the Green Thunder Scripture.

Instead, he circulated the Mountain-Sea Immortal Scripture, comprehending the Five Elements Great Dao of this Tianling Great Realm, restoring himself to peak condition.

……

But only a moment passed.

Chen Daoxuan suddenly opened his eyes, full of astonishment and excitement.

"Could it be that the Chang Sheng Tian Gui of the Great Universe can also restore the lifespan I consumed in the Primordial Spirit Realm, or in this Tianling Great Realm?"

One breath of time ago, while comprehending the Five Elements Great Dao, Chen Daoxuan naturally sensed the conditions within and without.

And when sensing his own lifespan, he abruptly discovered that he actually still had four thousand seven hundred years of lifespan remaining.

The normal extreme lifespan of the Soul Egress (Divine Transformation) Stage, whether in the endless ages before the Great Universe had the Chang Sheng Tian Gui, or in the Primordial Spirit Realm, or in this Tianling Great Realm, is five thousand years.

If one does not count his lifespan consumption in the Primordial Spirit Realm,

and only subtracts the three hundred years of lifespan consumed before he achieved Nascent Soul, it comes to exactly four thousand seven hundred years.

And thinking of the possibility that consumed lifespan could be restored by the Chang Sheng Tian Gui, Chen Daoxuan was more excited than when he had obtained the three Immortal Scripture inheritances and learned of the effects of the Merit Path and Fortune Path combined.

Because if lifespan could be restored, it meant that in the Primordial Spirit Realm and this Tianling Great Realm, he would also have a long life.

Truly able to take the strengths of the three great realms and discard their shortcomings.

His Immortal Achievement is Immeasurable.

……

Even if his comprehension, relative to cultivators of the same stage, is merely average,

if he can have a long lifespan in all three great realms, his prospects on the path to immortality would likely be entirely comparable to those who possess supreme immortal bodies.

Apart from various tribulations, the advancement of his cultivation realm would likely be unimpeded all the way.

……