Chapter 7: Foundation Growth, the Master's Deep Intent

In an instant.

As the nine-inch Nascent Soul fused with that one Great Dao True Talisman.

Mysterious black radiance flowed.

The nine-inch Nascent Soul, the Eight-Thousand-Zhang Violet Mansion, the Black Tortoise Dharma Body, and the Xuanhuang earth beneath the Nascent Soul's feet were, at this moment, bathed by a baptism from the unseen.

The nine-inch Nascent Soul began to grow.

The Eight-Thousand-Zhang Violet Mansion became, in the unseen, even more self-contained.

The Xuanhuang earth beneath his feet, representing the "Earth Aperture," grew more solid and substantial.

The Black Tortoise Dharma Body condensed from his flesh manifested tortoise and serpent.

His cultivation foundation began to rise, in the unseen, in every aspect.

Moreover, Chen Daoxuan even sensed that the omnipresent Chang Sheng Tian Gui's erosion and immortalization of him had weakened by a trace out of thin air.

……

One hour later.

With the complete fusion of that one Great Dao True Talisman.

The nine-inch Nascent Soul had risen to Nine Inches One.

"Could it be that before condensing the Primordial Spirit and breaking through to Soul Egress, I can elevate my foundation to a One-foot Immortal Infant?"

He stilled his mind and qi, calming his heart.

Familiarizing himself with the changes in every aspect after this fusion of the Great Dao True Talisman.

One month later, Chen Daoxuan finally left the Ten Zhang puppet and departed that Yellow Grade Blessed Land.

……

Using the Mountain and Sea Stele, he summoned Xuanwu Ding Ninety-Nine.

Heading to where those Dao-thought bodies derived from the Heavenly Yao 【Prison】 resided.

"True Disciple, those three hundred and eight Dao-thought bodies have already been separated in space and individually suppressed within three hundred and eight array eyes of the Mie Xian Zhen."

"This array eye holds the most recently derived Dao-thought body of the Heavenly Yao 【Prison】, from one hundred and twenty years ago."

Riding Zhen Ling Xuan Wu Ding Jiu Jiu, in the Black Tortoise True Form condensed from the Mie Xian black mist, he arrived at the core of the Mie Xian Zhen.

Three great suns, thirty-six Xing Xing, and three hundred and sixty satellites.

Yet all were transformed from the condensation of boundless Mie Xian black mist into solid substance.

Each one represented an Array Eye.

As Xuanwu Ding Ninety-Nine spoke, he arrived atop one of the satellites—eighty thousand li in diameter, larger than many Xing Xing.

……

Separated by several million li.

Chen Daoxuan could see, upon this satellite, a colossal ape of profound black, towering over Ten Thousand Zhang, lying in slumber.

With Chen Daoxuan's arrival, the slumbering Ten Thousand Zhang profound-black colossal ape sensed it and awoke in an instant.

"True Disciple, to avoid my being polluted, I can only have the True Disciple rely on the Mountain and Sea Stele to enter personally and slay this Dao-thought body yourself."

Hearing this, Chen Daoxuan gave a slight nod.

Black Tortoise Sword, Black Tortoise Armor, Black Tortoise Pearl.

The three Dao-protecting treasures recorded within the Black Tortoise True Scripture all manifested.

Clad in the Black Tortoise Armor, the Black Tortoise Pearl hovering above his head, wielding the Black Tortoise Sword.

Then Chen Daoxuan was like a black meteor, streaking across the firmament toward that Dao-thought body in the form of a Ten Thousand Zhang profound-black colossal ape.

……

The Black Tortoise's cry, like tortoise and serpent crying in unison, sounded.

The great divine ability 【Black Tortoise Divine Thunder】 manifested.

The Dao-thought body in the form of a Ten Thousand Zhang-tall profound-black colossal ape instantly contracted boundlessly and exploded.

At once, the entire eighty-thousand-li-diameter satellite trembled slightly.

Stirring up boundless Mie Xian black mist.

It appeared the Dao-thought body had been utterly destroyed.

But only a few breaths of time passed.

The Dao-thought body in the form of a profound-black colossal ape materialized out of thin air.

Apart from shrinking by one zhang, it seemed utterly unchanged.

……

At this, Chen Daoxuan showed no sign of surprise.

These Dao-thought bodies relied upon the Great Dao as their foundation.

In terms of combat power, they were only at the Nascent Soul Stage level of the Great Universe.

Moreover, they were Nascent Souls of the "three nothings"—no divine abilities, no treasures, no intelligence.

For the True Disciples of the Shanhai Immortal Sect who had condensed superior-grade Nascent Souls and cultivated the Four Symbols True Scripture, they posed no threat whatsoever.

But Dao-thought bodies possessed certain characteristics of indestructibility.

Some required slaying three thousand times, others tens of thousands.

This Dao-thought body, after being slain once by Chen Daoxuan, shrank by one zhang in stature.

That meant it still required continuous slaying over ten thousand more times to truly kill it.

……

Watching the revival of the Dao-thought body in the form of a profound-black colossal ape, Chen Daoxuan did not strike at once.

Instead, he was absorbing and digesting that wisp of insight into the Water-element Great Dao that had spontaneously surfaced in his heart after he had just slain the Dao Thought Body.

It was roughly equivalent to an entire day of bitter cultivation in the Great Universe.

"So slaying a Dao Thought Body actually comes with this kind of opportunity!"

Chen Daoxuan's heart warmed as he sensed Master Guiyuan True Lord's profound intention.

After several breaths, he finished digesting and absorbing that wisp of insight into the Water-element Great Dao.

Chen Daoxuan once again charged at this Dao Thought Body.

"Once, twice…"

"Ten times, twenty times…"

After better than an hour, as the number of kills reached over a hundred, Chen Daoxuan began to feel a slight strain.

The consumption of his mana could no longer keep pace with its recovery.

He began to maneuver, attempting to use the least amount of mana—employing divine abilities, wielding Numinous Treasures—to slay this Dao Thought Body.

……

Originally, if the killing speed had remained unchanged, he would only have needed ten days to completely destroy this Dao Thought Body.

But it took a full half-year.

Only then did Chen Daoxuan completely slay this Dao Thought Body.

……

By this point, Chen Daoxuan was utterly bedraggled.

His Nascent Soul Dharma Body had become wizened like firewood, his Aura in disarray.

The Nine-Inch Nascent Soul within him was also utterly listless.

Mana, divine sense, and Dharma Body had all been spent to the point of overdraft.

Yet Chen Daoxuan's pair of eyes shone brilliantly.

Not only had completely slaying the Dao Thought Body given him insight into the Great Dao equivalent to over twenty years of bitter cultivation in the Great Universe.

The tens of thousands of kills had pushed every divine ability and secret art a step further, faintly showing signs of breaking through their bottlenecks.

His combat skills had likewise been honed.

Although he still could not compare with those born geniuses of battle, those born killers.

At the very least, he had drawn a little closer.

Even the three Xuanwu treasures had been honed.

When he condensed his Primordial Spirit and reached Soul Egress Stage, the probability of elevating the three Xuanwu treasures into Spirit Treasures would increase by several points.

……

However, Chen Daoxuan could sense that something was amiss in his own heart-mind.

It was as if he had developed a certain sense of closeness toward that dark-colored giant ape Dao Thought Body.

He understood this was contamination received alongside the Great Dao insights gained from slaying the Dao Thought Body.

He would need some time to dispel this bit of heart-mind contamination.

……

He put away the 【Dao Thought Bead】 left behind after completely destroying the Dao Thought Body.

Chen Daoxuan transformed into a streak of dark light, left this Array Eye, and summoned Xuanwu Ding Ninety-Nine.

Riding the black-mist Xuanwu, he returned to that Yellow Grade Blessed Land.

He entered closed-door cultivation to recover himself.

……

Another half-year passed before Chen Daoxuan had fully recovered in every aspect, and even advanced further.

Only within his heart-mind did some contamination still linger; according to Chen Daoxuan's calculations, it would still need several more months to be dispelled.

However, as Xuanwu Ding Ninety-Nine had said, after killing each Dao Thought Body, it was best to wait at least three years.

……

After fully restoring his condition.

Chen Daoxuan took out that Mountain and Sea Stele, which represented not only the status of a True Disciple.

His divine sense poured into it.

After a long moment, a sealed inheritance, transmitted through divine sense, appeared in Chen Daoxuan's mind.

【Gouchen the Great Emperor's Yin-Yang Great Fate True Canon】.

This was one of the thirteen fundamental inheritances of Gouchen Hall, a first-rate sect that had been destroyed thirty million years ago.

An inheritance of the Yin-Yang Great Dao that could be cultivated all the way to Combined Body Stage.

……