Chapter 169: Dao Ancestor Fortune

Dao Ancestor Fortune

"Hmm?"

At this very moment, a slight furrow appeared between Ruan Ci's brows within her cave dwelling in Purple Void Heaven. A tremor passed through her heart, nearly causing the surging spiritual power within her body to fall into chaos. Yet, when she sought to grasp the source, she found nothing to trace. It took half a day for her to settle her mind and return to a state of meditation. However, this faint tremor had stirred ripples in the lake of her heart. All the efforts of the previous days were rendered in vain, and she had to start over. This was indeed a test of patience. Ruan Ci, however, felt no anxiety; she followed the flow of fate, treating the passing time as a flexible scale.

Speaking of which, this was one of the insights she had gained from her recent journey. Previously, Xu Shaowei had led the group to see the Space-Roaming Kun, which directly led to the group being ambushed by the Canglang Sect. Tu Zhu, Zhong Shiliu, Ruan Rong, and others had fallen into dangerous situations, and the cultivators of the Great Jade Heaven had seized the opportunity to invade the realm. It could be said that the Space-Roaming Kun was the catalyst, but it was precisely because she had become acquainted with this Kun and played with it that Ruan Ci had gradually grasped some indescribable truths. During this period of seclusion, she was no longer as unable to find peace as she had been before, often feeling restless and bored with sitting still. Instead, she attempted to view time as an adjustable scale.

This feeling was mysterious. Her magic power had not advanced by an inch, and she was merely adjusting certain seemingly insurmountable scales in her meditative visualization. Yet, once she attempted it, she realized these scales were not so rigid. The long road of refining medicinal power, while feeling arduous, was insignificant when viewed against the eons of the universe.

For those on the path of cultivation, perhaps many dimensions in this world were not absolute. Whether it was size, sequence, coming and going, or past and future, all were based on a baseline within the heart. It was much like the "True Explanation of Intent Cultivation"—creating something from nothing and ascending in a single step. Although the prerequisites were extremely harsh, it was ultimately a matter of creating something from nothing. If one's inner conviction was firm enough and one's thoughts aligned sufficiently with the laws of the Great Dao, one could obtain feedback directly from the Great Dao and simulate supreme cultivation in a single moment. Of course, this did not mean that any idle thought could become reality. For instance, Ruan Ci had viewed time as a dimension and meditated for several hundred years without a single stray thought. Such a change did not come from her own whimsy, but from the changes in her perspective gained through observing the Kun and playing with it, which in turn influenced her Dao heart. From that moment on, she had crossed a barrier in her cultivation, and this single realization alone meant she would lead her peers by several steps.

Naturally, everyone had their own opportunities. If a cultivator possessed truly profound innate talent, even if they experienced the same dangers as others, they would have unique insights, and their cultivation progress would always outpace others. This was why major sects valued innate talent so highly. While any ordinary sect could provide the foundation of a physical body, things like fortune and comprehension—these ineffable qualities—were crucial to a cultivator's future, even if they seemed illusory. Even those who lacked these and relied solely on a firm Dao heart to achieve something on the path of cultivation—that firm Dao heart itself could be considered a form of innate talent. It was no wonder that disciples of high-ranking sects looked down on others; although they were all cultivators, they considered themselves not of the same path as the common crowd. This was not entirely false. For many cultivators, cultivation was merely a means to longevity, wealth, and status, but for these disciples with profound talent, cultivation was their entire existence. Only these disciples had even a sliver of hope of glimpsing the upper realm.

Ruan Ci did not consider herself arrogant, nor did she feel she was superior to others, but she would not belittle herself either. She knew she could not be trapped at the Foundation Establishment stage; at the very least, she had to reach the Grotto-Heaven realm to play a role in the Dao Ancestor's chess game. Before that, she would naturally be surrounded by the surging currents of fortune and causality, pushing her toward the upper realm, where she would eventually meet her fate.

She hated being manipulated more than anything, but with her shallow cultivation, what could she do? Most of the time, she simply pretended not to know and focused on her cultivation, not even daring to harbor extra thoughts until she could draw her sword after reaching the Golden Core stage. Over these two hundred years, she had tried viewing time as a dimension and focused on refining her medicine, becoming more seasoned in her cultivation. Yet, her personality remained unchanged—she intentionally kept it that way. If one were to look at it from the perspective of others, as time passed and circumstances changed, it was impossible to remain a child forever. One would inevitably change due to life's experiences. But Ruan Ci, while having learned some strategy and the malice of the human heart, refused to change her nature just to survive longer. Her entire life had been the result of others' arrangements; if she changed her nature just to live longer, would she still be Ruan Ci?

Take this moment, for example. She had spent over a hundred years filling the seventh layer of her Foundation Establishment, and another hundred years taking two elixirs to push her cultivation to the peak of the ninth layer, just a hair's breadth away from Golden Core formation. If she were being cautious, she should have come out of seclusion to pay respects to her Master and seek advice on the intricacies of Golden Core formation, and she would inevitably have to seek out time-related elixirs to prepare for the formation. But because she had learned this method of "looking at things differently," even after two hundred years of seclusion, she felt it had only been a short while. Not having had her fill of seclusion, she let herself be, smoothing her state of mind and attempting to move her magic power to build the tenth layer of her Dao foundation.

Her Dao foundation now consisted of nine solid layers and three void layers, with the Dew-Bearing Plate already erected above the ninth layer. Dense spiritual energy swirled like clouds and mist, as if the Golden Core were about to emerge from the void. Ruan Ci had a faint feeling that if she were in any other Great Heaven, she could ignore the three void layers and form her Golden Core on her own. She could try to fill the void layers later. At this moment, she could also come out of seclusion to seek time-related spiritual objects to see if she could sense the sword seed of the early Golden Core stage. However, cultivation gained this way would be condensing the Golden Core directly from the ninth layer, making it impossible to solidify the three void layers of the Dao foundation.

A twelve-layer Foundation Establishment was rare in the world; even Master Wang probably could not answer all her questions, and they could only explore it together. Ruan Ci had already tried several times, but her magic power always failed to solidify in the tenth layer of the Dao foundation. She had ruled out many ideas. This calming of the heart lake was the last possibility. She thought perhaps there was some lingering attachment in her heart lake, making her magic power insufficiently pure, and the tenth layer of the Dao foundation was extremely picky about magic power. She spent more time clearing away all stray thoughts and tried filling the tenth layer with magic power again, but the spiritual energy fell into the void and dissipated as before. She sighed softly, knowing that these three layers of the Dao foundation were not built with spiritual energy. Perhaps these layers were where the Dao Ancestors differed from other cultivators; for ordinary cultivators, they were beyond reach or imagination, let alone something to be sought.

But since Ruan Ci had a twelve-layer Foundation Establishment, she was not afraid of having nowhere to seek answers. She had many paths to choose from. Grotto-Heaven cultivators, upon entering the Grotto-Heaven realm, would all find ways to complete their Dao foundations and naturally understood what was required, or at least had some insights to discuss. Even within the Profound Heaven Sect, Sect Master's partner, True Person Qingmiao, was on the verge of becoming a Dao slave and was at the point of having to merge with the Dao, showing the depth of her cultivation. Even though Master Wang had only recently achieved the Grotto-Heaven realm, Ruan Ci was not afraid of having no one to consult. Moreover, there was Qing Jun waiting in the past life, and she could come out of seclusion to check with He Tong to see if the Catching Moon Cliff had received any time-related spiritual objects sent by friends.

Thinking of He Tong, Ruan Ci's heart skipped a beat, and a faint sense of foreboding emerged. She secretly thought, "Could this be the omen of good or ill fortune in the Golden Core realm? Is He Tong being captured or killed because of me? Because I have reached the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment and am infinitely close to Golden Core formation, and my spiritual sense is still quite strong, I have such a premonition?"

This omen of fortune, Ruan Ci had read about in classics before. It wasn't always accurate, nor did it happen every time. If one didn't practice the technique of sensing, most cultivators didn't pay much attention to it. However, she had had several such premonitions while still in the Foundation Establishment stage, showing she might have some talent. If she had the opportunity after reaching the Golden Core stage, she could try practicing sensing techniques. After all, Master Wang's "Supreme Sensing Chapter" was a top-tier technique, and Ruan Ci was quite interested. At the very least, by practicing sensing techniques, she could better protect her own thoughts, unlike now, where she had no secrets from Master Wang.

It had been over two hundred years since the Master and disciple had met. While Ruan Ci felt the two hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye during her cultivation, the boredom and hardship were not worth mentioning. But now, thinking that she hadn't seen her Master and relatives for so many years, she felt the time had been quite long and missed him dearly. She secretly thought, "He Tong's incident could be big or small. I don't know if it has anything to do with the errands in the nine kingdoms at the foot of the mountain. It would be better for me to come out of seclusion to pay respects to my Master..."

Actually, for He Tong's matter, she could just look for Lü Huangning, but Master Wang had never restrained Ruan Ci, and her personality had been spoiled. Since she wanted to see her Master, she would ask for an audience even if there was nothing to discuss, let alone when there was an incident? This thought, once sparked, became extremely intense, and she actually wanted to come out of seclusion right then. But for some reason, she felt that doing so would be detrimental to her cultivation. When she tried to grasp the premonition, it was gone without a trace. She dismissed the thought, pondering, "People say this sensing is mysterious. In my view, it's nothing more than an inability to see through the connections between fortune and causality. Just like what I saw when my Master demonstrated for me, every action I take has countless echoes in this world. Since I have reached the threshold of the Golden Core stage, those powerful echoes can occasionally fall into my ears. It seems that even if I go to see my Master now, he will avoid seeing me. But even if he doesn't see me, the act of coming out of seclusion will have an adverse effect on condensing the Dao foundation. I just don't know where it will manifest."

"If that's the case, only staying behind closed doors is beneficial for condensing the twelve Dao foundations. But I have gained nothing from meditating in stillness, and I have no time-related spiritual objects for intent cultivation. Even if I try to seek them from the sword, I can't even inject spiritual energy. None of these are paths. What else have I not thought of?"

After repeated pondering, she finally remembered one thing. She took out a jade bottle from her waist, caressed it for a while, and murmured, "Could it be... that it lies in this object?"

This was the mysterious object she had obtained in the depths of the Treasure Cloud Sea. She had suffered great pain for it and had further tempered her physical body. Ruan Ci had known nothing of the essence of this object at the time and had even curiously opened it to check, but the jade bottle was empty, as if the mysterious object had been her imagination. Taking it out again now, she felt a strong connection with it, knowing it was the key to condensing her last three layers of Dao foundation. But when she opened the bottle stopper several times to look, it was still empty. Her thoughts turned, and she secretly thought, "Calling a name creates a connection. The names of all things are important. In an illusion, if one sees through the true meaning of the realm and the true name of the object, its power will be reduced. Perhaps I can only activate it if I guess what this object is."

What could this continuously dripping mysterious object be? Ruan Ci recalled the scene at the time several times. "The Nirvana Dao Ancestor obtained the help of Qing Jun's silver hairpin and had returned from the void of the void to the void number. From what I saw in the spiritual memory of Ling Yuan, after a cultivator dies, their true spirit is not yet extinguished, but will be summoned and merge into the Forgetful River to enter the void number. The void number mentioned there should be a place like a sea or an abyss. After the true spirit enters, it will not return. To escape this summons, one must constantly reincarnate to avoid the desire to enter the Forgetful River. But a Dao Ancestor should be able to resist this rule and, like Qing Jun, always stay in the void number, lingering in the past life."

"But in the past life of this universe, there is no Nirvana Dao Ancestor. The Nirvana Dao Ancestor is a true spirit in reality, and because the Dao rhyme barrier exists in both void and reality, she could only use the simultaneous strike of the Dao slave envoy and True Person Qingshan to escape from the sect. At this time, she should be wandering in the real universe. For a Dao Ancestor, the true spirit still exists, and she was once the Dao Lord of the Nirvana Great Dao. As long as the Great Dao of this universe has not changed, it should not be difficult for her to merge with the Dao again."

This was already thinking too far. Ruan Ci pulled back her thoughts, pondering what the Nirvana Dao Ancestor had taken and what she had left behind. "She only took the true spirit and even left the Dao foundation behind. Let me think, the Langhuan Heaven is the Nirvana Dao Ancestor's inner scene world, the Treasure Cloud Sea is the Jade Pool, the Hengze Heaven is a mirage-like phantom when the Jade Pool waves rise, and the Hengze Jade Dew is also a product of illusion. What the Nirvana Dao Ancestor gave me must be something she couldn't take away but didn't want True Person Qingshan to get. What is something that both Dao Ancestors and Grotto-Heaven cultivators need and can compete for? Magic power? No, not these. It is..."

Thinking of this, the answer seemed obvious. Ruan Ci softly exclaimed, "It's fortune!"

"Whether it's Grotto-Heaven or Dao Ancestor, the struggle is essentially about the fortune of the universe! What dripped into the bottle in the Treasure Cloud Sea was the Dao Ancestor fortune that was brought from the old universe, refined by the Dao rhyme of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and still carried the lingering charm of the Nirvana Dao Ancestor, which the Dongyang Dao Ancestor could not occupy!"

As she spoke, the jade bottle jumped violently, and a white light shot out from the bottle, like a sun exploding, illuminating the heavens and the earth, piercing through the cave dwelling's restrictions, and reaching the clouds of the Grotto-Heaven. Even the Great Dao rules of the Grotto-Heaven small world could not cover it. In the empty universe, the spiritual energy-filled barrier of the Langhuan Heaven also revealed a bright shadow, shining in all directions into the infinite universe.

"Dao Ancestor fortune!"

Lü Huangning suddenly opened his eyes and exclaimed, his hands forming seals to activate the Grotto-Heaven formation to cover it up. "Little Junior Sister, this—this!"

"Dao Ancestor fortune..."

Master Wang sat on the meditation cushion, opening his eyes and whispering. His eyes seemed to contain infinite starlight and an immeasurable sea. Although he was sitting, it was as if a galaxy was spanning across, unlike a living person. Even when he looked at this place, it was as if he was observing the infinite changes of the past and future simultaneously. He gradually understood, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly, adding to his peerless elegance. "It really is Dao Ancestor fortune."

His gaze shifted, and he reached out to brush away the formation runes. "Let them see it, let them see it clearly."

"Dao Ancestor fortune!"

The star map of the heaven lit up. The Dao officials ran out of the main hall in a hurry, about to report, but saw figures already manifested before the star map. Grotto-Heaven True Persons all appeared together. The giant holding a lamp in the Central Continent and the giant toad with a bulging belly in the South Zhuzhou all turned their eyes, glancing faintly at the long sword blooming with white light above the southeast of the Central Continent.

"Dao Ancestor fortune!"

In countless Great Heavens, countless pairs of eyes looked at the big star blooming with white light and suddenly lighting up in the night sky. "This is... whose Dao Ancestor fortune is this? The Dongyang Dao Domain has had another change. It seems that in the universe, the kalpa has risen again, and the wind and waves are dangerous. Who will win this kalpa is still unknown..."

"Dao Ancestor fortune?"

In the infinite distance of the universe, in some Dao domain, in a place of infinite purity and high clouds, at the end of a long jade staircase, a puzzled soft cry suddenly came from the palace. Two children were lying by a water pool, reaching out to scoop up the white light blooming from the star sea in the pool, but they couldn't grasp it no matter what. They stomped their feet in frustration, got up and ran through the rolling red dust, shouting, "Hey, Tai Yi, there's another fortune. The rhyme is somewhat familiar, but it has never appeared before. This... which Dao Ancestor is this?"

At the end of the red dust, a young girl took off the lotus leaf covering her face, stood up straight, and smiled, "It is not a Dao Ancestor, yet it is a Dao Ancestor; it is still a Dao Ancestor, yet it is not a Dao Ancestor."

She walked forward, her figure changing into a man, an old man, a child... She placed a piece on the chessboard by the water pool and smiled, "You say, which piece will fall onto the chessboard?"

The children were used to his vague words and complained, "Aren't you clear yet? Shouldn't this be what you tell us?"

Tai Yi smiled and shook his head, "It is precisely because even I am not clear that it is interesting."

He sat down by the table, waving the lotus leaf, making the time in the palace sway and shake, looking at the chessboard with great interest, and murmured, "When the fun is at its peak, a moment is eternity. The most interesting moment is about to begin..."

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Updated. This chapter is updated from the draft box. Because I was out eating at twelve o'clock, I went to the store on Monday to change to an iPhone 12, and by the way, bought a Mophie three-in-one wireless charger. As a result, the charging ports for AirPods and Watch were fine, but the phone charging pad often couldn't charge. I called customer service, and customer service said to return it quickly, as this charging pad is not compatible with the Pro Max. I was stunned. Can it be like this? The Apple store clerk didn't tell me either. I have to go to the store again to return it. It's a waste of my time.

(Complaining a lot, no book recommendations yet, TOT, but everyone should like the progress of this chapter. I will send the red packets from the day before yesterday later.)

. Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2020-12-03 12:02:24 and 2020-12-04 11:08:43~

Thanks to the little angels who voted for landmines: 891336 (2); Yu Yu Wan Yao, Ma Daidai riding a horse, Sunnyhldtk, Banmu Fangtang, hamel Ji, Ding Ding Ding, Wu Mingya, the stolen account Lychee, Yan Yan (1);

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Xigua Asi (60 bottles); Pa Pa Jiang (25 bottles); 22850853 (21 bottles); Su Mu Xing, Jiuzhou Holding Wind and Thunder, Feng Yi, Wuxin Lezi (10 bottles); Duijiu Dangge (7 bottles); king (5 bottles); Yun Shui Shui (3 bottles); yy_Youyou, Li Li (2 bottles); Yisheng's big bacteria, Dao Dao, Pi Pi, Dan Dan (1 bottle);

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!