Chapter 379: As Always

The current situation prevented the child from receiving more blessings, causing the young couple to sigh inwardly and breeding sorrow in their hearts.

The reason is actually quite simple.

Aside from the fact that the child's eldest uncle currently holds a status that is a bit too high and intimidating, it is also because the child's spiritual root is a bit too good—barely qualifying as a superior-grade spiritual root—which is a result of "superior breeding."

After all, the father had been well-fed and well-cared for since he was small, and even after running off to roam the pugilistic world and suffering severe beatings, he hadn't lost much weight; as for the mother, that is a longer story, belonging to a time when she was a rebellious teenager who snuck out to roam, and through a twist of fate, they tied the knot; she herself also seems to possess a spiritual root, but just like the Du family here, she was permitted not to pursue immortality.

Because of this, a problem has now arisen.

Should they let the child pursue immortality in the future? During his rebellious youth, the father was high-spirited and felt very unconvinced by his brother whom he had never met, thinking he could do just as well, but after roaming the pugilistic world and settling down, he had to admit that he could not compare.

And the woman is even more direct; she doesn't even want to cultivate herself, so how could she let the child do it?

All in all, the parents' opinion is basically one of unwillingness.

Going further up, the two elders here have truly followed Du En's instructions and followed the couple's wishes without interference; anyway, it's not as if there are no good cultivators around—if they really want to cultivate, they can just cultivate alongside the guards; there is even a Golden Core stage one among them, and his strength seems quite decent!

Although he certainly cannot compare to their eldest son.

Thus, there was the third direction the second son was looking at just now: the doorway.

Will he come back? This is the thought swirling in the hearts of the Du family members at this moment.

The past is like smoke, the person has drifted far away, and it seems he will never return again.

But whenever a festive day arrives, there is still someone who misses him.

"Though not necessarily missing him for good reasons."

The suddenly sounding voice seemed very self-absorbed, incomparably natural amidst the calm, and it seamlessly integrated into the scene.

Then, as people turned their heads, they saw a figure walking in from afar, rapidly approaching.

"Oh my, you stinky brat, hmm? Wait!"

Father Du was first pleasantly surprised, then stunned, looking at Du En who had already returned home and entered the door, and the infant he was holding in his arms, with only thick, utter disbelief, "You have a child too?!"

"It's not..."

"I knew it, with your personality, seeing through things too clearly, and being too quiet, it's very difficult, ouch!"

Before this exclamation was finished, his ribs were fiercely pinched by his wife.

Is that any way to talk?!

Father Du and Mother Du's reactions were normal, feeling as if it were still a long time ago, and the various things had not actually faded.

The guards were excited, as if they had seen a revered high mountain appear before them; if they hadn't been stopped by a sound transmission, they would have at least performed a collective shout of "Great Cultivator."

And the guests, each of them having reacted by now, one after another fell silent like cicadas in winter, screaming madly in their hearts that the main personage had actually appeared; for a moment, it was like seeing a true immortal from the heavens, and in their excitement, they feared causing him displeasure and bringing upon themselves the disaster of death or the destruction of their families! —A Great Cultivator's casual words or actions could easily achieve this!

When all is said and done, the highest level of cultivator an ordinary person can usually come into contact with is the Foundation Establishment stage, and that is already very high and mighty, with even the Emperor having to be polite to them.

And Du En, as he is now, is a dignified Nascent Soul stage cultivator famous throughout the Southern Lands; one could say that with a single thought, he could change the fate of millions!

At this very moment, this high and mighty Great Cultivator also stood like a Pillar of Heaven, looming over his younger brother and sister-in-law, causing the two young people to nervously huddle together, subconsciously shielding their child.

Father Du and Mother Du also calmed down, and everyone else seemed as if a pause button had been pressed.

So, this is Great Cultivator Du, Special Envoy Du, finding a child to swap for someone?

Does he want to take an apprentice? For a moment, thoughts were chaotic, and the atmosphere was incomparably sluggish.

"That is why I didn't want to come over."

Du En spoke thus, as if he had anticipated it, sounding somewhat sighing, "The sun exists there, and it can firmly pull the stars nearby; as for the dust that is far inferior to the stars, that goes without saying—this is the vast disparity between the immortal and the mortal."

As he spoke, he took a step and arrived in front of his mother.

"Mother, I picked this child up; he has no spiritual root and needs a place to settle. Do me a favor and raise him."

A moment ago he was speaking with such profound pretense, and the next moment his choice of words immediately became casual and domestic; the contrast was so great that many people felt they had misheard.

This is the demeanor of an expert, ah no, an immortal!

Once they came to their senses, everyone in the group felt this emotion.

As long as it is an immortal, whatever they do is demeanor! Mother Du did not know these thoughts, and even if she did, she wouldn't care; she just nodded happily: "No problem, just treat him as your own child, our family has another grandson..."

As she spoke, she directly pulled down the pants to confirm the gender.

Seemed a little disappointed? Mainly because of the two sons she raised—one was too worry-free and kept walking further and further away without stopping, and the other had been acting rebellious a few years ago, sneaking off, and only now seemed to have settled down.

This made her inevitably feel that it would have been better if it were a granddaughter.

And as the little bottom felt the chill, the child, who had long since woken up and was curiously looking around, immediately couldn't help but cry.

"There, there, don't cry, don't cry!"

Mother Du took him over with great experience and began to coax him, while Father Du was also eager to try on the side.

Although he wasn't their own son's biological child, he could be raised as one; the problem was basically non-existent!

The atmosphere here suddenly became warm and harmonious.

The people present suddenly felt that they were out of place, including the two biological ones; they felt this especially so.

Was it not to swap the child here, but to replace himself to some extent?

Du En looked back, and the couple of the second son couldn't help but shrink their heads.

"What you think is not actually important; what is important is what he thinks. If he is not an ordinary person and has high aspirations, then sooner or later he will make his own choice."

These words made them lower their heads in shame.

Du En had never interfered with the choices here, and the two elders hadn't either, but when it came to this, they had to make a choice for the child...

Du En, saying no more, signaled to the guards.

"Are you leaving already?"

The parents sensed it.

"If I stay, I will only make the atmosphere stiff."

Thus, the two elders did not try to keep him, only sighing inwardly.

Because it was indeed so.

The household is no longer just the two of them, but has added quite a few others; wanting to return to the beginning is actually just wishful thinking, it would be better to stay far away, so as to preserve the image of the beginning.

Thus, Du En came in a hurry, and left in a hurry.

The guards left together with him.

Arriving at a certain place outside the manor. "Great cultivator!"

"Special envoy!"

"What are your orders?!"

These cultivators, who had come to protect the Du manor either on their own initiative or under orders, and who belonged to the faction of Meng Changqing, were at this moment incomparably excited, unable to restrain themselves, and inexplicably jubilant.

"Actually, there are no orders; it is just that around that child, there is a hidden demonic sword that will protect him."

"Hmm?!"

"Could it be that?!"

"Yes, it is exactly that 'could it be that'; the demonic sword is of the fifth rank."

"Ah!?"

The guards suddenly felt as if struck by a thunderbolt.

A fifth-rank demonic sword—then what do they need to do? "Why are you all huddled together here? You should have other uses for your talents now."

Du En spoke his mind directly, his true nature unchanged, "Back then there was one, which could be considered a standard configuration; now that you have all broken through to the Golden Core stage, if you weren't doing things elsewhere, I would just assume you had gotten familiar with my father and my household, but what is going on with the rest of you?"

"We have admired you for a long time!"

"We revere you!"

"We are willing to walk through fire for you!"

Speaking of this, the guards became excited.

"Alright then, later you can be transferred to Nanmo; there is no need to huddle together too much here. Of course, since you guarded my home for me, I must also show my gratitude."

Du En looked at this small clique that seemed to be forming within the faction, and gave direct orders for them to go to Nanmo to join the old subordinates and acquaintances of the Corpse Burier, and gradually take over that border city.

At the same time, both in terms of sentiment and reason, he brought out his thanks.

"No, you cannot!"

"My lord, you shouldn't do this!"

"We are all..."

"The main thing is that they are useless to me now, and they just take up space if I keep them on me, so I might as well take the opportunity to clear some out."

The guards: "..."

Between crying and laughing, each of them was handed a full load of various high-grade spirit stones and spirit materials, all sorts of things left over from before or pressed to the bottom of his bag—mostly the remnants of Lou Shuoyue's wealth, which were completely useless to him because his strength had increased too quickly.

Keeping them on his person was just for moments like this; otherwise, he would have long ago dumped them all on Meng Changqing in exchange for some usable fifth-rank items.

"That's it then, don't be careless; the enemy is still alive and well."

"Yes!"

After acknowledging, when they looked up again, Du En had already disappeared.

Truly, his movements were hurried...

Clouds drifted through the sky.

Shadows were mottled.

The steel central capital of black and white was, as always, cold and heartless, devoid of vitality, and especially lacking in human warmth.

Through the identity token of the acting special envoy, one could bypass the Hub City and directly trigger the reception teleportation of the Central Capital, allowing one to arrive at or return from any place within the main territory of the Falling Feather Immortal Sect.

Du En was in his usual place, looking his usual self, his calmness and coldness seemingly fused into one; he had no worries as he walked, holding a jade slip in his hand.

It was the Daoist technique that Meng Changqing had given him not long ago, the one Jiang Ying had originally intended to give him.

This had been agreed upon beforehand: if he brought her into the faction and persuaded the True Monarch Bu Yi to stop, this would be the corresponding reward.

A Yellow-grade Daoist technique, the Diamond Tyrant Body! As the name suggests, it is to forge a Diamond-like, indestructible, fierce, and tyrannical physical body; it is somewhat close to a spirit body, but in essence, it is closer to a type of Daoist technique.

If one examines it closely, it has quite a lot to do with Buddhism, because the term "Diamond" originates from there.

A Diamond, as the Buddhist scriptures say, is a guardian warrior of the Buddha, named for holding a diamond pestle.

However, the "Diamond" of the Diamond Tyrant Body is not the Diamond of the Diamond warrior; accurately speaking, it is the Diamond of the diamond pestle! Because it is extremely hard and sharp, the Buddhist school regards it as a rare treasure of the world!

—In Sanskrit, it is Vajra, also called Diamond; this treasure comes from metal, its color is like purple quartz, it does not melt after a hundred refinings, it is extremely hard and sharp, and can cut jade; it is rare in the world, hence it is called a treasure.

It is also said that the Dharma body is as solid as a Diamond, and that it exists forever with the ultimate truth, often used as a metaphor for being steadfast and indestructible.

Furthermore, Diamond is a metaphor for the secret wisdom of the Tathagata; there is no law that can destroy a Diamond, so it can destroy all things, and this wisdom is the same.

Simply put, it is hard and indestructible, so it can break and kill all things; by adding this to the Daoist immortal theories, one can expand it to "Tyrant" and "Tyrannical," and thus the Diamond Tyrant Body was born! Its cultivation method is actually quite simple: it is to endure beatings, to have various means applied to oneself, to get oneself covered in injuries and exhaustion, and then to swallow and refine Purple Quartz Mother Stones, using the Diamond essence within to repair oneself, gradually training oneself to have this hidden quality of a Tyrant Body.

When using it, one triggers it with magic power to manifest the Diamond might; that is why it is called a Daoist technique—it requires active triggering to emerge!

This is a simple and unadorned method that Meng Changqing derived through Jiang Ying, who had already learned it; he even prepared the fifth-rank supreme-grade spirit item, the Purple Quartz Mother Stone, which is the jade slip in Du En's hand.

In fact, that Quasi-True Monarch, as an all-rounder with supreme talent and a high cultivation realm, could have come up with other cultivation methods, but none would be faster!

Or rather, none would be faster for Du En!

Because his Inexhaustible Azure Spirit Body has excellent recovery capabilities; by making an issue of this, he could almost digest a Mother Stone in a single day and learn this Daoist technique! Du En also does not care at all about suffering.

However...

"The impact of this cultivation method means that the future 'grinding' method for this technique can only be eating and digesting Mother Stones, and the Purple Quartz Mother Stone is a fifth-rank supreme-grade item; conservatively estimated, I would need at least nearly a thousand of them. That is a bit too much."

Meng Changqing was already grumbling about this, feeling that no matter how much surplus grain the landlord's family had, it could not withstand Du En's way of eating, and now he also had to concentrate many spirit treasures to help him repair the Mo Ju City.

That was a majestic city that had reached the seventh rank at its peak and might even have been a supreme-grade one; placed here in the Immortal Sect, even if several True Monarchs wanted to repair it, they would have to spend a lot of energy and resources.

In other words, it is a bottomless pit that swallows gold! Meng Changqing, who originally might have had the remaining strength to supply him, would likely be truly stretched thin once this bottomless pit got involved! So Du En now feels this will be a big problem.

"Furthermore, one must consider the subsequent issue of replacing and further studying spells; from Yellow-grade to Profound, then to Earth and Heaven, this whole process of cultivating, replacing, and cultivating again—honestly, it is not as good as doing a one-off deal."

The so-called one-off deal is naturally to blend the Diamond Tyrant Body into his constitution, or rather, to directly practice it as a true spirit body technique! Originally, this is a Daoist technique with a relatively vague positioning; it can be cultivated into a passive, permanent state, which is to say, it would be closer to a spirit body.

If he were to go a step further and fully integrate the essence of the Diamond Tyrant Body into the Inexhaustible Azure Spirit Body, through further dual cultivation of magic and body, he could formally spiritualize it.

In this way, by compressing the original Daoist arts into the cultivation technique, merging two things into one, the time consumed by subsequent grinding and practicing could also be reduced, which is a major benefit for him!

Having determined this strategy, Du En then cast his gaze back to the explanation of the Daoist arts.

What Meng Changqing gave him was naturally not just how to cultivate, but also included new tricks.

The profound essence of the Samadhi Immovable! (End of this chapter)