Chapter 438

When Liu proposed the idea for breaking the situation, a feeling of heartfelt admiration arose in Zhao Xing's heart.

Heaven and earth are great, but in the Grand Void, they are just one thing!

The Grand Void Straw Man is an advanced version of the Giant Yang Straw Man, and the characteristic of the Giant Yang Straw Man is, literally, that it possesses the Golden Body characteristics of a Qi Sect martial artist.

Many Qi Sect martial artists will swallow their teammates into their bodies to protect them. As an advanced version of the Straw Man, its artistic conception goes a step further on this basis, becoming more massive and vast, encompassing everything, as if it were a boundless universe.

Therefore, Liu said, "The Grand Void is formless, the body of Qi; its gathering and its dispersing are merely guest forms of change."

It also logically deduced that the planet connected by the gray mist is very similar to the internal structure of the Grand Void Straw Man.

Furthermore, it inferred that the second trial Zhao Xing was taking, that scene containing countless mysteries, was actually a partial manifestation of the interior of the Grand Void Straw Man.

"The teacher is worthy of being the master of the Straw Man Method who stood alone in the world during the Xuanhuang Realm era. Without truly feeling the situation inside the checkpoint, just by listening and watching, and thinking for three years, he actually realized so many mysteries," Zhao Xing couldn't help but sigh.

"You don't need to flatter me. During the Origin Realm period, I couldn't create Great Divine Abilities; your Giant Yang Resurrection is truly amazing," Liu Liu Tianning smiled. "I'm not as widely learned as you; in the years I've followed Lord Qianhua, I've always just cultivated around the Straw Man Method."

"I also cultivated the Giant Yang Straw Man Method. After you gave me this method back then, I also yearned for the legendary Void Ancestor series of Straw Man Methods, and I have always been searching for secret manuals about it, so it's normal to know a bit more."

Zhao Xing nodded; Old Liu was very focused. After entering the universe version, he still liked to cultivate the Straw Man Method.

To avoid repeating the same mistakes, he also cultivated his Heart and Soul Divine Abilities, so controlling the Straw Man clone was not a problem at all.

It was precisely because of Liu Liu Tianning's breakthrough that the Great Zhou was not lacking in combat power at the Dao Domain Realm, because Old Liu could stand in for many Dao Domain Realm experts.

"Alright, enough small talk. Your cultivation time in the Origin Realm is very precious; concentrate your energy and try as soon as possible."

"Yes." Zhao Xing closed his eyes.

At the same time, inside the Grand Void Straw Man.

The Giant Yang clone began to move constantly, recording every detail of the Grand Void space.

"The gray mist full of vitality is dynamic, constantly flowing and changing."

"Floating in the mist are many stars, each corresponding to the origin of some life form."

"If you combine them and look at them in miniature..."

Zhao Xing's hands danced, using spiritual power to construct everything he saw in the space, and soon a miniature life thumbnail map appeared.

"It looks like the acupuncture points and meridians of the human body, while the mist is like a combination of vitality and magic power."

After restructuring, Zhao Xing followed a unique perspective to look, and he barely pieced together a three-dimensional internal map of the human body.

The reason he said "barely" was because the positions of the stars in many places were wrong, and they could not be understood according to the common rule that acupuncture points correspond to stars.

In addition, the flow of the gray mist was constantly interfering with Zhao Xing's deduction and calculation.

"Calculating with my current mental power, I'm afraid it's difficult to exhaust it even if my mind is exhausted; it's impossible to glimpse the mysteries inside the Grand Void Straw Man using the exhaustive method."

Even if he knew how to break the checkpoint, even if he guessed it, the amount of calculation was too large, the workload was too large, and it was still very difficult to see hope for success.

Zuo Zuo Qiyu's checkpoint was born precisely to make things difficult for people.

What Zhao Xing was facing now was the deliberate obstruction of a Reincarnation Emperor.

"Step by step, move the stars first."

After thinking for a moment, the Giant Yang clone began to act.

"Big, big, big!"

The Giant Yang Straw Man grew to a five-pole body size, and then began to act like a diligent bee, starting to transport the stars.

Star by star, including the broken star remains, were transported by Zhao Xing to the predetermined positions.

"Boom~"

His spiritual sense was suddenly eroded; the stars connected by the gray mist secretly matched the life veins. They actually emitted an consciousness like life instinct, shaking away Zhao Xing's spiritual sense.

"Did I do it right, or did I do it wrong?"

Zhao Xing's spiritual sense was almost shaken out of the Giant Yang Straw Man's body.

Immediately after, he saw the stars shift again under the impact of the gray mist, as if he had piled up a castle on the beach, only to have it washed away by the ocean of gray mist before he had time to admire it.

The stars that had been arranged with great difficulty became chaotic again, turning into a pile of loose sand.

"Again!"

Zhao Xing continued to transport; the second time, just as he was about to move the stars to the designated position, the Giant Yang clone carried a portion of vines and swung them toward multiple stars.

"Stem-Fighting Divine Ability, change!"

The ordinary-looking vines immediately turned into the Void type, possessing the ability to shuttle through the void and extend their length.

Zhao Xing named the mutated vines "Star-Locking Vines," fixing the stars in place.

The Star-Locking Vines seemed to become the second set of meridians between the stars, and a portion of the mist turned, starting to flow along the branches of the Star-Locking Vines between the stars.

"Did it work?"

The vine meridians resonated with the star trajectories, and for the first time, Zhao Xing felt the world outside the universe space.

He saw Zuo Zuo Qiyu on the wall of Taichu City, and also saw the Wudu Emperor, as well as himself and Fairy Youling outside the city.

At the same time, he also seemed to see a huge shadow standing in the void turbulence of the Dao Ancient Layer.

The entire Taichu City seemed to become tiny.

"Is that the shadow of the Grand Void Straw Man? It can actually reflect into the Dao Ancient Layer void; truly terrifying..."

The moment the thought arose, both the Wudu Emperor and Zuo Zuo Qiyu looked over.

"Did he succeed?" the Wudu Emperor asked in astonishment. This time it was genuine shock, to the point that he blurted out subconsciously: "Dog thing, did he really succeed?"

Zuo Zuo Qiyu looked at the Wudu Emperor with unkind eyes, snorted coldly, and slapped the Wudu Emperor away.

The scene observed shattered in three immeasurable moments, as if it had just been an illusion.

"Bang!"

The vines suddenly bloomed with golden flowers, then quickly burst apart.

The gray mist surged like a flood, impacting the stars of the heavens again; the second attempt also ended in failure.

"Ignoring the gray mist and replacing it is not going to work," Zhao Xing thought thoughtfully. "It is impossible for me to cross Zuo Zuo Qiyu's settings to replace it."

"These trajectories..."

The floating star fragments suddenly trembled violently, dragging out silver light tails like the Milky Way in the gray mist.

Zhao Xing discovered that the arcs of the star movements secretly matched the flow of spiritual energy and the flow of the Life Great Dao within the Giant Yang Straw Man.

The parabolas drawn by three passing meteorites were like a ray of spiritual light cutting through the dark sky.

"Bang!" The vines continued to snap, and the rebounding force pulled the Giant Yang clone apart, but Zhao Xing was happy instead.

"Hahahaha, Senior Zuo, your method, I, Zhao Xing, am determined to have!"

"Disperse!"

Zhao Xing suddenly burst into loud laughter, letting the vines pull his Giant Yang clone into powder.

He ignited a cyan-green life fire at his fingertips, igniting the straw man's broken body, wrapping all the foundation essence of the Giant Straw Man around his spiritual sense, and took the initiative to jump into the gray mist flood.

The burning straw fragments turned into countless fireflies, illuminating the mist of the boundless night sky.

Zhao Xing's spiritual sense constantly split and converged with the river.

Those seemingly chaotic star fragments began to flicker at a specific frequency, and a giant human meridian map composed of light spots appeared in the gray mist.

When time rotated to a certain moment, the entire boundless night sky seemed to be filled with all of Zhao Xing's intentions.

"Thump!"

A heartbeat seemed to come from the depths of the void, like a thunderous roar, as if some will that had been sleeping for billions of years was awakening.

Zhao Xing felt his consciousness being pulled into a mysterious dimension, where he was simultaneously the tender shoot breaking through the soil and the withered leaf drifting toward the earth.

When the materials of the Giant Yang clone burned out, the universe was withered and gray, but he saw all the stars and the rotating gray nebulae.

"Boom!"

The second heartbeat, thunder roared, and the entire secret realm began to collapse.

Inside Taichu City, the Grand Void Straw Man, with only a giant head exposed and the rest of its body in the Dao Ancient Layer void, opened its eyes.

A phantom of Zhao Xing appeared in its eyes, bowing to Zuo Zuo Qiyu from afar.

"Greetings, Senior."

The voice was very weak, but it was transmitted out.

The Wudu Emperor's head popped out of the dirt pit, looking at Zhao Xing's phantom in the Straw Man's eyeball, and couldn't help but open his mouth wide: "Incredible, truly incredible... this is even stronger than that beast Zuo Zuo Qiyu took in back then."

Zuo Zuo Qiyu, standing on the city wall, had a flash of complexity in his eyes, but he quickly returned to calm.

"You passed the trial."

Hum~~

Zuo Zuo Qiyu waved his hand, and Zhao Xing's spiritual sense instantly returned to his main body.

At the same time, his main body also suddenly disappeared from the Boundary-Swaying River and appeared inside Taichu City.

The Wudu Emperor was kicked out of Taichu City.

"Truly stingy, can't even look," Wudu cursed as he walked away.

"Disappeared?"

Fairy Youling widened her eyes; she looked at Zhao Xing's main body and found that the other party was gone.

"Could it be that he... passed the trial?"

…………

Inside Taichu City, below the head of the Grand Void Straw Man, Zuo Zuo Qiyu looked at Zhao Xing and went straight to the point.

"Which Straw Man Method do you want to learn?"

Zhao Xing bowed and said: "Whatever the teacher teaches, I will learn."

Zuo Zuo Qiyu sneered: "Truly greedy enough."

Zhao Xing did not speak, just lowered his head to receive instruction.

When chatting with a big shot like Zuo Zuo Qiyu, it's best to be direct.

Zhao Xing was now indicating that he wanted to learn everything!

"Every time you learn one more type of my Straw Man Method, your soul will have to undergo a major tearing."

"I might as well tell you, I have no hope of reaching the Demigod Realm in my life precisely because my soul is incomplete. Anyone who has learned the Void Ancestor Straw Man Method, including that founder—"

"Do you still want to learn now?"

Zhao Xing pondered: "The Heavenly Dao has its norms; what is lost is gained. Since the teacher is subject to the shackles of the netherworld, the Straw Man Method must be peerless in the world. And I also believe that there should be a way to make up for it."

"There is no way to make up for it." Zuo Zuo Qiyu shook his head.

"Why is the Senior so certain?" Zhao Xing asked puzzledly.

"Because the Void Ancestor Straw Man Method was created by Senior Gu Fu Tianyang."

"Senior Gu Fu Tianyang was a descendant of the Heavenly God Gu Xiao, and he had a younger brother named Gu Luohe."

"What?" Zhao Xing's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected such origins.

"Senior Gu Fu Tianyang hadn't solved this problem before his Primordial Spirit reached its limit, I haven't solved it after learning it, and your current teacher, Senior Gu Luohe, has also studied it," Zuo Zuo Qiyu said. "From the moment you succeed in practicing the Grand Void Straw Man until the Taichu Straw Man, you will have to experience 91 tearings in total."

"This kind of major soul tearing cannot be made up for, and from the moment the Grand Void Straw Man is practiced, there is no way to make up for it."

"In other words, after learning this method, the Reincarnation Emperor realm is the limit?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes." Zuo Zuo Qiyu nodded.

"Teacher, I have one thing I don't understand," Zhao Xing said. "The Void Ancestor's Upper Three Chapters have three types: Taichu, Reincarnation, and Origin. Then the Void Ancestor Straw Man Method should also have three Great Daos; why does the teacher only mention the Taichu Straw Man?"

"Because before Senior Gu Fu Tianyang fell, no one had learned the Origin Straw Man and the Reincarnation Straw Man, and I am the only one in the entire Xuanling Star Domain who inherited one of them."

"However, this is not important; Senior Gu Fu Tianyang didn't solve this problem while he was alive, and the three methods are independent of each other, with no connection."

"As for you saying it's peerless in the world, that is indeed true."

"This method has absolute dominance over Straw Man spells."

"In front of me, no straw man can have any effect."

Zuo Zuo Qiyu waved his hand.

The next moment, all of Zhao Xing's straw man clones lost contact, including the straw men far away in the Jia-Chen 14th checkpoint and the Beihe Star System.

In Liu Liu Tianning's Heart Palace, Zhao Xing's intention also abruptly disappeared.

"Hum~"

All of Zhao Xing's split spiritual senses were actually instantly forced back into his main body by Zuo Zuo Qiyu.

"What?"

Zhao Xing was startled, because his straw men hadn't disintegrated, but their control had been taken over by Zuo Zuo Qiyu.

"As long as I am willing, within the Origin Realm, or even the Empire, no one can condense a straw man dharma body, and straw man spells can no longer advance even a single bit," Zuo Zuo Qiyu said with calm words, stating a terrifying fact.

He seemed to stand at the end of the Straw Man Great Dao, with the entire path under his dominance, even capable of blocking practitioners of this path.

The method is close to the Dao; Zuo Zuo Qiyu's ability is not a Demigod, but it is better than a Demigod!

"I will learn." Zhao Xing did not hesitate.

As for not being able to break through to the Demigod Realm, that was something to consider later; furthermore, with his experience in the Xuanhuang Realm era, things that Gu and Zuo hadn't achieved, he might not necessarily fail to achieve.

Paths are walked out by people; back then, wasn't Old Liu going to go crazy? Wasn't the drawback solved by himself!

"Since you are so insistent, then don't blame me if something happens in the future." When Zuo Zuo Qiyu said this, his demeanor seemed to become indifferent.

"The student has no regrets."

Zhao Xing replied respectfully, but Zuo Zuo Qiyu still didn't give him a good look: "Although I pass on the method to you, you must not tell outsiders that you are my disciple, and you must not mention my name if something happens."

"I will only teach you for a thousand years; you don't need to call me teacher. If you are respectful, call me Senior; if not, you can call me by my name directly."

This wasn't the second time Zhao Xing had heard such rhetoric, so he wasn't surprised, and quickly changed his address: "I will strictly follow the Senior's instructions."

Afterward, he set a schedule with Zuo Zuo Qiyu for coming to ask for advice, then Zuo Zuo Qiyu waved his hand again, everything returned to normal, and Zhao Xing regained control of his clones.

Swish~

His main body was also moved outside the Boundary-Swaying River.

In his hand was a jade talisman with a dark golden straw man pattern on it; this was the foundation method of the Grand Void Straw Man. Zhao Xing intended to return to the Huailiu Courtyard to comprehend it first, but just as he was about to move, he was stopped.

"Zhao Xing~ Zhao Xing~"

"Who?"

Zhao Xing looked up and found himself in front of the Wudu Emperor.

"Greetings, Senior Wudu."

"No need for formalities," Wudu's wrinkles bunched together, to the point where his eyes couldn't be seen.

"I don't know why the Emperor has summoned me," Zhao Xing asked.

"Zhao Xing, did Zuo Zuo Qiyu take you as a disciple?" Wudu asked.

"No," Zhao Xing said regretfully. "The Senior only said he would pass on the method to me, but I am not allowed to publicize that I am his disciple."

This was different from Gu Luohe; although Gu Luohe was entrusted by Old Qing, he at least maintained the nominal relationship of master and disciple, meaning Zhao Xing didn't need to deliberately remove the label of being Gu Luohe's disciple.

Zuo Zuo Qiyu was cold and heartless, simply not even doing the superficial work.

"That's great!" Wudu Emperor muttered.

"What did the Senior say?"

"Uh, I mean it's a pity," Wudu Emperor pretended to be regretful: "However, you don't need to blame Zuo Zuo Qiyu for being cold. Back then, he took in a disciple..."

"Senior, shouldn't I know about this?" Zhao Xing interrupted.

"It doesn't matter, many people know, they just don't dare to mention it," Wudu Emperor said nonchalantly. "Back then, he had a disciple who inherited the Taichu Straw Man Method and later cultivated to the Reincarnation Emperor level. But that beast eventually betrayed him."

"It was also after that time that Zuo Zuo Qiyu stopped taking disciples; even this time passing on the method was just to deal with the rules set by the Great Emperor and Senior Gu."

Zhao Xing nodded; the past events Wudu spoke of were also the reason for this wave of enthusiasm for taking the trial.

"However, most people know the 'what' but not the 'why'," Wudu Emperor said slowly. "For example, why Zuo Zuo Qiyu was betrayed by his disciple, and why he doesn't even pass on the method..."

"Why did the Senior stop?" Zhao Xing was listening intently, but Wudu Emperor stopped.

"Hahaha, we'll talk about this later; there is another major event to say first," Wudu Emperor said.

"Senior, please speak."

"Zhao Xing, I know that although Senior Gu Luohe took you as a disciple, it was only out of some unspeakable reasons, right?"

Zhao Xing acquiesced.

Wudu Emperor's eyeballs rolled: "Right, this matter should have been me taking you. Who could have thought that the old beast would intervene, making Senior Gu unhappy... Zhao Xing, look, you are actually equivalent to having no master now, right?"

Zhao Xing thought of Liu Liu Tianning and shook his head: "I have one."

Wudu Emperor's beard crooked; why was this kid so dense?

Gu Luohe and Zuo Zuo Qiyu, do they count as masters?

However, Zhao Xing's current value had risen too much, and Wudu Emperor couldn't care about his face anymore, so he said immediately: "Zhao Xing, look, just bow to me as your master."

"I, Wudu Emperor, am definitely not as cold as them."

"I might as well tell you a little secret first—this matter is known to only a few people in the Empire—in the Siyue Wilderness in the northwest of the Empire, it is about to..."

Regarding this, Zhao Xing expressed little interest; the Empire's development of the Great Northwest was no longer a secret.

Was Wudu Emperor trying to fool a child?

"Senior, nominally I am still Senior Gu's disciple; it's not appropriate to bow to you again," Zhao Xing politely declined.

Wudu Emperor was anxious: "In the future, you might have a life-and-death battle with Zuo Zuo Qiyu; maybe your master here can help you, don't be ungrateful, kid!"

Zhao Xing hadn't taken it to heart, but at Wudu Emperor's words, he suddenly became spirited: "Senior, what do you mean by this?"

Wudu Emperor said: "Will you bow or not?"

"Master." Zhao Xing immediately knelt down to bow.

Wudu Emperor's face was also face; since he had said it once and twice, he couldn't refuse again.

Furthermore, Gu Luohe must have heard it, and he hadn't forbidden him from finding another backer; since Wudu Emperor was like this, it would be excessive for Zhao Xing to be coy.

"Master is above, please accept this bow from your disciple."

"Good, good, good." Wudu Emperor was overjoyed and helped Zhao Xing up. "Good disciple, get up quickly."

"Can you say it now?" Zhao Xing asked. "Why did you say just now that I would have a life-and-death battle with Senior Zuo?"

Wudu Emperor looked left and right, then whispered: "The Taichu Straw Man Method cannot break through to the Demigod Realm; Zuo Zuo Qiyu must have told you this."

Zhao Xing nodded; soul incompleteness, an old problem.

"Actually, this also contains a secret. Back then, Zuo Zuo Qiyu's disciple also cultivated to the Reincarnation Emperor level. The reason he betrayed him was because he found an ancient book by the founder, Gu Fu Tianyang. It is said that only by killing another Taichu Straw Man and swallowing their Primordial Spirit is it possible to make up for this drawback."

"Because of this, Zuo Zuo Qiyu's disciple ambushed him one day."

"What?" Zhao Xing was stunned.

There was actually such a thing?

"Master, you aren't joking, are you?"

Wudu Emperor said solemnly: "How could I be joking? Zuo Zuo Qiyu stands at the end of the Straw Man Great Dao; where he is, no one's straw man spell can surpass him; they must be controlled and dominated by him."

"The struggle of the Great Dao—when encountering obstacles on the path ahead, one must either avoid them, step over them, or become them."

"His disciple hadn't gone crazy; if it wasn't for the sake of Great Dao cultivation, why would he do such a thing? Hey, maybe there really is some possibility!"

(End of chapter)