Chapter 204: Beyond Death, Dao Tribulation! The Secret of Mahayana!

Holy Fire Cliff, Manifest Dharma Pavilion.

This place was a pavilion built against the cliff face, not reaching the heavens above, not touching the ground below, where the clear, ethereal Heaven Qi and the turbid, heavy Earth Essence wove together into a single stream of radiant light.

Its name was 【Clear and Turbid, Primordial Unity Qi】.

Within the range covered by this Qi, the clear above and the turbid below collided with one another; should a Qi Refining cultivator stray into this place, the very next instant Heaven and Earth would merge, and they would be ground into fine powder.

Even a Foundation Establishment True Person, once touched by this strand of Primordial Qi, would have their Dharma body shattered — one could see just how strict the defenses here were, for only Daoist arts and techniques that were of great use even to Foundation Establishment True Persons were qualified to be stored here; ordinary cultivation methods, grand divine abilities — none could compare.

Grand divine abilities need not be mentioned — they were restricted to Qi Refining cultivators only.

And the nature of cultivation methods was quite special, because strictly speaking, the Holy Sect, the Yushu Jiange, the Pure Land, and even the Dao Court and other powers were not worried about their methods leaking.

Because the corresponding Fruits of Position were all in their own hands.

For example, the Nine Transformations Dragon Art — although Lu Yang had learned it, the Pure Land remained calm, because the corresponding 【City Earth】 was still trapped within the Pure Land.

Therefore the secrecy of cultivation methods was, on the contrary, not that high.

Rather, it was the Daoist arts and techniques useful to Foundation Establishment True Persons — these could take effect even in True Persons' duels — each and every one exceedingly precious.

"Although, truth be told, up until now I have never actually had a proper duel with anyone."

Lu Yang's expression turned awkward — let alone duels, he generally only fought crushing battles; the only time recently he had fought someone of the same realm, his opponent had been Senior Wu Cang.

And Senior Wu Cang, having risen from a loose cultivator and only joined the Holy Sect after his reincarnation, was a True Person whose strength within the Holy Sect — well, not to say he could never find an opponent, but at the very least one could say anyone could bully him; this could be seen from how back then so many people had lurked outside Butian Peak just to wait for him to come out and clobber him from behind.

Yet this time was different.

【Qing Nation】, as a Jiangbei wonderland, lay between the Dao Court and the Holy Sect, and was also close to the Yushu Jiange — once war broke out, both sides would surely come to reinforce.

Moreover, the matter of Master Chongguang seeking the Golden Core — it was not necessarily true that no one could divine it.

Even with True Monarch Qingcheng Feixue present, the Jin Dan would not intervene, but sending some Foundation Establishment True Persons to prevent Master Chongguang from seeking the Golden Core was still possible.

After all, the prerequisite for Master Chongguang to seek the Golden Core was reversing the Fruit of Position rules within 【Qing Nation】.

So they didn't need to do anything either — they only had to find a way to hold this wonderland of 【Qing Nation】, or locate the reincarnated body of True Person Chongguang.

The latter could only depend on Chongguang himself, but the former would have to rely on them.

If one side fell, the whole board was lost.

In other words—

"This time, I'm afraid I'll really have to fight for my life against a strong cultivator of the same realm." Lu Yang sighed deeply — reluctant, yet helpless.

"Think of it this way — at least this time I can witness the entire process of Master Chongguang seeking the Golden Core with my own eyes, and I can stockpile some experience for myself in the future. If there are any big pitfalls on the road to seeking the Golden Core, Chongguang can step on them for me in advance, saving me from walking the same path due to lack of experience later."

While thinking, Lu Yang had already stepped into the Manifest Dharma Pavilion.

The next second, the world before Lu Yang's eyes abruptly went black, and the array spirit of Holy Fire Cliff — which he had seen many times before — appeared, gliding gracefully to stand before him.

"True Person Duanmu Yuan Tu, it is my pleasure to serve you."

Lu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder; although he had already studied it privately many times, every time he saw this array spirit he still felt dazzled.

Immediately after, he saw the array spirit Zhu Chun part her lips slightly and say deferentially, "Please state your request, and I will select a Daoist art suited to you based on your personal conditions."

"Mm."

Lu Yang thought it over upon hearing this, and said, "I need a Daoist art that can search the souls of cultivators of the same realm, or even higher, and the memories must not have any gaps."

This was naturally for the sake of the Mahayana first-grade True Qi.

But because the Innate Dao Tribulation could not have its soul searched at all, Lu Yang had never been able to dig out from its Sea of Consciousness the memory left by the Innate True Person regarding the Mahayana first-grade True Qi.

He couldn't even use dual cultivation to extract it.

Because the Innate Dao Tribulation was, in essence, a kind of monster — it had no gender at all, and naturally no organ that could be "extracted through dual cultivation"; the innate conditions simply did not hold.

So he could only seek help from the Manifest Dharma Pavilion.

"Searching for a suitable Daoist art for you…"

Soon, after Lu Yang stated his request, he saw the array spirit's beautiful eyes flash brilliantly, as if searching for something; only after a long while did she raise her hand.

"A usable Daoist art has been found for you."

As the words fell, a white radiance rose in the array spirit's hand.

"There really is one?"

Lu Yang immediately showed a look of delight, hurriedly leaning closer; his divine sense swept over it, and then he froze: "【Grand Yin Heavenly-Born Transformation Art】?"

Lu Yang circulated his divine sense and quickly mastered the entire Daoist art, after which his expression turned strange: "Grand Yin manifests, Heavenly-Born transformation — this method can be used inwardly, and also outwardly; it can alter flesh and blood, reverse yin and yang; the one subjected to the art takes on the body of a Heavenly Mother, possessing the virtue of nurturing all things."

Looking at this Daoist art, Lu Yang's entire face scrunched up, somewhat contorted.

What kind of thing is this?

"By cultivating this method, one can refine a strand of Heavenly Mother Transformation Divine Light; once enveloped by this light, regardless of prior gender or nature, the target will be transformed into a Grand Yin Mother Body."

In short — it was a sex change.

At the same time, the array spirit explained: "The soul of a Foundation Establishment True Person is solid, and the Sea of Consciousness is inviolable to all evils, so soul searching is impossible."

"However, I have detected that your attainment in dual cultivation is extremely high; the Butian True Scripture is so powerful that it can even loosen the target's Sea of Consciousness when they reach their peak during dual cultivation, thereby extracting their knowledge — and it is even effective against Foundation Establishment True Persons. Thus I have specially recommended this Daoist art for you."

"You only need to first use this divine ability to turn the target into a woman, and then… proceed."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Lu Yang quickly cut off the array spirit's filthy talk, his face darkening as he gritted his teeth: "What kind of method is this? Isn't there anything more reliable?"

The array spirit immediately shook her head: "No."

"Are you really not choosing this Daoist art?"

The array spirit tilted her head, face full of puzzlement: "Based on my deductions, this is the only method by which, at your current cultivation, you can search the soul of a True Person of the same realm."

"This… ah!"

Lu Yang's hands were trembling; he let out a helpless long sigh: "Well, I still trust the array's deductions — it seems there is no other way."

"You've really made things hard for me!"

Half an hour later, Mount Luofeng.

Lu Yang could only look helpless, silently reciting the incantation before forming a beam of the Profound Light of the Heavenly Mother's Transformation, which landed upon the Innate Dao Sin that lay collapsed on the ground.

In the next second, the Innate Dao Sin, which had previously appeared as a handsome youth, instantly altered its flesh and blood, rearranged its bones and tendons, and in the blink of an eye truly grew organs suitable for essence extraction; unfortunately, Lu Yang's arts were not yet refined enough to transform it into a beauty, resulting in a face that was neither one thing nor another, somewhat like a four-legged beast.

"For the sake of cultivation, I have truly paid too much!"

Lu Yang sighed, then summoned the True Scripture of Heaven-Extraction, along with Chen Xinan, who possessed comparable attainment and had even established his Foundation Establishment base through it.

"I leave it to you. Go!"

Chen Xinan: "……???"

The next morning.

Lu Yang walked out of his secluded meditation chamber; the Innate Dao Sin had already been completely drained away into nothingness, and he had thoroughly ascertained its current state.

"In fact, even without extracting its essence, it would not have long to live; the reason it could remain in the world and possess combat power surpassing the peak of Foundation Establishment was essentially due to that Golden Nature left behind when the Innate True Person failed to seek gold in the past, yet that day, the True Lord Qingcheng Feixue extracted that Golden Nature."

Aside from that, there was news regarding the Mahayana First Grade True Qi.

The good news was that the Innate True Person indeed left behind a method to cultivate the Mahayana First Grade True Qi; the bad news was that he no longer had the conditions to cultivate it.

"To cultivate the Mahayana First Grade True Qi... one actually needs a Golden Nature!?"

Lu Yang's face grew dark. The so-called Mahayana First Grade True Qi was not actually a complete transmission, but rather a deduction by the Innate True Person that could only be described as insane!

Using a Golden Nature to cultivate True Qi!

Using a Golden Nature to establish the Dao foundation!

Using a Golden Nature to refine divine powers!

And the most insane part was that, according to the Innate True Person's deduction, the Dao foundation ultimately formed through the Mahayana First Grade True Qi would not point toward any fruit of attainment.

To prove the Dao through this, only "Empty Proof" would suffice!

Just as the Path of Shaping and Ascension, the Path of Heavenly Patrol, the Path of Deep Joy and Nirvana, and the cultivation paths of various schools were, in the Innate True Person's view, merely fabricated out of thin air by the Nascent Soul Dao Lords of each school!

Therefore, only "Empty Proof" is the correct path for the Nascent Soul!

In his description, the Innate True Person felt immense pride in his conclusion, convinced that his speculation had surely glimpsed a hidden corner of the Nascent Soul Dao Lords!

(End of this chapter)