Chapter 236: The Secret of Empty Proof, The Mystery of the Fall (Fourth Update!)

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

As the Banner of Ten Thousand Spirits unfurled, a beam of light and shadow slowly emerged. Seeing this, Lu Yang hurried forward, bowed, and said, "Junior disciple Lu Yang pays his respects to the Ancestral Master!"

"No need for such formality."

Hearing this, Ancestral Master Ting You narrowed his eyes slightly, then smiled and said, "I have finished organizing the memories of that First Sin, as well as that Mahayana First Grade True Qi theory."

Although strictly speaking, he was now the Banner Spirit of the Banner of Ten Thousand Spirits, while Lu Yang was the Banner Master, and he had no way to resist Lu Yang, Lu Yang was still willing to treat him with the rites of an Ancestral Master. He found this very gratifying, feeling that his seclusion for Lu Yang's sake had been well worth it.

Thinking of this, Ancestral Master Ting You immediately projected a strand of divine sense.

Lu Yang took out a jade slip, sent the divine sense into it, cultivated it with magic power for a moment, and only then began to examine it. What met his eyes was clearly a vast expanse of scriptures.

Its name was—The Primordial Golden Palace Jade Book!

Could it really be that my world-shocking wisdom has comprehended it?

Lu Yang's face showed a look of surprise. He immediately swept with his divine sense, then froze. The good news was that Ancestral Master Ting You had indeed comprehended something.

The bad news was that what was comprehended was not much.

"According to my deduction, if one cultivates Qi according to the method of the Primordial True Person, the True Qi finally forged is indeed perfect, worthy of being called the number one under heaven."

This was not strange; after all, the Primordial True Person's conception was nothing short of madness: using Golden Nature to cultivate Qi! This was equivalent to placing the task meant for completing Foundation Establishment onto the completion of Qi Refining. The True Qi cultivated this way was naturally a dimensional strike against other True Qi; there was simply no comparison.

"However... that is all."

Speaking thus, Ancestral Master Ting You shook his head: "The quality of the True Qi is beyond doubt, but as I said, it has quality but lacks status."

Status is the key to cultivation!

Qi Refining ascends to Foundation Establishment; Foundation Establishment elevates to a Fruit Position. If status does not rise, no matter how much quality or quantity increases, it is insignificant to those of higher realms.

"In terms of True Qi quality, the Mahayana First Grade True Qi envisioned by the Primordial True Person is absolutely perfect. Under equal cultivation, a cultivator who has formed Mahayana First Grade True Qi will have magic power at least ten thousand times that of Zheng Zheng San Pin True Qi! One could say a mere breath could crush the opponent; at first glance, it seems no different from Foundation Establishment."

"However, this is merely a facade."

"In a true clash between the two, a Foundation Establishment True Person, even the weakest one, even one who is not a perfect Foundation Establishment True Person, could still easily press you to death with a single finger."

Hearing this, Lu Yang raised a question: "Then how should one achieve Foundation Establishment with Mahayana First Grade True Qi?"

"... I do not know."

After a moment of silence, Ancestral Master Ting You shook his head: "The Primordial True Person provided a method for Golden Nature Foundation Establishment, but after my deduction, I confirmed it is unusable."

"Something seems to be missing in between."

"However, I do not know what it is. After all, up to now, I have only encountered Zheng Zheng San Pin techniques. I have not even seen what a Second Grade True Art looks like..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately slapped his forehead, then activated his divine sense and brought out the fragment of the Second Grade True Art he had extorted from True Person Miao Yin, the "Qian Tian Yi Yuan Comprehensive Divine Art of All Heavens": "Ancestral Master, this is what I recently obtained. Please see if it can offer you any inspiration."

"... Oh?"

Seeing this, Ancestral Master Ting You was stunned. He took the technique and glanced at it, then his expression froze. His previous carelessness gradually turned serious.

After a long while, he deeply exhaled a mouthful of turbid air:

"Harvesting external Qi to refine the spirit... So that is it! So that is it! External Qi, yes, one must use external Qi! Seeking nothing inwardly, one must naturally seek outwardly!"

A look of sudden realization suddenly appeared on Ancestral Master Ting You's face.

He then looked at Lu Yang and said in a deep voice: "Do everything possible to obtain the Qi-Harvesting Secret Method of this Second Grade True Art. This is the most critical part!"

Lu Yang looked curious: "Qi-Harvesting Secret Method?"

"Indeed!" Ancestral Master Ting You nodded and explained, "I am certain this is the greatest advantage of Second Grade True Arts and First Grade True Arts compared to Zheng Zheng San Pin!"

"The Primordial True Person failed to deduce it, most likely because he never saw the true transmission of a genuine Second Grade True Art. One true word from a master surpasses ten thousand books! It was missing just this one sentence! This person's talent was indeed unparalleled in the world, no less than mine. Unfortunately, like me, he was born at the wrong time."

After sighing for a moment, Ancestral Master Ting You looked at Lu Yang:

"The so-called 'Harvesting External Qi to Refine the Spirit': 'External Qi' does not refer to ordinary Qi, but to the Qi outside the heavens! Outside the realm! What must be harvested is the Qi beyond the heavens!"

"Harvesting the Qi beyond the heavens to nourish and refine the soul,"

"Only after completing this step will the forged True Qi have a direction of reference. Not towards a Fruit Position, but towards that Realm-Heaven where the Qi you harvested resides!"

Ancestral Master Ting You's thoughts became clearer and clearer, and his voice grew more urgent:

"Using the harvested Qi beyond the heavens, draw over the corresponding Fruit Position located in other Realm-Heavens, which does not exist in this world, and manifest it in this world..."

"This is 'Empty Proof'!"

"Otherwise, if everything you possess comes from heaven and earth, how can you prove a Fruit Position that heaven and earth do not possess?"

Boom!

As the words fell, a thunderbolt slashed across the sky. It seemed to be simply generated by the collision of clouds, yet it also felt like a warning issued by heaven and earth itself!

Ancestral Master Ting You immediately fell silent. After a long while, he said softly, "So this is why Second Grade True Arts and First Grade True Arts are so rare, known to almost no one. Because Realm-Heavens are not so easy to find. Not those small Realm-Heavens, but true Realm-Heavens where great powers hold court and the Dao manifests in the world!"

Such Realm-Heavens are not something a Jin Dan True Lord could casually capture.

If one truly encounters them, it will inevitably be a protracted great war! Lasting a hundred years or a thousand years is normal; even True Lords could perish!

"It is indeed so..."

Having received Ancestral Master Ting You's explanation, a light flickered in Lu Yang's eyes. He had already made his decision: to make True Person Miao Yin the primary target of this time!

At any cost!

Even the True Lord mission could be postponed. He must find a way to kill her and obtain the original copy of the "Qian Tian Yi Yuan Comprehensive Divine Art of All Heavens" from her hands!

"Speaking of which, this place..."

Just then, Ancestral Master Ting You looked around and then showed a look of astonishment: "The blessed land that is collapsing. Did Master Chongguang fail?"

"Ancestral Master sees clearly."

Lu Yang looked admiring, then looked at Ancestral Master Ting You tentatively and said, "Before his passing, Master Chongguang said that 'Covering the Fu Fu Fu Deng Huo' was inexplicably repelled by him."

"He was just unclear about the reason."

"I wonder if Ancestral Master can see any clues?"

Hearing this, Ancestral Master Ting You gave Lu Yang an annoyed look: "What do you take me for? A True Lord?"

"A Perfect Great True Person of the Holy Sect! Much more wealthy than I was in my day. If even such a person cannot see or explain these things, how would I know!"

"After all, he at least still has a chance to seek the Golden, while I—"

Speaking to this, the face of Patriarch Tingyou immediately showed a trace of gloom, but soon he regained his composure and actively changed the topic, saying:

"But speaking of failing to seek the Golden, True Person Xiantian was actually somewhat similar to him."

"What?"

Upon hearing these words, Lu Yang was instantly stunned, only then realizing that when he had previously harvested Daoic sins, he had also obtained memories related to True Person Xiantian.

However, since at that time Lu Yang did not act personally, but Chen Xinan did it on his behalf, there were inevitably some oversights; whereas Patriarch Tingyou, being a Banner Spirit just like Chen Xinan, communicated frequently within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, so he knew the life and experiences of True Person Xiantian more clearly.

"True Person Xiantian originally sought the 【Long-Flowing Water】."

Patriarch Tingyou recalled for a moment and said, "But the result was exactly the same as Master Chongguang's: the 【Long-Flowing Water】 inexplicably rejected him, and as a result, he failed and perished."

"Even until death, he never figured out the reason."

"Otherwise, with his lofty ambitions, he still intended to ascend to the Fruit Seat, prove himself as a True Lord, and then work backward to refine his Mahayana First Grade True Qi, perfecting it completely."

Patriarch Tingyou's narration plunged Lu Yang into deep thought.

True Person Chongguang proved the 【Covered Fu Fu Fu Deng Huo】.

True Person Xiantian proved the 【Long-Flowing Water】.

The reasons for both failures were highly similar; Lu Yang absolutely did not believe it was mere coincidence—there must be some subtle factor at play here.

In a daze, Lu Yang seemed to touch a thin veil.

His intuition told him that if he pierced through this thin veil, he could reach the truth, yet upon deeper probing, he felt lost in clouds and mist, impossible to grasp.

And just at this moment.

"Zing—!!!"

A sword cry from beyond the clouds interrupted Lu Yang's thoughts; looking out, he saw a brilliant sword light rushing toward his direction!

(End of this chapter)