Chapter 60: After Four Thousand Matches, Only Then Do I Know the True Name of the Hidden Dragon

【You calm your heart and devote yourself to studying everything you have learned in your life.】

【Familiar yet strange memories gradually emerge in your mind, and from them, you realize a cultivation technique: "Morning Heaven Palace".】

【Regrettably, this is only a prototype, so it does not look very refined; you need sufficient time to perfect it.】

【You are very familiar with "Morning Heaven Palace", as if your own body had once practiced this technique, but its structure is too simple for you.】

【This is entirely a technique for worldly martial artists to practice; it is not fit for the big stage.】

【You set your sights on "Dao Heart Evil Birth", a technique you obtained through a fortuitous encounter in the Zhenggang Sect.】

【However, practicing "Dao Heart Evil Birth" is fraught with difficulties; it has many prerequisites to be mastered. You must release enough evil thoughts and Inner Demons within your Dao heart and master the dark side of your heart to even call it the first stage of entry-level practice.】

【You attempt to fuse "Dao Heart Evil Birth" and "Morning Heaven Palace" into one, yet the logic of the two techniques is diametrically opposed, especially given the extremely thin understanding of "Morning Heaven Palace"; even if the two were merged, it would still be a technique with "Dao Heart Evil Birth" as the main body.】

【After using ten thousand-year Zhu Fruits, your cultivation in Dragon Aspect Heart Birth is as smooth as walking on level ground.】

【This month, you must accept the test of the Heavenly Dao.】

【And the mission you need to execute this time is to capture the Demon Venerable Tingfeng.】

【Only by passing this test can you truly be said to have become a part of the Heavenly Dao.】

【You accept this test and have no major objections to it.】

【You are surprised to discover that the orders issued by the Heavenly Dao, aside from the initial matter of launching a war against the Seven Great Sects and unifying the seven gates, are mostly directives targeting the Demon Race.】

【To ensure the plan to capture the Demon Venerable is foolproof, the Heavenly Dao has chosen a companion for you to travel with, an Enlightenment Stage cultivator codenamed Skyfire.】

【Although Skyfire acts with you and is your companion in name, there is actually not much verbal communication; he seems not to want to be too close to others, or rather, he does not want to be too close to you.】

【After gathering enough intelligence, you descend upon Shangxi City to capture this Demon Venerable known for the power of wind elements.】

【Your Heavenly Array surrounds the entire Shangxi City as soon as your divine ability lands; under the rule of Tingfeng, Shangxi City has long since lost all traces of humans, as his attitude toward the Human Race is exceptionally cruel.】

【Skyfire did not expect your array to have such a standard, actually being able to cover the entire Shangxi City; this requires extremely high spiritual power, and it requires extreme focus to use a city-locking array of this scale well—a slight carelessness could lead to errors.】

【Watching the array beneath Shangxi City continuously sprout withered green wooden pillars that fill the sky and bind the Demon Race within the city to one spot, Skyfire, beneath his Bronze Mask, reveals a trace of surprise.】

【Your coordination with him is quite smooth, which makes him willing to speak a few more words to you.】

【And he feels puzzled by your behavior of not exterminating the Demon Race in Shangxi City.】

【Skyfire tells you a secret: to the Demon Race, the Human Race is a natural spirit stone.】

【In the absence of spirit stones as a substitute, they need to consume the flesh and blood of the Human Race to replenish the missing Spirit Qi in their bodies.】

【And every human, including mortals, actually hides this kind of Spirit Qi within their bodies.】

【To demons, humans are a kind of natural food, even a tonic.】

【Some Demon Race members with no cultivation resources gain progress in their cultivation by consuming human flesh and blood.】

【Therefore, the Demon Race and the Human Race are born mortal enemies.】

【"In our plan, killing all the Demon Race is the first step toward Great Harmony under Heaven." Skyfire does not hide the killing intent in his eyes.】

【"Those who are not of our race must have a different heart."】

【"Since you cannot bring yourself to do it and harbor compassion, then let me personally send them a Karma Fire."】

【"Better to kill the wrong ones than to let one go."】

【Skyfire releases the divine ability "Karma Fire Burns Heaven".】

【"Let it burn."】

On the screen, the entire Shangxi City welcomes a sky-filling, monstrous fire; rolling fireballs fall from the sky, and the fire elements, filled with powerful spiritual pressure, seem to want to swallow the entire Heaven and Earth.

【You watch with your own eyes the few human cultivators who ran out from within Shangxi City.】

【"Since you act as accomplices to the tiger."】

【"Then be swallowed and extinguished here."】

【The scorching fire ignited by the flames seems to possess consciousness as it pounces toward the few people flying out; the sunlight in the sky refracts once more into a red, fire-like burning cloud, thick black smoke rolls up, and the violent red fire swallows the firmament for a hundred zhang around.】

【No one survives.】

【A massive wind rolls up from this.】

【Your array continuously pursues in that direction, seemingly locking onto the opponent's position.】

【"Who exactly are you two?"】

【"I have never offended the two of you in Shangxi City, have I?"】

【Deep wariness flows in Tingfeng's eyes; as fellow Enlightenment Stage cultivators, although the Demon Race has some divine abilities to revert to their original Demon Form, the longer human Enlightenment Stage cultivators practice, the more monstrous they become.】

【This is not a gap in strength that can be seen from the surface, and clearly, the two human cultivators appearing before him are not nobodies.】

【"Is there a need for this question of whether you offended us?" Skyfire speaks coldly: "This Venerable finds you an eyesore, so what if I want to take your life?"】

【"The strong are born to bully the weak."】

【"Isn't this the logic of your Demon Race?"】

【"You—" Tingfeng grinds his teeth, his gaze turning to you; it seems that in his view, you are more like a target that is easier to break through.】

【He immediately reveals his Demon Form, and the sky-filling dust rises; he transforms into wind and flees in the direction where you are.】

【But the next second, Tingfeng seems to have hit some kind of wall and retreats three steps.】

【A faint light shines once more beneath your feet.】

【"Binding Aspect!"】

【Several black lines gather from the lower end of Tingfeng, and within an instant, they wrap and sandwich him inside.】

【"Your array has returned to simplicity to such a degree; you are worthy of being a Heavenly Array." Under Skyfire's light praise, he immediately raises his hand, and a magical artifact of unclear origin is thrown out.】

【Afterward, Skyfire holds the water-drop orb that has already captured Tingfeng and says: "Very easy, our mission is complete."】

【A flame ignites once more in the palm of his hand.】

【You still have many questions you want to ask, but in the end, you do not ask them.】

【You leave Shangxi City, but soon, a familiar figure appears in the vicinity.】

【"Father? Is that you?"】

Gu Shengxi's voice rang out, and his tone immediately turned joyful, "It really is Father's Spirit Qi."

"Dad is still alive, Mother, Dad is still alive."

"I must go back immediately to tell Mother this happy news."

On the other side of the screen.

A line of text popped up on Gu Jiangming's screen.

【Your research into formations has reached a new level. Yes/No to delve deeper?】

【Please choose your progression for the upcoming formation divine ability.】

【1: Control the changes of all things in the world; change formations based on momentum, and raise momentum based on formations; with no formation, there is no momentum; with a formation, disrupt momentum to change phenomena; using the four directions as a chessboard, set the four plates of the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Armor as the bureau.】

【2: Use the sealing of all things as a momentum formation; it can seal demons, seal gods, seal people, and seal objects; use oneself as a vessel, embrace all rivers like the sea; respond to all changes with constancy, standing firm and unmoved by external disturbances.】

Gu Jiangming hesitated for a moment, but still chose the first path; the second path looked like the role of a mere tool.

【Realm progression has triggered a special Opportunity!】

【Four hundred years from now, your formation realm will usher in a progression into a brand-new domain; this will be a massive change the likes of which will not be seen again for ten thousand years.】

【It is no longer an ordinary type of formation cognition, but rather replaces old formation techniques and abilities, becoming a unique divine ability named after formations (cannot be replicated).】

【Only after the Four Thousand Bureau will one know the true name and surname of the Hidden Dragon.】

【Time limit required to unlock: 400 years.】

Gu Jiangming's pupils constricted slightly.

A special Opportunity event!

Another special Opportunity event!

The last special Opportunity event was the Dragon Aspect Heart Life given to him by Her Highness Long Xi, another special Opportunity event was the Taicang Elder's Rotten Axe Chess Fate, and this time, his own special Opportunity event was a special event of realm progression.

Gu Jiangming felt that to trigger the corresponding Opportunity for these kinds of special events, one must fulfill the corresponding conditions, otherwise, the effect would not be triggered.

And this special Opportunity was just like a Random Event.

It was mandatory.

Sometimes it would be a good ending.

Sometimes it would also turn into a bad ending.

Looking at the words above, this special Opportunity event was clearly not an ordinary good event, but a one-in-ten-thousand good event.

For something with a specially marked unlock condition that requires a long wait, one doesn't even need to think about it—it must be a grand prize.

"Only after the Four Thousand Bureau will one know the true name and surname of the Hidden Dragon?"

A bit interesting.

Gu Jiangming vaguely remembered this line coming from the "Book of Changes".

This time, brother is truly about to take off.

Gu Jiangming suppressed the excitement in his heart; he still had one guess that hadn't been successfully verified, and if he verified that matter as well, then that would truly be "the big one is coming."

(End of this chapter)