Chapter 352: The Dao Palace and the Cauldron of Myriad Transformations

"Halt!"

Inside the Dragon Gate, Fang Longye sat upright on the Cloud Platform and waved his hand; the flying palace from before hovered in the air, and at the same time, the Dharma power within his body began to surge.

In an instant, a Dao fire that could not be described in words burned fiercely from the base of the flying palace.

This Dao fire was nothing else but the result of Fang Longye burning his own Great Dao Dharma power, and its entire body was filled with the "Yuanlong Dao" he cultivated.

If one truly had the heart to give it a name, one could completely call it "Yuanlong Dao Fire."

To this day, Fang Longye had long since mastered many types of divine fire, such as Sun True Fire, Zhurong Divine Fire, Creation Divine Fire,... and so on and so forth.

He had even practiced Samadhi True Fire.

However, at his current realm.

When it came to attacking an enemy, "Yuanlong Dao Fire" naturally could not compare to these divine fires famous throughout Honghuang.

But when it came to refining treasures and pills, especially in situations where he used them for himself, it was a different story; "Yuanlong Dao Fire" was truly the unparalleled choice.

Of course, if he really encountered a time when other divine fires were needed for refining, he would not be rigid.

After all, whether it was refining treasures or pills, there were many particulars; some Spirit Treasures and pills truly required specific divine fires to be refined.

For example, if you wanted to refine a Spirit Treasure with Yin attributes, you couldn't just recklessly use Sun True Fire to refine it, could you? Obviously, the best choice for refining a Spirit Treasure with Yin attributes was a divine fire of the Yin Dao.

Therefore, it is just to say that under ordinary circumstances, a cultivator's own Dao fire is the most compatible when refining Spirit Treasures and pills for their own use.

Especially since the treasure Fang Longye was preparing to refine was his own Dao Palace. Using his own Dao fire to refine it was truly the most appropriate.

Why say so?

A Dao Palace, a Dao Palace—it is not to say that just any palace-type Spirit Treasure can be called a "Dao Palace."

Or rather,

The "Dao Palace" mentioned here does not have the same meaning as an ordinary palace for people to cultivate the Dao.

Only that which aligns with the cultivator's own Great Dao and carries the cultivator's own Great Dao is the "Dao Palace" that Fang Longye was currently going to refine.

Just like Biyou Palace is to Tongtian Jiaozhu, Doushuai Gong is to Taiqing Laozi, Yuxu Palace is to Yuanshi Tianzun, Zixiao Gong is to Hongjun...

Such a Dao Palace can even represent the cultivator themselves to a certain extent.

For instance, don't that bunch of fellows from the Chan Sect say "a disciple of Yuxu" in every breath? Even the immortals and gods of the Shangqing Lineage of the Calamity Sect, what they keep on their lips is being listed in the sect walls of Biyou Palace~

Not to mention the Hunyuan Saints, even those Great Divine Ability holders with names and surnames in Honghuang are the same.

For example, once Beiming Palace is mentioned, one thinks of Demon Master Kunpeng without a second thought; once Chunyang Palace is mentioned, the name of Donghua Dijun pops into one's mind,... and so on and so forth.

Such examples are too numerous to mention.

Of course, it is very obvious that those who can have others refer to their names by the name of their Dao Palace, one by one, are all big shots among big shots~

Even a Daluo is not quite qualified, and for a small shrimp like him, he shouldn't even think about it.

But using it as an analogy, it's all the same thing~

In short,

Such a Dao Palace is by no means dispensable for a cultivator and is worth treating seriously.

The Dao fire surged and billowed, and in an instant, it completely enveloped the flying palace suspended in mid-air.

At the same time,

Fang Longye began to continuously toss some precious divine materials and spiritual objects into it: Xiantian Xuan Jade, Xiantian Five-Colored Divine Gold, Shoushan Yang Copper...

Especially some turtle shell fragments obtained in that ancient battlefield Secret Realm before, he also threw them into the Dao fire without hesitation.

Under the smelting of his own Dao fire, he took the flying palace he had previously obtained from the Honghu Realm as the main body, and with various divine materials and spiritual objects as supplements, he began to refine the "Dao Palace" that belonged exclusively to him.

Inside the Dragon Gate, it was vast and boundless.

All around was churning purple-green, endless and vast, yet there was a magnificent Dao Palace, lush like clouds, five-colored and mysterious yellow, indescribable.

This Dao Palace hung in the vast void, surrounded by falling starlight halos, continuous and long, for no one knew how many tens of thousands of miles; on top, seven-colored brilliance surged, the sun and moon cast shadows, purple clouds covered it, and all phenomena and changes were contained within.

Back and forth, forth and back.

Just by looking at the entire Dao Palace with the naked eye, it gave one the impression of spanning from ancient times to the present~ Further inside, the precious trees in the hall were adorned with pearls, agate, and jade, dazzling and eye-catching; all around, spiritual mushrooms grew horizontally, immortal flowers covered the ground, the fragrance was sweet, and it produced wonderful sounds on its own, recounting the "Yuanlong Dao."

The entire space-time was filled with an inexplicable spiritual energy, breathing in and out, making one's wisdom generate light.

Countless purple-green Qi came from all directions, pouring into the Dao Palace, under the eaves, behind the stones, on the trees, and in front of the windows, chiming with a tinkling sound.

Inside, Fang Longye sat peacefully, his eyes slightly closed, feeling this Dao Palace he had just refined.

"Not bad!"

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face; he was clearly very satisfied with this.

"It was worth it to refine half of the 'turtle shells' I had on hand into it~"

Although currently limited by his realm and cultivation, this Dao Palace only had thirty-six Post-Heaven Divine Prohibitions and had not reached the level of a Supreme Spiritual Treasure.

But based on defensive power alone, this Dao Palace was enough to rival the top-tier Supreme Spiritual Treasures.

Once inside, even with his current realm of Taiyi True Immortal, he could withstand the attacks of a Daluo Golden Immortal for a while.

Of course, if one really thought about it carefully, it was not that surprising that this Dao Palace could have defensive power far exceeding its own Spirit Treasure level.

Not to mention the quality of its predecessor, which was already extraordinary, just the various auxiliary materials he added—which one was not a top-tier divine material? Just take the "turtle shells" he mentioned; those turtle shell fragments obtained from that ancient battlefield Secret Realm were each at least left behind by a Giant Ao of the Daluo realm, which could be called rare treasures.

Although they were beaten into fragments, it was not that the defensive power of the Giant Ao Clan's shells was not strong enough, but purely that their opponents, the Longbo Clan, were stronger~ Therefore, even if they were just a few fragments, melting them still brought no small help to the improvement of the defensive power of his Dao Palace~ Likewise, the same logic applied to the other auxiliary materials.

With such additions, it was no wonder that the defensive power possessed by this Dao Palace could far exceed the limits of its own Spirit Treasure level~ "Whew~"

Fang Longye let out a breath and laughed: "Right now, this Dao Palace of mine can at least be considered decent."

Large, it could fill the sky and cover the earth, suppressing the void; small, it could be like a mustard seed or a speck of dust, hiding in the heavens and earth, traveling within the universe, unknowable, unsearchable, and unobservable.

Suppression, sealing, escaping through the void,...

Coupled with peerless defensive power, it could truly be called "able to fight, able to endure, and able to output," and even in terms of running away, it was first-class.

It could be said that all the abilities a "Dao Palace" should have, it possessed. Moreover, each one looked quite good~ "Hmm, now that the Dao Palace is complete, it's time to give it a palace name~ What name would be good to choose?"

Fang Longye's gaze was deep as he cast it upon the blank plaque outside the palace gate, his thoughts rising and falling: "Like the 'Yuanlong Tripod' before, should I name the Dao Palace directly after my divine name? Yuanlong Palace?"

He pondered in his heart, then immediately shook his head.

Come to think of it, naming his own Spirit Treasure directly after his own divine title, as he had done before, was actually rather incongruous.

He had never seen anyone else do it like that.

He hadn't understood this before; in fact, most cases where a cultivator's divine title was used to name a Spirit Treasure were instances of later generations naming the relics of their predecessors.

When it came to their own Spirit Treasures, cultivators would never call them by such names.

Just like the legendary supreme treasure, the Ancestral Dragon Pearl, it was only later generations who called it that; the Ancestral Dragon himself would never have called his own Dragon Pearl by that name.

Take another example, the alternative name for the Heaven-Opening Axe—the Pangu Axe—was also only used by later generations.

Spirit Treasures are different from Dharma; Dharma doesn't matter, as it is, after all, an exposition of one's own Great Dao, but Spirit Treasures are different—

How narcissistic must one be to name a Spirit Treasure after one's own divine name? Perhaps it was a matter of perspective, but Fang Longye was not keen on being unconventional—he was even thinking of taking this opportunity to re-refine the Yuanlong Tripod and change its name while he was at it.

Otherwise, if the 'Yuanlong Tripod' were to appear in public later, he feared he would lose a great deal of face! "Hmm—" After a moment of contemplation, Fang Longye spoke: "Let's call it 'Wanling Palace'!"

There was no profound meaning to it; he just felt it sounded quite pleasant and chose it casually—of course, if someone were willing to perform a reading comprehension, whether it be "Ten Thousand Spirits Bowing to the Firmament," "Leader of Ten Thousand Spirits," or "Desiring to be an Existence Above Ten Thousand Spirits,"...

They could very well apply it to that.

Before his voice had even faded, three characters appeared on the blank plaque outside the palace gate.

It was nothing else,

but the three Daoyuan characters for 'Wanling Palace', each stroke etched into the bone, shining brilliantly, imposing and majestic.

Every stroke and every line seemed to contain immeasurable power, with flying clouds and flowing colors, eclipsing the sun and haloing the moon, radiating boundless light.

Having finished handling the various affairs of the Dao Palace, Fang Longye naturally continued to bury himself in refining treasures, planning according to his schedule to re-refine the Yuanlong Tripod in his possession.

He had even thought of the new name for this furnace in advance; he would call it the 'Ten Thousand Fires Tripod'—...

In Wanling Palace, Fang Longye sat upright on a Cloud Couch, with the Dao fire burning fiercely before him, flames bursting and reflecting all around, suffusing a layer of color like smoke and water ripples.

Red and glowing, golden and brilliant, filling the surrounding space.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the surging Dao fire suddenly dissipated, and multicolored light rays slanted out; from within, an ancient and simple large tripod slowly appeared.

This large tripod was suffused with a bronze-like dim light; the body of the tripod was round, with three legs and two ears, and the entire body was covered in dragon-shaped patterns and overlapping reliefs, thick and solemn.

The tripod rose slowly, encompassing heaven and earth.

With a beckoning of his hand, the three-legged round tripod shrank to the size of an incense burner and landed swaying in his palm.

Ten Thousand Fires Tripod—Fang Longye weighed the treasure tripod he had just re-refined, nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Not bad!"

Although limited by his current cultivation realm, the number of divine prohibitions inside had not increased, remaining at the level of a perfect Superior Spiritual Treasure.

But after completely melting down the cloud-patterned treasure tripod obtained from the Honghu Realm, it perfectly inherited its characteristics, and its essence had been greatly improved.

He could feel that compared to before, this treasure tripod was clearly much sturdier.

Moreover, while the original function of this treasure tripod was focused on refining treasures and pills, it had now also made up for its shortcomings in terms of offense and defense.

Although, regarding the latter point, since he had many Spirit Treasures on hand, he didn't really care much about it—

Shaking his head, he flicked his finger to put away the Ten Thousand Fires Tripod, stood up, stretched, clapped his hands, and muttered to himself: "Everything is settled, it's time to head home!"

Since the matters outside were finished, it was time to return; after all, the wedding was approaching.

He feared he would soon have to start socializing.

After all,

although it was still two or three years until his wedding officially began, in reality, time was not that abundant; guests would likely start arriving soon—it was just that Immortals, Demons, Gods, and Buddhist practitioners were not like mortals, and their concept of time was different; it would not be strange for some guests to arrive a year or two early to attend the wedding—...

Huaguo Mountain, Water Curtain Cave.

Emerald moss piled like blue, white clouds floating like jade.

Stone formed into pavilions, railings wrapped in vines.

Green vines under bright windows, bamboo leaves before warm couches; pine and bamboo lush year after year, exotic flowers fresh day by day.

Sun Wukong, clad in helmet and armor, with the Ruyi Golden Cudgel lying horizontally before him, was drinking heartily with the cave masters of the seventy-two caves. The Monkey now, having obtained a precious weapon and subdued the crowd of demons, was being flattered by everyone and could be said to be in high spirits.

Every day was spent either drinking and making merry or drinking and making merry; his little life was very comfortable—suddenly, as if sensing something, he glanced over, stood up from his throne, looked outside, and laughed heartily: "Brother Yuan, a rare guest! It must have been seven or eight years since we last met—could it be that your cultivation has improved, and you've specifically run over here to spar with me?"

As soon as the words fell, one could see ten thousand rays of golden light at the entrance of Water Curtain Cave, spreading in all directions. Immediately following, a monkey demon stepped inside—but one could see that he was also wearing armor, yet unlike Sun Wukong, he did not maintain the appearance of a macaque, but had transformed into a human form. His hair was slightly flame-red, and his stature was quite tall; at first glance, he gave one a sense of oppression.

It was none other than that red ape under Fang Longye's command—Yuan Hong.

Hearing Sun Wukong's words, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch. Damn it, this clansman really knew how to poke at people's sore spots; he really didn't want to deal with this guy.

It was just that after returning from Longgong, Sun Wukong had insisted on pestering Yuan Hong to spar with him several times. As for the result—

It went without saying.

Even though Yuan Hong had been mentally prepared, it was unrealistic to say he wasn't affected at all.

Yet Sun Wukong was tireless, wanting to find Yuan Hong to fight him every few months, as if he were addicted to bullying the weak.

Who could stand that! The key was that with that Ruyi Golden Cudgel, the gap between the two was too great; even if they fought, it served no purpose for guidance or reference.

In order to avoid Sun Wukong's entanglement, Yuan Hong simply claimed that he wanted to go into seclusion to cultivate—

Hmm, in fact, it wasn't just a claim; he had indeed gone into seclusion to cultivate—"There has indeed been some progress, but I didn't come here this time to spar with you, Great Sage Equaling Heaven—"

Yuan Hong was not polite.

While speaking, he walked over, sat down on a banquet table in front of Sun Wukong, and reached out to grab a steamed duck from a plate and began to eat.

He didn't know which one in the mountain had this skill; the duck was actually quite fresh and tender, making his mouth water as he ate it, truly satisfying—wiping the oil from his mouth, seeing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven scratching his ears and cheeks in anxiety, Yuan Hong stopped playing coy and said straightforwardly: "I am here to remind you, Great Sage Equaling Heaven, that my master's wedding is approaching, and we can now go to Beiju Luzhou to offer our congratulations to my master!"

(End of this chapter)