Chapter 1057

"Is that so?" Wu Tie glanced at the panicked Xi Kuang, then said calmly: "Go greet the people!"

With a point of his finger, a fierce gale swept up from the ground, hurling Xi Kuang straight out; he flew from the center of the hall straight out the gate, tumbling and rolling who knows how far.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the more than a hundred granite thrones carved in the hall were reduced to dust; Wu Tie walked up to the radiant jeweled reliquary tower and sized it up, narrowing his eyes.

Its whole body is golden, the tower forged from exotic metals mixed with a great amount of heavenly merit condensed into form.

But the origin of this heavenly merit is extremely strange—not like the merit Wu Tie earned by saving the common folk, nor like the merit he poured into recasting the Heavenly Mirror and Holy Sword.

After careful examination, Wu Tie discovered that all the tower's merit power came from a small half-piece of its base.

The tower stands thirty-three levels high; its base is an exquisitely crafted nine-tiered lotus platform, yet only about thirty percent of that lotus platform continuously emits an almost boundless merit power, while the remaining seventy percent clearly were reforged later.

It is precisely that roughly thirty percent of the lotus platform that nurtures this massive tower, causing its auspicious qi to rise and its merit power to almost condense into substance, flowing out from the tower's body.

One can imagine how formidable that roughly thirty percent lotus base is; even more so, before the tower's main body was shattered, this thirty-three‑layered golden jeweled reliquary tower must have been an incredibly powerful supreme treasure.

Wu Tie's body flickered, swelling to tens of thousands of feet tall; he reached out and lightly patted the reliquary tower's base hovering in midair.

With a hum, the base of the reliquary tower emitted boundless bright light; streams of pure yang, utterly free of yin impurity, heavenly mighty force surged forth, continuous and endless, flowing toward Wu Tie.

Wu Tie felt as if his whole body were soaked in a hot spring; among the three thousand great Dao and eighty‑four thousand side paths he had comprehended, the dao seals inclined toward yang instantly broke through one heavenly layer in that moment.

In contrast, the dao seals he had condensed that leaned toward yin, as well as those of slaughter and demonic paths, were heavily suppressed; their light and shadow dimmed sharply, almost stripped of a heavenly layer.

Wu Tie hastily produced the huge merit gold disc behind him; streams of warm, pure merit energy wrapped around his body, instantly softening the force emanating from the reliquary tower, removing any suppression on him.

Moreover, golden light like swimming dragons and phoenixes rolled down from the tower, swiftly entering Wu Tie's merit gold disc behind him; countless images flashed in his mind, for the tower directly communicated with the merit power he had accumulated over the years, tracing cause and effect in the dark to investigate the origins of his merit.

Time and again they narrowly escaped death, time and again they fought bloody battles; Wuguo's warships darted through the high skies, while the supreme experts seated on the God‑Slaughtering Vessel, via amplifying divine formations, poured their innate divine abilities one after another toward the endless demon horde……

Countless rescued commoners knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the Wuguo army in the sky……

Wu Tie could clearly sense that within this tower there were over a hundred soul imprints; recalling the hundred‑plus granite thrones in the hall before, it stands to reason that each elder of the Xi Huang lineage had placed his own soul imprint in this treasure.

Obviously, everyone wants this great treasure!

The importance of this tower to the Xi Huang lineage goes without saying; they feared that if one person alone controlled it, so they instead joined forces to share the benefits, each leaving his own imprint in the tower.

With a boom, a tremendous sound rang out; Wu Tie's body shuddered, and his three corpses avatars, united with his true self, were inexplicably shaken out by a thunderclap in his mind.

The Canghai Daoist, the Five Elements Daoist, and the Yin‑Yang Daoist rolled on the spot, lined up side by side behind Wu Tie, shook their slightly dazed heads, and asked in unison: "True self, what's the matter?"

Wu Tie was about to speak when he and his three corpses avatars simultaneously closed their mouths.

A passage of the Grand Dao ability "One Qi Transforms into Three Purities" appeared in their minds, more exquisite than the version Wu Tie had previously cultivated.

If one were to say Wu Tie's earlier cultivation of "One Qi Transforms into Three Purities" was like a mountaintop lighthouse, its light could shine for ten thousand li.

This new "One Qi Transforms into Three Purities," however, is like a bright moon in a clear sky, illuminating heaven and earth, eternal through the ages.

Moreover, this new "One Qi Transforms into Three Purities" Grand Dao ability contains a marvelous exposition of the heavenly Dao, far more complete, clear, systematic, and orderly than the Dao description in Wu Tie's earlier cultivation of the "Primordial Classic."

To give an imperfect analogy, Wu Tie's earlier study of the "Primordial Classic" was like a group of learned scholars gathering together, pooling their understanding and memory of worldly learning, racking their brains and combining forces to compile a "Cultivation Compendium"!

The content was quite complete, but due to the compilers' lack of skill, this compendium inevitably turned out rigid, hard for beginners, and riddled with omissions and errors.

Whereas the exposition of heavenly mysteries in the newly obtained "One Qi Transforms into Three Purities" Grand Dao ability is like that of a peerless sage standing at the world's pinnacle, who has fully comprehended all learning between heaven and earth; he builds from the heights, proceeds step by step, and pours his heart and blood into forging his lifetime of learning into a complete, seamless, systematic, contextual "Sect's Secret Transmission"!

Wu Tie let out a deep breath.

Wu Tie remembered that Old Tie had said, the "Primordial Classic" was, in his era, compiled by countless scholars akin to Xue Jiu, together with innumerable human experts, who pooled their strength, spent long years, and authored a "theoretical" cultivation classic.

Much of the content of the "Primordial Classic" came from excavating those mysterious primeval ruins, pieced together from countless relics and treasures.

Moreover, since the compilers themselves had never cultivated the "Primordial Classic," no one knew its actual effects.

Afterwards, the alien races' Great Dao invaded the cosmic laws of Mu Dalu; foreign Dao polluted Mu Dalu's heavenly Dao, so later human cultivators, even if they cultivated the "Primordial Classic," could not truly grasp the most primordial, authentic Dao of Mu Dalu!

Yet in the inheritance Wu Tie just received, everything is so clear, penetrating, and points directly to the source!

Golden light burst from the eyes of Wu Tie, the Canghai Daoist, the Five Elements Daoist, and the Yin‑Yang Daoist as they sized each other up, then they all burst into loud laughter.

Having just received the inheritance, upon mutual analysis they realized they were on a broadly correct Dao path… yet this path is riddled with countless pits and flaws that need to be mended one by one.

Once the repairs are complete, their strength will surely increase by multiples, even tens or hundreds of times over the present.

Their realm stays the same, but their power surges.

Threads of profound Dao resonance twined in his heart; at this moment Wu Tie gazed upon the hall and suddenly realized that the purported primordial Dao resonance within the so‑called "Heavenly Dao Cave" boasted by Xi Wu Yi and company was actually mixed with a great deal of impurity.

Even standing here, Wu Tie faintly felt his body and soul were somewhat uncomfortable.

"Thank you!" Wu Tie bowed to the tower.

With a boom, the soul imprints of the over‑hundred Xi Huang lineage elders inside the tower were swept clean by violent torrents of merit.

The immensely tall reliquary tower trembled slightly, then turned into a thumb‑sized ray of golden light that entered Wu Tie's brow, where it settled complacently upon the cluster of innate spiritual light he had condensed.

At the same time, a clear map projection appeared before Wu Tie's eyes—a full view of Mu Dalu, dotted with thousands of large and small flashing points, clearly marking the locations of the tower's other fragments.

Wu Tie, using the power of the mirror in his hand, could scan at most half of Mu Dalu even after exhausting all his mana.

Yet this tower needs no prompting from Wu Tie; relying solely on the power of this tiny fragment, it can directly project the entirety of Mu Dalu, marking where its other pieces lie.

"I understand; I will restore you to your original state in the shortest time and greatest efficiency!" Wu Tie laughed, showing his teeth.

This tower is extremely spirited.

Even with only that tiny shard left, it still possesses strong spirit—it resents Xi Wu Yi and the elders, so it usually pretends to be mad and foolish, giving them no response at all.

But upon sensing Wu Tie's boundless merit, the tower willingly threw itself into his service.

However, the tower is a little bit proud and aloof.

It seems unwilling to simply accept a master.

It resides in Wu Tie's mind, yet shows no intention of letting Wu Tie imprint himself upon it or become its master.

"Fine, fine—I won't be your master; just lend a hand when you need it, and that's enough!"

Wu Tie, quite content.

Strands of exquisitely pure Dao resonance turned into visible streams of light, gushing from the underground cavern previously suppressed by the reliquary tower; the cavern, ten zhang wide and long and of unknown depth, instantly filled with flashing radiant light and rosy clouds.

A resentful roar echoed from the cavern.

In the next instant, a youth eight to nine zhang tall, stalwart of frame, with a azure coiling dragon wrapped around his waist, and a remarkably heroic visage leapt out of the cavern; atop his head twelve fist‑sized dao seals blazed brightly.

This guy's Dao imprints are clearly just formed; he managed to form twelve Dao imprints on his first attempt, which is even more astonishing than Wu Tie's first time forming ten Dao imprints.

Wu Tie's first time forming ten Dao imprints was because his body was depleted, and his own essence, energy, and spirit could not meet the requirements for forming Dao imprints.

This guy, his foundation is surely not as deep as Wu Tie's, yet he can achieve such proficiency; it shows……the Heavenly Dao Grotto is indeed somewhat mysterious; he is surely using the power of the Heavenly Dao Grotto to make up for the loss in forming Dao imprints.

Wu Tie could even feel that within this youth's body, the Grand Dao's rhythm was slowly circulating, and there were new Dao imprints in his body preparing to form.

But Wu Tie took……no, he led away the Sarira Treasure Pagoda that suppressed the earth cavern; the Dao rhythm in the cavern boiled out, like the pressure valve of a pressure cooker being opened, and the entire hall was now filled with rich and pure Dao rhythm.

"Who interrupted my cultivation, young master?" The youth leapt up, looked up at the towering Wu Tie, and shouted angrily: "Who are you? Where is the duty elder? Why did you interrupt my cultivation, young master?"

The youth stomped his foot in anger: "A once-in-a-million-years opportunity, each time only allowing a hundred years of cultivation; this young master has been in the Heavenly Dao Grotto for just three years and seven months, so why open the Heavenly Dao Grotto? The essence of the Dao rhythm is leaking……this young master, this young master……"

Wu Tie nodded slowly.

He recalled the forty-nine mighty mountain ranges outside the continent where Xi Valley is located, and how those forty-nine mountain ranges drew in endless primordial energy and endless Dao rhythm from all directions.

He also recalled the fierce, chaotic conflict above Xi Valley, which provoked the Great Dao's power that caused great turmoil in the void.

The primordial Great Dao of Mu Dalu, the foreign Dao principles of the invading Foreign God Clan, and the vast, lifeless Gobi desert on the continent where Xi Valley lies.

It is obvious that the strong ones of the Xi Emperor's Lineage, using countless fragments of primordial exotic treasures, set up a great formation.

Like a filtering funnel, they absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth, absorb the Dao rhythm of heaven and earth, continuously filtering and clarifying the foreign Great Dao within it, transforming it in the Heavenly Dao Grotto into an utterly primordial cultivation environment, allowing the elite geniuses selected from humanity to enter and cultivate.

One, to break through the Venerable bottleneck.

One, to rapidly increase cultivation.

This youth's talent, in Wu Tie's view, is just so; it is far inferior to that of Gongsun Yao.

But after entering the Heavenly Dao Grotto for just three years and seven months, he had already formed twelve Dao imprints, with new Dao imprints continually generating within his body; especially, his essence and blood were complete, with no depletion.

Wu Tie thought of how he once formed three thousand Great Dao and eighty-four thousand side-path Dao imprints all at once, which nearly turned him into a pile of dry kindling…

"You guys, you are indeed favored by heaven; the treatment you enjoy is something even the myriad dynasties of humanity could never dream of." Wu Tie's figure shrank gradually, returning to his normal size, hands behind his back as he looked at the furious youth before him.

"Impudent!" The youth glared fiercely at Wu Tie's face: "In Xi Valley, I've never seen you before; are you a spy? Did you lure away the duty elder? The Heavenly Dao Grotto contains countless exotic treasures……you must be a spy; you deserve to die!"

With a loud shout, the youth caused the radiant, twining Dao imprint atop his head to transform into a bright moon; instantly, the sky filled with icy, bone-chilling Yin power surging forth, countless threads of extreme Yin sword aura sweeping toward Wu Tie's entire body.

This strike, the youth employed Yin power while simultaneously revealing his extraordinary sword Dao cultivation.

Wu Tie strode forward with large steps; the countless Yin sword auras striking his body were completely absorbed by his physique, leaving not a trace.

In an instant, tens of millions of sword auras were swallowed clean by Wu Tie; the youth stared dumbfounded as Wu Tie approached with large steps, instinctively making way and daring not to block him.

"If you dare step half a foot into the Heavenly Dao Grotto, you are a traitor of humanity, deserving of ten thousand deaths!" A low, angry roar came from the hall's doorway.