Chapter 404: Zhen Yu Old Ancestor

Of course, absorbing spiritual energy is visible to all, but awakening to the Dao is not.

Tian Jia Shen and the others appeared to be desperately absorbing spiritual energy, causing a great uproar.

In truth, their goal was also awakening to the Dao.

After all, they were all Foundation Establishment Stage Twelve cultivators; advancing to the Nascent Soul realm was virtually guaranteed, so absorbing spiritual energy was pointless.

Awakening to the Dao is what matters.

If you refine your Dao arts well at the Golden Core stage, once you enter the Nascent Soul realm, breaking through multiple Dao barriers in one go won't be a problem.

That's the advantage of awakening early.

Of course, if we're talking about losses, someone truly suffered.

Take Dan Tai Qi, for instance.

He has no Golden Core pathway, so he can only absorb spiritual energy.

But absorbing spiritual energy does him no good.

His cultivation has already reached Foundation Establishment Stage Twelve—he must either swallow the 【Breakthrough Elixir】 to break into the Nascent Soul realm, or it's utterly useless.

He Pingsheng didn't know how the imperial court's investigation into Dan Tai Qi was going, nor did he care.

He only cared about his own awakening to the Dao.

Countless Dao arts were drawn from the spiritual liquid and sent into his consciousness.

Refining Dao arts and absorbing spiritual energy use entirely different meridians.

Yet at this very moment, He Pingsheng suddenly had a flash of insight.

Since I've come here, I shouldn't waste this opportunity.

Elder Futo said I couldn't take away the spiritual liquid, but if I take out the 【Heavenly Dao Refining Stele】 to absorb the Dao arts here, isn't that different from stealing the liquid?

So He Pingsheng quietly pulled out the 【Heavenly Dao Refining Stele】 from his storage ring and placed it in the water.

No one noticed.

After all, the spiritual liquid contained the Five Elements' rule forces, which could block spiritual sense.

You can't see what I'm secretly doing!

In the cultivation world, there are many ways to awaken to the Dao.

But only two are common.

The first: 【Deadly Awakening】 to Dao arts from the heavens and earth.

This is very slow.

It's said that even Nascent Soul cultivators with superior talent take at least sixty years to break through a single Dao barrier.

The second: directly absorbing the source force of the rules.

The second method is much faster.

For example, when He Pingsheng absorbed the 【Sarva Holy Fruit】, he could fully digest the Dao arts in just two months.

But when he relied on deadly awakening, even with the supreme 【Insight Elixir】, which quadrupled his talent, it still took him fifteen years to digest the same amount of earth-elemental rule force from the heavens and earth.

That's the difference.

So the question arises: which kind of rule force is in this spiritual spring?

It's definitely the second kind.

If it were the first kind, the imperial court wouldn't have needed to bring everyone here.

Three months, with quadrupled talent, equals twelve months of absorbing the rule's source force—that is, one full year's worth.

Thus, after three months, He Pingsheng's understanding of the Five Elements' Dao arts nearly doubled.

Now, since he hasn't entered the Nascent Soul realm, he can't quantify his understanding.

If he had entered the Nascent Soul realm, the Dao arts he understood in these three months would be equivalent to breaking one Dao barrier.

That's how powerful it is.

It might even be more than one Dao barrier.

Suddenly, time was up.

He Pingsheng simultaneously retrieved the 【Heavenly Dao Refining Stele】 into his storage ring.

The artifact hadn't upgraded.

But it had already absorbed a great deal of Dao arts!

"Splash…"

He Pingsheng was almost the first to emerge from the water.

Immediately after, Princess Liang also leapt onto the shore.

"How was it?" He Pingsheng asked.

Liang Huaqiu said: "Not bad… Three months of awakening is better than all my past years combined!"

"Of course, I still have to thank you for that supreme 【Insight Elixir】."

Splash…

Splashing…

The others also began climbing out of the spiritual spring one by one.

No one broke through, but everyone's understanding of Dao arts had improved somewhat.

Except Dan Tai Qi.

"Hehehe… You're all out now… Come along with me!"

Elder Futo appeared just in time, leading them all away again.

After exiting the massive fourth-rank array's light membrane, a golden flying vessel rested on the flat square outside.

The vessel was huge, with over twenty large cabins.

On the deck stood a middle-aged man in a white robe.

He looked middle-aged, but no one knew how old he truly was.

"All of you…" Elder Futo said: "This journey to the Xuan Gate Sacred Ground will be led by the imperial family's 【Zhen Yu Old Ancestor】…"

Then Elder Futo bowed to Zhen Yu Old Ancestor: "Your humble servant greets you, Old Ancestor. These youths are entrusted to you!"

"Hmm!" Zhen Yu Old Ancestor nodded. "Board the vessel!"

One by one, they boarded.

Liang Huaqiu lowered her head and whispered: "Zhen Yu Old Ancestor is one of the imperial family's Old Ancestors, and he's a Soul Transformation cultivator!"

Damn…

He Pingsheng's heart jolted.

So many Soul Transformation cultivators?

The imperial family's Old Ancestor is Soul Transformation, and now here's another 【Zhen Yu Old Ancestor】.

How many Soul Transformation cultivators does the imperial family have?

"Boys!" Zhen Yu Old Ancestor swept his sleeves: "Sit down properly!"

Boom…

Power surged from his feet; the massive golden dragon vessel instantly lifted into the air, slowly ascending.

Then it began accelerating steadily toward a distant direction.

At first, the dragon vessel's speed was slow.

But it kept accelerating.

After two hours of continuous acceleration, the flying vessel finally reached high speed.

It was even three-tenths faster than the 【Immortal Warship】 He Pingsheng had ridden before.

"Alright…" Zhen Yu Old Ancestor, after maxing out the vessel's speed, glanced at them all. "Come with me!"

"I'll tell you about the Xuan Gate Sacred Ground Grand Competition!"

One by one, they followed him into a palace aboard the dragon vessel.

Zhen Yu Old Ancestor sat down; He Pingsheng and the other twelve stood before him.

"Who is He Pingsheng?" he suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to look at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng quickly bowed: "Yes… Your humble servant!"

"Hmm…" Zhen Yu's gaze, mixed with spiritual sense, sliced over him like a blade, then he nodded. "Good… At Foundation Establishment Stage Six, you shattered the Dragon Platform's array with a single strike. You're truly impressive!"

"Too bad your cultivation is still low!"

"If you reached Foundation Establishment Stage Ten or higher, you'd likely have no rival in the Nine Kingdoms Grand Competition!"

This assessment of He Pingsheng was extremely high.

He Pingsheng quickly replied: "Your humble servant dares not accept such praise, Elder, you overrate me!"

Don't flatter me to death.

"Alright, line up in order!"

Everyone arranged themselves according to the Dragon Platform's sequence.

Zhen Yu stood from his seat and said: "I'll explain the rules of the Grand Competition to you."

"You should know that nine nations participate in this competition!"

"Besides my Liang Kingdom, there are Da Qi, Da Yan, Da Qin, Chu, Da Tang, Shinv, Da Gan, and Pilu."

"Each pair of nations must compete to determine superiority."

"So our Liang State must fight eight major arenas."