Chapter 433: Li Yuan's Talent

At the peak of Inverted Mountain, a gentle breeze drifted slowly.

Li Yuan stood before that stone stele, gazing upward. With the augmentation of two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, he felt his perception and spiritual power surge once more.

This was the same augmentation shared by the Sea-Splitting Mystic Whale Hammer and the Dragon-Tiger Nourishing Furnace — namely, cultivation talent.

Of the eight eleventh-tier augmentations on the two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, only these two were compatible, and the stacked effect was the most obvious of all.

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, in his eyes, the world formed by the mystic whale's qi shed its surface appearance, and what lay before him was a colossal construct woven from countless threads.

Extremely intricate, yet possessing a certain order.

Countless threads interwove in orderly fashion, flowing and circulating; manifested outwardly, this was the mystic whale's Mi Jing — Inverted Mountain.

"So this is the true face of the mystic whale's Mi Jing. Is the Divine realm composed similarly?"

Li Yuan felt dazzled and enthralled.

Streams of mystic whale qi — some solitary, some parallel, some interwoven, some colliding — were incomparably complex yet perfectly ordered, moving along some unfathomable trajectory.

This was countless times more complex than qi shaping.

After a long while, Li Yuan's spirit wavered, and he withdrew from that realm. He immediately felt utterly exhausted, as though he had fought dozens of fierce battles against that ink dragon.

"Qi shaping, true-gang shaping, harvesting of marvels, reshaping and combining spirit-forms, essence-qi-spirit, Divine realm…"

Li Yuan slumped to the ground, feeling his thoughts colliding violently. From this scene, he seemed to have grasped many principles, and his understanding of the martial Dao had abruptly risen to a very high level.

"The martial Dao is but essence, qi, and spirit."

"From internal force to Marrow-Swapping Completion, the body grows; true qi is nurtured. Upon entering the Dao, one tempers the spirit, using spirit to command true qi, contending with heaven and earth, transforming qi into gang — this is true gang."

"The body has its limits; heaven and earth are boundless. After entering the Dao, one must harvest the marvels of heaven and earth to strengthen the spirit-form and true gang, to nurture the Divine realm. This is drawing upon the power of heaven and earth to strengthen oneself."

"When the Divine realm grows strong, to a certain extent it will feed back upon oneself, but this requires breaking through the Heavenly Gang and unifying the three primes. At this step, any advancement in essence, qi, or spirit will nourish the other two, advancing together."

Internal force, body-tempering and organ-refining, marrow-refining and blood-swapping, Earth Sha, Heavenly… Li Yuan's thoughts drifted. For realms he had not yet touched, he now gained an extremely deep understanding, as if standing at a great height and looking back at the path he had traveled, able to clearly trace a single straight road.

"The connections between these realms are truly strict and solemn."

After a long while, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes. Even his spiritual fatigue could not conceal the excitement in his heart. The different control effects could not be fully stacked together, but even so, the enhancement they brought him was tremendous.

"It's a pity only cultivation talent can stack perfectly."

Li Yuan felt a touch of regret.

There was a connection between hammer-technique talent and body talent, but naturally it could not reach this level of compatibility. Still, the four augmentations of the Nourishing Furnace had stacked his talents together.

With a shift of thought, Li Yuan had already stepped past the memorial archway.

The next instant, a humming sound was heard, and a stele that seemed to be of reddish-gold color rose from the ground, tall as a person. Characters flowed across its surface, bursting forth with dazzling Jin Guang.

A Sea-Splitting Divine Pattern pulsed ceaselessly, as if alive:

Trial-taker: Shan Xuan Whale Gate inner disciple Li Yuan. Talent: Peerless. Aptitude: Mid-Lower. Eligible for: True Disciple Trial. Eligible for: Dao Child Trial. Peerless talent, may be directly promoted to True Disciple, no True Disciple Trial required…

The Jin Guang was dazzling. As for the Sea-Splitting Divine Pattern, Li Yuan was already quite familiar with it. "None of this has broken out of the Peerless tier?"

Li Yuan frowned.

Based on his own experience, the eight eleventh-tier effects of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing could all be counted as Thousand-Ages tier. Even if they couldn't fully stack, the magnitude of enhancement was extremely great.

He himself could feel the immediate difference, yet it was still only at Peerless tier?

"One eleventh-tier effect equals three tenth-tier effects, perhaps even more… By analogy, Peerless-tier talent requires three Thousand-Ages-tier, and the next tier up requires nine."

Calculating thus, Li Yuan already understood in his heart.

The augmentation of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing was not the problem; he had underestimated the scope of the Peerless tier. Moreover, his own innate talent had held him back.

"My current talent is Absolute tier. Stack it to Thousand-Ages tier, and I can break through this Peerless-tier scope."

Li Yuan's thoughts turned, and only then did he look toward the top of the stele.

Peerless talent, no Dao Child Trial required. If there is no Dao Child, may be directly promoted to Dao Child.

A peerless talent; no Trial of the Dao Son is required. If there is no Dao Son, one may be directly promoted to the rank of Dao Son.

It was as if a great bell had been struck.

Li Yuan raised his head, looking toward the palace ruins. The bell sound came from deep within, ringing nine times in succession. On the stele, new characters appeared:

Shan Xuan Whale Gate, one hundred and forty-third generation Dao Child — Li Yuan!

Li Yuan, the 143rd Dao Son of the Profound Whale Gate!

The trial passage woven from clouds and mist split apart, the mist blocking his path also dissipating. The mountain-gate palace complex of Shan Xuan Whale Gate was clearly revealed.

"As expected, when talent is high enough, rules cease to be rules."

Li Yuan's heart settled.

The relic sects within the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing had strict promotion rules. According to the records of successive patriarchs of Dragon-Tiger Temple, only Absolute-tier talent could enter the inner gate directly.

Thousand-Ages-tier talent was needed to open the True Disciple Trial; only by defeating a Thousand-Ages-tier Grandmaster could one become a True Disciple. In the Dao Child Trial, one had to defeat a Thousand-Ages-tier Great Grandmaster.

Yet now, he had leapt three tiers in one bound.

He had not even completed marrow refining, yet he had already crossed the threshold that successive Dragon-Tiger Temple patriarchs over two thousand years had never crossed, becoming the Dao Child of the relic sect.

"Wherever a genius goes, there is preferential treatment."

Daoist Li felt a touch of wistfulness. He was a mortal of mid-lower bone aptitude; if not for the Soldier Controlling Seal, such treatment — let alone encountering it, he probably wouldn't even have heard of it.

Elder Li felt a touch of sighing; he, a mortal of mediocre to low spiritual roots, if not for holding the Military Seal, such treatment—let alone encountering it, he likely had nowhere even to hear of it.

After a moment of heartfelt emotion, Li Yuan walked through the archway, simultaneously swapping out the Sea-Splitting Mystic Whale Bell.

After a moment of inner emotion, Li Yuan walked through the archway while simultaneously swapping out the Split-Sea Profound Whale Bell.

The next instant, the long cry of the mystic whale's spirit echoed throughout Inverted Mountain. Li Yuan's vision blurred, and the miniature mystic whale's spirit had already dashed before him, its body trembling, its small eyes filled with utter astonishment and shock.

In the next instant, the long cry of the Profound Whale Spirit echoed across the Upside-Down Mountain. Li Yuan felt a flash before his eyes; the miniature version of the Profound Whale Spirit had rushed to his side, its body trembling, its pair of small eyes filled with bewilderment and shock.

A stone stele had risen, and the mystic whale's spirit's shock nearly overflowed.

A stone stele rose, and the shock of the Profound Whale Spirit nearly overflowed.

Li Yuan suddenly felt in high spirits; he had not forgotten how that hammer had looked down on him before.

Dao, Xuanjing Daozi... why, why?

The Spirit of the Profound Whale stammered.

"Guess?"

Li Yuan raised his hand and grasped; the Spirit of the Profound Whale obediently transformed into a hand-hammer and fell into his palm.

After the clouds and mist dispersed, the ruins of the Profound Whale Sect were completely revealed; behind the mountain gate lay an enormous, open plaza, with traces of disciples practicing martial arts still lingering everywhere.

"These ruins."

Li Yuan focused his spirit.

Just now, with the support of the two Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, he had seen through the mysteries of the Profound Whale Mi Jing, but this mountain gate was not within it; even in that state, the mountain gate remained unchanged.

It seemed not formed by the Qi of the Profound Whale, but rather the true ruins of the Profound Whale Sect.

Li Yuan walked slowly, appearing slow but actually fast, guided by the Spirit of the Profound Whale, strolling through this magnificent complex of buildings.

Disciples' quarters, martial arts grounds, council halls, trial grounds, elders' courts—the architecture of the Profound Whale Sect differed from the outside world, magnificent and grand; every single room was over three or four zhang in height; walking among them, Li Yuan felt as if he had arrived in the land of giants.

"Different species."

Thinking of the giant men in the True Disciple Trial, Li Yuan muttered to himself, feeling a bit disappointed.

What the Profound Whale Sect looked like at its peak, he had not seen, but now it was truly in severe decline. He had wandered such a large circle; except for occasionally discovering some Sea-Splitting Divine Patterns, nothing else remained; the expected secret manuals, pills, and divine weapons were nowhere to be seen.

"Could they all be inside the trial?"

Li Yuan was somewhat suspicious; the Spirit of the Profound Whale answered quickly:

"I don't know"... Xuanjing Daozi, what treatment do you get?"

Li Yuan frowned,

"Even a rotten boat has three jin of nails; it makes no sense that the Xuanjing Daozi identity has no benefits at all." The Spirit of the Profound Whale trembled slightly and guided Li Yuan to a small courtyard.

Called a small courtyard, it was actually quite large; the surrounding walls were about eight zhang high, planted with unknown large trees, with a garden and rockeries; on the main hall were three Divine Patterns:

"Xuanjing Daozi Residence."

Li Yuan felt a slight stir in his heart and walked into the main hall.

Inside the main hall hung a scroll of Divine Pattern calligraphy and painting, depicting the Sea-Splitting Profound Whale; beside it, the accompanying text and signature bore a familiar name: 'Canglongzi'.

Canglongzi, moved by observing the Profound Whale splitting the sea!

The Spirit of the Profound Whale answered proactively; along the way, it had cooperated to the utmost, but its own knowledge was indeed limited.

Li Yuan glanced at it suspiciously, reached out and picked up a scroll of silk from the table; as expected, the silk scroll turned to flying ash, just like what he had seen along the way.

"How many years has the Profound Whale Sect been destroyed?"

Li Yuan was not disappointed either; he wandered around the room, picking up any book he saw; although most turned to flying ash, he did manage to obtain a few books made of animal hide.

"Cai Shen Pian."

Li Yuan flipped open a page and discovered that this booklet actually matched what he had heard from Lingyin before.

"Today, I went to visit Elder Lin to inquire about Cai Shen. The Catastrophe of the Tilted Sky grows more terrifying; within a few years, the sun will extinguish. I believe we should contact the Shier Sect and restart the 'Ten Thousand Gods Sacrifice'..."

"Outer Gods are terrifying, but the Catastrophe of the Tilted Sky is equally terrifying; take a gamble; at least it won't get worse."

"If successful, then the You Jing will open, and we will fear nothing..."

This unknown animal hide had not been worn down by time; the unclear text on it had been deliberately erased by the writer; Li Yuan read it word by word.

Overall, this was a diary.

Named Canglongzi, the Xuanjing Daozi of the Profound Whale, recorded some of his experiences before the Catastrophe of the Tilted Sky descended.

Inquiring about the Sacrificial Gods, contacting various sects, attempting the Sacrificial Gods, and so on. "The You Jing is omnipresent; there are gods within the You Jing; only with rituals can one Cai Shen; sacrificing gods is very dangerous."

Li Yuan sorted out the key points.

This Canglongzi must have been in immense sorrow and fear; what he wrote was extremely chaotic, jumbled and inverted, and not very useful.

The most detailed parts were actually those few rituals.