Chapter 518: Stars in the You Jing

"What a master of concealment."

Clutching the token, Li Yuan looked toward the ancient temple faintly visible at the mountain's peak; if not for his Sound-Listening revealing it, a year from now he might well have been kicked out of the Eight Directions Temple unawares.

"One wisp of seventh-rank incense, adding one year of stay…"

Li Yuan calculated in his heart: "I still have eleven wisps of seventh-rank incense; even if I use them all, I can only stay thirteen years…"

Can he climb to the mountain's peak in thirteen years?

Looking at the mountain path with no end in sight, Daoist Li shook his head inwardly—he was a man who knew his own limits; this was something even the gods contended for and even perished for!

Whooo—

A gentle breeze blew.

This world of the Eight Directions Temple was just like the outside, with sun and moon, day and night flowing and alternating; he counted on his fingers and realized he had already been inside for three days.

"According to the Sound-Listening, the imperial court is splitting the great ritual, preparing to attempt to borrow my power to enter the Eight Directions Temple; this borrowing of power…"

Li Yuan pondered in his heart, sorting through the various pieces of intelligence obtained from the Sound-Listening.

Having spent most of his sixth-rank incense in one go, the gains were naturally considerable; from this, he could roughly deduce the moves of the various forces before and after his entering the temple.

The imperial court's great ritual shouldn't be merely about splitting the steps and attempting to send people in…

And the Wudadao Sect, originally plotting in secret, had gathered together because of this abrupt change, seemingly to discuss countermeasures.

As for those three visitors from beyond the heavens, each had their own thoughts; Yellow Dragon Son chose to cooperate with the imperial court, and as for the negative-hall spirit turtle, what it was divining was unclear; the most direct was that Chi He Lian.

She was squatting outside the temple, waiting for him.

"As for Qin Yun…"

Li Yuan stroked his chin; among the Sound-Listening he obtained, there was only one item concerning Qin Yun, its meaning roughly being: to come out of seclusion and capture the people from beyond the heavens.

"Since that's the case, I needn't rush to go out."

Having sorted through the various Sound-Listenings once, Li Yuan felt grounded in his heart and was no longer so anxious; only then did he continue to feel the changes in himself after achieving Great Completion of Blood Replacement.

Whooo—

With his eyes slightly closed, a complete diagram of the human meridians appeared in Li Yuan's vision.

Bones like white jade, sinews like long dragons, blood flowing, viscera trembling.

"My physical strength is three times what it was before Blood Replacement, and it's still slowly increasing."

Feeling the abundant power within himself, Li Yuan's mood lifted; this was the benefit of Form Entering Blood, and more, it was the reward of his tireless, unceasing modification of his physical form.

Having modified a thousand forms, in terms of physique alone, he asked himself he was no weaker than any Grandmaster he had seen.

"Old Longtou and Daoist Nie, before their breakthroughs, didn't have the physical strength I do!"

Li Yuan's heart burned: "With the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra, I can continue to modify various forms, and still Form Enter Blood… if I can modify ten thousand forms and Form Enter Blood, then even without yet entering the Dao, I may well be able to clash with a Great Grandmaster!"

The surging increase in strength made Li Yuan feel very grounded; his anxiety was swept away.

He had only been inside three days, and he had already achieved Great Completion of Blood Replacement; if he could stay the full thirteen and a half years, then even Wan Wan Zhuliu, he might well be able to clash with!

"The only bad thing is that the medicinal power of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan is running out!"

Li Yuan felt a pang of regret; achieving Great Completion of Blood Replacement in three days, the corresponding consumption of medicinal power had not diminished, and at this moment the medicinal power of the two Long Hu Longhu Dadan in his belly was already not much.

But he wasn't flustered either.

When he went down the mountain he had stuffed over a thousand spirit pills into himself, plus the three Long Long Modadan left behind by the Star-Picking Tower Master; using them to charge at the Entering Dao barrier was naturally more than enough!

"Nurturing the physique, modifying the bone structure, Form Entering Blood, and what's needed for daily visualization."

Calculating this way, Li Yuan felt it wasn't quite enough again.

After sorting and tallying for a long while, Li Yuan finally opened his eyes; he let out a long breath, feeling only that the pent-up frustration in his heart was entirely gone, and everything before his eyes opened up.

"With the Thunder Beast Spirit Pill added to the support and modification of the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale and the Dragon Tiger Nurturing Furnace, I can at least scrape together five or six thousand forms, right? What's missing…."

Li Yuan's thoughts turned, and he had already taken out that token emitting a faint golden light!

"To be safe, I still need to figure out how to use this token, to avoid mishaps at a critical moment."

Regarding the people the imperial court might send, he remained wary in his heart; with his current Wu Gong and the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale in hand, below Great Grandmaster he feared nothing.

But if the imperial court truly could send Wan Wan Zhuliu, he had to prepare an escape route first.

Hum—

A faint trembling sound arose; Li Yuan focused his perception, and in a daze his line of sight suddenly shot upward, with a feeling of his spirit leaving his body.

He focused his perception, and saw the mountains and earth vanish in a flash; then, he saw the You Jing.

Deep, dark, mysterious, bizarre…

Endless darkness presented itself within his perception; Li Yuan's mind went blank for an instant; spying on the You Jing in this state, he only now perceived the terror of this strange and bizarre land.

Strange lands, strange beasts, and some indescribable things.

But before he could ponder it in detail, his gaze had been drawn to another thing.

Boundless darkness stretched like a sea without end, yet at an extreme height there was a faint glow; the Eight Directions Temple floated unsteadily in the ink sea, its imperceptible aura like a giant circular dome, enveloping this You Jing within.

"The Eight Directions Temple has isolated this You Jing!"

This thought arose in Li Yuan's heart; then, through the faint aura of the Eight Directions Temple, he saw specks of faint light within a stretch of deep darkness.

He counted silently; these light points numbered twelve in total.

"Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?"

Li Yuan's mind worked very fast; and as his thoughts turned, those specks of light rapidly drew closer, and with just one sweep, he saw something familiar.

One of the light points pointed precisely to the path of the Mysterious Whale…

"There is a connection between the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing and the Eight Directions Temple…"

Li Yuan pondered; the use of that token was extremely simple—he could land at any spot within the radiation range of these twelve light points. He could also stay far away and appear directly at other places.

And one entry and exit would cost 'twenty days' of stay time, not what he had previously thought—that he could come and go freely…

"Treacherous."

Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart; if he truly believed he could come and go freely and wander at will, he would likely be swept out of the Eight Directions Temple very soon.

And all of this came without any hint whatsoever.

'This is also a good thing; it means that as long as there is enough high-grade incense, one can stay in the Eight Directions Temple for as long as one wishes...'

Relying on the mysterious resonance, Li Yuan scanned this Fang You Jing and noted the glowing points where the twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing were located one by one, yet he chose none of them.

Instead, he gazed beyond the area covered by the Eight Directions Temple's resonance.

'According to the little female dragon, the Tian Shi Yuan is vast and boundless; even a true dragon or a great roc would take thousands or even tens of thousands of years to cross a single region, yet via the You Jing, even a mortal could cross a region in merely a few years or even a few months.'

Li Yuan turned thoughts over in his mind, and the resonance of the Eight Directions Temple shifted accordingly; then, he saw a faint glowing point extremely far away, barely perceptible, located at the very edge of the Eight Directions Temple's coverage.

'Where is outside? Is it the Tian Shi Yuan?'

A thrill rose in Li Yuan's heart, and in the next instant, he felt a 'buzz' of tremor, falling out of this strange state.

Crack!

At the foot of the mountain, Li Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, only to see a void before him split open into a dim gate as tall as a person...

'This gate...'

Li Yuan's wrist trembled slightly, and he had already released the little female dragon.

'Ah! You...'

The little female dragon was about to scold angrily when her body suddenly stiffened, staring straight at the dim gate; within it, she sensed familiar resonance: 'This, this, Tian, Tian Shi Yuan?!'

This shock was no small matter; the Mirage Dragon Belt unconsciously expanded, like a great dragon stretching its body, but Li Yuan, quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbed hold of it.

Had he been even half a beat slower, this little female dragon would have plunged straight in.

'Is the Tian Shi Yuan behind this gate?'

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and decisively wrapped the Mirage Dragon Belt around his waist.

'I can feel it; that is the Tian Shi Yuan!'

The little female dragon remained somewhat shocked; she naturally knew the Eight Directions Temple isolated this Fang You Jing and had previously been thinking of urging Li Yuan to find an exit.

Who would have expected it to appear so simply before them.

'Is the You Jing where the Tian Shi Yuan is located dangerous?'

Li Yuan asked.

'Of course, dangerous.'

The little female dragon still dared not hide it: 'The You Jing is even boundless; it is said that across countless eons, within the vast and boundless Tian Shi Yuan, the Dong Tian Shi Fa Jie of great powers who perished are all hidden within...'

Extremely dangerous!

Having heard only half a sentence, Li Yuan already frowned.

The Tian Shi Yuan is known as the gathering place of the stars, having existed for who knows how many tens of thousands of years; the number of fallen powerhouses likely exceeds all the people he has ever seen, and if even one in ten thousand left behind a treacherous realm after death.

The You Jing where it is located would be far more dangerous than the area covered by the Eight Directions Temple.

'Various great powers have all carved out paths within the You Jing; even those places, those locations, are safe.'

The little female dragon added a sentence.

Although their time together was not long, and most of it was spent locked in a small dark room, she still had some understanding of Li Yuan.

Cowardly, detestable, cold and ruthless.

'Is that so?'

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, raised his hand, and flicked out a drop of blood; mighty true qi moved with it, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a crimson little elephant.

The little elephant swung its trunk and walked fearlessly toward that dim gate.

'Wait a moment.'

Li Yuan raised his hand and flung out a second-grade incense, which then prompted it to enter the gate.

He concentrated his spirit to perceive; the instant the little elephant stepped out of the dim gate, it was as if it appeared in an extremely distant place; the connection between them almost severed, only faintly able to sense that it still existed.

The intention to use its perspective to observe the You Jing naturally came to nothing.

'Seems there is no danger?'

Li Yuan felt somewhat tempted; regarding that Tian Shi Yuan, he was still quite curious in his heart, but he held back, tried several more times, and confirmed there was no danger.

Only then did he don the Crimson Blood Patterned Dragon Armor, pick up the Mirage Dragon Belt, and cautiously step into the dim gate.

Buzz~

The instant he stepped into the dim gate, Li Yuan felt slightly dizzy.

'This is?!'

In a trance, Li Yuan seemed to hear desolate, ancient sacrificial sounds, or perhaps the whispers of ancient gods; he slowly raised his head; all around was ruined and desolate, just like the You Jing he had seen before.

The difference was that this You Jing had light!

The light came from an extremely distant, extremely high place; though faint, it was real and true; Li Yuan gazed into the distance, and faintly, it seemed he saw huge 'stars'.

The stars floated and sank in the ink sea, radiating faint light!