Chapter 566: Entering the Dao

"I love dealing with straightforward people!"

Watching Pang Pang Wenlong's figure vanish into the dark gate, Master Li secretly praised him, yet couldn't help feeling a touch of anticipation.

As the Master of Arms, he naturally craved Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing. His All-Form Transformation was still a few pieces of Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing short. His original plan was to wait until entering the Dao, then pull Zhou Ying and Dragon Dao Lord along to cause trouble for the imperial court.

With this Great Fortune Ancestor stepping forward now, that was naturally for the best.

Before parting, he also shoved over the map Zhou Ying had marked up, which included his own annotations—Dun Tian Zhou and the Great Sun Jin Lin Bell were practically circled in red.

"Dun Tian Zhou."

Li Yuan muttered it to himself, casually knocking Chi He Lian out and tossing her back under the tree.

"That ol— ahem, Senior Qin, what is this about?"

No sooner had Pang Pang Wenlong left than several Dao Lords had gathered over.

"Senior has some matters to attend to outside."

Li Yuan brushed it off vaguely—he couldn't exactly say this one was off to snatch Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing for him, could he?

The Dao Lords weren't too concerned about Qin Yun's whereabouts either. Crowding around, they still wanted to ask about the Eight Directions Temple, the Dengshan, and the Dao Soldier Pagoda trial.

Including Dragon Dao Lord, they were extremely interested in the Dao Soldier Pagoda, as well as those "True Form Maps."

"That Dao Soldier Pagoda is no good place."

Li Yuan didn't hide anything, laying out the hidden dangers of the Dao Soldier Pagoda trial. Over these past days, he'd gleaned quite a bit of intelligence from that human-headed strange bird, which had indirectly confirmed his earlier guesses.

Those who entered the temple other than challengers were, in the human-headed strange bird's words, "consumables" and "reserve Dao soldiers." Of course, such hurtful words had to be phrased more tactfully.

"This Dao Soldier Pagoda actually wants to turn us into Dao soldiers?"

The crowd exchanged uneasy glances. Fang Fang Sanyun's expression turned odd as he looked toward the imperial court's steles:

"Doesn't that mean Wan Wan Zhuliu, the Qian Emperor, and the others..."

"If they can't withdraw from the Dao Soldier Pagoda in time, there's a very real chance they never come out."

Li Yuan swept a cold glance over the imperial court's steles, pausing for a moment on Wan Wan Zhuliu's. This was something he'd inferred from the human-headed strange bird's words.

But he estimated the probability was very high.

The Eight Directions Temple was a place of creation, but also a forbidden ground—even gods might fall because of it, let alone the imperial court's people?

As the sole temple-opener, when Li Yuan spoke thus, the crowd believed him seven or eight tenths of the way.

"If that's the case, that old tortoise really harbors ill intentions."

Long Long Yingchan looked toward the spirit tortoise's stele. The line of text beneath it about the Dao Soldier Pagoda was a pale gray—clearly this old turtle had long since fled the Dao Soldier Pagoda.

"Not just that old tortoise, but that Thousand-Eye old thief as well."

Fang Fang Sanyun snorted coldly, sweeping his gaze across the stele forest, his sight landing on the distant mountain range: "That old thief didn't enter the Dao Soldier Pagoda. He may very well be lurking in the mountains. We have to be on guard."

"That old ghost's realm is extremely deep. If he's set on hiding, I'm afraid he'll be hard to find."

Hearing the name of the Thousand-Eye Dharma Lord, Li Yuan's brow furrowed slightly, his heart filled with wariness.

In the ancient texts of Quancheng, he had also seen traces of Great Fortune gods like the "Thousand-Eye Dharma Lord," the "Red-Haired Buddha," and the "Sword Spirit God."

"This old ghost, when talking with Chi He Lian, called himself the Thousand-Eye Dharma Lord... if it's really him..."

By the bonfire, the group conversed as Li Yuan's thoughts drifted, his head aching.

The Three-Day Calamity, the Ghost Demon Cloud Demon, the Thousand-Eye Dharma Lord... the Eight Directions Temple hadn't even truly emerged into the world, yet it had already dragged in this many troublesome things.

Down the mountain, the group talked at length.

Li Yuan mostly answered questions about the Eight Directions Temple, then asked the Dao Lords about the matters of entering the Dao. Even though his preparations were thorough, a review would be steadier.

Late into the night, Li Yuan took out his token and returned to the peak of Eight Directions Mountain.

At the peak of Eight Directions Mountain, jagged rocks stood in dense clusters, the ancient temple hidden behind the Shi Lin. The distance wasn't far—if this were the outside world, Li Yuan could cross it in a single

step.

But here, he didn't dare act rashly.

He'd tried before—just one step forward, and those jagged rocks had all begun to tremble, as if about to awaken from their long slumber. The invisible aura made one's heart palpitate.

"The temple-entry trial involves clashing with other challengers. That's truly too dangerous."

Li Yuan didn't cross Lei Chi a single step, simply sitting cross-legged beneath his own jagged rock.

Once his spirit had recovered to its peak, he took out spirit incense and lit it, switched his mastery combination for the boosted talent, swallowed down a handful of spirit pills, and held a Dragon-Tiger Nourishing Pill in his mouth. The Entry Dao Barrier was spoken of as the Dragon Gate Barrier, the Life-and-Death Barrier—even with his current talent and cultivation, he didn't dare be careless. He had to prepare thoroughly.

"Huu!"

After a long while, pressing down all stray thoughts, Li Yuan closed his eyes, his mind settling into concentration:

"Entry Dao Barrier."

……

……

Hmm—

The You Jing was dark and deep. A wisp of faint light suddenly appeared, and Pang Pang Wenlong stepped out slowly. Behind him, Qin Li Shixian, who held a long spear, still looked somewhat bewildered.

She had been honing her newly learned "Sky-Breaking Spear True Form Map" in the Dao Soldier Pagoda, and in a daze had been pulled out.

"What is this about?"

Qin Li Shixian asked, frowning.

Pang Pang Wenlong didn't explain, merely flicked a finger. A wisp of qi had already sunk into her brow—it contained the scene of his conversation with Li Yuan.

"The Three-Day Calamity... the sun... the seal of the Eight Directions Temple... the You Jing path only Li Yuan can see... Tian Shi Yuan..."

"P-Pang Pang Wenlong?"

"Pang Pang Wenlong!" After a brief daze, Qin Li Shixian suddenly jolted awake, looking at Pang Pang Wenlong in utter shock:

"You—you—I thought..."

"What did you think?"

Pang Pang Wenlong glanced at her and shook his head inwardly.

If this girl had even half of Li Yuan's steadiness, he wouldn't have hidden it for so many years.

"I, I already guessed…"

Qin Li Shixian felt a little sheepish, digesting that wisp of qi, her heart somewhat shaken, but on sudden reflection, it didn't seem so unexpected.

Unexpected my ass!

She, the number one rebel of all time, was actually the purest imperial bloodline?!

Besides, Pang Li Shixian — that doesn't sound good…

"Is that so?"

Pang Pang Wenlong couldn't be bothered to expose her. He simply pulled the clearly marked map from his bosom, took one look, and couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his eye:

"This kid has had his eye on the other Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing for a long time now…"

Qin Li Shixian was dazed for quite a while before digesting this shocking piece of news, then looked at the map as well: "You, you're planning to help him seize the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?"

"If you want someone to risk their life, you have to give them the benefits they deserve."

Pang Pang Wenlong didn't look up either, simply matching the markings on the map one by one with the twelve routes in his memory. Before long, he had it all figured out in his heart.

"This kid really dares to open his mouth. One Dun Tian Zhou isn't enough — he wants the other Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing too?"

The scene the two of them had just discussed surfaced in Qin Li Shixian's eyes, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

The old man daring to give didn't surprise her.

This old man had always been an extremely generous person. Coupled with the records about Pang Pang Wenlong in the history books, it was even less surprising.

This one was a man willing to give away the whole world; across all ages, there were few more generous than him.

But this kid really dared to ask for it too…

"To open an untrodden path within You Jing — the dangers within, you don't understand."

Pang Pang Wenlong put away the map and took out a bronze mirror. The bronze mirror trembled, emitting a Longhu Longhu Dandan glow that lit up the surroundings. Once the darkness receded, the ground was a stretch of blackened scorched earth.

"In the old days, when I followed my master to seek out the hidden and explore the secret, I nearly died more times than I can count before this Fang You Jing had the stability it has today. The You Jing outside isn't this peaceful."

Pang Pang Wenlong's expression was quite Solemn.

His understanding of You Jing was far greater than Qin Li Shixian's. The terror of You Jing lay in the fact that with the present world it overlapped and covered — the Great Fortune world — pushing back ten thousand years, counting him and his master, there were only four Divine Palace-level in total.

The danger lay more in those twelve Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing paths that led straight to the Eight Directions Temple.

But even so, he had nearly died here back then.

And beyond the Eight Directions Temple's seal, the You Jing that covered Tian Shi Yuan — how terrifying must it be?

That was a vast realm capable of holding Daoist Qun Xing, one that had existed for over seventy-two kalpas. After countless tens of thousands of years of accumulation, how many strange lands, strange beasts, and strange demons must there be?

Just thinking about it made Pang Pang Wenlong feel danger, and so he didn't find Li Yuan greedy — he even felt the kid was asking for too little. "Then, to Ducheng?"

Qin Li Shixian's heart was still a bit of a mess, but the thought of Ducheng immediately perked her up:

"Your injury hasn't healed yet, let me go instead! Whether it's Wang Jin or Wu Wu Yingxing, neither is my match. Even if they join forces, I don't fear them!"

"Your injuries have not yet healed; let me go instead! Whether it is Wang Jin or Wu Wu Yingxing, neither is my match; even if they join forces, I fear them not!"

Qin Yun surveyed You Jing, identified the direction he needed to go, then set off with the bronze mirror in hand. Incense burned within the mirror, illuminating the surroundings:

Qin Yun glanced around You Jing, identified the direction he needed to go, then held the bronze mirror and stepped forward; incense burned within the mirror, illuminating the surroundings:

The idea of seeking Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing through the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing paths wasn't Li Yuan's alone. He didn't dare speak of the earliest ones, but over a thousand years ago, he had done exactly this.

The difference was that Li Yuan's idea was still just an idea, while he had long since verified it — and succeeded.

Now, it was merely doing it again.

"Then what about me?"

Qin Li Shixian immediately felt disappointed.

"Activating Dun Tian Zhou requires incense. Go fetch the incense accumulated in the tower. Mhm, if you want to go to Ducheng, then go. With that old ghost not around, no one can hurt you…"

"Activating the Dun Tian Zhou requires incense; go and fetch the incense accumulated in the building. Hmm, if you wish to go to the Divine Capital, then go; the old ghost is not here anyway, and no one can harm you..."

……

The Dao Entry Barrier can be divided into four steps: Divine Soul Leaving the Body, Qi and Blood Unification, Form Melding and Body Transformation, and Body-Soul Unification.

Of these four steps, apart from the last one, Li Yuan had long since mastered them. And according to his understanding, these four steps were actually two steps.

Qi merges with blood, soul merges with body.

This was the necessary path toward the Yuan He Yi Jing.

This is the inevitable path to the Yuan He Yi Jing realm.

One Long Hu Longhu Dadan after another entered his belly, igniting the two Longhu Longhu Dadan within. The vigorous medicinal power spread to his limbs and bones, and his qi, blood, and true qi throughout his body boiled for it.

In that instant, Li Yuan felt as if a raging fire were burning his body.

At the same time, his brow cooled. The Mud Pellet Nine Palaces trembled, and within the Land of Spiritual Light, the visualized thunder dragon collapsed and scattered, transforming into the visualized Spirit Self.

That Spirit Self, identical to Li Yuan, first sat cross-legged in meditation, then rose to practice the stance work, and finally, when qi and blood boiled to their highest peak,

"He" stepped forward, walking out from the Land of Spiritual Light, the Mud Pellet Palace!

"He" took a step forward, emerging from the place of spiritual light, the Niwan Palace!

Li Yuan only felt the top of his head cool. The crown gate flung wide, and his Divine Soul walked out of the Mud Pellet Palace, but did not leave the body. Instead, it flowed downward to meet the violently burning qi and blood!

The utmost yang qi and blood, and the pure yin Divine Soul — even with true qi balancing between them — were extremely dangerous.

This was the fourth step of Dao Entry, Body-Soul Unification.

This is the fourth step of entering the Dao, the unity of body and spirit.