Chapter 583: Gods and Demons?

"Roar!"

In the Niwan Palace, waves surged to the heavens.

The giant beast that had lain dormant for a long time now leapt from the abyss, and like a dragon drawing in water, it swallowed the various forms of weapons and beasts into its belly, then ferociously charged at the contending spirit-forms.

"To gather and awe them" was the summary in the handwritten notes of Daoist Long Mo regarding his own transformation of ten thousand forms.

Li Yuan did not copy it entirely, for the two were not the same.

Daoist Long Mo was born with a Dao-Comprehending Body; any martial art he saw, he understood, and once he practiced it, he mastered it. Even gazing upon mountains, rivers, and the myriad beasts, he could comprehend martial arts on his own. His path of ten thousand forms was built bit by bit through his own incomparably high comprehension.

Li Yuan was far more brutish than he was, using divine weapons to alter his sinews and bones, often dozens or hundreds of forms at a time, making it hard to gather and bind them as finely as Long Mo did.

He chose to swallow them down first and worry later; once they were in the belly, they could be digested one way or another.

"Roar!"

The furious roar of the Long Kun echoed from the Niwan Palace and pierced through the body, reverberating throughout the entire main peak of Dragon Gate.

When Nie Xianshan came flying on his sword, he saw the main peak of Dragon Gate seemingly covered by waves, within which a giant beast could faintly be seen leaping from the abyss, battling the violent spirit-beasts.

That giant beast must have lain dormant for a long time; at the most critical juncture of the battle, it leapt out, and in the blink of an eye, it had broken the balance, swallowing the most violent of the spirit-forms into its belly.

Then it transformed from fish to bird, spreading its enormous wings to envelop the remaining spirit-forms, and with one great inhalation, Nie Xianshan even felt his vision go black.

"This boy's spirit has actually become this dense?"

Nie Xianshan was startled.

That momentary blackout was only an illusion, born of the aura of that oceanic giant beast—or rather, of Li Yuan's spirit-will.

"Gathering all forms…"

Long Xi Xiang was half a beat late; when he arrived, he heard Pang Pang Wenlong's somewhat astonished voice. His heart stirred, and just as he was about to ask, a tremendous shriek exploded once more.

"Roar!"

The giant whale leapt into the air, transforming into a giant bird; its wings spread, its maw opened wide, and it swallowed even the pale-blue waves covering the mountain peak into its belly.

To the naked eye, the blurred figure of the giant bird grew solid; as its wings beat, it stirred gust after gust of violent wind. It suddenly turned its head to look beyond the gates of Dragon Tiger Temple.

On the plaque before the mountain gate, wind and clouds gathered; a dragon and a tiger manifested in the air, and three giant beasts faced each other across the void. A hurricane rose suddenly, sending sand and stones flying.

For a time, Dragon Tiger Temple, and even Mount Hengshan City, were alarmed. Countless people looked up; that giant bird was simply too vast, seeming to blot out the sky.

"Is this Junior Brother Li's spirit-image?"

Long Long Xinglie walked out of his closed-door cultivation chamber and gazed at the giant bird, which was beating its wings and crying out as it confronted the will of the founding patriarch. His heart was shaken to the core.

He had already entered the Dao several years before, but four years had passed, and he had only barely stabilized his Sheng De Shen Jing; even then, it was only with his master's Wan Wan Zhuli that he had managed to condense the embryonic form of his spirit-image.

But…

Behind Long Long Xinglie, a faint light flickered, as if a dragon and a tiger were entwined and coiling, yet it dimmed in an instant, as if pressed by some invisible force.

Hum~

In the Niwan Palace, all ten thousand forms fell silent; only the Long Kun, leaping from the abyss, was howling, its manner utterly exultant.

"It's done."

Joy rose in Li Yuan's heart.

The upheaval in Dragon Tiger Mountain, he naturally knew of. Although he had not seen it, the sudden surge of incense and faith aura within his Niwan Palace was proof enough that the commotion of his breakthrough was no small matter.

But he no longer cared much about it.

Given his current Wu Gong and standing, no matter how great the commotion, he could bear it. There was no need to hide or conceal it; he could even use this opportunity to harvest a wave of incense and faith.

A mosquito's meat, no matter how small, is still meat.

Hum~

The strange phenomenon at the peak of Dragon Gate did not last long, but the stirred-up violent wind lingered for a long time without ceasing.

"Huu!"

Li Yuan opened his eyes.

His body was enveloped in a layer of pale-blue radiance, like water, like mist; faintly one could see a vast ocean, with a giant beast lurking beneath it.

"This is true unity of spirit and self…"

Reaching out to take out a handful of spirit pills and swallow them, Li Yuan did not rise. He circulated his true qi to repair the injuries left within his body from the alteration of his sinews and bones, while also sensing the newly born Sheng De Shen Jing and spirit-image after gathering ten thousand forms.

The difficulty of the hurdle of entering the Dao lies in the unity of body and spirit, and this is the foundation of the Sheng De Shen Jing and the spirit-image.

The physical body is the vessel of the spirit; even after cultivating a Dharma Image or even a 'Dharma Ring,' the spirit cannot truly leave the protection and support of the physical body.

For the will to interfere with reality, for the spirit to contend with heaven and earth, the physical body is needed as a medium.

Likewise, the benefits after the Sheng De Shen Jing and spirit-image are achieved will likewise manifest outwardly upon the physical body.

As at this moment, without needing to focus and sense carefully, he could feel the tremendous transformation of his physique, a transformation so violent it rivaled that of his entering the Dao back then.

His skin, membranes, sinews, bones, organs, blood, and flesh were all pulsing rhythmically, even—glowing!

"Ten thousand forms!"

Daoist Li's heart was shaken beyond words.

He stretched out his hand; his skin was crystalline as fine jade, and through it one could see the blood vessels and blue veins trembling ceaselessly beneath, as well as the finger bones tinged with the color of Jin Yu.

Wuu~

Gently closing his palm, Li Yuan could feel the air sliding past his fingertips like flowing water.

In that instant, he even had the illusion that he could reach out and tear apart everything before his eyes.

This was the illusion of his strength multiplying many times over. Ever since he had wielded the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer, he had not felt anything like it; now that ten thousand forms were gathered, he actually felt it once more.

"Sinews, bones, skin; organs, blood, flesh…"

Li Yuan slowly rose to his feet, and an indescribable sense of fullness welled up in his heart.

He stretched his sinews and bones, then closed his eyes again, recalling the various Wu Gong he had seen and learned. He felt that each and every one of those martial arts seemed as if he had created them himself, or as if they had been tailor-made for him.

Even without having practiced them, he could perform them at will.

"Divine demon!"

That was the thought that leapt into Li Yuan's mind.

Compared to the mid- to lower-grade bone structure that needed decades to master even a single low-grade Wu Gong, calling his current aptitude a divine demon hardly seemed an exaggeration.

"You…"

The little mother dragon's startled, uncertain voice rose in his heart.

Perched on the treetop, the little mother dragon—who had witnessed the entire transformation of Li Yuan up close with the Dragon-illusion Sash dangling down—was badly frightened; just watching, she felt a stinging pain in her eyes:

"D-divine demon-grade aptitude?!"

The little mother dragon stared in a daze, momentarily struck dumb.

She had never seen a prodigy above Zhao Zhao Tianxing-grade aptitude, but that didn't stop her from recognizing Li Yuan's current state.

She had once browsed a flood of information inside the Taixu Divine Realm through a 'Tongshi Sphere', and Li Yuan's present state looked exactly like those divine demon-grade prodigies in the Taixu Divine Realm.

"Body without flaw, spontaneous divine light, perfectly rounded and complete…"

"Reel it in!"

Li Yuan beckoned, took the Dragon-illusion Sash in hand, and drew the radiance on his body back in.

The look was certainly fine, but going out to meet people in such a state was still a bit much for him to accept—if he went out glowing all over, wouldn't his clothes be for nothing?

……

The commotion of the breakthrough was too great.

When Li Yuan stepped out, the main peak of Dragon Gate was swarming with people, their surging qi and blood pressing the heavy snow down by a good third.

Fortunately, with the Dragon Dao Lord at his side, no one dared make a fuss.

"All of you, disperse."

Nie Xianshan waved the crowd back, looked Li Yuan up and down, and a flicker of astonishment crossed his own face.

Bone-reading was second nature to a Grand Master, but now, at a single glance, all he could see was a hazy mist with divine light shimmering beneath it.

That mist he recognized—it was the sign of Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon cultivated to perfection—but before, he had been able to see through it; now, however…

"Your spirit phase—was it that 'Kun Peng Diagram' you obtained from the Dao Soldier Pagoda?"

Nie Xianshan inquired.

Over these three years, Li Yuan had taken many people to the Eight Directions Temple to extend their lifespans in turn; Nie Xianshan was among the very first batch, and upon hearing of the Dao Soldier Pagoda, he had even gone to challenge it twice together with the Old Dragon Head, though they stalled at the fifth floor.

"Not entirely."

Li Yuan did not conceal it either.

He had already assembled the complete True Form Diagram of the Kun Peng, but he had not abandoned the Long Kun; instead, he took the Long Kun as his foundation, drawing its essential principles to fuse into the embryonic form of his spirit phase.

"Your ambitions are not small."

Long Xi Xiang glanced at him, brow slightly furrowed: "When there's no path forward, taking risks to forge a new art is great courage; but when a road lies clearly ahead and you insist on opening your own—that's stupidity!"

"The pros and cons within—you must weigh them carefully."

"This disciple understands."

Li Yuan did not argue, only bowed and received the teaching.

In truth, he had no intention of forging his own path; it was simply that the True Form Diagram of the Kun Peng did not conflict with the Long Kun, and the latter, possessing the wonders of myriad forms, even complemented the former to a certain degree.

"Enough."

The Dragon Dao Lord swept a glance at the disciples watching the excitement at the outer edge, waved a hand, and led the group to the Dragon Tiger Pagoda.

Inside the pagoda, the elders questioned him in turn; Li Yuan did not conceal anything, answering each one, and summoned his Divine Realm and spirit phase to display for them.

"When the Divine Realm is formed, the foundation is set—only at this step have you truly entered the Dao."

Long Long Yingchan pinched his long brows and smiled: "Seeing heaven and earth through the human body, the wonders of the spirit phase joining the body—you may savor them yourself from here on."

"This disciple will keep it firmly in mind."

Li Yuan nodded repeatedly, committing each elder's insights to memory.

The Divine Realm as foundation, the spirit phase as medium—after entering the Dao, techniques like True Gang Shape-Shifting and Thousand-Li Soul-Lock and the like could all be employed; the experience here was precious to him as well.

"That's about enough."

Cheng Wu Gong had said nothing all along; now he frowned and swept a glance at the others: "Li Yuan's spirit phase is likely of Divine Realm grade—your insights may not necessarily apply."

"The senior speaks truly."

The three fell silent at once; even Nie Xianshan did not dare argue back. Three years ago he had challenged this man and nearly been beaten to death, and these past few years he had taken detours whenever he saw Cheng Wu Gong.

"Your innate talent and aptitude are beyond what ordinary men can match; no one in this age can instruct you. Various manuals and insights—you may read them, note them down, but you must sift through them carefully and explore on your own."

Cheng Wu Gong offered no specific guidance, only a few words of admonition.

His words were blunt, but even the Dragon Dao Lord had nothing to say, and could only nod in agreement.

"This junior will keep it firmly in mind."

Li Yuan could only nod.

"Let's go. This old man will accompany you to the Eight Directions Temple."

Li Yuan looked up to see Cheng Wu Gong's eyes bright with anticipation—clearly aware of something.

"Yes."

Li Yuan did not refuse; had it not been for the elders waiting outside, he would have gone to the Eight Directions Temple long ago.

"Myriad Forms…"

Upon entering You Jing, with only the two of them remaining, Cheng Wu Gong at last sighed aloud; his expression was complex, his heart greatly stirred, yet he asked nothing.

He merely entered the Eight Directions Temple together with Li Yuan.