Chapter 602: The Arrival of the Yellow Dragon Son

"To take the scenery of heaven and earth as one's own scenery…"

"Normally, even if I focus my spirit and raise my perception to the limit, I can only vaguely make out the existence of divine patterns. This grand blizzard can count as a kind of scenery…"

"Divine patterns, wondrous scenery, spirit manifestations, divine realms… they sound unfathomably mysterious, but they're actually not that simple. On the surface, it's still the path of drawing upon the power of heaven and earth for one's own use…"

Standing at the edge of the cliff, watching the great blizzard sweep on for who knew how many thousands of li, Li Yuan's eyes were very bright, yet he felt a slight tingling on his scalp:

"There are just too many, far too complex!"

Whether the heavens and the universe were truly constructed from divine patterns, Li Yuan could not know. But with the augmentation of a set of bone ornaments centered on two 【Divine Fire Ten Thousand Spirits Rings (Ninth Grade)】, he could truly see those incomparably intricate and wondrous divine patterns.

Their sheer number and complexity were far, far greater than even the snowflakes visible to the naked eye!

"When the blizzard howls, the activity of these divine patterns far exceeds the ordinary by a hundredfold, a thousandfold, or more. No wonder that after entering the Dao, one must encounter all manner of wondrous scenery to touch upon divine patterns…"

Li Yuan slowly reached out his hand. Snowflakes fell one after another onto his palm, but the divine patterns in his perception slipped through like air, untouchable in the slightest.

At this, his heart remained unruffled.

In fact, whether from what he had seen in the Zang Guan Mi Jing, the sect's records, or from the little mother dragon's mouth, the harvesting of wondrous scenery and the Ta Yin of divine patterns were both extremely difficult.

"Buzz!"

After gazing for a long while, Li Yuan slowly closed his eyes. Accompanied by a humming tremor only he could hear, a 'star chart' glittering with specks of light slowly unfolded before his eyes.

This star chart was not evenly distributed—chaotic yet patterned from bottom to top—and its core was precisely the nine great stars at the very top, the most dazzling of all.

"The Bai Shen Fa can only be cultivated to this point for now."

Li Yuan's spirit dispersed, wandering through this acupoint chart shaped like a starry sky.

Three years of arduous cultivation: among the various Wu Gong he practiced, aside from the 'Dragon Demon Heart Scripture' and the 'Bai Shen Fa' which lagged behind, all Qi Ta Wu Gong had achieved great completion and perfection.

The reason these two divine arts lagged was also very simple—his Pian Shen Jing was not yet formed, his spirit manifestation not yet condensed. No matter how high his talent, he could not push them further.

"The Dragon Demon Heart Scripture, at the Entering Dao level, requires transforming each of the myriad forms one has changed into into flesh and blood, gathering all myriad forms into a single body. This is the work of slow grinding; rushing won't help."

Li Yuan gazed down at his various acupoints, his thoughts drifting.

The Dragon Demon Heart Scripture was the most difficult of all the Wu Gong he had cultivated to date. Three years had passed, and he had only just managed to transform a little over a hundred forms into his body—worrying progress.

"A hundred forms in three years, step by step, taking the myriad forms into flesh and blood… not to mention three hundred years, at least a hundred will be needed…"

"Truly worthy of a divine art left behind by a Dao-Comprehending Body."

Sighing inwardly, Li Yuan's thoughts had already drifted to the great star at the very center of the 'Mud Pill Nine Palaces'.

Swoosh swoosh~

Waves surged.

In the Mud Pill Palace, waters churned. Looking out, the surface glittered with ripples; only one patch of bare, lusterless wild land amid it all was rather eye-catching.

"No wonder both the Dragon Dao Master and the Star-Plucking Tower Master had very plain divine realms…"

Gazing down at this embryonic form of his Pian Shen Jing, Li Yuan muttered inwardly, then descended onto that patch of soldier-nurturing ground he had condensed ahead of time with the help of Old Daoist Nie before entering the Dao.

In the bare soldier-nurturing ground, shadows of light flickered—faintly visible were two: one in the shape of a sword, bearing dragon and tiger; the other in the shape of a hammer, bearing a Mysterious Whale.

These were the two great divine pattern combinations he currently mastered.

"I originally thought these counted as divine pattern combinations, but now it seems…"

Li Yuan's heart ached slightly:

"Being illiterate is truly terrifying."

All cultivation manuals within the God Burial Coffin were like flowers in a mirror or the moon on water—untouchable. But through his careful searching, combined with the little mother dragon's verification, he had still gained some harvest. For instance, at this moment, the sword, hammer, dragon, tiger, and Mysterious Whale in the interlacing shadows did not even qualify as divine pattern combinations. According to the little mother dragon, they were merely several different incomplete divine patterns forcibly pieced together.

"Although they can't be called divine pattern combinations, nor even complete divine patterns, they can barely be put to use."

"Roar!"

"Ong!"

With a shift of Li Yuan's will, the shadows of light in the soldier-nurturing ground flared brilliantly. The Mysterious Whale leapt out, dragon and tiger coiled around, and a hammer and a sword rose from the ground, soaring above the Wang Yang of waves.

And under Li Yuan's gaze, they reluctantly melted like water, transforming according to his will into a dragon-whale some ten-odd zhang in size.

"It's a bit too crude, but it can barely pass as an embryonic spirit manifestation. It's enough for harvesting wondrous scenery."

Li Yuan examined it carefully.

Although he had not yet condensed a spirit manifestation, he had long been thoroughly versed in how to condense one. Even if the divine patterns used did not match, he could still temporarily condense a crude version.

Buzz~

On the cliff, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

His whole body's true Qi steamed, transforming into a dragon-whale shadow that seemed both illusory and real.

Looking one by one at/p>

"Ordinary cultivators who have entered the Dao and wish to harvest wondrous scenery need 'Unity of Heaven and Man.' In fact, this Unity of Heaven and Man is just sitting in meditation for a long time before some wondrous scenery, trying their luck…"

Li Yuan slowly raised his hand. The Mysterious Whale shadow of over ten zhang behind him rapidly collapsed and shrank, finally condensing onto his five fingers.

Crack!

Li Yuan reached out and grabbed at the wind and snow before him.

He only felt his five fingers go icy cold, as if he had seized a chunk of mountain stone frozen for a thousand years—bitter cold and heavy.

The next instant, he exerted sudden force. The pale-azure true Qi swirling around him boiled and burned along with it. As tremendous power erupted, the cliff beneath Li Yuan's feet violently shuddered.

"As expected, I can't pluck it down…"

After just one exertion, Li Yuan withdrew his hand. Looking at his icy five fingers, his gaze condensed slightly:

"Even divine patterns that seem extremely active are only active on the surface; it's impossible to extract them directly… No wonder this step is called 'Harvesting Wondrous Scenery, Divine Pattern Ta Yin'…"

Li Yuan's heart remained unruffled as he made various attempts corresponding to his knowledge of divine patterns.

Unable to shake it, unable to grasp it…

"It seems… I can influence it?"

Li Yuan suddenly thrust out his palm. Ferocious qi and blood, accompanied by true Qi, surged forth. With a 'Boom—', the wind and snow within a hundred-zhang radius of the cliff were blasted apart in an instant.

At the same time, within his perception, the divine patterns within a hundred zhang instantly dimmed, leaving only a vague awareness of them.

"The scenery changes, and the divine patterns change with it… so the divine patterns may not necessarily be immovable. If my qi and blood are strong enough, I could shatter this blizzard in an instant…"

Li Yuan tried for a long while before stopping, feeling his understanding of what the little mother dragon had said had become far more thorough.

"At least for now, plucking the wondrous sight and inscribing the divine patterns is the only viable path… The Storm divine pattern is also among the thirty-six divine patterns needed for the Kun Peng True Form Diagram. Let me try inscribing it first…"

Suddenly, Li Yuan raised his brow and looked ahead:

"Hm?"

He saw, amidst the wind and snow, someone holding a great black umbrella striding through the air. Stopping a li or so away, the person offered a Daoist salute and said:

"This poor Daoist is Yellow Dragon, greetings, Daoist friend Li!"

"Yellow Dragon!"

(End of this chapter)