Chapter 645: Divine Fire Refines the True Form (Combined Chapter)

Hum—

The divine sound surged vast and mighty, exploding in the ears and hearts of all who glimpsed the divine light.

This was the roar of divine prohibitions, the echo of laws—reaching everywhere, leaving nothing untouched.

"Da Luo Heaven!"

On the great dragon boat, Ying Ying Shan Xuan Long's long hair whipped about as he stared at the divine light, his pupils contracting sharply: "Someone is performing a ritual—the Great Luo Heaven ceremony of the Weitian Dao Sect!"

Ying Ying Shan Xuan Long was stunned, lost in shock.

In that instant, he seemed to hear the roar of ten thousand divine prohibitions, and 'saw' wondrous sights woven from endless streams of light and shadow.

Surging sea of clouds, divine light like a waterfall, immortal mountains and spirit birds, blessed grotto-heavens and sacred lands, fairy maidens and dharma conches…

In that instant, those dazed were not only him and Feng Huang'er.

Feng Feng Wu Ding, Fa Huan Fa Huan Yi Tong, Yan Mama, Chi Qiu, the human-headed strange bird, Han Han Chuijun, Wan Wan Zhuliu… even Dong Dong Ershisan, who had been wielding the Eight Directions Temple to suppress the Blood Phoenix, and even the mad, self-lost evil god Blood Phoenix herself.

All who heard that roar of divine sound fell into a daze.

In their trance, they saw ten thousand divine patterns interweave, myriad wondrous sights unfold…

Some saw a Daoist seated high above the ninefold heavens, chanting the Daoist canon; some saw a Buddha reclining beneath a sala tree, smiling as he recited sutras… some saw a divine being wielding Lei Ting to shake the starry sea…

Divine patterns, divine prohibitions, wondrous sights, Dao laws…

For a moment, heaven and earth fell silent; only that divine light ran lengthwise and crosswise, like a Dao-line dividing yin and yang, becoming the eternity of that single instant!

"Boom!"

Far away in You Jing, watching as everyone fell into stunned silence, the imperial city, after a brief hush, boiled over completely.

In that instant, the great masters including Long Long Yingchan were all unable to comprehend the meaning of this divine light, but the moment the light shot skyward, the thunderclouds shrouding Ducheng dispersed along with the gloom in everyone's hearts.

Then the roar of divine prohibitions resounded through all of Ducheng, and at a speed ordinary people could not comprehend, it swiftly spread to every province and every circuit of the Dayun realm, and even to the four seas and all under heaven.

Hum—

Immortal light like mist, a thousand ribbons of auspicious radiance.

As if in only an instant, in the imperial city, in Ducheng, and in every province, circuit, and region, all manner of wondrous sights rose, intertwined, and evolved.

"What is Da Luo Heaven?"

"I seem to hear heaven and earth trembling—what is that sound?"

"Did it… succeed?"

Outside the altar, Long Xi Xiang shook off Long Long Yingchan's hand pressing on him. The instant Li Yuan had been covered by that ball of divine fire, he had nearly been unable to restrain himself from rushing in.

"It succeeded, didn't it?"

Long Long Yingchan looked up at the sky, his two long brows fluttering up and down.

Under the illumination of that divine light, he saw all manner of wondrous sights unfolding; after shock and astonishment, he dropped to the ground and focused his spirit to perceive.

Amid the endlessly unfolding myriad wondrous sights, he saw many 'wondrous sights' or divine patterns that matched the 'True Dragon True Form Chart' he had obtained from the Eight Directions Temple, and could not resist trying to pluck them.

"It actually succeeded?!"

Long Long Yingchan had only tried on instinct, but never expected to truly pluck the divine patterns he needed, and was instantly shocked beyond measure.

And those watching him—Celestial Silkworm Daoist, the scabby-headed monk, and others—seeing this, were first startled, then immediately dropped to the ground one after another, attempting to pluck the divine patterns they needed.

Because of Li Yuan, the vast majority of those present had once entered the Dao Soldier Pagoda. Though none had obtained a complete True Form Chart, each had at least gained one or two fragments. Now seeing someone succeed, before long everyone had settled cross-legged in meditation.

"This is…"

Pang Pang Wenlong did not join in, merely gazing at the countless wondrous sights evolved by that divine light.

His realm was higher than anyone present, and he stood closest to Li Yuan, so he saw more and more clearly.

Auspicious radiance, immortal mist, divine light, spirit birds… his gaze swept past the various wondrous sights one by one, and he saw something within.

It was a 'Ten Thousand Li Rivers and Mountains Chart'.

The sky was high and the clouds pale; on the great earth, mountains and rivers rose and fell, stretching endlessly for who knew how many tens of thousands of li—there were lakes, cities, Wang Yang, islands… and what drew him most, the great sun shining over ten thousand li of Shanhe.

"Is this a True Form Chart?!"

A sudden enlightenment rose in Pang Pang Wenlong's heart: "Is this the reward for my protecting Li Yuan in performing the ritual?"

"What kind of ritual is this kid actually performing?"

Pang Pang Wenlong was somewhat shaken. He had seen his own master, Dragon Demon Daoist, perform rituals, and had even himself held a great ritual for the Eight Directions Temple with the power of the entire nation.

But in his perception, the great ritual Li Yuan was now performing was faintly even above those two…

"Hoo!"

This True Form Chart held an immense attraction for Pang Pang Wenlong, but he only sensed it briefly before withdrawing. He swept a cold glance over the crowd sitting cross-legged outside the altar, enraptured, then stood with hands at his sides below the platform.

At this moment the altar was a sheet of white, its inner scene invisible, and Li Yuan's figure unseen, but through the resonance of qi, Pang Pang Wenlong could sense that Li Yuan was in the midst of tremendous agony and transformation.

The ritual was not yet complete…

"Da Luo Heaven…"

Outside the altar, sensing Pang Pang Wenlong's cold, fierce gaze, Huang Huang Longzi checked his instinctive urge to rush toward the altar, but his heart fell into immense shock.

He had never heard of 'Da Luo Heaven', but he had seen a similar recorded image in a Tongshi Orb.

It was a recorded image of a ritual performed over fourteen hundred years ago by a stunning prodigy of the Ziwei Court named 'Yin Tianqing'. His impression of that image was deep, and he still remembered the shock and envy he had felt upon seeing it.

But the scene before him was even more magnificent and wondrous than that recorded image…

"Could this be the legendary 'Dao Sect' Summoning Ceremony?!"

At this thought, Huang Huang Longzi instantly felt his mouth go dry, and could not resist wanting to step forward to observe, only to be driven back by Pang Pang Wenlong. And those driven back by the latter's gaze were not only him.

There was also Gui Gui Laoxian.

This temple-guarding spirit tortoise had originally been bound outside the altar; at some unknown time it had broken free of its restraints, but it had not fled. Instead, like Huang Huang Longzi, it gazed at the divine light on the altar with awe and greed.

"How could such a backwater place possess a Summoning Divine Fire?!"

Gui Gui Laoxian's eyes were red. Beyond jealousy and shock, there was mostly disbelief.

The Spirit Turtle Clan of the Burden Hall was most adept at seeking hidden secrets, excavating tombs and raiding graves. He rubbed his blood-red eyes, unable to believe he had actually overlooked such a rare treasure...

The shock and envy of the crowd outside the altar, Li Yuan knew it all.

In his Niwan Palace, relying on the Bai Shen Fa, the incense offerings of various grades were surging—first in wisps, then in streams!

The surging incense offerings indicated that the outside world had fallen into a tremendous upheaval because of him.

But he had no time to attend to it.

The instant he took out that pale divine fire, he fell into tremendous agony.

Pain!

Intense pain!

A raging fire burned his body—more than his body, Li Yuan felt his very soul being scorched!

He considered himself a man who could endure pain, but at this moment he wished he could knock himself unconscious.

Before taking out the divine fire, he had already taken command of the fire-avoidance set he had chosen, including Dun Tian Zhou and the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer, but he found their use far less tremendous than he had imagined.

Or rather, he had underestimated this guiding divine fire far too much.

"Damn!"

On the altar, Li Yuan's vision went black with pain, his whole body convulsing.

Under the scorching of this divine fire, he felt as if his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs, his tendons, bones, skin, and flesh were all split apart and spread out, pressed hard against a red-hot iron plate.

"Why does it hurt so much?!"

Li Yuan heard a few 'cracks'—that was the sound of his last few teeth being crushed. He could hear the groaning of his tendons, bones, skin, and flesh, feeling as if he were a candle, burning, melting.

Commanding weapons for augmentation, breathing exercises, entering the Weapon Mastery Space, listening to the heavenly sound...

In the brief moment the divine light burst forth, Li Yuan tried every method in succession, but none could alleviate the soul-piercing agony, to the point that his consciousness grew somewhat hazy.

If he hadn't been able to sense that the ritual hadn't failed yet, he would have already prepared to commune with the God Burial Coffin.

"Pillar technique, no good!"

"Dragon Elephant Vajra Heaven... no good! Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon... no good!"

"Bai Shen Fa, Dragon Tiger Great Pillar, Soldier Body Momentum... Sitting-Forgetting Heart Sutra, Dragon Demon..."

Enduring the agony that exceeded the limits of endurance, Li Yuan even ran through the entire Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer, but it couldn't alleviate the extreme pain in the slightest.

"Form, right, form!"

In a certain instant, amid the agony that had scattered his thoughts, Li Yuan had a flash of inspiration and instinctively activated the Sitting-Forgetting Heart Sutra.

But it wasn't the pillar technique, breathing method, or striking technique—rather, it was 'Wan Xing Ru Xue'!

This Sitting-Forgetting Heart Sutra, obtained from the Dragon Demon Daoist, its true essence was not the striking or refining methods, but Wan Xing Ru Xue. Over the past few years, Li Yuan had not skipped a single day.

He had also tried Wan Xing Ru Xue earlier, but now, he prepared to reverse its operation.

Hum!

Li Yuan's mind moved, and he forced a drop of blood from his fingertip.

With a 'whoosh', that drop of blood, under the infusion of his true qi, transformed into various lights and shadows.

Like elephants, like tigers, like dragons...

The various beast forms spiraled around each other—precisely the forms he had refined into his blood over these years.

"Hiss~"

Li Yuan seemed to see rolling green smoke.

The instant the various beast forms appeared, it was like cold water splashed into a hot oil pan—in less than an instant, the first few beast forms had already been burned into green smoke by the divine fire.

"Hm?!"

Li Yuan's spirit jolted, and the hair-raisingly intense pain vanished abruptly, as if it had never existed.

Whoosh!

The next instant, the green smoke transformed from the beast forms re-entered his body, and immediately, an indescribable sense of exhilaration spread through his whole body, making his pores dilate.

In an instant, from the utmost agony to the utmost bliss—even with Daoist Li's steady state of mind, he couldn't avoid a momentary daze.

"Hum~"

Li Yuan forcibly gathered his focus, sensing the subtle changes as the green smoke entered his body.

Thanks to the Bai Shen Fa's inner observation of himself, Li Yuan clearly saw the entire process of that wisp of green smoke sinking into his limbs and bones. His body was like parched earth welcoming rain, greedily absorbing it.

"This is the true Wan Xing Ru Xue!"

After the wisps of green smoke transformed from the dissipating beast forms were all swallowed into his body, an irrepressible surge of joyful enlightenment rose in Li Yuan's heart.

He flicked another finger, forced out another drop of essence blood, and used true qi to transform it into various beast forms.

But contrary to his expectation, the beast forms transformed from this second drop of blood were not scorched by the divine fire...

"This fire only recognizes one drop of blood? No, it only recognizes the forms I've refined into my blood!"

"Crap!"

Realizing this, Li Yuan immediately sensed something was wrong.

The divine fire burned the beast forms extremely fast—in a few breaths, over a dozen forms had already been burned into green smoke.

He had always been diligent in his cultivation, but Wan Xing Ru Xue truly couldn't be rushed. Even now, the forms contained in his blood numbered only just over two hundred, which couldn't withstand this divine fire's scorching at all. What to do?

Li Yuan's thoughts churned. Having already understood the correct method to use this guiding divine fire, he couldn't bear to abandon this great opportunity and flee into the God Burial Coffin.

"This guiding divine fire is related to forms—perhaps it can also accelerate my process of Wan Xing Ru Xue?"

"Give it a try. If it really won't work, then leave!"

His hesitation lasted only an instant—Li Yuan had already made his decision. He maintained the reversed Sitting-Forgetting Heart Sutra to resist the divine fire's scorching, while simultaneously running the Sitting-Forgetting Heart Sutra in its normal direction, attempting to refine blood into his body within the divine fire.

Buzz!

Li Yuan was more focused than ever before; he turned his awareness inward, his spirit gathering within the blood coursing through his veins.

Chi De Wu Gong was the most difficult Wu Gong he had encountered to cultivate thus far.

If the Yi Bai Xing combinations were like assembling a puzzle from fragments, then Chi De Wu Gong was like carving flowers on a grain of rice — he had to 'engrave' every beast-soldier form he had mastered into his blood without the slightest omission.

This Wu Gong was extremely difficult to begin, and the further one went, the harder it became!

Li Yuan bore over ten thousand forms within him; therefore, to cultivate the Sitting-Forgetting Heart Scripture to Great Perfection, he had to ensure that every single drop of his blood contained those ten thousand forms!

And that was still just one drop of blood — only when every drop of blood throughout his entire body held the ten thousand forms would it be true Great Perfection.

Hence, even with his current talent, he too considered this a slow, grinding Wu Gong.

"Hoo!"

"Hah!"

Li Yuan dropped to the ground in a seated posture, his five hearts turned toward the heavens.

"For the current me, any Wu Gong can be shortcutted — even Chi De Wu Gong — it's just that no shortcut could possibly take effect this quickly…"

Li Yuan's thoughts raced like lightning.

Regarding Chi De Wu Gong, he had mulled over every method, and even the original scroll of the Sitting-Forgetting Heart Scripture contained acceleration methods that the Dragon Demon Daoist had once used.

But those methods were all extremely perilous, and likewise required time.

To forge ten thousand forms into the blood of his entire body in the shortest time possible — even the Dragon Demon Daoist's Enlightenment Body could not accomplish it at all.

Unless…

"Only one drop of blood remains in my body!"

The moment this thought arose in Li Yuan's heart, a great cauldron had already appeared before him; he drew a deep breath and plunged both hands into the cauldron.

Then, his blood surged and rolled through his entire body like floodgates being opened; in just one breath, his face had gone deathly pale, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed, even suppressing the generation of new blood.

Before long, his face had gone from white to a bluish hue; he grew dizzy and faint, and even his heartbeat gradually weakened.

"Even with my current physique, in a state of complete bloodlessness, at most a few minutes and all the organs in my body will fail and collapse…"

Li Yuan's eyes were dim and lifeless, but his spirit was extremely exhilarated.

This was not normal Wu Gong practice, and shortcuts weren't taken this way either; forging ten thousand forms into a single drop of blood held no meaning for him — under normal circumstances, he could never possibly do this.

But now it was different — this Summoning Divine Fire recognized this!

Buzz~

Li Yuan turned his awareness inward, paying no heed to his organs that were gradually ceasing to pulse, all of his spiritual power gathering into the last drop of blood.

As his thought shifted, the truly formidable true Qi within his body likewise surged toward that single drop of blood, and as it rushed it split apart, like myriad tiny tendrils sinking into that drop of blood.

Yu Yu Xuanji, bolstered by Li Yuan's vigorous spirit, began Chi De Wu Gong!

Over the past three-plus years, Li Yuan had forged two hundred forms into blood; he was thoroughly familiar with the process, needed no adjustment at all, and had already entered the state.

Buzz~

Enduring the agony of his organs failing, Li Yuan even switched his palm control, trading the 'Five Senses Set' that augmented the five senses for the 'Fire-Warding Set' to increase speed.

Wooo~

Woo woo~

The true Qi circulated far too swiftly — Li Yuan could even hear the roar of a gale within his own body.

But he had no time to spare for anything else, keeping his attention fixed on that clump of divine fire.

"Hiss!"

Finally, the last beast form transformed into green smoke and sank into Li Yuan's body; his spirit suddenly trembled, piercing like a needle into the only drop of fresh blood remaining in his body.

At the same time, he had already prepared himself for the ritual to fail and to flee into the God Burial Coffin.

"Boom!"

It was as if a water-skin had been punctured.

Li Yuan's whole body shuddered; once he no longer felt that soul-searing, burning sting, an irrepressible smile spread across his deathly pale, bluish-purple face:

"It worked!"

Boom!

Below the altar, Pang Pang Wenlong whirled his head around sharply.

He saw that clump of divine fire trembling violently and collapsing inward; in the blink of an eye, he saw Li Yuan — who had previously vanished from view!

Pale-white flames, like a suit of armor, enveloped his body, Xiong Xiong burning, flowing like water.

"The ritual succeeded?!"

Outside the altar, within the imperial city, all who had their attention on this place turned to look.

With a 'whoosh', Long Long Yingchan, Long Xi Xiang and other Grandmasters were already standing before the altar, coldly sweeping their gazes around to stand guard over Li Yuan's ritual.

"How could he possibly have succeeded?!"

Huang Huang Longzi nearly crushed the handle of his umbrella to pieces, unable to believe that a native boy could complete the initiation ritual of those legendary Dao Sects.

"That's it? It's done?"

Gui Gui Laoxian's face was full of unwillingness and doubt; Yu Yu Xuanji he sensed something amiss and his footsteps halted: "No — the Summoning Rainbow Light hasn't appeared yet; his ritual isn't complete!"

Buzz~

Li Yuan could no longer spare any attention for what was happening before the altar.

At the very moment that clump of divine fire collapsed and gathered onto his body's surface, he only just managed to stow away the great cauldron holding his blood before him; Yu Yu Xuanji, he felt every pore of his body open wide.

Boom!

Before a Piandian not far away, Qin Li Shixian focused her gaze and watched; she saw Li Yuan's whole body shudder as wisps of sky-blue light, like smoke, poured forth from every pore of his body.

"This is?"

Under the gaze of the crowd outside the altar, Li Yuan's entire body erupted with sky-blue smoke, and then those seemingly living wisps each began to shift and transform,

becoming dragons, or tigers, or wolves, or apes, or blades, spears, swords, halberds, or hammers, axes, staves, clubs…

The countless weapon and beast shapes rose and fell around Li Yuan as their center, seeming to interact, seeming to cry out, and as if waiting for something.

"True Qi taking form?"

Someone cried out in shock: "Just how many shapes has he altered? This— this can't be over a thousand, can it?!"

Far more than a thousand.

Li Yuan sat with closed eyes, the smoke formed from his true Qi rolling outward and spreading; with nearly every breath, dozens more weapon and beast shapes appeared above the altar.

In less than a moment, the crowd outside the altar had retreated several tens of zhang.

Looking at the various weapon and beast shapes that filled half the sky, not to mention the true-transmission elders of other sects who were unfamiliar with Li Yuan, even Long Long Yingchan was somewhat wide-eyed:

"Ten thousand shapes!"

No one knew who cried out.

"Everyone, retreat a hundred zhang at once!"

Pang Pang Wenlong shouted at the top of his voice, his vigorous true Qi surging outward and forcing the crowd outside the altar back in unison.

He too did not know what change had come over Li Yuan, but he could sense that within that seemingly withered and exhausted body of his, something was brewing that even made his heart tremble.

That absolutely must not be disturbed by anyone.

"Crack!"

Under the crowd's gaze, Li Yuan's right index finger trembled, and a drop of brilliant golden blood welled from his fingertip.

"That drop of blood?!"

The instant Li Yuan forced out this drop of essence blood, the crowd below the altar simultaneously smelled a strange fragrance tinged with the scent of grass and trees.

The moment they smelled this fragrance, even Pang Pang Wenlong felt his mouth go dry and parched, and a sudden impulse surged in his heart to leap forward and swallow that drop of blood.

"Ah!"

Pang Pang Wenlong had only just flashed this thought in his mind when a figure suddenly burst from the crowd, lunging with blood-red eyes toward the high platform—only to be sent flying backward by a single palm from Pang Pang Wenlong.

"Puh!"

A mouthful of reverse blood spurted out, and only then did Gui Gui Laoxian realize in shock that, after his dantian magic power had been sealed, that single drop of blood had actually ignited the greed in his heart.

"No, that drop of blood is also problematic…"

Doubt and alarm flashed through Gui Gui Laoxian's heart.

"Anyone who dares approach will be killed without mercy!"

After raising his hand to intimidate the crowd, Pang Pang Wenlong looked up and saw that the weapon and beast shapes formed from those wisps of true Qi had suddenly gone berserk, scrambling to burrow into that single drop of blood.

Boom!

A roar of thunder shook the imperial city, inside and out.

Under the horrified gaze of the crowd, that pillar of divine light that shot skyward trembled lightly, and the myriad wondrous scenes that had manifested in the void suddenly collapsed and dispersed.

Transforming into countless wisps of smoke visible to the naked eye, the vast majority vanished into that thread of divine light, though some shot downward and sank into that drop of golden blood on the altar.

Rumble!

Then, a roar even greater than the one before exploded forth.

This tremendous sound was truly shocking; even Pang Pang Wenlong, on high alert, went black before his eyes and nearly toppled headfirst to the ground—this sound was simply more violent and more terrifying than thunder falling from the nine heavens

The crowd outside the altar collapsed in a clattering heap, some even coughing up blood and fainting.

"Has this ritual still not ended?"

Pang Pang Wenlong steadied himself and looked again; on the altar, the weapon and beast shapes formed from Li Yuan's true Qi, and that drop of blood, had already vanished completely.

Instead, the fire covering him had suddenly surged by dozens, even a hundred times over!

Yet Li Yuan within the fire felt no pain whatsoever; instead, an unreadable smile surfaced on his face. But just as his heart eased slightly, he suddenly saw a sight that made his expression change drastically.

Li Yuan, seated cross-legged within the fire, was actually melting like a candle!

In the blink of an eye, he had melted!

"Not good!"

Pang Pang Wenlong's eyes bulged in fury, and he raised his hand to deliver a Great Sun Scarlet Yang Palm strike on the spot.

This palm was unleashed with all his hatred, channeling the full ten-tenths of his strength—a single strike enough to reduce this imperial city to ruins—but to his horror, the instant his immensely powerful palm imprint touched the wooden platform, it dissolved into a wisp of blue smoke.

"He failed!"

Outside the altar, Long Long Yingchan's heart jolted; even with his composure, seeing this scene left his mind utterly blank, and he could not even hold back the furiously enraged Long Xi Xiang.

"Li Yuan!"

Outside the altar, Long Xi Xiang's face changed drastically; in his furious exertion of force, even Long Long Yingchan was flung aside. With a single stomp, he lunged toward the wooden platform in an instant.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a long howl rang out from atop the wooden platform.

This howl was like a dragon, like a kun, but that familiar voice still made the enraged Long Xi Xiang halt his steps.

"Li Yuan!"

Long Xi Xiang looked up.

Divine light shimmered atop the wooden platform, like mist, like gauze. Li Yuan sat cross-legged, and a brilliant golden peng bird had come from who-knows-where, gently alighting on his shoulder.

(End of chapter)