Chapter 602: Ascending to Immortality

On the border of Ming Province, an army of over ten thousand men stood in formation on the plains.

This army consisted of approximately three thousand cavalry and over seven thousand infantry.

Everyone wore silver armor, which reflected dazzling light under the sun, appearing like flickering stars.

The cavalry held long spears, wore battle sabers at their waists, and had a dozen short javelins hanging from their horses.

As for the infantry, each held a heavy Mo saber over a person's height!

Even the most ordinary infantryman possessed a scorching aura and was filled with a sense of power.

These ten thousand-plus warriors were all martial artists; this was an army composed entirely of martial artists!

Under heaven, only the Imperial Guard of the Great Lan Dynasty could be composed entirely of martial artists.

A prefecture city had at most two hundred Imperial Guard soldiers, while a provincial capital had over five hundred.

Therefore, a single province could not scrape together two thousand Imperial Guard soldiers even at full capacity.

Yet here, there were over ten thousand!

The Imperial Guard stationed in various prefecture cities and provincial capitals were simply called the Imperial Guard, with no separate banner.

But this army had one; the banner they raised bore the character "White," with flames embroidered around the character.

This was one of the four strongest armies of the Great Lan Dynasty, the White Flame Army!

Stationed on the eastern grasslands, the White Flame Army was viewed as the "White Devils" by the grassland royal court, and all grassland people spoke of them with terror.

Such an army had not left its station for many years, yet it appeared in Ming Province at this time.

Three days after the death of True Person Qingxu, the White Flame Army set out from the grasslands and had already been at the Ming Province border for some time.

One hundred Imperial Guard soldiers could rival a Martial Arts Master, and one thousand could surround and kill a Grandmaster.

With ten thousand Imperial Guard soldiers, even a Martial Saint could not face them head-on!

A Martial Saint might be able to maneuver or retreat, but if they engaged in a head-on, fight-to-the-death battle against ten thousand Imperial Guard soldiers without retreating.

Then, it would be the Martial Saint who died in the end.

This was a battle record that had truly occurred in history!

Therefore, when the White Flame Army mobilized, it meant that even a top sect with a Martial Saint presiding could not stop the slaughter of this army!

And Ming Province had only one force worth the White Flame Army taking action.

On Cloud Sea Terrace, incense smoke curled, surrounded by a surging sea of clouds.

Daoist priests in long-hemmed robes were arranged on the plaza like statues, standing at specific points, each with a solemn expression, chanting in their mouths, their voices like echoes in a deep valley, melodious and profound.

The air was filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, intertwined with the smell of smoke from burning pine branches.

In the center of the plaza, which was also the center of the entire formation, a massive altar had been erected.

Tai Yu and Yun Shu stood side by side beneath this altar.

The Hearing-Dao Bell rang nine times, signifying the official start of the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony.

All disciples of the Great Luo Sect were gathered on the Cloud Sea Terrace, each with their own position, and regardless of whether they practiced sorcery, they were all chanting the incantation at this time.

This incantation was the Daoist scripture for sacrificing to heaven—the "Supreme Induction Scripture."

This was a mandatory course for Daoist disciples upon entry, so even disciples practicing martial arts could chant it fluently.

As thousands chanted the same scripture in unison, the sorcerers' void intent and the martial artists' heart-mind power—two completely different types of spiritual power—were mobilized, then gradually converged to the same frequency, and finally merged together!

A solemn, grand, grave, and sacred power emerged spontaneously!

Li Fei and the others stood at the edge of the Cloud Sea Terrace as guests observing the ceremony.

Standing in the same row as them were people from the Shangqing Sect and the Feathering Gate.

Carefully sensing the aura born on the plaza, Li Fei was lost in thought.

Over this past month, he had been studying that notebook of Lin Tianyi, gaining many new insights into the integration of sorcery and martial arts, and mastering several new techniques.

Seeing over a thousand Great Luo Sect disciples chanting the same scripture through a pre-arranged ritual and actually achieving "integration of sorcery and martial arts" could not help but give Li Fei the feeling of seeing a new world.

"The military formation and baleful aura of the Imperial Guard are the power of the integration of sorcery and martial arts, and the baleful weapons used by the Imperial Guard originated from the Daoists in the first place. So, are the Daoists actually the force in this world that first began researching the integration of sorcery and martial arts and achieved results?"

Li Fei thought to himself.

It was just that the Daoists ultimately failed to carry this path through to the end, and it was not until several hundred years later that the person named Lin Tianyi ascended to the peak through this path.

Li Fei suddenly felt something, closed his eyes, and his heart and mind moved with the verses of the "Supreme Induction Scripture."

The accumulation of the past month regarding "dual cultivation of sorcery and martial arts" was suddenly ignited at this moment, entering a state of sudden enlightenment!

Gradually, Li Fei had the illusion of his soul leaving his body, as if he were roaming between the seas of clouds.

Suddenly to the left, suddenly to the right, constantly moving upward, passing through layers of cloud seas, straight to the nine heavens!

In a trance, Li Fei seemed to see immortal palaces, like a gorgeous painting scroll slowly unfolding in the clouds:

Immortal energy curled, jade trees and precious flowers, glazed glass shining, immortal cranes flying.

There were immortal maidens playing the zither and flute, chanting poems and painting.

There were also immortals sparring in the clouds, sword energy crisscrossing, sorcery brilliant.

Li Fei seemed to see the thirty-three layers of immortal realms from Daoist legends, layered and staggered, like a ladder to heaven, leading to the endless sky.

This was the ultimate pursuit of every Daoist practitioner: ascending to heaven to become an immortal, and living forever!

Under the massive altar, Tai Yu felt something and turned his head to look at Li Fei at the edge of the plaza.

"Unexpectedly, my Daoist 'Thirty-Three Heavens' has actually been seen by an outsider."

Tai Yu gave a self-deprecating smile and spoke.

His voice could only be heard by Yun Shu.

When Li Fei entered the state of sudden enlightenment, Yun Shu was the first to notice.

He had specifically asked Lu Wen to notify Li Fei to arrive on time today to participate in this Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, just to give Li Fei a chance.

Now Li Fei had not only seized this opportunity, but even performed better than he had expected!

Every year before the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, the Hearing-Dao Bell would be rung first.

As a True-One magic treasure left behind by a True Person, it possessed the magical effect of helping people realize the Dao and break through realms!

The Hearing-Dao Bell rang nine times, and the Dao rhyme would be left behind by the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony's formation, so the Great Luo Sect disciples participating in this ceremony had the chance to gain insights during the process of chanting the "Supreme Induction Scripture."

If their aptitude was sufficient and they happened to be at a bottleneck, they could even break through their realm on the spot!

In past annual Heaven Sacrifice Ceremonies, several outstanding Great Luo Sect disciples would realize the Dao and break through realms.

This was the foundation that only top sects possessed!

This year, the Great Luo Sect brought out one-third of its inventory to set up this unprecedentedly large formation, which could not only retain the Dao rhyme brought by the Hearing-Dao Bell for a longer time, but also allow this Dao rhyme to bring people deeper insights.

Although this was not the true purpose of the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony, this incidental benefit was also extremely rare, and there might not be another chance in the future.

Therefore, Tai Yu hoped his own disciples could gain as many benefits as possible.

As it turned out, before the Great Luo Sect disciples had even begun to break through, Li Fei had gained insights first, and had directly plucked the best fruit!

Yun Shu smiled slightly and looked at Li Fei with satisfaction.

As an outsider, Li Fei originally could not enjoy the benefits brought by this Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony; it was Yun Shu who spoke personally and took action himself to guide a strand of Dao rhyme toward Li Fei, allowing him to gain insights.

The core description of the "Supreme Induction Scripture" was the "Thirty-Three Heavens"; only if one could see the true thirty-three immortal realms through the scripture could one be considered to have grasped the essence of this Daoist scripture.

It was just that being able to gain insights already required very high talent, and wanting to climb all the way up and see all thirty-three immortal realms was something only a peerless prodigy could do!

The Great Luo Sect had also not had anyone see the complete thirty-three immortal realms for many years.

Today the opportunity was rare, and Tai Yu felt that someone from the Great Luo Sect should be able to ascend directly to the Thirty-Three Heavens!

He did not expect Li Fei to finish it first.

The last person from the Great Luo Sect to ascend directly to the Thirty-Three Heavens was Qingxu, and before him was Tai Yu.

One of them became a True Person, and the other became a Martial Saint.

Although the "Supreme Induction Scripture" could not fully measure a person's cultivation limit, it was at least an important reference.

Li Fei had once again proven the value of his "First in History" title!

Under the witness of Tai Yu and Yun Shu, Li Fei's heart and mind continued to rise, and then began to change.

It was as if a mortal had feathered into an immortal, shedding their fleshly body and growing immortal skin and jade bones, undergoing a complete qualitative change.

Li Fei's heart-mind power was also constantly washed of impurities during this process of "rising," becoming more and more condensed and pure, finally becoming like a piece of glazed glass!

"Cleansing Intent to Connect with the Divine!"

Tai Yu's expression was complex as he slowly spat out these four words.

Seeing the "Thirty-Three Heavens" was a process that helped people realize the Dao and break through realms; as for what Dao was realized or what realm was broken, that varied from person to person.

Li Fei's heart-mind power had long reached the peak of the Dao Foundation stage, and later, after controlling the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi and undergoing a baptism, it became even more solid.

This had almost reached the limit for a Dao Foundation stage martial artist.

Therefore, in the process of ascending the Thirty-Three Heavens, Li Fei's heart-mind power had a breakthrough and began to take that step of breaking through the realm!

After successfully constructing the foundation of martial arts, a martial artist's body would receive a "baptism," becoming more powerful, and their lifespan would increase by sixty years.

At the same time, the martial artist's heart and mind would also receive a "baptism," a process known as "Cleansing Intent to Connect with the Divine."

Once completed, the martial artist's heart-mind power would reach the "Divine Connection Realm," thereby being able to control the divine abilities generated by the Dao Foundation!

It was precisely because the heart-mind power reached the "Divine Connection Realm" that a Martial Arts Master could trigger Dao energy with a wave of their hand and use Dao energy as an ordinary move.

This "Divine Connection Realm" was a mental state only possessed by Martial Arts Masters, but now Li Fei seemed to be completing the breakthrough a step early!

If he could succeed, it meant that Li Fei's path to the Master realm was basically unobstructed!

As long as he incorporated five types of implants and polished for a period of time, he would be able to complete the breakthrough without any obstacles.

"Truly a successor..."

Yun Shu praised with a smile, but stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because the heart-mind power that Li Fei was "cleansing" suddenly stopped changing, and the piece of "glazed glass" that was about to take shape also had some impurities added to it.

"Void Thought? Dual cultivation of Dharma and martial arts?"

Tai Yu also sensed this change and saw through Li Fei's condition.

He shook his head:

"What a pity."

There will be another chapter around 12 o'clock.

(End of this chapter)