inspire-indiana Chapter 61 The Hidden Heaven Palace, Immortals of Mount Li
Chapter 61 The Hidden Heaven Palace, Immortals of Mount Li
Chapter 61 The Hidden Heaven Palace, Immortals of Mount Li
Xiong Zhou looked tired, took a deep breath, and waited quietly for a quarter of an hour until his inner world returned to normal before he felt a little more energetic.
It instantly cleared away the abundance of the inner world, which was powerful, but its aftereffects were also truly fierce.
"what?"
"After all this turmoil, will there be any remnants left on this battlefield?"
Xiong Zhou noticed that about a kilometer away from him, there was a brick or stone of about ten cubic meters in size that was still stubbornly remaining within the area of damage he had caused.
First, it was subjected to a round of destructive use by Zhu Yan, then most of its essence was absorbed by this monkey, and finally it was bombarded by the torrent of heaven and earth.
In this way, a remnant was still left, and it even contained some of the spirituality of the five elements, a remnant of the original source.
"That's really sturdy..."
'
Xiong Zhou stepped down from mid-air, looked at the brick with curiosity in his eyes, and poured a wisp of innate divine power into it.
"Buzz!"
A peculiar radiance of the Five Elements shone forth, carrying a unique charm that reshaped matter and spirituality, resonating slightly with the inner world of the Bear Boat, which had already begun to cycle through the Five Elements.
The only flaw is that this radiant light of the Five Elements is not pure, mixed with a wisp of dark gray color, faintly revealing an eerie sense of misfortune and calamity.
At this moment, the dreamlike ocean within the inner world churned slightly, revealing a corner of a bear boat silently reciting the "Scripture of Salvation."
The scene.
On a whim.
Xiong Zhou blinked, muttering to himself, "Can the 'Scripture of Salvation' really handle such misfortune and calamity?"
With a slight concentration, the white claw pressed against the fragment, silently reciting the entire text of 129,600 words several times in his mind.
In an instant, the emotional turmoil caused by the recent battle subsided, and the malevolent energy generated by slaying Zhu Yan and killing several ferocious beasts was also restrained by the Dharma light produced by the "Scripture of Salvation".
The ten cubic meters of remaining fragments, pressed down by the white claws, emitted wisps of gray-black mist that rose upwards, seemingly about to condense into a ferocious figure.
But at the very moment it was about to take shape, the light of the "Scripture of Salvation" rose slowly, illuminating all directions and transforming misfortune and calamity into nothingness.
The next instant, the power of [Innate Divine Power: █ (Pixel Cube)] surged, and an information panel popped up.
[Taoist scripture: The Supreme Scripture of Limitless Salvation of the Lingbao School]
Current progress: Lv.0 (10/∞)
[Scripture: Eliminating Karma and Exorcising Demons]
Xiong Zhou glanced at the message and was somewhat confused.
How come something like "eliminating karma and exorcising demons" has appeared?
What does that ominous and calamistic aura ultimately seek to reflect—the demon?
So, he was just exorcising a demon?
Xiong Zhou knew about demons; they were even taught in the compulsory courses of the Tai Li Immortal Sect. However, he always felt that such things were very far removed from him.
It's not just the distance that's far, but also the time that's far.
In the existing historical records of the "Qi Refining World", there have been demons, and there was even a celestial demon who claimed that "the evil thoughts of all living beings never cease and the demonic intent in their hearts never dies", and who was about to unleash a demonic calamity that would sweep across the heavens.
However, before the so-called "Undying Heavenly Demon" could even cause a ripple in the demonic calamity after it appeared, it was surrounded and attacked by hundreds of beings at the Dao Refining Lord level.
Then, you take one eyeball, I take a piece of finger bone, and in the end, this "Undying Heavenly Demon" became a collection of demon-slaying immortal artifacts, demon-suppressing Buddhist artifacts, demon-killing divine artifacts, and demon-refining inkstones stored in the treasure vaults of various Daoist meridians, gathering dust...
Anyway, when Xiong Zhou was studying the history of "Refining the World", he had never seen these things before, nor had he ever used them even once.
"Is there a demon in the realm of mountains and seas?"
At that moment, Xiong Zhou's eyes lit up like light bulbs.
Demons are a "rare species" in the "Qi Refining World," and finding one requires both luck and good fortune. He was extremely interested in them.
"The course records state that demons can incite the delusions in the hearts of living beings, and this characteristic is exactly in line with the true meaning of the second level of the Tai Li Refining Method."
"If I could capture a demon, would I be able to make rapid progress in my cultivation of true essence?"
Advancing to the second level of Refinement with the understanding of the laws at [Lv.6] is great in every way, except that the progress bar is too long.
Xiong Zhou's comprehension was not among the best. He had a small epiphany before, and his cultivation level increased by less than a thousand points.
The progress bar for refining to level two has ten million points; it almost feels like I'll be grinding forever.
At this moment, the power of innate supernatural abilities permeated the approximately ten cubic meters of bricks and stones in front of him, and one after another, incredibly tiny pixel blocks were generated on the surface, beginning to reassemble this fragment of the battlefield.
"Click...click..."
Strands of the five elements' spiritual energy rose and began to arrange and combine. The irregular angles were twisted, and the volume gradually shrank, emitting a subtle sound like the turning of mechanical gears.
The dreamlike ocean of the inner world trembled slightly, and Xiong Zhou's expression changed. He immediately mobilized the power of the Qi Refining Path and the Saintly Path, pouring his unique Abundance Principle and the power of [Authority: Abundance] into it.
In an instant, streaks of light, a mixture of bright yellow and azure, flashed by, making the bricks and stones translucent, revealing patterns that resembled leaves or cracks.
"Click..."
""
With the final sound, the remnants of this ominous and calamity-ridden battlefield were completely reshaped by the Bear Boat, transforming into a 1-cubic-centimeter translucent reddish-brown cube.
【Name: Blood Calamity Cube Level: Refinement Level 6 (Nearly Fall)】
Category: Curious Items Description:
1. Reconstructed from a fragment of a demonically corrupted innate magical artifact. 2. Refined using the *Scripture of Salvation*. 3. Pixelated for special purposes.
1. Find the Demon: Can point to the traces of demons, demonic possession, and demonic creatures (under the influence of the Derivation Technique, these traces cannot be concealed).
2. Extraction: Some of the principles and nutrients on the corpse can be transformed into cultivation resources (with the risk of contaminating the path).
Xiong Zhou looked on with realization, muttering to himself, "So the resources gathered on the battlefield also carry some pollution, which is part of the demonic contamination. No wonder I feel aversion to this stuff."
"No, it should be that all those who are true disciples of Tai Li, and even those who have the potential to attain immortality, will reject anything that could pollute their own path to immortality."
After a moment of contemplation, Xiong Zhou drew upon a wisp of the power of heaven and earth to input into the Blood Calamity Cube from his inner world. The semi-transparent cyan-red cube floated in front of him, emitting wisps of unique fluctuations that swept across the entire battlefield.
"Click...click..."
'
After a series of tiny pixel cube transformations and recombinations, the Blood Calamity Cube projected a wisp of cyan-red semi-transparent cursor in one direction, pointing towards the direction of the Danxue Divine Mountain.
Xiong Zhou was taken aback.
He murmured to himself, "The direction of the Divine Mountain of Danxue, is this just a coincidence?"
With some hesitation, Xiong Zhou remained silent for a while before choosing to activate "Asking the Heavens".
When in doubt, consult the will of the mountains and seas.
Xiong Zhou: [I have a question. Is there anything unusual happening at Danxue Divine Mountain?]
The vast spiritual energy of the Mountain and Sea Realm converged from all directions, bringing with it a wisp of information from the will of the Mountain and Sea, which manifested in the inner world.
Mountain and Sea Will: [No anomalies occurred.]
Xiong Zhou blinked. Since there was nothing else to do, let's go.
The Phoenix's Danxue Divine Mountain was described by Senior Brother You Su as the region with the most brilliant civilization in the Nanshan Mountain Group, which made him quite curious.
Tai Li Immortal Sect, Chenming Mountain.
Xiong Zhou's true disciple token vibrated, and two different pieces of information were projected from it.
[Hidden Heaven Palace:]
True disciple, Xiong Zhou.
Based on your performance in the True Disciple Ranking Competition and your current cultivation direction, the cultivation resources for you as a second-level True Disciple disciple have been allocated accordingly.
[1. Yellow Bright Pill (Second level of Refinement, Refinement of Intent type pill), one bottle per month (36 pills), until advancing to the third level of Qi Refinement. 2. Baptism of the Primordial Universe (Heavenly Void Mirror, Immortal Refining Artifact), once, at any time.]
The Hidden Heaven Hall is one of the nine great halls of Tai Li.
As the name suggests, all sorts of things are sealed inside this hall.
Whether it's certain special types of celestial artifacts, or even more special and difficult-to-define items, or even some dangerous things that need to be sealed, they are all managed by the Hidden Heaven Palace.
Xiong Zhou's eyes widened.
"Huang Mingdan can be ignored. Even if there are some special pills for refining intent to assist in the cultivation of true intent, they are still ordinary. The bitter lotus produced in my fertile fields can support the entire cultivation of the second level of Qi Refining."
"This Bright Yellow Pill, which is at the second level of Qi Refining, should be a kind of routine resource."
"Yes, we can use the Heavenly Void Mirror, this immortal artifact, to perform a baptism of primordial Qi... How grand is our sect!"
Xiong Zhou was beaming with excitement.
Aside from the Taihe Cauldron that he often used to cook for him, he had never seen any other celestial artifacts.
Reaching into his storage bag, he released a small flying boat that hovered in the center of the courtyard. Entering it, he placed his True Disciple token on the control panel, opened the map of the Tai Li Immortal Sect, and clicked on the icon of the Hidden Heaven Hall.
[Destination: Zangtian Palace]
[Logging into the Tai Li Tian Net with current permissions, connecting to the Cang Tian Palace area...]
[Login successful, connection established]
[Route planning in progress... Route planning successful. The route is expected to pass through one small portal within the sect. Estimated time: 4 days, 23 hours]
"Is the Hidden Heaven Palace really that far from here?"
Upon seeing the planned route, Xiong Zhou was speechless.
He waved to the burly merman who was cleaning the courtyard and pruning the potted plants.
"Elder Yu, I will be away for about a month to the Hidden Heaven Palace."
"If any other senior or junior brothers come to visit, please remember to entertain them for me."
Upon seeing Yu Yuan nod while holding a kettle and scissors, Xiong Zhou waved his hand in the air, and the small flying boat immediately took off, heading straight for the first layer of gale-force winds.
Under the sun's rays, the clouds radiated a romantic glow, and in the reflection of heaven and earth, they swirled into a dreamlike scene, almost like a fairyland.
Within moments, accompanied by a slight tremor, the small airship soared above the clouds, entering a nearly pure and flawless void, where only fierce winds swept through.
A series of five-pointed rhombus-shaped protective barriers, formed by the heavens and earth, unfolded and covered the entire small airship.
On the deck, one can occasionally see the oncoming gale colliding with the five-pointed diamond-shaped protective barrier, splashing out a bluish-green glow that drapes the entire airship in a fine, silken light.
Xiong Zhou extended the abundant Qi to his fingertips, enveloping and probing beyond the barrier, instantly unleashing clusters of azure starlight.
The gale was like streaks of sword light, slashing at Xiong Zhou's fingertips, gradually eroding the power carried by the abundant Qi.
Xiong Zhou muttered to himself, "A gust of wind, roughly equivalent to the spiritual energy refined from the initial understanding of the laws at the [Lv.4] level."
"A single gale is not to be feared, but when it comes head-on at all times, it is no less powerful than the Zhu Yan's attack before it merged with the origin of that innate magic weapon."
After a pause, Xiong Zhou assessed based on his own understanding: "Hmm, the spell strength is similar to that of an ordinary cultivator at the fourth level of the Refinement Realm, which is pretty much the same as what's recorded in the textbook."
According to the textbook, the "Refining World" has nine layers of gale-force winds, beyond which lies the Sea of Void.
One to three layers of gale force fall within the range of [Lv.4], four to six layers of gale force fall within the range of [Lv.5], and seven to nine layers of gale force fall within the range of [Lv.6].
Therefore, in theory, as long as Xiong Zhou has sufficient Qi of Heaven and Earth, he is able to break through the ninefold gale and reach [the destination].
The boundary between the "Refining World" and the Void Sea.
"Once I'm certified as old, I'll definitely try it myself, to experience the feeling of crossing nine layers of fierce winds and soaring straight into the sea of void. As for now, I won't waste that time."
After Xiong Zhou reached the second level of Qi Refining, his lifespan limit directly increased to ten thousand years due to the blessing of his bloodline, his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth, and his cultivation path and the path of sainthood.
The best time to prove immortality is still when one's Qi and blood have not yet declined. Considering the Heavenly Thunder Calamity one must face after proving immortality, and the mechanism by which the Heavenly Thunder Calamity descends, the earlier one can achieve this, the better.
For Xiong Zhou, the power of the first Heavenly Thunder Calamity was not a concern, but he had to advance to the third level of Refinement before the age of 3,500 to prove immortality. This was the critical point when his vital energy was on the verge of decline.
There are less than 3,400 years left until the deadline. The progress bar of 10 million points has only just passed one ten-thousandth. He doesn't want to prove immortality and advance to the third level of Qi Refining with a "flawed" foundation.
"I wonder how much help the baptism of the primordial Qi of the universe will bring me?"
Xiong Zhou's mind was somewhat blank as he quietly pondered the true meaning of his own cultivation.
Three days later, on the deck, Xiong Zhou suddenly came to his senses and looked into the distance.
A colossal structure, towering in the fierce wind, came into view.
Its shape is somewhat flat, resembling an irregular cuboid with a triangular pyramid cut off, like an elongated triangular door frame.
From a distance, one after another Dao patterns, shimmering with the essence of the universe, shimmered on the cuboid, carrying a kind of translucent silver light.
Inside the triangular gate, different areas of the gale-force winds are reflected, and one after another, flying boats of different models and sizes are entering and exiting in an orderly manner.
This extraordinary structure made Xiong Zhou's expression subtle.
"Is this a stargate?"
"Is it the stargate from 'The Infinite Lagrange'?"
"It shouldn't be, but this appearance, this style, really does look like..."
'
Moreover, the concept of riding a star gate within the sect was gradually overloading Xiong Zhou's CPU.
"No, is the Tai Li Immortal Sect really that big?"
"Wait a minute, the Tai Li Immortal Sect really is that big, at least hundreds of times larger than the solar system in my previous life. In that case, it seems to make sense that Tai Li disciples who haven't mastered void-related Dao techniques use star gates... small teleportation portals for teleportation..."
Suddenly, a projection appeared from Xiong Zhou's true disciple token.
[Teleportation Portal 733: True Disciple's pass has been detected. The teleportation time-space beacon is being adjusted. Please follow the instructions to proceed with the teleportation in a quarter of an hour.]
Xiong Zhou's expression turned slightly embarrassed; this seemed more like a star gate.
Fifteen minutes later, a special guiding light was projected from the triangular portal onto the bear boat's small flying boat, completely covering the entire flying boat.
Xiong Zhou could clearly sense a faint pulling force emanating from the giant structure, pulling the small airship beneath him along a specific path into the portal that shimmered with translucent silver light.
"Splash..."
'
A glimmer of firefly light flashed by, and a strange and subtle sense of time and space was reflected in Xiong Zhou's mind.
"Space was folded, and time seemed to be compressed in some way, yet it was supported by a strange force, maintaining stability and order within the passage."
Xiong Zhou narrowed his eyes, looking at the [Gateway to Another World] with this peculiar feeling, comparing the two, trying to find common ground that he could understand and discover.
Three breaths later, the glow of the fireflies outside the small flying boat slowed down, and a triangular frame vaguely appeared before our eyes.
"Splash..."
'
The small flying boat whizzed by, and the strange, folded sense of space and time that had given Xiong Zhou disappeared, leaving him slightly stunned.
"call...
'
Xiong Zhou took a deep breath.
"Again, there was only a slight, subtle feeling, but no gain whatsoever."
"It's alright, I'm used to it. The void isn't so easy to comprehend, and neither is the light of time."
"There should be an opportunity in the future... The Primordial Universe, which seems to involve the void, the light of time, and the spacetime, the subtle feelings I've come to understand now, might come in handy later?"
Xiong Zhou calmed himself down again, took out a scroll of scripture from his storage bag, and began to read it.
About a day and a half later, the small airship began to descend, and after a slight tremor, it flew out of the gale layer.
The mountains here are quite different from those around Chenming Mountain.
The towering peaks, like pillars piercing the sky, were arranged in a special way, forming a vast array that even Xiong Zhou could easily perceive. It seemed as if something unseen by him was gathering and suppressing downwards.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and Xiong Zhou clearly felt the flying boat beneath him slow down.
Looking out from the deck, the sky was completely clear, without a single cloud.
Looking back, the thick clouds were compressed by an unknown force, forming a boundless circle that resembled a towering wall, a sight that shook the soul.
The small airship continued to descend, and a gigantic and irregular building made of giant stones covered with runes appeared before the bear boat.
Suddenly, Xiong Zhou saw a simply dressed woman appear on a boulder and look up at him.
She seemed to raise her sleeve and wave it towards Xiong Zhou.
In an instant, the world changed, things changed, and the scenery in Xiong Zhou's eyes became blurred, and he lost all five senses.
When he came to his senses, he found himself standing on top of a tilted boulder. He instinctively reached into his storage bag, where his small flying boat was already inside.
With a slight focus, Xiong Zhou suddenly noticed that in front of him stood a woman with a somewhat indifferent expression, who was nodding slightly to him.
"Not bad. I came to my senses within a quarter of an hour. My affinity with the Dao of the Universe was indeed up to par. The judgment of Tai Li Tian Wang did not have any major problems."
The woman's gaze towards Xiong Zhou seemed to soften slightly.
"Li Mengqin's nephew's child, although not exceptionally talented, is still passable."
Xiong Zhou blinked; the effects of the time-space shifts still seemed to be there, and he was a little confused.
My mother's name is Li Mengqin. Does my mother know this woman who looks somewhat kind?
This woman looks unfamiliar. What's her name again?
Xiong Zhou stood there blankly, trying to recall any memories related to this kind-looking woman.
The woman seemed to know what Xiong Zhou was thinking, and she said, "My Taoist name is Lishan, and in recent years I have been serving as a guard at the Cangtian Hall."
Xiong Zhou quickly bowed and said, "True disciple Xiong Zhou greets Elder Lishan."
Elder Lishan didn't waste any words. She said directly, "Based on your unintentional display of perception of the void and the light of the universe, the Tai Li Heavenly Net has allocated you an opportunity to use the Primordial Universe Qi for a baptism."
"Your current areas of expertise are undoubtedly the Earth and Wood elements, and you have already forged your own path. Resources should be allocated to these two areas as well."
"However, it seems you have other channels to obtain these two resources, and they are not difficult to obtain."
Elder Lishan looked into Xiong Zhou's inner world and saw the portal that connected to the "Mountain and Sea Realm".
She didn't look closely, only glancing at it briefly before looking away. But even that was enough to tell her that it was a passage connecting to other realms beyond.
A mid-to-high level opportunity that can increase the chances of a disciple with mediocre talent by about 30% to 40% to achieve immortality.
"In that case, the Tai Li Heavenly Network will allocate resources to you in the area of the laws of heaven and earth, which most disciples of the Tai Li Immortal Sect will choose to supplement their studies in the future, so that you can lay the corresponding foundation in advance."
"Coincidentally, the Void Mirror has remained untouched for hundreds of thousands of years, accumulating a certain amount of innate Qi."
Elder Lishan waved his hand, and a round mirror embroidered with cloud patterns fell from a towering stone pillar.
"Buzz!"
As magical power was channeled in, a vast and ethereal sense of desolation poured out from the mirror, and one after another, Dao patterns imbued with immortality were arranged in the air, forming a three-dimensional formation.
Upon seeing this round mirror, Xiong Zhou's gaze became slightly dazed. He felt so close to the Dao of Void and the Dao of Time, as if they were within reach.
It seems that as long as one is willing, one can change one's own foundation, extending, shifting, and transforming the principles and authority contained in the path of cultivation and the path of sainthood.