Chapter 146 |
“Golden Positions have shifted, the divine abilities no longer respond!”
The moment these words rang out, every Dharma King and Purple Mansion cultivator in the void turned deathly pale.
“So it is truly so…”
The Great Spiritual Master carrying a wooden sword on his back let out a long sigh. “In the eight thousand years since ancient times, how many heroes and prodigies have perished on the path to seeking the Golden Position? It was never because their talent or Dao insight was lacking, but because the Golden Positions themselves have changed, something no amount of human effort can overcome.”
To attain the Golden Position from Purple Mansion, one must first cultivate four divine abilities, each corresponding perfectly to the profound mysteries of a Golden Position. Only then could one draw the Golden Position’s gaze and refine golden nature into one’s being. Yet after ancient times, the mysteries of the Golden Positions had undergone a transformation.
Following the old step-by-step method to cultivate divine abilities no longer produced a perfect match.
Even if a Purple Mansion cultivator managed to form all four divine abilities and appeared complete on the surface, attempting to seek the Golden Position would be like using a sword from a fallen dynasty to behead an official of the current court, utterly laughable, and naturally ending only in death.
Thousands of years ago, those at Purple Mansion perfection had not yet noticed the change.
But after so many great cultivators had died and so much time had passed, the truth finally dawned on those with insight.
Great Spiritual Master Si Chen hurled his wine jug to the ground in fury.
Mo Luoshi lowered his head, merely chanting a Buddhist invocation for a long moment before he spoke. “The flaw of the new methods, if one were to seek answers from the ancient methods instead.”
“Hah… The ancient methods emphasize self-cultivation and self-qi. One gathers qi on one’s own, comprehends the Dao, and forges one’s own foundation, creating an immortal foundation most suited to oneself. It sounds ideal, but in truth, ninety-nine point nine percent of cultivators in the world cannot even cross the threshold.”
A female Purple Mansion cultivator laughed coldly. “If everyone cultivated the ancient methods, how many of us present would have even reached Purple Mansion?”
Mo Luoshi fiddled with the white-bone prayer beads in his hand and nodded. “Indeed, the ancient methods are recorded in our sutras as well, called the ‘self-liberated ones.’ One seeks nothing from the outside. After forging the Dao foundation, one comprehends divine abilities on one’s own. After Purple Mansion, the requirements become even more terrifying, one must personally sense the void, attune to the Golden Positions, create one’s own divine abilities, and reach Purple Mansion perfection, only then may one boldly claim a position.”
In other words, after Purple Mansion in the ancient methods, one did not cultivate divine abilities according to secret manuals. Instead, one sensed the Golden Positions personally, comprehended the divine abilities best suited to oneself, and even had to create three of them independently.
Such self-created divine abilities naturally aligned perfectly with the cultivator and matched the mysteries of the Golden Positions most closely. It was said that ancient-method cultivators who reached the peak of Purple Mansion could attain Golden Nature as easily as reaching into a bag for an object.
But what kind of heaven-defying aptitude was required to comprehend the embryonic form of a divine ability while still at Dao Foundation?
And then, in early Purple Mansion, to sense the Golden Positions and create three divine abilities on one’s own?
When the female Purple Mansion cultivator said that cultivating the ancient methods would mean none of those present could have reached Purple Mansion, she had actually underestimated the difficulty.
If they had followed the ancient methods, most of the Purple Mansion experts here would likely have failed to even forge their Dao foundations.
Despair washed over the gathered Purple Mansion Dharma Kings.
Yet a faint smile appeared on Mo Luoshi’s face. “Without relying on the Buddha, one cannot accomplish dharmic affairs. If we wish to attain the fruition now, I fear we must proceed in exactly this manner.”
Si Chen’s eyes brightened with sudden realization.
With the Golden Positions shifted and their mysteries altered, his own cultivation path had become impossible to see clearly. His divine abilities might have been cultivated incorrectly, leaving him with no hope of attaining the Golden Position in this life.
But if a great being above the Golden Positions were to tailor a cultivation method specifically for him, it would be like having food placed directly into his mouth. There was still great potential!
“Now, the various great ones have gradually begun to respond. They are no longer as silent as they were thousands of years ago. There is still a way.”
‘This old demon’s death was not in vain. At least he managed to probe out a little information. He died a worthy death.’
Si Chen glanced toward the black curtain and thought to himself.
Attaining the Golden Position and dying meant both body and soul were extinguished. There could be no talk of true spirit reincarnation.
But at that very moment, five-colored divine light flashed within the darkness. A stream of clear qi rose, transforming into the shapes of dragon and tiger.
A dragon roared and a tiger howled. Amid driving wind and sweeping rain, torrential downpour poured from the sky, as if gradually dissolving the darkness.
The transformation of material nature, turning darkness into light—this was the divine ability known as “Tempering the Soft and Rigid!”
“Hmm?”
Mo Luoshi paused, then probed with his divine sense and identified it. “So it is the Dragon-Tiger Golden Core Method! I see. All the later chaos in Ancient Shu was merely a smokescreen. This old demon only wanted to complete those two intercalary rituals to obtain this dragon and tiger!”
[Overturning Heaven and Earth] was a new-method divine ability, but the one before him, prior to the Bi Moon Crow swallowing metal and devouring fire had once been called [Tempering the Soft and Rigid].
Li Rulong and Pu Shanjun had performed an ancient-method Intercalation ritual, and what they had transformed was naturally an ancient-method divine ability.
Using the Dragon-Tiger Golden Core Method to refine those two into a single pill would be enough to replace the original divine ability.
Replacing “Overturning Heaven and Earth” with “Tempering the Soft and Rigid!”
“Could it be that the mysteries of the Bi Moon have not changed and still require the ancient methods to respond? Who imparted this new-method divine ability? What is their intention?”
“Could it be, this old demon is actually going to succeed?!”
All the Purple Mansion experts focused their gazes. They watched as the thick, seemingly impenetrable darkness rapidly dissolved under the effect of the Tempering the Soft and Rigid divine ability, revealing the form of a bizarre demon beast within.
It resembled an enormous crow, yet it possessed four wings. Its entire body was covered in countless densely packed eyes that emitted an eerie, evil glow, making anyone who looked upon it feel uneasy. In places where flesh was missing, stark white bone showed through, and upon those bones countless black serpents and raccoon-dogs writhed and chased one another.
A thick, mercury-like radiance flowed across its body, stubbornly sealing the serpents and raccoon-dogs within the wounds.
The demon beast’s pupils burned with pure madness. It suddenly let out a hideous, ear-piercing cry.
“Gua!”
Around the lake, several demon generals had no time to react before their bodies exploded. Some burst into scattering gold and silver, others into clumps of grass, wood, and mud. Sangji snapped his eyes shut, but Miaofeng and Qingjing behind him screamed in agony as their eyeballs ruptured, leaving two bloody hollows.
This was the terrifying backlash from gazing directly at that evil entity.
“Failed to attain the Golden Position. Instead of transforming into a heavenly disaster, it manifested as an evil entity!”
Sangji muttered to himself. Suddenly his body felt lighter.
By the time he regained his senses, he was already a hundred li away. Beside him stood a towering golden body with a green face and fierce fangs. He could not help pressing his palms together and prostrating in worship. “Thank you, Dharma King, for saving my life.”
Zhaxi stood beside him, his face twisted hideously. Countless blue and red veins bulged like earthworms, densely encircling his eye sockets. Mo Luoshi stepped forward, pressed a hand to Zhaxi’s head, and chanted, “All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew or a flash of lightning. Thus should one view them… Purify!” A flash of Buddhist light, gold above and green below—enveloped Miaofeng, Qingjing, and the other Bright Sons and Wisdom Consorts as well.
Zhaxi let out a sharp cry as countless tiny black snakes slithered from his body, scattering across the ground before vanishing in an instant.
Zhaxi dropped to the ground in full prostration. “Thank you, Dharma King, for saving me…”
Sangji glanced at Miaofeng and Qingjing. Though their eyeballs had burst, such an injury was nothing in the Hidden-Treasury Domain. They could simply find two new pairs of eyes once they returned.
“You gazed directly at the evil entity born from that great demon. That is why you suffered this retribution. Fortunately the Su Wu had not yet attained golden nature. Otherwise, if you had looked upon golden nature itself, even I could not have saved you!”
Mo Luoshi sighed.
Attaining golden nature naturally meant success.
But if one failed to attain the Golden Position, not a trace of golden nature could possibly remain.
“Benefactor Su Wu… has failed to attain the Golden Position.”
Sangji fell into deep thought.
“It seems the problem is not limited to just the ‘Overturning Heaven and Earth’ divine ability. Or perhaps that one is fine, and the issue lies with the other divine abilities. Who can say?”
Mo Luoshi pondered for a long while before a strange smile appeared on his face. “Yet when Benefactor Su Wu failed to attain the Golden Position, he actually manifested as an evil entity. That is rather unusual. This evil entity was born from Su Wu himself. It possesses peak Purple Mansion strength, its divine abilities are a chaotic mix, and it will not be easy to deal with. I observed it with my Three Realms Dharma Eye. The entity only targets the demon race, devouring great demons… Otherwise it would not have been so easy for me to bring all of you out safely.”
Sangji felt a chill run through his heart. “If the evil entity had slaughtered humans and demons alike without distinction, then it would have been a random manifestation into a monster. But for it to specifically target and devour only the demon race. I fear it was deliberately orchestrated.”
Mo Luoshi met his gaze, and both came to the same conclusion. “It must have been Cloud Grazing Cliff’s doing. The [Di Earth] virtue excels at spreading plagues, raising Gu insects, and performing incantation curse shamanic craft. They must have tampered with Li Rulong or Pu Shanjun beforehand. If Su Wu had succeeded in attaining the Golden Position, all would have been well. But since he failed, he was destined to manifest as a monster and slaughter the demon race, foiling the Azure Bird Tribe’s plan to obtain Purple Mansion spiritual materials!”
“They truly calculate every ounce and gram. What a vicious heart!”
Especially Sangji. Recalling his earlier conversation with Great Spiritual Master Si Chen, even his Buddhist heart trembled slightly.
“This time, the Azure Bird Tribe is bound to suffer a severe blow to its vitality. Being driven out of Ancient Shu afterward would be perfectly natural.”
Mo Luoshi looked at Sangji. “Sangji, return and enter secluded cultivation to break through to Dharma King. Cloud Grazing Cliff will need several decades to deal with the demon race. If you cannot attain Dharma King within that time, our Hidden-Treasury Domain will ultimately be unable to hold onto Xituo Commandery.”
“By your command!”
Sangji accepted the order at once, yet he sighed inwardly. ‘Venerable One, there is no more time left to delay.’
‘You have already done well.’
Taibai Island, inside the cave abode.
Fang Qing’s expression grew solemn. He realized that the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain most likely shared some tacit understanding or agreement with Cloud Grazing Cliff.
The Hidden-Treasury Dharma Kings did not cross eastward themselves, but if these Gurus broke through during their eastward journey, they could remain in Ancient Shu to guard and spread the teachings.
With the Azure Bird Tribe on the verge of collapse, Cloud Grazing Cliff was about to launch a full-scale counterattack and reclaim their lost territories.
Once the north was pacified, the next target would naturally be the west!
The time left for Sangji was indeed running out. He could no longer afford to stall.
Once he returned to Wusheng Temple, he would have to enter immediate death seclusion to break through!
“Even with a Purple Mansion spiritual item like the ‘Yin Earth Spirit Wall,’ the chances of success remain extremely slim.
“Fortunately, breaking through to Purple Mansion in seclusion takes at least ten years, or as long as several decades.
“The time left for me is truly running short.”
Fang Qing let out a long breath and silently reviewed everything he had witnessed this time.
“After ancient times, the shift of the Golden Positions, the True Lords withdrawing from the world, the implementation of the new methods. everything about it screams of an enormous conspiracy.” He muttered to himself. “The only clue should be that [Fang Sun] True Lord from the Blissful Union Sect, but probing right now would be courting death.”
“So even Purple Mansion cultivation methods are full of pitfalls. The ancient methods are supposedly better, but what a joke!”
“The ancient methods require sensing the Golden Positions to nurture divine abilities that perfectly match their mysteries, but they are simply too difficult! The new methods are quick and opportunistic, allowing mutual plundering and replacement. They are the shortcut!”
Fang Qing took out the Great Sun True Explanation and sighed again. The technique was excellent, but it required comprehending the Dao to forge one’s foundation. After Purple Mansion, one even had to create one’s own divine abilities to reach perfection!
“If I possessed such aptitude and comprehension, would I still be at my current realm?”
He shook his head and tucked the manual away at the bottom of his storage. “If the Purple Mansion divine abilities are wrong, one ends up trapped in place just like Pu Shanjun. I wonder whether my Dao-Genesis Pearl can convert divine abilities?”