Chapter 1409: Altering Reality
“The Xuanhuang Realm... truly a world favored by the heavens. The power of its Heavenly Dao far surpasses that of the Tianfa Realm.”
“This Heavenly Soul Reincarnation Technique, which completely severs ties with one’s home world to be reborn from a single lingering thought, has never failed me. I tested it tens of thousands of times in the Tianfa Realm without a single mistake.”
“While I anticipated some complications here in the Xuanhuang Realm, the sheer danger has far exceeded my expectations.”
“Fifty whole years, and I still hadn’t awakened...”
It seemed to take him a moment to fully assess the condition of his current body.
After a long silence, the ancient voice spoke again.
It was filled with bewilderment. “Strange! The Heavenly Soul Reincarnation Technique sacrifices the Heavenly Soul Dao of the Tianfa Realm to allow for rebirth into the Xuanhuang Realm, transforming me into one of its native creatures. This was meant to deceive the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao.”
“The original plan was for me to awaken, diagnose the state of the Xuanhuang Realm, and then create a new cultivation method to sow chaos from within. But now, before my true consciousness has even awakened, this body has already created the new method?!”
The Heavenly Doctor grew increasingly astonished. “This cultivation method is practically identical to what I envisioned. In fact, many of its intricate details are even more refined than my own ideas!”
At that moment, as if sensing the Heavenly Doctor’s words, Xuanyuan Tuo's eyelids twitched violently.
The Heavenly Doctor’s voice began to fade.
“Something’s wrong! Heavenly Soul Reincarnation is superior to mere possession. I have awakened, so why does this body’s original consciousness still exist?”
“The Xuanyuan clan?!” Amidst the Heavenly Doctor’s cry of alarm, Xuanyuan Tuo fully awoke from his coma.
The Heavenly Doctor fell utterly silent.
Upon waking, Xuanyuan Tuo seemed completely oblivious to the Heavenly Doctor’s presence within him.
He was simply overjoyed as he inspected his own cultivation, which had already reached the Qi Refining stage.
After a long moment, Xuanyuan Tuo rode the wind and soared into the sky, leaving the city amidst the astonished cries of the mortals below.
Within the immortal array, light and shadow flickered and changed.
Following this, guided by a faint, instinctual sense in his mind, Xuanyuan Tuo continuously sought out miraculous cultivation items throughout the Xuanhuang Realm.
In just half a year, he used the Myriad Spirits of the Mystic Heaven to build his foundation, forged his Golden Core with the Art of Heavenly Derivation, and ascended to the Nascent Soul realm with a Primordial Grotto-Heaven.
Then, by harnessing the Myriad Phenomena of the universe, he stepped into the Soul Transformation stage.
His progress was a relentless, unstoppable torrent!
Only when he reached the peak of Soul Transformation, at the step of "sacrificing a Spirit of Heaven and Earth to achieve Dao Integration," did his momentum finally pause.
The Xuanhuang Realm contained countless Spirits of Heaven and Earth.
Choosing which one to use became Xuanyuan Tuo’s dilemma.
Before the new method was established, cultivators generally regarded the Spirits of Heaven and Earth as projections of the will of the Great Dao—an ideal means to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth.
Although some cultivators had attempted to capture these spirits, their efforts were limited to using them for enlightenment. No one had ever found a way to refine their power and convert it into their own cultivation.
“The Spirits of Heaven and Earth are born to fulfill a heavenly duty. Though they manifest as human-like phantoms and appear to be independent entities, they remain intrinsically linked to the great Dao-network of heaven and earth. The new method I envision works by exploiting this very connection to steal the power of the heavens.”
“Each Spirit of Heaven and Earth corresponds to a specific law of the world. My target, however, is...”
Xuanyuan Tuo gazed upon the Xuanhuang Realm. The world’s landscape blurred before his eyes, transforming into a colossal grid of interwoven lines. His sight scanned this great net, meticulously searching for his objective.
An unknown amount of time passed...
Suddenly, Xuanyuan Tuo’s eyes narrowed.
A complex mix of emotions flickered across his face.
There was confusion, and there was delight.
“For some reason, it feels strangely familiar.”
“And the law corresponding to that Spirit of Heaven and Earth... it doesn’t seem native to the Xuanhuang Realm. Compared to the others, it feels out of place...”
“From the Immortal World?”
Xuanyuan Tuo fell silent for a long while before finally making his decision.
He spent another six months, employing every means at his disposal, and at last, he managed to lure out this unique Spirit of Heaven and Earth!
It was bathed in a golden radiance, its aura sacred and inviolable. It gazed down upon Xuanyuan Tuo below as if looking at an ant.
“Even if you hail from the Immortal World, by merging with the Xuanhuang Realm, you have fallen into the mortal dust. Death is upon you, yet you remain oblivious!” A year ago, Xuanyuan Tuo had the mindset of an old farmer not yet fifty.
But over the past year, as his cultivation and realm soared higher, and as more and more memories flooded his mind, his entire demeanor had transformed.
He no longer paid any mind even to a being with deep ties to the Immortal World, viewing it merely as prey.
Xuanyuan Tuo struck out with his palm, and the space around the golden Spirit of Heaven and Earth instantly solidified. Countless scenes from the Xuanhuang Realm materialized into menacing phantoms, swarming towards it.
It was as if he had created a world around the golden spirit, then manifested legions of other spirits to lay siege to it.
Xuanyuan Tuo was like a grand marshal commanding his armies, remaining perfectly still at the center of his forces while his soldiers waged war.
Though the golden Spirit of Heaven and Earth was powerful, once Xuanyuan Tuo used his unfathomable techniques to sever its connection to the Xuanhuang Realm, it became a tree without roots, a river without a source.
Eventually, it was worn down and utterly defeated. With a flash of golden light, it was devoured by Xuanyuan Tuo.
“The Spirit of Heaven and Earth, the Golden Authority!”
As the brilliant golden light receded into him, Xuanyuan Tuo let out a long breath.
The Golden Authority had existed since the dawn of the Xuanhuang Realm. Created by immortals, it possessed the power to command and shape the myriad things of this world. It had been hidden deep within the realm, undetectable by mortals. But with the shattering of the Immortal World, the ancient array that powered the Golden Authority’s law had also been broken.
Only then was Xuanyuan Tuo able to perceive its presence.
By integrating with the Golden Authority, Xuanyuan Tuo’s power took another qualitative leap. An ordinary Longevity cultivator would be no match for him. Only perhaps the sect masters of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, with their profound foundations, could pose a threat.
Xuanyuan Tuo knew it was time to begin his path of spreading the law, which was also the final step of his plan.
“Use the momentum of humanity to seize the momentum of the heavens.”
“Use the Dao of mortals to define the Dao of Heaven.”
“When the number of cultivators practicing my new law grows and grows, finally turning the tide and making it the only method in the world, that will be the day I achieve my Dao!”
“From this day forward, I will turn the Xuanhuang Realm upside down!”
With this conviction burning in his heart, Xuanyuan Tuo traveled to the Congyun Marsh, a remote region on the edge of the Xuanhuang Realm.
There, he began his first sermon.
When he manifested his dharma form and declared to the world that one could "reverse the logic of heaven and earth to achieve Longevity," it did not, in fact, cause much of a stir. The new method was too shocking, too heretical, and very few cultivators were willing to believe him and switch their entire cultivation path.
But Xuanyuan Tuo was unconcerned. He simply continued to spread the new law across the lands of Xuanhuang.
And when the first group of mortals, previously unable to cultivate, successfully ascended to become cultivators, they became his most zealous believers.
They did not know Xuanyuan Tuo’s name, so they referred to him with the reverent title of the "Dharma Spreading Immortal Venerable."
These followers spontaneously created an organization, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, to help one another and propagate the new law.
In just a few years, the new method spread like wildfire, sweeping across the entire world!
Such a monumental shift naturally caught the attention of the high and mighty Ten Great Immortal Sects.
And so, the slaughter began.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had only just begun to take shape. How could it possibly stand against the Ten Great Immortal Sects, who had dominated the Xuanhuang Realm for thousands of years? The Ten Sects didn't even need to act themselves; their subsidiary sects alone were enough to inflict devastating losses upon the Alliance.
But the cultivators of the new law possessed an advantage that the old-school cultivators could not match.
First, the speed of cultivation with the new method was astonishingly fast. Even if their ranks were all but wiped out, it wouldn't be long before a new wave of cultivators appeared to take their place.
Second, once a new law cultivator reached the Nascent Soul realm, their survivability was terrifyingly high. As long as their soul did not suffer a fatal blow, no matter how grievous the injuries to their physical body, they could recover in an instant.
With these two factors combined, though many new law cultivators died, they were mostly in the Qi Refining to Golden Core stages. The higher-level cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm and above often managed to survive.
Through constant struggle, they grew ever more experienced.
In contrast, for the old-school cultivators, nurturing a competent warrior required vast amounts of time and resources. Each one lost was a permanent deficit.
As one side waxed and the other waned, the situation slowly began to turn.
Furthermore, Xuanyuan Tuo could sense that even within the Ten Sects themselves, some had begun to secretly switch to the new method. They were no longer a monolithic bloc, so how could they hope to sweep away an external foe?
Just as everything seemed to be developing in a favorable direction according to his plan...
An ominous premonition began to grow ever stronger in Xuanyuan Tuo’s heart. It felt as though a great calamity was about to befall him at any moment!
Even after Xuanyuan Tuo carefully concealed his tracks and stopped preaching openly in broad daylight...
The sense of crisis in his heart did not diminish in the slightest.
Xuanyuan Tuo then knew for certain: he had been targeted by the great figures of the Ten Sects.
Only by facing it head-on could one truly understand the utter despair of confronting a behemoth like the Ten Sects.
Xuanyuan Tuo tried every method he could think of, but it seemed there was only one possible outcome for him.
Death.
But Xuanyuan Tuo did not want to die.
Just as despair was about to drown him, the ethereal, murmuring voice that had accompanied him since childhood, after years of silence, suddenly reappeared!
Since he had embarked on the path of cultivation, this voice had vanished from his life. Now, its return brought back with it everything Xuanyuan Tuo had experienced over the years, in vivid detail!
Amidst the mystical, dreamlike whispers, it was as if Xuanyuan Tuo was reliving his past all over again.
And he could even observe everything around him from a third-person perspective.
An inexplicable feeling arose within Xuanyuan Tuo.
He felt as if he could, to some extent, manipulate and alter the thoughts of these people!
When he saw, in his memory, a young cultivator who had gathered around him to listen to his teachings, an immense joy suddenly surged through Xuanyuan Tuo’s heart.
He knew, this young man was the key to his survival!
His very soul rejoiced and danced with glee. Carried by the murmuring whispers, Xuanyuan Tuo approached, touched, and entered...
Even though it was just a phantom in a memory, under the strange power of the murmuring, Xuanyuan Tuo felt as if he had truly entered the other’s soul.
He came to know everything about him.
Chen Tianhai! The foremost direct disciple of the Taiyan Sect!
The Nine Scrolls of Divination and the Transformation Dao Stone Mother!
“Such a divine object actually exists in this world?” Xuanyuan Tuo’s mind reeled, nearly jolting him out of that mystical state.
He had never even heard of this Transformation Dao Stone Mother, not even in the countless images that constantly surfaced in his mind.
“If I can borrow the power of this Transformation Dao Stone Mother for deductions, I will surely be able to find that sliver of a chance for survival!”
Hope ignited in Xuanyuan Tuo’s heart.
But even Chen Tianhai, the foremost direct disciple of the Taiyan Sect, was not qualified to use the Transformation Dao Stone Mother. For him, an outsider and a mortal enemy of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, to even think of using it...
It was utterly preposterous!
“Perhaps... I can manipulate and influence Chen Tianhai to make it happen.”
A sudden realization dawned on Xuanyuan Tuo.
To be able to peer into the thoughts of a phantom from a past memory was already an incredible feat.
And to influence the real future through a phantom of the past...
It was something completely unheard of.
But for some reason, an inexplicable confidence welled up inside Xuanyuan Tuo. If he could harness the murmuring sound in his mind...
It would not be difficult.
Xuanyuan Tuo was truly a genius of unparalleled talent.
Even though he didn’t understand the principles behind the murmuring sound at all, it didn’t stop him from slowly figuring out how to use it through pure instinct.
In a trance-like state, he formed a strange connection with the Chen Tianhai in the present.
He could faintly perceive Chen Tianhai’s every thought, every moment.
And so, Chen Tianhai’s memories were silently altered.
It seemed that, back when he was observing the sermon, the Dharma Spreader had given him a strange, lingering glance.
In the years that followed, the memory of that glance stayed with him.
It became his inner demon, robbing him of sleep and peace.
For Chen Tianhai to be chosen as the foremost direct disciple of the Taiyan Sect, his talent and willpower were naturally impeccable; he was an absolute prodigy.
With tremendous effort, Chen Tianhai forcefully suppressed the unease in his heart.
Xuanyuan Tuo was not impatient; he simply waited for the opportune moment that he sensed was coming.
A seed had been planted; it would naturally blossom and bear fruit one day.
And sure enough.
Not long after, Fang Dingge, the sect master of the Great Dao Sect, before setting out with six other Longevity cultivators to hunt down the Dharma Spreader, requested that Xingji Daoren, the sect master of the Taiyan Sect, use the Transformation Dao Stone Mother for a divination.
Xingji Daoren performed five hundred million deductions. Every single one ended with the Dharma Spreader’s death.
Upon receiving this answer, Fang Dingge began his journey to hunt down and capture the Dharma Spreader.
“Six Longevity cultivators... what a grand gesture.” A chill ran through Xuanyuan Tuo’s heart.
Sensing death closing in, Xuanyuan Tuo remained calm despite his alarm.
He used the mysterious power of the murmuring sound to continue corrupting and influencing Chen Tianhai’s will.
It seemed fate was on Xuanyuan Tuo's side, that he was not destined to die.
Xingji Daoren temporarily left the Taiyan Sect to deal with a disturbance at the Indeterminate Prison.
Chen Tianhai finally succumbed to the temptations in his heart and secretly activated the Transformation Dao Stone Mother’s divination.
After an unknown number of deductions...
Finally, among countless impossibilities, he found the single, solitary chance of survival!
As if foreseeing the fall of the six Longevity masters, Chen Tianhai’s mind was shaken, and he became utterly distraught.
Meanwhile, Xuanyuan Tuo seized this final opportunity, rushing straight to the small world revealed in the divination.
Just before the six Longevity masters from the immortal sects could surround him, he reached his destination.
The six Longevity cultivators arrived one after another.
Even with his heaven-defying abilities, under the combined assault of six Longevity masters, Xuanyuan Tuo was quickly and severely wounded.
Just as he was about to fall...
The native race of the small world, who had suffered catastrophic losses from the collateral damage of their battle, began an unexpected counterattack.
These beings, whom the six Longevity masters had dismissed as ants not worth a second glance, chanted and summoned a great door.
It enveloped all seven of them, including Xuanyuan Tuo.
The door swung open, and an endless darkness swallowed them all.
Within the Gloomy Sea of Darkness, armed with the foresight from the Transformation Dao Stone Mother’s divination, Xuanyuan Tuo used the reawakened survival instinct of a True Immortal to kill the six Longevity masters one by one.
In the end, however, he succumbed to his grievous injuries and collapsed, unconscious, in the Gloomy Sea of Darkness.
During this time, the Heavenly Doctor, who had been lying dormant and waiting for his chance, finally regained control of the body.
“That murmuring sound... what on earth was it?”
Having witnessed everything from the sidelines, even the Heavenly Doctor was stunned by that mysterious, unfathomable power.
The Heavenly Doctor had believed this body was doomed. He never expected that Xuanyuan Tuo would actually find a path to survival amidst the impossible.
To influence and change reality through past memories...
Such an ability absolutely did not belong in the mortal world!
“More importantly, Xuanyuan Tuo and I are essentially two souls in one body. But that murmuring sound only existed in his memories.”
“Although I know of its existence, I am completely unable to recall it in detail or perceive it...”
The Heavenly Doctor’s mind was shaken, and it took him a long time to calm down.
(End of Chapter)
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