Demon Cultivator with Celestial Book-Chapter 121 - 103: Cultivating for 5000 Years, Not a Single Defeat
True Master Xuanmiao lay sprawled on the threshold of the Merit Supervision Institute’s grand hall, his ears perked up like a lookout on watch.
"So... so tired... I’m exhausted... Meow!"
He panted, tongue lolling out. Just now, he had used that Fire Essence Jade Gui to force an exchange for the "Long-term Nourishing Daoist Embryo Skill," and it had nearly cost him half his life.
If he didn’t have to maintain the bearing of a True Master and the dignity of a teacher, he would have been yowling and rolling all over the floor by now.
’Xiao Jiang’s Dao Wisdom is on par with the Ancestral Sect True Inheritance Level.’
’It takes three to five months to grasp the basics of this Solidification Secret Technique, but memorizing the entire text is much faster—seven or eight days should suffice. It won’t be so impossibly difficult that Xiao Jiang is left racking his brains without a way in.’
True Master Xuanmiao was utterly exhausted. His fur was matted with sweat, clinging to his body as if he’d just been fished out of the water.
The [Tai Yang] was the foremost manifestation in the current age. Aside from the [Tai Yin], which could rival it as an equal, only the [Thunder Core] was autonomous enough to be unaffected.
All others, like the positions of the [Five Elements] and the [Five Qi], were a step below.
As the saying went: when the [Tai Yang] appears, all other Daos follow its lead.
In terms of suppressive power alone, it was utterly tyrannical.
This was especially true for the True Monarch who commanded the [Tai Yang]. He walked a path of imperial supremacy, and empowered by the destiny of the Immortal Dao’s ten-thousand-year resurgence, his manifested power in the world grew ever more immense.
During several Luotian Dao Discussions, the [Tai Yang] had beaten the other Daoist Lineages and True Monarchs of the Yanfu Vast Land so thoroughly they’d nearly lost the will to resist.
A single, boundlessly arrogant remark he’d made in jest was still widely circulated throughout the myriad heavens beyond the cosmos—
"I have cultivated for five thousand years, and to this day, I have never known a single defeat."
’Truly detestable! If not for several Great Powers of the Immortal Dao joining forces to bestow the three great Dharma Lineages of Upper Profound, Upper Yuan, and Upper Origin upon the [Tai Yang]!’
’How could my former master have been left without even the slightest chance!’
True Master Xuanmiao muttered under his breath, his claws scratching at the door’s threshold.
If this were the Dongsheng Continent, he certainly wouldn’t dare speak like this. But now that he was in the Nanzhan Continent, under the rule of the Demon Dao Dharma Lineage, he was a bit braver.
No matter how tyrannical the [Tai Yang] was, he still had to give some face to the Great Powers at the top of the Demon Dao.
Back in the battle of White Jade City, the Immortal Dao had joined forces to shatter his former master’s Golden Position, nearly triggering an Immortal-Demon War of a scale unseen in ancient times.
If not for those bald-headed monks and the Dragon Monarch playing peacemaker and taking sides, things would have been different.
Grandmaster Taiwei would have surely returned from beyond the cosmos to fight a vicious battle, not resting until he had personally made the [Tai Yang] lose its luster.
’Xiao Jiang, you have to make me proud!’
True Master Xuanmiao didn’t actually expect Jiang Yi to be able to overpower the [Tai Yang]; that was a fantasy so wild it wouldn’t even appear in a dream.
He only hoped that Xiao Jiang would reach the peak of the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer, achieve Flying Foundation Establishment, and advance to the rank of True Master.
That way, he would be able to open the [Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven].
’But given the tyranny of the [Tai Yang], Xiao Jiang will probably need to find an Ancestral Sect Dharma Lineage to rely on to advance his rank successfully.’
’Otherwise, the [Thunder Core] will be set in motion, a tribulation will descend, and he’ll be turned to ash in an instant.’
True Master Xuanmiao calculated silently. He wasn’t just some cat that only ate and slept; in his heyday, he had roamed the paths of both the Immortal Dao and the Demon Dao, with friends and connections spread all across the Yanfu Vast Land.
He could find a place for himself anywhere he went just by announcing his name.
Unfortunately, his former master had perished, his Dao extinguished, and Grandmaster Taiwei had left for the regions beyond the cosmos. As a result, his own status had plummeted.
’If this True Master hadn’t fallen on hard times, then based on seniority, Xiao Jiang would at the very least be a ’Daoist’ of an Ancestral Sect Dharma Lineage.’
’Even the Eight Sects True Monarchs would have to address him as ’Junior Master Uncle’ upon seeing him.’
Just as True Master Xuanmiao was reminiscing about his glorious past, the hall suddenly trembled, as if a thunderclap had struck out of a clear sky.
The shock made the round calico cat shiver, and he nearly rolled right off the threshold.
He whipped his head around to see that Jiang Yi, who was sitting cross-legged on a cushion, seemed to have transformed into an oceanic abyss, drawing in and absorbing all the roiling, fiery Spiritual Energy around him.
His Black Shadow Magical Robe billowed without end, its wide sleeves swelling up like rolling waves. WHOOSH. RUSTLE.
From the massive, coffer-like cavern, pillars of Bing Fire Qi that had been gushing outward now resembled stampeding Jiao-dragons and Mang-pythons as they swarmed into the grand hall.
"Nurturing the Dao Embryo, forming a Primordial Body! So that’s how it is. Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
Jiang Yi slowly opened his eyes. The golden glint in them receded, leaving only twin pupils as bright as stars, which shot out brilliant beams of light that illuminated everything inside and outside the hall.
The raging, searing, and potent Yang Qi of the Ding Fire Qi Mechanism poured into him with every breath, vanishing as if into a bottomless abyss without causing the slightest ripple.
"Dense Qi, baleful intent—I will refine it all!"
Jiang Yi smiled faintly, full of confidence. He activated his Primordial Gate, using his Divine Thought to gather the Bing Fire Qi. Then, he circulated the power in his Inner Mansion, where the Spiritual Liquid swirled and condensed, accumulating Merit.
In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the thick, raging pillar of fire—originally dozens of feet high—gradually thinned and dimmed.
He beseeched the Celestial Book, and it manifested before him.
His immense Cultivation at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer had already risen from fifty-two percent to seventy-four percent.
If the Bing Fire Qi hadn’t been converted into Primordial Essence by the "Mixed Refining Origin," and the dense, baleful qi hadn’t been completely absorbed by the "Long-term Nourishing Daoist Embryo Skill"...
...using it purely to increase his Merit might have pushed his progress all the way to the ninety-nine percent level of Perfection.
’Looks like I’ll have to be a Taotie from now on,’ Jiang Yi thought.
Jiang Yi felt that his physical form had undergone a fundamental transformation.
His skin had taken on a faint, almost imperceptible, jade-like luster. His muscles, bones, and flesh felt as though they had been forged ten million times, tempered to an unbelievable degree of resilience.
It gave him the feeling that even if a Qi Cultivation Cultivator were to attack him with a Flying Sword, he could withstand the blow with his physical body alone, so long as he protected his vital points.
’No wonder Cat Master said this technique to solidify the Dao Body was derived from the fundamental principles of refining Sacrificial Artifacts from the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends.’
’The further you progress, the tougher the Dao Body becomes, eventually giving rise to numerous transformations. In terms of physique, it’s absolutely on par with the noble-born of the Demon Race.’
’A Jiao Girl, a Lady Python... even if a True Descendant of the Dragon Monarch herself were to arrive, I could definitely make her bow her head!’
Having formed a crude Dao Embryo Prototype, Jiang Yi circulated the Qi Cultivation General Outline again, and this time, the experience was vastly different.
If he were to let loose and go all out, he could probably devour every last drop of Spiritual Qi in an area dozens of yards around him.
’This chore of suppressing the Fire Cave and Water Cave won’t be a problem anymore.’
Jiang Yi suppressed the eager impulse in his heart. Just as he was about to close his eyes to continue his Cultivation, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
Why was the sky outside the grand hall getting brighter and brighter?
"Meow!"
True Master Xuanmiao looked up, his amber eyes wide as saucers. The fur on his neck stood straight up, and he bristled like a startled animal.
He scrambled up from the threshold and, with a THUD, flung himself into Jiang Yi’s arms, his four paws digging desperately into the front of his robes.
"What’s wrong, Cat Master?"
Jiang Yi was bewildered. When had True Master Xuanmiao ever looked so panicked?
He immediately stood and walked to the threshold, his gaze fixed on the scene outside.
One glance left him stunned as well.
It was nearly dusk. The sun should have been sinking in the west, but for some reason, it was hanging high in the center of the sky!
The incomparably massive, brilliant orb was like the midday sun, brazenly showering the land in its resplendent golden light.
It moved slowly across the firmament like a king on a royal tour, and every inch of the Nanzhan Continent seemed to be enveloped in its immeasurable, radiant might!
"This is..."
Jiang Yi’s face was a mask of astonishment.
True Master Xuanmiao, trembling in his arms, spoke in a voice that had changed pitch entirely:
"It’s the [Tai Yang]! It’s the manifestation of the True Monarch who commands that Daoist Lineage... How could He be so audacious as to come to the Nanzhan Continent, right under the noses of the Demon Dao’s Great Powers!"
Jiang Yi was also shocked. Was the [Tai Yang], the world’s foremost manifestation, truly this tyrannical?
