Chapter 1496: A Moment in the World is the Profound Meaning; Upon Looking Back, the Cat Language Person

Shengming Dao Pan (13).

Just like the previous experiments with Yun Dao Tian.

When the first Yun Dao Zhong was planted, the Shengming Dao Pan lit up faintly, very subtly, and a progress bar appeared.

At the same time, Xu Xiaoshou felt his spirit invigorated, entering a new state he had never experienced before, gaining insights into what seemed like a "brand-new" world.

"Shengming..."

A faint aura of Dao rhythm emanated from him, as if he had slipped into a long-forgotten state of sudden enlightenment.

Yun Dao Tian and Yun Dao Zhong—controllable enlightenment!

But with only one percent progress, it was negligible, offering little substantial help in comprehending the Great Dao of Shengming.

Now, unlike before, Xu Xiaoshou had an abundant stock of passive points, which he could spend freely.

"Then let's do this!"

He spent passive points by the ten thousand.

Yun Dao Zhong after Yun Dao Zhong was exchanged.

Beneath his feet, the Shengming Dao Pan, under this special state of enlightenment, began to glow visibly, growing brighter and more dazzling.

"Shengming Dao Pan (14)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (15)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (20)."

When it broke through the integer threshold of twenty, Xu Xiaoshou clearly felt some kind of shackle breaking.

He realized that this might be the limit an ordinary Refining Spirit Master could reach in a lifetime.

To go further would require deeper refinement, a more thorough understanding of attributes, and each step would be incredibly difficult.

Yun Dao Zhong had no such drawbacks.

Controllable enlightenment allowed breakthroughs in Dao comprehension to be as simple and smooth as eating and drinking.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't stop; he continued planting Yun Dao Zhong recklessly.

"Shengming Dao Pan (21)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (22)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (30)."

When the progress reached the integer of thirty, that sensation of breaking through a bottleneck returned.

Xu Xiaoshou felt refreshed and clear-headed.

All living things in the world, including plants and trees—even those uprooted and broken—seemed to cheer and wave at him.

His body became the center of a vortex, involuntarily drawing in all life energy.

The operation of his basic passive skills also took on a visual, intuitive form:

Everlasting vitality turned out to be his own vital energy rapidly dividing, with "microscopic life" within his body self-replicating and propelling his larger life form to thrive.

Abundant vitality meant that the spiritual energy in his sea of qi and body was self-dividing and reproducing, replenishing consumption and resisting states of severe depletion.

"Is spiritual energy also a form of microscopic life?"

Xu Xiaoshou pondered this and soon understood.

Not just spiritual energy—heavenly spiritual qi could also be seen as a kind of microscopic life.

They moved irregularly; when absorbed by plants, they transformed into plant essence; when absorbed by the human body, they enhanced it...

Xu Xiaoshou realized that the appearance of his Shengming Dao Pan was closely related to his Everlasting Vitality, Abundant Vitality, and his gradually strengthening Refining Spirit realm and life form.

The Great Dao Pan didn't appear without reason; it aimed to deepen and strengthen a particular ability.

And wasn't the essence of the human body a fundamental life form capable of growth?

So...

What about beyond "me"?

Maintaining his controllable enlightenment state, Xu Xiaoshou continued planting Yun Dao Zhong recklessly, clearly perceiving all humanoid life forms around him through his senses.

Interpreting them like weaving patterns, they appeared in his vision as various life diagrams, each glowing uniquely.

Taking Zhong Yuanzi—the Half Saint who embodied "crazy research ideas" and "all Refining Spirit attributes" aside—as a standard baseline...

Xu Xiaoshou saw that Si Ren Mr.'s life force was utterly ordinary; the ancient sword cultivators truly weren't outstanding in this regard, quite mediocre.

The institute head's life force was a cut above; he was relatively young, after all, and had mastered spatial mysteries, with a broad future ahead.

Fang Wenxin was advanced in years!

He looked about the same as Si Ren Mr., but his life force was far inferior, like that of a fading elder.

"A Refining Spirit Master's lifespan should be quite long..."

Upon closer inspection, Xu Xiaoshou discovered that Fang Wenxin's life energy was in a dispersed state.

It was constantly flowing out through invisible threads toward the ghost beast spirit in the Blood Shadow Coin, and once gone, it didn't return.

Thanks to the powerful self-healing ability of a Half Saint, he could maintain this level of consumption, but he couldn't resist the adverse state of depletion.

"Has he been having his life force plundered by the ghost beast?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt a chill; manipulating the Blood Shadow Coin came at such a cost?

Soon, he figured it out—Fang Wenxin couldn't possibly be unaware.

The only explanation was that he was deliberately nurturing the ghost with his own life force, keeping the ghost beast spirit in the Blood Shadow Coin from dissipating...

At this thought, Xu Xiaoshou was slightly moved.

This founding Red Cloak was truly an admirable elder, living up to his name.

Shifting his sensory perspective, Xu Xiaoshou saw the crowds in Yujing City, as insignificant as ants, and the three ancient sword cultivators outside the city, whose life forces were equally unremarkable.

Suddenly, an boundless shock hit his vision!

Xu Xiaoshou focused and saw Yu Lao, with surging vital energy like dragons roaring and tigers howling inside him, as if gazing into an unfathomable vast ocean.

This old man's life force was overwhelmingly powerful!

Compared to Zhong Yuanzi and others, it was a difference of thousands or even tens of thousands of times!

Yet, in the previous battle, he had performed quite ordinarily—not weak, with some highlights, but far from surpassing the level of a peak Half Saint.

He must truly embody the way of mediocrity.

"He's definitely holding back!"

"From this vital energy and life force, Half Saint isn't Yu Lao's limit at all."

"The Kunpeng is too strong; it should have power rivaling a Saint Emperor. No wonder he could withstand my ultimate giant's punch!"

Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts solidified. He suddenly remembered that Yu Lao was still in his human form right now.

In previous fights, he had only summoned illusions of the Kun body or Peng body...

He was hiding so deeply!

This old fellow was deeper than the ocean depths!

In this Zhou of Haoyue, Xu Xiaoshou also caught glimpses of scattered starlight...

It was a mermaid trailing through the starry sea, with exquisite features, skin like frost and snow, stunningly beautiful.

"A mermaid..."

"No! Xiao Yu?"

Upon seeing those pearl-like star pupils, Xu Xiaoshou recognized the mermaid's identity and nearly jolted out of his enlightenment state.

Yu Zhiwen, Yu Zhiwen...

So after liberating her Saint Body, she really turned into a fish—but not a small goldfish, a mermaid?

That didn't seem right!

Since she inherited the Kunpeng bloodline, he thought she would transform into something like a Kunpeng...

But thinking back to the massive, ferocious Kun beast form that Yu Lao transformed into, Xu Xiaoshou decided Kunpeng was fine; this mermaid—or as they called it, the Star Shark Saint Body—was pretty good!

Yu Zhiwen's life diagram was somewhat special.

Unlike others and even her grandfather Yu Lao, it was like a nested Tianji Spirit Array, with fully two layers.

"Hmm..."

This time, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't quite understand it.

He first summarized the conclusions from his observations: the life diagrams of people in the city were generally average.

Only those with spirit bodies or special attributes showed some superiority in life force.

In contrast, high above in the sky—whether Mei Si Ren, Ye Xiaotian, Zhong Yuanzi, Fang Wenxin, or other participants—their life diagrams were all more intricate.

Soon, he figured it out.

"The life levels of spirit bodies and Saint Bodies are higher than ordinary people, which means their potential is greater."

"Essentially, they are no longer 'human,' and indeed, Refining Spirit Masters are stronger than ordinary humans."

"But Yu Zhiwen's..."

Her Tianji technique seemed to have permeated her very bones, even analyzing her life diagram into nested layers.

A double Saint Body?

"What on earth is going on?"

"Xu Xiaoshou, it seems like he's... in enlightenment?"

Up in Yujing City, as the nine-tailed giant paused its frenzy and the Shengming Dao Pan under its feet began to glow brighter,

He was comprehending numerous lives, and these life forms were also peering back at him.

But...

Wasn't this ghost beast contract process going wrong?

It should either fail or succeed; how could it be half-contracted and enter a state of enlightenment?

"He's definitely in enlightenment!"

Zhong Yuanzi stared intently, pointing at the Great Dao diagram under the nine-tailed giant, excitedly saying:

"This is the Shengming Great Dao diagram. I've studied the essence of life existence for a while. He must have contracted the Greedy Abyss and gained a massive amount of life force, leading to some insights..."

"No! Not 'some' insights—'significant' ones!"

The brilliance of the Great Dao diagram and the complexity of its internal Dao patterns were slowly climbing over time.

This progress was visible to the eye and utterly astonishing.

Others might not understand, but as the Element God Envoy, Zhong Yuanzi researched this daily—how could he not grasp it?

His eyes burned with intensity as he scratched his bushy, exploding hair, nearly scratching his scalp raw, yet still unable to find an answer.

"What's going on!"

"How can his enlightenment speed be so fast? This doesn't make sense..."

"Can contracting a ghost beast grant this much at once?"

As soon as Fang Wenxin heard this, he turned with wide eyes in alarm. "Don't you dare get any strange ideas!"

Zhong Yuanzi glanced at him but didn't respond directly, continuing to stare excitedly at the nine-tailed giant.

"We're witnessing a miracle of life!"

Fang Wenxin fell silent for a moment.

He suddenly thought: if Xu Xiaoshou succeeded later and Zhong Yuanzi asked him about it, what if he didn't answer...

After today, would Sheng Mountain lose an Element God Envoy, and Tianxia First Tower gain an explosive Half Saint?

"Someone is observing me."

Ye Xiaotian frowned, scanning around and finding nothing unusual, then hesitated before describing the strange feeling.

Mei Si Ren turned his head in surprise. "I have that feeling too!"

"Really?" Zhong Yuanzi's attention wasn't on this; his expression was fiery.

Fang Wenxin fell silent again; he only sensed a vague strangeness, hard to describe.

Yu Lao looked around and finally locked the observation onto the nine-tailed giant.

He tugged at his granddaughter Yu Zhiwen's hand. "Do you notice anything odd?"

Odd?

Now that he mentioned it, Yu Zhiwen did feel something odd.

Earlier, for a brief moment, she felt as if she had been seen through completely, thinking it was an illusion.

Yu Zhiwen was naturally introverted and disliked standing out.

Back at Sheng Mountain, she never removed her veil, trying hard to minimize her presence.

Even so, she still drew a lot of attention.

This time, if not for the fate of Yujing City's people, she wouldn't have liberated her Saint Body in front of everyone.

Fully expressing herself was easy for some, like Xu Xiaoshou, but for Yu Zhiwen, it was incredibly difficult—a huge leap!

Now, with her grandfather's words, she suddenly noticed that the rumors throughout Yujing City were only partly about the "nine-tailed giant."

Most were discussing how stunning that mermaid was...

Yu Zhiwen's face turned red as she realized where that strange feeling came from, and she quickly retracted her Saint Body.

The diagram dimmed.

Xu Xiaoshou clearly felt the "self-concealment" of life.

Yu Zhiwen's life diagram went from brilliant to dim in an instant, and the surging life force within dropped back to an ordinary level.

He gained some insights from this.

At that moment, the Yun Dao Tian was fully planted with Yun Dao Zhong, blooming countless radiant manifestations of life.

"Shengming Dao Pan (49)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (50)."

Breaking through fifty, Xu Xiaoshou felt the world change.

That profound sensation, like a sudden infusion of wisdom, made his soul tremble and his spirit groan in ecstasy.

It was exhilarating!

The thrill of breakthroughs flowing like water!

Glancing around, Xu Xiaoshou now saw not only the material world but also the lives in the spiritual world with ease.

The Greedy Abyss, which was forming a contract with him and greedily devouring his life force, had a life diagram that was much weaker than Yu Lao's.

But if Yu Lao was an ocean, the Greedy Abyss was a bottomless abyss!

Its upper limit was so high that Xu Xiaoshou didn't even know how to fully fill it!

"This thing..."

At fifty percent of the Shengming Dao Pan, it was only slightly inferior to Ye Xiaotian's spatial mystery array, placing him among the top few, above billions.

Transformed into the ultimate giant, the speed of his vital energy circulation and the height of his life level even surpassed Yu Lao in human form.

Yet, the Greedy Abyss still devoured hungrily, insatiable!

Xu Xiaoshou snapped back to reality; his current priority wasn't comprehending life and unraveling the world's essence—it was contracting the Greedy Abyss.

He maintained his enlightenment state but diverted more focus to the attribute points.

"Yun Dao Zhong, go!"

"Shengming Dao Pan (55)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (60)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (65)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (70)."

As the progress accelerated, experiencing the world through the lens of life became even more fluid.

When it broke seventy, Xu Xiaoshou felt an immense sense of "freedom."

He was almost merging with the Great Dao of Shengming, achieving longevity with the heavens.

With a single thought, it was like severing the Dao, allowing him to integrate into the heavenly Dao principles.

In this state, everything in the world—not just humanoid beings but mountains, great arrays, spiritual tools, and other inanimate objects—could be understood as life.

"All things exist as life!"

"Thinking and activity are the dynamic manifestations of life; stillness like a mountain is the static manifestation of life!"

"The former explores the vastness of the spatial world; the latter follows the rise and fall of the river of time..."

"Plants flourish, seas have life, heavens speak of birth, all things have names..."

Xu Xiaoshou's spirit grew more vibrant.

His life form became even more still.

In the ghost qi vortex, the nine-tailed giant's Dao rhythm condensed to its peak, and a faint Dao sound echoed throughout Yujing City and beyond.

This wasn't anyone preaching the Dao.

It was simply the Shengming Dao Pan breaking through and solidifying, like an ancient tree bearing fruit; anyone near it could gain something.

"What on earth is Xu Xiaoshou doing?"

Ye Xiaotian was shocked.

He witnessed the Shengming Great Dao diagram of the nine-tailed giant go from dim to dazzlingly bright.

Now, it was nearly on par with his own spatial mystery array!

Was this still the Xu Xiaoshou from Tiansang Spirit Palace?

The guy who took three years to master a single style of the Houtian spiritual technique, White Cloud Sword Art?

Had he been possessed?

Could contracting a ghost beast lead to such progress?

Not only Zhong Yuanzi was tempted; Ye Xiaotian suddenly wanted to try contracting a ghost beast himself.

He was green with envy!

He had comprehended the spatial Great Dao for decades to reach his current level, which was already remarkably fast.

But Xu Xiaoshou...

This was practically an overnight achievement!

"I never quite understood how Shi Zun Zuo Kui Lei Han could sit down and, in mere moments, comprehend Thorough Divine Thought."

"Now, I seem to have a slight understanding."

Fang Wenxin stared in utter astonishment at the Shengming Great Dao diagram under the nine-tailed giant...

At this point, calling it a Shengming mystery array wouldn't be an exaggeration!

"The gap between people can truly be this vast."

As a Half Saint, Fang Wenxin felt this impact—for the first time, it was more like a blow.

It wasn't just the saints on the city walls who were amazed; the Refining Spirit Masters in Yujing City watched as if witnessing a miracle.

They realized they were making history.

If the greatest talents on the continent before were Ba Zun An with "three breaths to innate, three years to sword immortal," Kui Lei Han with "standing enlightenment," or Shen Yi with "ghost gate, god proclaimed god"...

None of them delivered a shock as great as Xu Xiaoshou's "one moment to mystery" right now!

Ancient sword techniques, Thorough Divine Thought, ancient martial arts—these were too distant for most people.

But how difficult mysteries were—every low-level Refining Spirit Master in Yujing City knew, and even non-cultivators had heard.

And now...

Right before their eyes, not in legends or rumors—they saw it firsthand...

"One moment to mystery!"

"Has Xu Xiaoshou gone mad? His talent is this high?"

"What exactly is a ghost beast? I want answers! With Master Xu doing this, I think Red Cloak is wrong; we should accept ghost beasts!"

"Shengming mystery, Shengming mystery... Oh heavens! I've barely seen any Shengming attributes, and now suddenly there's a Shengming mystery!"

"After water system mystery and spatial mystery, now comes Shengming mystery. Is the Shengshen Continent entering a full mystery era? Could I be the next one?"

"Get out of here and dream at home!"

Under the gaze of thousands, Xu Xiaoshou was suddenly pulled back from that "free" state by the Greedy Abyss's violent emotions.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

Only at seventy percent...

He had nearly been assimilated by the Great Dao! Was this the terror of the heavenly Dao?

But being mentally linked with the Greedy Abyss at that moment was actually a golden opportunity; at least, he wouldn't truly wander into the void and never return.

And seventy was the limit?

"No!"

"Based on Dao Qiong Cang's theory and my current understanding of 'Shengming'..."

"The Shengming Dao Pan right now is at most on par with the 'Qiong Cang Scroll,' not even matching the institute head's spatial mystery array..."

"Damn it, Water Ghost and Ye Xiaotian are indeed once-in-a-generation geniuses—an eighty percent mystery array is something a human can comprehend?"

"Oh, right, and there's Yu Ling Di, who's even younger and more terrifying!"

The closer he got, the more Xu Xiaoshou realized how frightening the talents of this world's geniuses were!

And perhaps because the first Yun Dao was the Shengming Dao Pan, Xu Xiaoshou dared to assert that Dao Qiong Cang's deductions might be accurate.

Eighty percent was the limit for Refining Spirit Masters here!

To go further might not be about whether they could do it...

But whether continuing would lead to assimilation by the Great Dao, or "death," or perhaps "eternal life"!

Using this as a basis, looking back at what Dao Qiong Cang said...

About Xiao Kong Dong achieving eighty percent in sword Dao, and Ba Zun An reaching ninety...

Ninety percent!

Or even higher!

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt deep reverence and doubt toward that old Ba.

"Seal the sword until old, and in old age, become a saint."

The "saint" in that phrase—surely it didn't just mean a Ten Realm Saint Emperor, or even surpassing that to directly seal as a god and ancestor?

He felt reverence, but Xu Xiaoshou never underestimated himself.

He steeled his heart, thinking: since Ba Zun An could reach ninety percent, he'd go for eighty percent himself—that wasn't too much!

"Shengming Dao Pan (71)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (72)."

"Shengming Dao Pan (80)."

Without stopping, he broke through directly!

As the Shengming Dao Pan under his feet surpassed eighty percent, Xu Xiaoshou felt the world become a form of life, with himself as its master.

"Roar—"

The ghost qi vortex shook.

The nine-tailed giant let out a long howl.

Heavenly phenomena descended; holy rain fell, nourishing all things.

Everyone in Yujing City felt their bodies and souls washed by the surging life rain, as if they had taken a miraculous elixir.

Countless people cheered and cried out, lost in this wave of life.

Even the massive Shengming mystery array that suddenly bloomed under the nine-tailed giant, covering all of Yujing City and extending into the spatial fragments toward the unknown, went unnoticed.

Zhong Yuanzi was lost in this splendor.

Only Ye Xiaotian remained clear-headed!

Ye Xiaotian's eyes were bloodshot; under his feet bloomed a similarly vast, but no longer superior, spatial mystery array.

He compared them...

His mystery array and the nine-tailed giant's, aside from attribute differences, were almost identical in brilliance and pattern complexity.

Or was it just his imagination? Xu Xiaoshou's seemed even brighter.

Ye Xiaotian stared fixedly at the nine-tailed giant, jealous to the point his fists clenched and teeth gritted:

"Xu Xiaoshou, you deserve to die..."

The world was lost.

Xu Xiaoshou awoke from the "warm" and "vast" ocean of life, seeing an exquisite human diagram appear beside him.

He realized he was still in the spiritual world.

He was dazed.

Suddenly, that human diagram lunged at him, pinning him down; a moist sensation came to his cheek, followed by a low, intimate whisper in his ear.

"Meow"

Xu Xiaoshou froze.

He heard not only a cat's meow but another enchanting voice:

"Master"