Chapter 311: Palace Hard Training, Entering the Dao Seed Realm

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

Li Weiyi had been staying with An Xianjing the entire time, each day feeling like a year. He was constantly worried about Tang Wanzhou's situation being discovered and, consequently, dared not go to Tanggu Sea to cultivate with the aid of the Fusang Divine Tree and the Cocoon of Time. As a result, his cultivation progress was extremely slow.

Fortunately, during this period, An Xianjing reattached the severed arms of Qi Xiao and Tuobabu Tuo.

An Xianjing often discussed Buddhist teachings with him, but Li Weiyi, being from a Daoist background, had no understanding of them. Therefore, he could only recite some well-known Buddhist maxims, such as "The body is a Bodhi tree, the mind like a clear mirror stand," and "Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Form is precisely emptiness, emptiness is precisely form..."

To his surprise, she listened with great earnestness, seemingly gaining genuine insights.

On this particular day, An Xianjing finally integrated the Sixfold Karma Burning Art with her spiritual power. The Sixfold Phenomenon manifested around her, appearing dreamlike and illusory. Thunder and rain coexisted, ceaselessly undergoing annihilation and rebirth, at times appearing utterly empty, and at others, vibrant with color.

The entire Southern Pure Palace was bathed in a boundless fiery glow, yet these flames were not purely destructive. Under her precise control, they drifted even through vegetation without harming a single thing.

The entire headquarters was enveloped in a wondrous realm of ephemeral dreams. In the sky, one side was ablaze with fiery clouds, while the other was obscured by a curtain of thunder and rain.

An Xianjing fully withdrew her powers and rose from the field ridge. Her excellent mood was reflected in her countenance, transforming her into a pure immortal being. She exuded boundless vitality, her skin and hair radiating a divine luster. Her features were more youthful and refined than ever before, embodying a subtle, elegant beauty that utterly captivated the soul.

Li Weiyi, who had been meditating on the other side of the field ridge, waited until all the unusual phenomena had dissipated before asking, "Has the Palace Lord stepped into the Transcendent Realm?"

"Transcending is not that easy," An Xianjing replied. "However, the door has been opened. Stepping through it is only a matter of time; my spiritual power is still not strong enough."

An Xianjing was in a wonderful mood as she leisurely gazed at Li Weiyi, her voice melodic: "You are truly fated with Buddhism. Read more scriptures, do not indulge in carnal pleasures, and cease all the fighting and killing. Cultivate your mind and body, and perhaps in the future, you may become a true Buddha."

"Practice the Guanyin Enlightenment Technique more," she continued. "Using its combat intent, communicate with the Great Dao of heaven and earth to condense a Buddhist Dao Seed."

"You also show great talent with the Sixfold Karma Burning Art; in just three months, you've already achieved minor mastery. Dedicate more time to cultivating it, and within a year or two at most, you should achieve great mastery."

Li Weiyi listened quietly, sensing that Palace Lord An's guidance was somewhat "retaliatory." After all, over the past three months, Li Weiyi had provided her with significantly more guidance; she had even learned the Guanyin Enlightenment Technique through repeated practice. Although An Xianjing didn't explicitly say so, she must have been inwardly a little tired of it. Now that the Sixfold Karma Burning Art had advanced further, she finally felt vindicated, her demeanor brimming with triumphant pride.

Seizing the opportunity while she was in a good mood, Li Weiyi said, "Palace Lord, the identity of the Fourth Divine Child... it truly feels more like a curse than a blessing. Could you please not bestow it upon me?"

"Are you afraid of Sikong Jingyuan and Sikong Yanlun?" An Xianjing asked, her smile fading.

"It's not that I'm afraid of them," Li Weiyi replied. "It's simply that I prefer to keep a low profile and dislike drawing attention to myself."

"You wish to be low-key, yet you killed Wang Shu?" An Xianjing retorted, her tone sharp but devoid of anger. "Countless people dream of obtaining the position of Divine Child, and you're declining it? What's wrong? Do you believe the Inao Sect's Divine Child is inferior to the Jiuli Tribe's Divine Hermit?"

"Of course not..." Li Weiyi began.

An Xianjing cut him off. "Divine Children are not required to undertake missions every season. Furthermore, as the Fourth Divine Child, you would receive 100,000 merit points each season—400,000 annually—which can be exchanged for substantial resources. In the future, you'll even be able to construct your own residence at the headquarters. You can't possibly intend to live with your master forever, can you?"

"Moreover, Divine Children have the authority to mobilize vast resources and personnel when outside the headquarters. Within the Divine Sect, the Heaven's Hall's influence surpasses that of the other three halls combined, boasting hundreds of millions of followers, which is why it has three Deputy Palace Lords."

"In terms of overall strength, the Divine Sect is not significantly inferior to the imperial court."

"When you killed Wang Zhi and the others, all of whom were also at the Dao Seed Realm, why did it cause no stir? Yet, killing Wang Shu almost led to a joint tribunal by the Four Halls? It's precisely because the higher your status, the greater the cost they must incur to move against you."

An Xianjing tossed him the Divine Child's life token, which was engraved with Li Weiyi's name. "Remember to drip your blood into this token," she instructed. "Don't imagine you can still draw a clear line between yourself and the Divine Sect. If you flee or betray us, what will become of your master? Both your master and I are vouching for you."

"Cultivate the rice diligently here in the Southern Pure Palace. When your master returns, have her take you to the Hall of Heavenly Principles to complete the sacrificial proclamation ceremony for your enfeoffment as a Divine Child."

Having spoken, An Xianjing gracefully stepped out of the formation's shimmering veil. Swinging prayer beads with one hand and keeping the other behind her back, she walked with an air of profound mystery toward the exit of the Southern Pure Palace.

"Greetings, Palace Lord!""Welcome, Palace Lord, upon your emergence from seclusion!""Heavenly phenomena appeared! Congratulations, Palace Lord, on your significant cultivation advancement; transcendence is within reach!"

Outside the Southern Pure Palace, a vast crowd had gathered. The preceding astonishing phenomena had drawn countless disciples and elders from the headquarters, who now offered their collective congratulations. The scene was exceptionally lively, with everyone celebrating. An Xianjing's choice to seclude herself in the Southern Pure Palace rather than the Spirit Valley Hall subtly bestowed additional prestige upon the Southern Venerable's senior disciple, who was stationed there. This newly appointed Fourth Divine Child held extraordinary significance in Palace Lord An's eyes.

After An Xianjing departed, Li Weiyi was finally able to secretly enter the Blood Mud Space, where he could use the Fusang Divine Tree and the Cocoon of Time to accelerate the cultivation of his Seventh Sea. During this time, he naturally had to guard against Tang Wanzhou discovering his secret. After becoming a Three-Star Spiritual Master, his Cocoon of Time could be maintained for a full ten days, while only three days would pass in the outside world.

For the next six months, Li Weiyi became remarkably compliant, rarely leaving the Southern Pure Palace except to exchange for cultivation resources. An Xianjing and Yao Qingxuan observed that he had finally ceased yearning for the outside world, content to cultivate peacefully and tend to the golden rice. Seeing his diligence and obedience, both women brought him gifts upon their return from outside.

During this period, Li Weiyi accompanied Yao Qingxuan to the Hall of Heavenly Principles to complete the sacrificial proclamation ceremony. Becoming the Fourth Divine Child of a "heretical sect" was acceptable to him, provided he wasn't compelled to commit any truly wicked acts. He was content to cultivate peacefully within the headquarters. In any case, he had also saved a young lord from the Northern Realm, ensuring he had a potential escape route should he ever find himself in an untenable position.

Inside the Cocoon of Time, within the Blood Mud Space.

Li Weiyi finally completed the cultivation of the Seventh Sea. At the moment of its culmination, his entire body—including his mark veins, string veins, and ten springs—erupted in a dazzling golden radiance, accompanied by a resonant sound, as if countless harp strings were vibrating in unison. This marked the process of his entire foundation further solidifying and consolidating after reaching Grand Completion of the Five Seas Realm. His mark veins, string veins, and physical body all received a significant enhancement. The spring-eyes of his magical power became even more turbulent. The inner world barriers of his seven Qi Seas glimmered brightly. Upon reaching the Dao Seed Realm, he would no longer need to rely on spring fluid to expand his Wind Mansion and Ancestral Field.

After half a day... "Whoosh!"

A spatial fluctuation erupted from Li Weiyi's Ancestral Field, located below his navel. Subsequently, it connected internally and externally, vigorously absorbing the Five Elements energy from the heavens and earth. The Five Elements energy then transformed into two types of Qi: clear and turbid. The clear Qi floated upward, turning dark like the sky, while the turbid Qi settled downward, turning yellow like the earth.

"It was incredibly difficult, but finally complete," Li Weiyi murmured. "The Wind Mansion is 36,000 units, and the Ancestral Field is 72,000, subtly aligning with the numbers of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Fiends."

Li Weiyi was filled with profound emotion, feeling as if he had journeyed 108,000 li to finally obtain the true scriptures. He had spent an immense amount of time consolidating and cultivating in the Sixth and Seventh Seas, consuming vast resources and wealth. Yet, there was nothing he could do, for his inner world was truly immense. His Fourth and Fifth Seas alone were comparable in size to others' entire Wind Mansions and Ancestral Fields. For his Wind Mansion and Ancestral Field, spanning 108,000 units, other martial cultivators would require decades to achieve complete mastery.

"The Ancestral Field is indeed very different from the Wind Mansion," he mused. "It's like a world with its own heaven and earth, not merely a larger space. No wonder cultivating the Dao in the Wind Mansion cannot lead to breakthrough and immortality."

"Eh! How can this be?"

Li Weiyi internally observed his Ancestral Field and discovered an astounding sight. The Ninth Spring, the Ancestral Field, was situated below his navel. The Tenth Spring, the Divine Que, was positioned in his navel, directly above the Ancestral Field. The Ancestral Field resembled a spherical world, while the boundless Divine Que above it appeared like a vast, empty universe, suspended directly over the Ancestral Field. More crucially, within the Divine Que, beyond the observable region shrouded by immortal mists, lay an outer expanse that was dark, hollow, and infinite, perfectly mirroring the vastness of the cosmos. Li Weiyi could even envision that the darkness beyond the Divine Que's observable region might very well encompass the Ancestral Field, and perhaps even his Wind Mansion and Five Seas. The scene within his body left him in profound shock.

"If the Ancestral Field is destined to become part of the Divine Que in the future," he pondered, "then I could entirely bypass it and directly use the Divine Que to plant my Dao. What sprouts on a planet might be towering trees, but what grows within the universe would be divine trees of heaven and earth, ancient stellar plants, completely breaking free from worldly constraints."

His emotions gradually calmed.

Li Weiyi decided to first plant a Dragon Seed in his Wind Mansion as practice. Studying the Great Dao insights of ancient emperors wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, even Master Guan had said that the dragon race's Dao was one of the most magnificent Great Daos in existence, considered a top-grade Dao Seed. Planting a Dragon Seed for Dao cultivation isn't about entirely replicating the cultivation path of flying dragons. It's merely a seed! While absorbing the Great Dao insights of ancient emperors, one simultaneously integrates one's own cultivation experiences, ensuring that the Dao cultivated by each person is unique. This is a common practice among the dragon race and other factions possessing ancient emperor Dao Seeds. It's like the countless seeds produced by a single tree.

"Boom!"

Li Weiyi withdrew a Dragon Seed, embedded it into his Wind Mansion, and meticulously nurtured it with his magical Qi. The Dragon Seed, resembling a radiant dragon pearl, shimmered with crystalline brilliance. Nurtured by the magical Qi, countless scripture symbols, each the size of a mosquito's leg, began to emerge within the Dragon Seed. These symbols were mysterious and abstruse, taking on myriad forms: some resembling lines of talismans, others dragon claws, wind and rain, or even lightning and thunder.

All scriptures in this world are symbols of the Dao. Rune-texts, insect-texts, formation-texts, pill-texts, artifact-texts, and beast-texts—it is precisely because they are symbols of the Dao that they can absorb the energy of heaven and earth and convert it into various extraordinary powers. The scriptures found in ancient texts were, at minimum, left by transcendent beings and are thus referred to as "Great Dao Scriptures." Cultivators cannot directly perceive or touch the Dao; they must rely on Great Dao Scriptures for comprehension and understanding. The Dao Seed Realm is a process of continually contemplating various ancient texts. If one can fully comprehend them, they can communicate with the Great Dao, subsequently condensing corresponding scriptures within their body, allowing them to constantly grow, take root, sprout, flower, and bear fruit.

If Li Weiyi were to communicate with the mysterious laws of heaven and earth through his combat intent, in order to condense the Dao Seed most suited to him, he would first need to comprehend his unique scriptures before he could complete the Dao planting process. The advantage of planting a Dragon Seed for Dao cultivation is that he doesn't need to take this preliminary step, as countless ancient emperor scriptures are already contained within the Dao Seed. He merely needed to construct a soul bridge to connect his soul spirit with the Dragon Seed. By merging his soul spirit and combat intent, he could continuously absorb magical Qi to strengthen himself. This also enabled his own insights to be consistently imprinted into the Dragon Seed, allowing him to forge his unique martial path through it.

On the surface of the Dragon Seed, countless scriptures continuously flickered as magical Qi thoroughly permeated it, completing the refinement process. As it slowly rotated, sending out rings of ripples, the magical Qi within Li Weiyi's body, centered around his Wind Mansion, underwent a profound transformation. This transformation continued for a full day.

Li Weiyi had completed the Dao planting and officially entered the Dao Seed Realm!