Chapter 315: Twelve-Character Tao Seed

The Netherflower Black Marsh is a crucial training and treasure-hunting ground, as it yields "Meditation Flowers" and "Lingtai Blazing Star Stones." Consequently, a significant number of divine cult disciples frequently travel its paths. They mostly traveled in groups of three to five.

To avoid revealing their whereabouts, Li Weiyi and his two companions put on masks. Li Weiyi inquired among the returning disciples, hoping to purchase fragments of Lingtai Blazing Star Stones from them on credit. All attempts ended in failure. The Daoist disciples were extremely cautious, as if guarding against thieves. They either kept their distance or claimed to have found nothing. If not for the powerful enemies and pursuers, Li Weiyi, in his capacity as a Divine Son, would have truly stopped them and inspected their spatial bags one by one.

The journey of 500 li was rugged and challenging, with numerous forks in the road. They also occasionally encountered special zones that required detours. In the end, they trekked nearly 1,000 li. The black mud swamp before them reeked of a pungent odor. The soil was soft and waterlogged. The air was thick with miasma that had lingered for tens of thousands of years, severely impairing visibility. The swamp was not completely dark, as many glowing plants grew within it, and luminous, fierce insects occasionally flew past.

"The Netherflower Black Marsh, as recorded in the scriptures, spans over a thousand li. It was a major battlefield during the era of the ancient Brahmana Cult. This place was once incredibly magnificent, but it was ravaged into its current state by the fighting."

"Beneath the mud, countless structures and corpses lie buried. The area is fraught with extreme dangers and bizarre phenomena; even after a thousand years, it remains uncleared."

"Within 100 li is considered a relatively safe zone. Beyond 300 li, it is absolutely forbidden to step foot."

Li Weiyi relayed the information from the book to his two companions: "We will search separately. If any of us encounters danger, we'll notify each other with a whistle. I've personally drawn one Divine Movement Talisman for each of you."

"Sikong Jingyuan, Yi Zhuxue, and potentially other enemies will likely realize they've been tricked soon enough. They will come looking for us here eventually, so we must be extremely cautious."

"Old Qi, your cultivation is a bit weaker. Take this Grade 4 Hundred-Character Stealth Robe and wear it first."

This stealth robe had been given to him by An Xianjing.

The three dispersed and charged into the Netherflower Black Marsh. Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao were formidable in strength, and having survived the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, they possessed ample wit and life-saving abilities, making them fully capable of handling themselves. Thus, Li Weiyi was not overly concerned about their safety.

After plunging into the swamp, Li Weiyi concealed his aura and altered his course, heading towards a secluded, peripheral area. Upon reaching shore, he found a mountain range, over a thousand meters high, stretching before him. The mountain range was dark and barren of vegetation, its many peaks standing like a colossal dragon sprawling across the eastern side of the Netherflower Marsh.

After walking for half a day, Li Weiyi discovered a cave in the mountains. Only after confirming that it had been untouched for many years did he venture inside. The cave's stone walls were adorned with carved Buddha statues and densely covered with icy silk spiderwebs. After slaying the two spiders, a mating pair, that had been entrenched in the cave, Li Weiyi occupied their nest alone. He then used large rocks to seal the cave entrance tightly.

Still uneasy, he took out his Yellow Dragon Sword and dug down 100 meters underground. Standing in the pitch-black depths underground, he could hear no sound from the surface. Li Weiyi finally felt at ease and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

"Whoosh!"

His glabella glowed. Luminous particles, like a swarm of fireflies, flew and drifted through the underground passage, illuminating the darkness. These glowing particles surged towards the two fish eyes of the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish. One represented the Shaoyang Star, and the other contained the power of time. Li Weiyi wondered what would happen if both were activated simultaneously. Would he be sent directly back to Earth?

"Click-clack!"

The Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish slowly began to rotate. After three rotations, distant chanting and Daoist incantations resonated in Li Weiyi's ears, growing increasingly clear and loud, as if another world was drawing near. The space around him began to distort. The underground scene gradually blurred.

"Whoosh!"

Countless Daoist scriptures and Buddhist sutras flew out from the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish, densely circling his body and filling the space. These profoundly abstruse Daoist scriptures and Buddhist sutras transformed into two swirling seas of text, one suspended above his head and the other below him, rotating like a Taiji symbol. Everything else vanished, and Li Weiyi felt as if he were sitting in the void of the universe, soaring amidst the boundless Great Dao.

It was truly astounding! His heart surged with emotion, unable to find calm. He stood up and walked into the sea of scriptures. With every step he took, the scriptures beneath his feet trembled. Li Weiyi reached out, attempting to grasp a Daoist character, but it slipped through his fingers. He couldn't hold onto it.

He pondered for a moment, then performed the Jade Void Breathing Technique. His mind gradually calmed, his spirit cleared, and his intellect sharpened. He slowly raised both arms and executed the first stance of the Twelve Loose Hands of the Gate of Sealing: "Overturning Heaven Palm Imprint." He then performed the second, then the third stance, and so on... He practiced them again and again.

Twelve towering divine phantoms, embodying combat techniques and willpower, appeared at twelve points within the sea of text. Their bodies were as vast as mountains, sacred and majestic, with an extraordinary presence. Their eyes, filled with spirituality and wisdom, made them seem alive, far more than mere shadows. Li Weiyi opened his eyes and gazed around, feeling as insignificant as a speck of dust before them.

"Could those twelve figures from the Chan Sect legends truly exist?"

"Their auras are more terrifying than those of transcendent beings. If they once appeared on Earth, where did they go afterward?"

"Why did they leave behind legends on Earth?"

At this moment, Li Weiyi felt none of his previous shock or trepidation. He was able to face the gazes of the twelve divine phantoms with a strange calmness that even he found unsettling.

"Are these still manifestations of my combat techniques?"

Li Weiyi extended his right hand, fingers splayed, reaching towards one of the divine phantoms – a youthful figure with white hair, riding an immortal beast – intending to absorb it into his Divine Aperture.

"Haha!"

A vast, deafening laugh resonated, shaking heaven and earth. That divine phantom actually "came alive," twirling its beard and laughing aloud: "With a wave of Jade Void, myriad laws shatter; a single imprint overturns the heavens and suppresses mountains and rivers." It struck out with its palm, and instantly, a divine imprint countless times larger than Li Weiyi's body manifested. It descended from the sky amid thunder and lightning, causing space to collapse.

Li Weiyi's expression suddenly changed. Though he didn't know where the courage came from, he wasn't frightened into submission. Instead, with both hands raised as if supporting the heavens, he managed to steadily prop up the divine imprint. It was an immense struggle, yet he managed to bear it. It was remarkably bizarre!

From within the divine imprint, countless Great Dao symbols flew out, solidifying into scriptures. Li Weiyi gazed at the scriptures floating before him. Though he had never seen them, they felt as familiar as words he had known since childhood. Yet, he couldn't understand them, which was agonizing.

"These must be the Dao I accessed while cultivating the Overturning Heaven Palm Imprint. I must comprehend them to make them my own and condense them into a Dao Seed."

"Boom!"

The divine imprint above Li Weiyi's head was struck and sent flying by a familiar sword. It was the Yellow Dragon Sword! The divine phantom wielding the Yellow Dragon Sword declared aloud: "A solitary crane shadow battles beyond the clouds; with a Daoist heart of non-action, one laughs at the mortal world. Since you cannot comprehend his Dao, then forge a Dao Seed with my Dao."

The Yellow Dragon Sword struck, unleashing ten thousand soaring dragons. "Roar!" Li Weiyi fought against the ten thousand dragons, but he was utterly outmatched. He could only employ the "Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven" technique and flee towards the heavens.

"The Grand Unity Divine Sword severs karma, subduing demons and devils to manifest compassion."

A divine phantom directly above him swung its sword downwards, parting the sea as it descended. Li Weiyi now understood that everything before him was not real. He wasn't fighting those twelve individuals, but rather contending with their Daos. Having cultivated the Chan Sect's Twelve Loose Hands for many years, he possessed the ability to communicate with twelve different Daos.

"I cannot evade. Whatever move they strike with, I will use that very same move."

"I must observe! This is a rare learning opportunity. Their moves are infinitely profound, perhaps even more powerful than Emperor Arts."

Li Weiyi's resolve was firm, fearless and dauntless. He drew his Yellow Dragon Sword, executed the Grand Unity Sea-Parting technique, and thrust directly towards the firmament. With a single sword strike, he shattered the sword that had descended upon him, parting the sea. A radiant golden scripture fell into his body and floated within his Divine Aperture.

Li Weiyi inwardly observed his Divine Aperture and found that he could actually understand this scripture. It resembled both the traces of sword techniques and the pathways of energy circulation, along with a mysterious feeling he couldn't quite articulate.

"My sword technique is stronger than his, so I gained a Great Dao symbol, which solidified into a scripture, allowing me to directly plant the Dao."

Li Weiyi's mind was perfectly clear, understanding that the reason was his extensive effort put into the "Grand Unity Sea-Parting" technique. He had employed it many times in moments of crisis, comprehending it more thoroughly, which allowed him to easily obtain the Dao Seed.

"Since that's the case, then come! I will accept all your Daos."

Li Weiyi rapidly charged towards the next divine phantom, his aura steadily rising. His thoughts were active, and his battle intent boiled. Time passed as he continued to observe, comprehend, and battle, again and again. Li Weiyi stepped on a Jade Cauldron light-phantom, crushing the Jade Cauldron flying towards him, and thus obtained the twelfth scripture.

The entire world fell silent. Within Li Weiyi's Divine Aperture, the twelve scriptures rapidly rotated and flew, causing the liquefied Dharma energy to form a vortex. This vortex spread throughout his body, drawing all the Dharma energy from his seven Qi Seas into his Divine Aperture. The Dharma energy condensed, like a continuous drizzle, turning into liquid.

Gradually, within the liquid Dharma energy, the twelve scriptures converged, wrapping together to form a crystal-clear, brilliant Dao Seed. This instantly illuminated the dark and empty Divine Aperture even more extensively. Wherever the light shone, it was filled with Dharma energy mist.

What surprised Li Weiyi was that as this twelve-character Dao Seed rotated, faint Taiji patterns and swastika light-phantoms flickered, revealing countless Dao traces. With the successful Dao planting in his Divine Aperture, the spring eye below was covered by liquid Dharma energy.

"Condensing the Dao Seed completely drained all seven of my Qi Seas. I wonder if directly mobilizing the liquid Dharma energy within my Divine Aperture to unleash martial arts techniques and Daoist spells would make them more powerful?"

Li Weiyi retracted his mental power, and instantly, the seas of Daoist characters and Buddhist sutras flew back into the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish. The distorted space around him returned to normal, and he reappeared in the underground cave. The profound emptiness from his seven Qi Seas caused Li Weiyi immense discomfort, more painful than ten days of starvation. Therefore, he independently activated the Buddha Relic Fish Eye, entered the Blood Mud Space, and traveled to Tanggu Sea.

On the sea surface, he performed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, absorbing the Dharma energy from between heaven and earth. As he breathed in and out, Dharma energy entered from outside, circulating and condensing around the twelve-character Dao Seed within his Divine Aperture. Li Weiyi distinctly felt that the level of Dharma energy condensing in his Qi Seas had significantly increased, and his physical body underwent a subtle yet profound further transformation. Both his Ancestral Field and Wind Palace expanded further as well.