Chapter 721
“The path of the divine is indeed a path for cultivators, yet in the end, they will be bound by the mundane thoughts of the world.” The tone of Ni Chang Yuan Jun was tinged with a deep despair, “There is no escape.”
Zhang Shijie understood in her heart that if it weren’t for the One Qi Transforming into Three Purities, her junior brother would also find it hard to escape this predicament.
She could empathize with Ni Chang Yuan Jun’s despair.
Even if, at the beginning, cultivators might indulge in the rapid progress of divine cultivation, they would ultimately meet the same fate as the Heavenly Sovereign.
Even without that, as a Dao Fruit cultivator, being constrained by the mundane world makes true freedom a rare thing.
“Though our Yaochi has various secret methods to suppress the desires of incense and offerings, we still cannot break free from the divine path.”
“The way of heaven is such—every sip and every peck has its reasons.”
Zhang Shijie shook her head.
“Exactly. When we were weak, we could gain endless benefits from the divine path, but now we must face such constraints. It’s just… ultimately unsatisfactory.”
Zhang Shijie nodded.
This was human nature.
The Xuanwei Immortal Path has always been about diminishing the insufficient and replenishing the abundant.
Yet the divine path is rare in that it diminishes the abundant to replenish the insufficient—it almost turns divine cultivators into servants of the mundane.
When cultivators are weak, it’s bearable.
But for a true immortal like Ni Chang Yuan Jun, it is naturally intolerable.
“In truth, if it were only this, Yaochi wouldn’t be embroiled in internal strife,” Ni Chang Yuan Jun continued, “but divine cultivators are constantly teetering on the edge of losing themselves.”
Zhang Shijie couldn’t help but look at Ni Chang Yuan Jun with curiosity, feeling that she seemed quite normal.
“Yaochi has stood for so many years, naturally possessing its own secret methods, stronger than those of ordinary divine cultivators.”
“But we still cannot avoid being taken advantage of.”
Zhang Shijie narrowed her eyes: “Leiyin Temple?”
Ni Chang Yuan Jun nodded gently.
“Yaochi currently has two true immortals residing, one is me, and the other is the Heavenly Maiden.”
“Heavenly Maiden?”
“The Heavenly Maiden,” Ni Chang Yuan Jun whispered, “originally, she was known as the Hundred Flowers Heavenly Maiden…”
“Originally?” Zhang Shijie found it increasingly strange.
“Now she calls herself… the Blissful Heavenly Maiden.”
……
“The Blissful Heavenly Maiden?”
Zheng Fa stepped out of the small courtyard, glancing at Mu Qingyan and Gu Chang, who were preparing, feeling a bit curious:
“What does that title mean?”
Zhang Shijie’s expression was also somewhat peculiar: “According to Ni Chang Yuan Jun, this is what her followers changed it to.”
“……”
Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned, but quickly understood: “So her followers have a problem?”
“Yes, it’s said that Leiyin Temple used some method to confuse them, causing them to unite in heart and soul, transforming that Hundred Flowers Heavenly Maiden into the Blissful Heavenly Maiden. Since then, the Blissful Heavenly Maiden has subtly regarded Leiyin Temple as her superior.”
“This collaboration of the three sects is her opposition.”
Zheng Fa felt a toothache upon hearing this.
Can they really do that?
Zheng Fa understood that this was a form of losing oneself.
But what made Leiyin Temple so troublesome was their ability to leverage the power of incense, turning a Dao Fruit cultivator into someone with a completely altered personality…
This was no simple feat; Zheng Fa couldn’t even fathom how they accomplished it.
No wonder Ni Chang Yuan Jun was so desperate regarding the divine path.
In fact, when he had previously heard that the divine path was a cage, Zheng Fa had been somewhat dismissive.
The divine path is a relatively tight-knit system, and Ni Chang Yuan Jun was actually a beneficiary of this system.
You can’t just think it’s bad once you become powerful; it’s a bit like biting the hand that feeds you.
But hearing about the Blissful Heavenly Maiden’s plight, Zheng Fa felt a chill run down his spine and was puzzled:
What is Taishang Dao doing while Leiyin Temple is causing all this trouble?
He shook his head, dismissing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and asked, “So after such a trial, could the Blissful Heavenly Maiden be stronger than Ni Chang Yuan Jun?”
“At first, no, but with Leiyin Temple backing her, Ni Chang Yuan Jun has no way to counter,” Zhang Shijie explained. “But now, Ni Chang Yuan Jun is indeed at a disadvantage.”
“Hmm?”
“The followers of the Blissful Heavenly Maiden are extremely fervent. According to Ni Chang Yuan Jun, the Blissful Heavenly Maiden seems to possess some special elixir that can plunge all her followers into a state of bliss.”
“……”
“Moreover, with the help of Leiyin Temple, the power of the Blissful Heavenly Maiden is growing. If it weren’t for the fear of the Yaochi Water Mother, they would have likely turned Yaochi upside down by now.”
“Yaochi Water Mother?”
“The founder of Yaochi, at least of Golden Immortal cultivation level.”
Zheng Fa pondered over the news brought by Zhang Shijie.
The divine path, in essence, requires the faith of its followers.
But followers aren’t foolish; they need to see some benefits in return, at the very least, they seek happiness and a peaceful life.
Traditional divine cultivators, including Zheng Fa, are relatively honest: they aim to genuinely provide welfare for their followers.
But the Blissful Heavenly Maiden has found a loophole.
That elixir sounds dubious at first glance.
Yet it truly works.
It might even be the most powerful method of combat…
“Junior brother? How should we respond?”
Zheng Fa knew what his sister was asking.
No wonder Ni Chang Yuan Jun was so eager to heed Taishang Dao’s words; the moment the Xuan Ding Patriarch sent a message, she came right away.
Clearly, there was no other option; she sought help from Taishang Dao.
Now she recognized the value of the trade routes in the Eastern Continent, especially their value to her, which made her so agitated that she even proactively offered elixirs to curry favor.
“We need to cooperate…” Zheng Fa thought it over, feeling increasingly wary of Leiyin Temple, “This nail, if left in the Western Continent, holds value.”
To be frank, if Yaochi were to be destroyed by Leiyin Temple, it would be the Hundred Immortals Alliance facing them directly.
It’s better for Yaochi to hold its ground.
“Then the divine path…” Zhang Shijie frowned, “No wonder it’s in decline.”
The flaws of the divine path were laid bare in the matter of the Blissful Heavenly Maiden.
And Yaochi still stands as the leader of the divine path; their true immortals are all like this, while the struggles of other divine cultivators are easy to imagine.
“Senior sister.” Zheng Fa looked at Gu Chang and Mu Qingyan approaching, noticing the excitement on Gu Chang’s face, and said softly, “Since the ‘Huang Ting Jing’ (Yellow Court Classic), we have embarked on a new path unprecedented in history.”
“Divine path, or Yang Shen (Sun God), Dharma body, or even Tianhe Fa (Heavenly River Method)… which one doesn’t have its issues?”
Zhang Shijie understood Zheng Fa’s meaning.
If there were no such problems, perhaps the Jiu Shan Sect wouldn’t be in its current state.
“The innovation of the Xuanwei Divine Path may very well need to start with our Jiu Shan Sect.” Zheng Fa pointed at Gu Chang, “Starting with him.”
“Gu Chang, are you ready?”
Gu Chang stood before Zheng Fa.
Mu Qingyan handed him a vial of spirit root growth essence.
Gu Chang uncorked the vial and drank the liquid in one go, kneeling on the ground, bowing his head in silence.
Zheng Fa smiled gently, extending his hand to rest on Gu Chang’s head.
Lightning flickered.
……
Ten days later, in the Jiu Shan Realm, the Sun and Moon Bell suddenly boomed.
Heaven and earth, countless beings looked up.
A golden crow pulled a divine chariot, and a purple-clad divine being sat atop it, the Sun and Moon Bell trembling slightly in their hand.
This divine being was naturally Zheng Fa’s Yang Shen.
As the bell’s sound gradually faded, Zheng Fa pointed at the Sun and Moon Bell, his voice booming louder than the earlier sound that resonated through heaven and earth:
“From this day forth, the Jiu Shan Realm shall have the Transcendence and Spirit Cleansing Pool!”
As his words fell, thousands of thunderbolts rained down from the Sun and Moon Bell, coalescing into a thunder pool!
Some disciples of Jiu Shan naturally remembered that this thunder pool was originally a divine ability of the Sun and Moon Bell, powerful enough to suppress the transformation of gods.
But now, for some reason, this thunder pool had fallen into the realm.
And it was called the Transcendence and Spirit Cleansing Pool by the sect leader.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 496: Yang Shen’s Corpse Dissolution, Jiu Shan Heavenly Court
Chapter 496: Yang Shen’s Corpse Dissolution, Jiu Shan Heavenly Court
Like the countless people in the Jiu Shan Realm, Zheng Fa also gazed at his Yang Shen.
He sat on a meditation cushion, with auspicious clouds above his head.
Above the auspicious clouds stood his Yang Shen.
At this moment, his Yang Shen and his Yang Shen body were separated by thousands of miles, yet due to the One Qi Transforming into Three Purities technique, they were truly one entity.
It was as if they shared the same eyes, the same ears, and the same body.
What was seen and felt was indistinguishable.
The only difference was that the sensations of the Yang Shen body seemed to be separated by a layer of wondrous distance in Zheng Fa’s Yang Shen’s perspective:
He could see everything in detail.
Yet he could not truly empathize.
Thus, while the Yang Shen body occasionally endured the onslaught of incense desires, Zheng Fa himself was not too disturbed.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “According to Ni Chang Yuan Jun, without the One Qi Transforming into Three Purities method, I fear… I wouldn’t find a better way to resist the desires of incense than that Blissful Heavenly Maiden.”
Ultimately, the divine path is about the promise of deities to their followers—believe in me, and you will benefit.
But this is incredibly difficult, especially as the number of followers increases, the difficulty of realization grows.
Thus, some may promise you happiness in this life, liberation in the next, and various other things after death.
And then there are those like the Blissful Heavenly Maiden—false joy is still joy.
Zheng Fa shook his head, dismissing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and focused his gaze back on his Yang Shen body.
……
Zheng Fa’s Yang Shen body held the Sun and Moon Bell, standing above the Transcendence and Spirit Cleansing Pool, and declared loudly:
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