Chapter 226: Seventy-two Heavenly Outlines
Inside the water cave, it was already dark and pitch black, with only some glowing aquatic plants faintly illuminating a strange green light.
At this moment, Chen Shun’an sat cross-legged on a white snake, his fierce eyes darting like lightning, his aura sinister, toying with a peerlessly beautiful woman with pitifully innocent almond eyes in the palm of his hand, truly appearing like a villain.
Chen Shun’an had long since figured out the effect of emboldening Worldly Guardian Deities with Primordial Qi.
The emboldening technique was, in essence, a method of forcefully acting upon other beings based on a certain power.
If Chen Shun’an chose Qing Ji as his Merciful Wish Power, the Guardian Deity emboldened would additionally gain the abilities of Human Movement Armor Horse and Cloud Movement Armor Horse.
Furthermore, it would not affect the Guardian Deity’s original strength and most of their thoughts and intelligence.
The reason for “most” was that after protection.
This Guardian Deity would be completely branded by Chen Shun’an. When facing others, they would maintain their own thoughts and disposition.
But in front of Chen Shun’an, they would be like a slave, utterly loyal, with no possibility of betrayal or even harboring any thought of harming him.
If Chen Shun’an could truly embolden Tian Xuan Saint to become his Guardian Deity, he would not only gain another devoted protector but also acquire many immortal secrets, and even be able to infiltrate the enemy’s ranks, allowing Tian Xuan Saint to cooperate with him from the inside.
This would allow Yue Shan Daoist Academy to reduce, or even ignore, their suspicions of him, allowing him to continue amassing wealth in secret!
Killing multiple birds with one stone!
“Mmm~”
Within the divine light’s reflection, Tian Xuan Saint seemed boneless, collapsing powerlessly. Her eyes were vacant, she foamed at the mouth, and only let out a cry as a trace of her Nascent Spirit ascended from her glabella towards her head, radiating a gentle radiance.
Chen Shun’an could clearly perceive strands of karma, some thick, some thin, entwined around Tian Xuan Saint’s Nascent Spirit.
The thickest strand naturally belonged to Yue Shan Daoist Academy, which was Tian Xuan Saint’s sect, the Wu Du Immortal.
The others, large or small, represented the various grudges Tian Xuan Saint had accumulated throughout her cultivation.
Some karmic threads were naturally not worth mentioning.
However, the one representing the Wu Du Immortal sect was as deep as the sea, its end unseen. The occasional ripple from it sent a shudder of fear through Chen Shun’an.
Fortunately, the divine lights emanating from the emboldening technique directly ignored these karmic threads, enveloping Tian Xuan Saint’s Nascent Spirit.
With just one turn, the refining was complete.
Allowing these karmic threads to continue entwining Tian Xuan Saint’s Nascent Spirit.
Henceforth, Tian Xuan Saint would consider Chen Shun’an’s commands as the highest priority.
Unless Tian Xuan Saint’s actions were exposed, it would be difficult for other cultivators to discover from the karmic level that Tian Xuan Saint had already been refined into a Guardian Deity, unless their Status was higher than Water Origin Great Emperor.
“Awaken.”
Chen Shun’an, perched on the white snake, his gaze profound, as if his words were divine decree, pointed lightly.
The Nascent Spirit returned, flying back into Tian Xuan Saint’s glabella.
In the next instant, Tian Xuan Saint regained her appearance of jade-like skin, bright eyes, and ethereal immortal bones.
Upon seeing Chen Shun’an, she immediately pouted her buttocks, knelt on the ground, and pressed her head to the floor, her full lips parting to say,
“This humble deity, Tian Xuan, pays respects to the High God!”
“Rise.”
Chen Shun’an appraised Tian Xuan Saint with great interest, finding the Path of Divinity to be truly domineering.
To induct someone as a deity, to undermine the Immortal Path, and to avoid detection on the karmic level.
Wonderful, wonderful, indescribably wonderful!
It’s just…
Chen Shun’an frowned, looking at his remaining Wish Power.
Wish Power -1800
Wish Power: 106
Merely emboldening Tian Xuan Saint had caused Chen Shun’an’s painstakingly accumulated Wish Power to nearly vanish overnight.
“The price is truly steep, but it is also time for Chen Mou to reap his rewards…”
Thus, Chen Shun’an’s gaze towards Tian Xuan Saint became even more fervent.
He asked the question that had troubled him for many days and was the one he was most curious about:
“What exactly are you immortals? And what is that Obstruction of Perception that affects the Sacred Dynasty, and even the entire world?”
Tian Xuan Saint dared not conceal anything. After careful thought, she slowly said,
“When we cultivators begin Meridian Opening and Enter the Path, a High Cultivator guides us, reciting the following Daoist verse:
Heaven is vast and boundless, its six energies circulating to form the four seasons; Earth is deep and profound, its five elements transforming to create all things.
The four seasons and all things manifest heavenly principles, yet heavenly principles are like tides, rising and falling. When rising, various magical veins are like meteors in the night sky, brilliantly luminous; when falling, magical veins are like autumn leaves, withering and hidden.
There are seventy-two magical veins in total, corresponding to seventy-two Heavenly Nets, divided into Mist Gauze Heavenly Net and Shaman Heavenly Net…”
As Tian Xuan Saint spoke slowly, Chen Shun’an finally gained an unprecedented understanding of This World.
This world was indeed as recorded in the notes left by the suspected Master Tie Yu.
It was Heaven Round, Earth Square, formed by the interaction of the six energies: Yin, Yang, Wind, Rain, Obscurity, and Clarity, combined with the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
It was equivalent to the intersection of vertical and horizontal lines on a chessboard, where each intersection point represented a magical vein.
The interaction of the six energies and five elements could yield 30 positively manifested magical veins, which were the intersection points at the center of the chessboard, supported by one energy and one element, shining brilliantly. These were the paths of becoming immortal in this era, profound strategies for transcendence.
Beyond the center, there were 22 externally manifested magical veins, possessing only one energy or one element. These were fine extremities, hence dim and solitary. Although they could also fly and burrow, and were supreme in combat, they were not favored by the current heavenly principles and would ultimately crumble like unfired bricks in the rain.
Beneath this chessboard lay 20 implicitly manifested magical veins, not formed by the six energies and five elements. They were either visitors from beyond the heavens, reflections of the moon in the water, or perhaps the remnants left after certain positively manifested magical veins had annihilated externally manifested ones.
These seventy-two magical veins were the current path to seeking the Dao in the cultivation world.
What were known as the three thousand unorthodox paths, eight hundred side gates, and one hundred and eight supreme gates.
Techniques such as animal husbandry, witchcraft, blood summoning, hexing arts, external elixirs, inner elixirs, talismans, spirit visualization, and chamber arts all fell under these seventy-two magical veins.
And the realms of immortals, from shallow to deep, included Meridian Opening, Qi Absorption, and so on…
Meridian Opening involved the body’s Spiritual Root, breaking through the three passes and nine apertures, gradually connecting to the divine, and wielding Magic Power.
Qi Absorption involved collecting various Spiritual Qi, Primordial Qi, and Form Qi from heaven and earth, which could lead to the divine essence of Three Flowers Gathering on the Crown and Five Qi Facing the Origin…
For Chen Shun’an, the most direct manifestations of the Mist Gauze Heavenly Net and Shaman Heavenly Net were the influences of these magical veins on the present world.
And coincidentally, the number was seventy-two.
Mist Gauze Heavenly Net: The gauze and mist obscure the heavens, the true dragon conceals its scales, as if the Great Unity has descended, yet one encounters mist and gauze.
Shaman Heavenly Net: After entering the Central Plains from the Eastern Continent, Bai Shan Ren unified the Central Plains and established the Changbai Sacred Dynasty, all the martial arts and cultivation methods of the dynasty were derived from the immortals!
And the immortals of the Changbai are demons!
Therefore, citizens of the Sacred Dynasty, whether they practice martial arts to enter the Path, or possess innate Spiritual Roots and can directly enter the Path, or are birds, beasts, fish, or hatched creatures, regardless of their origins, are all encompassed within the Shaman Heavenly Net, gradually transcending their mortal bodies to become demonic forms.
Inherited Heavenly Net, Dragon Gate Heavenly Net, Sealing Talisman Heavenly Net, Restraint Heavenly Net, Evolution Law Heavenly Net… and so on, too numerous to list.
As Chen Shun’an listened to this, his mind trembled, and he even cursed inwardly.
What Changbai Sacred Dynasty.
Changbai Demonic Dynasty!
How could they force pure and innocent people to turn into beasts!
They were all truly beasts!!
And if Chen Shun’an’s guess was correct, people like Scholar Ma and Qingchen, who could read and observe Daoist Scriptures and Military Strategies in their mortal bodies, were the so-called ‘Spiritual Root individuals’.
They did not need to practice martial arts to enter the Path and cultivate immortality directly by opening meridians!
As long as…
They were willing.
Thinking this, all the doubts and confusions from the past were instantly resolved.
However, Chen Shun’an fell into even greater confusion.
If the hurdle of ‘Yin Dregs extinguished, Corpse Qi vanished’ originated from the Shaman Heavenly Net, acting as a constraint and catalyst for martial artists to gradually transform into demons.
Then the Martial Dao Grandmaster had completely suppressed this hurdle, ignoring the Shaman Heavenly Net’s dominion, and protected their pure human body with an indestructible Nascent Spirit.
A mortal martial artist confronting the Shaman Heavenly Net?
This was too high an estimation of the martial path!
Chen Shun’an could not even imagine how Tie Yu, Zhou Haichuan, and others before them had cultivated to the Martial Dao Grandmaster realm.
Therefore, the Martial Dao Grandmaster realm held a great secret!
It even concealed some rules and powers that could counter the Shaman Heavenly Net!
Then, why did the Changbai Sacred Dynasty still so highly regard Martial Dao Grandmasters, with various Daoist Academies vying for them?
Those who are not of our kind will inevitably have different intentions. How could those immortals who had already transformed into demons allow the existence of someone who not only retained their human form but also possessed the strength to slay immortals!
They would only nip it in the bud and exterminate it!
Moreover, since the Changbai Sacred Dynasty established its rule based on the Shaman Heavenly Net, what about the previous dynasties? Which Heavenly Net did they rely on?
Where did they go?
Where did the magical veins that had a strong mutually exclusive and antagonistic relationship with the Shaman Heavenly Net, and were unwilling to become demons, go?
However, Tian Xuan Saint did not know much about this information.
After all, she was only an immortal at Mid Meridian Opening. Her cultivation was not profound, and she was even captured by Chen Shun’an, a martial artist with Perfect True Intent.
Therefore, she only had a superficial understanding of these Heavenly Nets, only comprehending the Mist Gauze Heavenly Net and Shaman Heavenly Net, and had only heard the names of other Heavenly Nets.
As for the essence of the seventy-two Heavenly Nets, the corresponding seventy-two magical veins, their names, characteristics, and cultivation methods were completely unheard of, far beyond her realm of access.
Moreover, Tian Xuan Saint did not possess an innate Spiritual Root. Instead, she cultivated martial arts later in life and entered the Path to cultivate immortality through her strength in Slaying One Bandit.
She then cultivated diligently at Yue Shan Daoist Academy for many years. Only after reaching Mid Meridian Opening and accumulating sufficient Magic Power to refine Magic Tools did she leave the academy on her master’s orders to roam the mortal world.
For at the Initial Meridian Opening stage, when one first enters the Immortal Path, their Spiritual Roots are unstable and their Magic Power is weak. The sect generally would not allow them to descend the mountain, lest their early investment be wasted…
And they be easily killed by a martial arts Heavenly Pride in cross-realm combat.
It would be a disgrace to the name of an immortal!
