Chapter 10

Jiang Yuochen traveled north from the State of Chu, wandering through the State of Chen along the Luo River, observing the myriad aspects of human life. Since Chen Hao claimed to be the Water Lord of the Luo River, it would be a waste for Jiang Yuochen not to take advantage of this water deity’s protection, considering his previous efforts.

Along the way, witnessing the various sufferings of the human world, Jiang Yuochen’s desire to cultivate and lay the foundation for his Dao became increasingly intense. He absolutely did not want to endure the sufferings of birth, aging, illness, and death, so his longing for immortality became more urgent.

The Luo River is very long, stretching from the foot of Baiyang Mountain and forming its own independent water system as it passes through the surrounding territories. Therefore, Chen Hao, a Golden Core cultivator, used this great river as his base. This long river was also sufficient to nurture a Golden Core-level divine path cultivator.

The Luo River runs through the entire territory of Chen, and there is a Moon-Viewing Cliff beside a section of the river. The water of the Luo River rushes through the mountain gorge below the cliff and directly flows into a large lake downstream.

This cliff is called Moon-Viewing Cliff, and as the name suggests, it is related to the moon. On cloudless nights, the turbulent water mysteriously calms down, and the moon is reflected in the still water like a mirror.

Due to his increasingly restless mind, Jiang Yuochen came to this Moon-Viewing Cliff to paint landscapes to cultivate his qi and calm his spirit. For three days and nights, he did not eat or drink, focusing on painting the ink landscapes of the Luo River. Although he had not truly practiced fasting, his body could not withstand the strain, but he gradually entered a state of transformation and did not pay much attention to it.

After returning home and seeing his family, Jiang Yuochen deeply felt the impermanence of the world and the difference between immortals and mortals. His loneliness and desolation subtly aligned with the realm of the Cold Moon. Subsequently, witnessing the battle between two Golden Core cultivators made Jiang Yuochen’s desire to cultivate and lay the foundation even more urgent.

Strength, without strength, one cannot even protect their own life, let alone seek the Dao. Fortunately, a senior from his sect intervened and forced the people of the Water Moon Grotto to retreat; otherwise, Jiang Yuochen and others would have been mocked and humiliated by the Golden Core Daoist Liu Wujì.

Traveling through the lands of Chen and Chu for about a month to seek opportunities, Jiang Yuochen gained nothing due to his anxious state. But at this moment, in front of the surging Luo River, the river water seemed to cleanse his Dao heart, allowing him to calm down and appreciate the natural wonders of heaven and earth.

For three days and nights, Jiang Yuochen watched the river flow, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent, and his heart followed the river’s undulations. The eight completed landscape paintings placed beside him all faintly carried the essence of the river.

Learning from nature! The Elder Sikong had long informed Jiang Yuochen about how to lay the foundation for cultivation. However, due to his unstable nature, he found it difficult to truly calm down and meditate when facing the first major obstacle in cultivation. Therefore, Elder Sikong advised him to go out and relax his mindset.

One loose, one tight, one active, one still, one yin, one yang—this is the realm of Dao.

Baiyang Mountain is light and lofty, with a certain ethereal quality, but the Luo River flows continuously with a majestic and powerful beauty. As Elder Sikong had hoped, in front of this vast and surging river, Jiang Yuochen was impacted by nature and directly entered a state of artistic inspiration, beginning to paint the water scenery of the Luo River.

Time flew by, and in this misty environment, the ninth ink landscape of the Luo River was gradually completed by Jiang Yuochen. Using the "Five-Color Ink Technique" to paint and the "Water Mist Ink Technique" to depict the layers of the surging river, a sense of the river’s power and momentum burst forth from the painting.

As the final stroke was completed, Jiang Yuochen’s body suddenly trembled, and a ray of spiritual light suddenly appeared before his eyes, making his consciousness surge out of his crown and merge with the waterway of the Luo River. A spiritual vortex began to form around him, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth into his body.

In the Water Palace of the Luo River, Chen Hao was originally using the essence of water to heal his injuries. When he sensed a faint intention merging with a branch of the waterway, he became alert and immediately used the divine seal to project the scene.

"Water Dao? This boy is actually seeking his heavenly gate opportunity in this way, and he has started to lay the foundation?" A smile appeared on Chen Hao’s lips as he watched Jiang Yuochen from a distance.

During the foundation-laying process, many cultivators can use the state of unity with heaven and earth to comprehend the Dao of nature. The bridge to heaven and earth is suddenly opened, not only allowing the cultivator to absorb the essence of heaven and earth for cultivation but also, due to the opening of the mud pill palace, gaining a sixth sense—consciousness. Although the cultivation of mental strength is practiced by all outer disciples of the Tai Xu Dao Sect, only after foundation-laying do they have the ability to open the mud pill palace and truly use their own "spiritual deity."

The innate spiritual light opened the mud pill palace, giving Jiang Yuochen’s soul a place to reside. In the future, he would evolve the purple mansion into a purple palace, and eventually, he would achieve the immortality of the Yang Spirit.

"Since this boy has just laid the foundation, he doesn’t know the various taboos of the cultivation world. Fortunately, it is within the territory of the Tai Xu Dao Sect. But this should also be within Sikong’s expectations, right? No matter what, he will not have any problems within the territory of the Tai Xu Dao Sect." Chen Hao rose from the water palace and used water travel to reach above Jiang Yuochen.

Given Jiang Yuochen’s current shallow cultivation and the fact that the master of the Luo River is his senior, it would be suicidal for a cultivator to randomly go to a place of a local deity and attempt to achieve unity with heaven and earth. If that deity had any ill intentions, the cultivator would likely end up in a state of mental collapse and death.

After all, this method of merging consciousness with nature, if further developed to control the spirits of a place, can lead to deification, which is a major taboo for all local deities. Just a slight interference with their authority can cause the cultivator to suffer mental collapse and be destroyed by the backlash of heaven and earth.

"Superior water is like water, which benefits all things without contention, and resides in places that others despise, thus it is close to the Dao." As Jiang Yuochen’s heavenly gate opened, the mud pill palace in his forehead was opened by the innate spiritual light, and a scripture suddenly appeared in his mind. This was a principle taught by a sage in the Dream Butterfly world.

The Dao of water, the virtue of water, as Jiang Yuochen continuously pondered the virtue of water, the qi vortex at the top of his head also absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, transforming his purple mist true qi into true essence. The originally gaseous purple mist true qi enveloped his body, forming a translucent purple mist robe, which, with the help of the essence of heaven and earth, gradually transformed into a solid purple mist robe. The sleeves, collar, belt, and hem were all perfected...

The opening of the mud pill palace signifies the initial formation of the immortal path, cultivating the soul and spirit; while true essence is the essence of one’s vital energy, the root of one’s qi. One is the nature, the other is the life, and the cultivation of both is what the Daoist sects seek.

The foundation-laying stage is considered the first major obstacle between mortals and immortals. Crossing this threshold not only strengthens the soul but also increases one’s lifespan. Immortality is one of the main reasons mortals are obsessed with the Dao.

At the same time, the nine completed ink landscapes of the Luo River, infused with his true essence, began to vibrate. The river essence in the nine paintings resonated with his current state, transforming into nine river landscapes around him, embodying the Dao of the river.

"Damn! Does this boy really want to become a deity?" Seeing the essence in the nine paintings being simultaneously activated and forming a water scripture map behind Jiang Yuochen, Chen Hao could no longer sit still.

The nine paintings merely possessed a bit of the river essence of a branch of the Luo River, the Jinsha Creek. They depicted nine scenes of the river at the Moon-Viewing Cliff, including the rise and fall of tides, turbulent and calm waters, and other forms, all expressed through ink paintings.

Under normal circumstances, they would be at most a set of famous paintings collected by nobles in the mortal world. But at this critical moment when Jiang Yuochen was opening the bridge to heaven and earth and drawing in the essence of heaven and earth, this great opportunity of unity with heaven and earth is rarely achieved by cultivators except during the three major moments of foundation-laying, forming a golden core, and cultivating the spirit. The nine paintings, stimulated by the essence of heaven and earth and unintentionally summoned by Jiang Yuochen’s consciousness, directly resonated with the essence of the Jinsha Creek section of the Luo River.

"If he truly obtains the essence of the Jinsha Creek, those nine paintings could serve as the most basic divine tools to help him become a deity." Chen Hao cursed, "You reckless boy, why don’t you focus on the great Dao of immortality and instead venture into the path of deities?"

Deities, though seemingly noble and overlooking all beings, are not mysterious to those on the path of immortality, especially to the Tai Xu Dao Sect, which controls the deification of the spirits of the Lingzhou region, firmly placing the Dao of immortality above the path of deities.

Strictly speaking, so-called water ghosts and mountain spirits are the precursors to water and mountain deities. These spirits and ghosts, favored by the essence of water and the soul of mountains, can truly become deities by fully controlling the essence of a place. Imagine, even a mere water ghost can become the most minor deity, let alone Jiang Yuochen, who is at the critical moment of foundation-laying. If he makes a wrong step and deviates from the path of immortality, he might enter the path of deities. After all, the initial cultivation of the path of deities also involves unity with heaven and earth, using the power of heaven and earth to achieve deification.

After considering this, Chen Hao used his authority as the Water Lord of the Luo River to suppress the essence of the Jinsha Creek, and a divine seal of the Jinsha Creek water deity appeared in his hand.

"Unfortunately, I have only been a Water Lord for a few decades and cannot fully control the essence of the Luo River. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given this reckless boy this opportunity." Chen Hao was somewhat annoyed, and Jiang Yuochen’s actions also reminded him.

He had recently switched to the path of deities and was focused on cultivating his water deity body, thus neglecting the situation of the Luo River. He forgot that the path of deities and the path of immortality are different. The foundation of deities is rooted in the natural world, unlike the freedom of the path of immortality.

With Chen Hao using his magic to suppress the essence of the Jinsha Creek and cut off Jiang Yuochen’s path to deification, Jiang Yuochen continued to merge his consciousness with the Jinsha Creek and comprehend the Dao of the river.

Although he could not become a deity immediately, comprehending the flow of the Jinsha Creek also cleansed his soul, truly planting the innate spiritual light in the mud pill palace as the foundation for his immortality.

His physical body, cleansed by the essence of heaven and earth during the unity with heaven and earth, expelled the impurities from his body, completely shedding his mortal form and refining true essence, extending his lifespan.

"Extending his lifespan by a hundred years?" Chen Hao observed the qi column above Jiang Yuochen’s head and deduced, "Although it is not as high as the record of 150 years for foundation-laying, using the unity with heaven and earth to reverse the innate essence and extend his lifespan by a hundred years is still a significant blessing."

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Originally, there was only one update today, but since Mei’s birthday is today, I added an extra update. However, there will only be one update tomorrow, and I will not add any more in the evening. Don’t mention Children’s Day; do I really have elementary school students among my readers?

Tai Xu Book Club: 370662156

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