Chapter 220: Chapter 174: To Reach the Supreme Dao, One Must Seek a Transcendent Position
In the vast emptiness, the Daoist Monarch stood majestic while the Lower Cultivator was but a speck.
"Do you have any questions?"
The Daoist’s voice was magnificent, rumbling like thunder. Each word seemed to carry immense weight, causing endless Spiritual Energy to resonate and creating waves tens of thousands of feet high.
Having had the [Shao Yang] Golden Nature enter his body and merge with his Divine Sense, Jiang Yi had managed to glimpse a fraction of the "world of Upper Cultivators."
He knew well that a Daoist Monarch was a great and powerful being who "governed the Dao of a region." They were not bound by form or defined by numbers, and thus they existed for eons. Even the vast emptiness could not fully contain them, only manifest a mere shadow of their being.
"I have but one question, and I seek your guidance, Grandmaster."
Jiang Yi’s tiny wisp of Divine Sense, a mote of light the size of a grain of rice, flickered gently.
"If I attain the [Shao Yang] position, can I unite the destiny of the Eight Sects?"
The vast emptiness fell silent for a moment.
It was as if, with the gray-robed Daoist’s silence, all of creation fell utterly still.
"You young whelp, you’re certainly ambitious. The Eight Sects rule the Nanzhan Continent. Are you trying to become the Emperor of the Demon Dao?"
Jiang Yi answered without hesitation.
"Correct. The Golden Nature is a derivative of the Dao! I have meditated on this and finally understood a single phrase."
The gray-robed Daoist quietly waited for him to continue.
Had it been anyone else, not even a True Monarch would have had the chance to have him listen to the ramblings of a Lower Cultivator.
But Jiang Yi had escaped the schemes of the Taifu Sect’s Tao Ran several times and withstood nine bolts of profound thunder.
Lady Xuan’nv of [Fengdu] was willing to act for him, the younger daughter of Qiaobu of the Sword Discussion Pavilion was interested in him, and the [Inverted] Slaying Sword had chosen him as its master.
Not to mention he had the favor of [Shao Yang], which had been watching him for sixty years.
No matter how you looked at it, the young man had the potential and foundation to inherit the great position of Daoist of the Innate Sect.
As for his Cultivation? That was the least important thing.
With the resources provided by an Ancestral Sect, even someone with the dullest aptitude could easily be nurtured to the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer.
The wisp of Divine Sense, wrapped in brilliant golden light, paused as if taking a deep breath, and then declared:
"To reach the supreme Dao, one must seek a transcendent position!"
The vast emptiness remained silent.
A hint of appreciation quietly arose in the gray-robed Daoist’s deep, dark eyes, which were as large as the sun and moon.
It was not because of the astonishing statement, but because this boy truly possessed the "mindset of an Upper Cultivator," far beyond his own Cultivation.
A point that many True Masters, and even True Monarchs, had failed to see through was now laid bare by Jiang Yi.
Looking at all the Daoist Lineages manifest in the world, their sources and branches were innumerable.
But they could all be summarized into two paths.
One was the path of the "Upper Cultivator," and the other was the path of the "Lower Cultivator."
The former sought to finish Gathering the Five Elements, cultivate the five Life Essences, and then ascend to the apex to claim a Golden Position.
The latter were simply mules to be driven, cattle to be raised, and servants to be ordered about.
The Demon Dao Dharma Lineage was all about Upper Cultivators making full use of talented individuals.
The distinction between upper and lower, the separation between them, mostly began from the Tenth Layer.
The grade of one’s True Qi determined their chances of entering the Flying Foundation Establishment Realm.
The grade of one’s True Skill determined whether they could later gather enough Life Essence to evolve the Five Elements.
As for the level of one’s achievements and the amount of their Dao power, that determined which Golden Position they could seek and whether they would occupy a primary or subordinate role...
Even those born into a Dao Race or descended from a True Monarch often failed to grasp the key point: to become an Upper Cultivator, one must first be an extremely useful Lower Cultivator!
"The Demon Dao Dharma Lineage has never cared for kinship, blood ties, or brotherhood. For the sake of a Dao Fruit, it’s not uncommon to see people kill their wives and sons, or murder their fathers and betray their masters.
"Therefore, affection, love—none of it can be relied upon. Only the concept of ’usefulness’ can last.
"Yet, many Cultivators fail to comprehend this. They always think of reaping the greatest benefits for the smallest price.
"Let me ask you, what Opportunity in this world is ever given for free? I have pursued Cultivation for thirty thousand years, and I have never seen such a thing."
The gray-robed Daoist spoke slowly. This time, he deliberately restrained his Daoist voice so as not to shake Jiang Yi again.
"As for selfishness being demonic, cruelty and ruthlessness being demonic, or being unscrupulous being demonic... these are all empty words, the stale views of mediocre commoners.
"I will also ask you a question, young whelp. What do you think ’defines a Demon’?"
The Divine Sense wrapped in brilliant golden light was as firm as iron, each word ringing like metal:
"Grandmaster, in my humble opinion, to have the heart to escape one’s cage, the ability to climb high and defy fate, and to succeed in one’s endeavors—this is what it means to be a ’Demon.’
"As for how one overcomes the many obstacles on this path, or what methods and tricks one uses, these are all trivial matters."
The gray-robed Daoist nodded slightly.
"Defining the Demon Dao by success and failure... that’s somewhat interesting. To answer your earlier question, just attaining [Shao Yang] is not enough. If you can also seize all the brilliance of [Tai Yang]...
"...then, everything that Ji Fuyao possesses now will be yours in the future."
This sounded like an empty promise, but Jiang Yi understood that even if an Upper Cultivator gave a Lower Cultivator a firm commitment, they might not honor it in the end.
Grandmaster Mingxuan’s words were meant to tell him that the supreme Dao was a path he could walk, and the transcendent position was a goal he could achieve.
As long as he could make [Tai Yang], which had shone upon the world for five thousand years, dim by even a fraction, he would be one step closer to his goal.
This was more reliable than any solemn vow.
"I understand."
Jiang Yi said no more.
The gray-robed Daoist was very satisfied with this conversation. What had seemed like an impulsive wager of the Daoist position had yielded an unexpected result.
No matter how much Yuan Zuo and Tao Ran of the Taifu Sect schemed and manipulated causality, they had still fallen for his "unreasonable move."
’This is what they call "no move is better than any move."’
A rare smile touched the gray-robed Daoist’s lips as he spoke in a low voice:
"Your Cultivation Furnace was shattered by the profound thunder and then struck by the Slaying Sword. Its life force is dormant and difficult to reawaken.
"Although it is being nourished and harmonized by the manifestation of the [Shao Yang] Golden Nature, it will still take three to five years to recover."
Jiang Yi was silent. His Divine Sense had not yet returned to his Primordial Gate to perceive his physical body, for the very reason the Grandmaster had stated.
It was nine bolts of profound thunder, after all. It was an attack that had wounded a True Monarch. It was a trade—killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own men. Inevitably, there was a price to pay.
To accomplish such a feat at the Qi Cultivation level already made him the first person in the Yanfu Vast Land to do so.
"Ascending to the position within a sixty-year cycle is no easy task. You don’t have that much time to waste. As a Qi Cultivation practitioner, you attacked a True Monarch. Harming that minor Daoist who presides over calamities is secondary. The more important things are that you damaged the majestic image of [Thunder Core] Ling Xiao and broke the prophecy that [Shao Yang] would be executed by profound thunder. You have raised the destiny of the Nanzhan Continent by a sliver, so you deserve a reward."
The gray-robed Daoist pondered for a moment, then casually raised a hand, passing through layers of Gang wind to reach Beyond the Qingming.
"I am not skilled in Alchemy, but I obtained a recipe in my early years for something called a ’Foundation Establishment Pill.’ It was originally used by the disciples of a Great Cultivator in ancient times to forge their Dao Foundation.
"Your Cultivation Furnace is now useless. If you can use this pill to fill the hole, you should be able to reconstruct your physical body."
This Daoist Monarch Xianyou Mingxuan had never been very patient. Otherwise, he could have taken some First Grade, True Monarch Level Spiritual Objects—like the ’Five Virtues Lotus,’ ’Qingdi Sprout,’ ’Danyang Essence,’ or ’Creation Mother Qi’—and meticulously crafted a new body, which would have been more appropriate.
As it was, he could only be hasty and make do.
’A Foundation Establishment Pill?’
The Divine Sense wrapped in brilliant golden light flickered, as if looking up.
He saw the Grandmaster’s sky-spanning figure reach out a hand and pluck a star from the boundless cosmos, holding it between his fingers like a small marble.
Then, Jiang Yi, who cultivated the Qi Cultivation General Outline of the Mixed Refining Origin and the Commander of Ten Thousand Truths, saw a vast, tide-like surge of Spiritual Energy.
’A count of One Element? The Grandmaster is using 129,600 types of Spiritual Energy for ’Alchemy’?’
He had indeed heard that the [Dao of Alchemy] was divided into four major categories: flora, minerals, blood-nourishment, and Primordial Qi.
The highest among them was to gather the essence of heaven and earth, Yin and Yang, and Gang Sha to condense a great pill.
This method was unspeakably profound, and its influence was extremely far-reaching.
It was said that in ancient times, All Cultivators even named a high realm "Golden Core."
This was to highlight the achievements of the [Dao of Alchemy].
"Pills are divided into four categories, and the Dao has three layers. If Grandmaster Taiwei were here, he could take the stars of heaven, the veins of the earth, and the fortune of humanity, and combine them into a Three Treasures Pill.
"My own ability is insufficient, so I am lacking. I can only use a star from heaven as the material and One Element of Spiritual Energy as the fire to create a ’Foundation Establishment Pill.’"
The gray-robed Daoist spoke lightly as he sorted the complex mass of Spiritual Energy—a full count of One Element—into Purifying and Dense, then coordinated and arranged them into a seamless fusion.
In an instant, the star was stripped away layer by layer, its impurities forged away, leaving only a speck of essence to serve as the medicinal property.
A dense, nearly infinite mass of Purifying Qi enveloped it for nourishment, while a murky, immeasurable coagulation of Dense Qi formed what looked like the pill’s coating.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yi’s Divine Sense suddenly heard a thunderous CRACK. The One Element of Spiritual Energy had finished combining. The Dense Qi scattered, the Purifying Qi condensed, and a Foundation Establishment Pill, as round and smooth as an egg, landed in the gray-robed Daoist’s palm.
"You cultivate the Mixed Refining Origin, Commander of Ten Thousand Truths, which can be called the number one Qi Cultivation method in the Yanfu Vast Land. You will surely condense a supreme True Qi.
"This Foundation Establishment Pill is not for you to swallow. With that weak and battered Cultivation Furnace of yours, I’m afraid it would just explode. This pill contains a count of One Element of Spiritual Energy. Use the pill’s qi to nourish your body, and you will return to your peak condition within ten days.
"When you step into the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer, this pill will naturally activate and help you birth a Profound Light. At that time, you will use the pill’s core as your Dao Foundation..."
The gray-robed Daoist seemed to grow tired of speaking, his patience exhausted. With a flick of his finger, he shot the Foundation Establishment Pill into Jiang Yi’s Divine Sense.
Before he could say "Thank you, Grandmaster," the wisp of Golden Nature plummeted downwards, falling out of the vast emptiness, passing through some unknown immortal paradise, and returning to the boundless darkness.
He vaguely heard a soft chuckle:
"I suppose I haven’t treated you, my Daoist, poorly. You will lack none of the treatment that Zhang Yuansheng of the Taifu Sect receives."
In a daze, Jiang Yi finally sensed his physical body again and struggled to open his eyes.
His vision was a hazy blur. He saw only a few figures flash past, and then he heard a loud, excited voice:
"Miss Xiaoqiao! The young master is awake!"
