Chapter 399 - 366: Dharma Aspect 3

Chapter 399: Chapter 366: Dharma Aspect 3

Those two words made Gao Changhe’s heart leap.

The Water-Participating Ape hadn’t finished speaking. He paused, seemingly lost in thought, his tone laced with doubt. "...But no thunder. Strange."

A flicker of shock and suspicion crossed Gao Changhe’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a smile. "You jest, Star Monarch. How could a powerhouse of the Dharma Realm possibly be undergoing a tribulation here, in a small place like Mirror Mountain? It must be some ordinary atmospheric phenomenon..."

The Water-Participating Ape tilted his head, shooting Gao Changhe a sideways glance.

The gaze was utterly flat, yet it cut Gao Changhe off mid-sentence. A fine layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

"I have been here for over a month."

The Water-Participating Ape’s voice was as flat as ever, yet it carried a grim chill. "You. When will you make your move?"

Gao Changhe lowered his voice. "Star Monarch, I’ve already made most of the other arrangements. It’s just... the Lingxi Chen Family is exceedingly cautious. They only hire servants whose backgrounds they can thoroughly vet. The people we’ve sent have only managed to become laborers in the outer courtyard, with no access to the core family. To say nothing of planting the item inside... It’s extremely difficult. I need to wait for the right moment."

"One month."

The Water-Participating Ape was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "I will wait one more month."

Gao Changhe knew this wasn’t a negotiation, but an ultimatum.

He steeled himself and asked tentatively, "If you were to act personally, Star Monarch, then with your Divine Abilities, all our problems would surely be solved in an instant..."

"Hmph."

A soft, cold snort escaped the Water-Participating Ape. "When I act, it is only to kill."

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze landing squarely on Gao Changhe’s face, full of undisguised scorn. "Don’t bother me with your sordid little schemes."

Gao Changhe drew a breath. "I will do my utmost."

With that, just as he had arrived, he silently leaped off the city gate tower and disappeared into the streets and alleys of the county seat.

...

「Lingxi. Chen Mansion.」

Chen Li and his wife, Song Ying, returned home.

Inside the study, Qin Yirong had already risen with a maid’s help and was sitting cross-legged on a soft couch to regulate her breathing. Her face was still pale, her aura weak and unstable.

Chen Li glanced at her. He knew that he had just instantly drained away all the Inner Strength she had recently recovered, without using the Dragon Phoenix Harmony Celestial True Skill to replenish it.

The shock from such a sudden loss of Inner Strength was a significant blow, tantamount to suffering another severe injury.

He walked to the side of the soft couch, lightly placed his palm on Qin Yirong’s back over her Spirit Platform Acupoint, and said, "Relax. Guide your Inner Qi."

Primordial Qi slowly passed from his palm into Qin Yirong’s body.

Like a gentle spring rain, it flowed through her damaged meridians, nourishing her parched Dantian.

Qin Yirong’s body trembled slightly as she silently guided this stream of Primordial Qi.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, some color finally returned to her pale face. She let out a long breath and opened her eyes, fine beads of sweat on her temples.

Her beautiful eyes looked toward Chen Li, a trace of fatigue in them. "Master, just now... did the Divine Skill achieve Great Success?"

Chen Li withdrew his hand. "I’ve reached Minor Achievement, but I’ll still need your help in the future. You’ve been severely drained. Rest well and recover your Primordial Qi."

With her maid’s support, Qin Yirong rose and gave Chen Li a graceful bow. "I understand, Master," she said softly. "If you have any need of me, please call at any time."

With that, she withdrew from the study.

Shortly after she left, Chen Li said to his wife, "I need to go into seclusion for a few days to consolidate my gains. I’ll have to trouble you with the household affairs."

Song Ying’s voice was gentle. "Go into your seclusion and don’t worry, my dear. I’ll handle everything at home."

After his wife departed, silence returned to the room.

Chen Li entered the secret chamber and began his seclusion.

He did not begin his Cultivation immediately.

He had now comprehended his very own True Wealth Rule. By all rights, he should have already touched the threshold of the Dharma Realm.

But there had been no qualitative leap in his power, and even the system had not registered a reward. This meant he hadn’t truly been acknowledged as having reached the next stage.

’Where did I go wrong?’

Chen Li fell into deep thought.

All the Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals he possessed were vague on the breakthrough from the Guiyuan stage to the Dharma Realm. He had been forced to find his own way.

He carefully inspected his own condition. A moment later, a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning, and understanding dawned.

So that was it. To practice the Righteous Wealth Cultivation Method, he had hidden away his own Primordial Spirit and the Primordial Qi he’d produced. He had been relying on the Blank Deity from the system, using it as a secondary Divine Sense to control his physical body’s Cultivation.

But this Blank Deity was, in essence, still just an illusory Divine Sense. It hadn’t even reached Void Transformation Condensation, let alone metamorphosed into a Divine Embryo or a Primordial Spirit.

’How could a mere Blank Deity, something that isn’t even a Primordial Spirit, serve as the foundation for manifesting the Heaven and Earth Laws?’

What’s more, his Main Primordial Spirit had long been deeply imprinted with the Rule Runes of the Five Grains Spirit Nurturing Technique.

He had practiced this technique for a long time, amassing a vast amount of Primordial Qi. Its inherent Rule Runes were now deeply entrenched within him.

The nascent True Wealth Rune was like a rootless water lily, naturally unable to enter a territory that was already so firmly occupied.

Of course, what Chen Li didn’t realize was that the reason for his problem was very simple...

He had gone down the wrong path.

An ordinary Cultivator breaking through to the Dharma Realm would do so methodically. They would cultivate their inherited technique to its apex until their body was suffused with Primordial Qi. Once their comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Laws contained within the technique’s Rule Runes reached a certain point, the breakthrough would be a natural success.

Then one day, perhaps, when inspiration struck, they could manifest the rule within their Primordial Spirit and break through to the Dharma Realm.

This was the path of inheriting a method.

It was like inheriting a family estate—a path of following established precedents.

But Chen Li, through a series of serendipitous encounters and strange twists of fate, had blazed a new trail. Without abandoning his old method, he had comprehended a completely new set of rules—one that was entirely his own.

He was both "inheriting a method" and yet also "creating a method."

This was also the reason for his heavenly tribulation.

If he succeeded, his potential and power would be far beyond anything achievable by simply inheriting another’s legacy.