Chapter 317: Xie Luo

Chapter 317: Chapter 316: Xie Luo

Sha Luo moved toward the north, leaving behind a faint silver ripple.

Hei Zang headed west, his figure disappearing among the mountains.

Mo Yan traveled south, using a technique that allowed his body to merge with the shadows cast by the ancient trees.

Xie Luo chose the eastern direction.

He had found the coordinates, and he was confident that he could locate the source of the disturbance more quickly than his siblings.

The moment he departed, the spatial laws around him began to fluctuate.

He frowned but continued forward.

He had no idea that the region he had entered was not merely a place with unusually dense spiritual Qi.

Nor did he understand that the ancient laws circulating through the Sacred Grounds were more than remnants of an old cultivation environment.

The realm had once possessed its own foundations, its own circulation of laws, and its own relationship with the greater structure of Heaven and Earth.

Those foundations had been damaged, but they had not completely ceased to function.

Even now, they continued to respond to disturbances within their boundaries.

And Xie Luo had just brought a foreign spatial principle into their midst.

Several thousand kilometers away, beneath a towering mountain whose peak disappeared into a layer of pale clouds, Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

He had been sitting beside a crystalline stream, with Bai Qingyue resting on a smooth stone platform a short distance away. Monk Ku Ming sat beneath an ancient tree, his hands resting upon his knees as golden Buddhist runes moved faintly across his red skin.

The three of them had spent the past several days cultivating within the region Ku Ming had chosen.

For Bai Qingyue, the environment was exceptionally beneficial.

The dense spiritual Qi allowed her to nourish her meridians without forcing them to absorb energy too quickly. The ancient laws also helped stabilize the delicate balance between her body and the karmic connection she shares with Lin Yuan.

Ku Ming had explained that the region was one of the few places within the Sacred Grounds where the laws governing life, spiritual energy, and the circulation of time remained relatively stable.

The spiritual Qi was dense enough to support rapid cultivation, but it did not contain the violent fluctuations found in some other regions.

For Lin Yuan, however, the benefits were different.

His True Elemental Body possessed a self-sustaining Origin cycle, allowing the five great secret realms within his body to circulate energy without relying entirely on the spiritual Qi of the outside world. The Vermilion Bird’s heart, Azure Dragon’s liver, Qilin’s spleen, White Tiger’s lungs, and Black Tortoise’s kidneys formed a harmonious system, continuously transforming and circulating the energy within him.

He could cultivate almost anywhere.

What he needed was not simply more spiritual Qi.

He needed an environment where the laws were complete enough for him to examine the deeper principles hidden beneath their surface.

That was why the formation of his Dao Fruit had been so important.

The Dao Fruit of Three Rebirths within the Thunder Rain Dao was not merely a crystallization of his comprehension. It was a unified structure that allowed his understanding of Thunder, Rain, and Three Rebirths to interact without losing their individual characteristics.

Thunder represented destruction, judgment, and the violent transformation of existence.

Rain represented nourishment, renewal, and the quiet circulation that allowed life to continue after destruction.

Three Rebirths connected the past, present, and future, allowing the end of one cycle to become the beginning of another.

Their principles were different, yet they were not contradictory.

Within the Dao Fruit, the three principles formed a continuous circulation. Thunder could destroy what had become stagnant, Rain could nourish what remained, and Three Rebirths could carry the remnants of the past into a new cycle.

At the point where their principles intersected, Lin Yuan had sensed a faint trace of the Origin.

He had not fully comprehended it.

But he could now perceive the relationship between the three Daos more clearly than before.

The change had been subtle at first.

Now, as he sat beside the crystalline stream, he could feel the difference with every breath.

The spiritual Qi entering his body no longer appeared as a formless stream of energy. He could distinguish its different properties and perceive how those properties interacted with the laws surrounding him.

A strand of spiritual Qi carrying the warmth of Yang would produce a different response from one containing the coolness of Yin.

A trace of ancient thunder essence would follow a different path from the gentle energy contained within the mist rising from the stream.

Previously, he could understand these differences through observation and analysis.

Now, he could perceive them through the structure of his Dao Fruit.

His understanding had become more precise.

More importantly, he had begun to understand that the Dao Fruit did not simply increase the strength of his techniques. It changed the way he interacted with the principles that governed the world.

When he used a technique before, he would gather spiritual energy, arrange it according to a specific method, and release the resulting power.

With his Dao Fruit, he could perceive the principle underlying the technique and use that understanding to refine its operation.

The difference was similar to that between a craftsman who copied the appearance of an object and a master who understood the principles that allowed the object to function.

Both could produce something useful.

But only one could improve the underlying structure.

Lin Yuan slowly raised his right hand.

A thin thread of silver-blue rain appeared above his palm.

It did not fall immediately.

Instead, it hovered in the air, surrounded by faint golden-purple sparks. The sparks moved through the silver-blue thread in a precise pattern, while a nearly imperceptible crimson, black, and white light circulated at their intersection.

The three principles did not compete.

They supported one another.

Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He changed the flow of the rain.

The golden-purple sparks immediately adjusted their positions, and the faint light at the center of the technique shifted with them.

He then altered the rhythm of the thunder.

The rain changed again.

Finally, he introduced a trace of Three Rebirths.

For an instant, the tiny technique seemed to contain the entire process of a storm.

The thunder gathered.

The rain descended.

The energy dispersed.

Then, from the remnants of the technique, a new thread of spiritual energy emerged.

It was a small and insignificant transformation, barely enough to nourish a single blade of grass.

Yet Lin Yuan watched it for several breaths.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“So that is one of the possibilities.”