Chapter 382: The History of the Immortal Dao's Development

Following Mingde, Wang Ping arrived at another side courtyard. Compared to the resplendent main hall they had just left, this place was noticeably more secluded.

Here, Wang Ping sensed the same aura as the divine pill Mingde had gifted him earlier.

When the sun sets and the stars return, it is called the Heavenly Yin Fire. "The arrayed constellations cast their brilliance to illuminate the night qi." It was the ultimate yin within yang, and more importantly, a rare qi of concealment and hiding within the fire qi.

Mingde took the lead and stepped into the courtyard, with Wang Ping and Lian Ruzhao following closely behind.

The moment they entered, Wang Ping spoke bluntly: "Tell me, Senior Brother, how are we going to do this?"

Mingde fell silent.

At those words, the Dao Child of the Zhaoming Realm shot Wang Ping a helpless look. Judging by his tone and posture, why did he sound like a bandit?

They were both Dao Children of immortal domains—people of status. Shouldn't they first sit down, brew a pot of tea, play a game of chess, speak in riddles halfway through, and finally exchange a knowing smile as they grasped each other's intentions? Who on earth spoke so plainly? He had absolutely none of the dignity expected of a Dao Child.

He was simply like...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Lian Ruzhao. She was looking left and right out of utter boredom, clearly already distracted. A bizarre look flashed through his eyes.

...a brute.

He had heard this water qi Dao Child was once the most highly regarded closed-door disciple of this pioneer of the Martial Dao. He could only conclude: like teacher, like student.

But it's normal.

After all, he wasn't personally shaped by a True Monarch, but is an outsider. It's only natural he has some wildness to him. Thinking this, Mingde didn't feel the slightest bit of contempt.

Instead, he became even more solemn.

The vast majority of immortal domain Dao Children and direct descendants of True Persons were manifested by True Persons and True Monarchs using their own profound mastery, allowing them to borrow their karmic merit out of thin air.

However, while Dao Children and direct descendants born this way possessed lofty origins—their wisdom, talent, and temperament personally molded by a True Person or True Monarch to near perfection—they were ultimately raised in captivity. They lacked a sliver of possibility compared to wild ones. And sometimes, that very sliver of possibility was the key to deciding success or failure.

Facing the exact same desperate situation, with all paths of escape equally sealed off:

Everything a captive-bred Dao Child or descendant did was perfectly within the True Person's expectations. Flawless, but also easy to predict. If it was a desperate situation, it meant almost certain death.

But wild ones were different.

Mingde had heard about the Eight Trigrams Furnace incident from a few days ago. After understanding the entire sequence of events, he was full of admiration for Wang Ping, who had orchestrated it all.

At the very least, he knew he wouldn't have had the capability to do it himself.

This was the possibility of a wild Dao Child and descendant. To find a thread of life in a desperate situation—this was an indispensable quality for a cultivator on the path of the dao.

Mingde pondered in his heart,

I imagine the esteemed figure of the water qi also valued this in him. That is why he didn't personally shape him, but instead chose him as a Dao Child to represent the water qi.

Moreover, judging by the way he arrived, pursued by an Ascetic Monk under the seat of a Bodhisattva like Shasheng... given that figure's personality, he probably tested him again. Just to verify the Eight Trigrams Furnace incident wasn't a mere accident, and to ensure he truly possessed the skill, rather than just getting lucky like a blind cat finding a dead mouse.

That esteemed figure of the water qi was still very reassuring.

Not only was he ancient enough and possessed terrifyingly high cultivation, but he was also extremely adept at scheming. Both had dealt heavy blows to the Immortal Gate, yet the fire qi now stood on the front lines against the Brahma Nation.

The water qi, on the other hand, had gleefully hidden away in the Heavenly Market Enclosure, completely unscathed.

This was the difference.

The direct Dao Child chosen to represent such a grand figure was bound to be a dragon and phoenix among people. It was best not to casually make assumptions about him.

Thinking of this, Mingde stopped beating around the bush and cut straight to the point. "The Lord wishes to make a move against the Master of Secret Traces and eliminate this Brahma Nation Bodhisattva."

Thrum!

The moment his words fell, the entire hall began to tremble. Stars lit up one by one across the ceiling, blotting out the sunlight and concealing all heavenly secrets.

Hearing this, Wang Ping thought to himself, Just as I expected. He wasn't surprised at all. After all, the karmic merit Mingde had just displayed—the Weifa City—already made the True Monarch's stance clear: he intended to strike against the Brahma Nation. Meanwhile, his own True Monarch was clearly brimming with malice toward the Master of Secret Traces. The two sides were a natural match.

So, the question remained.

"How do we make our move? What's the plan?"

Wang Ping asked.

"The Master of Secret Traces. This Bodhisattva knows he has offended the water qi, and he also knows the terror of the one in the Divine Transformation Realm. Because of this, he has been cowering within the Brahma Nation all this time."

Mingde chuckled lightly. "Junior Brother, you should have realized it by now. That's right... before the establishment of the Brahma Nation, the Master of Secret Traces was a True Person of the water qi lineage. Furthermore, he just so happened to be a disciple of that Lord in the Divine Transformation Realm. No one understands just how profound that Lord's methods are better than he does."

"It's exactly because of this that he is so troublesome to deal with."

"Ever since he became a Bodhisattva, he has remained firmly seated deep within the Pure Land. Even on the rare occasions when he absolutely has to leave, he will drag along at least two other Bodhisattvas with him."

"That is how he has survived to this day."

Good heavens!

Wang Ping immediately understood the Master of Secret Traces's modus operandi. Wasn't this just turtling? Turtling until the end of time! His entire way of conducting himself was solely focused on playing it safe.

No wonder when my dao heart was being tested earlier, he rejected anyone who played it safe or turtled. He only wanted someone willing to take risks, someone daring enough to jump straight to a Corpse Dissolution Immortal. It turns out there was already a prior example... That Master of Secret Traces is clearly different from me. He is a person who is naturally inclined to turtle. I'm afraid he's given the True Monarch quite a headache.

Wang Ping could easily picture it.

Ever since the Brahma Nation was established and the Kan Trigram was damaged, his True Monarch had likely cast out bait and laid traps countless times, trying to lure the Master of Secret Traces out to kill him.

But in the end, the Master of Secret Traces simply wouldn't take the bait.

Knowing full well there was a tiger on the mountain, he simply refused to go near the mountain. As a result, the True Monarch could only return empty-handed time and time again, allowing this Bodhisattva to forcibly turtle his way to the present day.

Since that was the case—

"How does the Lord behind you plan to kill him, Senior Brother?"

Wang Ping was rather curious.

After all, with the Master of Secret Traces playing it so safe, even his own True Monarch hadn't been able to do anything about him after all these years. Did the fire qi's Supreme True Lord actually have a way?

Mingde smiled when he heard this, but he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he abruptly shifted the conversation.

"Fellow Daoist, do you know how many times the cultivation system has undergone a revolution since ancient times, ever since the Heavenly Honored One established the immortal dao and founded the Immortal Gate?"

"This..."

Wang Ping's expression turned slightly solemn upon hearing this. He then replied in a deep voice, "I don't know the exact number. I only know of the transitions from nourishing qi, to the Qi Ingestion Method, and up to the current shift to Qi Refining."

"Oh!"

Mingde raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Junior Brother, you didn't grow up studying the Daoist canons; you stepped onto the path of cultivation halfway through your life. Knowing three of them is already quite impressive."

"In truth, from its inception to the present day, the immortal dao has undergone a total of eight revolutions. Each one was a complete subversion and reinterpretation of the Heavenly Honored One's Nine-Word Mantra, spanning countless years. The transition from nourishing qi to the Qi Ingestion Method, and then from the Qi Ingestion Method to Qi Refining, were merely two shifts in this long history."

"After all, those were limited solely to changes in qi."

"Tribulation Transcending, Qi Refining, Cultivating Truth to Ascend to Immortality."

"In fact, of the Heavenly Honored One's Nine-Word Mantra, aside from the step of 'Ascend to Immortality,' which hasn't changed, the remaining parts—Tribulation Transcending, Qi Refining, and Cultivating Truth—have all undergone revolutions."

Mingde suddenly smiled.

"Not to mention these three Realms, even the word 'to' that connects 'Cultivating Truth' and 'Ascend to Immortality' is the result of a revolution."

"Through eight revolutions, the immortal dao continuously climbed higher, finally clearing the path to immortality completely. It was only after that point that the immortals of the Three Great Academies emerged."

This hidden history had nothing to do with cultivation prowess, and it hadn't even been deliberately concealed. The reason ordinary immortal gate cultivators had no way of knowing about it was purely because it was too ancient and had been buried by the passage of time. Only an immortal domain forged by a Supreme True Lord would likely preserve the relevant Daoist canons detailing it.

Wang Ping couldn't help but sit up straight.

"May I ask, Senior Brother, what were those eight revolutions?"

Mingde spoke softly in reply, "There were four in Tribulation Transcending, two in Qi Refining, one in Cultivating Truth, and the final one lay in that linking word, 'to.' As for the original version of the Heavenly Honored One's mantra..."

Pausing to think for a moment, Mingde then recounted it in detail: "'Suffering Disasters, Nourishing Qi, Cultivating the Dao, Then Ascending to Immortality.'"

"In that era, destiny had not yet been established, and the life tribulation had not yet appeared. Therefore, cultivators only needed to endure the three calamities of wind, fire, and lightning."

"That was why it was called 'Suffering Disasters.'"

"This form of cultivation emphasized the cultivator's endurance. They could not resist; they had to allow the disasters to unleash their full force, treating them as a hammer to forge their own magical power and divine abilities."

"The results were good, but not everyone was a genius. Far too many cultivators died because of it... And so, a cultivator proposed a new concept."

"That concept was 'Resolving.'"

"Cultivators would no longer just passively endure disasters; instead, they would actively fight back, finding ways to resolve and defuse the calamities. This was the first revolution of the immortal dao system."

"Thus, 'Suffering Disasters' became 'Resolving Disasters.'"

"This revolution was actually quite harmonious. Although the concept of 'suffering' was replaced, it didn't disappear completely. It simply withdrew from the mainstream immortal dao as an outdated orthodox lineage."

Mingde continued, speaking as he reminisced, "Then, destiny appeared."

"The arrival of the life tribulation triggered the second immortal dao revolution. 'Resolving Disasters' became 'Resolving Tribulations.' As a result, the orthodox lineages related to 'disasters' were phased out."

"Unfortunately, it wasn't long before cultivators discovered that the life tribulation was completely different from the three calamities of wind, fire, and lightning. It was extremely difficult to resolve. Some of the more radical cultivators decided to abandon that method and pivot toward 'Breaking Tribulations.' The results were remarkable, leading to the phasing out of 'resolving.' But this time, it wasn't quite as peaceful."

"Because, unlike the previous two revolutions, this was a matter of sheer irresistible force."

"At that time, both 'Breaking Tribulations' and 'Resolving Tribulations' had considerable success rates. 'Breaking' was slightly higher, but only by a very limited margin."

"Thus came the first great dispute of the dao."

"As a result of their endless disputes, both 'Breaking' and 'Resolving' ended up being phased out—because a cultivator synthesized the pros and cons of both."

"And finally, they proposed 'Transcending.'"

"When the sandpiper and the clam fight, the fisherman catches them both. The emergence of 'Tribulation Transcending' brought that dispute of the dao to a screeching halt, leading to the obsolescence of both 'Breaking' and 'Resolving.'"

Mingde narrated it methodically.

Wang Ping listened patiently until the very end before saying in a deep voice, "But Senior Brother, no matter how the first Realm changed, they were all still qi nourishing cultivators at heart, weren't they?"

"Yes, and no."

Mingde nodded, then shook his head, emphasizing, "'Suffering Disasters, Nourishing Qi, Cultivating the Dao, Then Ascending to Immortality'... Although the cultivators of that era were qi nourishing cultivators."

"The crux back then was still cultivating the dao."

"The focal point lay in cultivating the dao."

"They uniformly referred to themselves as people who cultivated the dao—until the Qi Ingestion Method appeared, and the first True Person changed 'Dao' to 'Truth,' bringing about a transformation."