Chapter 518 - 455: [Golden Core Proving Daoist Skill]

Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple, beneath the withered tree.

The Dao Fruit Golden Core bearing the [Primordial] quietly floated in the void about a foot in front of Qi Yun. The warm, chaotic multicolored light flowed endlessly, reflecting in his deep eyes.

As he gazed at this Golden Core, countless thoughts and comprehensions regarding the Dao path, Dharma Gates, and the road ahead surged within Qi Yun’s heart and spirit. Like the birth and death of stars, they continuously circulated, collided, and clarified.

"What I practice is the [Golden Core Dao Certification Method]..."

He muttered to himself in a low voice. His words were exceptionally clear in the silent mountain breeze, as if he were conversing with the Great Dao.

"Turning the fruit into a core, assimilating the Dao into the body.

"Seeking within one’s own heart, and commanding the heavens without.

"This is a new path that combines the strengths of the Profound Yellow Realm’s [Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method] and the [Primordial Spirit Daoist Method], yet rises above them both."

His gaze was like a torch, piercing through to the essence of the Dao path represented behind this Golden Core.

"[Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method] relies on the Fruit Position to ascend to the heavens. It is tyrannical and vigorous, yet restricted by the status of the Dao Fruit. Before achieving great completion, there are many constraints, and achieving it consumes a tremendous amount of time, making it a long and difficult journey.

"[Primordial Spirit Daoist Method] is pure internal cultivation, relying on no external objects. The Dao Foundation is the most solid and stable, and the requirements for state of mind and cultivation are supreme. However, progress is slow, combat strength forms extremely late, and it lacks the natural, high-status authority empowerment of the [Dao Fruit]. In the struggles across the heavens, it is at an innate disadvantage.

"But my [Golden Core Dao Certification Method]..."

Qi Yun lightly tapped his fingertip. A wisp of chaotic multicolored light sank into the Golden Core before him. The Golden Core trembled slightly, and the evolving scenes within abruptly accelerated, demonstrating the supreme principles of the Great Dao.

"This core is both the Dao Fruit and the Primordial Spirit!

"It has raised the threshold for stepping into the position of a True Monarch. The difficulty and danger of the process are a hundred times greater than the former two!

"However, once successful, it completely erases the greatest weakness of the [Profound Yellow Dao Certification Method]’s reliance on the Dao Fruit!

"With the Golden Core in hand, the Dao path is mine. No external shackles can ever bind the advancement of my Dao again!

"Furthermore, it possesses the advantages of the [Primordial Spirit Daoist Method]—a solid Dao Foundation and a perfected state of mind. Its potential and future limits are simply incomparable."

However, thinking up to this point, the sharp radiance in Qi Yun’s eyes dimmed slightly, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

"It’s just..." He slowly shook his head. "I was able to ’certify from nothingness’ to the Primordial because I fused the Twelve Venerable Dao Foundations. My Dao Rhyme accumulation was incredibly abundant, and furthermore..." He glanced at the silent Magic Technique Panel deep within his Purple Mansion. "...Furthermore, I had a special encounter. This most crucial step of ’turning the fruit into a core’ was, for me, just a matter of course, a natural progression."

"But if it were other cultivators..." Qi Yun’s gaze deepened, as if he saw the scenes of countless geniuses advancing wave upon wave on this path, only to fall in despair. "To try and complete the certification relying solely on themselves within the mere eight-hundred-year lifespan of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator...

"I’m afraid... out of a million cultivators, not even one might attain the Dao.

"The threshold is simply too high."

The [Golden Core Dao Certification Method] was very strong. It possessed limitless potential, tyrannical might, and absolute freedom. Yet, for the vast majority of cultivators, this path was practically a "dead end."

Unless they were like him, "certifying from nothingness" and self-generating a Dao Fruit.

Otherwise, even heaven-defying prodigies who exhausted three lifetimes of lifespan might not be able to touch the threshold of this Dao certification.

"The problem..." Qi Yun’s fingers unconsciously tapped lightly against his knee, emitting a rhythmic TAP, TAP sound.

His eyes flickered, as if countless calculations and deductions were circulating within them. A moment later, his tapping abruptly stopped. His gaze, as sharp as a sword, pierced through the void before him and looked toward that endlessly high and distant place—the foundation and source of this realm’s True Monarch system: All Marvelous Heaven!

"It still stems from... All Marvelous Heaven," Qi Yun muttered to himself.

A strange look slowly revealed itself in Qi Yun’s eyes, as if he were plotting something. Although the specific plan had not yet fully taken shape, a vague yet grandiose direction had quietly taken root in his heart. After clearly recording and settling all the various thoughts, pros and cons analyses, and faint future schemes in the depths of his Heart Lake, Qi Yun hesitated no longer.

"I will deal with the matter at hand first," he told himself. Then, he casually waved his hand at the void before him!

"BUZZ!"

In an instant, the void in front of him boiled!

Three streams of majestic will and power—completely different in color, aura, and Dao Rhyme, yet sharing a fundamental connection to Qi Yun’s main body—rapidly condensed and manifested within this boiling void!

"WHOOSH!" Light suddenly burst forth! Like a resplendent great sun shrunk countless times yet refined to the absolute extreme, it leaped out from nothingness!

Its light was warm and vast. Wherever it illuminated, all things seemed to brim with vitality, and evil entities retreated on their own. It radiated an aura of Supreme Yang, supreme righteousness, and the peerless Dao Rhyme of blessing all living beings!

The light retracted, transforming into a tall and straight figure clad in a pure white Daoist Robe. He possessed a handsome and gentle countenance, eyes containing the sun, moon, and stars, and a Star Map flowing around his body—Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch!

"SPLASH!"

A monstrous Blood Sea surged!

A boundless phantom of a vast Blood Sea, condensed from the purest slaughtering malice and bloody Dao Rhyme, gushed out out of thin air, dyeing half the Celestial Vault a desolate dark red!

Within the Blood Sea floated countless Divine Demon skeletons and broken Divine Soldiers. It emitted a gloomy and terrifying aura that could freeze one’s soul. The aura of slaughter permeated eternity, as if it were the source of all war and destruction!

The Blood Sea shrank, condensing into a slender figure draped in a dark red blood robe. His face was pale and cold, his eyes were like eternal ice, and the palm of his hand supported a continuously spinning blood-colored lotus—Netherworld Blood Sea True Monarch!

"CLANG!"

A sword cry shocked the heavens!

A fierce Sword Intent, pure to the extreme and aloof to the absolute peak, tore through the void and descended brazenly!

A seemingly thin figure, wearing only a simple gray robe, slowly walked out from the Sword Intent.

His face was lean and his expression placid. Only his eyes seemed to contain a peerless sharpness capable of severing karma and destroying eternity. His entire body exuded a terrifying, domineering, and heaven-trampling pressure that declared his absolute supremacy, as if he himself were a supreme fierce sword that could pacify the universe the moment it was unsheathed!

This was precisely that Sword Intent avatar who had once acted as Qi Yun’s Dharma protector, bearing all of his Sword Dao attainments and his connection to the "Slaying Immortals" Dao Fruit!

As soon as the three Dharma Bodies appeared, they naturally formed a Three Talents guarding formation, protecting Qi Yun’s main body in the center.

Although the Dao Rhyme they emitted varied, their fundamental source was Qi Yun’s Primordial Daluo Dao. Their auras were connected, blending seamlessly as one.

The gazes of the three landed on Qi Yun’s main body simultaneously. Then, they bowed in unison, saluting Qi Yun. Their combined voices rang out clear and respectfully through the mountains:

"Congratulations to our true self, ascending to the monarch position and wielding the Primordial!"

Looking at these three Dharma Bodies before him—who were of one heart and mind with himself, each excelling in their own field—a trace of faint gratification also appeared in Qi Yun’s eyes.

He gently waved his hand, and an invisible, gentle force supported the three and helped them stand.

"We are of one heart and mind, inseparable from each other. There is no need for such formalities."

His voice was tranquil, yet carried an unquestionable gentleness.

"I have summoned the three Daoist friends here today because there are truly important matters to arrange." Qi Yun’s expression turned serious as he got to the main point.

"We strictly obey our true self’s Dharma decree," the three Dharma Bodies answered in unison without hesitation, their demeanors respectful and focused.

Qi Yun nodded and slowly said, "In some time, I will leave Profound Yellow for a period."

"Leave Profound Yellow?" Hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed across Netherworld Blood Sea True Monarch’s cold face. He first nodded in understanding, then asked, "But isn’t Profound Yellow under a forbidden seal?"

Qi Yun’s eyes flickered, and a trace of complex, hard-to-understand emotion flashed through them. He raised his head, looking up at the endless, high, and distant Celestial Vault void.

At this moment, two extremely blurry, ethereal figures were faintly reflected in his deep eyes that mirrored the chaotic multicolored light! Those two figures stood quietly at the end of the endless void, aloof from worldly affairs and hard to describe, yet emitting an unfathomable aura that made even Qi Yun feel a trace of trepidation.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly into a faint smile as he said softly:

"I have received no small favor from others...

"If I don’t go and meet them to express my thanks in person...

"It ultimately... wouldn’t be justifiable."

As his voice fell, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the three Dharma Bodies before him again. His expression returned to its calm solemnity.

"Before I leave, I will find a way to pluck three masterless Dao Fruits from All Marvelous Heaven.

"Your task is, after I pluck the Dao Fruits and implant them into the bodies of the three Great Masters, during the critical moment when they charge toward becoming True Monarchs and fuse with the Dao Fruits..." Qi Yun’s voice paused slightly. "...to act as their Dharma protectors."

Hearing this, the expressions of the three slightly shifted. Great Sun Purple Extreme True Monarch’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Our true self means... someone will cause trouble."

"Nowadays, the Profound Yellow Origin Realm appears calm and tranquil, but it is nothing more than the calm before the storm.

"Those Above the True Monarch are restless and itching to act. Although I have destroyed several of the World Honored One’s back-up plans,

"Is it really true that within this Profound Yellow, only the World Honored One has left behind back-up plans?"

Qi Yun’s words made the three’s expressions freeze. A single World Honored One had already turned Profound Yellow upside down and thrown it into complete chaos. It could even be said that if it weren’t for their true self emerging out of nowhere to suppress the universe, fighting the entire Profound Yellow Cultivation Realm single-handedly in the West Sea, and forcibly shattering the World Honored One’s plans—Profound Yellow would likely have fallen into utter disarray long ago. By the time the True Monarchs broke through All Marvelous Heaven’s forbidden seal and returned to Profound Yellow, it would likely have been too late. And listening to the meaning behind their true self’s words... it seemed he had already sensed another [Above the True Monarch]?