novelnext Chapter 66 Gods, Saints
Chapter 66 Gods, Saints
Chapter 66 Gods, Saints
Looking at the enormous, seemingly about-to-collapse celestial python, Xiong Zhou was utterly bewildered.
He only glanced at Xuanpu Divine Mountain from his memories, then at Tianyong City, and finally at what might be his future Senior Sister Baiyu.
Why act like you're fighting for your life?
Isn't that a bit too much?
Xiong Zhou suspected that the enormous snake, which was thousands of feet long, was acting, or at least partly acting against him.
However, there is no evidence.
Suddenly, the entire orange-colored divine sea trembled slightly, and strands of the power of heaven and earth, which governed this divine realm, converged towards the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python.
Under the influence of the vast天地之气 (Heaven and Earth Qi), the spirit and energy of the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python began to rise again, and its massive, shaky body regained its vitality.
It seems that he has recovered from the near collapse and is beginning to return to his peak condition.
Xiong Zhou muttered to himself, "This is the benefit of embarking on the path of a saint, wielding power, and possessing a divine realm."
.
"Within one's own divine domain, as long as one does not suffer some extremely terrifying and irreparable Dao injury, and as long as one does not fall into a coma and lose control of one's authority, one can recover very quickly."
"However, the fact that Fellow Daoist Cao Hui can mobilize so much of the resources of heaven and earth for his own recovery is thanks to his usual accumulation."
Just like Xiong Zhou's divine realm, even if you squeezed the entire fertile land dry, you still wouldn't have this much heaven and earth.
As for the abundant Shan Hai Ruomu that keeps producing?
It is still a baby tree, and it is already remarkable that it can support the needs of the bear boat's resurrection and its own daily cultivation.
The newly opened divine realm has a small area of territory and has not been aged over time; that's just how it is.
Xiong Zhou's gaze shifted slightly, looking towards the entrance of the Divine Palace.
The group of celestial pythons were still fine, though they looked slightly tired, but their eyes revealed excitement, as if they had learned something new.
Xiong Zhou nodded.
The python's current state is just right.
How could Cao Hui, this ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python, look so badly injured? He doesn't seem to have anything special about him...
Thinking of this, Xiong Zhou's expression suddenly changed slightly. He looked at the Divine Realm and then at the authority that Cao Hui was currently wielding.
Those strands of orange light are all the power that fell from the sun in the sky and merged into this divine sea. Now that they are being extracted in this way, it seems to involve a subtle mystery of cosmic light.
Xiong Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly, and the senses of his Universal Dao Body silently emanated, perceiving the changes in time and space under the power of this power.
The next instant, his eyes widened, and he thought to himself, "There really is the power of cosmic light here!"
"Cao Hui claims to be the God of Orange Light, so he should wield the authority of Orange Light. How can this authority even be so close to the edge of the cosmic light?"
With that in mind, Xiong Zhou understood why this guy had been so badly injured.
It is highly likely that the mystery of that ray of cosmic light triggered a subtle "resonance" with certain things and objects in this memory, resulting in a subtle change under some kind of serendipity.
If one can withstand it, it may be an unparalleled opportunity.
Unfortunately, Cao Hui couldn't withstand this subtle change and suffered the consequences.
Xiong Zhou couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. If only Cao Hui could have endured it.
Cao Hui will receive tremendous good fortune, and he can also take advantage of it and get a share.
Looking at the still turbulent world before him, Xiong Zhou turned his gaze to the thick, scarlet liquid on the stone table.
He swirled a strand of rich liquid, lifted the unknown drink, and brought it to his nose to sniff.
Fortunately, there was no bloody smell, nor any obvious substances extracted from flesh and blood; it just looked somewhat similar to blood plasma.
Xiong Zhou took a small sip, and his eyes lit up.
It's sweet and sour, and has a jelly-like texture, which is his favorite type.
Xiong Zhou waved his paws toward the entrance of the shrine.
The celestial pythons naturally saw it. They exchanged glances, and finally one of the larger pythons squeezed out, a smile on its face, and swam to the stone table in front of Xiong Zhou.
The celestial python, with a fawning smile, asked, "May I ask what your orders are, senior?"
Xiong Zhou recognized him; this was the python that had handed him the drink.
"call."
What's the name of this drink?
With a fawning smile, the celestial python respectfully replied, "Senior, this is the juice of the Orange Blood Fruit, a specialty of our Orange Light Divine Sea."
Noticing that Xiong Zhou seemed particularly interested in this, he immediately explained, "This fruit grows at the bottom of several trenches in the Orange Light Divine Sea. Due to the immense pressure, it accumulates nutrients from the Orange Light Divine Sea's water and the Qi of heaven and earth, which is why it has a sweet taste."
"And underground where this fruit is rooted, there is a large mine. During its growth, it will constantly draw nutrients from this mine, which is why it has a special sour taste and a corresponding blood-red color."
"Our Sky Python clan saw that the juice of this fruit was as red as blood, and its texture was quite viscous and did not easily evaporate, so we named it the Orange Blood Fruit."
Xiong Zhou nodded.
"call.
"
[What is the production volume?]
The celestial python was very perceptive; it immediately took out several seeds and placed them on Xiong Zhou's stone table.
"Senior, these are the seeds of the Orange Blood Fruit."
"After being planted in the Orange Light Divine Sea, it takes about a hundred years to grow, a hundred years to flower, and a hundred years to bear fruit. Every three hundred years or so, a harvest can be completed, with about three fruits per harvest."
Xiong Zhou was slightly taken aback.
It would take three hundred years to harvest the seeds planted in the Orange Light Divine Sea, which was far beyond his expectations. Moreover, only three seeds were produced, which seemed a little too few.
Is there no microscopic regulation through differentiation and cultivation, the regulation of heaven and earth, or the acceleration of cosmic light?
The Heavenly Python, who was constantly observing Xiong Zhou's expression, immediately said, "Senior, the current Orange Blood Fruit has been selected and domesticated by our clan for tens of thousands of years."
"In their original state, they would require more than ten times the growth time they currently have, and their fruit-bearing rate would be worrisome."
"If you would do me the honor of taking these seeds with you, senior, you could help our Heavenly Python clan with some research?"
Xiong Zhou shifted his gaze from the seed to the celestial python.
To talk about sending seeds so eloquently, what a social talent... a real genius!
Who says that a primitive cultivation environment can't produce social butterflies? Look at this celestial python from the Orange Light Divine Sea!
"call."
[What's your name?]
The celestial python was overjoyed and said directly, "Cao Meng, senior, my name is Cao Meng!"
Xiong Zhou nodded.
"call."
[Cao Meng, I will remember this.]
The furry white claws slowly rose, and the [Innate Divine Power: █ (Pixel Block)] flowed out, covering the seeds on the stone table and beginning to pixelate them.
In just a few breaths, six square pixel seeds, each about 1 cubic millimeter in size, appeared.
Name: Orange Blood Fruit - Seed Level: Refining Level 4 (Peak)
Status: Vigorous growth Description: This is a seed blessed by abundance Special: Blessed by Abundance
Xiong Zhou took one of the orange blood fruit seeds, and then gently pushed the remaining five towards Cao Meng.
"call."
Seeds blessed with abundant harvests will no longer have a problem with fruit setting.
The fluctuations of the Qi of Heaven and Earth slowly dissipated, and the ten-thousand-foot-long Heavenly Python, apart from being somewhat listless and tired, had returned to its peak state in every other aspect.
Cao Hui slowly approached, carefully examined the five seeds, and praised, "Fellow Daoist Fengrao's power is truly extraordinary. You actually solved the problem of cultivating the Orange Blood Fruit with just a single flow of the Qi of Heaven and Earth."
"With such authority and profound power, Fellow Daoist Fengrao, many totems guarding the sacred mountains would probably wish to become your friends."
If the cultivation of orange blood fruit can be solved, the problem of the difficulty in producing abundant harvests of other cultivation resources of the same level can definitely be solved.
For a totem that has needs from its followers, believers, and the divine realm, this power would be extremely welcome, but it would also be the target of the most terrifying covetousness.
Cao Hui gave Xiong Zhou a deep look, glanced at his brow, and then looked away.
It is true that they are coveted, but behind this Fellow Daoist of Abundance stands the extremely powerful Kunlun pantheon, a forbidden zone that has survived since the beginning of time.
This is sufficient to handle the many threats that may befall this fellow Daoist.
Cao Hui's mind raced, and he cast a glance at Cao Meng.
In an instant, Cao Meng's figure slowly disappeared, along with the five seeds blessed by the Abundance Blessing, and were moved to the outside of the divine palace.
The next instant, the gates of the divine palace began to slowly close, and a power that could slightly disturb the secrets of heaven gradually spread out, covering an area of ten miles.
Cao Hui looked at Xiong Zhou and said, "I apologize for being so forward, but some of the things I'm about to say cannot be made public, not even to my descendants."
"Fellow Daoist Fengrao has an extraordinary background. I would like to ask how to undergo the sixth transformation and reach the realm of the Phoenix."
Xiong Zhou remained calm. He realized that the reason why this ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python had invited him to a banquet was because of this purpose.
Before attaining immortality, there are six special turning points in the cultivation path, which are divided into six levels from the first level of cultivation to the sixth level of Qi cultivation by the various Dao Lords of the "Cultivation World". Other cultivation systems are roughly the same.
The sixth transformation that Cao Hui mentioned probably corresponds to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
To advance to the sixth level of the Refinement Realm, one must elevate their understanding of the universe and the principles of law to the level of Dharma Derivation, or at least touch upon the edges of that level, before they can successfully advance.
Presumably, the original totems of the Mountain and Sea Realm were also like this.
After organizing his thoughts, Xiong Zhou called out softly.
"Waaah."
[Simply elevate your understanding of the Way of Heaven and Earth, and your perception of the laws of Heaven and Earth, to a level equal to that of Heaven itself.]
Cao Hui froze, and the entire python froze as well.
He also knew that as long as he gained a deeper understanding of the principles of law and the natural world, none of this would be a problem.
However, I see absolutely no hope of getting promoted, so I want to ask if there are any methods that can help.
Cao Hui sighed softly, then said, "I once met with the Phoenix and asked him about my future. He only said a few mysterious words to me."
"Let go of attachments, practice the divine way, and when your mind is pure and free of dust, you will naturally soar among the clouds."
"In the past 500,000 years, I have only truly understood the first sentence, 'Let go of attachments.' As for the remaining three sentences, I wonder what you, my friend, can teach me."
Upon hearing this, Xiong Zhou's eyes widened instantly.
These four comments are quite insightful; they actually gave him a level of understanding of the Dharma that is similar to that of Senior Sister Baiyu.
Xiong Zhou pondered for a moment, then whispered a word.
"Waaah."
Fellow Daoist Cao Hui, what path do you think you are currently walking? What path are you cultivating?
Cao Hui was stunned for a moment, then said directly, "What else could it be? Of course, it's the Way of the Totem, the totem god who holds the power of heaven and earth and possesses the power of heaven and earth."
Xiong Zhou nodded, but then shook his head.
"Waaah."
[You're right, but it's not deep enough.]
"call."
[Gods are saints; the path followed by primitive totems is a path called "Sainthood."]
"call."
[As the word "saint" implies, the path to the highest level leads to sainthood.]
Cao Hui humbly inquired, "May I ask, Fellow Daoist Fengrao, what is a sage?"
"And how does one become a saint?"
Xiong Zhou glanced at Cao Hui, and the light of the "Scripture of Salvation" circled slightly in a layer that the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python could not see.
Very good. Although this fellow Daoist has accumulated a heavy amount of evil energy within his body, he has not taken any killings for a long time, and there is a hint of purity about him.
Xiong Zhou explained in a low voice, "Phew."
[A saint must have the world and all living beings in their heart, possess great impartiality and love, establish boundless achievements, accumulate immeasurable merit, and receive countless offerings and blessings.]
After so much time, with Senior Sister Bai Yu's tireless tutoring day and night, Xiong Zhou has gained a relatively broad understanding of the path of the Saint.
If we quantify the above indicators slightly and place them in the modern society of the past, they would probably be the living Shennong who made the great vow of "enjoying the cool under the rice plants".
At present, this is how Xiong Zhou understands the path of cultivation as a "saint".
"call."
[As for becoming a saint, that's too far in the future; I don't know either.]
"call."
[However, in my opinion, this should be a very private matter, something that cannot be replicated.]
After all, once I've performed this meritorious act, you'll lose this opportunity. This matter perfectly aligns with my path of cultivation, but your path of cultivation is completely unaware of it...
Spiritual practice is a private matter, and outsiders have no right to interfere.
The only thing I can do is share my own spiritual experiences as a reference, pointing out the detours I've taken, the pitfalls I've fallen into, and the suffering I've endured.
Practices, spells, Taoist scriptures... in a sense, they are all "experiences" summarized by our predecessors.
The master leads you through the door, but the practice is up to you; that's pretty much it.
Therefore, if Cao Hui wants to undergo his sixth transformation, he really has to figure it out for himself.
When Xiong Zhou finished speaking, Cao Hui's expression became somewhat dazed. He recalled the past, the other auspicious beasts in the Nanshan mountain range, and the most powerful auspicious beast, the Phoenix.
He seemed to have a vague understanding, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.