The big black dog was beside himself with joy, bounding and leaping around the breathless corpse of True Lord Erlang, fawning playfully before his master.
He had remained in this immortal tomb for over five hundred thousand years. Ever since True Lord Erlang died, this big black dog had stayed right here, keeping his master company.
True Lord Erlang's physical body was immortal; to him, it was as if his master were still alive.
As he wandered through this immortal tomb, he would seek out the Six Brothers of Plum Mountain for idle chatter whenever he grew thoroughly bored. But the six brothers were also dead; only their lingering obsessions remained, capable of uttering merely a few simple words and unable to truly keep him company.
He could only return to True Lord Erlang's side once more, lying prostrate on the ground and glancing up at him from time to time with low whimpers in his throat, as though trying to awaken his former master.
He guarded this immortal tomb without knowing what his own future held, nor had he ever given it thought. Nor did he know whether True Lord Erlang would ever awaken from his deep slumber.
He had been so lonely that even when Xu Ying came grave-robbing forty-eight thousand years ago, he had let him off easy, forcing Xu Ying to swear brotherhood across species and teaching him a fragmentary excerpt of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, all just so Xu Ying would visit often.
This time, True Lord Erlang had "awakened," fought a great battle against the intruders, and driven them away, making the dog feel that these nearly six hundred thousand years of waiting had not been in vain.
Yet he could tell as well that the True Lord had not truly awakened; he had merely deceived himself into believing it.
True Lord Erlang had truly passed away.
Xu Ying glanced at Daoist Wukong, who was still snoring soundly in deep slumber, and thought silently to himself, *Was that scene just now True Lord Erlang truly awakening from death, or did Daoist Wukong borrow his physical body to remember this old friend?*
He, too, had not seen whether it was Daoist Wukong's doing; it was merely a guess in his heart.
With a stir in his thoughts, Xu Ying asked the big black dog, "Brother Tian, in the end, is the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art the pinnacle of body refinement, or is the Leakless Golden Body stronger?"
The big black dog cast a wary glance at Daoist Wukong and lowered his voice. "Naturally the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art! Second Master's Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art leads to physical sanctification. When cultivated to the absolute pinnacle, the physical body is the Great Luo Heaven itself, the bodhimanda itself—proving heaven and earth within, verifying oneself through the Dao. That the Leakless Golden Body can run neck and neck with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art is actually because Wukong's natural talent was too high, and he consumed so many Nine Revolutions Great Return Pills from the Dao Ancestor to achieve it. Without eating Nine Revolutions Great Return Pills and lacking such supreme talent, you couldn't possibly cultivate the Leakless Golden Body as he did."
Xu Ying noticed that although the golden ape seemed to be snoring away, both ears were pricked up and clearly listening. Thus, he remarked, "So it turns out the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art truly is number one. The Nine Revolutions Great Return Pills Senior Wukong ate have the words 'Nine Revolutions' in their name, so they must be immortal pills the Dao Ancestor concocted by referencing the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, meant for those who couldn't manage to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art itself."
The golden ape's tail went rigid with rage. He longed to leap up and argue the matter with him, but he held back.
Seeing this, Xu Ying felt secret regret. *Looks like I won't be able to trick him out of the Leakless Golden Body.*
Even if Daoist Wukong's Leakless Golden Body could not match the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, the difference was slight. After all, Daoist Wukong had sat alone before the great rift of the Taishang cave abyss, relying on his Leakless Golden Body to comprehend the Supreme Dao and cultivate all the way to the wondrous realm of Great Luo!
Were it replaced with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, it might not have resisted the Dao-dissolution of the Supreme Dao!
Only with a golden body free of leaks could Daoist Wukong be preserved through countless ages without decay until Xu Ying's arrival to rescue him.
Xu Ying wished very much to experience both arts, but since Daoist Wukong refused to take the bait of his goading, there was nothing he could do.
The big black dog said, "The Leakless Golden Body isn't all that terrible either; it's merely a bit inferior to the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. Last time, you passed Second Master's test. Now that you have returned, I shall impart the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art to you."
He immediately stood on his hind legs, chanting the incantations of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art while circulating the art, teaching Xu Ying from the very beginning.
Xu Ying gave Little Celestial Venerable a discreet kick. "What are you standing there dazed for? Follow along and practice! Do you really need me to teach you?"
Little Celestial Venerable came to his senses and immediately began practicing along with them.
Xu Ying had originally obtained only the first four revolutions of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. The subsequent stages had been deduced by Little Celestial Venerable and himself; by the eighth revolution, it was already riddled with flaws, making it easy for opponents to seize upon weaknesses in battle.
This time, however, the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art imparted by the big black dog came directly from True Lord Erlang, free of any structural flaws, and the cultivation proceeded with supreme smoothness!
Little Celestial Venerable had already cultivated this art to the eighth layer, possessing a physical body comparable to an Immortal Monarch. Now that he had obtained the complete art, his progress was meteoric, and the benefits were immense!
He had cultivated the ancestral method of the six secret depositories and opened the six great cave-heavens. As the cave-heavens operated, physical vitality and heart power surged forth in an endless torrent, enhancing his physical vitality as it was refined into his body, while heart power bolstered his blood and qi, strengthening his physical form.
His strength mounted steadily, and before long, he refined his physical body, Primordial Spirit, and bodhimanda into a single unified whole, and his combat power surged dramatically!
For over forty thousand years, he had been researching how to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, progressing at breakneck speed along this path—far faster than Xu Ying.
Xu Ying, on the other hand, encountered severe difficulties.
Having had his body remolded by the Qi of Creation and having gained the two profound Dao wonders of heart power and physical vitality, his physical form far surpassed ordinary Immortal Kings and Immortal Monarchs. However, compared to his cultivation and compared to his Indestructible Primordial Spirit, it still fell far short.
In cultivating the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art this time, if he could refine the trinity of Primordial Spirit, physical body, and bodhimanda into one, his physical cultivation would inevitably rise with the tide.
His Primordial Spirit was an Indestructible Primordial Spirit with extremely lofty achievements; if his Primordial Spirit and physical body merged as one, the elevation to his physical form would be unimaginable!
Moreover, the authentic Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art required refining the bodhimanda into one's body, making it one with oneself—and his bodhimanda was the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven gifted by Daoist Wukong!
The Great Luo Heaven of the Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan!
Once this Great Luo Heaven was perfectly combined with his physical body, his physical achievements would surely reach an unimaginable height.
At that point, with the Indestructible Primordial Spirit already inside it and the Great Luo Heaven added on top, Xu Ying's physical body would be a walking humanoid magic treasure!
Yet, when Xu Ying cultivated the authentic Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, he discovered that merging his physical body—remolded by the Qi of Creation—with his Indestructible Primordial Spirit did not go smoothly.
His physical body still retained certain characteristics of the Qi of Creation, preventing it from forming a completely unified state with his Primordial Spirit.
Furthermore, major problems also arose in merging the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven with his body. The Ruyi Great Luo Heaven was a unique Great Luo Heaven refined by Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan from Innate Qi, and joining Innate Qi with the Qi of Creation caused severe conflict, making fusion exceedingly difficult.
What was more, the Great Luo Heaven contained the Ten Views of Luo Heaven—ten Dao wonders, ten distinct powers.
The clash between Innate Qi and the Qi of Creation was already intense; with the addition of these ten forces, Xu Ying cultivating the authentic Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was effectively opening up a multi-sided free-for-all battlefield inside his own body!
What made matters even harder was that his Primordial Spirit was composed of Indestructible Spiritual Light and Taiyi Qi. Not only did it clash with the body's Qi of Creation, but it also refused to harmonize with the Great Luo Heaven's Innate Qi.
Xu Ying was at his wit's end. When he practiced his own modified version of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, he had never run into such a situation and had cultivated smoothly, but the authentic Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art proved impossible to cultivate.
He could only watch helplessly as Little Celestial Venerable attained the trinity of body, Primordial Spirit, and bodhimanda, while he, the master, still had not succeeded, feeling thoroughly ashamed.
*Little Celestial Venerable helped Emperor Wu, Shen Luo, open the other shore; his attainments in the martial Dao are truly extraordinary. Cultivating an art as crude, brutish, and unrefined as the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art is naturally much easier for him,* Xu Ying comforted himself internally.
Just then, what sounded like Daoist Wukong's cold sneer rang by his ear: "The Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art enjoys an undeserved reputation; it is mere pseudo-body-refinement, nothing more than borrowing the might of the bodhimanda and the Primordial Spirit."
Xu Ying glanced at Daoist Wukong, only to see the golden ape still sleeping soundly.
He could not help falling into deep thought. Daoist Wukong's claim that the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was pseudo-body-refinement was actually not wrong.
The Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art in truth fused the power of the bodhimanda and Primordial Spirit with that of the physical body. In that state of trinity, the body's strength peaked. Yet if the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was not circulating and the Primordial Spirit and bodhimanda were not merged with the body, the physical body remained just as before.
*True body refinement ought to be the ultimate elevation of the physical body itself. But does such a cultivation method exist?*
Xu Ying's gaze could not help settling upon Daoist Wukong. His heart stirred—could Daoist Wukong's Leakless Golden Body be precisely such a method?
"True body refinement borrows no might from Primordial Spirit or bodhimanda; it refines external daos to empower the physical form. When external evils cannot enter, it is naturally impervious to all arts. When internal Dao does not leak out, the golden body naturally possesses no leaks. With such a body, one can battle heaven and fight earth, invincible against all."
Daoist Wukong remained sleeping on his side, yet his voice resounded in Xu Ying's mind: "This is the Victorious Fighting Method, the Leakless Golden Body—the foremost body-refining method between heaven and earth! Only this body-refining method of mine can refine away all discordant qi within you, returning everything to a unified chaos and achieving a body without leaks!"
A resonant, profound Dao voice instantly echoed in Xu Ying's mind. Unlike the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, which had explicit cultivation techniques requiring the circulation of primordial qi and the tight interlocking of qi between body, Primordial Spirit, and bodhimanda, Daoist Wukong's Leakless Golden Body possessed only Dao resonance, without formal techniques.
Xu Ying's fundamental cultivation scripture was the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture. If he cultivated the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, he would have to practice the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture for a time, then switch over to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art for a time, which was both time-consuming and laborious.
The Leakless Golden Body, however, achieved its body-refining effect merely by circulating the Dao sounds. While cultivating the Leakless Golden Body, he could fully circulate the Taiyi Indestructible Scripture at the same time, without either hindering the other!
Moreover, as the Dao sounds reverberated, they could refine not only the body, but also the spirit!
This method consisted of nine Dao sounds in total. As they resonated and vibrated within his body, Xu Ying actually sensed the Qi of Creation within his physical form slowly vibrating, gradually transforming into a stream of pure energy that dissolved directly into his flesh and blood!
"This Leakless Golden Body..."
Xu Ying was astonished. Continuing to circulate the Leakless Golden Body, he found that within the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven, the Ten Views of Luo Heaven were also steadily transforming into pure power and flowing into his body!
Not only that, he even sensed another peculiar force blending in alongside them, strengthening his body—a force of an exceedingly exalted grade.
*This power comes from the Innate Qi of the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven's true form!*
Xu Ying was both startled and overjoyed. Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan's Great Luo Heaven was not a pure Great Luo Heaven, but had been refined from a cluster of Innate Qi found in the cosmos.
He had never imagined the Leakless Golden Body could refine even Innate Qi!
*Wait!*
Xu Ying suddenly realized something: if the Leakless Golden Body refined away all the Innate Qi that formed the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven, wouldn't that leave him without a Great Luo bodhimanda?
*However, a Great Luo bodhimanda is an external object after all. If the Leakless Golden Body refines the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven away, wouldn't that mean I have refined the Ruyi Great Luo Heaven entirely into myself? I may lose the Great Luo Heaven, but it will be better than having a Great Luo Heaven!*
Thinking up to this point, he noticed that the power of his Primordial Spirit was not being refined into his body.
Presumably, this was where the Leakless Golden Body fell short of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art: the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art could achieve a trinity, unleashing greater might in combat.
If Xu Ying could cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, he would be able to master terrifying power in a short time, directly rivaling great figures.
Yet for Xu Ying, the Leakless Golden Body could help him refine away the disparate foreign powers in his body, and even transform the Great Luo Heaven into his own strength; it was unquestionably what he needed most.
*The Leakless Golden Body does not contain the Supreme Dao. It seems Daoist Wukong possesses another art, likely a method of the Supreme Dao.*
Having mastered the Leakless Golden Body and circulating it at will, Xu Ying recalled something and transmitted his voice: "Senior Wukong, Evil Golden Immortal Xiao Lanshan does not appear to be dead. He has occupied the strange flower of the Heavenly River, stealing my divine arts and Dao methods in an attempt to stage a comeback."
Daoist Wukong's voice drifted back: "To you, that is merely a trial for the Leakless Golden Body."
His voice grew increasingly distant. Xu Ying hurriedly looked across from True Lord Erlang, only to see that Daoist Wukong, who had been reclining there, had vanished without a trace at some point.
"A golden body free of leaks, whole and intact—impervious to external evils, leaking no internal Dao, permanently maintained in its peak state. But can this body-refinement art truly withstand the soul invasion of a Great Luo Golden Immortal?"
Xu Ying remained somewhat uneasy. After all, that was a Great Luo Golden Immortal; if he failed to block it, he feared he would be possessed by Xiao Lanshan's Luo Heaven Annihilation Great Method!
The Ruyi Great Luo Heaven was, after all, the Evil Golden Immortal's Great Luo Heaven. What Xu Ying feared most was that Xiao Lanshan would unleash the Luo Heaven Annihilation Great Method, which was why he had refrained from exposing the strange flower of the Heavenly River, dreading that the other party would drag him down in mutually assured destruction.
*However, if I can refine the Great Luo Heaven into myself and strengthen my physical body, he can forget about ever unleashing the Luo Heaven Annihilation Great Method!* he thought.
Xu Ying cultivated in the immortal tomb for two days, his body growing ever stronger.
Daoist Wukong had stolen the Nine Revolutions Great Return Pills concocted by Taiqing Dao Ancestor, which was how he had refined the Leakless Golden Body to the point where even the Supreme Dao could not dissolve it. Xu Ying did not have Daoist Wukong's fortune, but the Qi of Creation in his body, the Innate Qi of the Great Luo Heaven, and the power of the Ten Views of Luo Heaven were equivalent to the Nine Revolutions Great Return Pills!
As he cultivated the Leakless Golden Body, his progress was remarkably swift. Through the tempering of his flesh, in just two short days, he felt his physical body had grown more than twice as formidable as before—a rock-solid, tangible elevation!
Over these past days, the big black dog kept scrutinizing Xu Ying, finally noticing something amiss. He whispered, "Ergou, it looks like your master, Old Dog, isn't even as gifted or perceptive as you."
"Uncle Xiaotian noticed it too?"
Little Celestial Venerable immediately perked up, lowering his voice. "Last time, I heard Seventh Uncle say that Master suffered injuries from the six secret depositories, which was why he wanted to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, train bitterly in the martial Dao, and open the Other Shore of the Martial Dao. In the end, I beat him to it and opened the Other Shore of the Martial Dao first! Ever since then, I've had my suspicions."
The big bell drew close, bumping heads with Ergou and the black dog, and whispered conspiratorially, "You noticed too? I also sensed that what he's been cultivating lately isn't the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, which shows he really doesn't have much aptitude. Still, don't say it in front of him; leave him some dignity."
The big black dog and Little Celestial Venerable nodded repeatedly, looking toward Xu Ying, who was still practicing bitterly, their faces brimming with sympathy.
Suddenly, the immortal tomb shook violently as the ground trembled and the mountains swayed. From all directions came terrifying, booming rumbles, as though the entire tomb could collapse at any moment!
The big black dog said, "No need to panic. That's just the person suppressed beneath the immortal tomb trying to break the seal. Every so often, the fellow tries to break out."
The big bell asked, "Who is suppressed beneath the immortal tomb?"
The big black dog replied, "Word has it he's an apex expert from the Immortal Realm named Wei Xu, with half a foot already stepping into the Supreme Realm. Second Master was already at the end of his tether back then and couldn't kill him, so he could only suppress him."
No sooner had his words landed than the immortal tomb shuddered violently with loud cracking sounds. In the bodhimandas that formed the immortal tomb, cracks suddenly split open across the sky!
The big black dog's expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, "He's going to break the seal! No, wait—it's not him breaking the seal! Someone is breaking the seal from the outside, trying to rescue him!"
Chapter 533