That single line of true transmission from Imperial Son Mingxi was the crux of the Great Dao of Taiyi. With this line alone, one could comprehend the marvelous operation and transformations of great Daos such as Taiyi, Yin and Yang, Taiji, the Five Elements, and the Nine Palaces, achieving complete unification!
"Yuan Qi arises within the boundless void, beyond the dark underworld, born from the great cavity"—and "great cavity" referred to the origin of cave abysses.
As for the Three Qi of Shi, Yuan, and Xuan, only Yuan Qi could be found on the Emerald Rock of the Earth Immortal Realm and in the ancient scriptures of the Heavenly Immortal Realm; Shi Qi and Xuan Qi had never once been recorded.
Xuan Qi was born from the void, Yuan Qi was born from cave abysses, and Shi Qi was born from nothingness. The three transformed and proliferated, giving rise to the myriad Daos. Their derivations were called the Nine Xuan; when the Nine Xuan returned to one, it became Taiyi.
Expounding the origins of the three Qi and enacting the wonders of transformation—this was the true transmission!
Xu Ying had learned far too many cultivation methods from Princess Mingman and had already mastered thirty-six Great Daos. Yet having so many Daos drained away all his energy.
The more Great Daos he cultivated, the further he strayed from the Supreme realm.
Now, this single line of true transmission regarding the Great Dao of Taiyi would allow him to converge all his various Daos into Taiyi, reducing complexity to unity. Far from declining, his cultivation and strength would take a substantial leap forward!
If he could comprehend this single sentence to its fullest depths, the Supreme realm would be within arm's reach!
Imperial Son Mingxi had simply offered too much—how could Xu Ying not sell out Yuan Yu?
Naturally, Xu Ying still felt a sliver of guilt toward the Holy Venerable, but this true transmission was so precious that had he not sold out the Holy Venerable, his guilt would have been even greater.
Imperial Son Mingxi shook his head. "I came here for mutual exchange, not to pry out the flaws in that little barbarian's arts. I would not stoop so low."
His voice was as proud as ever, showing not the slightest discouragement over having been defeated by the Holy Venerable. He added, "I am still only at the Dao Realm seventh-fold, whereas he is already at the eighth-fold. Once I attain the eighth-fold, I shall naturally seek him out for another bout, and the victor remains to be seen."
Xu Ying was quite surprised and said solemnly, "It seems I underestimated you. Allow me to offer my apologies." With that, he bowed deeply, clasping his hands and bending low to the floor.
Seeing him perform an etiquette of the Earth Immortal Realm, Imperial Son Mingxi was at a slight loss for what to do, unsure of how to return the courtesy. So he followed suit, bowing deeply to the ground as well, and said, "Please, do not do this. I have my own selfish motives; I simply find them awkward to voice."
Having received such a great favor from him, Xu Ying felt a little uneasy and said, "Now that you have passed me this true transmission, when we clash, you will lose even more decisively. How about this: let us exchange insights as much as possible over these next few days. That way, when I defeat you in the future, I will not have to feel guilty."
Imperial Son Mingxi fell silent for a long time before saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, is this how you usually speak back in the Earth Immortal Realm? In my opinion, your strength must be truly formidable."
For if he were not formidable, he would long since have been beaten to death for uttering words so brutally blunt.
Having changed her clothes, Princess Mingman rushed over excitedly, only to find Xu Ying and her brother Mingxi conferring over Dao methods and divine powers. Yet for most of the time, Mingxi was merely listening to Xu Ying and nodding repeatedly, only offering a pointer or two on occasion.
The two were discussing various Dao methods and expounding profound theories. Princess Mingman had originally harbored other intentions, having changed into an outfit with a low-cut neckline and high slits, but upon arriving, she found herself completely unable to get a word in edgewise.
She wanted to draw their attention, yet in knowledge and scholarship she was far inferior to Xu Ying and Mingxi, leaving her with no choice but to sit and listen.
She soon realized that her allure to Xu Ying was not even equal to a single question posed by her brother!
Fortunately, she was soon absorbed in listening. Whenever there was something she did not understand, she would take the initiative to ask, and both Xu Ying and Mingxi would pause at appropriate moments to explain it to her.
All three faced the problem of how to unify disparate Great Daos, though their specific paths of cultivation differed.
Imperial Son Mingxi cultivated the principles of the other shore; Princess Mingman cultivated dragon patterns; and Xu Ying was the most eclectic, cultivating both Dao patterns and talismans while also practicing the principles of the other shore and dabbling in dragon patterns.
Nevertheless, all Great Daos were interconnected. Through this joint exploration, they untangled one thorny conundrum after another.
Imperial Son Mingxi was quite astonished. In the past, his sister could master nothing and had been a notorious useless dragon; yet this time, she could actually follow their discussion of the Dao, displaying astonishing talent as though she had suddenly had an epiphany.
She even pointed out crucial keys with a single remark, making him look upon her with new eyes.
He and Mingman had been born of the same womb, yet one was a genius and the other a useless dragon, leading their paths in life to diverge completely. Imperial Son Mingxi had been the center of everyone's expectations, while Mingman was despised wherever she went, exiled from the Other Shore Academy to the borderland's Qianyuan Academy.
'Mingman's progress is truly terrifyingly fast.'
The more Imperial Son Mingxi watched, the more startled he grew. Maintaining an unruffled expression, he said, "Sister Man'er, do you still remember Mingzhen, who often bullied you? He has returned from the Other Shore Academy."
Princess Mingman's eyes lit up. She sprang to her feet immediately and laughed, "I'm going to settle scores with him!"
Watching his sister walk away, Imperial Son Mingxi sneered, "Women only get in the way of our cultivation."
Xu Ying asked in confusion, "What's the matter with Mingzhen?"
Imperial Son Mingxi said, "My father has many imperial concubines. Sister Man'er and I are born of the same mother, whereas Mingzhen is the son of Imperial Concubine Yuan. My father has over three thousand children; among them, I am the most outstanding, while Sister Man'er was the most useless. When she was young, she was frequently grabbed by the hair by our royal siblings, who threatened to scalp her. Mingzhen was one of those who bullied her especially hard."
Xu Ying came to a sudden realization. No wonder Princess Mingman had such an immense obsession with scalps.
Still, for Emperor Mingdao to have fathered over three thousand children was rather excessive.
The two resumed their studies.
Princess Mingman arrived at Imperial Concubine Yuan's palace and called out Imperial Son Mingzhen. "You always bullied me when we were little," she said. "Now that I have returned triumphant from my studies, apologize to me and I will let bygones be bygones."
Imperial Son Mingzhen hurriedly straightened his robes, bowed to her with an earnest expression, and said, "Sister Man, it was my fault back then. I shouldn't have bullied you."
Princess Mingman was surprised; she had not expected him to be so reasonable. It seemed he had made great strides at the Other Shore Academy.
Though a little disappointed, she did not fuss over it, saying breezily, "Since you've apologized, I won't hold it against you for threatening to scalp me back then."
Imperial Son Mingzhen straightened his back. "Thank you, Sister Man."
Princess Mingman turned to leave, but just then, a chuckling voice came from behind: "Little useless trash..."
Ferocity flared in Princess Mingman's eyes. Spinning around and circulating her profound arts, she strode toward Mingzhen.
With a smirk, Imperial Son Mingzhen sneered, "The bullying of the past is wiped clean, so now we start afresh! A little waste is still a little waste after all. What 'returning triumphant from studies'? Were you kicked out of Qianyuan Academy?"
Princess Mingman mobilized her Heavenly Martial Dao, unleashing the technique Dragons Battling in the Wild! In an instant, the vital blood throughout her body transformed into ten thousand dragons surging and roaring, crashing straight toward him!
Imperial Son Mingzhen shouted, "Come on then! Back then I only spared you out of respect for your brother. Now your brother can't even beat a little barbarian from the Earth Immortal Realm! Today I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget, you wretched girl!"
He circulated his cultivation method and unleashed a divine power to meet Princess Mingman head-on.
*Boom!*
Imperial Son Mingzhen's divine power shattered into fragments. Struck full in the chest by the energy of ten thousand dragons unleashed by Mingman's fist, he spat blood and flew backward, smashing into the palace wall.
Gripped by panic, he struggled to get up, only to feel agonizing pain tearing through his internal organs. His primordial spirit was damaged, and his Dao Realm had even been punched clean through—he was severely wounded.
Princess Mingman walked up, grabbed him by the scalp, and hoisted him into the air, barking, "You bullied me back then, and today it's my turn to bully you back! First, I'll scalp you..."
Before she could finish, she felt the ripple of a divine power striking from the side and hurriedly activated her Leakless Golden Body to take the blow head-on!
The divine power was ferocious, sending her sliding sideways across the ground.
Mingman steadied herself, only to see Mingzhen's sister Mingyue leading several sisters outside the manor. Staring at her with faces frosted with rage, they hurried toward Mingzhen.
"Good timing! Mingyue, Mingxin—you girls bullied me plenty back then too! Today we settle every last debt!"
Mingman charged forward in excitement. Mingyue, Mingxin, and the others were shocked and furious, sneering, "Useless girl, you still don't realize your brother has lost favor! How dare you act so insolent before us! Today we'll teach you a good lesson!"
The young women surged forward, encircling Mingman and striking in concert. Yet within barely three to five exchanges, half of Mingyue's teeth were knocked out, and her slender frame spun through the air, crashing several li away.
With pure, unyielding force, Mingman breached Princess Mingxin's Dao Realm, smashing through five successive layers of Dao realms to engage in vicious close combat. In two moves, she slapped her into the dirt, then turned to charge at the other two princesses.
*Boom!*
Another princess, Mingqiu, had her head driven straight into a palace wall, her body dangling outside as she shrieked, "Call for help! Hurry, call for reinforcements!"
For a time, total chaos erupted across the imperial palace. Numerous guards rushed out, but seeing that those fighting were princesses and imperial sons, they were stunned into hesitation, not daring to step forward.
Mingqiu, Mingxin, and Mingyue had sisters and friends in the palace, and those sisters and friends had younger brothers, younger sisters, older brothers, and older sisters. Hearing the commotion, they all mobilized and rushed toward the scene.
Princess Mingman had always been the punching bag among the imperial sons and princesses. Seeing these siblings swarming in, her eyes turned blood-red with battle lust. Skimming the ground in dragon form with unpredictable footwork, she awakened the combat instincts of the Far Ancestor's bloodline, dodging barrage after barrage of divine powers. Letting out a resounding dragon roar, she charged headlong into them!
For divine powers she could not avoid, she took them head-on with her physical body. Each strike caused golden light to erupt across her flesh, fueling her cultivation and making her stronger and stronger!
Princess Mingman plunged into the crowd of imperial sons and princesses, moving like a striking falcon. With a wave of her hand, she batted an imperial son until he spewed blood, tumbling backward and bowling over three or four others.
Immediately following up, she thrust out a finger, punching a bloody hole straight through a princess's chest from front to back.
Ducking low, she swept her leg and shattered an imperial prince's legs, then vaulted into the air and drove her knee into another princess's face, caving in her features!
Fighting with wild abandon, Mingman clapped both palms viciously against Princess Mingxiu's ears, battering her until blood poured from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all at once!
From amidst the crowd, Imperial Son Mingxuan flew into the air with a *whoosh*, ending up hooked on the eaves of the hundred-zhang-tall Ascending Immortal Tower.
Imperial Son Mingnuo took a kick to the midriff, hurtling backward and blasting through three palace walls in succession—*bang, bang, bang!*
Princess Mingman darted through the palace's alleys and halls, flitting to and fro, dropping to the earth one moment and leaping aloft the next, sending one royal sibling after another flying through the air!
At times she transformed into a true dragon, skimming alongside the palaces to ambush her foes and whipping her tail to fling them aside; at other times she fought in her dragon maiden form, unleashing sweeping, majestic strikes that left her royal siblings utterly routed and sprawling in disarray.
Across the imperial palace, exotic immortal halls and pavilions were suddenly cracked and fractured by one flying imperial son and princess after another, the dull thuds of heavy impacts resounding incessantly.
Seeing her own son and daughter suffering and being beaten by Princess Mingman while the guards dared not intervene, Imperial Concubine Yuan was consumed by rage. She charged forward at once, hurling one divine power after another onto Mingman. Yet the dragon maiden merely swayed slightly, completely unharmed, and continued fighting her way through the other imperial sons and princesses.
Imperial Concubine Yuan closed in, their Dao Realms clashing violently. She attempted to suppress Mingman using her profound cultivation, only for Mingman to slam backward into her, jolting her vital blood. Immediately after, Mingman drove a reverse elbow straight into her chest, hitting with such excruciating pain that Concubine Yuan nearly choked on her breath.
Following through the elbow strike, Mingman reached back, seized Imperial Concubine Yuan by the hair, swung her overhead with fierce power, and slammed her violently onto the flagstones.
Carried away by the frenzy of battle, the maiden cared not who her opponent was. Raining punches down like a gale upon Concubine Yuan's face, dull thuds echoed out as Concubine Yuan's head and upper torso were pummeled straight into the earth, leaving only two legs sticking out, twitching intermittently.
In the distance, Emperor Mingdao watched with a face as dark as still water, remaining silent the entire time.
From time to time, guards rushed over and knelt on one knee to ask for instructions, but before they could speak, he waved them away.
The palace guards, unable to fathom his thoughts, could only pass down the order that no one was to intervene in the brawl between the imperial sons and princesses.
A moment later, several imperial consorts, battered black and blue, came flying over while hitching up their skirts, wailing in grievance, "Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for us!"
Emperor Mingdao's face darkened. "Children roughhousing—why did you meddle? You deserved the beating. Begone!"
The consorts dared not utter another word and hastily retreated.
"Pass down the command: the elders are forbidden from interfering in the roughhousing of the imperial sons and princesses," Emperor Mingdao instructed.
His voice was soft, yet it resounded throughout the imperial palace. The palace was filled with formidable masters, who, upon hearing this, fell silent in awe and dared not make a move.
*Bang!*
Imperial Son Mingyu came flying flailing through the air, crashing into the palace wall behind Emperor Mingdao. Limp and drained of strength, he slid down softly and plopped onto the ground.
Nearby, Imperial Concubine Jinhua let out a shrill scream, knocked flying backward with a face swollen like a pig's head, landing with a crash right before Emperor Mingdao.
"Your Majesty..." Concubine Jinhua lifted her head, gasped out, and tilted her neck, fainting dead away.
Emperor Mingdao's expression remained as dark as still water, uttering not a word.
Inside Princess Mingman's courtyard residence, Xu Ying and Imperial Son Mingxi remained deaf to the outside world, completely absorbed in exchanging their insights on Dao methods.
Right as their discussion grew impassioned, a princess came flying in from outside, her head smashing through a rockery before plunging headfirst into an adjacent pond. Yet the two remained entirely oblivious, continuing their lively debate on the Dao.
*Thud!*
An imperial son's head crashed straight through the pavilion roof above them, his torso dangling through with arms drooping limply.
Only then were Xu Ying and Imperial Son Mingxi jolted from their concentration. Rising to their feet, they heard endless dragon roars ringing out outside, growing ever crisper. A look of astonishment crossed Mingxi's face as he blurted out, "Could my sister's progress truly be this rapid?"
Xu Ying chuckled. "She is cultivating under my guidance. If she didn't progress quickly, wouldn't that bring shame upon my face?"
Imperial Son Mingxi gave him a searching look. The two stepped outside, intending to witness Princess Mingman's prowess. No sooner had they walked out than sharp whistling sounds pierced the air; imperial sons and princesses were being swatted all across the sky, their airborne trajectories whistling through the air.
All around, courtyard walls and palace gates were riddled with gaping holes. The royal siblings lay scattered in every imaginable posture—some embedded in masonry, some draped over walls, some dangling from treetops, and some with their heads planted squarely into the dirt.
Their injuries varied widely: wounds caused by divine powers, martial arts, and dragon claws and tails alike. Clearly, Xu Ying's teachings were extraordinarily eclectic.
At this sight, even Xu Ying couldn't help feeling a surge of pride, chuckling, "It seems my nurturing over these past days has borne quite fine fruit."
Mingxi cast another deep glance at him, thinking to himself, 'To take Sister Man from complete ineptitude and mold her into such a vicious powerhouse is truly remarkable. But can the heritage of the Earth Immortal Realm truly surpass the heritage of the other shore?'
During his exchange with Xu Ying just now, although he had not intended to measure the superiority of Earth Immortal Realm arts against those of the other shore, he had nonetheless noticed that the frameworks of Dao patterns and dragon patterns were still considerably inferior to the principle frameworks of the other shore.
Unless this gap were bridged, even if Xu Ying defeated him in their challenge, or defeated Young Master Hongbo of the other shore, it still wouldn't prove that Dao patterns or dragon patterns were superior.
It would merely prove that Xu Ying himself was superior.
Right at that moment, Xu Ying sensed a gaze fall upon him. Heavy beyond measure, it inspired a sensation of dread and danger even greater than facing Former Emperor Ming Xun.
His heart stirred. Tracing the gaze to its source, he saw a peerless young emperor standing before a palace.
Emperor Mingdao.
"Young Master Xu, His Majesty requests an audience," a guard hurried over and addressed Xu Ying.
Chapter 694