Dao Master Luo seemed not to have expected Xu Ying to sell out Taiyi so swiftly, and he was slightly taken aback.
The carriage drove forward, entering Longxing Temple.
After a moment, the precious carriage arrived at Taiyi's sacrificial grounds, where Grand Dao Lord Taiyi had offered tens of thousands of corpses in blood sacrifice to revive Tianchengzi.
Dao Master Luo observed the site for a long while before slowly speaking. "You did not lie. It truly was Taiyi who revived Tianchengzi. Taiyi, oh Taiyi... I once said that your great villainy wore the mask of loyalty. It seems my words have proved prophetic; in the end, you have indeed rebelled."
Xu Ying declared resolutely, "My Taiyi Dao Sect swears irreconcilable enmity with that old scoundrel Taiyi!"
Dao Master Luo glanced at him with a slight frown.
By all reason, the Taiyi Dao Sect was a sect founded by Taiyi. Now that Taiyi had become a rebel, the Taiyi Dao Sect naturally ought to be exterminated down to the last person, leaving none alive.
Yet Xu Ying happened to be useful.
Reading his expression, Xu Ying said, "This disciple rushed about everywhere to revive Dao Masters, which can also be counted as service rendered to Mount Jiuqiu. If this disciple becomes the sect master of the Taiyi Dao Sect, the Taiyi Dao Sect will serve as Mount Jiuqiu's vanguard."
Dao Master Luo gave a half-smile and sneered, "Taiyi is a rebel, but are you, Xu Ying, not a rebel as well? Who among your Taiyi Dao Sect possesses staunch loyalty? Is it you, Xu Ying? Or Zhong Yuliu, Grand Dao Lord Haoyi, Zhuo Daochun, or Zhangsun Shenghai?"
Xu Ying lowered his head and smiled. "Taiyi has already reached the brink of Dao Master, whereas this disciple is still far from the Dao Master realm."
Taishi blinked, thinking to himself, 'He is telling the Grand Master: when I am about to attain the Dao and become a Dao Master in the future, I will definitely rebel; but right now I am still far from the Dao Master realm, so I certainly will not rebel.'
Dao Master Luo had intended to make use of him in the first place. Hearing this, he said, "Taiyi's rebellion will not be held against the Taiyi Dao Sect, then. Sect Master Xu, let me ask you: when you encounter Taiyi in the future, will you uphold righteousness and eliminate your kin?"
"I will definitely uphold righteousness and destroy him!" Xu Ying declared with righteous indignation.
Dao Master Luo said, "Words are not proof; swear an oath as testament. Xu Ying, I want you to swear an oath to me!"
Hearing this, Taishi's heart tightened. Swearing an oath to a Dao Master was a common occurrence on the other shore.
If neither side trusted the other, the safest method was a Dao Master oath. One swore an oath to a Dao Master, and should the oath be breached, it would cause fluctuations in the Dao Master's Great Dao; the oathbreaker would die directly from those Great Dao fluctuations!
To break such a binding oath, there was only one condition: one had to be able to withstand the Great Dao fluctuations of a Dao Master!
Xu Ying immediately swore an oath to Dao Master Luo, saying, "When this disciple faces Grand Dao Lord Taiyi, I will definitely strike at him and uphold righteousness to eliminate him!"
Dao Master Luo's Dao of Soul fluctuated slightly before returning to tranquility; the oath took effect.
Dao Master Luo let out a sigh and said softly, "Taiyi, oh Taiyi. I suspected many people, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be you."
His hands gripped the legs covered beneath his robes, squeezing tightly, feeling no sensation of pain from them.
After a long while, his hands slowly relaxed.
Back then, when he attended the grand gathering on Qionghua Island, just as he was about to arrive at the island, he was suddenly ambushed. A ray of sword light pierced into his waist and abdomen, nearly killing him!
Fortunately, he had survived, but from that moment on, he was never able to stand again.
'Until not long ago, a piercing pain flared once more in my waist, as though someone had stabbed me over a hundred million years ago. I sensed the fluctuations of the Dao, and when I tried to look back through time, that person had already vanished without a trace.'
A voice murmured silently in his heart, 'I swore that I would find the real culprit. Back then, near that spot, I found only fragments of Tianchengzi's space-time divine abilities. And not long ago, I also sensed the Great Dao of Space-Time hindering my Dao of Soul's counterattack. The other Great Dao that blocked me was the Great Dao of Taiyi.'
He gazed at the sacrificial traces of Longxing Temple before him. Everything was now clear: Grand Dao Lord Taiyi and Tianchengzi had joined forces, traveled back into the past, and stabbed him with that sword, turning him into what others called "Paralyzed Luo"!
Over a hundred million years of humiliation, over a hundred million years of hatred—how could he not avenge it?
Yet there was still a doubt: how had Taiyi wounded him?
In the past, Dao Master Luo had been unable to identify the dao methods contained within his dao wounds. Later, as his vision and knowledge expanded, he gradually realized that the sword strike held the Great Dao of Slaughter!
Later still, after attaining the Dao Master realm, he sensed that it also contained calamitous destiny and the Great Dao of Nirvanic Extinction.
Slaughter, Nirvanic Extinction, and calamitous destiny—these three Great Daos were the most troublesome among the Nine Innate Daos. Had it been a single one of these Daos, with his cultivation and understanding as a Dao Master, he could have easily wiped it away. But instead, these three Great Daos had achieved a Hunyuan structure.
And Great Dao Hunyuan was a fundamental cultivation method of the Taiyi Dao Sect. Haoyi had cultivated two to three hundred Great Daos of Heaven and Earth, unifying them within the Great Dao of Taiyi to achieve the Hunyuan of myriad Daos, becoming famed throughout the world. Yet Haoyi had learned that from Taiyi as well.
Still, the Great Dao of Taiyi was one of the Nine Innate Daos. Could Taiyi truly be so formidable as to cultivate three other Daos and unify all three?
'I have never sensed any other Great Dao on Taiyi,' Dao Master Luo thought.
His gaze fell once more upon Xu Ying, then shifted away.
For a fleeting moment just now, he had suspected Xu Ying; after all, Xu Ying had also emerged from Longxing Temple and was a disciple of the Taiyi Dao Sect. But he immediately dismissed the thought. While Xu Ying did possess the aura of calamitous destiny and slaughter, his foundation was insufficient; he could not possibly have wounded Luo as he was back then.
"You understand calamitous destiny, slaughter, and nirvanic extinction?" Dao Master Luo inquired.
Xu Ying knew that back before the Elegance Pagoda in the Zhao Realm, he had used Daos such as Karma and Slaughter, and had also comprehended the Great Dao of Calamitous Destiny right in front of the Elegance Pagoda.
None of this could have escaped Dao Master Luo's eyes!
"I have studied them," Xu Ying answered truthfully. "Originally, this disciple did not know of the Nine Innate Daos. After joining the Taiyi Dao Sect, Eldest Senior Brother Zhangsun Shenghai told me that there are indeed Nine Innate Daos, the nine most powerful innate Great Daos. It was through receiving much guidance from him that I achieved what I have today."
Dao Master Luo detected no signs of lying from him.
'Zhangsun Shenghai cultivates the Nine Innate Daos. With Taiyi as his teacher, Zhangsun Shenghai's Nine Innate Daos were naturally taught by Taiyi.'
Dao Master Luo frowned slightly. He suddenly felt that the solid, mature Taiyi of former years had become so unfamiliar!
'Not only that, Zhangsun Shenghai is also Daoist Tongtian's disciple, and back then Tongtian had very close dealings with Taiyi.'
The more he thought, the more terrifying he found Taiyi. He thought to himself, 'He also took Zhuo Daochun, a Tianjing native, as his disciple. After Zhuo Daochun returned to Tianjing, Taiyi could use Zhuo Daochun as a connection to link up with the Tianjing Dao Venerable. Taiyi, oh Taiyi, your scheming runs far too deep!'
Thinking up to this point, Dao Master Luo turned his gaze back onto Xu Ying and said, "Where is your primordial spirit?"
Xu Ying dared not delay and hurriedly summoned his primordial spirit from within the Hongyuan.
Dao Master Luo remarked in surprise, "You actually possess a Hongyuan? Truly rare."
Xu Ying quickly said, "Ying is willing to present this treasure to my foster father!"
Dao Master Luo chuckled. "A Hongyuan is good, but it may not catch my discerning eye. Your Hongyuan is merely a newly born trinket, and its Chaos spirit root has yet to mature. Raising it to fruition would take who knows how many years—not worth the effort. Furthermore, do not call me foster father. You are destined to rebel; do not associate yourself with me."
"Yes," Xu Ying replied submissively.
Dao Master Luo scrutinized his primordial spirit. Inside the Hongyuan, the big bell was so nervous it nearly cried aloud. Earlier, Xu Ying's primordial spirit had hidden inside the Hongyuan precisely to frantically refine away the Dao of Soul dao wounds upon it!
From Dao Master Luo's arrival to his request to inspect Xu Ying's primordial spirit, not much time had elapsed—less than an hour.
Within such a short span of time, resolving and refining away dao wounds of the Dao of Soul was by no means an easy task!
Yet within this brief window, Xu Ying had wiped away every trace of the Dao of Soul dao wounds in one go!
Had Dao Master Luo been even a fraction of an instant earlier, he would have noticed the seal of his own divine ability dao upon Xu Ying's primordial spirit!
Alas, there was no "what if."
Dao Master Luo hesitated for a moment, then slowly pulled aside the clothes covering his legs. "Since you have also studied Nirvanic Extinction, Slaughter, and Calamitous Destiny, take a look at my legs and tell me if they can still be cured."
Xu Ying looked over. Dao Master Luo's legs were emaciated to the point of being merely skin and bones, without a trace of flesh, thick greenish-blue veins visible beneath the skin.
The sword wound Xu Ying had inflicted was not on the legs, but in his lower back, piercing into his spine!
'With that sword strike, I first locked onto space-time, reincarnation, karma, and calamitous destiny, achieving a unification of these Great Daos to bypass space-time and reincarnation, and then forged this strike using calamitous destiny, slaughter, and nirvanic extinction to sever karma and slay a powerful foe. It was so perfect.'
Xu Ying examined the sword wound, pondering for a long while before shaking his head. He thought to himself, 'I cannot unravel my own technique.'
Taking in his expression, Dao Master Luo sighed inwardly and said, "Taiyi's dao cultivation is too profound; it is only natural that you cannot resolve it. Xu Ying, you may leave."
Xu Ying said, "Dao Master, this disciple still has a few questions regarding cultivation that I would like to ask."
Dao Master Luo nodded gently. "Speak."
Xu Ying asked, "Wuji evolves into Taiyi, Taiyi into Taichu, Taichu into Taishi, Taishi into Taisu, and Taisu into Taiji. If so, how does Wuji encompass the Five Tais?"
Dao Master Luo pondered briefly and replied, "Wuji refers to the Great Dao being boundlessly vast. This Wuji is a Hongyuan, born of Chaos and formed from Hongmeng; it is not that Wuji evolves into Taiyi. Rather, the Innate Five Tais are all present within the Hongyuan, without need for evolutionary emergence."
Xu Ying was both surprised and overjoyed, bowing deeply in gratitude.
This guidance from Dao Master Luo directly unlocked the greatest conundrum troubling him—the very conundrum that had long prevented his Great Dao of Wuji from breaking through to the Immortal realm!
Dao Master Luo said, "No need to thank me. Back then, when the Tianjing Dao Venerable ascended the altar to preach the Dharma, he spoke of the transformations of Wuji. When I attended the sermon in those years, I heard this saying, and today I merely repeated it to you."
Xu Ying was stunned.
The last time he went to Tianjing, he had met the Tianjing Dao Venerable—a youth in yellow robes—in the void. Their meeting was ostensibly to discuss the Dao, but in truth the Dao Venerable had guided his cultivation, benefiting him immensely.
Yet on that occasion, even though the Dao Venerable knew that the Great Dao of Wuji troubled him, he had never spoken this true transmission.
While the Dao Venerable was under no obligation to reveal this true transmission to him, combining this with Tianchengzi's suspicions only deepened Xu Ying's own doubts.
Xu Ying did not let this opportunity slip by, presenting various difficulties in his cultivation and posing questions to Dao Master Luo.
Dao Master Luo harbored intentions of having him help treat his dao wounds, so naturally he answered whatever was asked.
However, Xu Ying's questions were exceptionally tricky, and the dao methods involved in the different questions were often completely unrelated.
Even Dao Master Luo found answering them strenuous, sometimes requiring a long contemplation before he could respond.
Moreover, even when he answered, the responses were not entirely satisfactory to either himself or Xu Ying.
'This lad's attainments in dao methods are growing ever more profound and subtle—truly formidable. I must not guide him any further; guiding him more might create a great enemy for the other shore. Besides, if I fail to answer, I fear I will lose face.'
With this thought, Dao Master Luo dismissed Xu Ying from the carriage, saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, you must remember the favor of my guidance today, and help me resolve my dao wounds as soon as possible."
Xu Ying agreed, watching the carriage depart from Longxing Temple.
Dao Master Luo's carriage did not return to Daoji Heaven, but instead set off to pursue Grand Dao Lord Taiyi and Tianchengzi.
Having concluded that Taiyi and Tianchengzi were his mortal enemies, in his fury he would certainly not let them off.
With his injuries fully healed, Xu Ying savored the true transmission of the Great Dao of Wuji, thinking, 'Wuji is boundless and edgeless, having neither above nor below, nor past. It is a Hongyuan; this point pinpoints the very core of Wuji. If I am to attain the Dao through Wuji, I must take the reverse verification of my own Hongyuan as the foundation.'
Thinking of this, he circulated the Hongyuan reverse verification. Within his physical body, the Martial Dao cave abyss resembled an enormous Hongyuan, wherein the Ginseng Fruit Tree stood erect.
Suddenly, all myriad Daos vanished from within him, dissolving into a state of Chaos; the Martial Dao cave abyss became like a mass of primordial Chaotic Qi. Next, Hongmeng opened up, and the Hongyuan was born from Hongmeng—this was Wuji.
Seizing this moment, Xu Ying comprehended the evolution of the Five Tais within Wuji, and the various doubts and quandaries of the past were resolved one by one!
Time and again, he evolved Hongmeng from Chaos, and Wuji from Hongmeng, grasping the profound subtleties of Wuji. Before he realized it, he had already walked out of Longxing Temple.
Outside Longxing Temple, with a thunderous roar, Li Xue and the other women activated the Lingxing Gate, descending from the sky and landing before Xu Ying.
Xu Ying noticed nothing, continuing to stride forward.
"Xu Ying, even Dao Master Luo cannot protect you!" Li Xue shouted. "Today we take you in, and return to report to the Grand Master!"
As though he had heard nothing, Xu Ying numbly and blankly walked beneath the Lingxing Gate, and actually sat down just like that, resting his chin in his hands as if his soul were drifting beyond the heavens.
The crowd looked at one another in dismay. They had anticipated a fierce battle this time, or perhaps that Xu Ying might escape, never imagining that he would deliver himself right to their doorstep.
"Could there be a trick?" Li Xiao, reluctant to see Xu Ying fall into capture, blinked and said.
Li Xue snorted and said in a heavy voice, "Trick or not, our mission can be considered accomplished this time. Everyone, let us escort him back to Qionghua Island and leave him to Master's judgment! Master has likely been waiting for a long time!"
Having overheard Dao Master Luo's words earlier, she had felt misgivings in her heart, concluding that the best course was not to kill Xu Ying, but to capture him and bring him to Qionghua Island.
If Dao Master Hua truly intended to make use of Xu Ying, they would not incur blame for it.
The group activated the Lingxing Gate, each standing upon it to guard Xu Ying on either side. The Lingxing Gate soared obliquely into the sky, rushing toward Daoji Heaven.
This place was rather distant from Daoji Heaven, and the Lingxing Gate was an innate numinous treasure, placing a tremendous drain on their magic power. Stopping and starting along the way, it took them over ten days before they finally caught sight of Daoji Heaven.
Meanwhile, a wondrous transformation was taking place upon Xu Ying.
Having rested, the group was preparing to enter Daoji Heaven when Xu Ying suddenly vanished without a trace, replaced by a Hongyuan floating within the Lingxing Gate.
"Playing tricks!" Li Xue snorted.
Right at that moment, True King Li Tian suddenly collapsed stiffly without uttering a sound, his breath cut off in death.
Dao Lord Li Xue and the others were shocked, hurriedly looking around, yet saw no sign of any enemy. They examined Li Tian's corpse, but found nothing amiss.
At that moment, another Immortal collapsed silently, suddenly breathing his last and perishing on the spot.
The cave abyss behind that person's head was still spinning, not even having had time to harvest the chiliocosm, before he died silently just like that!
"Which friend plays such a jest with our Qionghua Island?" Dao Lord Li Song proclaimed loudly.
Suddenly, one by one, the Immortals and True Kings under the commands of the three Dao Lords began vomiting Dao ash, coughing incessantly!
Seeing that things were dire, Li Xiao immediately dashed into the Lingxing Gate, casually grabbing hold of that Hongyuan and pulling it inside the Lingxing Gate along with her.
Chapter 824