Zhangsun Shenghai suddenly felt a stir within his heart. The momentum of his external verification against heaven and earth gradually slowed to a halt, and all the Dao power within his Hongyuan transformed into Hongmeng qi, flowing gently into his physical body.
Xu Ying stepped forward and asked with an open mind, "Why did Eldest Senior Brother halt your cyclic verification at Hongmeng?"
Zhangsun Shenghai smiled. "Hongmeng is the genesis of the universe, preceding Wuji. It has neither the turbid murk of Chaos nor the violent fury of Nirvanic Extinction. It is not like Wuji, perched upon the precipice of transformation, nor is it like Taiyi, harboring the myriad Daos of Hunyuan within itself. It is free from sinking into Samsara and untangled by Karma; it lacks the decrepit aging of calamitous destiny, and it is untouched by the brutal menace of slaughter. That is why I chose Hongmeng as both the beginning and the end of the Nine Daos."
Xu Ying had not considered it in quite so much detail. Upon careful reflection, the Great Dao of Hongmeng was indeed exceptionally suited to serve as both inception and conclusion.
"Eldest Senior Brother is truly worthy of the title. Your method of nine-Dao cyclic verification is indeed far more refined."
Xu Ying felt a desire to test him and said, "You take the universe of the other shore as your heaven and earth. When you attain the Dao, the other shore will be your Hongyuan. If the other shore should undergo Nirvanic extinction and return to Chaos, your Hongyuan will cease to exist. How will you survive the catastrophe then?"
A real universe did not perpetually cycle through the nine Daos. More often than not, after the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation, it reverted to Chaos without ever producing a new Hongyuan. Only a handful of peculiar universes, through various serendipities, would sprout a Chaos spirit root upon their ruins and re-enact the emergence of a Hongyuan.
"Therefore, my external verification must achieve transcendence through the Nine Daos," Zhangsun Shenghai said with utmost confidence. "I must leap beyond the constraints of the other shore's worldly Great Daos, cyclically verifying the Nine Daos across diverse universes until I distill indestructible truths. When that day comes, the other shore may perish, yet I shall not; the Nine Daos may fade, yet I shall endure!"
Xu Ying nodded gently at his words. "That is indeed a way. Currently, the other shore holds dominion over myriad universes and possesses their coordinates within the Chaos Sea. You can journey to these universes and comprehend their Nine Daos one by one, thereby grasping the true essence of the Nine Daos."
Zhangsun Shenghai chuckled. "That is precisely what I intend to do. But what of your nine-Dao cyclic verification, Martial Uncle Xu? Can it weather the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation?"
Xu Ying's expression turned solemn. "My nine-Dao cyclic verification does not begin with any of the nine Daos. Instead, I take my physical body as the Hongyuan, using the acquired to govern the innate. All innate Great Daos are merely mortal summaries and inductions of the Dao—Chaos is so, Hongmeng is so, and Nirvanic Extinction is so as well. Since they are human summaries, they are confined to what mortal eyes can perceive and mortal minds can comprehend. That makes them acquired, not innate."
Zhangsun Shenghai's brows furrowed deeply. He found such an assertion thoroughly heretical!
Since ancient times, no matter the universe, the sole purpose of cultivation was to forge the false into the real, to use the acquired to verify the innate—there had never been another path!
Forging the false into the real meant using Dao imagery to assemble Dao patterns, runes, spirit sigils, and principle scripts, and then employing those patterns and scripts to shape the forms of the Great Dao.
Using the acquired to verify the innate meant imprinting one's Great Dao upon heaven and earth. If it aligned with the worldly Great Dao without facing rejection, it proved that the Dao one cultivated was close to the true Dao. Next came attaining Dao embodied, followed by achieving Dao formlessness. Only then could one attain the innate and command the Great Dao.
Yet Xu Ying's words—and indeed his path of cultivation—blatantly refuted this foundational concept!
Xu Ying continued, "Even if one becomes a Dao Master, even if one reaches the end of the Great Dao, that Dao remains merely a mortal summary of the true Dao—a part of the true Dao, but never the whole. If so, then the Dao you verify, the Dao you form, the Dao you obtain, and even the end of the Great Dao are all acquired Daos, not innate."
Zhangsun Shenghai's lips twitched. *Utter rubbish!*
Naturally, that was what he desperately wanted to say, but the words that left his mouth were instead: "Martial Uncle Xu is truly profound!"
Receiving his praise, Xu Ying was quite thrilled and smiled broadly. "Eldest Senior Brother, you are the only one who understands me! As expected, we are kindred spirits—geniuses whom the world fails to comprehend! Therefore..."
Growing increasingly animated, Xu Ying went on, "From the Martial Dao, I gradually comprehended an acquired cultivation method, of which the nine-Dao cyclic verification is merely one manifestation!"
Zhangsun Shenghai was beginning to lose his grasp on the concepts. He replied numbly, "A brilliant insight, Martial Uncle Xu. How, then, does one cultivate it?"
Xu Ying felt the profound joy of a musician finding an appreciative ear. With mounting excitement, he said, "I mentioned earlier that the Martial Dao is formless. But why is it formless? Because the Martial Dao never existed originally! It is a Great Dao forged entirely by mortals! Why must it verify itself against heaven and earth? Why must it form the Dao? Why must it obtain the Dao? The moment I mastered the Martial Dao, I had already verified myself, formed my Dao, and attained my Dao! I myself am the end of my Dao!"
Zhangsun Shenghai offered a stiff smile. "Please, Martial Uncle, do continue."
Xu Ying was exhilarated beyond measure. "The moment I mastered the Martial Dao, I was already at the end of the Great Dao of martial arts! In that case, all I need to do is internally manifest the Hongyuan within my Martial Dao, conduct cyclic verification of the nine Daos, and even seek out Daos beyond the nine to incorporate into it. They are all acquired Daos, all components of the Martial Dao. Through this, I can seek out that which is indestructible among all Daos. And when I unearth it from the Martial Dao, I will have found the Dao that both you and I understand!"
He looked into Zhangsun Shenghai's eyes, his gaze burning bright as he smiled. "I never imagined Eldest Senior Brother would share my sentiments so closely! I always believed I walked this path alone. To think my Dao is not solitary after all!"
Zhangsun Shenghai felt completely numb. He wished he could instantly unleash his nine-Dao cyclic verification and use the Nirvanic heavenly fire to incinerate this heretic.
Yet he knew full well he was no match for Xu Ying.
More likely than not, Xu Ying's supposed 'governing the innate with the acquired' would beat him into a pathetic, utterly routed pulp.
Xu Ying tightly grasped Zhangsun's hand, saying passionately, "Eldest Senior Brother, you truly are my kindred spirit! I never expected you to have thought so deeply, so far ahead!"
Zhangsun Shenghai let out a dry, hollow laugh, bewildered in his heart: *What did I even think of?!*
A frantic gleam danced in Xu Ying's eyes as he said eagerly, "You're absolutely right! Cultivators of our generation should have the courage to blaze new trails and seek out the true Dao! Everything those old fogies created is nothing but obsolete junk—throw it away whenever necessary!"
Zhangsun Shenghai's cheek twitched. He thought to himself, *You clearly said all of that yourself!*
"And you were right when you said one must not aim too high too fast."
Xu Ying looked deeply solemn, yet his manic demeanor revealed that he was thoroughly lost in his own reverie, unable to pull himself away as he muttered, "Indeed, one cannot aim too high too fast. Although the nine-Dao cyclic verification is not particularly profound, it still requires cultivation... Yes, both internal verification and external verification need to be cultivated. You are entirely correct..."
Suddenly, his expression snapped back to clear-headed lucidity. Fixing his gaze upon Zhangsun Shenghai's face, he said gravely, "So, Eldest Senior Brother agrees to exchange cultivation methods with me?"
*When did I ever agree to that?!*
Zhangsun Shenghai desperately wanted to retort, but as if possessed by some unseen ghost, the word that spilled from his mouth was: "Exchange!"
And so, the two sat down and traded their techniques. Xu Ying explained his *Hongyuan Reverse-Proving Great Dao Records* in thorough detail, while Zhangsun Shenghai walked him through his *Nine-Verification Hongyuan Great Cavern Sutra*.
Both were figures of peerless comprehension. The moment they encountered the other's technique, they instantly grasped its profound intricacies. Aided by each other's lucid, insightful explanations, it did not take long before both understood the counterpart's scriptures inside and out.
*The Nine-Verification Hongyuan Great Cavern Sutra verifies the Hongyuan externally. The optimal path of cultivation is indeed to harness the nine great Dao powers of a universe for one's own use,* Xu Ying praised internally. *That yields the strongest external verification. Once one attains the Dao through nine verifications, one can break free from a universe's Hongyuan and roam the Chaos Sea unhindered. When traveling through the Chaos Sea, wherever a practitioner of this art passes, it would be equivalent to an entire cosmic Hongyuan carving open the Chaos Sea. Its Dao power will surely be majestic to the extreme!*
Zhangsun Shenghai, too, saw through the essence of the internal verification and thought, *The Hongyuan Reverse-Proving Great Dao Records requires no verification against the worldly Great Daos for its internal verification. Not only can it cyclically verify the nine Daos, but it also relies on self-sufficiency, achieving nine verifications from a single verification so that all nine Great Daos advance side by side! Such cultivation speed is bound to be terrifyingly swift. Those who cultivate this technique are untouched by disasters and tribulations; they do not attract calamitous destiny, do not fall into slaughter, and remain untainted by the Nirvanic heavenly fire.*
Still somewhat dazed, Zhangsun Shenghai found himself in possession of a top-tier cultivation technique, along with a head full of heretical doctrines shoved into him by Xu Ying. He could not tell whether this was a blessing or a curse.
Xu Ying was thoroughly satisfied. He laughed and said, "Eldest Senior Brother is truly exceptional. After debating the Dao with you, I am thoroughly convinced. With this farewell, I must return to the Three Realms. I shall open a new Dao sanctuary within the Thirty-Sixth Void of the Three Realms and reconstitute the Dao Alliance!"
The original Dao Alliance of the other shore had been founded in Tianjing. However, now that they recognized the Dao Venerable's terrifying might and sinister nature, they no longer dared set foot in the void of Tianjing.
Thus, Xu Ying decided to establish the Dao Alliance of the other shore within the Thirty-Sixth Void of the Three Realms instead.
He waved his hand in farewell to Zhangsun Shenghai. "Eldest Senior Brother, do not forget to come and lecture on your Nine-Verification Hongyuan Great Cavern Sutra!"
Zhangsun Shenghai nodded and retrieved the Jade Emperor Bell he had acquired. "Martial Uncle, I seized this spirit treasure specifically to trade for your Nirvanic Fire-Tipped Spear. Please accept it."
Xu Ying did not refuse. He chuckled, "The Nirvanic Fire-Tipped Spear originally belonged to Dao Master Lin; I was merely doing a favor at no cost to myself. But since you have shown such goodwill, I shall take it. Returning to the Three Realms, I didn't have a presentable gift anyway. Many thanks!"
Zhangsun Shenghai waved his hand and watched Xu Ying vanish into the distance.
Only after a long while did his senses fully clear. He muttered, "Internally verifying the nine Daos is indeed profound and unfathomable. If paired with external verification, it will surely accelerate my cultivation even further! The two methods do not conflict; they can be cultivated together. However..."
His expression grew increasingly bizarre as he mumbled, "Using the acquired to govern the innate? How could that possibly be achieved? It's clearly wrong—ridiculously wrong! How could an acquired Great Dao ever compare to an innate Great Dao? It's simply impossible, utterly impossible..."
Xu Ying did not board an emerald rock multi-decked vessel. Instead, he traversed the Chaos Sea with his physical body. The nine Daos cycled ceaselessly within him, allowing him to cross the Chaos Sea with virtually no wear and tear, reaching the Three Realms in a single year.
The Three Realms were now so close to the other shore that he could already sense their position within the Chaos Sea.
He had traced the aura of the Three Realms' worldly Great Daos back to his homeland.
Xu Ying looked back toward the fathomless Chaos Sea. The distance separating the Three Realms and the other shore seemed as thin as a single wall.
Turning back toward the Three Realms, he saw from afar that the Ginseng Fruit Tree of the Earth Immortal Realm was connecting the radiant Dao qi of the Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Realms, growing ever more colossal.
In both the Earth Immortal Realm and the Heavenly Immortal Realm, celebratory clouds formed by the Great Daos of various Dao attainers gleamed with five-colored radiance, forming magnificent spectacles!
Especially in the Earth Immortal Realm, atop the celebratory clouds stood Great Dao trees laden with numerous Dao fruits. These Dao fruits illuminated the void, imprinting their contained Great Daos upon heaven and earth, ceaselessly verifying the alignments and differences between their Daos and the worldly Great Daos!
Beyond that, a layer of the void penetrated the Three Realms to form the Underworld, where the divine might of the five ancient gods—Dongyue, Cangwu, Beiyin, Samsara, and Meng Po—surged and undulated like great rainbows around them.
Xu Ying gazed at the Three Realms, his chest swelling with emotion.
The homeland that had birthed and raised him had finally grown formidable!
Just then, Great Daos from across heaven and earth converged in droves, surging toward a cluster of celebratory clouds and a Dao tree within the Earth Immortal Realm. The worldly Great Daos resonated and hummed in unison!
Xu Ying's heart stirred. *A Dao Master! Someone is attempting to attain Dao Master! Who could it be this time? Xuhuang, or the Ancestor of Earth Immortals?*
He hurried toward the Earth Immortal Realm. The Three Realms were far vaster now than when he had departed; their expansion had also narrowed the gap between the Three Realms and the other shore.
Judging by the trajectory and speed of the two universes, it would take a mere eight hundred years before they ran aground against each other.
*Eight hundred years is plenty of time!* Xu Ying thought, a fire blazing within his chest. He whispered, *In eight hundred years, even more Dao Masters will emerge. Xuhuang, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, Taiqing, Yuxu, Yuqing, Taiyi, the Primordial Ancestor, Emperor Mingdao, Emperor Mingxun, and Weiyang—all of them have hope...*
Along the way, many massive Dao landscapes had already been developed, and some immortals had erected fair-sized immortal palaces there.
Xu Ying originally intended to pause and inspect the cultivation progress of the immortals here, when suddenly a barrage of magic treasures flew forth, hurtling toward the resident immortals with murderous intent!
Those immortals mobilized their divine arts and resisted valiantly, fighting on even terms with the immortal magic treasures!
What astonished Xu Ying even more was that those magic treasures actually manifested cave abysses of their own! They drew upon the Dao power within the void, channeling techniques and divine arts as effortlessly as living cultivators!
Xu Ying stood dumbfounded. He hastily summoned the big bell. "Lord Bell, look at those magic treasures!"
The big bell flew out, gazing upon the immortal artifacts hunting down the immortals, and was equally struck with disbelief. It blurted out, "Those are my disciples and grand-disciples!"
These magic treasures attacked with seamless precision. In just a short time, they shattered the immortals' formation, forcing them to flee in disarray.
Pursuing their advantage, the magic treasures struck down several immortals on the spot, sending them to their graves at the hands of the treasures!
The big bell rushed forward in haste. Its resonant chime vibrated across the area, instantly suppressing all the immortals and magic treasures alike, rendering them completely immobilized.
"Dao Ancestor! Dao Ancestor Bell is back!" An artifact spirit emerged from a large seal, crying out in pleasant surprise.
The big bell examined the seal spirit and found it was actually a dainty primordial spirit!
The surrounding magic treasures erupted in continuous cheers:
"Dao Ancestor Bell has returned from the other shore! He will surely lead our magic treasure clan to break free from the immortals' suppression!"
"Storm the Immortal Court! Overthrow old man Xu Jing! Dao Ancestor Bell shall be the Immortal Emperor, and an era of magic treasures shall begin!"
"Hang old man Xu Jing's head on the South Heavenly Gate!"
Chapter 882