Wei Yuan set down the classic in his hand and stepped out of the Library Hall. A beam of sunlight fell across his face, warm and soothing.
He had spent three full days inside this great hall, reading through a vast number of ancient tomes to make up for his lack of knowledge regarding the Dharma Idol stage.
However, the original copy of the *Myriad Aspects of Great Yin Moon Splendor* was kept in the Water Moon Hall at the main mountain gate of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Here, there were only transcribed secret volumes, lacking the true-intent insights left behind by the founding Immortal Monarch and the successive Immortal Monarchs and True Monarchs.
The Dao Foundation stage primarily cultivated the physical body, Dao power, and spiritual qi. Upon reaching the Dharma Idol stage, one shifted focus to cultivating the spirit. The first step was to make the dharma idol's spirituality consummate and flawless; this was the Spirit Nurturing Realm.
Once spirituality achieved consummation, one had to construct an environment in which the dharma idol could thrive freely according to its unique characteristics. For example, a kun-whale required an ocean to be constructed, while a white tiger needed mountain forests; this was the Myriad Transformations Realm.
When the entire world was fully constructed, one needed to truly integrate the dharma idol with that world, forging them into an inseparable whole and bringing the entire world to life. This was the late Dharma Idol stage, known as the Heart Aspect Realm.
When the Heart Aspect Realm reached consummation and the world was endowed with complete spirituality, capable of truly functioning on its own, enduring a lightning tribulation would allow one to step into Scenery Command and become a True Monarch.
By now, Wei Yuan had stayed at the Northern Mountain Gate for over ten days. Aside from visiting Zhang Sheng to pay morning and evening respects to his teacher, he spent almost all his time in the Library Hall. In addition to cramming knowledge about dharma idols, he had another crucial task: compiling the Dharma Idol chapter of *Outlaw of Heaven and Earth*.
At this stage, no one could guide Wei Yuan any longer; everything had to rely on himself.
Leaving the Library Hall, Wei Yuan returned once again to Zhang Sheng's courtyard.
Zhang Sheng was still reading, though lately most of what she read were texts from the Daoist canon. She wished to rebuild her Dao heart, seeking a path of her own among the classics of predecessors.
Wei Yuan sat down beside her and said, "I've stayed here for quite a while now, and I've read most of what I needed. It's time for me to head back."
"Mm. Take care of yourself in all things."
"When I return this time, if nothing unexpected happens, I plan to launch a campaign against the Shamans. But I'm still somewhat hesitant—whether to commit all my strength against the Shamans, or dispatch a portion of my forces to the Northern Mountain Gate."
Zhang Sheng said, "Naturally, commit fully against the Shamans."
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and nodded.
Right then, Zhang Sheng let out a soft groan. Her brows furrowed deeply, and her face went deathly pale in an instant. Wei Yuan hurriedly supported her, slowly channeling Dao power into her body, which gradually calmed her condition.
Zhang Sheng's Dao Foundation was damaged, and her Dao heart had run into trouble as well; her fractured sea of consciousness frequently brought on excruciating agony that even her immense willpower and resolve could scarcely endure.
Even Danmingzi, the Monastery Master of the Monastery of Creation, had no good solution for an injury like this. Only after regaining her Dao heart and reestablishing her Dao Foundation could she rid herself of this pain.
Over this recent period, Zhang Sheng's body had been growing progressively weaker. With her sea of consciousness damaged, her divine sense and origin spirit involuntarily dissipated. As a result, she could only stay in the courtyard most of the time. Within this compound was a formation personally laid down by True Monarch Xuanyue, which ensured her sea of consciousness would not deteriorate further.
Aided by Wei Yuan's Dao power, Zhang Sheng finally suppressed the trauma, and the pain gradually subsided.
Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and her breath had weakened a bit more.
Yet Zhang Sheng thought nothing of it and said, "The damage to my Dao Foundation and sea of consciousness is something that couldn't be helped—after all, my skills fell short of my opponent's. But a damaged Dao heart cannot be blamed on anyone else; my own breadth of mind was simply insufficient, unable to encompass heaven and earth. This matter cannot be left to someone else; I must find a way myself. Oh, right. Patriarch wants to see you. Go over there right now."
"He wants to see me again? Didn't I just pay respects to the elder three days ago?"
Zhang Sheng rolled her eyes at Wei Yuan. "Seeing Patriarch more often does you good. Hurry along."
Looking at Zhang Sheng's weak yet stubborn demeanor, Wei Yuan naturally felt an ache in his heart, but suddenly, many improper and thoroughly disrespectful thoughts surged into his mind.
He could only let out a quiet sigh, putting aside these thoughts that, enticing though they were, had no place at a time like this. He would have to wait for an appropriate moment.
Yet since these thoughts were improper, the more he tried to rein them in, the fiercer they became—and the more disrespectful they were, the more intensely they flared. Inevitably, Wei Yuan's gaze began to drift unconsciously.
Zhang Sheng kicked Wei Yuan away and said, "Go see Patriarch. Don't keep the elder waiting."
Wei Yuan bowed and took his leave. Stepping out the door, he couldn't help thinking that his teacher's foot was actually quite soft.
When he saw Patriarch again, Wei Yuan noticed that True Monarch Xuanyue's aura was visibly erratic; it seemed he had just returned from a fierce outer-realm battle with one of the Liao Clan's True Monarchs.
The moment he laid eyes on Wei Yuan, True Monarch Xuanyue's face blossomed into a beaming smile. He grabbed Wei Yuan, looking him up and down with scrutiny, his delight growing more radiant by the second. Beside him stood Perfected Fenhai, who was also grinning so broadly that his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Good, good, good! Truly worthy of being a disciple of my Sky Azure Hall!" True Monarch Xuanyue lavished him with fierce praise once again, running clean out of new words to use.
In truth, since arriving at the Northern Mountain Gate, Wei Yuan had already paid respects to True Monarch Xuanyue three times. Yet every single time, True Monarch Xuanyue acted as if he were seeing Wei Yuan for the first time, smiling so wide his jaw practically refused to close. Later, realizing he simply couldn't restrain himself, the True Monarch gave up trying altogether.
After he finished praising Wei Yuan, True Monarch Xuanyue wrapped up with Fenhai: "Fenhai, oh Fenhai, look at you! Your cultivation is about to be overtaken by your grand-disciple! This old Daoist's eyes were truly blind back then—just how did I end up taking you in?"
The smile froze instantly on Perfected Fenhai's face. Back when he took in Zhang Sheng, he had endured no shortage of scoldings on her account.
This was True Monarch Xuanyue's one glaring flaw: sparing no effort when praising his disciples and grand-disciples was fine, but he always loved dragging Fenhai out as a foil.
With Wei Yuan finally around, Perfected Fenhai had at last caught a taste of True Monarch Xuanyue's joy. Who could have guessed that before he could enjoy it for long, Wei Yuan's cultivation would already be catching up to his own?
Only after waiting until True Monarch Xuanyue finally finished praising him did Wei Yuan get the chance to mention that he intended to return to Qingming today.
True Monarch Xuanyue was about to agree when a thought suddenly popped into his head. He said, "Since you're already here, there's no rush to leave just yet. The Hall Master of the Bright King is rushing over from the main mountain and will arrive tomorrow. Yanshi is fighting in the outer realm right now; calculating the time, it should be wrapping up soon. And then there is True Monarch Huangyun—this old man just borrowed five million taels of immortal silver from her, so you ought to go pay your respects to her as well, and while you're at it, have her resolve a few perplexing questions on cultivation for you."
Left with no choice, Wei Yuan could only stay for two more days.
Over those two days, True Monarch Xuanyue dragged him around in a single breath to meet seven or eight True Monarchs. In fact, to save time, he even specially took Wei Yuan to wait at the edge of the outer-realm battlefield, where he indeed managed to corner True Monarchs Yanshi and Danming.
And so, Xuan Yue pulled the two True Monarchs into a chat ten thousand zhang up in the sky, radiating warmth and enthusiasm. The only one suffering was Wei Yuan, who stood beside them with his dharma idol blown unsteady by the astral winds of the outer realm.
In the end, the two True Monarchs still failed to escape True Monarch Xuanyue's clutches, held hostage in conversation for nearly an entire shichen.
True Monarch Xuanyue focused primarily on two points. First, none of the other True Monarchs seemed to know how to teach disciples at all; despite expending so much painstaking effort, none of their disciples could compare to Wei Yuan—a boy raised free-range, left to roam, nurtured purely by nature, and possessing mediocre aptitude to boot. To this day, Xuan Yue still hadn't figured out how Wei Yuan had formed a dharma idol, so he needed the two True Monarchs to offer guidance and find the reason.
Second was borrowing money: five million taels from each True Monarch, no bargaining accepted.
The two True Monarchs truly had no desire to listen to True Monarch Xuanyue prattle on. Were it not for the fact that external foes were pressing and now was no time to argue, they certainly would have dragged Xuan Yue into the outer realm for a duel.
Left with no alternative, the two could only cough up the money.
Pocketing the immortal silver, Xuan Yue was finally satisfied and let them off the hook. The old Daoist chuckled, "This boy simply had a bit of luck, bafflingly forming a dharma idol without even knowing what happened himself. Sigh, in that regard, he truly takes after this old Daoist back in the day!"
With that, True Monarch Xuanyue waved a broad hand, sweeping Wei Yuan along with his Dao power, and said, "Let's go. Time is tight; we still need to pay a visit to True Monarch Feng Yuan and have him guide your cultivation. Old man Feng Yuan has always had a keen eye; he'll surely be able to figure out why you suddenly formed a dharma idol!"
Once Xuan Yue and Wei Yuan vanished, the two True Monarchs looked at each other, utterly speechless.
After two such intense and fulfilling days, when no more True Monarchs could be found to guide Wei Yuan's cultivation, Wei Yuan was finally able to break free and return to Qingming. Though True Monarch Xuanyue felt he hadn't yet had his fill of fun, he had no choice but to stop there.
The visits hadn't been entirely useless. At the very least, True Monarch Xuanyue had borrowed over thirty million taels of immortal silver, more than enough to rebuild Sky Azure Hall. On top of that, he had purchased several million taels' worth of pills for nourishing the spirit at the Dharma Idol stage, shoving every last one into Wei Yuan's hands in a single breath.
Chapter 412