A Purple Mansion Is a Cave Abode

Inside the Dao Seeking Palace. Within an expansive, empty hall, powerful formations enveloped the entire structure, cloaking its aura in profound secrecy. Not even a Yin God Great Venerable could discern what was transpiring within, nor detect the slightest hint of its presence. At this moment, Qi Yuan wore a solemn expression as he waved the jade slip in his hand. He chanted under his breath: "Brilliant and bright, yang radiant and bold, infants emerge from the divine hold! Heed my command, boost the Spirit Maiden!" Instantly, waves of terrifying aura surged into existence one after another. "Understood!" "We obey our master's command!" Four thousand seven hundred and fifty Divine Infants emerged together at that exact moment. If these terrifying auras were to leak into the outside world, it would undoubtedly send earth-shattering shockwaves across the Canglan Realm. Even Taihuang Palace behind the Great Tribulation would likely dispatch Yang Gods down to this mortal realm at once to execute Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, maintaining a serious expression. "Hurry up and register accounts to give my junior sister a boost," Qi Yuan casually commanded. Immediately, the Divine Infants complied with his instructions, providing boosts for Jiang Lingsu on the Divine Flower Society's network. Qi Yuan looked at the Divine Infants before him, a contemplative look surfacing in his eyes. "As expected, the Ancient Tiankun Mirror is somewhat useful after all. Their condition has improved. "Still, they are likely a long way from fully waking up and recovering all their memories," Qi Yuan sighed with emotion. "I wonder when they will fully awaken, regain their past memories, and even be able to cultivate on their own," Qi Yuan pondered. These Divine Infants possessed immense potential. Every single one had a direct path to becoming a Yang God. It was just that they remained in a deep slumber for now. "Hopefully the next world will be more formidable so I can find some treasures to awaken them all. "If that happens, when facing the Great Tribulation, did he think he was the only one who could call for backup? "With four thousand Yang Gods taking the field, they'd hack them to pieces." As Qi Yuan thought this through, the Divine Infants finished giving Jiang Lingsu their likes and boosts, then returned inside his body. Only then did the terrifying aura dissipate. About half an incense stick of time passed before a familiar figure stepped into the great hall. "True Monarch Dazhi, long time no see." Seeing his arrival, Qi Yuan greeted him warmly. True Monarch Dazhi was his good friend and had provided him with a great deal of help. Upon seeing Qi Yuan, delight showed in True Monarch Dazhi's eyes as well. He sat casually on the ground. "You've reached Divine Infant?" "Yeah. I'm quite lost regarding the path of the Purple Mansion, so I wanted to borrow your brain for a bit," Qi Yuan said earnestly. It was fair to say that the sermons of the Yin God experts Qi Yuan had encountered offered him far fewer epiphanies than a single conversation with True Monarch Dazhi, a fellow Divine Infant cultivator. "The path of the Purple Mansion... is indeed difficult to tread." Dazhi's gaze grew visibly profound. "Do you remember what I once told you about the Divine Infant being the foundation of the Yin God?" Qi Yuan nodded. "You were completely right. Both realms carry the word 'God.' Obviously, the two realms are connected." Back then, True Monarch Dazhi had speculated that the Origin Spirit was a metamorphosis of the Divine Infant, making the Divine Infant the foundation of the Yin God. "Since the Divine Infant is the foundation of the Yin God, according to normal logic, wouldn't the Purple Mansion be the foundation of the Yang God?" True Monarch Dazhi said with complete seriousness. Qi Yuan blinked. This logic made total sense. The Yang God was one stage higher than the Yin God. The Purple Mansion was one stage higher than the Divine Infant. Flawless. "Still, according to your theory, shouldn't there also be a connection between Divine Infant and Yang God?" Qi Yuan asked, puzzled. "Ahem, this is merely my bold conjecture." True Monarch Dazhi coughed somewhat awkwardly. Wasn't that just how immortal cultivation worked? Make a bold conjecture, then pursue it bravely. Succeed, and you're legendary. Fail, and you can try again in your next life! "What you said makes sense. I was being too conservative." Qi Yuan felt he had learned something new once again. The reason his intellect fell short of True Monarch Dazhi's was precisely that he didn't dare make wild conjectures, preferring to ground his actions in practical reality. He was still far from reaching True Monarch Dazhi's realm! "So to understand the Purple Mansion, you must first understand the Yang God!" True Monarch Dazhi said excitedly. These words gave Qi Yuan a brief pause. True Monarch Dazhi's words had the peculiar beauty of putting the cart before the horse. "You know about the Yang God Realm?" Qi Yuan asked in astonishment. Among all the powerful figures he knew, apart from Great Sage Blood Sun and his daughter whom he had slain, no one else had any understanding of the Yang God Realm. Yet True Monarch Dazhi, a mere Divine Infant cultivator, actually knew? As expected, a Divine Infant adept in bold conjectures truly was extraordinary. "I once saw a book in a dream, which recorded the path of the Yang God. "The Yang God Realm consists of five tiers in total, but I only saw two of them. "Those two tiers are the Heavenly Position Realm and the Ultimate Principle Realm. "My personal understanding of the Heavenly Position Realm is that it involves mastering a rule. "To put it simply, mastering fire, or mastering water, or perhaps mastering destiny. "Depending on the degree of one's comprehension of rules, the Heavenly Position Realm is further divided into the Lesser Heavenly Position and the Greater Heavenly Position." "This is somewhat similar to a divine office," Qi Yuan mused. Great Venerables possessed Divine Domains. The elements within a Divine Domain were essentially akin to the embryonic form of rules. Moreover, in the God Visualization Art he had conceptualized, most of the deities held divine offices. Were those divine offices... rules? "Above the Heavenly Position Realm lies the Ultimate Principle Realm, which is the second tier of the Yang God," True Monarch Dazhi continued. "Back then, you and I visited the Wangyue Continent together. Weren't the rules of the Wangyue Continent different from those of the Canglan Realm?" "Yes," Qi Yuan nodded. "Because the rules of worlds differ, even if a Yang God enters another world, their strength will drop by a major tier. "For instance, if a Yang God of the Lesser Heavenly Position enters an unfamiliar world, their strength might drop down to Mythological." Qi Yuan nodded. In his view, this was simply a world's protective mechanism. "Yet Yang Gods who have reached the Ultimate Principle Realm are not subject to such restrictions. "Because their rules have already become ultimate principles, universally applicable across myriad worlds. "The Ultimate Principle Realm is also divided into the Lesser Ultimate Principle and the Greater Ultimate Principle. "If a Yang God of the Lesser Ultimate Principle Realm rashly enters another world, their strength will only decrease by a minor tier, reducing them to the Greater Heavenly Position of the Yang God Realm. "A Yang God of the Greater Ultimate Principle Realm, however, can completely retain their full strength." Hearing this, many doubts in Qi Yuan's heart were resolved. The rules of each world were indeed different; he had experienced this firsthand. After all, whether it was cultivation arts from the Wangyue Continent, the Mortal Heart Realm, or the Liufeng Realm, none of them were of any use to him. This was simply because his realm was too low. If he could master ultimate principles, his rules would become universal across any world. Wouldn't that mean he could freely utilize the cultivation arts of other worlds as well, using them to perfect the *Qi Yuan Scripture*? Yet at this moment, another question surfaced in his mind. "If I master ultimate principles, will they still be universal if I go to another universe?" Qi Yuan asked. Ultimate principles were only meant for worlds. For example, all the worlds beneath the same field of stars. What if it were an entirely different universe? Just like the universe where his Stellar Golden Core resided, which was clearly not the same universe as the one containing the Canglan Realm. "A universe... what's that?" True Monarch Dazhi looked utterly baffled. He had no concept of a universe. Hearing this, Qi Yuan already understood the answer. It seemed this Ultimate Principle Realm was only applicable to worlds within the same universe. If one shifted to a different universe, the ultimate principles would likely lose their effect. Just as rules differed from world to world, rules differed from universe to universe as well. Seeing that Qi Yuan did not reply, True Monarch Dazhi continued, "I believe that the rules and ultimate principles of the Yang God Realm are an extension of the origin divine ability! "Therefore, to embark upon the Purple Mansion Realm, one must first decide on a suitable origin divine ability." "What should I do if I already have an origin divine ability?" Qi Yuan asked. He possessed two origin divine abilities: one was the Virtual Realm Sovereign's Inner Demon Summons, and the other was the Great Oblivion Heart Scripture. "You already have one?" True Monarch Dazhi's eyes lit up. "Then use your origin divine ability to forge your own cave abode! "Purple Mansion, Purple Mansion—isn't a mansion just a cultivator's cave abode?" "...That actually sounds somewhat reasonable," Qi Yuan said uncertainly. At this moment, even he felt a trace of hesitation. Right then, Qi Yuan's eyes suddenly narrowed. Within the previously tranquil hall, the phantom silhouette of a gate materialized out of thin air. Seeing that gate, surprise flashed through Qi Yuan's eyes. "The Gate of Myriad Manifestations!" The gate before him bore a striking resemblance to the Gate of Myriad Manifestations he had seen in the Liufeng Realm, yet differed slightly. At that moment, a shrill bird cry echoed forth. This screech was excruciatingly piercing, like metal scraping across a chalkboard. Anyone who heard it felt madness welling up within their heart. Inside a courtyard, Shi Rulan's eyes were filled with pleasant surprise, though her body was utterly feeble. "The Chaos-Filth Bird has appeared! Hahaha, even if the Blood-Robed Sword God is a Mythological figure, he will sink into madness! "The Canglan Realm is saved!" Shi Rushan looked at his sister with heartache, his own face ghostly pale. "The Blood-Robed Sword God will likely succumb to madness at any moment. We must leave at once," Shi Rushan sighed softly. "Now that our mission is accomplished and we only have ten years of lifespan remaining, we should live for ourselves." Shi Rulan nodded, her eyes burning with fanaticism and gratification. "We are the saviors of the world!" To her, this sense of fulfillment brought a wave of pleasure and ecstasy ten thousand, a hundred thousand times greater than an orgasm. "I want to watch him descend into madness with my own eyes!" Shi Rulan said resolutely, squeezing her thighs together tightly. Shi Rushan nodded, an expression of devout piety on his face. "The trajectory of destiny cannot be altered!" Meanwhile, inside the great hall. The phantom of the Chaos-Filth Bird fluttered its wings. Any living being who heard its cry or caught sight of its form would fall into erratic, frenzied insanity. True Monarch Dazhi looked at the bizarrely shaped bird, an odd expression entering his eyes. "Are you hungry?" Qi Yuan patted his stomach. "A little." "It doesn't have an owner, does it?" True Monarch Dazhi asked tentatively. For some reason, he felt rather strange today. In the past, he was someone who insisted that food must have excellent color, aroma, and taste. Yet looking at this scrawny, grotesque bird, an appetite actually stirred within him. This was very strange. "You want to eat it?" Qi Yuan looked at the Chaos-Filth Bird and swung his palm across. The gaunt bird let out a frenzied screech, its expression contorting viciously. It struggled frantically, but Qi Yuan gave it no chance at all, plucking its feathers clean in an instant. A wisp of flame flickered at the tips of Qi Yuan's fingers. In the blink of an eye, the Chaos-Filth Bird was transformed into a roasted bird. The aroma it gave off was one that drove anyone who caught a whiff into madness. Yet both True Monarch Dazhi and Qi Yuan inexplicably felt their mouths water. "There's barely any meat on this, not even enough to fill the gap between teeth. How about I give you a spirit stone and I eat the bird?" Qi Yuan suggested tentatively. After all, since they had discovered the bird together, hogging it all for himself wouldn't be polite. True Monarch Dazhi hesitated, his face full of inner conflict and reluctance. In truth, his appetite was raging, and he was starving. However, he was a man of standards. This bird was charred black! "You go ahead and eat it. I won't. It's burnt; it won't taste good." True Monarch Dazhi turned his head away, forcing himself not to look at the bird.