Gold Nature was originally the condensation of a cultivator's sliver of life-path Dao fruit—supreme and noble, a treasure coveted by all under heaven.
Based on Lu Jiangxian's current cultivation attainment and understanding of True Monarch ranks, Gold Nature was manifested upon one's own self, truly belonging to the cultivator; the Fruit Position was the position of heaven and earth. What cultivators today commonly called "seeking gold" was actually divided into two processes: manifesting gold and ascending to the position... most could only complete the former.
Duanmu Kui of old, later Sibo Xiu, had both manifested Gold Nature. Once Gold Nature was ownerless, it would be seized by the qi of heaven and earth, becoming a demonic fiend—and in Lu Jiangxian's view, these demonic fiends differed in rank.
"Gold Nature is essentially a cultivator's life-path Dao fruit. If that cultivator is the master of a Fruit Position, and the Fruit Position recognizes them, it naturally recognizes their Gold Nature, and Gold Nature inherits the master's authority..."
These demonic fiends could innately sense the Fruit Position, making them difficult to overcome by force, like the evil bird formed from True Monarch Tianwu's Gold Nature back then... Even a Purple Mansion cultivator endowed with divine abilities was as fragile as a mortal before the authority of the Fruit Position.
And how much weaker were the demonic fiends formed from the Gold Nature of Duanmu Kui, Sibo Xiu, and others after their deaths upon the Dao? Lu Jiangxian had carefully calculated... and was greatly surprised:
"These demonic fiends transformed after falling during a breakthrough... actually differ little."
The key lay in the falling during a breakthrough on the Path of Violet Palace and Golden Core.
The moment Lu Jiangxian saw Wang Xun, who practiced ancient immortal arts, he knew the Path of Violet Palace and Golden Core was a shortcut—it did not seek fate, but rather sensed the Fruit Position through lifelong cultivation like a gamble, being matched with destiny by fate; only in that instant of seeking the Dao on the Purple Gold Demonic Path could one speak of Gold Nature.
When a cultivator sought gold and position, they used their own Gold Nature to inquire of the position. In that moment of seeking the Dao, if the position was empty, the Fruit Position had already sensed it... To make an imperfect comparison, this Gold Nature left by manifesting the Dao had already made itself "familiar" before the position; perhaps it would gradually weaken with the passage of time, but at the very instant of just failing to attain the position, this demonic fiend's power was not inferior to those left from ancient times.
"That is why the Netherworld Court had to deploy treasures: first, because those few walking the human world were not very powerful and could easily be escaped by some Gold Natures with special functions; second... because some people's Gold Nature was indeed formidable."
But beyond these Gold Natures, there was another possibility: the ancient orthodoxies that practiced the Inhaling Qi and Nurturing Nature Path, the Witch Talisman Path, the Ancient Demonic Path... these ancient traditions whose life and nature were complete could, without attaining a position, condense Gold Nature in advance to bestow upon later generations or bribe ghostly functionaries.
When such Gold Nature occasionally descended, the demonic fiend condensed from it was far inferior to the former two.
Understanding the reason, Lu Jiangxian merely examined it once and knew that Fuxun carried something extraordinary.
"A stable, tyrannical authority added to one's person—one moment of madness, and the destructive force would approach that of a True Monarch!"
Such an important matter, logically should be known by these few great figures, but Lu Jiangxian carefully observed in the Great Void and looked over the mortal world again... apart from one or two dragon-kind sea-patrolling followers, he found no trace of Them.
"To say They were not sensed is not impossible, after all, this thing was hidden to the point that only when Li Quewan activated detection could I sense it..."
Lu Jiangxian had seen many True Monarchs over these years; his own divine sense was ultimately superior by a notch. Even himself was like this... it was normal that the various True Monarchs had not discovered it.
"Since that was the case, this thing was no ordinary demonic fiend; it should be some means of a True Monarch..."
"Lesser Yang..."
For now, the Demon King Xi Yan of Great Xiyuan seemed the most suspicious. This monarch was titled "True Monarch Xiyongzhong Shengbai Xi Yan"; since he was a demonic chief, who knew what insidious methods he might have.
He fixed his gaze: Fuxun was already seated steadily in the secret chamber, consuming spirit objects to heal his injuries. The five features behind his head rapidly twisted, sliding along his cheeks down to his chest, then down along his waist to his ankles.
Those golden lips parted slightly, revealing a smile, and then leapt up from his ankles, landing on the ground covered with array lines; the pure-white eyes remained on his thigh, gazing low at the ground, as if guiding the way.
This thing was evil enough to cause alarm; the golden lips grew upon the ground naturally formed, not affecting the grand array at all, while the lips and teeth coated with gold powder twitched slightly, as if once it stood up, it would make the entire island its body.
"If this thing fell upon a person of the Li clan, one could try to fight it silently, but if this thing swallowed Lulai Island, the commotion would be great and no one would have a way to survive..."
If this Gold Nature demonic fiend actively transferred onto Li Quewan, Lu Jiangxian naturally had the possibility of subduing it; even if it refused to transfer, if Fuxun were willing to enter the immortal array, Lu Jiangxian even dared to fight it with all his might. But all this was predicated on this truly being an ordinary demonic fiend. Lu Jiangxian harbored no small doubt: how could he know this demonic fiend was not some person's means... or a consensus reached by the various True Monarchs?
"Some True Monarch dividing off a sliver of their Gold Nature to walk the world... was not impossible! True Monarch Tianwu of old could still leave behind three sets of armor to guard; could the other True Monarchs not do the same?"
If so, when it reached Li Quewan and left no trace, it would practically be a confession without accusation.
Fortunately, these lips and teeth wandered about in the secret chamber for a while, seemingly not very satisfied, then turned and jumped back onto Fuxun, both shrinking behind his head, whispering to each other, quite fiercely for a time.
Lu Jiangxian lowered his brows slightly and distinguished carefully; the conjecture in his heart grew more certain:
"This thing has extremely high spiritual intelligence... and has many thoughts, capable of arguing with itself... it must certainly not be an ordinary demonic fiend!"
Realizing this, Lu Jiangxian instead secretly sighed in relief, and was momentarily at a loss:
"Since it has such high sentience, even if not understanding the arrangements behind its master, at least it knows self-preservation and will not riot indiscriminately. Fuxun now wants to pledge to the dragon-kind... perhaps at the hint of this thing; this demonic fiend itself might be seeking a dragon... The Li clan agreed, didn't they... and is drawn into it. If ignored, who knows what madness this demonic fiend might go into..."
After thinking it over, Lu Jiangxian still decided to wait and see, first observe this thing's reaction, then let Li Zhouwei deal with it, throwing this time bomb to the dragon-kind.
While dividing his attention to observe, the writing in his hand had long stopped, and he grew worried.
"Yang Tianya..."
Li Zhouwei went to Simin; the various cultivators of the Yang clan were holding secret talks in the hall. Although he did not enter the hall, an immortal mirror probed and shone, allowing him to hear these words clearly from far away.
The two characters "Xuan'an" within were exactly the same as the news Chi Buzi had obtained from Dingjiao!
"The people behind Mount Dali are remnants of Yuan Prefecture, namely Xuan'an, and Qingyi Yuanxin Yi."
He pondered for a moment, then recited:
"Qingyujian and Xuan'an hold the immortal array, driving [Moon Laurel Transformation Profound Light], and also hold an immortal artifact in hand—namely the [Qingyi Yuanxin Yi] they speak of..."
This was an extremely important clue. The [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book] could not calculate the layout of the Dao Embryo, nor could it calculate immortal artifacts. At the time of calculation, the immortal mirror body and many Dao Embryo methods Lu Jiangxian guessed were input as known conditions into the [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book]... Since [Qingyi Yuanxin Yi] could be calculated, it showed this was no secret; many Golden Core forces and minor cultivators knew of this immortal artifact and had revealed its existence.
Lu Jiangxian calculated many times, even obtaining a few words about this immortal artifact.
"[Qingyi Yuanxin Yi]... is an object of an ancient immortal monarch, able to make the calculator miscalculate and the observer fail to observe..."
Strangely, Lu Jiangxian could not sense such an immortal artifact on the lake at all!
"Whether it does not exist, or this immortal artifact is not in the Great Void and its marvels do not operate through the Great Void... if neither is the case, then the damaged immortal mirror itself is at the level of the Dao Embryo, the same level as an immortal artifact, and they cannot sense each other..."
But since Lu Jiangxian had not sensed it... it might mean many secrets on the lake were known to the demon fox—even Qingyujian had specifically cultivated the [Dawn-Listening Art] just to listen to the movements of mortals on the lake. This Demon King said with his mouth he had not used it, but if there were no taboos, how could he not use it?
"Mount Dali is a remnant of Yuan Prefecture, namely the methods of that prefecture lord. [Qingyi Yuanxin Yi] or Qingyujian—these were left behind to protect me through that initial period... while [Moon Laurel Transformation Profound Light] was also the key to protecting Lake Wangyue from leaking everywhere; otherwise, with a True Monarch guarding Wangyue, I could do nothing at all..."
This [Moon Laurel Transformation Profound Light], though he had never seen it, he had seen something extremely similar—[Golden Crow Transformation Profound Light].
This thing was in an immortal array beneath the sea, used to suppress the immortal array, its power so great that even a True Monarch could not bear it; this array was precisely where Li Jiangqun and various cultivators held secret talks in former years!
"That means... such an immortal array is not just one... there is also a corresponding Yin immortal array... Xuan'an, even in poor condition, could still participate in the world situation... relying on this [Moon Laurel Transformation Profound Light]..."
"This array is either in Yuan Prefecture's [Donghuatian], or the hidden secret realm behind the fox-kind is this immortal array, able to hide within the Great Void. It seems to be Him..."
This Xuan'an... Lu Jiangxian was actually not completely unaware!
Back then when Wanling Heaven fell, the [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book] drew many influences down from the sky, landing in various places in the world. Lu Jiangxian took the opportunity to arrange a countermeasure, using Li Suining as an open card, and openly exerted influence with the power of the [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book].
Precisely because this situation was clear, when Li Suining was reborn and her memories were unusual, a power descended from the sky and probed carefully. Lu Jiangxian had been secretly standing by, waiting to see which family was monitoring the lake, and just happened to catch them red-handed!
Only then did Lu Jiangxian completely affirm that behind the fox-kind there truly existed a being transcending the Purple Mansion!
Although this aura was fleeting, Lu Jiangxian was no longer what he once was. He had even personally used the [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book] to deduce it, and at a glance identified it as a path of [Sitian], which even made his expression turn strange...
This aura had an extremely high rank, yet seemed suppressed by something, extremely distressed. If not for the [Great Derivation Heavenly Element Book] being the rank-category of a [Sitian] path, using this to pry and intercept, it would probably have scattered like smoke halfway.
This caused Lu Jiangxian to form a dark conjecture in his heart:
"Is this Xuan'an truly weak... or... is He not the true owner of the immortal artifact, likewise unable to free Himself from the influence of [Qingyi Yuanxin Yi]? If the latter, His current situation must be far more proactive!"
But whether the former or the latter, the Li clan had been able to develop safely to this day, and the fox-kind had rendered great merit. Since he knew the other side held immortal arrays and immortal artifacts, Lu Jiangxian did not act rashly, but secretly noted in his heart:
"For now, wait and see the changes, waiting for Li Zhouwei and Chi Buzi to successively perfect their divine abilities and come into contact with higher-level secrets... see clearly the origins and backgrounds of these people... best to wait until Li Zhouwei gets through this calamity... and I myself pass the most important step before talking again."
His gaze flowed, then rested once more on Fuxun in the secret chamber.
"If this thing is not quickly sent away... how would Li Quewan dare to seclude herself on this island? With her current cultivation attainment, at most five or six years of work and she could seclude herself... five or six years... Li Zhouwei should also emerge from seclusion once, sigh... but during this time I still need to divide my attention to watch the island."
Li Quewan's speed of cultivating the Dao was getting faster and faster, and Lu Jiangxian was not surprised. If a secret manual was a test of extremely high difficulty, she had already been reading the answer for decades.
"To spread the time of practicing secret methods evenly across early cultivation, and these early-cultivation Dao theories could assist in raising cultivation and breaking through various barriers... this was probably the cultivation method of those Golden Core traditions..."
This cultivation method was slower early on, but later brought a hundred benefits without harm. It only required profound Dao arts closely connected with Purple Mansion secret methods, and only forces with a True Monarch presiding could possibly gather them.
It was precisely this model of practicing profound Dao arts in advance that greatly helped the Purple Mansion. Lu Jiangxian had tasted the sweetness and hurriedly chose this [Shaoyin Xuanjun Water-Fire Record] for Li Jiangchun—not only to delay letting his name enter the Sword Sect's records, giving him more development time, but also for the Purple Mansion!
This art could not catch up with [Xuan Wu Dao Arts], but it was also carefully prepared. By then... even if Li Jiangchun's speed of practicing secret methods could not compare with Li Quewan, it would still far surpass Li Jiangqian.
"He cultivates [Xiang Juchen]. Though it belongs to the three Yin, Lesser Yin has more Yang, so cultivating it in a place of Bright Yang is not bad. Moreover, [Xiang Juchen] is the union of [Lesser Yin] and [Pure Qi], with the omen of elevating cultivation. With Li Suining's interference, Li Ximing was not injured, nor did he provoke Shengbai Dao. If he were more careful, truly going to Peacock Sea to ask for [Fang Ximiao Dew], a spirit medicine perfectly matching his root, I would worry less about him."
"Moreover... with this change, having acquired a wisp of Purple Qi, Li Ximing's [Clear Illumination Heart] was finally completed. The worst calculation in the deduction took a full five attempts to succeed..."
Although Lu Jiangxian did not know much about the situation of the Lesser Yin Fruit Position, choosing the Lesser Yin path was carefully considered. In the past, the Xuan Blade given to Chi Buzi used up part of Shaohui's divine ability cultivation; most of it was still in hand. As long as there was an opportunity to bestow it, let Li Ximing form a Golden Core, and combined with [Fang Ximiao Dew], Li Jiangchun's cultivation speed before and after Purple Mansion would be extremely terrifying.
"Merely, the method he cultivates was modified by me; he has the aptitude of sixth grade, but no secret methods at all. This is yet another project!"
He sighed bitterly in his heart, and had no choice but to draw several more copies from that pile of arts and methods on the desk that the Li clan would exchange in the deduction, sending them to Dangjiang to revise overtime, so that he would not be the only one busy.
Chapter 1047