193: Secrets of the Canglan Realm

"If I had enough Dragon Carp King essence blood or flood dragon essence blood, I could definitely ripen the dragon embryo mother tree quickly."

Lin Yan thought to himself, "A pity that the Bloodline evolution of these Dragon Carp Kings seems to have hit a Bottleneck."

Although the Dragon Carp Kings in the pond were constantly growing stronger.

The strongest Dragon Carp King had already reached the Late Stage of the Second Rank, and the Third Rank was just around the corner.

Moreover, Lin Yan discovered that through continuous feeding of flood dragon meat, their Bloodlines were indeed slowly strengthening.

But they were always unable to cross the threshold of the Sixth-Rank Flood Dragon Bloodline.

"Even the flesh and blood of a Sixth-Rank Flood Dragon cannot make the Dragon Carp King evolve. How strange!"

Lin Yan was very puzzled.

Given this situation, even if the Dragon Carp King's cultivation reached the Fourth Rank, it likely still wouldn't be able to cross that evolutionary threshold.

It was as if an invisible shackle was forcibly restraining the Dragon Carp King from further transformation.

Lin Yan planned to seek advice from his Revered Master, Bai He.

Bringing a Dragon Carp King to the back mountain of the Spirit Herb Hall, he found Revered Master Bai He sitting in the courtyard with his eyes closed, resting his mind.

"Disciple Lin Yan pays his respects to Revered Master!" Lin Yan said respectfully.

Seeing him arrive, Bai He opened his eyes and smiled. "What is it?"

Lin Yan then recounted everything regarding the Dragon Carp King.

While Dragon Carp were precious, it depended on who was looking at them.

To a powerhouse like Bai He, who had just slaughtered a Sixth-Rank Flood Dragon, they didn't amount to much.

After speaking, Lin Yan took a Dragon Carp King out of his spirit beast pouch.

"Revered Master, your Disciple is currently confused by one thing. This Dragon Carp's Bloodline is already extremely pure. Logically, it should have shown signs of transforming into a flood dragon long ago, yet it remains stagnant, stuck at a Bottleneck. I am truly perplexed."

Hearing this, Bai He's gaze fell upon the Dragon Carp King, and he nodded slightly. "This Dragon Carp King of yours is indeed extraordinary."

"If it were just a case of impure Bloodline, that would be one thing. But its Bottleneck does not originate from itself, but rather... the world."

Bai He raised a hand and beckoned; the Dragon Carp King's scales shimmered with golden light as a majestic dragon pressure filled the air.

"In terms of Bloodline alone, it is already close to a young flood dragon," Bai He said.

Lin Yan pressed further, "Then why can it still not take that final step?"

Bai He shook his head gently. "If this were several thousand years ago, this Dragon Carp would have transformed into a flood dragon long ago, but now, it is no longer possible."

Bai He's tone turned solemn, as if he were sinking into distant memories.

"Several thousand years ago, the Blood Race came from beyond this domain, and a great war broke out with the Human Race."

"In that battle, the World Tree of the Canglan Realm was severed, and the Heavenly Dao of the world collapsed."

"Since then, problems have appeared in the Legacies of Human Race Cultivators, Spirit Beasts, and spirit plants alike. The Bloodlines of Divine Beasts like the dragon lineage bore the brunt of it. Divine Beasts such as the True Dragon and Divine Phoenix simply led their entire clans away from the Canglan Realm."

"The aura of the Blood Race is incompatible with the Heavenly Dao of this world, and the Heavenly Dao instinctively rejects it. After the great war, although the Laws of the world were barely repaired, they were already riddled with holes. From then on, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi became mottled, the resonance with the Dao weakened, and many evolutions that required the 'consent of heaven and earth' became as difficult as ascending to the heavens."

Lin Yan's heart jolted. "So, for a Dragon Carp to transform into a flood dragon, it originally required permission from the Heavenly Dao. Now that the Dao is damaged, even if the Dragon Carp King's Bloodline reaches the level of a flood dragon, it's difficult to cross that threshold?"

"Exactly so," Bai He nodded.

Lin Yan's brow furrowed. "Is there really no way?"

Bai He looked at him and smiled. "Of course there are ways."

"First, continue to elevate the Bloodline within its body; once it reaches a certain level, it will eventually transform."

"Second, if you want it to transform as quickly as possible, you must supplement its Innate shortcomings."

"I see that this Dragon Carp's Divine Soul power is vigorous and flourishing. You must have used some treasure to enhance its Divine Soul, haven't you?" Bai He asked.

Lin Yan nodded without hesitation. "Yes, by a stroke of luck, I obtained two Snow Lotuses in the Snowy Plateau."

"I see," Bai He nodded.

"Snow Lotuses have the effect of cleansing the Divine Soul. With long-term nourishment, the shortcomings in its Divine Soul are addressed. Thus, you only need to find one more treasure: source water!"

He paused and then continued:

"The True Dragon Bloodlines of the Canglan Realm are all water-attribute. By nourishing its body with source water, given its current Bloodline foundation, the transformation will happen naturally when the time comes."

"source water?" Lin Yan asked in confusion.

Bai He explained, "This source water is not ordinary water containing Spiritual Qi, but the source of spiritual water nurtured by heaven and earth. It is extremely rare."

"source water is not only an important treasure for breeding water-attribute Spirit Beasts, but also a supreme treasure that Spirit Plant Masters dream of, because it is the core resource for upgrading a spiritual field from the fifth rank to the sixth, or even the seventh rank."

"I see," Lin Yan pressed. "Then... where can this item be found?"

Bai He shook his head and smiled. "Hard, very hard."

"It could be in a deep-sea abyss, nourished by ten thousand fathoms of water pressure and the Evil Qi of a sea eye, or it could be hidden in some unremarkable stream beneath the feet of Mortals, born by a stroke of luck..."

"The world is vast, and clues depend entirely on Opportunity. There is no telling."

"Alright."

Lin Yan pondered for a moment and made a decision in his heart.

He would go back and slowly find a way to buy source water, and if that failed, he would search for it himself.

"Revered Master, there is one more thing I would like to ask you," Lin Yan asked again.

"How can the follow-up of a purple mansion strange artifact be perfected?"

Hearing this, Bai He smiled slightly.

"The key to perfecting a purple mansion strange artifact lies in nourishing it with purple qi. However, the Innate purple qi of heaven and earth has long since vanished and is difficult to find."

He explained, "Therefore, Cultivators often settle for the next best thing, exchanging acts of kindness and virtue for the purple qi of merit rewarded by the world will to nourish the Purple Mansion and strange artifacts."

"Acts of kindness and virtue, purple qi of merit?" Lin Yan asked curiously.

"Yes, acts of kindness and virtue, but the meaning here is different from what the secular world considers as such!" Bai He changed his tone, clarifying the true meaning of 'Karma':

"True Karma is not the punishment of evil and promotion of good in the eyes of the secular world."

"Saving a person's life is not necessarily accumulating virtue, for that person might be a villain, and the world will never concerns itself with these minor goods and evils."

He taught Lin Yan that one must judge what a true 'good deed' is from the macroscopic perspective of the world will.

True good is that which benefits the prosperity and growth of the entire Canglan Realm.

True evil is that which obstructs the operation of the Heavenly Dao and brings suffering to all living things.

Bai He pointed out the direction for Lin Yan: true purple qi of merit originates from contributions to the Heavenly Dao.

Suppressing ancient calamities that plague a region... slaying otherworldly beings invading the Canglan Realm... repairing damaged Spiritual Veins or earth vein nodes... protecting a region or even all races during a catastrophe... opening up new cultivation resources or Daos for the cultivation world, such as the Azure Emperor founding the lineage of Spirit Plant Masters... Bai He spoke of many ways and cases of accumulating Karma, finally advising:

"Remember, the entire Canglan Realm is also a special kind of life; it also desires to grow stronger and even advance!"

"What is beneficial to it is good; what is harmful to it is evil. As for the process and methods, they are not important."

...After hearing Bai He's words, Lin Yan felt deeply shaken!

"The Canglan Realm actually has life and can even advance?!"

He felt that his understanding of the world was still too shallow.

"Of course," Bai He nodded slightly.

"Worlds are divided into large and small. The Canglan Realm was once a Great World, but it met with disaster several thousand years ago and declined."

"Rumor has it that above the Great Worlds, there is the Immortal Realm!"

"To let the Canglan Realm advance into an Immortal Realm has been the dream of sages throughout the generations." Speaking to this point, Bai He sighed with some emotion.

"A pity that the current Canglan Realm has already fallen from the status of a Great World. It cannot accommodate Immortals and has become a cage."