108: Chapter 109 Golden Core Transforms into Star Sea

Inside the Yixin Pavilion, the scent of tea curled in the air.

Shen Moyan's thoughts drifted back to long ago, to the time in the Great Qi Martial World.

A name surfaced in his heart.

Yun Wangshu!

The Demon Cult Leader who left behind countless mysteries and the Legacy of the "Preserve Nature and Protect Truth Art" a thousand years ago before departing effortlessly!

Until now, Shen Moyan had always thought Yun Wangshu was someone from another plane, wandering the world, who left the Legacy after a chance encounter with an Opportunity.

But now, combined with what True Person Linglong said about the collection of Dao Rhyme from subordinate planes and the nature of the dao transmission stele...

Yun Wangshu was very likely a Cultivator from the Great World of Mountains and Seas!

A Purple Mansion Realm expert performing a task for the All Heavens Department, or perhaps acting on his own to collect Dao Rhyme in subordinate planes.

Perhaps because Great Qǐ was too poor and had little to exploit, he simply gave up.

And the Legacy he left—Otherworldly Artifacts, Cognitive Techniques, and the Ascension ceremony—this set of Ascension standards was not without reason.

Otherworldly Artifacts contained Dao Rhyme; the heavenly demon sword was the key to the Great World of Mountains and Seas.

Cognitive Techniques were tied to Karma. He left the "Preserve Nature and Protect Truth Art"; once this technique was understood and integrated into the cognitive systems of Great Qǐ's Martial Artists, the "Dao Rhyme" of the native beings of the Great Qǐ plane would become entangled in Karma.

Unfortunately, the Demon Cult did not pass down that Cultivation Technique.

As for the Ascension ceremony, it was a guide. Following his arrangements, Shen Moyan was able to 'ascend' and break through the plane's barrier... but how was this any kind of Immortal Ascension?

This was fundamentally a meticulously planned harvesting ritual!

Those who ascended were naturally the top elites of their plane, carrying the Luck of that plane and a body full of Dao Rhyme.

After ascending, they would only become human essence ginseng to nourish the Dao Rhyme of those in the Purple Mansion Realm!

Shen Moyan felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

True Person Linglong seemed very satisfied with the shifting, startled expressions on Shen Moyan's face.

Telling these worldview-shattering things to juniors who hadn't truly integrated into the Holy Court gave her a secret thrill.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, let me show you something."

As if driven by a desire to share, she waved her hand enthusiastically like a child showing off a treasure.

Immediately, the space around the Yixin Pavilion seemed to expand by an invisible force, with light and shadows shifting to reveal suspended orbs of light.

Shen Moyan looked up, his eyes widening involuntarily.

Each orb contained an item, emitting strange and varied fluctuations of aura.

These things were vastly different from the common Dao Rhyme of the Shanhai Realm.

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There were precise and complex discs, seemingly aircraft from some technological side.

There were crystal staves with boiling elements and flashing magic light, seemingly Magical Artifacts from some magic side.

There were also unknown beast bones with soaring blood-qi, seemingly the remains of some exotic beast, and even strangely shaped idols emitting the Power Of Will of faith... "These are all specialties I've obtained from traveling through the myriad planes over the past hundred years. The Dao Rhymes they carry are varied, and most have not been recorded in the 'database' of the origin dao preaching stele; they are precious 'wild' samples."

"As long as I take them out of the Yixin Pavilion, their Dao Rhyme fluctuations will be immediately recorded by the dao transmission stele."

True Person Linglong generously shared these collections containing Dao Rhyme with Shen Moyan.

"exquisite hand linglong truly live up to their reputation," Shen Moyan complimented.

"Oh, it's just a hollow title."

However, True Person Linglong scratched the back of her head like a child.

"Alright, here's the question: since the origin dao preaching stele has been infecting all Cultivators, is there no way for them to escape the Dao Blight?" True Person Linglong's lips curled slightly.

"Wouldn't resonating with Dao Rhyme found from other planes work?" Shen Moyan answered.

"No... that won't work. As long as a Cultivator is in the Shanhai Realm, they will be influenced by the origin dao preaching stele, and the Dao Rhyme of these items will also be absorbed by the stele..."

As he spoke, Shen Moyan gradually fell silent.

This was a trap, an almost unsolvable trap.

If a Cultivator wanted to escape the influence of the dao transmission stele, they had to go beyond the heavens, but to do that, they had to pass through the All Heavens Department.

After bringing back otherworldly Dao Rhyme to the Shanhai Realm, the origin dao preaching stele would naturally absorb it. The entire process was incredibly smooth.

"Exactly, that's it."

True Person Linglong said coldly for the first time.

"It's a matter of mutual benefit; escaping the influence of the origin dao preaching stele is essentially impossible."

"I cannot guarantee the character of the being who established the dao transmission stele, but when things are abnormal, there must be a hidden motive."

"If the Holy Court's system were so good, then why would there be the Twenty-One Immortal Orthodoxies?"

As her voice fell, Shen Moyan also fell into deep thought.

But True Person Linglong's gaze did not linger long on these treasures.

Her fingertip eventually pointed toward two seemingly most unremarkable objects floating in the center of the pavilion—

They were two lanterns.

They weren't any Magical Artifacts or Magic Treasures, just the most ordinary white paper lanterns.

With bamboo frames and white paper surfaces, the candles were unlit and dim.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, do you see anything?" True Person Linglong smiled craftily.

Shen Moyan's pupils suddenly constricted to the size of pinpricks.

In the Xiyi Perspective, these two lanterns... were identical!

The Dao Rhyme emitted by these two lanterns was actually completely identical, without the slightest difference, as if they had been copy-pasted.

How was this possible?!

"All dharmas arise from conditions, and their natures and forms differ. There are no two identical leaves in the world. This is one of the underlying rules that constitute all phenomena and the intertwining of Karma."

"Incredible, isn't it?" True Person Linglong's voice carried a fanaticism of discovering the truth.

She gently lifted the two lanterns as if holding the most precious treasures in the world.

"I have traveled through two hundred and eleven planes with vastly different rules, witnessed the birth and death of stars, observed the change of civilizations, and even been attacked by the Heavenly Dao... This is the only pair of creations I've found with [absolutely identical] Dao Rhyme."

"No matter how large the 'database' of the dao transmission stele is, its underlying logic can only record different Dao Rhymes because it is based on the 'differences' of all things to deduce, adapt, and generate so-called optimal Cultivation Techniques."

"But it cannot understand, nor can it process, [absolute identity]."

"Because the existence of [absolute identity] means the underlying logic of the dao transmission stele is wrong! Individual differences do not exist!" Shen Moyan understood her words.

This was too incredible.

This was like there being another person in the world exactly like you, whose experiences, people they met, and every thought and idea were completely identical to yours.

Why would such a thing happen?

Shen Moyan felt a chill thinking about the implications.

"Actually, it was quite a coincidence."

True Person Linglong chatted casually while fiddling with the two identical lanterns.

"I picked up these two little things not long ago on an abandoned star wreckage at the edge of the Star-Fragment Sea."

"It was quite strange at the time. Aren't the Four Seas the Domain of the Yao Race? The Shattered Star Sea is usually dead silent, but that day, massive stellar anomalies suddenly occurred."

"Many dormant ancient stars briefly glowed with light, and the extinct life on those stars came back to life, crackling and popping like a festival..."

The Yao Race occupied the Four Seas: the Vast Sea, the Shattered Star Sea, the Great Void Sea, and the Twilight Sea.

Connecting this to the previous news of two Inscription Dao beings fighting deep into the Yao Race's territory.

Could it be the Star River Brightening Fate Controller?

Shen Moyan wondered in his heart.

"But the origin isn't important."

"What's important is that with this hypothesis, my long-held theory has actually been proven!"

"The collapse of the Ancient Immortal Dao and the fact that Spiritual Qi is poisonous is all because of the origin dao preaching stele!"

"The Dao Rhyme of these two lanterns represents 'absolute identity'. With my control over Dao Rhyme, I can achieve 'replication'!"

"I don't know why Spiritual Qi is poisonous, but I know how to use this Dao Rhyme to construct a Purple Mansion Domain."

"Within the Purple Mansion Domain, I can avoid the poisonous Spiritual Qi and condense a Golden Core! Recreating the Ancient Immortal Dao!"

True Person Linglong spoke enthusiastically about her research.

"But this is only a theory. Spiritual Roots and Spiritual Veins already conflict. This might just be an isolated case and doesn't represent..." Shen Moyan mused, looking at True Person Linglong's frenzied state.

"No, no, no, Fellow Daoist, you underestimate me."

"Spiritual Roots aren't a problem; I can just craft them myself using Dao Rhyme."

"Moreover, not long ago, I already transcended the origin dao preaching stele!"

Having said that, True Person Linglong stood up and spread her arms in the pavilion, her skirt swaying.

The aura around her suddenly changed.

The entire Yixin Pavilion, and even the surrounding illusory starry sky, suddenly lit up with countless brilliant lights.

"Please open your eyes, Fellow Daoist Shen! Take another good look!"

In the Xiyi Perspective, the stellar trajectories Shen Moyan had originally seen rapidly collapsed.

The scene that followed was something he would never forget in his life.

Above True Person Linglong's head, besides the seven stars in the center, the stars across the sky all revealed identical Dao Rhyme auras.

Every single point of light was one of her Golden Cores.