Volume 1, Chapter 322 – Immortal Dao

As the tribulation cloud was swallowed up, the tide of spiritual qi surging in from all directions also vanished without a trace.

Shi Lan’s immortal Dao cultivation accordingly came to rest at the middle stage of the Spirit Infant Realm, level with her original cultivation.

After glancing at the crowd standing stiffly all around, Shi Lan returned straight to the barren mountain and carefully experienced the transformation brought by the immortal Dao.

That nameless immortal scripture was engraved above her sea of consciousness, still radiating golden light.

Ever since establishing the Tianyan Sect, Shi Lan had the constant feeling that she had taken on an enormous karmic burden, and it left her faintly uneasy.

Along with that immortal scripture came part of the hidden truths of the immortal Dao.

The martial path tempers the body. It begins with the Body Tempering Realm. Only after entering the Innate Realm can one cast off the mortal frame. The Earth Fiend and Heavenly Astral Realms that follow are all stages of excavating the potential of the human body. Only upon reaching the Myriad Phenomena Realm can one open the sea of consciousness and give rise to divine sense.

The immortal Dao, however, was very different. It skipped directly past the body-tempering stage. After drawing qi into the body, one could already evolve true qi at the Qi Refining Realm.

In this regard, it was worlds apart from the martial path. As long as one possessed true qi, one gained the ability to wield magical artifacts and kill from a hundred paces away. If one held a powerful magic treasure, one could even unleash combat strength far beyond one’s own cultivation.

Even a martial cultivator at the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm would be utterly vulnerable before an immortal Dao cultivator at the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm wielding a magical artifact, and would be killed instantly.

The Foundation Establishment Realm after the Qi Refining Realm was even more different from martial cultivation. The immortal Dao already touched upon the secret of the sea of consciousness at the Foundation Establishment Realm, building a Dao Foundation within the sea of consciousness. At this realm, one could already evolve divine sense.

To evolve divine sense meant one could cultivate soul-attacking methods that bypassed the body and struck directly at the soul.

At this level, the combat strength of immortal Dao cultivators undoubtedly surpassed that of martial cultivators, who in their early stages placed greater emphasis on the fleshly body.

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In Shi Lan’s view, the methods of the immortal Dao carried the suspicion of taking shortcuts. They relied too heavily on external things and placed too much emphasis on the soul, while bodily cultivation was nearly nonexistent. Although the physique still became strong under the nourishment of cultivation, compared with the martial path, which tempered the flesh, it was undoubtedly weaker by who knew how much.

But what one gained in exchange for sacrificing the body was an incomparably powerful soul. With Shi Lan’s current cultivation at the Spirit Infant Realm, she could already possess another body and be reborn, whereas on the martial path, that required at least Nascent Soul Realm cultivation.

Moreover, when a martial artist of the Nascent Soul Realm seized another body, there was a fatal flaw: the new body’s strength could not be too low, or it would be directly burst apart by the power of the nascent soul. But spirit infant possession had no such hidden danger at all.

Aside from combat power and such factors, what Shi Lan found most frightening was the immortal Dao’s shockingly long lifespan.

Martial cultivators fought others to the death, their blood and qi often surging to the heavens as the potential within their bodies was developed to the limit. That brought them tremendous combat strength, but also imposed a heavy burden on the body.

Looking across Lingyang’s past and present, for martial artists who fought all their lives without rest, even Sovereigns whose cultivation could reach the heavens and penetrate the earth found it difficult to avoid the loss of lifespan and could not remain long in the world.

The immortal Dao was different. The powerful cultivation born from emphasizing the soul was enough to nourish a comparatively weak body, giving supreme immortal Dao experts lifespans that could easily be measured in millions of years.

With such a long lifespan, one could almost sit and watch the rise of storms in the world, the replacement of generation after generation of prodigies, and remain aloof from the world.

After contemplating for a while, Shi Lan took a nine-story treasure pagoda out of her Qiankun Bracelet and drew it into her sea of consciousness.

After snatching it from Zheng Tianlun, she had not yet had the chance to refine it, mainly because subduing a Dao weapon was by no means easy.

After the pagoda entered her sea of consciousness, the spirit infant seated atop the nine-tier Dao Foundation opened its eyes and beckoned the pagoda above its head.

The spirit infant raised its hands to form seals, operating an immortal Dao sacrificial refining method and driving it into the pagoda.

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In less than half an hour, strands of rosy light shone from the pagoda and wrapped the spirit infant within them. Shi Lan had already completely refined it.

…

Shi Lan fell into seclusion once more, but outside, things became incomparably lively.

Li Canglan almost instantly became a sought-after figure, and one voice transmission after another rang beside his ears.

“Little brother, what is your Grand Ancestor’s surname?”

“Young man, after your Grand Ancestor comes out of seclusion, please do come visit my Wu family.”

“This young gentleman, are you already promised in marriage? There are still a few pearls of my clan yet unmarried. If you are willing, I can introduce them.”

“May I ask whether your Grand Ancestor has a Dao companion?”

If not for their fear of Shi Lan and their unwillingness to approach too closely, someone would already have stepped forward.

Li Canglan found it all extremely strange, but did not show it on his face. He remained sitting where he was, saying nothing.

“Come in.”

Only when a somewhat cool voice transmission reached his ear did Li Canglan wake from meditation, turn, and enter the barren mountain.

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“Spread the word. One month from now, the Tianyan Sect will open its gates wide. As long as they do not already possess cultivation, anyone who wishes to join, regardless of background or origins, may enter!”

Li Canglan frowned slightly and could not help saying,

“If we do that, I fear it will attract people with ill intentions. If the cultivation method leaks out…”

“Just go spread the word.”

Shi Lan shook her head slightly, her expression calm. Anyone who cultivated this nameless immortal scripture would become wrapped in karma. Once they entered the gates of the Tianyan Sect, leaving again would not be so easy.

How could that single thread of life within the Heavenly Dao be so easily seized? More to the point, Shi Lan was taking hold of that single thread of life to protect her own Dao.

Shi Lan had a faint intuition that she could not bear the enormous karma on that immortal scripture alone. It needed to be divided and dispersed.

The more members the Tianyan Sect had, the lighter that karmic burden resting on her would become.

…

Once Shi Lan’s words spread, they stirred up a tremendous wave.

For Yunyan Star, the concept of a sect was undoubtedly something entirely new.

Previously, only marriages between clans could bring about exchanges of cultivation methods and cultivation resources.

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The idea that simply by joining a force one could freely obtain cultivation methods and cultivation resources was almost unimaginable on Yunyan Star.

For a time, regardless of their purpose, all the powerful clans sent people to this barren mountain.

Besides these powerful clans, countless mortals struggling at the bottom, holding on to a faint hope of changing their fate, also came hurrying toward this place.

The disturbance stirred up by the Tianyan Sect spread wider and wider, almost affecting the entire Yunyan Star.

…

Now that the word had already been put out, the only problem before Shi Lan was the cultivation of Li Canglan and the others.

With Li Canglan and the others at their current level of strength, it was difficult for them to serve as the backbone and support the framework of a sect.

Li Canglan, the strongest among them, had previously only been roughly equivalent to the Earth Fiend Realm of Lingyang Realm. He was too weak.

Therefore, Shi Lan needed to find a way to raise their strength as quickly as possible.

Although immortal Dao cultivation could be forcibly infused, that very easily led to an unstable foundation, so it was not a good solution.

That being the case, Shi Lan could only turn her attention to the small world she controlled.

She was going to take advantage of the difference in time flow to quickly create a group of core cadres and prepare for the Tianyan Sect’s opening of its gates.