Li Yan thought to himself. At this moment, he suddenly understood the so-called "Rules of the Heavenly Dao" that he had long understood and been told about. For Li Yan, it had always been something he knew existed in his mind. Although he had tried to comprehend it with his heart, where the "Rules of the Heavenly Dao" were and what they were specifically, his previous understanding was that they were a vast, inviolable power of heaven and earth.
Like the "Law of Time," which no one could defy. His two senior brothers had struggled bitterly but were ultimately unable to resist the erosion of time and had perished. Today, after learning about the Flame Soul Nightmare-Devouring Beast and knowing that there were loopholes in the Heavenly Dao of Reincarnation, he suddenly understood some of the true meaning of the reincarnation of heaven and earth.
'The Law of Time can also be defied. People grow old and die over the years. The seas turn into mulberry fields over time. These seemingly irreversible laws of the Heavenly Dao are only so because my cultivation is too weak. I can't even muster the thought of resisting them, so I mostly think about how to borrow power from them. But if one truly cultivates to the Great Ascension stage, or even the higher True Immortal realm, one can live forever. What meaning does the Law of Time have then?
'To turn clouds with a flip of the hand, and rain with another; to change the heavens and remake the earth, to create suns and moons; the so-called transformation of seas into mulberry fields can be restored to the state one desires with a single thought! It is as the Buddhists say of the "Six Paths of Reincarnation." The ultimate goal of cultivation is to escape the Six Paths of Reincarnation, to transcend the cycle of life and death, which is, in fact, to escape the shackles of the law and not be within the Three Realms…'
At this moment, Li Yan's Divine Will was clear and unobstructed. He vaguely had some sort of enlightenment. Although he had known these principles for a long time, even some Qi Condensation stage cultivators knew them, they could not be truly grasped without personal experience. This was worlds apart from knowing something in one's mind and truly comprehending it, holding it within one's heart.
It was like a child just learning calligraphy. They are told how to wield the brush for a certain character, how the top, bottom, left, and right parts should be combined to look good. The child doesn't know why it should be so. Even many years later, after he has mastered good handwriting and can teach others the same, he is still just imitating. It is not until middle or old age that, at a certain moment, he has a sudden enlightenment. His heart moves with his will, and his qi flows with his wrist. Only then will he truly understand why he had to wield the brush in that way back then. When the heart has an epiphany, everything becomes clear, and he may even reach a higher level.
At this moment, Li Yan himself didn't realize that a faint golden light was emanating from his body, merging with the bright sun in the sky, making it almost invisible to the naked eye. Only a cultivator observing carefully with their Divine Sense would notice a clue.
Just like that, Li Yan sat from noon until the round moon rose in the east, and from night until the purple qi came from the east, yet he was unaware of the passage of time. The faint golden light on his body also changed color with the passing of day and night, always blending in with his surroundings. This made Li Yan, sitting cross-legged between heaven and earth, seem less abrupt, as if he could become invisible at will. Even if the Great Dragon-Elephant Formation were removed at this moment, in the eyes of an outsider, he would seem to be one with the mountain, as if he had been there since its birth.
Li Yan sat motionless for eight days. On the first ray of sunlight of the ninth day, his body, which had been as steady as a rock, suddenly trembled. With this tremor, a fierce wind suddenly blew across the mountain peak, stirring up sand and stones. The fish-scale-like clouds on the distant horizon suddenly began to surge.
At this moment, Li Yan's eyes snapped open. The aura on his body fluctuated violently before suddenly disappearing. The fierce wind on the mountain peak swept past and then, as the frightened birds fell silent, everything returned to peace. The fish-scale clouds in the distant sky, which had just begun to gather, once again began to drift slowly.
"Fortunately, I woke up in time. This is not a good place for Nascent Soul Formation!"
The awakened Li Yan looked around and let out a long breath. His eyes were incredibly clear, the blacks and whites distinct. Just now, the five-colored light on the black lotus throne in his Dantian had flared, and the resulting surge of qi had directly woken him up.
'The Rules of Heaven and Earth are the great rules, and the Five Elements in my body are the small rules. Previously, the small rules of the Five Elements in my body only followed the Five Elements method of the great rules, generating magical power in an endless cycle. But the true power of the Five Elements is when the small rules of the Five Elements in my body are constantly diffused to the surface, merging with the great Five Elements power of the Rules of Heaven and Earth.
'With each breath, the great and small Five Elements secretly correspond. You are me, and I am you. In this way, when I use my magical power, I can actually borrow the true power of heaven and earth, instead of using my own power to forcibly drive it. The power between heaven and earth is mixed and chaotic. Although it can be condensed by a spell, this is not in accordance with the will of heaven and earth; the proper way is to guide these powers to erupt according to the place and time…'
Li Yan thought to himself, the smile on his face growing wider. At a certain point, he stood up.
"It's time to return to the sect. I've prepared most of what I need for the tribulation over the years. I can finally attempt to form my Nascent Soul!"
Li Yan felt the magical power in his body responding to the heavens and the earth. It was restless, on the verge of being forcibly suppressed. With that, he stood up. With a wave of his sleeve, the six giant ice crystal swords stuck in the ground around him vanished. The space around him distorted slightly, and a small purple flag flew out from the mountain and was tucked away into his sleeve.
Li Yan's figure, now revealed on the mountaintop, was extremely difficult to discern, as if he were just an ancient, stubborn rock standing by the cliff. The next moment, Li Yan briefly got his bearings and transformed into a streak of black light, shooting off in one direction…
At almost the same time, on the Forsaken Continent, in a Cave Residence of the Black Demon Clan, Mu Sha stood with his hands at his sides, clad in armor.
"I called you here to give you the restriction token for this Cave Residence!" A cold voice came from above, devoid of any emotion.
Mu Guyue's slender body was leaning against a stone chair, her stunningly long legs half-extended and half-bent.
"Mother, are you going to search for an ascension node?" Mu Sha raised his head to look at the beautiful, cold woman above him.
He had long been mentally prepared for this day, but after hearing Mu Guyue's words, his heart, which had been tempered to be as cold as iron and stone through slaughter, still stirred slightly.
"Yes. I have been preparing for many years, and now I am almost ready."
Mu Guyue glanced down at Mu Sha. Looking at the face that somewhat overlapped with a certain someone's, she could only shake her head inwardly. Over the years, she had tried several times to use Mu Sha's bloodline to find that person, but all her efforts had been in vain. The spell would always lead to a void in space at the very end.
This result had two possibilities: one was that the person had perished and entered the Way of Reincarnation; the other was that the person was too far away, and the spell was being blocked by the power of space.
'He is a cultivator from the Desolate Moon Continent. Could he have gone back? Could it be that he has successfully formed his Nascent Soul and torn through the void to leave?'
This was Mu Guyue's speculation. The cultivation method that boy practiced was strange; even she had been unable to kill him in several blows. She wouldn't be too surprised if he had formed his Nascent Soul within a hundred years.
After much consideration, she had given up the idea of going to the Desolate Moon Continent to kill that boy. The Demon Clan was universally hunted on the Desolate Moon Continent. Even though she was now at the mid-stage Nascent Soul, the Desolate Moon Continent still had Spirit Transformation old monsters. If she went, not only would she fail to kill him, but she might be the one to perish first.
She waved her hand lightly, and two objects flew toward Mu Sha. Mu Sha subconsciously reached out and caught them. He looked down and saw a white jade token, the restriction token for this Cave Residence. The jade token was cool to the touch and actually had the effect of calming the mind and clearing the heart. It could even assist in cultivation if worn.
The other object was a black metal pellet, very unremarkable in appearance. The moment he saw the black pellet, Mu Sha's pupils contracted violently, and his entire body trembled.
"Mother, is this… is this the Black Demon God Armor? …This is the Black Demon God Armor!" Mu Sha's eyes widened, asking and answering his own question.
If one were to ask which type of magical treasure was most beloved by cultivators, it would be the rarest of them all: defensive magical treasures. Like the beast bone Mu Guyue had given him in the past, that item had taken her over ten years to refine, and at most, it could only block an attack from the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm.
As a colossal power on the continent, the Black Demon Clan naturally had many defensive magical treasures. But a magical treasure capable of defending against the attack of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would require at least a hundred Demon Crystals, a painful price even for a Nascent Soul cultivator. Therefore, only the most prominent and favored disciples in a family would occasionally be gifted a life-saving defensive magical treasure by their ancestors.
And among all the defensive magical treasures sold by the Black Demon Clan, the one they dreamed of most was a set of "Black Demon God Armor." The "Black Demon God Armor" was divided into three grades: gold, red, and black, but without exception, all were top-tier existences in this realm. The golden one could withstand a blow from a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the red one could defend against a mid-stage Nascent Soul attack, and the weakest black one could block a blow from an initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
These were things that could only be refined by a refining grandmaster at the late-stage Nascent Soul or above. Not to mention how expensive it was, the materials alone could bankrupt a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
The "Black Demon God Armor" had another characteristic: once it recognized a master, it would hide within the body and could be transformed into various shapes of clothing or armor with a single thought. For some cultivators, this not only prevented others from seeing through their defensive methods but could also have a surprising effect. Another equally important point was that it was not easy to arouse the greed of others, unless you actively exposed it or displayed a defensive power far beyond your own.
Although Mu Sha had never seen a real "Black Demon God Armor," he had seen related illustrations and knew its grade classification. Although the one in his hand was black, it had undoubtedly cost his mid-stage Nascent Soul mother almost all her family's fortune.
"Mother…" Mu Sha said urgently, but before he could finish, Mu Guyue's icy voice came.
"Leave. Go back now and refine it with your essence blood. This thing didn't cost me too many Demon Crystals; I obtained it by chance. I would not spend all my fortune for you, only to perish in the chaotic flows of space. I will be leaving this place in a few days. You don't need to come."
"This… Thank you, Mother! I hope Mother will take care. In the future, I will go to the Immortal Spirit Realm to find you!"
Mu Sha knew his mother's character. She would only summon him when absolutely necessary. After giving her instructions, she would immediately have him leave, never liking to talk about other matters with him. Besides, he had been away for many years and had his own independent Cave Residence. He could only come here occasionally with Mu Guyue's permission.
The Black Demon Clan was born for battle. Life and death were very common for them. After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, as long as they completed the Black Demon Clan's two death missions, they would be allowed to attempt ascension.
The first death mission Mu Guyue had accepted back then was to go to the Desolate Moon Continent, an extremely dangerous mission as a vanguard. Although she had failed, she was not the team leader. After it was verified that she had not retreated in the face of the enemy, and considering that only three Demonic Generals had returned from that mission and the army was almost completely wiped out, it was counted as her having completed the mission.
Several decades ago, Mu Guyue had accepted another mission: to infiltrate the White Demon Clan alone and steal a secret military message from a camp guarded by a late-stage Nascent Soul White Demon Clan general. That time, Mu Guyue had returned covered in blood, nearly succumbing to her grievous injuries, but she had ultimately survived.