Chapter 930: Heavenly Dao's Beginning
After cultivating two Immortal Physiques and surpassing the Life Reduction, one would be able to cultivate these domains! This was due to having the sufficient blood energy required to support these domains.
The world had always thought that cultivating multiple Immortal Physiques was impossible, but this was far from the truth! Of course, only existences like Li Qiye were able to spend enough time and effort to create a heaven-defying merit law like the One Thought, Myriad Physiques.
At this time, there was a bright radiance in front of his chest. All four Inner Physiques appeared in two pairs.
When these pairs were made, they would give birth to the absolute domains!
Li Qiye let the Hell Suppressing and Soaring physiques go together. This created the Stagnation Domain while the Void Imperfection and Sky Destroyer Physiques combined to form the Demise Domain!
Since the start of time, perhaps no more than three people had been able to cultivate these domains. One of them was the Black Dragon King. Of course, in the end, only the king was able to reach grand completion with two Immortal Physiques.
The Stagnation and Demise Domains kept on rotating until Li Qiye could use them at his whim. He withdrew his Inner Physiques and the domains disappeared as well.
Next, he opened his fate palaces and the pillar of life and cauldron of life emerged. Li Qiye then began a process that caused a rune to appear on the pillar of life that was crackling with lightning. The rune changed once more to reach an unfathomable level. There seemed to be an endless ocean of lightning inside this rune.
At the same time, the chapter imprinted on the cauldron of life was also laid out. The universal laws inside the chapter changed again and again. Eventually, a full system came into being. There seemed to be myriad dao inside. No geniuses would be able to understand their profundities.
After both sides finished transforming, the rune and chapter finally resonated. Both of them erupted as if they were being led by an unknown power. However, there was something missing and a true form couldn't emerge.
After seeing this complete evolution with reactions from both sides, Li Qiye finally sighed and murmured: "Yes, just like the legends!"
The rune was taken from the Void Gate and hidden in the pillar of life. The chapter was taken from the blood pond and was imprinted on the cauldron of life.
Before obtaining the chapter, Li Qiye had always thought about how to use it together with the rune. However, he lacked past references despite knowing an ancient legend regarding the myriad dao in this world.
Despite his calculations, he couldn't perfect this rune due to a lack of information. However, with the chapter, he was able to see the real mysteries inside, allowing him to complete the evolution.
"Ancient Void Rune and Heavenly Dao's Primal Chapter." Li Qiye murmured: "I am still missing something, I have to find the missing parts somehow to complete it."
The Heavenly Dao's Primal Chapter left behind by the Blood Progenitor was not about the origin of the blood race at all. It had nothing to do with the race, it was just that the progenitor managed to obtain it later on.
However, his descendants didn't know this and assumed that it was their origin chapter, the focus of all of their cultivation; they were completely unaware of the truth.
According to the geographical divide, the Void Trap Desert should belong to the Blood Primal Ground. However, the primal ground was special and ignored the events of the world. They focused on passing down their legacy instead of competing with the world.
Because of this, it simply didn't consider the desert to be part of its territory despite the abundance of minerals and ores below.
Thus, many cultivators came to the desert and established mining camps. Although there were many sects here vying for these resources, conflicts were rare. The reason was very simple; everyone was here to invest in profits, so no one wanted to attract the primal ground's attention.
Li Qiye continued his long trek. The sand below and sun above made sure that the trip didn't lack heat or dehydration, allowing him to train himself further and loosen the seal on his dao foundation.
He was challenging and refining his own body as a mortal. The desert's harsh environment was definitely a great place to break through one's limits. Along the way, he met many cultivators. Some flew while other darted forth with haste. There were sightings of flying treasures as well…
Some came alone while others came with their sects. No matter their strength, they came and left without caring for Li Qiye.
At this time, he looked like a commoner walking barefoot, completely battered by the desert. What stood out was his lack of blood energy and aura. It made others think that he was only a mortal.
A mortal was no different from an insect in the eyes of cultivators, so no one wanted to give him another glance, let alone waste time on him. However, there were always good people even among cultivators.
On one day, Li Qiye continued to move forward under the blazing sun. A magic carpet flew over his head. It was very large with around a dozen cultivators sitting on it. Their leader was an old man with an aura of water. He had a friendly appearance and a pair of bright eyes. Although he was old, his blood energy was still rich; it was easy to tell that he was an expert.
"Young man, are you lost?" The old man asked Li Qiye while riding his carpet.
Li Qiye stopped and looked at the people on the carpet. Outside of the old man, there were more than ten young men and women behind him. There was one particular girl that stood out. She had an elegant aura and occasionally smiled.
He then looked at the old man and gently shook his head with a smile: "Grandpa, you got it wrong. I am only walking through this desert, I know the way." 1
"What is there to look at in this desert? It isn't a scenic place at all." The elegant girl chuckled.
Li Qiye glanced over at her in response: "Little girl, you don't understand. Sceneries aren't to be enjoyed with just one's eyes. You have to use your heart to truly enjoy their beauty."
"Such a big tone, not knowing the immensity of the heaven and earth!" A handsome boy next to the girl scowled and coldly glared at Li Qiye.
In his eyes, Li Qiye was only a mortal. How could this mortal call his junior sister a little girl without invoking his rage?
"A'Bao…" The old man gently waved his sleeve and stopped the young man. He shook his head to say: "The boy's words are not without reason. There are many things that require the mind to feel." 2
Li Qiye smiled. He was pleased with the old man's attitude: "Are you all here to dig?"
"Sort of." The approachable old man replied: "Our Suhang Country has a mine here in this desert. This old man is taking these young ones out to broaden their horizons." 3
"Mmm, this is a good thing. Although the Void Trap Desert can be dangerous, it is not too life-threatening. It is a good place to train." Li Qiye nodded.
The old man was the royal lord of Suhang; his name was Yi Chuan. After hearing this, Yi Chuan had to take another look at Li Qiye. Although the fella's appearance was ragged and reminiscent of a beggar, his demeanor was relaxed and carefree. His dirty state didn't seem to bug him at all.
Yi Chuan had the feeling that this young man was not walking on a desert but rather his own garden.
"You're just a mortal, what do you know about training?!" The young man named A'Bao coldly snorted. Li Qiye's answer annoyed him since he felt that it was not the place of a mortal to make such a comment.
A'Bao's attitude was not too strange. It was already pretty good that he wasn't treating Li Qiye, a mortal, like an insect!
Li Qiye didn't mind the young man's words and only chuckled. Yi Chuan was still curious and asked: "Oh? So you are also a cultivator? What sect are you from?"
Li Qiye smiled: "You guessed wrong, I'm not a cultivator. I simply picked up a few random merit laws and trained them casually."
"You stated some clear logic so I thought you had a good teacher. So it was all talk and nothing more." A'Bao snorted. He was not hostile towards Li Qiye, but he couldn't stand Li Qiye's bragging style.
"A'Bao, don't be rude." Yi Chuan stopped the young man and shook his head again. He glanced over at Li Qiye to say: "So, you came to this desert to train."
930 TeaserAfter cultivating two Immortal Physiques and surpassing the Life Reduction, one would be able to cultivate these domains! This was due to having sufficient blood energy that was required to support these domains.
The world had always thought that cultivating multiple Immortal Physiques was impossible, but this was far from the truth! Of course, only existences like Li Qiye were able to spend enough time and effort to create a heaven-defying merit law like the One Thought, Myriad Physiques.
At this time, there was a bright radiance in front of his chest. All four Inner Physiques appeared in pairs.
When these pairs were made, they would give birth to the absolute domains!
Li Qiye let the Hell Suppressing and Soaring physiques go together. This created the Stagnation Domain while the Void Imperfection and Sky Destroyer Physiques combined to form the Demise Domain!
Since the start of time, perhaps not more than three people had been able to cultivate these domains. One of them was the Black Dragon King. Of course, only the king was able to reach grand completion with two Immortal Physiques in the end.
[collapse] "Grandpa" here is respectful. ↩ The "A" in A'Bao here is a familiar prefix; like 'er. ↩ I actually don't know how to translate the name of this country. It looks to be the names of two provinces as part of this particular idiom: "the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven." I'm just going to leave it as Suhang. Paradise Country was another option, but it seems too much. ↩Chapter 931: The Secret Within The Secrets
Li Qiye nodded in response: "Yes, I happened to be passing by this desert and found that it was very suitable to train the body, so I chose to do so."
"Cultivation is about refining the dao foundation, what's the point of training the flesh? Even if your body can become stronger, is it going to be as strong as a weapon?" A’Bao wanted to go against Li Qiye.
Li Qiye looked at A’Bao and smiled: "The pain of the flesh is the most direct type of pain. Only when one can withstand the pain of the flesh would they be able to bear the pain of the mind. If one can't even withstand pain, then there is no need to talk about the dao heart. The dao heart is the true foundation of cultivation."
Yi Chuan couldn't help but praise after hearing this: "Little friend is still young and not from a famed sect, yet you have such wisdom, truly extraordinary! The phrase 'dao heart is the true foundation of cultivation' is quite enlightening, just like the morning bell." 1
With that, he told the disciples behind him: "You all need to learn from this little friend. There are many types of training, enduring suffering is one of them as well."
Many disciples looked down on Li Qiye's training. However, they didn't dare to comment in front of their senior. In their eyes, a mortal walking through a desert was not training at all, it was only the suffering entailed in a mortal's life!
"So you are refining your dao heart." The girl whose name was A'Li curiously stared at Li Qiye and thought that he was quite a strange guy.
"No." Li Qiye gently shook his head: "I am only taking a walk. There is no need to hone my dao heart. It is as firm as a rock — completely unshakable."
"Such arrogance! Even a Virtuous Paragon wouldn't dare to claim that their dao heart is unshakable. At least make your bragging more believable." A’Bao scowled and thought that Li Qiye was completely blustering.
Li Qiye only smiled. He was too lazy to reprimand a young man like A’Bao.
"Little friend, goodbye for now, I still want to take them training." Yi Chuan laughed and bid farewell to Li Qiye before flying away on his carpet.
Li Qiye continued forward through the desert, braving the hot sun in the day while researching countless mysteries at night.
He had to ponder too many things, especially the vessel of athanasia. It had many details that required his effort. At the same time, he had a lot to learn about the Ancient Void Rune and the Heavenly Dao Primal Chapter.
The ancestors of the primal ground believed that they could find a heaven-shattering merit law by researching the chapter. However, Li Qiye's focus was not in this regard. His aim was not merit laws since he had many powerful ones already.
He wanted to make them even more perfect, but even after many derivations and calculations, he didn't gain any ground.
This was because he was lacking another piece of the puzzle. From a merit law or cultivation perspective, both the rune and the chapter were complete as far as training manuals went.
However, Li Qiye didn't want such a thing. He wanted to reform the two to create a complete system! Nevertheless, this was not an easy matter. He only had two parts of the system, and he couldn't figure out the remaining parts with just these two.
In fact, Li Qiye wasn't the only one who couldn't do so. No one could, not even Immortal Emperors.
The rune and chapter were involved in great secrets. Across the eons, no one had been able to gather the complete version! It could even be said that very few people truly knew about the existence of these two; not even emperors knew about their legends!
Eventually, Li Qiye put the two away and sighed. Just as the legend stated, creating a complete system was countless times harder than reaching the heavens.
"Dum—" Laws intertwined and the Dao Sword appeared in Li Qiye's hand. Li Qiye immediately had an extraordinary feeling with it in his grasp.
This pitch-black sword lacked the sharpness and frightening edge of a sword. If it was thrown onto the ground, perhaps no cultivators would even want to pick it up.
Li Qiye gently stroked the blunt and harmless blade edges. Of course, he was not trying to feel the sharpness of the sword but rather the power of the laws and the nature embedded within. Controlling this sword was the same as controlling the supreme myriad laws, allowing one to become the ruler of all!
"Dao Sword, this is something that would make others salivate with greed." Li Qiye gently stroked and sword and murmured: "Unfortunately, the Blood Progenitor back then never managed to utilize its real effects!"
"Dum—" Li Qiye put the sword away. His mind opened and two different rays of lights intertwined. One was a shimmering silver while the other was gold!
They coiled together like two little flood dragons and formed a perpetually revolving spiral!
The silver light was something he obtained from the silver maelstrom after destroying the Ancestral Realm while the golden light was from the golden maelstrom in the pond of Provenance's Splendor.
In the past, Li Qiye understood their mysteries as well as the secret of the silver maelstrom in the Ancestral Realm after a lot of research. Now, he was looking at the golden version. He knew a bit about it beforehand as well, but he wanted to completely unravel its mysteries.
Eventually, Li Qiye closed his mind and the two rays disappeared. He opened his eyes and smiled: "The secrets are all in my hands! Immortal Demon geezer, you only know one part of the puzzle! The real secret is still in my hands!"
With that, Li Qiye stared at the far horizon and murmured with a serious glare: "I'll come back one day! Emperors, gods, even the high heavens, I'll slay everything in my path!" He was very much looking forward to that day.
Next, he started to meditate inside his sea of memories. He carefully searched inside, not daring to miss the tiniest of details!
There were many secrets stored inside his mind. A few of them came from the old man at the base of the precipice in the Drystone Courtyard. Moreover, his secrets were very scary, so scary that they could frighten even Immortal Emperors!
In a distant past when the Dark Crow was still inexperienced, before the days where he could do as he pleased, he was tricked by the old man when he arrived at the Drystone Courtyard.
The old man wanted the secrets in his memories, but he couldn't grab them due to the seal within. At that time, the old man came up with a strange method. He directly connected his memories to Li Qiye’s. From then on, the two's memories were linked.
The old man found out some information about the Immortal Demon Grotto and a few secrets from Li Qiye while Li Qiye also found out the old man's secrets.
Back then, the old man was a very heaven-defying existence with extreme confidence. He believed that Li Qiye would never be able to escape his grasp. He didn't expect for Li Qiye to endure for such a long period of time, so long that Li Qiye eventually fooled him completely and stole all of the secrets in his mind!
Li Qiye paid a huge price at that time, but he was rewarded with many great secrets. He even wanted the ultimate secret from the old geezer! Back then, he thought that this secret was hidden in the old man's memories, but he couldn't force it out. After this trip, the old man revealed that he had already obtained it. Alas, he still didn't know where this ultimate secret was hiding right now.
Because of this, Li Qiye was going through all the secrets he squeezed out from the old man to figure out that ultimate secret.
"Old man, you're really something special. I didn't notice it at all." Li Qiye flipped through the dust-laden memories and murmured: "Although you destroyed my body back then, you allowed me to massacre that place because of your secrets and preparations! When I'm fully ready again, even without your ultimate secret, I would still be able to make rivers of blood run across that land again!"
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't find the ultimate secret. However, he was sure that the old man was not lying to him. The issue was that he was overlooking something. Nevertheless, he was not in a rush. He gazed at the sky and told himself: "Maybe the real trick to unlocking this secret requires me to make my way back there! I'll definitely do so this generation no matter what! Just wait, those false gods will tremble beneath my feet!"
On the next day, Li Qiye continued on barefoot with the sun's rays scorching him from above!
A couple of idioms are used here and localized since they become a bit wordy and confusing if translated literally. ↩Chapter 932: Suhang Country's Yi Chuan
This was a long journey since Li Qiye took his time. This barefoot walk might be a type of torture to others, but Li Qiye was enjoying it. He was able to let go of everything in this desert.
His goal, at the moment, was to leave the desert. All else was left behind.
"Little friend, we meet again." A carpet appeared above Li Qiye again. It was Yi Chuan's group.
Li Qiye looked at them and smiled: "It seems like all of you had a fruitful trip."
Without a doubt, the juniors behind Yi Chuan were a lot more lively than last time. They must have had a good training session.
The excited A'Li smiled and blurted out: "We obtained a lot of ores."
"A'Li, you can't just expose having treasures to others or they'll be tempted." A'Bao, as the senior brother, quickly reminded his junior sister.
In his eyes, Li Qiye was only an outsider. Such information naturally couldn't be revealed to an outsider since it might bring about unnecessary problems.
Li Qiye smiled and told A'Li while ignoring A'Bao: "I was talking about your dao heart and spirit. Compared to these benefits, the ores are just external materials. There will be many chances for treasures later on, but dao heart training is not only a process, it is a type of fate. Such gains cannot be found all the time."
"Little friend, that is quite profound." Yi Chuan couldn't help but praise. He looked at Li Qiye with growing skepticism. These weren't words that should come from a young man. It sounded like something a weather-beaten and experienced man should say.
"Just a casual remark." Li Qiye smiled without complacency. Such phrases truly were casual remarks to him.
"That’s all theoretical." A'Bao snorted. He was dissatisfied with Li Qiye regardless of what he said due to having some prejudice against him.
Yi Chuan smiled and asked Li Qiye: "Are you still training? Do you want me to bring you the rest of the way?"
Li Qiye looked ahead and shook his head: "No need, it doesn't look like it'll be long until I'm able to leave this desert. I'll just go by myself."
"Not bad." Yi Chuan gave him a thumbs-up and said: "Walking barefoot through the Void Trap Desert is not a difficult task for cultivators. The hardship lies in the trouble; how many cultivators would be willing to bear this burden as a mortal? It requires great perseverance, it's definitely not easy."
Cultivators were able to do many things. However, they would usually grow used to being high above others. Many of them would not be willing to act as a mortal again.
"All of you should be learning from this dao brother. Cultivation is not just about honing your merit laws, it is also about training your willpower and determination to sharpen your mind." Yi Chuan turned around and told his disciples. He wanted to use Li Qiye as a role model.
The disciples were quiet. They could only listen to their senior. Of course, they didn't pay Li Qiye's words any mind. In their eyes, Li Qiye was only a nobody, someone not much better than a mortal. There was nothing worth learning from him. The majority of them considered themselves to be much better than him. They came from a great sect and had trained in powerful merit laws from a young age and took in wondrous medicines. In their eyes, learning from Li Qiye, who was basically a mortal, was a shameful matter.
"Little friend, I won't bother you any longer. May we meet again in the future." Yi Chuan bid his farewell in a very polite manner.
He had a noble status as the ruler of a country. However, he was exceptional in one regard — his vision was not something the disciples behind him could compare to. In his eyes, although Li Qiye was a vagrant cultivator, he would have a colorful future due to his dao heart and determination.
He really liked young people with great perseverance like Li Qiye. These were the ones who were most likely to have big success.
Li Qiye smiled and also bid farewell to Yi Chuan before continuing on his way.
After walking for another long period of time, he finally made it out of the desert and was met by a wave of humidity.
Right outside the desert was a land full of water. There were rolling green hills and rivers all around. One could see boats setting sail and rowing on the currents. Under the sparkling waves, the fat fishes jumped out of the water while heron swept by across the surface. On both sides of the river were green puffs of smoke as if this was a paradise.
The contrast between a desert and a land with a great river made it seem like two different worlds meeting here. It gave the sensation of stepping from an arid land to a prosperous location that could only exist in a painting!
Anyone would become relaxed while walking in this land of paradise.
Li Qiye emotionally commented: "Jiangnan River, Southern Border." This was indeed a nice and refreshing location. Each time he came by here, he would stay for some time due to his adoration of the place.
The desert was next to the primal ground while the Southern Border was next to the desert, a rich land full of water. Anyone would feel that creation was such a magical thing. A land with a mighty river and a desert separated by only one path — this was quite difficult to believe.
The Southern Barren Earth was huge and contained many things. The entire place was quite fertile, especially the most southern region. This southern region was called the Southern Border or Land of the Southern Tang. 1
The reason why it had this name was that it was under the jurisdiction of a nation named Southern Tang. The Southern Border didn't only consist of the Southern Tang. In fact, there were more than ten different nations here along with countless other small sects.
However, all of these nations were tributaries of Southern Tang, the biggest lineage in the Southern Border.
The weak being subservient to the strong, smaller sects being under great sects — such things were too common in the world of cultivation. However, it was different in this region. Southern Tang did not bother with managing their tributary states or interfering with their affairs.
To a large extent, the status of tributary was only in name. The smaller nations didn't need to pay tributes or act as vassals. At the same time, they were very supportive of Southern Tang as well. There were very few disputes, so the citizens in this region were able to lead peaceful lives, just like living in a paradise.
Li Qiye made it to an ancient city after a little walking. This particular city was different compared to the others in this region. There were no high walls or huge pathways, just a clear lack of magnificent architecture. Surrounding this city was a river that branched to each corner of the premises.
As long as one had a boat, they would be able to go anywhere in this city. There were many huge trees here offering their shade. Flowing water was everywhere and gave a pleasant yet all-encompassing feeling.
Li Qiye was quite tattered at this moment with dirt all over his face. He looked like a mortal in the city. At best, people would only consider him to be a beggar.
Cultivators wouldn't give him a second glance, only mortals would throw him a few coins at times.
Li Qiye didn't have to go too far before receiving a lot of coins. The reason was quite simple, this was a land of plenty. People had homes and jobs so the mortals here were quite well off. They were willing to give to a beggar like Li Qiye.
Li Qiye couldn't help but smile while looking at the coins in his hand. He put them away anyway.
As he walked by a huge tree that blotted out the sky, a familiar voice rang out: "Little friend, care to come for a drink?"
This towering tree grew near the river. There was a finely-crafted winehouse in its shade. It was clear that not just anyone could come here to drink.
There were more than ten cultivators next to the street of the restaurants. They could be considered Li Qiye's acquaintances since they were all part of Yi Chuan's group.
Yi Chuan held a wine cup and greeted Li Qiye in a polite manner.
Li Qiye smiled back and strode inside before sitting down confidently before Yi Chuan. This forced the disciples sitting next to Yi Chuan to make some room.
A few disciples were very unhappy to see Li Qiye acting so disrespectfully before their royal lord. However, Yi Chuan didn't mind at all. He had taken quite a liking to this young man ahead of him.
"Deference is no substitute for obedience." Li Qiye sat down and said with a smile. 2
Li Qiye's downtrodden look and his confident attitude conflicted with each other. However, it seemed so natural when it was Li Qiye doing it.
Southern Tang was also known as Jiangnan, the river listed above. The author is using real locations for names right now, so I'm keeping the pinyin. ↩ This phrase means that it is better to say yes than to say no in a respectful manner. It's more of a polite, conversational tool. ↩