Free Web NovelChapter 338: Chapter 243: Forging the Intrinsic Dao Foundation, a Proclamation to the World
The numbers of the Five Elements, divided into "generation" and "completion," are the profound and secret tenets of Foundation Establishment cultivation.
Among the many True Inheritance disciples present, each a top-tier Dao Material from an Ancestral Sect, not a single one had received the transmission to fully master these principles.
The reason was simple.
The numbers of the Five Elements embody the principles of major and minor transformations. The generation numbers are Innate, while the completion numbers are acquired. They are exceedingly profound, their subtleties immeasurable.
Their profound meanings, hidden in subtleties, could not be transmitted through text or passed down by word of mouth.
It was impossible to grasp even a fragment—a mere scale or claw—unless one was a monstrous talent of innate Dao Wisdom, a piece of uncarved jade, who could comprehend their own Primordial Essence through their Techniques, Cultivation, and the circulation of their True Qi.
Outside [Skandha-gati Heaven], when the True Inheritance disciples of the Taifu Sect heard that Jiang Yi was willing to lecture on the numbers of the Five Elements, they couldn’t help but cast their previous doubts aside.
The innate talent for Dao Wisdom this Daoist Jiang displayed was truly inconceivable, far surpassing his own Cultivation Realm.
"The Daoist has condensed the supreme grade, the Great Grotto of Abyssal Mysteries, and can freely manipulate the Five Elements."
Gu Changling wore a proud expression as he looked coldly toward the Taifu Sect’s disciples:
"And you all actually thought the Daoist only won the Magical Combat through trickery? How laughable!"
"After the Daoist ascends to the Flying Foundation Establishment Realm, I ask you, who among you will be his match?"
Yuan Xiao’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes flashing with a light as sharp as arrows:
"With a Daoist like him, our sect is destined for greatness! If anyone still has doubts, feel free to enter [Skandha-gati Heaven] again and bring shame upon yourselves! Go on, make the Taifu Sect a complete laughingstock!"
Seeing Jiang Yi personally demonstrate the transformations of the Five Elements and stun the entire assembly, the True Inheritance disciples of the Innate Sect immediately stood taller, vying with one another to taunt their rivals.
The most unruly of them, Yue Ziqi, couldn’t help but sneer:
"Our Daoist will ascend to the Golden Position and become a True Monarch. Three hundred years from now, at the Luotian Dao Discussion, he will face off against Ji Fuyao."
"Your sect’s Daoist might not even live to see that day."
A flash appeared between Feng Yuan’s brows as his Primordial Gate spewed a brilliant radiance, which in an instant condensed into a long halberd held in his palm:
"Senior Brother Gu was injured. Your victory in that match was dishonorable."
"If you have any real skill, do you dare engage in Magical Combat with me?"
Yue Ziqi met his gaze with cold, defiant eyes, showing no fear:
"I have long heard that Li Peak of the Taifu Sect specializes in cultivating Fire Virtue. I’ve been wanting to experience it for myself and broaden my horizons."
High in the sky, the two sides waged a war of words, and it looked as though blades would be drawn once more.
True Monarch Guangzhao Jinghai, seated in the highest position, let out a soft snort. The surrounding heavens and earth immediately trembled, and an immeasurable, hair-thin radiance swept downward.
Before Feng Yuan and Yue Ziqi could react, their bodies stiffened, and they successively lost their five senses.
Like mosquitoes trapped in amber, they instantly ceased to move.
"As I am the arbiter of this Dharma Assembly, you True Inheritance disciples should listen to me. If you still wish to engage in Magical Combat, it will not be too late to issue a challenge after the matters here are concluded."
The True Inheritance disciples on both sides instantly reined in their Qi Mechanisms, becoming "well-behaved."
With a True Monarch presiding, it was indeed not the place for "juniors" like them to act so presumptuously!
True Monarch Guangzhao Jinghai did not look away, his gaze remaining calmly fixed on Jiang Yi, who was so well-versed in the laws of the Five Elements.
This Daoist of the Innate Sect was truly extraordinary. For a True Inheritance disciple of an Ancestral Sect who had just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, comprehending the "transformations of the Five Elements" alone would take more than a century.
As for the subsequent "generation of the Five Elements," that was as difficult as ascending to heaven. One had to master five different techniques before it was possible for everything to click into place.
’Could it be that Daoist Monarch Xianyou Mingxuan of the Innate Sect truly saw the future and selected a seed for a future True Monarch?’
True Monarch Guangzhao Jinghai mused to himself. ’Although the Nanzhan Continent is under the Eight Sects’ Governance of the World, there are not many Ancestral Sects with a real hope of unifying the destiny of the Daoist Lineage with that of the continent.’
’On the Demon Dao’s side, the Taifu Sect, the Innate Sect, and the Hunlun Sect have vaguely held the position of leadership.’
’In the last thousand years, the situation has been in flux.’
’The previous generation’s Daoist from the Hunlun Sect, Lin Ru, was the first to ascend to his position, but he was plotted against by the Taisu Palace of the Immortal Dao, became trapped in the outer cosmos, and did not have the last laugh.’
’The Innate Sect’s Ning Hechu later rose to prominence. He was extremely ambitious, intending to use the path of Earth Virtue to lay a claim on the position of She.’
’He, too, was suppressed by the Immortal Dao. His Dao path was shattered, leaving him no choice but to undergo martial liberation and reincarnate.’
’Instead, it was the quiet and unassuming Zhang Yuansheng, who had been guarding the Mingcang Marsh in seclusion, who succeeded in one fell swoop, attaining the void-attestation of Divine Qi.’
’I had thought the grand situation was settled, that the Taifu Sect would shoulder the destiny of the Eight Sects to battle Tai Yang. Looking at it now, the outcome is still in suspense.’
True Monarch Guangzhao Jinghai knew full well that the more profound an Upper Cultivator’s attainments, the more long-term their perspective on matters became.
To put it another way, the distinction between high and low-level cultivators was fundamentally a matter of perspective, and the breadth of that perspective was, in turn, determined by one’s Cultivation.
A Qi Cultivation Cultivator’s lifespan was no more than three hundred years; no matter how they planned for their life and what came after, their considerations could not exceed that timeframe.
A Foundation Establishment True Master could live for five hundred years, their influence spanning five generations. For them, a millennium could pass as easily as flipping a palm, yet they could only see that far into the future, and no further.
Only a True Monarch, residing in a Golden Position—immortal and indestructible, considered to have taken half a step toward eternal life—could leap off the chessboard and become the hand that places the pieces.
Take the conflict between the Immortal and Demon Daoist Lineages, for example: the Eight Sects of the Nanzhan Continent confronting Tai Yang.
In the eyes of a Qi Cultivation Cultivator, this affair was simply about which Daoist would ascend to their position first, unify the destiny of the Eight Sects, and contend with Ji Fuyao.
But to a Foundation Establishment True Master, it was a dilemma concerning the choice of one’s Dao path.
That is why Ning Hechu had risked universal condemnation to vie for the position of She, which had been hidden from the world for ten thousand years.
And it was why Zhang Yuansheng had endured, hiding his fangs and claws, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to attain the void-attestation of Divine Qi.
But for a rogue cultivator like True Monarch Guangzhao Jinghai, it didn’t really matter which Daoist ascended to the position.
The key was who would unify the destiny of the Eight Sects and, in doing so, unleash the Ancient Demon Tribulation!
If the one from the Demon Dao who ultimately came to lead the Eight Sects failed to defeat Ji Fuyao...
...the prophecy of the Immortal Dao flourishing for ten thousand years would surely come to pass.
In that case, the Demon Dao’s fortune would be exhausted, and it would be suppressed for another five thousand years.
’And I’m afraid that for any True Monarch under the banner of the Demon Dao, it would mean disaster, a fate where if one falls, all fall.’
