Chapter 367 - 260: Elevating the Dao Foundation, Spreading it Throughout the World

"Shattering the void! Is this ascension?!"

Inside the magnificent temple, Great Dharma Master Hong Ri was overcome with excitement, not a trace of regret remaining on his face.

After decades of diligently studying martial arts and cultivating tirelessly, he could finally take this crucial step.

As the saying goes, to hear the Dao in the morning is to die content in the evening.

Great Dharma Master Hong Ri’s eyes glazed over as scenes from his life flashed before them in a whirlwind:

As a child, he was sent to Sakya Monastery by his parents. The thin morning mist in the mountains, the long, wet, and slippery stone steps he’d fallen on countless times, chanting scriptures with his martial brothers during morning lessons;

As a youth, he revealed his talent and earned the favor of a venerable master, severing his worldly ties and never seeing his parents again;

Traveling from Sakya Monastery to the Great Snowy Mountains, he stood out among the candidates, enduring open attacks and hidden schemes;

Later, he traveled the lands beyond the pass on foot, uniting the scattered hundred barbarian tribes and being revered as a Living Buddha.

All the emotions of a lifetime rose and fell in the sea of his heart, as fleeting as a spark from flint, every moment like the splash of a breaking wave.

"A stinking sack of flesh, a fleeting dream of millet. Right and wrong, success and failure—all turn to nothing. Only the Great Dao is true."

Great Dharma Master Hong Ri chanted softly. As his voice fell, his formidable physique, honed to the twelfth transformation of the mortal realm, began to change.

Billowing Essence Qi descended from the void, pouring into his flesh and blood. His physique underwent the ultimate sublimation, erupting in a brilliant radiance.

In the unseen world, his spirit, like a newly conceived embryo, slowly coalesced and took form.

This process lasted for a full ten days.

Great Dharma Master Hong Ri sat cross-legged in the temple, his Qi Mechanism flickering in and out of existence.

He faced the large character for "Dao" that Jiang Yi had branded, and an endless stream of profound truths emerged from it.

’This is the true meaning of ’Dao’! The method passed down by the Supreme God is one of ’the body dies, the spirit survives’! Shatter the void with a Mortal Body, then convert all of one’s qi, blood, and inner breath to nourish the primordial spirit. That is how one ascends to the Immortal Realm!’

All kinds of epiphanies filled his mind, and Great Dharma Master Hong Ri finally seized that sliver of a chance for ascension.

He rose slowly and stepped out of the temple. With each stride, the monastic robes on his body turned to ash.

"To come and go naked and without ties... A magnificent land, being called a master and ancestor, being worshipped by all—none of it compares to the single word ’Dao’."

Great Dharma Master Hong Ri ascended step by step, his body glowing as if he were a Feathered Immortal taking flight.

"Ascension! Sijian Can is truly ascending in broad daylight! He’s becoming an Immortal!"

Astonishment filled Yan Fei’s face. For millennia, no one in the world had witnessed the shattering of the void.

If Great Dharma Master Hong Ri succeeded, it would shake the world, and the Great Snowy Mountains would become the undisputed number one sacred land of the Martial Dao.

’That ’Dao’ character really does hide a Dharma Gate for ascension!’

Ascendant Liuyun’s wide sleeves fluttered as a glint flashed in his eyes.

Although he hadn’t comprehended the true meaning like Sijian Can, he was in no hurry. ’Give me another twenty years,’ he thought, ’and I will surely achieve something.’

’Once Sijian Can shatters the void, I’ll make my move and snatch that ’Dao’ character!’

Ascendant Liuyun glanced around and noticed several Grandmasters of Divine Cultivation staring, intentionally or not, at the "Dao" character in the temple. They all clearly had the same idea.

"Your Majesty, under all heaven there is no land that is not the king’s. To the borders of the earth, there are none who are not the king’s subjects."

"The hundred tribes beyond the pass pay tribute annually and present themselves at court every year. They are already part of the Great Enterprise’s territory."

Yan Fei, his temples graying, approached Yao Yun without a change in expression.

He had met the empress once in his youth. Later, when Yao Yun restored the empire, Zhixuan Temple had provided considerable support, winning over a large number of old ministers and former officials loyal to the Great Enterprise. This was what allowed her to advance like splitting bamboo, creating the legend of conquering a dozen cities in a row.

"After Sijian Can shatters the void, the Great Snowy Mountains will be left without a leader. The ’Dao’ character left by the Supreme God should rightfully be handed over to Your Majesty for handling."

Yan Fei sent his voice secretly.

"Ascending to become an Immortal... If I can no longer see the Supreme God and always be by his side, what use is it to me?"

Yao Yun’s interest had waned. Before Yan Fei could speak again, she added:

"Besides, the Supreme God left the ’Dao’ character in the Great Snowy Mountains for a profound reason. Sijian Can must have seen this as well, which is why he sent word across the land, inviting all fellow cultivators."

Yan Fei’s eyelids twitched. He asked hesitantly:

"The Supreme God left the character to forge a path for the world’s Divine Cultivators?"

Yao Yun nodded slightly, her eyes filled with reverence. She clearly worshipped Jiang Yi as a god.

"If not, why would it be the character for ’Dao’? The Supreme God’s intentions are benevolent and painstaking! He wishes to continue the lost arts for Divine Cultivation and open the Celestial Gate for all eternity!"

Yan Fei took a deep breath, completely stunned.

The power of a single word could actually reach such a level?

As expected of a Supreme God from beyond the heavens!

...

...

’Sijian Can, Yan Fei, Xuzhu, and that Ascendant Liuyun... they are all promising talents.’

Jiang Yi’s gaze flickered. Like the sun patrolling the sky, he took in everything happening at the Great Snowy Mountains.

The foundation of the large "Dao" character branded in the void was the [Sovereign Myriad-Dharma Dao Foundation].

These Grandmasters of Divine Cultivation, who stood at the twelfth transformation of the mortal realm, were using the principles of his Dao Foundation to shatter the void. They were bait, and with a bit of luck, they might just lure out the Immortal Dao Cultivators who had designs on him.

’Besides that reason, it also has something to do with my Foundation Establishment cultivation.’

Jiang Yi mused silently. He had used the Meridian Fire to burn through the Shell Pass in one go, dissolving the impurities and allowing his Divine Sense to leap out. He had ascended to the Foundation Establishment Realm, and in doing so, gained infinite insight.

As the saying goes, what is learned from paper is always shallow; true knowledge of a matter comes only from practice.

Cultivation was the same.

Although Jiang Yi had read voraciously at the Changming Celestial Pool and understood something of Foundation Establishment...

...the Great Dao was mysterious beyond mysteries, empty beyond emptiness. How could it be explained clearly or summarized in just a few words?

’Only by standing in this realm can one truly understand it in their heart.’

After achieving a thorough understanding, Jiang Yi discovered that Daoist Lineage and Realm were inextricably linked, two parts of a whole.

’Once the Dao Foundation is formed, one ascends into the Foundation Establishment Realm. The various Daoist Techniques give birth to profundities. Only when these profundities reach Perfection, the five techniques are complete, and one’s Life Essence is sufficient can one ascend a new heaven with each step. This is the ’path of ascent’.’