Chapter 388 279: We Cultivators

In the dim and boundless void, a single, brilliant golden Magical Robe stood alone.

A faint smile touched Jiang Yi's lips.

'The Five Elements, five techniques... to pave my path forward... True Monarch Yu certainly treats his successors well. So very generous, so very magnanimous.'

One must understand that the cultivation of Foundation Establishment is all about Life Essence.

How does one perfect their Life Essence?

Every Daoist Lineage has a different method.

For example, the Buddhist Dao focuses on the "Reincarnation Method," referring to Foundation Establishment as the "Arhat" stage.

To be chosen, to step into the Pure Land and hear the sublime truths...

...one must accumulate karma and strengthen their fate.

But for an ordinary monk, achieving true enlightenment in a mere hundred years is a feat of unimaginable difficulty.

Unless one hails from a great temple and possesses an extraordinary lineage!

This is why the World Honored One passed down the "Reincarnation Method."

It teaches monks with no foundation and no destiny to reincarnate across generations, enduring hardships as Cattle and Horses, suffering hunger and thirst in poverty.

After cultivating for three full lifetimes and accumulating merit over seven, a monk can have their fate awakened by a master of great virtue and be guided to the entry-level.

As for the Demon Dao, it is even more blatant.

All members of the demon race are considered "dragon-kin." Only by possessing a trace of ancestral blood can they hope to awaken their spiritual intelligence, dissolve the bone that prevents them from speaking, and comprehend the path of the Dao.

Therefore, if a demon wishes to achieve human form, they must either receive the grace of a great ancestor or humble themselves to serve the noble scions of the "Five Vermin."

'Looking over the Five Domains and Two Heavens, across all Daoist Lineages, when a Lower Cultivator wishes to ascend, it always comes down to two words: "a patron."'

Jiang Yi's tone was complex, a mixture of self-mockery and jest.

The Immortal and Demon Daos have customs vastly different from those of the Ximizhou and Beiju Continents. They mainly rely on the techniques of the Five Elements to solidify their Dao Foundation, refining a spark of "truth" to fill the gaps in their Life Essence.

'These five Dharma Bodies hidden deep within the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven must have been manifested from True Monarch Yu's Divine Techniques.'

Jiang Yi looked up and saw an endless, illusory radiance that filled his vision. Its light was dazzling, blazing and glittering like heavenly rivers cascading down.

If not for the golden essence of Shao Yang protecting him, he would have been annihilated the instant he set foot in this place, his body and spirit utterly destroyed.

'If it were anyone else, even a True Monarch, they would have had to face the five Divine Techniques of a Great True Monarch head-on the moment they entered...'

Jiang Yi found himself surrounded by a boundless, illusory radiance. Water and fire surged, metal qi rushed forth, verdant light thrived, and a thick, murky yellow essence hung heavy in the air, creating the extremely rare Spiritual Aura of the Five Elements in perfect balance.

He quietly sensed the five Dharma Bodies, feeling the greatest affinity for the towering figure robed in infinite True Fire. It wore the Heaven-Covering Crown, was dressed in a robe of vermilion light, and bore the Seal of the Three Courts.

It was the one he felt the closest to!

"Commanding Life Fire," "Warding Off All Evil," "Vermilion Dawn Cloud," "Bell of Unifying Truth," and "Healing Flowing Splendor."

Jiang Yi stood motionless, examining them in detail.

Even with his astonishing Dao Wisdom, aided by the Celestial Book, it still took him several days and nights to identify each one.

'Five techniques... instantly mastered... The temptation is immense!'

A peculiar light danced in Jiang Yi's eyes. He was like a devout student holding a sacred text, wishing for nothing more than to study it day and night without rest.

'If I'm willing to stay in the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven and cultivate arduously for a few decades, I can absorb these five Dharma Bodies, perfect my Life Essence, and grasp the Shao Yang Golden Position.

No wonder True Master Xuanmiao valued the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven so highly and insisted I find a way to open it. No wonder Ji Fuyao raised such a fuss and patrolled the heavens in his sun chariot the moment he sensed something was amiss...

Once I enter this secret repository, obtain the five Dharma Bodies, and comprehend the five Divine Techniques, it will be a ladder to the heavens—a flawless path leading directly to the Golden Position!'

Jiang Yi understood everything with perfect clarity, but his expression showed no trace of joy.

The biggest problem he faced was that in sixty years, Shao Yang would avert its gaze, and the opportunity to vie for the Golden Position would be gone forever.

The reason was simple.

Yu Shenxiu's achievements were unprecedented, nearly impossible to match.

He had overturned the Shao Yang Golden Position, changing its very nature. Then, witnessed by the numerous Daoist Monarchs of the Five Domains and Two Heavens, he stepped into White Jade City to challenge Ji Fuyao.

Such a spectacular and monumental act... was a spectacle seen only once in ten thousand years!

And yet, the Three True Sovereigns of the ruling Immortal Dao had been forced to personally act, to bolster and perfect the resplendent image of Shao Yang.

"Bingding steals the splendor! In front of every cultivator under the heavens, True Monarch Yu personally demonstrated the Dao!

He used Shao Yang to snatch a sliver of radiance from Tai Yang!"

A bitter expression crossed Jiang Yi's face. It was only now, after entering the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven, that he suddenly understood why the Upper Cultivators didn't believe he could ascend to the Shao Yang Golden Position.

The Eight Peaks of the Innate Sect had given him the cold shoulder, even wanting to defy Daoist Monarch Xianyou Mingxuan and strip him of his title as Daoist.

'It truly was a magnificent gamble.'

Jiang Yi marveled at the audacity of his Grandmaster's wager. The Shao Yang position now belonged to Yu Shenxiu, and no one could contest it.

In all the world, who else could possibly snatch another sliver of splendor from the Tai Yang Golden Position, which had been manifest for five thousand years?

But if he couldn't surpass Yu Shenxiu's achievements, how could Shao Yang ever fully turn its attention to accept him?

'There is only one path: to follow the method laid down by True Monarch Yu.'

Jiang Yi coldly uttered eight words:

"Don the robes and crown; the old master is reborn!"

True Monarch Yu had left five Dharma Bodies in the Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven, and the deeper meaning was self-evident.

He wanted his successor to learn his techniques, walk his path, repeat his deeds, go to White Jade City once more, and challenge Ji Fuyao again.

Only then could they attract the attention of Shao Yang, allowing the shattered Golden Position to be restored and hang high above the Yanfu Vast Land once more.

'This is probably Grandmaster Mingxuan's plan as well. He wants to prop me up as a second Yu Shenxiu, to trick Shao Yang into believing its old master has returned, that the venerable one has been reborn.'

Jiang Yi once again felt the despair of a Lower Cultivator dragged into the machinations of Upper Cultivators—utterly helpless, with no way out.

As things stood, the path that Yu Shenxiu and Grandmaster Mingxuan had laid out for him was one where he would resurrect the former master and challenge Tai Yang once more.

If he refused to walk this path, then after sixty years, the golden essence of Shao Yang that had merged with his Divine Sense would erode completely, and he would lose any chance of ever ascending to the position.

At that point, he, the pawn, would be of no further use.

'When a resource becomes useless, it is meant to be consumed.'

Jiang Yi sighed. He never expected that after leaving Beimang and the Qianji Sect, he still couldn't escape the fate of being a mere consumable.

'It seems I have no choice.'

Jiang Yi clasped his hands behind his back. He marveled at the foresight of an Upper Cultivator like Yu Shenxiu, who could grasp the state of the world thousands of years after his death, while simultaneously pondering a way to break free from this scheme.

This Yang Qi Taiyin Heaven ensured that whoever inherited Shao Yang would have to fight Ji Fuyao once more. Otherwise, they could forget about ever ascending to the position.

'Fighting Tai Yang again and challenging the Dao at White Jade City is not impossible.

But to wear Yu Shenxiu's "mantle," to let his old self be reborn and descend upon my body... that is something I am unwilling to do.'

Jiang Yi slowly raised his eyes, his gaze serene and unrippled.

'In the meaning of Cultivation, the word "Dao" has countless interpretations, but within the Demon Dao, only one thing matters.'

True Cultivation!

That's right. The Demon Cultivators, who seem the most heretical, are the ones who place the most importance on the true essence of cultivation.

Worldly affections, karmic bonds, fated entanglements—all can be severed.

The only thing that must not be corrupted is the authenticity of one's own cultivation.

'True Monarch... True Monarch... Without that bit of "truth," what right does one have to call themselves a Monarch?'

Jiang Yi finally made his decision. He shook his head gently and closed his eyes, turning away from the five Dharma Bodies that represented a direct path to the Shao Yang Golden Position.

'Besides, it's not as if there isn't a second path.'