Chapter 311 - 132: Lights of a Myriad Homes, Sutra of the Power of All Living Beings’ Wishes, Gathering at the Capital City

A glint appeared in Su Bai’s eyes. He didn’t dwell on the topic and instead asked another question:

"What else did the master of that grotto-heaven say?"

"Naturally, I can’t just tell you everything for free, Fellow Daoist."

The Celestial Secret Sect Master smiled faintly.

"However, what I can tell you is that it has been ten epochs since the first of the Seven Heroes and Three Li appeared."

"The first one, ten epochs..."

A thought stirred in Su Bai’s mind.

The Seven Heroes and Three Li was the current term for them, a total of ten Great Demons.

That number happened to correspond with the tenth epoch.

And from the memories of countless criminals, he had learned that one epoch ago—that is, 129,600 years ago—there seemed to have been only nine Great Demons.

’Does this mean that for Great Demons like the Seven Heroes and Three Li, a new one appears every epoch?’

"I’ve said all I can. Whatever you make of it is up to you, Fellow Daoist."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Celestial Secret Sect Master fell silent. With a casual wave of his hand, the Profound Light Mirror dimmed.

Su Bai watched quietly, asking no more questions.

WHOOSH~

As the Profound Light Mirror slowly dissipated, the fishing rod in the Celestial Secret Sect Master’s hand suddenly trembled.

He yanked the rod hard.

SPLASH!

"A fish is on the hook!"

The Celestial Secret Sect Master smiled slightly and flung the fish onto the bank.

"Freshly caught fish is the most delicious."

"Among all my disciples, your cooking is the best, so there’s no need to worry about wasting this ingredient."

As the Celestial Secret Sect Master spoke, he cast a meaningful glance at Tianyunzi.

After catching the wriggling fish, Tianyunzi stared blankly at his master’s smile. For some reason, a sudden chill ran through his heart.

’Don’t tell me Master foresaw this scene as well?’

’That’s just too terrifying!’

...

The Dayu Immortal Dynasty was vast and boundless, filled with numerous factions and just as many cities.

Su Bai journeyed across the land, wandering from city to city, seemingly in no hurry to reach the Da Yu Capital City.

Every time he passed through a major city, he would inevitably stay for a while, even walking through every corner of it.

Although he traveled quickly, he still hadn’t reached the Da Yu Capital City three days after descending the mountain.

Celestial Province, Guanfeng City.

Su Bai stood atop the tallest restaurant in the city, looking down at the scattered lights of the city under the night sky.

At a certain moment, a thought crossed his mind:

’I’ve accumulated enough Experience Points.’

WHOOSH!

As his thoughts turned, a golden light instantly tore through the air, swaying and leaping before landing in front of him.

"HUFF! PUFF!"

The moment the Silver-White Dog Demon landed, it began to shake its fur wildly.

Tiny motes of light, visible to the naked eye, were shaken from its body and fell into Su Bai’s hand.

These were the lights of a myriad homes.

Holding the lights of a myriad homes, Su Bai’s gaze was profound.

Within the specks of light, countless scenes seemed to flow forth.

In the scenes...

A scholar was hunched over his desk, reading by candlelight, pushing himself to the limit as he studied the classics, enduring hunger and cold in the hope of one day securing an official post and achieving success.

Small merchants and vendors packed up their tables and chairs at night, counting their silver coins, calculating the day’s profits and losses, and pondering trivial matters like tomorrow’s stock, all in the struggle to make a living.

A poor couple wept in each other’s arms, crying silently, feeling that their daily lives were as dim and lightless as the night itself...

A filial son sat by the bedside, watching his gravely ill mother in the faint light, his eyes filled with tears, his face flickering between light and shadow.

And then there were the wealthy merchants, hosting banquets at night with beautiful women dancing, cups clinking, and music playing every evening.

A single beam of light seemed to contain all the vicissitudes of the mortal world, the very image of all living beings.

"Senior, what’s the use of collecting these lights?"

The Silver-White Dog Demon looked at the lights in Su Bai’s hand with great curiosity, unable to sense anything unusual about them.

"The scattered lights of the mortal world, though not as brilliant as the great sun, have a certain charm of their own."

Su Bai casually crushed them in his hand, and the lights vanished.

"It’s been quite some time since I descended the mountain to travel. It’s time to head to Yu Province."

He had passed through numerous prefectures and cities, acquiring an untold number of lights. By his calculations, he had gathered enough.

No one could have noticed that after the specks of light entered his body, they were invisibly drawn into his heart, nourishing Su Bai’s Heart Spirit and Physique.

Two days ago, Su Bai had passed through a certain place and killed a Great Demon at the Seventh Level of Void Realm.

Afterward, when he spun the wheel, he had rarely not received Experience Points, but instead obtained a decent Super-grade Cultivation Method.

This Cultivation Technique was called the "Sutra of the Power of All Living Beings’ Wishes"!

This Cultivation Technique could gather the power of all living beings’ wishes and transform it into nourishment for the Divine Spirit and the physical body.

Although its effects weren’t as domineering as other Super-grade Cultivation Methods, its strength lay in its steady, long-term benefits.

After collecting them until now, under the nourishment of the power of all living beings’ wishes, Su Bai’s Divine Spirit and Physique had grown by about twenty percent from their original state.

It was a nice, unexpected gain.

At this moment, within his chest, inside his heart, amidst the writhing flesh, a Divine Spirit as crimson as fire, shaped like Su Bai himself, sat cross-legged.

In its hands, it held a flickering, incomparably complex ball of light.

This ball of light was the essence of the power of all living beings’ wishes, also known as Source Power in the "Sutra of the Power of All Living Beings’ Wishes".

And those specks of light ultimately flowed into that intricate ball of light.

"Are we going to Yu Province?"

Hearing Su Bai’s words, the Silver-White Dog Demon shivered, a hint of worry in its heart.

"Senior, when we were on the mountain, you often practiced your Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques. But since we came down, I haven’t seen you practice them in a long time."

It had been several days since they left the mountain.

During this time, it had traveled an unknown distance with Su Bai.

But along the way, it was the one slaying Demons and exorcising evil, and it was also the one punishing the wicked and promoting good.

Aside from a few Great Demons and that time he suppressed Xie Nian True Master, it had not once seen its senior cultivate.

It couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

Su Bai simply smiled without a word and looked up.

Before him were the city’s lights and the rising aura of humanity.

Above, in the dome of the sky, stars were scattered and the moon hung high. Between heaven and earth, only the wind and clouds howled, and light flickered.

After watching for a long time, he lightly flicked his sleeve and stepped away.

"The Great Dao is simple. Cultivation Techniques are about refinement, and Divine Techniques are about strength. I once trained day and night, obsessed with Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques, but now, I rarely practice."

"The universe is vast and boundless, just like the path of cultivation—immense and endless. Cultivation is also the cultivation of the heart. One who is used to reaching the peak must also return to the mundane."

"As for Divine Techniques and Cultivation Techniques, learning many is naturally a good thing, but sometimes, it is not."

Mastering one path to its extreme can give rise to ten thousand paths. Conversely, if you try to learn ten thousand paths from the beginning, with limited aptitude and lifespan, how could you possibly reach the end of any of them?

The higher one’s Cultivation and the greater one’s strength, the more Divine Techniques and Cultivation Techniques are about refinement, not quantity.

He had only reached his current Realm after two or three years of cultivation. His pace had been too fast; it was time to slow down.

This was one of the reasons he was traveling the world.

The Silver-White Dog Demon froze for a moment, then shook its head in a human-like way.

"I don’t get it..."

It muttered, complaining inwardly.

’Senior doesn’t like it when others get all mystical and preachy, but he’s getting more and more that way himself. He’s always saying things I don’t understand.’

"Hmm?"

The next moment, however, a soft, cold snort was heard.

"That’s slander! You deserve a beating!"

BANG!

An invisible current of air seemed to form a huge palm, smacking the Silver-White Dog Demon so hard it leaped into the air, baring its teeth and yelping.

"Senior, I’m an innocent dog!"

...

The deep winter had passed and the weather was reasonably clear, but a chill still lingered in the air of the Da Yu Capital City.

On the wide roads, while not exactly shoulder-to-shoulder, the flow of people was quite dense.

With the Incense and Candle Grand Assembly approaching, the Da Yu Capital City had become increasingly lively.

Cultivators from all over, Jianghu heroes who had heard the news, and wealthy merchants all gathered here.

Among them, not many had actually received an invitation from the Gui Chen Sect.

But many still flocked here, hoping to encounter a great figure with a keen eye for talent who would take them in as a disciple during the assembly.

There were also rich merchants who had prepared large amounts of gold and silver, planning to find so-called Immortals to exchange for life-extending Immortal Pills.

For a time, the northern district of the Da Yu Capital City was extremely bustling, and its many inns were, without exaggeration, filled to capacity.

The better the inn, the more certain it was to be full.

The old Daoist Cui Yanliang hadn’t arrived late, but unfortunately, many more had arrived earlier than him.

After searching high and low, he only managed to find a small inn, and the room’s condition could only be described as passable.

HUFF!

Cui Yanliang took off his cloak, revealing a shiny, bald head. With a flip of his hand, he released the small white bone he was holding.

The white bone grew in the wind, transforming into a thirty-foot-tall White Bone Body.

CRACK! CRACK!

Jin Yunfeng stretched his skeleton a little.

This White Bone Body had been imbued with miraculous abilities such as Wishful Size, Immune to Water and Fire, and Vajra Indestructible—all thanks to that senior’s methods.

Although he could control it, he was still not quite used to it.

"Hero Jin, what do you want to do?"

Cui Yanliang, full of vigor, asked before Jin Yunfeng even had a chance to speak.

Jin Yunfeng said with a calm expression:

"Now that I’m in the Capital City, I have a few countermeasures prepared. And Senior has also provided me with an ace up my sleeve. I should have a seventy percent chance of slaying that old codger!"

The old codger he was referring to was, of course, the Gui Chen Sect Elder he had failed to kill last time—the old man in the black robe.

As long as that old bastard was alive, he could neither eat nor sleep in peace!

For every extra day that man lived, an unknown number of people in the world would die at his hands, becoming fodder for his life extension.

"A seventy percent chance isn’t low."

Cui Yanliang nodded, but he still felt a little worried.

After all, this was Yu Province, not far from the Gui Chen Sect’s lair.

And the Leader of Gui Chen Sect was watching from the sidelines!

"I wonder when Senior will arrive..."

After the two had talked for a moment, Cui Yanliang said slowly.

Jin Yunfeng was silent for a moment, then looked out the window and murmured softly.

"It should be soon..."

...

「North of the Da Yu Capital City, in a place near its borders.」

Several Daoists had stopped here, their expressions varied as they looked at the magnificent, lavishly decorated Daoist Temple not far away.

The old Daoist at the head of the group shook his head inwardly.

The younger Daoists, however, had active minds, and feelings of admiration, awe, and envy rose within them.

"Grandmaster, this Gui Chen Sect is truly impressive. It’s so much more extravagant than our Taiqing Temple."

A young Daoist couldn’t help but say in a low voice, unable to hide his envy.

They were Daoists from the Taiqing Temple who had come by invitation. Their grandmaster, the Taiqing Master, was a Great True Master who had broken through the Nine Tribulations and stepped into the Ninth Level of Void Realm. He was quite famous within the territory of Da Yu.

Below the Feathered Realm, his name was the most renowned.

"This is certainly not the style of our Daoist Family. What’s the point of such extravagance?"

Another Daoist couldn’t help but shake his head.

For those who cultivate the Dao, gold, silver, and luxury are of little use.

They are only useful when walking among mortals or when needing to assign tasks to common people.

How much gold and silver must have been spent to build this Gui Chen Sect temple so magnificently?

This sort of thing, competing with the common people for wealth, was not the way of their Daoist Family.

"Establishing a Dao in the mountains has its own rules. Manifesting as a Saint before the people also has its own methods."

"A magnificent and utterly extravagant temple is naturally more convincing to people than a dilapidated temple with a thatched roof."

"Weren’t you all just stunned by it yourselves?"

The Taiqing Master stroked his white beard with his right hand, glanced at the young Daoists behind him, and then looked forward again.

His long, narrow, dark eyes narrowed slightly as he continued:

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, is there some truth in what I’ve said?"