Chapter 626: I Am the True Inheritor

Xi Muran's heart jolted. There were indeed some rumors in the Immortal Court that their master had held something back when teaching them the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, and that what he had taught them was not the complete cultivation technique.

Xi Muran had originally harbored some suspicions, but he could not find anything lacking in the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, so he put those doubts aside.

As his cultivation grew higher, his knowledge and vision also expanded day by day. Yet the higher his cultivation became, the less he could find lacking in the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection. Consequently, he admired his master's learning even more and became increasingly certain that there was no problem.

But Chen Shi's words awakened those suspicions once again.

"Is the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection my master taught me truly the real Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection?" he wondered inwardly.

Although Xi Muran had doubts in his heart, his expression remained unchanged. He smiled and said, "You mean to compare the two of us and see whose Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection is superior?"

Chen Shi said solemnly, "Senior Brother Xi is suspicious of me. No matter what I say, I cannot dispel that suspicion. Since that is the case, why not use the simplest method? If the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection I learned is better, then naturally mine is the orthodox version. Since mine is orthodox, your doubts will naturally be dispelled."

Xi Muran let out an oh, clearly interested. "Then what is this simplest method?"

Chen Shi smiled. "You and I will use the same level of cultivation and each display a divine ability from the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection. We will use divine abilities to break divine abilities. Whoever is more accomplished is naturally the one who possesses the orthodox inheritance."

Xi Muran praised him. "That is indeed the simplest method. Very well. Junior Brother's cultivation is rather strange. Without using your Dao Realm, you are a Celestial Immortal, but once you use your Dao Realm, you may very well rise to the Golden Immortal Realm. Since that is the case, neither of us will use our Dao Realms. I will rely only on my Celestial Immortal cultivation and exchange a few divine abilities with you."

Chen Shi let out a sigh of relief. Xi Muran had struck directly at the heart of his problem. His cultivation truly rose and fell unpredictably. If he did not use his Dao Realm, he was merely a Celestial Immortal, somewhat stronger than other immortals but only by a limited margin.

If he used his Dao Realm, however, his cultivation would rise sharply. He could even contend with a slightly weaker Gold Immortal.

Chen Shi raised his hand and walked toward the distance. "Senior Brother, please."

"Please."

Xi Muran walked alongside him.

Several maidservants filed out of the qilin carriage. Some stood beside the carriage shaft, some leaned against the carriage, and some sat atop the qilins, all smiling as they watched the two men gradually walk farther away.

"This Young Master Chen certainly has plenty of courage."

A girl playing the qin could not help laughing. "He actually came up with this method. He is practically asking to be humiliated. Although Young Master's cultivation in the Immortal Court is not particularly high, he is extraordinarily intelligent. He learns anything at a glance and masters it after one cycle. How could some unorthodox cultivator like him possibly compare?"

A girl holding a green jade flute smiled. "Young Master may be young, but he is the most favored, so the cultivation techniques he learned must certainly be orthodox. This Young Master Chen said that the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection he obtained was taught to him by an immortal. Perhaps the Righteous Official happened to pass through a small world, discovered that his aptitude was not bad, and casually taught him a few cultivation techniques."

The girls chatted and laughed. A girl who served tea and water said, "Sisters, the tea in the carriage is running low. I will go purchase some from the nearby Celestial Streets and return shortly."

The women all laughed. "Go on, go on."

"Little Hongxiu is going to miss out. She will not get to see Young Master's dashing bearing."

The tea-serving girl, Little Hongxiu, did not answer. She hurried away, silently thinking, "Although these sisters are all charming women beside Young Master, they do not understand danger. If Young Master defeats Chen Shi, everything will be fine. But if Young Master loses, then things will become dangerous."

She walked faster and faster, leaving this place of trouble far behind. She thought, "If Young Master loses, that will mean the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection passed down to him by the Righteous Official is not orthodox. It will also mean that the other Young Masters' versions of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection are not orthodox either!"

She could not help shivering.

At that time, Xi Muran would no longer need to worry about whether the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection was orthodox. He would have to worry about how to keep the Righteous Official from learning that he knew the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection was not orthodox!

"Young Master cannot possibly lose, but what if he does?" she thought inwardly.

Chen Shi and Xi Muran continued walking farther away. Their sleeves fluttered elegantly, and each possessed his own distinguished bearing. Xi Muran had the air of an aristocratic young master among true immortals, ethereal and beyond the mundane world, as though the countless affairs of mortal life could not touch him. Chen Shi, meanwhile, wore the Purple-Gold Crown, thick as the back of a blade and sharp as a sword's edge, giving off an impression of unrestrained brilliance.

"Whether I can defeat Xi Muran will depend on whether the rootless method taught by True Man Zhang can overcome Xi Muran's true inheritance."

Chen Shi sensed the Ancient Star Region deep in distant space and used the rootless method to comprehend the divine abilities of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection anew.

The divine abilities of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection originated from the Ancient Star Region.

In ancient times, out of their worship of the starry sky in the Ancient Star Region, people divided the different stars into various celestial lodges, granted them divine identities, offered sacrifices to them, and supplied them with incense offerings.

The stars of the Ancient Star Region had received incense offerings for ages. As extraordinary power condensed within them, divine manifestations were naturally born one after another. As the divine manifestations grew stronger, they transformed into god-demons who guarded these star regions.

Their history was far older than that of the current Celestial Court, and their Dao power was vast and vigorous. They were known as Star Lords.

The Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection took these celestial lodges as its foundation, combining the Dao power of different lodges to form divine abilities. Techniques such as Seven Stars Scattered, Distribution of the Celestial Fields, and Ten Suns Assailing the Dipper all required an understanding of the Dao power of their corresponding stars before they could be mastered.

Chen Shi relied on his connection to the Ancient Star Region to capture the auras of these Star Lords and infer the Great Dao they controlled, thereby comprehending the corresponding divine abilities.

Xi Muran was different, however.

Xi Muran's identity and status were exceptionally high. He could personally visit those Star Lords, observe their spirit and bearing, and study their Dao techniques. Seeing them with his own eyes and touching them with his own hands naturally gave him an advantage countless times greater than Chen Shi's, who could only rely on perception.

Chen Shi truly had no confidence that he could defeat Xi Muran.

He had never fought an immortal who possessed the inheritance of a renowned immortal path master.

In the past, those who fought him were usually immortals who had ascended from the mortal world to the Earth Immortal Realm. Their inheritances were not particularly powerful. Although every one of them had been a genius, their cultivation techniques and divine abilities could not compare with his, so he defeated them with ease. Even when their cultivation realms were higher than his, they were not necessarily his opponents.

Xi Muran was different.

Xi Muran came from the Celestial Venerable's sect. The Celestial Venerable's might had been deeply etched into Chen Shi's mind, almost becoming an obsession.

He still remembered how, after deducing the cultivation technique of the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection, he had gathered every genius in the Western Ox New Continent to decipher it together. With so many people working together, not one had been able to find a flaw in the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection!

Chen Shi had defeated the Celestial Venerable through the combined efforts of everyone and by mobilizing the Dao power of heaven and earth throughout the entire Western Ox New Continent to suppress him with sheer force, not by winning through divine abilities.

Now that he had to defeat Xi Muran, who came from the same sect as the Celestial Venerable, through divine abilities, it was only natural that he felt uneasy.

He sensed the Ancient Star Region through the rootless method, forgetting both self and the outside world, without any attachment to the self. The Ancient Star Region seemed to be projected into his Dao Heart. It did not reflect the forms of the Star Lords, but instead revealed the fundamental Great Dao contained within those ancient celestial lodges.

The rootless method taught by True Man Zhang was meant to improve one's comprehension of the Great Dao of yin and yang, yet he was now using it on the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection!

Just as he became fully absorbed, Xi Muran stopped and smiled. "Here, we no longer need to worry about affecting anyone else."

Chen Shi also stopped, remaining immersed in the wondrous state of the rootless method.

Xi Muran suddenly sensed that Chen Shi's aura had changed. The man was clearly standing right there, yet Xi Muran could not sense his aura at all, as though he had already merged with heaven and earth.

"Parlor tricks!"

He stepped forward and unleashed Seven Stars Scattered, attacking Chen Shi.

The seven stars in Seven Stars Scattered were the Seven Luminaries: the Sun Luminary, the Star Lord of the Sun; the Moon Luminary, the Star Lord of the Moon; the Metal Luminary, the Star Lord Taibai; the Fire Luminary, the Star Lord Yinghuo; the Water Luminary, the Star Lord Chen; the Earth Luminary, the Star Lord Zhen; and the Wood Luminary, the Star Lord Suixing.

These seven Star Lords possessed extraordinary status and formidable strength. To comprehend this technique, Xi Muran had personally visited the residences of each Star Lord. For several decades, he ate, drank, slept, and even attended to his bodily needs in their residences. Only then did he comprehend the Great Dao contained within the Seven Luminaries. The divine appearances and features of the Seven Luminaries Star Lords had also transformed into imprints of the Great Dao, deeply engraved in his mind.

When he unleashed Seven Stars Scattered, it was as though the Seven Luminaries Star Lords floated behind him. Huge suns, moons, and stars hung in his rear, supplying him with boundless and overwhelming Dao power!

When it came to this technique, he was confident that he had no opponent whatsoever!

His attack nearly shook Chen Shi out of the state of the rootless method. His vision trembled violently, as though towering deities were about to force their way into his sight, destroy the foundation of his Dao techniques, crush his Dao Heart, and trample his very person beneath their feet!

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Shi activated the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection and likewise unleashed Seven Stars Scattered, meeting Xi Muran's attack head-on.

Xi Muran's Seven Stars Scattered was more perfect than even the Celestial Venerable's. Not the slightest flaw could be found in it. Although he was using the technique at the level of a Celestial Immortal, it was still so powerful that it inspired despair!

His Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection was indeed more complete than Chen Shi's.

Chen Shi had merely relied on his intelligence and talent to deduce the Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection from several immortal techniques at Despair Slope. He had never learned the true Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection.

When fighting other people, he could rely on his cultivation techniques to win. But when facing Xi Muran, his cultivation technique instead became his greatest weakness!

However, the instant the divine abilities of the two men collided, Chen Shi's fear of the Sun and Moon Star Lords crushing their way into his vision suddenly vanished. In its place was True Man Zhang's rootlessness and freedom from attachment, the state of forgetting both self and the outside world.

In his vision, Xi Muran's technique and divine ability still contained no flaws.

But he no longer needed to find a flaw.

The two divine abilities collided with a thunderous boom. Xi Muran sensed that Chen Shi's cultivation was not as profound as his own and felt ashamed. "The magical power I am using is slightly superior to his."

He withdrew a small amount of his magical power. Suddenly, countless sounds of sacrifices and prayers rang beside his ears, accompanied by the pungent scent of incense offerings, noisy and unrestrained.

In that instant, he seemed to have returned to the ancient era. The Divine Continent was still a primordial wilderness, countless powerful living beings stood everywhere, and people in tattered clothing struggled to survive amid floods and savage beasts. They prayed to the heavens and offered sacrifices to the sun and moon. Vast energy from incense offerings formed extraordinary power and surged into the heavens.

The Seven Luminaries Star Lords had been formed under these conditions. The Dao power of these seven great deities had arisen from this very source!

Xi Muran's mind shook violently, and he immediately realized that this was the pressure created by the phenomenon brought forth by Chen Shi's Seven Stars Scattered.

In terms of technique, his Seven Stars Scattered was more exquisite than Chen Shi's. But in terms of artistic conception, he had already lost!

As the two divine abilities clashed, Xi Muran had no time to withdraw his excess magical power. He immediately sensed the Dao power erupting from his opponent's divine ability surge dramatically.

"Just a thread stronger than mine!"

The moment he thought this, Chen Shi had already changed divine abilities, transforming it into Distribution of the Celestial Fields!

Xi Muran had no time to think and immediately used Distribution of the Celestial Fields as well.

Under the wilderness night sky, the stars glittered. Xi Muran displayed the divine power of the celestial lodges symbolized by the various Star Lords, while Chen Shi displayed the prayers of all living beings behind the Star Lords and celestial lodges, the source of divine power itself!

Before the victor between their divine abilities could be decided, they changed techniques again.

Ten Suns Assailing the Dipper!

Xi Muran's expression changed slightly. He felt that although it was the same technique, the might of Chen Shi's divine ability was growing stronger and stronger, gradually showing signs of overwhelming him. He made an immediate decision and changed to Imperial Chariot in Motion!

Chen Shi likewise unleashed this technique. The two divine abilities collided. The Imperial Chariot revolved beneath a deep, sunken sky, with the Dipper's handle carrying the Dragon Horn while the Dipper's pivot rested against the Ginseng!

All kinds of stellar Dao power erupted, making the hundred-li area around them seem to transform into a world where enormous stars collided!

Starlight surged and shot in every direction, annihilating the clear sky and sweeping away the clouds stretching for ten thousand li!

Sensing that he was at a disadvantage, Xi Muran immediately changed divine abilities.

Creation's Transformation!

Celestial Horn!

Myriad Phenomena Dense!

Some divine abilities were ones Chen Shi had never comprehended before. This was his first time seeing them. Yet when Xi Muran displayed them, Chen Shi immediately understood the principles contained within those divine abilities and naturally used them himself.

The divine abilities of the two men transformed in myriad ways. Heavenly Cycle starlight continued surging and colliding around them, growing increasingly intense until they seemed to be standing amid an ocean of stars!

One of them seemed like a Divine King ruling over the Star Lords of the Heavenly Cycle, while the other seemed like a ruler who held the Dao sea of the star regions in his grasp!

Xi Muran shouted continuously as he freely unleashed one divine ability after another, moving faster and faster. When the battle reached its fiercest point, he had already activated the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation, drawing on the starlight of the Ancient Star Region and bringing down the calamity's number!

Chen Shi likewise activated the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation. The two tribulation formations collided, each unleashing its full might. Starlight surged down from the sky, and the nearly berserk stellar power swallowed both men!

Suddenly, Xi Muran smiled. "Junior Brother, that is enough. I have lost."

He slowly withdrew his power. Chen Shi hesitated for a moment before also slowly withdrawing his power.

The two men dispersed their Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formations.

Xi Muran stood there with an expression that was half a smile and half not. His voice was somewhat hoarse. "The Great Wilderness Ming Dao Collection you cultivated is indeed orthodox. I have lost."

Chen Shi thought for a moment. "There is another move after the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation."

Xi Muran's body trembled slightly, and he said bitterly, "There is another move?"

Chen Shi nodded. When he had fought Xi Muran just now, he had sensed that an even more terrifying transformation existed after the Small Heavenly Cycle Tribulation Formation. However, Xi Muran had admitted defeat at that moment, so he had been unable to evolve the move any further.

"This move mobilizes the Dao power of the Great Heavenly Cycle. Once unleashed, it possesses the might to annihilate heaven and earth," Chen Shi speculated. "However, this move requires comprehending more of the stars of the Dipper. It cannot be used casually."

Xi Muran's face turned ashen. He waved his hand and laughed bitterly. "You do not need to use it. What I received was not the true inheritance anyway. Heh, I never expected that none of us senior and junior brothers received the true inheritance..."

He laughed loudly, but his laughter could not conceal his disappointment. He turned and walked toward the qilin carriage, then stopped and looked back. "Junior Brother Chen, do you think what you received is the true inheritance from our master? Not necessarily! Our master did not teach us senior and junior brothers the true inheritance. How do you know he did not leave something hidden when teaching it to you?"

Chen Shi watched him return to the qilin carriage. At that very moment, Xi Muran suddenly struck with vicious ruthlessness, killing all the women on the carriage. Even the several green qilins failed to escape his cruel hand and died one after another!

Xi Muran wiped the blood from his hands and said indifferently, "Our master does not want us to know that the cultivation technique he taught us has flaws and loopholes, so we must not know. Since you know, you must die."

He turned back and looked over, his gaze cold and grim. "Little Junior Brother, you are very fortunate. But if you want to establish yourself in the Immortal Court, you must also forget about the true inheritance. This is for the sake of your life!"