Chapter 634: The Dao-Contemplation Cliff, the Master’s Sword

Uncle-Master Jiao and Qiao Gu were both quite excited. The disciples of Golden Turtle Island had studied the ninth move of the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture as well, and they believed that mastering it required not only heaven-defying talent, but also exceptional comprehension of the Great Daos of primordial chaos, mysterious yellow energy, and the like.

The first eight moves of the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture were Earthly Qi's Cold Greeting and Heaven's Inverted Cycle of Life and Death, which mainly encompassed the changes of Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons. Wind Lord's Irregularity and the cycle of flourishing and withering encompassed the changes of the Dao of Wind and the Dao of Flourishing and Withering.

Drifting Azure Flames and the endless tribulation ash spoke of the Dao of Fire and the calamities of Opening the Calamity. Heaven is dead, Yellow Springs rise was the succession of the Celestial Way. Clouds Unfurl and Mists Disperse and Vast and Boundless were changes in fortune brought about by the transformation of the human way.

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Every move had principles behind it. To comprehend them thoroughly, one first had to understand those principles. That was why every move and every stance required one to enter the mortal world and undergo its trials.

To cultivate Earthly Qi's Cold Greeting and Heaven's Inverted Cycle of Life and Death, one had to go to the mortal world and witness winter giving way to spring, the earthly qi spreading and stirring, the chill of spring beneath an inverted sky, and all things withering in bleak slaughter.

To cultivate Clouds Unfurl and Mists Disperse and Vast and Boundless, one had to seek out a prosperous empire in its final days, quietly witness a darkening age and people living in misery, and observe the changes in the human way as people’s hearts shifted and dynasties changed hands.

Each sword move had its own unique method of cultivation. They not only required immortals to enter the mortal world, but also allowed them to comprehend the Great Dao hidden within the human world.

Yet ever since the Master disappeared, no one on Golden Turtle Island had been able to comprehend the ninth move. No matter how long they spent in the mortal world or how many trials they underwent, they could not grasp even the slightest bit of it.

“Uncle-Master Jiao, we have to get this Chen Shi to join Golden Turtle Island, no matter what.”

Qiao Gu’s gaze burned with eagerness. He spoke a little too quickly and began coughing, but forced himself to continue. “Once he joins Golden Turtle Island, he will certainly help our island flourish again!”

Uncle-Master Jiao shook his head. “Whether he passes the test isn’t up to me. We’ll follow the rules.”

Qiao Gu said angrily, “You’re so stubborn!”

Uncle-Master Jiao’s expression darkened as he gripped his cane tightly.

Qiao Gu was about to say more, but Jing Mei hurriedly pulled him aside and whispered, “Say a little less. You can’t beat Uncle-Master anyway.”

Qiao Gu had no choice but to swallow his words.

While cultivating, Chen Shi paid no attention to the outside world. He neither saw nor heard anything, simply focusing on his practice. He used the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture and the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture to reinforce each other, advancing both supreme arts side by side. His progress was astonishingly fast.

Just as Jiang Guo had said, Chen Shi had studied too many things and devoted too little thought to the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture and the Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture. This trip to Golden Turtle Island had instead given him the chance to focus on cultivation, which was why he was improving so quickly.

More and more sword qi flew out of the sword-nurturing gourd and came under his control. He no longer used the same move every time, but instead manipulated different strands of sword qi at once to perform different sword techniques.

To him, this patch of open ground was no more than a few feet across, yet he kept his swordsmanship confined to that tiny space, executing it in perfect order.

It was not difficult to train sword qi to unleash tremendous power. The difficult part was confining a sword technique of tremendous power to an extremely small area.

The Primordial Chaos Dao Scripture grew stronger and stronger in Chen Shi’s hands, and he controlled more and more sword qi. One day, he tried to control another strand. But as he activated the sword-nurturing gourd, he suddenly felt that it was completely empty.

Chen Shi naturally woke from his cultivation. One hundred and eight strands of mysterious yellow sword qi circled around him, gradually slowing before flying back into the sword-nurturing gourd one after another.

He exhaled a breath of stale air. The qi within him surged, and he could feel that his cultivation had improved greatly over the past few days.

“Chen Shi, come with me.”

A voice roused him. Chen Shi opened his eyes and saw a stooped old man leaning on a cane, limping along.

Senior Sister Jing Mei, Jiang Guo, and another tall, slender man watched him with smiles, but said nothing.

Black Pot stood to one side too, holding a thick iron chain in his hand. The other end was fastened to the guard dog, Hu dog, which was watching him as well.

Puzzled, Chen Shi followed the stooped old man.

The old man led him into Biyou Palace. “Our lineage was almost completely destroyed during the war that brought down the Shang Dynasty. Few disciples survived. By the Spring and Autumn period, our Patriarch had been reincarnated as the Master. He took three thousand disciples and revived our lineage, making it more influential than both the Buddhist Sect and the Daoist sect. At that time, the Supreme Purity Daoist, one of the Three Purities, had also reincarnated as Laozi. He preached the Dao at almost the same time as the Master, but he still couldn’t outdo him.”

They turned around a vermilion pavilion, crossed a long bridge spanning the water, and passed through a garden wreathed in clouds and rosy mists. They arrived at a great hall. A massive Incense Burner stood in front of it, its basin thick with incense ash, suggesting that people often came there to burn incense.

Chen Shi looked into the hall and saw a statue of an old man. He had a broad forehead and a humble, receptive air, with the look of someone eager to learn.

“Is this the Master?” Chen Shi immediately felt a sense of closeness.

“The Master won a great victory at last, making our lineage the leading school of thought in the ancestral court. We lost the war that brought down the Shang Dynasty, but in the end, we still won. Then one day, Laozi traveled west and told the Master, ‘You may have won in the ancestral court, but while you were contending for the doctrines there, the Three Purities had already opened the Earth Immortal Realm and taken the Celestial Court there in Ascension.’”

The stooped old man took a few sticks of incense, lit them, and bowed to the Master’s statue in the hall. “The ancestral court is too small. The others had already lost interest in it. So what if the Master won there? Wasn’t all his effort still wasted? After saying this, Laozi left through Hangu Pass to the west and ascended to the Earth Immortal Realm.”

He took a few more sticks of incense and handed them to Chen Shi, then continued, “After Laozi left, the Master also went to the Earth Immortal Realm. Not long after he returned, he took Golden Turtle Island and ascended there. He had seen the vastness of the mysterious yellow sea and the Dark Sea, and countless worlds much like the ancestral court. He realized that if we did not ascend, the other side would only grow stronger and stronger until we had nowhere left to stand.”

Holding the incense, Chen Shi bowed toward the great hall and placed it in the Incense Burner.

He gazed at the Master’s statue, deeply admiring the choice this sage had made.

Uncle-Master Jiao said, “At the time, every sacred ground in the Earth Immortal Realm already had an owner. The Master had nowhere to establish himself, so in the end, he could only settle in the uninhabited lands west of Penglai. Few people followed him in Ascension then. Most stayed in the ancestral court. My name is Jiao Jinhua. I was one of the disciples who ascended with the Master, though I wasn’t his disciple. I was a disciple of the Daoist of Transcendence. That’s why the disciples under the Master later called me senior brother.”

Chen Shi turned his gaze away. The Master was the reincarnation of the Daoist of Transcendence, and Uncle-Master Jiao had been that Daoist’s disciple. His standing was quite high.

Uncle-Master Jiao continued, “When the Master arrived here, he looked around and was delighted. He said this was an extraordinary sacred ground, perhaps one of the finest in the Earth Immortal Realm. As long as the external Dao here was eliminated, the sacred ground could be restored. The Three Purities had abandoned it. If he restored it, they would have no face to demand it back. At the time, he traveled far and wide, searching throughout the lands west of Penglai for a way to eliminate the external Dao.”

Chen Shi couldn’t help asking, “Did the Master find one?”

Uncle-Master Jiao shook his head. “I don’t know. But the Master seemed to have discovered something back then. He was very happy and said he had a chance to surpass the Three Purities. He said that during the war that brought down the Shang Dynasty, he had lost to the Three Purities. That was his first defeat. Later, he reincarnated as the Master and won through the doctrines, but the Supreme Purity Daoist became Laozi and openly contended with him while secretly opening the Earth Immortal Realm, distracting him with their struggle over the doctrines and causing him to neglect that realm. By the time he realized what was happening, there was no place for him in the Earth Immortal Realm. That was his second defeat. But in this third contest, he was certain he could beat the Three Purities.”

Chen Shi’s eyes shone. He clapped his hands and said, “If the Master dared to say that, he must have found a way to deal with the external Dao!”

“That, I don’t know. Not long afterward, the Master disappeared.”

Uncle-Master Jiao walked outside, leaning on his cane. “The Master left, and the Three Purities disappeared too. None of them have returned to this day. That left only me and a few disciples on Golden Turtle Island. Over the years, we’ve managed to keep the island going, but our reputation isn’t very good. The disciples of the Three Purities are everywhere, with high status and power. Our lineage has been bullied quite a bit.”

His face was covered in wrinkles, making it impossible to discern any change in his expression. He showed neither joy nor sorrow as he said, “If you want to change your mind, you can still leave now. We on Golden Turtle Island aren’t unreasonable people. We won’t force you to stay.”

Chen Shi thought for a moment, then smiled. “If this were any other sect, I would definitely turn around and leave. After all, being targeted by the disciples of the Three Purities is no good thing. But I’ve studied the Master’s classics since I was young, and I consider myself one of his disciples. If I backed down just because I don’t get along with the disciples of the Three Purities, wouldn’t that betray everything I’ve learned in my life?”

Uncle-Master Jiao nodded slightly. “Very good. Come with me.”

He left Biyou Palace and led Chen Shi toward a nearby cliff. Before long, they reached a deep chasm.

Chen Shi looked and saw cliffs standing parallel on either side, as sheer as if they had been carved by blades and axes.

“This place is called the Dao-Contemplation Cliff,” Uncle-Master Jiao said. “At its end is the Master’s Ink-Washing Pool. Beside it is the place where he comprehended Heaven and Earth. Reach that place, and you can comprehend the Master’s Dao techniques. Even sitting there for a short while will greatly improve your Dao attainment. But ever since the Master left, no one has been able to reach it. Even so, you can gain extraordinary insights without going all the way to the place of enlightenment. Many people on Golden Turtle Island have comprehended the Master’s teachings here, on this Dao-Contemplation Cliff.”

Chen Shi gazed into the deep Dao-Contemplation Cliff, eager to give it a try.

Uncle-Master Jiao said, “The sword marks carved on both cliff faces are the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture, written by the Master himself.”

Chen Shi’s heart stirred. He looked at the cliff faces on either side and indeed saw crisscrossing sword scars.

“Anyone who enters will trigger the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture the Master left behind. The stronger your cultivation, the greater the power of the sword scripture. There are only a handful of people in the world capable of withstanding the Master’s divine abilities. So if you try to force your way through, you’ll be reduced to ashes.”

Uncle-Master Jiao continued, “You can only make your way deeper by activating the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture yourself and using it to counter the sword scripture. Your Senior Sister Jing Mei made it forty-two steps and comprehended the Three Skies Saint-Manifesting Art. Senior Brother Qiao Gu made it forty-eight steps and comprehended the Golden Spirit Doumu Mystical Art. Jiang Guo went the farthest, fifty-one steps, and comprehended a strand of Immortal-Slaying Sword Qi.”

Chen Shi exclaimed in surprise, “Senior Brother Jiang went the farthest.”

Uncle-Master Jiao nodded. “Although he only comprehended a strand of Immortal-Slaying Sword Qi, he’s no weaker than the others, and may even be stronger. But to enter the Dao-Contemplation Cliff, mastering all one hundred and eight strands of sword qi is a necessary condition. If you haven’t mastered all one hundred and eight, you won’t get very far inside.”

Hearing this, Chen Shi felt deeply grateful to Senior Sister Jing Mei.

Without Jing Mei’s guidance, it would have been difficult for him to master all one hundred and eight strands of sword qi in such a short time.

Uncle-Master Jiao said, “Chen Shi, you can go in now. What you comprehend will depend on your own insight.”

Chen Shi cast aside distracting thoughts and purified his mind. Radiant light poured down above his head as the sword-nurturing gourd emerged from the Dao Ruins in his Dao Realm. Its mouth pointed downward, and strand after strand of mysterious yellow sword qi flew out, exactly one hundred and eight of them.

He entered the Dao-Contemplation Cliff. The sword marks on the cliffs to either side suddenly lit up. Chen Shi’s vision blurred for a moment, and he seemed to see a master expert wielding one hundred and eight strands of sword qi, attacking him with the first move of the Primordial Chaos Sword Scripture!

Without hesitation, Chen Shi countered with Earthly Qi's Cold Greeting. In an instant, Heaven and Earth turned upside down within the Dao-Contemplation Cliff. Earthly qi surged forth, and life and death repeatedly reversed.

Sword shadows collided in a dense flurry. From outside, Uncle-Master Jiao could see only countless streaks of sword light surging within.

Only after Chen Shi blocked the move did the sword qi on the cliff faces fade away.

Chen Shi was about to move forward. Just as he lifted his foot, a corner of his sleeve suddenly fluttered down.

“Hm?”

He gave a soft exclamation, raised a hand, and caught the severed corner of his sleeve. His expression grew somewhat grave.

“The Celestial Strategy is imprinted in my mind, and I’ve taken the Fulong Village medicinal pills. I’ve already comprehended Earthly Qi's Cold Greeting thoroughly. There shouldn’t be any flaws left in it.”

He carefully recalled his clash with the sword shadow on the cliff face and frowned slightly.

The same. Exactly the same!

“Then where did I leave an opening that got part of my sleeve cut off?”

He thought it over from every angle, but couldn’t figure out where his flaw lay. He set the matter aside for the time being and walked forward.

The sword scars on the cliff face crisscrossed. Suddenly, Wind Lord's Irregularity burst forth, and the manifestation of all things flourishing and withering surged toward him.

Without hesitation, Chen Shi also performed Wind Lord's Irregularity and clashed with the sword move on the cliff face.

He could see clearly that his move was exactly the same as the one on the cliff face, and his comprehension of the principles it contained was no different either!

His body moved like the wind. Even as he wielded all one hundred and eight strands of sword qi at once, he remained perfectly composed, displaying the flourishing, withering, growth, and death of all things beneath spring breezes, cold winds, warm winds, fierce gales, and winds of slaughter!

The sword moves annihilated each other, and the Dao-Contemplation Cliff returned to silence.

Chen Shi was about to move on when the red bead atop his Purple-Gold Crown suddenly fell off and hit the ground.

Chen Shi raised his brows, picked up the red bead, tossed it into his Dao Realm, and continued forward.

“Where exactly am I falling short compared to the sword moves on the cliff face?”

Outside the Dao-Contemplation Cliff, Uncle-Master Jiao watched silently as Chen Shi advanced deeper, repeatedly triggering the sword moves carved into the cliffs and countering them with identical moves.

“Uncle-Master...” Senior Sister Jing Mei limped over.

Uncle-Master Jiao raised a hand to signal that she should be quiet.

Jiang Guo, Qiao Gu, and the others also arrived at the Dao-Contemplation Cliff and watched Chen Shi.

Inside the Dao-Contemplation Cliff, Chen Shi faced the move Drifting Azure Flames and passed through unharmed. Yet at some point, a sword mark had appeared on the front of his robe, nearly piercing his heart.

When he encountered the fourth move, Heaven Is Dead, Yellow Springs Rise, a red line appeared on his neck. It looked like a cut, but no blood flowed.

Chen Shi furrowed his brows, growing even more uneasy.

His techniques were clearly just as perfect as the moves on the cliff face. Yet for some unknown reason, a tiny flaw kept appearing out of nowhere!

“Where exactly is the problem?”