Chapter 80: Danu

The power of the brand was gradually waning, but once the awakening of consciousness began, it would never cease.

From that brand emanated an inexplicable sensation, budding between him and the consciousness of the Thunder Ancestor.

“So this is what the Thunder Ancestor relies on, regarding us as the Yang aspect?” Xu Zhong’s heart pounded wildly.

Because the Thunder Ancestor’s consciousness resided here, he could probe the Yang brand within himself.

Within that brand, Xu Zhong sensed an unprecedented power.

This seemed to be the Thunder Ancestor’s strength.

He suddenly raised his head to gaze toward the palace.

There, he seemed to glimpse an emperor with the appearance of Yi Xuanji.

Though separated by a vast distance, just a single glance was enough for the majesty radiating from the Thunder Ancestor to subdue him.

Divine light streamed behind him, floating like sashes; countless auspicious rays born from his breath painted the skies in a glow of sunset, truly extraordinary.

Daoist resonance coalesced into spinning wheels of the Great Dao behind his head, each wheel reflecting the powers of myriad worlds evolving within.

Those wheels held supreme divine power, capable of expanding to envelop the entire palace and illuminate the whole secret realm, or shrinking to the size of a mustard seed, nearly imperceptible.

Beyond the wheels lay a phantom gate, resembling the legendary Heavenly Gate. It was said that merely pushing open this gate would reveal the truths of the world.

There were four Heavenly Gates in existence.

Each gate led directly to the Great Dao.

Xu Zhong had once glimpsed the Southern Heavenly Gate guarded by the celestial Vermilion Bird in Tianyong City.

From afar, Xu Zhong watched as this gradually manifesting gate drew the spiritual energy of the secret realm toward it, pouring into the gate as if unseen hands were wielding supreme magic, striving to forge the gate from illusion into reality.

But in the next moment, a blade’s gleam shot forth from within the gate, spiraled around it, split the gate in two, then surged forward, seeking to obliterate the Thunder Ancestor’s consciousness entirely.

Xu Zhong watched the blade.

It seemed to have come from the past, from the hand of the swordsman who slew the Thunder Ancestor during the Second Divine War.

This blade had spanned a million years in the river of time, awakening at the instant the Thunder Ancestor’s consciousness stirred, and severed him.

Watching the blade and the Thunder Ancestor beneath it, Xu Zhong couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s best if the Thunder Ancestor is dead.”

Though Xu Zhong knew this was only a remnant consciousness left in the palace, even if erased, it would mean nothing to Him.

The blade struck the Thunder Ancestor, and in an instant, His consciousness exploded with a sound like “bang,” transforming into grains of sand, which shimmered brilliantly under the play of light.

Without a body, consciousness was ultimately rootless, and the Heavenly Gate collapsed.

After slaying the Thunder Ancestor, the blade vanished silently before Xu Zhong’s eyes.

At that moment, a violent tremor resounded.

Xu Zhong hurriedly turned toward the source.

He saw the great cauldron suddenly spewing forth innate energy uncontrollably; the surging blue and violet aura lifted up pills that had been forged for a million years.

Those pills radiated an exquisite fragrance, their light subdued, appearing plain yet every observer knew they were peerless opportunities.

Each pill could induce a transformation of magical power within the body.

Judging by the medicinal strength leaking from these pills, it would take just over a hundred and twenty of them to elevate one from the One Guard Realm to the Outer Scene Realm.

Yet the cauldron poured out far more than a hundred and twenty pills.

Moreover, there were more than a hundred and twenty cultivators by the cauldron, with many others stirred by the aura at the statue, rushing over.

---

Gazing at the innate pills floating overhead, Xu Zhong could not claim indifference.

Yet the pills gave him a strange feeling.

He hesitated, and in the next moment, a female cultivator in a black dress seized the pill above Xu Zhong’s head from afar.

Xu Zhong looked at her.

Before the pill could even warm in her hand, another cultivator launched a fierce attack, conjuring clouds and wind, dragons from clouds, tigers from wind. The moment the wind, clouds, dragon, and tiger appeared, they struck at the female cultivator.

Sensing the shift behind her, she erupted in rage and cursed, “Humans truly are despicable, always using sneak attacks to harm others!”

She was not human, but a white carp demon who had cultivated into a water spirit.

The white carp whipped around, spat out a ball of ghostly flame—formless, immaterial, mere color, yet capable of igniting magical power.

The wind, clouds, dragon, and tiger were instantly set aflame, and the ghostly fire burned its way through the cultivator’s magical power, even into his Five Luminaries and Mud Pill Palace.

He was no match for the carp demon—hence the sneak attack.

As the ghostly fire burned, his Five Luminaries ignited, his golden core burst like drifting clouds, and soon only his skin remained.

Everything beneath the skin was consumed by ghostly fire.

“Serves you right for daring to provoke—”

Before she could finish the word “me,” the white carp felt her vision arc in a parabola. She saw her own headless corpse spurting blood like a fountain, then darkness claimed her, and she died.

Behind her, a human cultivator collected the innate pill.

No sooner had he taken the pill than a whooshing sound came from behind.

He turned, only to see another cultivator’s palm descending.

The gust from the palm shook the surroundings, a mighty shockwave spreading outward. Xu Zhong was forced to retreat, witnessing countless streams of light condense into an intense gale that threatened destruction of the earth.

This was a cultivator of the Object Riding Realm engaged in battle.

Xu Zhong stayed far away, fearing to be caught in the crossfire.

For those like Xu Zhong, cultivators of the One Guard True Existence, these pills were rare treasures, but also somewhat dispensable. For those on the verge of returning from acquired to innate, Object Riding Realm cultivators, these pills were supreme opportunities worth risking their lives.

Bang!

A loud explosion sounded.

Xu Zhong saw nothing but endless dust.

At that moment, a hand pulled him away.

Startled, Xu Zhong released the sword aura stored in his jade gourd, but relaxed upon recognizing the face.

“You’re bold, just standing there watching,” Yun Yong said, bringing Xu Zhong to a corner with admiration.

This corner lay at the fringes, where cultivators of lower realms huddled together for safety.

With their strength, they could not participate in the pill scramble, so they watched from afar, mere spectators.

“I didn’t react in time,” Xu Zhong chuckled, then noticed Li Feiyu was absent.

Yun Yong knew what Xu Zhong was thinking and nodded toward the opposite side.

Lowering his voice, he said, “He’s over there, looking for a chance to snatch a pill!”

“Also?” Xu Zhong looked at Yun Yong.

“They fight, we watch. If the opportunity comes, maybe we can pick up a bargain,” Yun Yong smiled. “Otherwise, why would we stay?”

They could have left, for the palace passages led everywhere. As long as they weren’t pursued, departure was possible. The reason for staying was the hope of scavenging a pill.

---

As cultivation progresses, one becomes less inclined to conceal their intentions—except those that must remain secret.

Clarity of mind and unity of action, that is the state described.

Thus, hearing Yun Yong’s words did not surprise Xu Zhong.

They were simply practicing the principle of unity between knowing and doing.

The battle continued.

Anyone below the Object Riding Realm was hardly worthy to compete.

Finally, a female cultivator slew her opponent, bathed in blood, destroyed his divine soul, and snatched the pill from his hand.

Before others could notice, with a flick of her slender hand, she swallowed the pill the size of a fingernail.

Most other cultivators had also settled their contests; some were wounded, others vigorous.

Yun Yong was eager, eyeing a heavily injured Object Riding Realm cultivator, about to pull Xu Zhong along, when Xu Zhong stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” Yun Yong asked.

Xu Zhong frowned, “Something feels off.”

“What could be wrong?” Yun Yong looked at Xu Zhong, then at the cultivators, “Every one of them is Object Riding Realm. Even so, they boldly gulp down the pills—seems there’s no issue.”

Xu Zhong shook his head, “It’s not the pills, but—”

He mouthed the words “Thunder Ancestor.”

Instantly, Yun Yong’s expression changed.

He didn’t know what had happened to Xu Zhong, but remembered vividly Xu Zhong summoning lightning tribulation by mentioning “Thunder Ancestor” in the cauldron.

Now, hearing those words again, caution overtook him.

“Look!” Xu Zhong pointed at the female cultivator who first swallowed the pill.

Yun Yong looked, but saw nothing amiss, and asked, “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know, but watching might reveal something,” Xu Zhong replied.

Yun Yong felt speechless, but followed Xu Zhong’s gaze.

On her skin, innate energy swirled; dense innate energy poured into her body through every aperture, expelling acquired energy—a process of replacement, and the effect of the pill.

Most of her acquired energy was replaced, then a rumbling echoed from within her, as if the world were being created anew.

“She’s purging her Five Luminaries and golden core,” Yun Yong said quietly, “The Outer Scene Realm is founded upon the Five Luminaries and golden core.”

This, Xu Zhong well understood.

Within the Outer Scene, all celestial phenomena and landscapes have corresponding points in the body.

“Her current Outer Scene is only a false one. To forge a true Outer Scene, vast treasures are required—”

Before Yun Yong finished, his scalp tingled.

He saw the female cultivator’s appearance shift suddenly, as if molded by unseen rules; her face and gender changed, and she became a man.

Xu Zhong was even more shocked, for the man's face was Yi Xuanji’s—the Thunder Ancestor’s.

He hastily looked at the other cultivators, and saw the same phenomenon.

Those who had swallowed the innate pills now resembled ripe fruit on a tree, awaiting the Thunder Ancestor’s harvest.