On top of Standstill Peak, Jiang Xiaofan was astounded beyond words. The silver-colored bra.s.s piece was outside of his body for the very first time and floated right in front of him. His eyes seemed to possess a mysterious power in which he could see through the reincarnation of life beyond the limitations of s.p.a.ce.

This world was filled with endless marvels. Life was everywhere, and its cycle of movement was interminable. In the spatial dimension, he could see chains of spiritual energy forming which then intertwined with traces of Dao. Like the transcendent performance of a holy rite, they outlined the way to the truth of Dao.

He remained in a lotus position on the rock and did not move. As his eyes flickered with faint, golden rays, he saw chaos. It then faded and quickly disappeared without a trace, but the world continued to evolve. The spatial dimension quaked, and suddenly, the stillness of the void burst forth with the radiance of life.

The Buddhist Sutra began to channel spiritual energy at an even faster rate. Jiang Xiaofan's blood roared, and his innards quivered. The silver bra.s.s piece emitted flares of multicolored light which subsequently dispersed and merged with the Heaven and Earth.

*Ring*

Suddenly, the precipice before him glowed. Its odd-looking striations seemed to have come to life. Each mark glimmered streams of mysterious, silver light and emanated an aura of the utmost sanct.i.ty.

The light completely veiled Heaven and Earth. Mystical, ancient writings danced in midair in sync with the bra.s.s piece. Jiang Xiaofan gazed fixedly at the precipice across from him. The view was no longer hazy. He could clearly see the traces of Dao!

After detaching from the cliff, the silver-colored ancient writings came to life and revolved around him like merry sprites before finally merging with the traces of Dao and materializing with s.h.i.+mmering light. He had found the perfect explanation of the way to the truth of Dao.

Jiang Xiaofan was shocked beyond anything that he had ever experienced before. This precipice was actually an inscription of a peerless Daoist text!

*Ring*

The bra.s.s piece shook again, and its multicolored light diffused even farther and out. Jiang Xiaofan was suddenly returned to his spatial dimension and now floating among the cosmos. He witnessed a world of nothingness become a world filled with life, and in the next, he saw the entire journey from birth to death. In the blink of an eye, one cycle had ended and another would begin.

The silver-colored ancient writings swayed in front of Jiang Xiaofan and exuded a Daoist aura that was capable of nouris.h.i.+ng all life forms.

He didn't understand what they meant, but he was in tune with the rhythm.

Jiang Xiaofan continued to sit upright like a pine tree and unmoving like a million-year-old rock. As if there was a wise Daoist who was teaching him all the world's knowledge, he studiously immersed himself in this spatial dimension.

"Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets all things[1]...."

A faint voice from the void that carried the truth of Dao echoed in his ears before settling in his sea of awareness. The multicolored lake then shook.

The silver bra.s.s piece above his head slightly vibrated, and its emittance of light softened to a glow. As if he was bathed in holy water, the sound of Dao continued to resonate with him and the traces of Dao swirled about. Yet, only he could hear the chorus and see these mysterious silver-colored ancient writings.

During the entire process, the channeling rate of the Buddhist Sutra increased faster than ever. Jiang Xiaofan felt that he was about to burn up from the inside. He then heard the chants of the ancient Buddhas. A golden array of light appeared and began to slowly rotate.

The gold-colored divine light and the silver-colored Daoist light entwined with each other, and chains of spiritual energy dangled downward one after another. The powers of Dharma[2] and Daoism fused together to create a life for all and dictate the laws of nature.

More silver-colored ancient writings detached themselves from the cliff and danced before Jiang Xiaofan. Eventually, they transformed into rays of Daoist light which then entered into his body and was submerged in his sea of awareness. Three large, archaic words appeared[3].

The Daoist Scripture!

In that instant, he noticed the figure of an immortal who had appeared within his sea of awareness. That figure peered down at the skies and lands, glanced at the celestial stars, and had the Heaven and Earth bowing before him. He looked like a primordial emperor who ruled over everything, but more so, he appeared to be Dao itself.

The figure gradually dissipated and was recreated into the countless silver-colored, ancient writings again. The traces of Dao swirled around Jiang Xiaofan and transformed into a stream of silver light which was then perfused into his extraordinary eight meridians and absorbed into his bloodstream.

*Ring*

Rays of the golden divine light and silver Daoist light simultaneously radiated from his body. The Buddhist Sutra and Daoist Scripture channeled spiritual energy at the same time in harmony. At the same time, he felt something opening from his inside. A tremendous surge of energy rushed forth.

Second heaven of Realm of Dust!

Scanning with his spiritual awareness, he could clearly see the gold and silver spiritual energies endlessly circulating throughout his body in a balanced manner like yin and yang. He detected the divine power from within himself.

Just then, the chains of spiritual energy and traces of Dao vanished. The precipice before him no longer emitted any rays of brilliance. The light gradually faded, and the striations disappeared without a trace as if they had never existed. The cliffside suddenly became smooth like clean-cut crystal.

*Hah*

The bra.s.s piece trembled again. After a flash of light, it disappeared. Immediately after, Jiang Xiaofan felt another object settle in his body. It was the silver bra.s.s piece, and it now serenely floated above the middle of the multicolored lake.

This had all really happened. He had sensed it. Other than the Buddhist Sutra resting in his sea of awareness, there was also the peerless, mystical set of writings known as the Daoist Scripture. With a brief sweep of his spiritual awareness, he discovered that depth of power that this peerless scripture contained. It rivaled that of the Buddhist Sutra!

The Daoist Scripture. Heaven and human are one. Cultivate with the G.o.ds. The embodiment of yin and yang. Realize the way to the truth of Dao. Detach oneself of the world and merge with Dao. These were excerpts of the scripture that greatly enthralled Jiang Xiaofan. They contained enlightening truths, and he believed that understanding them was the best way of actualizing Dao.

Peerless martial arts. Mysterious formation patterns. The depth of Daoism. Recorded in the Daoist Scripture were many mystical methods. Surprised, Jiang Xiaofan even came across a pill cultivation method.

He knew the significance of pills to cultivators. There were two main aspects of concern to a sect. The first was the sect's cultivation methods. The second was its pills. Together, these two formed the foothold of a sect, relative to its standing among others in the cultivation world and consequently, its survival.

The explanations of the pill cultivation techniques were detailed yet complex. He grew dizzy just from glossing over them. He was by no means a genius; hence, there was no way that he could understand and master these techniques right away. Even so, he could already estimate the value of them. If news of their existence were to leak out, large bloodshed would ravage the planet!

As for the martial arts and formations, they were also more than enough to throw this world into chaos. His interest was aroused even further. With their peerless might, these two mystical methods were far superior in practicality than the pill cultivation method.

Jiang Xiaofan's eyes immediately bulged and he noisily gulped upon viewing the last section of the scripture which contained forbidden arts. These techniques were terrible, capable of destroying Heaven and Earth, and subverting the order of the world!

As he dived deeper into comprehending the material, he realized that the Daoist Scripture was all-encompa.s.sing. For example, the subjects covered in it were more expansive and in-depth than the Buddhist Sutra. There were methodical interpretations of a cultivator's pursuit of Dao and Dao's fundamental truths.

Unquestionably, possession of this primordial, peerless scripture was every cultivator's dream. Jiang Xiaofan wasn't sure if this was fate, but he definitely needed this to achieve his goal of witnessing the Dao and transforming into Heaven. This was a road that was filled with difficulty and setbacks along the way, such as facing enemies who were much stronger than him. With this scripture's methods, he could use them to make up for the shortcomings of his Buddhist Sutra.

At the same time, he also came upon a shocking revelation!

Ye Yuanxue had once told him that the Emperor's Heaven Sect was a special existence in and of itself. This area was built on top of the remains of a primordial, sacred Daoist sect. Back then, Daoism had been the largest religion on Planet Ziwei and that particular Daoist sect had been deemed the strongest of them all. Its might had been renowned and revered throughout the lands for generations.

The primordial age had been a golden era in history and abundant with countless powerful cultivators, but it had been also plagued by dark times. Heaven and Earth had been at unrest. Many primordial saints and immortals had fallen, and the world had been dyed a b.l.o.o.d.y red.

After that, the strongest, sacred Daoist sect had vanished. Innumerable full moons later, a peerless hero had established the Emperor's Heaven Sect on top of the remains of the Daoist sect and created another golden era. Spiritual qi from the Heaven and Earth had acc.u.mulated again and created the environment for new forces of power to flourish until today.

Ye Yuanxue had also mentioned that on Planet Ziwei, there had been numerous high-level cultivators who had come to the Emperor's Heaven Sect in search for the ruin's artifacts. It had also been rumored that those who have surpa.s.sed immortal beings had also appeared here. However, nothing fruitful had ever been discovered, so they had given up and slowly forgotten their intent.

Jiang Xiaofan surmised that the artifact had been left by that Daoist sect had to have been the Daoist Scripture, the one which the high-level cultivators had sought after. It was most likely the quintessence of the sect, a compendium of all things Daoist from the primordial age.

Jiang Xiaofan was at a loss for words. Who would've thought? The primordial, sacred Daoist sect's most powerful scripture was inscribed on a cliff at the top of an ordinary mountain called Standstill Peak.

The most unordinary was birthed from the most ordinary. This is Daoism! This is the truth!

Jiang Xiaofan felt that he had reaped many rewards this time. He sat down in a lotus position again and simultaneously channeled the Daoist Scripture and Buddhist Sutra. Silver and golden divine light radiated. Within his spatial dimension, traces of Dao and the mystical, ancient writings swirled around him again. His cultivation continuously leveled up, almost to the point of entering the third heaven of Realm of Dust.

Not knowing how much time had pa.s.sed by, Jiang Xiaofan eventually stood up. A ray of silver light flashed across his eyes. He sensed that he was now closer to becoming one with nature. With the Daoist Scripture in his body, he could feel the Daoist energy in his spatial dimension as well.

Earlier, he had fretted over how he couldn't display his techniques in battle because of his gold-colored spiritual energy. After all, there were no records of this gold-colored spiritual energy. He was afraid that it would bring about unnecessary troubles.

However, he now no longer needed to concern himself with this problem anymore. The Daoist Scripture and Buddhist Sutra were of a similar ent.i.ty. Accurately speaking, the Daoist Scripture was even more comprehensive than the Buddhist Sutra, but more importantly, he could openly use any of the techniques from the Daoist Scripture. In fact, the scripture's methods and their techniques were more than adequate for him to sweep his might across the world.

The Buddhist Sutra and Daoist Scripture were mystical texts, but each had their own merits. The Buddhist Sutra's primary use was for cultivating oneself by leveling up his or her spiritual energy to its apex. The only flaw was the sutra's lack of offensive techniques. In contrast, the Daoist Scripture was more interdisciplinary as it pertained to pill cultivation, martial arts, and formations. The knowledge contained within the scripture that had once stunned the world of the past would now illuminate the world of the present.

Now that the sutra and scripture were simultaneously channeling spiritual energy throughout his body, he could feel a substantial growth of his spiritual awareness, spiritual instinct, and his body strength. He was quite confident that he would have the absolute advantage if he were to fight someone match for match. Even if it was someone who was stronger than him, as long as the difference in cultivation wasn't too vast, he could breeze through the battle.

*Huff*

Dawn broke, and the night was finally over. Jiang Xiaofan exhaled a long breath. With a new day ahead of him, he headed down the mountain but not before turning around to glance at that smoothened cliff one last time. It was difficult to imagine that the artifact which had been left by the Daoist sect and greatly coveted by high-level cultivators was now in his hands.

Editor: Vis

Footnotes