Seeking the Tao in the Mortal World

Back at his Mount Passerby, Qin Yi sat in the training room, feeling tired.

It was also a feeling of slight relief that the Immortal Palace Tao Conference was over. Even though the matter with Tian Jizi hadn't ended yet.

Qin Yi definitely didn't want to be the inspector of the Immortal Palace, but for now, the authority was useful for him. In fact, he wouldn't even stay long in the piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting sects. It was stated on the mountain name. Ju Yunxiu also knew about this.

After all, his cultivation was the traditional immortal way, which is very different from the immortal way of being obsessed with something. He was just trying to get enlightenment through a different way. He was learning skills instead of seeking the way, so staying here for a long time would hinder his growth.

But no matter what, the sect still had a place in his heart.

Myriad Tao Immortal Palace was a bit "evil", but overall it was still upright and didn't conflict much with his fundamental values. Most of the obsessed people were actually quite cute. Ju Yunxiu was so kind to him that she taught him unique skills without hesitation. She even permitted him to explore her master's tomb.

He had had no sense of belonging before, but because of Ju Yunxiu's relationship, as well as the recognition of the fellow disciples, he finally began to feel a sense of belonging and affection for this Immortal Palace.

It was an indelible mark of 'alma mater,' no matter where he went.

Did this still count as a passerby? It didn't seem so.

Maybe as time went by, the 'otherworldly feeling' about this whole world would disappear, and he would completely become the people from this world.

After all, he had been here for more than a year, and he was getting used to everything.

"Hey." Liu Su jumped out of the mace, looked at him for a while, and said with a smile, "What's going on with you and your Senior Ju?"

"Senior Ju is a lonely person. She wants someone to accompany her and likes me to accompany her, but she seems... not willing to change the relationship. We haven't reached that point yet."

"Tsk… what about you?"

"I don't know. Stick Stick, I already have Qingjun. I was a little offended by the distance between Ming He. I shouldn't have teased other girls. But Stick Stick, if I get along with Senior Ju like this, sooner or later I can't let go. Maybe one day I can't help but to pursue her. Will I become a scumbag if that happens?"

"How can you be such a scumbag if you never give up on a relationship?" Liu Su looked at him strangely for a while. "How did you develop your subconscious mind that you shouldn't pursue other girls when you already have Qingjun? You used to express such a concern, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I thought it was due to your unforgettable first love. Now it seems to be a matter of concept, why does your world have such a strange custom?"

"Huh? A strange custom? Isn't this natural?"

"In my time, only the strong were respected. Regardless of male or female, as long as you were strong enough, you could get whatever you wanted. It was natural to be surrounded by the opposite sex. Just like the female monkey will only belong to the strongest monkey king. Unless the cultivator was practicing cultivation that abstains from sex, but even that kind of cultivator had his needs. For example, he has more treasures and resources than others. Isn't it also a natural law?”

"You guys were in the savage era, so that's a monkey!"

"Bah, isn't the same until now?" Liu Su looked at him more and more strangely, "You and Li Qingjun have been together for so long, can't you see that Li Qingjun is accustomed to this matter? Her father had countless concubines. Li Qinglin, who wasn't into beauty, also had several concubines. In Li Qingjun’s opinion, isn't this natural? What are in your mind? "

"Ugh..." Qin Yi scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

Senior Ju has not expressed any opinions on the matter of having a lover. Even if she refuses to take the relationship further, it is not because she knows that I have a lover.

No one takes it seriously… except me.

Their concept is completely different. In Liu Su's opinion, a scumbag means giving up on a relationship, not how many women one has.

"Well..." Qin Yi asked, "If, I mean if, if you are a woman and your man brings another woman home, what will you think?"

Liu Su laughed a few times, then she said with a straight face, "I'll smash his head."

"..." Qin Yi was dumbfounded. "Isn't this a double strandard?"

"No, that's because no one is stronger than me. If I have a partner, he can only be humble in front of me. If he wants other women? When I'm happy, I can reward him with one. I'm very generous!”

Qin Yi twitched his mouth speechlessly.

What a generous...

The little white mist figure transformed by Liu Su jumped onto Qin Yi's shoulder and patted Qin Yi's face kindly, "It's normal for a cat like you that I raise to want other female cats. Although I'm disgusted to see you flirting with other female cats... Anyway, if you run away with a wild cat,I will blow your head off too!"

Qin Yi jumped up. "Aren't you the cat I raise!"

"Huh?" Liu Su looked solemn.

"Yes!" Qin Yi was very serious.

They stared at each other for a while, and they both started to smile.

Is this how we feel about each other?

It's a bit similar, but not quite.

"Forget it." Qin Yi hugged the little mist figure, and it cooperated by pretending to be picked up by him and placed on his knees. Qin Yi held its little hand and pulled it twice, then he smiled and said, "No matter who is whose cat, you and I depend on each other. We won't abandon each other, right?"

Liu Su shook hands with him twice, then she looked at him with her head tilted, "Why do you insist on collecting those paintings?"

"Because I suspect they are related to the 'door' you mentioned." Qin Yi said, "The first painting belongs to Senior Ancient Corpse, and he has a 'door' on hand, so maybe it is related. Although there is no necessary causal connection, but it's a clue.”

"No matter whether this painting has anything to do with the door or not, even if it does, it's not something you should care about. You'll die, Qin Yi."

"But I know you care."

Liu Su was silent for a while and sighed, "Speaking of which, you should know part of it. Well, when you enter this painting's illusion trial, take the fragment of the 'door' with you... In this illusory painting, and it's such a small fragment, it should be able to avoid other people's perception."

"For what?"

"You take it out of the box and carry it with you to train… It will be very easy to break through your Muscle Alteration Stage." Liu Su said slowly, "When you come into contact with this fragment, you can probably feel its secrets.”

-

Qin Yi went to the core enchantment of the cave house and took out the box hidden there.

When picking up the box, he was surprised. There was a booklet next to the box. Qin Yi even forgot what it was...

After opening it, he remembered that it was the name book that was taken out from the secret room of the Yin Temple together with Sutra of Great Joy Blissful Reunion and other items. No wonder Elder Wu didn't find this book after exchanging those items with Zheng Yunyi.

Qin Yi even forgot why he left the roster at the enchantment at that time. He probably left it here casually, thinking that he didn't need it at all.

He thought for a moment and put the name book into the ring again.

It was useless to him before, but now that the feud with Temple Great Joy had deepened, they would definitely keep coming. This name book might be useful.

Speaking of which, Ming He's divination is really accurate. Since I joined the Immortal Palace, no matter what decision I made, I will ultimately be right... at least for now. It’s not like this can be brushed off as forcibly aligning with the divination. If it had been a random ominous hexagram, could it have matched this way? It is obviously an accurate hexagram.

That hexagram should also include herself. I heard that she is refining her noble weapon. This is a very representative watershed in the journey of cultivating. I'm still far away from this level. Ming He should be taking a big step forward.

I hope everything goes well.

Qin Yi unfolded the red rock mandrill painting. According to Ju Yunxiu's instructions, his eyes slowly searched for the source of the painting. He slowly traced back among countless colors and lines. Finally, he found the first ink mark on the original white paper.

The painting scroll slowly twisted, creating ripples. The painting became three-dimensional and turned into a twisted world. The ripples on the painting scroll turned into an intangible door.

Tracing back to its origin, it was one of the main means to open certain secret realms or enchantments in calligraphy and painting. In the eyes of laymen who did not understand calligraphy and painting, they must reach the level to crack it, or it could be opened by a barbaric spiritual force. Those who cultivated the way of calligraphy and painting could just use their professional skills.

Liu Su was also amazed by the novel things in Myriad Tao Immortal Palace.

Qin Yi stepped into the painting with a box containing the fragment and a mace.

…

He felt a slight dizziness, then the scene had changed.

It was not exactly the same as the painting. The painting might only show an image and did not include the entire painting world.

This was a vast yellow land, but there were piles of red rocks everywhere. Some of the rocks were very high, like mountains reaching into the clouds. The rocks were also covered with soil and vegetation. The sky was blue with white clouds, which seemed to be moving gently in the wind.

This seemed to be a real world.

The most obvious thing that showed that this wasn't the real world was that the sky in the distance was gray. The boundary between heaven and earth was hazy and illusory, like a canvas, which proved that this place was actually only as big as the eye could see.

But even so, it was already very large. The range that Qin Yi could see was very far away. It was conservatively estimated that this place was several miles in radius. However, under the cover of red rocks everywhere, he couldn't find the mandrill for the time being.

Only two words came to Qin Yi's mind: 'Beastkin Refining Pot' and 'Heavenly Book'.

Even if it was not a complete world, it already had the prototype.

Another point was that there was a lot of pressure in this painting world, and intangible energy was squeezing the body. Qin Yi must muster his strength and channel his qi essence to resist.

This was a noble weapon energy at the level of the Cloud Riding Stage. Its real world construction had not yet reached the point where the energy could be invisibly diffused, but it was still very obviously spread throughout the space. If one's cultivation level was too low, he would likely be crushed into powder, so he could place random things and people inside.

But at this moment, it provided Qin Yi exactly what he needed to practice martial arts. This kind of pressure had a good training effect on the body.

While the mandrill was nowhere to be found, Qin Yi quickly opened the box and held the fragment in his left hand.

This was the first time he had come into contact with the fragment. When he got it, Liu Su anxiously asked him to close the box without having the chance to look at it, let alone touch it.

Now holding it in his palm, he could feel that the material was neither jade nor stone, and the texture was a bit rough due to its irregular shape. A strange energy channeled into his bones and muscles through his palm and cycled in his blood, then it burst in his mindsea. He had a very mysterious vision in his mindsea. It was like a ghost and a god, and the starry sky of all realms. He only saw a glimpse, so he couldn't see it clearly.

Perhaps because the fragment was too small, so it could only provide too little information. But the energy was real. It had already begun to transform Qin Yi's muscles as if it were going to change his muscles to a perfect state. However, it soon discovered that Qin Yi's muscles had already been tempered, so it only transformed his muscles slightly and stayed in his meridians.

The 'Muscle Alteration Stage' of martial arts cultivator was different from the concept of tendon reshaping of ordinary martial arts. Tendon reshaping in mortal martial arts was essentially the use and practice of true qi. The Muscle Alteration Stage of the immortal cultivator was to change the nature of muscles, bones, tendons, and meridians.

Step by step, it changed a mortal into a non-mortal and from ordinary to the perfect and strongest state. By that time, one could master the qi essence and split the mountain with a wave of his hand.

The so-called transformation was a literal change.

In fact, immortal cultivation was similar, but the direction was different. Immortal cultivation was like water, focusing on duration and change, while martial arts cultivation was like fire, focusing on strength and explosion.

Now the energy on this fragment seemed to be dissatisfied with Qin Yi's muscles and tendons, so it was helping him to transform.

The most appropriate way for this kind of transformation was not to practice silently in the static, but to find the most perfect state in the dynamic, so martial arts cultivation needed to gain combat experience.

"Swoosh!"

There was a strong wind sneaking up from the side. Qin Yi was on guard and swung the mace.

"Creak..." Mace hit the claw of a mandrill, but it was blocked by a very strong qi essence, making a harsh friction sound. The mace was forced to slide away without directly connecting with the paw.

Qin Yi was stunned.

There were many opponents in martial arts who could deflect force, but his force had never been deflected because his force often burst out in an instant, which was very difficult to deflect. His attack had been voided by special spells before, but this was the first time his attacks were deflected in close combat.

In such a moment, the mandrill disappeared. Qin Yi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. He sidestepped to avoid the vital point, and he was already punched in the back.

He felt dizzy, and the world began to distort. Qin Yi knew that he was going to lose and was about to be kicked out of the painting world.

This is so embarrassing. I'm instantly knocked out by a monkey?

Suddenly, the fragment energy surged in his left hand, quickly nourishing and restoring his injured muscles and transforming them into a better state, just like forging iron after it had been softened.

Qin Yi didn't have time to experience it. While he had regained some strength, he shouted and struck with his left elbow!

"Bang!" His elbow hit the mandrill's fist accurately, but the fist slid away and hit Qin Yi's armpit.

"Dammit." Qin Yi realized that he couldn't dodge, so he hit the mandrill on the head with the mace.

He channeled all his qi essence!

Even if he was knocked out of the painting world, he would have to perish together with it!

"Squeak!" The mandrill screamed and quickly dodged. At the same time, the fist that attacked Qin Yi's armpit also withdrew its force and hit it with just a light blow.

But with just such a light blow, the already injured Qin Yi almost spurted blood.

Its speed is too fast. I can't keep up with the movements of this mandrill at all!

Noble weapons cannot be used... It is meaningless to use the transformation spell here because my current transformation only has the form. Even if I turn into the mandrill, he cannot get that kind of speed.

Qin Yi swiftly retreated a few feet, allowing the mandrill to pounce, then he pointed forward. "Dash!"

The mandrill suddenly staggered due to the inertia.

I haven't used it in a long time… Basic tao spell, [Sluggish].

Qin Yi spurted a mouthful of blood and raised the mace with a fierce look. "Damn monkey, I will fight to the end with you!"

-

Basic tao spells had little effect on opponents at the Cloud Riding Stage, but Qin Yi only needed a moment to capture its movements.

"Bang!"

Mace clashed with the mandrill's claw for the first time.

The mace crushed the qi essence and hit the claw. The mandrill suffered a painful blow, but it disappeared again in an instant.

If he could catch it once, there would be a second time.

It was no longer a slippery shadow. Soon, the painting world was filled with the crackling sounds of qi essence clashing, the violent impacts on the rocks, and the mandrill's squeaks. Liu Su stood on a rock nearby and quietly watched a green shadow and a mandrill chasing each other.

The speed of the green shadow became faster unknowingly.

From a somewhat sluggish pace of chasing the mandrill, he now could smoothly switch between offense and defense.

From the perspective of Qin Yi, there was nothing special. If one looked at the battle *, their speed had exceeded the limit of mortal eyes could capture. A mortal might not even see the shadows.

Even an Innate Stage warrior could only see the green shadow and gray shadow moving at high speed and the dazzling light of qi essence busrt.

The scene was filled with smoke and dust, the rocks scattered all around, and the ground was pitted from the intense clash.

Qin Yi was actually at a disadvantage. He had countless new injuries, and there was blood everywhere. But the injuries aroused his ferocity and bloody courage instead of making him retreat. He completely entered a violent fighting state and even forgot the existence of Liu Su.

"Bang!" Qin Yi blocked the swift claw of the mandrill while smashing the mace toward its head.

The mandrill ducked, then its belly was kicked.

"Bang!" The mandrill was hit head-on for the first time. It crashed into the rocks, shattering the rocks around, then the mace overwhelmingly smashed into the rocks.

The violent qi essence covered the entire rock mountain.

"Boom!" The rocks turned into powder, and the ground was blasted out of a deep pit of more than ten feet. The qi essence continued to rush forward, splitting the ground into a huge fissure like an earth dragon.

He advanced to the Muscle Alteration Stage level 4!

The mandrill came out of the smoke like a shadow, then it hit Qin Yi's stomach while Qin Yi was still staggered after launching a big move. Qin Yi was sent flying backward. When he was about to retaliate, he had already come out of the painting scroll.

Qin Yi, "…"

Liu Su was holding her belly and laughing. "Defeated by a monkey, hahaha..."

"I don't admit it. I obviously can still fight..." Qin Yi was about to enter the painting again with the mace.

"That's enough. Just take a rest." Liu Su smiled and said, "How old are you to be serious with a trial monkey?"

"Hiss..." Qin Yi paused and suddenly felt pain all over his body so much that he could hardly walk.

Only now he discovered that his body was covered in injuries. The internal injuries were also quite severe. His muscles, veins, and organs were all in a mess. His body had already hit the limit.

"This is a trial space. It can roughly estimate your limit and send you out of the painting world." Liu Su said with a smile, "What an interesting design."

Qin Yi groaned in pain and lay there with his back stretched out, but he was very excited, "Of course it is a genius design. Isn't this the game's health bar? I will clear this dungeon tomorrow. This damn monkey… I can tell you that it was laughing at me… Hiss, fuck it hurts..."

Liu Su laughed out loud.

Qin Yi completely collapsed on the ground and admitted that he really couldn't fight anymore.

Although he broke through the bottleneck, he really lost to the monkey.

This breakthrough was thanks to the 'door' fragment, which unknowingly cleansed his muscles and meridians. He was unaware of it during the battle. He now felt that his muscles and meridians were stretched, causing intense pain to him.

The breakthrough of each level of martial arts cultivation was often accompanied by pain. The further one went, the deeper the pain became.

It's all about pushing the muscles, bones, and meridians to their limit. How can it be comfortable... The best is still immortal cultivation. It's so comfortable when cultivating it.

No wonder there are very few martial arts cultivators, and people often say they are crazy.

"This door..." He finally said, "has a very strange nature. It does not directly provide you with energy to practice like an aura crystal. Instead, it feels that you are not perfect enough and do not fit its 'aesthetic', so it forcibly changes it for you.”

Liu Su laughed and said, "This description is a bit interesting... This is the first time I heard someone describe the door like this, but it makes sense."

"What is this concept?"

"I won't tell you the details for now, but you can understand that it is the 'tao' that is close to the origin of the world"

"Could it be some kind of ascension door that was shattered so it couldn't ascend to the upper world?"

"Huh? Your idea is more interesting. Are there similar explanations in your world?"

"It's already common in my world, Stick Stick."

"Ha... It's not the same, but if it's easy to understand, you can think of it this way first. It's not too far off. In short, the roots of many schools of 'tao' stemmed from this. Your fragment is too small. If it’s bigger and has enough carrying capacity, you might be able to find the source of a lineage and establish a sect.”

"Actually..." Qin Yi hesitated for a moment. "I've faintly gained an insight into new movement skills. It is aligned with the movement skills you taught me before. I wonder if it's due to the fragment or the battle with the mandrill.”

Liu Su smiled and said, "What I taught you is just the basic movement skills, not any extraordinary skills, because the movement skills I know are a bit… Well, not suitable for you. But the so-called basics mean that they can progress in any direction. You can figure out the direction that suits you best. Whether it’s the enlightenment from the fragment or the experience brought by the mandrill, it belongs to you.”

"At my current level, can I create my own skills?"

"The lower ones learn the tao, the intermediate ones gain enlightenment from the tao, and the upper ones create the tao." Liu Su said faintly, "Although tao is too mysterious, when it comes to skills, this sentence is still applicable. This only depends on your understanding and insights, not your cultivation level."

"So..." Qin Yi asked tentatively, "You taught me a lot of basics and no unique skills because of this?"

Liu Su looked at him for a long time and said slowly, "I just didn't want to teach you everything. What were you thinking?"

Qin Yi, "…"

Liu Su, "..."

"I'll remember this, you damn stick."

"Hmph." Liu Su said instead, "Isn't it good to be like this now? Do you really want to become the second Liu Su?"

Qin Yi looked up and thought for a moment, then he suddenly smiled and said, "Thank you."

Liu Su smiled and did not answer.

Qin Yi lay down again for a few breaths, then he pushed himself up with difficulty and went to the medicinal garden to collect herbs. He wanted to make some restorative medicinal baths to help the body recover and consolidate the new muscles and meridians.

Liu Su looked at him bending down to pick herbs with some difficulty, and her eyes were full of interest.

People were very complex creatures, including Qin Yi.

From a normal perspective, Qin Yi was actually a person who enjoyed a cozy life. But at certain times, he was able to endure hardships.

If it were someone who couldn't bear hardships, he would definitely not want to move at this time and fall asleep long ago. But that would be detrimental to his growth. Taking a medicinal bath this time could maximize the gain of this trial experience.

This was martial arts cultivation. The hardship of training was the same as mortal martial arts. It was completely different from the ethereal aloofness of immortal cultivation.

But Qin Yi could seamlessly combine them without a sense of discord.

"Damn monkey, come and fight me again!"

Half a month later, the messy painting world had returned to its initial state. Qin Yi was chasing the monkey all over the mountain.

He challenged once a day. This was the fifteenth challenge.

From using tao spells to limit the opponent's speed, he could now keep up with its speed.

Not only could he keep up with the speed, but he could also chase the monkey around.

A green afterimage flashed by with a thunderous sound. The mandrill came to an emergency stop, and Qin Yi, with a sinister smile, appeared in front of it.

Combining the enlightenment of the 'door' and the experience of fighting the mandrill, as well as the qi essence burst taught by Liu Su, Qin Yi already had a basic template for his movement skills.

Temporary name: [Thunderic Stride].

"Squeak!" The monkey hugged its head.

There was a glimmer of light. The weight of energy in the painting world suddenly lightened.

The painting world recognized him as the master.

The monkey suddenly raised its head.

Just when Qin Yi thought it was going to pay homage to its new master, the monkey had a ferocious look and pounced onto his face.

It was faster than before!

"What the..." Qin Yi was caught off guard. He could only manage to cover his face, then the monkey seized the opportunity to beat him out of the painting world.

Liu Su laughed so much that she rolled on the ground, "Idiot..."

Only then did he remember that this was a trial space. If it recognized him as its master, it would only fight with him. Why would it pay homage to him? It would only become more difficult to deal with because it was connected to the new master's mind!

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