Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 262 - 178 Taiyin Order Secrets

Chapter 262: Chapter 178 Taiyin Order Secrets

[Heavenly Marrow of One Hundred and Twenty-Years]

Gu Wen unhesitatingly took the two Spirit Fruits and stuffed them into his mouth, saying, "Thank you, Master, for delivering the Spirit Fruits over such a long distance. We are in trouble now, I wonder if the Master could lend a hand?"

The Jade Sword Buddha nodded and said, "To slay demons and eliminate monsters is a great merit, and I am willing to take on the task."

As his words fell, a giant Buddha blocking the cave entrance suddenly smashed down with a sword, its force like a collapsing mountain.

The Qing python at the forefront displayed its dharma form and wrestled with the giant Buddha. The duel appeared as two giants grappling, with not a few demons caught in between and perishing.

The Ba Snake Demon Saint glared fiercely at Gu Wen in the distance and roared, "Scoundrel! You killed our clan’s Saint Heir, today you must pay with blood for blood!"

The ancestor of that Qing python from before? No wonder it looked so familiar.

Gu Wen stood unyielding. He was not afraid of people seeking revenge, but seeking revenge did not mean he had to meet the enemy himself.

The opponent was at the Eighth Level of Dao Foundation, while he was only at the Fifth Level. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t win. Unless Gu Wen sacrificed all his senses, he was just courting death.

But why should he throw himself against the stone?

If he were at the Eighth Level of Dao Foundation, this Qing python would not dare to stand before him. It was merely relying on its deeper cultivation, taunting him before he had grown.

"Jade Sword Buddha, Fellow Daoist, leave this demon to me."

Xiao Yunyi’s expression slightly changed as he brought forth a purple-green intertwined Half-Immortal Sword in his hand, slashing it towards the Qing python.

He was afraid that the Jade Sword Buddha, in a complete duel with the Qing python, would steal his credit. If he did not earn enough merit this time, Brother Hongchen would not be able to return with him to Broken Sword Mountain.

Then he might become a sinner of the sect.

His sword light surged like a heavenly pillar, blasting the Qing python away. In an instant, flesh and scales scattered in great numbers.

"Sword Master?!"

The Ba Snake Demon Saint was shocked.

In the Cultivation World, those known for their strong offensive power have always been feared. The Sword Dao is not the only powerful path, but it is the one most likely to produce such powerful combatants.

There are many types of Sword Masters, the most terrifying of which is the sword itself.

These madmen, modeled after the original Sword Master, fused their bodies, Divine Skills, and their three souls and seven spirits into a single sword. Nearly invincible below the Demi Immortal, if they possessed self-consciousness, they would have few adversaries even among Demi Immortals.

Cling!

Another sword fell, the Ba Snake Demon Saint spoke no more, fully focused on countering Xiao Yunyi’s offensive.

At Heavenly Spring Mountain, Xiao Yunyi was at the Seventh Level and Sixth Stage of Dao Foundation, but now, two months later, he had reached the Seventh Level and Seventh Stage. Advancing one small boundary in two months was the normal pace for talents, Gu Wen’s exceptional growth was not typical.

The Ba Snake Demon Saint at Eighth Level and Seventh Stage, with a two-stage difference between them. Xiao Yunyi, leaping across two small stages with the help of the Half-Immortal Sword, gained the upper hand.

In no time at all, the Ba Snake Demon Saint was put at a disadvantage, accumulating wounds that, though not fatal, pained like a dull knife cutting flesh, which was not a sustainable strategy.

At this moment, Gu Wen and others also joined the melee. With the Jade Sword Buddha’s participation, they redistributed their opponents.

Among them, Gu Wen got the easiest group of myriad demons, known as lesser but not ignorable riffraff, each demon genius averaging at the Fifth Level of Dao Foundation. Their attacks would at least bruise him purple and blue, and in large numbers, they could bite a person to death.

Gu Wen happened to excel in attacking, perfectly suited for clearing away these fish.

With every sword slash, no demon survived.

As he consumed their Demon Cores and charged through the group of demons, he fought more fiercely and grew richer.

The number of Heavenly Marrows kept increasing, causing Gu Wen to momentarily see red.

Chan Xi encountered her old adversary Ao Heng, and saw the lecherous dragon still looking at her with utter lust. Although she did not inherit The Three Pure Ones’ original subjective gender understanding, she clearly recognized the opposite sex and could understand his desires.

Moreover, she was extremely disgusted by him, a sentiment unchanged from her original self, as even in her male form, she had been subjected to that gaze.

This incorrigible dragon truly had no scruples.

"Dear Three Pure Daoist, are you planning to marry some wild boy who popped up from nowhere?"

"Scum."

Chan Xi’s face was cold, her words dripping with disdain.

And these two words, because of someone, had become Ao Heng’s sore point, darkening his expression instantly.

"What did you call me?"

"Scum."

"You...."

Before he could finish, Chan Xi promptly added, "Scum."

"I’ll kill you!!!"

Ao Heng roared and charged, but his killing intent was constantly flowing towards Gu Wen as he thought about turning around to sneak attack. However, Chan Xi was always watching him.

Jun Yan confronted the fox demon, looking straight at the aged face of the opponent and bluntly saying, "Old hag."

Now it was Tushan Yun’s turn to go mad, launching attacks wildly without a word.

However, she kept her gaze fixed on Gu Wen all the time, which Jun Yan caught. His eyes flickered slightly, he became alert, and he sent a message to Gu Wen.

Whether it was an illusion or not, alerting him was always the safe choice, and Jun Yan always prioritized caution.

’This fox demon is always watching you, be careful.’

As Gu Wen, deeply engulfed by surrounding demons, looked up, he replied, "I previously killed a member of the Tushan royal family, probably also here for vengeance."

’You sure have a lot of enemies.’

Jun Yan tugged at the corner of his mouth as suddenly the giant Buddha swung his sword towards his direction, targeting the Vine Demon not far away.

Boom!

The Jade Sword Buddha targeted the Vine Demon as countless vines erupted from the sturdy cave floor like tentacles, entangling the giant Buddha.

Two expressionless, emotionless elm-wood masks contended in duel, both sides remarkably silent, the giant Buddha and the vine locked in stiff struggle.

The Vine Demon said indifferently, "Buddha Demon Holy Body, you are their calamity, I do not wish to kill you."

If she was killed, the conflict between Buddha and Demon would fail, and both Buddha and Demon would return.

Immortals that walked between heaven and earth were all disasters, and both Buddha and Demon were equal to Qingcang.

Jade Sword Buddha tilted her head slightly, her eyes clear as crystal showing a trace of change, as she faintly discerned the true body of the Vine Demon.

"Benefactor, could you be Jianmu?"

The Vine Demon nodded slightly, and Jade Sword Buddha whispered, "Jianmu, a great merit holder, upholds heaven and earth, nurturing myriad beings."

Suddenly, the force of the giant Buddha surged tremendously, the nun’s clear eyes clouded, and a deeply pure killing intent emerged.

"Kill, minor evils must not, major evils must."

Jade Sword Buddha’s voice fluctuated slightly, her almost smiling gaze intensely fixed upon Qing Rui.

The Buddha was originally a demon, and the demon originally a Buddha.

She possessed both Buddha’s compassion and the fiery aura of a demon. Performing good deeds and exorcising demons were merely minor virtues, only those beneficial to heaven and earth were considered major virtues.

Demons scorned minor evils, Buddhas did not act for minor evils; on the contrary, major virtues required defiance, major virtues required killing.

The Vine Demon was stunned, but could only harden herself to receive the blows, yet the sword force of Jade Sword Buddha was heavy and overwhelming, pressing down like a divine mountain, crushing her into the ground with one strike.

Jade Sword Buddha was of the Seventh Level Dao Foundation, as was the Vine Demon, the former embodied both Buddha and demon, the latter merely one of the myriad incarnations.

Boom!

The winner was decided, yet life and death remained uncertain. A tender vine stretched out from the sleeve of the Vine Demon, tenaciously holding on to the last thread of life, as if the sword that fell like a divine mountain could not crush the tender vine.

Thus, a stalemate reflected the entire battlefield, and Gu Wen’s side could only claim a minor victory, but was actually at a disadvantage.

Because the number of the Devil Clan was too great, over a hundred geniuses, protectors and Dao protectors totaling two hundred, among them many experienced and cunning old beings.

Perhaps not everyone was qualified to arrange True Monarchs as protectors, but starting from Nascent Soul, there was no shortage. In one-on-one combat, they couldn’t match the outstanding talents, but in a brawl, they were definitely experienced.

In the Cultivation World, regardless of humans or demons, Golden Core Nascent Souls acted as middle managers, whose biggest role besides management was commanding in battle.

That is to say, for group fights.

Gu Wen and the others were top geniuses, they were difficult to kill even if they exhausted all spells, but mana was limited.

Their task was to survive, as long as they did not die, the consumption for Gu Wen and the others would certainly be greater than theirs.

Gu Wen also realized this issue, and the current strategy must involve one person breaking the deadlock, and he, who owned the Fate Diagram, was most likely to make a breakthrough.

Either Nine Revolutions Golden Pill or ascending the Sixth Level Dao Foundation first.

The Sixth Level Dao Foundation enhanced the divine soul, the level of power. Within the True Sword Dao, the divine soul and mana each accounted for half, where both Taoist Sword and Buddha Sword had high requirements for divine soul power.

Seventh Level was the dharma form, this was the strongest stage of the Yuqing Daoji, where the dharma form condensed was that of the Human Immortal.

The Eighth Level was returning to the truth, where Nascent Soul merged with the body.

The Ninth Level embodied the unity of heaven and man, every movement harnessing the power of heaven and earth, which was also the reason why Gu Wen could not possibly skip levels to become a Venerable.

Their use of power was already on another level, not something a few fulfilled or Immortal Skills could compensate for.

The only consolation was that Ninth Level Dao Foundation and Eighth Level Perfection were merely a major divide; the former was the standard for Venerables, the latter for Demi Immortals, with very few reaching either level.

[Heavenly Marrow hundred fifty years]

[Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, requires Golden Core to penetrate seven channels]

Penetrate seven channels? How to penetrate, could Heavenly Marrow be accustomed?

Gu Wen’s mind shifted, and Heavenly Marrow showed no movement; it could only help one comprehend something, all for understanding Dao.

Penetrating seven channels was not understanding, but a matter of physical basis.

’Red Dust, catch me.’

Suddenly, a head flew towards him, Gu Wen instinctively reached out and suddenly caught a yin-evil yet handsome face, just the face.

At this moment, Jun Yan’s body had been crushed by Tushan Yun, turned into a pile of fleshy mush as if just a mortal body.

The old fox woman targeted Gu Wen, and suddenly the pressure surged.

"Old Lord, lend some strength."

"Saint equivalent to Venerable, it’s already not easy to hold on."

Jun Yan frowned deeply, he was at least two realms below the fox woman.

And generally, after Seventh Level Perfection, it was very hard to skip levels. The limit of Venerable was Ninth Level Dao Foundation, Demi Immortal’s was Eighth Level Perfection.

He was Seventh Level Dao Foundation, the fox woman was Ninth Level Seven [same mistake appears in Chinese], they differed by two realms. Jun Yan survived not due to death but by relying on the old monster inside him and the powerful survivability of the Heavenly Demon Skill.

The fox woman also dared not kill him because if he died, all the Heavenly Demons inside him would burst out.

He was like a jar filled with excrement, whoever broke it would suffer the consequences.

Tushan Yun reached within ten feet of Gu Wen, raised her hand to signal the surrounding devil kinds to stop attacking, this pause started to spread, even Jade Sword Buddha turned to look in this direction.

"Hand over that object, and I can withdraw from here."

This token had a significant origin; originally, it was embedded in a special stone tablet, the patterns on which had already been smoothed by the ages, yet its hardness was such that even her full force left not a single scratch.

It seemed only time could erode it.

And the one who needed it was the old ancestor of the Tushan clan, a genuine and valuable fox fairy.

She bestowed a divine iron chisel, allowing each generation of Tushan descendants entering the Immortal Land to chip away at it day after day, continuing for tens of thousands of years.

Initially, Tushan Yun just assisted Tushan Xue to get the token to curry favor with the fox fairy ancestor, but unexpectedly, Gu Wen intercepted it midway. Now facing a short lifespan, she could only pin her hopes on the Taiyin Order.

Either to become a Demi Immortal herself or to use it to ask the fox fairy ancestor to extend her life.