The Battle in Journey to the West -
Chapter 182 - 178: The Fifth Stele of the Indestructible Realm
Chapter 182: Chapter 178: The Fifth Stele of the Indestructible Realm
It is said that Enlightenment Dao was drawn into the Sea of Thunder, a place that even those with a physical body dare not enter lightly.
The Primordial Spirit of Enlightenment Dao, originally bewildered by the thunderbolts, suddenly woke up. Around him, the thunderbolts no longer struck his Primordial Spirit. Pieces of golden thunder brushed past him.
Enlightenment Dao couldn’t help but be secretly amazed, gradually regaining his senses, his scattered spirit rapidly coalescing. It was clear that he had reached the Indestructible Realm.
"Haha, hahaha! It seems I have reached the Indestructible Realm, the impurities within my Primordial Spirit have been thoroughly cleansed!" Enlightenment Dao was overjoyed in his heart. With one operation of the Method, he quickly repaired most of his dispersed spirit, an accomplishment that could only be made at the Indestructible Realm.
The surrounding thunder was terrifyingly powerful, so much that even a Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal would have to be cautious. It was only then that he realized he had drifted deep into this vast Sea of Thunder, with no idea how to get out!
As he pondered, he suddenly saw a black Coffin emerge from within the Sea of Thunder.
Enlightenment Dao was startled; he had not expected that such a Coffin would be hidden within the Sea of Thunder. He didn’t know who lay within these Coffins, but they clearly had significant origins, high mana, and mysterious inscrutability. And it seemed that there was a Swallowing Dragon Stele for every person in the Coffins.
He understood that his Primordial Spirit was drawn here by this Coffin, which clearly was not the same as the other four Coffins he had seen before.
"Boom!"
A huge Swallowing Dragon Stele descended from the sky, landing in the Sea of Thunder, causing it to surge; the surrounding thunder and lightning shattered and dispersed.
Enlightenment Dao thought to himself, "Indeed, another Swallowing Dragon Stele! I wonder what they want with this Swallowing Dragon Stele for me and how they can see through my origins, knowing exactly who I am."
With the exception of the Swallowing Dragon Stele sent by Wusheng, almost all others were acquired after encountering the black Coffins.
They were lying dormant, recuperating, and it was unknown whether they were participants in the wars of the Middle Ancient Times who had suffered severe injuries and were now resting and recovering inside the Coffins. Even the Three Pure Ones seemed to recognize them. Who lurked in this Coffin? Were they human? Ghost? God? Buddha? Demon? Saint?
This was the fifth Swallowing Dragon Stele; previously in the Heavenly Peach Garden, the South Sea Ruins, and the Shushan Sword Sect, he had acquired one each, and another had been sent by Wusheng. This inevitably made him wonder if Subhuti was one of the old monsters who had emerged from these Coffins... However, he felt this was unlikely and decided to focus on the Three Pure Ones, especially Laojun, who was highly suspect. After all, he possessed the ability of "One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones"; who knew if Subhuti was a manifestation created by his Divine Skills.
"Senior, before you go, could you possibly tell me what use the Swallowing Dragon Stele has?" Enlightenment Dao called out hastily.
"You’ll understand in time." This time, the Coffin did not remain silent but spoke a sentence, bobbing and floating in the Sea of Thunder.
Enlightenment Dao loathed those who beat around the bush the most. However, he dared not act rashly. The person who had come out of the Coffin last time was a formidable existence who, in an instant, had slain the Projections of the Heavens, although they had been grievously injured by a shot from the Sky-Breaking Divine Bow and Divine Arrow; it would have taken a Saint to defeat them.
Enlightenment Dao bowed and said, "Senior, I have acquired four Swallowing Dragon Steles, but I still have no clue. I humbly ask for your guidance!"
The Coffin still said, "You will understand in due course."
Enlightenment Dao internally scoffed and said, "Then could you please tell me where the senior beneath the Flat Peach Garden has gone? I promised a friend that I would help her find him."
The Coffin replied the same, "You will know when the time comes."
Enlightenment Dao’s teeth itched with hatred as he said in a heavy voice, "May I ask who the senior inside the Coffin truly is?"
The Coffin sank into the Sea of Thunder, with the thunder around it being absorbed into the Coffin bit by bit. It seemed as if the person in the Coffin was cultivating with the help of this thunder and lightning. A faint voice said, "You will naturally know when the time comes."
Enlightenment Dao couldn’t help but curse, "Damn it all!"
He waved slightly toward the Swallowing Dragon Stele, and it immediately flew towards him, shrinking rapidly before landing on his palm. The surrounding thunder all withdrew, as if fearing the Swallowing Dragon Stele itself. With the Stele in hand, Enlightenment Dao naturally wasn’t afraid of the thunder anymore and quickly flew out of the Sea of Thunder.
"Ouch, you’re finally back—we thought you had died in there!" The Ox Demon King called out upon seeing Wudao flying out of the Sea of Thunder.
"I thought I nearly died in there too!" As Wudao swiftly left the Sea of Thunder and entered his physical body, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, shaking his head and causing his body to emit a series of crackling sounds.
The Peng Demon King said, "When I saw your Primordial Spirit emerge, it was crystal clear, obviously fully cleansed, and it was even tempered in the depths of the Sea of Thunder! I suppose it’s much more powerful than that of an ordinary master of the Indestructible Realm, isn’t it?"
Wudao nodded and replied, "Entering deep into the Sea of Thunder not only purified my Primordial Spirit even more, but under the relentless hammering, it became tougher, and the flow of mana became smoother, enabling me to carry more True Qi than the average person!"
The Jiao Demon King said, "It seems that it won’t be long before Old Jiao will also have to temper my Primordial Spirit in the thunder. Seventh Brother, how did it feel for you inside? The depths of the Sea of Thunder are so dangerous, how come you’re unscathed?"
Wudao then said, "The most important thing is to have a firm will. Directly entering the thunder with the Primordial Spirit is extremely painful, after all, the Primordial Spirit is our foundation, containing our spirits, and it’s from the spirit that the pain is transmitted. Thunder striking directly on the spirit, you can imagine how painful that is. Without the protection of the physical body, bombarding the spirit, the sensation of pain is magnified hundreds of times. Heh heh!"
Among mortals, some have particularly strong spirits, and sometimes they faint from pain just by being pricked with a needle, or faint from a minor bump, precisely because their sensation of pain is magnified countless times. Since their spirit is stronger than that of ordinary people, the pain they suffer is naturally much greater.
"When I entered the Sea of Thunder, I held onto my spirit firmly, preserving a ray of indomitable spirit because once the Primordial Spirit becomes immortal, it is also Pure Yang, and thunder is the epitome of rigidity and yang. Therefore, what thunder can shatter is our spirit. By holding onto the spirit, once the Primordial Spirit has been cleansed and stepped into the Indestructible Realm, it can quickly recover." After a brief moment of thought, Wudao began to recount his experiences in the Sea of Thunder.
He was fortunate to know the Visualization Method Gate of the ’Sutra of the Other Shore.’ He visualized an Amitabha in the Sea of Consciousness and clung to that bit of spirit and spiritual light, thereby surviving the terrifying bombardment of thunder. That coffin truly took a huge risk, not afraid of him being struck to death by the thunder.
Indeed, after becoming an immortal, the Primordial Spirit turns into Pure Yang, and the natural thunder is also Pure Yang. Unless the power is terrifying to the extreme, it will not kill the Primordial Spirit; the main target is the spirit attached to the Primordial Spirit. A person lives by spirit, and once the spirit is gone, it’s like a walking corpse, with only a breathing body remaining.
In any case, Wudao had finally reached the Third Heaven of the Daluo Golden Immortal, just one step away from the top echelon of the Dao of Immortals. Bear in mind, many of the renowned great figures are only at Mixed Yuan Golden Immortal First Layer! Moreover, the Three Pure Ones had long planted a Mixed Yuan Seed in his heart. The day he understands it, he will naturally condense a Primordial Dao Fruit and then step into the Tao Fruit Realm of the First Layer, followed by the Second Layer’s Law Realm, and then the Creation Boundary, leading up to Quasi-Saint, Semi-Saint, and Saint!
Wudao felt that his chances of Becoming a Saint were not high, and he was not so arrogantly self-confident to believe he would definitely become a Saint. But at the very least, he must cultivate to the level of the creator to have a chance to control his own destiny.
Wudao pondered for quite a while before saying, "Second Brother, you have inherited the Candle Dragon’s Luck, it would be great if you could comprehend something more profound from the unknown, such as the will of the Shaman God. If you possessed the will of the Shaman God, then these thunders naturally could not shatter your spirit."
"Easier said than done, the Shaman Gods were all extinct during the Middle Ancient Times, where would one go to comprehend the will of the Shaman God? When that time comes, I’ll just temper my Primordial Spirit at the edge of the Sea of Thunder," said the Jiao Demon King.
True, a Primordial Spirit tempered in the heart of the Sea of Thunder is much stronger, but that’s not something just anyone can achieve; the thunder inside is enough to make even Mixed Yuan Golden Immortals shrink back in fear.
This time, perhaps the greatest gain was not entering the Indestructible Realm but obtaining another Swallowing Dragon Stele!
After years of contemplation, he was barely able to employ the Swallowing Dragon Stele. For example, bestowing the method of Unity of the Three Teachings on the Swallowing Dragon Stele and transforming it into three Longtou Daoren for combat, the power would be extremely terrifying, enough to stand tall among peers of the same realm.
Although the Swallowing Dragon Stele was crafted by mortal artisans of the Xia Dynasty, and the Taoist master carving the text might not be terribly powerful, it was the text itself that was formidable. Didn’t you see how just one character carved by Wudao at Shu Mountain Sword Cliff could make the valley’s sharp aura much stronger? Furthermore, Venerable Ape even attained Dao from comprehending that single character.
All his brothers felt that entering the center of the Sea of Thunder was too terrifying. They only approached it from a short distance and felt their physical bodies were about to be shattered by the thunder.
Wudao laughed heartily and said, "No worries, Elder Brothers should just do as much as they can. But remember, once you enter the Sea of Thunder, you must have a resolute will, or else your spirits will be shattered by the thunder, and you’ll never transcend thereafter."
The brothers all nodded slightly, silently noting this advice, waiting to accumulate enough strength to cleanse their Primordial Spirits in the Sea of Thunder together.
Wudao stored the Swallowing Dragon Stele within the Spiritual Platform, allowing his Primordial Spirit to sit cross-legged in front of the stele and comprehend the profound characters, hoping to discern some clues.
The seven brothers descended from the sky and landed on Flower-Fruit Mountain, preparing to celebrate Wudao stepping into the Indestructible Realm.
To find out what happens next, please tune in to the next installment.
PS: Yesterday, someone said my symptoms were like tuberculosis which scared me to the point that my Three Flowers and Five Qi nearly vanished. This should only be acute pharyngitis caused by a cold. Today, even swallowing hurts, and since I dared not smoke, writing this Chapter was an intermittent process, apologies for the late update. I was thinking about taking a break, but I feared being censored; being sick really affects one’s state. This start of the new year has been unlucky, having been sick for nearly half a month. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
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