Training and Revelations
Returning to my room, I assured Ying Yueru of my presence and began cultivating. To accelerate progress, I decided to use three temporal demon spirit pages consecutively. The pages wouldn't disappear ~ once the inputted heavenly energy was exhausted, time stasis would cease. The vine in my soul realm differed from Nie Li's, carrying only abilities without the temporal demon spirit book's imprint.
After consuming more divine phase-less fruits, my vast soul essence condensed four additional stars to glow brighter and center on the previous axis from their chaotic revolutions in soul space. Now five stars formed the axis, meaning I'd reached Heavenly 5 Axis realm. The power growth was remarkably noticeable ~ my yang soul's power increased several fold from initial entry. Physical feedback actually doubled my overall strength.
Still, summoning demon soul form from the avatar remained impossible, though partial transformation was achievable. I formed illusion butterfly wings on my back followed by draconic wings from dragon beast souls I'd absorbed into my soul's demon avatar.
My realm scope actually increased another two miles making the diameter of coverage to 22 miles around me. The rate of increase after returning is linearly proportional to increase in my overall strength, that's why it took so long to build up few ranges.
I settled into comfortable life once again.
A month passed before Nie Li finally stirred from his coma. The changes weren't obvious at first glance, but they would become more pronounced in the coming months.
I noticed several times that the food I ate through Shen Xiu's cooking contained poison. She wouldn't harm me intentionally, but the added ingredients could. I had complete poison resistance due to my flesh refinement through the Taishang Sutra and my cultivation level, so I didn't let it concern me. The ones arranging this from various factions were probably planning some long-term approach. The poison's effect was to shrink meridian channels and affect soul force. I sent divine sense transmissions to core figures like Nie Li and Gu Bei, though they probably would have discovered it themselves.
Li Yunfeng's forces had been causing considerable trouble using borrowed dragon dao realm power. The demon league found themselves unable to respond effectively. I had killed Yunfeng once before, but whenever I tried to act or venture outside normally, dragon dao cultivators would manifest to oppose me. Without revealing my true strength, I couldn't move openly. And I don't want to reveal either.
Nie Li planned to find a reliable group to cultivate and asked if he could use my small world for training.
"One hundred is the limit," I told him, "and only the extremely loyal ones."
The selected members entered my ring world to cultivate, while he took another group of core members to train elsewhere. To the outside world, it appeared as if the demon league was facing a major crisis.
New Elixirs
By the following month, this perception had become reality. Nie Li, responding to multiple requests, ventured to the Sky Origin Clan alone, using face-changing techniques to disguise himself. That's when Long Yuyin came to me with troubling news.
I just completed my sixth heavenly axis when she approached. "Master, please help me," she said, her voice tight with worry. "My league members were hunted down. Three lakes were lost. I've also confirmed that the members using Dragon Dao realm powers to destroy our forces carried the aura of Demon God Sect techniques."
"Has any of your dragon dao members lost their life?" I asked.
"No..."
"If I act, what happens when the Demon God Sect sends more powerful opponents to deal with you later?"
"We'll handle that when it comes."
I ventured outside and placed Ying Yueru in my small world for safety. With a single thought, I appeared in the sky above the Profound Note League's former territory. My divine sense immediately locked onto the Dragon Dao realm members below. I simply raised my finger and spoke: "Annihilation Domain."
This was the great perfection ability of the annihilation divine dao. Long Tianming's men, who had been holding the three deity lakes hostage, simply vanished from existence.
The incident became a major event. Many tried to investigate, but found nothing. The Profound Note League recaptured their deity lakes.
Meanwhile, Nie Li managed to acquire nearly 360 Sky Origin Divine Clan members from the Endless Wilderness. When he was traveling, I discovered he had entered the wilderness border alone. The mountainous terrain held something significant ~ I distinctly felt Emperor Tian Yuan's intent using my divine sense.
Before I could fully understand what was happening, Nie Li was struck by this intent and taken away. If he had missed this encounter, I might have needed to arrange something similar, but it happened naturally. After all, this was his foundation for gaining negotiation power within the sect and beyond.
He returned later with valuable resources and distributed them only to the members he deemed loyal. Several demon league members left on their own after losing interest, and everyone assumed the demon league was finished. I distributed the elixirs he had prepared using divine phase-less fruits to those cultivating within my domain.
Long Yuyin reached the heavenly axis realm, much like myself, since I had enhanced her talent. Nie Li entered cultivation as a beginner star realm cultivator and emerged at the late stage of heavenly axis realm through his own efforts. The core members of the demon league began rapidly advancing into the heavenly axis realm.
Dragon Dao Realm
I realized I should also accelerate my own cultivation. Instead of just hanging around and handling league duties outside and just watching Nie Li do this and that.
I entered the myriad miles painting with a large supply of phaseless fruits. I consumed them and rapidly began condensing the heavenly axis of nine stars, one after another. A month passed, and with my rule domain, ten heavenly axes formed within me.
Performing the chant of the Dao of Dragon chapter, my fate souls moved on their own to the position of each axis in the order they had formed. Then, channeling divine principles, the fate souls connected through the axes and condensed together to form a single fate soul.
My soul avatar, which had been dormant most of the time, suddenly activated and merged with the condensed fate soul. The fate soul and demon avatar thus merged into a single entity within my soul. This made my yang soul complete ~ my fate soul now contained ten internal stars revolving around a single center. My soul began gradually merging with my flesh, connecting the spiritual roots tightly to the soul conduits leading to the soul core.
I had entered the dao of dragon realm.
When I returned to the outside world, the situation hadn't changed much, except Long Yuyin came to meet me with concerning news.
Long Yuyin's second physique upgrade
"My family has advanced the successor selection," she explained. "Long Tianming appears to have unreasonable cultivation speed recently, entering the dragon dao realm. It makes it very difficult for me to compete, even with Nie Li's new elixirs." She continued after a pause: " I can compete in talent and comparison but in the end we are not in same realm."
"Come with me," I said, transporting her to my ring world. "I'll repeat the refinement procedure I performed before. This will be painful."
Seeing her determined expression, I began. This time, her refinement used heavenly principles. Energy entered her body rapidly as I channeled higher essence of divine fruit for her bloodline refinement. I awakened the dormant potential of her bloodline using the flaw correction technique of the LoHP. Her aura increased from late heavenly axis to dragon dao realm.
Her body actually formed scales on the surface, due to extreme bloodline refinement before returning to normal, and her physical strength increased more than a hundredfold. She used the remaining essence to step into the third stage of the dao of dragon realm.
After her recovery, I told her, "You can now cultivate using the elixirs the demon league provided. They'll be more than sufficient given your improved aptitude. If you wish, you can cultivate here."
She felt miraculous about the amount of potential she had and thanked me heavily. After getting adjusted, trained for another week inside, advancing her cultivation to fourth grade dragon dao realm.
Bloodline merging
Meanwhile, I observed my soul strengthening my flesh and my bloodline reacting to the soul force. There had been changes in my part Nuwa bloodline after years of cultivation here, adapting to the principles while also adapting to Ye Ziyun's and Ninger's shared essence.
When I tried introducing the bloodline to my soul realm, the tree vine within absorbed it, and my soul core began expanding rapidly, increasing my strength further within days. My heavenly energy absorption also increased, making me like a devouring entity. I consumed some phase less fruits and finally reached Dragon Dao fifth realm within a week, simply due to the merger of bloodline with soul realm.
Suddenly, I felt a restriction unlock. My soul seamlessly summoned the full version of the demon spirit within, and my strength increased. I could now morph my body. The desolate energy from the previous world augmented this transformation to incomparable levels. My scope also increased another three miles reaching 25 miles.
The reason why this is known as dragon dao is because most people reaching the stage use dragon spirit in their souls, so when their soul forms under go a final refinement in this stage similar to the merged demon spirits, it would cause their physical strength to soar like usual demon beasts as a feedback. After all, this will be the final body refinement before it gets dissolved into the soul upon ancestor realm.
Time passed quickly.
I released Long Yuyin, and she returned confidently to face the patriarch selection. I gave Yu Yan, Shen Xiu, Ying Yueru and Xiao Hong shares of the elixirs from Nie Li's supply. Yu Yan entered Dragon Dao realm, Shen Xiu reached heavenly axis peak, and Xiao Hong became comparable to a martial ancestor.
Internal World
Speaking of which, I took her spiritual beast bloodline and used demon blood sacrifice on myself to test its effectiveness after seeing effect of my own bloodline. It enabled a direct advancement one layer. My usual bloodline essence had already become very potent ~ the increase from furthering a dragon dao realm combined with her bloodline addition was significant.
Her bloodline also triggered adaptation in my existing divine fire bloodline, selecting the best qualities from both and turning my fire a golden violet color. I just called it the unknown fire. Because it is.
Assimilating the new bloodline and advancing in soul cultivation also changed significant aspects of my internal world. The land had been passively growing based on my overall cultivation and now measured nearly thirty million kilometers in diameter. Since arriving here, I usually spent an hour trying to expand my inner world every day, but time moved faster inside while energy conversion from the outside world was less efficient than before, so growth was gradual and slow.
After practicing the true meaning of inner boundary internal world for so long, I finally observed a change ~ one of the sanskrit symbols descended to the world and divided the entire realm into two sections.
The people were isolated within, but without my direct help, they created special transportation systems to travel between realms by communicating with the realm barriers within just a hundred years. This division caused a surge in my strength. The chaos energy transformation from ambient energy was inefficient with heavenly energy, so progress had been slow during the past few months but recently I recreated a new and entire myriad miles worlds within just to devour into chaos world energy to facilitate the transformation.
A short mission
After that I went back to peace and quiet and occasionally training Long Yuyin in combat arts and useful techniques.
On one day, as her spear sliced through the air, each thrust sharper than the last, as I guided her through intricate footwork to counter and attack while checking through divine sense on external matters, Hierarch LingLong suddenly summoned me.
I found her in the Lotus Pavilion, perched on a jade bench overlooking a koi pond, her silver robes shimmering like the water's surface. Her eyes, sharp as a hawk's, sized me up as I approached, my boots crunching on the gravel path.
"Young man," she began, tossing a lotus petal into the pond, watching it drift. "Your aura's grown heavier since last sparring match a year ago. Sixth-stage Dragon Dao Realm, and yet it presses on me, a Martial Ancestor. You're a puzzle."
I bowed slightly, hands clasped behind my back. "Hierarch LingLong, what's the summons for?"
She rose, pacing slowly, her fan snapping open with a flick of her wrist.
" Are you considering the acting sect master's position? With your strength, its simply a shame not to participate. Long Yuyin mentioned her Profound Note League would endorse for you.."
I shrugged, " No, I don't have any ambition for that seat. In fact I wish she could try it for herself. But considering she is still in alliance with Demon League, she can only vouch for the person leading it as of now."
"Well that's a loss. What I called you is because, Long Yuyin told me you said my family's adopted heir, Long Tianming, has been working with the Demon God Sect."
She looked at me as if how I would answer for the accusation. " I initially sensed demon blood sacrifice on him. Later I saw unknown followers out of no where who had hidden aura related to demon god sect's techniques like the one encountered before."
She leaned forward, her voice dropping conspiratorially. " We also know. That child, Yuyin provided some evidence on the same. Would you help us deal with this? If I act directly, it will be too noticeable. I suggest you take action and capture any Demon God Sect members who have infiltrated, so we can build a case against him. "
I raised an eyebrow, leaning against a pillar. " ...Hierarch, aren't you from dragonseal family? Why involve me, an outsider who is not even a sect enforcer?"
She smirked, fanning herself lightly. " What outsider? Aren't you her Master? Besides dealing with bunch of dragon Dao realm is not achievable without a major movement from our side, considering their secrecy it will be easy to make use of you. We have known your help in retrieving your disciple's deity lakes. How effortless you made it seem. I am asking you to do it for her again."
Since it was their decision, I didn't object. Effortlessly I captured twelve dragon dao realm demon god sect human faction members using my divine sense when they appeared with Demon God Sect tokens to meet Long Tianming in the next two weeks, using my soul strength to knock them all unconscious. Not even an insect noticed their disappearances.
I completed the task and gave the evidence to Hierarch Linglong to handle as she wished. She told me that if I would marry Long Yuyin, everything from patriarch to sect master position would be negotiable. I simply dismissed the offer and returned.
Xiao Yu
Meanwhile, I sensed the unique aura of divination technique in trace amounts through my divine sense and found the source was Xiao Yu. I went to find her.
"Hey, Xiao Yu."
"Hey, Chitao. Why are you here?"
"I told you many times just call me Tao. Has your bloodline activated?"
"Yes, how did you know? I felt unique energies stirring within my body when I consumed Nie Li's new pills, and my cultivation climbed quickly. I'm already at mid-stage heavenly axis realm." While inspecting her, I noticed it is only in beginner stages as bloodline only stirred slightly.
"You're in danger, then" I explained seriously. "The aura you're emitting carries traces of heavenly divination technique. If you continue cultivating in public, you'll soon become a target for dangerous people. You should meet with Nie Li and ask him to let you enter the Myriad Miles Painting. This is a serious issue."
After convincing her of the danger, she went to meet Nie Li, who also took the matter seriously and placed her within the Myriad Miles map for protection. It won't be foul proof but the aura cannot be sensed, but can be divined. But by then the technique within Ying Yueru would advance enough to unseal the seal of space time.
Speaking of Nie Li, he felt increasingly distant from his past as if someone is actively leading his fate to move forward in a pre arranged manner, and he knew something was definitely wrong. As his cultivation gradually rose, the changes were becoming more apparent.
Breakthrough to the Ancestor Realm
My soul avatar, now carrying the fate soul, had undergone multiple transformations that continuously elevated my cultivation realms during these times. The typical path to the martial ancestor realm involved the decay of flesh while spiritual cultivation and body merged into a single entity and recondense when needed. However, my soul remained distinct as an otherworldly Yang soul realm that could not be transformed directly or merge with similarly refined flesh. Until now, my spiritual cultivation in this world had primarily occurred within the soul core and the demon avatar inside it.
The Boundless Spirit Ascension technique encountered a roadblock when I entered the seventh layer of the dragon dao realm and stopped functioning entirely. My soul avatar had grown more powerful than my refined physical body, attempting to assimilate the physical form and its energy.
This proved impossible due to the incompatibility between the soul merge and both my Taishang refinement and desolate ancient body. The problem became increasingly apparent as my spiritual refinement technique required parallel operation with essence cultivation to proceed.
For the past month, I had been running the Boundless Divine Transformation of Energy, Body and Spirit Sutra in its entirety. Profound changes occurred from within. Considering the requirements felt for cultivation, the adaptive body and the cultivation worked in parallel.
The divine transformation of body advanced rapidly into advanced chapters, begins to reform the transformation of essence to link to the energy centers of the soul and internal world.
I lost the biological aspects of my body, when I entered True God Body back then, but some retained as redundant systems. After training further and now adapting, only retained the refinement of flesh and bones. The body became a new flesh medium created from creation energy, essence energy, heavenly energy, or law energy as I wished, born as a holder of internal world and soul ocean.
This new form housed the Taishang True meaning of body, desolate skeleton structure, soul, soul shield, energy conduits, Tao Pillars, bloodline divine energy, and creation energy. I regained a neutral appearance where anything was just a transformation away. Conscious thought, processing, and bodily control now became fully characteristic of the soul, as physical organs no longer existed.
Both statements held truth: the body had assimilated the soul avatar, and the soul avatar had assimilated the body. I now possessed a yang soul at least a thousand times more powerful than when I first returned to this world, complete with an incomparable soul core containing ten stars. The physique had merged with the yang soul itself, forming a spiritual body capable of switching between material and astral planes with ease.
The distinction between body and soul was losing meaning. My internal body world would also switch planes as I directed. When I used sprite fire on myself, both body and soul refinement increased due to enhanced strength. Taishang refinement still operates on whatever flesh medium was there. I gained a visible feeling of strength expansion with each cultivation session, unlike before.
The scope of my creation energy domain increased again reaching almost 31 miles. When I tried to condense the body from heavenly energy and law medium the problem of land of beginning in my internal world resurfaced but having the domain shielded by creation barrier with rules applied solved that trouble. There is more to learn from this new adaptation and cultivation technique further own, but I left it for later.
The adaptable body had merged completely with the soul. It would be more accurate to call it an adaptable being now, as the distinction lost meaning unless I explicitly split them apart. I could seamlessly transform into anything. The spiritual roots and essence cultivation channels had unified throughout the entire body.
After three months, I successfully entered the first level of the Martial Ancestor realm following the transformation. My overall strength deepened significantly for the first time, and my divine sense extended further into the unknown. Even though my spiritual breakthrough was instantaneous, only a few sect members noticed it.
Long Yuyin was the only one who knew about it personally. The Boundless Spirit Ascension began functioning again.
Changes in the Demon League
All core members of the demon league had reached the dragon dao realm. Long Yuyin won the patriarch seat in her family, but her support outside the clan remained insufficient for the sect master competition compared to Long Tianming, who had built a stable foundation for years despite various accusations and rumors surrounding him.
The demon league members returned to the outside world after their long absence. Everyone expected their return to bring thunderous action and attempts to recapture the deity lakes. Nothing of the sort happened. They acted as if they did not care about such matters.
People were not even certain if such a faction still existed. Meanwhile, Nie Li had gained the attention of all hierarchs through his supply of divine pills. Within a week, the demon league had emerged more powerful than ever before, perfectly timed for the Acting Sect Master competition. The others remained clueless about their true strength.
Nie Li had been absent recently. Even Lu Piao and Gu Bei had no idea where he was, though he relayed instructions every few days until last month.
He strived for the next competition by cultivating extensively and finally entered the mid stage Dragon Dao Realm.
The Competition Begins
The demon league core members worked to ensure the elder nominations would proceed as promised. Through willingness and even bribery, they secured many elders and watched them for any betrayal attempts.
The assessment day finally arrived. Elders and sect members stationed throughout the sect's lands returned. Ying Yueru wanted to appear, and I allowed her to do so. One after another, millions flew in. To commence the event, the martial ancestors of the sect emerged, and everyone paid their respects. This was the second time I had seen all the hierarchs together.
My realm was visible, but it remained difficult for dragon dao realm cultivators to sense me. My aura had merged with heaven and earth even without any concealment abilities. However, the hierarchs sensed me seated above a roof carefree, witnessing everything.
To my sides were Ying Yueru, Shen Xiu, Yu Yan, and Xiao Huo perching on my shoulder. Long Yuyin and her subordinates were also present. Nie Li and his group stood on the ground below among the demon league faction's core members.
( Tao. You didn't inform us about you entering martial ancestor realm. It is a big thing for the sect. ) It was sect master's voice transmission.
( Sect Master, I was in seclusion and only recently returned, besides you can see others too right, many of who here are at dragon dao realm, my achievements doesn't standout that much.)
( .. .. )
The Sect Master began his announcement. "I am about to breakthrough to the eighth level of the ancestor realm, so long seclusion is needed. The sect's affairs will be handed over to an acting sect master. Candidates need nomination from at least ten elders out of two hundred."
Three people stepped forward. The announcer declared, "Nie Li has twenty-one elders, Long Tianming has fifty-nine elders, and Situ Beiyan has fifty-three elders."
Murmurs spread everywhere, indicating that people thought the demon league was still trying for its last struggle and displaying fake bravado. The forces assembled by Nie Li were all present, every single one in the dragon dao realm with select few in the heavenly axis realm. Counting myself, a martial ancestor in the background, there was no mistake it would be his victory.
However, the aura was carefully concealed so that only martial ancestors could sense it. They knew this too and arranged to let him reveal it in the final fight.
"The fight will start with Long Tianming and Situ Beiyan first," the announcer declared. Since it was the hierarchs' decision, no one complained, though they were confused. Usually, weaker candidates would be eliminated first.
The fight ended with Long Tianming's clear victory. Situ Beiyan retreated. When Nie Li was set for the next fight, Situ Beiyan even went so far as to ask if he wanted the support of his forces.
Nie Li politely declined. His forces stepped forward, and I followed, then Long Yuyin as well. All together, there were about three hundred members. Even though the number was quite small, people were only interested in actual strength, but without engaging, it was difficult to know.
"Why stop hiding in the sect like cowardly turtles? You don't even have a domain in the outer area for your faction, and you still come up to fight with three hundred people? Give up already. Why waste time Junior Brother Nie Li?" Long Tianming mocked.
Nie Li responded calmly, "What a coincidence. We have the same opinion. If three hundred isn't enough, then..." He signaled to the sky origin clan members hidden among the groups below. Another three hundred sky origin clan members stepped forward. "This isn't even a fight anymore. You should give up."
"Hierarchs, he is cheating," Long Tianming protested, pointing at us. "How can you have hundreds of dragon dao members from the sky origin clan? Why didn't you have a place outside then? "
Everyone was taken aback by the power level and unexpected changes. Long Tianming felt he would only face defeat if this continued, so he turned around and addressed the hierarchs. "Hierarchs, please show your wisdom. Among the Divine Feather sect, who could gather such resources to buy this many dragon dao realm cultivators? Why remain silent until now. He must be a spy from the demon god sect sent to sabotage the sect master ceremony."
"His growth was also unusual, and their funding is unknown. The only reason I can think of is this connection. If he is allowed to win, then the divine feather sect will be overtaken by the Demon God Sect soon."
The people below began to grow suspicious. Hierarch Skycloud vouched for Nie Li's character.
I released my base aura without any suppression and signaled to Nie Li to show the aura of his members and stop concealing them. As if he agreed, every one of us released our aura.
"We aren't dependent on them either. We ourselves are all dragon dao realm and have even a martial ancestor realm in place. What do you think? Would the Demon God Sect be so clever as to first help hundreds of divine feather sect members cultivate to dragon dao realm just to win the sect master's competition?" Nie Li asked in return.
Long Tianming's further accusations led nowhere. But the surprises were not over yet. Hierarch Linglong, who had been silent for a long while, shocked everyone again. "Speaking of being a spy, Long Tianming, I guess you should know more about how that works."
"Grandmother, what do you mean?"
"We, the dragonseal family, adopted you for your talent displayed earlier, and you rose through the ranks very high. Your ambitions were also equally praiseworthy, but why did you betray the sect?"
Everyone, including the other hierarchs, was taken aback. Spending months of confinement accusing a sect master candidate as a spy was one thing, but being accused as one was a crime deserving death.
"Hierarch, I have always been fair in my actions. I don't know what you are talking about." He really sweated despite his cultivation under the direct accusation and spiritual suppression of martial ancestor.
"Well, someone capable helped us capture these few just months before." She opened a void, and twelve human sect members affiliated with the Demon God Sect were thrown out. "These twelve admitted you were working with them. Do my words carry enough evidence? Apprehend him."
Long Tianming knew running would not help at all, so he continued to pretend innocence.
"Nie Li, I request you as the new sect master to uncover any influences of the demon god sect from people he is involved with as soon as possible." This was her request.