Chapter 687: The Third Way to Cultivate the Taishang
Atop the altar, Lin Langtian slowly opened his eyes.
In those deep, ink-black pupils, it seemed as though all phenomena of the world were reflected. There was a subtle, unfathomable aura to them that drew one in without realizing it.
Awakening from that long, lonely cultivation, he was dazed for only a moment before clarity returned to his gaze.
Looking down at his slender hands, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"So this… is the legendary Divine Palace Realm?"
He murmured softly. He could tell that he had now stepped into an extremely terrifying realm.
He felt that if he were to meet the Sixth and Seventh King Halls of the Demonic Prison again, he could seriously injure them in the blink of an eye.
Even in front of King Halls who had endured three Reincarnation Tribulations, he would no longer feel any fear.
Such was the terrifying power the Divine Palace Realm had granted him.
He closed his eyes for an instant and focused his will. At his brow, a towering Divine Palace, ten thousand meters tall and radiating wondrous godly light, flickered into view, hovering serenely.
Within that palace, endless spiritual power surged and danced.
Now that power glowed faintly with chaotic radiance. It had clearly merged with the Taishang Power.
That tiny change had triggered a complete metamorphosis of his spiritual power and marked his official entry into the Divine Palace Realm.
After savoring the palace's marvels, Lin Langtian stood. Light flashed over his body, solidifying into a fitted green robe.
He clenched and relaxed his hands. Although he had devoted his heart and mind to forming the Divine Palace for ten years, the Yuan Power and demonic qi within him had also advanced greatly.
At his current level, however, raw cultivation was no longer his main concern. What mattered was how he would weather the terrifying Reincarnation Tribulation.
Countless experts throughout history had fallen under its blows.
"Ten years… that's one year outside. Who knows what's happening on the continent now," he muttered.
Even before he had secluded himself, the situation had been grim. The Demonic Prison had been restive. Now… what had things become?
That thought naturally led him to consider Lin Dong, who had entered seclusion with him. Whatever came to mind made his brows draw together slightly.
"I wonder if Lin Dong can break through to the Divine Palace Realm."
A rare hint of guilt crossed his face before he let out a wry, worried laugh.
As the so-called child of destiny, Lin Dong was more than capable. In the original timeline, he had become the famed Martial Ancestor, one of the most powerful beings in the Great Thousand World.
But Lin Langtian's intervention had changed the script. In the Great Yan Dynasty's Nirvana expert's tomb, Ling Qingzhu had become entangled with him by accident.
As a result, in this lifetime, Lin Dong and Ling Qingzhu had barely crossed paths. His future wife would likely be Ying Huanhuan alone.
Without Ling Qingzhu, the Palace Master of the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace, to serve as a bridge, Lin Dong had never received the Taishang Induction Art or accessed the Taishang Power.
Lin Langtian naturally felt some shame for this. Yet even if he wanted to compensate for it, he had no idea how.
There were only two known ways to cultivate the Taishang Induction Art: a transmission at the instant of birth, or dual cultivation to sense together.
Now that Ling Qingzhu was his woman, he could hardly hand her over. He was not about to become a cuckold.
As for dual cultivating with Lin Dong himself… that idea was so absurd it never even crossed Lin Langtian's mind.
Lin Dong might still form a Divine Palace on his own talent, but without the crucial Taishang Power, that palace would be a hollow shell, impressive only on the surface.
"…Sigh, I'd better go see what's happening outside first," he said, shaking his head once more.
If Lin Dong truly failed to break through, the burden Lin Langtian carried would only grow heavier. The continent would need him even more than before.
With that thought, he turned and bowed deeply to the worn futon atop the altar.
Without this retreat, even if he had managed to form a Divine Palace, it would have cost him ten years of real time. Knowing the original flow of events, he understood that ten lost years would have left everything in ruins.
Both in gratitude and out of courtesy, he had to offer thanks before leaving.
Buzz…
As he bowed, a faint hum rose from the futon, and a strange, gentle light slowly emerged.
Ssshh!
The light flickered and coalesced into an ancient figure of pure radiance.
Mystic brilliance streamed over that form, obscuring its features. The instant Lin Langtian saw it, his expression changed dramatically.
The aura it exuded was identical to that of the statue he had seen on the stone square: the same inscrutable face, the same unfathomable light.
There was only one possible identity for this being—the savior of the Tianxuan Continent, the peerless powerhouse who had sealed the Yimo Emperor ten thousand years ago.
The Symbol Ancestor.
At that realization, Lin Langtian's heart skipped a beat.
The Symbol Ancestor was the strongest figure in the continent's history. Had he not perished sealing the Yimo Emperor? Even if some vestige remained, why manifest before Lin Langtian now?
Had he come to blame him for stealing Lin Dong's opportunities?
While Lin Langtian's thoughts raced, the ancient figure regarded him calmly.
Under that gaze, Lin Langtian felt as though he had been laid completely bare before a god.
Even with his new Divine Palace, he was nothing but an ant before the strongest in the land's history.
Then, just as sweat began to bead on his skin, a strand of scarlet light flared from within his body.
Though it seemed weak, that ember of red snuffed out the crushing pressure from the Symbol Ancestor like a candle before a storm.
"Hm…"
The ancient figure gave a soft exclamation of surprise at the sight of that light.
"No wonder… so you're a friend from the Great Thousand World. I don't suppose… we might meet?" he said, voice steeped in ageless time.
His words rang with the weight of eternity.
At that, Lin Langtian realized who he meant.
In answer, a crimson glow streaked from his body and blossomed into the voluptuous form of a woman in red: Ling Ying.
"You must be the Symbol Ancestor, then. So you really are from the Great Thousand World," she said, lips curling slightly. "I didn't expect an outsider to sacrifice his life for a lower plane. That's… rare."
Though she herself was of another race, the threat the extraterritorial evil race posed to all life in the Great Thousand World was all too real. How could she not respect someone who had willingly sacrificed himself to block that terror?
"Hehe, I simply could not bear to see a world destroyed by the Yimo," the Symbol Ancestor replied with a sigh. "I did not think too much at the time. It never occurred to me that I would encounter a friend of the Nine Nether Fire Sparrow Clan here…"
He went quiet for a moment.
Originally, he had come in search of the Tianxuan Continent's Seed of the Dimension.
But when he found the Yimo Emperor tearing through the land, he could not ignore the slaughter. Out of respect for life, he chose to stand with the continent's people.
He forged divine artifacts, battled the Yimo, and eventually gave up his own life to seal the Emperor, buying the land a millennium of peace.
Thinking of this, he turned to Lin Langtian, his gaze complex.
He had already foreseen that the Yimo Emperor's seal might one day break, and had laid a number of contingencies.
He had not expected a wild card like Lin Langtian to intercept them.
That was enough to make an appearance necessary.
"You are blessed with tremendous fortune, young friend, to have forged a blood link with the Nine Nether Fire Sparrow Clan," he said softly. "I did not expect the Taishang Power to end up in your hands. Still, your talent is not beneath that of the one I chose so carefully.
"When this world is in peril, I hope you will step forward."
Broad-minded and selfless, the Symbol Ancestor had not come out of spite. He merely wished to correct his plans and see the one who had changed them.
And in seeing Lin Langtian's bond with Ling Ying, he gained a new measure of hope, one more thread of resistance to the Yimo. That alone was cause for comfort.
"Senior, you have my word," Lin Langtian replied, thinking immediately of Lin Dong and flushing a little with guilt. "If the continent is ever in danger, this junior will not stand aside."
The Symbol Ancestor's sacrifice was truly worthy of reverence.
"Good."
The ancient light smiled kindly, offering Ling Ying a small nod before his form slowly faded away.
Only when the last gleam vanished did Lin Langtian finally exhale. Then a new question rose in his heart.
"Ling Ying… why do you think the Symbol Ancestor appeared now?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious? For the sake of the one he chose," she said with a soft laugh.
"Oh? Lin Dong, then… in that case…" Realization dawned across his face and a grin spread.
It was clear that the Symbol Ancestor had already visited Lin Dong and granted him the Taishang Power.
There might only be two general methods to learn the Taishang Induction Art, but the Symbol Ancestor who created it would naturally have a third.
"Looks like Brother Dong really is the child of destiny…" Lin Langtian chuckled and turned his gaze outward, as if peering through the training ground's walls to the continent beyond.
…
Unnoticed, a full year had passed in the world outside.
A great many things had happened in that time. First came the chaos of the Chaotic Demon Sea. Just as the alliance there took shape and stalemated the Yimo, the Monster Domain was suddenly struck.
Its sky ran red with blood.
The Demonic Prison's forces rampaged through the lands until the Ancient Masters rushed in to block them.
Guided by those elders, the four Overlord Clans and the eight Royal Clans formed the Monster Alliance.
The response was overwhelming. Countless Monster Domain factions joined without hesitation. At such a time, to stand alone was to die.
The Monster Alliance was jointly led by the four Overlord Clans. With their prestige, no one objected when a leader was chosen.
That leader was Little Marten.
For half a year, the two sides grappled, neither gaining decisive ground.
But then a sudden turn shifted the balance in the Monster Domain.
The first cause lay in the Ancestral Palace—several chosen experts successfully returned, having broken through to the Reincarnation Stage.
The second was the sudden rise of two new Overlord Clans: the Seven Slaughter Black Golden Crow Clan and the Nine-Tailed Clan.
The former elevated their entire race when their clan leader broke through in the Ancestral Palace.
The latter rose because of a single, bewitchingly beautiful girl, whose strength chilled even peak Reincarnation experts.
She had not only stepped into Reincarnation, but survived a Tribulation as well.
With these two new powers, the Monster Alliance surged in strength, slowly edging ahead of the Demonic Prison's forces.
The Monster Domain, too, settled into a fragile stalemate.
Yet the Demonic Prison's leaders clearly had no intention of letting the land rest.
Hard on the heels of the Monster Domain's resistance came another blow—this time against the Four Xuan Regions.
Armed with their earlier experience, the Demonic Prison moved with ruthless efficiency.
Before most people even realized they were under attack, half of the Western Xuan Region was drenched in blood.
The carnage spread like wildfire, forcing the Ancient Masters to intercept the invaders and order the Four Xuan Regions to form their own alliance.
This time there was no hesitation. The Dark Hall and the Heavenly Mansion led the way.
Unsurprisingly, the alliance's mantle fell upon Qing Tan, who had returned from the Ancestral Palace as a Reincarnation expert. She was named leader, with Zhou Tong of the Heavenly Mansion as her deputy.
With that, three great alliances had taken their places across the world.
The Chaotic Demon Sea, the Monster Domain, and the Four Xuan Regions—countless factions, sects, and races—all began to gather.
Under the Demonic Prison's iron hand, many old grudges slowly faded.
Together, these three alliances finally began to stabilize the situation.
The Demonic Prison's rampage, at last, was halted.
(END CHAPTER)
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