Mu Xue had achieved enlightenment and breakthrough. With her ice-heart clear, she walked nimbly toward the Heavenly Palace gate, temporarily leaving the others behind. This scene greatly stimulated those still struggling.
Ao Qin roared, burning his dragon yuan without regard for consumption. A blue dragon aura burst forth from him, forcibly carving a path through the thick dao rhyme pressure. His speed increased sharply.
But Tang Xiaoqi did not become impatient because of Mu Xue's lead, nor did he imitate Ao Qin's desperateerupted. He maintained his previous rhythm, even slower and more steady than before.
Mu Xue's enlightenment, that ice lotus vortex displaying the extreme of "stillness" reflecting all "movement," gave him great inspiration. He realized that forcibly resisting this vast ocean-like dao rhyme pressure was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot wheel, definitely not the correct path. Mu Xue used "mirror heart" to reflect, transforming external force into nourishment. But his dao, his foundation's source, what should they do?
He again slowly closed his eyes, banishing all stray thoughts. External clamor, companions racing ahead, the palace's allure before him, even his own body's heaviness and exhaustion, all were temporarily isolated.
His spirit sank completely inward.
His Golden Core slowly rotated, emanating warm and resilient light. Deep in his dantian, the jade pendant merged with the Four Symbols Soul Crystal and Purifying Source Mystic Fire was emanating constant warmth, like a stabilizing needle, guarding the clarity of his spiritual platform.
What was his dao?
It was protection.
Protecting the mountain gate of Qingxu Temple, protecting the smiles of his fellow disciples, protecting all the beautiful things in the world worth treasuring, protecting the peace his father bought with his life, protecting Mu Xue's sincerity beneath her cold exterior, protecting Ao Qin's pride and loyalty as Dragon Prince, protecting these comrades fighting alongside him...
This will to protect was not a self-limiting barrier but stemmed from the deepest love and attachment to life and beauty. It required power, required wisdom, and most importantly, a firm and unwavering heart pure enough to wash away filth and bring vitality and hope.
The source of purification was not merely for destroying demonic energy and evil. Its deeper essence was "correcting,""restoring," returning chaos to order, restoring clarity to turbidity, protecting the pure state that "existence" itself should have.
"Protection... purification..."
Two core intentions blended, collided, and sublimated in his heart. He no longer viewed protective sword intent as a shield against external impacts, nor did he see the purifying source merely as a sieve filtering impurities.
He imagined himself as a seed. A seed containing endless vitality and protective will.
The dao rhyme pressure from outside, that chaotic and vast law fragment torrent, was no longer flood beasts to resist but soil, sunlight, and rain nourishing the seed's growth! Only this "soil" was too rich, the energy too violent. Ordinary seeds could not withstand it at all and would only be burst or assimilated.
But his "seed" was different. His core was a protective sword heart tempered through hardships without change, and a purifying source that could transform filth into nourishment.
"With this heart as root, this intent as stem and leaves, this body as flower... Bloom."
A silent vow fell in his heart.
The platinum-white protective aura on his body began to subtly change. It no longer expanded outward to resist but slowlyrestrained inward, becoming more condensed and substantial, as if truly transforming into a sturdy seed coat wrapping the seed. On the aura, the green lotus phantasm was no longer merely flowing but seemingly taking root in his dao foundation, fully integrating with his protective sword intent and purifying source.
Then, he took an entirely new step.
The moment his foot landed, suddenmutation occurred!
Where his foot sole touched that sturdy white jade ground tile inscribed with star dao patterns, acircle of soft and pure'sgolden ripples rippled outward. Then, in the shocked gazes of everyone, a vivid, completely composed of pure dao rhyme and his protective purifying intent, golden lotus flower bloomed out of thin air,just happened to catch his foot bottom!
The golden lotus was not physical butcondensed as if substantial. Its petals were layered, its veins clear, emanating warm, firm, pure, and full of vitality. The moment it appeared, those chaotic violent law fragments around, as if meeting a monarch, became docile and peaceful, automatically circling the golden lotus's flow. They not only no longer formed impacts but were quietly absorbed and transformed by the lotus, supplementing Xiao Qi's consumption, and transformed into a more refined and peaceful energy, nourishing his fleshly body and divine soul.
One step, one golden lotus!
Xiao Qi's pace was still not fast, even slower and steadier than before. But with every step, a pure dao rhyme golden lotus would bloom, supporting his foot, purifying his surroundings, stabilizing his domain.
Lotus blooming with every step!
This startling omen instantly drew everyone's attention.
"Lotus blooming with every step?! This is... dao manifesting, principle resonating?!" Ao Qin abruptly stopped his desperate charge, his dragon eyes filled with unbelievable shock. He had extensive knowledge from growing up in the Dragon Palace and deeply knew what this omen meant. This was by no means a simple spell or divine ability but a deep-level resonance between the cultivator's dao heart, foundation, and the external heaven-earth dao, gaining the daorecognition and blessing! It was a symbol that one's dao was extremely pure, firm, and highly consistent with heaven-earth principles! Even in the oldest records of the Dragon Clan, those who could walk out the "lotus blooming with every step" omen were all brilliant talents with hope of touching the supreme dao realm!
The black turtle elder's turbid eyes erupted with sharp light. He murmured, "Within protection is contained infinite vitality. Beneath purification is order reborn... This youth's dao has obtained the positive rhythm of heaven and earth!"
The mermaid woman and flood-guard yaksha watched open-mouthed. They could clearly feel that when Xiao Qi stepped forward with golden lotuses, even the dao rhyme pressure around them seemed lessened, as if neutralized by that lotus's auspicious aura.
Xiao Qi himself was also immersed in this wonderful state. Standing on the golden lotus, he felt an unprecedented close connection between himself and this white jade plaza, with the endless starry void, and even with that distant magnificent Heavenly Palace. The vast dao rhyme pressure no longer suffocated him but instead felt like returning to the womb, full ofaffinity and tolerance. Countless law informations still rushed into his perception, but they were no longer chaotic but became orderly and clear under the golden lotus's harmonization, like trickling streams nourishing his dao realm, deepening his understanding of the true meaning of "protection" and "purification."
His speed, within the seemingly slow pace, was actually not slow. Each step was firm, each step accompanied by the blooming and baptism of dao rhyme golden lotus. He was no longer "resisting" to advance but "resonating" to stroll.
Golden lotuses bloomed gracefully behind him, forming a brief and slowly dissipating golden lotus path. On thiswhite jade square filled with chaotic colors and vast pressure, it constituted a shocking, sacred, and solemn picture.
His steadfast stand, his purity, his dao, had received a response from this heavenly land.
Lotus blooming with every step, the dao path reveals itself.