Chapter 38

“Brother Shanfeng, are you alright?”

As Lin Yuan was gathering his thoughts, Qingping, the little daoist boy, cautiously approached him.

The other three little daoist boys stood not far away, not daring to come over.

“I’m fine.”

Lin Yuan shook his head.

Compared to the deceit and intrigue of the outside world, Dragon Tiger Mountain was much purer.

The four little daoist boys inside the True Martial Dao Zang usually got along well with Lin Yuan.

Now that Lin Yuan was being reprimanded by Master Cang Qing, not one of them ridiculed him; instead, they all showed concern.

Even Master Cang Qing himself, upon discovering Lin Yuan’s “stray into the wrong path,” did not give up on him right away but considered using the body refining method to pull him back—even if this method was irreversible and harmful to Master Cang Qing himself.

“It must be the mansion master who got it wrong.”

“When I try to comprehend either Taiyin Pole Extreme or Taiyang Pole Extreme, I find them so difficult.”

“Brother Shanfeng comprehended both at once; that must be truly amazing…”

Qingping murmured softly.

He wasn’t lying; after barely entering the door of Taiyang Pole Extreme, Qingping tried to comprehend Taiyin Pole Extreme.

He found the difficulty soared.

Initially, when he had not entered either path, he could barely sense the Power of Taiyin and the Power of Taiyang using fire and ice beads.

Once he entered Taiyang Pole Extreme, he couldn’t feel the Power of Taiyin at all.

Not being able to feel the Power of Taiyin, let alone comprehend Taiyin Pole Extreme.

Therefore, cultivating both Taiyin Pole Extreme and Taiyang Pole Extreme was seen by Qingping as an incredibly formidable task.

“Is that so?”

Lin Yuan smiled faintly.

 

After chatting with the little daoist boys for a few moments,

Lin Yuan once again immersed himself in cultivation.

To be precise, with his Against-Heaven’s Understanding, Lin Yuan had new insights and bursts of Spiritual Light every moment.

Especially after observing the insights of past Celestial Masters on the stone walls.

The Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master Mansion, while they did not cultivate the Dual Path of Yin and Yang like Lin Yuan,

the insights of each master in their respective paths often resonated with Lin Yuan.

“Marvelous.”

“The Power of Taiyang can be used this way too.”

Lin Yuan sat in front of the stone wall of the First Generation Celestial Master, his eyes shining.

After such a long time studying the stone walls, Lin Yuan categorized the past Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master Mansion into three levels in his mind.

The first level was the First Generation Celestial Master.

Without a doubt, the strength of the First Generation Celestial Master was the strongest among all the masters, leading the way like a sheer cliff.

Especially in the path of Taiyang Pole Extreme, the First Generation Celestial Master could be said to have explored very deeply.

Following the First Generation Celestial Master,

were the Second Generation Master, the Third Generation Master, the Fifteenth Generation Master, and the Twenty-Eighth Generation Master.

These four masters, although not as strong as the First, were clearly superior to the rest of the masters.

In their respective paths of Taiyin Pole Extreme and Taiyang Pole Extreme, each had considerable achievements.

As for the remaining masters, compared to the first two tiers, they seemed somewhat ‘ordinary.’

However, even the weakest master had strength far beyond that of the Celestial Phenomena Realm, capable of dominating the world.

“My path should not be limited by the achievements of past Celestial Masters; I intend to surpass all of them.”

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his heart exceedingly resolute.

Just then,

Lin Yuan’s heart stirred, and he looked towards the entrance.

Before long,

a real person of the Celestial Master Mansion walked in briskly.

“Disciple Zhang, someone is looking for you.”

Even though Master Cang Qing had given up on Lin Yuan or held him in low regard, Lin Yuan’s status in the Celestial Master Mansion was still supreme.

As a disciple recognized by the True Martial Sword, once he became a Celestial Master, he would be able to command the entire Celestial Master Mansion; even if he didn’t become the master, no one could give him orders, including the current mansion master.

“Uncle Changqing?”

Lin Yuan walked out of the Dao Zang and saw the figure of Daoist Changqing.

Lin Yuan had great respect for Daoist Changqing; after all, without him, Lin Yuan certainly wouldn’t have survived, whether from freezing or starvation.

Against-Heaven’s Understanding allowed Lin Yuan to continuously break through his limits and comprehend various secret techniques, but it had its limits.

As an infant, without food, even if he truly ‘hibernated,’ he wouldn’t last long.

And Daoist Changqing had a good relationship with Lin Yuan’s father. Although he did not arrive in time back then, he had been very kind to Lin Yuan over the years.

“Ah, Shanfeng, I’ve heard that you’ve rather upset the mansion master?”

Daoist Changqing looked at Lin Yuan with a gratified expression and casually said.

“I indeed failed to meet the mansion master’s expectations,”

Lin Yuan replied with a nod.

Master Cang Qing’s expectation for Lin Yuan was for him to become a Celestial Master,

but Lin Yuan’s own goal was to transcend Celestial Mastership.

“Ha ha ha ha ha.”

“The mansion master usually keeps his emotions well hidden, to see you’ve irritated him like that, it’s quite interesting.”

Daoist Changqing laughed.

Immediately after, Daoist Changqing’s expression became serious, “Shanfeng, do you know why I came here today?”

“Did the mansion master send you to persuade me?” Lin Yuan guessed.

“Indeed,” Daoist Changqing nodded, “The mansion master sent me to persuade you, hoping you would consent to the body refining and then walk the path of a Celestial Master like all past masters.”

“But now it seems I don’t need to persuade you.”

“As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. You don’t need to worry too much about being a Celestial Master or not.”

Changqing went on, but then he seemed to remember something and fell into a trance.

“Years ago, when I was on good terms with your father and your mother was pregnant, I wrote to your father to ask what he hoped his son would achieve one day.”

Changqing said softly, “I assumed your father would say that he wanted his son to become a world-renowned hero or, at the very least, to inherit the Zhang Family Fort.”

“But your father only hoped that you could live a happy life.”

“In this life, we can either live happily or under constant pressure. The Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master Mansion have been invincible throughout the generations, but what is the difference now that they are dead and gone?”

“What’s the point of a legacy when a person is dead?”

Changqing finally sighed and said, “I only hope that you won’t regret the path you choose in the future.”

Changqing’s words took Lin Yuan aback.

He had originally thought Changqing would be Master Cang Qing’s lobbyist.

Instead, the other party spoke from his perspective.

 

After Changqing left,

Lin Yuan once more plunged into his cultivation and sudden enlightenment.

There were the insights and realizations left on the stone walls by generations of Celestial Masters.

With his Against-Heaven’s Understanding to deduce, Lin Yuan’s cultivation speed was much faster.

According to Lin Yuan’s estimate, in at most ten years, he would be able to elevate both Taiyin Pole Extreme and Taiyang Pole Extreme beyond the level of the Celestial Phenomena Realm.

On this day,

Lin Yuan was cultivating.

A Taoist in a disheveled Daoist robe appeared silently behind him.

“Pingyang…”

Lin Yuan’s face showed a look of surprise, and he immediately greeted him.

Compared with Master Cang Qing, Lin Yuan was much more familiar with Taoist Pingyang.

Before the venture into the Sword Tomb, Taoist Pingyang often chatted jovially with the Daoists from the mountainside Daoist Institute, without any hint of the bearings of someone from the Celestial Phenomena Realm.

“Impressive.”

“To cultivate both Taiyin Pole Extreme and Taiyang Pole Extreme simultaneously is something that no generation of Celestial Master has ever achieved.”

Master Pingyang nodded slightly, expressing his admiration.

Out of the thirty-six Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master Mansion, only the Third Generation Celestial Master ever thought about cultivating both paths of Yin and Yang simultaneously.

However, the Third Generation Celestial Master only tried to incorporate the Power of Taiyin after becoming a Celestial Master.

And the result was not very successful.

Lin Yuan had not yet become a Celestial Master, but he was already pondering over this matter and even putting it into practice, truly deserving of the True Martial Dao Zang’s recognition.

“Thank you for the compliment, Uncle-Master.”

Lin Yuan maintained a calm expression.

“However, have you thought about the road ahead?”

“Cultivating both Taiyin Pole Extreme and Taiyang Pole Extreme might allow you to reach the Celestial Phenomena Realm. But if you want to step into the Celestial Master level and surpass the Celestial Phenomena Realm, you will need to transform your own primordial qi. Considering you tend to both Yin and Yang, once the transformation begins, the Yin Yang Power will repel each other, and you know what the consequences will be…”

Master Pingyang reminded.

The consequences would be the Third Generation Celestial Master.

He perished in a blown-up body.

“Uncle-Master,”

“Regarding this matter, I have given it some thought.”

“The reason why the Yin Yang Power repels during the transformation of the primordial qi is that they are not unified.”

“If I can integrate the Yin Yang Power into a new force before that and break through the Celestial Phenomena Realm once more…”

Lin Yuan revealed his own thoughts.

This was also the path he had deduced after many days through his Against-Heaven’s Understanding.

“Integrate the Yin Yang Power?”

“You mean to merge Taiyin Pole Extreme with Taiyang Pole Extreme?”

“Are you crazy? Two fundamentally opposite forces that can’t even be practiced simultaneously, and you want to merge them?”

Taoist Pingyang swallowed hard, truly frightened by Lin Yuan’s idea.

That would be like trying to merge fire with water.

Ultimately, either the fire would be extinguished and water partly vaporized,

or the water completely vaporized with the fire severely weakened.

The more likely outcome would be both fire and water collapsing simultaneously, with no other possibility.

“You’ve really gone mad,”

“Merging Taiyin Pole Extreme with Taiyang Pole Extreme is utter nonsense. Since ancient times, no one has dared to do such a thing.”

“Even the First Generation Celestial Master couldn’t do it.”

“For generations to come, it would be impossible for anyone to conceive of this.”

Taoist Pingyang muttered to himself, looking at Lin Yuan with disbelief.

With two extreme forces, harmonized through the human body, there might be a slim chance to practice both, but to merge? That would be courting death.

The ancients didn’t dare to do it, and modern people couldn’t achieve it either.

Master Pingyang opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but in the end, he swallowed his words.

He could see that Lin Yuan was resolute, truly intent on merging the Dual Path of Yin and Yang.

“Ah…”

Master Pingyang sighed and turned to leave.

Lin Yuan watched Master Pingyang’s retreating figure.

Then, he stepped out of the Dao Zang and came outside, looking down from above, overseeing the mountain below.

“The ancients dared not, the modern cannot.”

Lin Yuan lifted his head slightly, with the Power of Taiyin and Power of Taiyang interlacing and clashing in his eyes.

“I will do it.”