Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 594 - 275. Stillness and Motion, a Fate Made by Heaven (Combined Chapter)
"Pure Yang Realm?"
Xu Yuanzhen had recently been busy on the mountain, occupied with refining something. Hearing Tang Xiaotang’s boastful clamor after emerging from seclusion, she responded noncommittally, "Alright, let’s give it a try."
Lei Jun watched the battle with great interest.
In the Taoist Talisman Sect, the Eighth Heavenly Layer is known as the Divine Court realm. This realm has the Divine Court Four Sceneries, arranged from low to high: the Inner Scenery, the Middle Scenery, the Outer Scenery, and the Upper Scenery. These can also be referred to as the Divine Court’s first through fourth-layer realms.
If the Seventh Heavenly Layer’s Heaven-Connecting Realm is a pathway connecting humanity and heaven, then successfully transcending the Heavenly Moat Tribulation between the Seventh Heavenly Layer and the Eighth Heavenly Layer signifies a true ascent to the heavens.
Just as Talisman Sect cultivators construct the Tao Palace at the Fifth Heavenly Layer, at the Eighth Heavenly Layer, they construct the Divine Court.
Talisman Sect cultivators follow a cultivation path of understanding and communicating with nature. As they deepen their connection and understanding with Huan Yu and nature, the Divine Court becomes a concrete representation and reconstructed framework of this understanding.
Initially, it exists only within the cultivator, hence it is called the Inner Scenery. To a certain degree, it can also be considered a kind of Inner Cosmos.
In terms of actual combat, its most evident manifestation is the ability to use the Inner Cosmos, or Divine Court Inner Scene, to contain more than one Dharma. This allows a cultivator to raise two Dharmas simultaneously to confront an enemy.
Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang possess special Root Bone Physiques that allow them to condense more than one Dharma prematurely in the Heaven-Connecting Realm.
However, lacking the Divine Court Inner Scene to contain and support them, Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang, despite manifesting aspects of twin dragons and twin tigers during their daily cultivation, could only maintain one Dharma at a time during actual combat. To utilize another Dharma required dispersing and re-condensing it, or switching to it.
After cultivating the Divine Court Inner Scene, cultivators are no longer subject to such restrictions.
Upon cultivating the higher-level Divine Court Intermediate Scene, the Inner Cosmos continues to grow. It then begins to resonate with and influence the outer cosmos. Although it cannot yet be completely externalized, the Divine Court Intermediate Scene can protect the cultivator during combat. It provides defense for Talisman Sect cultivators, though there is little outwardly noticeable change.
If one progresses further to cultivate the External Scenery of the Divine Court, the Inner Cosmos expands once again. It then fully manifests externally, forming a small world independent of the greater universe. When Talisman Sect cultivators at the Outer Scenery realm—the third layer of the Divine Court in the Eighth Heavenly Layer—unfold their External Scenery of the Divine Court, it is equivalent to creating an extradimensional domain. Although there are many immature aspects, the principles and artistic conceptions within this world are manifestations of the cultivator’s own Divine Skills and Mana. These also change according to their will. Positioned within it, cultivators have a home-field advantage, possessing great power with every movement.
Because it embodies the cultivator’s unique understanding of the principles of heaven and earth, their Divine Court External Sceneries might have subtle differences. This holds true even if two Eighth Heavenly Layer cultivators cultivate the exact same Taoist Laws. In a way, every External Scenery of the Divine Court is unique.
For example, the previous generation Celestial Master Li Qingfeng’s External Scenery of the Divine Court was called the Dragon Tiger Tao Palace.
Xu Yuanzhen’s External Scenery of the Divine Court was named End of the Void.
And now, Tang Xiaotang’s External Scenery of the Divine Court had been named by herself as the Pure Yang Realm.
As she engaged Xu Yuanzhen in combat, Lei Jun, observing the battle, saw a vast expanse of pure golden radiance unfold around Tang Xiaotang. It covered an immense area, seemingly forming a world entirely of pure gold. Within that world, golden lightning interwove with fierce flames.
Opposite her, dark thunderclouds reappeared around Xu Yuanzhen. The thunderclouds expanded, instantly resembling a vast, dark glacier suspended in mid-air, yet frozen.
But when this glacier-like massive dark cloud made contact with Tang Xiaotang’s Pure Yang Realm, changes began to occur. Deep within the dark thunderclouds, it seemed to transform into a boundless, deep, and silent cosmic void. All light and warmth retreated, leaving only boundless solitude and profound cold.
One pure gold, one dark; one fiercely blazing, one desolate and silent—the edges of the two small worlds met in mid-air and then began to compress against each other. The confrontation was intense but utterly soundless.
In the end, Lei Jun’s field of vision was filled with a giant sphere, half gold and half dark. Gold and darkness each occupied one half, continuously roiling and contending, neither giving way.
An objective gap indeed existed in their current cultivation realms. As Xu Yuanzhen had stated, even if she intentionally controlled her power, there were paths she had traversed that Tang Xiaotang had not. These intangible differences were undeniably real.
Within the Divine Court Four Sceneries, advancing from the third layer, the Outer Scenery, allows one to attain the Upper Scenery. Upon reaching the Divine Court Superior Vista, the small world a cultivator has created begins to reach preliminary maturity. Compared to the External Scenery of the Divine Court, the Divine Court Superior Vista is not only more stable and larger in range but also more proactive in actual combat. It is balanced in offense and defense and can also be used to attempt to forcibly capture and seize enemies into it.
Furthermore, should a cultivator advance to the Nine Heavens Great Vehicle Realm of Taoism, their Divine Court Superior Vista transforms into the Great Vehicle Taoist Scene. All aspects of its power are significantly enhanced, a state described as "Divine Skills nearing the Tao."
The half-gold, half-dark sphere roiled in mid-air for a long time before gradually beginning to separate. The two small worlds, one gold and one dark, once again stood apart in opposition.
The golden External Scenery of the Divine Court gradually retracted until it finally vanished, leaving only Tang Xiaotang, her eyebrows and hair entirely gold.
Tang Xiaotang no longer displayed her previous excitement, nor did she appear dejected. Her expression was unusually serene. Her golden eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she gazed ahead, seemingly lost in contemplation.
Opposite her, the dark world reconverged, finally condensing into a dark thundercloud that supported Xu Yuanzhen from below.
Xu Yuanzhen also refrained from mocking Tang Xiaotang, instead nodding slightly. "It’s acceptable for it to be somewhat unrefined at first. What’s important is that its Spiritual Nature is abundant."
Tang Xiaotang did not respond. Apparently struck by some inspiration, she remained silent, deep in thought.
