Invincible Starts From Dao Fruit-Chapter 575 - 450: Return to the Dongqi Daoist School!
At the head seat.
The East River Palace Master wasn’t particularly surprised. He nodded and said, "In five hundred years, it will coincide with the ’Dayan Victory Conference,’ held once every 490,000 years by the Immortal Court. If you have confidence in breaking through the Seventh Peak of Trial Sword Peak in the Inner Realm, there’s no need to rush into advancing to the External Realm. Perhaps then, you could make some remarkable achievements at the ’Dayan Victory Conference.’"
Dayan Victory Conference!
Held only once in 490,000 years, even among Fourth-order Immortals, only one generation in ten might have the fortune to witness it.
And it just so happens to fall in this era.
Unlike ’Ascending to Chief’ or the ’Immortal Slaying List,’ topics Chen Jichuan had paid no attention to due to insufficient cultivation, thus being unfamiliar with both,
he had, however, come across records regarding the ’Dayan Victory Conference’ in the Daoist Book Collection Pavilion.
Though the accounts were not detailed, he knew it was a grand event of the Immortal Dao and the Daoist sects.
At the time, True Immortal Old Ancestors of the Four Great Daoist Sects and Great Saint Monks from the West Continent Buddhism would all be in attendance. The Fourth-order Immortals from the Four Great Daoist Sects and the Four Directions Continent would spar and compete at the conference. Outstanding performances would not only attract the attention of True Immortals during the event but also result in substantial rewards from their respective Daoist sects afterward.
This was a grand assembly for the Daoist sects, and also a significant opportunity for the Upper Immortals.
But participating in such an event was no easy feat.
Leaving the other Upper Immortals aside for now.
Take Chen Jichuan, for example.
The East River Palace Master wanted him to surpass the Seventh Peak of the Trial Sword Peak while still in the Inner Realm, which essentially required him to possess the power of an early-stage Third Realm Dharma Body of an ordinary Daoist while still in the Inner Realm.
Chen Jichuan had only been cultivating for 800 years to date.
Even with another 500 years, he’d barely be over 1,300 years old. Achieving such a feat while maintaining Inner Realm cultivation was exceedingly difficult.
The East River Palace Master must have mentioned it casually.
But even a casual remark carried his recognition of Chen Jichuan, and it underlined the extraordinary opportunities at the ’Dayan Victory Conference.’
"Understood!"
"Disciple will do my utmost!"
Seeing the East River Palace Master attach such importance to this, Chen Jichuan also began to take it seriously in his heart.
Five hundred years.
Inner Realm.
Surpass the Seventh Peak.
For him, it wasn’t all that daunting.
If he was already a monster of talent, he might as well push it further—not much difference anyway.
...
After finishing the topic of the Dayan Victory Conference, it was time for the usual session of questions and clarifications.
"Teacher,"
Shen Mo was the first to speak, asking about several key intricacies of cultivating the ’One Origin to the End.’
Within the Daoist sects, Divine Skills were secret techniques, only True Immortals were permitted to fully grasp them. Disciples like Shen Mo and Liu Hechuan, as Chiefs, were qualified to select one Divine Skill to partially study and cultivate.
Shen Mo had once been a Daoist Chief and chosen the Divine Skill ’One Origin to the End,’ establishing a solid foundation. Over the years, aside from gaining Enlightenment, he had dedicated most of his time to this Divine Skill.
However, Divine Skills were esoteric and unfathomable, requiring constant guidance from the East River Palace Master. Without such help, it would have been impossible to make progress.
The guidance of a True Immortal—each word carried profound wisdom.
After Shen Mo was done.
"Teacher,"
Meng Qing, Wuy Qi, Xue Gu, and Shi Ze each spoke up to ask questions in turn.
Some sought clarification on issues with Absolute Skills.
The East River Palace lineage possessed forty-four Absolute Skills, all vastly surpassing ordinary super-level techniques, second only to the Divine Skills of the Daoist sects.
For instance, the ’Reincarnation Skill.’
And the ’Sky Splitting Skill.’
These were among the forty-four Absolute Skills.
Meng Qing, Wuy Qi, and Xue Gu had all reached the Fourth-order Fourth Realm and had begun pursuing Enlightenment.
In this regard, even a True Immortal could provide limited assistance.
Or rather, they themselves didn’t quite know what to ask when it came to matters of Enlightenment.
There wasn’t much to inquire about regarding Enlightenment.
Yet, each of them had mastered Absolute Skills and reached profound levels of understanding. Attempting to progress further based purely on hard practice and self-comprehension became increasingly difficult. But with guidance from a True Immortal, they could make remarkable leaps forward.
The East River Palace Master’s lectures, held once every 900 years, were their golden opportunity.
After the three of them, Shi Ze’s questions focused instead on some challenges he faced in Inner Realm cultivation. He still had considerable room for improvement, and he primarily prioritized elevating his cultivation level, putting Absolute Skills slightly on the back burner.
Cultivation is the foundation.
Techniques are supplementary.
As a Daoist True Inheritor, Shi Ze understood this hierarchy clearly.
After the senior brothers and sisters had asked their questions, it was Chen Jichuan’s turn.
This was Chen Jichuan’s first time listening to a True Immortal deliver a lecture, and also his first opportunity to pose his question to one. There was a query that had haunted him in his previous life, one he had been pondering for a long time. Finally, he now had the chance to seek answers.
"Teacher, may I be so bold as to ask: for Fourth-order cultivators pursuing Enlightenment, when does it end, and how can one prove their Dao?"
Chen Jichuan looked toward the East River Palace Master seated at the head, his gaze laden with confusion.
In his previous life, he had tirelessly cultivated for 144,000 years, with the last 80,000 years spent pursuing Enlightenment. But the more he cultivated, the more he felt that the further he progressed, the less he understood where his ’Dao’ ultimately lay.
Chasing the mountain only to die on the run.
A lifetime passed in vain pursuit.
Chen Jichuan wanted to know—how far had he actually come in his previous life, where was he now, and how far was he from becoming a True Immortal?
He felt that only a True Immortal could provide the answers to these questions.
"The end."
"Proving the Dao."
The East River Palace Master showed a tinge of emotion on his face. He did not give a direct reply but instead stretched out a hand and gently tapped Chen Jichuan three times on the forehead.
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
It sounded as though morning bells and evening drums resonated, the Dao roaring aloud.
Chen Jichuan was suddenly elevated beyond worldly constraints. For a brief moment, the world shifted around him, and the Dao revealed itself.
He saw countless threads of the Dao, like a spider’s web, weaving through the heavens, interlaced and complex, exuding a sense of profound awe. Looking down at his own feet, the silken threads transformed into Dao pathways. Looking back, he saw a trail stretching about three thousand miles, wide and brilliant. But looking forward, the silk threads tangled tightly, and the path ahead was long and arduous, like a single-plank bridge fraught with countless diverging forks, which filled his heart with unease and confusion.
As his state of mind wavered, he was immediately ejected from this vision.
Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the True Knowledge Hall.
"Did you see clearly?"
The East River Palace Master asked.
"I saw clearly,"
Chen Jichuan nodded, but as soon as he spoke, he then shook his head: "But I didn’t see clearly."
The East River Palace Master didn’t respond to his words; his figure faded and vanished from the True Knowledge Hall.
