Invincible Starts From Dao Fruit-Chapter 98 - 76 Time is Merciless, The Solitary Seeker of the Path! [2nd Update, Requesting Monthly Votes!]
Chapter 98: Chapter 76 Time is Merciless, The Solitary Seeker of the Path! [2nd Update, Requesting Monthly Votes!]
Qizhenzi’s death.
Time seemed to press the fast-forward button, racing ahead with unstoppable momentum.
Ten years.
Twenty years.
Thirty years.
Thirty years of Longxing’s reign passed in a blink.
The "Jianlong Prosperous Era" faded into history.
Generation after generation of emperors rose and fell, each era swept away by the tides of history. Da Liang, since Emperor Jianyan’s revival, experienced the glory of the Jianyan and Longxing eras before inevitably entering the cycle of rise and fall.
After the prosperous era.
It barely sustained itself for another eighty-seven years before finally collapsing, the Zheng Dynasty on the brink of extinction.
A hundred-year dynasty.
A thousand-year lineage of noble families.
The unyielding Baozhi Forest.
Amid cycles of ascension and decline, dynastic changes, Baozhi Forest stood tall, unbroken for two hundred and thirty years.
One hundred and seventeen years ago.
Chen Jichuan, Sun Sihai, and Jin Shenggu traversed thousands of miles to Flying Immortal Mountain to slay the demonic Daoist Qizhenzi.
Afterward, each pursued their own cultivation path.
Chen Jichuan continued roaming the mountains and rivers, delving into the "Ghost Communication Technique," "Plow Head Curse," and "Thousand-Pound Mountain Pressing Skill," among seven or eight secret techniques he obtained from Tongshen Temple.
He gained much.
Journeying far and wide, he encountered various Daoist techniques, endlessly accumulating and learning, gradually mastering a vast array of skills, and deepening his Daoist cultivation.
Yet perhaps because his physical strength was too overwhelming, even with his Divine Soul being powerful, Chen Jichuan struggled to free his soul from his body and achieve the realm of Soul Emergence.
Fortunately, through cultivating all three disciplines, Daoist Skill was obstructed, yet his Inner Strength and external skills advanced rapidly.
A century ago.
Ban Zhao and Ban Ya passed away in the courtyard of Baozhi Forest, resting eternally under the warmth of a spring sun.
Four years later.
Jin Shenggu returned to Baozhi Forest, saw Chen Jichuan one last time, closed his eyes, and departed this world.
Seventy years ago.
"Fist Subdues the Land" Sun Sihai ultimately failed to break through Transforming Strength, stranded at Level 9.
Before his passing, he appeared at Baozhi Forest, leading his disciples through a demonstration of Chen’s 72 Skills, one by one. Then, standing tall in the practice field, he closed his eyes forever.
That year.
Sun Sihai was one hundred and forty-six years old.
Chen Jichuan was one hundred and twelve years old, with a bone age of sixty-five.
The same year.
Chen Jichuan reached Transforming Strength Level 8, Inner Strength Level 8, yet his Daoist Skill remained stuck at the Sixth Layer, his soul unable to emerge.
Time is merciless.
Old friends faded away.
Chen Jichuan sought Dao in solitude.
...
On this day.
Mount Qian in Dai County.
In the forest.
Two young Daoists carried food boxes as they walked along.
The wider-eyed one, "Qingfeng," asked curiously, "I heard the patriarch has stayed in the cave for nine years. Doesn’t he get bored?"
"What’s this to complain about?"
"Our patriarch is a figure as grand as an immortal. Even the temple master reveres him deeply. A single blink for him spans decades; nine years is but a fleeting moment."
"Ming Yue," with delicate features, replied dismissively, from a place of familiarity.
"Whoa!"
"He’s that incredible?"
Qingfeng’s eyes widened and jaw dropped, visibly astonished.
This was his first time delivering a meal to the legendary patriarch. He had heard all sorts of stories from senior disciples, each more dazzling than the last, but none solid enough to grasp concretely.
Now, walking up himself, about to meet the patriarch, Qingfeng’s curiosity peaked—
The temple master held him in awe.
Meditating for nine years without leaving.
Such a mythical figure utterly captivated the young and impressionable Daoists like Qingfeng and Ming Yue.
"Indeed."
"You’ll see soon enough. Outside the patriarch’s secluded cave, there are two Divine Beasts guarding him, ensuring no demons can harm him."
Ming Yue tilted his face upward haughtily, boasting.
Seeing Qingfeng’s astonishment filled Ming Yue with satisfaction and pride.
"Divine guardian beasts?"
"They won’t eat people, will they?"
Qingfeng was instantly frightened picturing ferocious monsters opening their jaws to devour him, a tender young Daoist.
The thought sent shivers through him.
"Relax, relax."
"Divine Beasts wouldn’t eat people."
Ming Yue chuckled innocently, patting Qingfeng’s shoulder in gentle reassurance.
Laughing and skipping along, the two little Daoists climbed the mountain path, now nearing Mount Qian’s western slope, high on Five-finger Peak’s central peak. At a natural stone cave just shy of its pinnacle.
From a distance.
Two small tigers perched at the stone cave entrance, one left and one right, their round heads looking rather adorable. Sometimes they played, sometimes bored, staring blankly at the sky.
Qingfeng took in their playful forms, turned back toward Ming Yue, and asked, "Senior brother, are those the guardian Divine Beasts?"
"Of course."
"They’re very obedient."
Ming Yue grinned widely and pulled out two pieces of dried meat from his robes, calling toward the little tigers, "Little Shou! Little Shan! Come here, I’ve brought treats for you!"
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
The two little tigers let out milk-cub-like roars before sprinting towards him. They snatched the meat pieces hungrily, each licking Ming Yue’s cheeks affectionately afterward, leaving him laughing with joy, his face damp with their saliva. Then they turned tail, waddled back to the cave entrance, and resumed their guard.
Watching this, Qingfeng grew envious and made a mental note: "Next time I come, I’ll bring meat for Little Shou and Little Shan myself."
Still pondering.
Ming Yue tugged him forward, placing the heavy food boxes outside the cave.
Qingfeng took the chance to timidly peek into the cave.
Through the chamber’s openings, light streamed in, illuminating the space. At its center sat a clean-robed Daoist master, seated in proper posture before the stone wall, both legs crossed, hands forming the White Crane Decision, eyes steady, five hearts pointing toward Heaven in meditation.
Qingfeng stared, feeling an inexplicable comfort from the Daoist master, an innate urge to keep watching, to take another glance.
"Don’t look!"
With Ming Yue pulling him back to reality, Qingfeng snapped out of his trance.
He quickly picked up the empty food boxes and ran down the mountain.
On the descent.
Qingfeng asked Ming Yue, "Senior brother, was that the patriarch just now?"
"Yes."
"Doesn’t he look like an immortal?"
Ming Yue nodded and countered with a question.
"He does."
Qingfeng thought for a moment, firmly nodding, though something still nagged at him: "Has the patriarch truly been meditating in the cave for nine straight years?"
"Of course not."
"What you just saw was the patriarch meditating. After coming out of meditation, he’ll practice elegant and powerful fist techniques, then return to visualization meditation."
Ming Yue, lifting his food boxes, playfully mimicked a few moves, energetic and vigorous.
Qingfeng joined in.
The two young Daoists fooled around, punching and laughing, disappearing into the forest path without a trace.
...
Nightfall.
Chen Jichuan stood up once again, practiced a round of Chasing Wind Palm, stepped the Plum Blossom Pillars, stretching his muscles and clearing accumulated fatigue from days of meditation.
Then he turned back, continuing his visualization meditation.
Nine years ago.
Chen Jichuan journeyed across the southern and northern mountains and rivers, feeling he had gained enough knowledge, though frustrated by stagnation in his Daoist progress.
So he returned to Dai County.
He came to Baozhi Forest’s Daoist Department, Longxing Temple, and sequestered himself for self-reflection.
That retreat lasted nine years.
In these nine years.
He reviewed his lifetime of learning, refined his understanding, felt his martial arts and Daoist cultivation become sharper, more consolidated than ever.
Three thousand days and nights.
Layer upon layer unraveled.
His foundations settled.
Chen Jichuan sensed tonight was the moment. Soul Emergence was imminent!
...
