Feng Feiyun wanted to go find Liu Suhong to talk about their engagement and the poisoning. After all, his cultivation has reached a level where he had relative influence. However, she was purposely avoiding him to not talk about this matter.
He didn’t push the issue because he had more important business to do. He wanted to try to reach Heaven’s Emergence to see if the curse was true.
***
In the next several days, Sacred Court was in an uproar.
“Have you heard? The eighth prince died on a moon palace.” A hunch-backed old woman said.
“Which one?” A cultivator hasn’t heard of this matter before.
“I’m talking about a prince of Azure.”
“Azure?! Who is bold enough to kill him?! The guy was untouchable!”
“Keke, ordinary people don’t dare to, but his killer was none other than the saintess of Aquamoon.”
“She did a great job then, a perfect kill.”
“Right, someone should have killed that villain long ago. It is what the people want.”
“Aquamoon is indeed the number one holy ground in the world, their saintess has done so many good deeds.”
On that day, numerous experts came to the ruins of the moon palace in order to check it out. Azure Faction also sent a total of 100,000 soldiers to hunt the assailants.
Alas, after seeing that it was the saintess of Aquamoon, these soldiers prostrated on the ground, frightened.
The “truth” behind this matter spread quickly. It seemed ridiculous but most believed it without a doubt.
“Haha, this eighth prince was really unlucky to be caught by the saintess. She showed mercy by not mincing him to pieces.”
“He got more unbridled as time passed, even going as far as raping the sword wielder of Five-sword Grotto. Its lord is known to be temperamental, this isn’t over.”
“I’m actually impressed with the sixth prince of West Spirit, though he died, he died as a hero.”
“Just watch, the old geezer from West Spirit won’t let it end like this. His only son died in Sacred Court.”
***
Azure Faction was having a tough time, not expecting to provoke Aquamoon Paradise.
“Hmph, he deserved more than death.” A scowl came from Azure Faction and resonated across Sacred Court. Even the stars trembled.
Elder Lin, Sky-seer Daoist, and Sacred Territory Lord kneeled in reverence outside.
An aura erupted within a hall and killed everyone inside the mansion except the three.
“Problematic but salvageable. Nonetheless, it can be used as propaganda by the other dynasties. It might infuriate that being in Aquamoon, something rather disadvantageous.” Sky-seer Daoist said.
The voice came from inside again: “Do you think this is just a coincidence? Someone schemed against Eighth and used that saintess to get rid of him. It looks like there will be problems soon in Sacred Court.”
“Master, how should we deal with that saintess?” The territory lord asked.
“This noisy little girl. She doesn’t know what she has done. Sky-seer, I leave this to your first division. I’m sure you know what to do.”
The daoist stroked his long beard and said: “We naturally can’t do anything to the saintess since she had done a good deed. In fact, we should praise her for doing so. On the other hand, some sects such as Yin World and Asura Sea might not appreciate Aquamoon’s holier-than-thou act, haha.”
This mansion was now a desolate mess filled with debris after they were done.
***
After reaching the fourth level and obtaining a domain, one could theoretically break through to Heaven’s Emergence. They would change the spirit energy inside their Violet Central Palace and change it to emergence energy.
“Emergence” here referred to an evolution of sorts.
The dantian was divided into three parts – upper dantian, central dantian or violet palace, and lower dantian.
The initial spirit realm opened the upper dantian.
Heaven’s Mandate opened the central dantian.
In order to reach Heaven’s Emergence, one must open the lower dantian.
Opening all three parts of the dantian and gaining mastery were essential for evolution. During ancient times, cultivators thought that this realm would make them immortal.
Alas, after reaching it, the body was still being corroded by time. The emergence energy wasn’t enough to stop it.
Now, Feiyun wanted to try opening the lower dantian. He was at the seventh level of Nirvana, a realm high enough to test this curse.
He meditated on top of an island in Heavenly Kingdom. A yellow river floated above him and poured down Buddhist essences.
He focused and observed his inner body, gathering the power of all five domains. They rushed down on the lower dantian, wanting to forcefully open it.
“Boom!” There was not a single scratch on the dantian. On the other hand, he suffered a backlash. His internal organs trembled violently and became injured.
Blood streamed down the corner of his lips as he murmured: “A forceful break obviously doesn’t work. The lower dantian is as tough as a divine stone. Is it the reason why half-demon can’t reach Heaven’s Emergence?”
“No, it can’t be that simple. There are special methods that can refine and open it.”
He experimented again by using the phoenix sinflame, wanting to refine the lower dantian. Alas, the moment it touched the dantian, two different powers removed it instantly.
“What is going on?” He tried again and the same thing happened.
In order to figure it out, he sent a divine intent into his dantian for a direct attempt.
“Boom!” The phoenix sinflame was pushed away in two different directions.
“It’s useless, the lower dantian store the essence but you have two different ones. They are in perpetual conflict, that’s why you can’t open it.” An ancient voice sounded.
“Who?!” Feiyun looked around and searched.
“I am on top of the vessel.”
The vessel was inside the ocean within the central dantian.
Feiyun landed on the deck and saw a rotten corpse with tattered clothes. Only bones were left.
It contained massive power. If it wasn’t for the vessel, Feiyun would have been crushed.
“Senior Di Zhong, you’re still alive?” Feiyun was happy to see him.
“No, the master is dead, and so are his divine intents.” The voice came from a palm-sized jade floating on top of the corpse. It issued a blue light while looking like a moon.
This was a pseudo saint artifact given to Feiyun previously so that he would bring it back to the Di Clan. He had left it here with the corpse.
This thing had followed the old man for a long time. Its knowledge far exceeded Feiyun.
He lowered his head and asked humbly: “Senior, what are these essences you are referring to?”
“On his dao journey, the master divided all things into three parts – essence, energy, and soul. They coincide with the three parts of the dantian. The upper is for the soul, the central is for the energy, and the lower is for the essence.”
“Essence is the foundation for all things. For example, human, dragon, phoenix, and everything else. They all have a unique essence and just a single one.”
“As for you, you have two different essences – a human and a dragon. The conflict between the two of them rendered it impossible to open the lower dantian.”
