Shennong Sequence

"I'm absolutely certain, it's him!"

Zhao Yun spoke with unwavering conviction, without the slightest hesitation.

But just then, the cultivator who had previously impersonated Gao Huan suddenly raised his hand and wiped his face, and a magical artifact resembling a human skin mask fell off his face.
Its appearance changed instantly, becoming exactly the same as the light and shadow cast by Zhao Yun, even mimicking the expression between its brows perfectly.

At that moment, Zhao Yun caught sight of another person emerging from the inner room.
The man's cultivation level fluctuated extremely unstablely, clearly indicating that he had just forcibly suppressed some injuries!

However, the aura it emitted completely corresponded to that of Gao Huan, whom he had just fought and whose foundation of the Mountain and River Avenue had been taken away!
Only his face had changed, completely different from the image in the light and shadow...

Zhao Yun was secretly shocked: The Gao family's actions were so meticulous!

Xin Ruyin, standing to the side, couldn't help but shake her head, her eyes full of understanding.

The Gao family's scheme of "switching the prince to a cat" had already been sown with suspicion when they deliberately let Zhao Yun see the so-called Gao Huan's face!

They've been proceeding cautiously step by step, all to confuse the public and escape punishment today.

'The Gao family, you're doing very well!'

Zhao Yun felt a surge of anger and firmly remembered the Gao family's meticulous yet despicable actions.

Furthermore, despite being filled with anger, the Gao family acted meticulously, having already made various arrangements, and actually managed to extricate that Foundation Establishment cultivator from all punishment, completely keeping him outside the entire incident.

They've escaped the surveillance of Taibai Pavilion!
At this point, even if Zhao Yun was unwilling, there was nothing he could do—the evidence had been cleverly obfuscated, and the other side had already set up a plan to escape.

Then, the cultivators from Taibai Pavilion took away that 'Gao Huan'!
As for compensating Zhao Yun for his personal losses, and for the damage caused to the spiritual veins and formations of the Imperial Dao Immortal Sect by the destruction of those veins... we can only wait until the Taibai Pavilion has completed its interrogation and all procedures before we can get a result.

But in Zhao Yun's view, whether or not he pays compensation, he will actually benefit greatly!

It not only devoured a portion of the Great Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator's mountain and river foundation, but also significantly increased the size of its own inner world.

Furthermore, it caused miniature landscapes of mountains, rivers, and other spiritual elements to begin to emerge in the inner world!

And these landscapes are slowly evolving and becoming a reality...

This not only provided stronger support for the nurturing of the Yellow Sprout Seed, but also made Zhao Yun's foundation in Taoism even more solid.

Furthermore, every cultivator who has reached the Foundation Establishment stage of the Great Dao cannot achieve this simply through luck!
That inevitably requires countless hardships and endless efforts, traversing various worlds, and finally condensing many principles of the Great Dao, combined with the tempering of one of the five innate states, in order to forge the special realm of the Great Dao Foundation Building!

There was no luck involved; it was all the result of genuine, accumulated strength.

Therefore, the foundation of the Great Dao for every cultivator who has established their foundation is essentially a concrete manifestation of the various profound principles and supernatural abilities of the Great Dao!
Even if one adopts the simplest and most straightforward method, 'Taiyi,' to build the foundation of the Great Dao, its foundation contains the imprint of the origin of heaven and earth!
In particular, the one from the Gao family who achieved Foundation Establishment of the Great Dao collected the essence of the earth and mountains from various worlds to condense the Great Dao.

Therefore, the mountain and river foundations that Zhao Yun devoured were actually equivalent to directly devouring a lot of the origin of heaven and earth in the realm!
The insights gained from the origins of these different worlds, and the different laws that enriched Zhao Yun's understanding of the 'Matter Transformation Method,' were the greater and more fundamental gains from this battle!
Afterwards, Zhao Yun and Xin Ruyin walked away from the gate of the Gao family mansion...

"From now on, when we see the Gao family, no matter what they do," Zhao Yun said to Xin Ruyin with a cold glint in his eyes, "as long as it's within our authority, we'll hold them back according to the rules!"
We need to make them uncomfortable without finding any fault in them—we can't let them have it too easy!
Otherwise, they'd be bored and always want to cause us trouble! Xin Ruyin nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, although there are quite a few members of the Gao family working in our Earthly Realm Hall, as Foundation Establishment cultivators, our authority and influence are ultimately stronger!"

Therefore, during the century-long period of complete seclusion, there were always ways to keep them in check within the rules, ensuring that the Gao family would not live in peace!

She was already unhappy: her husband was beaten for no reason, and in the end, the Gao family found an imposter to take the blame. Anyone would be furious!

In any case, we must never let the Gao family have an easy time through normal means in the future.

"However, although there is surveillance throughout the sect, it's still not enough to guarantee safety..."

As Xin Ruyin spoke, she suddenly frowned, a hint of worry rising in her heart.
She felt she needed to change her approach to things:

"From now on, I should stay in the Imperial Immortal City more often!"

As for me, the Beast Taming Inspector, I'm constantly running outside the Immortal City... If I were to be targeted by that Great Dao Nascent Soul level ancestor from the Gao family, he might suddenly make a move.

Even if they were killed, they would likely die in vain, without even a chance to reason with anyone!

Even as soon as the thought arose, Xin Ruyin felt a faint warning from the heavens!

This warning made her dare not be negligent, and she immediately discussed it with Zhao Yun, deciding to change jobs directly.

In any case, the two of them don't have much hope of breaking through to the Golden Core stage within the next hundred years... In the time that follows, they can cultivate normally, and incidentally gather all kinds of information in this era, and practice the secret techniques unique to this era. When they return to the future, they can allocate these gains to their clones.

In short, safety must be the top priority right now. We cannot linger outside the Immortal City any longer, lest the Gao family seize the opportunity to retaliate!
Subsequently, Xin Ruyin directly applied for a job transfer within the sect system, and her reason for the application was straightforward: "I am afraid of being retaliated against by the Gao family's Nascent Soul cultivators after leaving Yudao Immortal City!"

This alone is enough to warrant the sect's attention—after all, the overwhelming threat posed by Nascent Soul cultivators to Foundation Establishment cultivators concerns the fundamental safety of the sect's cultivators and cannot be taken lightly.

Then Zhao Yun and Xin Ruyin went together through the teleportation array in the center of the Imperial Immortal City and headed straight for the most mysterious place in the entire Imperial Immortal City - Inheritance Mountain!

The mountain's location belongs to the Heavenly Dao Palace, and it contains the Inquiry Pavilion, which can solve Zhao Yun's current problem:

The problem is that even though he has cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage of "Nurturing Yellow Sprouts", he has not been able to condense the "Great Dao Phenomenon" that forms the foundation of the Great Dao!
This problem is extremely rare among cultivators of the same level, and requires guidance from top experts.

Then, following the guidance of the cultivators from Inheritance Mountain, Zhao Yun and Xin Ruyin arrived at the "Inquiry Pavilion".

His gaze swept across the area and he noticed that there were very few cultivators coming and going from the Dao Asking Pavilion.

After all, for most difficulties in cultivation, whether one consults fellow practitioners or searches through scriptures, one can find the appropriate solution.
Those who truly need the help of the Asking-the-Quest Pavilion are definitely not ordinary, difficult-to-treat illnesses.
It's either a deep-seated confusion touching upon the fundamental truths of the Tao, or a serious deviation from the path of cultivation that necessitates correcting the course of events.

Naturally, such cultivators are ultimately a minority.

Xin Ruyin waited outside, while Zhao Yun entered the pavilion alone to inquire. (End of Chapter)