The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 312 Taiyi
As the golden core shone, the chains representing the Yin-Yang laws trembled, and a stream of light flew out, appearing as if it were taking off. However, the laws themselves did not move; only a fleeting shadow flew up.

At the same time, as Ding Lin intended, the other eight laws also rose up, though they were merely phantoms.

The laws of heaven and earth are formless and shapeless, but in the inner realm, the laws that are comprehended will be manifested as chains.

It is both a power and a constraint.

Do not act rashly.

Spiritual practice is essentially a process of continuously improving oneself.

From the initial generation of magical power, to the tempering of the physical body with magical power, to the condensation of the elixir and the involvement of the primordial spirit, all the way to passing the tribulation of lightning, the unity of magical power, physical body and primordial spirit, and ascending to the immortal realm, all of these can be attributed to seeking within. After becoming an immortal, one has actually cultivated oneself to the extreme, but even so, one can still only enjoy a lifespan of one cycle at most, which can be described as longevity.

But immortality is not eternal life.

As the saying goes, human strength has its limits.

The next step in spiritual practice must ultimately be grounded in external matters.

The fairyland is the end of the first step, but only the beginning of the second.

Immortals are divided into five ranks. Although they are all called immortals, only the first-rank celestial immortals have the potential to reach the end.

Magic power is the foundation of cultivation, and it must be tempered from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Although the first step in cultivation is only to develop oneself, in fact, the cultivator has long been influenced by heaven and earth and is inseparable from them.

Therefore, even when ascending to immortality, most cultivators are completely unaware of the importance of their grotto-heavens for later comprehending the laws, yet they still strive to pursue them.
A grotto-heaven is the prototype of a cultivator's own small world.

The blessed land is a dilapidated grotto-heaven, inherently deficient. Even if it can be remedied later, one can only cultivate to the Taiyi level at most, and then it will be difficult to continue.

As for the next level of immortals, gods can only comprehend the laws in theory, while human immortals and ghost immortals would find it difficult to live forever without external aids.

After the laws are nurtured in the grotto-heaven, cultivators in the Celestial Immortal realm can naturally advance to the Golden Immortal realm.

The cultivation of Golden Immortals and beyond involves imitating the world in every aspect, using the laws as a vehicle. The more laws one comprehends, the richer one's inner world becomes, and the more it resembles the real world.

The real world naturally needs to be vast enough.

The transition from Golden Immortal to Taiyi requires not only fusion at the level of laws, but also the first expansion of the grotto-heaven.

It transformed from a small grotto into a large grotto.

Within Ding Lin's inner vision, the nine laws intertwined and quickly merged together. Although there were many discordant elements and the whole thing felt awkward, as long as they could be blended together, it was considered a success.

Advancing to the Taiyi realm sounds solemn, but it is actually nothing more than the fusion of nine laws. Compared to the three thousand laws, nine laws are extremely rare. In addition, this is only the first attempt at fusion, and the current fusion is not the final result. In the future, as the realm improves and more laws are comprehended, it can be continuously adjusted until it approaches perfection.

Therefore, the requirements for the fusion of laws are extremely lenient when entering the Taiyi realm. Even if the whole thing is incompatible, as long as there is some semblance of reason, even if it is extremely one-sided or even a fallacy, it is acceptable.

Ding Lin takes Yin and Yang as the basis, and Yin and Yang can be divided into all things. Based on this, his integration can actually be considered quite good.

The power generated after the fusion of the nine laws has exceeded the capacity of this small grotto-heaven.

next moment--

"Boom!"

The inner world began to collapse. The already fragile cave walls trembled and cracked in large patches. The upheaval was so violent that even Qinghe and the lightning-struck wood could no longer stabilize the situation. The seawater surged as if it were being boiled. The golden core fell from the sky and sank into the seabed.

This grotto-heaven seemed to have ushered in its end.

But it's only similar.

A closer look reveals that the upheaval, though seemingly chaotic, was actually carried out in an orderly manner.

Things are different now. The Inner Heaven is no longer the helpless place it was when it first entered the immortal realm, barely able to survive on the two innate objects that the primordial spirit entrusted to it.

The eleven laws trembled slightly, rooted in the void, yet remained as stable as Mount Tai.

Now, they are the real core.

The three laws that did not participate in the advancement flickered with a faint light, maintaining the Golden Immortal realm from falling.

The other nine laws, with Yin and Yang as the leading force, were projected together, merging into a single entity that, like a stabilizing needle, hung in the center of the inner landscape, stabilizing the situation.

Ding Lin's consciousness had already spread throughout the inner landscape, and he focused most of his attention on that spatial law. As soon as it showed the slightest abnormality, he would immediately take action.

Therefore, they would not hesitate to interrupt the promotion process.

As for the consequences of this move.

At most, his cultivation level would decline again, falling back to the Golden Immortal realm, but it wouldn't be a big deal. After recuperating and being fully prepared, he could still break through again.

The principles of spiritual cultivation are actually the same as the changes in the world. The lower one is, the less one can withstand setbacks. A slight setback can lead to the destruction of one's family and death. On the other hand, those ancient families with profound heritage can remain steadfast even in the turmoil of dynastic changes. While they may not be unaffected, they will never be discouraged by a single failure.

Once a cultivator reaches the Golden Immortal level, the laws become their foundation.

The difficulty of advancing to the Taiyi realm has never been the transformation of the cave heaven. Even if it is affected by this incident, as long as the laws that have been comprehended are still there, it can be restarted at any time.

The most important function of the centrally clustered law projection is to open up the cave. Although it is difficult to interrupt the process, it can also unleash a thunderous strike at any time if needed. This is why Ding Lin dared to attempt to advance to the Taiyi level as soon as he had gathered all nine laws.

A vast expanse of white, chaotic energy surged in through the cracks in the cave's barrier, violently squeezing outwards and expanding extremely roughly. The sea level dropped rapidly, exposing large areas of the original land. The transformation, like the changing of the sea into mulberry fields, was completed in an instant.

The green lotus and the lightning-struck wood remained in the distance, unchanged no matter how the mountains shifted.

In an instant, the original cave expanded outward a hundredfold.

Ding Lin gazed at the spatial laws and the cluster of green lotus leaves. The lotus leaves swayed gently, and the spatial laws did not show any unusual activity. They simply supported the framework along with the other ten laws, preventing the entire cave from collapsing.

This expansion lasted for a full quarter of an hour before gradually stopping. The new cave, once fully formed, was a thousand times larger than the original.

All around, countless fragments of the original cave heaven's barrier floated. Originally, these fragments should have been scattered and chaotic after the cave heaven shattered, but with the support of the laws, they were connected in the dark, embedded in the framework built by the laws, and formed the prototype of the new cave heaven.

At this moment, this newly formed cave is like a house that leaks air from all sides, and it still needs to be repaired before it can be truly used.

Ordinary house repairs require materials, but here all that's needed is time. The fragments are intertwined, and as time passes, fine threads begin to grow outward from the edges of the fragments, like a spider's web, densely filling all the gaps. It's an extremely long process.

I don't know how much time passed, but finally, only the last place remained.

Ding Lin dared not relax his guard in the slightest, remaining vigilant until the last gap was closed, the entire cave was completely opened, and every part was perfectly joined together, before he slowly shifted his gaze away.

The small grotto-heaven expanded into a large grotto-heaven.

Neither the laws of space nor the green lotus showed any unusual activity during the process.

This is the best result.

Laws merge.

The space has also been upgraded.

Once you reach this stage, you can be considered to have achieved the Taiyi realm.

……

outside world.

Suddenly, the water in the Azure Pool began to surge violently, boiling and churning, affecting the surrounding hundreds of thousands of miles of water, causing rivers to turn upside down.

The sun in the sky dimmed in an instant. As if sensing something, the will of heaven and earth pressed down with heavy black clouds, the celestial phenomena changed, golden lightning flashed one after another, and rumbling thunder resounded, covering an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of miles.

This is the heavens' anger.

The Taiyi realm allows one to seize the power of heaven and earth, transcend the Three Realms, and be outside the Five Elements. From the moment a cultivator begins their practice to the moment they achieve immortality, or even become a Golden Immortal, they are all nourished by heaven and earth. Now that they have achieved something, they have broken away from it. How can heaven and earth not be angry!
If possible, divine punishment will descend immediately!

……

The inner grotto has been fully expanded, but its evolution has only just begun.

When the cave heaven was broken and reassembled, a large amount of chaotic energy poured in. Now that the cave heaven's walls have been repaired, this chaotic energy has remained in the cave heaven, appearing as fluffy white mist that permeates and fills the space.

Gradually, these chaotic energies began to separate, with the clear energy rising and the turbid energy sinking, thus making the boundaries between heaven and earth in this grotto-heaven more distinct.

Ding Lin focused his consciousness on the shadow formed by the fusion of the nine laws. As the chaotic energy dissipated, he saw the changes within the cave.

Compared to the simple water world before, it now has rivers, lakes, seas, vegetation, mountains and rivers, but it appears somewhat desolate because it has only been developed recently.

The lightning-struck wood continued to grow quietly, without any change, but the clump of green lotus leaves swayed. Ding Lin noticed that the chaotic energy at the edges of the green leaves was being captured and trapped. As the leaves moved, a pool of water was formed on the mountainside. His eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Still not calming down!

With a thought, Ding Lin pressed down with his Taiyi realm magic power, intending to erase the green lotus. But times have changed. Now that he has achieved Taiyi, these few green lotus plants are the ones in a weaker position.

"Zheng!"

At the very top of the inner grotto, the laws of space emitted a loud bang.

The next moment, Ding Lin felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, intense pain, and his thoughts almost collapsed from the pain. The lotus leaves were in disarray, but within the inner world of the cave, the laws of space cleaved down from their original position, almost splitting the newly formed cave in two.

"Buzz!"

The laws of space are still in motion.

Ding Lin was filled with resentment, so he transformed his will into a giant face that floated in the sky.

Qinghe was the vessel of his earth soul. Although there was another will hidden within it, it was already inseparable from Ding Lin himself and could no longer be forcibly separated. He could only wait until that alien will took the initiative to appear and defeat it before he could completely return to his original self.

Another attempt failed.

"call out!"

The golden core flew out from the bottom of the water again, generously displaying its magical power. After a brief period of dejection, the green lotus also recovered, gently waving its leaves to help the golden core repair the damaged cave. In this scene, Ding Lin seemed like a destroyer, disregarding the overall situation.

Inside the cave, Ding Lin's will manifested on a giant face filled with gloom. With Qing He's help, the cracks in the cave were quickly mended. The golden elixir hung high and reflected the vastness of the cave, but he felt no joy at advancing to the Taiyi realm. Instead, he felt a lump in his throat.

The next moment, my heart sank again.

On a whim, Ding Lin had a gut feeling that something terrifying was about to happen. With a thought, he left the cave and returned to his true self.

The moment consciousness entered the body, it immediately felt a sense of malice. Every inch of skin, every hair, and every part of the body that came into contact with the air felt uncomfortable, as if rejected by heaven and earth and completely out of place.

After a moment's thought, Ding Lin understood immediately, given the clarity of mind of someone in the Taiyi realm. He then gradually suppressed his aura.

Sure enough, the celestial phenomena around them also dispersed.

The thunder dissipated, the dark clouds retreated, the sun reappeared, the rivers resumed their gurgling flow, and the clear pools of water returned to calm.

It's not that Heaven's punishment doesn't want to descend, but rather that the Taiyi realm has begun to detach itself from Heaven and Earth, becoming an independent entity. While Heaven's Heart is unfathomable, it ultimately lacks a dominant consciousness. Its desire to unleash punishment is merely instinctive; this behavior is more like a mechanism. It is enraged by the aura of the Taiyi realm, but as soon as that aura disappears, it also subsides.

In other words, as long as Ding Lin conceals himself and does not reveal power beyond the Golden Immortal level, the Heavenly Punishment will not descend.

Ding Lin's brows remained furrowed. Although the celestial phenomena had dissipated, the trace of malice surrounding him still lingered. As if suddenly remembering something, Ding Lin had a flash of inspiration. The jade seal hanging at his waist emitted a burst of light, and the malice around him vanished completely.

Ding Lin finally understood. The Heavenly Court was born in response to the great destiny of heaven and earth, and was there to protect all living beings in the Three Realms on behalf of heaven and earth. Now that he had achieved the Taiyi realm, he had already transcended the Three Realms and was no longer within the Five Elements. Naturally, he was regarded as a traitor by the will of heaven and earth. However, he still had a duty in the Heavenly Court. This changed things. In the eyes of heaven and earth, this was serving the Three Realms. It was a way of giving back after achieving enlightenment. Naturally, the malice dissipated.

Even so, Ding Lin could sense that a fourth-rank official seal was not enough to completely resist the aversion of Heaven and Earth. Suddenly, he understood why a mere tenth level of the Taiyi realm could immediately match a third-rank purple robe. This was because Heaven and Earth linked contributions with ranks, implicitly assuming that at least a third-rank realm of support was needed to compensate for Heaven and Earth's support during one's growth.

Even a fourth-rank official in the Heavenly Court couldn't suppress it.

Fortunately, the Yellow River Water Lord originally corresponded to the third rank.

Besides his rank, Ding Lin also has a title. He estimates that when he really needs to take action, he can reveal his celestial title and let heaven and earth sense it. Although it still won't be completely as he wishes, he should be able to avoid being hindered for a short period of time.

(End of this chapter)