The fake prince was exposed at the beginning, and I took office as emperor on the spot

Chapter 253 Dharma Form Achieved, Advancement to Second Rank! (Three-in-One)

Sunaga had been instructed by Gu Fangchen beforehand, so seeing the Nine Nether Cave open was within her expectations.

But the moment the Yellow Spring water gushed out, she couldn't help but subconsciously feel a tightness in her heart.

Although the Merfolk, protected by the [Snail Book] barrier, had almost never experienced the horrors of the Nine Netherworlds, they still knew a thing or two about them.

If evil spirits were to use this rift to flood into the human world, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Sunaga took a deep breath, and the prepared crowd formed a battle formation again, ready to deal with the evil spirits that emerged from within. However, after a moment of heightened vigilance, all was calm.

After the Yellow Spring water eroded the surrounding area, it widened the crack slightly, but instead of expanding outwards, it stagnated.

Sunaga was stunned.

Just as Gu Fangchen had predicted, Jiuyou did not attack immediately.

However, a huge, blood-red claw then emerged from the crack.

Sunaga's expression changed, and she immediately gave the order. Everyone else also held their breath and watched as the owner of the claw poked his head out, only to find it was a huge, fleshy behemoth.

It was none other than the ghost general Ruoye.

Following closely behind were countless evil spirits clinging to him. In a short while, the sea rift was densely packed with all sorts of evil spirits, and a sinister and eerie aura gathered and overflowed in all directions, making people's backs tremble with fear.

However, they did not make any unusual movements. Instead, they waited quietly at the entrance, as if waiting for someone's command.

Just as Sunaga was about to speak, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.

She turned around and saw the peerless female Taoist priest with a cold and aloof appearance, her snow-white Taoist robe fluttering, a dot of vermilion between her brows, like a fairy from a cold palace.

Xu Fu said calmly:
"Go to the Tide Palace, Gu Fangchen is already waiting for you."

Sunaga hesitated and said:

"This rift passage between the Nine Netherworlds..."

"I alone am enough."

Xu Fu squinted and looked down into the abyss.

Sunaga followed her gaze and saw that the evil spirits had all retreated to both sides, making way for them.

She took a deep breath and suddenly understood, while at the same time feeling the absurdity of becoming a prisoner in a single day.

—Even these evil spirits of the Nine Netherworlds are Gu Fangchen's people... no, Gu Fangchen's ghosts!

How many more outrageous things has this person done?
But then Sunaga thought again, and the cause and effect that filled the world that she had seen in the [Snail Book]... made her feel relieved.

This guy is terrifying enough on his own.

I really don't know what he is...

Sunaga let out a long breath, nodded, gave instructions to the merfolk around her, and then turned and flew towards the Tide Palace.

She reached out and gently stroked the golden dragon soul on her arm. This time, with the support of the remnant soul of the dragon god, she should be able to trace Gu Fangchen's true origins when she peruses the [Snail Book].

She was indeed quite curious about Gu Fangchen's background... She had already read through all the history up to the ancient Zhou Dynasty, but still couldn't find the source of the causal relationship.

In other words, Gu Fangchen's causal relationship may have originated in ancient times.

Or, it should be called "The Great Furnace Era".

Sunaga also knows that the ancient history is now discontinuous, but perhaps by following the clue of Gu Fangchen, we can trace back all the way and see the true history.

……

Xu Fu withdrew his gaze and slowly descended, landing in the sea abyss crevice.

Starlight emanated from her, spreading out like ripples and keeping the highly toxic Yellow Spring water at bay.

The Yellow Springs Water was not a deadly poison to her; as long as she briefly shielded herself from the cycle of cause and effect, nothing in the outside world could harm her in the slightest.

A divine master of her caliber is capable of moving freely between the intermediate and nether realms.

They naturally possess extremely strong resistance to this true Netherworld environment, enabling them to survive there for extended periods.

In the past, the difficulty they faced in not entering the Nine Netherworlds was actually finding the passage between the two realms, as well as having to deal with attacks from numerous evil spirits.

Now that those evil spirits have become "one of us," the [Nine Netherworlds] dungeon is naturally not difficult at all.

"Gurgling..."

The countless eyes on Ruoye's body wriggled and rolled around, and along with those evil spirits, they sank back into the Yellow Springs.

Xu Fu descended at an extremely fast speed, passing straight through the Yellow Springs and falling into the Nine Netherworlds.

She stood with her hands behind her back, floating in mid-air, looking down over the entire hellish Nine Netherworld.

But the Nine Netherworld at this moment is vastly different from when Gu Fangchen first came here—

The once pitch-black and silent Nine Netherworld Sky, filled with boundless fog, has transformed into a boundless and magnificent starry sky!
Beneath the starry sky, meteors rise continuously from below, disappearing into the cosmos, causing ripples to spread like raindrops, disrupting the arrangement of the stars, as if this starry sky were merely a reflection in water.

If someone familiar with the methods of the "Saint of Fate" were here, they would find that this starry sky is exactly the same as the water-sky star river that Xu Fu conjured when he used the causal technique.

The entire sky of the Nine Netherworld has been transformed into Xu Fu's Starry Sky Water Mirror!
Ruoye, who had remained silent until now, glanced at the scene before turning to Xu Fu, and finally spoke cautiously:
"The great formation is complete. I hope you can keep your promise and completely eliminate the barrier between the Nine Netherworld and reality."

What they want is not just the present world, but also the chance to be human again and get rid of their identity as evil spirits.

Initially, because of their obsession with not being crushed and reincarnated, they remained in the Nine Netherworlds.

However, upon discovering that the Nine Netherworlds were a true purgatory, they found themselves assimilated by the Nine Netherworlds and bound to this void.

The evil spirits are so eager to return to the mortal world because they want to live like humans.

But only Gu Fangchen knew that in all the endings, they could no longer start over and could only turn their present world into another Nine Netherworld.

Even if they couldn't see this future, under Xie Qian's threat, there was no other possibility that could be better than what Gu Fangchen promised.

Therefore, when Gu Fangchen visited again, they agreed to her request for cooperation.

Incidentally, Gu Fangchen also took away the soul of a White Dragon Army soldier who had only recently become a vengeful ghost...

—Gu Fangchen once opened a passage to the Nine Netherworld to solve Zhao Daniu's problem. At that time, he also made a deal with the evil spirits and activated "Teleportation Array 1.14514" here.

Xu Fu flew into the sky.

In the center of this starry sky and water, a female Taoist priest sat cross-legged, her Taoist robe fluttering slightly, her black hair flowing like a waterfall, and a cinnabar mole between her eyebrows.

He looked exactly like Xu Fu.

As soon as Xu Fu had a thought, the female Taoist priest opened her eyes, stood up, nodded at her, and transformed into a ray of starlight, flying into her brow.

This clone was transported to the Nine Netherworlds via Gu Fangchen's teleportation array.

Upon arrival, they set up this enormous destiny chart that covered the entire sky.

Rather than calling it a horoscope... it should be called a grand formation.

The "Star Shifting" formation was set up with the assistance of evil spirits from the Nine Netherworlds.

Those "shooting stars" rising from below are actually the spiritual energy gathered by evil spirits.

Xu Fu stood under the starry sky, looking up at the sky.

The starry sky before her was a false reflection, constructed by her, a projection of the other half of the real starry sky, but the positions of the stars were slightly different.

Through that boundless, dazzling Milky Way, one can see another real starry sky, which is also the starry sky of the present world.

"The six directions and the universe are filled with stars, the great furnace of heaven and earth is inherently without principle..."

Xu Fu murmured.

This is the poem that Gu Fangchen told her.

Or rather, it is an ancient proverb.

According to Gu Fangchen, this sky that revolves around the earth and can never fly out is that ancient history that was intercepted!
The river of time flows eternally, while the constellations in the sky revolve ceaselessly.

Some people have disguised it as the sky, turning it into a curtain that covers the entire world, flowing ceaselessly day and night.

The destiny held atop the starry sky is also the destiny of all people in the world.

If Xie Qian wants to connect all destinies, he must find the anchor point of each historical event in the starry sky.

What Gu Fangchen needs to do is to confuse the public and change the anchor point in the starry sky.

Doing this under Xie Qian's nose is definitely not going to work.

His strength is enough to stop the construction of the great formation.

But don't forget that the present world and the netherworld are two sides of the same coin, like the front and back of the same piece of paper.

The sky revolves around the earth, and because the starry sky is merely a false curtain, its rotation speed is measured in terms of day and night.

The same star position appears in the mortal world during the day and in the netherworld at night.

As for the Nine Netherworlds, as another world created by the "Lord of Hengchang" using his great supernatural powers, it was naturally beyond Xie Qian's control.

By setting up an array within it, they could deceive Xie Qian's senses.

Now, the main body of this great formation is complete!

"Just one last step..."

Xu Fu gazed at the two gradually merging starry skies, one real and one illusory, and murmured:

"The star anchor points still need to be modified."

Gu Fangchen will need to provide the star anchor point.

……

Gu Fangchen stood in the center of the Tide Palace. With a thought, he looked into the distance, and he himself felt more and more clearly that the power of countless incense sticks connected to him was rapidly gathering.

The golden dragon soaring into the sky could be seen throughout the entire territory of the Sea Kingdom.

Given the merfolk's ancestral belief in the "Dragon God," the response to this "miracle" was even faster than that from the other side of Vatuma.

After the Qingman people bypassed half of the Jiangshan region and entered the Central Plains, they also gained a significant amount of faith from the Qingman people.

Nowadays, most of the Qingman people have accepted that Gu Fangchen, the "messenger of the gods," is actually the reincarnation of the "gods."

Gu Fangchen immediately closed her eyes and began to meditate.

As his divine sense rose into the air, he vaguely sensed the power of incense, wisps and strands, much like the feeling of countless divine senses becoming one when activating a military formation.

It gradually became clearer.

Like wisps of smoke rising, it gathered behind Gu Fangchen and transformed into a blurry, tall human figure. Upon closer inspection, the figure was unmistakably Gu Fangchen herself.

Gu Fangchen's consciousness merged with it, gradually transforming and being sculpted, like a figure stretching out and slowly taking shape. Once it was fully formed, it would become Gu Fangchen's Dharma form!

His Dharma form, because it originates from the wishes of sentient beings, naturally incorporates their aspirations and transforms into the image depicted in their hearts.

The appearance of that Dharma image was almost identical to Gu Fangchen's, but it appeared more feminine and beautiful, almost indistinguishable from a male. Countless lotus flowers rose from beneath its feet, like golden lotuses emerging from the earth, transforming into lotus platforms. This was from Vatuma's imagination of the resurrected divine body.

Behind him is a bright sun, symbolizing the support of the sun and moon. In his hand he holds a longbow, and his arms are outlined with ancient bird and beast totems. This is the Qingman people's imagination of "gods".

Its hands are covered with golden scales, resembling dragon claws, and its body is surrounded by rippling water. Behind it, a long, illusory dragon tail flicks. This is the merman's imagination of the "Dragon God".

The combination of these three elements constitutes Gu Fangchen's own Dharma form, condensed from the power of incense!
As the incense smoke dissipated, the Dharma image emerged, raising its golden, beast-like eyes.

……

"Wow--"

Outside the Tide Palace, the seawater rippled and spread out in a circle, and an invisible pressure appeared.

The merfolk's expressions immediately changed, and sensing something, they quickly knelt down.

But at the same time, they were also somewhat shocked and horrified.

They were very familiar with this oppressive aura; it was the same oppressive aura emanating from the "Dragon God" of the seabed, a suppression from their ancestors.

And now, it's coming from inside the Tide Palace!

Wasn't that the messenger of the "heavenly god" among them?

As soon as the thought crossed their minds, they looked at each other, not daring to say anything, but those who believed in "miracles" were filled with ecstatic joy.

The "Dragon God" has truly been revived!

……

Gu Fangchen opened her eyes, stood up, and turned to look at her own Dharma image, her eyes flashing.

His aura had completely changed. Enveloped by the power of incense and prayers, he appeared to others as if he had transcended this world, mysterious and unpredictable. When his dark eyes were raised, they resembled the angry power of a wise king; when they were lowered, they were like a god looking down upon all living beings with compassion.

If an ordinary person were to see him, it would be like an ant looking up at the blue sky, unable to see his true face, and would immediately feel awe.

Thus, after three thousand years of the cessation of the path of incense offerings, he once again advanced to the upper three ranks through the power of the wishes of all living beings!
Furthermore, given the abundance of incense offerings Gu Fangchen received, he accumulated an immense amount of experience points, allowing him to leapfrog two major realms and reach the Second Grade Qitian Realm.

Such a feat is probably unprecedented and will likely never be repeated.

His divine cultivation level was also corrected to the peak of the third rank, just one step away from the second rank.

Of course, with his physical strength, he is now no different from the peak of the second rank, and may even be stronger.

Gu Fangchen is now a unique second-rank Qitian Realm cultivator who possesses both divine and martial arts skills!

If Gu Yuye were in front of her now, Gu Fangchen could easily defeat him without lifting a finger.

"Whoosh-"

A streak of light fell from outside the hall and transformed into the figure of Sunaga.

As soon as she entered, she saw the Dharma image behind Gu Fangchen, and was instantly stunned. Then her pupils contracted, and she exclaimed:

"Attaining enlightenment through incense offerings?!"

Sunaga had already sensed the change in Gu Fangchen's aura while she was outside, but she only thought it was because of her advancement to the second rank. However, she did not expect that it was actually the path of incense offerings that enabled her to achieve the second rank through the power of the wishes of all living beings!

This path had been severed for three thousand years. Now that faith is divided among several factions, Gu Fangchen was able to gather enough incense offerings again to attain enlightenment.

This is almost impossible!

Compared to summoning the remnant soul of a true dragon, or even this event itself, this deserves the title of "miracle"...

Sunaga finally understood why Gu Fangchen was so obsessed with creating "miracles".

For a merman to attain enlightenment through incense offerings and even leapfrog two levels, his faith must have been far from sufficient; he must have already accumulated enough faith beforehand.

Sunaga took a deep breath.

For practitioners who attain enlightenment through incense offerings, their Dharma form should be the embodiment of their vows.

Judging from the characteristics of that Dharma image, the three places—Qingman, the Western Regions, and the Sea Kingdom—are already his.

In times of chaos, this man would surely be a powerful ruler... No, isn't this the chaotic world we live in now?
Thinking of this, the last trace of resentment in Sunaga's heart vanished in an instant.

Perhaps submitting to this person... the merfolk are not only not wronged, but could even be said to have gained an advantage.

With a thought, Gu Fangchen caused the Dharma image to instantly transform into a wisp of green smoke and dissipate.

He could sense that this Dharma form possessed three supernatural powers due to the wishes of sentient beings, but this was not the time to test them; he knew this in his heart.

His second-rank strength was not his goal, but merely a means to an end.

If it is truly as recorded in the Tomb of the God of War, in the "Great Age of the Furnace," even a first-rank official is merely ordinary, and his second-rank official position is probably only enough to save his life.

Sunaga took two steps forward, lowered her head, and said in a deep voice:

"The dragon soul has been summoned as planned. Shall I now peruse the [Snail Book] for you again?"

Gu Fangchen noticed the change in the merman saintess's attitude, raised an eyebrow, and nodded without saying anything more:

"Try again, just do your best."

"If you still can't find it, then give up."

When he saw the infant in the arms of "Master Hengchang", his inner demons were almost broken. As long as he was no longer confused about where he came from, his inner demons would no longer be an obstacle for him.

Calling Sunaga over now is just to confirm some speculations; it doesn't really matter if there are no results.

Sunaga nodded respectfully and walked into the [Snail Book] again with Gu Fangchen.

"Om-"

Within the entire [Snail Book], the power of the tides rose again, and the recorded information fluctuated.

Sunaga gradually broke out in a cold sweat again, looking exhausted.

This time, however, with the remnant soul of the true dragon supporting her, her consciousness surged upstream against the tide, passing through the sea of ​​stars and a strange steel jungle. After experiencing what seemed like another world, just as she was about to reach her limit, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes, and she vanished into nothingness.

Sunaga's mind went blank; she was completely bewildered and had no idea what had happened.

After an unknown amount of time, she heard a somewhat familiar voice.

"The 'Tao' in this world is boundless and ever-changing. Now it is like an insect, and in the future it will be like a jackal. Sooner or later it will cause great disaster."

“I wish to take ‘constancy and permanence’ as the ‘Way’ so that the ‘Way’ of the world remains constant and unchanged, maintaining its original form. What do you think?”

After those two sentences, everything returned to calm.

After a long while, the voice rang out again, but this time with a hint of doubt in its tone.

"Why is it not working? Why are the 'Tao' still increasing?"

Then, it dawned on me.

"That's it...that's it!"

"I am both a preacher and a demon-possessed one! My 'path' continues to advance, and thus continues to grow!"

"We must find the most primordial 'Tao' that belongs unique to this world..."

……

Sunaga suddenly opened her eyes, breathing heavily, a sharp pain shooting through her brain that made her groan involuntarily.

But at the same time, she also remembered why the voice sounded familiar.

Isn't that the voice of the man who held Gu Fangchen in his arms that I saw in the tide before?

Gu Fangchen fed her two pills, then touched her forehead with the power of incense to stabilize her consciousness. However, she found that Gu Fangchen was still in a daze, muttering to herself, with a hint of madness on her face. Gu Fangchen immediately frowned and became serious.

This performance is somewhat like seeing the gates of heaven!
It seems that it has touched upon a fundamental principle that some cultivators cannot comprehend...

If it were someone else, there probably wouldn't be much of a solution.

Fortunately, Su Naga has now become a believer of Gu Fangchen and is part of his faith.

Gu Fangchen thought for a moment, and with a thought, her Dharma form appeared indifferently. She stretched out her hand, covered with golden scales, and placed it on the top of Sunaga's head. Her divine sense descended and directly absorbed all of Sunaga's memories.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he extracted that part of Sunaga's memories.

Sunaga seemed to snap out of her daze, her muttering stopped, and she stared blankly at Gu Fangchen's image.

Faxiang patted her head, glanced at her with his eyes down, and Sunaga's expression relaxed. Then she closed her eyes, tilted her head, and fainted.

Gu Fangchen handed her over to the high priest Ru Nu, whose eyes were strange.

Then I processed the words from that memory.

"In other words, the 'Master of Hengchang Dao' is also one of the preachers. However, according to the information left to me by my mother, there should only be nine preachers... He is one of them, but I have already found the others. Or is it that the 'Dao' is fixed, but there can be several chosen preachers?"

"The same 'Tao' is passed down from generation to generation..."

Gu Fangchen pondered for a moment, feeling that her guess was probably correct.

"Master Hengchang" may have also severed the karmic ties of other preachers who corresponded to the same proverb, but he eventually discovered that he could not completely sever them.

The "Tao" continued to grow, and then it was discovered that he himself was one of the "preachers".

So they began to look for other methods.

And this method should fall to Gu Fangchen.

Combining the last sentence, it should be said that he seems to have found the most primordial "Tao" of this world, which does not belong to the insects that gnaw at the world, but is the "Tao" that originally existed in the world.

Is this "Tao" within me?

Gu Fangchen subconsciously looked up and saw the golden profession still floating above her head.

[Scammer (12 hours)]

This profession is about to refresh in just half a day...

"Phew... it's about time."

Gu Fangchen had already informed Banruo Lianyue in advance, asking her and Yi'er to stay within the [Snail Book] barrier, while she flew up alone and instantly passed through the waterfall barrier of the Sea Kingdom.

His eyes gleamed as he calmly called out to the empty space before him:

"Duan Qicang! Take me to Xuanming!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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