New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 197 Motherly Teaching!

After rounds of testing that were far more professional than those conducted by the Running Security Bureau, Yuan Zhu received a report that he couldn't quite understand.

The main problem is that many of the terms and indicators on it are not written in ordinary language, but in the code of the Security Bureau. As an outsider, he couldn't understand them, so he had to leave it to Zhou Chu to interpret.

Fortunately, the conclusion is quite normal. From the objective perspective of a third party (the security bureau), his "holy light" has not gone astray; on the contrary, it is quite "pure"!
Upon receiving this answer, Yuan Zhu, who already had little hope for himself, was shocked!
Holy crap, the first Holy Light technique I've comprehended, [Holy Cough], even the old temple keeper exclaimed in astonishment, this kid is born with a demonic seed. And you guys actually say I'm healthy?!
It seems my standards for spiritual cultivation are still too high.

After glancing at the report, Zhou Chu became more relaxed and friendly towards Yuan Zhu, nodding and greeting his colleagues as he led him toward the door.

After leaving the testing center, the two strolled into a sunny, shady city park. There were only a few tourists and passersby around, making it a perfect place to chat.

She then spoke, “The purity of your Holy Light is acceptable, belonging to the broad ‘good camp.’ However, there’s a subtle downward trend, indicating that ‘evil thoughts’ also exist within you, affecting the quality of your ‘light.’ Therefore, in your future cultivation, you need to act cautiously, always pay attention to changes in your state of mind, and uphold your moral principles. In this regard, I will bestow upon you a ‘Secret Method of Guarding the Precepts,’ which, combined with your sanctuary’s ‘Soul Crystal,’ will engrave the ‘Precepts’ into your soul, guiding your every action at all times. You will benefit from this for life!”

Here it comes, here it comes again!

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhu was instantly stunned. That strong "motherly" aura—it was indeed a familiar feeling! Especially now that he was on her turf, this woman was even more brazen, actually trying to interfere and alter his soul? To tattoo his soul? To enforce the precepts?!

"Understood! Thank you for the reminder. I will use my power more carefully. But any 'secret techniques' are really unnecessary."

He waved his hands repeatedly, declining the other party's kindness. He had his own plans for the long-term cultivation of [Holy Light].

Now, Yuan Zhu has also deeply realized that such power is absolutely idealistic and is always accompanied by the risk of "falling into the seal". Therefore, he will not be eager for quick success and instant benefits. Instead, he has vaguely formed a cultivation outline of "merit and virtue" with "doing good deeds and accumulating virtue" as its core.

Whether it will succeed or not remains to be seen and needs to be verified personally.

If this path is successful, his Holy Light can maintain its color purity and continue to be Holy, even without needing to abide by the rules.

Seeing that Yuan Zhu rejected his 'goodwill' and even seemed to disapprove, Tie Hanhan became even more concerned, and a strange sense of responsibility and mission surged within him.

"Although the Holy Light is listed alongside Buddhism and the Immortal Arts (Kunlun) as a prominent orthodox sect in this world, it is in reality unpredictable and merely possesses a facade of holiness. The more one cultivates these systems, the deeper one falls into demonic possession. Therefore, I advise you to consider the Pale Law. The Secret Method of Guarding the Precepts is not exclusive to the Law System, but is a universal 'secret technique for cultivating the mind and spirit,' friendly to any system, helping to resist corruption and enhance self-control. Furthermore, it can also increase your affinity with the Holy Light and the Great Law. If one day you sense something amiss with the Holy Light within you, you can awaken early, immediately convert to the Great Law, and return from your misguided path."

"Seriously?! You're doing this again?!"

I knew something about this "Secret Method of Keeping the Precepts" sounded off. Okay, now you're not trying to persuade me to convert to the "Pale Great Law," because your "Law System" has a branch in the "Holy Temple" (the "Great Law Heaven"), right?!
Seeing that Yuan Zhu was stubborn and refused to join the [Da Lu Tian] faction, Zhou Chu wore an expression of utter disappointment.
"I'm doing this all for your own good. Ever since I heard you were coming to Taixi to see me, I went to the archives and looked up information related to the [Sanctuary] to find this secret technique for you. Do you know what the [Holy Light] was called when it was first created?"

Yuan Zhu: "What's your name?"

"[Fel Energy]!"

Zhou Chu recalled the secret documents he had consulted: "The Holy Light first appeared in the western kingdoms of the continent of Gen, and was similar to the evil power recorded in an ancient, obscure mythological system. However, because the Holy Light was so beautiful in color and appearance, and because various sources of pollution were emerging at that time, the Holy Light's ability to dispel and purify pollution was highlighted. In addition, it could bring a false 'warmth,' which gradually bewitched people and earned the name 'holy.' But its cruel, plundering, and burning nature of souls has never changed."

In Zhou Chu's eyes, the current "righteous path system" is nothing more than the most powerful of a bunch of insane sources of pollution, forcibly whitewashing itself as the "root of pollution." Upon closer examination, it's even more insane! Well, those forbidden pollutants aren't much stronger either.

Seeing that she couldn't intimidate Yuan Zhu, Zhou Chu had no choice. She took out a crystal containing holy light energy, put it in Yuan Zhu's hand, and instructed, "Whether you cultivate or not, you must read this carefully. Because this is a gift from me to you!"

After Yuan Zhu took it, he asked in confusion, "Why does it still have the aura of holy light?"

Zhou Chu argued vehemently, "Because it was obtained from [Sanctuary. Great Law Heaven]."

"I knew you had ulterior motives, but I accepted it anyway. I'll give you face for the sake of our teammate. I'll keep an eye on it."

Seeing that Yuan Zhu accepted the gift, Sister Tie Tou was very satisfied: "Hmm! The medical report shows that you have just condensed the [Soul Crystal] and officially stepped into the [Seed] Realm. It is a critical moment to build a foundation. You must be steady and not pursue power to become stronger quickly."

...

In her popular science explanation, "below the seed" refers to the process by which a person with abilities accepts a certain "polluting energy," which erodes them and allows them to control the pollution.

When the soul binds to and is corrupted by the source of pollution, it will gradually summarize, comprehend, and learn the corresponding methods of control. Ultimately, it will condense into a transcendent crystallization integrated with its own will (soul): the [Seed].

Before reaching the next major realm, the "Gate," all ability users build upon their own "seed" to further optimize, refine, strengthen, and nurture their own "source of pollution," thus constructing their own unique system.

Specific methods of practice can be divided into two categories:

The first option is to choose an established [contamination system]. Backed by a powerful force and a strong background, with predecessors paving a relatively safe and stable path for you, you can continuously grow stronger and upgrade by following it. For example, in the [Sanctuary], Yuan Zhu doesn't need to worry about the cultivation route; he only needs to continuously [forge seals]. Once the third seal is fully completed and he breaks through to the fourth seal, he can open the [door].

The higher the level of the system, the wider and more stable the path. For example, his first seal equals the "seed," and his fourth seal equals the "gate." There are still upgrade paths ahead. If he continues to cultivate without thinking, he can continuously break through and become stronger.

In addition to the most basic traditional [Seal Casting], there are also additional routes such as [Eight Holy Kings] to choose from, further enhancing the strength.

What Zhou Chu is doing now is taking advantage of the fact that his [Soul Crystal] is newly formed to lure him onto the broad road of [Great Law Heaven] and make him a legitimate informant planted in the [Holy Hall] by the [Law System]!
...

Another method of practice is one without a future path, without a mature "contaminated system." Pure, unorthodox Zen, even its own "seed" is randomly pieced together from wild sources of contamination.

There are many more people with this ability. Randomly being exposed to pollution and surviving is considered the beginning. After that, they come into contact with more sources of pollution without any plan, hunt monsters, grow stronger by instinct, and eventually successfully condense a [Seed], which is why it becomes more common.

These wild ability users have low potential and no way out. They can only control their own "species" to devour, digest, and absorb weaker 'polluted energy, polluted aura, and fragments of polluted origins'.

Bearing the risks of demonic possession, loss of control, and berserk behavior, it is forcibly refined, fused, and absorbed. This enhances the potential and strength of the [seed], increasing its evolutionary potential.

This path is high-risk, high-profit, and rises at an extremely rapid pace, but it can also spiral out of control even faster, with countless ways to die.

According to Zhou Chu's introduction, the problems their Security Bureau deals with most are of the second type. On the contrary, the first type, no matter how evil, involves organized and planned actions, and they are better at evading the Security Bureau and will not disrupt social order.

"In the market, many individuals who have luckily condensed a [Seed], but have no way out, will actively join a mature, large system after coming into contact with the supernatural community and accumulating enough knowledge. They will then optimize and perfect their [Seed] through mature and stable promotion channels. Until they reach a certain limit, they will face a new choice: to stay in the system and compete for higher status and power, or to switch jobs again and go solo..."

Yuan Zhu: "I have a question! Isn't it said that once you come into contact with a certain kind of 'pollution,' your soul is completely bound to the source, with no way to retreat? How can you still join or switch cultivation?"

Zhou Chu scoffed, "The [seed] formed by these wild ability users is not pure, and the [source of pollution] to which they belong is also weak, unable to support a complete 'supernatural system,' which is why they have no future. Therefore, they can convert to a more powerful [source of pollution], commonly known as 'traitors.' This is not about switching cultivation or changing allegiance, but rather offering their still-developing 'big shots' to a larger [demon king] as food."

Since entering this industry, Yuan Zhu has encountered and inquired about top-tier sources of pollution, any one of which could easily function as a single entity of the Heavenly Dao. Therefore, he tacitly believes that all 'polluting energy,' like the 'magic potion' next door, follows a single, dead-end path.

However, the 'sources of pollution' on the planet Duling are too abundant. In addition to the top-level 'root source', there are also a massive amount of pollution fragments of all sizes, which can be randomly combined to create entirely new 'sources of pollution'.

They pollute ordinary people and spread their own systems; they also devour other sources of pollution to grow stronger; and they are also devoured and absorbed by stronger pollution, contributing their own nourishment.

According to Zhou Chu, this route is exactly the same as his [Shadow System].

The Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture, having absorbed the Shadow Pollution, is essentially a smaller version of the Pollution Source from another world, gradually adapting to and integrating into the polluted ecosystem of Duling Star.

Compared to [Holy Light, Buddhist Dharma, Immortal Path, and Yellow Heaven], the [Immortal Scripture] is as weak as a weakling.

However, due to its backward compatibility, it forcibly consumed part of the 'Trash Shadow Evil God's' origin, occupying the ecological junior position of the [Shadow Pollution Source]. And relying on the [Boss Template's] [internal universe], it continuously devoured one kind of 'polluted energy (Buddha Eggplant, Disease Pollution, Insect Pollution)' after another... enriching and optimizing its own system.

But instead of rushing to reveal himself, he had a sudden inspiration: "According to what you've said, it does seem somewhat similar to the cultivation system of [Insect City]?"

Zhou Chu agreed: "Indeed, the supernatural system of [Insect Cultivation] has a limited upper limit. It is clearly composed of three [sources of pollution], relying on a decaying environment of [miasma pollution + knight pollution]; the human body suffers from the erosion of 'spiritual roots'; and it is also pieced together with 'insect eggs' as the core."

"Once these 'insect cultivators' leave the underground world and come to Duling or other bubble worlds, they will first lack the 'miasma' brought by the roots of the Immortal Tree, and their [Qi Refining Technique] will be completely useless. Even if they migrate to the floating island above Taixi and breathe pure [Kunlun Spiritual Qi], they will find it difficult to cultivate. Only by gathering 'corrupting miasma + Knight's Iron Poison' at the same time can they refine true Qi."

"However, if it were a normal human who wasn't from 'Insect City,' without the foundation of meridians laid by 'spiritual root erosion,' even if a Dao seed (insect egg) were implanted, it wouldn't be able to guide the meridians. Instead, the 'insect-type tissue' would grow wildly within the body, turning them into half-human, half-insect monsters. The extraordinary system of 'Insect City' is clearly a cobbled-together 'source of pollution,' lacking any future path. So, it forcibly borrowed from the 'Immortal Path' and 'Knight' systems to control the 'insect-type pollution.' Its upper limit is stuck at the 'Gate' stage, and then the path back is cut off."

Yuan Zhu: "If the cultivators of Insect City want to continue, what should they do?"

Zhou Chu confidently stated, "The simplest and most correct method is to convert to the [Pale Law] and switch to cultivating the [Laws], which is perfectly compatible and offers abundant pathways for advancement. Secondly, their [Heavenly Rank] experts have also realized that their escape route is cut off, so they actively absorb [Nightmare Contamination] to seek a way out. Therefore, they can devote themselves to the [Nightmare Dimension] and use the higher-level [Source of Contamination] to transform themselves into 'Nightmare Lifeforms'."

"Secondly, perhaps we could consider returning to the Kunlun faction. However, in the eyes of Kunlun, they are clearly heretical demons, not worth recruiting or reforming, and would instead be eliminated. As for the Knight faction, insect cultivators and knights seem similar, but in reality, their overlap is very limited, and they are not qualified to convert. Finally, they can continue to explore the potential of insect-based contamination. That Ascended Immortal seems to have indeed existed before, a severed path, possibly related to your Holy Temple's Great Moth?"

Yuan Zhu was very surprised to hear this: "You know so much!"

Zhou Chu gave a haughty snort: "Hmph! It's only because you wanted to come that I specially reviewed the intelligence of the [Sanctuary] and unearthed a lot of hidden knowledge. I hope it can guide you onto the right path."

(End of this chapter)