Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 339 The Seven Souls Cave of the Big Dipper Returns
As soon as the Taoist's appearance was fully revealed, everything in the suite's living room suddenly blurred.

The illusory flame between Teacher Yuan's brows extinguished, leaving only the Taoist's phantom image, hanging alone in mid-air.

Chu Tianshu's suspended hand was also affected; his forearm trembled slightly, and he looked surprised.

"The spirit world..."

The blurry scenery just now wasn't due to any magic the Taoist priest used, but rather because the real world was rejecting him.

Chu Tianshu had experienced similar situations several times.

When he breaks through the overflow zone, the real environment will repel the main spiritual energy of the overflow zone back.

I had that feeling back then.

This Taoist priest doesn't seem to be an evil spirit. Could he also be a spirit from the spirit world?
Chu Tianshu secretly channeled his inner energy and solemnly asked, "What species are you? Why are you haunting my friend's dream?"

"I am, of course, a human being."

The female Taoist priest spoke in a cool tone, but there was a hint of surprise in her eyes, and she couldn't help but wave her whisk.

"Time has changed, hundreds of years have passed, and now someone has actually been able to step into the forbidden realm in the present world?"

Chu Tianshu made a grasping motion from a distance, using only a portion of his own power, without demonstrating the ability to mobilize the essence of heaven and earth.

The female Taoist priest could tell his level of cultivation at a glance, and he was probably someone who had also crossed that threshold.

“I am not the first person in the world to step into taboo territory.”

Chu Tianshu remained unmoved. "No matter who you are, you should give an explanation for harassing my friend without cause."

The female Taoist priest lowered her eyebrows, as if deep in thought.

She has a cool and aloof appearance, and an even colder temperament. When she is deep in thought, it is easy to mistake her for arrogance and disdain to reply.

Thanks to Chu Tianshu's keen senses, there was no misunderstanding, and he waited quietly for more than ten seconds.

"My name is Chen Ying, a disciple of the Southern School of Golden Core."

The female Taoist priest turned to look at Yuan Zhonglu, a hint of tenderness on her face.

“I am not disturbing this child, but because she is destined to be with me, the treasure ship of the grotto has chosen her as my incense-offering attendant.”

"I had no choice but to try my best to cultivate him."

“But the Southern School of Golden Elixir has always been self-reliant and perfect, not good at communicating with outsiders. I chose the method of Foundation Establishment of True Person and passed it on in my dream, but I am afraid that it will still be the slowest one.”

Her words revealed a great deal of information.

"Incense-offering boy" is a term similar to "shaman" or "spirit medium."

This refers to the practice of highly skilled individuals who, due to their limited worldly experience, choose individuals with special physical characteristics or preordained connections as their anchors.

The incense-offering boy can call upon a wise person for help, and also needs to do things for that wise person.

As for the Southern School of Golden Elixir, which is perfect and flawless, there's not much to say about that.

The Dao of Alchemy is a practice that emerged later than "spiritual communication." Compared to the spiritual path that relies heavily on sensory perception, the Dao of Alchemy is more independent and therefore less likely to communicate with outsiders.

"A true cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage?"

Chu Tianshu didn't know much about this word.

"The so-called True Person Foundation Building is actually the method of the Northern School of Golden Elixir."

Chen Ying remained calm and spoke slowly, “Our two sects, the North and the South, have many things in common. Although some of our seniors have disagreements, others are close friends.”

"The method of building a foundation for a true person was created by Wang Chongyang, a senior of the Northern School. It is also known as the method of living the dead. It uses a state of mind that is clear, upright and harmonious to break through the fear of life and death, and spreads the internal alchemy skills to the limbs and bones to regulate the body."

"I hope to emulate the body of an ancient immortal, whose body, though lacking true qi, possesses vitality that can reach the heavens, whose blood and qi are vibrant, and whose every detail of the physical body is in perfect harmony, resonating with the workings of heaven and earth."

"If this method can be mastered, it will be the most effective method in our Golden Core sect for communicating with external objects."

This perfectly matches the cultivation situation that Yuan Zhonglu mentioned.

Chu Tianshu also sensed it when he took Chu Tianshu's pulse.

Yuan Zhonglu is known for her mastery of internal strength, but her approach differs from that of typical internal strength training methods.

Because she is too normal, too healthy.

Those who practice internal energy cultivation are not actually that normal.

Chu Tianshu himself had a deep understanding of this. Unless one reaches a level similar to that of the Martial God of the Kitchen, the body of a cultivator will have some indicators that far exceed the normal level and will not be balanced.

Only a martial arts master can return to simplicity and authenticity, leaving no trace of his true nature.

Teacher Yuan's physical strength clearly hasn't reached that level, which can only mean that her cultivation method has some hidden secrets.

"It sounds like you're only giving her benefits."

Chu Tianshu laughed, "But since you mentioned the difference in progress, it means that you gave her these benefits, which also forced her to compete with certain people, right?"

Chen Ying had not yet answered, but was staring at Yuan Zhonglu.

Teacher Yuan suddenly woke up, looking somewhat bewildered. She then patted her forehead and revealed a complex smile.

"This is really..."

She looked at Chu Tianshu and said, "Let me explain."

"My connection with this Senior Chen was almost complete, but you pulled her projection into reality just now, which actually helped her out."

"Once the bond is fully formed, the power of the grotto-heaven will allow me and her to share some common knowledge."

Teacher Yuan clearly understood better how to tell this story from the perspective of a modern spiritual practitioner.

First, we must address the separation between the spirit world and reality.

In the eyes of the ancients, the upheaval that separated the real world from the spiritual world, and made people afraid to step into the taboo, was called the "wind of transformation".

That wind makes the Great Dao clearer, fuller, easier to comprehend, and easier to transform into the Dao.

When the wind first began to blow, it ironically allowed some unparalleled experts to advance even further, and they were also the first to realize the danger of this wind. Therefore, they found those natural secret spaces between the two realms and further modified them, creating one after another grotto-heavens.

The winds of transformation have no effect on mortals. As long as those above the forbidden level hide in their grottoes, they can reconnect with the outside world when the winds weaken.

The transformation of the grotto-heaven involved not only immortals but also deities, who indeed made the grotto-heaven extremely secure.

However, the isolation between the inside and outside was too tight, which caused problems.

The secret realm itself, like the two realms of heaven and earth, will be easily penetrated and swept away by the winds of transformation.

The cave heaven must completely isolate the excess power of transformation from the outside, so the wind force becomes a thrust.

During the era when the winds of transformation were at their strongest, many grotto-heavens were blown away by the unparalleled force of the winds!

"Blown away?"

Chu Tianshu couldn't help but repeat it.

He also imagined what the ancients meant by "grotto heaven" and even speculated whether it might be a large overflow area.

But now it seems that this so-called cave is really just a windbreak in some sense.

However, the wind was so strong that it blew the entire windbreak tunnel away.

"Yes, natural secret realms have the characteristic of moving automatically. When our ancestors created these grottoes, the better they isolated the inside from the outside, the less they were connected with the outside world."

"It's both unexpected and reasonable that it will be blown away."

When Yuan Zhonglu read these messages, he also found them somewhat absurd.

But if one were to live in such an era, even knowing the potential dangers, the only option would probably be to achieve the highest level of isolation from both inside and outside the region.

Being blown away is better than being completely annihilated.

"However, there is a sect that flourished during the Han Dynasty, known as the Beidou Returning Soul Sect, also called the Immortal Sect that Predicts Life and Death."

"Their cave structure is unique. It was originally a two-layer structure. After the main cave was blown away, a layer of ruins remained."

"This site is like a treasure ship, which has been in operation for thousands of years, intermittently choosing its successors, until it has been greatly revived in recent years."

Teacher Yuan sighed as she finished speaking.

"The Beidou Returning Soul Path is both righteous and evil. They have two ideas: one is that a person's three souls come from the sun, moon, and water, while a person's seven spirits are bestowed by the Big Dipper."

"Secondly, it is believed that the seven souls of a person come from the father's essence and the mother's blood. After the baby is born, he sees the customs and hears the voices of people. He senses the earth's energy and the seven souls are nourished and transformed by the earth, which then transforms into the soul."

"The main body of the cave that was blown away represents the Big Dipper, and the remaining foundation represents the concept of the earth's energy giving rise to the soul."

"Senior Chen Ying is one of the seven chosen souls."

"After the Cave Heaven Treasure Ship is fully revived, within a hundred days, a single victor must be chosen from among the Seven Souls to become the soul of the Cave Heaven and inherit it."

Chu Tianshu understood when he heard this.

The so-called seven souls transform into spirits, which need the nourishment of the earth's energy, presumably requiring the earth's energy in reality.

Therefore, this decisive battle within 100 days must be carried out in reality.

However, people like Chen Ying are still rejected by reality.

The Treasure Ship in the Cave Heaven helped the seven people choose a Child with whom they had a deep affinity, allowing them to sneak into reality.

Chu Tianshu asked with great interest, "Daoist Chen Ying, you call Wang Chongyang a senior, so your earliest era can't be more than the Southern Song Dynasty, right? How did you break through the taboo in your dynasty?"

"I did not break through in the mortal world, but was unintentionally chosen as one of the seven souls of the cave heaven, which led me to this realm."

Chen Ying said, "But with this breakthrough, I also became part of the cave heaven. Before the cave heaven was fully restored, for hundreds of years, every time I was awake, I could do nothing but ponder the cultivation techniques and supernatural powers."

She smiled slightly, looking at Yuan Zhonglu.

"In recent years, being able to send dreams to those with whom I have a connection has become a second thing I can do."

Teacher Yuan rubbed her face.

Yuan Zhonglu didn't particularly like those strange dreams, but after sharing common sense, she felt a little sorry for this "senior".

"The seven souls may all come from different dynasties."

Teacher Yuan's expression turned serious. "However, among the seven souls, there may be more than one who has already transformed into an evil spirit."

"The Beidou Soul Returning Path is a sect that cannot distinguish between right and wrong. If the evil spirit wins the decisive battle in a hundred days, I'm afraid this Cave Heaven Treasure Ship will not resist and will only be completely transformed into an evil object."

Chu Tianshu's heart stirred slightly: "An evil spirit."

He asked, "From which day exactly does this 100-day decisive battle begin? Are there any regional restrictions?"

Yuan Zhonglu said, "Once all seven souls have completed their bond, the timer will begin. I will be the last one to complete my bond."

"As for the location, the ruins of that cave have been adrift for many years, and the influence they currently radiate does not exceed that of this city. None of the Seven Souls can leave this city."

"Furthermore, within a hundred days, the seven souls will become increasingly interconnected, and it will be impossible for anyone to escape these hundred days."

Chu Tianshu laughed, seemingly lost in thought.

"Master Chen, if you win, can you control the cave ruins and bring them back to the country?"

"Return to China?"

Chen Ying was puzzled. Recalling the common knowledge they had just shared, she suddenly realized, "So this place is now a foreign country. If I win, I will naturally return home."

"Even if any one of the six of them wins, they should still go back."

Chu Tianshu chuckled upon hearing this.

"If this thing can float overseas, how do you know where the other six people's hometowns are?"

“The relics of the Han Dynasty should naturally return to their homeland.”

As Chu Tianshu spoke, he looked down at his palm and said, "I also want to see how far the masters from different dynasties can go, given their boredom and seclusion."

(End of this chapter)