Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 187 Solution
The imprint of the human universe originates from the Immortal Treasure Map. While called an imprint, it is merely a record of the origin of the human universe and has no practical function. At least for most people, it is simply knowledge that is difficult to translate into actual cultivation. After all, they cultivate the laws.

But for masters of Origin Arts like Liang Yu and Ming Zun, it's a completely different story. Origin Arts are secret techniques that can change the world; they are used to influence and manipulate the power of the universe. Therefore, the more one understands the essence of the human universe, the greater the effect of Origin Arts.

After all, early cultivation of Origin Arts begins with understanding various terrains, and for a long time, one needs to borrow the power of heaven and earth to form combat strength. Being able to manipulate the power of heaven and earth directly without relying on special terrain, or even creating special terrain, already represents a very late stage of Origin Arts cultivation.

In other words, normal cultivation requires comprehending the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and the core of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is the Heavenly Heart Imprint. Therefore, cultivators must prove their Dao by combining with the Heavenly Heart Imprint in order to comprehend the core of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and make their Dao more perfect.

Source Arts, on the other hand, take a different path, requiring one to grasp the fundamental power of the human universe. However, the universe is too vast, and its origin is too immense, so even if one can grasp and manipulate only a portion of it, one can still achieve enlightenment through Source Arts.

This human universe imprint can greatly accelerate the process of comprehending and manipulating the origin of the universe, allowing those who cultivate the source techniques to reach the realm of the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who can manipulate the power of the origin of heaven and earth, or even the realm of the Lord of the universe, who can manipulate the power of the origin of the universe and even the laws of the great universe.

Faced with the Longevity Celestial Venerable being targeted by the Great Universe, Liang Yu and the Underworld Venerable both thought of the Universe Imprint in the Human Realm, precisely because they were both masters of Origin Techniques.

Liang Yuhe's idea was actually to grasp the origin of the universe through the imprint of the human universe, and then bind the immortal tomb that was merged with the immortal celestial venerable to the origin of the universe, forming an inseparable connection, so as to avoid the targeting of the universe.

Extraordinary places like the Immortal Mausoleum, the Primordial Ancient Mine, and the Kunlun Immortal Mountain, though born from the vast universe, contain a faint trace of immortal divinity, thus generating unique laws that form their own distinct system. Therefore, they possess a strong degree of independence, subtly establishing a boundary with the universe, and cannot be entirely considered part of it.

Why would the vast universe give birth to such an independent and wondrous place? There are two main reasons. First, the vast universe was previously a world of nine heavens and ten earths, a great world where even immortal kings could be born, so its inherent scale was already very high.

Although it has lost the ability to produce longevity substances due to severe damage and has become the end of the Dharma world, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. It will still occasionally give birth to things that are hard to find in other worlds, and this strange place is one of them.

The second point relates to the self-repair and respiration of the universe. The energy of the universe is not entirely generated autonomously; it also breathes, replenishing its energy from the outside to power its own operation.

However, the universe is now operating at a deficit. First, the Immortal Realm has been shattered and severely damaged, resulting in a near-complete severing of the connection between the mortal realm and the Immortal Realm. As a result, it is very difficult for the mortal universe to obtain energy from the Immortal Realm, and obtaining energy from other places is even more difficult due to distance and other factors.

Secondly, the universe itself is also severely damaged. Although the main framework has been repaired through downgrading, some leaks are inevitable, as evidenced by the occasional cracks that appear in the world. Therefore, some of the energy absorbed by the universe will leak out due to these damages.

It's difficult for them to obtain energy from the outside world, and even when they do manage to absorb some, they waste some due to self-damage, leading to a worsening state of the universe. Of course, the increasing number of self-severing supreme beings who remain immortal is also a contributing factor.

To change this situation, the universe's self-repair mechanism began to function. These wondrous realms are actually part of this self-repair process. The universe absorbs energy from the outside world through two means: its size and its mass. The former is unavailable, as it hasn't even recovered from its damage and therefore cannot expand. Thus, it must rely on its mass to increase the efficiency of energy absorption. And so, these wondrous realms began to play their role.

These wondrous realms are of extremely high quality, containing not only immortal divinity but also profound and unique laws. Their presence allows the universe to absorb and retain more energy from the outside, thereby accelerating its own repair and growth.

Therefore, not only are existing wondrous realms constantly developing and expanding in the vast universe, but new wondrous realms are also slowly being conceived. Even if these wondrous realms are highly independent, they will not leave this world, so the essence remains within the same universe.

However, things are completely different after the Celestial Venerable of Immortality combines with the Immortal Tomb. It is possible for him to continuously absorb the origin of the universe, eventually making the Immortal Tomb stronger and stronger, and then break away from the universe.

After all, a true immortal is immortal. Although the Longevity Celestial Venerable, who has merged with the Immortal Mausoleum, has not yet reached the level of a true immortal, he already possesses the most important characteristic of an immortal: immortality. As long as he continues to develop and grow stronger, he has a chance to truly reach that level.

That's why the Great Universe is targeting the Eternal Celestial Venerable in this way. After all, given the current state of the Great Universe, supporting the Eternal Celestial Venerable's ascension to immortality would bankrupt it. The Eternal Celestial Venerable's true form, merged with the Immortal Mausoleum, is far larger than a human body.

If a few more come along, the universe will practically be devoured. In that case, not only will the goal of repairing itself be ruined, but even the parts that were originally preserved might be lost.

Therefore, to some extent, the Celestial Venerable of Immortality and the Great Universe are already locked in a life-or-death struggle. The solution, naturally, is to transform this antagonistic relationship into one of cooperation and mutual benefit.

Liang Yuhe's method, in essence, is to relinquish a portion of the independence of the Immortal Mausoleum and completely connect it with the origin of the human universe. In this way, the Eternal Celestial Venerable can no longer separate himself from the greater universe, and everything about him naturally becomes part of the human universe.

Moreover, in this state, the growth of the Immortal Tomb and the repair and growth of the Great Universe will be intertwined, sharing both prosperity and adversity. In this way, the Great Universe will naturally have no need to target the Eternal Celestial Venerable. Furthermore, what would have been a path that undermined the very foundation of the Great Universe has transformed into an act of immense merit, almost a sacrifice to mend the heavens.

After a brief discussion with the Underworld Lord and confirming its feasibility, Liang Yu informed the Eternal Heavenly Lord in the Thunder Sea about the method.

After he had thought about it for a moment, Liang Yu asked, "Fellow Daoist Changsheng, this is a decision for you to make. Whether you choose to rely on the Heaven-Deceiving Array Pattern to avoid the Thunder Sea and remain here in preparation for future ascension, or you choose to give up ascension and live with the human world from now on, we will respect your decision."

(End of this chapter)