Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 449 Discussion
Emperor Xuanwu first transmitted his insights about the methods of Earth Immortals, which he had obtained from the Supreme Heavenly Venerable Wuji, to the Heavenly Venerable Changsheng.

In the eyes of the Eternal Celestial Venerable, the starry river shimmered and countless law runes shifted and changed endlessly before finally subsiding completely.

He couldn't help but sigh, "The Great Celestial Venerable is indeed the Great Celestial Venerable. Even a casual insight can benefit me greatly. He is truly a celestial being."

Emperor Xuanwu was startled; the aura that the Celestial Venerable of Longevity had inadvertently revealed made him feel its power once again.

Of course, there are different kinds of powerful.

The Heavenly Venerable Lingbao and the Heavenly Venerable Wuji were beyond his reach and unimaginable power; although the Heavenly Venerable Changsheng was far superior to him, he could still make some calculations.

Immediately, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, "Fellow Daoist Xuanwu, do you know the origin of this Earth Immortal technique?"

Emperor Xuanwu was taken aback, then said, "I don't know."

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, "Initially, the Celestial Venerable of Limitless Limits studied these naturally formed wonders between heaven and earth, thereby deciphering their laws and transforming them from a special form that even those who have attained the Dao could hardly comprehend into a form that is universally applicable. Although the Jade Flower Immortal Scripture that you cultivate was deciphered by the Celestial Venerable of Spiritual Treasure, the first person to do so and summarize the method was the Celestial Venerable of Limitless Limits."

"Later, he discovered that practicing this special scripture could allow practitioners to establish a special connection with the corresponding wondrous places, thereby extending their lifespan by drawing upon their power. The higher the degree of compatibility, the better the effect."

"Back then, I embarked on the path of becoming an Earth Immortal because of my extremely high compatibility with the Ancient Scripture of Burial of Immortals in the Immortal Tomb. Later, the two of us worked together to figure out the method of becoming an Earth Immortal."

“The Great Celestial Venerable Wuji said I am the ancestor of Earth Immortals, but in my opinion, I am just the first one to become an Earth Immortal. Without me, the Great Celestial Venerable would have been able to do so sooner or later; but without him, I could never have become an Earth Immortal.”

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuanwu was momentarily dazed. So the source of this Earth Immortal Technique was actually the Limitless Heavenly Venerable and the Longevity Heavenly Venerable?

Since the initial version of the Earth Immortal Method obtained from Lingbao Tianzun was already quite complete, Xuanwu Emperor always thought it was developed by those Daoists of the mythological era through generations of exploration. However, he did not expect that its history was only a few hundred thousand years old.

Emperor Xuanwu said, “Fellow Daoist Changsheng, there is no need to belittle yourself. In any case, Fellow Daoist Changsheng, you are already the ancestor of the Earth Immortals, and a senior whom I need to learn from.”

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, “Since Fellow Daoist Xuanwu wishes to follow the path of Earth Immortals, I will naturally welcome you wholeheartedly and do my best to assist you. Although I have not made any fundamental changes to the methods of Earth Immortals over the years, I have made some improvements to the details.”

“Fellow Daoist Xuanwu, you can work with me to deduce and improve it, making it even more perfect.”

Immediately afterwards, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity handed over his improved method of Earth Immortals to the Xuanwu Emperor.

This new method of becoming an Earth Immortal retains the same principles in the first stage: comprehending and cultivating the scriptures transformed from the laws of the wondrous land; the second stage, transforming oneself into the corresponding constitution, also remains unchanged; however, the third and fourth stages differ.

The original method of transforming oneself into a semi-holy stone figure to combine with the wondrous land during the third stage of the Earth Immortal cultivation remains unchanged.

However, thanks to the improvements made by the Celestial Venerable of Longevity based on the Ancient Scripture of Burial of Immortals regarding the use of the original power of the Immortal Tomb, this process no longer takes as long as in the past, and the danger has been relatively reduced.

As for the fourth stage, merging with the wondrous land and becoming the wondrous land itself, there is no change. However, upon reaching this stage, one has already attained immortality and can be considered a successful Earth Immortal.

Then comes the fifth stage, where his true form is reborn from the wondrous land. The Celestial Venerable of Longevity has also made some improvements to this process, accelerating the progress. As for the sixth stage, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity is still constantly exploring this aspect.

However, the direction is quite clear. First, one must accumulate one's own cultivation and continuously evolve the fundamental laws within the wondrous lands, making them increasingly perfect and exquisite.
Secondly, it is necessary to directly promote the evolution of the wondrous land itself, making its origin more profound, the world more solid and complete, and the environment more suitable for cultivation.

The third option is not strictly necessary: ​​developing a cultivation civilization within it and strengthening the wondrous land with the help of faith.

The process of developing civilization mainly helps to improve one's own spiritual cultivation and accelerates the evolution of the world, but it cannot be considered indispensable.

As for the power of faith, the Celestial Venerable of Immortality has also made progress in this area over the years. However, he did not make the cultivators in the Immortal Tomb believe in him, but instead guided them to believe in the heavens and earth themselves.

Believing in a specific individual can hinder one's cultivation, but if one transforms the object of faith into an abstract world, this can be avoided.

Although this way the power of faith he receives is not as direct and will be significantly diminished, it also avoids the various effects that occur when he receives the power of faith himself.

After learning about the Celestial Venerable of Longevity's extensive explorations into the methods of becoming an Earth Immortal, Emperor Xuanwu couldn't help but feel a deep respect for him. The Celestial Venerable of Longevity truly lived up to his words, dedicating himself wholeheartedly without holding anything back.

Such an immortal being is absolutely deserving of the title of Ancestor of Earthly Immortals. At least, Emperor Xuanwu himself would certainly agree.

Emperor Xuanwu said, "Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Changsheng. Without you, I would have faced countless difficulties and challenges on my path to becoming an Earth Immortal."

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, "I am merely helping each other. As long as Fellow Daoist Xuanwu achieves something in the future, he will repay me, which will be an excellent positive cycle."

"The methods of the Earth Immortals are not like those of the Mortal Immortals, where even if the methods are similar, they are difficult to replicate. Instead, the Earth Immortals can learn from each other's experiences and pool their wisdom. The more people explore and move forward, the easier it will be for us to progress and achieve greater results."

Emperor Xuanwu said, "I have learned a lot. If I achieve something in the future, I will definitely exchange ideas and discuss with Fellow Daoist Changsheng so that we can make progress together."

Having achieved their main objective, the two then began to discuss philosophy.

Although the path of the Xuanwu Emperor differs from that of the Longevity Celestial Venerable, there are still some overlaps. For example, they both have considerable knowledge of the laws of life. Furthermore, their methods of attack are both swordsmanship.

Of course, it is precisely for this reason that the experience of the Celestial Venerable of Longevity as an Earth Immortal will be even more useful to the Xuanwu Emperor.

Even though the Celestial Venerable of Immortality was stronger and his Dao was more perfect, the Xuanwu Emperor was, after all, a ruler who had lived three lifetimes and possessed his own unique strengths. Therefore, both of them could verify their own Dao through the other's Dao, thereby making progress.

Regarding swordsmanship, the Celestial Venerable of Longevity, drawing upon the mysteries of Liang Yu's Yin-Yang Dao Scripture, combined his own Longevity Sword Technique with the Celestial Venerable of Spiritual Treasure's Immortal Slaughter Sword Technique, thus integrating the sword of life with the sword of slaughter, elevating it to a higher level.

Although Xuanwu Emperor was not as good as him, he also used his ability to deduce and combine various sword techniques in the universe to form his own technique, which was similar to Liang Yu's Myriad Techniques, which was characterized by endless changes and mutual generation and restraint.

The two learned from each other's strengths and weaknesses, gaining a deeper understanding of swordsmanship.

(End of this chapter)