Shrouding the Heavens: Starting by joining the Holy Land of Yao Guang

Chapter 318 Enlightenment
The ancient city is bustling and full of people.

Li Yao rode his dragon horse, strolling through the ancient city, experiencing its unique atmosphere of the mortal world.

He possesses a powerful spiritual sense and profound cultivation, enabling him to perceive Daoist principles that many others cannot.

The first city on the ancient road of the human race, countless powerful figures have visited this city, and their paths have been imprinted on it.

Li Yao only needed to empty his mind to sense these Daoist principles, which allowed him to clear his mind and thus greatly speed up his comprehension of the Great Dao.

This is also his most important purpose in coming to the ancient road. The Daoist charm can increase his speed of enlightenment, thereby allowing his Daoist cultivation to improve rapidly.

In the outside world, the principles gained from enlightenment take at least a month to digest.

However, in places with a strong Taoist atmosphere, the time can be shortened by nearly seven or eight days.

If this continues, the number will be quite alarming.

Not to mention, the ancient road is not only filled with the charm of Tao, but also with the insights into the Great Tao left by our predecessors.

If one can gain insight from this, the speed of enlightenment can be greatly increased.

This is also Li Yao's next goal.

Over the next few days, Li Yao explored all the places in the ancient city steeped in Taoist culture.

He entered the world with his spirit, comprehended the Daoist principles within it, and wandered in the realm of Dao, his cultivation rapidly increasing.

The first trial for humans was not peaceful. Although the guide strictly forbade it, friction still occurred among the trial participants.

Everyone is a king in their own star system, and no one is willing to submit to anyone else. Under such circumstances, it is normal for a conflict to break out.

In just half a month, at least seven or eight clashes occurred in the city, resulting in the deaths of more than twenty trial participants.

Even worse, some fools tried to test Li Yao's strength, only to be annihilated with a single slap.

This incident caused quite a stir. There were three attackers, all of whom were geniuses at the Saint level, each incredibly powerful, yet they were all killed with a single slap.

This combat power was terrifying. People had a preliminary understanding of Li Yao's combat strength, and from then on, no one dared to make a move.

This gave Li Yao a lot of peace and allowed him to immerse himself even more in enlightenment and cultivation.

Inside the inn, Li Yao refined the Myriad Dao Furnace, imprinting the Great Dao of the All-Encompassing Secret onto the divine furnace to enhance its power.

This secret technique has no upper limit to its power; it all depends on the practitioner's skill.

The ultimate secret of the character "皆" (jie) enhances the power of the Myriad Paths Furnace with each imprint, until it is finally completely refined, leaving an eternal and immortal character "皆" on the furnace body.

Now, countless Dao techniques have been imprinted in the Myriad Dao Furnace, but the most dazzling one is still the character '行' (Xing), while the character '皆' (Jie) is slightly dimmer.

The two ancient characters resembled divine runes, or perhaps two exquisitely crafted Dao fruits, containing boundless divine power.

The character '行' trembled, as if the power of time flowed through it, and the entire furnace became illusory, as if it were not present.

The character '皆' vibrated, and the divine power of the furnace body surged, as if it had increased tenfold. The character '行' was also empowered, and the power of time became even more terrifying. If one got close, one could even slightly feel the passage of life accelerating.

This is just the beginning. As Li Yao grows stronger, the power of the Myriad Dao Furnace will increase day by day.

Even now, the character '皆' (jiē) hasn't been fully imprinted yet.

"In the past half month, the places in the city with the rich Daoist aura have been fully comprehended. If you want to obtain the Daoist aura left behind by the sages, you have to go and see the master of this city."

End the practice.

Li Yao stood up, dispersed the Myriad Dao Furnace, and did not continue the refining process.

The first barrier of the human race has an ancient origin and unfathomable power. Historically, the city lord has been the guide.

The current guide is a Saint King, who has served as the city lord for over a thousand years. The place where he is in seclusion is also the place with the richest Daoist aura.

Li Yao had never been there, but he was not prepared to let it go.

In the heart of the ancient city, a majestic mountain stands tall, reaching into the sky, exuding grandeur and a natural Taoist aura.

At the foot of the mountain, there is a cave that is very deep and dark, and no light can penetrate it.

Surrounding the cave are unparalleled array patterns, exuding a terrifying killing intent. If one were to accidentally fall into these patterns, even a saint would be instantly annihilated.

Li Yao's figure vanished, ignoring the array patterns, and he easily entered the cave.

The ancient cave is long and narrow, and it was very dark at first, but as you enter, it gradually emits light. On the cave walls, some natural traces begin to appear, radiating divine brilliance and becoming extremely dazzling.

These traces, imbued with the essence of Tao, elucidate the profound principles of heaven and earth, allowing people to contemplate and comprehend them, thereby attaining enlightenment!

"The tangible form of the Great Dao!" A slight ripple stirred in Li Yao's heart.

This place is quite extraordinary. Someone has made arrangements here, gathering all the Daoist energy in the city. Over time, the mountain has naturally been etched with Daoist marks.

This is not man-made, but a product of nature, a place that has seized the creation of heaven and earth.

Upon entering this place, Li Yao immediately felt his mind clear and his speed of enlightenment accelerated, as if he were drinking tea leaves for enlightenment.

He did not stop, but continued deeper into the area. After traveling for several miles, the space suddenly opened up before him, as if he had entered a huge plaza.

The interior of this great mountain has been hollowed out, and it is tens of thousands of feet high and incredibly spacious.

The entire enormous cave was covered with Dao traces, resembling a giant magic array that converged systematically towards the central platform.

There, the guide sat cross-legged, his arms wrapped around himself, his whole being seemingly in harmony with the Dao, seeking enlightenment and cultivating himself.

Li Yao was in the void, without revealing the slightest aura. Even the powerful Jieyinshi did not notice his arrival.

hum!
Suddenly, a faint, mysterious wave of divine consciousness spread out, silent and extremely secretive, making it impossible for anyone to detect, and it spread toward the guide.

Li Yao's mastery of the "Former Word Secret" technique had already reached its peak, and he was moving towards the realm of perfection. With his powerful divine sense, he could use the "Former Word Secret" technique without the guides noticing the slightest movement.

Unbeknownst to them, the guide's divine senses extinguished, and he lost all perception of the outside world.

"Shh!"

Li Yao appeared on the high platform, casually tossed the guide down and took his place, then sat down cross-legged to begin his enlightenment.

In fact, with his strength, he could have forcibly taken it over, but after all, he was the first guide, and behind him was the entire ancient road. If it wasn't necessary, there was no need to confront him directly.

In any case, letting the guide "take a nap" is just a matter of waving his hand to him, and it's not troublesome at all.

Sometimes, a fig leaf can be very useful, making things more acceptable to others.

"boom!"

As Li Yao sat down cross-legged, an endless surge of Daoist energy immediately enveloped him, like a vast and boundless ocean of Dao.

His speed of enlightenment suddenly rose to another level, and his insights from comprehending the secrets of the previous characters were being rapidly digested.

This speed is truly astonishing, more than ten times faster than the body's own digestion rate.

Originally, most of the insights gained over the past two weeks had been digested, with only a portion remaining that would take three days to fully digest. But now, it's estimated that it will be digested in less than half a day.

And indeed, after three hours, the insights were fully digested.

Li Yao opened his eyes with delight, feeling his cultivation level rise slightly. His comprehension of the "Former Word Secret" also became stronger, and endless truths emerged in his mind.

"If I cultivate here for a year or two, I might be able to break through the limits of the Qianzi Secret Technique." He was shocked.

This place is a speed boost for him, allowing his cultivation level to increase rapidly.

Li Yao wasted time, focusing his mind on the realm of creation, beginning to comprehend the secrets of the previous character. ...

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a month has passed since the prodigies entered the First City.

During this period, the friction intensified, with many people even confronting each other in the streets. Although the soldiers intervened and prevented a fight, the increased number of such confrontations created a sense of oppression within the city.

"It's been a month, why hasn't the guide appeared yet? When will the trial begin?"

"According to the people in the city, this has rarely happened before. The training grounds are usually opened about every half month."

"What's going on this time? The guide hasn't shown up again. Are we just going to keep waiting like this?"

The prodigies in the city grew increasingly impatient. A whole month had passed, and the guide had still not appeared. They had been entrenched in the city for a month.

They wanted to find the guide and find out the reason, but the soldiers guarding the city would certainly not let them run wild. If they acted too aggressively, they would be suppressed.

Fortunately, only a minority of cultivators were overly aggressive. Although a month was a long time, it did not make everyone lose their composure.

Most people are still observing and are not in a hurry.

But the current situation is not good either; only by having a guide step in can the people's restless emotions be calmed down.

As time goes by, day after day, a steady stream of cultivators will inevitably become impatient, and at that point, the soldiers will certainly be unable to suppress them.

Nearly five hundred prodigies, among whom the best have already broken through to the Saint realm, this force should not be underestimated.

Several days later, the guide still hadn't appeared, and more and more cultivators were getting restless.

The commander of the First City knew that he could not wait any longer. He personally went to the secluded place of the guide, stood in front of the array patterns, and his powerful divine sense surged into the cave.

He knew that the guide was probably in seclusion here, or even at a critical moment in his cultivation, but there was nothing he could do. The crowd was in agitated and he could only disturb the guide.

To begin the trial path, only a guide can be appointed; no one else can do it on your behalf.

The Grand Commander stood outside the array, remaining silent for a moment, but receiving no response, which made him increasingly puzzled.

"Does this mean that at the crucial moment, we can't afford to be distracted at all?"

He didn't dare to disturb them and could only leave first.

When one reaches a crucial juncture in enlightenment, the worst thing one can do is to be disturbed. If one misses that fleeting opportunity because of it, one may never encounter it again in this lifetime.

This is no small matter; it is an obstruction to one's path. Once this is established, it will become a matter of life and death.

The only option now is to wait for the guide to lead us out of the pass.

As for whether it will cause any unmanageable consequences, that is the guide's own business and has nothing to do with him, the Grand Commander.

Although his duty is to protect the First Holy City, if any trouble were to occur, the cause would be obvious, and he would never be held responsible.

Sun rises and moon sets, moon sets and sun rises...

The First Holy City grew increasingly oppressive. People knew something must have gone wrong; the guide had not yet appeared, and the trial might be delayed as a result.

This has never happened before.

Not only the cultivators participating in the trial, but also the natives are now extremely surprised.

Some of the elderly people, who are over a thousand years old, are seeing this scene for the first time.

This is unusual; three whole months have passed, and the cultivators have yet to embark on the trial path.

The Grand Commander had been on tenterhooks and on high alert all this time, in order to prevent the cultivators from starting a fight.

He cursed the guide in his heart, feeling that this person had really gone too far this time.

Knowing full well that the cultivators were about to undergo trials, they chose to go into seclusion at this time, effectively detaining five hundred prodigies and preventing them from embarking on their journey.

No, we can't wait any longer. We must report this immediately and let law enforcement make a decision.

The president made up his mind not to wait any longer, otherwise it would really cause some disaster.

Inside the inn, Qing Shi looked at the young man beside her and asked curiously, "Brother Dao, when do you think the Guide will appear?"

"I don't know?" Li Yao, dressed in white, shook his head, his expression completely open.

This is the Dao body left behind by Li Yao. After all, the Guide was tricked, and if he disappeared for several months without any reason, everyone could connect the dots.

Since we're going to put on an act anyway, we might as well go all the way.

“It’s been several months. The Grand Commander should report this to the law enforcement officers.” Qing Shi said softly, her beautiful eyes sparkling.

Li Yao's expression shifted, and he asked, "Why is that?"

“I heard it from the indigenous people. They said that in each holy city, you can contact the ancient road enforcers for help. But the guide has not yet appeared. The commander can only report the news here and ask the enforcers to come down.”

After a pause, Qing Shi added, "Of course, this is based on the premise that the Grand Commander is unaware of what happened to the Guide."

Li Yao nodded, not taking it too seriously. The so-called enforcers were usually peak Saint Kings.

At this level, even if you were to be there in person, blocking the entrance to the cave, you still wouldn't be able to catch a trace of him.

With the breakthrough of the Xingzi Secret Technique, coupled with his cultivation level, he could easily slip away from the enforcers.

In particular, over the past few months, through his comprehension of the Daoist principles of the First City, he has studied the "Former Character Secret" more than twenty times. His mastery of the "Former Character Secret" has already undergone a tremendous transformation, although he has not yet reached the point where he can foresee the future with a mere thought.

But as long as it operates, it can predict the future at least seven out of ten times, and there will be no situation where it is blocked by someone.

Moreover, as he continued to comprehend the Dao, the Daoist principles within the First City slowed his comprehension speed, from once every three days at the beginning to once every five or six days later.

Once the effect weakens further, he will leave the cave, perhaps without even waiting for the law enforcement to arrive.

In the blink of an eye, several more days have passed.

Inside the cave, the guide's consciousness was asleep, leaving only a shell of a body, sitting cross-legged on the ground like a corpse.

On the high platform, Li Yao faced the sky with his five hearts turned upwards, silently comprehending the Dao.

Three months of comprehension led to a rapid advancement in his cultivation, making him feel as if he were about to merge with the Great Dao, becoming one with it.

He was like a god, exuding a divine quality, supreme and supreme!

This is a rare opportunity. Under normal circumstances, it would take at least two to three years to achieve enlightenment more than twenty times.

And now, this feat has been accomplished in just three months.

"It's about time to leave." Li Yao opened his eyes. This time, the effect of his enlightenment was weakened again. It took a full thirteen days to digest it. Staying any longer would not bring much benefit.

Moreover, the law enforcement officers may arrive in a few days. The Gu Lu faction is powerful, so it's best not to humiliate them too much.

Although he wasn't afraid, he figured he could focus on his cultivation and there was no need to fight with these people.

He returned the guide to its original position and then erased his own remaining energy from the place to prevent others from calculating his fate.

After doing all that, Li Yao vanished, and the cave returned to calm, as if he had never been there.

"Well……"

A moment later, a whimpering sound came from the throat of a person who had been sleeping for a long time in the cave, and the guide was awakened.

(End of this chapter)