There are no ancestors at all; I made them all up.

Chapter 233: A thought from the Buddha and the devil, plowing through mud is not bitter
In the quiet room of Mingxia Mountain, Chen Qing suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze flashing like lightning, yet also containing a hint of worry.

"That Taoist's great supernatural power can disturb time, causing me to wake up from my dream prematurely. I wonder if my body in the dream can maintain its balance under that Taoist's suppression. After I re-enter the dream's upper limit, how much of the imperial aura will remain?"

His mind was racing. He knew that returning to the dream world now would mean an unpredictable interval and increased danger, but now that he was awake, he could not waste his time.

"Since we're already awake, why don't we take a trip to the Remnant Scroll Pavilion and gather some information about the bottom of the Hell?"

Last time, his focus was on the Taiyuan Ruins, and the Bottom of Nili was introduced as one of the ruins, which lacked specificity. If he had focused his attention on it, he might have gained a deeper understanding.

"Plunging into the depths of hell is a risky move, so naturally we need more intelligence support. Besides, the background of the Taijing Immortal Emperor and the secrets of his time-based divine powers are even more crucial! Every bit of imperial aura we use is precious, so only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we find an opportunity to counterattack!"

Having decided on a strategy, Chen Qing was about to ponder and communicate with the Remnant Scroll Pavilion when he suddenly felt a violent tremor in his Niwan Palace, and his brow twitched abruptly!
"Well!"

Chen Qing groaned, thinking it was because the initial form of the inner vision in his dream was taking shape and the feedback was too intense.

Just as he was about to concentrate on guiding the energy, he saw the cluster of Qingqiu Misty Flames in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness suddenly leap wildly, and a scene suddenly appeared deep within the heart of the flames!
The moment that scene appeared, it exuded a majestic imperial aura! Its solidity far exceeded the ethereal and elusive state that a newly formed inner landscape should have; it was more like a fragment of a world that had been forcibly stuffed into it!

"wrong!"

Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat, and that awe-inspiring imperial scene spread like wildfire!
Thousands of ancient steles stand tall, with a blank ink stele resembling a pillar of heaven, standing in the center, exuding an aura of dominating all directions!
"The Forest of Steles?!"

Chen Qing was taken aback, then immediately sensed something!
"It's not the prototype of an interior scene, but the seed of an exterior scene! How did it evolve?"

But he had no time to think about the root cause!
This external seed was extremely domineering. Wherever it passed, Chen Qing's still hazy inner world of the sun, moon, stars and sea, based on his understanding of the Dao, was forced to retreat step by step, and its radiance dimmed!
"Buzz!"

The Purple Palace is shaken, and the格局 (geju, a term referring to the overall situation or landscape) is being reshaped!

The scene of the stele forest took deep root, transforming this world of divine consciousness with its own Daoist charm, and pain swept over the soul!

But even after the Samadhi True Fire Talisman was activated, Chen Qing still maintained a clear mind!

Although he did not know the reason, he knew that he could not let this change go unchecked!

"Good fortune may be a harbinger of misfortune! Although I did not actively create this scene, it contains the aura of the Taiyuan Emperor and the myriad thoughts of the Stele Forest. Its level of attainment is far beyond what I can reach at my current level. However, I cannot allow it to disrupt the Purple Mansion's structure, otherwise my path will go astray!"

With this thought in mind, he endured the pain of his sea of ​​consciousness being torn apart and activated the method of harmonizing the external forces in the "Slaying Evil and Transforming Scenery" technique. He actively guided the seeds of the stele forest to take root and become compatible, and then slowly digest them, so that he could integrate this "scenery of the stele forest" into his Purple Mansion and refine it into his own supreme Dao foundation!
However, a few breaths later, he felt as if his head was about to split open, his bones and muscles were cracking, and his blood and qi were boiling!

However, the external realm was too high, far exceeding the limits of his Golden Core body. If it weren't for the fact that the Jade Palace Purple Mansion had already opened and the pseudo-gate was continuously providing spiritual energy for protection, he would probably have had his life essence drained by the external realm and died from exhaustion!
With this in mind, he had no other thoughts. He put aside all distractions, sat cross-legged, and focused all his energy on circulating his profound power!
A blue light emanated from his body, intertwining with the illusory image of the outside of the stele forest. The air currents in the quiet room swirled wildly, and his spiritual energy became extremely chaotic.

at the same time.

Strange phenomena suddenly appeared inside and outside Mingxia Mountain!

Above the mountains, clouds gathered, transforming into the illusory images of ancient steles. Though blurry and indistinct, they exuded a vast and profound aura!
The light of the sun, moon, and stars was drawn in, and strands of it fell down, merging into the shadow of the monument, making it even more solid.

"That is... the place where our sect leader is in seclusion!"

Bai Shaoyou, who was supervising the construction of the palace on the mountainside, suddenly looked up, his face showing surprise.

Although his cultivation level was not high, he came from a family with a long history of learning. He sensed that the strange phenomenon was vaguely similar to the tribulation phenomena and nascent soul appearance recorded in the classics. However, no one was undergoing tribulation at the moment, and the sect leader had not yet condensed a nascent soul!
"what happened?"

The little black cat perched on the roof of the newly built Sutra Repository bristled, its emerald eyes wide with fur: "Damn it! This aura... it's a bit like the afterglow of a Nascent Soul cultivator's outer realm being released! But the Sect Master hasn't even survived the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation yet, how could he have already become an outer realm cultivator? And the Daoist aura of this outer realm... it's frighteningly ancient!"

In the shadows of the mountains and forests, Jun Wuyai appeared silently, looked up, and frowned: "Nascent Soul stage? Just how many secrets does this Chen Qing still hold?"

At the same time, the disciples and craftsmen in the mountains were all alarmed. Looking at the strange phenomenon in the sky, they were either surprised or in awe, and they discussed it among themselves.

Inside the quiet room, Chen Qing was completely unaware of this, his entire focus on subduing the strange phenomenon within his body and processing the sudden "surprise".

This sitting lasted for half a year.

In the past six months, the landscape surrounding the stele forest has achieved a delicate balance with Chen Qing's physical body, golden core, and purple mansion. It no longer violently clashes with his body but instead begins to nourish him. His meridians have been widened, his physique has become stronger, and his sensitivity to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has become several times more acute. As a result, his understanding of the "Slaying Evil and Transforming Landscape Technique" has also deepened considerably.

However, since his cultivation level is ultimately not that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, there is always a subtle barrier between the external scenery nurtured within him and the external environment, preventing him from releasing and operating it externally!

"Indeed, time flies in the mountains, and the path to immortality is unpredictable. One accident can take half a year. After such a long time, I wonder how long the interval will be between my next dream and the previous one..."

After calming down the strange sensations in his body, he did not choose to leave seclusion, but continued to sit cross-legged to regulate his breathing.

However, with a sweep of his divine sense, he was able to see all the changes in the mountains!

In just six months, the weather at Mingxia Mountain has changed again.

On the twelve main peaks, pavilions and towers have begun to take shape, built according to the mountain's contours, arranged in a staggered and orderly manner.

The fields are crisscrossed with spiritual paths, the valleys are bursting with ripe fruit, white apes offer fruit in the mountains, and deer call out in the forests—a scene of prosperity for the immortals. However, lacking the spiritual essence of the earth, it remains superficial and lacks a certain depth and substance.

"Once this matter is resolved, we will open a quiet chamber inside the mountain. During our secluded cultivation, we will use the spiritual gate within the mountain to nourish the star veins, thereby altering the foundation of this mountain and truly laying the foundation for a major sect!"

Chen Qing was ultimately concerned about the perilous situation in the dream. Although he had made a decision, he still had no intention of leaving the mountain. Instead, he closed his eyes, transmitted his thoughts, and entered the tattered scroll pavilion again.

After a long while, Chen Qing opened his eyes and sighed. "It really wasn't that easy to obtain, but at least I got some hints. I didn't expect the bottom of the Hell to be so closely related to the Western Wilderness Buddhism..."

Just now, when he entered that incomplete scroll pavilion, although he did not fully grasp all the secrets of the bottom of hell, he did glimpse a few key strokes.

After searching for a while, the keeper of the scriptures found some scattered records, which gave Chen Qing a general idea: the bottom of the hell was established by the Taiyuan Immortal Emperor after comprehending the Buddhist vow of "hell will never be empty." Inside, there was an object that seemed to be related to the mysteries of Buddhist "karma" and "reincarnation." Some fragments even mentioned that the bottom of the hell was a special realm evolved by the Taiyuan Immortal Emperor, which was dangerous and unpredictable, but also contained the opportunity for transcendence.

It's all a mix of truth and falsehood, even Yu Yin couldn't tell the difference, and he was hoping Chen Qing could help clarify and verify it.

"'A single thought between Buddha and demon, hell is not suffering,' this verse left by the Taiyuan Immortal Emperor clearly contains a hint. Yu Yin hopes I will explain this situation, and in exchange for this, it is actually going with the flow. He sees what I want to find, he is quite a clever person. However, my original intention is only to extract the essence of the Taiyuan Emperor's words to open up the situation, I do not intend to really delve into it."

Thinking this through, Chen Qing reflected on the events that had transpired and realized that there were still some things he could do. However, because he had already been delayed for half a year due to absorbing the scenery, he could not afford to postpone it any further, lest he cause any further complications.

"it's time."

Once he made up his mind, he entered the dream again.

A celestial dynasty in a dream.

When Chen Qing opened his eyes again...

"boom!"

What greeted them was not the Taoist's supernatural powers they had expected, but a sea of ​​scarlet karmic fire!
Within the flames, countless vengeful spirits seemed to wail, transforming into crimson lotuses, trying to drag his soul into an endless cycle of torment!
"This is... karmic fire?!"

Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat. Before he could think it through, the instinct originating from his dream self had already been activated—

"town!"

With a single thought, the void around Chen Qing trembled!
A vast and ancient forest of steles suddenly unfolded behind him, with hundreds of illusory stone tablets floating and turning like millstones. The surging karmic fire lotus crumbled at the first touch, crushed and absorbed, transforming into a strange stone tablet with swirling crimson patterns, which merged into the landscape!

At the same time, memories surged forth from the depths of my heart!

After a moment of digestion, Chen Qing couldn't help but gasp in astonishment!
"By directly resisting Daoist Taijing's 'Return of All Things to Origin,' he forcibly created a preliminary external landscape by leveraging the resonance of ten thousand thoughts in the Stele Forest. He then clashed with the Tai Su Mountain and Sea Seal, which temporarily sealed off the Daoist. Taking advantage of this opening, he escaped into this place..."

This series of actions was precise and decisive, which Chen Qing felt was very different from his own steady and methodical style!

"Six months in reality, three hours in a dream, yet everything has changed. Is this how the obsession I left behind was achieved?"

For a moment, he was unsure whether he had been too cautious in his daily life, thus hindering the potential of this body.

But he quickly grasped the key point: "It's more like an extremely rational state, eliminating all emotional fluctuations and weighing of pros and cons, taking the achievement of the three commands of 'protection,' 'preservation,' and 'escape' as the highest principle, and using all the means and even environmental factors I left behind to the extreme, almost like the natural 'non-action yet nothing is left undone' of the Dao. But while it is strong, its controllability is too poor."

At this moment, although he successfully escaped into the bottom of the Hell and avoided Taijing Daoist, the bottom of the Hell itself is a den of dragons and tigers!
"The most urgent task is to figure out what the situation is with the integration of the Imperial Aura into the Stele Forest. Can it be used continuously, or will it diminish with each use? If it's the former, even if it weakens considerably, it can still be used as a trump card. If it's the latter... then it will need to be constantly replenished!"

Although he also provided feedback on the exterior of the Stele Forest in the present world, due to the characteristics of the Daoyan Record, its power was only one-tenth of what it was, and it was never released outside his body, so it could not be measured.

As he pondered, Chen Qing composed himself, looked around, and felt a chill run down his spine.

The surrounding area was a dim and gloomy place, and underfoot was muddy ground that shimmered with black light, where countless twisted and broken souls floated and wailed.

In the distance, a murky river flows silently, spanned by an ancient bridge covered with scratch marks.

Deeper inside, shadowy figures flickered as if countless empty eyes were gleaming. A chilling wind swept through, corroding the bones and soul. An ordinary cultivator here would likely have their soul frozen and their foundation crumbled in no time.

"What a hellish place! Just as the records in the Remnant Scroll Pavilion describe, it resembles the atmosphere of the Netherworld. The intensity of the malevolent energy and the depth of the resentment far exceed my imagination," Chen Qing thought to himself. However, he did not intend to explore the mysteries of this place; finding the Taiyuan Echo was enough.

Thinking this, Chen Qing used his divine sense, carrying the primordial energy, to explore his surroundings. However, as soon as his divine sense moved and spread deeper into his abdomen, something in his dantian suddenly roared without warning!

"Buzz!"

An eerie ripple spread from that object, causing his blood and qi to surge slightly.

Chen Qing was startled and looked inward, then focused his mind!
It turned out to be that rotten golden pill that Li Benji had obtained and refined into an external elixir!

The pill was pulsating rhythmically, subtly resonating with the malevolent energy at the bottom of the hell pit, creating a strange sense of "affinity".

“Li Benji… He is a Golden Core cultivator, yet he has lived for several thousand years. This is contrary to common sense. Could the root of the problem be related to this place?” Many thoughts immediately crossed Chen Qing’s mind.

Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, a voice suddenly rang out—

“Fellow Daoist Li, I knew you would come here, after all, this place may very well be the burial site of the evil corpse of the Taiyuan Immortal Emperor!”

Chen Qing felt a chill run down his spine, his mind instantly tensing as he looked in the direction of the sound.

In the dim light, a figure stood amidst the gloom, cloaked over his body, obscuring his face, but Chen Qing was certain that he would recognize that unique aura.

It was the same mysterious guest who had appeared in the courtyard earlier, spouting arrogant words about "smashing the Immortal Dynasty"!

(End of this chapter)