Under One Person: I Have a Billion Taoist Gods Within Me

Chapter 65 The Birthplace of the Eight Extraordinary Skills - The Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley

Deep in the Qinling Mountains, the sun rises.

A thousand peaks vie in beauty, and ten thousand valleys contend in flow.

The endless mountain range slowly awakens in the morning light, its layers of peaks turning golden and red from east to west.

It was as if a giant dragon that had been sleeping for ten thousand years was slowly opening its eyes.

Clouds and mist swirl around the mountainside, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing, obscuring the precipitous peaks as if they were celestial mountains, ethereal and unpredictable.

Deep within these vast mountains lies an inconspicuous valley.

The entrance to the valley is extremely narrow, with sheer cliffs on both sides, each over a hundred feet high, as if cleaved open by some immortal god with supreme swordsmanship.

The morning light slanted in from the valley entrance, but it could only illuminate a three-zhang (approximately 10 meters) area at the entrance. Further in, there was only eternal darkness, so thick that it was impossible to penetrate.

No one knew that this seemingly ordinary valley was the very spiritual burial site that Zhang Boduan, the Master of Ziyang, had discovered during his later years, after a sudden enlightenment while traveling there.

The Twenty-Four Heavenly Valleys.

No one knew that this seemingly ordinary mountain forest outside the valley was actually a death trap with no chance of survival.

Because the morning mist that permeated the forest was mixed with a very faint layer of air.

The vapor was colorless, odorless, formless, and intangible, blending seamlessly with the mist and water vapor in the mountains.

The morning sun shines through without causing any reflection; the mountain breeze blows by without creating a ripple.

Unless one deliberately investigates, there is no way to detect it.

Even with deliberate investigation, very few people in the world can detect its existence.

But it's right there.

It flows quietly, swirls, and intertwines.

Like an invisible yet impenetrable giant net, it completely covers this valley.

This is the first test of the Qi formation in the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley.

The so-called "qi pattern" refers to a special pattern formed by the air currents existing between heaven and earth in a certain place and at a certain time.

Just as extraordinary individuals can manipulate their internal energy to use various techniques, places with unique and mysterious energy formations also often possess wondrous and extraordinary characteristics.

Some can nourish the body, some can temper the spirit, some can nurture spiritual medicine, and some can breed poisonous miasma.

The wonder of the Qi pattern of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley lies in the fact that the further one goes in, the more energetic one feels.

It's as if a hand is gently brushing away the dust that has accumulated in your heart;

It's as if a clear spring is gently cleansing the confusion deep within your mind.

It is an excellent place for cultivating spiritual power, a blessed land that both Buddhism and Taoism dream of.

But all of this is predicated on taking the right path.

The route to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley is strictly regulated.

Just as one cannot tolerate the slightest mistake when practicing martial arts, taking one wrong step will lead to utter ruin.

Because the aura permeating the valley itself has neither good nor evil, nor will.

It simply exists, simply flows, simply follows some mysterious rhythm between heaven and earth.

If you follow the right path, it will nourish you, refine you, and help you succeed.

If you take a wrong step and enter an area you shouldn't, the energy that was originally nourishing you will instantly turn into a deadly curse.

They will invade your body's structure, block your meridians, erode your internal organs, and destroy your foundation.

No one knows what kind of death it was.

Because none of those who go astray come out alive.

That is why the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley is said to be a forbidden place where death is certain.

The only correct route is the rule of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

If you follow the rules, it will be a blessed place.

If you don't follow the rules, you'll be killed.

At this moment, the rays of the rising sun are slowly seeping into the valley entrance, illuminating the misty air and a figure outside the valley.

He was a young man.

His coarse cloth clothes were tattered and covered with mud and thorns.

His hair was disheveled and fell over his shoulders, and his face still bore the dust of several days of travel.

It is precisely because it has no roots that it grows.

But his eyes were surprisingly bright.

Those eyes were now fixed intently on the void ahead.

There was nothing there.

At least, nothing can be seen with the naked eye.

But Wugensheng knew there was something there.

Countless wisps of extremely fine and faint "qi" were spreading outward from the entrance of the valley.

Like invisible tentacles, like gossamer threads in water, they spread across this mountain forest, entwining every tree, every stone, and every inch of land.

Some of those energies coiled like snakes, moving slowly; others drifted like smoke, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing.

Some remained still, as if asleep; others flowed ceaselessly, as if surging.

They intertwined, they swirled, forming a—

The atmosphere.

Wugensheng didn't know what this was, who had laid it down, or what was hidden in this valley.

But he could sense them.

With that innate, inexplicable quality he possessed.

He called that thing a divine spirit.

He chose these three characters himself.

Because apart from "divine inspiration," he couldn't think of anything else that could describe this strange ability.

It was as if someone had left a mark on him, granting him this strange ability!

Just like right now.

Wugensheng raised his right foot and took a step forward.

The moment he took that step, his pupils contracted slightly.

He sensed it.

He sensed a wisp of energy, coiled like a snake, passing by him three inches to his left, moving at a moderate speed with a treacherous and unpredictable trajectory.

If he had veered half an inch to the left, or if his steps had been a fraction faster or slower...

That wisp of energy would then just happen to enter his body.

Then, he will die.

There is no suspense.

Because at that very instant, just as that wisp of air was about to make contact with him.

Wugensheng not only sensed its presence, but also what would happen after it burrowed into the human body—

The meridians were disordered, the qi and blood flowed backward, the five internal organs collapsed, blood flowed from the seven orifices, and the death was extremely gruesome.

A fine layer of cold sweat instantly seeped from Wugensheng's forehead.

But he didn't stop, nor could he stop.

Wugensheng took a deep breath, opened his clear eyes wider, and focused more intently on channeling the power of his divine spirit, then—

Keep going.

step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

He walked slowly and carefully with each step.

Before each step, he would first "sense" it—

Is there air on the left? Is there air on the right? Is there air in front? Is there air behind?

Some of those breaths were as fast as galloping horses, some as slow as snails, some as still as rocks, and some as fluid as swimming fish.

What he needs to do is not to hide.

Instead—

"Sorting out".

When a wisp of energy inevitably approaches, Wugensheng will stop, close his eyes, and use his "divine spirit" to touch that wisp of energy.

It was not confrontation, not dispel, not even anything that could be called an "attack".

Just touching.

Then-

That wisp of energy, which was originally full of murderous intent and about to turn into a death warrant, flowed past him obediently and quietly, like a tamed wild beast.

No more hurting people.

No longer fatal.

It just flowed by.

This is the function of the divine spirits—

It can regulate the energy that has invaded Wugensheng's own body structure and caused his sudden death.

It is restored to a harmless gas.

It's not about disrupting or changing the energy flow, but simply about ensuring that the energy is harmless to him.

That's it.

There are quite a few people in this world who can safely pass through this aura.

Those with profound cultivation can break through it with force, using their superior cultivation to force their way through.

Those who are proficient in understanding the Qi formation can cleverly interpret it, deduce the operating rules of the Qi formation, and find a safe path.

Those with extraordinary luck can risk their lives and miraculously survive countless near-death experiences.

But to be like Wugensheng—

Using his special abilities, he "sensed" the existence of every wisp of energy, "sorted away" the murderous intent in each wisp, and "found" the only safe path—

He was the only one.

This is destiny.

This valley, it seems, was destined to wait for someone from the moment it was laid out.

Waiting for someone who can enter it in this way.

At this moment, Wugensheng is walking step by step toward that destiny.

He didn't know any of this.

All he knew was that Li Yuan Dao Zi had sent him here.

Li Yuan Daozi said that the answer he was looking for was here.

That's enough.

Let's go then.

Let's go in then.

It took him an hour to cover a distance of one hundred feet.

While Wugensheng was safely traversing the Qi formation outside the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley with the help of divine spirits.

A faint, almost imperceptible presence remained silently suspended in the void.

It is formless, without substance, without color, and without appearance.

The morning light passed through its location without any refraction or pause, as if there were only air there.

The mountain breeze brushed past it without creating any ripples, as if it and the wind were one.

The squirrels leaping through the forest and the birds flapping their wings passed by it without noticing that they even crossed its location, yet they touched nothing.

Because it is not a "thing" to begin with.

It is merely a manifestation of a ray of light from the abyss.

It is a ray of light that shines through the moon's clear light.

It means "eyes".

It also means "being present".

At this moment, those "eyes" were quietly watching the figure outside the valley entrance.

That figure had been walking here for several hours.

From the moment he stepped into this mountain forest, he began his incredible trek.

step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Every step was extremely slow and careful.

Before each step, Wugensheng would pause for a long time, as if he were talking to something unseen.

The light in those eyes was always burning brightly.

In Li Yuan's perception, all of this was clearer and more mysterious than what Wu Gensheng himself could sense.

Because that insignificant little man is itself a differentiation of the abyssal light.

What it "sees" is not just Wugensheng's movements, expressions, and footsteps.

What it "sees" is something more essential.

It "saw" that every time Wugensheng paused, an extremely subtle and mysterious fluctuation would surge from his body.

The ripples were extremely subtle, as light as a spring breeze brushing against willow branches, or as moonlight falling into a deep pool.

But it really exists.

Moreover, it resonated with the "atmosphere" that permeated this mountain forest in a way that was hard to describe.

Li Yuan sat quietly in the inn, his eyes slightly closed.

His consciousness, however, had already descended into the depths of the Qinling Mountains along with that ray of sexual light.

He "saw" that atmosphere.

From Wugensheng's perspective, he could only "sense" the existence and flow of those energies.

But in Li Yuan's eyes—

Those breaths are alive.

Every breath has its own trajectory, its own rhythm, its own breathing.

They intertwine in this mountain forest, forming a vast and intricate pattern.

This is the Qi pattern of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

It is not a fixed formation, but rather it changes daily and constantly with the rhythm of nature.

If you don't know the key points, you might offend the very spirits that are meant to nurture you if you rashly enter into something.

Let them, from the source of nourishment, turn into a death warrant.

And those auras that should have killed upon contact were gently "dissolved" by the subtle fluctuations emanating from Wugensheng's body the instant they approached him.

It is not confrontation, not dispel, not any method that can be called "power".

Just touching.

Then-

That wisp of energy transformed from "killing intent" into "harmlessness".

Like boiling water, it calms down with a gentle breath.

Like a taut string, it relaxes with the slightest touch.

This is—

The "divine spirit" without roots.

Li Yuan quietly "observed" all of this through that ray of sexual light.

He "saw" the nature of that fluctuation.

That's not magic, not cultivation techniques, not anything that can be learned or passed down.

That's a talent.

It is an innate ability, flowing deep in one's blood, unique to Wugensheng.

It can sort out and restore everything composed of Qi to its most original state.

Whether it was a murderous aura, or all sorts of Taoist magic and strange arts, or Li Yuan slightly closed his eyes and did not continue to think about it.

He only needs to "observe".

Observe how Wugensheng moves forward in the Qi formation, how he "talks" with those Qi, and how he walks step by step towards that valley.

It took Wugensheng an hour to cover that hundred-zhang distance.

Li Yuan then "watched" for an hour.

He saw the sweat on Wugensheng's forehead, his hands trembling slightly from intense concentration, and his ever-burning eyes.

It was also seen that, without Wugensheng's awareness, the qi that he had "combed" quietly gathered behind him, turning into a faint trace—a path.

A path that only Wugensheng could walk.

A road leading deep into the valley.

When Wugensheng finally stood at the valley entrance, Liyuan saw clearly the light in his eyes through that ray of light.

The light was brighter than ever before.

It wasn't because I was tired, nor because I was excited.

Rather, it's because—

He saw it.

Upon seeing the valley entrance, shrouded in mist, it seemed to lead to another world—

Entrance.

Wugensheng stood there, motionless for a long time.

Unbeknownst to him, at this very moment, a faint, almost imperceptible presence was silently watching him from three zhang above his head.

Unbeknownst to him, thousands of miles away, a pair of gentle eyes were observing his every expression and every breath through that very presence.

All he knew was—

The road lies ahead.

He had to go in.

Wugensheng took a deep breath.

Take a step.

Stepping into the valley.