This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

"Xiao Jiu?"

Li Daoxuan glanced at it and instantly understood Zhu Jiu's current predicament.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but sigh. Zhu Jiu truly lived up to his reputation as the founder of the Dragon Transformation lineage, having reached this point so quickly.

At this moment, in the eyes of Wang Jingshu and Mingyue, Li Daoxuan's figure suddenly appeared between heaven and earth, his feet on the sea and his head above the sky, as if he were a model of heaven and earth.

"Master...it's Master...Master is back..."

Wang Jingshu was overjoyed and pointed to Li Daoxuan's Dharma image.

But Mingyue saw through the clues.

"This is not Master's true form, but a projection of Master's primordial spirit..."

Ignoring everything else, Wang Jingshu shouted at Li Daoxuan:

"Master...please save Xiao Jiu, he's dying..."

Li Daoxuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wang Jingshu and Mingyue.

After a moment of silence, Li Daoxuan slowly spoke, his voice easily drowning out the thunder that filled the sky.

"Little Nine, this is your destiny. Only by overcoming this tribulation can you achieve the true Path of the Ancestral Dragon..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jingshu and Mingyue were visibly taken aback.

"Master..."

Wang Jingshu wanted to ask again.

Li Daoxuan waved his hand and immediately withdrew the magic seal.

In an instant, the terrifying power of heaven and earth descended once again.

Deep in the ocean, Zhu Jiu howled mournfully.

His divine body was cracked inch by inch.

Scales shattered, bones broke, and dragon blood spilled across the entire ocean.

Wang Jingshu and Mingyue were already in tears upon seeing this scene.

"Master... if this continues, Xiao Jiu will really die..."

The two sisters knelt on the sea, kowtowing and pleading repeatedly.

But Li Daoxuan seemed determined and remained unmoved no matter how much the two pleaded.

The two could only watch as Zhu Jiu's body was crushed inch by inch by the power of heaven and earth.

It eventually turned into golden blood mist and drifted into the sea.

Just then, Li Daoxuan, who had not intervened until now, suddenly raised his hand and made a move.

A golden phantom flew out of the sea and landed in his hand, slithering and coiling like a small loach.

It was the dragon soul of Zhu Jiu.

Perhaps sensing that Zhu Jiu was completely dead, the power of heaven and earth finally subsided.

The churning sea gradually calmed down, leaving only the Mingyue sisters kneeling on the surface of the sea, their faces ashen, filled with confusion.

At that moment, Li Daoxuan finally made his move.

"Manipulating fate..."

With a wave of his hand, the remains of Zhu Jiu, crushed by the power of heaven and earth, began to rise from the depths of the sea.

Finally, it arrived above the sea and condensed into the original form of Zhu Jiu.

Compared to when he was alive, Zhu Jiu now looks more like a stone sculpture.

Li Daoxuan continued to cast spells, repairing the stone carving little by little, making it more and more lifelike, and even exuding a faint dragon's might from its entire body.

Mingyue and the other person looked puzzled, wondering what Li Daoxuan was up to.

Then Li Daoxuan waved his hand toward an open space by the sea, and a temple appeared out of thin air.

Three characters appeared above the temple gate: Zulong Temple.

The stone sculpture resembling the Candle Nine was placed in the main hall of the Ancestral Dragon Temple.

The dragon soul in Li Daoxuan's other hand flew out from his palm and merged perfectly into the ancestral dragon stone carving.

Seeing this, Mingyue finally discerned some clues.

"Junior brother... there's still hope."

Wang Jingshu was puzzled, but she understood that although her master said it was Zhu Jiu's fate, he would never really sit idly by.

Sure enough, after the temple was completed, Li Daoxuan said to the two of them:

"Xiao Jiu went to Jianghualong. Although he gave up his luck to protect both sides of the strait, he ultimately created irreversible karmic consequences."

"Although this calamity is a death calamity, only by dying can one be reborn."

"Let him stay here to adjust the feng shui for the people of the world and absorb the merits of incense offerings. There will be a day when he will reappear in the world."

After saying that, Li Daoxuan's figure began to slowly disappear.

Upon seeing this, Mingyue quickly asked:

"Master...where are you? How are we supposed to find you?"

Li Daoxuan's figure had completely disappeared, and only one sentence circulated throughout the world.

"Having already become an Earth Immortal, ascended to the Xuanhuang realm, there will be a day when we meet again..."

A magic seal flew back into Wang Jingshu's hand from mid-air. The two sisters looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise.

Although the junior brother has encountered a great calamity, it is not a hopeless situation, and there is still hope for him to be reborn.

They finally found a way to continue on their path.

Reaching the Core Formation stage is the first major hurdle that cultivators must overcome.

Only by cultivating to the level of a terrestrial immortal can one truly enter the path of immortality and be worthy of the title of immortal.

But then the two of them looked somewhat somber.

Having cultivated to this level, they are increasingly able to feel the suppression that this world exerts on them.

The rate at which his magical power was increasing was getting slower and slower. Even though he had already comprehended the Great Dao and gained considerable insight, his cultivation level still couldn't be improved.

They all understood that this was due to the lack of spiritual energy in the Jingming Cave.

Their only method was to slowly refine their essence and energy, gradually cultivating their magical power.

With good luck, one might be able to cultivate into an Earth Immortal before their lifespan runs out and leave this world.

If you're unlucky, you might get trapped and die in this little cave.

"Senior sister... my cultivation level has basically stopped improving three years ago..."

Wang Jingshu smiled wryly.

Mingyue sighed softly.

And wasn't she the same?

After her magical power reached 6,900 strands, its growth over the past few years has been negligible.

Wang Jingshu looked up at the sky and said sadly:

"Perhaps... we'll never be able to leave this world in our lifetime..."

Mingyue also raised her head, and the confusion in her eyes was slowly concealed.

"Don't be discouraged. The Great Dao is fifty, and the Heavenly Cycle is forty-nine. There must be a glimmer of hope..."

Neither of the sisters spoke again.

Back at the seaside, looking at the Zulong Temple that was built out of thin air and the stone statue of Zhujiu inside, I couldn't help but feel sad again.

However, since the two were accomplished cultivators, they quickly adjusted their emotions and flew towards Qingxu Mountain.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The words are divided into two parts.

In the Xuanhuang World, because of the two worlds, Li Daoxuan's primordial spirit projection was severed.

After regaining his senses, Li Daoxuan remained deeply troubled.

Zhu Jiu was a disciple he had personally mentored. Watching him vanish into nothingness before his very eyes, even someone as composed as Li Daoxuan could not help but feel sorrow.

However, there is still a chance for things to turn around.

But now, Li Daoxuan is thinking about a different problem.

He knew that as long as one cultivated to become an Earth Immortal, or was about to become one, the will of Heaven and Earth of the Jingming Cave Heaven would send down heavenly punishment to wipe out the cultivator.

But Zhu Jiu was different from the other disciples.

Firstly, because Zhu Jiu is an anomaly, his path to enlightenment is destined to be more difficult than that of humans.

Secondly, by following Jiang Hualong's path, he exhausted his own luck and became tainted by karmic consequences.

Therefore, the severity of the divine punishment far exceeded what he could withstand.

But the other disciples were different.

They are all human beings, and moreover, they are direct disciples of the Dao Ancestor, possessing a portion of the Daoist Qi to protect them.

If one reaches the level of Zhu Jiu in the future, even if one attracts divine punishment, its power will probably be much smaller.

As long as they can withstand the divine punishment, the Jingming Cave Heaven will determine that they cannot be eliminated. Since they cannot be eliminated, they will naturally be expelled from the cave heaven.

It is equivalent to ascension in another sense.

Li Daoxuan wasn't worried about whether his other disciples could withstand the heavenly punishment; what he was worried about was whether they could live long enough to achieve great success in their cultivation and become Core Formation Earth Immortals.

He was all too aware of the scarcity of the Jingming Cave Heaven.

Li Daoxuan's thoughts raced, and he couldn't help but recall the primordial spirit projection that had been affected by his magic seal earlier.

He opened his palm, and a model of a mountain range appeared in his palm.

It was the Jade Capital Mountain that the system rewarded when I became an Earth Immortal.

"In that case, could I set up my dojo directly in the Jingming Cave Heaven?"

Li Daoxuan muttered to himself.