Chapter 825: Chapter 527: Yuanshi Tianzun Issues a Decree, Spirit Treasure Red Child Questions the Dao Heart
Tao Qian had just finished grumbling to himself when the Toad God Tile in his hand suddenly changed.
With a flash of golden light, it transformed into a rather plump, three-legged golden toad covered with golden lumps.
It leapt lightly and collided with Tao Qian’s smooth forehead.
Even though it was clearly a living creature, upon impact, it still emitted a "clang," accompanied by effects like golden light splattering and star dust falling chaotically.
After the collision, this obviously flesh-and-blood living creature golden toad did not immediately revert to a tile, but instead perched on Tao Qian’s shoulder.
It happened to be that its pair of half-opened eyes met Tao Qian’s gaze as he turned his head.
From Tao Qian’s perspective, he clearly received a disdainful look.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit stagnant.
Tao Qian was certain that these eyes belonged to the Toad God.
The streams of records that flowed through his mind confirmed it.
Its record name remained Toad God Tile.
Just an additional record: [This item has been attached by a "Toad God’s Will". To some extent, it can be considered a form of the Toad God’s avatar. Although it still recognizes its owner as its treasure, it now possesses autonomous abilities and other divine powers unique to the Toad God.]
In short!
The Toad God personally came here.
The benefit was clearly stated in the record that the tile gained self-awareness, and due to the Toad God’s Will, its powers surged.
This meant that as long as Tao Qian made arrangements with the "Toad God’s Will" in advance, if things went awry, he could use the tile to smack his head, possibly interrupting the "Dao Nightmare".
It was upon hearing about this matter that the Toad God didn’t mind this fellow’s shameless tricks and voluntarily sent a will over.
Clearly, the Toad God had made up its mind.
Next time Tao Qian falls into the Dao Nightmare, it will seize the opportunity to strike with satisfaction.
Realizing this, Tao Qian quickly interpreted the meaning behind the Toad God’s gaze during their mutual stare.
Besides the expected joy, disdain, and a peculiar sense of closeness, there was also a color of "schadenfreude" that left Tao Qian very puzzled.
Before he could inquire, he heard a "poof" sound, and amid the billowing smoke, the golden toad reverted to a tile.
Tao Qian held the tile without wondering for too long.
The next moment, he understood why the Toad God had such an expression.
He heard an inexplicable wind blow from behind his head, followed promptly by a sensation of a palm smacking the back of his head three times consecutively.
Master Tao truly suffered today, still in his quiet room of the cave mansion.
He tilted forward, stumbling three times in succession.
This sight was genuinely bizarre.
Bear in mind, Tao Qian was cultivating the Three Meridians with Perfect Ultimate Happiness; not only would the slap on the back of his head be harmless, but even crashing three large mountains onto him wouldn’t knock him down three times in a row.
After experiencing this strange event, Tao Qian was initially stunned but soon realized and couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Fortunately, the incense table set up earlier hadn’t been removed yet; Tao Qian promptly turned around, offering respectful gestures and lighting incense while inwardly crying grievance:
"Heavenly Venerate above!"
"You, old heaven, cannot be unreasonable; I have already recited the Life Protection Scripture once, but you, old heaven, did not respond."
"How would I know that while resisting the myriad strange instances before, the scripture’s imprint would dissolve? If I wish to use it again, I must go to Biyou Palace, making a grand public offering and prayer; I can witness my Taoist power and mana now, yet still, I am not a Sect Master candidate."
"Besides, it’s not some grand event like the Absolute Immortal Conference; if I do this simply to ask you for guidance, other disciples beside the sect elders must find it really inappropriate."
Whether it was the Heavenly Venerate feeling accountable or Tao Qian’s cunning reasoning working,
after finishing his plea, there was no fourth slap on his head.
To Tao Qian’s greater delight, the Heavenly Venerate even gave instructions.
Out of the blue, a door of divine insight suddenly appeared in Tao Qian’s mind.
Having examined it, Tao Qian’s face brightened with undeniable joy.
[Record Name: Taishang Lingbao Red Child Inquiry Divine Needle.]
[Record Type: Divine Power.]
[Record Description: This is a newly born Immortal Technique divine power, not exclusively belonging to the Spirit Treasure Sect, but a result of the incidental birth during a conversation between Lingbao Tianzun and Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad. It embodies the meaning of "the profoundness of morality comparable to a red child"; once cultivated, those struck by this divine needle will have their heart and soul’s impurities purged, probing their Dao Heart, returning to the innocence of a red child, it is indeed a supreme Daoist Skill.]
[Note one: Being in its initial creation phase, aside from the two Innate Venerable Gods, no other life has yet cultivated it.]
[Note two: Training this method costs virtually nothing, except for the arising reverence towards Lord Lao Zi and Lingbao Tianzun, which could waive part of this cost.]
[Note three: Due to possessing the Spirit Treasure Sublime Body and special heart soul, it aligns extremely well with this method, potentially making you the first human clan to achieve cultivation.]
...
When the divine communication messages transmitted by the Heavenly Venerate mixed with records appeared one by one,
Tao Qian unhesitatingly performed another gesture of respect towards the Heavenly Venerate and declared:
"Heavenly Venerate above!"
"Surely you, old heaven, cherish your disciple most fondly; with this divine power, I bet the heart demon won’t harm me."
"Someday I can leave this realm myself, to venture deep into the Source Sea to meet you..."
Indeed, Master Tao had received the true inheritance of Duobao True Monarch.
Thick-skinned, he lavished praise onto Lingbao Tianzun through the incense table, while also hoisting a few flags for himself, declaring that one day he would reach Daoist Transformation to visit the Heavenly Venerate’s true form etc.
This demeanor possibly pleased the Heavenly Venerate, for spiritual response came again:
[Presented with the "Spirit Treasure Disaster Relief Life Protection Scripture... heart sincerity required, repeated three times for Heavenly Venerate’s response."]
Looking at this spiritual response record, the quiet room was now devoid of any divine presence, clearly indicating the Heavenly Venerate had stopped watching over this pupil inclined to curry favor.
Despite this, Tao Qian seriously performed a few gestures before standing up.
Then, while examining the profound divine skills in his mind, he also glanced at the Toad God Tile in his hand.
A joyful expression emerged on his face as he muttered:
"Although I can’t find Senior Sister Lingji for now, with the Heavenly Venerate’s bestowed technique and the Toad God’s gifted treasure, it seems that the world’s greatest Dao Nightmare might not be able to claim my life."
"As long as I can cultivate this technique, when danger strikes, this Red Son Divine Needle will automatically resonate and pierce my Heart Soul, helping me cleanse impurities. Additionally, the Toad God Tile will strike my skull to awaken me... I should be able to escape in time."
"Huh?"
"Isn’t this another form of dangling one’s head from a beam and stabbing the hip with an awl?"
Having received two major benefits consecutively, Tao Qian felt that his life-threatening crisis was more than half resolved, and his mood immediately brightened.
He didn’t leave the room but settled back on the jade bed, planning to use his mind to communicate with his wife Yunrong and share a bit of this good news.
But at that moment, Zhong Doudou reported from outside the palace.
A visitor has arrived!
Tao Qian exited the hall to meet the guest, and a look of surprise instantly appeared on his face. The visitor turned out to be Ancestor Spirit Daoist.
His expression was hurried, clearly having traveled for quite some time to arrive.
Tao Qian immediately realized that before hastily returning to the mountain after triggering the Dao Nightmare, he had sent news to Ancestor Spirit asking him to investigate a few matters.
These included "Si Xixin’s research transfer cost technique," "the mass slaughter of non-human clan life and numerous outer domain human clans," and "the possibility of provoking a greater disaster."
After all, as the True Spirit within the [Mountain and River Map] of the human clan’s destiny, he should be able to quickly ascertain the reasons.
The reason Ancestor Spirit couldn’t instantly teleport to Tao Qian’s side as before seemed to be because the power of the Heavenly Track could not break the sect’s protective mountain prohibition technique.
After seeing Tao Qian, Ancestor Spirit’s solemn and ancient face immediately displayed a bright smile, first clasping his hands to congratulate the groom, then speaking of some good news he had brought.
"The information you sent is indeed true."
"Si Xixin appears to have gone mad, using multiple transfer cost methods to create that [Immortal City and Demon City]. Not only did he slaughter all living beings around the Demon City, but he also transferred the tainted costs to several Southern Ocean countries, wiping out one small outer domain country and killing a million people."
"Not only he acted so, Zhang Jinluan did the same, but he harmed the northern Rashamon Country. Although it is a large country with vast territory and a large population, Zhang Jinluan killed quite a number."
"But don’t worry, during my arrival, I agreed with the treasures within the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique to add rules that ’protect kind and sentient beings’. If anyone commits too many sins, even among the human clan, they will be punished."
"Also, all cost transfer methods are beginning to show significant backlash. Si Xixin was cursed with billions of grievances during cultivation, nearly causing him to fall into madness and perish."
"Zhang Jinluan’s harem caught fire, resulting in numerous battles among concubines, and during the process, he lost over ten offspring, leading to the growth of his Heart Demon, almost abandoning his foundation and being called by the Dharma Cakra Temple to become a monk."
"With these lessons, both have stopped the cost transfer methods."
"Moreover, Yu Yanshi in the Southern Land somehow invited the decree of [Primordial Heavenly Venerate]."
"The decree roughly stated: The upcoming years will be the most prosperous and transformative era of the Longevity Realm. Therefore, the exceptional people born during this time cannot engage in internal warfare or self-reduction. They must comply with the heavenly mandate, appease the people, merge the two realms, and establish a Longevity Immortal Dynasty."
Upon hearing these news, Tao Qian couldn’t help but show a surprised expression.
These are indeed good news, at least the disaster he worried about seems to have been mitigated.
But within this, does it hide some secret?
Mysteriously, why did Primordial Heavenly Venerate suddenly get involved?
Upon pondering this, Tao Qian suddenly noticed Ancestor Spirit Daoist in front of him displaying an angry expression he had never seen before.
Although the two were not in a master-servant relationship, they were hobby-sharing friends.
However, Ancestor Spirit resided in the [Mountain and River Map], which was nominally considered Tao Qian’s treasure.
Due to the connection with the human clan’s destiny, Tao Qian immediately closed his eyes, calculated, and sensed.
After a short while, he had already understood the reason why.
Reopening his eyes, Tao Qian’s face first showed startled surprise, then an amused smile.
Seeing him display such an expression, Ancestor Spirit knew he had grasped the reason behind it, so he no longer concealed his feelings.
Laughing at a certain void, he then said loudly:
"If you want to be upset, you’re justified. Yu Yanshi’s actions were indeed excessive; if one wants to compete for the title of Human Emperor, it should be done fairly, not with such underhanded tricks."
"Although those treasures within the Forbidden Technique have considerable power, they are merely weather-cocking, opportunistic."
"If they refuse to acknowledge, they refuse. I shall acknowledge."
"After your wedding concludes, should you desire to enter the world once more to vie for the Human Emperor’s throne, you shall witness my methods..."
Witnessing Ancestor Spirit’s anger, Tao Qian hurriedly restrained him.
What a jest!
Though Ancestor Spirit’s identity was also exceptional, he was indirectly reproaching a revered innate deity, whose status rivaled his own Lingbao Tianzun.
The reason for Ancestor Spirit’s anger was also apparent to him:
Yu Yanshi invited Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s decree not only to determine the blossoming era of the Longevity Immortal Dynasty but subtly engaged the many treasures within the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique, rejecting his desire to re-enter the world and contest the Human Emperor’s throne.
Strangely, although Tao Qian possessed the most abundant human dao fortune, the "Ancestor God’s Treasures" received the Heavenly Venerate’s decree.
Here, despite the decree and the sect-related reasons behind the treasures, such as the major forces of the cultivation world supporting Si Xixin, Zhang Jinluan, and Yin Yuehua.
After pondering, Tao Qian discerned a third reason:
"With Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s capabilities, naturally, they can easily ascertain the uniqueness of my Dao Nightmare."
"Preventing me from re-entering the world is not only recognizing I have no aspirations to be Human Emperor, nor the talent and qualification. Moreover, it’s to exclude unstable factors to avoid disasters, loss of control of the Dao Nightmare, and releasing Demon Tao Qian, which would indeed bring great calamity."
With this thought, Tao Qian suddenly gained sudden insight.
In his heart, another thought arose, addressing his Lingbao Tianzun in the nether:
"Heavenly Venerate above!"
"Could it be that you, the elder, have come especially to bestow divine skills upon me and incidentally to back me up?"
ps: Typing words on Qixi without receiving a monthly ticket is unreasonable, folks.