Chapter 109: The Way of Calamity? I Practice That Too!
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As Lin You pondered inwardly, the Lifeless Daoist was also surveying his surroundings.
The abundance of spiritual energy within the Redpine Daoist Ground astonished even him. Even among minor paradises, such a spiritually blessed land was exceedingly rare.
In this Ancestral Realm, where the laws of Heaven and Earth had reached their final decline, there should have been no leyline capable of producing such concentrated spiritual energy.
His gaze grew distant, as though piercing the clouds and mists veiling the mountains. He saw the Ancestor Pine atop Redpine Mountain, its vast crown seemingly suspended from the heavens; he also saw the spiritual spring in the valley, overflowing with vitality.
At the sight of this, a sharp glint flashed through the Lifeless Daoist’s eyes.
If his guess was correct, then the extraordinary abundance of spiritual energy and the countless spiritual medicines here must surely be connected to that springhead.
With this thought, the Lifeless Daoist turned and asked Lin You with a smile, “Have you reached a decision, Fellow Daoist? Here in the Great Yu, I may not command the winds and summon the rain, but I am still a man whose word carries weight. Whatever you wish to accomplish, I can offer you some assistance.”
Lin You smiled at his words. “I never imagined you possessed such magnanimity. Have you truly decided to let go of the death of your subordinate?”
“Hahaha! Unless one establishes the Dao Foundation, one remains nothing more than a mortal. Even if the difference in cultivation is but a hair’s breadth, it is still the divide between an immortal and a mortal!” The Lifeless Daoist shook his head. Clearly, he did not care about the death of the Gu Master.
“Besides, what is the life of a mere subordinate compared with the undertaking I have in mind? So long as you are willing to aid me, I dare not promise you eternal life, but helping you attain the Profound Elixir realm—or even the realm of a Primordial Embryo True Lord—is well within my power.”
His tone shifted as he spoke, taking on a hint of seduction.
Strangely, had such words come from anyone else, they would have sounded utterly absurd. After all, even a Primordial Embryo True Lord would not dare make such a claim. Yet, spoken by the Lifeless Daoist, they possessed a peculiar magic that inspired involuntary belief.
But his florid promises failed to beguile Lin You.
Lin You gave a derisive laugh. “The cooperation you speak of does not involve having me roam about creating disasters and spreading plagues like the Six Plagues and the Gu Master, does it?”
The Lifeless Daoist shook his head once more. “Those are merely menial tasks. They can easily be left to subordinates. If you truly wish to cooperate, why not join me in swearing an oath before the Tribulation Lord? Once that is done, I shall reveal the entire plan to you.”
By now, his patience was wearing thin. If he had not suspected that the man before him came from a paradise and might lend strength to his own designs, why would he have wasted so much time talking?
Lin You knew that even if the conversation continued, he would gain no useful information. He therefore refused outright. “We follow different paths and cannot work together. Besides, you deliberately tried to entice me with your words just now. You were merely buying time, weren’t you?”
As the master of this Daoist Ground, Lin You knew everything within this realm as clearly as the lines on his palm. No matter how subtle the change, nothing could escape his notice.
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The Lifeless Daoist had not attacked immediately. Instead, he had engaged Lin You in conversation. This suggested that he lacked confidence and had been using imperceptible tribulation energy to contaminate the surrounding realm.
His method was practically identical to that of the Gu Master before him.
The Lifeless Daoist did not deny it. He merely sighed. “My heart was turned toward the bright moon, yet the bright moon shone upon a muddy ditch. Since you refuse to heed my advice and insist on sitting on the sidelines, I have no choice but to test the depth of your divine abilities!”
The instant his voice fell, a terrifying aura of disaster and tribulation erupted from the surrounding world.
The cloud platform beneath the Lifeless Daoist was dyed black as ink in a moment, then spread madly toward the ground beneath everyone’s feet.
Within the dense, ink-like black mist, one could almost hear the wails of countless wronged souls. This was the calamity of all living beings—the human calamity raised by the Lifeless Daoist before them for the sake of his own selfish desires.
Now, he had transformed the resentment and hatred of the masses into Lin You’s tribulation.
Divine Art of Human Calamity—Suffering Prison.
Through countless lifetimes, one would sink forever into perdition. The sea of suffering would become a prison, with neither death nor life!
His mighty divine will seemed to breathe a soul into the supernatural art. The baleful aura of disaster coalesced into a colossal cage, seeking to imprison Lin You—and this entire realm—within it forever.
Disaster descended! Tribulation fell!
All around them, it seemed as though countless voices were shouting in unison, attempting to seize their souls from their bodies and drag them into hell, where they would endure the torment of sinking forever into the sea of suffering.
“Seal your minds and spirits!”
Just as everyone was about to sink into confusion and lose themselves, Lin You’s voice rang out like the thunderous toll of a great bronze bell, abruptly rousing them.
He summoned the power of the Daoist Ground, isolating everyone present from the outside and preventing them from being affected by the divine art. Then he alone stepped into the air.
His aura circulated around him, and Dao marks appeared upon his brow. For a moment, he seemed almost divine.
But in the next instant, the aura surrounding Lin You changed dramatically.
A current of disaster and tribulation, similar to the Lifeless Daoist’s, spread from his body. He seemed to transform from an immortal transcendent beyond the mortal world into a god who commanded calamity—noble and majestic.
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This transformation startled not only everyone behind him; even the Lifeless Daoist before him had not anticipated it. He stared at Lin You with uncertainty and alarm.
Lin You merely smiled. “I, too, comprehend the Dao of Disaster and Tribulation.”
With that, the small tree within his sea of consciousness had completely absorbed the essence of the Blood Lotus. Together with that Dao essence, it had fed the power into the Dao seed he had previously obtained from the Pestilence Robe.
That supreme-grade spiritual treasure left behind by a Primordial Embryo True Lord—a secret artifact that commanded the power of tribulation and baleful force—turned to dust in an instant.
The two auras, sharing the same origin, immediately caused an unexpected transformation in the azure Dao seed. They seemed to merge together, becoming an entirely new Dao seed of disaster and tribulation.
The Dao seed ripened instantly, taking on a flawless violet-gold hue.
Furthermore, another Dao seed of the Soul Dao had also been fully ripened by Lin You with a different spiritual treasure during their recent exchange.
Lin You held the two Dao seeds aloft. Violet-gold radiance bathed his body, lending him an even more sacred air.
“That is the Dao seed of disaster and tribulation? How is that possible? How could you possess one? Have you also obtained the inheritance of the Tribulation Sect?”
Upon seeing the Dao seed in Lin You’s hand, the Lifeless Daoist looked utterly incredulous.
Lin You did not answer. In an instant, the two Dao seeds in his hand transformed into two streaks of flowing light and merged into the realm of the Daoist Ground.
At that moment, the entire realm seemed to leap for joy.
Amid a thunderous sound of the earth splitting apart, a stream of turbid yellow spring water burst forth from a low-lying valley elsewhere, as though it had surged directly out of the netherworld.
Unlike the life-giving spiritual spring, this spring seemed suffused with the aura of death. The vegetation around it withered one after another, as though the place had become a land of absolute desolation that no one dared approach lightly.
At the same time, everyone looked toward the sky. It seemed that within this realm, there had appeared an indescribable and unnerving aura that caused their hearts to tremble.
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