Chapter 144: The Heavenly Lord's Teachings
Daoyi Secret Realm, inside the thatched cottage.

Li Zhi and Saint Daoyi each sat on a brand new cushion, and felt the Infinite Heavenly Venerable Monument across the barrier.

The hundred-foot-high stone tablet, just looking at its shape, makes people feel a heavy sense of depression, as if looking at an infinite sacred mountain from the ancient fairyland.

An invisible aura of the Tao emanated from the stone tablet, but that aura was as heavy as Mount Tai. Just watching it was enough to make people feel breathless, let alone comprehending the secret methods of practicing magic skills from that aura.

Li Zhi was under pressure and carefully observed the divine stele. Suddenly, he felt that the divine stele in front of him had completely changed. It was no longer a stone stele, but a piece of sky.

Within the vast sky, myriad paths evolved, and the power of the Great Dao transformed into all kinds of strange creatures, carrying infinite divine power and rushing towards Li Zhi's mind.

The momentum was fierce, and the divine flames were surging, as if he was on a battlefield facing thousands of troops. The army of monsters was ready to go, as if to crush Li Zhi's mind.

Li Zhi immediately felt an immense pressure and wanted to lock onto and attack the group of creatures, but there were strange creatures everywhere, leaving him with nowhere to hide.

As for fighting against that group of creatures, Li Zhi didn't have the slightest confidence in his heart, because each of those strange-looking creatures exuded a supreme aura like a young emperor, as if every monster was a young supreme.

The cultivation level of each creature is comparable to Li Zhi's, and they seem to have reached the limit of what the heaven and earth can accommodate at this level, as if they are the incarnation of the sky.

There is no door to heaven and no way to enter the earth. This situation is unavoidable.

Li Zhi had no choice but to fight back and fight those strange creatures.

But as soon as they started fighting, Li Zhi was injured. It seemed that the great perfection of Taoism that he was so proud of was not enough in front of these creatures.

Those strange-looking creatures seemed to be beings who had reached the highest level of Taoism, without a single flaw on their bodies.

Even in a one-on-one situation, it is hard to say who will win.

Now Li Zhi is fighting against ten thousand alone. If this situation continues, he will surely die.

"Roar!"

Faced with such a terrifying impact, Li Zhi did not dare to hide at all. The strange vision of the wheel sea appeared instantly, and a mysterious fairyland enveloped him, bringing him tremendous magic power.

Within the secret realm of the Taoist Palace, the five great gods and the accompanying fairy tree merged into one, emitting a sacred light that blessed his soul, making his soul immortal.

Within the Four Poles Secret Realm, the four immortal sacred mountains transformed into four pitch-black pillars of heaven. On the pillars appeared the images of the mythical beasts Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise, suppressing the four poles of the sky and adding a powerful force to Li Zhi.

Inside the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, a real dragon roared, and the golden dragon transformed into a real dragon armor that wrapped his entire body, bringing him the power of a real dragon that could fight against heaven and earth.

"kill!"

Li Zhi, who almost showed his strongest fighting form, was filled with heroic spirit and boiling blood, as if this was a real battle. All his emotions turned into a tremendous fighting spirit at this moment, as if he wanted to tear apart any monster that dared to stand in front of him.

Even if the sky stands in his way, he will smash it to pieces.

At the same time, Li Zhi had an epiphany that this was a test as well as a tempering.

In an instant, those strange and powerful creatures changed their appearance in his eyes. They were no longer the terrifying young supremes, but stepping stones to heaven.

In the end, he will either step on the corpses of these incarnations to reach a higher level, or be completely torn to pieces by these monsters. The result is right in front of him.

After figuring out the key here, Li Zhi felt neither happy nor sad, only a tremendous desire to fight, as if this was the true meaning of cultivation, to trample all the incarnations of Tao under his feet.

Finally, he stepped up to the sky, covered the sky with one hand, and ascended to heaven.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The overwhelming desire to fight drove Li Zhi to engage in a brutal life-and-death battle with the group of incarnations of all the ways in the spiritual world.

At the same time, inside the thatched cottage, under the ancient monument of Tianzun, a jade talisman that looked like a jade pendant suddenly appeared between the eyebrows of the young Taoist nun Yuchen.

The jade talisman suddenly burst out with a burst of green light and turned into powder, awakening the little Taoist nun Yu Chen from her state of enlightenment.

The pale-faced Taoist nun Yuchen seemed to have consumed too much of her mental energy. Her breath had become much weaker, and a hint of fear appeared on her face.

It was as if she had just experienced a horrific battle.

If her mental energy had not been exhausted to the warning line, triggering the jade talisman that protected her mind, her mental energy would probably have been exhausted, thus damaging the origin of her soul.

Without having time to regain her composure, she turned her head to look at Li Zhi, wanting to know Li Zhi's current condition.

At this moment, Li Zhi had no breath at all, as if he was a body without a soul, but the strange thing was that an inexplicable fighting spirit rose from him, and that fighting spirit became more and more solid, and there was even a faint breath of corpses and blood emanating from Li Zhi, which was extremely bloody and terrifying, and it seemed that there was an astonishing murderous aura constantly brewing in his body.

Seeing Li Zhi's strange state, the little Taoist nun Yuchen's face suddenly changed. She quickly activated a talisman and notified the three ancestors outside.

Soon, Taoist nun Daoxuan, Taoist master Dexuan, and Taoist master Yuxuan came into the thatched cottage.

After seeing Li Zhi's condition, Taoist Yuxuan immediately asked Taoist Nun Daoxuan, "Senior Sister, is this the kind of strange state that only those who have the deepest understanding of the Tianzun Ancient Monument will experience?"

Little Taoist Nun Yuchen asked with a worried look on her face: "Grandmaster, is Taoist friend Changshou's situation dangerous?"

Nun Daoxuan said: "It is dangerous if you say it is dangerous, but it is not dangerous if you say it is not dangerous either."

Little Taoist nun Yuchen asked, "Will there be any concerns about life?"

Nun Daoxuan said solemnly, "There is no worry about his life. If it was before, maybe there would be a worry about his life, but now there is a magic array set up by the ancestor outside the Tianzun Ancient Monument to weaken the aura of the Tianzun Ancient Monument. At most, his mind will be damaged, and he will recover after a few years of rest. If it was before this magic array was set up, his situation would be the most dangerous, and it is very likely that his mind will be destroyed."

Taoist Dexuan also said: "The first time he comprehended the Tianzun Ancient Monument, he was able to comprehend it to this extent, which is directly comparable to the sages of the past generations in our Daoyi Holy Land. The aptitude of Changshou is really amazing."

Little Taoist Nun Yuchen asked, "Will he be able to figure out how to practice?"

"It's very difficult," Taoist Dexuan explained to Taoist Nun Yuchen, "There is only the spirit of Tao in the Tianzun Ancient Monument, and there is no specific method. You need to transform the Tao you have realized into the Great Dao Rune, and then create the corresponding method according to the Tao and the principles contained in the rune. From what Changshou is doing now, he should be experiencing the test of Tao, but I don't know what form the test is in."

Little Taoist Nun Yuchen asked again, "Is it possible that everyone's perception of the ancient monument is different?"

Taoist Dexuan said: "Naturally it is different. The Great Dao is invisible and formless. Everyone's mind is different, and the Dao they see is also different. The ancestors said that everything you think about is the Dao. What kind of test you will experience depends on the cultivator's understanding of the Dao."

A hint of enlightenment flashed in the eyes of the little Taoist nun Yuchen, and she said, "So that's how it is."

She seemed to have just walked through the eighteen levels of hell. Although she killed countless demons and monsters, she was unable to kill her way through the eighteen levels of hell and return to the human world.

In the end, the jade talisman that had turned into powder gave off a hint of coolness and turned into a sword that could reach the sky in her spiritual world, which shattered the horrific eighteen levels of hell, allowing her to escape the imprisonment of hell and return to the world.

The moment she returned to the human world, she woke up from her state of enlightenment.

"It's okay, this is a normal reaction, he will wake up soon. Yuchen, you have consumed too much of your energy, it's not advisable for you to stay here any longer. Come with us outside to rest." At the same time, Nun Daoxuan gave Nun Yuchen an elixir that would help restore her energy.

The young Taoist nun Yuchen asked, "When will the Taoist friend Changshou wake up?"

Nun Daoxuan said, "It's hard to say. Maybe he can break through the obstacles in his heart and wake up in the next second. Maybe he will be like you, exhausted and awakened by external forces. But don't worry, he will be fine with the protection of the summoning array left by the ancestors."

There is one thing that Taoist Nun Daoxuan didn't mention, and that is that once Li Zhi is forcibly awakened by the God Summoning Array, his mind will inevitably be damaged. During this period, he can neither attain enlightenment nor practice cultivation, nor can he fight with others. He can only recover his mind through long periods of sleep and rest.

If that time really came, the momentum of Li Zhi's soaring into the sky would inevitably be interrupted.

It will have immeasurable negative impact on his future practice.

Sometimes, if you want to plot against someone secretly, you don't need to make elaborate calculations. All you need to do is say one less word at the critical moment.

Moreover, afterwards, no one will realize that they have been ambushed.

After Li Zhi refused to become the Lesser Heavenly Venerable of Daoyi Holy Land, the three ancestors chose to ignore their reminders without exception.

If Li Zhi really has an extraordinary understanding and survives this disaster, they will pretend that nothing has happened and will continue to warmly entertain Li Zhi as always.

If Li Zhi's comprehension was a little worse and he failed to get through this disaster, then they would also keep Li Zhi here to recuperate and continue to comprehend the Tianzun Ancient Monument in the future. As for whether they would treat him warmly, it was hard to say.

There is no love without reason in the world. There is a cause for every effect.

Li Zhi and the three ancestors of Daoyi Holy Land have a clear understanding of this.

However, little Taoist nun Yuchen doesn’t understand these things yet.

After leaving the hut, Taoist Yuxuan arranged for her to recover her mind under an ancient cypress tree that could help monks concentrate and calm their spirit.

Taoist Yuxuan, who had returned to the thatched cottage, asked, "Brother, can you tell what level of enlightenment Changshou is at? Can he successfully break through the obstacles in his heart?"

Taoist Dexuan thought for a moment and said, "From the strange phenomenon of Taoist Changshou, I think he has more than 50% chance of breaking through the obstacle of the Tao in his heart. The fighting spirit can turn the virtual into the real and penetrate his body, which is enough to show that his Tao heart is very strong, which is rare in the world. It seems that he wants to break the Tao with force."

Hearing this, Daoxuan shook her head and said, "My opinion is different from that of Junior Brother. He has been on the wrong path since he chose to break the Dao with force. He will never be able to break the Dao barrier in his heart. It is only a matter of time before he is defeated. Now, it depends on how long he can persist. The longer he persists, the greater his potential. There was once a senior who eventually cultivated the Saint King Dao Fruit and also chose to break the Dao with force, but he only persisted for three days. Taoist Changshou seems to have a stronger talent than that senior. It is estimated that he can persist for five days, and at most seven days, before he will be exhausted."

Taoist Yuxuan suddenly realized, and then a trace of worry appeared in his eyes. He said, "I forgot to remind him. Although he will not be injured if he is awakened by the God Summoning Formation due to exhaustion of his mental strength, he still needs three years of mental training to fully recover."

Nun Daoxuan said, "Brother, don't worry. Fellow Taoist Changshou is blessed by heaven. He must have a treasure that can protect his mind."

Taoist Dexuan also said: "Don't worry, Junior Brother. This is a test for him. The Tianzun Ancient Monument is the foundation of our Daoyi Holy Land. How can it be viewed casually? It is acceptable to pay some price."

Obviously, although they value Li Zhi, they will not mindlessly let people observe the foundation of Daoyi Holy Land.

Without corresponding means of restraint, how could they allow Li Zhi to comprehend the Tianzun Ancient Stele so easily?

Even if they cannot keep Li Zhi in Daoyi Holy Land, they have plenty of ways to bring the two sides closer and let Li Zhi take the initiative to share what he has realized.

No method is as effective as Shi Enlai's. After all, Li Zhi doesn't look like an ungrateful person.

As for how to show favor to Li Zhi?
Naturally, after Li Zhi was injured, they took good care of him.

Just as they were discussing how many days Li Zhi could hold on, Li Zhi, who was fighting those bizarre creatures that were the incarnations of the Myriad Dao in his spiritual world, suddenly felt relieved.

The horrific group of creatures before them seemed to be running out of steam, and no longer had the invincible aura they had at the beginning.

It was as if someone had cut off their source of energy. They were full of energy at first, then weaker, and finally exhausted.

After two rounds of head-on fighting with Li Zhi, he felt a little exhausted.

After Li Zhi killed through the group of horrible monsters for the third time, some strange creatures could no longer maintain their shapes and directly collapsed.

Li Zhi naturally would not miss this good opportunity and continued to charge forward.

His mind was also sublimated in the process, and it seemed that his faith in the Tao became stronger with this victory.

There has been a qualitative improvement in the confidence that I will be able to achieve enlightenment by following all the paths in the future.

If his previous plan to penetrate all the Daos and achieve enlightenment above all the Daos was just an idea, now that he had fought head-on with this group of monsters formed by all the Daos in his spiritual world and survived being defeated, he had a real sense of confidence.

Even at this moment, Li Zhi looked like he had cracks all over his body, as if he was forcibly pieced together.

But the belief in achieving enlightenment had already taken root in his heart.

This kind of belief is not a belief in being invincible, but a belief that neither heaven nor earth can do anything to me.

In Li Zhi's understanding, cultivating a belief in invincibility is actually a very dangerous thing and a very false belief.

Because there will always be someone outside your range of invincibility.

All the ancient emperors were invincible, but how many of them could break free from the constraints of heaven and earth and truly transcend this world?

In Li Zhi's opinion, being invincible in the world is a false proposition.

Because there is always someone better than you, and there is always a world beyond yours. It is impossible for people to be invincible forever, and they will eventually encounter obstacles that they cannot overcome.

Relatively speaking, establishing the belief in enlightenment that "stepping on the myriad laws of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth cannot do anything to you" is more suitable for struggling to survive in this broken world.

When Li Zhi wiped out all the myriad forms in his spiritual world, all the scars on his body disappeared in an instant.

At the same time, Li Zhi, who was sitting in front of the ancient monument of Tianzun, also opened his eyes.

The fighting spirit and murderous aura rising from his body also dissipated in an instant.

However, his eyes revealed a state of mind of looking at the universe with equal eyes, as if the universe was no longer out of reach in his eyes.

As long as he is given time, he will be able to control everything in the world.

The desire to seek the truth became a matter of course, and practicing Taoism became as instinctive to him as eating and drinking.

Afterwards, Li Zhi looked at the magic circle outside the ancient Tianzun monument in front of him, and a hint of enlightenment came to his mind.

No wonder he felt that the myriad transformations were running out of power. It turned out that this magic array weakened the effect of the aura emitted by the ancient stele on him.

Looking at the empty surroundings, little Taoist nun Yuchen had disappeared.

Afterwards, a yellowish-brown light flashed on Li Zhi's body, and then he ignored the formation barrier as if he had an elixir of immortality, and came directly to the real body of the Tianzun ancient monument.

Then, he reached out and touched the body of the Tianzun ancient monument.

In an instant, the mind was once again pulled into a magical world, and all kinds of living creatures reappeared.

However, this time Li Zhi took the initiative to control it, using his magical power to create the world with one thought, which accelerated the time in the spiritual world by hundreds or thousands of times.

Less than an hour had passed in the outside world, but in that spiritual world, Li Zhi had already fought no less than a hundred thousand head-on battles with the creatures created by the myriad ways of heaven and earth for hundreds of years.

Finally, after annihilating the other side nine times, that side's mental world completely collapsed and could no longer be reconstructed.

After Li Zhi opened his eyes, a trace of deep fatigue flashed across his eyes.

Afterwards, Li Zhi retreated outside the barrier, sat back on the cushion and began to rest.

Just pure rest.

He even had a good sleep, clearing away all the mental fatigue.

When he woke up again, he still did not see the Taoist nun Yuchen, nor did he see the three Taoists from Daoyi Holy Land.

Li Zhi began to ponder the ancient monument of Tianzun in front of him.

Inside the ancient stele, it seemed that all the laws of heaven and earth were engraved by the Infinite Heavenly Venerable. Facing it felt no different from facing the heaven and earth outside.

It’s just that the ancient stele seems like a condensed world, and its Taoist charm is even more intense.

A hint of enlightenment arose in Li Zhi's mind. It would be as difficult to comprehend the ancient scriptures of the Heavenly Venerable from it as it was to comprehend the ancient scriptures of the Great Emperors from the myriad ways of heaven and earth.

It's almost impossible.

However, the four great emperor characters "Wulian Tianzun" on the ancient stele indicate that this sacred stele is not simply a stone tablet engraved with all the laws of heaven and earth.

Thinking back to the past of Wuliang Tianzun, the four words "Tianzun Yandao" inexplicably emerged in Li Zhi's mind.

"Could it be that these four great emperor characters are the Dao of Wuliang Tianzun? The sacred fighting method created by Wuliang Tianzun can evolve all the sacred arts in the world. Perhaps it is not a secret art created for fighting, but for the pursuit of the most original 'Dao'.

Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things. Could it be that Wuliang Tianzun was pursuing the 'one' born from Tao, trying to condense the nine Tianzun Emperor characters into one Emperor character, so as to transcend the human way and evolve the true immortal way?"

The combination of the Nine Secrets possesses a power that can shock the immortals. Perhaps the Wuliang Tianzun is also evolving his way, allowing his Tianzun Dao to condense once again.

Recalling the ten evil magic techniques of the chaotic ancient times, they all had only one all-encompassing rune. There were no long-winded discussions or multiple characters. Just one rune was enough to encompass the ways they practiced.

Perhaps this is the path that Wuliang Tianzun pursues.

After creating the Imperial Scriptures, the ancient emperors would condense the Great Dao into nine imperial characters. Perhaps it was not that they did not want to use a symbol instead, but that they could not do it.

After having this thought in his mind, when Li Zhi looked at the four great emperor characters "Wulian Tianzun" on the stone tablet, he indeed had a different feeling.

In Li Zhi's eyes, they became extremely mysterious. The three "Emperor" characters in the "Wuhuang Sutra" that Li Zhi had comprehended before were much more complicated.

Li Zhi's mind merged with the immortal tree in the secret realm of Lunhai. He then chewed ten pieces of enlightenment tea leaves and tried to trigger the secret of the word "all" to allow him to enter an extraordinary state of enlightenment.

Finally, after a stick of incense, the superposition of the three states of enlightenment allowed Li Zhi to enter a magical forbidden realm of enlightenment.

All the laws of heaven and earth seem to be clearly visible, and one can understand the origin of everything in the world.

The four big characters "Wulian Tianzun" also lifted the veil of mystery on them, revealing their supreme brilliance.

At this moment they are no longer fonts, but four independent and extremely mysterious runes.

It seems as if every word encompasses all the laws of heaven and earth, yet is completely different from them, faintly transcending them.

It is also fundamentally different from the imperial laws comprehended by ordinary emperors.

It seemed that they represented the limit of the evolution of the myriad ways of heaven and earth, and it was no longer possible to continue to condense the four avenue runes into three avenue runes.

It seems that if it continues to evolve, it will touch upon the taboos of heaven and earth.

Gradually, as Li Zhi began to understand, he seemed to see an amazing picture.

A divine monument that reaches from heaven to earth stands in the boundless chaos. Next to it, there is a tall and majestic figure who is constantly infusing its body with the laws of heaven and earth. This action triggers the arrival of boundless chaotic thunder, and the horrifying thunder seems to be about to smash the divine monument to pieces.

But it was preserved under the protection of that tall figure.

Finally, the tall figure let out a sigh and ended his action of infusing the divine monument with the laws of heaven and earth.

Finally, a group of mysterious avenue runes disintegrated and turned into four groups of runes.

Gradually, the avenue patterns on the runes became inward, and the four runes turned into four large imperial characters "Wulian Tianzun".

At the same time, the four Dao runes were also imprinted in Li Zhi's heart.

When the mysterious vision in his eyes disappeared, Li Zhi immediately gasped for breath, and a strong feeling of weakness emanated from him.

It seemed that just to see the scene just now, he had exhausted all his strength, even exceeded his limit, and squeezed out his essence.

Not only the origin of life, but also the origin of the soul, were squeezed.

This caused Li Zhi to become extremely weak.

He quickly took out a bottle of holy spring water and swallowed it in big gulps, then Li Zhi began to recover the consumption of his life source.

When his life source was restored, his energy and blood became vigorous again, but the feeling of weakness originating from his soul did not disappear.

The divine light in his eyes became extremely dim, as if the fire of his soul was about to be extinguished.

Just when Li Zhi was about to take the magical pill that Doctor Wang had made for him to nourish his soul, he suddenly put the pill away.

With a thoughtful look in his eyes, Li Zhi stood up and walked to the door of the thatched hut.

He trusted Saint Daoyi, but he couldn't trust these three old antiques who had lived for who knows how many years.

If they knew what I had gained, it would probably cause unnecessary trouble.

His weak state at this moment was almost exactly the same as the state of excessive consumption of mental energy.

Then Li Zhi knocked on the wooden door.

(End of this chapter)