Chapter 173: The Essence of Taoism
Qi Shi Mansion, inside the tavern.

Li Zhi and the old mansion master, one old and one young, sat opposite each other at a table and discussed philosophy.

It seemed that the old mansion master attached great importance to this discussion, and even took out some nuts from the thousand-year-old spiritual trees, as well as a few dishes of braised meat made from the flesh and blood of wild beasts as side dishes. He even generously opened a jar of thousand-year-old spiritual wine and invited Li Zhi to taste it.

Li Zhi couldn't let the old senior suffer any loss, so he took out a set of tea sets, boiled a pot of enlightenment tea with the water from the sacred spring, and asked the old master to taste it.

Next, the two of them chatted in the tavern like old friends.

During this time, a student from Qi Shi Mansion passed by and wanted to go in to drink, but was stopped by the powerful people from Qi Shi Mansion who were guarding outside.

Seeing that Li Zhi and the old lord were chatting happily, the current lord of Qishi Mansion also came to the tavern after hearing the news.

As they chatted, they talked about the current practice system.

Li Zhi said with emotion: "The five secret realms left by Emperor Huang Tian are good, but the requirements for the qualifications of the cultivators are too high. Although most cultivators have opened up the five secret realms, they do not know what the essence of the five secret realms is. There are too few people who can use their bodies as seeds and carry the Tao. There are also very few cultivation methods left by the ancient emperors that explain the essence of the five secret realms from the source. Most of the cultivation scriptures only open up the five secret realms, but do not really understand the true meaning of cultivating the five secret realms."

The five secret realms left by Emperor Huang Tian, ​​once truly cultivated, will not be affected by changes in the external environment at all, and there will absolutely be no situation where the laws within the body will be replaced when going to the fairyland.

Most of the current cultivation methods are affected by the external environment of heaven and earth. In Li Zhi's opinion, this is a sign that one has taken the wrong path of cultivation.

Perhaps, the method passed down by Emperor Huang Tian was not truly passed down, and later generations mixed the cultivation methods of the chaotic ancient times with the incomplete methods of the five secret realms, and created the current method of the five secret realms which is obviously not very pure.

When these words came out, not only the old master of Qishi Mansion, but also the current master was stunned, and said: "The five secret realms were actually created by the legendary Emperor Huang Tian?"

Li Zhi said with some surprise: "Of course it was created by Emperor Huang Tian. Don't you know that, senior?"

Neither the old Palace Master nor the current Palace Master knows who created the current five secret realm cultivation methods, but they have heard of the name of Emperor Huang Tian. According to legend, Emperor Huang Tian is the only one who has become an immortal.

The old mansion master also asked curiously: "Young friend Changshou, what is the specific relationship between using the body as a seed, using the body to carry the Tao, and the five secret realms?"

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Since this is related to Emperor Huang Tian, ​​I cannot say more. Otherwise, the heavenly punishment will turn the entire Qishi Mansion into ashes in an instant. I can only tell you one thing, that is, the five secret realms of cultivation created by Emperor Huang Tian have the most adaptable requirements for the cultivation environment among many cultivation systems. Even in the Dharma Ending Age, there is a chance to cultivate and become immortal through this."

The current palace master showed a puzzled look and asked, "How could he be so clever?"

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Of course it is brilliant. When we cultivate the five secret realms of the human body to perfection, the Dao fruit that can be produced in the end is not the Dao fruit of the Great Emperor, but the real one."

Before Li Zhi could finish his next words, there was a sudden thunderclap in the sky above Qishi Mansion.

"boom!"

The thunder was so loud, as if the sky was suddenly angry. Li Zhi stopped talking instantly and didn't dare to say the rest of the words.

The old and current palace lords all changed color and looked up at the cloudless sky.

In the Qi Shi Mansion, many monks who were in retreat were startled by the thunder and walked out of their caves one after another. Many of them even suffered backlash.

After sensing a bit of chaos in Qishi Mansion, the old mansion master said to the current mansion master: "Go and comfort the students and treat the injured. Tell them not to panic, it's just a warning from the thunder, not an attack."

After the current Palace Master left, the old Palace Master realized that the topic they were talking about just now involved taboos, so he said to Li Zhi: "Friend Changshou, let's talk about something else."

Although he is already a strong man above the saint level, he is also extremely cautious when facing taboo topics. He is not a super boss like Gai Jiuyou who is at the quasi-emperor ninth level and can talk about almost all the taboos in the world. With the old mansion lord's current cultivation level, he still has to be wary of many things.

Li Zhi was still in shock, he never expected that there was no thunder warning when he talked about the topic of sacrifice before, but when he talked about the truly perfect level of the five secret realms, he encountered a thunder warning. He couldn't understand the reason behind it.

Soon, Li Zhi figured it out. The "sacrifice to the Tao" he mentioned and the "Immortal King" that many cultivators often talked about were the same thing.

It's just a word and doesn't involve any taboos.

Even "The Immortal King Coming to the Ninth Heaven" is a kind of wheel sea vision that can be cultivated by people.

However, discussing the realm after the five secret realms are truly perfected involves truly touching taboos. It cannot be discussed casually without reaching that level.

After figuring out the reasons behind it, Li Zhi's doubts immediately dissipated.

At the same time, he also understood what the taboos were in this world.

The level that is far beyond the imagination of monks but has never been reached by anyone is a taboo.

For example, the ancient emperors are a taboo for minor cultivators; and immortals are also a taboo for most quasi-emperors.

After the destruction of the primitive ancient world and the end of the chaotic ancient era, Emperor Huang Tian once left some immortal traces in this world, so "immortality" is a taboo. At that time, Emperor Huang Tian completed the five secret realms, transcended the tribulation in this world, and cultivated the body of the Immortal King, so the completion of the five secret realms is also a taboo.

Now it seems that the real limit that the cultivators in this world can achieve is not to become an immortal in the mortal world, but to become a king in the flesh.

Of course, the limit is the limit, and the upper limit is the upper limit. It is still unknown whether we can reach the upper limit, let alone the limit.

Even the passing line set by heaven and earth is not reached by many cultivators.

In Li Zhi's view, whether or not one can become a saint is a passing line, so there are barriers to becoming a saint.

Whether one can become a great sage is an outstanding goal, so it is difficult to obtain a great sage’s fruit, and often only one or two great sages can be born in a star field.

When it comes to Quasi-Emperor, there is a perfect score line, so Quasi-Emperor is even rarer. Even in the period of bad cultivation environment, in tens of thousands of years, it is not certain that a Quasi-Emperor will be born in the entire universe.

Finally, whether one can become a Great Emperor depends on whether one can break through the upper limit set by the heaven and earth, so Great Emperors are even rarer. Sometimes there will even be a window period of 100,000 years.

“My young friend Changshou, there are some things that you’d better not think too much about, otherwise you will inadvertently invite heaven’s punishment. The lineage of Tianji masters in Zhongzhou knew too many secrets between heaven and earth, and they would inadvertently leak out taboos, thus incurring heaven’s punishment. Therefore, there are almost no Tianji masters in Zhongzhou who can die of old age.” Seeing that Li Zhi fell into deep thought, the old palace lord reminded him.

Li Zhi came back to his senses and quickly thanked him, saying, "Senior, let's talk about cultivation."

The old mansion master showed a look of satisfaction and said, "Regarding cultivation, whatever you want to know, I will tell you everything I know."

Li Zhi asked: "Senior, is there a secret realm in Qishi Mansion that can test the cultivation level of cultivators?"

The old mansion master asked curiously, "What kind of test do you want to conduct?"

Li Zhi said: "Using the performance of the young emperor as a template, we will conduct a comprehensive comparative test for each realm. This will allow the younger generation of cultivators to understand the true gap between themselves and the young emperor."

The reason for asking this question was because Li Zhi thought of the Tianyuan Secret Realm that Emperor Huang Tian had once visited. The Tianyuan Supreme left behind his insights into various realms for future generations to compare.

The old mansion master did not think that Li Zhi was daydreaming, but instead felt that what he said made sense.

However, although the Qi Shi Mansion has various cultivation notes left by predecessors, it does not have this kind of test that allows cultivators to compare themselves with the young emperor.

The best test template is actually the test that the Immortal Emperor left for the Emperor's Son, which allows the Emperor's Son to fight with the Immortal Emperor of the same level to discover his own shortcomings.

It’s a pity that there is no such means in Qi Shi Mansion.

The Emperor's son had a vast amount of amazing fortune, but he was unable to bring out the full potential of that fortune, otherwise his ending would have been different.

After thinking for a moment, the old mansion master said, "How about I show you my insights at each level back then, and you can compare them?"

Li Zhi said, "Thank you for your help, senior." Then, the old mansion master waved his hand and shot out a holy light that contained his insights at various realms, directly imprisoning Li Zhi in his seat, and said, "This holy light contains the insights I gained at various realms. You can compare it with it. If you can surpass my insights back then, you can break free from the shackles of this holy light."

Hearing this, Li Zhi began to comprehend the avenue in the holy light, and at the same time, he comprehended the strength of the old mansion master when he was in the realms of Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, Four Poles, and Dragon Transformation.

Being able to cultivate into a saint under the extreme suppression of heaven and earth, the old palace master’s level of monstrousness when he was young was definitely no weaker than the monstrous geniuses of today, and might even be stronger than them.

This means that the old mansion master has reached the late stage of his life, and his various bodily functions have begun to decline. Otherwise, after the great changes in the future, his achievements would definitely not be limited to this.

Only an hour later, Li Zhi broke free from the holy light constraints imposed on him by the old master.

After breaking free from the holy light, Li Zhi's eyes sparkled and he said, "Thank you for your help, Senior."

Although only an hour had passed, Li Zhi had already realized the achievements of the old mansion master's cultivation in various realms when he was young.

After comparing with each other, Li Zhi discovered that his foundation and perception far surpassed the old master's achievements when he was young.

After this discovery, Li Zhi wanted even more to obtain the magical treasure in the hands of the Prince of Heaven, which could condense the combat templates of the Immortal Emperor at various levels when he was young.

When the old mansion master saw Li Zhi break free from his perception so quickly, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he said: "It seems that what they said is right, you really have the potential to be a great emperor."

"Senior has given you too much praise."

After thinking for a moment, Li Zhi continued, "Senior, I will now show you what I have gained from my practice in various realms. Can you use the eyes of a saint to help me find some flaws?"

The old mansion master nodded and said, "Okay."

He was also very curious about how Li Zhi practiced and what kind of amazing results he achieved.

Afterwards, Li Zhi began to demonstrate his cultivation results in various secret realms in front of the old mansion master.

In the secret realm of Lunhai, Li Zhi demonstrated the pure life and death energies he had cultivated, which could not only communicate with the essence of heaven and earth in the outside universe, but also use the life and death energies as the foundation to evolve his own immortal essence and Taoist energy.

In the secret realm of the Taoist Palace, Li Zhi displayed the five elements of divine power that he had cultivated. His five elements of divine power focused on cultivating "spirit" rather than "power". He used the five elements of divine power of heaven and earth to communicate with the gods in the dark, so as to enhance his own divinity and spirituality.

In the secret realm of the Four Poles, Li Zhi focuses on enlightenment, and comprehending the changes between the "cleverness" and "clumsiness" of the laws of heaven and earth. He may be as heavy as a mountain, suppressing the four poles of heaven and earth, or as light as a stick, and he can express himself freely and unrestrainedly.

In the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, Li Zhi focused on the word "change", and comprehended the changes of all things in the world, which included the changes of the heavenly way, the earthly way, and the human way. He eventually completed the transformation into a true dragon, laying a solid foundation for his soul to ascend to the immortal platform.

After watching Li Zhi's demonstration, the old mansion master's eyes lit up, as if he had seen a peerless treasure.

"Good, good, good."

After saying "good" three times, the old mansion master said seriously: "Your understanding of the various secret realms has far exceeded the ability of your current realm. Generally speaking, cultivators can only discover the mysteries of the human body after reaching the king level. Only after reaching the saint level can they truly evolve the secret realm of the human body."

Li Zhi asked: "Senior, is there any mistake or omission in the secret realm I cultivated?"

The old mansion master said, "I don't see any mistakes or omissions. You can continue on your current path without any worries. What you lack now is the understanding of the laws of heaven and earth. No wonder you need a huge amount of dragon marrow. Your understanding of the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm is even better than mine."

Of course, it’s not that Li Zhi’s Taoism is better than the old master’s, but his understanding of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm is different from the old master’s.

Li Zhi felt a little embarrassed after being praised by the old mansion master, and said, "Senior, you really flatter me. I just have some fantastic ideas."

The old mansion master shook his head and said, "No, this is not a fantastic idea, but it points directly to the core of the five secret realms of cultivation. Even I only gradually understood these principles after I reached the level of a saint."

In the tavern, Li Zhi chatted with the old master until late at night, and this special discussion between the two came to an end.

The moonlight was as bright as water. During the day, the commotion in Qi Shi’s mansion had come to an end because of the sudden thunder.

It was quiet all around, as if everyone had returned to their own caves to practice.

When Li Zhi came out of the tavern, the powerful Wei Ding, who had been guarding the mountain gate, was already waiting for him there.

At the same time, Wei Ding looked at Li Zhi with a very strange look, which made Li Zhi feel a little confused.

Seeing that they had already passed the area where the students' caves were located, Wei Ding still had no intention of staying, so Li Zhi asked, "Senior Wei, where are you taking me?"

"Changshou boy, what did you talk about with the old palace master? He actually let you stay in his cave temporarily." Wei Ding asked curiously.

"What? The old mansion master actually asked me to stay in his cave temporarily? Will this have a bad influence?" Li Zhi said with a look of surprise.

That is the cave of a living saint, how can it be compared with the cave of an ordinary powerful person? It goes without saying that the old palace master's cave is definitely one of the best caves in the Palace of Strange People.

Wei Ding was also somewhat curious and said, "I want to know the reason as well. But since the old mansion master has spoken, you can stay there first. Not everyone is qualified to live in the old mansion master's cave."

Soon, Li Zhi was brought by Wei Ding to a mysterious cave in the back mountain of Qishi Mansion.

The surrounding mountains looked ordinary and no different from other places, but Li Zhi could sense that there was definitely another world inside the formation barrier. The auspicious aura of heaven and earth and the dragon energy alone were rare in the world.

Wei Ding handed Li Zhi a token and said, "This is the token for entering and exiting the cave. Keep it with you."

Then he took out a jade bottle and handed it to Li Zhi, saying, "Here are thirty-six drops of top-grade dragon marrow and nine drops of top-grade dragon marrow. The mansion master asked me to bring it to you. Live long and practice well. Don't disappoint the old mansion master and the mansion master's expectations."

Li Zhi didn't hesitate to take the token and dragon marrow, then entered the sage's cave.

After entering, Li Zhi discovered that this cave was actually transformed from a natural dragon's lair. It was filled with surging energy and auspicious aura. There were ancient medicinal herbs planted in it, and even the king of medicine was growing. It was an unparalleled pure land for cultivation. Practicing for one day in it was equivalent to three to five days of practice in the outside world.

Li Zhi did not pay too much attention to the layout inside the cave. He sat directly on the Taoist platform where the old master usually practiced and began to practice.

After swallowing all thirty-six drops of top-grade dragon marrow in one breath, Li Zhi entered a state of enlightenment and practice.

The golden dragon in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm continues to grow during this process.

One zhang, two zhang, three zhang, it stopped growing when it reached a length of thirty-six feet.

Li Zhi continued his efforts and swallowed nine drops of top-grade dragon marrow directly into his stomach, allowing the growth of the golden dragon to continue.

In the end, after Li Zhi digested and absorbed all the dragon marrow, the length of the golden dragon finally stopped at seventy-six feet.

After the dragon marrow in his hand was completely consumed, Li Zhi walked out of the old master's sage cave.

He has to find a way to earn some dragon marrow.

Soon, a brilliant idea came to his mind.

Then, he went directly to where the students were practicing.

In a wide open space, Li Zhi set up a fighting arena.

A huge banner was hung with the word "gamble" written in large letters to attract the attention of the students.

(End of this chapter)