Chapter 43 The Smelting Method Is Formed, the Goddess Finally Falls
In a grand hall, a massive coffin floated in midair. Mysterious runes were carved upon it, like living dragons roaming across its surface, radiating profound Dao rhythms.
The ceiling of the hall bloomed with golden lotuses, manifesting endless transformations of laws.
Gu Qing sat with eyes closed, immersed in comprehension, his understanding of Daoist principles rising rapidly. Ji Ning was no exception, for it was an ancestor beyond the Divine Fire Realm who was preaching.
A month passed swiftly. The ancestor ended his discourse, and seeing the Dao rhythm around Gu Qing grow ever more vast and mysterious, he smiled in satisfaction.
He asked, "Not bad, your comprehension is decent."
"Thank you, Ancestor, for resolving my doubts."
Gu Qing bowed respectfully, unable to conceal his joy. His smelting method had advanced further and already taken shape.
"A small matter. In the future, if Zhimeng cannot teach you, you may come ask me," the ancestor said calmly.
Hearing this, Gu Qing's eyes lit up as he stared at the coffin.
Here it comes… Ji Ning silently mourned for the ancestor.
"If you have doubts, speak them all."
Seeing this, the ancestor grew more pleased with Gu Qing, his tone unhurried.
It was his first time meeting such a sincere youth, wholly devoted to the Dao.
"Ancestor, it is said that Dao follows nature, and divine abilities manifest themselves. Tell me, is my Seven Stars Fist still the Seven Stars Fist, or is it no longer so?"
Gu Qing immediately performed the Seven Stars Fist. Six divine ability avatars split from him, each aura indistinguishable from the true body.
In an instant, the hall became a deep starry sky. Countless stars surrounded seven divine figures, forming a Seven Stars formation.
"What does this mean?"
The ancestor muttered under his breath.
Was this not the Starry Sky Temple's supreme divine ability, the Seven Stars Fist, passed down through the ages?
Why was Gu Qing asking if it was the Seven Stars Fist?
"Ancestor?"
Gu Qing performed the Seven Stars Fist three times. When the ancestor still gave no response, he asked in puzzlement.
"Ancestor, the Seven Stars Fist has become my innate divine ability. The first time I used it, I only knew its form but not its essence.
The second time, I sensed countless variations, its power growing stronger.
The third time, I felt the changes were unnecessary, that the Seven Stars Fist is simply the Seven Stars Fist, gathering the power of the stars, its might multiplied.
As is well known, divine abilities have three realms: seeing a mountain as a mountain, seeing a mountain as not a mountain, and seeing a mountain as a mountain again.
Which realm do you think I am in?"
"This… this…"
The ancestor, usually calm, grew frantic within the coffin.
What nonsense of 'as is well known'? He had lived endless years, yet this was the first time he had heard of the three realms of divine abilities. How was he supposed to know which realm Gu Qing was in?
"Should I just say one at random?"
"No, no."
The ancestor immediately rejected the idea.
With his cultivation, he quickly grasped the profundity of the so-called three realms and their divisions.
Each realm should mark a world of difference, impossible to yield only slight improvements.
Thus, Gu Qing must have only comprehended the first realm, caught in confusion, mistakenly thinking he was already in the third.
Thinking this, the ancestor tactfully expressed his view.
This scene left Ji Ning sighing in astonishment.
Who would have thought, even an ancestor beyond the Divine Fire Realm could be left speechless by Gu Qing's questions?
"Is that so…"
Gu Qing murmured, and his primordial spirit began rapid deductions.
He practiced alone in the hall. At first, it was the familiar Seven Stars Fist, but soon it changed.
It became Eight Stars Fist, Nine Stars Fist, evolving into infinite variations, every move bursting with boundless might.
Its power grew tenfold stronger than before.
"Could this boy truly be a monster?"
The ancestor trembled within.
This was the Starry Sky Temple's peerless divine ability, perfected through the ages, its might unmatched, its form flawless, without room for modification.
Yet Gu Qing had done it.
Zhimeng had said before that Gu Qing's physique was the least worth mentioning. He had not believed it then, but now he wavered.
"Thank you, Ancestor, for your guidance."
Gu Qing stopped his practice and bowed deeply.
"Mm, the young may indeed be taught," the ancestor replied faintly, silently praying that Gu Qing would not ask him about things he had never heard of.
"Ancestor, my Great Sun Divine Fist is domineering, blazing, toxic with fire, filled with destruction…"
Well… was that not how the Sun Fist should be?
The ancestor felt a foreboding unease.
"But I think that's wrong.
The sun is the source of life, it should be full of vitality. Under the great sun's solitary light, all things revive…"
"Stop!"
"Your realm is too low now. It is not suitable for you to comprehend such profound matters. Focus on understanding your current level. Do not overreach."
The ancestor listened in utter confusion. The so-called three realms of divine abilities he could still guess at, but the Great Sun Divine Fist offered no multiple choice.
"Then… very well."
Gu Qing looked frustrated. The feeling of not getting an answer was unbearable. After thinking for a moment, he decided to ask about some difficulties with his smelting method.
Zhimeng did not know, but perhaps the well-informed ancestor would, and might inspire him.
"Ancestor, I want to refine myself as if I were a divine pill, to forge an unmatched Dao body through smelting. But in the process, if I give my all and lose control, I might truly become a pill.
So I should…"
Both the ancestor and Ji Ning were shocked. Gu Qing's idea was extremely bold—if successful, his constitution would evolve into another domain.
But the risk of losing control was enormous. Once it happened, stopping would be impossible.
"Ancestor?"
Gu Qing finished speaking and looked expectantly at the coffin.
By now, the ancestor understood he had been tricked by Zhimeng again.
Gu Qing needed no teaching from him at all.
"Zhimeng, you've deceived me again. You truly deserve damnation… Quickly, take your disciple away."
"What is it, Ancestor? Did you not say you would personally guide him?" Zhimeng's voice carried feigned puzzlement.
"Fine, fine, fine!"
So she really wanted to see him humiliated? Too bad he was already dead, buried ten thousand meters underground. For matters, burn paper offerings—otherwise, leave him be.
When the ancestor lay silent, Zhimeng looked disappointed. What a pity, she had not witnessed his embarrassment.
She brought Gu Qing back to Goddess Peak.
Zhimeng spoke first: "You want to refine pills?"
"Yes!"
Gu Qing nodded firmly. He was determined to refine pills. Alchemy, too, was a form of Dao, and would greatly aid his smelting method.
"And do you also want to refine yourself as a divine pill?"
Zhimeng glanced at Ji Ning's recording stone, her gaze on Gu Qing like that of beholding a peerless treasure.
His Dao aligned with her own. She sought to smelt all laws into one, while Gu Qing sought to smelt all laws into himself.
The great Dao, though traveled by different paths, led to the same end.
"No, it was just a passing thought. The risks of refinement are too great, too many uncontrollable factors. I wouldn't dare stake my life on it."
Gu Qing shook his head quickly. Treating himself as a divine pill was only a pretext.
His true goal was to merge the Nirvana by fire and cocoon-breaking rebirth of the Immortal Heaven Art with his own Chaotic Treasure Seal.
Asking Zhimeng and the ancestor had only been to seek experience. Who would have thought both knew nothing.
"Is that so?"
Zhimeng gave Gu Qing a deep look. He must have obtained some related method, but incomplete, hence his hesitation.
"Tell me the method. Perhaps I may have a solution," she said softly.
Gu Qing's Daoist ideas were far too defiant of heaven, almost fantastical. Without seeing the method itself, she could do nothing.
"Very well."
After a brief hesitation, Gu Qing explained half the embryonic method, selecting parts he did not understand.
Even so, it was a heaven-defying art, enough to let one leap over the dragon gate and reach ultimate sublimation.
The more Zhimeng listened, the brighter her eyes burned, her delicate frame trembling with excitement.
The saintly laws within her body roared, frantically deducing Gu Qing's method.
Ji Ning too pricked her ears, her heart surging like stormy seas.
Just by replaying it once in her mind, she gained countless insights. With closed-door cultivation, she would certainly achieve sublimation and step into a new domain.
"Gu Qing…"
Zhimeng's eyes shone fervently upon him.
The puzzle that had plagued her for a thousand years was finally resolved. With his method, her Dao was perfected.
At any moment, she could undergo Nirvana, elevating body, soul, and saintly laws to their utmost, smelting all laws into one, igniting divine fire, and using her Dao to command all others.
Thinking thus, Zhimeng joyfully touched her filial disciple's head. Her red lips parted, and she poured out her teachings.
Gu Qing's face grew slightly unnatural. It was said a man's head and a woman's waist should not be touched.
Why did his master have no sense of boundaries?
Still, he listened attentively, his eyes growing brighter as many doubts suddenly cleared.
The smelting method of the Chaos Immortal Scripture gradually became complete.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He fell into enlightenment, as the Chaos Immortal Scripture operated on its own, devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
With a casual gesture, Zhimeng summoned endless light of sun, moon, and stars, then poured out several bottles of Three Lights Divine Water.
Hum!
Gu Qing floated in midair, enveloped in the stellar radiance, soon crystallizing into jade, forming a giant egg. On its surface appeared profound, mysterious Dao patterns.
"So this is the smelting method…"
Zhimeng observed the Dao patterns for a while, deepening her own understanding of Nirvana and sublimation. She then said to Ji Ning,
"I will enter seclusion for a time. Guard him well. From now on, you are to obey only him."
"Yes."
Ji Ning's eyes flickered. In her mind arose images of a domineering master's forced affection.
"Her current attitude toward Gu Qing… isn't it just like those illustrated novels I read recently?
First a head-pat, then assigning a protector, showing utmost favor. Next comes jealousy? It's over—the noble goddess has finally fallen…"
Inwardly, she let out the shrill scream of a prairie dog.
To witness the goddess fall from her pedestal—that thought alone was exhilarating.
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