Chapter 91: Then Let Us Walk the Path of Chivalry Once More

Lanlou, on first meeting, gave the impression of being proud and vain, yet beneath that cool exterior lay a heart of genuine kindness. The classic case of outward frost and inward warmth.

Back when he was still merely at the early stage of the Dao Body realm, he had come seeking help, grumbling only with his mouth, but in actual deed, even while injured, he still provided crucial information. His mastery of the mystic arts was truly formidable.

After the eating and drinking were done, just as he was preparing to leave, Cao Chengyu suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, Lady Lan, I seem to recall you once said you asked your elders to help confirm it. Though nothing came of it, you should still know something, shouldn’t you?”

“The Great Yue is my homeland...”

“All right, all right, I’ll tell you.”

Having eaten his fill, Lanlou curled her lip and said calmly:

“Last year, when I helped you verify it, besides the two characters for Fengdu, I also saw a man in a black dragon robe standing high above the sky, accompanied by a true yin dragon. It was terrifying.”

“Judging from his aura, he felt stronger than even my master. Tsk, tsk...”

The more Cao Chengyu listened, the more he felt that this was none other than the legendary Nether Emperor of Fengdu.

Could it be that the imperial clan of the Great Yue Dynasty wished to transform themselves into ghost immortals?

Yet in this world, he had never heard of any legends concerning the underworld. He had learned the very name of Fengdu only from Lanlou. How could the imperial family of Great Yue know of something even the Five Elements Sect did not understand?

Was it merely coincidence, or some unseen destiny?

With worries weighing on him, Cao Chengyu lost all appetite.

He left in haste.

To speak plainly, he always felt it best not to interfere in Great Yue’s plans. For one thing, there was no benefit in it; for another, the danger was far too great.

But a man had to do something.

From the moment of his birth, all the paths of his life had been within Great Yue. There were his friends, his family, his memories.

Though his whole household had already relocated, they were still too close to the source of disaster. The neighboring lands of Wu, Chu, and Qi all had a high chance of being dragged into it.

If one person could run, how far could the families of mortals run?

Once one fled, there would be a second time, and then a third.

The path of cultivation was, by nature, one of forging ahead against the current. Setbacks were not fearsome; what was fearsome was the absence of the will to overcome them.

That mysterious and ineffable feeling was both the heart of the Dao and a realm within the path of the heart.

If he could not cross this threshold, then in the future inner demons would surely arise, and calamities would come one after another.

In his former life, as a youth raised beneath the red flag, how could he endure the agony of a shattered nation and a ruined home?

And at that very moment, when Cao Chengyu resolved to settle the matter of Great Yue once and for all, his aura turned and revolved in endless refinements. A terrifying momentum surged forth, as though the world itself cast down its favor upon him, sending his qi soaring to the heavens.

His breath climbed by degrees.

Within a hundred miles, the clouds were scattered by invisible force, and the road to the Purple Mansion opened smooth and unimpeded.

The shackle that barred him from breaking through was shattered away in that instant.

This sudden enlightenment lasted only a very short time, yet it allowed him to break through the bottleneck of the Purple Mansion, a barrier that for others might take ten years or twenty to surpass.

This gain, once he returned to cultivate and consolidate it for a few days, would let him begin the matter of breaking into the Purple Mansion. And it would be a direct breakthrough, needing no spirit pill to aid him at all.

His strength advanced once more, and his state of mind was transformed.

Cao Chengyu’s hearty laughter rolled across heaven and earth.

“Hahaha!”

“Compassionate heart, saving all in suffering, proclaiming the marvelous Dao, and to this day my name is set through all ages!”

This time, he had made up his mind to walk the path of chivalry at least once.

The greatest of knights acts for the country and for the people.

His body flickered like a flying shuttle, and in the blink of an eye he had vanished into the vast sky.

Lanlou stepped out, stood upon the viewing platform, and silently watched the entire process of Cao Chengyu’s transformation of mind.

Just now, when his bottleneck had exploded and his aura was fully released, the power of a Dao Body pinnacle cultivator had been laid bare without reservation.

This made her faintly astonished. If she remembered correctly, this little junior brother had not yet even come of age.

“To think he possesses such talent. Even being personally taken in by a Golden Core master would be no exaggeration. Why, then, are there no records of any especially gifted disciple entering the sect in recent years?”

Lanlou secretly decided to investigate in private. If she recalled correctly, this junior brother had been accepted last year as the direct disciple of the Yin-Yang Daoist.

...

At the foot of Fire Element Peak.

In the Smelting Flame Mountain stone hall.

After leaving Lanlou’s side, Cao Chengyu did not immediately return to prepare for his breakthrough. Instead, he came first to pay a visit to the Divine Fire Daoist.

It had already been more than a year since he last encouraged Xiao Yan to investigate the truth of Great Yue, and he had come to inquire after the results.

An old man and a young man sat before stone tables and chairs, exchanging insights on the subtleties of alchemy and artifact refinement.

“Little Friend Cao, your method of opening the pill apertures through the Yin-Yang refinement is truly extraordinary. It seems you have already surpassed your master, the Yin-Yang Daoist—no, rather—”

“Haha, Senior flatters me. This junior still has many places where I must learn.”

“Humility is a fine thing; excessive humility is called hypocrisy! Little Friend Cao, do not belittle yourself.”

The Divine Fire Daoist stroked his beard, the more he looked at Cao Chengyu the more pleased he became, wishing he could pour everything he knew into him. What a pity he was not his own disciple.

“Ah yes, since I have come to visit this time, why is Daoist Xiao not here?”

This...

The Divine Fire Daoist hesitated. After a long silence, he still spoke.

“Xiao Yan once received news of a heavenly strange flame. He has been gone for more than a year now. Even as his master, I do not know exactly where he has gone. I have worried about him for a long time.”

“I see...”

The strange flame itself was not important. What Cao Chengyu mainly wanted to know was how his progress in Great Yue was going.

Since he could not get specific news from the Divine Fire Daoist, he had other channels. Last year, he accepted the mountain-greeting gift from the Crimson Dragon precisely so he would have a source of information of his own.

That fellow was at least a close imperial kinsman, and there was no way he would know nothing of recent events in Great Yue.

After taking his leave of the Divine Fire True Man, Cao Chengyu made a trip to Bow Mountain, the headquarters of the Five Elements Sect’s hidden lineage.

Since he was here, he naturally had to pay a visit to the Yin-Yang Daoist, after all, the man was his nominal master.

By now, he could also probe the other’s intentions. He believed that once he broke through to the Purple Mansion realm, unless a Golden Core True Man personally intervened, taking him down would be anything but easy.

The several elusive senior brothers and sisters still remained out in the domain of a hundred kingdoms for training, and he had yet to meet any of them.

Still, that was only natural. A mere year, to a cultivator, was little more than the time it takes a mortal to doze off.

Led by the reception boy, Cao Chengyu arrived smoothly at the Yin-Yang Courtyard and said in a clear voice:

“Your disciple, Cao Chengyu, has specially come to pay respects to Master.”

“Come in.”

He pushed open the door and entered. The Yin-Yang Daoist was still in the same posture as before, seated cross-legged upon a prayer mat.

His brows and eyes opened and closed as he glanced at Cao Chengyu, though a frown soon formed.

“How has your cultivation progressed lately?”

“By your honorable master’s expectations, I have successfully broken through to the mid stage of the Dao Body realm.”

“Good. Your talent is indeed remarkable.”

Receiving the answer he wanted, the frown eased away. After a brief silence, the Yin-Yang Daoist said:

“Though our lineage primarily cultivates the paths of Yin and Yang, we are also versed in the Five Elements. Today I shall pass you another art. When you later break through to the pinnacle of the Dao Body realm, come find me again. At that time, I will teach you the method for entering the Purple Mansion.”

“This disciple understands.”

Cao Chengyu feigned delight, accepted the jade slip of transmission, and then took his leave.

His divine sense probed within.

Floating World Contemplation Method?